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Is Lorde Marlon Williams's biggest fan? | We think so. The global superstar was seen enjoying herself at Williams' concert last Saturday night at the Villa Maria Estate. The Royals singer was in the VIP area and was a calm, cool, collected fan girl, hanging on to to each set of his NZ number one album Make Way for Love and more. The Trangawaewae National Tour, which includes Williams and band, Don McGlashan and Emily Fairlight and the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra, in Auckland only created a sensational night for fans last Saturday at the estate. Tomorrow is a big day for Williams. The box office hit, A Star is Born, in which he had small scenes, is up for multiple Oscars at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles tomorrow. But it looks like the Trangawaewae Tour will keep him away from the red carpet. Advertisement Williams scored a role as a young singer on the film after Hollywood star Bradley Cooper, who directed, produced and starred in the film, saw him perform at Marlon Williams The Troubadour in Los Angeles. He had to keep his role secret before the movie came out. We hope so. In the past the pair have compared notes and shared lyrics while they were both writing albums. | https://www.nzherald.co.nz/spy/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503840&objectid=12206594 |
What is the future for progressives? | People want a change of political culture... abuse and vitriol have become the norm Luciana Berger Facebook Twitter Pinterest Luciana Berger Since 2010 Ive watched my area be drained of resources and hope by this rightwing Conservative government. Theyve cut police officers, firefighters, NHS services and our school budgets, and put deprivation, poverty and malnutrition back on to our streets. People are desperate for a real alternative. But Ive despaired as Labour has turned inwards and to the fringes, towards internal debates and wrangles, more interested in the machine, tribal politics of the past than changing the country for a better future. Corbyn told: change course before its too late for Labour Read more Since leaving the Labour party last week I have been struck by the huge outpouring of support and good wishes from people locally and nationally. There is a real appetite for change in our broken system. People are sick of the false choice between the established political parties who take voters for granted. People tell me it is time for something fresh, unfettered by the old 20th-century ways of doing things. Theres also something more fundamental that people want, and thats a change of political culture. Our politics in recent years has been devalued by the style, tone and language of its protagonists. During the Scottish referendum, the EU referendum, and since Jeremy Corbyn became leader of the Labour party three years ago, a harshness, a shrillness, and a viciousness has become normal within our public discourse. This is not the same as robust debate and interrogation of ideas, which we all should welcome. Instead its a culture of abuse, name-calling and vitriol which has become the norm. Some blame social media, but talking to friends on Merseyside who remember Derek Hattons Militant in the 1980s, there is nothing new about this style of politics. It is born of machismo and arrogance, of ideological certainties, and a tribal conviction that anyone with a different view or perspective is a deadly enemy. Whereas once it existed only on the fringes of left or right, it now surfaces in the mainstream, and is given the soapbox and megaphone of social media. It is pure poison. Inside my former party, this corrosive culture found expression through the rise in antisemitism. As Ian Austin MP said on Friday, the party leadership is harder on those who complain about racism than those who perpetrate it. One of the worst offenders was only recently re-elected to the national executive. It is also manifest in the misogynist attacks on female MPs and activists, and in the atrocious name-calling of anyone who fails to submit. This nasty culture is just one of the reasons Labour MPs are leaving the party. I blamed (among a number of things) the bullying, bigotry and intimidation in my statement on Monday. Each MP that leaves is subject to the vilest of attacks, slurs, character assassinations and accusations of treachery and betrayal, which only serve to make our argument for us. The worst of the abuse comes from those with #JC4PM19 hashtags, and the Labour leadership does nothing to discourage them. No wonder Tom Watson said he no longer recognises the current Labour party. As the Independent Group, we are determined to try to forge a different style of doing politics. Our founding statement calls for a culture where every member has the right to be heard and the duty to lead. We commit to support each other and treat each other with respect an approach which can be scaled up to a larger group, as and when people may join us. Culture is a reflection of values. Our values are solidarity, tolerance, openness, honesty, courage and intellectual curiosity. But values are useless unless they are lived. If we cant behave and speak in tune with our values, then they arent really our values. These are early days and forging a new political culture will not be easy. But its what my constituents and the country deserve and Im certainly going to give it my best shot Luciana Berger is the MP for Liverpool Wavertree and a co-founder of the Independent Group This new grouping is the real barrier to change ... They may prop up a Tory government' Angela Rayner Facebook Twitter Pinterest Angela Rayner I first learned the power of a Labour government to transform lives growing up in my hometown of Stockport. At 16, out of school and pregnant, my own life could have been written off. It was the help I had from some of the then Labour governments policies such as Sure Start that turned it around. So it is desperately sad for me that the people I grew up with in Stockport no longer have a Labour MP, following the resignation of Ann Coffey. It is even more so because right now they need another Labour government more than ever. Labour put forward a manifesto in 2017, which won over millions of new voters, including a majority in Stockport, with a programme of policies that would transform our country. So it was bizarre to hear Chris Leslie, one of the self-appointed leaders of the so-called Independent Group, say last week that Labour wanted to keep everything exactly as it is. They must be living in a different country to the rest of us. I cannot be clearer about this. I am not in politics, let alone Labours shadow cabinet, to keep things as they are. The transformation that the Labour party today can make to our country is even more fundamental than that which the last Labour government made to my own life and so many others. And far from leaving the centre ground, we are occupying it. More than three-quarters of the public back our plans to run our public services so they work for people, not shareholders. The British people overwhelmingly favour big businesses and the wealthiest individuals contributing their fair share so we can invest in our schools, hospitals and services. Two-thirds agree that austerity has gone too far. Our policies captured the public imagination. I am sorry we didnt win the election, and I will do everything in my power to bring Labour in to office, because every day we do not succeed is a day when we let down those who need us most. But we won millions more votes because investment trumped austerity, public ownership trumped privatisation, and hope trumped fear. Our economic and political system is broken and this is no time for tinkering around the edges. Far from wealth trickling down, nine years of terrible Tory rule have dramatically worsened the lives of the least well-off. A fifth of the population 14 million people are living in poverty and welfare cuts have hurt millions of families. Only days ago we were warned that child poverty could rise to a record high in a matter of years. About 20% of Britains wealth lies is in the hands of just 1%. Oxfam found that the poorest 10% of people pay a higher rate of tax than the richest 10%. For the first time since 1945, life expectancy is actually going down in the poorer parts of the country. So we cannot and will not keep everything as it is. My fear is the opposite: this new grouping is now the real barrier to change. From what we have seen and heard so far, all that we know is that they would continue Tory policies from endless privatisation to sky-high tuition fees. They defend austerity and dont want to ask the richest to pay a little more in tax. They could hand the Tories victory at an election and may even prop up the Tory government in parliament. To put it simply, it is they who would keep everything as it is. It is the Labour party that is the real movement for change. I urge anyone who shares that goal to join us and fight for it. Angela Rayner is shadow education secretary. Opposition to Jeremy Corbyn's leadership is a matter of principle as well as necessity Roy Hattersley Facebook Twitter Pinterest Roy Hattersley The Labour party, despite claims that its membership exceeds 500,000, is withering away. Day by day it loses credibility. Last weeks defections were no more than a spectacular manifestation of the growing belief that Labour cannot be saved and is not worth saving. The prophets of doom are wrong. But survival as an effective political force requires Labours genuine social democrats to demonstrate now that they are still a power within the party. That is only possible if they have the courage to admit why so many people, once natural Labour voters, have drifted away. The millstone around Labours neck is the party leader. Jeremy Corbyn has supported so many squalid causes and defended so many disreputable regimes that opposition to his leadership is (or should be) a matter of principle as well as political necessity. Leaving Labour would be the most traumatic experience of my life. But I can only remain a member with a good conscience for as long as I make clear that the man who defended the exhibition of the antisemite mural and attended the wreath-laying ceremony which paid homage to the Black September terrorists does not, and never could, speak for me. Innumerable other Labour party members feel the same. The partys future depends on them saying so. Yet all we have recently heard from moderates in the parliamentary Labour party (PLP) is complaints about their ill treatment. Politics is a tough business and the proper response to assaults and abuse from the wilder shores of socialism is neither surrender nor retreat. It is a determination to take the ideological battle into enemy territory. The failure to fight back made the misused moderates culprits as well as victims. They have much to learn from the untiring campaigning of the far left. Last year a Corbynite MP toured the country, urging local Labour parties with which he had no connection to subject their MPs to the full rigours of re-selection. Reasonable people do not want to spend every night in political meetings. So the reasonable argument is lost by default. Two years before Neil Kinnock killed off the Trotskyite infiltration of the Labour party, some of us prepared the way by arguing, in the constituencies, the case for the militants expulsion. We challenged, head on, the doctrine that Labour has no enemies on the left and argued that a political party has a duty, as well as the right, to define and defend its ideological frontiers. Corbyn has surrounded himself with recent supporters of political movements which no genuine democrat could possibly endorse. And moderate Labour MPs meekly accept their authority as the price which must be paid for a quiet life. The time has come for genuine social democrats in the party to say that the only political authority they accept is a combination of conscience and conviction. Tom Watson has pointed the way. Moderates must band together in a distinct group with distinct policies, hold regular meetings and become the real Labour party-in-waiting. Corbynites will shout treason but the broad church, which the party leader defends with such passion, stretches both ways. And the haemorrhage of one-time Labour supporters would at least slow down when it was clear that the party of Attlee, Gaitskell and Wilson is not dead, but sleeping. Leaving the party, as nine MPs did last week, was an admission that the battle to resuscitate democratic socialism was too dangerous and difficult for them to fight. But unconditional surrender takes a variety of forms. Choosing a quiet life on the backbenches while the Labour party drifts into oblivion, is in its way just another form of capitulation. It is almost 60 years since Hugh Gaitskell swore to fight, fight and fight again to save the party. Labours survival as a potential government depends on an army of democratic socialists promising the same and meaning it. Roy Hattersley was deputy Labour leader from 1983-1992. We failed to keep those nine MPs with us. We should ask ourselves why Jess Phillips Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jess Phillips Im a tribal sort. Always have been. I was raised singing songs about putting Tories on a bonfires and being told that even saying Maggie Thatcher was swearing. My parents would have been deeply disappointed if I had married a Tory. It wasnt all cynicism and vitriol. I was also raised with stories of solidarity. Soulful yarns about striking workers fighting for better pay, and tales of the unexpected where the little man won out thanks to the Labour party and the union. If you cut me my blood is made up of one part Birmingham, one part Labour party. Im a tribeswoman without doubt. And yet I find myself questioning the very nature of tribalism more and more. I have never liked the idea of the MP who sits on a massive majority, knowing they are secure. I dont like the rot that can set in when one group of people is a shoo-in for a particular political party and without question this type of person will always vote one way. I think the ordinary citizen is not served well by safe seats or a politics that takes their votes for granted. The 2017 election saw most voters split down the middle, and again go back to the politics of the two main parties. People were voting as much for what they didnt want as what they did. I should be dancing around because I have a bigger majority, a safer seat, an easier ride. But Im not. I dont want to look a gift horse in the mouth but I do want to earn the votes I get. Hey perhaps all that conditioning in childhood about never benefiting from unearned income worked. While all over the world division and vitriol is blasting across our airwaves, I still think, from my experiences as a local MP and an ordinary citizen, that this is not an accurate portrayal, and that people desperately want reasonable, pragmatic solutions to the problems in their lives. I think they are sick of the tribal squabble and want us talk to them and about them. So, yes, I am sad that my colleagues have left our party. I am even sadder that some were bullied out by antisemites that have not been kept in check. But I dont think I am sad that this breakaway has happened. I think politics needed a kick up the bum, with both main parties seeking to feed red meat to their bases above serving the country. Both have engaged appallingly in a squabble for the heart of the party and forgotten that the average person doesnt give a toss. I dont buy the argument that the new breakaway group are handing the Tories a victory over the Labour party because they will split the vote. I think we in the Labour party should try to win every vote we receive by being better than the others. We will not do that if we dont tackle the antisemitism in our ranks, or if we continue to obsessively fight with one other. Every one of us needs to back down. Me included. If we with all our history, our folk tales, our heart cant set out a vision that would win an election, then that is on us. We failed to keep those nine MPs with us and we should ask ourselves why, not just slag them off. How the party responds will determine our future, not a split in our ranks. I dont want the Labour party to split, but I dont think it deserves to exist just because. For me to leave would be like having a full-body blood transfusion, but when youre sick thats what you do. I hope the party can get better. Lord knows, my constituents need it to. Jess Phillips is MP for Birmingham Yardley. | https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/feb/23/labour-party-future-antisemitism-split-independent-group |
Can the Xavier Musketeers beat the Villanova Wildcats Sunday at Cintas Center? | CLOSE Xavier survived a scare from Seton Hall to win its 3rd straight game Wednesday night at the Prudential Center behind a career night from Naji Marshall Adam Baum, [email protected] For the first time in a long time, Villanova seems a little vulnerable heading into Sundays meeting with Xavier at Cintas Center (1:30 p.m., CBS). The Wildcats are coming off a loss - their second in a row - Wednesday at Georgetown, marking the first time since the reformation of the Big East Conference (2013-2014) that Villanova has lost consecutive conference games. Its not just two straight losses that make Villanova look more mortal than it has in some time, its three losses in the last four games. Xavier Musketeers forward Naji Marshall (13) shoots as Georgetown Hoyas guard Kaleb Johnson (32) defends during the first half at Capital One Arena. (Photo11: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports) The thing is, Xaviers also packed pretty tightly into a corner and the Musketeers seem committed to fighting their way out of it. Following a six-game losing streak, Xaviers now on a three-game winning streak after a 70-69 win on the road Wednesday against Seton Hall. The first time these two met this season, Xavier kept it close and competitive but the defending national champion Wildcats, as theyre known to do, shot well, hitting 15 3-pointers to help hold on to an 85-75 win. One of the major story lines from that game was Xaviers decision to switch defenders on all of Villanovas ball screens. Because of that, Xavier head coach Travis Steele decided to sit forward Zach Hankins, who got off to a great start offensively with 12 points in just 14 minutes, because he felt like switching the big man onto Villanova point guard Phil Booth was not an advantage for Xavier. "That was a big issue, obviously, in game one," Steele said Friday at his pre-game press conference. "I think our defense has gotten a lot better since then. Zach's gotten better even in ball-screen situations. He's gotta be aggressive. He's gotta be even more aggressive than he was in game one. Can't be tentative with Villanova. If you're tentative they're gonna carve you up. They've got really skilled players and coach (Jay) Wright does a great job. "We're gonna be working really hard today and tomorrow to get prepared for all their ball screens because that's a big part of their game plan so Zach can be on the floor." More: Faith's call: Why Xavier University's Sister Rose Ann Fleming has never stopped helping More:Xavier never stopped believing and it showed in the win over Seton Hall NEWSLETTERS Get the Bengals Beat newsletter delivered to your inbox We're sorry, but something went wrong Please try again soon, or contact Customer Service at 1-800-876-4500. Delivery: Invalid email address Thank you! You're almost signed up for Bengals Beat Keep an eye out for an email to confirm your newsletter registration. More newsletters Subscribe to The Enquirer and Cincinnati.com for all your Xavier content. Get the latest Xavier sports news. Download the Musketeers app on both the Apple App Store and Google Play for Android users. Tyrique Jones ended up having a great game for the Musketeers in the first meeting with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Xavier had only seven turnovers at Villanova's place and with the Musketeers' defense showing signs of improvement, Xavier has to take care of the ball again in order to keep this game winnable. But, the Musketeers can't afford to get beat on the glass again. Villanova out-rebounded Xavier last time they met and the Wildcats scored 18 second-chance points thanks to 13 offensive rebounds. If Xavier can control the paint and defend the perimeter it will go a long way toward extending the Musketeers' win streak. RETRO-FITTED: Xavier and Villanova will both be wearing throwback uniforms on Sunday. Villanova will wear its Navy '85 retros, while Xavier will wear a retro uniform used during the eighties with the Running Man logo. BIG EAST BREAKDOWN: Marquette (23-4, 12-2) stands alone at the top of the conference right now with Villanova a game behind the Golden Eagles. St. John's and Seton are tied for third at 7-7 in league play and Georgetown's right on their heels at 6-7 in the Big East. Then it's Xavier and Butler both at 6-8, followed by DePaul and Creighton at 5-9, and Providence at 5-10. SCOUTING REPORT THE GAME Tipoff: Sunday, 1:30 p.m. at Cintas Center TV/Radio: CBS/550-AM Xavier Musketeers Record: 14-13 (6-8 Big East) Offense: 72.0 ppg Defense: 71.6 ppg PROJECTED LINEUP PLAYER POS. HT. KEY STAT Paul Scruggs (G, 6-3, 12.0 ppg) Quentin Goodin (G, 6-4, 11.7 ppg) Naji Marshall (F, 6-7, 14.3 ppg) Tyrique Jones (F, 6-9, 11.5 ppg) Zach Hankins (F, 6-10, 9.9 ppg) Villanova Wildcats Record: 20-7 (11-3 Big East) Offense: 75.7 ppg Defense: 67.4 ppg PROJECTED LINEUP PLAYER POS. HT. KEY STAT Phil Booth (G, 6-3, 18.6 ppg) Eric Paschall (F, 6-8, 17.3 ppg) Collin Gillespie (G, 6-3, 11.4 ppg) Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree (F, 6-9, 6.3 rpg) Saddiq Bey (F, 6-8, 8.3 ppg) PLAYER TO WATCH Phil Booth The redshirt senior had a game-high 22 points against Xavier earlier this season. He hit five 3-pointers, partnered with Collin Gillespie who added six 3-pointers. Booth can get hot in a hurry and when he does it makes Villanova even more difficult to defend because when so much attention gets paid to Booth, it opens the floor for Gillespie and Eric Paschall. NCAA NET Ranking: Xavier (89); Villanova (27) KenPom.com: Xavier (94); Villanova (24) | https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/college/xavier/xaviersports/2019/02/23/can-xavier-musketeers-beat-villanova-wildcats-sunday/2952026002/ |
Has Obama become a conservative? | President Obama sounded like a conservative Tuesday at the My Brother's Keeper Alliance Summitt in Oakland, Calif., when he addressed hundreds of young men of color alongside basketball superstar Steph Curry. Obama talked to the young men about the virtues of monogamy. He shared his personal experiences growing up without a dad. He also offered a helpful, traditional, definition of manhood: being responsible, working hard, being kind, respectful, compassionate. When identifying where messages that run contrary to his own come from, Obama decried hip-hop's negative influence. BARACK OBAMA SLAMS POP CULTURE FOR FOISTING BAD VALUES ON YOUNG MEN A lot of hip-hop and rap music is built around me showing how I got more money than you, I can disrespect you and you cant do nothing about it, Im going to talk about you and punk you, Obama said. In addition, he criticized the objectification of women and sexual immorality promoted by hip-hop. I grew up influenced by hip-hop in many of the negative ways that the former president described. But I learned to make excuses for myself because I embraced a certain moral relativism, telling myself that it was OK for me to hurt myself and others because of how unfair the world was to me. In the worldview promoted by both hip-hop and today's Democratic politics, it's as if young men of color are morally irrelevant because we are simply passengers on a train controlled by others, with no say in where we are going. I learned this way of thinking in large part through the 1990s rappers I listened to on my CD player and watched on television. Their collective philosophy of avoiding personal responsibility was alluring to a young man angry with the world. Years of thinking of myself as a powerless victim of an unjust world went by before I had people in my life speak to me in the way Obama spoke to those young men in Oakland: as an iconoclast knocking down false idols. Young men in the Obamas audience were lucky to hear that message earlier in life than I did. There are deep roots to Obamas vision for what a better America for young men of color looks like. With his My Brother's Keeper initiative, the former president is participating in a long and storied African-American political tradition of reminding young men that a strong moral compass makes a difference. This tradition is present in different approaches to black political leadership from Booker T. Washington to Marcus Garvey to Martin Luther King Jr. In this tradition, it's imperative that all people regardless of race or class turn inward when thinking about how to make the world a better place, rather than narrowly focusing on what others are doing to them or for them. Obama occasionally invoked this political tradition when he was president, such as in his 2013 commencement address at Morehouse College. So the truth is, he hasn't changed all that much since leaving the White House. But as president, Obama rarely criticized hip-hops cultural influence. Instead, he invited rappers to the White House and publicly befriended Jay-Z and Beyonce. Obamas mixed messages may give his criticisms today more credibility with young men who need to hear them, but his past reliance on the star power of rappers might also explain why other Democrats so rarely criticize hip-hop and its influence on young men. Indeed, the aversion of todays Democratic leaders to talking about culture and family is bigger than hip-hop. Democrats today seem to have no interest in encouraging young men of color to turn inward only outward. The Democratic Party is narrowly focused on articulating an urgent need for the U.S. government to save the American people with big, sweeping actions like the Green New Deal. And Democrats criticize their own, such as Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., for suggesting that what a candidate believes matters far more than that candidate's race, gender or sexual orientation. Any attempt to discuss culture and family is dismissed in favor of discussing racism. Inconsistent with Obamas call to action in Oakland, todays Democratic leaders appear to define young men of color by what others rich people, white people, privileged classes do to us and for us. This is why it's easier to find Democratic presidential candidates on record being fooled by what police say was the staged assault of actor Jussie Smollett than it is to find the candidates talking about far more common forms of violence like gang violence, where young men of color are not just victims but also perpetrators. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP In the worldview promoted by both hip-hop and today's Democratic politics, it's as if young men of color are morally irrelevant because we are simply passengers on a train controlled by others, with no say in where we are going. But thats simply untrue. We need people to remind us of the moral agency each individual possesses. Obama provided such a reminder this week. Hopefully he stays on message. | https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/has-obama-become-a-conservative |
Will second Trump-Kim summit be substance or show? | After last year's visually striking summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore, President Trump heralded it as a success and even claimed North Korea no longer poses a nuclear threat. Eight months later, however, experts believe North Korea has failed to show tangible steps toward denuclearization and the Pentagon has said that North Korea still poses an "extraordinary threat" to the United States and its allies. As Mr. Trump prepares for his second summit with the North Korean strongman, this time in Hanoi, Vietnam, it remains to be seen whether this summit will yield significant steps towards denuclearization, or yield similar results as last year's meeting. Meanwhile, the White House has yet to lay out specific goals of the summit, other than continued progress towards denuclearization. And some experts warn that if this summit produces as few tangible outcomes on denuclearization as the last, that could do more harm than good. If Mr. Trump's second summit with Kim doesn't produce more concrete commitments from North Korea than the first one did, the U.S. could risk triggering a proliferation race among East Asian powers, Korea expert Sue Mi Terry told CBS News' Intelligence Matters podcast this week. "North Korea, without really having done anything, they look more legitimate. Kim Jong Un looks more legitimate," Terry added. Bruce Klingener, a senior research fellow on Northeast Asia with the conservative Heritage Foundation, wrote that "much is riding on the outcome of the next Trump-Kim summit. The second summit must not repeat the mistakes of the first. It must have substance rather than simply the pomp and circumstance of the first." "There has been no tangible progress on North Korean denuclearization," Klingener continued. "Pyongyang continues its nuclear and missile programs unabated, and there has been no degradation of the multi-faceted North Korean threat to the United States and its allies. The U.S. is now risking a second summit with North Korea without first insisting on fleshing out the bare bones of the Singapore summit statement. There are concerns in Washington, Seoul, and Tokyo that President Trump may agree to several North Korean proposals that appear beneficial but contain hidden perils." The statement Mr. Trump and Kim signed last year reaffirmed a declaration that the "DPRK commits to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." But in December, national security adviser John Bolton suggested the president believes a second summit would be productive precisely because Kim hasn't lived up to his commitments, not because he has. "They have not lived up to the commitments so far," Bolton said during The Wall Street Journal's annual CEO Council conference in D.C. "That's why I think the president thinks that another summit is likely to be productive." The U.S. is entering summit with few publicly explained goals, and Trump administration officials have struggled to identify tangible progress on denuclearization, or even the process of defining what that is. Senior administration officials on a call with reporters earlier this week admitted that the U.S. and North Korea still don't share a defined definition of denuclearization, months after the first summit. One of the expectations for the Vietnam summit, a senior administration official told reporters, is reaching a "shared understanding of what denuclearization is." When asked what specific goals the White House has for the summit, top White House adviser Kellyanne Conway pointed to making progress on denuclearization and to past non-nuclear related diplomatic steps with North Korea. "The president's made very clear that he wants to have a second meeting of its kind as a way to continue to move towards denuclearization in the Korean Peninsula which benefits everyone," Conway said. "And of course it was President Obama who told President Trump, North Korea will be your greatest challenge." "So he's trying to tackle that challenge, we're way ahead already," Conway added. "We have the detainees back on American soil. The vice president went to Hawaii to receive the remains of some of our fallen from the Korean War. To try to end the war of nearly seven decades in Korea and get on our way to denuclearization is a very, very important goal and that's why the president is going over for a second time, traveling quite a distance, toward that end. But in the meantime the sanctions remain." Publicly, the White House isn't setting high hopes for this second summit. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told Fox News on Friday that the only ones setting "high expectations" for the summit are the media because journalists are looking for reasons to attack the president. "I think that the only one setting high expectations is probably the media because they're looking for reasons to attack this president," Sanders told Fox News Friday. "They hate the idea that he's done so well on something his predecessors couldn't do anything on." Asked following that comment if the White House does not have high expectations for the summit, Sanders told CBS News the U.S. is "continuing to see positive progress," but that "we're not going to be nave in the process." | https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-second-meeting-kim-jon-un-style-or-substance/ |
When did Buster Posey become the Giants wise old veteran? | SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. Looking around the clubhouse, its hard to believe that Buster Posey is the Giants wise old veteran. For the Giants faithful, Posey remains forever young. A modern-day Mickey Mantle who still appears to have a tenuous relationship with his razor. But in that clubhouse, theres no denying Poseys tenure. Starting his 10th full season with the team, the Giants cornerstone oozes experience. And hes ready to share it with the next generation. Posey sat down with The Chronicle recently to talk about this stage of a stellar career. Hes done it all in baseball. Rookie of the Year. Six-time All-Star. Three titles. MVP. Batting title. Gold Glove. Buster Ballgame has had a hell of a ride. And hes only 31. Its definitely different. Theres still excitement. But I think now, especially coming off the (offseason hip) surgery, its about making sure I prepare in the right way, said Posey. In your first couple of years, its all about making an impression. Trying to treat it almost as a trial, in a sense, to impress the people that make the decisions that get you out onto that field. I think its changed in that sense, to where Im just trying to make sure Im in the best mind-set and peak physical position to be ready Opening Day. To make that happen, Giants manager Bruce Bochy is playing it safe with his future Hall of Famer. Posey wont catch any games this spring until March 1. For now, hes catching sessions at the teams Scottsdale facility and spreading his vast knowledge of the game. Now, dont get me wrong. The Giants have plenty of other veterans in the dugout. Madison Bumgarner and Pablo Sandoval have been with Posey for most of the ride. Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija have logged a lot of big-league miles. And Brandon Crawford is a solid veteran presence. But Posey is whom young Giants seek out. Steven Duggar, gearing up for his second season in the teams outfield, told me he regularly goes to Posey for advice. Young catcher Joey Bart, the No. 2 pick in the draft last year, is also learning at the masters shin guards. For Posey, its all about doing the right thing. Doing right by the game. It wasnt that long ago that he was in the same place. I think Bengie Molina made it really easy on me. I was in a similar position as Joey Bart is in now coming in as a high pick, and a high bonus, said Posey. Bengie was a little older than I am now, but he was coming in toward the end. He was just so welcoming. I never felt that there was any resentment or jealousy. We were able to talk the game. I still stay in touch with him to this day. Im very appreciative of him making that first time in big-league camp memorable. A decade or more later, Posey is paying that kindness forward. Thats not lost on Bart, whos expected to play Single-A ball in San Jose this season, just as Buster did back in the day. I think I couldnt have been put in a better position, said Bart, a strapping lad whos listed at 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds. Its like a family. ... Im just trying to learn all I can. Posey gives Bart advice, some not even being baseball-related. Weve also had some good baseball talks, as well. Im kind of learning everything, which is lucky on my part, said Bart. Posey sees it as part of the job. Teaching the next generation. Definitely. Yeah, definitely, said Posey. Hopefully, I still have a few good years under my belt. But, yeah, you for sure can (help young players). Thats what its all about. Theres a sense of nostalgia surrounding this Giants team. We know that Bochy is managing his last season. We dont know how much longer Bumgarner will be around. Sandovals at the end of the road. The heart and soul of San Franciscos championship era is on the back stretch, coming off a serious hip procedure. Well see if the old guard can summon another magical season. Anythings possible in the bright sunshine of Arizona. However this season turns out, rest assured that the next generation of Giants are seeing how its done. Learning from the best. Maybe one day Ill be lucky enough to teach some more guys some stuff, said Bart. I hope so, that would be awesome. Al Saracevic is the Sports Editor of The San Francisco Giants. E-mail: [email protected] Twitter: @alsaracevic | https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/article/When-did-Buster-Posey-become-the-Giants-wise-13639731.php |
Should genealogy sites be used to catch a killer? | The brutal stabbing death of Jeanne Childs in her Minneapolis apartment 25 years ago seemed destined to remain a mystery. But when investigators recently tapped one of the popular genealogy sites used by millions of people to track their ancestry, they finally hit on a lead to crack the cold case and charge an Isanti, Minn., businessman with murder. Its an innovative investigative tool increasingly used by law enforcement nationwide to solve heinous crimes, but one that critics say raises ethical issues around privacy and constitutional rights. The growing popularity of genealogical websites such as AncestryDNA, which claims to have more than 10 million users, means it wont be long before all Americans could be reachable through one of these consumer databases, even if they did not submit their own DNA samples, said Natalie Ram, an assistant law professor at the University of Baltimore who has studied and written about genetics for the past 15 years. Its undoubtedly a good thing to solve serious violent crimes, Ram said. But the American system of criminal justice represents a balancing act between privacy of people in the United States and the power of the police to use whatever means they want to solve a crime. Ram believes that using familial genetic identification violates the genetic privacy of people who havent shared it on an open platform or had their DNA profiles entered into a national or state database because they were criminally convicted or arrested. Jerry Westrom, 52, an Isanti businessman, is charged with fatally stabbing Childs in 1993. Investigators trailed him to a hockey game and obtained DNA from a hot dog napkin he discarded. Its a difficult position to take, Ram added, because she and other critics acknowledge the value in solving violent crimes. But its principled and a right position, she said. Some law enforcement agencies have rushed to the genealogy sites in the past year after California investigators used one to find the Golden State Killer, a rapist and murderer who had eluded authorities for decades. Sharing user records So far, most law enforcement agencies have used GEDmatch, a free public database, for their searches. And recently Family Tree DNA acknowledged to its users that it opened its database of more than 1 million records to the FBI. AncestryDNA, which has one of the largest databases, tells users it wont share their information with law enforcement unless it receives a subpoena or warrant. Genetic genealogists like CeCe Moore have long understood the power of the sites to help identify people. Ive helped thousands of adoptees and people of unknown parentage find their birth families, she said. Its no surprise to me that its equally as powerful for law enforcement. We should now be able to identify serial killers or serial rapists much more quickly and stop them from victimizing other people. Moore estimates about 50 cases primarily cold cases have been solved in the past year using a genealogy site. The cat is out of the bag, said Christi Guerrini, assistant professor at the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Its fast becoming a useful tool for law enforcement to generate new leads, but these sites need to clearly tell users that their information may be used by law enforcement, she said. Databases need to be transparent with their users, Guerrini stressed. Guerrini said its likely that many users will be comfortable exposing their information to law enforcement. After posting an online poll, she and a colleague found 91 percent of the 1,500 people who responded supported police use of genealogy sites to solve violent crimes such as rape, murder, arson and kidnapping while 46 percent supported using them to solve lesser crimes, such as car thefts. While the sites are capable of providing breakthroughs on some cases, it can be time-consuming for investigators to find the suspect. If police are lucky, theyll submit DNA from a crime scene and get a genetic match. Then, often with the help of a skilled genealogist, they will build a family tree and use old-fashioned detective work to narrow the list of potential suspects. I think people think you go get a tube of something and you stick it in a computer, someones name pops up and you throw them in jail, said Minneapolis police Sgt. Chris Karakostas, who was eager to see if a genealogy site could help solve some of his cold cases. Most law-enforcement agencies have used GEDmatch, a free public database, for searches. Family Tree DNA recently told its users that it has opened its database of 1 million-plus records to the FBI. AncestryDNA says it wont share data with law enforcement without a subpoena or a warrant. The first case he chose late last year was the unsolved 1993 killing of 35-year-old Jeanne Childs. Investigators had reached a dead end when the DNA that was gathered from the crime scene didnt match any profile in the law enforcement database of those convicted or arrested of a crime or the DNA collected from possible suspects. With the help of the genealogy site, investigators zeroed in on two people one of them Jerry Westrom, who was 27 at the time of the murder. Last month, investigators trailed Westrom, now 52, to a hockey game, where he ordered a hot dog from a concession stand. When he was done eating, he wiped his mouth with a napkin and tossed it into the trash. Investigators recovered the napkin and found that the DNA on it was consistent with DNA collected from the apartment where Childs was stabbed. Police arrested Westrom on Feb. 11 at his Waite Park office and has since charged him with second-degree murder. Critics urge caution Karakostas said he plans to continue to try the genealogy sites for other cold cases where investigators have DNA evidence but havent identified a suspect. Sometimes, the sites wont produce a lead, he said, but if they do, you still have to get the evidence to see if that person is involved. We have just scratched the surface with this, he said. This gives a lot of families hope. Paul Applebaum, a Twin Cities defense attorney, sees the sites as an ingenious investigative tool but worries that they are intrusive and ripe for abuse. There are some people who say our lives are transparent anyway and theyre comfortable with it. They think there isnt any private space, even down to your DNA, he said. Technology is outstripping our understanding of how its being used. I dont think people have thought through the legal and ethical implications. Some of his concerns, however, could be alleviated if investigators were required to get a search warrant and a protective order outlining parameters for the search of a genealogy database, he said. It needs judicial supervision because the potential for abuse is there, Applebaum said. Hennepin County District Attorney Mike Freeman said he hasnt seen any abuse so far but welcomes discussions about privacy concerns. In Maryland, state House delegate Charles Sydnor III has introduced legislation to prohibit police use of genealogical sites. Maryland is the only state that prohibits familial DNA searches in its state offender database system. If we prohibit it on a database of criminals who have been convicted, then why not extend it to databases of people who havent been convicted and are just curious about their ancestry? Sydnor said. The bill likely wont pass this year, he said, but it should start the debate over the ethics and constitutionality of using the sites for solving crimes. I dont want to take tools away, he said. But I want to make sure law enforcement is doing things in a constitutional way. | http://www.startribune.com/should-genealogy-sites-be-used-to-catch-a-killer/506274462/ |
What do the Oscars' goodie bags say about Hollywood? | I know that anxiety is no laughing matter - it's a very real thing that's also become a fad, spawning a multi-million-dollar industry beloved by those open-armed embracers of such things, celebrities. In fact, anxiety consumerism isn't just a thing but the thing, as the contents of this year's Oscars gift bags prove. At tonight's 91st Academy Awards, instead of the usual array of tech goodies, handbags and premium velour robes, A-listers will be handed swag bags packed full of stress relieving products and packages: everything from "Coda Signature premium cannabis-infused edibles, topicals and concentrates", which apparently aid relaxation and promote sleep; "an annual VIP membership to MOTA", LA's first cannabis-friendly social club; "private phobia relief sessions with the world's number one phobia expert, Kalliope Barlis"; Cannabis Facial Moisturiser and CBD-infused ointments from LA-based "age interventionist" Renee Lynn. First of all, and I think I speak for all of us here, the thought that we don't have "age interventionists" in Britain - just Churchillian jowls, Shane MacGowan teeth and a fatalistic attitude towards inevitable decrepitude - is making me anxious. Secondly: wow - they're really rolling out the green carpet tonight. If A-listers behave anything like I do with goodie bags - eating and applying the entire contents as soon as I climb into a cab - it'll be worth watching the live-streamed Vanity Fair party they all go to on Twitter, where hundreds of heavy-lidded, sniggering and stratospherically high stars will be leaving their statuettes on lavatory cisterns and nodding off mid-sentence. Advertisement When they're not following the canap trays around, that is. But actually the Oscar gift bags - which have nothing to do with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and can contain up to six figures' worth of products and vouchers - have always been crammed full of curious items like dog mattresses, kids books and vouchers for CPR training, alongside more obvious luxury items. So the real question isn't so much why this year's is a shrine to both anxiety consumerism and the marijuana marketplace as "how can the most pampered and cosseted one percenters on the planet possibly be in need of stress relief?" Rafi Anteby, a martial arts expert who has worked with celebrities suffering from anxiety, and on Friday curated his own Oscar gifting suite at the Waldorf Astoria in Beverly Hills, insists the abundance of anxiety-quelling products and experiences he too had on offer this year are responding to genuine need. "I always tell celebrities that I wish they could really have lives they put on Instagram - but they don't. And their hardships may be very different to the ones that we have, but they're real," he tells me. "They need to smile at any given time and be nice to everybody. But they can't touch anybody or do anything, because the PR is telling them what to do along with everybody else. Absolutely. There is a very high level of anxiety in this town - and everybody is looking for a way to reduce that." Actors are more prone to it than other performers, Anteby feels, "because they have this empty shell. And every time they have to fill it with something different. So they go into character, then wash that off and go into another character, and the amount of time when they can really experience something themselves ends up being close to nothing". Because the designer clothes, bags and cosmetics that have traditionally filled Oscar swag bags and suites "are just more things with which to adorn their shell, they won't really help with what they're feeling inside". Awards season is obviously particularly stressful, Anteby goes on. "When I talk to the people involved in the Oscars, especially the nominees themselves, I see that they they're being pulled in a thousand directions." So what they really need afterwards is to take time out, go somewhere else and replenish themselves." Especially, one assumes, if they lose. To that end, Anteby gave away a variety of "serenity breaks" in his gifting suite this year, ranging from spa holidays at Bali's Royal Purnama hotel - where stressed out celebrities can be covered in healing black sand before being cleansed with holy water - and meditation trips to Costa Rica's Rythmia Resort, where guests work with a shaman, herbalists and doctors to reduce stress and "reach states of optimum tranquillity" that have been seriously challenged by losing out on that Best Supporting Actor gong to a newcomer with less than an ounce of their talent. He also provided free safaris in Uganda, where A-listers' contorted minds can be soothed by "gorilla therapy". "You literally submit yourself to the gorillas," Anteby enthuses. "You don't move and they come over and touch you and it's a really grounding thing to have the most powerful creature in the universe realising you are not a threat and being gentle with you." But if you don't have time or inclination for soul relief that extended and adventurous, there is always CBD, which claims to calm and reset in 20 to 40 minutes - depending on how you administer it. "It's perfect for actors," says Anteby, who has worked with Jackie Chan on set. "Think about it. They often have to get up at 4am and then have punishing filming schedules and consequently trouble sleeping with all that adrenalin. "Because crucially CBD doesn't affect your constitution, so you can be up and alert the following morning." I very much doubt any Oscar attendees are going to be alert tomorrow morning - not if they've plundered their gift bags like the premium anxiety consumers that they are. But I've always secretly admired the American tendency to try to consume their way out of a problem - and to be honest, the methods all sound pretty pleasant. I've taken a test and was almost disappointed to find I had a "moderate" anxiety score. Still, if I really focus on worrying enough, I'm sure I can work it up to high - and hotfoot it to the land of green edibles and gorilla therapy. The Sunday Telegraph | https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=12206699 |
Can Austin Peay basketball catch Belmont, Murray State this season or next? | Austin Peay's Terry Taylor (Photo11: George Robinson / The Leaf-Chronicle) Matt Figger doesnt even pause when Belmont and Murray State are mentioned. Hes heard this line of questioning before. In two seasons as Austin Peay basketball coach, Figger has chased but not yet caught the frontrunners of the Ohio Valley Conference. And until we beat them, theyre the only two faces of the league, Figger said. Belmont and Murray State are considered at-large bid possibilities for the NCAA tournament, quite a compliment for teams under the scheduling constraints of a mid-major conference. Austin Peays rsum is more suited for the NIT or CollegeInsiders.com Tournament, where it played last season. And despite Austin Peays 21 wins this season, only three shy of the program record, it has a 0-6 record combined against Belmont and Murray State in Figgers two seasons. The Governors will get an opportunity to change that when they play at Murray State in Saturdays regular-season finale (7 p.m., ESPN Plus). If you start looking at things in their totality rather than each game, you might lose one and wonder if youll ever win another one, said Figger, aware that his Austin Peay squad cant overlook Thursdays game (6:30 p.m., ESPN Plus) against Eastern Kentucky. Austin Peay trying to stay in title race Austin Peay head coach Matt Figger yells at his players during the second half of their game against Vanderbilt at Memorial Gymnasium Friday, Nov. 10, 2017 in Nashville, Tenn. (Photo11: George Walker IV / Tennessean.com) But the OVC standings and head-to-head scores say Austin Peay may be closing the gap with Belmont and Murray State. Late in the Governors 92-78 win over UT-Martin on Saturday, fans chanted, OVC, OVC, OVC! alluding to the tightening conference title race entering the final week of the regular season. Austin Peay has a 13-3 OVC record alongside Jacksonville State (13-3) and trailing Belmont and Murray State, both at 14-2, with two games remaining. A year ago, Austin Peay suffered lopsided losses to Belmont and Murray State. This season the Governors fell 96-92 to Belmont and 73-71 to Murray State in their only losses of the past month. If we win out and others lose, everyone knows that were right in the hunt, said senior Zach Glotta, who had 26 points and eight 3-pointers, both career highs, in his final home game against UT-Martin. Obviously, Belmont is historically good. Murray State is usually good. If Austin Peay can catch either Belmont or Murray State, it may take time both on the court and in perception. Austin Peay has budding star Terry Taylor, the 2018 OVC Freshman of the Year. But hes not Murray States Ja Morant, a projected top-five pick in the NBA Draft, or Belmonts Dylan Windler, the OVC Preseason Player of the Year. Figger, just 63 games into his head coaching career, is not Belmonts Rick Byrd, who recently earned his 800th career win. Its hard enough for Figger to coach out of the shadow of Austin Peay icon Dave Loos, whose 421 wins were the most in OVC history. However, Figger, the 2018 OVC Coach of the Year, has a pretty good start. Next season Figger will get back Taylor, three players currently sitting out with injuries and a well-stocked recruiting class to make another run at Belmont and Murray State. This season, the Governors may still have a shot to get ahead of schedule in that chase. NEWSLETTERS Get the Sports newsletter delivered to your inbox We're sorry, but something went wrong Top and trending sports headlines you need to know for your busy day. Please try again soon, or contact Customer Service at 1-800-342-8237. Delivery: Daily Invalid email address Thank you! You're almost signed up for Sports Keep an eye out for an email to confirm your newsletter registration. More newsletters We are just as good as them when everything is going right for us, but we have to be at our best, Taylor said. (Figger) said nothing would ever be handed to us here, so weve got to earn our place. Reach Adam Sparks at [email protected] and on Twitter @AdamSparks. | https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/2019/02/23/austin-peay-basketball-belmont-murray-state/2951866002/ |
Could a new California law free a teen killer convicted as an adult for a brutal double homicide? | Produced by Judy Rybak and Stephanie Slifer Six years ago, someone savagely stabbed to death Chip Northup, 87, and Claudia Maupin, 76, as they slept inside their Davis, California, home. Police found no physical evidence and investigators thought they might have some challenges finding the killer. "It was the most horrific, depraved murder I've ever seen as the district attorney in this county," Yolo County, California, D.A Jeff Reisig tells " "48 Hours"' correspondent Erin Moriarty. "I was certain they were going to find some forensic evidence in the crime scene. A finger print, DNA, shoe prints, something, and they found nothing." However, two months after the April 14, 2013 murders, police got an unexpected tip from a teenager saying his best friend, then 15-year-old Daniel Marsh, had bragged about the murders. In an interview with police, Daniel told them what happened. Prosecutors charged him as an adult. Experts diagnosed Daniel as a psychopath, who killed the couple for pleasure. He was tried as an adult, convicted and sentenced to 52 years to life. What seemed to be a closed case was far from it. Four years after Daniel's conviction, a new California law has thrown his sentence into jeopardy. Now, his lawyers are arguing that Daniel should be retried as a juvenile. If successful Marsh, now 21, would be retried and resentenced in juvenile court, where the maximum sentence runs only to age 25. A SAVAGE DOUBLE MURDER Take a ride through Davis, California, and you'll see why the college town has been named one of this country's best places to live and why Claudia Maupin moved here. Victoria Hurd | Claudia Maupin's daughter: She loved living in college communities. So, she loved being around all the young people and all the new ideas. Victoria Hurd says Davis was one of California's safest cities when her mother first arrived in 1995 and started attending services at a Unitarian church, hoping to meet her third husband. Victoria Hurd: She had been a spiritual traveler through many different religions and denominations, and she just had fallen in love with the Unitarian church. So, she said to me, "My husband is at the Unitarian church." Claudia Maupin and Chip Northup Sarah Rice Claudia soon met Oliver "Chip" Northup, one of the church's founders. Well known for his social activism, Northup was a World War II veteran and a prominent attorney. Like Claudia, Chip had been married several times. But according to his firstborn daughter Mary, the couple's families blended easily. Mary Northup | Chip Northup's daughter: Claudia had that ability to make every person that she spent time with feel that special so that they would come away and say, "She's my best friend." Both Chip and Claudia's families were thrilled when the couple decided to marry in 1996. Erin Moriarty: I would think then the church was filled. Sarah Rice | Claudia Maupin's granddaughter: Filled, it was packed. Victoria Hurd: It was filled. Victoria Hurd: No. Absolutely not. Sarah Rice: No. Victoria Hurd: They had an idyllic life. they had so many loved ones around them. They had so many great neighbors. They lived in Davis! Claudia and Chip had been married for 17 years when, on the night of Saturday, April 13, 2013, they said goodnight to each other for the very last time. The next morning at church, the couple was noticeably absent. Mary Northup: I called. And I called his number, and I called Claudia's number and they both went to voicemail. Chip was in a local folk band. When he didn't show up for a gig that afternoon, Chip's son Robert and a grandson paid a visit to Chip and Claudia's condo. Robert Northup: we rang the doorbell and no one answered. everything I saw indicated they were out of town. Robert had a key but chose not to use it. Later that evening, Claudia's stepdaughter Laura also rang the bell. When there was no answer, she went around back and saw an open window with its screen slashed. One look through the bedroom window and Laura knew that something awful had happened. Robert Northup: She saw blood stains She saw enough that she made a call to get other people over there. Victoria Hurd: The next morning there's 12 missed calls from my sister. She said "there's been a break in and there are two dead bodies in the house" and then I lost it. My brain couldn't process that. Victoria Hurd, center, arrives at the crime scene. Davis Enterprise/Sue Cockrell Victoria had to call her daughter Sarah and break the news. But all that police would share is that Claudia and Chip had been stabbed "multiple times." Is there a certain number that we should know?" And the coroner said, "All I can tell you is that multiple means more than 12." It would be just over a year before they learned that Chip had 61 stab wounds; Claudia had 67. Sarah Rice [crying]: That's 128 stab wounds. How does anybody even have the strength to do that. But that wasn't even the worst of it. Davis Police Lieutenant Paul Doroshov says the killer had experimented with the bodies and had placed a cellphone into Claudia's abdomen and a drinking glass into Chip's stomach. Lt. Paul Doroshov | City of Davis Police Dept. : We thought that, well maybe there's some type of meaning to it but We were trying to latch onto every detail we could to help us with this case. But there was little to latch onto. There was no physical evidence -- not even a shoe print. FBI Special Agent Chris Campion: The place isn't ransacked. There's no valuables missing. Clearly this is not a burglary that was interrupted. Sarah Rice: I think we were two months into it. FBI Special Agent Chris Campion: We brought 25 FBI agents, experienced task force officers from other areas, and we really flooded that neighborhood. Deputy D.A. Amanda Zambor | Yolo County, Calif: We thought it had to be somebody close to Chip and Claudia, something that happened where there was a disagreement some family dispute because it did appear to be so personal. Former Special Agent Chris Campion says that even the FBI profilers were stumped, unsure if they were dealing with one killer or more or if the open window was even the point of entry. Mary Northup: I think they had at this point developed a story that somebody with a key had done it and that they'd cut this hole in the screen to divert attention. Erin Moriarty: To make it look like someone had broken in. Mary Northup: So that if you come up with that theory, then you have to look at family members. Sarah Rice: FBI agents had called us all individually, and you could tell that they were doing everything in their power to get answers, but there was nothing. Until they got to Chip's son Robert, and his two sons Oliver and Tony. Oliver suffers from schizophrenia. Robert Northup: We lived in the same town not very far away, it would not have been logistically difficult for one of us to have gone over there and done that. Robert also had that key to the condo. Oliver Northup | Chip Northup's grandson: Well, yeah, they asked us to come in for questioning and I agreed. Robert Northup: That first day was about eight hours of questioning, the next day was another six. It was just day after day, long hours of questioning. Oliver Northup: Mm-hmm [affirms]. Robert Northup: And I kept thinking, "Well, my father would want us to cooperate in every way." They were questioned without a lawyer. Oliver Northup: Very nervous. And with good reason. When police searched Robert's home, they found the kind of evidence that gets people convicted. First, carpeting that had been steam-cleaned on the day of the murders. Robert Northup: Yeah, it was bad timing. I didn't anticipate that that would be the same weekend my father got murdered. It looked like I was covering up, removing evidence. Investigators also found a very disturbing drawing by Tony. It was the image of a man with a knife, standing over two children in a bed. Mary Northup: The only thing I can say is that, the three of them -- they're not violent. If something had clicked and turned them violent it would never have been for these two people. Sarah Rice: No. Never. Victoria Hurd: Not for a second, because Chip spent so much time with those boys. those boys adored him. The family spent thousands of dollars hiring an attorney for Tony and repairing all the damage done by investigators. Robert Northup: Then they cut out the carpet, they took out some of the plumbing fixtures looking for things that might have been put in the drain and they also took out a little bit of flooring. Robert Northup, left with his sons Tony, center, and Oliver Robert Northup The Northup family, Tony, in particular, felt persecuted. And even though his name was eventually cleared, Tony still felt that neighbors had their doubts about him. Three years after the murders, he would commit suicide. Oliver got a tattoo in memory of him. Oliver Northup: Yeah. I think so. Two months after the murders, police got this call: 911 OPERATOR: Davis Police Emergency. D.A. Jeff Reisig: When this tip came in, it seemed really strange. It didn't seem to match what any of us had thought. ALVARO GARIBAY: The reason I want to remain anonymous is cause if my mom finds out she will send me to military school. ALVARO GARIBAY: Um, the double homicide that happened in April this year. ALVARO GARIBAY: Everything actually. A 17-year-old Davis High School student called to say he knew who killed "that couple" -- it was his best friend. ALVARO GARIBAY: Daniel Marsh. ALVARO GARIBAY: Yeah, Daniel Marsh or Dan Marsh. Daniel Marsh was a name that Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig had heard years earlier, but not in connection with a crime. Erin Moriarty: At the time, he was viewed as a young hero. He had saved his father's life. D.A. Jeff Reisig: Right. He was the hero of the day. At age 10, Daniel Marsh received the Red Cross Heroes Award for using CPR to save his father Bill, pictured left, who had a heart attack while driving. Davis Enterprise/Fred Gladdis At 10, Daniel was given an American Red Cross Heroes Award after using CPR to save his father from a heart attack. D.A. Jeff Reisig: I remember thinking at that time, this kid's going places. It didn't seem possible. D.A. Jeff Reisig: Total shock that a boy was responsible for these crimes. No one imagined, says District Attorney Jeff Reisig, that the depraved killer of Chip Northrup and his wife Claudia might turn out to be a 15-year-old teenager. And certainly not this teenager who had once saved his father Bill Marsh's life. At the time of the murders, Bill Marsh lived next door to Claudia and Chip. Bill Marsh: And I chose that location because it was in walking distance of their mother's. That's where Daniel lived -- at his mother Sherri's house -- and it's where he was staying on the night of the murders. The day the bodies were discovered, Bill Marsh was home recovering from back surgery when police showed up at his door. Bill Marsh: Knock, knock, knock on the door, "Hi, I'm so and so, the police. Do you know Chip and his wife?" I said, "No, I don't know anybody. I just moved in." About two weeks after the murders, Bill Marsh says he could no longer afford the rent and moved out. Special Agent Chris Campion: I remember very vividly one of the neighbors came up and said, "Hey, I don't know if this is relevant or not, but several days after the murder, the guy in that house moved out." And we didn't think much about it at that time. Alvaro Garibay, left, and Daniel Marsh. Two months after the murders, Garibay tipped off police, telling them Marsh, his best friend, had bragged about the murders. Facebook And investigators might never have focused on Daniel Marsh if not for that phone call from 17-year-old Alvaro Garibay two months after the crime, accusing his best friend of murder: ALVARO GARIBAY [Police interview]: Well, he talked about killing people a lot. I didn't really think seriously he'll kill someone. Erin Moriarty: So, help me understand ... this was your best friend. Alvaro Garibay: I know. I don't know if I can help you understand that [laughs]. Garibay says he laughs when nervous. But back then, investigators took him very seriously. He seemed to know way too much about the murders -- gory details known only to a handful of investigators and the killer. Garibay was interviewed twice, leaving investigators wondering if he was the killer: ALVARO GARIBAY: He cut both of them open and just to see the insides or something. And then he went to the woman I think, and he wanted to know what an eye looked like. So he tried taking it out with a knife but he said it was really hard so he couldn't do it. DET. ALVARO GARIBAY: Because, I don't know, actually. I was afraid. Garibay says he finally came forward because Daniel had threatened to kill again. Alvaro Garibay: Oh, yeah -- mine, my family's, my friends. On June 17, 2013, investigators asked the high school resource officer to bring Daniel Marsh in for questioning and he seemed more than happy to talk. It was now up to Davis Detective Ariel Pineda and FBI Special Agent Chris Campion to get to the truth. Special Agent Chris Campion: No. Certainly not at the beginning. I think he figured he could talk his way through it. DANIEL MARSH: I just know that somebody broke into this old couple's house and stabbed them, killed them. Investigators would spend the next three hours learning all they could about Marsh, looking for a way in: DANIEL MARSH: Uh, I was that loner kid, that you know, there's always that one outcast. DANIEL MARSH: Yeah. SPECIAL AGENT CAMPION: Wow, and then mom basically left, abandoned you, or your family DANIEL MARSH: Yeah, for like three or four months. Marsh's mother ended her marriage after having an affair with a woman -- Daniel's kindergarten teacher -- which enraged the 10-year-old. Alvaro Garibay: He hated her. He would tell me that, "I know this woman was involved in my parents' divorce. And I just want to, like, strangle her to death." Marsh even tried taking his anger out on himself: DANIEL MARSH: I used to like harm myself [points to his left forearm] SPECIAL AGENT CAMPION: I see a scar or two there, yeah. DANIEL MARSH: Yeah. Special Agent Chris Campion: As near as I understood the cutting phenomenon, it was people who just kind of have this flat, depressed kind of dark outlook on life, and the cutting actually brings that sense of living. Campion says Daniel Marsh was willing to do anything to feel something -- including starving himself: DANIEL MARSH: All the pain and depression and anger just like -- I internalized it and I directed it towards myself. Daniel was voluntarily committed to an eating disorder clinic for 25 days, and while his anorexia seems to have passed, Garibay says Marsh's anger continued to consume him. Alvaro Garibay: He would tell me a lot about suicide. Alvaro Garibay: I think 14. DANIEL MARSH: I attempted it four times in my life It seems there were several therapists and doctors who intervened, trying numerous medications. Then, in mid-December 2012, Daniel made a stunning admission, telling a school counselor that he fantasized about killing people. Robert Northup: She was so concerned they brought the police to the school. Daniel was shortly hospitalized, but, upon release, things got worse. Alvaro Garibay: He, like, brought it up more, but He was just, like "I wish that person would die." Daniel Marsh during questioning Yolo County D.A. 's Office But in his police interview, Daniel was denying it all, including the murders of Claudia and Chip. DANIEL MARSH [emotional]: getting arrested for two murders. I am so scared right now, of course I'm gonna do anything I can to try and say that I didn't do this. Special Agent Chris Campion: That was the first sign that he was getting over that wall, that he was getting ready to talk to us about what really happened. DANIEL MARSH: If you want to help me, then don't ruin my life. If anything, send me to the psychiatric hospital. Special Agent Chris Campion: Um, No. DANIEL MARSH: Every time I look at someone, in my mind I see flashes of images of me killing them. A FASCINATION WITH MURDER For more than three hours, Daniel Marsh insisted he knew nothing about the murders of Claudia Maupin and Chip Northup. But he began to reveal more and more about himself to Agent Chris Campion: DANIEL MARSH: When I was 10 I thought about and plotted about killing a woman that my mother left my father for. DANIEL MARSH: I was gonna slit her throat. Daniel Marsh Daniel says that was when he began to fantasize about killing people. Eventually he became obsessed with something called "gore porn," and a website devoted to it. Alvaro Garibay: I remember just like walking into his room. And he was like, "Dude, check this out." and it's like literally people getting beheaded. Alvaro Garibay: He just sat there. I think he was, like, fascinated by it. But it's one thing to be fascinated and another to actually take a life. Alvaro Garibay: He strangled a cat in the street. And then I was like "Oh, OK. Well, why'd you do that?" And like, "Well, I just wanted to do. I just I hated that cat." DANIEL MARSH: I -- that night I just -- I couldn't take it anymore. I had to do it. I lost control. There it was -- the opening that investigator Campion had been hoping for. Daniel admitted that he had been hunting for someone anyone -- to kill that night when he came upon Chip and Claudia's open living room window: DANIEL MARSH: I cut a hole in the screen climbed in through the back went to their bedroom, I opened the door, then I just kind of stood over their bed, watching them sleep for a few minutes. DANIEL MARSH: My body was trembling. I was nervous but excited and exhilarated. I was actually gonna do it, I was there, it was finally happening. Without any outward emotion, Daniel described how he repeatedly stabbed Claudia and Chip. What Daniel shares is graphic, but these disturbing details would become key evidence, in a family's battle for justice: DANIEL MARSH: I cut open both of their torsos, you around here [points to two areas of his chest], and in the woman I put a phone inside of her and I put a cup inside the guy. Daniel said it was all part of his plan to confuse investigators and get away with murder. He also taped the bottom of his shoes so he wouldn't leave prints and wore a ski mask and gloves so as not to leave behind DNA or fingerprints. But, hidden by Daniel in his mother's house, investigators found all the evidence they needed: bloody clothing and the knife used to kill Chip and Claudia. SPECIAL AGENT CAMPION: Did you wash blood off of it or did um, it had to have been fairly covered. DANIEL MARSH: I kept it as a souvenir. Chip Northup and Claudia Maupin were stabbed a combined 128 times. Daniel Marsh told investigators in his confession video, "It felt amazing." Yolo County D.A. 's Office A souvenir to forever remember how much he enjoyed taking two lives: DANIEL MARSH: I'm not gonna lie. It felt amazing. In fact, records show that Daniel was doing so much better in school, he was named student of the month after the high of the murders. DANIEL MARSH: It was pure happiness, and adrenaline and dopamine, just all of it, rushing over me. California teen says he fantasizes about killing everyone he meets After Daniel made a full confession, Campion did something unusual: SPECIAL AGENT CAMPION: You mentioned that pretty much everybody you meet you have thoughts about killing them and how you would kill them. DANIEL MARSH: Yeah. DANIEL MARSH: Just a lot of ways. Um, choking you to death with your tie. SPECIAL AGENT CAMPION: Ok. DANIEL MARSH: Uh, beating your face into the mirror until it broke and using the glass to cut your arteries, uh, gouging your eyes out and just smashing your face into the wall. Nothing personal. Special Agent Chris Campion: And I said I didn't take it personally because I didn't. That's his fantasy life. Special Agent Chris Campion: Absolutely. Without a doubt he actually talked about how he was going to take his next victim. He was lurking in the streets of Davis at night with a baseball bat intending to beat to death some poor passerby. DANIEL MARSH: I don't feel sympathy for other people -- at all. Don't feel empathy for them. D.A. Jeff Reisig: This was not the act of a broken child who had a rough life. This was the act of somebody who in my mind, is just evil. Daniel Marsh admitted that he had been hunting for someone anyone -- to kill that night when he came upon Chip Northup and Claudia Maupin's open living room window Davis Police Department Daniel Marsh was immediately arrested and charged with the murders of Chip Northup and Claudia Maupin. D.A. Jeff Reisig: At the time, no, because of the nature of the crime. He had to be tried in adult court. With Marsh facing life in prison, two top public defenders were assigned to his case. Then, Marsh pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity -- something Chris Campion had anticipated. FBI agent analyzes 15-year-old killers confession Special Agent Chris Campion: That's why I'd spent some time with him I wanted to make clear that he's not somebody who had had a break with reality, somebody who heard voices or had voices in his head telling him to do things. DANIEL MARSH: No. Special Agent Chris Campion: He wasn't anywhere close, in my opinion, to legally insane. Even psychiatrist Dr. Matthew Soulier, who was hired by the defense, agreed that Daniel was sane. Even though when they met, Daniel threatened to kill him. Dr. Matthew Soulier: I didn't find him to be insane. I found him to be mentally ill, but responsible for his crimes. And I think my understanding is that they went ahead and continued to pursue a defense of insanity. without Soulier as their expert witness. A year after the murders, Daniel Marsh went on trial. The defense argued that the anti-depressant drugs given to Daniel for his anorexia and suicide attempts had caused a temporary insanity. Deputy D.A. Amanda Zambor: "Zoloft made me do it." Deputy District Attorney Amanda Zambor wasn't having it. Deputy D.A. Amanda Zambor: But when you actually looked at the medical records, he was having these thoughts and fantasies before he was ever on Zoloft. Erin Moriarty: Bill, I know that you believe that a lot of your son's problems are connected to the medications he was taking. Bill Marsh: Oh, yeah. Erin Moriarty: But he had fantasies about killing before he started on the drugs. He killed animals before he started on these drugs. Bill Marsh: Yeah. See, I don't know that that's true. There's a whole series of confessions by people who have been on these drugs that have false memories. They believe certain things happened that never did. Deputy D.A. Amanda Zambor: Yes. the immediate thought is that somebody would have to be insane to do something like this. On Sept. 26, 2014, the jury deliberated for just under two hours before finding Daniel Marsh guilty of first-degree murder. They also found Marsh sane, allowing the judge to sentence him to the maximum: 52 years-to-life. Daniel Marsh, 17, reacts after being sentenced to 52 years-to-life for the murder of a Davis, Calif. couple. Davis Enterprise/Sue Cockrell VICTORIA HURD [to reporters]: We are very, very pleased with the verdict. For me, we feel justice. Victoria Hurd: We all exhaled. I mean that was great. Victoria Hurd: It wasn't over, Erin. No, it wasn't over. That's because two years later, California voters passed Prop 57, and gave Daniel Marsh a second chance. You'll recall that in this case, District Attorney Reisig made the decision to try Daniel Marsh as an adult. But under the new law, that decision would now have to be made by a juvenile court judge. D.A. Jeff Reisig: How do you call a family that sat through an entire trial. How do you call them up and say, "Sorry, you have to come back because there's a chance he may end up being pushed back to juvenile court where he would be potentially released at the age of 25." A judge would now listen to evidence and decide if Daniel Marsh should have been tried as a juvenile. If so, the state might be forced to set Marsh free on his 25th birthday. Deputy D.A. Amanda Zambor: He's 21 now. So in about three-and-a-half, four years, he would be out with no supervision. No parole. He would just be free. Victoria Hurd: I went into PTSD. And I said, "I can't do this I can't do this. I'm moving forward." But before a hearing date could even be set, a striking video appeared online. DANIEL MARSH | TEDX TALKS: Hurt people, hurt people Through a prison rehabilitation program, Daniel Marsh took center stage in his very own Tedx Talks, declaring that he is reformed, and deserves a second chance. Yolo County D.A. 's Office Through a prison rehabilitation program, Daniel Marsh took center stage in his very own Tedx Talks, declaring that he is reformed, and deserves a second chance. DANIEL MARSH | TEDx TALKS: I came to realize that there are no such things as evil people in this world. Only damaged people. Victoria Hurd: And I'm watching it like a deer in the headlights, you know, I can't pull my eyes away. DANIEL MARSH | TEDx TALKS: I kept allowing myself to be trapped by my emotions and to be disconnected. Victoria Hurd: "How dare you," was all I could say to the screen. Marsh also took the opportunity to raise a shocking new claim: that he was the victim here: DANIEL MARSH | TEDx TALKS: When I was a child, I was sexually abused multiple times by two different people. But he wouldn't say by whom and never even told his best friend. Alvaro Garibay: I don't recall anything like that. Alvaro Garibay: No. Deputy D.A. Amanda Zambor: He was asked routinely about trauma and abuse and denied it every time. Bill Marsh: I believe he wouldn't say it if it wasn't true. Bill Marsh stands by his son. Bill Marsh: Knowing Daniel, he probably feels he has some sort of loyalty. DANIEL MARSH | TEDx TALKS: I felt alone and ashamed and disgusting. Deputy D.A. Amanda Zambor: I don't. I think it's a ploy to get sympathy now. DANIEL MARSH | TEDx TALKS: Embrace our humanity. Sarah Rice: We knew our first and most important thing to do was to get the video taken down. Claudia Maupin's granddaughter, Sarah, took on the challenge. Sarah Rice: And within 48 hours it was gone It was taken down off of YouTube. A small victory, but nothing compared to the battle ahead to keep Daniel Marsh behind bars. Marsh's fate was now in the hands of family court Judge Samuel McAdam: life in prison or possibly just four more years. JUDGE MCADAM: Let's go on the record in the matter of Daniel William Marsh. Marsh's original defense team returned to represent him. DEFENSE ATTORNEY ANDREA PELOCHINO [opening statement]: I think the court will be overwhelmed by the changes he has made in a very short amount of time. He recently interviewed Marsh again and this time, took the stand and said he thought Marsh had changed: DR. MATTHEW SOULIER [on the stand]: There were distinct differences in his maturity, his empathy, his insight into himself. His sense of responsibility. Dr. Matthew Soulier: I don't think he's worth throwing away in my opinion. Erin Moriarty: He's killed two people. Dr. Matthew Soulier: Right. Dr. Matthew Soulier: I don't believe that. I don't believe that at all. Just when everyone thought the defense was going to rest its case, the courtroom was stunned. Daniel Marsh had decided to take his fate into his own hands. DANIEL MARSH TAKES THE STAND The families of Chip and Claudia were horrified when a 21-year-old Daniel Marsh took the stand to plead for his freedom. Sarah Rice: I stared at him the entire time. DANIEL MARSH [on the stand]: I was a really damaged, screwed up, sick kid. Maybe that's still how I come across. I really hope that's not the case. Sarah Rice: To me, he was doing everything in his power to say the things that would help him and his case. DANIEL MARSH [on the stand]: I mean, it's night and day you know, I no longer struggle with mental illness I've worked through the vast majority of my anger and hate I'm not who I used to be. While trying to convince the judge, Marsh also took the opportunity to address his victims' families for the first time: DANIEL MARSH [on the stand]: I'm sorry I took them away from you. I can't even bring myself to look at you. Mary Northup | Chip Northup's daughter: I think he didn't look because he realized he couldn't feign empathy. DANIEL MARSH [on the stand]: It's hard for me to even wrap my mind around how I could've done something that awful. And I guess I've just been afraid to actually face that. But before Judge McAdam would decide if Marsh should be treated like a juvenile and receive a lighter sentence, he asked the prosecution to call an expert on psychopaths: Forensic Psychologist Matthew Logan. DR. MATTHEW LOGAN [on the stand ] Some of the traits are glib superficial charm pathological lying lack of responsibility, inability to feel remorse. While Logan never met Marsh, he did examine his records. Erin Moriarty spoke to Dr. Logan via Facetime. Matthew Logan: In my view, yes. After his conviction, Marsh scored a whopping 35.8 out of 40 on the widely used psychopathy checklist. It's one of the highest scores Dr. Logan has ever seen. Dr. Matthew Logan: It's generally accepted as the gold standard for, for diagnosing psychopathy. Dr. Matthew Logan: I would say it's more likely than not that he would kill again. And Dr. Logan says Marsh's testimony did nothing to convince him otherwise. Dr. Matthew Logan: I've interviewed hundreds of psychopaths. And they've all seen the light. And one of the things that is very typical of the psychopath is that ability to con and manipulate. Prosecutor: Teen killer shows no empathy on witness stand The two-week hearing culminated on Oct. 24, 2018, when a packed courtroom convened to hear the judge's decision on Daniel Marsh's fate. Judge Samuel McAdam first sent jitters throughout the courtroom: JUDGE MCADAM: Marsh is coping well with being incarcerated. He is not exhibiting the signs of a serious mental illness. He said he found the testimony of Marsh to be credible, but in the end, concluded that Marsh's release just wasn't a chance worth taking. Marsh's original sentence would stand. JUDGE MCADAM: The defendant is remanded to state prison to serve the balance of an indeterminate life sentence with a minimum of 52 years. Deputy D.A. Amanda Zambor: You could kind of feel the relief in the courtroom when the judge read his final decision from the family members. "I'm so relieved" Victoria Hurd, left, said as she embraced her daughter, Sarah Rice after the hearing. CBS News Sarah Rice: I went outside and was like, OK, I need to take a deep breath. And I could not catch my breath. And I still feel that way. I still feel that it's not over. That's because It's not over. In September 2018, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a new law known as S.B. 1391, which makes it impossible to ever try a 15-year-old offender as an adult even one like Daniel Marsh. Deputy D.A. Amanda Zambor: So what 1391 says is that the D.A.s can never, ever prosecute a juvenile that's 14 or 15 years old as an adult. No matter how heinous the crime, no matter what torture they inflicted. Murder victims family speaks out against controversial Calif. law Marsh's lawyers have vowed to do what they can to have Daniel retroactively included under that new law. D.A. Jeff Reisig: We're going to fight that every step of the way, but we might lose, and if we do Daniel Marsh will come back to our county, and he will be sentenced as a juvenile where he would eligible for release at 25. If that happens, the state will have to argue every two years to keep Marsh behind bars, which means a still grieving family may never fully heal. Sarah Rice: We just went through this entire year having to rehash everything. It was literally like being in the trial all over again and even more so because I had to hear him. Victoria Hurd: Right. It retraumatizes me every time. Special Agent Chris Campion is just as traumatized at the idea of Marsh ever being set free. Special Agent Chris Campion: Daniel Marsh is in the top three of the people I'm most scared of. DANIEL MARSH: I was gonna slit her throat. Special Agent Chris Campion: He's got that combination of being a psychopath and this deep, dark desire for murder and gore and bloodshed. DANIEL MARSH: It was the most exhilarating, enjoyable feeling I've ever felt. Special Agent Chris Campion: And it doesn't go away. It just doesn't. In California, there are at least three other pending cases where juveniles have been convicted of murder and sentenced as adults. Under the new law their sentences might be dramatically reduced. | https://www.cbsnews.com/news/daniel-marsh-double-murder-could-new-california-law-free-a-teen-killer-convicted-as-an-adult/ |
Why Are The 2019 Oscars A Unique Moment In Film History? | originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. Answer by Ben Zauzmer, Hollywood Reporter Oscars Analyst, on Quora: There are many things unique to the 2019 Oscars. To name a few of my favorites, from the serious to the whimsical: Black Panther became the first superhero movie nominated for Best Picture or Best Original Song. became the first superhero movie nominated for Best Picture or Best Original Song. This is the first time the words Book and Favourite (either spelling) have appeared in Best Picture titles. Though Book is part of a compound in Silver Linings Playbook . . Glenn Close ( The Wife ) received her 7th nomination, becoming the most nominated actress of all time without a win (though of course she could change that this week). ) received her 7th nomination, becoming the most nominated actress of all time without a win (though of course she could change that this week). The two leads in A Star Is Born , if considered to be the same characters as in the earlier versions, are the first fictional characters to be nominated three times. Two real-life characters have achieved that: King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I. , if considered to be the same characters as in the earlier versions, are the first fictional characters to be nominated three times. Two real-life characters have achieved that: King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I. All live-action short nominee titles are one word long. That has never happened before. A Star Is Born is the first film ever to be nominated for Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Song, Sound Editing, and Cinematography. is the first film ever to be nominated for Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Song, Sound Editing, and Cinematography. Vice is the first film nominated for Best Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Original Screenplay, Makeup & Hair, and Film Editing. is the first film nominated for Best Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Original Screenplay, Makeup & Hair, and Film Editing. This is the first time in Oscars history that there are more than 5 Best Picture nominees and all of them are nominated in at least 5 categories. This is the first time in Oscars history that every Best Picture nominee has more nominations than every film not nominated for Best Picture. Additional unique aspects of the 2019 Oscars could emerge on Sunday night: Alfonso Cuarn could become the first person to win Best Director for a foreign-language film ( Roma ). ). Cuarn is also the first person nominated for both directing and cinematography. Rami Malek ( Bohemian Rhapsody ) has a chance to become the first person ever to win the Oscar for Best Actor and the Emmy for Best Lead Actor in a Drama, which he won for Mr. Robot . ) has a chance to become the first person ever to win the Oscar for Best Actor and the Emmy for Best Lead Actor in a Drama, which he won for . If Cold War upsets Roma for Best Foreign Language Film, it would mark the first time that a Best Picture nominee nominated for Best Foreign Language Film lost the latter category. upsets for Best Foreign Language Film, it would mark the first time that a Best Picture nominee nominated for Best Foreign Language Film lost the latter category. Marc Shaiman ( Mary Poppins Returns ) could become the 16th person to complete the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) with a win for Best Original Score. ) could become the 16th person to complete the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) with a win for Best Original Score. Mexico could win its first Foreign Language Film trophy for Roma. This is Mexicos 9th nomination. 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/2019/02/23/why-are-the-2019-oscars-a-unique-moment-in-film-history/ |
Are The Oscars Still Viable As A National Awards Show? | originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. Answer by Ben Zauzmer, Hollywood Reporter Oscars Analyst, on Quora: The Oscars are absolutely still viable as a national awards show. Last year, 26.5 million people tuned in. While that was an all-time low, the figure could easily be attributed to the general decline in ratings for nearly all programs, as people have an ever-increasing number of entertainment options on TV and online. 26.5 million is still a lot of people, and I anticipate that the Oscars will continue for many years to come. Granted, there are some people who feel that the Oscars are too political, and that in doing so they are turning off a portion of their audience. However, there are others who feel that the Oscars should be political, believing its the responsibility of those with a wide platform to use their celebrity status for good. Its not clear that catering to one group or the other will lead to higher ratings or a longer-lasting awards show. Its also not clear whether or not the Oscars should care ratings are important, but theyre not the only goal. Some people would rather have a more or less political Oscars, regardless of what it means for ratings. In terms of whether the public shares the views of Hollywood, its no secret that Hollywood leans to the left on the American political spectrum, though there are of course some notable exceptions. But the public is a very diverse group with a wide set of beliefs. There are segments of the American public that are very much in line with Hollywoods politics, and other segments that are clearly to the right of the filmmaking industry. There are even a few pockets of the public that are to the left of Hollywood. Regardless, I personally feel that rumors of the Oscars death are greatly exaggerated, to paraphrase the famous misquote of Mark Twain. 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/2019/02/23/are-the-oscars-still-viable-as-a-national-awards-show/ |
Could we soon be able to detect cancer in 10 minutes? | About seven years ago, researchers at the US DNA sequencing company Illumina started to notice something odd. A new blood test it ran on 125,000 expectant mothers looking for genetic abnormalities such as Downs syndrome in their foetuses returned some extremely unexpected signals in 10 cases. Chillingly, it dawned on them that the abnormal DNA they were seeing wasnt from the foetuses but was, rather, undiagnosed cancer in the mothers. Cancers of different types were later confirmed in all 10. This was not a test developed for cancer screening, says Alex Aravanis, then Illuminas senior R&D director. But it was evidence that it might be possible. In 2016, Illumina created Silicon Valley-based spin-off company Grail, with Aravanis as chief scientific officer. Backed by more than $1.5bn in funding, including money from Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Grail is on a quest to detect multiple types of cancer before symptoms, via a single, simple blood test. The test looks at cell-free plasma to find fragments of so-called circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) sloughed off by cancer cells. Detecting cancer sooner before symptoms means you can intervene earlier and people are less likely to die. While doctors can screen for breast, colon and lung cancer, most varieties of the disease can only be detected after symptoms appear. And though it is far from the only approach (see box), the beauty of blood is that it is minimally invasive to collect. A relatively simple blood-based test that can screen for evidence of cancer might improve or even replace some screening programmes over time, says Jacqui Shaw, professor of translational cancer genetics at the University of Leicester, who studies ctDNA. Bowel cancer trial aims to reset gut bacteria Read more Looking for ctDNA has become a viable proposition in recent years because of improvements in DNA sequencing technologies that make it possible to scan fragments and find those few with alterations that may indicate cancer. While other blood-based biomarkers are being investigated, the advantage of ctDNA is that, because it has a direct link to the tumour, it can be very specific at identifying cancer. For that reason, ctDNA is also showing promise as a way to profile and monitor advanced stage cancers, a liquid biopsy. Early detection is a harder problem. Early on, when the tumour is small, there is not as much ctDNA to detect. The women Illumina identified as having cancer were all late, not early stage. To date, there is one company offering a blood test based on ctDNA for early cancer detection: Epigenomics began offering its test for colon cancer in 2016 based on detecting biochemical modification of a single gene. But the dream being imagined by Grail and others is an inexpensive test, perhaps no more than $500, which could conceivably be given annually to those over a certain age, with a high chance of detecting many cancers at once with high accuracy (Grail hasnt announced a final number but thinks it will be in the region of 10). Its a test that all of us, if it works, could one day get. The big studies are still to be done, says Nitzan Rosenfeld, a researcher who studies ctDNA at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute and a cofounder of the UK-based liquid biopsy company Inivata, but there has been considerable progress. Cancer essentially begins when a normal cells DNA gets mutated or altered. From that point, the cell multiplies too often and a mass or tumour of abnormal cells forms. A proportion of the cells invariably die and shed genetic material into the bloodstream, mixing with larger amounts of DNA fragments coming from the death of normal cells. It was first reported that fragments of DNA carrying cancer-causing mutations could be found floating freely in the blood of cancer patients in the mid-1990s. The findings caught the attention of Dennis Lo, now a professor of medicine and chemical pathology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, who thought that a baby living in a mother is a little bit like a cancer growing in a patient. Based on that insight, he went on to discover foetal DNA fragments in maternal blood and to pioneer non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) (he licensed his patents to Illumina and other companies). He also began, along with others, to apply those insights to how ctDNA fragments might be used in the monitoring and detection of cancer. In 2017, Grail merged with Los company, Cirina, also aimed at early detection. Grails competitors include Guardant Health, a liquid biopsy company valued at $3.5bn that was founded in 2011 and is also based in Silicon Valley. It recently branched out to work on an early-detection test for four common cancers: lung, breast, colorectal and ovarian. There are also multiple academic efforts with designs on commercialisation. Last year, researchers at Johns Hopkins University school of medicine published details of a potential blood test called CancerSEEK that covers eight cancers. And in December last year, University of Queensland researchers made headlines with a 10-minute test they have called a methylscape and which they say could potentially give a yes or no answer to the presence of cancer in the body, though it wouldnt identify its location. Each group or company has or is developing a way of detecting ctDNA. Grail and Guardants tests are based on sequencing the cell-free DNA. This can look for mutations, increases in the number of chromosomes or genes or unusual biochemical changes known as epigenetic changes, all of which can occur in the DNA of cancer cells. Grail has been experimenting with all three but hasnt announced which method its final test will use. Guardants method takes them all in. CancerSEEK, meanwhile, looks for a small number of mutations as well as protein markers known to increase in particular cancers. The small mutation panel keeps costs down says Nickolas Papadopoulos, a professor of oncology who is co-leading work on the latter method. Instead of sequencing, methylscapes use gold nanoparticles to detect epigenetic alterations. Results have been published or presented for all these methods, demonstrating that cancer-related signals can be seen. They are based on small studies of 1,000 people or fewer with cancer at various stages. The key for the tests is achieving both a high likelihood of detection (a good sensitivity) and a low false positive rate to avoid needless anxiety and unnecessary follow-up. (In a test being designed for a general population, where cancer actually isnt very prevalent, the latter is particularly important because even low false positive rates will result in a substantial number of incorrect diagnoses.) Grails best detection rates, based on a prototype test for detecting epigenetic changes, ranged from 80% down to 47% for nine cancers (respectively ovarian, liver, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, pancreatic, colorectal, oesophageal, head and neck and lung). Breast cancer ranged from 56% to 11% depending on the type. The false positive rate was set at 2%, though says Aravanis, further work suggests it could hit less than 1%. From a single test, we detected a large fraction of the highest mortality cancers in early stage with very high specificity, he says. Of Grails competitors, CancerSEEKs sensitivity ranged from 98% for ovarian cancer to 33% for breast cancer with a false positive rate of less than 1%. Guardant showed it could detect lung cancer in 71% of cases and colorectal cancer in 67% of cases with a false positive rate of 2%. Methylscape meanwhile had a sensitivity of 90% but the false positive rate was higher at 10 to 15%. Yet while the companies are bullish about what they are seeing, not everyone is convinced. Eleftherios Diamandis, professor of clinical biochemistry at the University of Toronto, has made a name for himself criticising grand designs for revolutionary blood tests. Well before the media questioned the validity of startup company Theranoss blood-testing technology the firm and its chief executive were charged last year with massive fraud by the US Securities and Exchange Commission Diamandis had raised doubts in the scientific literature. Last year, he and his associate Clare Fiala published a series of journal pieces questioning how useful ctDNA could really be in early cancer diagnosis. Diamandiss calculations, based on experimental literature data, give a sense of the size of tumour a ctDNA-based blood test might be able to pick up. His work indicates that with the technology available for analysing ctDNA, tumours would need to be approximately 1cm in diameter or greater to be detected. That is a fairly large tumour, he says. There is simply unlikely to be a single fragment of DNA from tumours under that size in the 10ml of blood that is a standard sample. While more blood may help a little, it would make things much less pleasant. As Diamandis sees things, the tests do seem to be performing well, but that is because they are being applied to people who have already been diagnosed with cancer. If you go to a real population of asymptomatic individuals, their success rate will be, predictably in my opinion, much less, he says. For the [multi-cancer] blood test as of today I am relatively pessimistic. For their part, the groups and companies acknowledge that large studies in people without diagnosed cancer are what is needed next. CancerSEEK is looking to enrol 10,000 women without known cancer to take its blood test; it will then follow them over five years to see whether they develop cancer. And Grail has two large, long-running studies of those who are asymptomatic, one of 100,000 and another of 50,000, in the pipeline. They are large, clinical validity studies that complement the evidence that we are generating, says Aravanis. They also point out that they are finding a large fraction of those solid tumours that are the most clinically aggressive and therefore have potentially the highest mortality. Even if you find 10%, that is 10% more than zero, notes Papadopoulos. Aravanis questions whether finding lots of very early-stage, slow-growing, potentially inconsequential cancers may actually be that helpful. Whether or not you can detect every single cancer at the earliest stages or pre-cancer is an interesting scientific question, but I dont know that that is really the important clinical question, says Aravanis. [Overdiagnosis] is something that some existing screening programmes struggle with. Perhaps the answer, say others such as Rosenfeld and Shaw, is to go for a more limited approach tackling high-risk populations or focusing on those cancers where the diagnosis is often late. [Then] I think we might find places where we can improve the current clinical situation, says Rosenfeld. And Diamandis doesnt rule out success in fluids other than blood, such as urine and cervical fluid for bladder and ovarian cancer respectively, where ctDNA concentrations could be far higher because they are in contact with, or proximity to, the tumour. The typical answer from experts is that it will be at least five years before there is sufficient data to show whether it can work and then it will need to hit the desks of regulators and health economists. Patience, it seems, is a virtue in the fight against cancer. Breathomics and cancer detection Facebook Twitter Pinterest A cancer breathalyser made by Owlstone Medical. UK-based company Owlstone Medical is among those looking to discover whether this is possible. It has developed a breathalyser based on the idea that there may be chemicals volatile organic compounds in breath indicative of early-stage cancer. It is currently running a trial in partnership with the NHS to see whether there are differences in the chemicals that can be detected in breath between people with lung cancer and those without it. Lung cancer, says Max Allsworth, the companys chief scientific officer, is a good place to start because the air we breathe directly moves through the lung and past any tumours. The company has also recently started a separate, smaller study looking at whether six other cancer types may also be detected early in this way (in this case, the chemicals would find their way into the breath less directly, via blood, which exchanges volatile chemicals with air in the lungs). Depending on the trial results, it may end up being a more generic cancer detection test not telling you specifically where the cancer is, but that a common signal has been found. In all cases, says Allsworth, if there are chemicals in breath that suggest cancer, they will be present very early on, before you are likely to have circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA). | https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/feb/24/the-10-minute-test-for-cancer-pioneering-methods-blood-test-detection-tumours-lung-breast-colorectal |
What can Ohio learn from other state guardianship programs? | CLEVELAND, Ohio Ohio isnt the only state concerned about vulnerable seniors. Minnesota tackled financial elder abuse in 2012 by establishing a Conservator Account Auditing Program (CAAP). It created an online system for uploading records of court-appointed conservators and hired a team of auditors to periodically review them. A related initiative is called the Conservator Account Review Program (CARP). According to Minnesota Judicial Branch Audit Manager Jamie Majerus, roughly 4,800 Minnesotans had assets under conservatorship in 2018 that were monitored by the programs. The value of these assets totalled $950 million. In both programs, professionals supervised by certified fraud examiners oversee wards finances. CAAP audits all conservator-managed accounts after the first year and all accounts with assets exceeding $10,000 every four years. CARP routinely audits all conservator-managed accounts, regardless of size, and can refer those accounts to CAAP if it spots potential problems. After the audit, judges get an account review report summarizing the auditors findings and recommendations. A similar document is provided to the judge before conservatorship hearings. One expert calls it the model for an auditing system. Nevada addressed guardianship abuse after a fraud case drew national attention. Professional guardian April Parks used her court-appointed position to isolate and financially exploit more than 150 people in Las Vegas before she was caught. She got the maximum sentence of 16-40 years in prison after pleading guilty last November. Nevadas reform efforts since have made it a national example, said Rick Black, director of the Center for Estate Administration Reform. In 2017, the Nevada Supreme Court created the Permanent Guardianship Commission, made up of judges, advocates and lawyers, to oversee and improve the states guardianship practices. Wards must be present at a hearing, if physically able, and must have legal representation. A proposed ward can hire his or her own lawyer, but many are appointed by the court through legal aid centers. Now, protected persons and proposed protected persons have trained lawyers fighting for what they want, not what everyone thinks is in their best interest, said Jim Berchtold, who leads the guardianship advocacy program at the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada. Berchtold believes that a lawyer independent from the probate system can best serve wards as an impartial advocate. Even if a protected person is unable to express his or her wishes, the mere presence of an attorney to represent them helps to ensure compliance with the statutes and dissuades financial exploitation and other abuses, he said. Nevada also created a Guardianship Compliance Office, which supports district probate courts by reviewing cases and performing investigations upon request. It can investigate the health and welfare of a protected person, locate guardians the court has lost contact with and run forensic audits if a judge is concerned about accounting for a wards assets. Before, the court didnt have those resources to dig in and investigate, said Guardianship Compliance Manager Kate McCloskey. We have one district court that calls our audits liquid gold. Nevadas Guardianship Complaince Office also operates a hotline for anyone who has questions about guardianship or needs help reporting guardianship abuse. Berchtold and McCloskey said Nevadas 2017 Protected Persons Bill of Rights was another major step forward. It includes the right to be educated about guardianships, to participate in developing plans that will affect the wards future and to remain as independent as possible. Editors note: This story is part of a series on guardianship for the Ohio Center for Investigative Journalism. The second installment will examine how Ohio courts and communities are collaborating to provide responsible guardianship in the face of ever-increasing demand. | https://www.cleveland.com/news/2019/02/what-can-ohio-learn-from-other-state-guardianship-programs.html |
What Does Merkel Know About Russia And The Student Climate Protests That We Don't? | On Thursday and Friday, the streets of Brussels were once again clogged with student protesters skipping school to demand action on climate change. They were led by the 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who sparked a worldwide movement of student strikes with her one-woman protest outside the Swedish parliament last year. Belgian students have been skipping school every Friday since 2 December as part of the #FridaysForFuture movement. Up till now they have focused their ire on the Belgian government, but this time they were taking their message to the institutions of the European Union, based in Brussels. Thunberg made a speech to the European Economic and Social Committee, a body which advises on EU lawmaking on behalf of labour unions and civil society. We know that most politicians dont want to talk to us, she said. Good. We dont want to talk to them either. The audience, which included European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, listened attentively. We want them to talk to the scientists instead, she continued. Listen to them. Because we are just repeating what they are saying and have been saying for decades. But some in the room looked sceptical. Thunberg knew why, and she addressed those adults who have called into question the motivations behind the movement and have said the students can do more good by going back to class and learning. There is simply not enough time to wait for us to grow up and become the ones in charge, she said. She decried the conspiracies which have accused the students of being manipulated by nefarious interests. They are desperate to remove the focus from the climate crisis and change the subject. They dont want to talk about it because they know they cant win this fight. Because they know they havent done their homework. The Russia Connection Thunberg was very clearly referencing German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Earlier this month at the Munich Security Conference, an annual gathering of European and American leaders to discuss defence and geopolitics, Merkel had mentioned the protests in the context of Russia's hybrid warfare efforts to manipulate public opinion using cyberwarfare and disinformation in order to destabilize enemy governments. In Germany now, children are protesting for climate protection - that is a really important issue, she said. But you can't imagine that all German children, after years, and without any outside influence, suddenly hit on the idea that they have to take part in this process. Hybrid warfare from Russia can be felt every day in every European country, she added. This hybrid warfare in the internet is hard to detect, because you suddenly have movements that you wouldn't have thought would appear. Merkel faced an immediate backlash against her comments, and her spokesperson quickly backtracked on her behalf, saying on Twitter that she had used the climate protests merely as an example of how campaigns can be mobilized on the internet. "The pupils' commitment to climate policy is something she expressly approves of," he said. But Merkels comment hit a nerve because the exact same accusation had been made by Belgian climate minister Joke Schauvliege last month. Schauvliege was subsequently forced to resign because of what she said. I know who is behind this movement, both of the Sunday demonstrations and the truants, she told an audience of farmers. I have also been told that from state security. I can guarantee that I do not see ghosts alone and that climate demonstrations are more than spontaneous actions of solidarity with our climate. But after the comments were picked up by the media, the Belgian state security services issued a statement denying they had reported anything of the kind to Schauvliege, neither verbally nor in writing. The climate minister then held a tearful press conference where she said she could no longer serve because of the controversy. She said she had misspoke because of exhaustion. Russia's information warfare has been documented by security services in the U.S. (in the 2016 presidential election) and in the U.K. (in the 2016 Brexit referendum). Further instances were documented over the past two years in European elections in France, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands. Russians created Facebook advertisements and created fake news with lies about the governments and centrist politicians of these countries. But in the case of the climate protests, there are no lies involved. The students are using the scientific consensus of the IPCC report as their rhetorical weapon. And these are facts on which the centrist parties of Europe agree with the protesters. Climate change is objectively a real, serious problem. But the accusations of Russian manipulation have continued. On Monday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, who was in Brussels as a guest at a meeting of EU foreign ministers, told journalists Russia was definitely behind the student climate protests. In the most explicit comments yet making the accusation, he said, Russia has been supporting stirring up trouble around Europe because Russias goal is to weaken up the democratic institutions and to weaken the EU as such. Climate change protests: definitely yes. Different pseudo-environmental organisations: look at Italy, where they are trying to disrupt the future gas pipelines, he said. There have been growing protests in the Puglia region of Italy against the planned Trans-Adriatic pipeline (TAP) to bring gas from Azerbaijan to Europe bypassing Russia. To shift, to reshuffle climate change movements is one of the key Russian priorities, to explain that more gas is fine, coal is bad, but Russian gas is good, Russian gas is reliable. Its about fake NGOs, its about trying to buy journalists, its about trying to buy media, its about meddling in the political class, he continued. Not the same scope as in Ukraine, but its so visible. Klimkins explanation for Russian interference caused even more head-scratching, as the student protests havent promoted gas in any way. They also not urging for European governments to fall, as some of the populist movements such as the Yellow Vests, which intelligence services say are operating with Russian support, are. However, the fact that so many politicians are making these oblique references to Russian sponsorship of the student climate protests suggests they may know something that we dont. If thats the case, they should share specifically what they know that is causing them to make these accusations. And then students can judge for themselves whether they are comfortable participating in a movement that may or may not have grown with the help of propaganda from the Russians. Even if such evidence of Moscow stoking the flames were presented, it may not dampen the student enthusiasm. After all, no matter who is helping the students come together, they feel they are demonstrating for a good cause that has nothing to do with Russia (and in fact, is counter to the Russias interests as a giant energy exporter). The largest student strike yet is set to take place across the world on Friday March 15th. So far the protests have only received attention in Europe and Australia, but young activists in the United States say they are going to participate on the 15th. If the global marches are large enough, they may be enough to grab the attention of the biggest obstacle to global efforts to combat climate change the government of the United States. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/davekeating/2019/02/24/what-does-merkel-know-about-russia-and-the-student-climate-protests-that-we-dont/ |
Where in the world does Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez live? | She may be Americas most famous freshman congresswoman, but in New York, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a virtual ghost. She has no district office and no local phone number, unlike the states three other freshman members. And its unclear whether the 29-year-old lawmaker, who represents the Bronx and Queens, actually still lives in the Parkchester neighborhood that has been so closely tied to her rise even though she won her upset victory over fellow Democrat Rep. Joe Crowley with accusations that his home in Virginia made him too Washington-focused to serve his district. OCASIO-CORTEZ GETS FRESH CRITICISM OVER AMAZON AS NEW BILLBOARDS IN NEW YORK EMERGE Ocasio-Cortez has used her deceased fathers Bronx condo on her voter registration since 2012, and even posed in the one-bedroom Bronx flat for celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz in a Vogue magazine profile after her stunning November election. But The Post could find little indication she continues to live there. The Post e-mailed the Ocasio-Cortez spokesman, Corbin Trent, four times with specific questions they were all ignored. On Saturday, The Post reached Corbin by phone. We will not be commenting, he said. On Saturday night, a staffer promised a Post reporter that Ocasio-Cortez would talk to him after a speaking event in Corona. During the event, two staffers were seen reading an early edition of this story on their phones. Come downstairs, I have to take a picture quick, the congresswoman then told the reporter after the event, instructing him to wait for her. Twenty minutes later, she ducked out a back door, jumped into a chauffeured SUV, and zoomed off. Ocasio-Cortez was in New York City last weekend and this weekend, with appearances in Queens on both Saturdays yet she was not seen coming or going from her Parkchester pad either day. Her apartments next-door neighbor said she had never seen Ocasio-Cortez. Another neighbor, who has lived down the hall from the congresswomans apartment for the last 40 years, said hed never seen her or her boyfriend, Riley Roberts, who has claimed the address as his own since last spring. I would have remembered, said the neighbor when shown a photograph of Ocasio-Cortez. Workers at Jerrys Pizzeria, less than a block from her building, and at the local grocery store said she had never patronized their businesses and a server at a nearby taqueria said the congresswoman had only come in to be filmed by news crews. A postal worker who delivers mail to the building said that in the last 10 years he has only seen Ocasio-Cortez intermittently and that several months worth of mail regularly accumulates in the mailbox before anyone bothers to collect it. The worker said that Ocasio-Cortez and Roberts were the only ones getting mail at the address. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Just because their names are on the box doesnt mean they live there, he said. And in 2017, when Ocasio-Cortez first filed paperwork to become a congressional candidate, she didnt even know what district she lived in, mistakenly declaring plans to run for neighboring District 15 before correcting the error days later. Meanwhile, in Washington, Ocasio-Cortez has rented a pad in a luxe building in the chic Navy Yard neighborhood, where studios start at $1,840 a month, according to the Washington Examiner. This story continues in the New York Post. | https://www.foxnews.com/politics/where-in-the-world-does-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-live |
Whats the best way to service my high-mileage vehicle? | I have a 2005 Toyota Sienna XLE 3.3-litre, with 267,000 kilometres. I used conventional oil at my last oil change with 5w30 GTX at 245,118 kilometres. I am due for another oil change and I was recommended an engine flush and switch to synthetic oil. Roman Im sure youre going to take some heat in the comments section when this is published online, Roman, as 21,882 kilometres on a single oil change is a large misjudgment in maintenance. In your defence though, I also know it happens more often than most drivers will admit. Given that your vehicle has made it to 267,000 kilometres, I am going to assume that this isnt a regular occurrence for you. Story continues below advertisement Your vehicles 3MZ-FE motor as found in many Toyota products of this generation was a robust power plant with few problems. It is easily capable of many more kilometres than you currently have and will probably be okay if this is just a one-off fail in maintenance. An engine flush is tricky at this point as there are many who suggest that flushes on vehicles with high kilometres may actually dislodge sludge, which in turn causes an oil gallery to be blocked, which then may create a problem. If you are really concerned, you can have the front valve cover temporarily removed and the engine checked for sludge buildup. Otherwise, I would stick with conventional oil, pass on the flush and perform the next few oil changes a bit early. I drive a 2005 Toyota Tundra V-8 with more than 300,000 kilometres that I service regularly, but never the transmission. Dave After 300,000 kilometres of service, this transmission owes you nothing. According to the maintenance guidelines at toyota.ca, your Tundra should have received a transmission oil service every 96,000 kilometres. Im speculating, but I believe you have asked your question here today because you have read all kinds of horror stories online stories such as transmission failure immediately after a recent service on a high-kilometre transmission. Simply as I can put it, when automatic transmission fluid has not been changed in a timely fashion, remnants of the wearing clutches turns that fluid into sticky, sludge like goo that basically holds things together. Changing the fluid will bring about an immediate viscosity difference and may lead to issues that are perceived as not having been there before. Story continues below advertisement Story continues below advertisement I regularly hear of shops recommending against fluid change at this mileage. They do this because they do not want to have to deal with the aftermath. You can certainly keep driving it as it is and hope for the best, or you can take it in and have it serviced and flushed. There is no correct answer here; either way you are taking a gamble. If it fails immediately after a service, its not the fault of the product or service, but poor maintenance. Lou Trottier is owner-operator of All About Imports in Mississauga. E-mail [email protected], placing Lous Garage in the subject line. Check out the new Globe Drive Build and Price Tool to see the latest discounts, rebates and rates on new cars, trucks and SUVs. Click here to get your price. Stay on top of all our Drive stories. We have a Drive newsletter covering car reviews, innovative new cars and the ups and downs of everyday driving. Sign up for the weekly Drive newsletter, delivered to your inbox for free. Follow us on Instagram, @globedrive. | https://www.theglobeandmail.com/drive/technology/article-whats-the-best-way-to-service-my-high-mileage-vehicle/ |
Will Google, Amazon and Facebook fix the affordable housing crisis? | CLOSE The pledge is the largest in the companys 44-year history. Time SAN FRANCISCO From atop his gleaming new headquarters, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has an inspirational view of mountains, the bay and an endless Pacific Ocean. But when Benioff looks down, hes not so happy. Some 60 floors below his Salesforce Tower offices is what he calls an inequality train wreck, city streets "out of control" with thousands of homeless and often infirm citizens who have rendered sidewalks a landmine of feces and drug paraphernalia. Many have been destitute for years, but others are newly minted refugees of a housing crisis created in large part by the very technology boom that has made Benioff and other tech entrepreneurs billionaires many times over. In this file photo taken on June 09, 2016, a homeless man sleeps in front of a luxury auto dealership in San Francisco, California. (Photo11: JOSH EDELSON, AFP/Getty Images) Thats why Benioff, along with some of his tech peers and civic leaders, say its time for corporations in general, and tech companies specifically, to contribute financially toward fixing a problem that looms large from Seattle to Boston. Activists, meanwhile, warn that housing stock has lagged so severely in some cities that even huge infusions of cash will struggle to make an impact. San Francisco's woes are particularly acute. Its housing stock is a quarter of its need, which has led to real estate prices that are among the highest in the nation. Some 15,000 tech positions were added in the city in 2016 and 2017, according to a report from brokerage firm CBRE. Seattle, another tech hub, has experienced the same housing deficit phenomenon, all while local tech powerhouses Amazon and Microsoft helped create 33,000 new tech jobs in 2016 and 2017, the CBRE report says. And as Amazon moves into Northern Virginia and Apple into Austin, local lawmakers and housing experts there are keeping careful watch on how an explosion of technology jobs will hit their communities. Across the nation, the influx of high-paying jobs in areas with limited housing has sent housing prices soaring for local residents. Since 2010, median home values in San Francisco have doubled to $1.37 million, according to Zillow. Seattle and Boston also doubled, to $730,000 and $600,000 respectively. Austin jumped from $212,000 to $364,000 in that time period. Benioff, whose family has been in San Francisco for generations, says more foresight should have gone into managing the tech explosion. Theres been really poor planning in our state and our cities, Benioff says with measured anger. Marc Benioff, CEO of tech giant Salesforce, is shown here campaigning for San Francisco's Prop C last fall. The measure passed, requiring all large companies to be taxed in order to put more money towards the city's massive homelessness problem. (Photo11: Salesforce) Look at Paris, they build social housing into their city, he says. You can have an amazing economy with high-end residences but also accommodate everyone. You just have to plan for all income types. The government has to step in, and companies have to help. More: Tiny homes are popping up across US. Here's how they could help affordable housing crisis. More: The 10 cities with the best public transportation The housing crisis must be addressed by a careful collaboration between politicians, advocacy groups and corporate entities, says Corianne Scally, principal research associate with The Urban Institute in Washington, D.C. There is no magic solution, says Scally. Companies need to understand the pressure they are creating, particularly when taxes levied on them arent covering their impact when you take into account the tax incentives that they get for setting up shop. Some already digging deep Many tech giants say they are already reaching into their pockets to fund affordable housing solutions. Google has donated $3 million toward homelessness solutions being proposed by San Francisco Mayor London Breed. A spokesperson for the search giant said it had granted over $250 million since 2014 in the areas of homelessness, economic opportunity and education. In mid-January, Microsoft revealed that it was going to allocate $500 million toward housing initiatives around its Seattle-area headquarters. In a blog post trumpeting the news, Microsoft president Brad Smith and CFO Amy Hood said the move was spurred by a realization that this is a big problem, and its a problem thats only going to get worse. Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos demonstrates the company's first smartphone, the Fire Phone, on June 18, 2014 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by David Ryder/Getty Images) (Photo11: Getty Images) Microsoft said because jobs have grown 21 percent since 2011 while housing has only expanded by 13 percent, the company would be investing $225 million toward building middle-income housing, $250 million to support low-incoming housing, and $25 million in grants to help those tackling homelessness issues. About a week after Microsoft laid out its plan, a San Francisco corporate consortium calling itself Partnership for the Bay Areas Future announced it was halfway toward a goal of raising $540 million. The Partnership's investment fund is aimed at providing financial assistance toward a goal of building 8,000 new housing units across the Bay Area in the coming years. Its policy fund will support initiatives to preserve and expand housing, with a particular focus on strengthening low-income tenant protections to guard against landlords evicting low-income renters so they can charge higher rates. (Photo11: Microsoft.) Preserving affordable housing also is a mission of newly installed California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has made housing a top priority. He recently sued the Southern California city of Huntington Beach for resisting efforts to build affordable housing. Ultimately, civic leaders and some tech leaders warn that ignoring housing issues is bad for business. San Franciscos homeless problem already has caused some companies to plan lucrative conventions elsewhere, and an inviting urban core also is considered a key recruiting tool. A place like the Bay Area is very diverse and vibrant, which is why companies want to be here and hire here, says Caitlyn Fox, director of Justice and Opportunity for the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the foundation started by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan. The foundation is part of the new Partnership for the Bay Areas Future, along with Facebook, the Ford Foundation, Genentech, Morgan Stanley and others. We all came to the Bay Area because of its promise, and now we have a stake to ensure that promise remains for all, says Fox. It is not uncommon for tech companies flush with cash to create programs aimed at placating communities where they operate. Apple, which built a new billion-dollar headquarters in Cupertino, California, a few years ago, said it had contributed to $1.8 million to area bike lanes, and added that in 2018 its employees had donated more than $125 million to non-profits around the world. Representatives at the iPhone-maker would not say whether it has plans to work with local officials on housing issues, including in Texas, where Apples plan to build by 2021 a new 133-acre campus in Austin would make it the largest private employer in the city. In this May 24, 2018, file photo, a man sleeps on the sidewalk as people behind line-up to buy lunch at a Dick's Drive-In restaurant in Seattle. A new federal report says the number of people living on the streets in Los Angeles and San Diego, fell this year. Meanwhile, homelessness overall was up slightly across the country, including Seattle. (Photo11: Elaine Thompson, AP) In Seattle, Amazon said it has donated $40 million to Marys Place, a local homeless shelter. Working with the non-profit, Amazon has created two temporary homeless shelters on its campus, which will become permanent in 2020. But Amazon also has come under heavy fire for contributing to rising inequality in Seattle, as well as for successfully killing a head-count tax on employees $275 per worker on companies making more that $20 million a year that would have raised money partly for affordable housing. When Microsoft announced their news, the feeling here was, OK, Amazon, what are you going to do? says Jeff Shulman, a marketing professor at the University of Washington who has been studying Amazons impact on Seattles growth. Shulman notes that Amazon has been good for the area not only in terms of tech jobs but also jobs at every level, particular in terms of people moving here to serve Amazon employees. But, he adds, such cafeteria workers, janitors, teachers, child-care workers increasingly find themselves priced out of the areas in which they work, resulting in endless commutes along clogged roads. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam speaks during a news conference in the Crystal City neighborhood in Arlington, Virginia, Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2018, after Amazon announced it would open a second headquarters in northern Virginia. (Photo11: Susan Walsh, AP) Tech companies need to lure talent, and for those employees quality of life includes where they live, how they get to work, where their kids go to school and even cultural amenities. But the housing crunch is pushing all but those paid big tech salaries far away," says Shulman. And just recently, Amazon abruptly pulled out of plans to build part of its new headquarters in the Queens borough of New York City after politicians and activists there raised questions about the companys financial commitment to the region while receiving $3 billion in subsidies. Real estate agents in New York had already starting seeing evidence of an Amazon effect on prices just as a result of the announcement that the everything-store tech behemoth was moving to New York and Virginia. Michelle Winters, executive director of the Alliance for Housing Solutions in Northern Virginia, says so far Amazon has not said how it plans to help beyond bringing thousands of jobs to the area. She remains optimistic, but fears the worst. San Francisco, the epicenter of the high-tech revolution, has become almost unrecognizable to longtime residents who prized the city's bohemian roots. Today, the average house costs $1.6 million. (Photo11: heyengel / Getty Images) You could have dual impacts, says Winters. One is the immediate local impact near campus, where there might be a large-scale displacement of residents who have been there for generations. And the other is a broader regional impact, where affordable homes are only available in outlying area, with a negative impact on traffic that creates a poorer quality of life. In San Francisco, Fernando Marti, co-director of the Council for Community Housing Organizations, a non-profit that crafts affordable housing public policy, says he is grateful for the newfound corporate focus on the housing crisis, but is also skeptical about whether the gestures are too little, too late. Marti points out that, for one thing, in the Bay Area even $500 million doesn't go far. Consider that at an average home-building cost of $300 per square foot, a new 1,500-square-foot home would cost $450,000 to construct. That means $500 million would only build 1,111 new homes. I remain optimistic that more will be done by these companies, says Marti. Its all tied together in the end, housing and education and quality of life, and all of that, if not resolved, affects their ability to do business. Most can't afford California Indeed, the California Dream is proving increasingly elusive, especially for younger residents. A recent Quinnipiac University poll indicated that 43 percent of California voters said they couldnt afford life in the state, while 61 percent of 18 to 34 years old living in the worlds fifth largest economy said it was beyond their means. In Silicon Valley's backyard, only high-end housing needs in San Francisco have been met over the past four years ending in 2017, according to CASA, the Committee to House the Bay Area. In contrast, over the same period, low-income and middle-income housing demand outstripped new housing supply four to one. One solution may well be to leverage technology itself to make housing construction more affordable. Thats the mission of Factory OS, a new company (OS stands for off-site) just north of San Francisco that takes an automotive assembly line approach to building. OS builds apartments in its factory at around a 30 percent costs savings over on-site construction. Workers assemble a dwelling built by FactoryOS, a new San Francisco-area company that does the bulk of its housing construction off-site (OS), which CEO Rick Holliday says leads to a 30 percent reduction in price over on-site building. (Photo11: NANCY HOLLIDAY for FactoryOS) Factory OS already has an order from 300 small apartments from Google, which is looking to add short-term housing options for employees who come to its Mountain View, California, headquarters to work on projects. Company CEO Rick Holliday says he was forced to innovate due to the pressures hes facing from the very housing shortage hes hoping to alleviate. Were in a mess, and part of the issue is my own labor shortage, says Holliday, who said between unaffordable Bay Area housing and younger workers not getting into building trades, he has lost 30 percent of his workforce in recent years. We need to tackle hard costs and get more housing out of those dollars," he says. "Tackle those costs, get Sacramento politicians engaged and ask tech companies to engage. Women in tech face an equity gap, and it's even worse More: Diversifying tech: Black professionals are finding success in spite of the odds Tech leaders are far from reaching a consensus on how and even whether to pay for affordable housing. Benioff, for example, was a huge backer of San Francisco's Proposition C, which passed in November. It stipulates that any company with revenues over $50 million would be charged 0.5 percent on income over that mark. So if you pull in $55 million one year, youd be assessed $25,000 in Prop C taxes. While that's a small amount for many of the roughly 400 area companies affected by the law, supporters estimate that the city will be able to collect around $300 million a year from the tax. That money would go toward 1,000 new beds for the city's homeless and also over time allot $150 million to 4,000 new housing units dedicated to lower income families. But the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, along with some tech entrepreneurs, opposed the measure, arguing that the tax could drive companies away from San Francisco. Benioff and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey even got into an online feud over the matter, with Dorsey predicting that smaller companies would get disproportionately hurt by the measure. (Photo11: Salesforce) The city has started to collect these taxes, but nothing has yet been distributed because the measure is facing a court challenge as it did not pass by a two-thirds majority. Benioff hails Proposition C is an example of how big change can come from public-private partnerships. Ultimately, however, he said a solution can't be reached if multi-billion-dollar tech companies don't see pitching in on housing as a fundamental part of their corporate responsibility. "Homelessness is my number one priority," says Benioff. "It's about getting San Francisco cleaned up again." Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2019/02/24/google-amazon-and-facebook-fix-affordable-housing-crisis/2923488002/ Follow USA TODAY national correspondent @marcodellacava | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2019/02/24/google-amazon-and-facebook-fix-affordable-housing-crisis/2923488002/ |
Should we forgive Jussie Smollett? | By Deron Dalton Jussie Smollett, best known for his role on Empire, recently turned himself in to Chicago Police after being charged with disorderly conduct for filing a fake police report about being attacked by MAGA supporters in what many believed was a racist, homophobic attack. Smollett allegedly orchestrated the attack with help of his hired assailants the Osundairo brothers over alleged frustration over his Empire salary. While many are condemning Smollett for the setting back both black and LGBTQ relations in America, others argue its a cry for help. Entertainment Weekly broke down the details of the hate crime hoax starting on Monday, Jan. 21. Check out the timeline of unraveled events here. Many critics agree with journalists Van Jones and Robin Roberts in that Smolletts hate crime hoax is a setback for both black people and LGBTQ people, but most specifically, queer people of color. According to Deadline, Roberts said: I cannot think of another case where there is this anger on so many sides, and you can understand why there would be, Roberts said on the ABC show this morning. Her assessment came shortly after Smolletts arrest on a felony charge of filing a false police report. What's happening with Jussie Smollett is devastating. We still don't know everything and we shouldn't rush to judgment, but this is a setback on so many fronts race, homophobia... it's a tragedy beyond words in our community. pic.twitter.com/guoJbUXFml Van Jones (@VanJones68) February 21, 2019 The Smollett news is disheartening and infuriating to many. But many Black LGBTQ commentators and journalists have vehemently expressed that while Smollett should be held accountable, there black trans and queer people face discrimination and violence, and we should believe survivors. One hoax does not change that. This still applies with the Jussie Smollett news. Be mindful of the many routine hate crimes against Black and LGBTQ people that don't attract celebrity news headlines, or get high-profile interviews and police pressers. https://t.co/URlk0bwUlM Derrick Clifton (@DerrickClifton) February 21, 2019 While many are hurt over what Smollett has done. Marganized people of color typically dont get sympathy when they mess up, and some believe Smollett deserves help and a second chance. Blog Celeb Hood argues that Smolletts fake assault is a cry for help and that he deserves sympathy, not condemnation. But this was much bigger than a salary dispute. Smolletts alleged stunt was a poorly planned cry for help from a man with an admitted drug problem who is obviously dissatisfied with his life and career, and perhaps is in the throes of a major mental health emergency. Besides sympathy, Smollett had nothing to gain from this alleged hoax and the only difference between him and the millions of Americans struggling with their mental health is that he had a platform to project his alleged victim fantasy to the world. For what its worth, I forgive you & Im praying for you Jussie. The molt in my eye & the eyes of a few others makes it hard for us to see. Dr. Barbara Babbi Wright (@SpeakTeachReach) February 22, 2019 I want Jussie Smollett's enemies to forgive him. How he thought that sick plot was going to get a pass is beyond me. Everything around him is crumbling. Elizabeth McCord's protg (@bimzycole) February 22, 2019 CNN journalist Don Lemon argues, if true, Smollett needs to own up to his actions. According to Yahoo News: Its hard to see how this would indeed be a set-up, Lemon said. I say if it is true, confess. Throw yourself on the mercy of the court, and of the people, and then see where that leads you. 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, wed love to hear what you have to say. | https://www.oregonlive.com/tylt/2019/02/should-we-forgive-jussie-smollett.html |
How Can The Golden State Warriors Replace Kevin Durant? | Part one of this series examining the Warriors future salary cap situation looked at what happens if Kevin Durant stays. Heres a look at Golden States immediate options if Durant decides to leave for another team. The Warriors will be capped out for 2019/20 The first port of call will be to try, somehow, to replace Durant in the lineup. In this scenario Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Andre Iguodala all remain at least for the 2019/20 season, meaning that 4/5ths of the Warriors original death lineup are still around. They are all several years older than the unit that won a title and then 73 games, but if the Warriors can keep the wear and tear off Green and Iguodala in the regular season then theyll still be a force in the playoffs. The tools they have to replace Durant are limited though as they will still be over the cap if Thompson re-signs as expected. The most realistic tool in the box is the full Mid Level Exception (MLE), starting at just over $9m per year. In order to have the full MLE available a team must finish below the apron after the MLE is used. The team is then hard-capped at the apron for the rest of the year. The Shaun Livingston decision The Warriors can get themselves to a position where they are beneath the apron if they waive Shaun Livingstons final year, or dump his contract altogether. So if all other decisions remain the same as in the scenario where Durant stays, with Thompson and Kevon Looney re-signing, and Iguodala remaining on the roster, the Warriors have a choice to make between waiving and stretching Livingstons final $2m guarantee and making the full MLE available, keeping Livingston, or trading him for a similar value contract. The difficulty is that the deadline for making the decision on Livingston is the 30th June, therefore before free agency, and likely before the Warriors know what Durant will decide and what options are out there on the market to replace him. However, there is a powerful case to be made for waiving and stretching Livingstons remaining $2m. If Durant stays they will almost certainly have to do so in order to keep the bills down. If Durant goes it could open up the full MLE. Keeping Livingston means they would be restricted to the lower taxpayer MLE which in a competitive free agency market may not be enough to add a playoff-level contributor. There is also an outside chance that in waiving Livingston the Warriors could drop below the luxury tax line, meaning they would not only avoid any luxury tax payments for the 2019/20 season, but also postpone entering the "repeater tax" until 2021/22 at the earliest. However, this would mean effectively doing nothing to replace Durant beyond signing players for the minimum salary. It's hard to imagine Warriors owner Joe Lacob responding to Durant's exit in such a fashion, especially as they enter the Chase Center. Having the full MLE available could help the Warriors entice a player such as Rudy Gay, who is probably the best option to provide a Durant-lite impact on the court, and might accept such an offer after playing on a similar level contract the past two years in San Antonio. Or they could go in a different direction and change the dynamic of the team, as they did in signing DeMarcus Cousins. Their absolute best case scenario may well be retaining Cousins with the full MLE, which would be an increase on what they can offer him now. It should be noted that even in the unlikely event Cousins would consider returning on the current maximum the Warriors can offer him (a 20% raise on his salary, which is around $6.4m), they couldnt use the MLE to sign Gay instead and then bring Cousins back because theyd be hard-capped at the apron. In that scenario, the Warriors would have to sacrifice another player. As is the case in the scenario where Durant stays and Cousins miraculously wants to play for peanuts again, Looney is likely the odd man out, as his contract is projected to be around the same amount. However, in both the case of Gay, who is having a great season and Cousins, who is recovering well from his injury, the Warriors may well be completely priced out of the market given the number of teams with cap space. Indeed there is a real risk that the full MLE does not secure a better player than Livingston. Last year the Warriors targeted a wing in free agency, but every decent option went off the board early for more money than the Warriors had to offer. Even armed with the slightly higher full MLE, the Warriors will face a much more competitive market and still be trying to fill one of the premium positions in the league. The alternative of keeping Livingston (or trading him for a player with a similar value contract), and utilizing the lower taxpayer MLE may be the safer option. However, its a risk the Warriors may well have to take. There will be more buyers in the market, but there are also far more sellers, with a large number of free agents available. Just as Cousins slipped through the cracks last year, the same could happen this summer, though something quite that spectacular is unlikely to happen again. The only possible sliver of daylight with Cousins is that he will be a free agent with nine years experience in the summer of 2019, meaning hed be eligible for a max deal starting at 30% of the cap. If he feels hes unlikely to secure that, he could wait another year, proving himself in a bigger role with the Warriors, and enter free agency in the summer of 2020 when hed be eligible for a max contract starting at 35% of the cap. As Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report recently set out, thats a max contract of $140.6m this summer with a starting salary of $32.7m versus a max contract of $178m the following year, with a starting salary of $41.4m, so Cousins would more than make that money up. However, Cousins could sign a larger one-year deal with another team this summer if he wanted to go down this path, and then sign the big deal next year. Whats more, its a huge gamble for the big man to take coming off an Achilles injury. If the moneys there this year hes got to take it. The sign-and-trade The other long-shot option to replace Durant would be to execute a sign-and-trade. There is certainly little hope of that with the Knicks now that they have opened up two max slots. However the Clippers, should Durant decide to join Jerry West (who lets not forget was crucial in recruiting Durant to the Warriors) and another max star there, might be interested. The Clippers currently dont quite have enough cap room for two max salaries due to the combination of Danilo Gallinaris salary ($22.6m) and Lou Williams ($8m). So they would presumably be quite happy to move off that salary in order to carve out enough space for another max player. For the Warriors, if Durant is leaving for nothing, a sign-and-trade for a package centered around Gallinari and Williams would work out nicely. Gallinari can play the starting small forward or small-ball power forward and would be a nice fit around the core of Curry, Thompson, Iguodala, and Green. Whats more Gallinaris contract only runs through 2019/20, meaning it frees up the Warriors cap space the following summer. Meanwhile, Williams would add the sort of scoring punch off the bench the Warriors have never had. Its a long shot but for the 2019/20 season, it demonstrates that there are some options the Warriors can use to try to replace Durant and keep the team in contention for another year. The biggest question for the Warriors minus Durant though is what they can do beyond the 2019/20 season, where their future salary cap situation becomes much more fluid. The final part of this series will take a look at their options beyond 2020. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/patrickmurray/2019/02/24/how-can-the-warriors-replace-kevin-durant/ |
How Will Karl Lagerfeld's Fashion Label Fare Without Karl Lagerfeld? | The news of Karl Lagerfeld's passing was no doubt the biggest talk of the town in the fashion world this week. As countless obituaries and reactions poured in online and on social media, many wondered what Fendi and Chanel (where he served as creative director for 54 and 36 years, respectively) would look like without the man who designed their collections for decades. Chanel moved swiftly and announced that Lagerfeld's longtime right-hand Virginia Viard would assume the mantle and continue his legacy. Fendi (which showed Lagerfeld's final collection for the brand in Milan this week) has not yet named a successor, although Silvia Venturini Fendi (who oversees accessories and menswear for the label) is seen by some as a worthy replacement. A Fendi spokesperson said that they intend to "take its time to pay him [Lagerfeld] the homage he deserves and will communicate on the succession later." Meanwhile, Mario Ortelli, managing partner of strategic advisory firm Ortelli & Co, told Vogue Business that "they [Fendi] have a very capable creative team who can manage the transition period," and that "it will continue to be one of the fastest-growing brands at LVMH." But there have been much fewer talks of what will happen to Karl Lagerfeld the brand, a business that he launched in 1984 but never really captured the fashion establishment's interest despite the name on the label. Karl Lagerfeld is comprised of a signature collection and a more affordable line called Karl Lagerfeld Paris. The brand relies heavily on the many whimsical details of Lagerfeld's look, from cartoonish depictions of his famous ponytail to giant logos of the name itself splattered all over clothes and accessories. A strong collaboration effort is also an important strategy for the brand, with model Kaia Gerber, Puma, stylist Carine Roitfeld and influencer Olivia Palermo being among the many partners. And while Karl Lagerfeld the man was officially his namesake brand's creative director, it's hard to believe he paid as much attention to it as he did with Fendi and Chanel. For one, he never presented his label on the runway during fashion week. In fact, Yves Saint Laurent's business partner Pierre Berg once mocked Karl for years because he never had his own well-known house, according to The Cut. And despite his seemingly inhuman ability to design so many collections a year, he could evidently only devote so much time to his own brand. But this was probably intentional all along, as Lagerfeld knew exactly where his priorities and efforts lie, and how to manage his time wisely. Unlike other designers like Alexander McQueen and Oscar de la Renta, whose founders were still designing their namesake brands at the time of their deaths, Lagerfeld's passing has not raised many questions about the future of the brand's creative direction. The chatter of succession plans and continuation for a brand really only float around when there was a strong point of view in place, and where the designer's creativity was truly evident in the season after season. People cared more about what would happen to the Versace brand in the wake of Gianni's passing because there was soul, passion, and an abundance of ideas in his collections. The Karl Lagerfeld brand is a much more commercial venture. His imagination and creativity in his sketches, set designs and imagery was saved primarily for Chanel and Fendiwhich is why his own brand always felt marginal and geared towards clothes rather than fashion. As for the Karl Lagerfeld brand moving forward, perhaps a renewed interest among consumers in the wake of his death will draw more clicks to the e-commerce site and visits to his over 100 stores in the world. In 2018, the brand's CEO Pier Paolo Righi told WWD that they were on a continued growth phase and that they looked to grow by 30% that year (not including the U.S., where they have a licensing agreement with G-III apparel group under a joint venture). With more retail store openings on the horizon and a newfound level of brand awareness, the company looks to be in good position to carry on with business as usual, even without the founder at the helm. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/marioabad/2019/02/24/karl-lagerfeld-designer-brand/ |
Is rail-based transportation a viable option for the Las Vegas Strip? | Cars go through the Strip in Las Vegas as snow falls, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019. Despite the obvious issues that may create limiting a lane of traffic in each direction of the already busy resort corridor transportation officials are examining every option for the areas cash cow. Within the next 10 years, transportation officials say, at least one alternative mode of transportation will be needed to link visitors between McCarran International Airport, the Las Vegas Strip and downtown Las Vegas. To address that need, the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, with the help of civil engineer group Lois Berger, commissioned the Resort Corridor Feasibility study. Everyone recognizes the need to increase capacity for movement within the resort corridor, said David Swallow, senior director of engineering and technology for the commission. Realistically, nobody envisions widening Las Vegas Boulevard any further, so you have to look at other approaches. The commission looked at nine transit technologies, including everything from buses and people movers, to light rail and gondolas. Yes, gondolas. Each one was evaluated on nine criteria categories: visitor experience, value, constructability, speed, reliability, accessibility, convenience, potential ridership and roadway capacity. After reviewing each of the options, the RTC, working with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitor Authority and the resort industry, came up with the two preferred options: an expanded RTC bus service and a European tram option. The European tram is looked at as more of a long-term possibility. The system would feature a dedicated lane on each side, with rail track running from the airport to downtown Las Vegas. A European tram differs from light rail by not requiring the addition of overhead wires to power the rail cars. Instead, a third rail on the ground would power the tram via electricity, Swallow said. Having something as noticeable as a tram on the Strip would prove to be attractive to visitors, just as the Duece double decker bus service is popular among tourists. Swallow believes the tram would yield similar results. Theres nothing that beats having transit right front and center on the Las Vegas Strip, he said. The tram could work in a mixed-flow lane, feature faster boarding than a bus and have higher capacity than a bus, with up to 220 passengers per tram. The trams drawback was high capital cost, construction of track required, and the lack of maneuverability in traffic, which could lead to being slowed by congestion. A restructured Strip & Downtown Express (SDX) bus route would be altered to have direct transit link between the airport and the Strip. The service is quicker than traditional bus service, as it features fewer stops, its maneuverable in traffic and no construction is required. Drawbacks of the SDX are lower capacity compared to the European tram (up to 108 passengers) and slow boarding when Deuce buses are used. They are also slowed by congestion. With several major projects in Southern Nevada set to be completed in the next few years, including the Las Vegas stadium, MSG Sphere arena, the Las Vegas Convention Center expansion and Resorts World, the demand for mass transit will increase even further. Those additions and other factors will help increase visitation by 26 percent between 2020s projected 44 million visitors to 56 million visitors in 2040, according to projections provided by the LVCVA and Applied Analysis. With the expected growth, Steve Hill, CEO of the LVCVA, said the need is there to institute a plan sooner, rather than later. The demand is high now, and certainly time is an issue, Hill said. Alternative forms of transportation are great and when theyre expensive we need to make sure theyre the right ones and we considered what the options are. Although he sees the benefit of the tram, Hill said with emerging technologies set to become more common on the roads, he doesnt think it is the most logical transportation choice for any community, let alone the Strip. I think that putting steel in the ground for transportation purposes is probably something most communities wont do going forward and wont need to, he said. Autonomous vehicles and those kinds of things eliminate the need for steel. No matter what mode is chosen, Clark County Commission Chairwoman Mary Kirkpatrick agrees a new option is needed. She hopes having two county commissioners on the RTC board will yield the best option not only for riders, but for the pocketbook as well. It is always good to examine alternative transportation options for our resort corridor, Kirkpatrick said. With two of our commissioners on the RTC board, I am confident there will be a thorough and lively discussion about what is best for our community and what will give us the best return on our investment. Questions and comments should be sent to [email protected]. Please include your phone number. Follow @RJroadwarrior on Twitter. | https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/news-columns/road-warrior/is-rail-based-transportation-a-viable-option-for-the-las-vegas-strip-1604555/ |
Did Saturdays game determine what Maple Leafs, Canadiens do on NHL trade deadline day? | The Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens are in similar positions heading into Mondays NHL trade deadline. Neither team is expected to make any major moves, although Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas may add a right-shot defenceman or hard-nosed forward if an opportunity presents itself. His Canadiens counterpart, Marc Bergevin, is apparently content to hang on to his picks and prospects as his team is fading from contention for third place in the Atlantic Division and now has to fight the Carolina Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Penguins for a wild-card playoff spot. Funny thing, though. Early in what turned out to be an entertaining 6-3 Leafs win over the Canadiens on Saturday night, the fan bases for each team could have had divergent views of what their teams should do by Mondays deadline. Views that changed as the game turned upside down. Story continues below advertisement With the Leafs coming out hard for the first several minutes and then suddenly looking stunned in their own end as the Canadiens took a 3-0 lead, the unhappiness of Toronto fans could be sensed. The baying for Dubas to find some heavyweights to supposedly make room for the skilled players (as if that is condoned in the NHL these days) picked up. But after those Leafs skill guys got on the power play for a couple of second-period goals to make it close with goaltender Frederik Andersen keeping the Habs lead at 3-1 midway through the period with a sequence of big saves they finished off the Canadiens with four more in the third. Canadiens head coach Claude Julien summed it up nicely for the fans. They scored that second goal; we tightened up, he said. I thought we froze. Even in the third period, we have a one-goal lead, its a matter of going out there and playing on our toes the way we had at the start of the game. We couldnt even make a play. I dont know why but we need to learn to manage these situations much better than we have, especially lately. Third periods have been an issue for us in the last week. It was again [Saturday night]. Andrew Shaw, Tomas Tatar and Jeff Petry scored the Canadiens goals in the first period. Auston Matthews started the comeback when he beat Canadiens goaltender Carey Price with a low shot on the power play early in the second period and Tyler Ennis followed with another power-play goal late in the period. William Nylander tied the score and then goals followed from Zach Hyman, Andreas Johnsson and Hyman again. The last two were empty-netters. Earlier in the day, Leafs head coach Mike Babcock could have been speaking for Julien as well when the subject of the trade deadline came up. On the one hand, he said, coaches like improving their team, but on the other there comes a point where its just time to play. Story continues below advertisement Story continues below advertisement As the coach, youre ecstatic after the trade deadline, Babcock said of the distractions. You can get on with it, you can get some of the players that are thinking too much back and you get everyone back and you get going. The way the night ended, the Leafs will certainly head into deadline day in an upbeat mood. They ended a three-game losing streak with a huge comeback over their most hated rival in front of their own fans and on Hockey Night In Canada. What a win for us to end a losing streak, to come back Saturday night against Montreal, Hyman said. Its awesome. Its a good feeling. To get the lead after being down 3-0 is pretty cool. That was one of our best team wins of the year, to be able to come back like that and have every line chip in, the power play chip in. The [penalty-killing unit] got off to a little bit of a tough start but was able to bounce back and hold them. Freddy [Andersen] bounced back and shut the door for us. I think everybody did their job. Perhaps Nylander, Ennis and the rest of the fourth line can take a bow here. The way they played showed depth is not a problem with the Leafs as long as everyone is playing their game at optimum form. With Nazem Kadri out with a concussion (the Leafs have still not issued a prognosis for him), Nylander stepped in as the third-line centre and is playing his best hockey since his late start after contract problems. Ennis and the fourth line are holding their own, with Ennis scoring his first goal in his third game back from a broken ankle. Story continues below advertisement And backing all that up is Andersen, who looked solid through the last two periods Saturday after allowing three goals, although his defenders were mostly at fault. He doesnt get enough credit for what he does, night-in and night-out, Matthews said of the goaltender. Hes kept us in games we didnt deserve to win. He kept the [Montreal ] lead minimal, came up with some big saves and got us back and got the offence rolling. | https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/article-did-saturdays-game-determine-what-maple-leafs-canadiens-do-on-nhl/ |
Where do we stand with #OscarsSoWhite now? | This years Oscar nominations are some of the most diverse ever. Just check out the best picture nominees alone: "Black Panther," "BlacKkKlansman," "Roma" and "Green book." Two front-runners for best supporting actor and actress are black Mahershala Ali and Regina King and the best director category includes first-timer Spike Lee and Latino director Alfonso Cuarn. Mexican actress Yalitza Aparicio is nominated in the best actress category. (It's the campaign that became shorthand a few years ago for the lack of opportunities and recognition for people of color in Hollywood.) The hashtag was created in 2015 by April Reign, who this year will be attending the Oscars ceremony for the first time. Lee has publicly credited the campaign with his nominations this year for best picture, best director and best adapted screenplay. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences the organization behind the Oscars moved to try to improve the diversity by extending membership to more than 900 new members last year, with more women and people of color being included. But Reign has talked to CNN in the past about the need to not believe the work is done, just because black actors and directors are receiving more recognition. | https://www.cnn.com/entertainment/live-news/oscars-2019/h_cd5101472f17512f1e06fe5f976567e2?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+CNN+-+Top+Stories%29 |
Has Maurizio Sarri been fatally undermined by Kepa Arrizabalaga's cup final defiance? | Chelsea's improved display was overshadowed by the incident between Sarri and Arrizabalaga Maurizio Sarri left Wembley not only nursing the pain of a Carabao Cup final loss to Manchester City but with every shred of his authority and a large slice of his credibility as Chelsea manager stripped away by a disgraceful act of insubordination from goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga. This dull final was destined to linger only briefly in the memory until an unsavoury, unprecedented series of events that must surely leave Sarri, already fighting to survive at Stamford Bridge, fatally undermined. It is often said that nothing surprises in football - but the sight of a 71m goalkeeper bluntly refusing to obey his manager's orders to be substituted in a major Wembley final writes a fresh page in the book. The chain-smoking Sarri looked on the point of spontaneous combustion Sarri, on an even keel after his earlier ranting incandescence, later blamed the incident on a "misunderstanding" - a defence few were buying based on the evidence of their own eyes. Arrizabalaga had been treated twice for cramp during extra time before Sarri decided he had seen enough and tried to send on former Manchester City goalkeeper Willy Caballero, who famously saved three shootout penalties in the 2016 final as City defeated Liverpool. Instead of coming off, Arrizabalaga simply stood his ground, wagging a disapproving finger in open defiance of Sarri who, as the situation descended into complete farce, allowed this flagrant display of player power to win the day. Arrizabalaga frantically signalled to the bench as Sarri tried to make the substitution The chain-smoking Sarri looked on the point of spontaneous combustion, stalking towards the tunnel doors to the dressing rooms before returning, and then being restrained from challenging his goalkeeper by Antonio Rudiger as the team and coaching staff convened prior to extra time. It was an ugly rebellion that exposed all the fractures in Sarri's Chelsea regime - and was a new one even on those of us who have travelled the world and seen most things the game has to offer, good and bad. Chelsea's loss is almost a side issue to the questions raised by Arrizabalaga's behaviour and the damage this has done to Sarri inside his own dressing room and even higher up inside Stamford Bridge. Let's get one thing straight. The first fault lies with the player - if you are told you are being substituted you go off. You may not like it but you go off. Referee Jonathan Moss was forced into a new role as technical area mediator between manager and player as confusion reigned. Media playback is not supported on this device Kepa situation was big misunderstanding - Sarri That Sarri put it down to a nothing-to-see-here "misunderstanding" was all very commendable, but the horse had clearly bolted. This was a very painful, public indignity and will surely have been noted in red ink in Chelsea's corridors of power. The problem for Sarri, and the matter that will trouble owner Roman Abramovich and Chelsea's decision-makers, is that this unseemly episode made the Italian look weak, indecisive and, for all the conciliatory noises made afterwards, lacking in control at a time when he needs to reassert himself. And for all the talk of breakdowns in communication, attempts at damage control only confirm the utter shambles that was unfolding on and off the pitch. David Luiz claimed that was his precise message to his team-mate, but there was hardly a rush to enforce Sarri's very specific demand. Put it all together and you are confronted with a staggering show of disrespect. Willy Caballero (top right) saved three penalties for Man City when they won the League Cup in 2016 Arrizabalaga could have made amends in the penalty shootout but his only save was from Leroy Sane - having already allowed a tame Sergio Aguero effort to squirm under him - before Raheem Sterling's ferocious finish gave City a 4-3 win. Sarri was on a salvage job post-match, but this is surely a decisive moment. They were the sort of scenes, misunderstanding or not, that would embarrass a Sunday League team let alone one with designs on operating at the game's elite level. Of course 24-year-old Arrizabalaga must take the biggest share of the blame, but football and financial realities dictate that the main suffering will be heaped upon the beleaguered manager. If football operated by normal rules Arrizabalaga would be in the dock and his Chelsea career would be on the line. Instead the spotlight is on Sarri. Sarri's fury will be made worse by the fact he and Chelsea got so much right. He stifled City with his smothering tactics, saw his side grow in this final and his substitutions showed real intent with Callum Hudson-Odoi replacing Pedro to build on periods of supremacy. There was even a departure from tradition when Ross Barkley was replaced by Ruben Loftus-Cheek, not Mateo Kovacic. This had actually been a good day for Sarri until chaos took over but once defeat had been confirmed, Chelsea's miserable week had just got worse. Chelsea had tamely exited the FA Cup at home to Manchester United on Monday then the club was banned by Fifa from signing players for the next two transfer windows for breaching rules in relation to youth players. Capping this shocking spell with a Wembley defeat is bad enough - topping it off with open mutiny only compounds the gathering sense of finality for the beleaguered Sarri. Chelsea produced a performance that might have sustained their manager in his post. What unfolded at the end only leaves Sarri in greater peril. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47352352 |
What's on the table at the second Trump-Kim summit? | HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam hosts the second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un later this week, with denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and ending sanctions against Pyongyang the main items on the table. Key rings depicting North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump are seen for sale ahead of their summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, February 24, 2019. REUTERS/Jorge Silva Here are the key things that each side will be looking for at the Feb 27-28 summit in Hanoi. WHAT THE U.S. WANTS Denuclearization of North Korea is the over-riding goal that Washington is seeking to achieve. That means elimination of all weapons of mass destruction programs in North Korea - the production of those weapons, as well as the intercontinental ballistic missiles that can deliver them. WHAT IT MAY SETTLE FOR The United States will seek to form a shared understanding with North Korea of what denuclearization means at the summit, U.S. officials said on Thursday. Washington is also expected to seek to establish a roadmap that sets expectations and the process for negotiations on denuclearization beyond this weeks summit. A freeze on North Koreas weapons of mass destruction and missile programs is also likely to be on the agenda. North Korea appears to have produced enough bomb fuel in the past year to add as many as seven nuclear weapons to its arsenal, a report by Stanford Universitys Centre for International Security and Cooperation said earlier this month. WHAT NORTH KOREA WANTS North Korea has publicly called for an end to the crippling economic sanctions imposed by the United States and the United Nations, which will be its main aim at the summit. But its concept of denuclearization of the Korean peninsula could include removal of the U.S. nuclear umbrella for South Korea and nuclear-capable forces. Some officials in South Korea, the U.S. Congress and elsewhere have expressed concern that North Korea is calling for changes to the level of U.S. troops stationed in South Korea, but Trump said on Friday that drawing down U.S. troops in South Korea is not on the table. North Korea has also long called for a peace deal with the United States to normalize relations and end the technical state of war that has existed since the 1950-1953 Korean War concluded with an armistice rather than a peace treaty. WHAT IT MAY SETTLE FOR Washington has balked at signing a comprehensive peace treaty before North Korea completely denuclearizes, but U.S. officials have signaled they may be willing to conclude a more limited agreement to reduce tensions, open liaison offices, and move toward normalizing relations. Kim said in January that North Korea is ready to re-open Kaesong industrial park and tours to Mount Kumgang without any preconditions or price,. The two inter-Korean projects require at least partial easing of sanctions to resume operations. Kim also said North Korea is seeking from the U.S. corresponding practical actions for the various practical measures it says it has taken for the complete denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula. Corresponding actions that North Korea is demanding of the U.S. include the end of hostile policies against North Korea and the lifting of sanctions, a commentary by state news agency KCNA said on December 20. What the end of hostile policies entails is unclear. | https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-usa-summit-explainer/whats-on-the-table-at-the-second-trump-kim-summit-idUSKCN1QD0ZF?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Reuters%2FworldNews+%28Reuters+World+News%29 |
Should a former terrorist be allowed into witness protection? | There's no question Bryant Vias betrayed America. What you'll have to decide for yourself is whether he has done enough to atone for his crimes. The New York City man, raised Catholic on Long Island, joined al-Qaeda in 2008. But after he was caught, Vias became an informant cooperating with the FBI. Today, U.S. prosecutors say Bryant Vias may have been the most valuable witness ever in the war on al-Qaeda. Vias impressed prosecutors and the judge in his case so much that they prepared to shield him from the prospect of al-Qaeda's revenge by putting him in the federal witness protection program. All was prepared-- until Bryant Vias says he was double crossed. Scott Pelley: You can assume that al-Qaeda wants to kill you. Bryant Vias: Yes. Bryant Vias: Yes. Bryant Vias: To let people know what went wrong. Life went wrong for Bryant Vias at an early age. He was a troubled teenager-- his mother kicked him out. Vias was searching for purpose and converted to Islam. Later, he was seduced by the online fanaticism of al-Qaeda recruiter Anwar al-Awlaki. Anwar al-Awlaki: We are fighting for a noble cause. We are fighting for God. Al-Awlaki was an American killed back in 2011 by a U.S. drone. Bryant Vias: A lot of his sermons were very captivating, very mesmerizing, I guess you could say. He was talking about the injustices in the world, oppression going on in the Middle East. And it hit me in my heart. Bryant Vias: It was a problem that I could get involved in yes. "I gave information on the Long Island Rail Road. A plot on how to attack it, basically, the tunnel that connects all the trains that lead into Manhattan." In 2007, at the age of 24, Vias journeyed to Pakistan and Afghanistan. Scott Pelley: You wanted to kill Americans. Bryant Vias: At the time, yes. Vias found himself welcomed by terrorists who had longed for an American recruit who traveled on a U.S. Passport. Bryant Vias: I asked somebody, I said, "What group is this?" And he says, "no, this is al-Qaeda." I said, "This is al-Qaeda?" And he says yeah. This is not what you see in the videos. This is not what you see on the news. Bryant Vias: Usually, you see monkey bars where guys are training or crawling underneath barbed wire. And I didn't do any of that. That's not how it was while I was there. Bryant Vias: We did-- basic Soviet weapons. They go a little bit into explosive theory, suicide-bombing vests. Vias says a high ranking al-Qaeda leader asked him for advice on possible targets in the U.S.. Bryant Vias: I gave information on the Long Island Rail Road. A plot on how to attack it, basically, the tunnel that connects all the trains that lead into Manhattan. So, if the tunnel is destroyed, then it would hurt the economy in New York. Scott Pelley: They wanted to attack the economy of the United States. Bryant Vias: Yes sir. The death toll isn't really the primary target. Scott Pelley: They'd probably never heard of the Long Island Rail Road before. You might have relatives or friends on the railroad. Bryant Vias: Yeah. Very possible. Yeah. Bryant Vias: Regretful. Actually I'm very thankful nobody got hurt. And it was in the idea stages. And that's as far as it went. Bryant Vias: Yes sir. I was part of a defensive team to protect the group that was launching the rockets. Bryant Vias: In case a Pakistani helicopter came we were supposed to attack that helicopter so it wouldn't attack the group down below. Nathan's Hot Dog Stand on Coney Island, where detectives took Vias to convince him to speak about al-Qaeda In 2008, after seven months in terrorist camps, Vias took a short break to visit the city of Peshawar. Apparently, the Pakistanis were watching. He was arrested, turned over to the United States and, within days found himself in federal prison in Brooklyn. There, FBI agents offered him a choice: life in prison or, tell all about al-Qaeda. To help convince him, agents took him to Coney Island. Bryant Vias: Well I was in the car. Bryant Vias: Hot dogs, burgers, fries, a drink. Scott Pelley: And they showed you around Coney Island and they said, "You can have a life again." Bryant Vias: Yes. He holds out his arms. He says, "You really wanna go back to-- to prison and go to Supermax for the rest of your life?" This is my chance to get a second chance at life." I'll take it." So Vias decided to plead guilty. His sentencing was postponed until the government could assess the quality of his cooperation. Confined to prison, Vias spent eight years meeting more than 100 times with prosecutors and the FBI. Andrew McCabe: Vias changed the way we thought about how al-Qaeda recruits and who al-Qaeda recruits. Andrew McCabe was the head of FBI counterterrorism and oversaw the Vias case. This was before McCabe became better known for opening two investigations of President Trump. Andrew McCabe: Incredibly valuable through his testimony, through his debriefings, identifying people, teaching us how he had walked this pathway from Long Island, New York into al-Qaeda. Andrew McCabe: Learning about his experience completely broke the mold from the way that we thought business was happening. Prior to Vias, the idea that any American could just head to Pakistan and go seek out al-Qaeda and affiliate with that group was something we thought couldn't be done. Andrew McCabe: I would say so, yes. Former acting FBI director Andre McCabe Steve Zissou: His information has stopped more attacks than you can even conceive of. Steve Zissou is a defense lawyer with a top security clearance. He's represented several terrorism suspects including Bryant Vias. Steve Zissou: I have reviewed both classified and unclassified information. And the government's submissions to the court make it unequivocally clear that his information stopped attacks, saved lives, and permitted our military to continue the battle to take it to them, if you will. Steve Zissou: No doubt about it. Vias' defense attorney points to drone strikes that killed 14 suspected jihadists where Vias had lived. Scott Pelley: So they were killing these people who used to be your friends. Bryant Vias: Yes sir. Bryant Vias: At one time they were my friends. But, you know, if I have to leave that life behind, I can't have them be my friends no more. "I was shocked that they took such a cavalier irresponsible step as they did to deny Mr. Vias witness protection." In 2017, prosecutors wrote this to the judge in Vias' case, Nicholas Garaufis: "To say that the defendant provided substantial assistance to the government is an understatement. Indeed, he may have been the single most valuable cooperating witnesswith respect to al-Qaeda..." Judge Garaufis agreed, adding that Vias had placed his life in "grave danger" to help his country. Judge Nicholas Garaufis: He was the extraordinary case. Mr. Vias has certain God-given gifts, one of which is that he has a photographic memory. He remembered every place he had been. He remembered most of the people he had met. He was able to explain to the government how Al Qaeda recruits that's why he was so valuable. With that in mind, Judge Garaufis, ruled that the eight years vias had spent cooperating from a prison cell were enough. Judge Nicholas Garaufis: The sentence was time served with an additional 90 days. Judge Nicholas Garaufis: In order for him to have the opportunity to be placed in Witness Protection once he's released. Scott Pelley: So it was your understanding that he was going to be brought into the witness protection program. Judge Nicholas Garaufis: Yes, it absolutely was. Judge Nicholas Garaufis: On the 88th day of the 90-day period, I was advised that he had been refused witness protection status by this office at the Justice Department, the Office of Enforcement Operations. There had never been a problem before in any of my cases involving cooperators who sought witness protection. In prison, Vias already had been in witness protection. Judge Garaufis told us it's routine for the same protection to continue after release. But the U.S. Department of Justice witness security program, known as "WITSEC," turned him down with no explanation. Judge Nicholas Garaufis Judge Nicholas Garaufis: They don't give the reasons and the prosecutors moved for reconsideration. Reconsideration was denied. Scott Pelley: The prosecutors work for the Justice Department. The FBI agents are part of the Justice Department. All of them agree that he should be in the witness protection program. Judge Nicholas Garaufis: That's what troubles me. That-- they've had 8,700-- at least 8,700-- cooperators placed in witness protection. And I know some of these cooperators. They've been my defendants. I've had virtually the entire Bonanno organized crime family on my docket. I've had many trials involving murderers and drug kingpins on my docket. So I'm not a newcomer to this process. And I was shocked that they took such a cavalier irresponsible step as they did to deny Mr. Vias witness protection. The Justice Department's WITSEC office declined an interview. But in a statement to 60 Minutes it hinted at an explanation. It singled out just one of the factors in its decision process. WITSEC "must take into account the risks associated with giving a person a new identity and placing them in a community that is unaware of the person's actual identity" Judge Garaufis argues that, if Vias does pose a continuing risk to the community, then witness protection would insure that the government kept tabs on him and after all Vias has done, Garaufis says, the Justice Department has an obligation to keep him safe. Scott Pelley: It's extremely rare, Your Honor, in my experience to have a federal judge talk about a case. Judge Nicholas Garaufis: I've never done it before in 18 years as a judge. I won't allow the folks who made this decision to hide behind their decision. And it's a potential problem in the future. Judge Nicholas Garaufis: That's right. Today, Bryant Vias is on his own. Bryant Vias: Right now I'm working washing dishes at a restaurant. So that's how I'm paying the bills. Scott Pelley: The greatest al-Qaeda informant of all time, we're told, is washing dishes. Bryant Vias: That's correct. Scott Pelley: You're probably the only dishwasher who lectures at West Point. Bryant Vias: (Laughter) Yeah. After eight years in prison, cooperating with the government, Vias is still fighting terror. He's spoken at the U.S. Military Academy and to research organizations about the false lure of jihad. And he's still helping investigators. Bryant Vias: I always feel that it's-- it's a continuing process that I should do for years to come. Judge Nicholas Garaufis: I don't forgive him for seeking to engage in jihad against the United States. It's not that you forgive him. But he turned a corner. And he was successful in doing it. The government needs to meetto meet its part of the bargain. Produced by Robert G. Anderson and Aaron Weisz. Associate producer, LaCrai Mitchell. | https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bryant-vinas-should-a-former-terrorist-be-allowed-into-witness-protection-60-minutes/ |
Did the FDA ignite the opioid epidemic? | We have reported on the causes and effects of the opioid epidemic for several years interviewing government whistleblowers, doctors, and Americans who've grown dependent on the powerful pain pills. We have not had a high-ranking executive from the pharmaceutical industry sit before our cameras, until now. Tonight, Ed Thompson, a drug manufacturer who spent decades managing and producing opioids for Big Pharma, breaks ranks to denounce his industry and its federal regulator, the Food and Drug Administration, which he says opened the floodgates on the crisis with a few little changes to a label. Ed Thompson: The root cause of this epidemic is the FDA's illegal approval of opioids for the treatment of chronic pain. Ed Thompson: Without question, they start the fire. Ed Thompson speaks with correspondent Bill Whitaker Ed Thompson told us when the top selling opioid, Oxycontin, was first approved in 1995, it was based on science that only showed it safe and effective when used "short-term." But in 2001, pressured by Big Pharma and pain sufferers, the FDA made a fateful decision and, with no new science to back it up, expanded the use of Oxycontin to just about anyone with chronic ailments like arthritis and back pain. Ed Thompson: So this is what a package insert looks like. Bill Whitaker: Wow The FDA did it by simply changing a few words on the label, that lengthy insert no one ever reads. Today the label says the powerful pain pills are effective for "daily, around-the-clock, long-term treatment." And that small label change made a big change in the way drug companies would market all opioids, allowing them to sell more and more pills at higher and higher doses. Ed Thompson: A drug's label is the single most important document for that product. It determines whether somebody can make $10 million or a billion dollars. Ed Thompson: Because it allows you to then promote the drug based on the labeling. Ed Thompson owns PMRS, a successful Pennsylvania pharmaceutical company that manufactures drugs for Big Pharma. It's made him a rich man. But now he's putting his livelihood at risk. He's doing what no other drug maker has ever done, he's suing the FDA in federal court to force it to follow the science and limit the opioid label to short term use. "There are no studies on the safety or efficacy of opioids for long-term use." Thompson is challenging the FDA to start with his newest opioid. It's Thompson's creative way to sabotage the system. He may lose money rolling out his new drug, but if he is successful, it would set a precedent. Other manufacturers would be forced to change their labels and limit their marketing. Bill Whitaker: A decision going in your direction could pull down a multi-billion-dollar industry. Ed Thompson: Correct. Probably somewhere between $7 and $10 billion a year would come off the market. We made a decision to stop selling snake oil to U.S. citizens in 1962. Ed Thompson: Yes, sir. You're using high-dose, long-duration opioids when they've never been designed to do that. There's no evidence that they're effective. There's extreme evidence of harms and deaths when you use them. Brandeis professor Dr. Andrew Kolodny is one of the country's most-recognized addiction specialists and has been an expert witness in litigation against Big Pharma, including Purdue, the maker of Oxycontin. He has been trying to get the FDA label changed since 2011 to make clear opioids are not for everyone. Dr. Andrew Kolodny Dr. Andrew Kolodny: These are essential medicines for easing suffering at the end of life and when used for a couple of days after major surgery or a serious accident. If you're taking them around the clock every day, quickly, you become tolerant to the pain-relieving effect. In order to continue getting pain relief, you'll need higher and higher doses. As the doses get higher, the treatment becomes more dangerous and the risk of death goes up. Bill Whitaker: That sounds exactly like heroin addiction. Dr. Andrew Kolodny: It's essentially the same drug. To understand how this began we traveled to this small courthouse in Welch, West Virginia, where we uncovered the minutes of secret meetings in 2001 between Purdue Pharma and the FDA. The files were part of the state's lawsuit against Purdue for deceitful marketing. 60 Minutes got a court order to obtain these documents. They reveal it was at those secret meetings the FDA bowed to Purdue Pharma's demands to ignore the lack of scientific data, and changed the label to, "around the clockfor an extended period of time.'' Ed Thompson: I can't think of anything more harmful taking place that took place then. It opened the floodgates. It was the decision of no return for the FDA. Purdue told us Oxycontin always was approved for long-term use. But an internal document shows the company was jubilant about the labeling change. Quote: "The action by the FDAhas created enormous opportunities" to expand the market. The drug company's ads soon extolled the virtues of Oxycontin's effectiveness and sales tripled. Dr. David Kessler: It was a marketing tsunami. And the agency didn't catch it. 60 Minutes has called on former FDA commissioner David Kessler many times for his expertise on drug safety issues. He ran the FDA in the 1990s when Oxycontin was first approved, but he left before the labeling change. Today, he's been retained by cities and counties suing Big Pharma for the opioid crisis. After reviewing the documents we obtained, and checking on his own, he says changing the label to long-term use was a mistake. Dr. David Kessler: There are no studies on the safety or efficacy of opioids for long-term use. Bill Whitaker: But there's a law that says that a drug cannot be promoted as safe and effective unless it's proven to be safe and effective. But yet, with FDA sanction, these opioids are being used in that way that you say have not been proven. Dr. David Kessler: That's correct. The rigorous kind of scientific evidence that the agency should be relying on is not there. The label change was a blank check one the drug industry cashed in for billions and billions of dollars. Now, Big Pharma had a green light to push opioids to tens of millions of new pain patients nationwide. Bill Whitaker: Let me remind you of some of the words that you have used to describe the pharmaceutical industry, your industry. Bill Whitaker: Corrupt. Ed Thompson: Yeah. Ed Thompson: Yes. Ed Thompson: Yes. They're appropriate for the behavior that's taken place. Bill Whitaker: You are a drug executive. You manufacture drugs. Ed Thompson: Many drugs. Ed Thompson: I wish I was smart enough to have seen this epidemic before-- before I got three or four years into it. Absolutely. But once you find out that it's not correct, you have to do the right thing. Emily Walden: My son wanted to fight for his country. His country failed him. If there is one victim who confirmed for Ed Thompson that turning on his industry was the right thing to do, it was Emily Walden, who would become an unlikely ally. Thompson manufactured an opioid oxymorphone. The same drug that took the life of Walden's son TJ, a private in the Kentucky National Guard. Emily Walden: He was getting ready to be deployed to Africa and a few weeks prior to that he went on a camping trip with a group of friends and a police officer knocked on my door the next morning telling me that he had passed away. Tj had grown addicted to the drug and was easily able to get it without a prescription. Walden went to Washington, D.C. to ask the FDA why her community was being flooded with pain pills. It was there she met Ed Rhompson. Emily Walden: "You manufactured the drug that killed my son." Bill Whitaker: He is now on your side. Emily Walden: Yes. Bill Whitaker: That just seems like an odd connection. Emily Walden: It is. But Ed might be my only hope in getting this fixed. The FDA's responsibility is public health and the safety of drugs, and they're not doing their job. They haven't been doing their job for 20 years. Dr. Andrew Kolodny agrees. The Brandeis addiction specialist began his own investigation into why the FDA would approve the long-term use of opioids when there was no credible science to back it up. Dr. Andrew Kolodny: We found out that a group of experts and FDA and pharmaceutical companies were having private meetings and at these meetings, changing the rules for how opioids get approved. He filed Freedom of Information Act Requests. In email after email between the FDA, Big Pharma and consultants, he learned of closed-door meetings at luxury hotels, like this Four Seasons in Washington, DC, where for $35,000 a piece, drug makers paid consultants to, "sit at a small table with the FDA," "hobnobbing with the regulators." Emails show one participant worrying it might be seen as "pay to play." Dr. Andrew Kolodny: They had drugs in their pipeline, pain medicines that they wanted approved. And through these meetings, they were able to get those products on the market. Bill Whitaker: That sounds unethical. Dr. Andrew Kolodny: It is unethical. Bill Whitaker: If not illegal Dr. Andrew Kolodny: If it's not illegal, it should be illegal. Equally suspicious but legal, the large number of key FDA regulators who went through the revolving door to jobs with drug manufacturers. The two medical officers, who originally approved Oxycontin, Curtis Wright and Douglas Kramer, went to work for the opioid maker, Purdue Pharma, not long after leaving the FDA. Dr. Andrew Kolodny: The culture at FDA continues to be much too cozy with the industry it's supposed to be regulating. The agency bills drug companies more than $800 million a year in fees and depends on that industry money to pay the salaries of staffers who not only changed the opioid label, but also review new drugs like Dsuvia, the most powerful opioid pill ever approved. Dr. David Kessler Bill Whitaker: Just a few weeks ago the FDA approved a new opioid that is 1,000 times more powerful than morphine. And this is in the middle of this opioid epidemic. Dr. David Kessler: I don't get it. I get your question; I don't get the agency's action. Bill Whitaker: I have no idea. Dr. David Kessler: Five. Bill Whitaker: When I'm looking at the carnage in American towns and cities, that just doesn't seem like a good excuse to me. Dr. David Kessler: It's not an excuse. It's the reality. You have a system of pharmaceutical promotion that changed the way medicine practiced and no one, all right, stopped it. Current FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb declined our request for an interview but, in a statement said, "the FDA has taken aggressive steps to confront the crisis," but he admitted "many mistakes were made along the way... While the agency followed the law in approving and regulating opioids, we at the FDA include ourselves among those who should have acted sooner." Bill Whitaker: You say they have to do things to fix the label. The label has been in place since 2001. I-- I'm not a scientist, but that doesn't seem like that's that hard to do. Dr. David Kessler: And it needs to be done. Ed Thompson: We got a real problem here. Ed Thompson isn't waiting. He has now joined a growing movement of doctors, lawyers, and patient activists who want Big Pharma to kick its addiction to opioid profits. That's why he made the decision to take on his industry and the FDA. Bill Whitaker: If you succeed, you could pull down a multibillion-dollar industry. Ed Thompson: And if I fail, you're gonna have ever-increasing deaths every day as well. Produced by Ira Rosen and Sam Hornblower | https://www.cbsnews.com/news/opioid-epidemic-did-the-fda-ignite-the-crisis-60-minutes/ |
How will the UK's post-Brexit global role look? | For three years, Brexit has drained the intellectual life force out of Whitehall and Westminster, leaving little time and space for thinking about the future. Yet now, as we close on the projected 29 March date of departure, there are signs at last that some policymakers are lifting their eyes from the immediate negotiations and trying to look beyond the horizon. This is especially true of foreign policy. One of the great ironies of Brexit is that an issue which often seems to be about Britain's relationship with the outside world has been viewed so narrowly through the prism of UK domestic politics. Image copyright AFP/PRU Image caption Some MPs are looking beyond parliamentary debate to the UK's post-Brexit role The debate at Westminster has focused largely on points of ideological difference over backstops, red lines and the internal party divisions. Yet the position many voters took on Brexit was often determined by much broader issues: their view of Britain's role in the world, their response to the pros and cons of globalisation, and yes, their attitude towards the numbers of foreigners in Britain. Some MPs are now turning their minds to these issues. In recent days, shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry gave a speech to the Institute for Government think tank. She set out her plans to rebalance Britain's foreign policy under a future Labour government by doing more to promote the UK's values and not only its commercial interests. Image copyright PA Image caption Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry wants the UK to do more to promote its values abroad There would be a greater focus on human rights and a review of the government's regime for arms exports. She likened her approach to the foreign policy "with an ethical dimension" promoted by the former Labour foreign secretary, Robin Cook, "but with added realism". A few days later Bob Seely, Conservative MP for the Isle of Wight and a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, published his own 40-page blueprint for Britain's future place in the world. His idea is for Britain to become a champion for freedom: freedom for trade, freedom from oppression and freedom of thought. So he wants the UK to reform the World Trade Organization to tackle protectionism, to promote human rights and combat modern slavery, and take on authoritarianism by boosting the BBC World Service. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Tory MP Bob Seely wants the UK to push for the WTO to combat protectionism To co-ordinate all this, Mr Seely said the departments for international development and international trade should be merged back into the Foreign Office. He also wants the rules constraining Britain's aid budget to be loosened. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt is largely focused on Brexit, but has scored some diplomatic runs by taking a more robust stance on the treatment of the Muslim Rohingyas in Myanmar, also known as Burma. and Iran's detention of the British-Iranian dual national, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. He is also adopting a new focus on defending media freedom and protecting Christians from persecution. But Mr Hunt's big idea is that Britain can become what he calls "an invisible chain" linking the world's democracies. The UK, he hopes, can set itself up as a defender of liberty, the rule of law, and civil and political rights against the growing threat from authoritarian regimes. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt sees the UK as an "invisible chain" linking the world's democracies Many of these ideas are worthy of examination. Yet, taken together, they appear to illustrate the lack of thinking about foreign policy since Britain voted to leave the EU in June 2016. It is one thing to be in favour of democracy and values, it is another to say what this might mean in practice. Take Ms Thornberry's speech. This was her reply: "I don't know, in relation to China, is my honest answer. So I don't think I am going to sit here and bullshit you, James." So on the great dilemma facing the Western world, Labour's thinking is, shall we say, a work in progress. Vague concept Mr Seely's pamphlet has the merit of depth. But its focus is on institutional change: the merging of Whitehall departments, the setting up of strategy councils and spending audits and so on. There were more questions than answers when it came to setting out what actual policy these new structures should promote. And as for the foreign secretary's big idea, of the "invisible chains" of democracy, this suffers from its very title. Invisible policy is a vague concept, to say the least, and chains may not be a great image for a post-imperial power trying to find its place in the world. In addition, his recommendations looked to institutional change: more British diplomats, reform of the United Nations and so on. There are also some shared gaps here. For decades our foreign policy has placed Britain as a bridge between the EU and the US. But few analyses are clear about what Britain's relationship with Europe and America should be in the future. There is little thinking about the demographic explosion taking place in Africa. But the crucial point is that too much of this thinking seems to ignore first principles. The 19th Century prime minister and statesman, William Gladstone, said that his first principle of foreign policy was "good government at home". And he was right: countries with a strong sense of national identity, a healthy economy and a stable political leadership with a clear agenda tend to have good foreign policies. At the moment, I am not sure Britain quite lives up to that ideal. So, before we start talking about Whitehall reform, leveraging our aid budget, spending more on defence, reforming the Commonwealth, copying Singapore or Japan or any of these other ideas, perhaps we need to work out first how we see ourselves as a nation. More from James Landale | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-47241921 |
Why did Wellington Zoo's baboons have to be euthanised? | Four baboons that had to be euthanised at Wellington Zoo last week would have killed each other off had they been left alone, staff say. Habib, 14, Osiris, 7, Les, 17, and Rafiki, 15 were all put down on Saturday after a breakdown in social structure. They were the zoo's only baboons. Despite outrage from animals rights activists and social media commentators, re-homing the animals wasn't an option, said the zoo's animal science manager Simon Eyre. "You can't introduce a male to other troops of baboons who already have males," he said. Advertisement A newly introduced male is likely to be killed by other males in the existing troop, so the only option would be to introduce the baboons to a newly established troop of females. Eyre said they consulted with experts and co-ordinators to see if there were any available troops internationally they could send the baboons to, but there were none. Splitting the baboons up and keeping them in solitary confinement for the rest of their lives would be inhumane, as they are social creatures. Primate team leader Harmony Neale said the troop were stable for a long time, but in the last few months their hierarchy started to fall apart. The fighting became more frequent and the baboons started suffering worse injuries. "In the end it lead to a complete disestablishment and non-existence of any hierarchy within that group." The four baboons were "living individually" in a shared space, concerned only with themselves. There was increased aggression, anxiety, a reluctance to be around each other, and the baboons were afraid to eat in case they "got into trouble". Normal behaviour such and social grooming and positive interactions had totally disappeared, and the baboons' quality of life had plunged. Neale said there was no one thing that could point to what caused the breakdown. Animal rights group SAFE chief executive Debra Ashton has slammed the decision, saying the "behavioural and habitat needs of the baboons were not being met at the zoo, which goes to show the flaws of keeping animals in captivity". "Social structures suffer in enclosed environments and could be attributed to fighting and anxiety for animals. When these social systems break down and there is fighting, vulnerable animals are not in a position to be able to escape as they would in the wild," she said. But Neale said such fighting also happened in the wild, and could still lead to the baboons being killed. However in the wild there was more opportunity for the baboons to move out of their group. In the wild, baboons live in troops with between 100 and 700 members, meaning one could move out of their immediate group while still staying within the wider family. The zoo's baboons could not be sent to live in the wild, as they were born in the zoo. "If we had left them together they would have killed each other one by one," Neale said. "The outcome would have been the same, they just would have suffered." By euthanising them, the zoo was able to make sure they had a "good death", instead of spending their last months living in loneliness and fear, and suffering more pain. "It was an incredibly difficult decision to come to . . . and it's not one that we take lightly." The decision was not just made by zoo staff - they consulted with experts outside the zoo first. "We are the ones dealing with this day in day out, we know it's the right outcome, we know we've done everything we can and that this was the right decision. "It's an incredibly sad time." The zoo will not be getting any more baboons. Eyre said the zoo worked hard to determine which species they should bring in. If they believed they could not give an animal a good life, they would not bring in that species. "It's no longer a case of we can get some baboons, let's have some baboons." Wellington Zoo also looked at whether a species they brought in could connect to a conservation programme they could support. "There are many different factors of why we bring animals into a zoo now," he said. "Fifty years ago they would have had one or two of everything they could possibly get." Neale said zoos did "a lot of really good work" around conservation and education and were no longer just there so people could come and look at animals. She said people would be more interested in supporting conservation for an animal if they could see that animal themselves and build a connection to it. | https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12207036&ref=rss |
How was Gloucester affected by the Fred West murders? | Image caption Fred West confessed to killing his daughter Heather on 25 February 1994 It is a quarter of a century since Fred West confessed to killing his daughter Heather. It came as police began to search 25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester, where they would go on to find the bodies of nine girls and young women. West and his wife Rosemary's crimes shocked the world, and brought unwelcome attention to the city. A special edition of BBC Inside Out West asks some of those involved in the case what impact the murders had. 'Their lives were snuffed out' Image caption Tony Butler was the most senior police officer on the force that investigated the Wests' crimes "It certainly left a mark on the constabulary, because I think of the nature of the crimes, the brutality of these murders, and the number of them," says Tony Butler, who was chief constable of Gloucestershire Police during the investigation. "This was a case of young women; their lives were just snuffed out. "The night that we arrested Fred, the TV crews were in Cromwell Street and I remember on the Points West news, neighbours saying: "No no, the police have got this all wrong. Fred and Rose, lovely family couple, lovely family people. And they clearly weren't. "There's a lot of memories there, but I suppose the one that stands out perhaps mostly was when I was at Winchester Crown Court when the jury were coming back into court to give their verdict. "I watched Rose - nothing, absolutely no expression at all. And that really is a very strong memory for me. "It's difficult to say it's a better place for it, but there were some good things that came out of it. "But it will heal and I think it does need to drift into the background now." 'The city was deeply traumatised' Image caption Canon Adrian Slade says grief and anger "penetrated into the whole city" "There was a lot of grief, a lot of feeling of we should have known," says Canon Adrian Slade, from the Diocese of Gloucester, who worked with the community in the aftermath of the crimes. "And I think a lot of people were anxious that what happened with Fred West and Rosemary was something they should have been on top of. "And I think that feeling of grief and anger and sadness penetrated into the whole city. I think the city was deeply traumatised. "I'm not a psychologist, but if a city or a group of people or individuals have suffered trauma you sometimes have to go back and talk people through that trauma. "And I think when you talk to people in Gloucester they still self-identify as a city where the West case occurred. "I think Gloucester went through a period of mourning. And I think it's got through it. I think it's come out the other side. "Gloucester is a nice place to be, on the whole." 'Every city has got dark shadows' Image caption Dame Janet Trotter says the case led to multi-agency working becoming "more joined up" "What do you do in this place where unspeakable horror has taken place?," asks Dame Janet Trotter, the former Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire. "Some places have a museum, but here they totally knocked the house down, they've made some gardens. "And I suppose I had rather thought there might be something else that would have been more a statement of healing of what this was about, and a reflection by the city. "I think the reflection that I have on this, and another bit of the legacy, is that most of the public services were actually operating in silos. "So you got the [West] children going to school, not doing PE because they would have had bruises in various parts of their body - they were turning up at emergency departments, there was the police, and none of these came together to share information. "I think one of the really good things is that all of those services under safeguarding arrangements are now more joined up. "Every city has got dark shadows, every family has got dark shadows, every person's got dark shadows. "So each of us has a responsibility to look out for our children, our community's children. And that's one of the things that all of us must be active in doing." The special edition of BBC Inside Out West can be seen on BBC One in the West and South regions at 19:30 BST on Monday 25 February, and afterwards on the BBC iPlayer. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-47344316 |
How do we know ISIS bride Hoda Muthana isnt still working for the group? | Ever since President Trump has taken office, he has proven to the American people that he will do everything in his power to protect our country from terrorism, including not only completely destroying the ISIS caliphate, but also putting into place mechanisms to stop future attacks by the group on our soil. Thats why this week when we learned that ISIS bride Hoda Muthana wanted to return back to America after years of allegedly conducting terrorist with the group, it was no surprise that the president took a stand to ensure she and other terrorists do not return. He couldnt be more right. In my experiences, ISIS brides are extremely loyal to the cause and have absolutely no remorse for their actions because they have been brainwashed. They have seen so much death that they think of nothing else. Everything they do after joining is meant to help the cause and ISIS has proven incredibly good at changing how they view the world. Any remorse that I witnessed in captivity was typically a guise to support the agenda of the group. In April 2010, I was a member of a special operations team in Iraq that was responsible for killing the original leaders of the Islamic State: Abu Ayuub al-Masri and Abu Umar al-Baghdadi, after we tracked them down and found them hiding in small hut miles south of Mosul. During the mission that followed, it was discovered that the wife of leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri was present. As the gun battle ensued during the operation to take out the leaders, the wife tried to run in front of the hail of bullets and kill herself for the terrorist leaders. She was ultimately unable to do so because our team on the ground moved quickly to stop her, nearly getting killed themselves in the process. In the end, she was captured, and then put in a prison where she laid out everything her husband had done to her over the years. At the time, there was debate on whether she should be charged with a crime because it was clear she had been brainwashed by the group. But there was nothing that could be done or said to help her after months of questioning, because she eventually made it extremely clear, after acting remorseful at first, that she wanted nothing more than to kill Americans. This particular moment has still had a profound effect on my life for many reasons. It taught me not only how sick and twisted they are, but also how extremely loyal ISIS brides are to the cause, even if it means certain death. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Muthana has also indicated she wanted to return back to America, even if it meant serving time in prison in order to repay her debts to society. Infiltrating prisons was always a part of ISIS doctrine. ISIS sees prisons as a huge recruitment tool and they would send their fighters to prison for the sole reason of recruiting others. Even if she is eventually indicted and goes to prison in the U.S., it could be an opportunity for her to radicalize others or promote her story for the cause. While the legal ramifications of Muthana not being allowed to return will long be debated and could set a precedent for other fighters wanting to return home, its no surprise that with Muthana allegedly spending several years urging attacks on Americans, Americans should be deeply troubled by the thought of her returning to our country. CLICK HERE FOR MORE FROM BRETT VELICOVICH | https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/how-do-we-know-isis-bride-hoda-muthana-isnt-still-working-for-the-group |
Why Do Women Fall In Love With Serial Killers? | Not long after the February 2018 shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, hundreds of teenaged girls started sending love letters to the alleged shooter as he awaited trial in prison. According to media reports, the letters over 200 of them contained flattery, encouragement, and even scantily-clad photographs. It's hard to believe, but even men accused of the most heinous crimes often have legions of devoted fans. Ted Bundy, Steven Avery, Chris Watts and Charles Manson are just a few examples of convicted murderers who, despite killing women, have received love letters from other women while they were behind bars. The reasons for this are complex, says Sarah Hewitt, a licensed marriage and family therapist in Middletown, CT. For some women, Hewitt says, trauma can play a part. When a woman has a history of trauma that is related to violence, their level of normalcy around violence is higher, Hewitt explains. Women who come from families where violence or crime is the norm can be attracted to men who engage in similar behaviors, even if they're more extreme. Women also tend to be socialized as caretakers, Hewitt adds. While men might be repelled by a woman's criminal past, women are more likely to see men incarcerated or on death row as potential partners who they can care for and emotionally save. Another draw, says Hewitt, is the ability to control. Since these men have lost their physical freedom, it's easier for women to 'trust' them, she says. Women who have a history of traumatic relationships, either with parents or significant others, where they have interpreted loss as rejection, can be attracted to men in prison because the men physically cannot leave them. Dr. Damian Jacob M. Sendler is a Harvard-educated forensic sexologist and principal research investigator at the Felnett Health Research Foundation who studies women who seek out long-term relationships with men in prison. And though there is a "wide range" of crimes that these women find attractive, Sendler says, "murderers tend to score the most interest and admiration." The reason for this is two-fold, according to Sendler. About half of our female participants had difficulties growing up, Sendler says. On the one hand, these women want to help these men achieve their potential. On the other hand, these women hope to find their soulmate, someone they can relate to based on lifes negative experiences. A small subset of these women, says Sendler, have something called hybristophilia, where a person is genuinely sexually aroused by the thought of someone committing a crime. Not all women who write letters to men in prison have hybristophilia, however, and simply having a relationship with someone behind bars doesn't make someone a hybristophiliac. People with this type of paraphilia seek to fulfill their desire to love a much stronger and more dominant partner, Sendler says. Criminals are viewed as strong, fearless, and indifferent toward the law or social norms. Many women, and some men, idealize criminals and murderers as the type of person who can give them support. It doesn't happen often, says Sendler. I am sure that there are men who find female criminals attractive, he says. The biggest difference between how women and men fall in love with criminals is that women seek to take care of the 'sinful,' while men are willing to forgive a criminal record only when they thing that the woman acted in some sort of self-defense. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahwatts/2019/02/24/why-do-women-fall-in-love-with-serial-killers/ |
What was Kevin Hart doing Sunday night instead of hosting the 2019 Oscars? | CLOSE Kevin Hart stepped down as Oscars host following social media backlash after his homophobic tweets from 2011 resurfaced. USA TODAY Kevin Hart is rolling with the punches. Instead of hosting the 91st annual Academy Awards Sunday, the comedian hit the gym for a daunting boxing session. Hart, 39, posted an Instagram video of himself unleashing on a punching bag during the Oscars ceremony as the show on ABC played in the background. "When you feel like u have nothing left is when you find a way to push & give moreAlways grinding," Hart wrote, adding the hashtag, #HustleHart." The "Night School" actor's cardio session wrapped up a lowkey day for the star, who said he spent time at home with wife Eniko Parrish, 34, son Kenzo, 1, and the family's dogs. Oscars 2019: 5 must-know moments from the Academy Awards More: Billy Porter, Spike Lee, Nick Hoult make waves on the Academy Awards red carpet Hart was tapped in December to host Hollywood's biggest night. But, the comedian promptly relinquished his duties following backlash over his refusal to apologize for past homophobic comments and tweets. "I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year's Oscar's this is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists," he tweeted Dec. 6, before uttering words he had refused to say just hours before. "I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past." Oscars 2019: 'Green Book' wins best picture, overcomes backlash with three awards More: Kevin Hart steps down as Oscars host amid backlash from past homophobic tweets Kevin Hart will not be hosting the Oscars. No one will be. (Photo11: JORDAN STRAUSS/INVISION/AP) It looked like Hart might return as Oscars host even earning the support of Ellen DeGeneres but instead the comedian reaffirmed his "no." The Oscars went on without a host for the first time since 1989. Helen Mirren says it could be an 'interesting' situation Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2019/02/25/what-kevin-hart-doing-instead-hosting-2019-oscars/2976772002/ | https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2019/02/25/what-kevin-hart-doing-instead-hosting-2019-oscars/2976772002/ |
Are lawmakers legislating Arizona into a measles outbreak? | Opinion: While other states are coming to grips with lax vaccination requirements, some Arizona lawmakers want to expand the state's already weak requirements. In Vancouver, Washington in January 2019. (Photo11: Gillian Flaccus/AP) Last week during a hearing at the State Capitol a pro-vaccine lawmaker spoke about being bombarded by negative comments from anti-vaxxers who, among other things, called her a Nazi. Democratic Rep. Alma Hernandez of Tucson said in part, I will say one thing, comparing this situation to the Holocaust and calling me a Nazi is not going to help the cause and it is not who I am. And it is not right. I just wanted to bring that up And all I have to say about that is dont confuse passion for facts. Among the anti-vaccine crowd in the audience there were chuckles. You can laugh all you want, Hernandez said. There are many people who will actually suffer by the decisions we make on this panel. Not a laughing matter Just about every professional health association you can imagine agreed with her, urging the Republican-controlled House Health and Human Services Committee to reject three bills that even further weaken Arizonas already dangerously lax immunization requirements for schoolchildren. The bills, sponsored by Republican chairwoman Rep. Nancy Barto, passed along party lines, in spite of warnings from Arizona Medical Association, the Arizona Academy of Family Physicians, Arizona Alliance for Community Health Centers, the March of Dimes and on and on. Dr. Bob England, former director of the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, told The Arizona Republics Stephanie Innes that declining vaccination rates have made metro Phoenix susceptible to a large, sustained measles outbreak. Other communities are catching on to the danger. Recognizing the danger Just last week, a senate committee in Washington state, which had lax vaccination rates and has seen increased spikes in measles cases, approved a measure to eliminate exemptions for personal or philosophical reasons. Nor is the anti-vaccine danger limited to the United States. The New York Times reports that Japan is facing its worst measles outbreak in years, with the illness tied to a religious group that avoids vaccinations. California eliminated vaccine exemptions for personal beliefs back in 2015. NEWSLETTERS Get the Opinions Newsletter newsletter delivered to your inbox We're sorry, but something went wrong Our best and latest in commentary in daily digest form. Please try again soon, or contact Customer Service at 1-800-332-6733. Delivery: Mon-Fri Invalid email address Thank you! You're almost signed up for Opinions Newsletter Keep an eye out for an email to confirm your newsletter registration. More newsletters Meantime, the Republicans in control of the Arizona Legislature are rushing in the opposite direction, putting untold individuals at risk if the vaccinated population falls beneath the 95 percent needed to preserve what is called herd immunity. Would Gov. This would include infants, pregnant women, people with compromised immune systems (like cancer patients), individuals allergic to vaccines and others. And, of course, the children themselves. If the bills make it through the Legislature it will be up to Gov. Doug Ducey to prevent a potential health crisis. He has expressed support for vaccines in the past. In the meantime the bills made it out of committee with the anti-vaxxers in the audience chuckling at the protestations of Rep. Hernandez. They were getting their way. The Holocaust was "not an option" An emotional Rep. Hernandez said in part, And Im not going to sit here and tolerate that, and you can laugh all you want. You can continue to laugh. But I will not tolerate that Im sorry, but maybe you all should get an education on the Holocaust and what happened. That was not an option for people. They were murdered. And that is all I have to say. And just so the gigglers know, if they had bothered to check Rep. Hernandezs campaign website they would have read this line in her biography: She is an active member of the Jewish Community. MORE BY MONTINI: CLOSE If you choose not to vaccinate your kid, shouldn't be able to attend public school, columnist EJ Montini says. Diana Payan, The Republic | azcentral.com Read or Share this story: https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/ej-montini/2019/02/24/legislating-arizona-into-measles-outbreak/2970649002/ | https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/ej-montini/2019/02/24/legislating-arizona-into-measles-outbreak/2970649002/ |
Why Are There So Few Female Nominees In The 2019 Oscars? | When you think of the Oscars, you might think of a glamorous night filled with A-listers, incredible red carpet appearances and eloquent, albeit rushed, thank-you speeches from the winners. But beyond its glossy exterior lies a rumbling underbelly: The film industry's gender and race minorities, who have long been excluded due to the ingrained biases of an entrenched industry, are increasingly taking a defiant stand to bring about change. With the #TimesUp movement still going strong, the Academy Awards are under more scrutiny than ever. Thus, it is disheartening to see that, after the promising improvement of female representation in last year's nominees with Greta Gerwig holding the fort for women on the movie director front no woman was nominated for the Best Director category this year. Or in any other non-gender specific major categories, for that matter. | https://www.eonline.com/ap/news/1017222/why-are-there-so-few-female-nominees-in-the-2019-oscars |
How can my brothers split the proceeds of a house sale fairly? | Two of them put in 75,000 each and the other 3,000, but they dont have a deed of trust Q Three of my brothers owned a house together, which they recently sold. Two of the brothers put 75,000 each into the house and the third brother, who has not lived in the property for 10 years contributed 3,000 towards the purchase of the house. There was no mortgage on the property. They had no deed of trust. We would like to know what is the legal way of splitting the profit from the house. The house sold for 490,000. GS A Given the unequal contributions that your three brothers made to the purchase price of their house, it was severely remiss of the solicitor who did the conveyancing not to discuss drawing up a deed of trust. A deed of trust is a legal document which spells out who owns what percentage share of the equity and can also be used to spell out what should happen if one joint owner wants to sell up. In the absence of a deed of trust, when a property is sold the law assumes an equal split of the sale proceeds between joint owners. But making that assumption wouldnt be very fair on your two brothers who each put in 75,000. They cant draw up a deed of trust retrospectively but they can with your other brothers agreement split the 490,000 they got for the house according to the percentage share they initially contributed. So assuming that the house originally cost 153,000 (two times 75,000 plus 3,000), the brothers who contributed 75,000 should each get 49% of the sale proceeds leaving your other brother with a 2% share. These percentage shares would also apply to the amounts used to calculate any capital gains tax bill which may be due to the brothers who didnt live in the house. Email your homebuying and borrowing worries to Virginia Wallis at [email protected] | https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/feb/25/my-brothers-are-trying-to-split-the-proceeds-of-a-house-sale-fairly |
Why was boarding my easyJet flight denied without warning? | Three weeks ago I was denied boarding on an easyJet flight from Lisbon to Bristol. I had checked in but at boarding was told they could not find me on the system. EasyJets finance department confirmed it had cancelled my booking apparently it doesnt inform passengers when this happens. The gentleman on the phone said there could be a number of factors as to why, including fraudulent transactions. I had used my card to book the 68 flight a week before travelling. Stranded, I was forced to book another flight from Lisbon-Porto-Gatwick. I missed my coach from Bristol to home, and so had to book another transfer from Gatwick which finally got me back to Wales at 5.30am 12 hours after I had originally been due. EasyJet has asked me to send my bank statement and booking etc. Thats the only communication Ive had from them. LN, Swansea This is the second letter we have had from someone denied boarding by easyJet in such circumstances, and this has proved very complicated to resolve. The airline cancelled your flight because it believes that in 2014 you flew from Bristol to Glasgow on a ticket paid for using stolen credit card details. The return flight was booked by someone else, it says, but listed you as the passenger. The cardholder from Thailand asked for the 180 cost to be a chargeback, resulting, easyJet says, in it losing this amount and you being placed on its fraud alert list. It says all your recent booking details match those on the 2014 Glasgow flight. You, however, are adamant you have never flown into Glasgow airport and dont know the person who made this booking. You say you changed your name by deed poll since and are baffled as to why this has only now emerged, as you took at least two easyJet flights in 2017 without a problem. If you still believe this was nothing to do with you, issue the airline with a subject access request to demand it hands over all the data. You can then try to challenge it. The airline says in cases of suspected fraud it does not notify before departure to reduce the risk of immediate rebooking. If you were, possibly inadvertently, involved, you may want to pay the 180 owed, which should take you off the fraud alert list. A very complicated and bizarre case. We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at [email protected] or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to our terms and conditions | https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/feb/25/easyjet-boarding-denied-warning-fraud |
Will college star Kyler Murray bury the NFL myth of the short quarterback? | Russell Wilson and Drew Brees have shown quarterbacks under 6ft can succeed in the pros. Now an even shorter player could change the league for good Kyler Murray is more than just a small guy playing a big mans game. Unfortunately for Murray, an exceptional talent who is likely to be the first player ever drafted in the first round in both the MLB and NFL, the conversation has, and will continue to be, all about his size. Measured at just under 5ft 10in by his college, Oklahoma, Murray will be the shortest quarterback in the NFL if, and when, a team signs him. Its a height that got this years Super Bowl MVP Julian Edelman, a 5ft 10in quarterback out of Kent State, converted to wide receiver. A quarterbacks height is a big deal because, well, its a big deal. Though sports are in an era increasingly dominated by performance analytics, there isnt a single shred of evidence that says a shorter quarterback cant succeed. And short quarterbacks have succeeded in the NFL: Russell Wilson (5ft 11in) and Drew Brees (6ft) have both won Super Bowls. Why Kyler Murray is set to forfeit a $4.6m MLB bonus and join the NFL Read more Despite this general lack of support, the only QB shorter than 6ft 1in to be drafted in the first round of the last 15 NFL drafts was Johnny Manziel (5ft 11in) in 2014. The accepted logic is that quarterbacks need to be tall to see over the offensive line and to avoid having passes batted down by the defense. But consider this, according to Pro Football Focus, Murray had just five passes batted down last season in college football, tied for the fewest among the four quarterbacks in the top 50 prospects. The other three are 6ft 3in or taller. Murray also played Heisman Trophy-winning football behind one of the tallest offensive lines in college football (the shortest regular starter was 6ft 4in), a group likely as tall as any in the NFL. Along with the other top prospects, Murray has accepted an invitation to this weeks NFL combine. His speed and strength will be measured along with his height and weight the so-called underwear Olympics so this may be the most watched height assessment in the history of sport. But Dan Orlovsky, an ESPN football analyst and former NFL quarterback, believes the combine will tell us little useful information. At the top of the draft, there is a big focus on the physical, says Orlovsky, and for the other positions, the physical qualities matter. But theyre the least important thing for quarterbacks. Orlovsky, a 13-year NFL veteran with four different teams, believes that a quarterbacks understanding of the game makes up for any perceived physical shortcoming. A quarterback can minimize a height problem by becoming obsessed with his craft, by understanding how to find open throwing lanes and creating space and sightlines to throw. Whats more, there are many factors that influence a quarterbacks ability to throw over, or through, the line height, arm length and release point all play a role. Indeed, for Orlovsky, Murrays biggest physical question mark is his weight, not his height. Even in the 2019 version of the NFL, with considerable protection in place for quarterbacks, physics are against a 195lbs quarterback against a 280lbs defensive end. Quarterbacks needed to be bigger 15 to 20 years ago, they had to look like Big Ben [Roethlisberger] because they took a beating every game says Orlovsky. Still I think it would help if Murray came to the combine at 205 or 210lbs. Other than that, there arent many important physical or performance metrics that come out of the combine. There is little evidence that the attributes measured at the combine speed, vertical jump, strength translate to performance on the field, for any position. An article in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that combine measures had zero correlation with quarterback success. Even to the point that rookie quarterback ratings and 40-yard sprint time correlation went in the wrong direction: ie a higher quarterback rating was associated with a slower 40-yard sprint times. Even the position-specific drills offer little usefulness. The throwing at the combine is outdated, many of the routes are no longer used and the quarterbacks dont make any throws from the shotgun, which is now used 70% of the time in the NFL, said Orlovsky. Orlovsky believes that Murray displays traits, ones more critical for NFL success, that wont be on display at the combine. Many quarterbacks need to have perfect feet to be accurate, but thats a situation that occurs maybe four times a game. Murray is highly accurate when his feet arent perfect, an important ability since most of the time quarterbacks dont have the opportunity to perfectly set their feet before throwing. When a player, especially a quarterback, stands to get drafted in the top of the first round, every interaction will be scrutinized. Psychological and social factors are critically important to teams, especially for a quarterback, who will be asked to lead a multimillion-dollar corporation. Murray is an interesting player because he defies many of his physical descriptions. Hes short but threw for over 4,000 yards, many of them in the pocket. He is exceptionally fast and last season rushed for 1,000 yards, but his game isnt defined by speed. Basically, hes not just an exceptional athlete, hes a quarterback. Kyler Murrays greatest strength is throwing the football, says Orlovsky. He is, in short, the prototypical NFL quarterback. | https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/feb/25/kyler-murray-nfl-combine-short-quarterbacks-height |
Will Arm's Simon Segars Do For Self-Driving Cars What He Did For The Mobile Phone? | Simon Segars is the man who helped to shrink your mobile phone so it fits in your pocket. Now the CEO of Arm Holdings, the company that designs the chips that power literally billions of devices, is doing the same for self-driving cars and one of the keynote speakers at Mobile World Congress opening this morning in Barcelona. It is like there is a ten-foot long desk full of stuff that needs to get shrunk down into something the size of a Mars Bar, says Segars of the rack of servers still necessary in the prototypes of today. If you want to make millions of the autonomous vehicles then you cant put a couple of kilowatts of energy consuming electronics in the back of a car. So, until the computing kit can be shrunk, self-driving cars will not become mass market products. Downsizing Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, a lot of companies were looking at how to scale the mobile phone. The microprocessor necessary to operate them took up so much memory that the phones required expensive and heavy batteries making them the size of a brick. Nokia was one of the companies leading the development but even it was struggling to resolve what appeared to be the insurmountable problem of how to reduce the weight and cost of phones. A team led by Segars, then in his mid-20s and only a couple of years at Arm, found a way of compressing the code on a chip, reducing the memory required and therefore the energy to power it. Suddenly smaller, cheaper batteries in mobile phones were possible. Arm 7, as the processor became known, helped trigger the explosion of mobile handsets that happened through the 1990s. Im very proud of that. The same team went on to develop Arm 11 a decade later, designing the first processor to go into smartphones, such as the Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy. But it is when talking about Arm 7 that Segars eyes light up. A painting of the chip sits on the walls of Segars office on the Arm campus outside Cambridge in the U.K and it is his initials, among those of the design team, that appear in a strip at the top. It is as if the logic and simplicity of that first processor still define the company for him today. Early days Segars grew up in Basildon, Essex. At that time, it was one of several new towns built after World War II to provide new accommodation for people living in what had become rundown parts of inner London. To my parents, it was complete luxury at the time having moved out of bombed London and having lived in some pretty rough places, says Segars. The Segars family, mother and father, plus Simons sister, moved into a brand new house. We did not have a luxurious upbringing for sure but nor were we living in poverty by any stretch. His father, a fireman, and his mother, a teacher, were quite cerebral so always reading a ton of books and also pretty left-leaning. As a boy, Segars was always making things, often watching something on the TV and then assembling the parts from whatever he could find in the house. It wasnt until he was studying physics at secondary school, where he soldered crude circuits together, that his interests in electronics emerged. This mate of mine and I went to a W H Smith [Hudson News in the U.S] in downtown Basildon where they had a Sinclair ZX81 [a home computer manufactured in the U.K.]. We would spend time in the shop learning how to programme on the display model. He did not at first go to university but instead landed a job at Standard Telephones and Cables (STC), a U.K. telecommunications company listed on the FTSE 100 and known for almost a century of technological innovation. STC sponsored Segars to go to Sussex University to study electronic engineering, a campus Segars compares to the University of California, Berkeley. If there was a lot of free love going on, I was not invited to most parties, says Segars. Employee number 16 Segars returned to STC full time after university. But the company, having taken a misjudged bet on computers, was a shell of its former self. I read an article in Electronics Weekly about Arm being spun off from Acorn. I wrote a letter saying Im very interested in microprocessors. Please give me a job. He left STC just as it was bought by Nortel, arriving at Arm as employee number 16. Arm was still sufficiently small to be what Segars describes as a classic startup, where everyone has got to do a bit of everything. Though not based in the garage, the stereotype for technology startups, Arm did start life in a barn outside Cambridge. Advantages in technology, particularly computer-aided design, were allowing engineers to test their ideas before building them. It was also a time when semiconductor technology was getting to the point where a chip did not have to do one thing. You could start putting lots of things into the chip. The mixture of company culture and technological progress was the creative environment in which Segars and his teams developed ARM 7 and then ARM 11, the chips that made the phone mobile. We built Arm 7 in a very short space of time and with a very small number of people and iterated on these concepts, says Segars. California calling Segars progression through the company was swift. He became VP of engineering, EVP of Worldwide Sales and General Manager. In the midst of that career, Arm had just acquired Artisan Components in 2007. That was a big acquisition for us, the biggest, actually still the biggest we have done in terms of dollar value. The public market reaction was not great he says. We had spent 1 billion buying a company [that as an analyst] Ive never heard of that does something I dont understand and solves a problem I did not even know I had. He moved with this wife and family three children between 10 years and three months - out to the U.S. to lead the merger. My wife is from Australia and the winter days were always a low point in our household. The opportunity to move out for the California weather and climate was an easy sell. They moved to Palo Alto and have lived there ever since. Cambridge is full of smart people, but it was doctors and lawyers and consultants and the like. Here it is people doing the next startup or trying to work out how to make cars drive themselves. Dining and finding Segars became CEO of Arm in 2013, and three years later took the formerly listed company private for $34 billion following the acquisition by Masayoshi Sons SoftBank Group. Its a deal that keeps Segars, also a board member of SoftBank, right in the centre of the action around advances in technology, particularly self-driving cars. When you are there, you have this sort of intense catch up with the team, says Segars, having just come back from a board meeting in SoftBanks Tokyo home. Son and his team will start talking about a company they either own, through SoftBanks $100 billion investment vehicle Vision Fund Investments or have just seen as one of a series of entrepreneurs and technologists that come through the door. He has access to people that almost nobody else has, it is just the breadth of people from an entrepreneur who wants some money to world leaders and leaders of the worlds largest companies and financial institutions. Segars role is to spot potential synergies between Arm and those companies. This is one of those examples where Softbanks got lots of investments in companies that are looking at the next generation of automotive. Weve got a presence in the sector anyway and serving the chip companies that are putting silicon in your car today. Segars takes all these stimuli and translates it into the direction of the company just as he did with Nokia all those years before. Finally Technology development has been astounding through his lifetime. Having spent 28 years at ARM and seeing it come to this point, I really want to see the next bit, says Segars. It might just come quicker than he thinks. I joke with my team that one day Masa[yoshi Son] is going to ring me up and say so Simon, teleportation?. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnwelsheurope/2019/02/25/will-arms-simon-segars-do-for-self-driving-cars-what-he-did-for-the-mobile-phone/ |
Is the Strand a Landmark? | On a recent morning, five days after Amazon backed out of its plan to build a corporate campus in Queens, Nancy Bass Wyden, the third-generation owner of the Strand bookstore, on Broadway, herded two of her children, ages six and eleven, and their au pair, onto the subway at West Fourth Street. The kids plopped down on a seat and began discussing video games. Wyden stood, wearing a blue motorcycle jacket, jeans, and metal-studded boots. She said shed been fielding a flood of text messages about Amazons retreat, but she didnt have time to gloat. Im focussed on the Strand. Since last summer, Wyden has been locked in a battle with local officials who want to name the Strands eleven-story building, which Wydens family owns, a city landmark. They argue that, in addition to its literary significance, the 1902 buildingdesigned by William H. Birkmire, a pioneer of early steel-frame high-risesrepresents a particularly robust expression of the Renaissance Revival style. Wyden disagrees. Its not the Taj Mahal, she said. Its a warehouse. Owners of landmarked buildings pay more in liability insurance and must seek cumbersome approvals for repairsall of which Wyden says will be devastating to the Strands finances. She called the landmarking system a blunt instrument, which is preserving some bricks and mortar but which neglects the businesses inside. Its now a Lululemon. At City Hall, Wyden, her children, and her au pair left the subway and walked toward the David N. Dinkins Manhattan Municipal Building, where the Landmarks Preservation Commission would be holding a hearing on the matter. Its a beautiful building, Wyden said. I wonder if its a landmark. Her attorney, Alex Urbelis, stood near the entrance. They grumbled about the process. The L.P.C. will have to sit there and listen to us for a few minutes, Urbelis said, and then theyll make an arbitrary and capricious decision. He took a drag from an e-cigarette. Over the past few months, Wyden has carried out an anti-landmarking campaign: she made a Web page; circulated a petition that garnered more than six thousand signatures; contacted architects, professors, contractors, and notable Strand lovers such as Gary Shteyngart and Fran Lebowitz; and even stopped by the Greenwich House Senior Centerwhere I qualify, by the way, she saidto drum up support. The hearing room was packed with well-wishers, many in red T-shirts that said PROTECT THE STRAND. One woman wore a placard bearing the same message. Wyden and her family took seats near a lectern. Eleven L.P.C. commissioners sat behind a long table, waiting to hear testimony. Councilwoman Carlina Rivera, whose district includes the Strand, spoke at the lectern first, arguing in favor of the landmark designation. The Strand bookstore is the last vestige of the former Book Row, she said, referring to the corridor of booksellers that once lined Fourth Avenue from Fourteenth Street to Astor Place. There is no question it represents an integral part of our local history. Wyden went next. Im Nancy Bass Wyden, she said. Although today I just feel like a docket number. In fact, I amCase Number LP-2615. She ran through the Strands history: her grandfather opened the store just before the Great Depression, weathering hard times by sleeping on a cot in its basement. Her father presided over the stores move from Fourth Avenue to Broadway. My family has proven its love and loyalty to this city, she said. Weve proven our commitment to this building. All I want to do is to go back to work. She added, Please, please make a decision that lets me do that. Next, Andrew Berman, the executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, upbraided the commission for not landmarking more buildings in the area. Wyden stared ahead stoically. If he sees a fire hydrant in the West Village, he wants to landmark it, shed whispered earlier. The author and activist Naomi Wolf asked the commissioners whether theyd be taking anti-landmarking tweets into consideration. We have a portal on our Web site specifically for testimony, one of the commissioners said. I appreciate that, Wolf said. So . . . you are not counting tweets? Members of the public weighed in. Daniel Karpen, an engineer who lives on Long Island, argued that Wyden had an opportunity on her hands: if the Strand advertised its landmarked status, sales will go up! An artist named Ameena Beyah read a poem shed written, Historical Minds, which she described as a tribute to historical landmarks. Kilian Ganly, a former landscape designer, said, As I walk around New York these daysIm retiredI cant help but notice all these boarded-up places. He praised the Strand for standing up against a behemoth like Amazon. I mean, the fact that they still exist is impressive. Sanam Skelly, who works near the Time Warner Center, agreed, but she admitted, in her testimony, I have an Amazon Prime membership, and I work in a building in which an Amazon bookstore is only an elevator ride away. Thank you, capitalism. | https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/03/04/is-the-strand-a-landmark |
Who will care for Canadas caregivers? | Benjamin Tal is the managing director and deputy chief economist at CIBC. You see it on city streets, in restaurants of quiet towns, and in rural enclaves: Canadians are getting older. Medical advances have resulted in longer life spans, but the aging population is putting a strain on social services and increasingly, the burden of caregiving is falling on family members. Statistics show that in the coming years the weight of caregiving for seniors will only intensify. A decade ago, the share of Canadians 65 and and older hovered around 14 per cent, before rising to 17 per cent, where it currently sits. You dont need to be an economist to know that there will be a ballooning in the number of older Canadians. As well, the pace of change will accelerate over the coming decade to reach roughly 22 per cent of the population by 2027. Story continues below advertisement Family members will bear the brunt of the costs associated with that demographic trend, including both out-of-pocket expenses and loss of labour income. Close to two million Canadians, or 14 per cent of those with parents older than of 65, incur care-related out-of-pocket costs. On average, that amounts to $3,300 a year, for every caregiver, or an annual cost of just more than $6-billion to the overall economy. That cost is not distributed equally. Those with lower incomes bear more costs when it comes to aging parents: Canadians earning less than $50,000 a year spend on average 30 per cent more than those earning more than $100,000. This widens an already large income gap, further penalizes low-income Canadians and presents an even more troubling prospect as they themselves age. Out-of-pocket costs are just the tip of the iceberg. The greatest damage is evident in the time Canadians take off their work week to care for aging parents. In the initial months of caregiving, the likelihood of the caregiver being absent from work increases by more than 20 per cent, and their employment rate falls by just under 2 per cent. Close to 30 per cent of workers with parents over the age of 65 take time off work. Caregivers sacrifice roughly 450 working hours a year, for an average of eight hours a week. In the context of a full-time job, that equates to a full day an exhausting situation to maintain long-term. And again the picture is far from symmetrical. Women bear the brunt of this responsibility. They take 30 per cent more time off work than men to care for their aging parents. That cost is exacerbated by the fact that earnings for women peak later than they do for men, due to early career gaps related to caregiving of another kind. Governments are beginning to react. The 2017 federal budget abolished three caregiver tax credits and replaced them with a better-funded caregiver credit program. Manitoba, Quebec and Nova Scotia have implemented a variety of additional targeted financial supports for caregivers, while Ontario followed the example set by the federal government and combined its current tax credit into an Ontario Caregiver Credit. But this is just a drop in the bucket. Much more needs to be done. There needs to be a national formal recognition of caregivers, with a common definition to provide the foundation for formalized support. There is also an urgent need to simplify the caregiver support system. As it stands now, that system is highly fragmented and adds unnecessary stress to an already stressful situation. Story continues below advertisement Story continues below advertisement A better and more co-ordinated approach toward providing caregivers with adequate subsidized training is also greatly needed. While the federal and provincial caregiver tax credit programs are helpful, the do not go far enough. Their tax incentives remain non-refundable claimable only on taxable income. This penalizes low- or no-income caregivers. More is needed to be done to guarantee that the time taken off for caregiving does not hinder future pension entitlement. Whats more, the private sector should look at additional options of providing caregivers with flexible working arrangements and leave policies. Time is not on our side. Todays direct and indirect cost of caregiving is close to $33-billion a year. That cost will mushroom by more than 20 per cent over the next decade. Inaction is not an option. | https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-who-will-care-for-canadas-caregivers/ |
What Happened With The China Trade Negotiations? | On Sunday, President Trump announced (via Twitter) that the United States had made substantial progress in its negotiations with China. As a result, he was postponingthe increase in tariffs scheduled for March 2, in anticipation of further progress and a summit meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago. The first point to be clear on is that President Trumps characterizations are uninformative. He alwayssays that his administrations negotiations are going well. He has a well-established record of hyperbole when characterizing his deals, as when he characterizedhis minor update of NAFTA as the largest, most significant, modern and balanced trade agreement in history. His enthusiasm about this weekends China talks tells us nothing. Ideally, we could review the details of U.S. and Chinese commitments coming out of the weekend and draw our own conclusions. Yet no such details have been publicly released. As but one example, it tells us very little if China agrees in principle not to engage in currency manipulation; President Trumps own Treasury Department recently concludedthat China is not engaged in currency manipulation. If China were to make specific commitments about how it would handle its exchange rate, that could be interesting and relevant, but no such details were released. And the details are all-important. The weekend was not devoid of meaningful news, however. One important development was the U.S. abandonment of a fixed deadline. Deadlines can be important tools in negotiation, which was presumably why the United States set a 90-day limit back in early December. Yet President Trump wavered on this threat early on, saying that March 1 was not a magical date, thereby undercuttinghis lead negotiator, Amb. Robert Lighthizer. His Sunday tweet spoke of postponement, but set no new date. So one big revelation from the weekend was that President Trump seems to have abandoned this deadline. Given the past weeks experience, its not clear that a new replacement deadline would be credible, but President Trump did not appear to even try. President Trump did speak of a possible summit meeting if sufficient progress were made in talks. This timing will further strain U.S. resolve. It takes time to plan presidential summits; they cannot generally be whipped together in a week, once technical negotiations hit some specified targets. It is more likely that the summit will be scheduled first, and there will then be strong pressure to accept whatever is on offer at that point and simply declare success. A second, related revelation was that farmers and others who have been suffering from Chinese retaliation have no fixed date by which they can now expect relief. There are rumors that a package will include Chinese commitments to purchase soybeans and other U.S. agricultural experts, but with neither deal nor deadline, we do not know when such relief might come. A third revelation from the last weeks talks was that no one, not even Amb. Lighthizer, can confidently negotiate with China on President Trumps behalf. There had been strong earlier indications of such problems, when Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross (Summer, 2017) and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin (May, 2018) each negotiated China deals that the President subsequently rejected. Lighthizer seemed to be more attuned to the Presidents whims on trade, but his standing this past week was diminished when President Trump contradictedand corrected Lighthizer in front of the Chinese chief negotiator. This will necessarily limit the extent to which progress can be made when President Trump must turn his attention to other matters such as a summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, or a looming debt ceiling. There is little chance of making significant progress on the deeper and more complicated aspects of U.S.-Chinese economic relations if all negotiators below the head-of-state level are disempowered. Going into the past weeks U.S.-China talks, there was virtually no chance that there would be a deep agreement that would meet the concerns of China hawks in the Trump administration. Similarly, there seemed almost no chance that the trade war with China would go away, since President Trump was only offering to hold off on future tariff increases, not rescind tariffs already applied. There was a reasonable chance that the March 1 deadline might have been used to achieve a more modest result. That did not happen. Instead, President Trump seems to have removed the threat of any scheduled increase in China tariffs whatsoever. Absent any details about Chinese concessions, this seems to portend a weakening of the U.S. negotiating position and an unsatisfying continuation of President Trumps protectionism. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/phillevy/2019/02/25/what-happened-with-the-china-trade-negotiations/ |
Was pro-Huawei news conference independent, or evidence of Beijings covert campaign to influence Canadians? | The chief financial officer of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei had barely been arrested last December triggering a diplomatic scrap of historic scale between China and Canada when an obscure B.C.-based group called an unusual Vancouver press conference. With most Canadians still digesting the news of Meng Wanzhous detention, and the U.S. extradition request behind it, the United Association of Women and Children of Canada appeared before the cameras to demand the executives immediate release. Canada should stay out of it, a spokeswoman declared in Mandarin, her translated comments generating a number of stories in local media. This is supposed to be a serious matter but looks like a joke between the two countries. Leaders of the United Association insisted they had no connection to the Chinese government, which had been making similar pronouncements. But a closer look reveals a more complicated story, one that seems to point to Beijings long reach into Canadian affairs. Behind the event were two women with clear ties to China, who had made generous donations to Canadian political parties and, in one case, with a colourful history in Canadian law and municipal politics. Lawyer Hong Guo boasts that she was appointed as a foreign legal specialist by the the Peoples Republic, and while running for mayor of Richmond, B.C. last year insisted there is no human rights abuse in China. All but a tiny handful of Canadians of Chinese heritage are here because they do not wish to be ruled or controlled by the CCP Before immigrating to Canada, association founder Han Dongmei launched her investment fund in Beijings Great Hall of the People, a Communist mecca usually reserved for august party and state functions. Her company contributed $100,000 to the B.C. Liberal party while it was still in government. Han could not be reached for comment. Guo did not respond to telephone messages and emailed questions about the Meng event and possible co-ordination with Chinese officials. Chinas embassy also did not answer emailed questions. There is no direct evidence the women were acting at the behest of Beijing, or even just trying to curry favour with it for business reasons. But there is mounting concern generally about Chinas influence campaign in countries like Canada, much of it executed through the United Front Work Department, a secretive offshoot of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) known to work with ethnic Chinese organizations overseas. Establishing fake civil society NGOs is an established modus operandi of the United Front, said Charles Burton, a Brock University professor and former Canadian diplomat in Beijing. According to its website, the Vancouver-based United Association of Women and Children has 1,500 members, branches in several provinces and a focus on equal treatment and work opportunities for women but it lists no contact information. Two B.C. leaders of the non-profit sector dedicated to helping women in business Laurel Douglas of the Womens Enterprise Centre and Lisa Niemetscheck of WebAlliance told the National Post they had never heard of it. The Chinese media in China, they have very much freedom, to talk and to criticize and to make suggestions The group seems to have all the hallmarks of a front organization to further Beijings interests, says Jonathan Manthorpe, whose just-published book, Claws of the Panda, documents Chinas influence campaign here. In the midst of a political offensive by the Beijing regime, he cautioned, people should remember that such organizations do not represent Chinese-Canadians. All but a tiny handful of Canadians of Chinese heritage are here because they do not wish to be ruled or controlled by the CCP, said Manthorpe. The groups speakers, Guo in English and Han in Mandarin, told the news conference Canada was being used by the U.S. to attack Huawei and China, that Canadian courts had no jurisdiction over a Chinese citizen like Meng and Canada was needlessly undermining relations between the two countries. Their statement precisely echoes the Chinese Governments official response to Meng Wanzhous arrest, notes Burton, also a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute. As the CBC, CTV, local Richmond News and others reported those comments, they cited the groups denial of links to Chinas government. What was less clear, though, is the personal ties both spokeswomen have to their home countrys power centres. Guo immigrated from China in 1993, obtained a Masters degree from the University of Regina and then a law degree from the University of Windsor. Her Richmond-based law firm specializes in Sino-Canadian commercial transactions. From 2002 to 2005, her website says, she acted as a foreign legal specialist for China, appointed by the 35-member state council of the Peoples Republic the countrys chief administrative authority. But it was when Guo decided to run for mayor in Richmond last year, campaigning in part on strengthening ties with China, that her perspective on the country came startlingly into focus. Asked by The Breaker news website about Chinas human-rights record, she insisted that reports of rights abuses were an invention of foreign media like the New York Times and CBC. I think China has lots of freedom of speech, she told the site. The Chinese media in China, they have very much freedom, to talk and to criticize and to make suggestions. The Han election campaign itself, conducted almost entirely in Mandarin, also raised eyebrows. Only Chinese people can understand what Chinese people want, said a video played at the launch, the Richmond News reported. Chinese-Canadians should vote for Chinese candidates to speak on our behalf, Guo said in a speech, before finishing in fourth place. Canada should stay out of it. This is supposed to be a serious matter but looks like a joke between the two countries She was likely not helped by disciplinary charges from the Law Society of British Columbia that alleged, among other breaches, that she failed to adequately safeguard trust accounts allowing for a $7.5 million employee theft. Cheuk Kwan, spokesman for the Toronto Association for Democracy in China, said he does not know Guo, but noted generally that Beijing seems to be encouraging immigrants from mainland Chinese to run for office here, even if sometimes they have no understanding of how democracy works in the Canadian context. Han appears to have immigrated in the last five years or so, heading up a firm called Huamulan Developments Inc. with an apparent goal to build student housing. According to biographies on a number of Chinese-language websites, the company was launched nine years ago in the Great Hall of the People, a landmark on Beijings Tianamen Square that, in the words of a government account, has hosted many earth-shaking historical events. That same year, the firm organized a celebration of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Peoples Republic, the bios say. There is little visible sign of Huamulans work in Canada, though it has held events attended by representatives of Vancouvers Chinese consulate, and local politicians with Han performing her own songs at some. Like its founder, Huamulan has also been an active political donor. Its three contributions to the B.C. Liberal Party from 2015 to 2017 when the Liberals were voted out of power totalled $99,000, among the largest corporate gifts recorded by Elections B.C. A donor with Hans name gave $5,800 to the federal Conservatives and $2,400 to the Liberals between 2014 and 2016, according to Elections Canada. Guo talks on her website of making contacts with various Canadian politicians, and is even pictured online with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Her one donation, $1,500 in 2017, was to the federal Liberal riding association of MP Geng Tan, a mainland China immigrant, though his seat is in another province. Tan once headed the Chinese Students and Scholars Association at the University of Toronto, an organization believed to report directly to the United Front. As they faced the TV cameras at their December news conference, the two women had a clear message for those politicians they had earlier courted and funded. Even if, as they said, Beijing played no part in the event, it would likely have approved. The Chinese people would like to keep the good relationship to expand the business with Canada, said Guo, according to a CTV report. But this matter will damage that because people understand Canada is doing something for the benefit of America. Email: [email protected] | Twitter: TomblackwellNP | https://nationalpost.com/news/was-pro-huawei-news-conference-independent-or-evidence-of-beijings-covert-campaign-to-influence-canadians-2 |
Is It Cruel to Have Kids in the Era of Climate Change? | Which brings us to a risk unique to the twenty-first century: climate change. According to the 2018 report by the UNs Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, humanity has only 12 years left to prevent global warming from reaching levels that would result in the poverty of millions and the greatest displacement of people in the history of humanity as they flee extreme drought and floods. Such events also tend to involve violent conflict. The political communitys tepid response to climate change so far, with world leaders like Donald Trump and Jair Bolsanaro refusing to acknowledge global warming as real, let alone as urgent, makes it hard to be optimistic. Given the very real possibility that life will be much worse for the next generation as a result of the global instability, some, recent trend pieces report, are thinking twice about becoming parents. One might argue that, like Benatars catalogue of human suffering, this response is overly pessimistic. Hardship is nothing new. Life can be meaningful despite it, and sometimes even because of it. Strife gives you something to work towards, purpose; its what gives life meaning, not what makes it meaningless. At least people living today still have the agency to change things. But bringing children into a decaying world, without even the opportunity to do something about it, seems a cruel fate to inflict on someone, especially your own child. The great question is whether that fate is inevitable. During the Cold War, there was an existential fear about a possible nuclear war between America and the USSR, which would have brought about mass death and suffering. Instead, political history and fortune took a turn that made nuclear annihilation less likelyeven though the risk of a nuclear war may since have risen. Going further back, around the turn of the nineteenth century the English economist Thomas Malthus was warning that the pending overpopulation of the planet would lead to inevitable food shortages. That didnt happen either. Technological advances have allowed the planet to feed a population many times its nineteenth-century tally of one billion. So, even if we cant see it from our current vantage point, there is hope that politics, technology, or a combination of the two might retrospectively render our current anxieties exaggerated. But, of course, there is no guarantee of thathope comes with its own risks. Having children, some could argue, is a way of making that hope more realistic. For while some environmentalists have suggested lowering birth rates to reduce greenhouse emissions for those who remain, there is also another side to the issue: Young people today care deeply about the environment and their activism is needed as political pressure. Young people will also be the future scientists and engineers that we need in order to come up with technological solutions to global warming that are still unavailable. Both these greater good arguments for and against procreation, unfortunately, amount to using future children as a means to an end, thinking about how they can contribute to our overall welfare, rather than thinking of their own individual well-being. | https://newrepublic.com/article/153149/cruel-kids-era-climate-change |
Why Cant We Get the Brain Right? | By Deepak Chopra, MD For many decades It was assumed that the human brain must be special, as superior to the brains of other mammals as our minds are. This specialness was never seriously questioned, and even basic facts, like asserting that the human brain contains 100 billion neurons, were arrived at with surprising casualness. In an interesting 2013 TED talk, the articulate Brazilian neuroscientist Suzana Herculano-Houzel offers clarity for the first time on several of the basic issues. After devising a way to dissolve brain cell membranes so that only the nuclei remained, and isolating them to be counted, she determined that the human brain contains 86 billion neurons, the most of any primate. Even though the human brain is a small fraction of our total weight, it uses 25% of a persons daily calorie consumption. That may seem like an incidental fact, but Herculano-Houzel makes it the cornerstone of her argument, which declares that the human brain isnt special. We have primate brains, she says, that are in proportion to our primate relatives like chimpanzees and gorillas. But in an odd evolutionary twist, chimps and gorillas cannot sustain the calorie load of an immense brain by eating raw food. Typically, a great ape feeds for eight hours a day to sustain its large body, and over time a choice was made to prefer a very large body with a smaller number of neurons. In Homo sapiens the reverse occurred. We chose a small body and a huge brain, particularly the higher brain responsible for our superior mind. According to Herculano-Houzels explanation, this choice was made possible by the invention of cooking. Cooking raw food is like pre-digesting it outside the body; cooked food is easier to digest, contains more nutrients by weight than raw food, and takes many fewer hours to eat. You can get an entire days calorie load with a 15-minute visit to a fast-food chain. So there you have it: cooking led to the enormous number of neurons we possess, and they in turn allowed our huge cognitive capacity to evolve in a growth spurt that took the early hominid brain on a skyrocketing curve for the last 1.5 million years since the discovery of fire. But as intriguing as this hypothesis is, and as essential as fire was to human evolution, the whole thing doesnt hold water. No other higher primate did, and they already possessed big brains on the mammalian ladder. Plenty of people possess the full complement of 86 billion neurons but who lead totally ordinary lives. It does not occur to them to exploit our almost infinite capacity for creativity. They just live their lives by working and raising families. Primitive cultures faced enormous challenges simply to do the same, leaving almost no time for art, music, invention, discovery, philosophy, religion, and the other accoutrements of civilization. The earliest representations of a human figure in sculptural form date back not to early Homo sapiens but to Homo erectus, somewhere between 250,000 and 750,000 years ago. There is evidence that Neanderthals buried their dead in cave tombs, wore decorative jewelry, and perhaps performed religious ceremonies. If you stop to think about it, there was no pressing reason for the brain to need the wheel or potteryAustralian aborigines existed between 45,000 and 60,000 years, the longest continuous indigenous culture on earth, without either. The problem with basing human achievements on our big brains is that at bottom, neuroscience assumes that we are brain puppets. It sounds almost ridiculously simple, but thats like saying that without a radio you cannot explain music. Putting the apparatus first is such an obvious mistake, you wouldnt think a science as advanced as brain science would make itbut it has. The equation of Brain = Mind puts the apparatus first. Either the brain created the mind or they developed in some mysterious relationship. Since science is about clearing up mysteries, the inability to decide how brain relates to mind has been too frustrating. It cut through all the philosophical red tape. Yet for all the convenience that it brings to brain research, there is zero proof that the brain creates the mind. At no point can anyone show how cells that are constituted from the same DNA as heart, liver, and lung cells somehow learned to think. The very notion that the brain thinks is empty; it is like saying that a piano understands Mozart. We will never get the brain right until we follow the second path and delve into the mystery of how the mind and brain relate to each other. It is false to assume that brain experts are also mind experts; they arent. By adopting the false assumption that the brain is the mind, for all practical purposes, neuroscience has left out the true nature of intelligence, creativity, love, art, compassion, spiritual experiences, and higher evolution. Those things belong to the evolution of the human mind and remain completely baffling if you only stare at neurons through a microscope. Realizing this, there is a movement to confront the real mystery, which is consciousness itself. Consciousness cannot be shown to be a created thing. The brain is a created thingwe can follow its physical evolution with considerable accuracy now. But at no point does consciousness appear out of the physical stuff of creation. It may be, as some theorists argue, that consciousness is innate in creation. It has always been there. The irony is that once we pay serious attention to consciousness, which will unravel the mystery of being human, it will be consciousness that explains consciousness to itself. Deepak Chopra MD, FACP, founder of The Chopra Foundation and co-founder of The Chopra Center for Wellbeing, is a world-renowned pioneer in integrative medicine and personal transformation, and is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Endocrinology and Metabolism. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and a member of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. Chopra is the author of more than 85 books translated into over 43 languages, including numerous New York Times bestsellers. His latest books are The Healing Self co-authored with Rudy Tanzi, Ph.D. and Quantum Healing (Revised and Updated): Exploring the Frontiers of Mind/Body Medicine. www.deepakchopra.com | https://www.sfgate.com/opinion/chopra/article/Why-Can-t-We-Get-the-Brain-Right-13642017.php |
Why Is JSON-LD Important To Businesses? | Although you may not have heard of JavaScript Object Notation Linked Data (JSON-LD), it is already affecting your business. Search engine giant Google has mentioned JSON-LD as a preferred means of adding structured data to webpages to make them considerably easier to parse for more accurate search engine results. The Google use case is indicative of the larger capacity for JSON-LD to increase web traffic for sites and better guide users to the results they want. Expectations are high for JSON-LD, and with good reason. It effectively delivers the many benefits of JSON, a lightweight data interchange format, into the linked data world. Linked data is the technological approach supporting the World Wide Web and one of the most effective means of sharing data ever devised. In addition, the growing number of enterprise knowledge graphs fully exploit the potential of JSON-LD as it enables organizations to readily access data stored in document formats and a variety of semi-structured and unstructured data as well. By using this technology to link internal and external data, knowledge graphs exemplify the linked data approach underpinning the growing adoption of JSON-LD -- and the demonstrable, recurring business value that linked data consistently provides. Linked Data For JSON The linked data approach is designed for the exchange of information. Linked open data on the web is possibly the best example of the standards-based interoperability of semantically tagged data, enabling organizations to readily incorporate publicly available data without having to transform, flatten or account for time-consuming data-modeling calibrations to do so. Knowledge graphs rely on many of the same standards to deliver these benefits to the enterprise. By aligning data with standard models and vocabularies, these graphs facilitate internal system interoperability via linked enterprise data. JSON-LD implements linked data standards within the JSON format, so its possible to link to the vast world of data with those standards -- whether in knowledge graphs with linked enterprise data or on the web with linked open data. Due in part to the unique identifiers given to each datum, linked data is also innately machine-readable. Therefore, JSON-LD exponentially increases the value of the JSON format by making the information in these documents machine-readable and easily understood by other linked data systems, whether in knowledge graphs, on the web, in partners databases or anywhere else. Enhancing Knowledge Graphs JSON-LD enhances the use of knowledge graphs in several ways. Smart data graphs focus on the underlying semantic meaning of data objects and their relationships to one another. JSON-LD offers an additional document format with which to link enterprise data or external data, yet it enables organizations to link that data to a range of web-based applications (many of which natively support either JSON or Java) as well. Knowledge graphs can leverage JSON-LD to swiftly integrate with web-based applications, particularly because, with a few minor alterations, JSON-LD makes conventional JSON understood as linked data. Organizations can therefore link specific information in their internal knowledge graphs (pertaining to customers or products) to web applications for timely action such as recommendations. Alternatively, they could use JSON-LD to link real-time web application data to their internal knowledge graphs for comprehensive analytics supporting fraud detection or cybersecurity. Documents And Beyond JSON-LD allows knowledge graphs to substantially broaden JSONs utility beyond documents to a holistic web interchange format. Imbuing JSON with linked data capabilities is especially significant because JSON supports schema on demand, making it ideal not only for web applications but also for compelling big data use cases involving real-time, machine-generated sources. Most of the data from these sources (such as those typifying the internet of things) is either semi-structured or unstructured, presenting considerable data management difficulties in schema and formatting. Many of these issues are obviated by using JSON-LD as a self-describing data model since it supports any schema with a flexibility vastly exceeding that of relational methods. Furthermore, JSON-LD standardizes the semantics of the schema for interchanges underpinning the rapid aggregation or integration of unstructured, streaming data produced by machines. JSON-LD is able to make these pieces of data immediately understood by the array of downstream applications and system components that can derive value and action from data that otherwise would likely be too obscure to use any time soon. Extensible JSON Utility The ease of switching data sources and business requirements for machine- or web-based data that's facilitated by JSON-LD is just one of its many benefits. It also extends JSONs use throughout the entire linked data ecosystem so it becomes a verifiable web interchange format. Moreover, JSON-LD is helpful for adding structure and additional information to webpages to optimize search engine results. It provides this same boon for data throughout the enterprise while allowing it to quickly link to data throughout the web and beyond. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2019/02/25/why-is-json-ld-important-to-businesses/ |
Is The New Orange Vanilla Coke Destined To Be A Classic? | Orange vanilla Coca-Cola launches today in U.S. retailers. Orange vanilla, the first new Coca-Cola flavor innovation in over a decade, launches today in retailers nationwide. After the relaunch of Coke Zero Sugar in late 2017, the company realized the flavors business was under-leveraged, Kate Carpenter, brand director of Coca-Cola, said in an email. We knew we wanted to harness this momentum quickly, so we scanned the globe for successful flavors we could import to the U.S. This process allowed us to launch Orange Vanilla Coke and Orange Vanilla Coke Zero Sugar in about nine months. Raspberry, lemon and ginger were also considered as new ideas. In their market research, the team found only 12 percent of Coke drinkers chose flavored options. There hasnt been sustained marketing support for flavored Cokes, Carpenter said. The result is that Coke flavors (and flavored colas in general) are not necessarily top of mind for many consumers when they are looking for variety in their beverage choice, she said. Last summer, orange vanilla Coke Zero Sugar launched in Australia and orange vanilla Coke in Canada. While the now-classic cherry Coke launched in 1985, vanilla, launched in 2007, is another fan favorite, according to a release. The new orange vanilla flavor aims to evoke memories of creamy orange popsicles. With orange vanilla were bringing something truly differentiated to the category, which is still dominated by cherry colas, Carpenter said. Coca-Cola recently introduced Diet Coke blueberry acai and strawberry guava. With an endless array of beverages like natural, sugar-free sodas and CBD drinks, large soda brands need to leverage themselves with more unique products. Those who are devoted to the classic are devoted (for life, in many cases.) Those who seek fruit flavors and healthier options will likely sip elsewhere. Despite rumors of Coca-Cola creating a CBD soda, it hasnt been confirmed. While we cant share anything about our innovation plans for the back half of 2019 or into 2020, innovation is a critical lever for growth for the Coke Trademark, and we are always evaluating the category to identify new opportunities for growth, Carpenter said. Both orange vanilla Cokes are available in 12-oz cans and 24-oz bottles, and for a limited run (March-May) in 12-oz sleek cans. During NCAA March Madness, its available at Wendys Freestyle fountain dispensers before launching at other fast food brands. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/bethkaiserman/2019/02/25/new-orange-vanilla-coca-cola-destined-classic/ |
What is the problem with plastic? | Getty Images Plastic is really useful and we use it every day. But what happens after we throw it away is causing a big problem for our planet. It's thought more than five trillion pieces of plastic are in the world's oceans and it can take years for it to break down. To enjoy the CBBC Newsround website at its best you will need to have JavaScript turned on. WATCH: Martin finds out why plastic is a problem (Pictures from Greenpeace, Caroline Power and Blue Planet II/BBC iPlayer) Plastic is in lots of things we use from clothing to crisp packets, and bottles to buckets. Making things from plastic is popular because there are many different types and it can be made in to all sorts of shapes, colours and sizes. Plastics are man-made and can be produced from natural materials like coal and oil. Getty Images A radio made from Bakelite The first synthetic plastic - plastic made entirely from man-made materials - was created over 100 years ago. It was called Bakelite and was invented by Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland in the early 1900s. Many think Bakelite was the start of plastics as we know them today. Getty Images All these were found on the shore of the Thames Estuary in Kent People can pretty much do whatever they want with plastic. It can be coloured or clear, thick or thin, strong or weak. This means a lot of different things can be made from it. If you look around your home or school, you'll find most things have plastic in them, including your pencil case, games consoles, and even clothing. The new 5 and 10 notes are also made from plastic. Christopher Furlong Thirty-five million plastic bottles are sold in the UK every day Ok, so far plastic sounds pretty great - and it is. The new waterproof 5 notes are neat and who doesn't like using glitter?! But the problem with plastic is that most of it isn't biodegradable. It doesn't rot, like paper or food, so instead it can hang around in the environment for hundreds of years. Each year, 400 million tonnes of plastic is produced and 40% of that is single-use - plastic we'll only use once before it's binned. Examples of single-use plastic are carrier bags, drinks bottles and crisp packets. To enjoy the CBBC Newsround website at its best you will need to have JavaScript turned on. WATCH: Plastic microbeads banned in the UK More than eight million tonnes of plastic enters the world's oceans each year and most of that escapes from land. It can be blown into the sea from ships and beaches, or carried there by river. Some also gets flushed down the toilet. Another issue is that not all plastic can be recycled. This might be because of the way it is made up or because it is too expensive or difficult to do. Some coffee cups, for example, have a waterproof plastic lining which can make them difficult to recycle. Every day seven million cardboard coffee cups are thrown away but only one in 400 are recycled. To enjoy the CBBC Newsround website at its best you will need to have JavaScript turned on. Experts think that by 2050, the amount of plastic in the ocean will weigh more than the amount of fish in the ocean. All animals, whether they live on land or in the sea, can be hurt by plastic. They can get trapped in bigger items such as carrier bags or food packaging. Birds, fish and shellfish can mistake plastic for food when it has broken down in to smaller pieces. Simon Maina/AFP/Getty Images Plastic bags are banned in Kenya because animals like these pigs can end up eating them after they're thrown away One in three sea turtles, and around 90% of seabirds, have eaten it. They can't digest plastic so their stomachs can become full, meaning they don't have room for actual food. Each year, 100,000 animals in the sea are killed by plastic. Caroline Power This is a 'trash island' in the Caribbean You might have seen these astonishing pictures of what look like little bits of land in the middle of the sea. When you look closely they're actually made up of floating plastic! The rubbish includes bags, bottles and fishing gear. These are known as 'trash islands' or 'garbage patches'. To enjoy the CBBC Newsround website at its best you will need to have JavaScript turned on. WATCH: The invention that could clean up the Pacific Ocean They're created by currents in the ocean which carry the waste and bring it together. One of the most famous is the 'Pacific Garbage Patch' between California and Hawaii. To enjoy the CBBC Newsround website at its best you will need to have JavaScript turned on. WATCH: Meet the plastic-busting Eco Crew (Pictures from Greenpeace, Caroline Power and Blue Planet II/BBC iPlayer) There are lots of groups trying to help tackle plastic pollution and cut the amount of plastic we use. We now pay 5p for plastic carrier bags and the number we use has dropped by over 80% Certain cafes and restaurants are only giving out straws if people ask for them. Some are also swapping them for paper ones A group of nurseries has stopped using glitter Plastic microbeads have been banned from products like face scrubs and toothpaste. And supermarkets are looking at making changes too, including making their packaging easier to recycle or even plastic free. The Government's promising to cut all avoidable plastic waste over the next 25 years. To enjoy the CBBC Newsround website at its best you will need to have JavaScript turned on. WATCH: Lana and Thomas from Norway explain how the Deposit Return Scheme works Countries such as Germany, Norway and Sweden have a Deposit Return Scheme and it helps those countries recycle over 90% of their plastic bottles. This means you pay a bit more for a drink in a plastic bottle, but you get that money back when you return the bottle to be recycled. There are plans in Scotland for a Deposit Return Scheme but other parts of the UK aren't convinced. In the UK, just 57% of bottles are collected to be recycled. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/42810179 |
Is cash dead? | By Jessie Blaeser Restaurants now do it both ways: cash-only and cashless. Millennials seem to carry around cash less often than their parents. For many, going to the ATM is a rarity rather than a regular errand. But according to some experts, cash will always be king. Digital payments may be on the rise, but cash is still going strong. Trendy coffee shops, select retailers, and your some of your favorite lunch spots have all made the switch: digital payments only, no cash accepted. According to USA Today's Paul Davidson: The trend is partly rooted in the growth of credit- and debit-card transactions and the spread of digital wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay. Cashless options are far more convenient for retailers and restaurants. Theres no need to have change on hand, to worry about how quickly you can count nickels and dimes, or stress about who takes the money envelope to the bank at the end of the day. Jerry Sheldon, vice president of IHL, a retail and hospitality consulting firm, foresees cashless restaurants and stores comprising 40 to 50 percent of all retailers within 10 to 15 years as greenback use continues to dwindle. The cashless trend is so widespread, even Girl Scout troops are joining the fold. Starting this week more than 400 @GirlScoutsATL troops will use Clover to power cashless cookie sales! We're proud to support such an important organization that empowers girls as they learn invaluable entrepreneurial skills. #girlscouts #payments pic.twitter.com/HGrM6qUgo0 Clover (@CloverPOS) February 20, 2019 But stores that go cashless discriminate against their customer base by default not everyone has a credit card, debit card, Apple Pay, or the ability to use digital money whatsoever. Vox's Nadra Nittle reports: About 7 percent of US households are unaffiliated with a bank, so a cashless movement could lead our society to become even more class-stratified than it already is. Those who rely on cash tend to be low-income, immigrants, or elderly. For these already marginalized populations, a cashless America threatens to push them out of the economic sector. As Nittle puts it, the last thing America needs is more division between classes. Lets face it, the only time you ever see cash is when your grandmother sends you a crisp $20 bill for your birthday. Sure, cash is nice to have, but its in your hand way less often than your credit card. As Arun Mohammed writes on FT Adviser: ... the death of cash payments is undeniable in the societal future. In recent months leaving my wallet at home has become an increasingly frequent occurrence. The growth in our cashless society means my mobile phone is all I need to take out in order to pay, keep in contact with people and even post a selfie to my social followers. According to Gallup, cash-use is on the decline in the United States. Maybe Mohammed isn't far off in believing the death of cash is inevitable. i literally never have cash duh-lay-knee (@laynieerenee) February 20, 2019 But some experts say that these trends are all distractions to the larger narrative: The world will never go completely cashless. Paysafes Oscar Nieboer explains: Cash has many clear benefits for parties on both sides of a retail transaction. Its very quick. Its private and largely anonymous. It authenticates itself pretty reliably in most cases. It works the same way regardless of where you live. To many consumers and savers in our post-2008 crisis world, it can still seem like the safest option; physical money is money that you own and control, a fact likely to make it even more attractive in regions of economic uncertainty. According to PYMNTS.com, cash is the most common payment method in the United States. The cashless world is not coming any time soon. 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, wed love to hear what you have to say. | https://www.nola.com/tylt/2019/02/is-cash-dead.html |
Is rail-based transportation a viable option for Las Vegas Strip? | Cars go through the Strip in Las Vegas as snow falls, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019. Despite the obvious issues that may create limiting a lane of traffic in each direction of the already busy resort corridor transportation officials are examining every option for the areas cash cow. Within the next 10 years, transportation officials say, at least one alternative mode of transportation will be needed to link visitors between McCarran International Airport, the Las Vegas Strip and downtown Las Vegas. To address that need, the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, with the help of civil engineer group Louis Berger, commissioned the Resort Corridor Feasibility study. Everyone recognizes the need to increase capacity for movement within the resort corridor, said David Swallow, senior director of engineering and technology for the commission. Realistically, nobody envisions widening Las Vegas Boulevard any further, so you have to look at other approaches. The commission looked at nine transit technologies, including everything from buses and people movers to light rail and gondolas. Yes, gondolas. After reviewing each of the options, the RTC, working with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and the resort industry, came up with the two preferred options: an expanded RTC bus service and a European tram option. The European tram is looked at as more of a long-term possibility. The system would feature a dedicated lane on each side, with rail track running from the airport to downtown Las Vegas. A European tram differs from light rail by not requiring the addition of overhead wires to power the rail cars. Instead, a third rail on the ground would power the tram via electricity, Swallow said. Having something as noticeable as a tram on the Strip would prove to be attractive to visitors, just as the Duece double decker bus service is popular among tourists. Swallow believes the tram would yield similar results. Theres nothing that beats having transit right front and center on the Las Vegas Strip, he said. The tram could work in a mixed-flow lane, feature faster boarding than a bus and have higher capacity than a bus, with up to 220 passengers per tram. The trams drawback was high capital cost, construction of track required and the lack of maneuverability in traffic, which could lead to being slowed by congestion. A restructured Strip &Downtown Express (SDX) bus route would be altered to have a direct transit link between the airport and the Strip. The service is quicker than traditional bus service, as it features fewer stops, its maneuverable in traffic and no construction is required. Drawbacks of the SDX are lower capacity compared to the European tram (up to 108 passengers) and slow boarding when Deuce buses are used. With several major projects in Southern Nevada set to be completed in the next few years, including the Las Vegas stadium, MSG Sphere arena, the Las Vegas Convention Center expansion and Resorts World, the demand for mass transit will increase even further. Those additions and other factors will help increase visitation from 2020s projected 44 million visitors to 56 million visitors in 2040, according to projections provided by the LVCVA and Applied Analysis. With the expected growth, Steve Hill, CEO of the LVCVA, said the need is there to institute a plan sooner, rather than later. The demand is high now, and certainly time is an issue, Hill said. Alternative forms of transportation are great, and when theyre expensive, we need to make sure theyre the right ones and we considered what the options are. Though he sees the benefit of the tram, Hill said with emerging technologies set to become more common on the roads, he doesnt think it is the most logical choice for any community, let alone the Strip. I think that putting steel in the ground for transportation purposes is probably something most communities wont do going forward and wont need to, he said. Autonomous vehicles and those kinds of things eliminate the need for steel. No matter what mode is chosen, Clark County Commission Chairwoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick agrees a new option is needed. She hopes having two county commissioners on the RTC board will yield the best option not only for riders, but for the pocketbook as well. It is always good to examine alternative transportation options for our resort corridor, Kirkpatrick said. With two of our commissioners on the RTC board, I am confident there will be a thorough and lively discussion about what is best for our community and what will give us the best return on our investment. Questions and comments should be sent to [email protected]. Please include your phone number. Follow @RJroadwarrior on Twitter. | https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/news-columns/road-warrior/is-rail-based-transportation-a-viable-option-for-las-vegas-strip-1604555/ |
Can a $445 bedside coffee maker deliver both convenience and quality? | The Barisieur extends the promise of coffee in bed without the warmth of a partner to prepare and serve the cup to you. The first four times that friends posted the Barisieur on my Facebook wall, I didnt even bother clicking on the link. I figured it was a joke, like a high-tech version of the Bathe & Brew (Cleanup is a breeze! Just spray down your Bathe & Brew with your usual shower cleaner!). But recently, I learned that the Barisieur is as real as a bleating alarm at 6 a.m. Its now available in the United States for folks who want a cup of joe to accompany their sleepy morning strolls across their smartphones. Its available, I should say, for those with the discretionary income to shell out $445 for a bedside coffee maker that will wake you first with an alarm and then, a few minutes later, with caffeine. No one really needs this machine, yet its popularity suggests otherwise. The Barisieur has already sold thousands of units since hitting the British market in May and the U.S. market in November. Id suggest the machine offers a form of pampering without the need for human contact, the perfect brewing device for a species that increasingly interacts with its own kind only through gadgetry. The Barisieur extends the promise of coffee in bed without the warmth of a partner to prepare and serve the cup to you. Its one more way that technology wedges itself into the spaces where person-to-person intimacy used to exist. But the Barisieur, I think, also extends the promise of third-wave coffee the first wave was commodity mud like Folgers, the second was Starbucks and the third is the lumberjack set that sneers at the first two waves over its Japanese brewers without the fuss of preparing your own pour-over. I contacted Barisieur founder Joshua Renouf, an affable Brit who quickly let me know hes not a third-wave geek. Hes a designer who was dragged into the specialty-coffee world when he developed a prototype of the Barisieur as his final project at Nottingham Trent University, where he studied product design. He took his inspiration from the resurgence of vinyl records, not coffee. Its all about the experience and the ritual of putting the vinyl on the record player, he says, and slowing down. Like any innovator, Renouf is not averse to risk, and he agreed to send me a test unit, so I could put the Barisieur through the paces. He did so even though his company has sold its entire first run of brewers, some 4,000 units. Actor David Hasselhoff and English comedian and broadcaster Jonathan Ross are among the early adopters. The demand is so huge that we have to put another order in, Renouf tells me. We should have more on its way by April 1. As Renouf suggests, there is a DIY element to the Barisieur, but nothing more than your standard drip coffee maker from Target. You have to fill a water beaker and prepare the beans. I wont bore you with all the mind-numbing details of my tests. Instead, Ill skip straight to the bottom line: You can enjoy a decent automated pour-over coffee on the Barisieur, but it will require more effort than perhaps you expected. You may even need to get out of bed. Before I get into the particulars, I should point out that the Barisieur is beautifully designed, a sleek steampunk mash-up of vintage stereo gear, 70s-era alarm clocks, moonshine stills and Japanese third-wave gadgetry. Its an art installation for your bedroom, though not one youll probably show off to guests, unless you frequently invite company into your bedroom and/or live in a studio apartment. Renouf and his engineers have clearly spent a lot of time on R&D. Some of the machines features will impress coffee geeks and Maxwell House drinkers alike: The induction system heats the water to the ideal brewing temperatures (between 195 and 205 degrees Fahrenheit). I confirmed this with my Brookstone folding meat thermometer. The device also has a small refrigerated cubby hole for your milk; the space starts to chill only after the Barisieur determines there is milk in the glass container, which is unbelievably cool. The machine can also be set to turn on five minutes before your alarm buzzes, so that you dont have to wait long for your coffee. (It takes between five and six minutes for the water to reach brewing temperature.) The drawbacks to the Barisieur are apparent to anyone familiar with specialty coffee. No one I repeat, no one who loves good coffee will grind their beans and dump the grounds into the metal filter before bed time. Those grounds will oxidize overnight, losing many of their hard-earned flavors in the process. The cups that I sampled from beans ground the night before resulted in thin, stale and cardboardy coffee, even when I used freshly roasted beans. Each cup was also small in volume, between four and five ounces, a caffeine tease. Whats more, the glass spout on the Barisieur releases a single stream of water, which means the grounds directly underneath the waterfall will be over-extracted while those along the side will be under-extracted. (Free advice for the 2.0 model: Add a spray nozzle, assuming the water pressure is high enough to accommodate one.) Finally, no matter how fine you grind the beans, the coffee will not steep long enough to extract all the desired flavors. In the end, youll have a coffee thats closer in body to that of tea, which is actually how some drinkers prefer their morning jolt. I fondly recall the tealike coffee that I was handed at the Coffee Collective in Copenhagen. Yet: As much as I admired the porcelain fragility of that coffee, both delicate and fruity, I knew there were more flavors still trapped in the grounds. The best Barisieur coffee that you can produce will require one of several deviations from the machines standard (promised?) operating procedures: You can put the device in the kitchen and grind the beans fresh in the morning, as you would for any other brewing method. Or, at first alarm, you can trudge into the kitchen, grind the beans and bring them back to the bedroom to brew. Or you can invest in a small handheld grinder, like the Hario Mini Mill that I have, and grind your beans by the side of the bed in the morning. (Believe me, hand-grinding beans will wake you up faster than any coffee.) These deviations will, by their very active nature, deprive you of the bougie meditative quality of waking up to coffee already prepared. Renouf hints that the next iteration of the Barisieur may be designed more for the kitchen than the bedroom, essentially abandoning the promise of bedside coffee as you knock the sleep from your eyes. Its probably for the best. You can, of course, just go ahead and grind the beans before bed, the quality of your morning cup be damned. But then youll be that rarest of coffee drinkers: Someone with third-wave aspirations and a first-wave palate. | https://www.seattletimes.com/explore/shop-northwest/can-a-445-bedside-coffee-maker-deliver-both-convenience-and-quality/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all |
Why arent we talking about homelessness in suburban schools? | (Editors note: This is the ninth of about a dozen student essays well be publishing for this round of Education Labs Student Voices program, which is partnering this year with Project Homeless. Email Project Homelesss engagement editor, Scott Greenstone, at [email protected].) Never in my life have I worried about a place to stay, or where Ill be sleeping at night. When I thought of a homeless person, an older man holding a cardboard sign at an intersection came to mind, a sight I saw often when my family went to downtown Seattle. Then, two months into my junior year at Hazen High School in Renton, Ashley showed up in our class. She was shy and kept to herself, but she and I instantly hit it off. I asked her why she moved here. My mom kicked me out, she said. Startled and not knowing what to say, I just stared at her. She shrugged before replying, Its okay, Ive been kicked out before and sofa surfing for a while. Im used to it. Over the next few days, she told me more. Shed often switched between her divorced parents, but eventually she and her mom moved in with her moms dad, where they lived in his shed in the backyard. That did not last long, and Ashleys mom kicked her out. She did not know why. Each day, she rushed to finish her homework by the end of class because she didnt have access to a computer. I suggested using the school librarys computers after school, but she had a 7-hour shift to work at a restaurant. A week later, my classmate Veronica asked me how I was doing. Honestly, I said, I am kind of stunned. I recently found out one of my classmates deals with being homeless. Veronica looked surprised. I sofa surfed for 4 years. Her mom was a single mother and had her at the age of 16 (her mother was one of six children born to a single mom, as well). When times were tough and her mom could not provide, Veronica found herself sofa-surfing: You never know when the bed is safe. Ive slept on so many beds, couches, floors and you never know when its secure. Veronica and I had known of each other three years but shed never told me in fact, shed only told two other people at school. I saw homelessness in Seattle, but I had not witnessed it in my community, where like in many suburban school districts numbers of homeless students increased 33 percent between 2012 and 2017. My school never addressed it either, and since I went to one of the nicer schools in Renton, the idea that there could be homeless students had never crossed my mind. Not once had I heard the phrase sofa surfing before. Veronica told me she wasnt the type to open up about the issues she went through. She felt like no one cared. Shed attempted to talk to a school counselor, but she said she only received one-word responses and felt like the counselor was going through a script from a book on how to handle these situations. I soon discovered there was yet another homeless kid in one of my classes. Within just a few months, I went from not knowing teens could be homeless, to learning that I shared classrooms with three. And that was just those that I knew of. Meanwhile, Ashley ran out of sofas to surf on and didnt want to stay with her dad any longer, so it was only a couple of weeks until she left school. The last thing she told me was, I definitely think schools and society as a whole need to make it aware that teen homelessness is an issue and that it is a problem that needs a lot more attention than it gets. I wanted more people to know what I found out, so that month I wrote a story about teen homelessness for the school newspaper. As part of my research, I discovered there were almost 600 homeless students in my school district. A school administrator told me Hazen bused in some kids from as far as Auburn. A week after the paper was published, a boy who had recently transferred into my civics class came up to me. My dad kicked me out last year and Ive been sofa surfing ever since, he said. I didnt think anyone else at this school went through what I do, and I never told anyone because I thought I would be judged. Learning that I had been going to class with four homeless students made me realize how you truly never know what others are going through. By sweeping it under the carpet, those who do face the problem will stay hidden as well. | https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/homeless/why-arent-we-talking-about-homelessness-in-school/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all |
Is EA Going To Stick With 'Anthem' Long Term, Or Ditch It Like 'Andromeda'? | The launch of Anthemcould have gone better. Thats perhaps an understatement as the game launched with both massive technical problems and in a general state that led most to believe it needed far more time in the oven. Thats led to some truly bad reviews, hovering around 60 on Metacritic, exactly what Microsofts much-mocked Crackdown 3 came in at as well. Not a great look. Now the sales info is starting to trickle out and even though its just the UK and just physical copies, the metrics are looking dark, with Anthem selling half of what Andromeda did and a tenth of Destiny, if you can believe that. Thats not the full picture, but even after the dust settles it is not hard to imagine that given all the launch issues and the game itself, that its going to sell below EAs expectations. Anthem is continuing a tradition of almost every game in this genre, however. These loot-based games launch in a relatively bad-to-average state (Destiny, The Division, Diablo) and then over the next few months and years are built into powerhouses that address all of their problems one by one, be that interesting loot, an engaging endgame, better storytelling, etc. Everyone hoped Anthem would learn from the mistakes of these games, but even if they didnt, this is a relatively standard story. But there are key differences here between those games and Anthem, namely that its EA pulling the strings. EA, like Activision did with Destiny, rushed Anthem to release and is at least partially responsible for the state its in, but unlike its rivals, EA may not be so patient allowing Anthem to find its footing over the long term. I keep thinking back to how EA absolutely ghosted Andromeda almost as soon as it came out. Some bad reviews, some claims it had tainted the Mass Effect series and lower than expected sales and that game was justover. It had an entire story based entirely around DLC and sequels to expand it, and not only are we never going to see Andromeda 2, they didnt even let them make a single bit of single player DLC to answer clear cliffhangers with the game. The game was a failure, and they forced BioWare to not only just move onto Anthem, but to shelve the entire Mass Effect series indefinitely. The other factor here is somewhat separate from EA, but one thing that Destiny, The Division and Diablo had in common besides launch issues is that despite thosethey still sold really well. Destiny and Destiny 2 have put up big numbers and were among the top selling games in their release years. The Division was the fastest-selling new IP in history, a title I believe it still holds. Diablo 3, with Reaper of Souls, is one of the best-selling games of all time. It seems that the clock may have run out on Anthem, however, because fool me three times and players may not want to wait around for months or years for the game to get better, particularly when there are so many other options in the genre readily available like Destiny 2, which after five years has taken the series to the best place its ever been, and The Division 2, which is looking like it will launch in a much more coherent state than Anthem. Activision and Ubisoft were willing to let those other titles have time to fix themselves because hey, at least the sales indicated potential long-term interest. But if Anthem doesnt just stumble out of the gate but flat out falls and breaks its back, I have trouble believing that EA will do the same. On the other hand, EA needs Anthem to work. Rather badly, I might add. Before this month, the company has been reduced to its sports franchises and then a never-ending series of Battlefront/Battlefield games that keep underperforming or launching with huge issues. They have cancelled now two high profile Star Wars games and its unclear if EA is ever going to produce a must-play Star Wars title at this point. EAs only saving grace in recent memory was the surprise launch of Apex Legends, the battle royale megahit from Respawn which came out of nowhere to be the talk of the industry. But thats multiplayer and BR. Bailing on Anthem would take EA out of the loot shooter game entirely, in an era when Bungie just took over Destiny and will clearly be investing in that series for a long time to come. And Ubisoft is going to launch The Division and support it for years, clearly. We might even see Borderlands 3 one of these days, and it seems like a bad idea for EA to throw in the towel on Anthem because of this launch. At the very least, I have to believe that Anthem will at least pump out this first years worth of planned content for the game, continuing to make fixes and adding to the world in a way that gets more people to say hey actually this can be pretty fun (something Ive already been saying). I wouldnt expect a total Andromeda here from EA where literally even the first bits of DLC are cancelled and the game is never heard from again. They have too much invested here. I dont know. Its hard to know if well still be talking about Anthem five years from now like we are with Destiny, and what this series can turn into. And if Anthem fails, that raises larger questions about the entire fate of BioWare as a developer, though thats a scary issue to deal with on another day. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2019/02/25/is-ea-going-to-stick-with-anthem-long-term-or-ditch-it-like-andromeda/ |
Can U.S. Cyberdefense Withstand Another Government Shutdown? | If you have ever seen one of those television shows about life after humanity, it's rather amazing to see just how fast nature starts to decay once mighty structures that we simply assumed would stand the test of time, as evidence to who we were and how much we achieved begin to crumble. Recently, the U.S. went through the longest government shutdown in its history. While the sky didn't fall and most Americans came away unscathed -- minus the roughly 800,000 federal workers who were, unfortunately (and awfully), affected -- what was seriously put in jeopardy was America's ability to defend itself against a cyberattack. Now that the government is back to work, we can assess the damage, and it's not good. Before we start with the actual cybersecurity problems we faced during the shutdown, it's important to understand why a cyberdefense strategy falls down when no one is there to tend to the technology. First, critical defensive infrastructure doesn't get updated. We have seen time and again that when organizations have a "set it and forget it" mentality, they're more susceptible to being compromised. We patch and update our systems for two primary reasons: First, we are updating because new features and/or performance-enhancing attributes of the system have been released that make the product easier to use or possibly faster. Secondly, we update because vulnerabilities are discovered that the developers need to address immediately. The more we delay patching, the more vulnerable our systems become, and that's a serious problem. The other serious issue we have here is with the response time to threats. When I'm in front of audiences speaking, I typically ask some version of this question: "How long does it take an organization to realize that theyve been compromised by a hacker?" The answers I typically get range from minutes to hours with the occasional "one week" response thrown in. The actual answer on this is, on average, 191 days. Add to this the fact that 54% of all data breaches are targeted, especially those aimed at governments, and the United States has a serious problem on its hands. If we are not patching and updating our critical infrastructure like next-generation firewalls and other detection systems, then malicious (and sometimes state-sponsored) hackers can break into a critical sector of the U.S. government by simply exploiting existing vulnerabilities the rest of the world is aware of and fixing because their staff hasn't been sent home. If the Equifax breach taught us anything, it's that patching is beyond critical. One single miss to a critical piece of defense, and hundreds of millions of people ended up having their very sensitive data stolen that would allow anyone to impersonate them for malicious reasons. With all this said, during the shutdown, we saw some technological infrastructure, for various aspects of the government, become critically vulnerable. To start, multiple government websites that were secured with SSL certificates (that little green lock one sees in their browser when they go to a secure website like a bank) had said certificates expire during the shutdown, thus knocking the sites offline or opening them up for exploitation. Furthermore, the Department of Homeland Security reported that the U.S. government was under attack by hackers taking control of critical DNS configuration settings and simply rerouting government websites wherever they wanted. Thanks to phishing attacks, they were able to steal credentials that gave them access. Also, thanks to a lack of security measures like two-factor authentication, the hackers were likely easily able to walk right in and do whatever malicious things they wanted. Beyond rerouting websites, they could also reroute email wherever they wished, which makes one wonder just how many email messages could have been easily stolen by a foreign power. So, here's the thing: Most people don't realize just how confederated our government is when it comes to its cyberdefense strategy. Many just assume that government intelligence entities like the NSA, CIA, FBI and others protect everything within the U.S. government. That couldn't be further from the truth. While the government has standards for cybersecurity compliance, how each department or division achieves compliance (assuming they're not simply paying lip service) is often all over the map. How the State Department secures itself is different than the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which use different methods than the White House and on and on. What this ends up creating is serious gaps in our country's cyberdefense structure, and when combined with something like a shutdown, it could be a complete disaster waiting to happen. The answer depends on a variety of factors. The closer we are to ground zero in terms of updating critical infrastructure, the higher the risk of failure or compromise becomes. On top of this, republics that aren't run by fiat, in general, are slow to react and adapt to a changing threat landscape. Add to this the aftermath of a prolonged shutdown, in terms of now bringing multiple defensive measures back up to code all at once versus performing these needed tasks as they arise, and the United States is sitting on a perfect time bomb for malicious threat actors to hit government infrastructure rather easily. If this past government shutdown was, in part, for security purposes, it failed to take into account other security concerns beyond the physical. The world is in a perpetual state of cyberwarfare, and in order to remain capable in this capacity, the government cannot neglect that which holds and protects all its critical data. Heres to avoiding a needless future catastrophe. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2019/02/25/can-u-s-cyberdefense-withstand-another-government-shutdown/ |
Is the SNC-Lavalin controversy truly a scandal? | This article was originally published on The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Disclosure information is available on the original site. Author: Jonathan Malloy, Professor of Political Science, Carleton University Politics is cyclical; what goes around usually comes around again, as politicians and institutions follow long-term patterns of behaviour. But the still-developing SNC-Lavalin story and resignation of Jody Wilson-Raybould from cabinet is bewildering and does not fit traditional patterns of Canadian politics. Three things stand out: The complex nature of the scandal, the puzzling resignation of Gerald Butts and the actions of Wilson-Raybould. First is the nature of the scandal. A typical political scandal involves a person who did something wrong out of negligence or motivations of money, personal ambition, sex, etc. But this is a much more complicated and abstract affair. No one is suggesting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, his principal secretary Butts or anyone else in the Liberal Party did anything to line their own pockets, unlike the sponsorship scandal in the early 2000s in which the PMO turned a blind eye as many Liberals benefited handsomely. Instead, Trudeau and Butts saw political advantage for the government to lighten up on SNC-Lavalin. There are political and economic interests that still clearly carry some weight in Quebec. In public affairs, what is legally wrong is not necessarily unacceptable politically, and vice versa. (For example, despite his outrageous spending practices, Sen. Mike Duffy was acquitted in 2016 of actually breaking the law.) Alleged pressure From a legal viewpoint, the issue here is the alleged undue pressure on the attorney-general which, politically, is an internal matter no different from any other time the PMO throws its weight around. Indeed, this is how Privy Council Clerk Michael Wernick recently characterized the entire matter. From a political viewpoint, the more serious matter is the apparent demotion of Wilson-Raybould for not doing what the prime minister asked her to do, which, incidentally, is completely legal from a constitutional viewpoint. The economic dimension and the importance of SNC-Lavalin to Quebec complicates matters even further, making this a unique multidimensional scandal. The narrative is complicated and its not clear the story has caught fire with the general population. For example, one poll found that while 41 per cent of Canadians felt Trudeau had done something wrong in the affair, another 41 per cent said they werent sure. Given the above muddled narrative, conventional wisdom suggested that the story might just drag out and diminish over time. But then came the bombshell resignation of Butts, which really defies past practice. While other PMO staff have also had great power, they have ultimately been hired help; none have claimed such a deep personal friendship with the prime minister (Brian Mulroney hired many friends, but they generally did not rise to or stay at the top tier). Nor have any of them played such a public role, like Butts independent activity on Twitter. In contrast, Harpers four chiefs of staff avoided publicity so much that the media was forced to constantly run the same grainy photos of them over and over again. Political triple play Its this triple play of power, friendship ties and public profile that made Butts so exceptional, and thus made it so startling to see him become the first to go in what had seemed a serious but not catastrophic matter. As the Liberal Party learned to its sorrow after calling the Gomery inquiry into the sponsorship controversy, scandals are best smothered through equivocation and greyness rather than fanning the flames with dramatic action. Butts resignation was pretty much the most dramatic action possible and fits no pattern, provoking expectations that there is another shoe waiting to drop. Finally, Wilson-Rayboulds actions do not fit the pattern of a ministerial resignation. When a minister resigns, they usually either disappear from view to sulk or do everything they can to own the story at the expense of the sitting government in extreme cases setting up a virtual government-in-exile, like John Turner in relation to Pierre Trudeau or Paul Martin and Jean Chretien. Wilson-Raybould has done neither. While complicated by solicitor-client confidentiality (and we do not know who the anonymous sources are that have fed the story to the media), Wilson-Raybould has not adopted the usual techniques of non-stop interviews and op-eds to tell her side of the story, or even a non-story of: There is so much I wish I could tell you but I cant say anything. Wilson-Rayboulds strategy unclear Instead, Wilson-Raybould has generally taken the high road. Its hard to think of another ex-minister asking to come back and speak to the cabinet she just left or appearing in Parliament and then, quite reasonably, abstaining on a vote about herself. Her intentions and strategy if there is one are unclear. It is worth noting that Canadas first Indigenous woman attorney general and justice minister is doing politics differently and not following the well-worn playbook of dozens of male ex-ministers whose actions have been highly predictable and easily explained by sheer ego and pride. The SNC-Lavalin story is still developing. As more information and new developments emerge, we may be able to better fit it into typical patterns of Canadian political history. But for the moment, the SNC-Lavalin affair stands on its own as a complex, multi-dimensional story and not a typical political scandal. The motivations of the key players remain unclear, and its long-term implications, especially for the coming election, are unknown. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Disclosure information is available on the original site. Read the original article: https://theconversation.com/is-the-snc-lavalin-controversy-truly-a-s https://theco | https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/is-the-snc-lavalin-controversy-truly-a-scandal |
Will the Botched Doctors Be Able to Fix New Patient Gaby's "Butchered" Breasts? | In this clip from Wednesday's all-new episode, the Brentwood resident details how a health crisis in her childhood led her to getting a disastrous boob job. Per the new patient, when she was born she had a benign cyst in her right armpit. Understandably, Gaby's parents had the growth removed, but the procedure caused side effects that came about in adulthood. Specifically, when Gaby first started developing, she discovered that she was "budding on one side and the other side wouldn't bud." "When they went in and they removed that cyst, they also removed the breast tissuethe mammary tissue in the axillary area of my chest," Gaby explains to the Botched camera. In an attempt to combat the issue, Gaby reveals she had an expander put in at 21 years old ahead of a breast augmentation. | https://www.eonline.com/ca/news/1017102/will-the-botched-doctors-be-able-to-fix-new-patient-gaby-s-butchered-breasts?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories&utm_source=eonline&utm_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=rss_topstories |
Is South Korea Sliding Toward Digital Dictatorship? | The North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un is headed for Hanoi this week on a train reportedly "bulletproof, slow and full of wine" to meet with President Trump, who claims they both "fell in love" after Kim sent him "beautiful letters." Analysts and even Trump's own aides are worried about the second North Korea-U.S. summit, set to begin this Wednesday. But South Korean President Moon Jae-in is hopeful, and is already pushing for the resumption of inter-Korean trade and other forms of economic cooperation. "Should North Korea's economy be opened," Moon recently said, "neighboring countries, international organizations and global funds will take part. In the process, we must not lose our leadership." He added, "We are the masters of our own fate on the Korean Peninsula." This self-reliance language is eerily similar to accepted definitions of juche, the North Korean regime's central philosophy. Calls for inter-Korean trade are therefore worrying, especially since the South has been echoing more than just the North's philosophical rhetoric, but some of its oppressive practices too. South Korea now has a higher per capita GDP than Italy, and will soon surpass New Zealand. This is thanks to education and R&D spending, and a heavy emphasis on international trade. From 1970 to 2002, the nation's trade volume grew 17.2% annually. Export-oriented industrialization paid off, and Korea has come to its kingdom. But theres a worm in the apple. The cylinders of South Korea's economic engine education, R&D and trade depend on the free flow of information. Seoul restricts that, and wants to apply an even stronger filter. The South Korean government plans to block the country's 895 banned websites (mostly related to North Korea, gambling or pornography) by eavesdropping on Server Name Indication (SNI) data, giving censors considerably more power in a country with a long history of corruption. Putting aside the decades of brutal dictatorship that ended with Chun Doo-hwan stepping down in 1988, every South Korean presidency since has been rocked by corruption scandals. Roh Tae-woo collected $10 million per month in slush funds while in office, Kim Young-sam stunned the nation with his pay-for-play Hanbo scandal, Roh Moo-hyun jumped off a cliff while under investigation for bribery, Lee Myung-bak is serving 15 years for corruption, Park Geun-hye is serving 24 years and then there's President Moon Jae-in. Last April, the Moon administration faced controversy over allegedly cutting funding for the U.S.-Korea Institute at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies because the institute's director was too conservative. The week before, allegations surfaced that the administration was silencing academics for criticizing its policy toward the North, including former State Department official David Straub, who was dismissed from the Sejong Institute. Also in April, North Korean defector Thae Yong-ho was silenced by National Intelligence Service agents from making critical remarks about the North. There are also instances of members of the administration labeling conservative viewpoints on North Korea as being fake news. As one op-ed writer put it: Critics of Pyongyang and defectors from North Korea are said to be receiving disadvantages or even being removed from office under the liberal government known for its dtente policy towards Pyongyang. The case raises concerns for balanced views on North Korea and the freedom of expression." Discussing these events in the context of Koreas long history of censorship, research analyst Geoffrey Fattig wrote: Until now, the idea of a unified Korea was largely conceptualized to be one in which a collapsing North would be incorporated by a free and democratic South. Yet it is looking far more likely that a new, confederated Korea will be one in which neither side shares the values of a traditional liberal democracy, at least when it comes to the issues of media and academic freedom." Now consider Korea's internet environment where feminism is censored, the country's own intelligence agency puts out fake news to rig elections and administrations maintain cultural blacklists and it's clear why critics worry the government might abuse its newfound censorship powers. According to Freedom House's 2018 Freedom on the Net report on the country: Individual citizens have also been subject [to] defamation and libel criminal cases for their online activity...survivors of sexual violence and harassment came forward to speak out but ended up facing retaliation. Indeed, women who had as little as liked, followed, or shared feminist content online were targeted in both their personal and professional lives." Before you started reading this article, your browser submitted a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request to the server hosting this site. HTTP governs the protocol for transferring hypertext web pages back to you. If you're going to exchange sensitive data such as credit card info, you'll want to encrypt your communication with the server using HTTPS (the S stands for "secure"). But some IP addresses host multiple servers, so SNI was created to indicate which server name you want. What Seoul aims to do is look at what you're indicating, so even if your exchange is encrypted, censors can see which sites you're trying to access. Already about 230,000 South Korean citizens have signed a petition protesting the measure. Last year, South Korea's internet censorship system began hijacking DNS queries. Now, it intercepts SNI to find out remote hostname if website uses HTTPS. pic.twitter.com/3nkwQWm8Wt (@mooyoul) February 11, 2019 Some may say there's nothing to worry about, so long as you aren't trying to visit banned sites. But as computer security expert Bruce Schneier wrote, "Privacy protects us from abuses by those in power, even if we're doing nothing wrong at the time of surveillance." There are more immediate concerns too, such as the impact this might have on Korean trade or the changing structure of the internet itself. Regarding trade, a 2009 paper by the European Centre for International Political Economy described the internet as a global marketplace, arguing that censorship warrants World Trade Organization sanctions. Seven years later, the U.S. declared Chinese internet censorship a trade barrier. But whether the U.S. or any other nation will see Korean censorship that way depends on how far Korea ventures down this path. SNI snooping might simply be intended to censor specific, harmful sites something plenty of other democracies already do. Or it may be part of a larger pattern of eroding freedoms, especially with respect to criticizing North Korea as the two countries move closer together. As for changes to the internet's architecture, we are already witnessing some of this, as it is broken into various parts with one being led by China, structured according to Chinese sensibilities about what adults should be allowed to view. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt recently had this to say: If you think of China as like 'Oh yeah, they're good with the Internet,' you're missing the point. Globalization means that they get to play too. I think you're going to see fantastic leadership in products and services from China. There's a real danger that along with those products and services comes a different leadership regime from government, with censorship, controls, etc." He added that the roughly 60 countries involved in Chinas Belt and Road initiative might also assume Chinas digital infrastructure, meaning a great loss of online freedom. South Korea appears to already be moving in that direction. "In effect, this is the turning point for grafting national boundaries back on to the internet, Joseph Lorenzo Hall, chief technologist and director of the Internet Architecture project at the Center for Democracy & Technology, told Forbes. "While there has been a lot of information control and network censorship in closed, authoritarian societies in recent years, we are starting to see it unfortunately more in open, democratic societies such as the UK, EU and this madness." The problem, he added, is that once we start "messing around with the guts and pipes between endpoints on the internet, bad things happen. Censorship regimes inevitably block far more than their targeted sites because, Hall says, "no one ever gets in trouble for censoring too much information. The casualties may include LGTBQ content, information about non-mainstream religions or really anything that isn't normative. Content control is therefore best handled at the endpoints. This is especially true since sophisticated users who want to share banned content will still be able to do so, making measures like SNI snooping ineffective at best. Hall added that because of the risks, filtering (user control) is a wiser choice than censorship (state control), if only because the latter necessarily requires such high levels of surveillance and alteration of information that it "necessarily pushes up against core human rights values." | https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidvolodzko/2019/02/25/is-south-korea-sliding-toward-digital-dictatorship/ |
Who made Rob Maclean's Scottish Premiership team of the week? | With 21 goals scored over three days, the weekend Scottish Premiership card gave BBC commentator Rob Maclean plenty to ponder for his team of the week. Here's his selection... Formation 4-4-2: Hladky (St Mirren); Tavernier (Rangers), Dikamona (Heart of Midlothian), Considine (Aberdeen), Tierney (Celtic); Henderson (Celtic), Arfield (Rangers), Shinnie (Aberdeen), Kennedy (St Johnstone); Edouard (Celtic), McNulty (Hibernian). Goalkeeper - Vaclav Hladky Three saves in the space of five seconds at Tynecastle on Saturday is enough to win St Mirren's Vaclav Hladky the goalkeeper's jersey. The Czech goalie's performance in the 1-1 draw with Hearts went a long way to securing a struggling Buddies side a precious point. Media playback is not supported on this device Watch: St Mirren goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky with four quick-fire saves Defenders - James Tavernier, Clevid Dikamona, Andy Considine, Kieran Tierney Yet another assist for James Tavernier, crossing for Jermain Defoe to score at Hamilton. Yet another penalty as the Rangers captain netted his 12th successful spot-kick of the season. Yet another sizeable contribution. Clevid Dikamona got off to a shaky start at Hearts, but the Congo defender is starting to settle and certainly does not lack physical presence. Powerful in defence and attack, he scored his first goal for the Jambos on Saturday. Long-serving Aberdeen defender Andy Considine is not always an eye-catcher and often the quality of his defending slips under the radar. But he was a top performer in the 2-0 win away to St Johnstone that strengthened the Dons' hold on third place in the Premiership and helps keep alive their hopes of claiming another runners-up finish. Kieran Tierney returned from a two-month injury absence, pulled on the captain's armband and bounced back to business as if he had never been away. Celtic miss their 21-year-old left-back big time when he's not around, but he's back now to bolster their bid for a treble treble. Midfielders - Ewan Henderson, Scott Arfied, Graeme Shinnie, Matty Kennedy You had to remind yourself at Celtic Park on Sunday that 18-year-old Ewan Henderson was making his first start for the league leaders, so assured was his midfield performance. Getting game time will be difficult when everyone's fit, but he certainly snapped up his chance in the weekend win over Motherwell. If Rangers are to win the Scottish Cup and/or get themselves back into title contention, midfield powerhouse Scott Arfield will surely play a big part. He was a big influence, as well as a goalscorer, in his team's second 5-0 win inside five days, the hammering of Hamilton. Aberdeen captain Graeme Shinnie delivered the complete midfield performance in the 2-0 defeat of St Johnstone in Perth on Saturday. Plugging gaps at the back, driving his team forward and scoring both goals. The Dons will struggle to hold on to him. Media playback is not supported on this device Highlights: St Johnstone 0-2 Aberdeen Matty Kennedy could not have done much more to try to get St Johnstone something out of their game against the Dons. The former Scotland Under-21 winger showed a great attitude, even when the game was slipping away from Saints, and was a constant attacking threat. Forwards - Odsonne Edouard, Marc McNulty Celtic's Odsonne Edouard made scoring from 30 yards in the 4-1 defeat of Motherwell look ridiculously easy. He had earlier powered home a header - his first goal since Boxing Day. The young Frenchman has just turned 21 and has the talent to be whatever he wants to be. Media playback is not supported on this device Highlights: Celtic 4-1 Motherwell Hibernian's Marc McNulty was lucky he did not see red for flicking his boot into the face of Dundee's Ryan McGowan, but the on-loan Reading striker is certainly making headlines with his goalscoring. That's four in his past three games after a double at Dens Park and he's building a potent partnership up front with Florian Kamberi. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47360321 |
Who is new Miami Marlins catcher Jorge Alfaro? | A catchers mask pendant hangs at the bottom of a gold chain around Jorge Alfaros neck. The small charm, which is normally concealed behind Alfaros shirt, was a gift from his father almost three years ago and serves as a reminder of his journey to where he is now. Of the initial self-doubt rivaled by a drive to succeed. Of the challenge of learning a new position while playing the game he grew up with back in Colombia. Sign Up and Save Get six months of free digital access to the Miami Herald Of the eight-year climb through the minor leagues, knowing his dream was so close yet still so far away while expectations loomed around him. Its hard because I was a kid. I told [my parents] Im never going to make it as a catcher. It was a new thing for me. I tried to stay positive, but it was hard. On Sept. 12, 2016, his dream became a reality when he stepped into the batters box as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning, took two pitches and then chopped a fastball down the third-base line for his first career MLB hit. One day later, Alfaro started his first career game as a Major League catcher. Two seasons later, he was an everyday player at the MLB level. Im here, Alfaro said. Now, Alfaro is in Miami, the latest new face on a Marlins roster heading into the second season of a full-on roster rebuild. Hes replacing another top catcher in J.T. Realmuto, who was traded away to Philadelphia on Feb. 7 in exchange for Alfaro, pitching prospects Sixto Sanchez and Will Stewart, and international money. Alfaro knows there will be comparisons to Realmuto and rightfully so but he doesnt plan to focus on that. As the Marlins continue 30-game slate of Spring Training exhibition games on Saturday, the 25-year-old has goals of his own to accomplish. He has to learn a new pitching staff their likes, dislikes and tendencies before Opening Day arrives on March 28 and he takes the first pitch from Jose Urena. He has to adapt to a new coaching staff, one that has raved about his potential and hopes his talent comes out in full display from the start. He has to improve his plate discipline and defensive prowess. While a powerful hitter at the plate, he struck out 138 times last year in his first full MLB season. Defensively, he led MLB catchers with 11 errors and was sixth with 10 passed balls. Whatever it takes, Alfaro said, Ill do it. It didnt take him long to prove just that. In the third inning of the Marlins Spring Training opener, an eventual 11-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday, Alfaro tracked down a high popup in foul territory and tumbled down the dugout steps, colliding with infield coach Trey Hillman in the process. Shaken up and his right knee throbbing in pain, Alfaro made his way back behind home plate and finished the inning. He didnt shy away, manager Don Mattingly said. Its the type of mentality and grit the Marlins were hoping to see and it provided further evidence for the rave reviews Alfaro received over the first 10 days of Spring Training. Mattingly has referred to him as a specimen. Alfaro has the ideal size of a catcher at 6-2 and 225 pounds, and hes also light on his feet. He was second among MLB catchers last year in sprint speed, averaging 28.3 feet per second on competitive runs to first base, according to Statcast. He trailed only Realmuto, who averaged 28.6 feet per second. Just a good athlete and a guy with tremendous upside that we feel like we can grow, Mattingly said. President of Baseball Operations Michael Hill called him a physical presence who is incredibly athletic and has legit power. Alfaro led Major League catchers and was tied for fourth overall last year with an average home run distance of 420 feet. His average exit velocity on batted balls was 91.6 mph, good for 23rd overall. Behind the plate, his 1.94-second average pop time the time it takes for a catcher to throw a ball to second base on a steal attempt ranked third behind Realmuto and the Cincinnati Reds Yan Gomes. You dont realize how big these guys are until you really get up on them, Hill said. Lewis Brinson, who was Alfaros teammate in 2013 with the Texas Rangers single-A affiliate Hickory Crawdads, calls him The Lion King, an ode to the fully grown beard that Alfaro didnt have back in their time together in the minor leagues. The beard has since been trimmed. The son of a professional soccer player in Barranquilla, Colombia, Alfaro began playing baseball around age 5 and signed with the Texas Rangers at age 16 for a $1.3 million signing bonus in 2010, which was a record at the time for a Colombian signee. Hes a third baseman by trade who converted to catcher shortly after signing with Texas. The message sent to Alfaro at the time: Catching is your fastest path to the big leagues. Give me the glove. Give me the mask, Alfaro remembers saying. Ill catch. It wasnt that easy, though. Alfaros first memories of catching came during a tryout at the Rangers academy in the Dominican Republic. Hector Ortiz, who would eventually become the Rangers minor-league catching coordinator, pulled him aside during practice. Ortiz placed a bucket on home plate with simple instructions. Sit down and catch the ball. The first pitch went straight to his chest. I didnt even touch the ball with my glove, Alfaro said. That one hurt. Alfaro adapted to his new role and learned from some of the best, including Hall of Famer and former Marlins standout Pudge Rodriguez during his time in Texas. The biggest piece of advice Alfaro received: Get to know your pitchers. It starts with hello, pitcher Dan Straily said. It continues on the practice field. Throughout the first week-and-a-half of spring training, the 10 days before the Marlins began a slate of 30 games in 31 days, Alfaro made an effort to get to know his new pitching staff to the best of his ability. After each bullpen session, Alfaro would meet the pitcher he was working with halfway between the mound the plate, give him a high-five and talk during the brief pause they had before Alfaro had to get ready for the next catcher to take the mound. I have a month and a half to get to know everybody, Alfaro said. Thats what Im going to do. He has to get comfortable with his new staff, just like he had to get comfortable in his new position. That took a couple years, Alfaro admitted. I knew that it was going to be uncomfortable, Alfaro said of catching. It just depends how much you want it. And once Alfaro became at ease behind the plate, he began climbing up the minor-leagues. Advanced-A in 2014. Double-A in 2015 before being traded to Philadelphia. He stayed in Double-A for all of the 2016 season until he was called up to the Majors after rosters expanded in September. A solid season Triple-A in 2017 led to an August callup, during which time he hit .318 with five home runs and 14 RBI in 107 at-bats. And then came 2018, when he made the Phillies Opening Day roster and quickly took over as the teams everyday catcher at age 24. He was the youngest catcher in MLB last year to appear in at least 90 games behind the plate and showed flashes of his talent throughout the year. The Marlins saw it first hand. He hit .410 in 14 games against the Marlins (16 for 39) with a pair of home runs both at Marlins Park and five RBI. He hurt us a couple times last year, Brinson said. Im just happy hes on our team. Alfaro is happy to be in Miami, too. And hes ready to show what he can do. I dont try to put too much pressure on me, Alfaro said. Just enjoy my time, enjoy this game that Ive been playing for a long time. It was my dream to come here and make it to the big leagues. ... I dont want to really think about what people say. I know how hard it is to get here. | https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/mlb/miami-marlins/article226404590.html |
What is A Data Breach? | Heres a quick rundown of data breaches and what you should know. A data breach occurs when there is an unauthorized entry point into a corporations databased that allows cyber hackers to access customer data such as passwords, credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, banking information, drivers license numbers, medical records, and other sensitive information. The purpose of hacking these systems is to use this information for identity theft and fraud purposes. This can be done physically by accessing a computer or network to seal local files or by bypassing network security remotely. According to Trend Micro, this is the usual steps involved in a breach operation: Research: The cybercriminal looks for weaknesses in the companys security (people, systems, or network). Attack: The cybercriminal makes initial contact using either a network or social attack. Network/Social attack: A network attack occurs when a cybercriminal uses infrastructure, system, and application weaknesses to infiltrate an organizations network. Social attacks involve tricking or baiting employees into giving access to the companys network. An employee can be duped into giving his/her login credentials or may be fooled into opening a malicious attachment. Exfiltration: Once the cybercriminal gets into one computer, he/she can then attack the network and tunnel his/her way to confidential company data. Once the hacker extracts the data, the attack is considered successful. There are two types of data breaches. The first is through retail companies, like Target or Best Buy, that contain customer information in their own systems. The other is second-party data sources, like credit bureaus, that hold sensitive information for credit checks. Here are some of the biggest hacks: Most hacks dont happen because cybercriminals are leveraging the most advanced hacking mechanisms to breach a site. They occur from site vulnerabilities such as: Out of Date Security Systems Outdated software can create holes in a website that allow attackers to sneak in and steal data. Weak Passwords Simple and easy to hack passwords are a common place for cyber hackers to start. Malware and Viruses Downloading unsafe links from emails and websites can unintentionally download a virus into a system causing the breach. These can come from phishing email tactics that may look like a legitimate email from the company or another trusted source. Many places have begun to tighten their security and put in place procedures to prevent phishing emails and making employees aware of what to look for. There are also laws and regulations now in place that require companies to protect themselves against data breaches to protect the information of consumers. However, these are still new, and companies can still be at risk, so it is important that you take steps to protect your information. Here are a few ways to protect your identity in the case of a breach: Use strong passwords Use complex and unique passwords for your accounts. Many cybersecurity experts suggest using pass-phrases instead of words like song lyrics. This also includes adding a password to your devices, like your cellphone, in case it is stolen. Monitor your information Check your accounts regularly for unfamiliar activity and monitor your credit reports for new inquiries or account opens that you dont recognize. There are free credit monitoring sites like Credit Karma that will alert you any time there is a change to your reports. Take Action When you see suspicious or unrecognize activity on your accounts, contact the financial institution involved immediately. They will help you resolve the issue. Use Secure URLs Only use sites that begin with https://. The s is key in knowing that you have a reputable site. Never give your credit card information or other personal information to sites without the S. Use PayPal Using PayPal can prevent from giving your credit card information to the wrong source. Paypal will pay it out of your account for you without having to enter sensitive information Avoid Oversharing Online Do not post sensitive information that could be used to hack your accounts. Dont use security questions or passwords that could easily be found on social media like your dogs name or your mothers maiden name. Use Precautions Implement high-quality security software that protects from attacks. You should also back up your files and encrypt any files that you are storing in the cloud. Data breaches are not going away anytime soon so the best defense against them is an offense so make sure to monitor your information and be diligent about your identification information. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicolemartin1/2019/02/25/what-is-a-data-breach/ |
Can Best Buy Keep Beating Expectations In Q4? | Best Buy is scheduled to announce its fiscal fourth quarter results on Wednesday, February 27. The retailers revenue and earnings per share came in ahead of market expectations so far this year. In the first nine months of fiscal 2019, the companys revenue grew 5% year-over-year (y-o-y) to around $28 billion, largely due to an enterprise comparable sales increase of 5.8%. The company benefited from stronger consumer demand across major categories, particularly the mobile phone, gaming, and wearables categories. The retailer also reported non-GAAP EPS of $2.65 in the quarter, up 30% y-o-y, primarily driven by a lower effective tax rate and higher domestic revenue. However, the companys stock declined by nearly 25% over the course of 2018, despite strong financial results. This was largely due to the retailers aggressive push to keep up with Amazon, which led to shrinking margins, as well as disappointing fourth quarter guidance, in addition to a broader market sell-off toward the end of the year. Our $73 price estimate for Best Buys stock is almost 20% ahead of the current market price. We have created an interactive dashboard on What To Expect From Best Buys Q4 And Fiscal 2019, which outlines our forecasts for the company. You can modify our forecasts to see the impact any changes would have on the companys earnings and valuation. In addition, you can see all of our Trefis Consumer Discretionary company data here. Q4 Expectations In the first three quarters of fiscal 2019, Best Buys selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses grew 4% y-o-y, due to increases in growth investments, higher incentive compensation expenses, and higher variable costs due to increased revenue. As a result, the retailers operating margin was 3.5%, down 40 basis points, during the same period. The companys margins also suffered due to increased fulfillment costs resulting from growth in digital sales. Going forward, we expect this margin pressure to continue in Q4 as well driven by increased investments in the supply chain and higher transportation costs. For Q4, Best Buy expects its top line to range between $14.4 billion and $14.8 billion, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.7 billion. In addition, the retailer also expects non-GAAP EPS of $2.48 to $2.58, compared to a consensus estimate of $2.57. Further, Best Buy expects to see a flattish gross margin compared to last year, as approximately 25 basis points of supply chain pressure and a $50 million lower profit sharing benefit could be partially offset by slightly better year-over-year merchandise margins in Q4. The company also expects its SG&A expenses to decline in the low-single digits in Q4, due to an extra week last year and lower short-term incentive compensation, partially offset by the impact of GreatCalls operating expenses. In terms of comparable sales, Best Buy has guided for overall comparable sales growth of flat to up 3% in Q4. The company is facing the downside of posting improved comparable sales growth marks over the last two years, as the upcoming quarterly comparisons become tougher to match. We expect the companys Q4 revenues to decline y-o-y, largely due to one fewer week compared to the same quarter last year. Fiscal 2019 Outlook For full-year fiscal 2019, Best Buy has raised its guidance and now expects revenues of $42.5 billion to $42.9 billion, compared to the previous guidance of $42.3 billion to $42.7 billion. The retailer is now calling for same-store sales to climb as much as 5%, compared with a prior target of 4.5%. In addition, the company also raised its profit outlook to range between $5.09 and $5.19, compared with a prior range of $4.95 and $5.10 a share. The retailers investments in specialty labor and supply chain, as well as increased depreciation related to strategic capital investments and ongoing pressures in the business, will be partially offset by a combination of returns from new initiatives and ongoing cost reductions and efficiencies. To add to that, the company also expects the Best Buy mobile store closures that were announced in Q4 fiscal 2018 to negatively impact full-year revenue by approximately $225 million, with a flat to slightly positive impact on its operating income. Explore example interactive dashboards and create your own | https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2019/02/25/can-best-buy-keep-beating-expectations-in-q4/ |
Will Trump Give Away Too Much to North Koreaand Get Too Little? | General Dwight Eisenhower, a strategic mastermind who commanded three million troops during the Second World War, won the Presidency, in 1952, largely because of his dramatic pledge to end the gruelling Korean War. He vowed to personally visit the Korean Peninsula, where tens of thousands of Americans had died in the conflict, before taking office. After he won, he did. The problem, as Eisenhower discovered within a month of moving into the White House, was how to achieve that peace. Fighting was at a stalemate; two years of peace talks were going nowhere. In frustration, Eisenhower decided, in May, 1953, that it might be cheaper, dollarwise, to use atomic weapons in Korea than to continue to use conventional weapons against the dugouts which honeycombed the hills where North Korean troops were deployed, according to declassified records of National Security Council meetings. Eisenhower then transmitted a secret warning to North Koreaas well as to Chinathat the United States was prepared to use the bomb if they didnt return to peace talks. They did. The negotiations proved to be the longest armistice talks in history. In the end, however, the three partiesNorth Korea and China on one side, the U.S.-led United Nations Command on the otheragreed only to a truce. Eleven American Presidents later, Donald Trump faces the challenge of brokering a formal peace when he sits down this week, in Hanoi, for his second summit with the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Only this time, North Korea is no longer a war-ravished young nation with limited military resources. The task for Trump, who has limited diplomatic acumen, is to generate progress on all four goals outlined in the vague two-page joint statement that came out of the first Trump-Kim summit, in June, in Singapore. The first goal is bettering relations. The second is a lasting and stable peace to end the Korean War. Coming in third, notably, is denuclearization. The fourth is the recovery and return of the remains of more than five thousand Americans missing in action from the war. Trumps own spy chiefs dont seem optimistic. We continue to observe activity inconsistent with full denuclearization the intelligence communitys new Worldwide Threat Assessment concluded last month. The regime is committed to developing a long-range nuclear-armed missile that would pose a direct threat to the United States, Gina Haspel, the director of the C.I.A., said in a briefing on the assessment for the Senate Intelligence Committee. Over the past year, Pyongyang has produced enough new fuel to add seven bombs to its nuclear arsenal, Stanford Universitys Center for International Security and Cooperation reported last month. It already had between thirty and sixty bombs. In 2018, it issued an order to mass-produce nuclear weapons. No tangible diplomatic progress has been made since the meeting in Singapore. The momentum in behind-the-scenes talks stalled until a few weeks ago, U.S. officials told me. Despite its pledges, North Korea has not provided a full list of its arsenal, which has been a major goal of U.S. diplomacy for three decades under five Presidents. U.S. intelligence believes that the North has several covert facilities, some buried deep in mountain tunnels, that have not been identifiedand that Pyongyang may be reluctant to disclose. A senior Administration official involved in the diplomacy acknowledged the uncertainties at a White House press briefing this past Thursday. I dont know if North Korea has made the choice yet to denuclearize, he said. Since Singapore, though, Trump has repeatedly gushed about his chemistry with Kim and their exchange of beautiful letters. We fell in love, he pronounced, in September. But lately, the President has tried to dampen expectations of an imminent breakthrough. Last week, Trump said he was in no rush to reach a deal. In Washington, skepticism is widespread among Republicans and Democrats in Congress, as well as from experts on the region. I'm pessimistic because Trump keeps undercutting his negotiators and his own leverage with his no rush rhetoric and his insistence that the suspension of testing is all that matters, Alexander (Sandy) Vershbow, a former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea and Assistant Secretary of Defense, told me. So the North Koreans keep producing fissile material, manufacture more bombs and ballistic missiles to point at us, South Korea and Japan, and become recognized de facto as a nuclear-weapons state, while Trump oversells his meagre achievements, as he did at Singapore, he said. Eight months after the first summit, the two countries have not even defined what denuclearization means. Theyre still at the starting point of the lengthy and arduous process, Daryl Kimball, the executive director of the Arms Control Association, in Washington, told me. Trump cannot afford to squander the time spent getting to this point and come away with just pictures and pleasantries with Kim. This summit can and must emphasize substance over pageantry. U.S. experts fear that the President could give up too much in exchange for too little. The Trump Administration has been hinting that it is lowering the bar on several previous North Korea policy positions, Bruce Klingner, the former C.I.A. deputy division chief for Korea, who is now at the Heritage Foundation, told me. For the United States, denuclearization has historically meant giving up all nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, as well as ballistic missiles. In diplomatic-speak, it is defined as complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization or C.V.I.D. That includes destroying all stockpiles, dismantling all production sites, conducting intrusive and ongoing inspections, ending proliferation by sharing technology or weapons with other countries, and abandoning any research facilities that might give Pyongyang a future capacity. Chances that North Koreans will give up their stockpiles are slim, Bill Richardson, the former U.N. Ambassador, who has made several trips to negotiate with Pyongyang, told me. So we need to be clear about what denuclearization means. North Korea has nuclear weapons largely because it took Eisenhowers warning seriouslyand has had a deep-seated fear of the American nuclear capacity ever since. After Eisenhower took office, with help from the Soviet Union, North Korea began building a nuclear program to deter a future U.S. attack. The bomb has become the insurance that the Kim dynasty, now in its third generation, will survive. For North Korea, denuclearization means that the United States pledges not to use military force against the North, ends the war, lifts punitive economic sanctions, and withdraws its nearly thirty-thousand forces from South Korea. The gap remains wide on all four issues. In December, Pyongyang directly rebuked [Secretary of State Mike] Pompeo for claiming that the regime had accepted the C.V.I.D. concept, Klingner told me. And at the White House briefing, two senior Administration officials were adamant that the withdrawal of U.S forces from South Korea was not currently on the table. The White House insists, though, that Trump wants a breakthrough in Hanoi. We actually need to move very quickly in this process, and I think we need to move in very big bites, the senior Administration official said at the briefing. So we are not looking to have incremental steps. The hope, however elusive, is that the summit will at least produce a roadmap with milestones for verifiable denuclearization in tandem with progress on the other three goals, Vershbow told me. Kimball said that the most tangible and attainable interim steps would be the verifiable decommissioning of the Yongbyon nuclear complex, where the bulk of North Koreas nuclear-weapons material-production infrastructure is located, in exchange for a political declaration on the end of the war, with perhaps limited sanctions relief that would facilitate North-South tourism and trade coperation. Richardson said that the Hanoi summit, to be considered successful, will have to produce what the Singapore summit failed to achieve: a signed framework for negotiationstimelines, terms of reference, and routine schedule of summits. Short of that, negotiations will fizzle again until the next summit is announced. To get a deal, Richardson added, the President may need to set up additional meetings with Kim every three to four months. On Sunday, Pompeo hinted that Trump might be willing to extend his stay in Hanoi if needed. Im confident that if it requires even more time, well commit to that, he said on Fox News Sunday. The summit, currently scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, now includes a one-on-one session between the two leaders, a working lunch, and expanded meetings with their teams. In the end, Klingner said, the principle determinant will be how far the President moves away from previous firm stances in his eagerness for an agreement. At this point, the U.S. position is in greater flux than that of North Korea. | https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/will-trump-give-away-too-much-to-north-korea-and-get-too-little |
Is 5G Being Weaponized? | If you think the last patent war over smartphones was bad, just wait until 5G starts being deployed throughout the global economy, warns Joseph Siino, president of patent pool operator Via Licensing. It could be even more costly and wasteful than the last one." But it doesnt have to go that way, he adds. "We can stop the coming 5G patent war before it even begins and save businesses and consumers a great deal of money, litigation expense, and heartache. Siino knows what hes talking about, having worked with and advised companies on both sides of the smartphone patent war a few years ago both patent owners and product makers. In fact, I profiled him two years ago after he struck a breakthrough deal with Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi that showed how the U.S. and China could solve their trade and intellectual property (IP) disputes without recourse to trade wars. He was also the top dealmaker who crafted Yahoos $1 billion technology and IP license deal with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba back in 2005. But all that, says Siino, is small potatoes compared to the exponentially higher stakes in the new 5G wireless revolution. 5G wireless technology is going to transform every business and every industry, just as the Internet once did, explains Siino. Indeed, with wireless speeds up to 1000 times faster than today, 5G will let consumers download a high-definition movie in seconds rather than an hour or more. Whats more, 5Gs ultra-fast speed will enable businesses to unleash a cornucopia of amazing new products and services, from fully-autonomous vehicles to radical new advances in medicine, banking, industrial automation, personalized retailing, artificial intelligence, and more. Millions of new jobs will be created thanks to 5G. As the New York Times reported February 12, 5G will change the whole way societies function. While the public might think of 5G as simply a matter of faster download times, the system is designed to be far more, linking everything from the cars we drive to the hospitals we visit in a way unimaginable only a decade ago. But as Mr. Siino reminds us, one big challenge with the 5G revolution is that the businesses that make all these ultra-fast new wireless products and services are going to have to pay royalties to 5G equipment and software vendors for the right to use their patented 5G technology. And the competition among 5G rights holders for those royalty dollars is getting more ferocious by the day, as 5G starts getting deployed in a wide range of industries and applications. 5G technology players make no secret of the ambitious monetization targets they have for their patent portfolios, observed Jim Beveridge of the Innovators Network in an industry trade magazine recently. As the 5G digital data pipe becomes attached to different industry segments, so the royalty train follows it. Indeed, just figuring out who pays whom, and for precisely what piece of 5G technology, is a challenge all by itself. Although the [technological] standards may be clearly defined, the management of the royalties isnt, said Beveridge. Its a mind-boggling, complex riddle to work out who to pay what, when, and to whom, while avoiding being sued. This is particularly taxing for the [smaller business] setting out to develop new products, applications and services. As if the threat of being sued or paying exorbitant 5G licensing fees wasnt scary enough for businesses, there is also a major geopolitical threat to navigate. As The Wall Street Journal noted on February 6, The U.S. is looking to encourage new corporate competitors into the 5G race, fearful that Chinese competitors could gain an insurmountable global lead in the years to come." Adds the New York Times: American officials regard the technology as a national security issue and have moved aggressively to limit the role of Chinese companies. The combination of these competitive and geopolitical battles adds up to the ultimate worst-case scenario for businesses that make 5G-enabled products and services a patent war wrapped in a trade war! Think about it: 5G technology vendors from China, the U.S., and Europe all demanding you pay each of them varying percentages of every sale of your 5G-enabled product -- or else get sued. The U.S. or China slapping tariffs or sanctions on the components you need for your products. Your legal costs soaring through the roof. Trade bureaucrats mucking up your supply chain. Geopolitics getting in the way of what ought to be simple business transactions to get your products to market. And if youre a small business, you could really be screwed. As Jim Beveridge noted, Small [firms] dont have the corporate firepower required to manage royalty costs. The costs eat into the operational budget that could be used to develop new products and services. But there is a way for businesses to find shelter from these 5G technology storms, says Vias Joe Siino. Patent pools are a proven, private market solution to the costs and risks of patent licensing, he notes, and theyve been delivering exceptional results since the very first patent pool ended the sewing machine patent war of 1853. Simply put, its a collaborative, multi-party licensing structure bringing innovators and product makers together into a one-stop shop. Innovators get compensated for their patented technology, and manufacturers get the rights they need to use that technology in their products -- all in a fair and transparent manner. As examples, Mr. Siino cites the data compression protocols for transmitting high-density digital audio content that make up Vias Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) patent pool. He also points to the 3G and 4G wireless patents that make up Vias Multigenerational (MG) patent pool composed of technology vendors, service providers, and makers of mobile devices. One major benefit of patent pools is that they enable manufacturers to overcome product roadblocks and get the rights to use the patented technology they need at a much lower cost. In a landmark 2017 study, Robert Merges, professor of law and co-director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology at the University of California at Berkeley, and Michael Mattioli, associate professor of law at Indiana Universitys Maurer School of Law, researched the economics of Vias AAC audio patent pool. They determined that the 800-plus product maker licensees in that pool saved over $600 million in costs compared to what they would have spent had they licensed all the separate audio patent rights bilaterally from their individual owners. That $600 million goes right to those businesses bottom lines plus they get to avoid all the high-risk litigation expense that often accompanies adversarial bilateral patent licensing. The global nature of patent pools is another plus, especially given todays worsening trade frictions. They enable Chinese, European, and U.S. companies to license in or license out the rights to critical patented technology via a structure that does not belong to any one nation or another. In fact, Vias 4G LTE wireless pool includes Chinese licensors Lenovo and China Mobile, along with U.S. technology leaders Google, Verizon, and AT&T. Vias LTE pool also includes Siemens of Germany, Telefonica of Spain, Telecom Italia of Italy, the Taiwanese manufacturers Mediatek and Innovative Sonic, SK Telecom of Korea, and the Japanese technology leaders NTT DOCOMO and KDDI. As for Vias AAC audio patent pool, that one includes more than 900 manufacturing licensees from every continent except Antarctica. A third benefit of patent pools is much greater transparency compared to traditional patent licensing. In traditional bilateral licensing," says Siino, prices are almost never published. You rarely know what someone else paid for the patent rights you seek or even who the licensees are. Youre going into every negotiation essentially blind. And its a tremendous incentive for brinksmanship and litigation. But patent pools, on the other hand -- including those operated by Via, Avanci, and SISVEL -- openly publish their royalty rates. Vias terms are fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory for all licensees, says Siino. Licensees greatly appreciate the more transparent approach. But while patent pools generally offer a fairer and more transparent structure, there are differences between them. Some observers believe that the patent pools operated by Avanci may be more deferential to the interests of large patent owners. Others, like Vias pools, appear to be more balanced in representing the interests of both patent owner licensors and product maker licensees. Only Vias pools, for example, offer discounted rates for low-volume manufacturers a particular benefit to smaller businesses that enables them to grow with the program and pay more in royalties only as their sales expand. Another advantage of patent pools, especially Via's, is that licensees can be certain that the patents in the pool are truly essential not simply because the patent owners claim they are, but because the pool works with independent neutral evaluators to vet the patents and attest to their essentiality. As Ira Blumberg, vice president of litigation and intellectual property at smartphone maker Lenovo, wrote last year in Chief Executive magazine: Few if any other patent owners offer such demonstrable assurance of patent quality, which is vitally important to product makers who dont want to end up paying for the intellectual property equivalent of fools gold. Patent pools can offer businesses immunity from the technology and trade battles now brewing over 5G around the globe. This is the fundamental reason why the European Commission is actively exploring the use of patent pools, and has established an Expert Group to study the concept in detail and make recommendations for the implementation of a patent pool structure for licensing 5G and Internet of Things (IoT) rights. As the EU commission stated: [Patent pools] can address many of the [standard essential patent] licensing challenges by offering better scrutiny on essentiality, more clarity on aggregate licensing fees, and one-stop shop solutions. For IoT industries, and particularly [small and medium-sized enterprises], pools for key standardized technologies should be encouraged. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/marshallphelps/2019/02/25/is-5g-being-weaponized/ |
Is YouTube Right to Demonetize Anti-Vax Channels? | After pressure from advertisers and advocacy groups, YouTube has finally pulled all advertisements from videos that discourage parents from vaccinating their children and stopped them from appearing as recommended videos. Citing the videos as in violation of YouTubes guidelines that prohibit dangerous and harmful content, YouTubes demonetization of these channels aims to quell criticisms that the site along with other social media companies like Facebook and Pinterest spread misinformation and conspiracy videos. Nonetheless, its recent move again moves YouTube from a platform to a publisher, and, this time, on shaky grounds. While, vaccine hesitancy does pose public health risks, seeking to hide misinformed videos rather than engaging them in a debate doesnt help the issue. Vaccine hesitancy, in which people either delay or refuse vaccines despite their availability, has been listed as one of the World Health Organization's top ten threats to global health. Failure to vaccinate has caused many of the most widespread outbreaks of disease in the United States such as whooping cough in California and measles in Texas. Opponents to vaccinations are very well organized, being able to pressure local legislators to make vaccines non-compulsory and social media has augmented their presence. An article by the Guardian states that users of Facebook or YouTube curious about vaccination encounter search pages dominated by anti-vax videos and content. The issue even prompted a letter to Google and Facebook from California representative Adam Schiff asking that the companies take measures to address vaccine misinformation. Despite what Schiff and others may suggest, anti-vaxxers are far from being unchallenged online. There are a number of videos that seek to counteract misinformation about the risk and likelihood of danger associated with vaccines. Just a few days before YouTubes demonetization of anti-vax videos, the YouTube channel Jubilee uploaded a video debate between proponents and opponents of vaccines as part of its Middle Ground debate series. This led to a number of response videos with millions of views by medical professionals, explaining where exactly anti-vaxxers were going wrong. Although vaccination hesitancy is a danger it doesnt appear that access to social media is augmenting it, in fact, by engaging with anti-vax misinformation, social media may be the key to change the minds of vaccine opponents. YouTubes demonetization of anti-vax videos doesn't help people get the correct information about vaccination, it drives the camp underground and further alienates them. Opponents of vaccines already feel isolated in their schools, families, and society. This isolation is what has caused them to band together, sharing misinformation between them and building the structures to organize politically. Demonetizing videos is likely to only affirm anti-vaxxer beliefs of being persecuted, making them more difficult to reach. The lack of a clear danger and flawed plan of action in addressing it poses additional problems for YouTube as it is another example in how it is moving from a social media platform to a social media publisher. This new demonetization has been driven by advertisers. YouTubes bigger scandals, such as the sites secret pedophile ring posting coded messages on videos featuring children, have made advertisers skittish. Major companies like Disney, Epic Games, and AT&T have removed all marketing from YouTube. In this climate, Buzzfeeds reveal that advertisements were playing in videos that falsely contributed autism to vaccines, quickly led to advertisers taking issue with YouTube once more. YouTubes demonetization response, while it assuaged advertiser concerns, was an overreach of platform responsibilities and was in line with the curation aspect of media publishers. This may have ripple effects for the companys legal arguments and image as a place where anyone can make their voice heard. YouTubes policy on videos that are anti-vaccine isnt all bad. Importantly, the site has introduced an information panel for these videos which correctly describes vaccines being discussed and links to Wikipedia pages on these vaccines and vaccine hesitancy for more information. This approach is good policy and serves to inform and engage rather than alienate. Failure to vaccinate can jeopardize public health, and there has been a social media effort to encourage vaccinations and combat vaccine myths. Yet, YouTubes demonetization of anti-vax channels hinders these efforts by censoring anti-vaccine videos, driving anti-vaxxers further underground. As an anti-vaccine advocate, Melissa, stated in Jubilees video debate, I wish there was just more compassion. We just want to be acknowledged. We should seek to acknowledge, engage, and inform anti-vaxxers, even if it doesnt mean we agree with them. Thats how YouTube can remain an ethical platform. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/masonsands/2019/02/25/is-youtube-right-to-demonetize-anti-vax-channels/ |
Where did LSU land in the polls after falling to Florida, but beating Tennessee? | The LSU Tigers stayed put at No. 13 in the latest Associated Press Top-25 poll. The USA Today Coaches poll has yet to be released. LSUs ranking came after falling to unranked Florida, but rebounding with an overtime win over No. 5 Tennessee. The Tigers have now been ranked in the AP poll for nine weeks this season, starting off in the rankings at the beginning of the year and then coming back into the polls after their hot start in league play. The nine weeks in the rankings are the most for the program since the 2006-07 team was ranked for 12 weeks. LSU (22-5, SEC 12-2) was No. 13 in the AP Top 25 and No. 15 in the coaches poll last week. LSU is one of three ranked SEC teams in the AP Top 25 as Kentucky stayed at No. 4 and Tennessee fell to No. 7. Mississippi State and Auburn both received votes. LSU, Kentucky and Tennessee are all tied for first in the SEC with four games to go. The Tigers host Texas A&M on Tuesday and play at Alabama on Saturday. | https://www.nola.com/lsu/2019/02/where-did-lsu-land-in-the-polls-after-falling-to-florida-but-beating-tennessee.html |
Should the Oscars Survive? | There are two things to bear in mind when approaching the Academy Awards. The first is that the Oscar for Best Director, in 1974, went not to Ingmar Bergman, for Cries and Whispers, but to George Roy Hill, for The Sting. So much for justice. If you want to see worthy winners, go to a racetrack. The second thing is this Waynes World clip. The tears of Mike Myers are especially flowing and fine. The Oscars have always been a crying game, and the rules are perfectly clear: whether or not you spout during your onscreen performance, make sure that you have plenty of salt water on tap for any subsequent prize. Last night, the weeping began with Regina King and continued right through to Olivia Colman, two exemplary actresses who, however brisk and articulate they were in their respective films, saw that it was their duty to be rendered inarticulate by the amazingness of the honor being bestowed. Choking up is non-negotiable; anything less will be deemed insulting by the Academy and filed away as unforgivable. For bonus points, add a stream-of-consciousness yammer or an invocation to your chosen deity. Better still, recruit others into the fold. Colman gazed at her husband in the audience and announced, Hes going to cry. This was not a prediction. It was a royal command. The host-free evening began with three wise hosts. To wit, Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph, and Amy Poehler. In a charming ruse, Rudolph had come dressed as her own bedrooma cunning fallback, in case the temptation to snooze, during the latter stages of the ceremony, proved too much. Mind you, the need to cram the program with a steady supply of random presenters did, of necessity, provide some excellent combos. As a mashup, for instance, the pairing of Helen Mirren and Jason Momoa just works, and I hope they will be very happy together. The most inventive blends of styles, on the paddock outside the auditorium, were offered not by couples but by bold individuals who had decided to mash with themselves. To wear a jacket and shorts to the ceremony takes nerve, but to wear them in a camouflage fabric, as Pharrell Williams chose to do, is to enter a whole new realm of readiness. Whatever troubles might come his way, he would fight them on the beaches. Meanwhile, the baby-pink back bow sported by KiKi Layne, though humongous, was only the second-largest knot of the night. The winner was worn by Daniel Craig: a bow tie so huge, and so comical, that I kept expecting it to spin around and whack the actor on the chin. Either he had stopped off at the early nineteen-seventies on his way to the show or he was giving us a sneak preview of his next Bond picture, in which, with Qs help, 007 turns into a human helicopter. Such outfits were mere niceties, however, beside the magnificence of Billy Porter, who rolled up as a world unto himself. Above the waist, from the equator to the North Pole, he observed the dress code of a gentleman, with a regulation tux, tie, and shirt of snowy white. His southern hemisphere was another matter: a spreading black gown, which would have struck jealous green sparks in the eyes of Scarlett OHara. As Porter explained to Vogue, my goal is to be a walking piece of political art every time I show up. I tell myself that every day. The entire evening, indeed, could be parsed as a piece of political art. The stage was an agora of diversity from first to last, and I would wager that more Spanish was uttered, in brotherly affection, than on any previous Oscars night. (I liked the mildly chastening moment at which Alfonso Cuarn, on one of his various visits to the winners microphone, confessed that he had grown up enraptured by foreign-language films: Citizen Kane, Jaws, and so on.) Also, nobody was in charge of proceedings, and, while the telecast never crumbled into the anarchic free-for-all that I had prayed for, there was a definite hint of loosening; the formalities were lightly bent and occasionally disobeyed. Colman, instructed to wrap up her address to the nation, stuck out her tongue and blew, and Spike Lee, fted for the screenplay of BlacKkKlansman, leapt into the welcoming arms of Samuel L. Jackson and clung there, sneakered feet off the ground. Its not often, outside a school playground, that you see someone jump for joy. Yet mirth and rage are never far apart in Lees demeanor, as in his films, and the garland for Green Book, at the climax, launched him out of his seat in indignation. During the ensuing speeches, he reportedly turned his back, though the TV cameras had other matters to attend to. These, remember, are the Academy Awards; a little protest is permitted, but no more. The usual tossed salad, I would say, comprising the dumb, the deserving, the downright bewildering, and the meh. Few would begrudge the industrious Rami Malek, who, like many victors over the decades, gave a performance that was all the stronger for sticking out from a feeble film, like a fountain above a muddy pond. And, if he delivered a thank-you speech that felt longer than Bohemian Rhapsody itself (the movie, not just the song), well, that was his privilege. As for the less successful contenders, I join my colleague Richard Brody in wishing that Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant had won for Can You Ever Forgive Me? Instead, both went home with empty hands. So did Rachel Weisz, despite covering the upper slopes of her gown with a cropped T-shirt in wipe-clean scarlet latex, presumably to catch any tears of triumphant joy. Spare a kind thought, too, for Glenn Closeseven times unlucky, even though she took the tactical precaution, on this occasion, of donning an all-gold robe, thus cladding herself as the very treasure she sought. As Queen so starkly reminded us, in their opening set, No time for losers, cause we are the champions. Ouch. Then there is Lady Gaga. Like pretty much everyone else, she was tongue-tied and haltingHollywood shorthand for sincerewhen required to talk, sans script, to an audience. Sit Gaga down at a piano, however, and the atmosphere instantly changes; when she surged through Shallow last night, there was a sense of ineffable relief that we were finally being taken in hand by a total pro. She breathed in deep and let fly, thirty million dollars worth of shiny yellow rock bumping softly against her collarbones. Bradley Cooper came around to the keyboard, and they snuggled up together to croon the closing phrase in perfect harmony; the cameras, entranced, homed in so close that we seemed to hover on the brink of a double endoscopy. Whether this was an act, a last-ditch plug for A Star Is Born, or a genuine melting of twin souls, lasting as long as twenty seconds, Heaven knows. What matters is that the Academy Awards, however briefly, took fire. This is a drastic suggestion, I admit, but its unavoidable in the wake of last night, and, in particular, of something that failed to occur. On February 21st, Stanley Donen died, at the age of ninety-four. This means that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had three whole days to add his name, his likeness, and perhapswhy not go wild?a tiny excerpt from one of his films to the in-memoriam section of the broadcast. Ask Steven Spielberg to swing by on Saturday and do a quick cut-and-paste job, and you wouldnt notice the joins. But no. Oscars night remained a Donen-less zone, and that alone, in my book, demonstrates that the A.M.P.A.S. is not fit for purpose. Forget the target audience, the ratings wobble, the market research: do your duty. Donen was one of the gods, and, if you dont give thanks when you ought to, you shouldnt be running the temple. On the other hand, the noise of battle is fading. The stage from yesterday must be bare by now, and any flakes of gilt, chipped from fallen Oscars, will have been swept away. Billy Porter should be at least halfway through the complex business of strategically withdrawing from his frock. Private citizens everywhere, therefore, can stop their grousing, forget the folderol, truffle through their old DVDs (or, any rate, go on YouTube), and remind themselves of what Donen, in his heyday, brought to birth. Singin' in the Rain, Gene Kelly, 1952. Photograph from Everett First, Alter Ego, a single sequence from Charles Vidors Cover Girl (1944), in which Gene Kellys second self hops out of a store window and kicks off a spectral pas de deux. (Donen and Kelly directed it together; if you can work out who did what, in that tense and glorious partnership, good for you.) The alfresco liberty of On the Town (1949), whose opening minutes tugged the musical away from the studio set and onto the streets of New York, where life was less controllable and where the air, though dirtier, was somewhat easier to breathe. Baby You Knock Me Out, a combative highlight of Its Always Fair Weather (1955), with Cyd Charisse all in green, as slender as a sapling, holding her own amid a clubful of boxers built like oaks. Funny Face (1957), dreamy and complete. Oh, and something called Singin in the Rain. If you dont get that, you are not and never will be alive to the exultation of cinema. In truth, you may not be alive at all. As historians of the medium can confirm, Singin in the Rain was up for precisely two Oscars at the Academy Awards of 1953. Jean Hagen, who played Lina Lamont, with a voice that could crack an ice rink, was nominated for Best Supporting Actress, and Lennie Hayton was nominated for Best Original Score. They both lost. | https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/should-the-oscars-survive |
What happens if Mueller finds Trump fingerprints in Russia conspiracy? | (Reuters) - Special Counsel Robert Mueller is preparing to submit to U.S. Attorney General William Barr a report detailing his findings in the investigation into Russias role in the 2016 presidential election and any links to the Trump campaign. FILE PHOTO: Robert Mueller, as FBI director, testifies before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington. Sept. 16, 2009. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo Mueller has been looking since May 2017 into whether U.S. President Donald Trumps campaign conspired with Russia and whether Trump unlawfully sought to obstruct the probe. Mueller already has indicted or secured guilty pleas from 34 people, including six associates of Trump, as well as three Russian entities. Here is a look at possible scenarios following the completion of Muellers report. REPORT FINDS TRUMP INVOLVED IN RUSSIA CONSPIRACY Among those who already have pleaded guilty or have been convicted are: former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort; former Trump personal lawyer Michael Cohen; former national security advisor Michael Flynn; and former Trump campaign aides Richard Gates and George Papadopoulos. Others indicted include Trump adviser Roger Stone and Russian intelligence officers. But the central question is whether Mueller will find that Trump himself played a role in a conspiracy with Moscow to boost his chances of winning the election or committed obstruction of justice to try to impede the Russia probe. Trump has denied collusion and obstruction. If Muellers report reveals a willingness by Trump to collude with Russia or contains evidence of direct coordination involving the Republican president, such findings could be the starting gun for the Democratic-led House of Representatives to launch the impeachment process set out in the U.S. Constitution to remove a president from office. Current Justice Department policy opposes bringing criminal charges against a sitting president. Stones indictment points to instances in which people connected to the campaign communicated with him about Wikileaks, the website that released emails that U.S. officials have said Russians stole from Democrats to harm Trumps Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. For example, after a July 2016 release of emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee a senior Trump campaign official was directed to contact STONE about any additional releases by Wikileaks, the indictment stated. The sentences wording left open the possibility that Trump himself directed the campaign official. Sam Nunberg, a former Trump aide and Republican political consultant, said any evidence that Trump was willing to work with Moscow, even without proof that he actually did that, might be enough for Democrats to draw up articles of impeachment. Thats impeachable for the Democrats, Nunberg said. The U.S. Constitution sets specific grounds for impeachment: treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors. If the House approves any articles of impeachment, the Senate then would hold a trial to determine whether to remove the president from office. The Senate is controlled by Trumps fellow Republicans. Only two presidents have been impeached in American history, and neither was removed. There is also the issue of obstruction. Legal experts have pointed to Trumps firing of former FBI director James Comey while he was leading the Russia probe, Comeys allegation that Trump asked him to end the investigation of Flynn, and the presidents dangling a possible pardon to Manafort among other acts that may amount to obstruction of justice. Barr, months before Trump named him as attorney general, last year wrote an unsolicited memo to the Justice Department arguing Mueller should not be permitted to investigate obstruction by the president. NOBODY IN TRUMP CAMPAIGN IMPLICATED IN RUSSIA CONSPIRACY Muellers cases against Manafort and Stone have come the closest to showing coordination between Trumps campaign and Russia. Manafort shared election polling data with his Russian associate Konstantin Kilimnik, who prosecutors have said is tied to Russian intelligence. Manafort attended a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower in New York with other campaign officials with a Russian lawyer who promised dirt on Clinton. Mueller also found that Stone communicated with Wikileaks and the Russian hacker dubbed Guccifer 2.0. But Muellers evidence made public to date falls short of demonstrating Trump and his campaign colluded with Russia. Collusion is a non-legal term often used to describe acts that in a criminal context in this investigation likely would translate to a charge of conspiracy against the United States. If Muellers report goes no further, it could set back any Democratic effort to impeach Trump. But House Democrats could proceed with their own investigations that could cause Trump ongoing political damage heading into his 2020 re-election bid. If nothing more comes out than what is public then I think Trump could claim victory, said Nelson Cunningham, a former federal prosecutor in New York and White House lawyer under Democratic President Bill Clinton. REPORT IMPLICATES OTHERS IN CONSPIRACY BUT NOT TRUMP Transcripts of closed court hearings this month indicated Mueller considers Manaforts alleged lies about his interactions with Kilimnik to be at the heart of the probe into possible collusion between Trumps campaign and Russia. But that disclosure suggested Mueller was still trying to determine whether collusion occurred. In addition to sharing polling data, court filings show, Manafort and Kilimnik discussed a Ukrainian peace plan, a reference to Kremlin-friendly proposals to resolve the Ukraine conflict and end U.S. sanctions on Russia. It is possible Muellers report will show that Manafort or others in Trumps orbit conspired with Russians but there was no credible evidence Trump himself was involved or aware. While politically damaging to Trump, such a finding may not be enough to trigger an impeachment effort, though it could fuel House committee investigations. Its not enough to show the Russians used their people, said Robert Ray, who served as the second independent counsel in the 1990s Whitewater probe involving the Clintons business dealings, adding there would need to be proof that Trumps people actively colluded to the point that it violated the law. I dont think it occurred, Ray said. | https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-scenarios/what-happens-if-mueller-finds-trump-fingerprints-in-russia-conspiracy-idUSKCN1QE2GL?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FtopNews+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Top+News%29 |
What Is Causing The Urban Housing Crunch? | originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. Answer by Andrew Collins, CEO and Co-founder at Bungalow, on Quora: The Urban House Crunch is incredibly complicated, but the primary problem is that Americans are moving to cities in huge numbers yet urban markets simply dont have enough affordable housing stock. Zoning laws that prohibit density in urban centers and Nimbyism a whole smorgasbord of factors adds up to the simple fact that we just dont have enough places for people to live in cities affordably. A city like Vancouver is an extreme example, where overseas investors have snapped up so much of the housing stock and housing prices have risen by 60 percent over the past three years (while income is the lowest of any tech hub). Its become unsustainable. New York and San Francisco arent far behind. But I do see reason for optimism. Cities are aware of the problem and are looking for creative solutions. Microsoft just donated $500 million to help create affordable housing in Seattle. Bungalow is trying to make a dent by bringing more rentals to the market, right now. I think its going to take conscious collaboration between the private and public sectors, and Im encouraged that theres change in the air. 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/2019/02/25/what-is-causing-the-urban-housing-crunch/ |
What Will Drive Union Pacific's Growth In 2019? | Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE: UNP) saw high single-digit revenue growth, while its EBITDA was up in mid-single-digits for the full year 2018. This can be attributed to strong trends in the companys premium segment, which includes intermodal and automotive freight. The Intermodal business saw strong growth last year, due to capacity constraints in the trucking industry. Looking forward, we expect the overall revenue growth to be relatively slower in 2019. Intermodal should continue to lead the growth for Union Pacific. You can adjust various drivers to see the impact on the companys overall earnings, and price estimate. Below we discuss our forecast in detail. In addition, here is more Industrials data. Expect Revenues To Grow In Low-To-Mid-Single-Digits In 2019 Union Pacific generates its revenues from the freight of agriculture, industrial, energy, and premium products. Agriculture freight was up 4% in 2018, primarily led by higher average revenue per carload, while its volume was actually down in low single-digits. The growth in average revenue per carload was visible across segments, primarily due to higher fuel surcharge revenues. The crude oil prices were trending higher till the third quarter of last year, and railroad companies benefited from the same. The Agriculture products volume decline can primarily be attributed to lower grain shipments, primarily wheat and soybean export. Looking forward, the agriculture volume is expected to remain soft, given the foreign tariffs. Overall, segment revenues could see modest growth, led by better pricing. However, the movement in crude oil prices will be an important factor to watch out for. Energy freight revenues grew in low single-digits last year, led by a modest decline in volume, and growth in average revenue per energy carload. The energy segment includes freight from coal, sand and petroleum, liquid petroleum gases, and renewables. Coal revenues declined in mid-single-digits in the last quarter, due to a contract loss, and the company expects these headwinds to continue in 2019 as well. Note that coal accounts for over 70% of the segment freight revenues. As such, we forecast only a low single-digit growth in segment revenues, driven by higher petroleum products shipments, given the increased drilling activity in the U.S. The overall U.S. output is expected to expand by over 1 million barrels in 2019. Industrial freight revenue was up in high single-digits in 2018, led by gains in both volume, and average revenue per carload. This can be attributed to higher industrial production, which was up 4% (y-o-y) in December 2018. This led to higher shipments of metals, construction products, plastics, and industrial chemicals. This trend will likely continue in 2019, and drive the segment revenues higher. The company should see higher shipments of metals and construction related commodities, given that the U.S. construction sector is forecast to grow in mid-single-digits over the next three years, according to a research report. This growth will be led by both residential and non-residential construction. Also, there is an increase in plastic production in the U.S., which has aided the Industrial shipments for Union Pacific in the previous quarter, and this trend could continue in the near term. Looking at the premium segment, most of the railroad companies benefited from tight trucking capacity in 2018, and Union Pacific saw revenue growth in the low teens, led by strong volume and pricing gains. The trends in the trucking industry are favorable for railroad companies, as manufacturers look for alternative means of transport. Any significant growth in trucking capacity in 2019 is unlikely, given that there is a shortage of drivers. As such, railroad companies should continue to see steady growth in intermodal revenues. The company last year launched Unified Plan 2020 aimed at better efficiency. This plan should help improve margins and create more reliability for customers, and aid the companys overall earnings growth in the coming years. We expect the companys EBITDA margins to improve by 100 basis points in 2019, resulting in mid-single-digit growth in EBITDA to $11.40 billion. We forecast the companys earnings to be $9.05 per share in 2019, reflecting a low teens growth over the prior year. Our price estimate of $159 for Union Pacific is based of a 18x forward price to earnings multiple. Explore example interactive dashboards and create your own. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2019/02/25/what-will-drive-union-pacifics-growth-in-2019/ |
Are We Sure Apple Is 'Behind The Mac' After Last Week's News? | As Apple's neglect toward the Mac became apparent, the company launched an ad campaign to reaffirm its commitment to laptops and desktops in 2018. "Behind the Mac" echoes the great Chiat/Day "Think Different" campaign of the 1990s, but last week's news challenges the sincerity of Apple's latest slogan. "Think Different" marked the resurrection of Steve Jobs. After his banishment in 1985, Jobs returned to save the company he once co-founded. He earned a Christlike reputation in popular culture when he took control of Apple as CEO in 1997. He soon bestowed a sacred MP3 player unto us all and offered salvation to a collapsing music industry. While "Think Different" celebrated the rebirth of a brand and its leader, "Behind the Mac" is almost defensive in tone. For the "Make Something Wonderful" ad from the "Behind the Mac" campaign, Apple dragged out the ol' black-and-white to hammer home the double meaning of its new slogan. While it can give you the feels, it's in that same icky way an overpackaged ABC sitcom manipulates your emotions. It may not have the eloquent narration of its predecessor, but both ads end on a small child, representing the limitless potential of the human spirit. The campaign's more like an exploitation of "Think Different" than an homage, but the superficial aesthetic similarities must have worked because "Behind the Mac" is now a global campaign. It's important to consider the subtle shift Apples brand underwent in the last decade when assessing the quality of its advertising. It started with the success of the iPhone. While there will always be a creative dimension to Apple's brand, the company hasn't been as innovative in recent years. Tim Cook is a reliable CEO, but the most impressive product released under his leadership is a pair of wireless earbuds. Lets be honest, the Apple Watch is a glorified fitness tracker that can cost upwards of fifteen-hundred dollars. Under Cook's tenure, Apple has become a luxury brand. Thats why "Behind the Mac" doesn't have the same resonance as "Think Different." The campaign references an era when Apple inspired people by example. Apples fanatical base lost spiritual ownership of the brand when the iPhone brought in new customers and Steve Jobs passed away. It started as early as 2011, just months before Jobs death, when Apple scrapped the film industry favorite, Final Cut Pro 7, for a totally rewritten Final Cut Pro X that felt like a beefed up version of iMovie for consumers. This precedent, from eight years ago, would make anyone suspicious of Bloombergs report last week. Without getting too technical, there's software that's written for the iPhone and iPad, and there is software written for the Mac. Through a multistep plan called Marzipan, Apple wants to move toward a "single binary" an app that runs on both desktop and mobile by 2021. The macOS and iOS operating systems will remain separate, but developers will be able to write code that runs on Apple's mobile and desktop platforms. This sounds like a logical evolution, especially if you consider all the different operating systems Apple has nowadays. Not only is there tvOS for the Apple TV and WatchOS for the Apple Watch, one must assume HomePod has its own weird thing going on in the shadow of Alexa. Simplifying app development isnt just practical from a technical perspective; there are business reasons why Apple wants to make this change happen. Smartphone sales are leveling off, so the company needs to focus on software and services for future growth. Also, there are more iOS developers than macOS developers, which means the initiative could spur growth for the Mac. So yeah, Marzipan could help the Macintosh, but if you think back to the Final Cut Pro debacle, its hard to imagine Apple stepping in to preserve Mac applications as we know them today. The platform trends toward the consumer end of the market. Even as iOS apps become more sophisticated, they offer limited functionality relative to desktop applications. The iPad Pro, for instance, has been criticized for lacking software for pros. As the lightweight tap tap swipe user-experience of the iPhone makes its way onto the Mac (which has already begun), the economic viability of software built for professionals exclusively on the platform starts to waver. Even if developers continue to release applications exclusively for the Mac, it's hard to imagine that the software will remain as competitive as it is today. For example, the Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, After Effects, etc.) is essential for many digital professions. While its hard to picture Adobe retiring the Creative Suite altogether, the larger ecosystem of apps that target digital professionals will likely dwindle. As that competition decreases, Adobe wont be forced to innovate in the way it has in recent years. "Behind the Mac" suggests Apple wants to protect its personal computers from market forces, but the swift timeline of last week's news jeopardizes the likelihood of this. Aside from an ad campaign, it's unclear if Apple really cares if its users create in the future, or if it's content with just letting them consume. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/theodorecasey/2019/02/25/are-we-sure-apple-is-behind-the-mac-after-last-weeks-news/ |
What's The Downside To Yelp's Valuation If Its Active Local Account Base Doesn't Bounce Back? | Yelps business has two primary components the demand side, which the company has been trying to spruce up with the partnership with GrubHub, and the supply side, which has been volatile due to a change in the companys selling policies. We expect the dependence of Yelps business on paying accounts to largely dictate the stock price over the coming years. Our interactive dashboard on Yelps Price Estimate outlines our forecasts and estimates for the company. You can modify any of the key drivers to visualize the impact of changes on its valuation, and see all of our Technology company data here. Overview Of Recent Results, Key Forecasts Yelps stock has been on a roller coaster ride ever since the company decided to transition local advertising to selling non-term contracts. While the first quarter after the change exceeded account additions versus expectations, Q3 was marred by lead generation issues, leading to a major fall in the stock price. While Q4 came in above consensus expectations, paying advertiser growth declined sequentially. Managements guidance reflects an expected ramp in revenue growth: 4-6% for Q1, 8-10% for 2019 and mid-teens for the next 5 years, acknowledging the short-term pain arising from the adjustment of its selling process. However, we also note that issues in Q3 were more from hindrances in the companys internal systems, and across all the quarters, user transactions (measured by reviews and app unique devices) have continued to grow. Our dashboard presents three scenarios on the paying advertiser growth: 1) A bull case wherein the growth rebounds; 2) A base case where growth remains flat; and 3) A bear case where paying advertiser growth becomes negative. Our bull case results in a fundamental price estimate of $44, an upside of nearly 10% to our base case price estimate. Meanwhile, the bear case value of $28 implies a downside of around 30% to the base case. Embed them in your own posts using the Trefis WordPress Plugin. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2019/02/25/whats-the-downside-to-yelps-valuation-if-its-active-local-account-base-doesnt-bounce-back/ |
Who Killed Jean McConville? | In 1972, the I.R.A. abducted and disappeared Jean McConville, a mother of ten children, most of whom were teen-age or younger. Her case became one of the most notorious unsolved murders of a long period of unrest in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles. Patrick Radden Keefe wrote about McConville for The New Yorker in 2015. On the one hand, its a story about a terrible murder that happened in 1972, Keefe tells David Remnick. On the other hand, its about how that history, far from being remote . . . was incredibly politically explosive. While researching a book about the murder, Keefe stumbled across an overlooked clue. Now, Keefe tells Remnick, hes pretty sure he knows who murdered McConville. Keefes book Say Nothing is available on February 26th. | https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/political-scene/who-killed-jean-mcconville |
Is The World's Largest Animal Too Reliant On The Past? | Whether mapping a supply of fish flesh or fresh foliage, the principle of these patterns is the same: As waves of food sweep the world, waves of animals track them. At least, thats what happens on land. No one had examined this phenomenon in the oceans before, until Abrahms and her colleague Ellen Aikens came up with a plan to study blue whales. Read: Humans are destroying animals ancestral knowledge The blue whales of the North Pacific spend their winters in their breeding grounds off California and Costa Rica. Come spring, they swim up the coast of North America toward the food-rich summer waters of the Pacific Northwest. They could make the journey in two months (and they do, on the reverse trip back south). Instead, they take twice that time, pausing to gorge themselves on blooms of krill that appear along the way. Its a leisurely season-long tour of a continent-wide buffet line. Scientists can get a good sense of this changing buffet by measuring the concentrations of chlorophyll in different patches of ocean. This green pigment reflects the amount of plankton, which in turn is eaten by krill. The more chlorophyll there is, the more food a blue whale might find. By comparing chlorophyll counts to whale movements, Abrahms and her team expected to see that they follow the timing of their prey, as it becomes available, she says. But they were surprised to learn that the animals very rarely tracked contemporary waves of krill. Instead, their movements were strongly correlated with 10-year historical averages of chlorophyll. Put it this way: You could predict a blue whales movements with far more accuracy by looking at where their food has been than where their food currently is. In retrospect, the idea that whales would surf historical green waves makes a lot of sense, given how dynamic the ocean is, says Abrahms. Theres so much variability year-to-year that the whales can hedge their bets by going with the average timing that theyve experienced in the past. Indeed, the team also found that the whales favor areas with unusually low year-on-year variation in chlorophyll counts. Its striking that they return to the best and most consistent areas on average, rather than tracking current conditions, says Chloe Bracis from the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre. This implies that they could be using memory to return to these locations. Its a big step forward to have that kind of data for a wild marine species, adds Sabrina Fossette from Swansea University, who would love to see similar studies in other marine mammals and sea turtles. Read: The golden age of animal tracking Understanding whales migration decisions is especially important given how quickly the world is changing. Natures schedule is becoming more erratic, and once-reliable timings are fluctuating beyond their normal variations. The characteristics of the Anthropocene are very different from the past, says Abrahms. The concern is that if the whales get the timing too wrong, theyd miss their food, Abrahms says. Were starting to see a lot of that in other species, with migratory birds arriving in their breeding grounds after the best food has come and gone. | https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/02/blue-whale-migrations-depend-on-memories/583543/?utm_source=feed |
Why do NBA teams keep winning without their superstars? | CLOSE SportsPulse: Trsyta Krick takes a stand on a number of topics and scenarios dominating the headlines as we push through the back end of the NBA season. USA TODAY Nowhere in sports does star power exude more sparkle than in the NBA, which found a formula for marketing individual excellence a generation ago and has ridden it to global success. Basketballs small collection of most celebrated deities sell tickets, boost ratings, alter franchises and are rewarded with extraordinary wealth and fame. But theyre not magicians, and losing a front-line standout, to injury for a day or a week, is far less catastrophic to the balance of the win column than you might think. Maybe it is a temporary trend, but recent times have thrown up some rather remarkable outcomes. On Saturday, the Houston Rockets beat the Golden State Warriors, a noteworthy result simply because its news whenever the Warriors lose and even scarcer when it happens at home. James Harden is leading the NBA in scoring, although the Rockets managed to win at least one game without him. (Photo11: Jesse Johnson, USA TODAY Sports) It wouldnt have caused so much head shaking, except that it came without James Harden, who sat with a neck injury and flu symptoms, following his incredible run of 32 straight games of 30 points or more. With Harden, whose ongoing scoring exploits put him in the rarefied company of Wilt Chamberlain, the Rockets had surrendered three of their previous four games, despite him twice topping 40 points and averaging 36.3 points per game. Without him, they beat a team that is in the midst of a dynasty and was at full strength. Go figure. LeBron James questions Lakers sense of urgency: 'I'm not accustomed to' losing (Golden State) might have not seen Harden and gone Oh, Rockets head coach Mike DAntoni said. Sometimes you have a letdown. One of those recent Houston defeats came a couple of days earlier against the Los Angeles Lakers, who burst out of the All-Star break with a stellar performance that pointed to a playoff push. However, also on Saturday, the Lakers lost in New Orleans against a Pelicans team that was missing Anthony Davis and was supposed to be devoid of hope for the rest of the campaign. There are great philosophical divides about whether New Orleans should sit Davis for the remainder of the season after his trade request came to nothing. But everyone was in agreement with this if Davis sat, the team would get worse. Yes and no. When Davis was out amid the fuss of a possible Lakers trade, the Pelicans went 2-6. Since then, however, they seem to have figured it out, winning twice since Feb. 6 without him. In Toronto, Kawhi Leonard is given much of the credit for the Raptors outstanding season, but similarly, dont be fooled into thinking they cant play when hes gone. In the absence of Leonard, Toronto was 13-3 until an untimely defeat to the Orlando Magic on Saturday. Well, despite how much we have become conditioned to think otherwise, basketball is still a game comprised of five important players per side. Having great, transcendent, influential players matters, but it is not the only thing. Losing Harden doesnt automatically make the Rockets 30 points worse, because other players step into the breach. Having had their roles previously curtailed, many relish the chance to do so. In Indiana, Victor Oladipos season-ending January injury looked to be season-ending for the Pacers too, such was the dynamic guards influence in a run of form that earned him an All-Star selection. It looked even more like it when the Pacers dropped their next four straight. Eight wins from nine, while solidifying third spot in the Eastern Conference. Sometimes it is about matchups. The Warriors were actually not the worst opponent for Houston to be without Harden for one game, as it gave Chris Paul the freedom to move and work and torment Stephen Currys limited defense. This is not an attempt to suggest that teams should start ditching their stars and pinching pennies in the expectation that it wont make any difference. More than anything the recent results are just a timely reminder that it is a team game, and while star power is one factor in helping a team become successful, it is not the only thing. | https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2019/02/25/why-do-nba-teams-keep-wining-without-their-superstars/2982256002/ |
Could Corey Crawford's Return Spark A Blackhawks Rally For A NHL Wild Card Spot? | The Blackhawks began the season hoping a healthy Corey Crawford would help them return to the NHL playoffs following a one-year hiatus. At 34, Crawford is entered this season in the fifth year of a six-year contract that pays the veteran goalie an average of $6 million. But Crawford was trying to bounce back after missing 47 games of the 2017-18 campaign with a concussion. Without him, the Blackhawks who won three Stanley Cup titles between 2010-2015 found them outside of the playoff window for the first time in 10 years. Crawford began the season on injured reserve still feeling the effects of last years head injury. The Blackhawks stumbled out of the gates, fired the second-winningest coach in NHL history in Joel Quenneville and quickly fell out of the Western Conference playoff picture. Once Crawford was healthy enough to return this season, optimists hoped the Blackhawks could turn things around. But Crawford struggled to a 6-14-2 record in 23 starts with a .902 save percentage before he sustained another concussion on Dec. 16 against the Sharks. He hasnt played since, missing 28 games. The Blackhawks activated Crawford on Monday as Chicago currently sits five points behind the Wild for the second Western Conference wild-card spot. The Blackhawks made things interesting of late by winning 11 of 13 games to jump temporarily into the postseason picture. But back-to-back home losses over the weekend to the Avalanche and Stars dropped Chicago five points behind the Wild for the final playoff spot. It depends on who you ask. As optimistic as coach Jeremy Collison is about his team catching fire and trying to quickly make up ground, the math may just not add up. Thats not keeping Collison from keeping the hope alive despite the fact the Blackhawks dropped a pair of home games to the Avalanche and Stars over the weekend. Yeah, I think we wouldve liked the standings to look different coming out of the weekend, but its probably not as ugly as it looked a month ago, Colliton told reporters after Sundays 4-3 loss to the Stars. (We) just got to have a good road trip, get some points, theres lots of points available. Nobodys going to win every game. If we win more than our fair share, well get in. Even with being activated Monday, it is unclear if Crawford will start over Cam Ward when the Blackhawks begin a West Coast swing starting Wednesday against the Ducks in Anaheim. The Blackhawks remained quiet on Monday as the NHL trade deadline came and went, which leaves Collison to try to close ground on the rest of the wild card competition with the team he has had to work with since taking over for Quenneville. Crawford has been anxious to get back on the ice. He has participated in on-ice drills and has said repeatedly he is tired of practicing. But given Crawfords history with concussions between this season and last, the Blackhawks were in no hurry to rush Crawford back. Especially given where they stood in the standings. You want every player to avoid injury, not just Corey, all of our guys, general manager Stan Bowman said Monday. Hes certainly prepared himself well. Hes really worked at it. Hes taken his time. I know theres a lot of, I guess, concern for him not only from the media and the fans but internally to make sure hes on the right path and hes ready to play. When you talk to him, which hes excited, he wants to get back on the ice. I know hes been pushing for us to get him back there even sooner, but you got to do things the right way and follow the protocols and listen to the doctors, and thats how we got to this point. But as Blackhawks fans have waited for good news and better hockey, they havent stopped backing their beloved team. The Blackhawks lead the NHL in attendance and have drawn 760,212 (an average of 23,036) over 30 home dates. Chicago is the only team in the league to draw over 700,000 fans this season as the Canadiens rank second with 692,771 (an average of 20,993). But as the finish line approaches, the Blackhawks will play 11 of their remaining 19 games on the road, which creates an uphill fight to sneak into one of the two wild-card spots. Crawfords return should create a buzz, but at the end of the day, the question boils down to one thing. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffarnold/2019/02/25/could-corey-crawfords-return-spark-a-blackhawks-rally-for-a-nhl-wild-card-spot/ |
Is It Too Much To Ask That Work Have Meaning? | Two recent articles, one each in The Atlantic and the New York Times, get to the heart of a feeling bubbling beneath the surface of many workplaces. People find their jobs unfulfilling. What is different now is that for the past generation or so, we have been raised, educated and inculcated with the idea that work must be fulfilling and enriching. And if we dont feel that sentiment, we back off. This is a theme that Derek Thompson of The Atlantic magazine explores in his article, Workism Is Making Americans Miserable. Workism is the belief that work is not only necessary to economic production, but also the centerpiece of ones identity and lifes purpose; and the belief that any policy to promote human welfare must always encourage more work. Trouble in the form of dissatisfaction arises when work does not satisfy personal expectations. Charles Duhigg describes such malaise in New York Times Magazine article, Wealthy, Successful and Miserable. A graduate of Harvard Business School, Duhiggs attendance at his classs 15th-year reunion in 2017 caused him to question the nature of work. Comfortable, even wealthy, but dissatisfied. Duhiggs former HBS-ers are not unique; job satisfaction, according to the Conference Board, peaked in the early Eighties and while on the uptick now only 50% of employees report being satisfied. What people are looking for, as Duhigg writes, is a sense of autonomy, an ability to control what they do. But they are also looking for community. People want to work alongside others whom they respect (and, optimally, enjoy spending time with) and who seem to respect them in return. Such respect emerges when people are engaged in a collective that they find enriching. Call it purpose. When you know that what you do matters, and if you are working on a project that you think matters, then you will be supercharged about what you do. You will work longer and harder, and you will find yourself happier. Finding purpose can be an evolving process depending on where you are and what you do. And once you discover your initial purpose, it may change over time. What challenged you at 25 may not do the same at 40. If that occurs, you need to seek out work that means something to you. Work cannot ever be the be all, end all.It is the beliefthe faith, eventhat work is not lifes product, but its currency, concludes Thompson. What we choose to buy with it is the ultimate project of living. In short, work is a means to an end, not the end in itself. Decades of research, conducted by Stew Friedman at Wharton, reveals that family, friends and communityas well as an outlet for self-expressionhold varying degrees of importance for employees. For some, providing for the family is enough of a motivator. For others, work defines them and their outlook on life. For still others, work is enriching but so too are family and community. Professor Friedmans work focuses on how individuals can create an optimal work-life equilibrium. The equilibrium may change over time, so you make adjustments to fit your circumstances. Discovering what you want to do and how you like to do itand with whomprovides direction. Fulfilling that purpose at work and in life delivers meaning, and ultimately even happiness. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnbaldoni/2019/02/25/is-it-too-much-to-ask-that-work-have-meaning/ |
How Long Do We Hold People Accountable For Decades-Old Yearbook Photos? | Its happened again. A yearbook photo from decades ago is unearthed. A lifetime of good deeds is deemed irrelevant. Context is ignored. A person is declared no better than his worst decision regardless of his youth, the time passed or the social norms of the time when the yearbook was taken. Judgment is rendered not by any accountable authority or person but by an unaccountable, amorphous group of the offended. The persons reputation is destroyed. This time, the rage is directed against a trustee of Gettysburg College who was forced to resign when a 38-year-old college yearbook photo emerged showing him wearing a Nazi costume at Hogans Heroes-themed party. I remember Hogans Heroes. I used to watch it with my father when I was a kid. He thought it was hilarious. My father was a Jew born in Germany as the Nazis were rising to power. His parents had to flee suddenly and left him with Christian neighbors who had to change his name to protect him. Eventually, nuns smuggled him to Rome and he was then reunited with his parents in Tel Aviv. He joined the Israeli underground, the Hagenah, as a teenager, and he fought in the Israeli Defense Forces during the Israeli War of Independence in 1948. Im pretty sure he wasnt soft on Nazis. Because the show portrayed Nazis as a bunch of idiots, of course. As the famous Jewish comedian Mel Brooks once said, the best revenge on the Nazis is to make them look ridiculous. Some might object that a few of the characters were portrayed as likable idiots. Well, given that we mercilessly carpet-bombed the civilians of the German city of Dresden, not to mention that we dropped two atomic bombs on Japanese civilians, perhaps it isnt so bad to be reminded that even our worst enemies are still human beings. Noit could too easily lead to misinterpretation, as it has in fact done. He made a mistake. But he was a sophomore in college. Since then he has gone on to live a philanthropic life, donating over a million dollars to Gettysburg College. It isnt just that there we are drudging up decades-old yearbook photos, ignoring context, and judging people by a single, noncriminal, nonviolent, not malevolently-intended decision. We have adopted an incredibly punitive mind-set. The trustee offered a very sincere apology for his 38-year-old offense: "It recently came to my attention that there is a photograph in the 1980 yearbook taken during my sophomore year, in which I am dressed as a German soldier in a POW camp setting as part of a World War II-Stalag 13 (Hogans Heroes TV show)-themed floor at a fraternity party. I understand how disturbing this image is to members of the Gettysburg College community, and especially those who are Jewish. As a sophomore in 1980, I was not fully aware of the significance of those symbols. While this is no excuse, I am deeply embarrassed and regret participating in this event where Nazi symbols were used. As an alumnus, it has been one of my great pleasures to be instrumental in the founding of the Garthwait Leadership Center, which focuses on the values of integrity, respect and inclusiveness. My sincere hope is that our current students will learn from my poor judgment 38 years ago and be more thoughtful than I was about the impact of their actions on others. I extend my sincere apologies to the entire Gettysburg College community, and I humbly ask for your forgiveness." Well see what the unforgiving judgment of a few decades hence says about that. All this echoes the political firestorm in Virginia when it was discovered that both the governor and attorney general wore blackface in the 1980s, and calls for their resignation quickly followed. The Governors situation is complicated by his changing stories and various acts of poor judgment, but the attorney general got out ahead of the story by proactively revealing that as a college student in 1980, he dressed up as a rapper with a wig and blackface. A frequent comment has been that by 1980 everyone knew that blackface was morally wrong and unacceptable. It would be wonderful if that were true, but it isnt. In 1986 a popular movie, Soul Man had its main character in blackface as the main gag of the movie. The New York Times, far from condemning it, said: It's a blithe, silly, good-natured movie and, of its kind, quite an enjoyable one. Lots of other celebrities (who are popular to this day) dressed up in blackface well after 1980, including Ted Danson (when roasting Whoopi Goldberg) and Robert Downey Jr. (in Tropic Thunder). We do minorities no favors by pretending that we have been more racially progressive than we actually were. And we do the individuals unlucky enough to become symbols of our racial insensitivity no justice by pretending that if only we had been there, we would have set them straight. I think it goes back to the Brett Kavanaugh hearings. As is well known, he was accused of attempting to rape a fellow student when he was in high school and he was grilled by the Senate about various entries in his yearbook. There was a legitimate debate to be had over whether it is fair to ask someone to show that he didnt commit a crime thirty some odd years earlier. Physical evidence is long since gone, and the chance of his finding a witness who could place him elsewhere at the time in question so many years later was virtually zero. But there was so much that was unique in that case. The yearbook was contemporaneous with the alleged crime, so it was relevant. He gave answers about his yearbook entries that seemed improbable, which legitimately prompted further questioning. The crime he was accused of was extremely serious, and the accusing witness was very credible. And, unlike the trustee and the attorney general, he denied everything, so there was a current question of perjury. So in that situation, the focus on the yearbook was defensible. Unfortunately, as a result, we seem to have skipped the larger conversation about whether we should be regularly judging people based on decades-old yearbooks. Weve gone straight to the idea that a person is no better than their most insensitive photo, no matter how old. Imagine what the 2020 election is going to look like after a year of opposition research has dug up dirt on all of the candidates. Those who are rooting against Donald Trumps reelection should think hard about this sort of atmosphere. It will play right into his hands. It is time to turn back. We need a sense of proportion, context, and forgiveness. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/evangerstmann/2019/02/25/how-long-do-we-hold-people-accountable-for-decades-old-yearbook-photos/ |
Could Jerry Sandusky get new trial on 2012 child-molestation conviction? | STATE COLLEGE, Pa. Attorney Al Lindsay stood at the dais of a three-star hotel's meeting room Monday to proclaim Jerry Sandusky's case is not going to go away. While many in and around Penn State wish it would, Lindsay will soon make another bid to reverse the former longtime assistant football coachs 2012 conviction on 45 counts of child molestation. One of the problems we have confronted that people dont want to deal with is this: Suppose Im telling you the truth, said Lindsay, who took over the case five years ago. Suppose that Jerry Sandusky is absolutely innocent. Suppose that Im right. You are, a voice from the audience responded. Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky arrives at the Centre County Courthouse for a post-conviction appeals hearing on March 24, 2017. (Photo11: Abby Drey, Centre Daily Times via AP) The composition of those who attended the news conference about a mile from Beaver Stadium included representatives from two local television stations, the Centre Daily Times, the Penn State college paper (the Daily Collegian) and a couple bloggers. Some of the others could be described as Penn State truthers or "Paterno-deniers, pejorative designations for those who believe the conclusions made in the Sandusky investigation that led to upheaval in Happy Valley were flawed. Its easier to find those who believe Joe Paterno, who was fired in the wake of Sanduskys 2011 arrest after 62 years at Penn State, did not cover up Sandusky's acts. And the attention paid at least nationally has subsided since 2012, the year Paterno died, Sandusky was convicted, the Freeh report that alleged a cover-up was released and the university was sanctioned by the NCAA. Lindsay told USA TODAY Sports after the news conference that he will file a petition with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court next week to seek a new trial of Sandusky. A similar filing to the Pennsylvania Superior Court was denied, but Sandusky was granted a re-sentencing request. Sandusky, now 75, was originally sentenced to 30-60 years in prison. While Lindsay said hes still drafting the petition, one of the subjects he will argue to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court is that exculpatory evidence was not disclosed to Sanduskys original team prior to his trial in violation of federal law. Lindsay said that includes the testimony of two alleged victims, who disclosed new molestation claims while on the witness stand. Lindsay along with others at Mondays news conference also pointed to a 2018 report from five current and two former members of Penn States board of trustees that alleged flaws in Freeh's investigation. The Philadelphia Inquirer first reported on the report this month. It was the product of external influences and was not by any measure objective or the result of independence, the board of trustee members concluded in the report. In short, it is both unreliable and misleading. Our University paid $8.3 million for an independent investigation that was neither independent nor a fair and thorough investigation. Freeh, the former head of the FBI, issued the following statement: A small but vocal segment of the Penn State community, the deniers continue to detract from the real victims in this case by trying to convince the public that Coach Paterno and his football legacy were somehow instead the victims. The deniers continue to embarrass the many thousands of outstanding Penn State students, faculty, and alumni by blindly disregarding the uncontroverted facts in favor of a misguided agenda. Sandusky, meanwhile, sits in a prison about 100 miles away, where he was visited by his wife of more than 50 years, Dottie, on Monday. Dottie Sandusky told USA TODAY Sports that he's in frequent contact with Lindsay. "Jerry drives him crazy," Dottie Sandusky said. If this latest bid in a state court or a future one in federal court are successful, Lindsay's work will truly begin. Aren't you like the dog chasing car?' Lindsay said. Is there any way he could possibly get a fair trial? The answer is no, but we dont care. If we get a new trial, its the not a situation where you have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. We recognize, ladies and gentlemen, if we get a new trial for Jerry Sandusky, we have to prove his innocence beyond all doubt. Thats what I intend to do." Follow A.J. Perez on Twitter @byajperez | https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2019/02/25/could-jerry-sandusky-win-petition-get-new-trial/2984219002/ |
Can the US and China end their trade war? | Relief swept across world financial markets Monday after President Donald Trump pushed back a March 2 deadline in a trade dispute with China. But the respite might not last. The world's two biggest economies have squared off over Beijing's aggressive campaign to turn Chinese companies into world leaders in advanced industries such as robotics and electric vehicles. Both sides have said they've made progress but haven't provided much detail. "Popping the champagne today would be premature," Gregory Daco, chief US economist at Oxford Economics, wrote in a research note. Advertisement Daco added that vast differences between the two countries "will prevent a significant de-escalation of trade tensions between the two giants." In the United States, business groups and lawmakers fear that Trump will settle for a deal that doesn't require China to change its sharp-elbowed business practices. The United States accuses China of deploying predatory tactics in a headlong push to challenge American technological dominance. These, the US says, include: outright theft of trade secrets, forcing foreign companies to hand over technology as the price of access to the Chinese market, and unfairly subsidising Chinese tech companies and using regulations to hobble their foreign competitors. The accusations elevate the standoff from a typical trade dispute to a battle over whether the United States or China dominates the industries of the future, the outcome of which has implications for national security. China Trade Deal (and more) in advanced stages. Relationship between our two Countries is very strong. I have therefore agreed to delay U.S. tariff hikes. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2019 Trump is also obsessed with America's massive trade deficit with China, US$336 billion in 2017 and likely higher last year. Critics complain that the administration has been inconsistent about what it wants sometimes demanding sweeping changes in Chinese economic policy, sometimes seeming willing to settle for China just buying more American stuff to narrow the trade deficit. U.S. President Donald Trump is obsessed with America's massive trade deficit with China, US$336 billion in 2017 and likely higher last year. Photo / AP Robert Daly, director of the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States at the Wilson Center think tank, said he would be disappointed if the Trump administration settles only for more exports to China and vague promises to make structural reforms. "The Trump administration could have had that in week one," Daly said. In July, the Trump administration gradually began slapping import taxes on Chinese goods to pressure Beijing into changing its policies. It now has imposed 10 per cent tariffs on US$200b in Chinese imports and 25 per cent tariffs on another US$50b. Twice, Trump has pushed back plans to raise the tariffs on the US$200b to 25 per cent. He extended a January 1 deadline by three months after meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping in Buenos Aires December 1. And on Sunday, following meetings last week between US and Chinese negotiators, he delayed indefinitely the tariff hike that was scheduled to kick in at 12:01 EST March 2. The US is also restricting Chinese investment in high-tech American industries and US exports of sensitive technology to China. Meanwhile, the Chinese have punched back by slapping import taxes on US$110b in US goods, focusing on soybeans and agricultural products in a direct shot at Trump supporters in the American farm belt. Forecasters at the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development have all downgraded their forecasts for the global economy, citing the heightened trade tensions. They say they are but haven't provided many particulars. Trump tweeted Sunday that negotiators had made "substantial progress" on issues including protection of intellectual property, coerced tech transfer, currency manipulation and US access to the Chinese farm and services markets among "many other issues." China's official Xinhua news agency echoed that assessment. Very productive talks yesterday with China on Trade. Will continue today! I will be leaving for Hanoi, Vietnam, early tomorrow for a Summit with Kim Jong Un of North Korea, where we both expect a continuation of the progress made at first Summit in Singapore. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2019 Trump has said he would likely have to meet one-on-one with Chinese President Xi probably late next month at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida to resolve the thorniest issues. Trump sees the stock market as a measure of the success of his economic policies. Investors' view is clear: When US-China negotiations go well, American stocks rise. When talks falter, they drop. So the question is whether Trump, having taken US-China economic relations to the brink, has the patience to hold out in the face of likely stock-market volatility for an enforceable deal that requires China to change its behavior. Or whether he'll agree to more exports and promises of change. When US-China negotiations go well, American stocks rise. When talks falter, they drop. Photo / AP "If the US has already achieved quite a bit, and we are just clarifying the details of substantial Chinese concessions, then that's not a huge concern," said Scott Kennedy, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "But if the US has come away with very little in terms of binding commitments (after dropping the tariff deadline), then the chance of getting more in the coming weeks could be quite low." Daly at the Wilson Centre faulted the administration for not imposing a new deadline. "They are expert at the use of time and delay until conditions have changed and leverage has been lost, to get a better outcome," Daly said. Trump has also alarmed Canada and critics by suggesting the US might drop criminal charges against Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei and its chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, in a quest to cut a deal. The US has charged Huawei with lying about violating sanctions against Iran and with stealing trade secrets. Canada arrested Meng December 1 at America's request and is weighing whether to extradite her to the United States. China arrested two Canadians in apparent retaliation. Former Canadian Ambassador to China David Mulroney tweeted Monday that "it's now the US that has to hang tough, and not sell out its integrity in Huawei case for a trade deal with China)." - AP | https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12207372&ref=rss |
Will 'Harry Potter' Appear On New Streaming Services From WarnerMedia and NBCUniversal? | WarnerMedia and NBCUniversal both have streaming services launching in 2019 and 2020, respectively, putting a question mark over the future whereabouts of the Harry Potter film series for avid fans, and raising even bigger questions about the possibilities of an original TV series based on J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World. J.K. Rowling has always been protective of her stories, and after trusting David Heyman and Steve Kloves with the Harry Potter film series, she shocked fans by putting her world in the hands of producers Sonia Friedman and Colin Callender, script writer Jack Thorne and director John Tiffany for the original production Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Since then, two Fantastic Beasts films - penned by J.K. Rowling herself - have been released, and with three more apparently in the line-up, fans are still wondering when and where we might see a Harry Potter TV series. In 2015, J.K. Rowling tried to dissuade fans from speculating on a new TV series, but the film series' Daniel Radcliffe recently aired his own thoughts on the matter at a TV Guide press conference, saying that he'd be intrigued to see a series on the generation preceding Harry Potter (focused on the Marauders), and that he feels a reboot is a possibility: "I definitely think there will be another version of it within my lifetime. It will be interesting to see. At the moment those films have sort of a sacred varnish on them, but that will be worn away at some point... I'm just intrigued to see when that happens." Although the series wouldn't necessarily need to be written by Rowling - critiques of both Cursed Child and Fantastic Beasts appear to have cancelled each other out, nobody knows who they want new Wizarding World stories written by anymore, or if they want them at all - the biggest question currently appears to be where a series would even appear. Binge-watching and online streaming appears to be here to stay, with Disney, WarnerMedia and NBCUniversal all looking to start their own streaming services across 2019 and 2020. These will combine tens of thousands of hours of content from billion dollar production companies, and promise new original content in the coming years. That, of course, is where the ears of the Harry Potter fan might perk up. The expected creator of a new TV show set in the wizarding world is the upcoming WarnerMedia streaming platform. AT&T acquired Time Warner (now WarnerMedia) for $84.5 billion in June 2018. The upcoming service - which has yet to be named - will have access to some huge blockbusters and franchises, from Harry Potter to The LEGO Movie and Lord of The Rings, but this might not be enough to guarantee the platform's success. At the Television Critics Association presentation this month, TBS/TNT president Kevin Reilly provided updates on the service, announcing that Warner Media's streaming service will launch in beta form in Q4 this year, with original content coming when the three-tiered service launches in full in 2020. The expected future platform for streaming the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts film series is NBCUniversal, which currently owns the exclusive TV rights to Harry Potter until April 2025 thanks to a $250 million acquisition deal, giving the ComCast owned media company on-air and digital rights to Wizarding World properties, and cable rights for the movies. The deal also gives exclusive rights for content at their Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme parks, Deadline reported. NBCUniversal plans to launch an ad-supported streaming service in 2020, available at no extra cost to NBCUniversal pay TV subscribers. A press release from last month reads: "This innovative new service will draw on NBCUniversals large content library, as well as its broad reach of over 90 million U.S. households, plus Comcast and Skys leading technology platforms. It will feature some of the worlds most popular television and film franchises, including homegrown original programming as well as content from outside partners." The film series is available on USA Network and Syfy, having previously aired (and streamed) on HBO. After HBO's streaming license to the films ended in June 2018, it's unclear how WarnerMedia might negotiate or share streaming rights to these movies. When reached for comment, NBCUniversal confirmed that plans for the Wizarding World on their streaming service have not been determined as of yet, and as suggested by the non-exclusive deal being forged between AT&T and Netflix for Friends shared streaming rights (and the fact that Reilly made clear AT&T's intentions to take on full streaming rights to the show in future), there's a shift occurring in Hollywood, as on-demand services begin to dominate the market it's possible that WarnerMedia might hold the rights to Potter just a little closer in future, and might seriously consider the possibility of an original series based in the world of Harry Potter. There's also the question of the demand for a new series. J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World is still managing to dominate markets, but with the comparatively low ratings of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, it's possible that too much of a good thing could hinder the progress of the franchise. We'll likely not see an official TV series based in this world - especially a simple reboot - for at least a few years to come. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/emmapocock/2019/02/25/will-harry-potter-appear-on-new-streaming-services-from-warnermedia-and-nbcuniversal/ |
Who is George Pell and what has he been convicted of? | Pell is essentially the treasurer of the Vatican and the Holy See in Rome, a high-ranking position that makes him among the worlds most powerful Catholics. He has also been a longtime confidant to Pope Francis. Before his appointment to the Vatican in 2014, Pell held senior positions within the Catholic church in Australia, including as the archbishop of Sydney and the archbishop of Melbourne. He is known for his staunch conservativism on issues including marriage equality and abortion. Cardinal George Pell: Vatican treasurer found guilty of child sexual assault Read more He is Australias most senior Catholic. He was made a companion in the Order of Australia in the Queens birthday honours in 2005 for his service to the church. Pell is now also the highest-ranking Catholic official in the world to have been convicted of child sexual abuse. Pell has attracted criticism since the 1990s for the way he responded to allegations of child sexual abuse while he was working in Australian Catholic institutions. As archbishop of Melbourne he formulated the much-criticised Melbourne Response, which offered support and counselling to victims of sexual abuse but capped compensation payments. In 2014 he said the church was no more responsible for child abuse carried out by church figures than a trucking company would be if they employed a driver who molested women. At Australias child sex abuse royal commission, he described offending by his one-time friend, the priest Gerald Ridsdale, as a sad story that wasnt of much interest to me. Ridsdale has been found guilty of offending against more than 60 children. In June 2017 Pell was charged with child sexual assault offences by Australian police. Pell took leave from the Vatican and stood aside from his position there to return to Australia and face a committal hearing, which began in March 2018. In a committal hearing, a magistrate decides if there is enough evidence to go to trial. The magistrate threw out the most serious charges owing to credibility issues of witnesses. Other charges were withdrawn by prosecutors. Cardinal Pell: Vatican treasurer convicted on historic child sex abuse charges latest news Read more Pell was left facing several charges, which were split into two trials. The first group related to offending in 1996 at St Patricks Cathedral in Melbourne when he was archbishop. The second group related to alleged offending in a swimming pool while he was a priest in the regional Victorian town of Ballarat in the 1970s. The cathedral trial was held in August and resulted in a hung jury. A mistrial was declared and the trial was held a second time, beginning in November. On 11 December the jury returned a verdict of guilty on five charges; one count of sexual penetration of a child under the age of 16 and four counts of indecent assault of a child under the age of 16. The convictions relate to Pells offending against two 13-year-old choirboys. A suppression order was in place so that jurors in the trial of the second group of alleged offences would not be prejudiced by reporting of the first trial. Such suppression orders are standard when an accused person is facing multiple trials. But the swimming pool charges were dropped by prosecutors on Tuesday after evidence they were relying on to build their case was deemed inadmissible by the judge, Peter Kidd. With Pell no longer facing a further trial, the suppression order was lifted and the cathedral trial and mistrial can now be reported in full. Pells defence barrister, Robert Richter QC, has indicated that his client will appeal. Usually, a single judge considers the appeal application and decides whether the accused has legal grounds for appealing. If there are grounds for appeal, the matter proceeds to a hearing. If the judge refuses the application, a convicted person can elect to have the refusal reconsidered by other judges of the court of appeal. If the matter goes to a hearing and the conviction is set aside, the court may order a new trial, or acquit the person. The process can take eight to 10 months, sometimes longer. In the meantime, Pell is due to be sentenced on Wednesday. He was granted bail in December to undergo knee surgery, which he has since had. Now that the trial is over, the royal commission may release its findings relating to Pell. When the five-year inquiry into institutional responses to child sexual abuse delivered its final report in 2017, the section relating to Pell was redacted so as not to prejudice court proceedings. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Pope Francis greets Pell after mass at the Vatican in 2016. The pontiff will be under pressure to respond to Pells verdict quickly. The Vatican will have been made aware of the verdict when it was delivered in December. A Vatican spokesman has consistently said the pope does not intend to speak until the judicial process is complete, including a possible appeal. Two days after the verdict, Pope Francis removed Pell from his inner circle in a restructure of his Council of Cardinals. Pell was not removed from his position as financial controller of the Vatican, a position he technically still holds. On Pells removal from the council, Francis thanked him for his work reforming the Vatican bureaucracy. There will be pressure on the Vatican to respond to Pells verdict quickly, given growing global anger about the way the church has responded to and concealed child sexual abuse. Last weeks landmark child sexual abuse summit at the Vatican drew criticism after Francis failed to promise a zero tolerance approach to paedophiles and those who cover up their crimes. | https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/feb/26/who-is-george-pell-and-what-has-he-been-convicted-of |
Will Trump's tough love for Pakistan finally force it to pay a price for terror? | A terrorist attack in India turned into a really bad day for Pakistan. By tolerating the actions of Islamist radicals, the country runs a serious risk of international isolation. Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), an Islamist militant group based in Pakistan, said it was responsible for the February 14 suicide bombing in Kashmir. Pakistans intelligence service has long been linked to the group, and Indian intelligence claims its neighbor encouraged JeM to launch the attack, both as a recruitment tool and to fuel tensions in the on-again, off-again terror campaign on Indias frontier. Why Pakistan might choose to ramp up tensions now is a subject of some speculation. Perhaps Islamabad has been emboldened by U.S. peace talks with the Taliban, believing that Washington needs them to seal the deal, enabling President Trump to make good on his desire to draw down U.S. troops. US AIRSTRIKE IN SOMALIA KILLS 35 AL-SHAHAB FIGHTERS The line of thinking might have been that the U.S. wouldnt risk chiding Pakistan over a little terrorism if the Americans needed their help in the peace talks. If that was the calculation, it doesnt appear to be adding up. The U.S. quickly condemned the attacks and fingered Pakistan as the responsible party. The Americans were also unmoved by Pakistans faux post-attack crack-down moves, taking over JeM headquarters and detaining the groups leadership. Pakistan has done this before, and when the crisis passes, everything goes back to business as usual, with JeM allowed to operate as freely as before. Perhaps most significant was what Washington did not do. Unlike in the past, the U.S. hasnt publicly implored the Indians to show restraint in responding. India is looking at something very strong, President Trump explained. India just lost almost 50 people with that attack so I can understand that...but there's a very delicate balance going on right now." Interestingly, this response is likely to help deescalate the crisis. With international support to take action, the Indians may be less likely to do so. They now wont feel like they have to do something to prove that they have right to do anything. There are a couple of lessons to be learned from all this. India seems content with the knowledge that Pakistan has done more damage to its international standing than a shelling from Indian artillery. One is that the U.S.-India strategic partnership is solid and getting stronger. The U.S. response can only build more trust and confidence between the two capitals. Thats a big point for the Trump administration, which looks to partner with India to help deal with China. The response also suggests the Trump administration isnt entirely sold on Pakistans effort to position itself as kingmaker in talks with the Taliban. Pakistan has tried to use its leverage over the Taliban to ease pressure from Washington before but has consistently failed to deliver. Finally, Pakistan has to feel it is in a worse position now than before the attack. Only two things really freak out Islamabad: pressure from the U.S. and indifference from Beijing. In this case, they got both. Washington gave Pakistan the cold shoulder, and Beijing couldnt stop strong, condemning statements from international organizations like the UN Security Council and Financial Action Task Force, an inter-governmental body countering terrorist financing and money laundering. A kinetic response from India doesnt seem likely in the near future. India seems content with the knowledge that Pakistan has done more damage to its international standing than a shelling from Indian artillery. Without question, though, the Indians would like the U.S. to build on the momentum. The U.S. could push the Financial Action Task Force to blacklist Pakistan for funding terrorism and money laundering. Washington could also lobby against another IMF bailout for Pakistan. Or, it could sanction serving and retired Pakistani military officers with ties to terror groups. All these actions would make Washington more friends in New Delhi. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP At the same time, the U.S. must not completely turn its back on Pakistan. The Pakistani people deserve better. There is a constructive future for South Asia where Pakistan and India live together in peace and prosperity. The best U.S. policy is to continue to work for that day, a day that will never come if Washington stops engaging with Islamabad. For now, Trumps tough love policy is exactly right. The administration just needs to deliver more of the same. CLICK HERE FOR MORE FROM JAMES JAY CARAFANO | https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/will-trumps-tough-love-for-pakistan-finally-force-it-to-pay-a-price-for-terror |
Did Green Book deserve to win Best Picture at the 2019 Oscars? | Critics blasted Green Book after the movie won Best Picture at the 2019 Oscars. The film stars Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen and centers a black pianist and his white chauffeur as they navigate racist territory of the Deep South using the safe African American travelers guide, The Negro Motorist Green Book. Critics argue the film perpetuates the white savior trope and fails to tell the story of what The Negro Motorist Green Book means to black people. Julia Roberts hit the stage to announce Green Book won Best Picture. The film was up against fan favorites such as Black Panther, Roma and BlacKkKlansman. Critics argue that Green Book was problematic because it neglected to shed light on the full story of famed classical pianist Don Shirley, and focuses on his chauffeur who had a shallow mindset of black people until he befriends Shirley. Critics argue films like Green Book only showcase the black experience through a filtered white lens. Spike Lee said Green Book's win at the #Oscars was synonymous to a referee making a bad call. pic.twitter.com/d10hbBKb2z The Root (@TheRoot) February 25, 2019 No disrespect to Green Book at the #Oscars, but many of us in the black community would like to see greater recognition for movies about the black experience and not just for movies that make the black experience comfortable for white audiences.pic.twitter.com/vOdNEmx53X Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) February 25, 2019 But some moviegoers argue that "Green Book" is an inspirational film that deserve deserve all of the hate. Green Book holds a fresh rating of 79 percent and an audience score of 93 percent on Rotten Tomatoes (at the time of publication). The film also grossed over $144 million globally at the box office. So, its a hit! I think Green Book was a good film and deserving of best picture #Oscars #SpikeLee #Roma #GreenBook Ethan Zuchkan (@EZuchkan) February 25, 2019 Congrats to #GreenBook! At the end of the day, all of the #BestPicture nominees were fantastic and we got a good handful of incredible film out of 2018 #Oscars pic.twitter.com/GfqNZ140PV Connor (@Connor_M5) February 25, 2019 | https://www.nola.com/tylt/2019/02/did-green-book-deserve-to-win-best-picture-at-the-2019-oscars.html |
When will this year's wildflower super bloom happen in the California desert? | CLOSE A super bloom is a colloquial term to describe blooms of wildflowers that super-exceed expectations. Recent rain in the Coachella Valley and surrounding areas has experts looking forward to a wildflower boon across the California desert. "This year is definitely shaping up to be a very good wildflower year," says Cameron Barrows, an associate research ecologist at UC Riverside's Center for Conservation Biology. "I've lived here in the Coachella Valley for over three decades, and there have been maybe two to four exceptional wildflower years, and this is one of those. "The reason has to do with the complex interaction between three variables, Barrows says: the "timing of when we received the rain, how much rain and the temperatures." Wildflowers in Baja: The super bloom has started in Mexico. Pack your bags for San Felipe More wildflowers: Pack your bags. The super bloom is about to be epic in the California desert A wildflower bloom in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (Photo11: Denise Zuranski/Courtesy Anza-Borrego Foundation) In the last month, 4.25 inches of rain has been recorded at Palm Springs International Airport. Since Oct. 1 the beginning of the annual rainy season Palm Springs has recorded 7.21 inches of rain. That's more than double the 3.31 inches the city would have seen at this point in the season in an average year. "That all depends on where you are," Barrows says. "Areas that received significant rain way back in October, generally lower elevations in the east valley from the Salton Sea to the Thousand Palms Preserve to the south entrance of Joshua Tree National Park, have been at a peak flowering for several weeks already," Barrows said. "They are sustaining that peak bloom longer than usual due to the cool temperatures and the relative lack of sphinx moth caterpillars that typically will denude the flower fields when they hit peak numbers. More: Wildflowers are already blooming across the Coachella Valley. Here's where you can see them More: Why the recent rain in the valley will contribute to a stellar wildflower sho "From now on, the peak flowering will move progressively up in elevation and westward, giving us flowers somewhere (at those higher elevations) maybe through April or even later," he adds. "Or it might get unseasonably warm, and it will all happen much faster." Maureen Gilmer, a horticultural journalist who regularly contributes to DESERT magazine and The Desert Sun, agrees. "The recent cold snap is slowing the super bloom in the Coachella Valley," Gilmer says. "Many existing wildflower blossoms froze or went on hold this frosty week except the desert verbena." Palm Springs is currently having a record cold streak. The city, famed as a warm-weather winter getaway, hasn't experienced 80-degree weather since before Thanksgiving. It hasn't seen 90-degree weather since before Halloween. Wildflowers in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (Photo11: Denise Zuranski/Courtesy Anza-Borrego Foundation) More: Record cold streak: Palm Springs goes 88 days without temperature hitting 80 degrees As for how this affects the super bloom, it will most likely "take a week of hot days to really make it pop," she added. The first week in March "might be optimal," Gilmer says, and you can "add a month to that in the high desert due to snow and frozen ground." For now, the current prolonged flowering is "allowing each plant to put out more flowers than average, which mean more seeds, and so they are re-charging the soil seed bank," Barrows says, "ensuring that the next time the rain and temperatures are just right, there will be another amazing wildflower show for us to enjoy." Kristin Scharkey is the editor of DESERT magazine and features editor at The Desert Sun. Reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @kscharkey. Desert Sun editors Julie Makinen and Matt Solinsky, and reporter Shane Newell contributed to this report. Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/2019/02/25/when-wildflower-super-bloom-happen-california-desert/2986342002/ | https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/2019/02/25/when-wildflower-super-bloom-happen-california-desert/2986342002/ |
Do minnows Brazil have the most fearsome scrum in rugby? | Move over the All Blacks, there's a new forward pack to fear. The Brazilian rugby side showed like their football counterparts they're also very handy at setpiece time by demolishing the USA scrum over the weekend. Brazil regularly sent the Eagles pack backwards in their Americas Rugby Championship match in Texas. However, despite being all over the Americans, Brazil still lost the match 33-28. The power of the Brazil pack shouldn't be a surprise to New Zealand rugby fans after they pushed the Maori All Blacks back 10 metres in a clash last season in Sao Paulo. Advertisement Unfortunately it's unlikely we'll see the Brazil pack take on the All Blacks anytime soon. The South Americans are ranked 26th in the world and failed to qualify for the World Cup. | https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=12207217&ref=rss |
Is Cold Pursuit just Taken in the snow? | Director Hans Petter Moland would like you to know that his new movie, Cold Pursuit starring Liam Neeson, is not just Taken in the snow. In broad strokes, its a revenge movie, says the Norwegian director of his first English-language film. But take a closer look; theres no one to salvage or rescue, because his sons already dead. This is a particular way to mourn rather than to save somebody. Point taken. Early in the movie, Neesons characters son is killed during a robbery. The culprits make it look like a drug overdose, and the police buy the story and refuse to dig further. And so Neeson, playing mild-mannered Colorado snowplow driver Nels Coxman, goes looking for the truth. Much blood is spilled during his quest. He has no special set of skills, says Moland, referring to the Taken franchise. Hes just an amateur whos highly motivated, whos saddened by what has happened, and who doesnt care (for his own safety). Cold Pursuit is actually Molands second take on the movie. In 2014, he made In Order of Disappearance, starring Stellan Skarsgrd and set in the snowy mountains of Norway. The film premiered in Berlin and did well on the festival circuit, which is when producer Michael Shamberg suggested a do-over. Conventional wisdom says somebody else would do it, says Moland. But one of the particular qualities of the original was the tone, and its hard to duplicate another filmmakers tone. And so the directors own special set of skills were put to use. The plot of Cold Pursuit is faithful to the original, but rewriting took more than translation software and the removal of odd Scandinavian letters by first-time screenwriter Frank Baldwin. Thats because there are elements of race and nationalism that wouldnt play the same way in Colorado as in Norway. Among other things, says Moland, Skarsgrds character is teased for being an immigrant from Sweden, which is, like, 80 metres away. So whereas In Order of Disappearance features a gang of native Norwegians and another comprised of Serbians, Cold Pursuit turns the Norwegians into casually racist Americans, while the outsider Serbians are recast as First Nations. (Parks Canada, troubled by this, refused to let the film shoot in Banff, even though First Nations actor Tom Jackson, playing the gang leader, lobbied on the movies behalf. The production eventually found new locations in Alberta and B.C.) Moland says the remake allowed for some new narrative possibilities, such as a misunderstanding when Jacksons character shows up at a fancy ski resort and is told he needs a reservation. We also see the First Nations group enjoying ski slopes as the Serbs did in the original, but here theres a certain wistfulness and irony because of the native Americans relationship to the landscape theyre standing in. The director brought some of his regular collaborators with him on Cold Pursuit, including cinematographer Philip gaard, his costume designer and a few stunt performers. But he relished the novelty of making things anew. The chance to work with Liam was interesting, and making the film for a whole different audience who hadnt seen the original and transplant it to a new culture was fun. But the biggest draw was probably Shamberg, a septuagenarian producer whose credits extend back to such classics as The Big Chill, A Fish Called Wanda and Pulp Fiction. If it hadnt been him asking me to consider it, I dont think I would have. | https://nationalpost.com/entertainment/movies/is-cold-pursuit-just-taken-in-the-snow |
Where does LSUs 2019 signing class stand nationally and in the SEC? | Ed Orgeron joked he knows LSUs National Signing Day wont feel as impressive to some people. He knows the six-man group announced Feb. 6 wont seem as impressive as the 19 signed in December, let alone as impressive as some of the bigger names signed then, such as 5-star cornerback Derek Stingley, 5-star running back John Emery and top-50 safety-linebacker Marcel Brooks. Orgeron, though, is going to look at the entire 25-man signing class, and hes happy with what LSU brought in. Its what you did for me lately, and everybody forgets about December, but we know we have an outstanding class, he said Wednesday (Feb. 6). Its Orgerons best since taking over in the fall of 2016. Using the 247Sports Composite rankings which combines rankings from different scouting services LSU has the No. 5 class in the country. Its No. 5 nationally, but its No. 4 in the SEC. LSU has three 5-star prospects and 11 4-stars. The average rating of its signings is 90.75, compared to No. 1 Alabama at 94.38. LSU lost on some d-line targets but has a top-5 class Heres the full top 10 list in the country, according to 247Sports: 1. Alabama 2. Georgia 3. Texas 4. Texas A&M 5. LSU 6. Oklahoma 7. Oregon 8. Michigan 9. Florida 10. Clemson LSUs class is highlighted by Stingley, the No. 3 player overall and No. 1 cornerback in the country, and by Emery, the nations No. 12 player and No. 2 running back. In addition, Texas outside linebacker-safety hybrid Marcel Brooks, who Orgeron said could be used as a versatile weapon like Grant Delpit, has jumped into the 5-star level since the early signing period. Hes now No. 32 overall and the No. 2 outside linebacker. Southern Lab guard Kardell Thomas was a consensus 5-star at the time of national signing day, but hes dropped to a 4-star across the board since. Hes still the No. 97 player nationally and No. 4 guard. LSU has four players in the 247Sports Composite top 100, eight in the top 150 and 12 in the top 250. Preparation a key factor in Sopsher choosing Alabama Alabama whose class some are already arguing could be on the best of all-time has 12 players in the top 100, 16 in the top 150 and 21 in the top 250. Georgia has nine in the top 100, 10 in the top 150 and 15 in the top 250. Georgia also loaded up on five high-caliber junior college players. The other conference rival ahead of LSU, Texas A&M, had seven players in the top 100, seven in the top 150 and 10 in the top 250. LSUs class is more talented at the top, but Texas A&Ms average rating of 90.80 is just 0.05 better than LSUs. Its Orgerons best class since taking over the full-time job. He had the No. 7 class in 2017, just three months after becoming head coach, and the No. 15 class in 2018. LSU was in the top five each of the three final years under Les Miles. One of the main victories in Orgerons eyes was that LSU locked down eight of the top 10 players in Louisiana and only missed out one in-state player Orgeron pursued: Alabama signee Ishmael Sopsher from Amite. LSU currently has the No. 2 recruiting class for 2020. | https://www.nola.com/lsu/2019/02/where-does-lsus-2019-signing-class-stand-nationally-and-in-the-sec.html |
How can we use tech to attract the next generation of carers? | The adult social care sector in the UK faces a significant set of challenges. One of the most significant is a chronic shortage of carers, to the extent that the care system has often been brought to the brink of collapse. Coupled with the potential loss of talent because of Brexit, it is clear that the sector needs to work hard to maintain and expand the number of carers. While there is a lot of hype around how tech might provide solutions to the ever-growing demand for elderly care from robot companions to apps instead of doctors there is a delicate balance to be struck between tech that empowers elderly people and those who care for them, and tech that distances vital carers from the profession. With talk about AI taking jobs in care, as with most sectors, its important to acknowledge possible concerns both current and potential care workers may have. We need to allay their concerns about how tech may impact the work they do and empower them to work with tech showing how tech can actually improve their working lives. After all, technology can be a powerful tool to empower both carers and those they care for, one that can ultimately attract more people to the profession. Helping people understand that care can in fact be an innovative, forward-looking sector (contrary to some misconceptions) could help destigmatise it as a profession and attract both human capital and investment. One way technology can support carers and elderly people is through predictive analytics software that examines data collected in reports that carers make during visits. This can be used for the early prediction of illnesses or health deterioration, allowing carers to flag potential issues to other health professional or the patients family. By supporting the decision-making process, this software gives carers an additional level of confidence in their judgement. Another important benefit of using tech in the care process is time savings. If logistical and administrative duties can be automated, carers will have more time to spend with their patients. As this is the main point of difference between robots and carers that a robot can never replicate the enormous benefits of human contact from a carer its something thats worth emphasising. As an important message to get across when communicating with potential carers, this is a point that needs to be shared during the recruitment process. Particularly given the chronic staff shortages in the sector, the way in which employers drive awareness of what the care profession is actually like is crucial. In general, recruitment needs to be more carefully considered by those in the care sector. While care companies typically have to invest lots of time and money in sourcing employees, its possible theyre not doing this in the most efficient way. While LinkedIn has completely revolutionised the way people look and apply for jobs, and how roles are recruited for, this revolution is only beginning to be replicated on the platforms that best reach carers and potential carers. We can see the beginnings of a move towards this different approach to recruitment, namely through social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram; 73% of millennials rely on these platforms to find work.The Minister of Care, Caroline Dinenage, recently backed a campaign by Home Instead Senior Care inspiring more people to work in care. The campaign is centred about the hashtag #YouCanCare to drive conversations on social media about the benefits of working in care and dispelling myths. Now in its second year, last year the company successfully recruited 5,500 carers across the business, showing the power of these platforms. At Cera Care we recently launched a similar drive, using Instagram Stories, Facebook Live and Snapchat to allow prospective employees to quiz real-life carers on all aspects of the job and apply directly from the app. Embracing the future As a profession, caring has a long way to go for people to fully appreciate its importance. AI has a lot of myths to refute and a fair share of stigmas to dismantle. However, AI, and technology as a whole, can play a hugely important role here with the potential to revolutionise the sector for the better. We find ourselves at a junction in 2019 as the sector faces a variety of threats, from Brexit to spending cuts; social care is under fire. However, it is crucial we do not shy away from technology however unknown it may seem. Fortunately, with Ministers such as Caroline Dinenage and Matt Hancock in power, who appreciate the importance of technology for the care sector, the future is looking increasingly bright for a profession that all of us, one way or another, will be grateful for one day. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/benmaruthappu/2019/02/07/how-can-we-use-tech-to-attract-the-next-generation-of-carers/ |
Is Site Reliability Engineering A Trend Or A Mainstay? | As online services become the lifeblood of just about every business, the health of these interconnected services becomes critical. Googles decades of operating the most advanced and scalable applications in the world set the standard for how to operate reliable services at global scale, and over the past couple of years, Google has published and promoted their best practices for operations, dubbed Site Reliability Engineering (SRE). Contrary to what some have suggested on the subject, SRE is not a replacement for modern DevOps practices and, in fact, SRE lays out the groundwork for what is required to make DevOps scale for most organizations. Site Reliability Engineering Essentials Considering multiple books have been written to explain what SRE is and how to implement it, the fundamentals are whats important in appreciating why SRE is unique over most existing practices. First, the entire organization must rally around a few well-known reliability objectives, and second, the organization must automate operations via software as the only way to meet these objectives while growing the business. Arguably, a third principle would include the creation of a semi-independent group focused on the previous two fundamentals, but, as discussed later, several factors can affect how specific staffing occurs within an organization. Regardless, the basics revolve around uniting the organization in determining what to measure and then setting operational goals to balance business needs and customer expectations. Service level indicators (SLIs) provide the key measurements that align to customer satisfaction, while service level objectives (SLOs) determine the healthy ranges for which the organization as a whole strives to achieve these goals. While all or a subset of SLOs may be published to customers, this should not be confused with service level agreements (SLAs), which are the contractual agreements with customers for missed SLOs or other measurements of service health. One Size Does Not Fit All Corporations the mega-size of Google obviously have differing needs relative to a small startup feeding off of venture capital. Large organizations would be wise to take the leap toward a separate team comprised of software and systems engineers, while smaller organizations may choose to define SRE roles across multiple departments or create a virtual team with rotating staff members from existing teams. In either case, the rallying effect of shared responsibility for a set of SLOs will improve the reliability equation. To establish buy-in, teams will be forced to make some difficult trade-offs to determine whats really important to the customer and then determine how to measure the corresponding SLIs. Injecting SRE into a well-established culture will create typical transitional stress as boundaries are shifted, but for most organizations, SRE fundamentals will provide blueprints to unite groups and balance the functionality-versus-reliability contention. While "site reliability engineer" has recently become a trendy title on job sites, DevOps teams should resist the temptation to retitle team members as SRE while keeping previous job duties the same. This approach leads to accountability confusion and hinders the benefits of shared SLOs and the automation necessary to make them achievable. Making Site Reliability Engineering Work For SRE to work effectively in any organization (or service) of notable size, teams must be able to monitor, troubleshoot and eventually automate around the key SLOs. Given that key services may span legacy data centers, as well as multiple public cloud vendors, tooling that can communicate with and correlate information across these disparate landscapes is required. When uniting a myriad of different stakeholders with diverse backgrounds, role-flexible dashboards are necessary, and even more important is the ability for dashboards to dynamically adjust as the underlying apps and services shift. This diverse data set requires a scalable platform that can elastically handle ingest of data streams with suddenly large data spikes, and in most cases, a cloud-based back end provides the only option to minimize the volume of staff needed to manage the tool itself. Making sense of several semi-related data streams requires machine learning capabilities to stitch key relationships together and build models to detect and adjust to an ever-changing ecosystem. While changes in organizational boundaries to build an SRE team will create some strife, leaders will tussle even more with the federation of tools into a singular tool (or a subset thereof) as departments vie to keep their ingrained workflows intact. Whether this article represents an introduction to SRE or reinforces previous learnings, theres little doubt that SRE is here to stay at least until the next technological transformation takes shape. Many executives will struggle with organizational shifts and appropriate tooling to unite internal stakeholders toward a common set of objectives, but ultimately, end users will benefit the most from a fully functioning SRE team representing their interests from behind the scenes. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2019/02/07/is-site-reliability-engineering-a-trend-or-a-mainstay/ |
Is Co-Living The New Co-Working? | In big cities around the country, co-working has become a major trend. Now co-working leader WeWork, along with competitors like Common, Open Door and a number of others, are leaping on to the emerging co-living real estate trend. Co-living offers a number of benefits, from housing cost relief to energy efficiencies. Among those closely watching the trend is Jeff Berman, general partner at Washington, D.C.-based venture capital firm Camber Creek, which focuses entirely on investing in real-estate-related technologies. It's important to acknowledge the co-living movement is almost completely confined to the Millennial cohort. Two seemingly disparate but actually related factors account for the surge in co-living among the Millennial generation, one economic, the other sociological, he says. From an economic standpoint, you're dealing with a demo that has come of age in a job market with largely flat wage growth, he reports. Meanwhile, for a variety of reasons like zoning restrictions housing in many popular cities is very expensive. From a sociological perspective, Millennials are famous for prioritizing convenience and flexibility. Every person wants to feel like they are part of a community, but only Millennials want that community created for them, on demand, instantaneously and with no long-term commitment. Co-living is the perfect solution. While more expensive on a per-square-foot basis, most co-living apartments are cheaper in terms of absolute dollars, offer more flexible terms than standard leases and provide a sense of community with absolutely no commitment. Pros, cons The upsides and downsides of co-living should be viewed from both landlord and resident perspectives, Berman says. Co-living's chief benefit for landlords is its ability to generate a higher yield per foot than traditional leases. Downsides from the landlord's perspective include high turnover, non-standard lease terms and expenses related to retrofitting traditional apartments for co-living purposes. Facilitating a communal living experience and creating and organizing programming are two additional hurdles landlords must surmount. From the renters standpoint, advantages include flexibility, the ease of renting fully-furnished spaces, smoother, technology-enabled renting experiences and the chance to live alongside others of similar age, experience and mindsets. A big negative is a more compact home, comparatively higher rental costs per square foot vis-a-vis apartments, and the fact that communal living may not be to the renter's liking. Obstacles also exist for developers and real estate firms intent of creating co-living space, Berman says. There are challenges at every step of the process, he explains. If you're building from scratch, you'll have to convince investors the extra costs of building custom co-living space are going to pay off. If you want to build a property that offers more traditional units and co-living, you're taking a big risk your more traditional customers are comfortable being in a building with the co-living crowd. Any new product is going to be competing against both traditional residential units and against market-leading co-living spaces. So you'll have to offer a differentiated product. And of course, as more and more co-living spaces enter the market, margins will go down. To overcome these hurdles, developers might want to find one of the ingenious modular alternatives now entering the market that permit more efficient creation of multi-person living spaces, Berman says. Finding a brand to operate the co-living space. Final word All in all, Berman believes today's macro-economic environment is ideal for co-living. A good employment market encouraging urban living, younger renters' desire to try both communal living and flexible duration terms and an economy that is spurring developers to chase yields and absorb risk are all, Berman says, externalities met by the co-living trend. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffsteele/2019/02/07/is-co-living-the-new-co-working/ |
Do Gig Workers Unify To Support One Another? | I've written numerous times in the past few months about the perilous nature of those in low-skilled employment. Not only are they most at risk from both economic and technological disruption, but they are also less likely to engage in the kind of training and education that will give them access to the higher-skilled work that returns after any period of disruption. What's more, new research from the University of Exeter Business School suggests that such people are also less likely to band together for support. The research wanted to explore whether members of the 'precariat', who are defined as those in insecure and low-income employment, were prone to unite together to try and improve their collective lot. Band of giggers It should be said that it's not entirely clear where the perception of workers like this banding together to help one another has come from, but the researchers conclude that the perception is certainly far from true. "The idea of the existence of a formed and unified 'precariat' is increasingly taken for granted," the researchers explain. "Our research suggests that this tends to be over-stated. We need to also take into account personal life histories and working trajectories, individual experiences and aspirations; so their relationship with their boss, their own sense of pride in their job and their personal circumstances all play a part." The researchers found that membership of a particular social group is no guarantee of their willingness to band together with their peers, nor indeed is their attitude towards the workplace. So even if they have precarious jobs and don't really like their work, it seems unlikely that they will join together to try and make thins better. Suffice to say, the so called precariat are not strictly confined to gig workers, with the researchers boiling them down into three main groups: Workers who have lost access to secure or meaningful employment. Migrants and ethnic minority workers who have left their home countries. Educated members of the group who lack access to a career path. The precariat were also found to differ in the way they interact with their manager, their social status and even their social relationships. For instance, migrant workers were often all too well aware of their role in low-paid work, but because even this relatively low salary was several times higher than they might earn at home, it gave them a very different perspective on the work than native colleagues. It should be said that whilst most media attention has focused on gig workers and other people on 'zero hour' contracts, this research primarily examined the lives of cleaners, care workers and farm workers. Modern working practices It's a topic that was examined in the recently approved Taylor review into modern working practices that was conducted by the RSA's chief Matthew Taylor. The report was formulated on the basis that many workers had not enjoyed what many believe to be their fair share of the spoils of economic growth as the world emerged from the 2008 financial crisis. Not only has wage growth largely stagnated, but many of the jobs that have emerged since the crisis have been the kind of contingent work covered in the original research. Many have called for such work to receive the same range of employment rights enjoyed by salaried workers. As the research suggests however, there doesn't seem a great deal of motivation to pull together to try and secure such rights. Indeed, research has shown that around 75% of those on zero hour contracts are happy with the hours they work. What's more, access to short-term labor is vital in many industries where demand fluctuates greatly. A balanced approach Taylor argues that a moderate and balanced approach can help to maintain jobs growth whilst also ensuring people aren't unduly exploited. For instance, he notes that despite unemployment continuing to fall, wages have nonetheless began to creep up, with the last year seeing wages in the UK rise by 3.1%, which represents the biggest leap in a decade. What's more, the data suggests that much of the growth in new work in the past year has been of the full-time variety, with self-employment numbers largely static and zero hours work tumbling. Suffice to say, there is still much to be done, both in terms of understanding new forms of work and helping ensure that jobs are as healthy as possible. For instance, a recent study from Oxford University suggests that the relatively poor working conditions associated with online gig work can affect our wellbeing. The study looks specifically at digital gig work that allows people to work internationally, whether in software development, online translation or a range of other disciplines. The paper suggests that there are currently around 70 million people registered across a range of online work platforms. The research finds that whilst the flexibility and autonomy of such work is largely very appealing to workers, there are consequences that arent always evident from the start. Our findings demonstrate evidence that the autonomy of working in the gig economy often comes at the price of long, irregular and anti-social hours, which can lead to sleep deprivation and exhaustion, the authors say. A varied picture A recent study from Prudential also found that gig workers were not a uniform bunch. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the analysis found that people use the gig economy very differently at the various stages of their life. For instance, Millennial gig workers were most likely to proactively work in this way as they found the flexibility and freedom of the work most in line with their long-term aspirations. By contrast, gig workers in Gen X and Baby Boomer generations were much more likely to enter into gig work because of circumstances outside of their control. This then contributed to a general sense of dissatisfaction with their circumstances among Gen X gig workers, who were much more likely to prefer to move back into a traditional, full-time job. The report expressed particular concern about the financial implications for this group as their precarious situation makes it hard to save sufficiently for their retirement. Indeed, a worrying 63% of Gen X gig workers revealed that they were struggling financially, which is comfortably more than those from the other two age groups. Pragmatism and nuance are not always particularly evident in politics, and so there remains a risk that policy makers will take an excessively broad-brush approach to a topic that is nothing if not complex. As we gain a better understanding of the various new ways of working however, this will not be for lack of context. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/adigaskell/2019/02/07/do-gig-workers-unify-to-support-one-another/ |
How Did the Constitution Become Americas Authoritative Text? | Sign up for Take Action Now and get three actions in your inbox every week. You will receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nations journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here. Sign up for Take Action Now and get three actions in your inbox every week. Thank you for signing up. For more from The Nation, check out our latest issue Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month! Support Progressive Journalism The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter. The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter. Fight Back! Sign up for Take Action Now and well send you three meaningful actions you can take each week. You will receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nations journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here. Sign up for Take Action Now and well send you three meaningful actions you can take each week. Thank you for signing up. For more from The Nation, check out our latest issue Travel With The Nation Be the first to hear about Nation Travels destinations, and explore the world with kindred spirits. Be the first to hear about Nation Travels destinations, and explore the world with kindred spirits. Sign up for our Wine Club today. In the chaos otherwise known as the Trump era of American politics, history, it seems, has leapfrogged into the foreground of discussions over the countrys current predicament. In the search for answers about who we are as a nation and how we got here, a wave of new historical monographs has returned to the founders, their intentions, and their relevance for today. One such work, Joseph Elliss engaging American Dialogue: The Founders and Us, compares attitudes toward race, equality, law, and foreign policy during the founding period and our own. Another, Jill Lepores ambitious These Truths: A History of the United States, surveys these seminal issues by tracing the changing meanings of liberty and equality from the founding era to the present. Ad Policy Books in Review The Second Creation: Fixing the American Constitution in the Founding Era By Jonathan Gienapp Buy this book Jonathan Gienapps The Second Creation: Fixing the American Constitution in the Founding Era has a narrower scope, offering a close reading of constitutional history with no mention of the present. Yet his study nonetheless focuses on many of the structural and institutional issues that continue to consume usincluding presidential powers, the role of Congress, and the use and abuse of originalist approaches to the Constitutionand in so doing raises questions that shine a light on todays national debates. An intellectual historian of Americas founding period, Gienapp is particularly concerned with how the Constitution became an authoritative document in the early years of the Republic. What kind of an instrument was it? he asks. Ultimately, Gienapp shows us, the arguments for excavation and invention converged, a trend that culminated in the debate over the 1795 Jay Treaty between the United States and Britain, which sought to resolve issues lingering from the Revolutionary War. According to Gienapp, the terms of that debate bestowed upon the Constitution an unprecedented fixed and sacred statusone that, the author contends, we continue to honor to this day. Gienapp begins his study not with the Constitutional Convention of 1787, as most scholarship on the making of the Constitution does, but instead with the decade after ratification, when the first pressing questions about how to implement the Constitution challenged politicians and the public. Concerned less with the implications and consequences of the policy decisions taken at the time, and more with the ontological evolution that framed the debates over the Constitutions implementation, Gienapp endeavors to show us the transformation of what he terms the constitutional imagination during this first decade of the Republic. The congressional debates of this period, he argues, transformed the Constitution from a set of parchment barriers with an indeterminate set of definitional guidelines to a fixed, archival, and sacred text in which authority became fully tethered to words rather than to the possibility of perpetually open-ended implication. As Gienapp contends, during the early Republic, the Constitution was thereby fixed in two senses: its nature and purpose was clarified and it was firmly established as an object of authority. Gienapp takes as his conceptual launching pad the necessary and proper clause of Article I, which defines the powers and responsibilities pertaining to Congress and over which the Federalists and Anti-Federalists had sustained hotly contested debates. For the Anti-Federalists, the lack of specificity in the wording was cause for concern, since it would inevitably open up the doors for the abuse of executive powers. To combat the perils of insufficiently constrained legal authorities and political power-mongering, the Anti-Federalists had sought, largely unsuccessfully, to compel more specificity in the language during the Constitutional Convention. Now, in the early years of the Republic, their intellectual heirs renewed this call to articulate specific powers rather than allow general, aspirational principles to dictate policy decisions. Those who adhered to the idea of a set of implied powers insisted that any uncertainty could be addressed by the amendment process and by Congresss legislative power, which would be sufficient to fill in the gaps left by the vagueness of the Constitutions wording. Gienapp convincingly argues that, over the course of several seminal debates, these antagonistic views began to merge. The aspirational and the concrete began to find common ground, and in so doing, turned the Constitution into a fixed, textually authoritative document whose standard for interpretation resided in its archival past. Current Issue View our current issue An initial step toward envisioning the Constitution as a fixed entity emerged in 1789, when the First Federal Congress met and began trying to implement policies on the many issues on which the Constitution was unfinished and silent, leaving politicians uncertain as to its application. To find the answer, politicians looked to the historical record, pitting memories and documents from the Constitutional Convention against one another. As a result of this process, Gienapp contends, the removal debate introduced an essentialist constitutional imagination, a recognition that the Constitution itself was bound by the intent of its makersan intent that was to be found in the discoverable past. Gienapp sees this debate and its appeal to historical references as the first concerted, communal effort following ratification to draw upon the Constitution to justify claims, inaugurating a powerful set of practices for using and conceiving of the document that lingered well beyond the debates conclusion. While it was ultimately decided that the power to remove was vested in the president alone, the historical nature of the debate is what stands out for Gienapp, with lawmakers envisioning the Constitution as more fixed than uncertain, anchored to the original intent of its authors and ratifiers. A second step toward viewing the Constitution as a fixed and finished entity took place over the issue of whether to make the Bill of Rights supplemental to the Constitution, or to incorporate it directly into the body of the text. The decision to add the Bill of Rights as a series of amendments pointed to the Constitutions acceptance as a sacred text, one whose original form and language should not be tampered with. The incorporation debate, Gienapp concludes, realized the Constitution as an interpretive object consisting of two parts that together created a set of textual guarantees, and as such, provided the basis for decisions about the Constitutions proper application. Questions about the essence and scope of the Constitution took yet another step toward fixity in the 1791 debate over Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamiltons effort to create a national bank, one that he and the banks supporters eventually won. Once again, politicians faced the question of whether the language of the Constitution allowed for implied powers. Opponents of the bank argued that the Constitution did not, in fact, grant Congress the power to charter a national bank. Referring to the archive of the Constitutions creation and the original intent of those who had authored and approved of the Constitution, the banks opponents eschewed any interpretation beyond the explicit languagebut to make their argument and define original intent, they included not just the original authors of the Constitution but also the states that had ratified it, thus carving out a role for public opinion as a factor. Determined to refute these arguments, the banks supporters embraced their opponents playbook, citing archival and textual references and original intent rather than relying solely on the claim to implied powers. In this latest debate over the Constitution, Gienapp notes, both sides added a new element, one that he hints at in earlier debates but which found fuller expression here: the importance of popular sovereignty and public opinion as a factor in the arguments. Five years later, the arguments over the Jay Treaty renewed the controversy between those who saw the Constitution as unfinished and open to implied powers and those who sought fixity in the Constitutions language and terms. The treaty covered various contentious issues between the United States and Britain, including trade, the detention of US soldiers, and the presence of British troops on US soil. The Constitution specified that the power to enter into treaties resided with the president upon approval by the Senate. But the House questioned the relationship between treaty-making powers and legislative ones, with the latter arguably representing the will of the people. The political fervor on both sides was heightened by the fact that the Jay Treaty privileged the United States relationship with Britain, so recently the enemy of the colonists, and demoted its relationship with France, whose revolution so many Americans had identified with. Ultimately, the legislators resolved that the Houses consent power was not to be added to that of the Senate. But here, as with the other debates, Gienapp is more concerned with the structure of the arguments than with the political controversy itself. To argue their side of things, the Federalists reaffirmed the growing notion of the Constitution as a sacred text, constructed by the unique wisdom of the drafters, and advanced arguments concerning the original intent of its authors. But they also cited the authority of the people, as made apparent at state ratifying conventions, and concluded that to reverse anything stated in the Constitution would therefore go against the popular will. Those advocating for House participation in the ratification of treaties pegged their arguments to the same source of authority: the archival record, including the ratifying conventions. Both sides thus saw themselves as espousing the true meaning and spirit of the Constitution. Confronted with the Houses formal request to have a voice in treaty matters, George Washington turned to his own personal memories, reminding legislators that he, too, had been a member of the General Convention, and knowing the principles on which the Constitution was formed, he was therefore an authority on the original intent of its authors. Washington maintained that the House was wrong about what the Constitutions authors had intended. The terms of his explanationarchival references, the original intent of the founders, and the popular authority of the documentechoed those that had already been used in arguments on both sides of the issue. According to Gienapp, the debate over the treaty power thus marked the culmination of an agreement upon the Constitutions fixed nature. The president, the Senate, the House, and the political parties all concurred that the meaning of the Constitution was unchanging and that questions about the powers it granted and the protections it offered, whether explicit or implied, were to be answered by excavating the Constitutions original meaning. They now agreed not on policy prescriptions per se, but on what the Constitution wasa sacred artifactand on how it was to be interpreted and applied: according to textual analysis and archival excavation about its original intent. The Jay Treaty was wildly unpopular among the people, but more important to Gienapp was the affirmation that had been granted to the Constitution itself during the debate. As the countrys first decade wound to a close, the nations leaders had finally finished creating its founding document. Pivotal to this transformation of the constitutional imagination, and to Gienapps study, is the evolution of James Madisons understanding of the Constitution. For Gienapp, Madison perfectly illustrates the evolving mind-set of the founding era: Initially a stalwart defender of invention as the preferred means for taking the Constitution into the future, Madison became an advocate of the idea that the Constitutions guarantees were political scriptures. During the Constitutional Convention as well as the debates over the necessary and proper clause, the Bill of Rights, and the power of removal, Madison had argued against the Constitutions enumerated powers on the grounds that such fixity was nearly impossible and provided an insufficient guard against abuses of power. But when it came to the bank dispute, Madison mounted a constitutional challenge to Hamilton based on the Constitutions fixed and self-contained character, citing its explicit limits on such a venture. Madison thus marks an important turn in the growing consensus about the Constitutions fixed and authoritative nature. Gienapps studyintellectual history as textual exegesis at its bestoffers a convincing and invaluable examination of the words and ideas that marked the evolution of the American constitutional imagination. Gienapp himself shies away from such future-oriented musings, although he does concede when discussing the Bill of Rights controversy that, had things gone differently, [p]erhaps Americans would have come to think about rights and their constitutional status in wholly different, nontextual ways. Just because Gienapp forgoes the deeper political implications of this evolution, as well as the possible relevance of his work for today, doesnt mean that readers should do likewise. Perhaps the greatest lesson to be taken from Gienapps work resides in his preoccupation with the terms of debate rather than policy outcomesfor while the Constitution may be fixed, he has shown us that its power can and does alter with the times. | https://www.thenation.com/article/constitution-jonathan-gienapp-the-second-creation-review/ |
Will Sen. Eddie Farnsworth kill the Equal Rights Amendment, again? | Opinion: Instead of the 18th century American ideal of one man, one vote, what we have in Arizona in the 21st century is one man no vote. State. Sen. Eddie Farnsworth (Photo: Mark Henle/The Republic) The fact that the Equal Rights Amendment can be killed by a single man just one -- proves just how much the ERA is needed. This has happened in the Arizona Legislature before, and it could happen again this year. Last session, then-Rep. Eddie Farnsworth, who was chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, refused to give a hearing to a couple of resolutions urging the lawmakers to ratify the ERA. A committee hearing is the first step on a bills path toward a full legislative vote. Thats all the sponsors of the ERA bill were asking for a vote. They wanted their brothers and sisters in the Legislature to take a stand, one way or another, on the issue of equal rights for women. Republican leaders in the Legislature wouldn't let that happen. Instead of the 18th century American ideal of one man, one vote, what we have in Arizona in the 21st century is one man no vote. And the same situation could happen this year. A resolution to ratify the ERA (SCR1009) has been introduced again and could be killed, again, by Farnsworth, this time in his current position as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Farnsworth's charter school bonanza If Farnsworths name seems familiar it is probably owing to news articles you read by The Republics Craig Harris outlining the $13.9 million (with more to come) windfall that Farnsworth was to make over the sale of the Benjamin Franklin Charter schools. Charter schools are public schools that use your tax dollars but have a lot less transparency than traditional public schools and allow the owners and administrators to get rich off taxpayer funds in a way that would land administrators in traditional public schools in jail. Farnsworth and fellow lawmakers were more than happy to move along the bills that allow such a scandal to exist. Shut up or leave the room Not so much. Last year the Republics Dustin Gardiner described a telling exchange between Farnsworth and some female constituents whod come to the State Capitol to ask Farnsworth why he wouldnt give the ERA resolution a hearing. Gardiner described it this way: I just want to know why its not going to be heard," a woman, wearing a purple-white-and-green ERA sash, asked Farnsworth during a February hearing. Youre done," he said. "Thank you for your testimony." You ask another question, Im going to clear this room," Farnsworth replied. "I ask you respect the process that we have here." Apparently, what we have is a process that compels inquiring women to shut up or leave the room. Another reason why the ERA is so necessary. MORE BY MONTINI: Read or Share this story: https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/ej-montini/2019/02/07/sen-eddie-farnsworth-equal-rights-amendment-arizona/2798865002/ | https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/ej-montini/2019/02/07/sen-eddie-farnsworth-equal-rights-amendment-arizona/2798865002/ |
Who Would The Denver Nuggets Most Likely Make Available If They Made A Last Minute Deadline Trade? | Mere hours remain until the NBA trade deadline today at 3 p.m. EST, and despite the flurry of dealmaking over the past few days which has seen the movement of prominent players such as Tobias Harris and Otto Porter Jr., nary a hint of a trade rumor has escaped from the Pepsi Center in Denver. This should not come as much of a surprise. As I wrote for Forbes earlier this week, most signs have pointed to the Denver Nuggets standing pat at the deadline. The most probable outcome at this point appears to be that president of basketball operations Tim Connelly and his front office staff will opt to remain patient with the development of the much-beloved young players on their current roster, who they have carefully selected and cultivated over the past several years, rather than attempting to deal any of them in an effort to boost Denvers shorter-term success. Nevertheless, surprises can always happen at the deadline, and even if the Nuggets decide to keep their roster mostly intact, that may not preclude the possibility of at least making a minor move. And while it seems incredibly unlikely that they will deal away any of their regular starting lineup, their most promising young role players, their reliable backup center in Mason Plumlee, or their two 2018 draft picks, tinkering around with the end of the bench remains more plausible. Here are some potential candidates, with the caveat that this is purely speculation, and not the reporting of any sourced or substantiated rumors. As I covered for Forbes last month, it was reported by ESPNs Adrian Wojnarowski that the Nuggets biggest 2018 free agent pickup could return as early as February 11, which potentially would make him Denvers sole trade deadline acquisition. Since that report, however, there has been no further word, which makes such an imminent return seem less plausible. The surprisingly superb play of Monte Morris as backup point guard has effectively erased any pressure Denver may have had in bringing Thomas back , and moreover even raised concerns that introducing him to the mix could cost Morris minutes and disrupt the Nuggets chemistry. It is unclear whether any teams might be willing to gamble on adding Thomas in hopes that he could give their playoff chances a boost by adding a veteran former All-Star, and if so whether the Nuggets would be willing to risk what could appear as a show of disloyalty. But if both those boxes were checked, Thomas might at least return a second-round pick. And as the Nuggets have traded away several of their future second-round picks picks which Connelly is now famous for making the most of they just might consider that a worthwhile exchange. Trey Lyles Because Denver opted not to extend Trey Lyles contract by the October 16, 2018 deadline a move which in itself may have indicated a reluctance to commit to him long term the power forward on the fourth year of his rookie contract will become an unrestricted free agent this summer. With all three of Jamal Murray, Malik Beasley and Juancho Hernangomez becoming eligible for extensions on July 1 and rookie forwards Michael Porter Jr. and Jarred Vanderbilt waiting in the wings, it seems unlikely that the Nuggets will want to pay Lyles the kind of salary he is surely hoping to earn. Lyles has had some value especially as injury insurance for Paul Millsap, but his .058 win shares per 48 minutes are the fewest of any player on the roster with over 500 minutes. With Denvers recent slippage on defense, it is conceivable they could try to deal Lyles for a small forward or power forward on a reasonable deal who could bolster them on that end of the court. Tyler Lydon In what effectively was a vote of no confidence, the Nuggets declined Tyler Lydons third-year option last October, making him an unrestricted free agent this summer. The Catch-22 with Lydon, however, is that he has struggled so badly to make any impact at all in the few garbage time opportunities he has had as to render his trade value virtually nonexistent. Lydon, however, remains a skilled three-point shooter with good size, and if any team out there were willing to take a flyer on him for a second-round pick, it seems likely the Nuggets might take that deal, especially since clearing a roster spot would also open the possibility of getting in on a buyout market which should have a fair share of players this season. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/joelrush/2019/02/07/who-would-the-denver-nuggets-most-likely-make-available-if-they-made-a-last-minute-deadline-trade/ |
How Did Twitter Perform In Q4? | Twitter announced its fourth quarter and full-year 2018 results on Thursday, February 7, reporting a 24% increase in net revenues to $909 million. Revenue growth was slightly ahead of market expectations as well as our expectations. The companys adjusted EBITDA margin expanded by about 2 percentage points over Q417 to 44% for the quarter (and increased around 4% to 39% for the full year). The overall GAAP net income and EPS beat consensus at $255 million and $0.33, respectively. Following the earnings release, Twitters stock traded down by over 5% despite the earnings beat. The companys total monthly active users (MAUs) declined both year-on-year and sequentially to 321 million. Management also disclosed that it will stop reporting monthly active users going forward, and will instead begin reporting monetizable daily active users. Its reported mDAUs stood at 126 million in Q4, up by around 9% year-on-year. Our interactive dashboard on Twitters Price Estimate outlines our forecasts and estimates for the company. You can modify any of the key drivers to visualize the impact of changes on its valuation. It should be noted that we are in the process of updating our model for the new reporting structure, which is not yet reflected in the dashboard. As mentioned above, Twitters stock traded down following its earnings release. This was primarily due to the decline in MAUs, the change in reporting structure and relatively soft guidance. For Q1 2019, Twitter expects total revenue of $715 million $775 million, and GAAP operating income of $5 million $35 million. The companys focus on user base cleanup may have further impacts on its overall user base, though that impact should be less noticeable on the new mDAU metric. Going forward, we expect Twitters user base to see modest growth over the next few years despite some of the aforementioned factors. Its international growth should remain solid, and we expect its overall ARPU figure to see a boost from an improved (and cleaned up) user base as well as overall platform improvement. Explore example interactive dashboards and create your own | https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2019/02/07/how-did-twitter-perform-in-q4/ |
Will Cat Loss Affect CNA Financial's (CNA) Earnings in Q4? | CNA Financial Corporation CNA is slated to report fourth-quarter 2018 results on Feb 11, before the market opens. In the last reported quarter, the company delivered a positive surprise of 3.54%. Lets see, how things are shaping up for this announcement. CNA Financial is likely to have reported premium growth in the to-be-reported quarter, fueled by a probable increase in new business, renewal premium change and solid retention. Also, higher premiums across its segments Commercial, International and Specialty are expected to drive this upside. Moreover, a strong execution across all production metrics might have contributed to this probable improvement. In fact, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the metric is pegged at $1.8 billion, reflecting a 1.6% rise from the prior-year period. Riding on the strength of rising interest rates, possibility of higher limited partnership returns and stable fixed income returns, we anticipate CNA Financial to witness better investment results in the fourth quarter. On the back of improved premiums and investment results, CNA Financial has possibly experienced top-line growth in the soon-to-be-reported quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is currently pegged at $2.6 billion, representing a 7% increase from the year-ago quarter. CNA Financial continues to efficiently manage its long-term care book of business through product claim management, thereby mitigating risk and aiding rate increase. Being a property and casualty (P&C) insurer, CNA Financial is persistently exposed to unpredictable weather-related events. Consequently, in the fourth quarter, the company is likely to suffer a substantial level of catastrophe loss, stemming from the cat events that occurred during the period. This in turn, might affect the insurers combined ratio, thus denting its underwriting performance in the quarter to be reported. In fact, the consensus mark for the combined ratio is pegged at 95%, indicating a deterioration of 100 basis points from the prior-year quarter. Further, the company has probably incurred higher expenses, primarily due to increasing net claims and benefits plus amortization of deferred acquisition costs. This rise in expenses could restrict the operating margin expansion, hurting the companys overall profitability in turn. The impact of catastrophe loss and anticipated higher expenses could weigh on the companys bottom line in the fourth quarter. In fact, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings stands at 81 cents, reflecting a decline of 22.9% from the year-earlier quarter. What Our Quantitative Model States Our proven model does not conclusively show that CNA Financial is likely to beat on earnings this season. This is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a favorable Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) for this to happen. But that is not the case here as you will see below. Earnings ESP: CNA Financial has an Earnings ESP of -27.39%. This is because the Most Accurate Estimate is pegged at 59 cents, lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 81 cents. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter. CNA Financial Corporation Price and EPS Surprise CNA Financial Corporation Price and EPS Surprise | CNA Financial Corporation Quote Zacks Rank: CNA Financial carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell), which lowers the predictive power of ESP. We caution against Sell-rated stocks (4 or 5) going into an earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions. Stocks to Consider Some stocks worth considering from the finance sector with the perfect mix of elements to outshine estimates this time around are as follows: Ares Capital Corporation ARCC is set to report fourth-quarter earnings on Feb 12. The company has an Earnings ESP of +1.10% and a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. | https://news.yahoo.com/cat-loss-affect-cna-financials-153803869.html |
What was the Cold War? | AFP US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have said their countries are suspending their involvement in an agreement that both of their countries signed in 1987 towards the end of the Cold War The US and Russia have suspended their involvement in a treaty, which they signed back in 1987. The treaty - called the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty - banned both nations from using short and medium-range missiles (except sea-launched weapons). It was signed by both nations towards the end of the Cold War, which was a 40-year conflict between the east and the west. By 1991 - when the Cold War came to an end - nearly 2,700 missiles had been destroyed. On 1 February, the US said it would withdraw from what was agreed in the treaty and Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia would start developing new missiles too. Read on to find out more about the Cold War and why it was such a significant part of modern history. The Cold War was a division between Russia and western countries (the US and its allies, like Britain), which started in the 1940s and lasted until 1991. It is hard to pinpoint an exact date for when it started. It was a war between two ideas and ways of ruling - communism (the east) and capitalism (the west). This map shows the west in blue and the east in red, with the US also on the side of the west The Russians operated a communist state (from 1922 to 1991), while western countries like the US were capitalist countries. Throughout the Cold War, communist and capitalist nations tried to out-do each other, competing to develop the best technologies and weapons. To understand why the Cold War started, it is necessary to understand where communism in Russia came from, as it was the first time that this system of ruling had been introduced. In 1917, the Bolsheviks took power in Russia after the October Revolution and a new political system called communism was introduced. (In the years to follow, some other countries including China, North Korea and Cuba would adopt communism too.) Getty Images A group of demonstrators gather in Palace Square, Moscow in May 1917 In 1922, Russia - along with countries under its control - formed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (the USSR) - better known as the Soviet Union (or the Soviets). It was a communist group and did not agree with western, capitalist countries or their way of ruling. The Cold War started in the aftermath of World War Two, but its foundations came earlier than this. During World War Two, something unusual happened. After Hitler started to invade USSR-controlled territories, the Soviet Union joined forces with Britain - traditionally its political enemy - to fight against Germany. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour in December 1941 and the US joined World War Two as well, this brought together the USSR and the US - also traditionally political enemies. Together, Britain, the US and the USSR became unlikely allies known as the Grand Alliance, fighting against the Nazis. This is why 1941 is sometimes said to be the start of the Cold War, when these three nations were brought together. Getty Images In December 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour, which led to the US joining World War Two In two separate meetings in 1943 and 1945, the leaders of Britain, the US and the USSR met to decide how they would deal with the Nazis in Europe. Winston Churchill was the UK prime minister, Franklin D Roosevelt was the US president and Joseph Stalin was premier of the USSR. But by the time it came to putting into action what they had agreed, the leaders had changed. By the time of an important meeting in 1945 in Potsdam in Berlin, there was a new UK prime minister (Clement Atlee) and a new US president (Harry S Truman). President Truman was more outspoken than President Roosevelt about his dislike of Stalin and communism, and Stalin didn't like how the US treated the USSR. Britain and the US did not trust that Stalin was going to allow elections to happen in areas which the USSR would control after the war - something that was agreed at an earlier meeting. Even during the war, Stalin had plans to take over Eastern Europe. As the Soviets drove the Nazis back, they had begun to occupy large parts of Eastern Europe and they wanted to impose communism in these areas. This was a worry for the US and Britain, but the Grand Alliance still had to work together to defeat the Japanese. Getty Images US President Truman (pictured here) was more vocal than Roosevelt about his dislike of Stalin and communism In 1945, the US dropped two atomic bombs on Japan - one on Hiroshima and another, three days later, on Nagasaki. Around 214,000 people lost their lives. While the Japanese surrendered from the war a few days later, some have said that dropping the bombs like this was also a way for the US to show the Soviet Union how powerful it was and who was really in control. Shortly after, World War Two was over - but relations between the Grand Alliance had become tense and the Cold War had begun. Cold War begins After World War Two was fought to ensure people's freedoms, the Western allies became worried that in many parts of Europe, Nazi dictatorship was simply being replaced by communist dictatorships. In 1946, Churchill - who was UK prime minister again - declared that an "iron curtain" had come down across Europe, as it was divided up between the east and the west. This became known as the famous iron curtain speech. Between 1945 and 1948, the Soviets made Albania, Bulgaria, East Germany, Romania, Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia communist nations. This gave them a buffer zone to protect the USSR from any potential future invasions by the west. Greece looked like it was the next country in Eastern Europe to become communist. Britain didn't have the money to stop it from happening and the west became worried about how communism was spreading. Getty Images General George Marshall came up with a plan that might help to stop the spread of communism in Eastern Europe In March 1947, the US vowed to help to stop this from happening. President Truman made a speech in which he promised that the US would help any country that took a stand against communism. It was called the Truman Doctrine. In June that year, he sent General George Marshall to see what could be done. Marshall came up with a plan - Marshall Aid - that would offer European countries money to recover after World War Two and reject communism. In 1947, Stalin had set up Cominform - an alliance of communist countries - and he forbade any of them from applying for Marshall Aid. Then, in January 1949, the Soviets set up a council called Comecon to run its very own Molotov Plan of financial help to try to keep the communist nations on its side. In a way, both sides were trying to buy support from countries. Berlin would become a significant city in the conflict between the West and the Soviets. After World War Two, Germany had been divided up into four between the US, Britain, France and Russia. Berlin was also divided in half, even though the west's portion of Berlin was surrounded by Soviet areas. It was the last gap in the USSR's buffer zone - and Stalin wanted control of it. The Allies used money from Marshall Aid to help Germany to recover after the war. But the areas controlled by the USSR were poor and it made communism look bad. Stalin set out to take over Berlin. In June 1948, Britain, France and the US joined their areas of Germany together in what would become known as West Germany, with West Berlin as its capital. Between 1949 and 1961 an estimated 2.7 million East Germans left for West Germany in the hope of a better life. Getty Images Joseph Stalin wanted to take control of Berlin Stalin did not like any of this. On 23 June 1948, he cut the west's road and rail access to West Berlin, in what became known as the Berlin Blockade. This meant West Berlin could only be accessed by the air. For 11 months, something called the Berlin Airlift supplied West Berlin with food and supplies from the air, as the west didn't want to force their way through by land and risk starting another war. The blockade was lifted in May 1949, but the conflict between East and West Germany was more strongly established than ever. The Cold War intensifies In 1949, Nato - the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, which was a group of countries working together to defend themselves - was formed as a result of the Berlin Blockade. It included the US, UK, Canada, West Germany, Portugal, France, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Iceland, Italy and Luxembourg. The USSR was not invited to join the group. In 1953, Stalin died and Nikita Khruschev became leader of the Soviets. He spoke about wanting to improve relations with the west and bring more peace, but this did not happen. In fact, 1953 to 1960 was one of the tensest periods of the Cold War. In May 1955, Khruschev set up a military group of communist countries called the Warsaw Pact, in response to the formation of Nato. It included the USSR, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, East Germany and Albania. Western countries were not part of it. This only made the feeling of east versus west even stronger. Getty Images Nikita Khruschev took over as leader of the USSR when Stalin died in 1953 The world was now very much divided between two opposing sides who had different ideas. While these groups weren't necessarily fighting against each other directly in physical battles, if any opposing countries got into a disagreement about something, the threat that this could escalate into something much bigger became very real. The two sides also got involved in other conflicts like the Korean War in (1950-1953) and the Vietnam War (1955-1975) on opposing sides, which heightened the division between them. By the early 1960s though, the situation in Berlin had become embarrassing for the Soviets. Nearly 2,000 refugees were escaping from the east and fleeing to the west every single day. Khruschev needed to take action to assert the USSR's power. When the west refused to leave its zone in West Berlin, on 13 August 1961 Khruschev closed the border between East and West Berlin - and the Berlin Wall was built. Getty Images This picture shows East German workers building the Berlin wall in 1961, while being watched by communist police This map shows how the Berlin Wall was built around the outside of West Berlin This became more than just a barrier dividing Berlin though. It became one of the most famous symbols of the Cold War division. 'Ich bin ein Berliner' On 26 June 1963, US President Kennedy went to Berlin and gave a speech in which he said that Berlin was a symbol of freedom and the fight against communism. His strong position showed the Soviets that the west had no intention of leaving Berlin. It is often called the 'Ich bin ein Berliner' ('I am a Berliner') speech, as he showed solidarity with the people there. The space race and the arms race were also heightening tensions. The space race was a competition between the east and the west during the Cold War for who could dominate space exploration. In 1957, the Soviets launched the first satellite Sputnik to orbit around the Earth. Four years later, they sent the first man into space. To enjoy the CBBC Newsround website at its best you will need to have JavaScript turned on. (October 2017) The US responded by sending their own man into space and pledging to become the first nation to put a man on the Moon by the end of the 1960s. They achieved this in 1969. During the Cold War, the west and east competed for who could build the best missiles and bombs. This was known as the arms race. Ever since the US dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945, the USSR wanted to have its own similar weapon. On 29 August 1949, the Soviets set off their first nuclear bomb. But one of the tensest moments of the whole Cold War came in 1962, with the Cuban missile crisis. Getty Images This intelligence photograph shows missile stands lined up in Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis For 13 days in October 1962, the world stood on the brink of nuclear war when the Soviet Union provided communist Cuba with missiles that they could use against the US, who wanted to invade Cuba and remove its leaders (the Castros) from power. The situation was eventually defused. Some say that it paved the way for sides to work together on agreements later in the Cold War about the development of weapons. The Cold War in summary The Cold War was a series of events where anything the west did, the USSR would respond by doing the same. In politics, Truman's Doctrine in 1947 was met by the USSR's Cominform. In economics, the Marshall Plan was followed by Stalin's Comecon in 1949. In terms of defence, the USSR responded to the formation of Nato in 1949 with its own Warsaw Pact in 1955 between the eastern European communist countries. The atomic bombs dropped on Japan in 1945 established the US as a superpower in terms of the weapons it had. But four years later, the Soviets set off their very own nuclear bomb. There were several factors that led to the end of the Cold War. During the 1970s, tensions between the west and east relaxed a little during a period called detente. Agreements were signed to encourage more peaceful relations, and Soviet and US crafts even docked together in space. The US allowed China - a communist nation - to join the United Nations and, in 1972, US President Richard Nixon even visited China. But these turned out to be little more than attempts to make the world think that everyone was getting along. Neither side stuck to their end of the agreements they'd made and their involvement in wars in Afghanistan, Nicaragua and Angola in the late 1970s showed the divisions were still very much there. But some countries were getting fed up about how much control the Soviets had over their lives. This had resulted in uprisings, which the USSR crushed, but it showed a weakening of the Soviet's communist ideas in Eastern Europe. The arrival of two leaders in the 1980s changed everything - US President Ronald Reagan in 1980 and USSR premier Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985. The arrival of these two leaders - US President Ronald Reagan in 1980 and USSR premier Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985 - changed the course of the Cold War Reagan was chosen partly because he was critical of the Soviet Union and strongly anti-communism. In a speech in 1983, he called the USSR an "evil empire". He increased US spending on the military and worked closely with UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to exert pressure on the Soviet Union, to the point that it had no choice but to back down. Gorbachev, meanwhile, realised he couldn't match what the US was spending on weapons, so started talks to limit the production of nuclear weapons on both sides. If Russia was going to be a strong, global superpower, he knew it would have to make up with the west. He also introduced more popular policies promoting more freedom of speech and restructured the economy. By the 1980s, the west and the USSR were learning how to live alongside each other more, but there was still unrest in Eastern European countries where people were poor and wanting to flee from the east. By the end of 1980s, the increased freedom and openness that Gorbachev had promoted in the USSR began to spread across Eastern Europe. The Berlin Wall had come to be a symbol of oppression and everything that was wrong with Soviet rule. On 8 November 1989, the Berlin Wall came down and the border was opened. You can watch Newsround's special programme to mark 25 years since the Berlin Wall came down here. Getty AFP There were great celebrations as the Berlin Wall was torn down in 1989 Due to economic problems, unrest in Eastern Europe and USSR defeat in Afghanistan, in December 1991, communism in the USSR - and the Cold War - came to an end. Russia declared itself a republic and elected a man called Boris Yeltsin as its president. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/47122488 |
Is a Beat in Store for Molina Healthcare (MOH) Q4 Earnings? | Molina Healthcare, Inc MOH is scheduled to report fourth-quarter 2018 results on Feb 11. In the last reported quarter, the company delivered a positive surprise of 75.8%. Q4 Earnings Expectations Molina Healthcare expected fourth-quarter earnings to be around $1.90 per share. This upside is most likely to be backed by higher membership and restructuring initiatives taken by the company. The companys Medicaid business is also expected to carry on performing well in the fourth quarter. However, the same would likely be offset by the Marketplace business, rising medical costs, tax rate and an increase in general and administrative expense ratio. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the companys fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at $1.52, up 347% year over year. However, its revenues might suffer due to poor performance by the Marketplace business. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the companys revenues is pegged at a decline of 7.8% year over year to $4.5 billion. The companys operational efficiency might have improved in the to-be-reported quarter. However, administrative expense of the company is likely to increase in the fourth quarter due to higher marketing programs and certain transformation measures adopted by the company. The company earlier expected that the sale of Pathways would incur a loss of around 60 cents per share in the fourth quarter. The company projected the general and administrative expense ratio to be 8%, primarily due to seasonal spending, IT project costs, costs related to transformation efforts, which would likely bear an impact on 2019 earnings. Long-term debt of the company is likely to mount due to its growth-related investments. Earlier, Molina Healthcare issued a projection for the medical care ratio regarding the second half in the upper 70s bracket because of shift in membership, utilization, etc. Our proven model conclusively shows that Molina Healthcare is likely to beat on earnings this to-be-reported quarter. This is because the stock needs to have the right combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a favorable Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) for this to happen. Earnings ESP: Molina Healthcare has an Earnings ESP of +2.89% as the Most Accurate Estimate of $1.57 is pegged higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.52. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter. Molina Healthcare, Inc Price and EPS Surprise Molina Healthcare, Inc Price and EPS Surprise | Molina Healthcare, Inc Quote Zacks Rank: Molina Healthcare sports a Zacks Rank of 1, which increases the predictive power of ESP. Further, with a positive ESP in the combination, the stocks chances of beating estimates are significantly higher. Conversely, the Sell-rated stocks (#4 or 5) should never be considered going into an earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions. Upcoming Releases From Medical Sector Some other stocks worth considering from the medical sector are as follows: Adamas Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ADMS is set to report fourth-quarter 2018 earnings performance on Feb 28. The stock has an Earnings ESP of +5.15% and a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Tenet Healthcare Corporation THC is slated to announce fourth-quarter earnings on Feb 25. It has a Zacks Rank of 3 and an Earnings ESP of +4.17%. Alder BioPharmaceuticals, Inc. ALDR has an Earnings ESP of +13.86% and a Zacks Rank #2. The company is scheduled to release fourth-quarter earnings on Feb 25. From more than 4,000 companies covered by the Zacks Rank, these 10 were picked by a process that consistently beats the market. Even during 2018 while the market dropped -5.2%, our Top 10s were up well into double-digits. And during bullish 2012 2017, they soared far above the market's +126.3%, reaching +181.9%. This year, the portfolio features a player that thrives on volatility, an AI comer, and a dynamic tech company that helps doctors deliver better patient outcomes at lower costs. Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Alder BioPharmaceuticals, Inc. (ALDR) : Free Stock Analysis Report Adamas Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ADMS) : Free Stock Analysis Report Tenet Healthcare Corporation (THC) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research | https://news.yahoo.com/beat-store-molina-healthcare-moh-153403124.html |
Can Conversation Bridge Americas Political Divide? | Paula Green has worked in peace-building and conflict resolution for three decades, often in places torn apart by war and ethnic violence. After the 2016 election, she took on an assignment closer to home, as lead organizer for Hands Across the Hills, a group that tries to create dialogue among Americans of varying political beliefs. In 2017 and 2018, Hands Across the Hills brought together progressives from western Massachusetts and conservatives from eastern Kentuckys coal country for two meetings, one in each of their communities, so that they could speak to Americans with different points of view and work together on common projects. This week, the Times reported on several conflict-resolution groups that are doing similar work, amid fears that the U.S. is becoming dangerously divided. I recently spoke with Green by phone. During our conversation, which has been edited and condensed for clarity, we discussed what her work abroad made her think about the U.S., why she thinks the stereotyping of Trump voters is a problem, and whether more dialogue can really heal our politics and society. The demonization that comes when war is imminent is very dangerous and a very common practice in many conflicts around the world. It creates a downward spiral that becomes harder and harder to stop. What were seeing in this country is a tremendous amount of dehumanization and deteriorating intergroup relationships across all lines of race, class, religion, culture, geography, etc. I have become very concerned about those kinds of attitudes deteriorating further and further, and stepping into this work, for me, in the United States, is a way to respond to that fear. The ideal is before conflict, but nobody wants to pay the bills. Its very difficult to get in until the barn has burned down. Then suddenly theres a rush to bring in N.G.O.s to do this kind of work. Most of it occurs after conflict. In the middle of conflict, if its a hot conflict and an actual war going on, [its] not a good time to do peace-building. The time to do peace-building is after the war, when people are looking at the wreckage of their lives and communities and feeling the imperatives to rebuild. It seems like we havent had that yet in America. We still have a situation where half the country is really angry and upset about things but wants to unseat the President in an election. Another forty per cent of the country basically still thinks Trump is doing a really good job and wants to see him relected. Yes, it is, because people in this country are very aware of the dangers. Theres a tremendous need now for the kind of work that were doing to bring together divided communities. What we are doing with Hands Across the Hills is unique in terms of the form that Ive devised, but there are many other organizations also attempting to bridge divides through dialogue. Its a growing movement because its a necessary movement. I think that people on the left are very aware of the deterioration of our government and dont want to see further damage and are very eager for a shift. People on the right, as you just said, are disgruntled and, in many cases, desperate for attention, for job creation, for sustenance in their lives, for an end to the struggles theyve been feeling. They also want to move on with it, and they just have different ideas on how to do that. Theyre expecting that Trump will do it for them. Theyre also supporting someone who seems to be the single biggest cause of a lot of these things. From our point of view, yes. When I was in Kentucky, their point of view was very different. Sure, but maybe we should come to some judgment about whether their point of view is correct. Yeah, I dont want to say, for me, whether its correct or incorrect. Its just their point of view. I may not agree with it. Right, but its a lot of peoples point of view that global warming isnt happening. Thats right. There are many misconstructions of facts. Many. A leads to B, Isaac. What Im learningand this is really significantis that in the interaction with people, in the learning to listen, in the learning to be respectful, in the learning to not be judgmental of them, the listening can happen. If we try to do the shifting without any listening, it doesnt work. Its not possible for people to suddenly wake up and change their minds. Change happens through gradual shifts, and those shifts happen in human relationships across the divides. Of course. One doesnt negate the other. You told the Times, People are making up stories about the other Muslims, Trump voters, whoever the other is. They dont have the values that we have. They dont behave like we do. They are not nice. Of course. Well, thats why Im asking, because youre making a comparison between people making up stories about Trump voters and people making up stories about Muslims and both of them being the other. Its dangerous to other anybody, because its based on ignorance. Making up serious hypes about people or believing serious hypes about people are not based on the knowledge of those people. What happened for me when I met the people from the coal country in Kentucky is I learned about them. I learned about their struggles. I learned to care about them and their struggles. Not to agree with them. Not to support their political points of view, but to understand why they made those choices. All the circumstances in their lifetimes that have led them to those [choices]. Theyve been hard circumstances. Theyve had very tough lives. Trump promised them pie in the sky, and theyre looking for pie because theres nothing else there anymore. O.K. It seems to me that there are a lot of Republicans who have more money and are better-educated and not suffering at all. Many of them support Trump for the same reasons that these people in Kentucky who are struggling do, which suggests to me that maybe its something other than just their struggle that is causing them to support the President. Well, Im sure it is. Isaac, in some ways, I think were still fighting the Civil War, and were certainly still fighting the wars of the nineteen-sixties. We have very unresolved cultural issues in the country. Bringing up the Civil War. Im just curious how you think things like race and so on play into this. They play into this very deeply. I just started a second project, actually, a second dialogue project, and its on race and racism. Two weeks ago, I had thirty people in Beaufort, South Carolina, from South Carolina, Massachusetts, and Kentucky. A very mixed group: black, white, and a few indigenous. That will continue when they all come to Massachusetts in June. Were using the same model as we used for the Kentucky project for this new project, which we called Bridge4Unity. It is about race. It is a fundamentally tragic four-hundred-year-old problem in this country that hasnt gone away. I didnt hear any people in the videos of your organization that I watched say that race was the reason that they voted for Trump, even though, obviously, we can agree that thats a giant, giant part of his appeal. [Hands Across the Hills has posted videos of the encounters between the Massachusetts and Kentucky groups.] It makes me wonder how much their self-professed reasons for voting for Trump should be taken at face value. I dont know how to answer that. Because I cant speak for them. You agree that race had a huge role in Trumps election. Absolutely. If, then, were talking to people, and everyone we talk to doesnt mention something like race at all, it makes me wonder how much value there is in talking to them. Well, we talked about many things. We didnt talk about race, but some of those people are now in this new dialogue, and theyre talking about race. Theyre learning. They were listening to African-Americans for three days and learning a lot. Really shifting. One of the African-American women was talking about having a teen-age son and the terror she feels every day of her life when her son leaves home and goes out on the streets. She was speaking very emotionally about this, and one of the white women from Kentucky said, Well, I have an eighteen-year-old grandson, and I worry about him, but I understand, listening to you, that what I have to worry about is not nearly as significant as what you have to worry about, because I dont worry about my grandson being killed every day when he goes out on the street, and thats your worry, possibly being killed or harassed. There was a shift. I should say that the videos are very moving, and it is nice to see people with different points of view talk. I dont want to sound overly glib about that. In one of the videos, theres a woman from Kentucky who says that deep down, both groups want the same things for their families and their children. At the basic level of core human needs, I think its very much true, Isaac. I think everybody wants safety, security, health, health coverage, education, education coverage for the children. Those things are the same. Every human being wants those, all of us in our society. I could be an Iranian-American in San Francisco and want all those things, and a Trump voter in Kentucky might also want those things, but for a Trump voter in Kentucky, keeping Muslims out of the country might be part of what is meant by safety and security. To say that both people want the same exact same things seems to me, at some level, to miss larger dynamics. Well, they want the same thing. They dont go about them in the same way. One interesting example of that was that we talked about guns. The question I asked was, What makes you safe? The Kentuckians said, Everybody having guns, and the Massachusetts people said, Nobody having guns. They both want safety. Talking is going to get us started and help us get to the actions. I want to give you a quote from James Baldwin. James Baldwin said [that] some things that are named cannot be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is named. We were doing the naming. Now people are doing the actions. The Kentucky group has been meeting regularly. They have felt shifts in their lives. The race groups are each meeting once a month now to do their own dialogues on race and also to do actions in their communities, to bring people together to talk more about racial justice. That is excellent. The dialogue is not an end in itself, Isaac. Dialogue is a means toward people being able to act together and have more sensitivity around the issues theyre acting on. Its not an end point; its a step towards social justice and social change. The gun thing is very interesting. I feel like Ive listened to a lot of people explain why guns are important to them in the last ten years of my life, and Im not sure why that knowledge is getting me any closer to solving the problem of guns in America. Well, it gets me a little bit closer, if I can get to the point where they begin to open up their views about guns. For example, one of the conversations that I was having with a couple of the Kentucky women came right after the Parkland shooting. We were on a radio program together, being interviewed by NPR. We had a chance to chat for a while. Parkland had just happened. They said, Oh, were really against assault rifles. I thought, This is a very good crack. We have started to do some work together to oppose assault rifles. Thats only the first step on guns, but I thought it was very significant that it was something we could do together. We had an agreement on this. I wouldnt have known that had I not known them. If a liberal person said to you, I like this dialogue idea. I think we need healing. I hate the direction our country is going in, but the only way Im willing to have this dialogue is when Trump is out of office and is repudiated, in part, by his own voters. I would prefer not to wait. I think its very important to do this now. I think its part of a process of rebuilding our country. Part of that process will determine what happens with the elections. Now is the time. Forget the practical for a minute. Im just curious about what you think of that as a sentiment. I dont agree with it. Not from a dialogue point of view, because a dialogue point of view is to bring the controversial issues to the table and share themnot to wait until we have a change before we talk to each other, especially in this country, which is so fragile now and could get much worse. I think the othering is unskillful in any direction. I think all of us liberals benefit from listening and learning from people rather than demonizing them. Its a much better way to go. Part of whats missing for people is the feeling of being respected. Part of whats driving the vote is this feeling of being disrespected and dismissed and called the flyover zone. Those are human struggles. The more we listen, the more we can empathize, the more we can work together. The more we stereotype and demonize and other and belittle, the more people we lose. No, but you can learn to have it by listening. Not respect for the political views, but respect for the person. A person is larger than their political views. Personally, no. I guess my feeling is that theres been a lot of listening from a lot of people about Trump and his voters and what they want. I just dont think thats the problem, the lack of listening. I think theres endless listening on both sides, and theres different ends and different ideas of how to get to those ends. Its really hard to figure that out. Its true. Its very hard to figure it out. Maybe thats the core of the disagreement. Im not sure I understand what youre saying. Im saying that, if people have different ends in mind, different ideas, then listening, it seems, has less valuebecause no matter how much you listen, youre always going to have conflict, because you want different things. The value of listening, to me, seems to increase if people have the same ends, because then you talk, and you figure out how to get to those ends. Yeah. I guess what Im struggling with right now is I don't know how youre going to write about this if you have no belief in it. Its a Q. & A. Were talking this out. O.K. I want to talk it out, but Im concerned that its anathema to you. You have such objections to everything Im saying that its a concern how I can talk about this. Well, youve said a lot of things that Ive found interesting. Good. I agree with you about the value of listening. I just think that its very hard when its different ends. I worry that listening has less value than it does otherwise. Thats all. That may be true, but it still seems to me that, in the choice between listening and building relationships and demonizing, the dehumanization of others harms us all. Living and breathing our stereotypes and our prejudice about the other is not good for us. Its not good for us as a country. Its not good for me as an individual human being or for you as an individual human being, and thats the work Im trying to focus on. Thats the piece of this that Im working on. No, I hear you. I hear you. This is really interesting conversation. I really appreciate you taking the time. Yes. Im hoping youre understanding what Im saying. Maybe this gets to the core of our disagreement. I understand what youre saying, but we disagree. This is getting very meta, but you see what I mean. Yeah. | https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-new-yorker-interview/can-conversation-bridge-americas-political-divide |
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