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What is the Saints choppa-style dance? | If you've never heard of Darwin "Choppa" Turner and his 2003 single "Choppa Style," the New Orleans Saints are here to help. "Choppa Style," the soundtrack of the Saints' season, has seemingly taken hold of every member of Who Dat nation. In November, Alvin Kamara, Mark Ingram and Michael Thomas could be seen dancing to the single during the Saints' blowout win over the Eagles. Drew Brees's kids broke out the dance in pajamas and Santa hats on Christmas Eve. On Dec. 9, the dance and refrain went viral when backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater introduced what he called the "Bike Life" dance to the New Orleans locker room, revving an imaginary handlebar's throttle. By the time the team geared up for the postseason, the motorcycle-themed dance became a bona fide craze and the Saints' unofficial anthem. The 2003 track peaked at No. 49 on the national R&B charts. The Saints were seen breaking out the moves before their 2014 win over the Eagles went final. The dancing continued well after the victory when Drew Brees threw an early birthday party on Jan. 14 and invited Choppa, a New Orleans native, to the bash. The Saints had plenty of reason to celebrate in 2018. The team's 133 regular season record was good enough to earn them the No. 1 seed in the NFC and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Brees finished the season with 3,992 yards, 32 touchdowns and five interceptions and could very well be named the league's MVP by the end of the month. And if the Saints defeat the Los Angeles Rams for the NFC title and a trip to Super Bowl LIII on Sunday, they'll certainly have reason to continue to dance. | https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/01/20/new-orleans-saints-choppa-style-dance-explained |
Will Berkshire Hathaway Finally Pay a Dividend in 2019? | Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) is one of the best-known companies in the world, largely because of the popularity of CEO Warren Buffett. Seen as one of the greatest investors of all time, Buffett loves to invest Berkshire's money in stocks that pay dividend income -- but he's never seen it necessary to have Berkshire start paying a dividend of its own to its shareholders. Few longtime shareholders have complained about Berkshire's lack of a dividend payout, given its strong share-price gains. Yet there are still some who believe that Berkshire should pay a dividend, especially because it has so much cash on hand. Below, we'll weigh those arguments and see whether it's likely that it will pull the trigger on a dividend to shareholders in 2019. Stats on Berkshire Hathaway Metric Current Stat Net income, last 12 months $61.96 billion Free cash flow, last 12 months $21.5 billion Earnings per Class A share, last 12 months $37,678 Earnings growth from full-year 2017 38% Data source: Yahoo! Finance. Buffett on dividends Buffett isn't blind to the apparent disconnect between Berkshire's policy on choosing dividend-paying investments and its own choice not to pay dividends. In his 2012 shareholder letter, Buffett admitted that Berkshire Hathaway generates a huge amount of available capital and that he expects it to continue to do so for the foreseeable future. He then set out his hierarchy for the best uses of that capital: In Buffett's own words, "A company's management should first examine reinvestment possibilities offered by its current business -- projects to become more efficient, expand territorially, extend and improve product lines, or to otherwise widen the economic moat separating the company from its competitors." When profitable reinvestment opportunities are available, they can produce greater benefits for shareholders than receiving cash. After exhausting those reinvestment opportunities, Buffett says, "Our next step is to search for acquisitions unrelated to our current businesses." The test for such acquisitions is whether they'll make shareholders better off than they were before the acquisition took place. Third, a company can consider stock repurchases. Buffett's argument here is one that he's repeated several times: "[A stock repurchase] is sensible for a company when its shares sell at a meaningful discount to conservatively calculated intrinsic value." Buffett then acknowledged that dividends are a way for shareholders to draw income from their holdings. Yet he argued that shareholders end up better off if they simply sell off a portion of their shares to generate the equivalent income, because that allows Berkshire to continue to grow. In addition, shareholders can time their sales to obtain the best tax consequences -- something that dividend payments take out of investors' hands. Warren Buffett with a bunch of people in the background out of focus. More Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett. Image source: The Motley Fool. Even then, though, Buffett acknowledged the potential for a future dividend. His views rest on the assumption that Berkshire can continue to grow book value and sustain a premium in its share price. If those factors change, then he'd look at dividend policy again. Berkshire's ability to grow book value at a healthy rate relies on good investment ideas, and, unfortunately, they've been tough to find lately. That's driven Berkshire to loosen its guidelines on buying back its own shares, and it's also led to massive investments in some of the largest publicly traded stocks in the market -- investments that haven't always gone as well in the short run as some might have hoped. But it could also push Buffett toward considering a dividend as well. For now, though, Buffett seems content to use available capital for investing. As long as he's convinced that the long-term prospects of his investments will help Berkshire build up its book value over time, Berkshire shareholders shouldn't expect to start getting dividends. More From The Motley Fool Dan Caplinger owns shares of Berkshire Hathaway (B shares). The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Berkshire Hathaway (B shares). The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. | https://news.yahoo.com/berkshire-hathaway-finally-pay-dividend-163200746.html |
Is Aphria a Buy? | Aphria (NYSE: APHA) listed its shares on the New York Stock Exchange in 2018. At long last, it began selling products in the Canadian recreational marijuana market, and the company expanded internationally. Aphria's share price, however, still plunged more than 60% last year. But 2019 is already off to a good start, with the stock making a comeback. The Canadian marijuana producer posted solid results in its fiscal year 2019 second-quarter update. Marijuana leaf on top of U.S. cash More Image source: Getty Images. Potential risks The decision to buy any stock or not comes down to the risk-reward proposition. Let's start by looking at the potential risks that Aphria faces. Probably the biggest risk that's been on investors' minds lately relates to short-sellers' allegations that Aphria significantly overpaid for the LATAM Holdings acquisition and profited key insiders in the process. Aphria's board of directors established a special committee to review those allegations. This committee is made up of independent directors who joined the board after the LATAM transaction was completed. So far, however, the special committee hasn't announced its findings. The dark cloud hanging over Aphria related to the short-sellers' allegations could also prevent the company from picking up a big partner. Several of its peers have already lined up deals with major companies outside of the cannabis industry. Failing to secure a big partner would put Aphria at a competitive disadvantage in the global marijuana market. Aphria also continues to eat into its cash stockpile. It's possible that the company could have to issue more shares to raise cash in the not-too-distant future. Investors face a real threat of dilution in the value of their existing shares resulting from another stock offering. Another problem is that Aphria can't sell products that it can't make. The company hoped to receive approvals for its additional capacity at the Aphria One and Aphria Diamond facilities. However, Health Canada has a tremendous backlog. There's no guarantee that Aphria will get a green light anytime soon. If not, the company won't achieve the sales growth that it's hoping to generate. Even though Aphria stock is much lower than it was a year ago, it's still not cheap. A tremendous level of anticipated growth is baked into Aphria's share price. Anything that gets in the way of the company's growth would make a huge negative impact on Aphria stock. Potential rewards While there certainly are several real risks for Aphria, the stock holds the potential to deliver big rewards to patient investors as well. Starting on Aphria's home front, the Canadian recreational marijuana market is just getting started. Naysayers predicting weaker-than-expected demand for recreational marijuana have been proven wrong so far. Aphria lined up supply agreements with all of Canada's provinces plus the Yukon territory. In addition, the company partnered with North America's largest wine and spirits distributor, Southern Glazer's, to distribute recreational cannabis products throughout Canada. Another big market hasn't even opened yet in Canada. The country still has to finalize regulations for cannabis edibles and concentrates. Aphria plans to enter this market as soon as it can and has already started developing its strategy for cannabis-infused products. | https://news.yahoo.com/aphria-buy-162900094.html |
Is Cognex a Buy? | Machine vision specialist Cognex (NASDAQ: CGNX) is a much-admired growth company with significant exposure to many long-term growth trends -- the increasing use of automation and robotics in manufacturing and growth in e-commerce fulfillment centers, to name two. Everybody knows what you should do with such stocks -- buy on any significant near-term weakness caused by a downside shock as long as the long-term growth expectations are in place. Let's look at the arguments for and against. The case for buying Cognex stock There are three key reasons to buy the stock. First, the company's long-term growth depends on secular trends, which are augmented by cyclical factors. The bulls see 2018 as a year when some cyclical factors went against the company -- a moderation in capital spending by OLED/smartphone customers and slowing spending by customers in China -- but those issues shouldn't affect long-term prospects. Coins and cash More Image source: Getty Images. For example, as e-commerce grows as a share of global retail sales, it's likely that spending on e-fulfillment centers will increase dramatically -- that's good news for Cognex's machine vision solutions, which help logistics centers monitor and sort packages. Although logistics sales make up less than 10% of current sales, management sees them growing at 50% a year over the long-term. Moreover, even if consumer electronics and automotive markets (Cognex's two big industry verticals) are seeing slowing end-market conditions, there is still pressure on customers to automate production. Second, if you accept that Cognex is a long-term growth stock, its current cash flow valuation is starting to look attractive. As I've previously argued, a high-growth stock like Cognex is a good value if you can buy it on a free cash flow yield of around 3%. As you can see below, the current price-to-free-cash-flow multiple is around 37 times, or a free cash flow yield of 2.7% -- that's a good value for a stock that's capable of 20% revenue growth over the long term. CGNX Chart More CGNX data by YCharts Third, history suggests that it's usually a good idea to buy into Cognex when there isn't too much optimism baked in -- and a bad idea to buy in when there's a lot of optimism. For example, the company entered 2018 with management talking about market conditions being the best ever experienced, only to disappoint the market later in the year -- the stock declined 37% in 2018. | https://news.yahoo.com/cognex-buy-160600502.html |
What Are Crypto Executives Still Positive About After Massive 80% Bitcoin Drop? | By CCN.com: In 2018, with the exception of Bitcoin and several other crypto assets, the majority of cryptocurrencies fell by more than 90 percent against the U.S. dollar. Executives in the crypto space, especially those leading new initiatives and businesses in the emerging industry, believe that the bear market has presented companies with positive opportunities to rebuild the foundations of the asset class and the sector. Merits of a Crypto Bear Market The majority of blockchain projects developing protocols or decentralized applications (dApps) have conducted initial coin offerings (ICOs) or token sales in 2017. As such, the valuation of many blockchain companies has been dependent on the performance of tokens. During a bear market, as seen in previous years, cryptocurrencies with strong fundamentals tend to survive and demonstrate minimized losses. According to the data provided by ATHCoinIndex, most major crypto assets such as Ripple, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, and Cardano have fallen by 90 to 97 percent from their all-time highs against the U.S. dollar in the past 12 months. Meanwhile, Bitcoin, the most dominant cryptocurrency in the market, has dropped by 82 percent in a 12-month period. Bitcoin remains as one of the few crypto assets to have seen an increase in hash rate throughout the correction. Since January 2018, the hash rate of the Bitcoin network has increased from 15 exahash to 45 exahash, by at least three-fold. Considering the tendency of small market cryptocurrencies or tokens to fall by large margins in comparison to Bitcoin on a downward trend, during a correction, investors often acquire blockchain projects building long-term blockchain-related applications, protocols, and solutions at a substantially lower price. Sheri Kaiserman, the principal advisor of a U.S. investment and recruiting company Maco.la, said: We felt like the best way to make money is to buy the infrastructure companies the picks and shovels that are helping build the foundation. They are coming down in valuation, which is the best part of the crypto winter for us At the peak of the crypto market in late 2017, many blockchain protocols were valued at billions of dollars and the majority of the projects failed to showcase working products and active user bases. In the past 14 months, blockchain projects have fallen to a reasonable valuation, presenting opportunities for investors to acquire equity in infrastructure building companies. Easy to Pick up Talent Previously, CCN reported that the salary of blockchain developers in regions like Switzerland have increased to around $180,000, triggered by a growing interest in blockchain technology internationally. But, job offers in crypto, at least in the past year, have mostly been presented by blockchain companies that have obtained capital through token sales. As blockchain protocols began to decline in valuation and teams started to experience a funding crunch, developers and talent were let go. Spring Labs CEO Adam Jiwan told Bloomberg that it has allowed newly entering companies and existing established businesses to recruit more talent. The skepticism is warranted in many ways because this technology is nascent and untested at an industrial scale. Our hope is this presents us with a great opportunity to recruit talent, he said. appeared first on CCN. | https://news.yahoo.com/crypto-executives-still-positive-massive-162112694.html |
When was the last time the Chiefs went to the Super Bowl? | One win stands between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Super Bowl, a stage the team has not played on in 49 years. The Chiefs became the second AFL to defeat an NFL team in an AFL-NFL World Championship Game in 1970, taking down the Minnesota Vikings 237 in Super Bowl IV. Kansas City hasn't been back to the Super Bowl since. Kansas City reached Super Bowl I after winning the AFL Championship in 1966, but the Chiefs lost to the NFL's Green Bay Packers. In 1962, in the pre-Super Bowl era, the franchisethen the Dallas Texanswon the AFL by beating the Houston Oilers in overtime. The Chiefs rank behind only the Detroit Lions and the New York Jets for the longest Super Bowl drought in the NFL. The Lions have not made it back to to the big game in 61 seasons, while the Jets haven't appeared in a Super Bowl in 50. Chiefs Super Bowl History Super Bowl I: Packers 35, Chiefs 10 Super Bowl IV: Chiefs 23, Vikings 7 The Chiefs host the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship on Sunday, Jan. 20 at 6:40 p.m. ET. | https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/01/20/kansas-city-chiefs-super-bowl-history-last-time |
Have the Chiefs ever won the Super Bowl? | The Kansas City Chiefs are one game away from booking their ticket to Super Bowl LIII. The Chiefs haven't made it to the big game in recent memory, but should they make it past Tom Brady and the New England Patriots on Sunday, it won't be the first time they'll have played for a Super Bowl ring. After winning three AFL championships in 1962, 1966 and 1969, the Chiefs became the second AFL to defeat an NFL team in an AFL-NFL World Championship Game, taking down the Minnesota Vikings 237 in Super Bowl IV. Kansas City's defense held the Vikings to just 67 rushing yards, forced three interceptions and recovered two fumbles en route to the win. Len Dawson was named the Super Bowl MVP after going 12-of-17 for 142 yards for one touchdown and an interception. The team's victory in 1970 remains the Chiefs' only Super Bowl victory and their last appearance to date. | https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/01/20/have-kansas-city-chiefs-ever-won-super-bowl |
Is MoneyGram International a Buy? | 2018 was not a good year for money-transfer specialist MoneyGram International (NASDAQ: MGI). A planned acquisition by China's Ant Financial was nixed after the federal government objected to it on national-security grounds. Later in the year, the company agreed to a $125 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), chiefly over laxity in policing fraudulent use of its services. Forward guidance was cut significantly when news of the settlement was made public. To no one's surprise, these incidents made MoneyGram a pariah among investors, with the share price cratering by nearly 85% during the year. The question that this brings up, of course, is whether that makes the stock a bottom-feeder buy now. Let's explore. A plaque that says "Money transfer" sitting atop foreign coins and bills. More Image source: Getty Images. Jilted and punished The Ant Financial ruling and the FTC settlement were both hard blows. Together they put MoneyGram on the mat. The former really hurt, since the sale price -- $1.2 billion, or $18 per share, in cash -- was pumped up by a bidding war between the Chinese company and Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ: EEFT), which had tried previously to buy the company in 2007. Anyway, Ant Financial initially offered the equivalent of "only" around $880 million before Euronet Worldwide entered the fray. Ant Financial and Euronet Worldwide surely saw a quick way to expand by buying MoneyGram. Their potential acquisition had 2.4 billion accounts that could access MoneyGram services at around 350,000 locations around the world. Growth was in the cards, too, with the total number of global migrants (an obvious demographic for international transfer-specialist MoneyGram) rising at times precipitously during this decade. MoneyGram probably also looked good in the wake of the then-new Trump administration's aggressive stance on immigration, particularly from south of our border. That's because MoneyGram does a brisk business in U.S.-to-Mexico remittances. The theory was that these would rise in the wake of a tougher immigration regime. The company's results indicate this hasn't happened. Revenue dropped both sequentially and on a year-over-year basis in the first three quarters of fiscal 2018. The company's most recent (Q3) tally of $347 million was well below the peaks that occurred shortly before Trump took office. Compounding this, a raft of smaller competitors are always biting at the heels of established operators like MoneyGram. When MoneyGram is profitable, its margins are thin -- after all, international money transfer is a volume business. Companies in this segment have to make their services attractive enough to win customers, while ensuring that the agents involved in the transactions get a small cut of the payments for their work. This doesn't leave a lot left for MoneyGram's pocket, and the FTC settlement won't help. Concurrent with announcing its deal with the regulator, the company revised its estimate for a full-year fiscal 2018 annual revenue decline to roughly 10% from the previous projection of 4% to 6%. MoneyGram also now believes EBITDA will come in about 15% lower on a constant-currency basis (former estimate: 8% to 10%). Leave this one at the altar At the beginning of fiscal 2018, MoneyGram launched its Digital Transformation Initiative, an attempt to move much of its business onto various e-platforms. This feels late to me, since many other corners of the finance business spent heavily on digital assets quite some years ago, and no longer require major initiatives to get there. | https://news.yahoo.com/moneygram-international-buy-200900507.html |
Did Jessica Simpson just reveal weird baby name? | Jessica Simpson has hinted her daughter will be called Birdie. The 38-year-old singer - who is expecting a baby girl with her husband Eric Johnson - took to social media site Instagram to share photos from her baby shower over the weekend, and in one picture, her family can be seen standing in front of a neon sign that reads "Birdie's Nest". She captioned the photo, "Birdie's Nest," alongside two green heart emojis. Meanwhile, a source previously claimed Jessica and Eric - who also have Maxwell, six, and Ace, five - were shocked to find out they were expecting. Advertisement An insider said: "Jessica and Eric are over the moon. They are so happy and very excited, surprised but overjoyed. It's fun because Ace and Maxwell are at an age where they understand what it happening. They are really cute waiting for their baby sister." Jessica announced she is expecting her third child in September. Posting a picture on Instagram at the time, she wrote: "This little baby girl will make us a family of five. We couldn't be happier to announce this precious blessing of life." The news came as a huge shock to fans as she had previously claimed she'd had an Intrauterine device (IUD) fitted, which would prevent further pregnancies. Responding to previous speculation she was having another child, she said: "I'm not pregnant. We got an IUD, nothing's gonna get in that uterus. I have two beautiful children and I'm not having a third." -Bang! Showbiz | https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=12193714 |
Who is interpreter Marina Gross and will her notes of Trump's Putin meeting be useful? | Marina Gross, a State Department interpreter, was the only other American in the room during President Donald Trump's one-on-one meeting with Russian President Putin in Helsinki last summer. ABC News has learned new details about the 64-year-old interpreter with the State Department's Office of Language Services who is at the center of the political storm over what she might know about the private conversations Trump held with Putin during their meeting in Helsinki last summer. State Department via Flickr Neither Gross nor her close family members provided comment for this story when contacted by ABC News. Veteran interpreters are concerned that a Congressional subpoena of Gross or her notes of the meeting would set a dangerous precedent. They also question whether her interpreting notes would contain actual contents of the meeting itself. Born in Russia, Gross was in her mid-20's when she and her family members immigrated to the United States in the late 1980s in the waning days of the Soviet Union. In the 1990s Gross began interpreting for the State Department as a contract interpreter. Alexey Nikolsky/Sputnik/Kremlin/EPA via Shutterstock Well respected, she was later hired by the State Department and currently works as one of two Russian staff interpreters at the departments Office of Language Services That office hires interpreters and translators who work throughout the U.S. government, including with the president. Interpreters play a vital role in key international meetings where their language services are on full display, but by training, they remain in the shadows. Shealah Craighead/White House Accordingly, few pictures exist of Gross, other than those publicly released by the White House or the State Department where she was seen interpreting for first lady Laura Bush and former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. But it is Gross' work in Helsinki on July 16 that has sparked the interest of Congressional Democrats because she was the only other American in the room for Trump's two-hour long meeting with Putin and his own interpreter. Trump has met with Putin five times, but only twice in formal one-on-one meetings held in Hamburg and Helsinki. Tillerson sat in with both presidents during their Hamburg meeting and provided other national security officials and reporters with a brief readout of issues that were discussed, but the Washington Post reported that the U.S. government has no internal notes of that meeting and that Trump seized the notes taken by his interpreter. Since then, Congressional Democrats have said they want to gain access to Gross' notes to understand what Trump may have spoken about with Putin. A previous effort last year by Democrats to subpoena Gross and the interpreter at Trump's Hamburg meeting were shelved by Republicans who were in control the House of Representatives. Last week Michael McFaul, the former U.S. ambassador tweeted his support of Gross describing her as "a fantastic interpreter" and "a terrific person to boot!" Marina Gross is a fantastic interpreter (and terrific person to boot! ): "Marina Gross: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know" https://t.co/WFLu0RdOQk via @heavysan Michael McFaul (@McFaul) January 14, 2019 'A DANGEROUS PRECEDENT' Professional interpreters are concerned about the dangerous precedent that would be set by Congress if a diplomatic interpreter is subpoenaed. "I've never heard of that happening in the 30 years that I worked the State Department or subsequently since I retired," said Dimitry Zarechnak a former interpreter with the State Department's Office of Language Services, who interpreted for President Ronald Reagan during some of his summits with Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union. "I think it would just be a very bad move and bad precedent for diplomacy in general," he told ABC News. Harry Obst, the former director of the Office of Language Services who interpreted for seven American presidents, said that if he was placed in a similar situation, "I would not divulge any information." "That's because of the oath that you swear to not divulge any classified information on any level," he said. "Because you have a top secret clearance." A greater concern is the impact a subpoena could have on state leaders excluding interpreters from their meeting if they believe they could be subpoenaed by Congress in the future. "The whole idea of subpoenaing an interpreter is atrocious," said Zarechnak. "What foreign leader would want to meet with the U.S. leader thinking that 'well, the interpreter could be subpoenaed and tell Congress what the meeting was about.'" And a subpoena could also lead a U.S. interpreter to not rely on American interpreters. "The president would also have a great incentive not to use our interpreter if there was a danger that that interpreter would then be subpoenaed in Congress," said Zarechnak. Zarechnak noted that was something President Richard Nixon practiced during his his one-on-one meetings with Soviet leaders in the 1970s. "Unfortunately President Nixon and [former Secretary of State Henry] Kissinger specifically did not use our interpreters," said Zarechnak. "I guess for the sake of their secrecy" they relied only on the Soviet interpreters during their meetings. Both veteran interpreters question whether Gross' notes would be of much historical value. Even if investigators successfully gained access to Gross' notes "they wouldn't know what to do with them in the first place" said Obst. That's because as a matter of course the notes taken by professional interpreters are less about taking verbatim quotes than they are about getting the right inflection or meaning of a word or sentence. Interpreters use symbols or meanings for words or proper context that are only comprehensible to them at that specific moment in time. What might be more useful are the official classified documents, known as "memorandums of conversation" or MemCon's, that are compiled by interpreters using their handwritten notes. MemCon's are ultimately only accessible by the Secretary of State and Obst said often times an interpreter will destroy the handwritten notes used during a meeting because they are no longer as relevant as the classified official document. "So really what is saved is the memo not the notes themselves," said Obst. Zarechnak recalls how the MemCon he wrote from his notes of the consecutive translation he took during the one-on-one meetings during the 1985 Reagan-Gorbachev summit in Geneva were declassified 15 years later. That declassified MemCon captures a detailed flavor of the topics that were discussed during one meeting as well as Zarechnak's take about Gorbachev's. During a lengthy exchange on human rights in the Soviet Union, "Gorbachev interrupted, without listening to the translation, to say that he had understood what the President had said, and that he took all of this into account. He was familiar with the American political process, and the President should not hide behind this." Zarechnak then added his take on Gorbachev's interruption and what it might mean about Gorbachev's knowledge of English. "(U.S. Interpreter's Note: Gorbachev's indication that he had understood what the President had said without translation was unexpected, since he had never shown any indication of understanding English in previous or subsequent conversations. After the President's following remarks, Gorbachev specifically asked for interpretation and looked like he had not understood what the President had said. I think that the first time he was simply assuming that he knew what the President was saying, and was anxious to get into the plenary meeting.)" Since MemCons are classified, the access to details of the Helsinki meeting that congressional Democrats want, may ultimately rest with Trump. Obst told ABC News that only a president can release an interpreter from disclosing classified information gathered during a private meeting. | https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/interpreter-marina-gross-notes-trumps-putin-meeting/story?id=60374126 |
Is McDermott International, Inc. a Buy? | In May 2018, McDermott International, Inc. (NYSE: MDR) completed the purchase of Chicago Bridge & Iron. That move materially bulked up its scale in the energy industry, where it helps to build everything from upstream oil and gas drilling facilities to downstream processing plants. With energy-industry giants like ExxonMobil Corporation, among others, looking to increase capital spending in the years ahead, there's a lot of opportunity for McDermott to increase revenues. But there's more to understand if you want to know if McDermott International is worth buying today. Bigger is better The first big issue that McDermott faces is making good on its purchase of Chicago Bridge & Iron. That all-stock deal was announced in late December 2017, and as is typical for the acquirer in these deals, McDermott's stock fell on the news. The company to be acquired, meanwhile, usually sees a price increase, but not this time. Chicago Bridge & Iron's stock also dropped on the acquisition news, suggesting that investors weren't exactly pleased with the deal. Three men looking over blueprints in an energy facility. More Image source: Getty Images. The merger was completed in May 2018 and McDermott has been working to make good on its projections for the deal. So far, the company has announced $319 million of annual cost savings, quickly getting pretty close to its $350 million goal. In fact, management is so confident at this point that it upped the savings target to $450 million. Meanwhile, the company reports that bookings have remained strong. For example, McDermott signed more new contracts than were completed and rolled off in the third quarter. This suggests that the merger hasn't led to any customer issues and may, in fact, have strengthened McDermott's industry position. So while Chicago Bridge & Iron shareholders may not have liked the deal, the integration process appears to be going reasonably well. That's good news and should position the company to benefit as oil and gas companies start to put more capital to work. Such an uptick is starting to show up following a severe investment pullback after oil's steep mid-2014 price declines. Oil prices are still volatile, of course, but prices have recovered from their lows and provided energy companies with more cash to invest. Equally important, oil is a depleting asset so oil companies have to keep drilling if they want to maintain and grow production over time. Thus, McDermott's outlook has been, on the whole, brightening since the Chicago Bridge & Iron merger was announced. A troubled past isn't behind it yet That said, the company still has to deal with a little history. To that end, McDermott recently completed a strategic review of its business and announced plans to jettison its U.S. pipe-fabrication operation and storage-related businesses. That should help enhance overall profitability. Unfortunately, there's little the company can do about three big projects that came along with the Chicago Bridge & Iron deal that have been big money losers. Legacy Focus Project Overview Project Freeport LNG Cameron LNG Calpine Power Plant Completion percent 82% 83% 91% Accrued loss provision ($28 million) ($127 million) ($43 million) Last deliverable Q2 2020 Q1 2020 Q3 2019 Data source: McDermott International. The Freeport, Cameron, and Calpine projects collectively led to a large one-time charge in the third quarter. McDermott has accrued nearly $200 million for expected losses across all three projects at this point. That's a pretty awful statement that suggests Chicago Bridge & Iron made a big mistake when it took on and priced these construction deals. While management says that there shouldn't be any more charges, investors don't seem quite as sanguine about the future here. | https://news.yahoo.com/mcdermott-international-inc-buy-230800020.html |
Why do Texans need to worry about unhealthy weight and cancer? | Texas is No. 1 in something we don't want to be known for. : the highest rates of cancers that can be attributed to excessive body weight, according to data from a report from the American Cancer Society and published in JAMA Oncology (Journal of the American Medical Association). Those cancers include ones of these places: where the stomach and esophagus connect, colorectum, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, female breasts, main part of the uterus, ovary, kidney, renal pelvis and thyroid. About 1 in 17 cancers in the U.S. are known to be related to excess body weight. It's a good reminder to keep that New Year's resolution to be healthier in 2019. We don't know for sure, says Mika Cline, an oncologist with Texas Oncology. "We don't know if it has something to do with ethnic ratio or male to female ratio." Women in the U.S. have a rate of cancers related to excess body weight of 9.6 percent of all cancers. Men in the U.S. have a rate of 4.7 percent of cancers related to excess body weight. In Texas, the overall rate of these cancers was 8.1 percent. Alaska was next at 7.9 percent, followed by Indiana at 7.7 percent. Texas also had the highest number of men with these cancers: 6 percent. What we do know is that there is evidence that excess weight and cancer have a relationship, Cline says. Excess weight might be related to hormone levels, and hormones impact certain cancers such as prostate, breast and endometrial. We also know that excess weight creates a state of inflammation in the body like rheumatoid arthritis, another condition called dermatomyositis, an inflammation of the muscles. Both have been linked to an increased rate of cancer, Cline says. The excess weight creates a generation of signaling molecules, which control the growth factor in our bodies, that are altered, she says. We already know that weight influences things such as heart disease and diabetes. When Cline talks to patients about their weight, she tries to acknowledge that losing weight is hard, while also acknowledging that she's noticed a change in their body mass index. She's often had to have this conversation with breast cancer survivors who want to be able to stay cancer-free. She talks to them about excess weight influencing their chances at remission. She acknowledges: "This is uncomfortable. I don't want to say it, and you may not want to hear it. I'm not trying to be judgmental here." It also might feel daunting to think about getting down to an ideal weight. There are different classes of obesity, and sometimes just getting to a healthier form of obesity might make a big difference. "I'm not asking you to lose 100 pounds; even 10, 20 pounds can make a difference," she says, as researches have seen with diabetes and heart disease. Cline knows that not only is weight loss hard it's also confusing. Think about butter and how it was seen as bad for us and were told we should choose margarine. Now, it's considered better than margarine. Cline advocates for a healthy diet that is plant-based, with vegetables filling most of the plate. She also wants to remind people that exercise is also important and affects metabolism and hormones in good way. | https://www.statesman.com/news/20190120/why-do-texans-need-to-worry-about-unhealthy-weight-and-cancer |
What can we do, right now, about climate change? | Calamitous weather events and warnings from scientists that the planet is warming faster than previously believed are causing alarm. Global environment editor, Jonathan Watts, describes the shifts needed to keep global warming to a maximum of 1.5C. Plus: David Conn on how football and gambling have become inseparable A series of extreme weather events in 2018 again highlighted the urgency of making the social and political changes needed to keep the increase in global warming to a maximum of 1.5C (2.7F). In September this year, the UN will convene a dedicated climate summit where agreement will be sought for ambitious and far-reaching policies. Joining India Rakusen today is the Guardians global environment editor, Jonathan Watts, to discuss the extent of the political change required if the world has any chance at all of keeping within the 1.5C upper limit on warming. He also explores some of the most effective ways individuals can join the battle against global warming: a vital, existential issue often drowned out by other news events. Also today, the Guardians David Conn examines new research on the extent of the gambling industrys hold over professional football in the UK and its often dire consequences. | https://www.theguardian.com/environment/audio/2019/jan/21/what-can-we-do-right-now-about-climate-change |
How Many Playoff Comebacks Does Tom Brady Have? | Tom Brady isn't a stranger to playoff comeback wins. Brady, who already has eight postseason come-from-behind victories, led the New England Patriots to his ninth with a 3731 overtime AFC Championship win over the Kansas City Chiefs. The Patriots led for most of the game before the Chiefs took a 2824 lead with 2:04 left in the fourth quarter. Brady led New England on a 65-yard touchdown drive to retake a 3128 lead before Kansas City tied it up to send the game to overtime. The Chiefs never saw the football in overtime, as Brady marched his team 75 yards down the field for the win and a ticket to Atlanta for Super Bowl LIII. Brady's last postseason comeback win also occurred in the AFC Championship game, when the Patriots overcome a 2010 deficit in the fourth quarter to win 2420. The Patriots, playing in their third straight Super Bowl, will face the Los Angeles Rams on Feb. 3. | https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/01/20/how-many-playoff-comebacks-does-tom-brady-have-afc-championship-game |
Who is the Youngest Coach to Ever Win a Super Bowl? | In just his second season as an NFL head coach, Sean McVay will have a chance to lead the Los Angeles Rams to their first Super Bowl title since 2000. He'll also have the chance to be the youngest head coach ever to win it. McVay, at 32 years old, is four years younger than the NFL's current youngest Super Bowl-winning head coach: Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers. On Feb. 1, 2009, Tomlin became the youngest head coach to win the Super Bowl when the Steelers defeated the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII, when he was just 36 years old. Like McVay this year, Tomlin was also in just his second year as the team's head coach. The previous record was held by Jon Gruden, who was 39 when he won Super Bowl XXXVII with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Rams will play Tom Brady and the New England Patriots on Feb. 3. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. ET. | https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/01/20/youngest-coach-ever-win-super-bowl-sean-mcvay-mike-tomlin |
Why are Ohio's medical marijuana prices so high? | CLOSE Ohio's seed to sale process for producing medical marijuana. They weren't happy with the answer: $50 cash for a small plastic container holding 2.83 grams of dried marijuana bud, or just under $500 an ounce. "I'll buy one today to say I did it, but I can get it a lot cheaper than that elsewhere," said one man who declined to be named. Michigan dispensaries charge between $150 and $300 an ounce, depending on the variety, or strain. Patients say that's similar to prices for illicit marijuana in Ohio. Dispensaries sold 8.7 pounds of marijuana on Ohio's first day at an average price of$538 per ounce, according to sales figures released Thursday. There are a few reasons. Regulated and tested Marijuana sold in legal markets have a hard time competing with product sold on the black market for several reasons. Legal marijuana businesses have to comply with regulations for pesticides, tracking every plant with sophisticated software, security and more. They also pay taxes, and because marijuana remains an illegal substance on the federal level, they can't deduct expenses the way other businesses can. Ohio law requires every medical marijuana product to be tested by an independent state-licensed lab. There are only two in operation. The labs test for pesticides, mold and other contaminants. They also test for amounts of various marijuana compounds including THC, which generates a high, and cannabidiol, or CBD, which doesn't. Ohio's program allows individuals with one of 21 medical conditions to buy and use marijuana if recommended to them by a physician. Eligible conditions include AIDS, cancer and others where consumers' immune systems could suffer from tainted marijuana. Limited supply Ohio dispensaries reported lines and a steady flow of customers on opening day. (Photo: Daniel Carson/The News-Messenger) The state has licensed 29 businesses to grow marijuana, but only 14 have finished building their facilities and been approved to start growing. None of the state-licensed processors are operating, so oils, lotions, patches, edibles and other products are not yet available. The four dispensaries that opened Wednesday sold only dried marijuana flower, or bud, from a handful of medical marijuana cultivators. "If I wanted to open today, I had to buy it from them," said Mike Petrella, who owns Ohio Valley Natural Relief dispensary in Wintersville. Dispensaries set prices based on what they pay for the product; state regulators have no authority to limit or change prices. Most of the varieties sold Wednesday were priced the same. Officials from the first four open dispensaries say prices should go down as more cultivators harvest and compete. Some dispensary owners plan to offer discounts to veterans, senior citizens and others. The Forest Sandusky offers a 20 percent discount to veterans. More regulations In Michigan and other states, flower can be packaged in the dispensary. Not in Ohio. Growers and product manufacturers are the only ones who can package products, and dispensaries have to sell products in the original, sealed packaging. Ohio has some of the highest marijuana business licensing fees in the country $200,000 a year for large-scale growers and $70,000 every two years for dispensary owners. Businesses pay additional fees to the state to register employees and pay a $100 fee for each strain or dosage of a product. Theres a higher cost of production to adhere to all the regulatory requirements and to deliver that product to the consumer, said Jason Erkes, spokesman for Cresco Labs, which operates CY+ Dispensary. Cresco also has an Ohio cultivation license and operates medical marijuana businesses in Illinois and Pennsylvania. Prices in Illinois averaged $450 an ounce during the first week of sales in 2015. Current prices there range from $240 to $420 an ounce, according to dispensary websites. Pennsylvania started selling flower in August 2018, and prices are now hovering around $300 to $480 an ounce, according to dispensary websites. The Ohio tenth One specific regulation sets Ohio apart from the 33 states that allow cannabis for medicinal use. Rules set by the Ohio State Pharmacy Board, which oversees dispensaries, require marijuana flower and infused products to be packaged in certain amounts, called "whole day units." A unit of dried flower is 2.83 grams, or 1/10th of an ounce. State law limits patients to buying and possessing no more than a "90-day supply," but didn't define it in law. The pharmacy board decided to set that number at 8 ounces of dried flower or an equivalent amount of THC in marijuana products. The limits came from a panel of pharmacists who reviewed clinical research about the marijuana compound. No other state has calculated limits this way. The only product sold Wednesday was little containers with one "Ohio tenth" of buds inside. On Tuesday, pharmacy board spokeswoman Ali Simon said flower had to be packaged in 2.83 gram amounts. On Thursday, Simon clarified it can be packaged in greater amounts, as long as the total is made up of whole daily units. Buckeye Relief, a large-scale cultivator in Northeast Ohio, planned to start packaging in larger quantities after the first day of sales. Im sure were all trying to drive costs down for patients over the long haul, Buckeye Relief CEO Andy Rayburn said. Here's what you need to know Read or Share this story: https://www.cincinnati.com/story/money/2019/01/20/why-ohios-medical-marijuana-prices-high/2602221002/ | https://www.cincinnati.com/story/money/2019/01/20/why-ohios-medical-marijuana-prices-high/2602221002/ |
Can Artificial Intelligence Be Biased? | Introduction In pursuit of automation-driven efficiencies, the rapidly evolving artificial intelligence (AI) tools and techniques (such as neural networks, machine-learning, predictive analytics, speech recognition, natural-language processing and more) are now routinely used across nations: its governments, industries, organizations and academia (NGIOA) for navigation, translation, behavior modeling, robotic control, risk management, security, decision making and many other applications. As AI is becoming democratized, these evolving intelligent algorithms are now rapidly becoming prevalent in most, if not all, aspects of human and machine decision-making. While Decision Utilities like intelligent algorithms have been in use for many years, there are rising concerns about the general lack of algorithmic understanding, usage practices, the rapidly penetrating bias in automated decisions, and the lack of transparency and accountability. As a result, ensuring integrity, transparency and trust in algorithmic decision-making is becoming a complex challenge for the creators of algorithms with huge implications for the future of society. Human versus Machine Decision-Making Processes Irrespective of cyberspace, geospace or space (CGS), since technology revolutions are driven not just by accidental discovery but also by societal needs, the question we all individually and collectively need to first and foremost evaluate is whether there really is a need for decision-making algorithmsand if yes, where and why. Artificial intelligence tools and techniques are increasingly expanding and enriching decision support not only by coordinating diverse data sources delivery in a timely and efficient manner but also by analyzing evolving data sources, trends, providing defined forecasts, developing data consistency, quantifying uncertainty of all data variables, anticipating the human or machine users data needs, providing information to the human or machine user in the most appropriate forms, and suggesting decisive courses of all possible action based on the intelligence gathered. Understandably, this is being welcomedsince in a fast-changing digital age environment, it is becoming difficult for human decision-makers to keep up, analyze the mountains of growing data in front of them, and make informed and intelligent decisions. However, even for an algorithmic decision-making process, there are complex challenges to reach an informed decision. For example, it is difficult to know whether decision-making algorithms will be able to make effective decisions with the current computing and data analytics infrastructure and processing capability. While it seems very likely that artificial intelligence will become universal in most, if not all, aspects of decision-making in the near future, it will be interesting to see how the emerging competition between human decision-making versus AI decision-making will play out. Algorithmic Engineering Process and Penetration of Bias While there are growing concerns about machine learning decision-making models, it seems AI is being woven into the very fabric of human society and everything individuals and entities do across nations: its government, industries, organizations and academia (NGIOA) in cyberspace, geospace and space (CGS). Moreover, it needs to be understood that the rapidly evolving machine-learning model is not a static piece of code since we are constantly feeding it data from diverse sources and are constantly training, re-training and fine-tuning it to how predictions can be made. In each of these data journey steps, humans at the moment play a significant and influential role. As a result, while machine-learning models are becoming almost like a living, breathing thing with a growing dynamic data ecosystem from CGS around it, the very involvement of humans brings with it the same complex human bias. Since, we are trying to re-define and re-design systems that brings us more trust and transparency, there is a clear need to promote equality, transparency and accountability in algorithm design and development for decision-makingand to ensure that data transparency, training, review and remediation are being considered throughout the entire algorithmic engineering process. According to ProPublica, an investigative journalism organization, a computer program used by US courts across the nation has been reported to be biased against black prisoners. The program, named the Correctional Offender Management Profiling for Alternative Sanctions, mistakenly flagged black defendants as likely to reoffend at almost twice the rate as white defendants (45% to 24%). The program likely factored in the higher rates of arrest for black people into its predictions but was not able to escape the same racial biases that contributed to those higher levels of arrests. Bias has also been reported in granting credit to home buyers, even going as far as to potentially violate the Fair Housing Act. Rates of defaulting may be higher in some neighborhoods, but an algorithm using this information to make black and white calls runs the risk of heading towards red-lining territory. Examples abound, with plenty of cases to show AI and technology to be both sexist and racist. Lets not forget Googles search algorithm including black people in the results of a search on gorilla. While decision-making algorithms are inherently not biased and algorithmic decision-making depends on a number of variables -- including how the software is designed, developed, deployed and the quality, integrity and representativeness of the underlying data sources -- there is a need for a new approach to define and design decision-making algorithms. We perhaps need adaptive computing that integrates intelligence gathering into its very fabric and which does not rely on humans training the algorithms in how to make decisions. Since it is important to evaluate what the implications will be if bias penetrates decision-making algorithmsit brings us to evaluating further whether data protection safeguards can be built into the algorithms from the earliest stages of development to prevent bias from penetrating them. It is important to address this as the very foundations of the systems that are being re-defined and re-designed depend on it. Now, since it is not possible to interrogate algorithms, and there are no effective rules or regulations around decision-making algorithms that focus on the algorithmic accountability, how to remove bias remains a complex challenge facing society. Acknowledging this emerging reality, Risk Group initiated the much-needed discussion on Algorithmic Decision-Making with Prof. (Dr.) Steve Omohundro, President at Possibility Research. Disclosure: Risk Group LLC is my company. Risk Group discusses Algorithmic Decision- Making with Prof. (Dr.) Steve Omohundro, President at Possibility Research, based in CA, United States. Perhaps the key to making decision-making algorithms work for everyone on a fair and balanced playing field is to build in accountability, responsibility, neutrality and outcomes from the very beginningright in the code. If not, without question, all the efforts that are being put in re-defining and re-designing the systems in cyberspace, geospace and space will bring no real value for society overall. Data: Nature, Sources, Efficiency The growing availability, volume and accumulation of diverse sources of data means it can be overwhelming for any human decision maker to effectively make decisionsirrespective of whether these are strategic decisions or tactical. Therefore, it is important to evaluate what role dynamic growing data plays in how the algorithms are structured to take into consideration the growing data input. So, while efficiency seems to be at the core of many emerging automation applications, the transparency and integrity of the data on which the algorithmic decisions are being made will be critical to ensure its accountability. The democratization of computing infrastructure allows anyone to build any algorithm any way they want. However, when it comes to its decision-making applications for systems at all levels: global, national or local (may it be government agencies, banks, credit agencies, courts, prisons, education institutions etc.,) there is a need for a global standard on the best practices to define and determine whose algorithm can be used for equality, fairness and objectivity. The question now is not just whether humans or machines will make decisionsrather it's about whether intelligent algorithms replacing humans in decision-making will bring with them the same biases of race, religion, class, gender and ideology that are harmful to society. The question today for each one of us to individually and collectively evaluate is whether intelligent algorithms are and will remain an aid to the human decision-making process or whether they will become the ultimate decision-makers. And if artificial intelligence becomes the decision-maker, what will be the implications of relinquishing decision-making control to intelligent machines--as the very use of automated AI based decision-making techniques raises challenges for humanity as a whole. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/cognitiveworld/2019/01/20/can-artificial-intelligence-be-biased/ |
Why are all the employees leaving? | In the department I manage, we have recently experienced a sudden increase in turnover. What concerns me is that none of the supervisors knew that their employees were planning to leave. I encourage supervisors to have monthly one-on-one meetings with employees, but this apparently isnt working as well as I had hoped. You seem distressed that your former employees never confessed their desire to depart. However, smart people dont tell management when theyre considering other opportunities. Instead of trying to ferret out secret job-search plans, you should determine what is motivating your employees to look elsewhere. For this purpose, you need some additional tools in your communication toolbox. When people resign in the future, make it a practice to do exit interviews. Continue the supervisory one-on-ones, but add quarterly skip-level meetings in which you chat with each employee individually. Even if people are cautious with their comments, you may spot red flags if you listen carefully. During these conversations, consider asking current staff members why they believe people have been choosing to leave. Employees are usually much more willing to discuss others complaints than to reveal their own. Finally, conduct an annual employee opinion survey using an experienced outside vendor. When people believe responses are confidential, they are much more likely to be open and honest. Then, once you have diagnosed the reasons for this turnover, you can begin to create some realistic retention plans. Our new manager is apparently having an affair with a young woman in our department. The two of them often disappear for hours at a time. This co-worker used to be pleasant and helpful, but lately she has become condescending and distant. Everyone is upset about how our office atmosphere has changed, but no one will speak up. I seem to be the only person willing to address the issue, but I dont know how to do it diplomatically. Manager-employee romances always create problems. Talking directly with the participants is pointless, since people in the throes of lust are seldom rational. And when one of them is your boss, the risk of retribution is high. A better option is to find someone in upper management or human resources who can sit this new manager down for a frank talk about inappropriate workplace relationships. When you meet with that person, be sure to keep the tone calm and businesslike. For example: We are concerned about some recent developments in our group. Theres a rumor that Mark and Beth are having a relationship outside of work. We dont know if thats true, but the two of them are often gone for hours, and Beth seems to have a different attitude. Were afraid to discuss this with Mark, so we hope you can help. Even though your cautious colleagues would prefer to make you the sole spokesperson, they should also attend this meeting. When several people deliver the same message, management is much more likely to pay attention. TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE | https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/01/21/career-13/ |
Which NFL Player has the Most Super Bowl Appearances? | Tom Brady will be appearing in his ninth Super Bowl after leading the Patriots to an AFC Championship win over the Chiefs on Sunday. With the win, Brady holds his spot atop the list of NFL players with the most Super Bowl appearances. Brady and pass rusher Charles Haley have both won five Super Bowl ringsthe most of any player in NFL history. Behind Brady, there's nose tackle Mike Lodish, who has played in six Super Bowls during his 11-year career. Wide receiver Don Beebe also appeared in six Super Bowls, winning one with the Packers. He only played in three of the games though. A number of players have appeared in five Super Bowls, including Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri, who has won four titles. Quarterback John Elway has also appeared in five Super Bowls, winning twice. Three players have appeared in five Super Bowls but won none: Linebacker Cornelius Bennett, Guard Glenn Parker and quarterback Gale Gilbert who lost five straight Super Bowls. The Patriots will play in their ninth Super Bowl in 18 years when they face the Rams on Feb. 3. | https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/01/20/which-nfl-player-has-most-super-bowl-appearances |
Should Karen Pence Be Teaching At A School With Unfriendly L.G.B.T. Policies? | These seem to be the underlying questions posed by Matthew Haag in the New York Times. Religion is different from a relationship. Religion, pick your brand, is about establishing formulas, rules and systems that when followed, supposedly draw us closer to God and each other. However, this assumes that we are separated from God in the first place and need a bridge to cross the chasm to get "home." Building the bridge is about keeping the rules. Keeping the rules is about getting others to obey them as well. The better we follow the rules, in this case, agreeing to the L.G.B.T.unfriendly imperatives in the schools application by signing the pledge, the closer we get to God. Except we dont. And, we dont because rule-keeping does at least four things: First, it makes us, not Jesus, the focal point. Its about what we do; not what Jesus has done. The result is pseudo-self-righteousness and a whole lot of posing, pretending and hiding because if we are honest, we suck at keeping the rules. To earn the favor of those who determine how good we are at following the rules, we perfect the art of the faade. Rule-keeping performance is about trying to get in blinded by the fact that we are already in. The second problem with legalism is that it makes us neurotic. When we don't match up to the socially-prescribed roles the "system" creates, guilt and shame put a choke-hold on us. These spiritual toxins produce fear and anxiety which cause us to do all kinds of damage to ourselves and others. Is it bringing you closer to God? It isnt. Does it give you more peace and freedom? It doesnt. Legalism has a third kind of devastating effect. It sets up an honor-and-shame-system where holiness is achieved by heroic willpower and getting it right. The more disciplined you are, and the more you get it right, the holier you are. Then again, it is a counterfeit kind of holiness because its all about what you do; not what Jesus has done. It creates a facade, a form of holiness without the substance of it. Individually, rule-keeping sets up scorekeeping. I validate my ability to keep the rules by comparing myself to others. Striving and grinding to get it right usually temps me to become self-righteous and smug because at least I can do it better than somebody else. But the social and ego payoff this produces is temporal at best because it doesn't deliver. Moreover, it creates false self-esteem. All of this runs in diametric opposition to relaxing into the presence of God and surrendering our willfulness. It is counterintuitive to letting go and emptying ourselves so that God can fill us with his strength and wisdom. Holiness in this respect is about communion, not contracts. Its about surrendering our striving and grinding to the love of God, living loved in union with him, and letting his love flow through us, out on to others. The fourth thing rule keeping does is foster debate and divisiveness among schools, churches and institutions that want to legislate Christian morality. Kevin grew up in a staunch Catholic family where he was told that the Catholic church was the one true church. We dont ever remember Jesus saying that. Legalism establishes a competitive landscape where one faction, with its formula for getting back to God, justifies its rightness by showing you why the other factions and formulas are wrong or at least less effective. You end up with those who have the way the truth and the life and those who dontthe haves and have nots. Legalism then has less to do with helping people get free in Christ and more to do with validating a group by getting people to join it and accept the doctrines and principles espoused by it. Never mind that a large portion of the people who walk down the aisle to get saved do so out of guilt because they feel manipulated. Never mind that some segment of the people who sign documents stating they will abide by the schools rules live secret lives in diametric opposition to those rules. Sorry, God isnt that fickle. The scriptures say he is fond of you and for you, period, end of the story, not because you are one way or the other. You cant make God love you any more than he already does. He loves you because of who he is not who you are. That won't change. He is the same, yesterday, today and forever. The purpose of the law is to awaken you to your short-comings and to see that in them, God is already there loving you, accepting you, befriending you and healing you. When you recognize your inability to keep the rules, and simultaneously see that Gods grace for you has no constraints, the Kingdom of God has come. If Jesus is anyone to go by, leadership distinguishes between love and approval. He may not approve of our politics or sexual orientation, but his love is inclusive, not alienating, and never failing. He doesnt withhold his love to express disapproval. He doesnt say I will love you if you sign this application and live accordingly. He loves without any strings attached. Go back and read the text. The L.B.G.T. No. Jesus most often got in the faces of the religious perfectioniststhe smug Sadducees and Pharisees who pointed out the flaws in others to build themselves up. They multiplied the rules and in doing so, created their own form of "godliness." Their man-made rules about how to live for God took their eyes off God. As they led others to do the same and then shamed them for not matching up, Jesus became irritated and impatient. What got under Jesus skin were those who robbed the poor in spirit of the Good News because their egos had such an insatiable appetite for order and control. What broke his heart and made him angry was religious rule-keeping that drove people to deeper levels of anxiety and enslaved them. And ultimately, drove them away from God. God created us for joy, to love and enjoy him forever and live exuberantly. He desires our love more than our duty and our hearts more than our behavior. Jesus didnt buy into the system because the system never transformed anyone. He lived a love that was unconditional and all-encompassing. He said everyone is included in his Kingdom. The mass exodus from the church suggests that the world has had it with being badgered about legalistic rule-keeping. People seem bored, sad, hurt, tired and burned out with religion that doesnt work. The same criticism can be levied at our policymakers. In the halls of Congress and the court of public opinion politicians childishly pole vault over mouse turds to gain an edge in vilifying the other side. Meanwhile, as our leaders perfect the art of in-fighting, countries such as China and India are poised to surge ahead of the United States on many fronts. We need to rethink what it means to lead. Karen Pence has the right to teach wherever she wants to teach. We are grateful she is choosing to serve. However, if she or any other public figure wants to reunify our nation and make it great again, we think our leaders should focus on inspiring commitment and inclusion, not legislating compliance and exclusion. For over two millennia this model of leadership has had a transformational effect on our world. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinandjackiefreiberg/2019/01/21/should-karen-pence-be-teaching-at-a-school-with-unfriendly-l-g-b-t-policies/ |
Should I stop pension contributions to get a bigger mortgage? | Q I have a question based on the article you wrote in 2015. I am a deputy head teacher. My partner and I are having strong arguments over me stopping my pension, which I want to do so that I can get the best possible mortgage by providing three payslips clear of pension contributions. We are looking to increase the size of our house in north London as we have a young family. My partner doesnt have a pension as she thinks they are the devil. She is freelance and so her payslips wont be contributing to the mortgage process. It appears most mortgage firms do not overlook your pension payments. MW A To repeat what I said in May 2015, I most certainly wouldnt advise anyone to cancel their pension contributions for a few months to boost their chances of getting a mortgage. Besides, there may be no point as a significant number of lenders dont ask about pension contributions. In addition, lenders ignore pension contributions deducted from salary as I assume yours are because they are already taken into account in the net pay figure on payslips, which areused to assess affordability. In addition, stopping contributions wont bump up the net pay figure by as much as you think because your tax bill goes up. Rather than stopping pension contributions, you should concentrate on reducing what you owe on other loans, including credit card debts. Also, if your partner fills in a tax return every year which she should if she doesnt pay tax through the PAYE (pay as you earn) system she can provide evidence of income to a prospective mortgage lender in the form of HM Revenue and Customs tax-assessment forms. So it doesnt make sense to exclude her from the mortgage process as her income could increase the amount you can borrow. Finally, Ill repeat what I said about using a mortgage adviser if you think your pension contributions are going to be a deal-breaker since an adviser can point you in the direction of a lender that will not take them into account. | https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/jan/21/should-i-stop-pension-contributions-to-get-a-bigger-mortgage |
Can Software & Services Boost F5 Networks (FFIV) Q1 Earnings? | F5 Networks Inc. FFIV is set to report first-quarter fiscal 2019 results on Jan 23. The company surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, the average positive earnings surprise being 6.45%. In the last reported quarter, the companys non-GAAP earnings per share of $2.90 increased 18.9% year over year and surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.63. Moreover, F5 Networks revenues grew 4.6% to $562.7 million and topped the consensus estimate of $560.7 million. For first-quarter fiscal 2019, F5 Networks expects revenues in the range of $542-$552 million. The Zacks Consensus Estimate stands at $546.65 million. The company expects non-GAAP earnings per share in the range of $2.51-$2.54. The consensus estimate is pegged at $2.54. Lets see how things are shaping up for the upcoming announcement. F5 Networks, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise F5 Networks, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise | F5 Networks, Inc. Quote Factors at Play F5 Networks growth in services and software solutions segment is a key driver. The companys traction in public cloud deployments, given the surge in demand for security in the multi-cloud environment, is a tailwind. Additionally, the company is also upping its public cloud expertise. The joining of former General Manager of Global Business Development and sale operations for Amazon's AMZN AWS Marketplace, Barry Russell, as the head of its cloud sales team, in fourth-quarter fiscal 2018 is expected to boost F5 Networks expansion into multi-cloud opportunities globally. The BIG-IP Cloud Edition had started gaining traction among customers immediately after its launch last year. This trend is expected to continue in the fiscal first quarter and drive revenues. On the last earnings call, the company hinted that a key managed care provider has chosen F5 Networks solutions, including the BIG-IP Cloud Edition, to aid its transition to the public cloud. This is expected to give impetus to the momentum further. Moreover, the company stated that it is witnessing strong momentum in Enterprise License Agreements and Virtual Edition subscription software deals. The size of deals is increasing, allowing F5 Networks to expand its use cases and implement a new consumption model, which is expected to drive software growth. The software segment grew 19% year over year in the last quarter of fiscal 2018, and contributed 17% to product revenues. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for product revenues in the fiscal first quarter is pegged at $237 million, indicating year-over-year growth of 4.4%. Further, the companys growth opportunities in the security market are driven by its advanced Web Application Firewall (WAF). It is witnessing an expansion in its addressable market and revenue growth prospects on the back of its WAF offerings. The strong adoption of advanced WAF in existing as well as new customers is expected to continue in the to-be-reported quarter. The company, however, expects quarterly fluctuations in hardware sales despite demand for new hardware in emerging markets like China and Latin America. A volatile spending environment and increasing competition remain headwinds for F5 Networks revenue growth. Soft spending by tier 1 service providers in North America is a concern. Additionally, increasing competition remain headwinds for F5 Networks revenue growth. Notably, Cisco Systems CSCO poses the most significant competitive threat to F5 Networks, given the dominance of the former in the overall networking market. What Our Model Says According to the Zacks model, a company with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) has a good chance of beating estimates if it also has a positive Earnings ESP. Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) or #5 (Strong Sell) stocks are best avoided. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before theyre reported with our Earnings ESP Filter. F5 Networks has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% and carries a Zacks Rank #3. Some Stocks With Favorable Combination Here are few stocks, which per our model have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter: Twitter, Inc. TWTR has an Earnings ESP of +26.55% and a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Our annual Top 10s have beaten the market with amazing regularity. In 2018, while the market dropped -5.2%, the portfolio scored well into double-digits overall with individual stocks rising as high as +61.5%. And from 2012-2017, while the market boomed +126.3, Zacks' Top 10s reached an even more sensational +181.9%. Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report F5 Networks, Inc. (FFIV) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research | https://news.yahoo.com/software-services-boost-f5-networks-093809268.html |
Why are continental breakfasts called 'continental' breakfasts? | The best part about staying in a hotel isnt the crisp, white sheets or comfy beds its the free breakfast. Theres no better place to start your day than an all-you-can-eat buffet, after all. But at first glance, theres nothing very continental about a continental breakfast. No, American-style waffles and bagels dont have anything to do with it. These nationwide breakfasts were actually modeled after the light morning meals common throughout the European continent. Hence, the word continental. As hoteliers popped up across the country, they began to offer a lighter alternative to American breakfasts, serving fare like coffee, bread, pastries, and fruit. It was a win-win situation all around: Not only did the buffet please the palates of European tourists, but it was also cheap and easy to provide for the hotels. This wasnt the kind of hearty meal that Americans were used to, though. In fact, when hotels first began serving light breakfasts in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, American diners were outraged. Harpers Weekly even demanded the idea be banished from the hemisphere where the Monroe Doctrine and the pie should reign supreme. Luckily, people arent as passionate about their hotel buffets anymoreor they just go to IHOP. More importantly, breakfast isnt the only free perk you can get from your hotel. Find out 21 secrets your hotel doesnt want you to know. This article originally appeared on Reader's Digest. | https://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/why-are-continental-breakfasts-called-continental-breakfasts |
Will Boeing Continue to Surge Higher? | As of late, it has definitely been a great time to be an investor in The Boeing Company. As of late, it has definitely been a great time to be an investor in The Boeing Company BA. The stock has moved higher by 0.1% in the past month, while it is also above its 20 Day SMA too. This combination of strong price performance and favorable technical, could suggest that the stock may be on the right path. We certainly think that this might be the case, particularly if you consider BAs recent earnings estimate revision activity. From this look, the companys future is quite favorable; as BA has earned itself a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), meaning that its recent run may continue for a bit longer, and that this isnt the top for the in-focus company. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Our annual Top 10s have beaten the market with amazing regularity. In 2018, while the market dropped -5.2%, the portfolio scored well into double-digits overall with individual stocks rising as high as +61.5%. And from 2012-2017, while the market boomed +126.3, Zacks' Top 10s reached an even more sensational +181.9%. Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research | https://news.yahoo.com/boeing-continue-surge-higher-111411962.html |
When Will My Apartment Be Underwater? | On a recent chilly Saturday, Jon Leland, a director at Kickstarter, sat in a SoHo coffee shop writing a guided meditation for an upcoming sound festival. Its about being a cicada emerging from seventeen years underground, he explained. Closing his laptop, he took a break to discuss another passion: scaring people about climate change. Leland has had this preoccupation since 2011, when he attended a U.N. Security Council meeting and heard a former President of Nauru speak about losing his island country to rising seas. It was heartbreaking, Leland said. And yet he watched the machinery of international politics do everything it could to not change. Last summer, he set about formulating the simple, stark messaging that he believes the climate-change movement needs. Using six thousand dollars, raised mostly on Kickstarter, he designed and printed eight thousand stickers that say This Place Will Be Water. Theyre available for purchase on thisplacewillbewater.org, which has an interactive map showing how sea-level rise will impact coastal cities. (He hopes to pursue a related project, called This Place Will Be Desert. He explained, The Midwest is fucked, too.) So far, Lelands stickers have been put up in more than a dozen cities around the world. New York is his home turf. Leland discussed how the city will be affected by a two-degree increase in global temperatures, the upper limit set forth by the Paris climate deal. With a two-degree change, the Rockaways are lost, he said. J.F.K. Airport is entirely underwater. Southern Queens and a lot of Brooklyn are underwater, especially around the canals. On the map, lower Manhattan looks a bit like Italy. Large portions of itthe West Side, especiallyare underwater, all the way to Broadway, he said. Much of the East Village, too. Avenues B, C, D. Jersey City is history. He laughed. Lets talk about whats not underwater. Leaving the coffee shopBells Coffee & Design, well into the water, he notedLeland stepped outside, carrying a satchel full of stickers, which are corn-based. Theyre biodegradable, he said. In six months, theyll be gone, after lots of people have read them. He began putting up stickers along Grand Street, keeping an eye out for police, since, technically, stickering is vandalism. I dont enjoy risk, he said. I guess this is why most people sticker at night. On Canal Streetwhich will be water, he saidLandman placed a sticker on an advertisement. It read Low Sex Drive, Now Optional. An older woman watched from the doorway of a bodega. Whats this? she asked. Its about climate change, Leland said, and pointed to the sticker. Yeah, she said, darkly. Its real. Trust me. Leland kept walking. I like how she said that almost like its a secret, he said. He stickered a utility pole and the entrance to a subway station. A man smoking a cigarette outside a jewelry shop introduced himself as Mahmut. Reading the sticker, he asked, When underwater? Well, Leland began, we dont know yet. But Mahmut interrupted: Next generation or this generation? Does it matter? Leland asked, philosophically. Next generation, theyll be flying, Mahmut said. High technology theyll use. He laughed and exhaled. A hundred years from now, no problem. I dont think thats true, Leland said. He continued down Canal. Techno-utopianism is one technique people use to avoid thinking about climate change. Turning onto Lafayette Streetgotta preach to the hyper-materialistshe approached a makeup store called Glossier. A line stretched outside. A trio of teen-age girls eyed Leland as he stickered a phone booth. They said that their names were Chloe, Shannon, and Amanda. In how long? Chloe asked, referring to when Glossier will be underwater. Or until we have to do something? Leland responded. Both. Um, Leland began, we have twelve years to fix this. Wow, Shannon said. Thats messed up. Yeah, Leland said. New York is the most vulnerable American city to climate change, in terms of sea-level rise. Amanda chimed in, They said if the plates shift we could be underwater in, like, forty-five minutes. Leland was briefly speechless. That could be true, he said, finally. Buthe pointed to the stickerthis is currently whats going to happen. Because of global warming? Chloe asked. Leland nodded and launched into a mini-lecture on melting ice caps and water expansion. The girls attention waned. Sorry, this isnt the most fun topic, he said. I hear Glossier makes great face sunscreen. They waved goodbye. Thats disappointing, Leland said, turning the corner. But Im more optimistic about their generation than the baby boomers. Hed put up forty-six stickers in an hour. Time to head home, to Clinton Hill, in Brooklyn. Its a hill, he said. Ill be fine. | https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/01/28/when-will-my-apartment-be-underwater |
How can Californias Kamala Harris stand out in crowded 2020 race? | Breaking through will require any Democrat to possess a mix of policy chops, smart digital strategy, a deep fundraising network, a robust team in the field, and charisma that radiates from Iowa to South Carolina to Nevada. In short, someone who can convince the partys highly motivated rank and file that she or he can defeat President Trump. A lot of this, said Michael Ceraso, who was Sen. Bernie Sanders California presidential campaign director in 2016, is going to boil down to personality. Thats because most of the major Democrats who are expected to run generally agree on a progressive platform. It includes supporting government-insured universal health care coverage commonly referred to as Medicare for all raising the federal minimum wage and backing some version of tuition-free public college. Supporting Medicare for all is the price of admission in the primary, said Markos Moulitsas, founder of the DailyKos blog that is influential in progressive circles. Harris was the first senator to announce her co-sponsorship for Sanders Medicare-for-all legislation in 2017. It is a sign of how much the Democratic Party has shifted since the 2016 primary battle between Sanders and Hillary Clinton. In that campaign, the Vermont independent senator captured much of the progressive left with positions on health care and tuition that moderate Democrats thought were too far out of the mainstream. Sanders routinely won 60 percent of the vote in DailyKos reader straw polls, Moulitsas said. Now, Sanders has plenty of company on the left. This month, in DailyKos first straw poll of the 2020 campaign, the sites readers put Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren at the top of all candidates, with 22 percent. Harris and former Vice President Joe Biden were tied for third at 14 percent, right behind former Texas Rep. Beto ORourke. Sanders lagged in fifth. Sanders is kind of yesterdays news, Moulitsas said. He stood out when it was a binary choice between a flawed establishment candidate (Clinton) and him. But now people are looking for someone different and fresh. Yet Harris is so fresh that many voters dont know who she is. A Qunnipiac University poll in December found that 57 percent of respondents didnt know enough about the California senator to form an opinion. It could be worse: Sixty-eight percent felt the same way about Harris fellow senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, who announced last week that she was running. Moulitsas said Sanders and Warren start out as the lefts favorites but that Harris candidacy could catch fire, because as the daughter of an Indian-born mother and Jamaican father, shell be one of the few women of color in the race. So far, her only competition on that front is from Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who was born in American Samoa and announced her candidacy this month. I think demographics are going to be pretty important, Moulitsas said. This is the era of MeToo and Black Lives Matter, so any candidate who can reflect that energy, who can reflect the base of the party, will have a huge advantage. Being a woman of color gives (Harris) a perspective and an ability to address issues in a way that sets her apart from some of the other candidates, said Aimee Allison, an Oakland activist whose organization supporting women of color in politics, She the People, will host a presidential candidates forum in April in Texas. The goal of any Democratic candidate will be knitting together a 2020 version of the coalition of women, young people and people of color that vaulted Barack Obama into the White House more than a decade ago. The two people who are best positioned and equipped to reassemble that coalition are Kamala Harris and (New Jersey Democratic Sen.) Cory Booker, said Steve Phillips, a San Francisco fundraiser and commentator who focuses on increasing the political influence of communities of color. Phillips, author of the best-selling Brown Is the New White: How the Demographic Revolution Has Created A New American Majority, created a super PAC in December to support Booker and other candidates called Dream United. Groups affiliated with Phillips helped raised $11 million for Obamas 2008 campaign. Harris was an early endorser of that Obama campaign, and Phillips said she has already shown promise in making cultural connections with the Obama coalition. Those connections dont have to involve weighty policy issues. On a recent appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Harris offered up a recorded mood mix of her favorite music, including a presidential song, Funkadelics One Nation Under a Groove. Harris gave a few dance moves as she sang a snippet, something it would be hard to imagine Joe Biden attempting. Phillips compared it to an episode in the 2008 campaign, a day after Obama gave a poorly received debate performance against Clinton. In a speech, Obama referenced the Jay-Z song Dirt Off Your Shoulder, miming the singer by giving his shoulder a dismissive dusting a way of saying, No big deal. The outburst of social media approval showed that Obama was winning cred among communities that Democrats have to motivate to win elections. That level of cultural connection is going to be significant among people of color in general and black women in particular, Phillips said. But Harris will have her challenges, too. Since she has served only two years in the Senate all in the minority her list of legislative accomplishments is short. While she often describes herself as a career prosecutor, some of her positions will be controversial in a Democratic primary. For example, she stayed neutral on Proposition 47, a 2014 voter-approved measure that reformed Californias three-strikes law by reducing some nonviolent crimes to misdemeanors. She didnt support legalizing cannabis for recreational use until last year, two years after California voters did. She will also be on unfamiliar ground campaigning outside her deep-blue native state. When she describes herself as a prosecutor from San Francisco, the only words some people will hear will be the last three. When you come from California, you feel protected and safe because nobody tells you youre wrong, said Michael Trujillo, a Democratic strategist who is the California adviser for a group supporting an ORourke candidacy. Its going to be interesting to see how she handles that grind, day in and day out, in Iowa and New Hampshire, where some people are going to love her and some will hate her. That will be a real test for her. The ideal Democrat, said several national political strategists, will be someone who can fight toe-to-toe with Trump, yet be inspirational enough to heal the nations divisions. A September poll found that 91 percent of Democratic likely voters in Iowa a nearly all-white state whose caucus is the first in the campaign said it was important that a 2020 candidate heal the racial, ethnic and partisan divide in our country. Voters are going to have two questions for the candidates, said Bill Burton, a top adviser to Obama who is not affiliated with a 2020 campaign. And second, can you get things done? Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @joegarofoli | https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/How-can-California-s-Kamala-Harris-stand-out-in-13549183.php |
Should the entire Mueller report be released to the public? | The nation is waiting with bated breath for the results of Robert Mueller's investigation into Donald Trump's 2016 campaign and potential ties with Russia. But many are beginning to worry they may never see the fruit of Mueller's labor. During his Congressional hearings, Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general, William Barr, refused to offer lawmakers assurances that he would release the report in its entirety. Many believe the public deserves the full, unedited truth. PERSPECTIVES Barr, who previously served as attorney general under George H.W. Bush, holds an extremely expansive view of presidential powers. Barr's ideological beliefs include the theory that a sitting president cannot be indicted for a crime. During his confirmation hearing, Barr would not guarantee he would release Mueller's investigation in its entirety. Barr specifically noted if Mueller declined to prosecute anyone he investigated, Barr would not release that information. The New York Times talked to Neil Kinkopf, a law professor at Georgia State University and a former Justice Department official, about how Barr's beliefs in presidential powers could affect the release of Mueller's report. On Wednesday, Mr. Kinkopf noted that the Justice Department had taken the position that sitting presidents could not be indicted while in office. Maybe Many Americans still remember independent counsel Kenneth Starr's extensive, explicit report on Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky. Starr released his full report not only to Congress but to the public as well. Starr's report has become infamous for how revealing and salacious it was in its details. The Washington Post reports since the Starr report's release, Congress has rewritten the rules governing Justice Department investigations. Starr was required to "not only to conduct a criminal investigation but also to submit a report to Congress if he found any evidence of impeachable offenses." That statute lapsed in 1999 and the rules under which Mueller are working are far stricter. Section 600.8(c) of the regulations provides that the special counsel shall provide the attorney general with a "confidential report explaining the prosecution or declination decisions reached by the Special Counsel." If the special counsel finds that "other governmental action outside the criminal justice system might be appropriate," (presumably, such as impeachment) he is empowered only to "consult with the Attorney General with respect to the appropriate component to take any necessary action." Under these new regulations, it is up to the attorney general to determine how much, if any, of the special counsel's report to release. Opinion | A Mueller report may never see the light of day Politico reports many lawmakers on both sides of the political spectrum believe the report needs to be released in full in order to provide the American people with transparency. "The American people deserve to know what the Department of Justice has concluded. And they're smart enough to figure it out," Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, told Barr during his confirmation hearing. "The American people don't read Aristotle every day, but they can figure it out." "I would strongly encourage you to put this all to rest, to make a report, a final report public," he added. "Let everybody draw their own conclusions so we can move on. If somebody did something wrong, they should be punished. But if they didn't, let's stop the innuendo and the rumors and the leaking and let's move on." Without the full report, some amount of distrust will continue to exist for all Americans, regardless of political affiliation. GOP wants Mueller transparency -- with caveats There are concerns of a dramatic loophole that could work in President Trump's favor. If, as Barr believes, a sitting president cannot be indicted, and the only portions of the report that can be released are those related to indictments, then the president would be able to get away with past criminal activity--whether or not it has been discovered by Mueller's team. Per The Washington Post: "If the only reason that Mueller's grand Jury can't file an indictment is the DOJ policy that says no indicting of sitting presidents, then Trump gets the best of both worlds: no indictment and no revealing of the evidence the grand jury saw -- even though it may be more than enough to indict any other citizen of the republic," former federal prosecutor Patrick Cotter said. Analysis | R.I.P. The Tylt is focused on debates and conversations around news, current events and pop culture. We provide our community with the opportunity to share their opinions and vote on topics that matter most to them. We actively engage the community and present meaningful data on the debates and conversations as they progress. The Tylt is a place where your opinion counts, literally. The Tylt is an Advance Local Media, LLC property. Join us on Twitter @TheTylt, on Instagram @TheTylt or on Facebook, we'd love to hear what you have to say. | https://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2019/01/should_the_entire_mueller_repo.html |
Will Facebook Start Paying a Dividend in 2019? | For years, Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) has been a pioneer in social media, bringing billions of users together across the globe. Along the way, Facebook has become a huge business, attracting advertising revenue from those seeking to reach its huge audience. In the past, when companies reached the point at which they were generating large amounts of free cash flow, they'd often seriously consider starting to pay a dividend. Facebook hasn't yet made the move to pay one, and some think that it should reward its shareholders with dividend payments. Below, we'll look to see if Facebook will make 2019 the year in which it makes its debut in the dividend-investing universe. Stats on Facebook Metric Current Stat Free cash flow, last 12 months $17.45 billion Net income, last 12 months $19.5 billion Earnings per share, last 12 months $6.73 Earnings growth from full-year 2017 22% Data source: Yahoo! Finance. Why Facebook should pay dividends Tech companies have historically been slow to start paying dividends, and with Facebook having gone public in 2012, a seven-year history without dividends is far from unusual. It usually takes a long time for newly public companies to gain traction in their respective businesses, and in the technology sector, it can take even longer to establish yourself as a major player in the industry. Facebook, however, is far from a typical company. When it did its IPO, Facebook was already the dominant player in the social media space, and it was already consistently profitable. Although the company did take steps to bolster its position by investing profits back into its business and making key strategic acquisitions, Facebook's earnings and free cash flow have kept growing over time. As you can see below, net income has jumped tenfold or more in just the past five years, and free cash flow has shown similarly impressive gains. FB Net Income (TTM) Chart More FB Net Income (TTM) data by YCharts. Moreover, Facebook has built up an impressive war chest of cash on its balance sheet. As of its most recent quarterly report, combined cash and short-term investments were above $41 billion, up from just $11.2 billion in 2014. That shows that even if Facebook intends to make another acquisition similar in size to its $19 billion buyout of WhatsApp in 2014, it wouldn't put a dent in its available cash flow. Picking buybacks over dividends It took a long time for Facebook to consider returning capital to shareholders in any form. But the dam broke in late 2016, when the social media giant's board created a stock repurchase program, authorizing up to $6 billion to go toward stock buybacks. Facebook used about $2 billion of that money on buybacks in 2017, and during the first nine months of 2018, it accelerated its repurchase activity pursuant to an expanded authorization, spending more than $9 billion to buy its own stock. In December, the company made its latest expansion to its buyback program, putting in another $9 billion. Yet some investors still aren't satisfied. The benefit of dividends for investors is that they tend to be more reliable than stock buybacks. Companies tend to buy back stock in large chunks when money's most readily available, and those repurchases can disappear during tough times. Companies are more reluctant to cut dividends, and so shareholders can be more confident with a solid dividend than with buybacks -- even if they amount to the same amount of capital returned to investors. | https://news.yahoo.com/facebook-start-paying-dividend-2019-131900807.html |
Will Zendesk CRM Take a Bite Out of Salesforce and HubSpot? | I've been following Zendesk (NYSE: ZEN) for years, and I felt a bit uneasy when the company announced plans to go beyond its core suite of customer support products and introduce a new ground-up customer relationship management (CRM) platform hosted in Amazon.com's (NASDAQ: AMZN) cloud. But then I dug a little deeper and recognized something important: Zendesk has been moving up the CRM stack for years. Its new effort, dubbed Zendesk Sunshine, isn't surprising at all. A rising sun with the words zendesk sunshine featured underneath More Sunshine is Zendesk's newest -- and perhaps most ambitious -- product yet. Image source: Zendesk. Skeptics will say that salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) dominates the market for CRM software, and they're right. But even with its leadership position, Salesforce still only occupies about 20% of the overall market, leaving plenty of room for challengers like HubSpot (NYSE: HUBS) and, naturally, Zendesk. There are two reasons to expect Zendesk to cash in. 1. The company already competes successfully...without really trying To be clear, Zendesk isn't anywhere near the top of the market in terms of overall revenue from CRM system sales. Sunshine may change that, but in the meantime, client adoption of multiple products for serving customers has made Zendesk one of the leading players in CRM for three years now, according to technology research firm Gartner. 2. It cultivates freshly grown, free-range, organic growth With Sunshine, Zendesk promises a completely open experience that the company says makes it easier to tap into customer data wherever it may live and improve every aspect of the experience with your company. And Amazon is part of the Zendesk pitch. "Sunshine is natively built in the public cloud on Amazon Web Services, which means your developers get the freedom to build your customer apps or services the way they want," says Zendesk. "Data will flow more freely through the AWS services that developers already use." Hooking developers with a friendly CRM experience that goes with the AWS they know could be remarkably enticing. But let's say it isn't. Let's say instead that it just fills a niche as Zendesk has with the majority of its other products. That in itself would be a big win. Here's why: A quick check of S&P Global Market Intelligence shows that since 2014, Zendesk has made four small acquisitions totaling at least $72 million but probably less than $100 million. (Terms of the company's September acquisition of Future Simple weren't disclosed.) Zendesk has grown revenue more than $400 million -- roughly four times that total acquisition cost -- over that same period while also improving gross margin and cash flow. That's the beauty of growing (mostly) organically. A very Foolish bottom line Finally, while it's an anecdotal point, here at The Motley Fool we've enjoyed enough benefits using Zendesk for different levels of service and support that we're rapidly bringing new elements of the platform to new parts of the company. I've no idea, but I'm also not sure it matters. The bigger point I'm making is that Zendesk has made an excellent business out of developing open, flexible, customizable software that lives in the cloud. Sunshine continues that tradition, and should find its market just as every other product in the Zendesk suite has. As an investor, I'm excited to see where it lands. More From The Motley Fool John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Tim Beyers owns shares of HubSpot and Salesforce.com. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon, HubSpot, Salesforce.com, and Zendesk. The Motley Fool recommends Gartner. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. | https://news.yahoo.com/zendesk-crm-bite-salesforce-hubspot-131700748.html |
What's in Store for Bristol-Myers (BMY) in Q4 Earnings? | Bristol-Myers Squibb Company BMY is expected to report fourth-quarter 2018 results on Jan 24, before market opens. Bristol-Myers shares have decreased 8.9% in the past six months, against the industrys growth of 7.1%. Bristol-Myers has an excellent track record. The company delivered positive earnings surprise in all the four quarters. Average positive earnings surprise in the last four quarters is 12%. In the last reported quarter, Bristol-Myers delivered a positive surprise of 19.8%. Lets see how things are shaping up for this quarter. Bristol-Myers key immuno-oncology drug, Opdivo is expected to be the primary revenue driver in the fourth quarter, with several line extensions in the past year. Earlier in 2018, Opdivo was approved as a monotherapy for the treatment of metastatic small cell lung cancer (SCLC) in third-line setting in patients who have received platinum-based chemotherapy and at least one other line of therapy. The drug also received approval for treating microsatellite instability high or mismatch repair deficient metastatic colorectal cancer, in combination with Yervoy in second-line setting in the United States. The European Commission recently approved the combination of Opdivo plus Yervoy for the first-line treatment of patients with intermediate- and poor-risk advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Opdivo has already captured 30% share of new patients in the first-line RCC market. The drug, which is approved for multiple indications, has generated sales of $1.8 billion in the third quarter and $4.9 billion in the first nine months of 2018, increasing 42% and 37%, respectively, from the year-ago period. Yervoys line extension in pediatric patients aged 12 years or older with unresectable or metastatic melanoma was approved in Europe. The FDA approved the drug in combination with Opdivo for first-line treatment of RCC. Label expansion of the drug should further boost sales. Oncology drug, Sprycel is also maintaining momentum. The European Commission approved a line extension of Sprycel in pediatric patients with Ph+ chronic myeloid leukemia. The FDA also approved the drug for the treatment of pediatric patients aged one year or older, with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph+) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), in combination with chemotherapy. We expect the recent label expansion of the drug to boost sales. Cardiovascular drug, Eliquis also showed strong performance in the first nine months of 2018, with sales growing 35% from the year-ago quarter. In fact, robust sales are expected in the fourth quarter too, driven by expansion in market share. However, the Hepatitis C and HIV businesses continue to face competitive pressure. Sales for the franchise are expected to decline. Investors will also focus on further updates on the companys recent announcement of acquiring Celgene Corporation CELG for $74 billion. The impending acquisition will result in a specialty biopharma company with a strong oncology portfolio and diverse pipeline in the therapeutic areas of inflammatory, immunologic and cardiovascular diseases. Bristol-Myers was pursuing an acquisition for quite some time now to bolster its portfolio. While its blockbuster immuno-oncology drug, Opdivo continues to perform well on the back of label expansions, pricing concerns and stiff competition in the immuno-oncology space have limited market share gains. | https://news.yahoo.com/whats-store-bristol-myers-bmy-125012911.html |
Will Core MedSurg Segment Aid Stryker's (SYK) Q4 Earnings? | Stryker Corporations SYK fourth-quarter 2018 results, scheduled for release on Jan 29, after market close, are likely to gain from a strong show by the core MedSurg segment. A strong 2018 view also buoys optimism. Q3 Results at a Glance In the last reported quarter, Stryker delivered adjusted earnings per share of $1.69, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny. Earnings improved 11.2% year over year and were within the companys guidance. The company reported revenues of $3.24 billion, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.26 billion by a narrow margin. Revenues increased 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Stryker has a positive average surprise of 2% for the trailing four quarters. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter earnings per share is pegged at $2.15, reflecting year-over-year growth of 9.7%. The same for revenues is pinned at $3.73 billion, showing growth of 7.6% over the prior-year quarter. Stryker Corporation Price and EPS Surprise Stryker Corporation Price and EPS Surprise | Stryker Corporation Quote Lets see how things are shaping up before the earnings results. MedSurg in Focus This segment consists of surgical instruments, endoscopic and emergency medical equipment and has been consistently driving Strykers top line. In the last reported quarter, the unit contributed a significant 44.4% to Strykers net sales. Revenues in the segment came in at $1.44 billion, up 10.4% at constant currency (cc). It is encouraging to note that, for the quarter to be reported, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the segments revenues stands at $1.69 billion, up 7.2% year over year. MedSurg has three subsegments Endoscopy, Instruments and Medical. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Endoscopy revenues is pegged at $505 million, up 7.7% year over year. The same for Instruments revenues stands at $533 million, showing a year-over-year rise of 9.2%. Moreover, for MedSurg Medical revenues, the consensus estimate is pinned at $590 million, up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Other Factors at Play Strong Guidance For the fourth quarter of 2018, earnings are projected within $2.13 to $2.18. In fact, for 2018, Stryker projects earnings in the range of $7.25-$7.30, higher than the previous guidance of $7.22-$7.27. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at $7.28, within the guided range. Orthopaedic Implant, Neurotechnology & Spine to Drive Growth In the last reported quarter, Strykers core Orthopaedic segment contributed 36.1% to net sales. For the quarter to be reported, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the segments sales is pegged at $1.36 billion, showing a year-over-year rise of 3.8%. Meanwhile, Neurotechnology & Spine accounted for 19.4% of Strykers revenues in the last reported quarter. For the quarter to be reported, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the segments sales stands at $677 million, showing year-over-year growth of 15.5%. Acquisition Risks Stryker has lately been on an acquisition spree. Last November, the company completed a previously-announced acquisition of K2M Group Holdings and in October, it acquired Invuity. While this improves revenue opportunities, it adds to integration risks and also exerts pressure on gross and operating margins. | https://news.yahoo.com/core-medsurg-segment-aid-strykers-125612073.html |
Who is running for president in 2020 so far? | Even though 2019 just began, a number of candidates have already declared their intentions to seek the White House in 2020. MORE: The 2020 presidential candidates ranked by betting odds Candidates such as Julian Castro and John Delaney have already made formal announcements and launched their campaign websites, while other candidates such as Elizabeth Warren and Kirsten Gillibrand have announced the formation of presidential exploratory committees. Click through the slideshow above to see which candidates have officially declared they are running for president so far. This article will continue to update as other candidates officially declare their White House bids. Feel free to bookmark it. | https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/2020-presidential-candidates-list-who-is-running-13540053.php |
Is Jared Goff dating swimsuit model Christen Harper? | It appears Sean McVay isnt the only member of the Rams with a personal cheerleader. Quarterback Jared Goff is said to be dating swimsuit stunner Christen Harper, according to SportsGossip.com. An insider tells the sports site Goff is hiding her from everyone except some friends. The brunette beauty also was photographed at a past Rams game. While Goff, 24, and Harper do follow one another on social media, their rumored relationship is not yet Instagram official. It remains to be seen if Harper will be in New Orleans on Sunday, when the Rams face the Saints in the NFC Championship game. Should he defeat Drew Brees, Goff would punch his ticket to his first ever Super Bowl. This article originally appeared in the New York Post. | https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/is-jared-goff-dating-swimsuit-model-christen-harper |
Is Sanity Breaking Out in Washington? A Bipartisan Fix to FAFSA Complexity? | Literally for decades, a major impediment for individuals wanting federal student financial assistance is the Free Application for Federal Student Assistance (FAFSA) form. I remember in about 2008 sitting in an interminably long meeting with Education Secretary Margaret Spellings and underlings trying to simplify a form over 100 questions long and hideously complex. My wife, a retired high school guidance counselor in a low income Appalachian setting, told me the FAFSA form scared off many low income students seeking financial assistance. Some academic research has said the same thing. More than a decade has passed and the problem of the FAFSA form still remains, no doubt reflecting federal bureaucratic inertia and infighting. On December 20, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed legislation, dubbed the FAFSA Act, helping achieve rationality in applying for federal assistance by permitting the Internal Revenue Service to share tax information on applicants for aid directly with the Department of Education. Notable in this era of hyper-partisanship: the bill was co-sponsored by two liberal Democrats, Patty Murray and Sheldon Whitehouse, and two conservative to moderate Republicans, Lamar Alexander (chair of the Senate Education Committee and a former president of the University of Tennessee) and Cory Gardner. In today's extremely acrimonious environment, when Senators as diverse as Ted Cruz and Elizabeth Warren can agree on something, it is notable. The legislation must pass the House, where hopefully its merits will overcome partisan bickering or maneuvering that might keep the bill off the House calendar. If I recall from the 2008 meeting, University of Michigan Professor Sue Dynarski and I argued that the FAFSA form provides very little important information not available on federal income tax forms. Income is the predominant determinant of financial need, although tax returns also provide other useful information, such as the number of children of college age in the family. The marginal gains from other information provided by the FAFSA, such as family assets, mortgage payments, etc., are outweighed by the barriers created by form complexity. Students should be able to apply for federal student aid by signing a simple postcard sized form that says "by signing this form, you understand that your income tax returns will be provided to the U.S. Department of Education for purposes of determining eligibility for federal student financial assistance; please provide your Social Security(Taxpayer Identification) number and sign the enclosed form." This should eventually open up the use of IRS data in other ways which could provide enormously useful consumer information without invading the privacy of individual taxpayers. In particular, data on the financial success of students by school attended and academic major would be great. Some information is already provided and published on the College Scorecard of the U.S. Department of Education, but it excludes large number of students who have not applied for student aid. That is true, and in a perfect world we would quickly phase out or drastically reduce federal financial aid in favor of better alternatives. Indeed, if I had my way, we would abolish the U.S. Department of Education. But we have a highly imperfect world, and the political process is certainly not producing optimal results these days. IF we are going to have a substantial federal presence in financing college education, than we should reduce barriers to student participation in the program. That is why I suspect that even the bitterly partisan and rancorous U.S. Congress might be able to get its act together and pass this legislation. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardvedder/2019/01/21/is-sanity-breaking-out-in-washington-a-bipartisan-fix-to-fafsa-complexity/ |
How Does a Certificate of Deposit (CD) Work? | A certificate of deposit, or CD, can help you get more interest from your idle cash. Heres what you need to know about them. Image Credit: Getty Images A certificate of deposit, also known as a CD, is a type of bank account that involves placing a deposit with a financial institution for a certain amount of time. For this reason, a CD is often referred to as a time-deposit account. The ending date of a CD account is known as its maturity date, and the entire account balance is generally removed when this date is reached. CDs generally pay fixed interest rates that are determined upon opening the account, and while the interest rates paid by CDs generally depend on market conditions, they can vary significantly between financial institutions. CDs vs. Savings accounts While a CD is technically a type of savings account, it differs from a traditional bank savings account in a few important ways -- some include: The most obvious difference between a CD and a savings account is that youre committing to leaving your money in the CD for a certain amount of time. CD term lengths generally range from a few months to about five years, although shorter or longer terms may be available. With a savings account, you are free to withdraw your money whenever youd like. Because youre committing to leave your funds on deposit, banks typically pay higher interest rates on CDs than they do on savings accounts. And, the longer the term of the CD, the higher the interest rate it will typically pay. There is generally no such thing as a partial withdrawal from a CD. For example, if you deposit $1,000 into a savings account, you can choose to withdraw a portion of it and leave the rest in the account. With a CD, your withdrawal generally has to be for the entire amount, even if you decide to access your funds before the maturity date and accept a penalty. The interest rate paid by a CD depends on a few factors. For one, overall financial market conditions tend to influence CD yields. Specifically, if the Federal Reserve raises interest rates, CD yields will generally rise across the board. On the other hand, when the Federal Reserve lowers interest rates, CD yields tend to fall. Having said that, the type of financial institution offering the CD also plays a big role. Brick-and-mortar banks tend to have lower CD yields than credit unions, for example. And, online financial institutions tend to have the best CD yields of all. As an example, as of Nov. 5, 2018, the national average interest rate for a 12-month CD was 0.49%. Meanwhile, Marcus by Goldman Sachs offers an annual percentage yield, or APY, of 2.55% -- more than five times the average. Its very important to shop around for the best rates as the variation between institutions can be substantial. Additionally, its important to mention that CD interest compounds throughout the term. For example, lets say that you deposit $1,000 in a five-year CD that has an annual percentage yield of 3%. This means that at the end of the first year, your CD would be worth $1,030. Then during the second year, you would earn 3% on $1,030. Over time, this can really add a significant amount to your returns if you choose a CD with a longer maturity. Jumbo CDs If you have a lot of money to deposit, you may be able to obtain a so-called Jumbo CD. Many financial institutions are willing to pay higher interest rates for Jumbo CDs, but not all of them do, so if you have a large deposit, be sure to inquire about Jumbo CD rates. Jumbo CDs are generally defined as a minimum deposit amount of $100,000, but many institutions have lower thresholds that pay preferable interest rates. CDs as retirement investments Its also important to mention that you can hold CDs in certain retirement accounts, such as individual retirement accounts, or IRAs. If you put your money in a CD with a bank, the interest your account earns is generally considered taxable income. However, if your CD is held in an IRA or other tax-advantaged retirement account, you wont have to worry about paying tax on the interest you receive on an annual basis. If you invest in a CD through a tax-deferred retirement account like a traditional IRA, your account deposit may be tax deductible, and you wont have to worry about any income taxes on your interest income until you make a withdrawal from the account. Or, if you invest through an after-tax account like a Roth IRA, your contributions wont be deductible, but qualified withdrawals from the account (including your interest income) will be 100% tax-free. If were defining risk as the potential loss of your deposit, the answer is almost certainly no. Bank CDs are FDIC-insured up to $250,000 per depositor, per institution. And credit union CDs are also insured through the National Credit Union Administration with the same limits. | https://news.yahoo.com/does-certificate-deposit-cd-143000911.html |
Did I overstep when I gave unsolicited advice to my sons soccer teammate? | The question My 12-year-old son plays soccer and at a recent practice I made two comments to the goalkeeper about mistakes he was making. I was wearing ear buds at the time and apparently I was louder than I would ordinarily have been. I said: You should roll the ball out with more vigour and it wont be picked off." And after several went through his hands into the net: You should tip those over the bar. Fairly innocuous but, true, totally unsolicited. The reason I spoke to him was he was frustrated with his play and was pounding the turf and punching the posts, so I thought I could help him. And Ive coached this team, though I do not know this boy. But the boy didnt appreciate my comments and told me to stop talking to him. The following day at their game I offered the parents an apology and the mom accepted but I felt some lingering resentment then and still do almost one month later. I get the cold shoulder: no eye contact, smiles or greetings. The mom also is the club co-ordinator and when the soccer kits were given out, all I got was a T-shirt with no socks or shorts and a perfunctory explanation. I now feel tense going to watch my boy practise and play and cant imagine how this can go on. The answer I scarcely know where to begin. First of all, take your ear buds out of your ears, bud, when youre talking to people. I do not understand this modern phenomenon of leaving them in but to me it seems the height of rudeness. Especially since you approached the kid, not the other way around. Second, unsolicited is the lowest form of advice. Maybe teachers and parents can get away with it. I would use this as a teaching moment and never, ever try to foist your counsel on anyone ever again unless they ask you for it. I dont even like unsolicited comments. It so happens I wear shorts well into the fall. Oh-ho-ho shorts in October eh? some total stranger on the street will say, snapping me out of whatever reverie I might have been enjoying. Youre quite eccentric! I know they mean no harm, but its annoying. Because I could offer a few about you. (Of course I dont.) And your target and timing couldnt possibly have been worse. Story continues below advertisement Story continues below advertisement To be a goaltender, as I know from having a hockey-goalie son, is a highly emotional and pressure-filled thing to be. You feel the entire weight of the games outcome on your shoulders and know your teammates kind of feel the same way. Youre a hero. They cant even look you in the eyes. Ive seen it many times. Ive also seen my son let in an easy one, costing his team the game and subsequently throw himself face-down on the ice and weep. Unwise. Im surprised the kid didnt tell you off in stronger language. And Im not surprised the mom is giving you the cold shoulder and stiffed you on the shorts and socks. Well, I know from bitter experience what its like having someone who hardly knows you form a dislike for you. It can really prey on your mind. But I wouldnt keep trying to reapproach them. Give them a wide berth for a while, be kind and friendly if you do encounter them, and see if the passage of time solves it, soothes it and acts as a balm. Story continues below advertisement After all, I know Ive been giving you a hard time, but in the grand scheme of things, its a pretty minor and obviously well-intentioned infraction. Maybe theyll come around to seeing that. If not, well, something I learned a long time ago: Not everyone can like you. You might just have to learn to live with their frostiness. Send your dilemmas to [email protected]. Please keep your submissions to 150 words and include a daytime contact number so we can follow up with any queries. Live your best. We have a daily Life & Arts newsletter, providing you with our latest stories on health, travel, food and culture. Sign up today. | https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/relationships/article-did-i-overstep-when-i-gave-unsolicited-advice-to-my-sons-soccer/ |
Is David Camerons new haircut an apology for his breezy Brexit gamble? | The former prime ministers punt on the EU referendum didnt work out as hed planned. Name: David Camerons haircut. Age: About a month. Appearance: Short, neat, chastened. Yes. People are desperate for him to say sorry with something, and last week he was pictured jogging, with hair much shorter than he has had before, cropped close on the back and the sides. No, perhaps not quite that severe. Apparently, Cameron got a short back and sides while on holiday in Costa Rica, then had it tidied up by his usual hairdresser back in London. A celebrity stylist called Lino Carbosiero. You may remember that he sensationally changed the position of Camerons parting back in 2010. Ah, yes. That was such sweet sorrow. Carbosiero has also cut the hair of Madonna, Kylie Minogue and Paul McCartney. A basic cut from him at the Daniel Galvin salon in Marylebone costs 50. Yes. A referendum that he said would settle the European question has made it much more divisive and damaging because the question was so vague that its impossible to agree what implementing the decision means. Not even leavers think theyre getting what they want. It was kind of irresponsible, in retrospect. Oh, it was just a breezy gamble that he assumed would work out OK. Things generally do work out OK when youre a millionaire who is married to an aristocrat. He doesnt put much thought into it, Carbosiero told the Times. OK. Thats right. Perhaps he could get even sorrier, now I think about it. No. He says he doesnt regret calling the referendum because he promised that he would then conveniently says nothing about whether he regrets making the promise. No. He regrets the way things have gone, but adds: I dont think its going to be helped by me giving a running commentary. Pity. Luckily, Carbosiero will do the commentating for us. Hairdressers could have done a better job, says Carbosiero. Do say: Come back when its a hair shirt. Dont say: Lets spend the 350m we send to Brussels every week on locking Cameron in the stocks. | https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/shortcuts/2019/jan/21/is-david-camerons-new-haircut-an-apology-for-his-breezy-brexit-gamble |
Could Roger Goodell have saved Saints with obscure NFL rule? | CLOSE SportsPulse: This will likely go down as the worst officiated championship weekend ever. But if you are a fan of chaos and pure insane entertainment it was incredible. Trysta Krick breaks down how the Patriots and Rams punched their ticket to the Super Bowl. USA TODAY Yes, the officials at the NFC Championship game whiffed on what should have been pass interference on Los Angeles Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman after he rammed into New Orleans Saints wide receiver Tommylee Lewis. But no, there is NO WAY Roger Goodell is going to step in and tell the Rams and Saints to go back to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and play the game over from that egregiously missed penalty call. Yet that's something the commissioner theoretically has the authority to do, and it's a rule fans started citing on Monday morning, partially thanks to Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas sending out this tweet: Rule 17 Section 2 Article 3 @NFL Michael Thomas (@Cantguardmike) January 21, 2019 From Rule 17, Section 2 ("Extraordinarily unfair acts"), Article 3 of the NFL rule book: "The Commissioner's powers under this Section 2 include the imposition of monetary fines and draft-choice forfeitures, suspension of persons involved in unfair acts, and, if appropriate, the reversal of a game's result or the rescheduling of a game, either from the beginning or from the point at which the extraordinary act occurred." Again: Goodell can reverse a game right to the moment an "unfair act" occurred. Let's just stop it right there, though. Let's go back to Article 1 ("Commissioner Authority") of Section 2 to figure out what this means: "The Commissioner has the sole authority to investigate and take appropriate disciplinary and/or corrective measures if any club action, non-participant interference, or calamity occurs in an NFL game which the Commissioner deems so extraordinarily unfair or outside the accepted tactics encountered in professional football that such action has a major effect on the result of the game." "Outside the accepted tactics encountered." That doesn't sound like it's covered by an official's missed call. Sorry, Saints fans. Not happening. MORE: NFL Championship Sunday Awards: Bill Belichick angrily tossing a tablet was too good New Orleans papers front page perfectly roasted refs over missed Saints pass interference call Tom Brady dropped an emotional F-bomb on live TV when asked about Super Bowl Tom Brady found a classy way to share a special moment with Patrick Mahomes after win Complain all you want, you'll miss these Patriots when they're gone | https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ftw/2019/01/21/roger-goodell-could-have-saved-the-saints-with-obscure-nfl-rule/38932261/ |
Can we survive without coffee? | According to a new study published in Science Advances, at least 60 percent of the world's coffee species are at risk of extinction. Among the species at risk is the Arabica bean, which is the most popular coffee for commercial production. Both casual coffee drinkers and addicts shutter at the thought of higher-priced coffee and empty pots. Others say they'd be just fine if coffee disappeared; there are other ways to get a caffeine boost. PERSPECTIVES According to the new report published in Science Advances, 60 percent of the world's coffee species are "threatened with extinction." CNN's Lauren Kent spoke with senior researcher Aaron P. Davis on why this is the case: 'Considering threats from human encroachment and deforestation, some (coffee species) could be extinct in 10 to 20 years, particularly with the added influence of climate change,' Davis said. Fewer coffee crops means your morning cup might get more expensive and taste worse. The year is 2030. Your Starbucks order costs no less than $10.00 and is less "triple-pump-cold-foam" and more "dark-brown-sludge-in-a-cup." It won't even matter that your coffee is not Instagramable because Instagram no longer exists; the world is too bleak. The Sunday Scaries have taken on a whole new meaning as you rock yourself back and forth, with no steaming cup near to awake your soul. The world's most popular coffee species are going extinct According to one write-in on Quora, the world would continue to turn without coffee. The market will adjust and fill the hole in everyone's coffee-laden hearts with other sources of energy: Coffee is a commodity, so results of a shortage is relatively easy to predict. As supplies of coffee dwindles, the price would shoot up higher and higher. These price spikes would quickly move consumers from coffee to other caffeine sources such as energy drinks or sodas. Life goes on a normal... Another writer offers a different proposal for survival: Thanos' plan would come to pass. Half the population would kill the other half and we'd have enough resources to continue without further damage to the environment. A world without coffee would also have huge economic consequences. According to Vice's Samantha Power: In Canada, over 170,000 jobs relate to coffee, from roaster to barista. In the US it's over 1.6 million. The National Coffee Association in the US estimates economic impact of coffee to be $225.2 billion (EU200.5 billion EUR.) 7.75 million 60 kilo bags were exported globally in July alone. Plus, as more and more people turn to other caffeine sources like soda and energy drinks, sugar consumption will likely go up, accelerating America's obesity epidemic. Perhaps a life without coffee would be better for everyone. According to Caffeine Informer, quitting coffee can lower your blood pressure, improve your sleep quality and decrease anxiety. Maybe the world should do away with caffeine consumption altogether: Bottled coffees, teas, energy drinks, and sodas often contain an assortment of preservatives designed to give them a longer shelf-life...Cutting these out of your diet can be beneficial to one's overall long-term good health. 20 Awesome Benefits of Quitting Caffeine or Coffee The Tylt is focused on debates and conversations around news, current events and pop culture. We provide our community with the opportunity to share their opinions and vote on topics that matter most to them. We actively engage the community and present meaningful data on the debates and conversations as they progress. The Tylt is a place where your opinion counts, literally. The Tylt is an Advance Local Media, LLC property. Join us on Twitter @TheTylt, on Instagram @TheTylt or on Facebook, we'd love to hear what you have to say. | https://www.oregonlive.com/tylt/2019/01/can_we_survive_without_coffee.html |
Is Brad Pitt dating Angelina Jolies enemy Charlize Theron? | If its true that Brad Pitt is dating this beautiful Academy Award-winning A-lister, the world could look forward to the next Hollywood super couple. The Daily Mail, picking up on a story from another British tabloid The Sun, reports that 55-year-old Pitt started seeing Charlize Theron, 43, over the Christmas holidays a few weeks after he and estranged wife Angelina Jolie reached an agreement in their bitter, high-profile custody battle. On Jan. 12, Pitt and Theron were seen getting cozy at an insider event at Chateau Marmont, the famous Hollywood gathering spot. The new lovebirds were all over each over at the event, a source told The Sun. CLICK HERE if you are having trouble viewing the gallery on your mobile device. The event was a screening and party for the acclaimed film Roma. Pitt had been at another screening earlier that evening at a private home in the Hollywood hills for If Beale Street Could Talk a film for which he is an executive producer. BRAD PITT AND CHARLIZE THERON!!!!!!!! Im so shook!!!!!! https://t.co/ii0n4tZaRW Perez (@ThePerezHilton) January 20, 2019 When the Beale Street party wrapped, Pitt headed to Chateau Marmont, where he changed his outfit and joined Theron in a corner at the bar, The Sun said. She was on a vodka cocktail while he stuck to mineral water, a source told The Sun. They were ridiculously touchy-feely, and his arm was around her back. At one point he winked at her. Brad seemed in a really good place, the source added. They both looked really happy. With regard to Pitt sticking to mineral water, the Fight Club actor said in a 2017 interview that he stopped drinking alcohol after Jolie filed for divorce in 2016. Pitt and Jolie couple had been married for two years, but they had been together more than a decade, leading a high-profile life of making movies, raising six children and presenting themselves as globe-trotting humanitarians. Amid their nasty breakup, reports surfaced that Jolie left Pitt because he was drinking too much, and he had trouble controlling his anger, including when he got involved in some kind of altercation with oldest son Maddox, then 15, on a private plane returning from Europe. If its true that Pitt and Theron are seeing each other, their romance could mark Pitts first serious relationship since he split from Jolie. It could also mean that Pitt has chosen to date another talented, glamorous female star who also has happens to be his ex-wifes enemy, the Daily Mail reported. Angelina Jolie seen for the first time since claims Brad Pitt is dating Charlize Theron Daily Mail https://t.co/BPQTOEZ597 pic.twitter.com/axXbGDAP4i U.S.A. News (@US_NewsXP) January 20, 2019 Citing Radar Online, the Daily Mail said Theron and Jolie cant stand each other and have been feuding for years over film roles, including a proposed remake of the horror classic Bride of Frankenstein. Jolie was courted to play the lead role, and Theron was the runner-up, the Daily Mail said. But Radar Online claimed Jolie was stringing Theron along, refusing to commit to the project, and denying the star the opportunity to accept other roles, as she awaits a decision. The Sun said Pitt and Theron were first introduced when Theron was engaged to Sean Penn. Theron called off the engagement in 2015. The Sun said Theron has recently been seeing Pitt at his home in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Los Feliz, but has yet to meet his six children: Maddox, 17; Pax, 14; Zahara, 13; Shiloh, 12; and twins Vivienne and Knox, 10. Theron has two adopted children: Jackson, 7, and August, 3. They have been casually seeing each other for nearly a month now, a source told the Sun. Theyve been friends for some time ironically, through Sean but things have developed. The Daily Mail contacted representatives for Pitt and Theron, but had not received a comment about their possible relationship. Though Theron and Pitt have never worked together on a film, she co-starred with his friend Matt Damon in the 2000 film The Legend of Bagger Vance. Theron previously was linked to Big Little Lies star Alexander Skarsgard. | https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/01/21/is-brad-pitt-dating-angelina-jolies-enemy-charlize-theron/ |
Why are wages so low for garment workers in Bangladesh? | The Spice Girls and Comic Relief said they had checked the ethical sourcing credentials of Represent, the online retailer commissioned to make the T-shirts, but it had subsequently changed manufacturer without their knowledge. Represent said it took full responsibility for problems identified by a Guardian investigation this week. But it is little surprise that workers at the Bangladesh factory where the T-shirts were made were paid less than the local living wage. Tesco, Mothercare and M&S use factory paying workers 35p an hour Read more Countries such as Bangladesh are popular places in which to operate because they offer cheap labour alongside expertise in clothing manufacture. The legal minimum wage for garment workers in the country is 8,000 taka (73.85) a month, slightly less than the amount received by workers spoken to by the Guardian. The amount was increased by 2,700Tk a month in December, but campaigners say workers need 16,000Tk to live a comfortable life in Bangladesh. With such low wages, employees often feel compelled to take on large amounts of overtime to make ends meet. Beyond wages, checking conditions in clothing supply chains requires considerable resources, covering a complex web of thread and fabric makers, dying services and stitching work, all located in distant, developing economies with poor communications infrastructure. Local laws may regulate fire safety, pay and working conditions, but enforcement is often weak because there are not enough inspectors and there is significant potential for corruption of officials. At the same time, workers can struggle to raise awareness of issues as a result of low levels of union recognition and fear of reprisals. After the Rana Plaza clothing factory collapse in Bangladesh, in which more than 1,000 workers died, dozens of retailers and brands signed up to the accord on fire and building safety. The accord funded inspections and improvements to buildings, including fire doors and structural work, and helped inform workers of their rights. It also helped train managers to spot and respond to problems. Mary Creagh, the chairwoman of the UK parliaments environmental audit committee, which has carried out an investigation into sustainable fashion, previously said: The best audit [of conditions] is taken by workers through their elected representatives in your factories. Globally, less than 10% of garment workers are in trade unions, she added. But action to increase union representation in Bangladesh and other supplier countries has been slow, as union leaders and members can face intimidation because business owners and some governments see activists as a threat. Where local regulation and union representation is weak, retailers have traditionally tried to weed out poor factories with regular inspections carried out by their own staff or professional ethical auditors. Sedex, which has 50,000 members in more than 150 countries, enables brands to share data on ethical standards at thousands of factories around the world. The Guardian view on Bangladesh: when charity goes wrong | Editorial Read more But Peter McAllister, the executive director of the Ethical Trading Initiative, which brings together businesses, unions and campaign groups to try to improve conditions in clothing manufacturing, said retailers and brands cannot rely solely on inspection reports, and those that do are either naive or wilfully ignorant. The best retailers have teams on the ground that work closely with suppliers to monitor conditions and check details about the capacity of the factory, alongside the time needed to carry out particular work. Such a detailed investigation can then identify when unrealistically low price points are being quoted for work prices that can prompt factory owners to cut corners by forcing staff to do unpaid overtime, or outsourcing work to less reputable establishments that may not have been inspected. McAllister said price is one of the best indicators of working conditions: If something is very cheap, you have to ask yourself, is it really possible to make it in a factory that is run properly, with a living wage? | https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jan/21/low-wages-garment-workers-bangladesh-analysis |
Will government shutdown impact security at Super Bowl LIII? | CLOSE SportsPulse: This will likely go down as the worst officiated championship weekend ever. But if you are a fan of chaos and pure insane entertainment it was incredible. Trysta Krick breaks down how the Patriots and Rams punched their ticket to the Super Bowl. USA TODAY Super Bowl LIII could be the first major sporting event in more than two decades held during a government shutdown, although federal officials told USA TODAY Sports that those attending the game or the events surrounding it shouldnt worry any more than the first 52 games that were played with a fully employed government. Nothing has been curtailed, FBI spokesman Kevin Rowson told USA TODAY Sports. We are fully operational. This years Super Bowl, scheduled for Feb. 3 between the Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots, is a SEAR 1 event, the federal governments second-highest security classification. The State of the Union address, categorized at the highest level (NSSE), is scheduled for Jan. 29, although House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested to President Trump last week that it be postponed because of security concerns surrounding the shutdown. The Mercedes-Benz Stadium will host its first Super Bowl when the Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots meet in Atlanta on Feb. 3. (Photo: Danny Karnik, AP) While not necessarily a terrorism target, a SEAR 1 event is of enough national or international importance to require federal support and equipment, as well as cooperation and coordination between federal, state and local authorities. The Department (of Homeland Security) takes the security of special events like the Super Bowl extremely seriously, and we continue executing our protection responsibility and supporting our local public safety partners for this event," DHS spokesperson Tyler Q. Houlton said in a statement last week. "The current lapse in government funding will have no effect on our commitment to assuring a safe and secure event. More: 32 things we learned from NFC, AFC Championship Games heading into NFL's Super Bowl LIII More: Get that gumbo: Rams CB Marcus Peters relishes revenge vs. Saints More than 1,500 public safety personnel are involved in Super Bowl security, Rowson said, though its not clear how many of those are federal agents and officials. (None of the FBI agents are currently being paid.) Or how many will be working the Super Bowl without pay if the shutdown has not been resolved. The Secret Service, FBI, TSA, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Customs and Border Protection are among the federal agencies charged with working with local law enforcement and private security to secure the Super Bowl and many of the surrounding events/ The federal agencies involved HSI (Homeland Security Investigations) , FBI, ICE and CPB are essential and will be working as usual, but many arent going to be getting paid, said John Torres, CEO of the security consulting company Guidepost Solutions and a former HSI agent. Theyll still do their jobs whether they are paid or not." Security consultant Aloke S. Chakravarty told USA TODAY Sports that federal law enforcement officials who have't gotten paid as the shutdown drags on "are professionals who don't do their jobs for money, but their families are impacted like anyone else's would be." You could ... see a drop off in efficiency," said Chakravarty, a former federal prosecutor who worked the Boston Marathon bombing case and is currently a partner at Snell & Wilmer. "While agents at the FBI, Secret Service and other agencies will be working because (Super Bowl security) was already budgeted, the people who support them, like analysts, could be furloughed. Analysts may not be at their terminals because of the shutdown." Rowson and Atlanta Police Department spokesman Carlos Campos said the shutdown will not impact security. Federal, state and local officials have been planning for the Super Bowl for two years, and are fully prepared. An event like (the) Super Bowl is all about planning, preparation and partnerships, Rowson said in an email. We want to assure the public that we have planned for this to ensure that nothing happens, Rowson added. But if something does happen, we are ready, and prepared to transition into crisis response and investigation. That means most of the federal employees working the Super Bowl will be doing it without pay if the shutdown is ongoing. DHS is one of the nine departments that is unfunded but workers who are considered essential are still expected to do their jobs. The Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2, 1996 was the last major sporting event held during a shutdown. The federal government was closed for 21 days as President Bill Clinton and Congress sparred over the budget. Nebraska won the game to claim the national title. While four World Series (1977, 1978, 1979 and 1986) overlapped with prior shutdowns, the 1978 World Series (Los Angeles Dodgers vs. New York Yankees) was the only one that came during a lengthy standoff (18 days). Contributing: Michael Collins | https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2019/01/21/super-bowl-liii-government-shutdown-impact-security-atlanta/2618394002/ |
Can Quebecs Bloc Qubcois win back party status in the House of Commons? | MONTREALJustin Trudeau is not the only federal leader who could benefit from the decline of the NDP in Quebec come next falls general election. The Bloc Qubcois, under its latest leader, is also banking on the weakness of the New Democrats under Jagmeet Singh to help it earn back official party status in the House of Commons next fall. Yves-Francois Blanchet makes an announcement on the leadership race of the Bloc Qubcois in the foyer of the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Nov. 26, 2018. Blanchet was acclaimed as leader on Jan. 17. As a former environment minister in Quebec his green credentials should help him in the upcoming federal campaign, Chantal Hbert writes. ( Justin Tang / THE CANADIAN PRESS ) It might just work. Winning a dozen seats up only two from the sovereigntist partys current MP complement might seem like a modest goal for a parliamentary group that once held the lofty title of official opposition but it was only a few months ago that the Bloc was given up for dead. Having narrowly avoided implosion, the party has put its divisions behind it or at least set them aside to kick off the election year under a just-acclaimed new leader. Article Continued Below Yves-Franois Blanchet sat in the national assembly as a Parti Qubcois member from 2008 to 2014. After his defeat, he joined the ever-expanding cast of political pundits. The experience both raised his public profile and allowed him to acquire a serious amount of federal background knowledge he might otherwise have spent the next few months trying to acquire. In his previous political life, Blanchet spent a bit more than a year serving as premier Pauline Marois environment minister. With climate change expected to hold pride of place in the upcoming federal campaign those green credentials could hold him in good stead. They could make the Bloc more attractive to the score of young voters who were drawn to Qubec Solidaires militant environmental agenda in last falls provincial election. As counterintuitive as it may seem, the sharp downturn in Parti Qubcois fortunes provincially could turn out to be a saving grace for the Bloc next fall. Since 1993, the federal party has achieved its best scores at times when its sovereignist cousins were out of power in Quebec. The more remote the possibility of another referendum on the provinces political future, the more comfortable some Quebec voters are with supporting a federal party devoted exclusively to their interests, especially if Justin Trudeau collides with Premier Franois Legault between now and the election. At the same time, with a majority Coalition Avenir Qubec government in place and the leaderless PQ twice removed from provincial power for at least the next few years, the survival of the Bloc has become, if only by default, job one for the sovereignty movement. The announcement in late November that Blanchet was running for leader seems to have already had a positive impact on the partys finances. December turned out to be its best fundraising month since the last election. Article Continued Below All 10 Bloc MPs have now confirmed they will be seeking re-election next fall. When it comes to holding a seat, incumbents usually have an edge on newcomers. The first test of the Blocs claim that it can still bounce back from quasi-oblivion will be the Feb. 25 byelection in Outremont. Over Thomas Mulcairs dozen years as the Montreal ridings MP, the Blocs share of the vote averaged just a bit less than 10 per cent. Over the five federal elections fought in the pre-Mulcair era, it used to average 30 per cent. The Liberals have been counting on an NDP collapse to make gains in Quebec next fall. It is not a coincidence that both last weeks cabinet retreat and Trudeaus prime ministerial town hall took place in New Democrat territory. But Trudeau may have already brought home most of the Quebec voters who are liable to float between the Liberals and the NDP. In 2015, the Liberal vote in the province went up 21 points while the New Democrats take went down 17 points. Moreover, the prime ministers climate change record which Blanchet has in his sights is hardly bulletproof. The notion that the Bloc could become the focus of a sovereigntist save-the-furniture bid crusade is also not good news for Andrew Scheers Conservatives. Coming on the heels of the founding of Maxime Berniers breakaway, the possibility of a Bloc resurgence throws yet another unwelcome unknown in the Conservative partys Quebec calculations. It does not help that the Conservative foothold in the province is in francophone territory, where the Bloc is best placed to split the non-Liberal vote. The Bloc has been on a downward spiral for eight years and two federal elections. The next campaign is a make-or-break one for the party and increasingly for Quebecs once mighty sovereignty movement. It could still upset the best-laid plans of its national rivals. Chantal Hbert is a columnist based in Ottawa covering politics. Follow her on Twitter: @ChantalHbert Read more about: | https://www.thestar.com/politics/political-opinion/2019/01/21/can-quebecs-bloc-qubcois-win-back-party-status-in-the-house-of-commons.html |
Which Tiger Woods Will We See in 2019? | Tiger Woods will make his 2019 PGA Tour debut on Thursday when he plays the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. Eleven years and four back procedures later, Woods returns to the same golf course he limped around to earn arguably the signature win of entire career (the 2008 U.S. Open) with a fused spine, a 43-year-old body and the same number of major championships. The above sentence sounds rather morbid when read aloud, and it would suggest the mood surrounding Woods and his camp is one of pessimismbut that isn't the case. The good vibes have carried over from Tiger's 2018 season, which was nothing short of a miraculous revelation: He successfully completed (no withdrawals) 18 official events; He notched seven top-10s; He picked up his 80th PGA Tour win and nearly claimed the FedEx Cup in the process; He had as many legitimate chances to win a majortwoas he did missed cuts. A nice thing about annual golf tournaments is that they serve as markers in time. Its not exactly apples to apples, but stick with me here. You remember where you were on your birthday, on New Years, on Christmas. Golfers remember what the state of their games were at specific events and particular courses that, for whatever reason, remain fresh in their minds. Given Tigers rich and well-documented history at Torrey Pineseight victories as a professional, not to mention his triumph in the 1991 Junior Worlds as a 15-year-oldone would think any visit there sticks out in his memory. Twenty years ago, in 1999, he arrived there as the worlds top-ranked player, a 23-year-old who was about to rip off the most lucratively dominant tear the sport has ever seen. He won that week, the first ofwait for it17 Tour wins over two seasons, including four majors. At the U.S. Open in 2008, he arrived with a ruptured right anterior cruciate ligament and two stress fractures in his left tibia, determined nonetheless to win the first U.S. Open at a course so dear to his heart. Last year, he showed up to La Jolla excited about the speed he was able to produce but rightfully unsure about a pieced-together, shaky golf swing that was still a work in progress. He was about to make his first official PGA Tour start since that fusion surgery, and no onenot even Woodsknew what the year ahead had in store. Fast forward 12 months and Woods is back at his familiar stomping grounds as the No. 13 player in the world and the oddsmakers fourth favorite to win the title. To employ an all-time clich: What a difference a year makes. Woods comeback was steady, not sudden. First he made a cut, then a top-15, then he had his first real chance to win, then he had his first real chance to win a major, and finally he got back in the winners circle at East Lake. Because the progress was incremental, it almost felt like each successive step was a natural progression. In that sense, the sheer unlikeliness of it all risks being overlooked. But looked at holistically, it truly is hard to believe how different the Tiger Woods narrative of today is than the Tiger Woods narrative of January 2018. One question Im eager to see answered is whether well see Woods on-course demeanor match the heightened expectations. For most of last year, Woods carried himself with an amiable lightness that suggested he was overjoyed simply to be competing again. But we know thats not how peak Tiger Woods operated. At his best, Woods was a cold-blooded competitor who could put the proverbial blinders on with the best of them. Watch footage of him winning any of his majors and you wont see him crack a smile until the final putt on the 72nd hole drops. We saw a bit of that at the British Open, PGA Championship and Tour Championshiponce he realized that he had a realistic chance to win those events, Mr. Nice Guy was replaced by Mr. Im Going to Win Guy. There was noticeably less banter with playing partners and interaction with fans. Thats how Tiger is when he smells victory. Now that victory is a realistic expectation rather than a far-off pipe dream. A storybook, worth-the-wait victory for Adam Long(shot) The scene was one Adam Long has likely been dreaming of his whole life: He found himself tied for the lead on the 72nd hole of a PGA Tour event, with an uphill, 12-foot, right-to-left birdie puttevery rightys favoriteto win the tournament by a shot over Phil Frickin Mickelson. Then he did exactly what you do in the dream: he buried the putt right in the heart, punctuated it with a fist pump and gave his caddie a bear hug. His path to that life-changing moment. Long, 31, turned pro way back in 2010 after a solid but unspectacular career at Duke. He would spend the next eight years oscillating between the Web.com, Latinoamerica and Mackenzie Tours, accruing precisely zero wins over that period. His career earnings before Sunday amounted to $585,563, which means he made, on average, $73,195 on the golf course per year. When you factor in the exorbitant expenses professional golf sucks out of youpaying for travel, lodging, caddie, and management shrinks paychecks really quicklyyou get a better picture of just how much a grind this process has been for Long. And its not like anyone saw this win coming based off his recent play. Long finished 26th on the Web.com Tour moneylist last year and missed the cut in all four tournament of that tours Final Series, the last four events of its season. He started his rookie season on the big boy tour by missing three of four cuts, finishing T63 in the one tournament he played the weekend. Then he shoots 63-71-63-65, the final round a bogey-free masterpiece while playing alongside Mickelson and PGA Tour winner/Presidents Cupper Adam Hadwin. Sundays result was a heartening reminder thatdespite the overall sports earned reputation as elitist and expensiveprofessional golf is a meritocracy. Whoever plays better wins, no matter their background or standing within the game or bank account. Mickelson entered that final round with a two-stroke lead and five majors and 43 PGA Tour victories and hundreds of millions of dollars to his name. Long entered with a hot putter and steadfast belief that, despite eight long professional years without a victory of any kind, he could get it done. And he did, and now he gets to tee it up at some golf course in eastern Georgia in three months time. G What Phil can learn from Roger Federer Mickelson will rue a missed opportunity, particularly given the way he putted on Sunday, but there are so many positives to take from his week in the desert. He made 10 birdies without a bogey en route to a 12-under 60 on Thursday, the lowest round in relation to par of his illustrious PGA Tour career. His short game looks as sharp as ever. And, perhaps most encouraging for Phil stans, he still has so much speed! At 48, he averaged 318 yards off the tee. He hit the longest drive on the 11th on Sunday of the entire field by seven yards, out-driving all the 20-somethings. In a word, Phil looked fresh. Thats what a couple months of rest will do for youit was Mickelsons first start since the first week of October. Id posit that Mickelsons performance this week was no coincidence. He was rested and ready largely because of all that time off. As he approaches the half-century mark, Mickelson would do well to look at another aging legend for inspiration: Roger Federer. As Federer aged, he realized having his body ready to go was paramount if he was to continue competing at an elite level. Thus, he cut back significantly on his schedule, opting to skip the clay court seasons entirely in 2017 and 2018. He wouldnt have won three more majors had he not limited how often he plays. Mickelson is in a similar position. When hes fresh, he obviously still has the game to compete for the sports biggest prizes. Last year, Mickelson had a four-tournament stretch of T5-T2-T6-1all coming before March. Thats called fatigue. Thats having a 48-year-old body that cant handle the rigors of a full PGA Tour campaign quite like it used to. Mickelson typically plays 22-24 events a year; moving forward, a 17-ish tournament slate would give him a better opportunity to contend in the events he does play, as well as added time with his family as an ancillary benefit. Seems like a no-brainer to me. Chip-ins Of all time has been overused to the point of it being rendered near meaninglessness, but this Jerry Kelly eagle may be the luckiest eagle of all time. Rickie Fowler announced hes signed a deal with TaylorMade to play its TP5 ball. TaylorMade is all-in on its quality-over-quantity sponsorship approach. Theyve downsized their significantly in recent years but have signed some of the games biggest stars. Heres their current roster of endorsers: Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Jason Day and now Rickie Fowler. Hosung Choi played in an event televised by Golf Channel this week, which means we were treated to some unbelievable Hosung Choi video clips. My two favorites: this innovative backwards-squat maneuver and the mid-putt twirl. My back hurts just watching this: Your goal for the weekend: Complete the 300 drill pic.twitter.com/6oEJrLig7F Skratch (@Skratch) January 18, 2019 Zecheng Marty Dou won the Web.com Tours Bahamas Great Exuma Classic earlier in the week, which is awesome for the 21-year-old from China. Whats perhaps more noteworthy: this tournament took place on the same island that Fyre Festival was supposed to! Hall of Fame pitcher John Smoltz won the celebrity portion of the LPGA Tours Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions pro-am, finishing with 149 points in the modified Stableford format. He shot three-under for the week and said hes going to try to qualify for the Senior U.S. Open again. Eun-Hee Ji won her fifth LPGA Tour event at the same tournament. Lucas Glovers wife Krista entered a deferred prosecution agreement following her May arrest on charges of battery. Remember, she berated Glover for his poor on-course play. Glover said hes excited to be moving into a new beginning with his wife. When Alvaro Ortizs group was put on the clock at the Latin American Amateur Championship, he took matters into his own hands: per Golf Digest, he started playing half a hole ahead of his playing partners to speed things up. He went on to win the event and earn a Masters berth. Fast play does not mean bad play, people. Take notes. | https://www.si.com/golf/2019/01/21/tiger-woods-torrey-pines-pga-debut-2019-phil-mickelson |
Who fared the best in Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey's proposed budget? | Corrections & clarifications: An earlier version of this story included an incorrect number of schools that would receive results-based funding under Gov. Doug Ducey's budget plan. Gov. Doug Ducey on Friday released an $11.9 billion spending plan that aims to capitalize on the highest projected budget surplus in a decade. The governor's proposal would split that surplus about $1.1 billion in half. Ducey would put $542 million in the state's rainy day fund to better prepare the state for the next economic downturn, officials said, while dedicating $538 million to education, public safety and other longtime priorities. Here's who benefited most from the plan: 1. State employees (well, some of them) Gov. Doug Ducey speaks after being sworn in by Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Scott Bales at the Arizona Capitol in Phoenix at the 2019 State of Arizona Inauguration ceremony Jan. 7. (Photo: Tom Tingle/The Republic, Tom Tingle/The Republic) The governor has proposed a raise for about 45 percent of state workers, with average pay increases ranging from 5 to 15 percent. Public-safety employees are the primary winners. Corrections officers, who start at less than $32,000 and haven't received a raise in about a decade, would get a 10 percent raise worth about $36 million. Department of Public Safety troopers also would get a 10 percent pay raise, to the tune of $22 million. Other agencies where employees would see pay bumps: Department of Child Safety Department of Health Services Department of Juvenile Corrections Department of Game and Fish Department of Transportation Attorney General's Office Department of Liquor Arizona State Parks and Trails Department of Agriculture Department of Insurance Corporation Commission CLOSE "More transparency and more accountability," Ducey says are needed for taxpayers dollars spent in schools. Brian Snyder, Arizona Republic 2. High-performing K-12 schools Duceys budget proposal more than doubles the funding for the state's controversial results-based funding program for public schools, from $38 million this year to $98 million for the upcoming budget. The purpose of the program, according to the Governor's Office, is to recognize, reward and replicate excelling schools with most of the money going to teachers and the rest toward expanding successful schools or programs. For the past two years, the money has gone to schools based on AzMERIT test results. Under the governors proposal, the $98 million would instead be divided between schools graded A and B by the State Board of Education. The money would go to 675 schools, according to a projection from the Governors Office. Schools with higher levels of poverty would get more money than schools with lower levels of poverty. B-letter-grade schools with more than 60 percent of the student population eligible for free and reduced lunch would receive results-based funding. On the flip side, that means low-performing schools are left out when it comes to this money. Many critics of the states letter-grading system say it is just a measure of poverty, where wealthier schools often see higher grades and poorer schools see lower grades. CLOSE Doug Ducey, legislative leaders discuss the need for Arizona to join a drought contingency plan at a Jan. 15, 2019, press conference. Tom Tingle, The Republic | azcentral.com 3. Prospective teachers In Duceys first year in office, he slashed nearly $100 million from Arizona's public universities. This year, the universities avoided the same fate, with more than $100 million in new spending proposed for higher education. The cornerstone of Duceys education agenda would beef up the teachers' academy at the three state universities by putting money into a program Ducey first announced, but didnt fund, in 2017. The governors plan would give $21 million to the three state universities for the teachers' academies, designed to address the teacher shortage by allowing students a free college education if they agreed to teach in Arizona. Although more than 200 students participated last year, the programs werent yet providing four years of free college due to a lack of funding. In 2018, only juniors and seniors could access the academy at Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University. At the University of Arizona, it's a one-year master's program. The added money would expand the program to four years and beyond education majors in a big win for the universities. 4. Weekend warriors Backups on Interstate 17 are routine on weekends, especially holidays, as people in the Phoenix area head to the mountains then head back down to the Valley before work on Monday. The two-hour drive often turns into four or more when accidents cause miles-long backups. Duceys budget proposes $40 million next year and $45 million each of the following two years to add a third travel lane between Black Canyon City and Anthem. Already, the Arizona Department of Transportation is moving ahead on flex lanes that will allow more traffic heading north or south, depending on the day of the week. The additional money will allow ADOT to address the entire corridor from Sunset Point to Anthem at once, rather than incrementally. With work beginning in 2020, drivers should see relief by 2023. The Gaggle has some thoughts. William Flannigan, azcentral 5. Rural residents and the internet Up to 54 percent of households in rural Arizona counties do not have high-speed connectivity. Ducey's budget proposes the addition of a full-time state broadband director who would manage a competitive rural-broadband development grant program. That program would set aside $3 million over the fiscal year "to offset the construction costs of expanding broadband services in underserved rural areas across the state." Another $1 million of Ducey's proposal would fund new prenatal-care telemedicine grants, allowing pregnant women in rural areas to access better health care without having to travel. Current care gaps put women and children in those parts of the state at higher risk of complications during and after pregnancy. 6. Arizonans during the next recession Officials say Ducey's massive proposed contribution to the state's rainy-day fund would help the state weather an economic downturn without having to make significant, abrupt cuts. The $542 million deposit would bring the fund to $1 billion, an amount more closely aligned with economists' state-savings recommendations. The guiding principle here is being fiscally conservative, fiscally responsible, preparing for the future and not making the mistakes of the past," said Daniel Scarpinato, Ducey's chief of staff. "When you look at whats recommended, when you look at what other states are doing, and you look at what happened during the Great RecessionWe want to be very careful about ongoing spending commitments." The rainy-day proposal faces an uphill battle in the Legislature. CLOSE Gov. Doug Ducey emphasized the importance of water and securing the state's water future in his State of the State address on Jan. 14, 2019. Under Ducey's plan, not every state agency that asked for employee raises would receive them. The teacher-raise plan wouldn't cover support staff, such as bus drivers and cafeteria workers. Other funding the Governor's Office says could be used for this purpose is not guaranteed to end up in employees' hands, as districts have several competing priorities. And taxpayers, through a controversial vehicle-registration fee, are footing the bill for some interstate and road-maintenance projects. Click here to subscribe to azcentral.com. Go to connect.azcentral.com for a staff list, for more information about the newsroom and for details about upcoming events. Read or Share this story: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2019/01/21/arizona-budget-who-were-winners-gov-duceys-proposed-budget/2620361002/ | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2019/01/21/arizona-budget-who-were-winners-gov-duceys-proposed-budget/2620361002/ |
Does marijuana use cause schizophrenia? | Nearly a century after the film Reefer Madness alarmed the nation, some policymakers and doctors are again becoming concerned about the dangers of marijuana, although the reefers are long gone. Experts now distinguish between the new cannabis legal, highly potent, available in tabs, edibles and vapes and the old version, a far milder weed passed around in joints. Levels of THC, the chemical that produces marijuanas high, have been rising for at least three decades, and its now possible in some states to buy vape cartridges containing little but the active ingredient. The concern is focused largely on the link between heavy usage and psychosis in young people. Doctors first suspected a link some 70 years ago, and the evidence has only accumulated since then. In a coming book, Tell Your Children, Alex Berenson, a former New York Times reporter, argues that legalization is putting a generation at higher risk of schizophrenia and other psychotic syndromes. Critics, including leading researchers, have called the argument overblown and unfaithful to the science. Yes, but so can overuse of caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, stimulants and hallucinogens. Psychosis is a symptom: a temporary disorientation that resembles a waking dream, with odd, imagined sights and sounds, often accompanied by paranoia or an ominous sensation. The vast majority of people who have this kind of psychotic experience do not go on to develop schizophrenia, which is characterized by episodes of psychosis that recur for years, as well as cognitive problems and social withdrawal. That is the big question, and so far the evidence is not strong enough to answer one way or the other. Even top scientists who specialize in marijuana research are divided, drawing opposite conclusions from the same data. Ive been doing this research for 25 years, and its polarizing even among academics, said Margaret Haney, a professor of neurobiology at Columbia University Medical Center. The debate centers on the distinction between correlation and causation. People with psychotic problems often use cannabis regularly; this is a solid correlation, backed by numerous studies. But it is unclear which came first, the cannabis habit or the psychoses. Children who later develop schizophrenia often seem to retreat into their own world, stalked periodically by bizarre fears and fantasies well outside the range of usual childhood imagination, and well before they are exposed to cannabis. Those who go on to become regular marijuana users often use other substances as well, including alcohol and cigarettes, making it more difficult for researchers to untangle causation. Consider cigarettes, the least mind-altering of these substances. In a 2015 study, a team led by Dr. Kenneth S. Kendler of Virginia Commonwealth University analyzed medical data on nearly 2 million people in Sweden. The data followed the individuals over time, from young adulthood, when most schizophrenia diagnoses occur, to middle age. Smoking was a predictor for later development of the disorder, and in what doctors call a dose-response relationship: The more a person smoked, the higher the risk. Yet nicotine attracts nowhere near the concern that cannabis does, in part because the two drugs are so different in their everyday effects: mildly stimulated versus stoned. Indeed, some scientists have studied nicotine as a partial treatment for schizophrenia, to blunt the disorders effects on thinking and memory. Yes. Brain scientists know very little about the underlying biology of psychotic conditions, other than that hundreds of common gene variants are most likely involved. Schizophrenia, for instance, is not a uniform disorder but an umbrella term for an array of unexplained problems involving recurrent psychosis and other common symptoms. Even so, there is circumstantial evidence for a biological mechanism. Psychotic disorders tend to emerge in late adolescence or early adulthood, during or after a period of rapid brain development. In the teenage years, the brain strips away unneeded or redundant connections between brain cells, in a process called synaptic pruning. This editing is concentrated in the prefrontal cortex, the region behind the forehead where thinking and planning occur and the region that is perturbed in psychotic conditions. The region is rich with CB1 receptors, which are involved in the pruning, and are engaged by cannabis use. And alterations to the pruning process may well increase schizophrenia risk, according to recent research at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. In a 2016 analysis, scientists there found that people with the disorder often have a gene variant that appears to accelerate the pruning process. Experts may debate whether cannabis use can lead to psychotic disorders, but they mostly agree on how to minimize ones risk. Psychotic conditions tend to run in families, which suggests there is an inherited genetic vulnerability. Indeed, according to some studies, people prone to or at heightened risk of psychosis seem to experience the effects of cannabis differently than peers without such a history. The users experience a more vivid high, but they also are more likely to experience psychosislike effects such as paranoia. The evidence so far indicates that ones familial risk for psychotic disorders outweighs any added effect of cannabis use. In a 2014 study, a team led by Ashley C. Proal and Dr. Lynn E. DeLisi of Harvard Medical School recruited cannabis users with and without a family history of schizophrenia, as well as nonusers with and without such a history. The researchers made sure the cannabis users did not use other drugs in addition, a factor that muddied earlier studies. The result: There was a heightened schizophrenia risk among people with a family history, regardless of cannabis use. My study clearly shows that cannabis does not cause schizophrenia by itself, DeLisi said. Rather, a genetic predisposition is necessary. It is highly likely, based on the results of this study and others, that cannabis use during adolescence through to age 25, when the brain is maturing and at its peak of growth in a genetically vulnerable individual, can initiate the onset of schizophrenia. Because marijuana has been illegal for so long, research that could settle the question has been sorely lacking, although that has begun to change. The National Institutes of Health have begun a $300 million project that will track thousands of children from the age of 9 or 10 through adolescence, and might help clarify causation. For the near future, expert opinions will most likely be mixed. Usually it is the research types who are doing the sky is falling bit, but here it is switched, said Dr. Jay Geidd, a professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego. The researchers are wary of overselling the dangers, as was clearly done in the past. However, clinicians overwhelmingly endorse seeing many more adolescents with paranoia of some kind. In short: Regularly using the new, high-potency cannabis may indeed be a risk for young people who are related to someone with a psychotic condition. On that warning, at least, most experts seem to agree. | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/does-marijuana-use-cause-schizophrenia/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_nation-world |
Have Barcelona Sacrificed Their World Famous La Masia Academy for Short Term Success? | Before Barcelona's 3-1 victory against Real Betis in 2013, a banner produced by their supporters was emblazoned with the words 'La Masia no es toca' which translates to 'hands off our academy.' Originally displayed as a protest towards FIFA's decision to give the Blaugrana a transfer ban for illegally signing players, the sentiment behind it could ironically be linked to the club's current situation. Since this statement of defiance, only one academy graduate has managed to secure a permanent place in Barcelona's starting eleven with Sergi Roberto establishing himself as the club's first choice right back following Dani Alves' departure to Juventus. Quality Sport Images/GettyImages When Barcelona completed one of the greatest Champions League comebacks of all time against PSG in 2017, the clinching goal from Roberto was celebrated with an exuberance rarely seen at the Camp Nou. For the clubs Cules, the Masia graduate's classy strike symbolised much more than a goal to send them through to yet another European quarter final. In a team full of stars purchased for premium prices such as Neymar and Luis Suarez, it was one of their own who had made history, a player who they could relate to as he was living their dream of representing the Blaugrana on the biggest of occasions. Yet nearly two years on from that remarkable night, Roberto remains the club's most recent academy success with fellow graduates Sergi Samper and Rafinha failing to make a lasting impression for manager Ernesto Valverde. VI-Images/GettyImages Last season saw the club respond to the sudden 198m departure of Neymar to PSG by spending extortionate amounts of money on Ousmane Dembele (135.5m) from Borussia Dortmund and Phillipe Coutinho (105m) from Liverpool. Neither player has come close to justifying their fees with both only showing glimpses of their undeniable talent. Coutinho in particular has been lambasted by the Catalan press this season for his poor form with many supporters questioning just why their club didn't just focus on developing some of the youth academy's brightest prospects instead. The summer arrivals of Arturo Vidal, Arthur, Malcom and Clement Lenglet have had a mixed impact on the club's fortunes yet Barcelona once again are leading La Liga and have comfortably progressed into the last sixteen of the Champions League. Quality Sport Images/GettyImages By making these signings, the message sent to the Blaugrana's youth players is incredibly alarming as their goal of representing the club grows ever harder. Even Barcelona's greatest prospects such as midfielder Carles Alena have been shunted in favour of statement transfers ordered by president Josep Bartomeu, who is a figure that divides opinion amongst shareholders at the Camp Nou. Once tipped to be the heart of the first team's midfield for years to come, Alena's only appearances for the club have come primarily as a substitute as Valverde is unwilling to put his faith in the youngster. Rumours circling that the Blaugrana could be about to sign Ajax starlet Frenkie de Jong will certainly do nothing to help the 21-year-old's quest to become a regular first team starter and could even cast a doubt over the youngster's future. Quality Sport Images/GettyImages Unfortunately the promising playmaker is far from the only example of Barcelona's recent disregard for their academy graduates as striker Munir El Haddadi was also given limited chances to establish himself as part of a traditional front three. The 23-year-old's immense frustration of only being a sporadic member of the squad drove him to seek an alternative future at Sevilla, joining the Los Rojiblancos on Saturday for just 1m and becoming yet another member of La Masia to fail to make a lasting impact for the club. As of January 2019, only four members of their typical starting eleven graduated from the club's world famous academy with three of those (Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets and Gerard Pique) entering the latter stages of their career. Whereas this generational talent will be undoubtedly tough to replace and in the case of Messi almost impossible, there are still a host of promising young talent coming through the ranks at La Masia. GLYN KIRK/GettyImages Creative midfielder Riqui Puig caught the attention of supporters when he impressed on the club's pre-season tour whilst Oriol Busquets and Abel Ruiz have both stood out for Barcelona B during this year's campaign. Yet given the current situation at Barcelona, if one of the three eventually find their way into the starting eleven in Catalunya, it would be somewhat of a miracle. In what was a club that was once championed for their promotion of the youth, Barcelona have transformed in recent years into something that the majority of their supporters despise, a 'Galactico'-style team who rely solely on expensive transfer after expensive transfer. Alex Caparros/GettyImages Indeed in this modern era it is irresponsible to think that you can achieve long term success through not spending money yet in the case of the Catalan giants, a limit was set during the tenure's of Frank Rijkaard and Pep Guardiola who got the best out of the local talent. The height of Barcelona's success was their 3-1 Champions League Final victory over Manchester United in 2011 which was built on the foundations of La Masia with seven out of the starting eleven coming through its system. LLUIS GENE/GettyImages A golden generation of players that included the imperial Carles Puyol and the mercurial figures of Xavi and Iniesta, brought a pride to their supporters that the current side with its numerous imports from around the world will probably never reproduce. The board at Barcelona are playing a dangerous game by continuously selling their best Masia graduates and could pay a long-term price if they continue to ignore a youth academy that helped produce what has arguably been the club's best era of football in their 119-year history. | https://www.si.com/soccer/2019/01/13/have-barcelona-sacrificed-their-world-famous-la-masia-academy-short-term-success |
How many AFC Championship Games has Tom Brady reached with Patriots? | The Patriots advanced to their eighth-straight AFC championship game on Sunday after defeating the Chargers 41-28 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. New England's streak is unprecedented in NFL history, the longest such run of consecutive conference championship appearances. The Raiders hold the second-longest conference title streak, reaching the AFC championship game in five-straight seasons from 1973-78. Tom Brady has been at the helm of New England's eight-straight conference title appearances. Brady and head coach Bill Belichick are 84 in AFC title games since 2001. Tom Brady has an NFL record 38 playoff games as a starting QB. Peyton Manning is next, with 27 Tom Brady has an NFL record 28 playoff games as a winning QB. Joe Montana is next, with 16 Tom Brady has an NFL record 15 playoff games with 300 yards. Peyton Manning is next, with 9. Michael David Smith (@MichaelDavSmith) January 13, 2019 Brady and Belichick each hold the record for most Super Bowl appearances for a quarterback and coach, respectively. New England is 53 in the Super Bowl in the Brady-Belichick era. The Patriots will travel on the road for the AFC title game. The Chiefs will host New England with kickoff from Arrowhead Stadium slated for 6:45 p.m. ET. | https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/01/13/new-england-patriots-afc-championship-game-tom-brady-eight-straight |
Is Vanguard Information Technology ETF a Buy? | If you haven't heard yet, 2018 ended on a sour note for the stock market. Many high-growth technology names got hit especially hard, and the Vanguard Information Technology ETF (NYSEMKT: VGT) was a good proxy for that; the fund fell as much as 24% from its autumn high point to finish out the year. In spite of the ugly performance the last few months, though, Vanguard Information Technology still beat the market for full-year 2018 with a 1% gain, versus a 6% decline for the S&P 500 index. That's because technology continues to make inroads into the whole economy, and the Vanguard ETF is a good way to capitalize on its continued growth. A woman with a thought bubble and bag of money illustrated above her head. More Image source: Getty Images. Vanguard Information Technology is an exchange-traded fund, a basket of companies that can be bought and sold like a stock. It carries an internal expense ratio of just 0.10% a year, contains 337 stocks, and currently yields a 1.5% dividend. With over 300 names in it, the Vanguard ETF is an easy way to get broad exposure to the technology industry. However, the fund is market-cap weighted -- the larger the company is, the larger its allocation. As such, the top 10 holdings make up 55% of the fund's total assets, so it's important to make sure these top companies are what you want in your portfolio. Company % Allocation of Vanguard Information Technology ETF Apple 15.7% Microsoft 14.7% Visa 4.3% Intel 4.1% Cisco Systems 4.1% Mastercard 3.4% Oracle 2.6% Adobe 2.2% IBM 2.1% Accenture 1.9% Holdings as of Nov. 30, 2018. Data source: Vanguard. Though the Vanguard offering is a high-growth ETF, the lineup of top holdings doesn't mean investors need to sacrifice quality. The top holdings Microsoft and Apple have been around a long time and are staples to build any investment portfolio around. Vanguard Information Technology is undoubtedly a tech-focused investment, that doesn't mean it isn't diversified. Tech reaches deep into all areas of the economy, with software services and device manufacturing a key part of other sectors -- from the auto industry to healthcare to consumer goods. The ETF is representative of technology's deep roots. Top names like Microsoft, Oracle, and Adobe provide exposure to a wide swath of software services for businesses, including cloud-based computing. The fund also has the leaders in payment processing in the mix, as well as emerging payment tech companies like PayPal. Device manufacturing is also well represented, with semiconductor stocks and consumer product makers like Apple. According to Vanguard, the underlying stocks in Vanguard Information Technology have an average trailing P/E of 22.9. That's a premium over the S&P 500's current P/E of 19.8. However, since the fund's inception in 2004, it has beaten the S&P 500 with dividends reinvested. If technology continues as the fastest-growing industry, that premium could be worth paying over the long term. | https://news.yahoo.com/vanguard-information-technology-etf-buy-221900038.html |
Is Beto O'Rourke Running For President Or Brand Ambassador? | Considering that debate season commences in just five months (Democrats are looking at a dozen group encounters in the 2019-2020 cycle, starting in June, as opposed to the mere six that Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders agreed to), its no surprise that presidential candidates are crawling out of the woodwork. Over the weekend, former HUD Secretary Julian Castro entered the sweepstakes. Word out of Hawaii is Rep. Tulsi Gabbard will give it a go. Former Vice President Joe Biden may get in as soon as this week (lets assume Bidens relatives wont vote for Donald Trump, as apparently some did in 2016). In politics, as in economics, free-market competition a good thing. The more Democrats challenging Trump, the merrier. But in whats likely to be the most congested Democratic field in modern times, theres a question of the candidates ability to stand above the crowd. And that should concern us as to just how dignified this years campaign proceedings will be. I say this with one (unannounced but likely) candidate in mind: former Texas Rep. Beto ORourke. Late last week, ORourke decided to mix public policy with a visit to a dentist. In an Instagrammed story featuring a snap of ORourke getting his teeth cleaned, the would-be candidate posted: Im here at the dentist, and were going to continue our series about people who live along the border. My dental hygienist, Diana, is going to tell us about growing up in El Paso. The post prompted plenty of Internet snark i.e., heaven help us come the time ORourke needs a prostate exam or chooses to visit a proctologist. Still, in the Trump-centric politics of 2019, ORourke may be onto something. And it doesnt bode well for the future of how men and women go about earning the highest office in the land. One reason why youre not hearing more about multitude of Democrats seeking the presidency is because talk of what could transpire in Iowa and New Hampshire a year from now is no match for the present-day drama in Washington. As far as compelling television goes, The Donald, Chuck and Nancy Show trumps Bernie, Kamala, Liz and Friends. And it may stay that way even after the impasse ends. Trumps managerial skills are dubious and his policy choices at times questionable. But the mans a genius at clogging the airwaves. Good luck to the Democratic field getting traction as long as Trump periodically, methodically chums the water with harsh tweets and baffling asides. That takes us back to ORourke and whether he can IG his way to the Oval Office. On the one hand, Instagram is a proven winner if the goal is attention-seeking. James Middleton, brother-in-law of the heir to the British throne, took his Instagram account public last week. His fanbase jumped from 4,919 to 85,900 in three days (ORourkes IG count: 762,000 followers). And maybe ORourke noticed the attention Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth received when she cracked open a bottle of Michelob Ultra during an Instagram chat earlier this month. However, Warrens gesture can be dismissed as a politician trying to be more relatable to average folks not unlike a sunglass-clad Hillary Clinton popping unannounced into a Chipotle (in the process, thanks to a grainy security camera that recording the transaction, looking not unlike a bank robber). Statesmen dont do social media from the dentists chair. Try Kim Kardashian West (124 million Instagram followers), who recently posted this photo of her dazzling pearly whites the lower teeth all covered in diamonds, the upper teeth featuring a tiny cross. Beto ORourke doesnt need to post like a Kardashian to prove that hes Insta-cool. Next month, hell be part of an Oprah Winfrey special from Times Square that will put him alongside the likes of Hollywood stalwarts Bradley Cooper and Michael B. Jordan. And he already has Beyonc in his corner (the singer has 122 million Instagram followers; nearly 129 million Americans voted in the last presidential election). What the man does need is heft demonstrating exactly what it is he embodies, in the way of policies and beliefs, other than a unique first name and a Kennedyesque stage presence. Maybe itll lead to easy endorsement money if ORourke is as skilled at product placement as he is campaigning. But the goal is to be leader of the Free World, not an international brand ambassador. In that regard, this Beto test doesnt get a passing grade. I invite you to follow me on Twitter: @hooverwhalen | https://www.forbes.com/sites/billwhalen/2019/01/13/is-beto-orourke-running-for-president-or-brand-ambassador/ |
Are chicken feathers tomorrow's protein bars? | It's a weird suggestion, but one backed by a study just published by New Zealand researchers. The Massey University paper found these feathers could have potential as a protein supplement for people wanting to build or maintain lean body mass. Keratins are structural, thiol-rich proteins which comprise 90 per cent of total poultry feather weight. Advertisement "Normally we don't eat feathers because we can't digest them, even though they are full of protein," said Professor Steve Stannard, who, with Dr Matthew Barnes, supervised the study by Dr Emma Crum and Dr Yanita McLeay. "But for our study the feathers went through a process called acid hydrolysis which vastly improved solubility." The mixture was then cooled and a base was added to raise the pH of the solution to form a neutral pH edible protein mix. That solution was dried and milled, and flavouring added to form a protein powder. The supplement was consumed as two protein bars, of two different flavours, and the remainder of the protein requirement, in powder form, mixed with water to make a drink. Fifteen trained male cyclists, aged between 18 and 50, were recruited for the Manawatu-based study. They were then given four-weeks of soluble keratin supplementary to their diet to see if it would have effects on body composition, blood and cardiorespiratory variables and cycling performance, compared to casein protein, or dairy. Stannard said while the total body mass and percentage body fat did not change significantly, the study unearthed an interesting finding. "Our data showed that while keratin consumption is not useful as a performance enhancing aid, it was associated with significant increases in lean body mass during the four weeks of exercise training." Professor Steve Stannard of Massey University's School of Sport, Exercise and Nutrition. Photo / Supplied The dairy-based supplement didn't have the same effect. "Despite not inducing any significant changes in cycling performance, the keratin was well-tolerated by the study participants," Stannard said. "It perhaps has the potential to be used as a supplement for people who want to improve their lean body mass such as the elderly or some sports-people." The study was published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. | https://www.nzherald.co.nz/science/news/article.cfm?c_id=82&objectid=12178311&ref=rss |
Why was Eric Bieniemy passed over this year? | A strong argument could be made for Bieniemy. Hes in the spot that has produced Eagles coach Doug Pederson and Bears coach Matt Nagy, both of whom have quickly become great head coaches. The Chiefs offense found a higher level this year, in Bieniemys first season as the O.C. Scroll to continue with content Ad I think the biggest difference is the mentality, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce said on the #PFTPM podcast in late September regarding the transition from Nagy to Bieniemy. Coach Bieniemy brings a fierce, aggressive mentality to the offense. Kind of a gritty, punch-you-in-the-mouth-type of mindset, and I think that has rubbed off on everybody, from Pat [Mahomes] throwing the ball aggressively down field. The play calling is a little bit more aggressive and, sure enough, everybody getting the ball has been a north runner. Theres not too much running sideways. Everybodys getting downhill trying to finish the plays in the end zone. The problem is that Bieniemy doesnt call plays. Then again, Nagy only called plays for half of a season in 2017, a season that saw the offense sputter after a strong start to the season. The explanation could be more about the pursuit of quarterback whisperers, and Bieniemys lack of background in that area. I think the big thing is teams are looking for quarterback guys, one league source opined to PFT. Matt, Doug are both former quarterbacks and former quarterback coaches. Bieniemy isnt. Story continues Theres still a belief in Kansas City that Bieniemy will become a great coach someday. For now, the Chiefs benefit. Then again, they likely benefit either way; theyve done a great job filling the pipeline with more great offensive coordinators, as their offensive coordinators become great coaches. | https://sports.yahoo.com/why-eric-bieniemy-passed-over-165959502.html?src=rss |
What Is Ivanka Trumps Role in the White House? | We were originally led to believe that this heightened, unbreakable bond would pay dividends, that her White House office stood as a flag planted in the ground of reason and sanity. If he proposed something loathsome, she would steal down the plushly carpeted hallway on little cat feet and steer him around to something more reasonable. But this seems not to be the case. More often, apparently, she ends up back in her office, patting her tears dry and accepting thatas everher dad will go his own way. There was also the notion that Ivanka would be able to conduct back-channel meetings with problematic peoplefor example, Cecile Richards, the former head of Planned Parenthoodwhom she would charm with B-school solutions to common problems. But when Richards later said that the Trump White House was the worst for women that Ive seen in my lifetime, that hope also died. In July 2017, in Hamburg, Trump stepped away from a meeting of the Group of 20. Ivanka. But she did not serve a grateful nation. There was a buzz of distaste, even of anger, in the media ether, and the family had to go down the ladder from Ivanka to Don Jr. to stop it. Oddly, given her insistence on being a thoroughly modern woman, she wants greater power for her husband, who is Trumps very opposite: personally disciplined, loath to speak in public, willowy, deeply committed to making his one marriage last. In the end, Ivanka stands alone among the daughters of the modern presidency. She is not Margaret Truman, forever remembered for her earnest piano playing; shes not Tricia Nixon, stunned and silent when her dad got in trouble, or Julie Nixon, roaring out of her corner, gloves up, when it happened; nor is she Chelsea Clinton, holding on to her parents hands in an attempt to hold their marriage together on that long walk across the White House lawn. She is not, in other words, a supporting player; shes some kind of principal, but beyond that, we dont know much. Ivanka is a mystery, less powerful than she seemed at first, but still firmly wedged in there at the very center of whatever is going on in our strange, unpredictable, and increasingly dangerous White House. | https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/01/what-is-ivanka-trumps-role-in-the-white-house/580045/?utm_source=feed |
Can Macy's Survive The Muddle In The Middle? | The results of the holiday 2018 retail sales are in, and its a mixed bag for sure. In a nutshell discount retailers Target and Costco reported strong sales while Macys and other mall-based retailers continue to lose share. None of this should be surprising to retail watchers. Both Target and Costco have winning formulas which they continue to adjust and improve. Meanwhile, for all the noise around Macys tactical adjustments, they remain stuck in a format that is radically out of phase with current trending. I applaud Macys for some of their highly publicized initiatives such as The Market @ Macys displaying both up-and-coming as well as established brands. But I believe they are only nibbling around the edges, when a complete reimagining is necessary. Having visited both Target and Macys over the holidays, there was a stark contrast in the two experiences. In fact, they were the opposite of what one might expect, when comparing a discounter with a department store. Shoppers used to expect a certain level of product presentation, visual merchandising and customer service at the department store. When in fact the Macys store was overstocked, cluttered, difficult to maneuver, and generally unpleasant. While Target on the other hand was accessible, nicely merchandised, and a pleasure to shop. This is the unfortunate result of Macys and Federated Department Stores race to buy nearly every regional department store in sight, at the turn of the millennium. This led to a systematic spreadsheet buying approach and a homogenized look and feel. The initiative negated each individual stores unique DNA, resulting in a soulless retail soup. They not only lost the once great regional private labels, and the value-added services, but the loyalty that many of regional department stores founders worked a lifetime to build. Cost-cutting and perpetual discounting followed, which forced many of their prized upscale brands to flee the scene. I would argue, however that the historic department store formula is not a thing of the past. But whether the Macys can both embrace what used to be and maneuver their way back, remains a major question. One of the few remaining independents left, Von Maur Department Store, is a case study in what still works in the category. The 145-year-old group, based in Davenport, Iowa, has maintained a very consistent and customer-centric formula throughout its history. Von Maur, with its 33 stores in fifteen states, is considered to be the Nordstrom of the Midwest. It combines a highly curated collection of popular brands, with great visual merchandising, and superior customer service. They offer free shipping and gift-wrapping, pay above market wages and offer their associates great benefits and a path to advancement. That creates the kinds of incentives that builds real customer loyalty. Ironically, what Von Maur offers today, was not uncommon in many of the regional department stores, that Federated/Macys Hoovered-up. In my home of Minneapolis/St. Paul, Daytons (initially the parent company of Target, Inc) was a just such a regional institution, and was talked about like a beloved family member. Targets meteoric growth forced the company to divest itself of the department store business and sold to May Company in 2004. The stores were rebranded as Marshall Fields, only to be taken over by Federated Department Stores shortly thereafter, and rebranded as Macys. Twin Citians have yet to get over the shock of the ordeal. I personally believe there is, but it will be painful and expensive. It starts with the understanding that the great middle-market is no longer viable turf. Its been overtaken by the internet, Amazon, Target, Walmart, JCPenney and Kohls. So, whats logical for a Macys it to go up-market and position themselves closer to the Nordstrom/Von Maur market segment. It also means trading scale for ultimate profitability. This will be challenging, because it requires a strategic and tactical reboot. They will have to create a unique, omnichannel shopping experience, offering a carefully curated selection of brands, both national and private label. It also means offering an extensive mix of events, services, and unexpected surprises, worthy getting off the couch to experience. Further, it means committing to a completely different personnel training and compensation model. Many store closures will need to take place, as will the liquidation of assets; it maybe even require 'going private'. Ultimately, this could give Macy's the the time and space necessary to reposition the brand into a sustainable model of the New Retail. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/sanfordstein/2019/01/13/can-macys-survive-the-muddle-in-the-middle/ |
Are we now a sanctuary county? | The Review-Journals Tuesday article regarding how Clark County commissioners plan on spending our tax money should send off the alarm bell (Kirkpatrick to chair county board). Newly elected Tick Segerblom and other commissioners want to spend $500,000, along with $100,000 in grant money over the next two years, on UNLVs Immigration Clinic. This will allow the clinic to provide legal aid to people who have entered this country illegally and to help them fight deportation. This is absurd and possibly illegal. So they are using our money to fight the federal government, which is prosecuting people who entered the country illegally. In essence, this makes Clark County a sanctuary county. | https://www.reviewjournal.com/opinion/letters/are-we-now-a-sanctuary-county-1573008/ |
Has the Brexit vote saved London tenants 1,800 pa in rent? | Tenants in London have saved as much as 1,800 in rent as a result of the Brexit referendum in 2016, according to an analysis of more than 100,000 rental properties listed on the Zoopla property website. Rent price growth in London is almost 3% lower than the projected rate of growth since the EU referendum announcement, leaving tenants with more money at the end of the month. Outside of London, rents have been firmer, with the Midlands recording the highest rates of increase, the companys Landbay rental index shows. Landbay attributed the 1,800 Brexit dividend to reduced demand from migrants from the EU but added that other factors are also at play. It said there was evidence of higher levels of internal migration within the UK, with priced-out young adults leaving the capital for Birmingham, Manchester and other lower-priced cities. Landlords may have also been fearful of raising rents in the face of banks potentially moving jobs from the capital to Frankfurt, Paris or Dublin. The impact of EU workers on the London rental market, particularly in central parts of the city, is substantial. Separate research by agents Hurford Salvi Carr found that in 2018, 40% of all rentals in the financial district, midtown areas such as Soho and in the east London area of Canary Wharf, were taken out by European nationals. British nationals who were renting made up just 28% of the London market covered by the research. John Goodall, the chief executive of Landbay, said: Its hard to ignore the impact that the vote to leave the EU has had on property market in London. While tenants are better off, without necessarily realising it, uncertainty in the market has caused a conundrum for landlords. Tenants in England spend half their pay on rent Read more Many landlords will have been looking to offset the governments punitive tax regime by raising rents. However, the uncertainty surrounding Brexit has forced the vast majority to forfeit this to maintain a steady income. Separate research by Savills shows that in 2018, the total value of the UKs housing stock rose by 190bn (2.7%) to reach a record 7.3tn despite slower house price growth. This increase has been attributed to fears about Brexit. Sign up to the daily Business Today email or follow Guardian Business on Twitter at @BusinessDesk The gains came from the regional markets as Londons residential stock recorded a 1.5% fall the first since 2009. The capital still accounts for almost a quarter of UK housing value, compared to a fifth a decade ago. Londons housing stock is worth 1.77tn, more than four times the combined value of Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Cardiff, Bristol, Liverpool and Sheffield all cities that experienced higher rates of price growth than the capital in 2018. Lawrence Bowles, residential research analyst at Savills, said: Our analysis demonstrates the scale of the housing market and underlines the importance of housing to the economies of London and the UK as a whole, both as an asset class and store of private wealth. Once again, we see that wealth concentrated in ever fewer, older hands, to the extent that the UKs over-50s hold a quarter of all UK homeowner equity, while the over-65s in London and the South of England alone account for over three-quarters of the total. At the same time, as affordability becomes more stretched, younger households are having to put off buying their first home until later in life. Its great that were seeing more housing delivery, but development will have to make up a much higher proportion of new housing value if we are to come anywhere need building the homes this country needs. | https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/jan/14/has-the-brexit-vote-saved-london-tenants-1800-pa-in-rent |
What Did Donald Trump's Tweet About H-1B Visas Mean? | On January 11, 2019, Donald Trump surprised the business and policy community by announcing via Twitter that positive changes are coming soon for H-1B visa holders. H-1B holders in the United States can rest assured that changes are soon coming which will bring both simplicity and certainty to your stay, including a potential path to citizenship, tweeted Trump. We want to encourage talented and highly skilled people to pursue career options in the U.S. Attorneys were quick to point out legal problems with the tweet. It is unclear what the presidents reference to a path to citizenship means; H-1B visa holders are already eligible to adjust status to permanent residency (and thereafter apply for citizenship) under existing law and regulation, explained Berry Appleman & Leiden (BAL) in a short analysis. DHS has not indicated in its regulatory agendas or in any public forum that it is considering changes to the current path to permanent residence and citizenship for H-1B visa holders. Some believe Trump may have been recently briefed on the proposed regulation to change the order of the H-1B lottery, which would have no effect on green cards for H-1B visa holders. He may also be responding, at least rhetorically, to entreaties from business leaders concerned about the direction of U.S. immigration policy under his administration. Based on currently available information, the BAL analysis seems reasonable: There is no evidence that the Trump administration is altering the course of its H-1B policy of the past two years, which has been generally to restrict access for foreign skilled workers. Stephen Yale-Loehr, a Cornell Law School professor and an advisor to the National Foundation for American Policy, told me in an interview that sometimes people can read too much into Donald Trump's tweets and statements. He advised people to focus instead on concrete policy actions. This tweet runs counter to what the administration has actually done against H-1B workers, he noted. Ever since the President issued his Buy American and Hire American executive order in April 2017, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has made it harder for employers to hire H-1B workers and to keep them. Yale-Loehr pointed to the National Foundation for American Policy report that showed a 41% increase in the denials of H-1B petitions in the 4th quarter of FY 2017. Just last week, a company sued USCIS in federal court after the agency denied a companys extension request for an H-1B employee, even though the agency had approved four H-1B petitions before for the same person in the same job, he noted. In effect, the President has built an invisible wall against H-1B workers. Given all that, why should we believe this apparent about-face? The green card process is governed by laws, not regulatory actions solely within the authority of the executive branch. Even if President Trump is serious about making it easier for H-1B workers to stay permanently in the United States, his administration cannot do that unilaterally, explains Yale-Loehr. Congress would have to pass a law. He points out Congress is divided on immigration issues, making this type of reform, particularly in isolation, difficult to picture in the current environment. Even though it may be unlikely given the policies over the past two years, if the Trump administration were interested in enacting a more welcoming agenda, then here are steps it could take on high-skilled immigration. Reverse the USCIS policy of refusing to honor earlier approvals of H-1B petitions and other high-skilled visas when professionals try to extend their visas. This policy has resulted in denials of people who have worked for years in the U.S., which has forced them to leave the country despite working for years and waiting legally for their green card. Companies have noted many denials are based on USCIS claiming a job is not in a specialty occupation or does not meet a USCIS definition of an employer-employee relationship. Support legislation to eliminate the per-country limit for employment-based immigrants, which would significantly shorten the wait time for many Indian professionals waiting potentially decades for permanent residence. Support immigration reforms to increase the number of employment-based green cards, but without the (divisive) demand that family-based categories be reduced or eliminated. Combined with eliminating the per-country limit, more H-1B visas and improved policies on international students, that would fulfill the pledge in Donald Trumps tweet to encourage talented and highly skilled people to pursue career options in the U.S. Stop the regulatory action to eliminate the ability of the spouses of H-1B visa holders to work in the United States. Investors and entrepreneurs would welcome the administration halting its action to rescind the International Entrepreneur Rule. Refrain from implementing measures to make it more difficult for international students to stay in the United States and to work after graduation. This would mean not ending the current policy that allows international students to remain in America for the duration of their studies. It would also mean expanding, not restricting or eliminating, Optional Practical Training (OPT) for international students in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. If Donald Trump and his administration wish to help rather than hinder the ability of U.S. employers to hire and retain high-skilled foreign nationals, then the steps enumerated above would be a good place to start. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2019/01/14/what-did-donald-trumps-tweet-about-h-1b-visas-mean/ |
Have we overpaid stamp duty because the house has an annexe? | Q Ive received three letters from a company claiming to be specialists in reclaiming stamp duty advising us that we may have overpaid 6,208 in stamp duty when we bought our house because it has an annexe. They have offered to make a claim on our behalf on a no-win, no-fee basis (Im not sure what the fee would be but assume it would be a percentage of the successful claim). We purchased our house in September 2018 and it does indeed have a separate annexe, which has two units with a bedroom and a bathroom each (one also has a lounge) the previous owners used this as accommodation for their sons and then more recently as a B&B. I just wondered if this stamp duty claim was worth pursuing and what the potential pitfalls might be Im very much of the view: If it seems to be good to be true it probably is. However, having looked at the reviews on the company website and trustpilot.com, I do wonder if there might be something in this. My main concern is that if we successfully make a claim but it is later found to be incorrect then we may have to repay the stamp duty including the commission for the claims company plus potentially additional late payment charges. JM A It is true that you may have paid too much stamp duty land tax (SDLT) because your house has an annexe. When the rules for higher rates of SDLT for additional properties were first introduced, properties with a self-contained annexe or so-called granny flat were treated as two dwellings and so were liable for the higher rates. However, the rules were updated in 2018 so that a property with a self-contained annexe is treated as a single dwelling, provided the main part of the house is worth at least two-thirds of the value of the whole property and the annexe is within the main property or in the grounds of the main property. So if those conditions apply to your property, it could be that whoever dealt with your conveyancing was unaware of the change in the rules and paid the higher rate of SDLT on your behalf. So you need to go back to your conveyancer and check what rate of SDLT you paid on the purchase. If it turns out that you did pay the higher rate of SDLT, I suggest that you get the conveyancer to resubmit your SDLT return with the correct amount of SDLT. Alternatively, you can claim a refund yourself using the HM Revenue & Customs online SDLT guidance on amending a return. You do not need to pay a chunk of any refund to an SDLT reclaim company. | https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/jan/14/have-we-overpaid-our-stamp-duty-because-house-has-an-annexe |
Is Apple's Problem In China The Economy Or Simply A Loss Of Market Share? | At the end of the first day of trading in the New Year, Apple announced that it was cutting its revenue guidance. Tim Cook, Apples CEO, blamed a slowing Chinese economy and the impact of the trade war between the U.S. and China for the reduced guidance. In a letter to investors, Cook said: While we anticipated some challenges in key emerging markets, we did not foresee the magnitude of the economic deceleration, particularly in Greater China Chinas economy began to slow in the second half of 2018. The government-reported GDP growth during the September quarter was the second lowest in the last 25 years. While China is Apples third-largest market by sales, there are growing signs that the companys market share has slipped badly in recent years. Both were early leaders in mobile phones, not only in China, but also globally. Neither company exists today. The remnants of Motorola were purchased by Lenovo in 2014, and Nokia was purchased by Microsoft in 2013. Even big, successful companies can and do fail. It happens all of the time, particularly when strong market forces are at work like those in China today. With respect to Chinas economy, it is true that GDP growth is slowing, but the magnitude of the economic deceleration is not nearly as large as Cook suggests. In the final quarter of 2017 and the first quarter of 2018, Chinas economy grew by 6.8%. From there, it fell to 6.7% in the second quarter, and 6.5% in the third quarter, which happens to be Chinas official, published growth target for the entire year. For 2019, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted that Chinas economy would grow by 6.2%, down from an earlier forecast of 6.4%, citing the negative effect of recent tariff actions. While tariffs may take 0.2 percentage points off of Chinas growth rate in 2019, the impact of the trade war in 2018 has been more psychological in nature. Due to negative investor sentiment caused by trade tensions, the yuan, Chinas currency, is lower by about 8% against the U.S. dollar, and the Shanghai Stock Exchange closed the year 25% lower, its worst performance in 10 years. Meanwhile, in the real economy, exports to the U.S. have increased by 8% through October, the latest month for which data is available. Also, Chinas overall export growth accelerated from 9.8% in August to 14.5% in September, with analysts predicting that exports will have expanded by 8.7% for all of 2018. Rather than the trade war dragging down Chinas economy in 2018 as Cook suggests, the deleveraging campaign that China began implementing in late 2017 is the major cause of the slowdown. In order to de-risk its financial sector, China has been restricting the overall growth in credit. This, in turn, has led to fewer loans available for corporations; the collapse of many online lending platforms; a greatly reduced level of margin debt; and a dramatic decline in shadow lending. Its quite simple: more and more local competitors have come on the scene, and every year they, as a group, are producing more and better smartphones that are more affordable and that Chinese consumers want to buy. As in most industries these days, the China smartphone market is one of the largest in the world. In 2017, there were approximately 660 million smartphone users in China, about one-third of the two billion users worldwide. In that year, there were 454.4 million smartphones shipped in the country, which means that Chinese users are replacing their smartphones about every 18 months. Therefore, having new models and features is important. Of the smartphones shipped in China in 2017, Huawei was the clear leader, shipping 102 million units, followed by OPPO and Vivo, with shipments of 77.6 million and 72.2 million units, respectively. Apple was fourth with shipments of 51.1 million units, followed closely by Xiaomi with 50.1 million units. The top five companies accounted for 78% of the China market. In 2015, a large number of new smartphone companies and models came onto the market, and consumers responded to the greater number of choices available by dramatically increasing phone purchases. With more competition and an expanded market, Apples market share declined from its peak of 13.6% in 2015 to 9.6% in 2016. In both 2016 and 2017, smartphone shipments by Huawei, OPPO and Vivo increased dramatically and their market shares expanded. Xiaomis market share slipped in 2016, but increased significantly in 2017. Meanwhile, Apples shipments have been relatively flat during this period, causing its market share to drift lower to 9.3% by the end of 2017. In the third quarter of 2018, Huawei, OPPO and Vivo all increased unit sales over the second quarter Vivo by 14%, OPPO by 7.5% and Huawei by 6.6%. Xiaomis unit sales slipped by 4%, while Apple registered a 10% decrease. Chinese consumers are still buying smartphones they just arent buying Apples! One of Apples problems is that its smartphones are at the high end of the market in terms of price, and this is especially challenging in China where consumers have a fundamentally different and lower cost perspective than consumers in the U.S. Counterpoint, a technology research firm, has estimated that Apple has 79% of the global market for phones priced at over $800. In China, Apple had 65% of the $600 and above segment, but only 11% of the market for handsets priced from $400 to $600. With Chinese consumers emphasis on affordability, and with smartphone users trading in their phones every 18 months, the market for lower priced phones is clearly growing much faster than the premium segment. Chinas lower cost perspective, in combination with the way in which the country has developed, has created two markets in the country a purely local market that is characterized by domestic manufacturers with lower priced phones with fewer features, and a higher priced segment that has both foreign and local brands offering phones with more features and better technology. Two key characteristics of Chinas purely local market is that first, it keeps growing, and that secondly, the local companies dont just stand still. Many improve their quality and technology. Apple has clearly been focused on the foreign/local market where it is at a comparable price point with Samsung. Meanwhile, the companies competing in the purely local market for smartphones have been growing their sales and developing their products. Just like in appliances, passenger cars and almost every other product being made in China today, local companies are making better products that are also more affordable than those made by their international competitors. Among the local companies, for example, Huawei is leading the way in the development of 5G technology, an area where Apple has lagged. The ultimate challenge for Apple will occur when the Chinese smartphone makers take their more affordable products and begin to compete in Apples markets outside China. In summary, Apples problem in China is not simply a slowing Chinese economy as Cook suggests. Smartphone shipments in China have been falling for at least six quarters. With an already high smartphone penetration rate, the market is saturated, and Chinese consumers have been watching and waiting for the development of new features like 5G. With respect to Apple itself, the companys products are too high priced for the bulk of the China market where the competition is only getting stronger. Finally, in a market, where users are constantly upgrading their phones, Apple has not done a particularly good job as far as introducing new products and innovations. The net result has been a significant loss of market share in the worlds largest market for smartphones. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackperkowski/2019/01/14/is-apples-problem-in-china-the-economy-or-simply-a-loss-of-market-share/ |
Are Femtech Companies Helping Women, or Exploiting Their Fears? | Beim wondered how these scientific advances were being used to treat infertility, but to her surprise no one was studying it. She feared it would be decades before women would have the same kinds of detailed diagnoses cancer patients now receive. Theres no reason why we should approach womens health two decades into the post-genomic era the same way that we did in the pre-genomic era, she told me. So she decided to shift her focus from cancer research to womens reproductive health. I had this Aha moment where I realized, this is not happening in this field, Beim said. This is my calling. Beim kept hearing from women who had failed multiple rounds of fertility treatment and didnt know why. The universal feeling was, Why didnt anyone tell us this was a possibility? Beim dropped out of her postdoc at Cambridge, moved back to New York, and spent the next several months sleeping on friends couches while she launched Celmatix. She traveled light, whittling her belongings down to what could fit into a single suitcase. In order to build its genetic test, Celmatix had to document the known connections between fertility and genetics. There is little information about how various aspects of womens healthmedical history, family history, lifestyle choicescontribute to or correlate with fertility, so Beim set out to build a data set from scratch. She hired scientists and researchers to scour medical journals for relevant information, and she partnered with fertility clinics around the country to combine their patient information into a single database. Until that point, the information available to fertility doctors was limited to the data from their individual clinics, as well as their anecdotal experience. By combining information from multiple clinics, Beim hoped to be able to calculate more accurately whether, when, and how a couple would get pregnant. Celmatixs data set is now the largest database about reproductive health in the world. In 2015, the company released its first product, Polaris, custom software that allows fertility clinics to compare a couples health information with the data Celmatix had collected and develop an appropriate treatment plan. Polaris can forecast how likely a couple is to get pregnant using different treatment methodsintrauterine insemination versus in-vitro fertilization, for example. It can assess the probability of twins or triplets. And it can calculate the probability of having a child when couples repeat treatments or move on to new ones. In 2018, Celmatix also launched MyFertility Compass, a free online tool that offers couples similar information. Not only can this analysis help fertility doctors pursue more effective treatments, it can also help couples plan financially. If a couple has a better chance of conceiving after one round of IVF than three rounds of IUI, for example, Celmatix might suggest that a couple try IVF sooner, because doing so could save money or allow for more rounds of treatment. Alan Copperman, the medical director of Reproductive Medicine Associates of New York, one of the top fertility clinics in the country, uses Polaris to help couples set expectations. Theres so much anxiety that goes along with fertility treatment, Copperman said. It can be grueling, with high physical, emotional, and financial costs. With Polaris, you cant always fix it, but you can help them see what their journey is going to look like or what its going to take to achieve success. Right now, Celmatixs data only addresses fertility, but the company has a partnership with the genetic testing firm 23andMe that gives Celmatix access to a cache of data about other elements of womens health as well. Beim told me she hopes to eventually help women navigate not just fertility, but their lifelong health. From the first decision shes making about what contraceptive should I use, or how do I manage my endometriosis, all the way out to the menopause transition, she said. Beim has big ambitions. This is the beginning. At the same time that Beim was launching her business, she was also reckoning with her own family planning. Not long after she founded Celmatix, she went to a friends dinner party. There she met a venture capitalist named Nicholas Beim, who, among other projects, was supporting entrepreneurs in Turkey, where Piraye was born. Three months later, she joined him on a business trip there; two months after that, they were engaged. Within eleven months of meeting, they were married. Beim was 32 at the time, and just as they had approached their relationship with alacrity, she and Nicholas knew they wanted to start a family right away. Shortly after their honeymoon, Beim found out she was pregnant. The couple happily shared the news with family and close friends. Their early enthusiasm turned to grief, however, when the pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. As a scientist working in womens health, Beim was well aware that 15 to 20 percent of pregnancies end in miscarriage. Still, she was devastated. The couple kept trying to get pregnant for another year and a half before Beim went to see a doctor. She looks back on this time as a period of avoidance that she now wishes she could take back. Not knowing doesnt make it change or go away, she told me. A hormone test revealed that she had diminished ovarian reservea condition that affects between 10 and 30 percent of women who experience infertility. Women with diminished ovarian reserve have fewer eggs, and its harder for them to get pregnant, either naturally or with IVF. Beim sought a second opinion. That doctor diagnosed her with endometriosis, a painful disease that can also affect a womans ability to have children; about 40 percent of women with endometriosis find it difficult to get and stay pregnant. Beims doctor, however, advised her to try to conceive naturally for six more months before investing in IVF. Beim researched natural ways to boost her fertility and made changes to her diet. She was pregnant with her first son within a month. Because Beim knew her egg reserves were low, she and her husband decided to expand their family as quickly as possible. Beim gave birth two more times in the next three years. She now has two sons, ages 4 and 5, and a daughter, who is 1. Photographs of Beim from early articles about Celmatix often show her holding her round belly or nuzzling an infant. Beim has spent most of her years as CEO pregnant or breastfeeding. Femtech companies may be little more than a modern gloss on the health and beauty industry, applying a veneer of feminism to age-old appeals to womens fears and insecurities. Beim cites her own miscarriage and accelerated family planning as a huge influence on Celmatix. I had three kids in four years, in part because I understood my metrics and I understood that if I wanted to have a family, then I wasnt going to be able to space my kids very far apart, she said. If I had had this information earlier in my life, there are other things that I could have mitigated. I could have lived a much healthier lifestyle. I could have started my family much earlier so I wouldnt have had to get it all done under the gun before I fell off a fertility cliff. It worked out for me. But it could have not. Many tech startups are closely identified with their founders, and it certainly doesnt hurt Celmatix to have Beim serve as the companys face: a woman who, by closely analyzing her own health, was able to make informed decisions and overcome her fertility problems to have the family she wanted. This is the narrative that Beim is selling: In the face of uncertainty and the dreaded biological clock, Celmatix can give women valuable information, a sense of control, and a path toward motherhood. But Beims story also highlights some of the contradictions that she and Celmatix embody. Celmatix aims to disprove the idea that older women cant have healthy children or that infertility is the result of poor lifestyle choices. The fertility cliff that women supposedly hit when they turn 35 isnt an insurmountable obstacle, the company suggests, but something that can be navigated on an individual basis through science and data. For some women, however, having more detailed information about their fertility doesnt necessarily lead to feelings of empowerment; knowing more about ones reproductive limitations can just as easily cause anxiety and grief. Neither Celmatix nor any other femtech company can avoid the fact that fertility changes as people age, for both men and women. Despite Celmatixs assurances, the biological clock is real, and the outcomes arent always as positive as they were for Beim. In 2017, after eight years of development and a lengthy approval process, Celmatix finally released its proprietary genetic test, called Fertilome. By examining 49 variants in 32 genes, the test can help identify a variety of fertility disorders, including polycystic ovarian syndrome, endometriosis, recurrent pregnancy loss, and primary ovarian insufficiencya rare condition that occurs in approximately 1 percent of women and causes premature menopause. The test requires a simple blood or saliva sample. Women can request it through a physician for $950. Patients receive a detailed report on each of their tested genes, indicating a strong, moderate, or weak risk for a reproductive condition. Beim was one of the first women to take the Fertilome test. The results confirmed what her doctors had suspected: She had genetic markers associated with endometriosis and primary ovarian insufficiency, as well as alterations in key genes that make it harder for her body to regulate inflammation, which affects whether an embryo will implant correctly in the uterine lining. Fifteen months after the test launched, more than 100 doctors around the country had ordered it for their patients. One of Celmatixs customers is a 35-year-old woman named Amie, who requested that her last name not be published to protect her privacy. A nurse at a neonatal intensive care unit in San Jose, California, Amie always knew she wanted to have children. At least one boy and one girl, she told me. She had never really experienced any menstrual issues until she was 29 or 30, when her period became irregular. A specialist diagnosed her with diminished ovarian reserve, one that was more reflective of someone who might be menopausal. No doctor was able to tell her what might be causing her condition or how to treat it. When Amie got married in 2015, she and her partner decided to try to have children right awaybecause I knew there might be some challenges, Amie said. A year of trying came and went. Then, in 2017, she visited a fertility doctor, Aimee Eyvazzadeh, in San Ramon, California, who suggested that Amie take the Fertilome test. The results showed that Amie had a genetic variant that may decrease follicle stimulationthe cause of her low egg reserves. There was nothing that I could have done to prevent it, Amie said. It gave me a lot of closure. It also gave her doctor new ideas for treatment. Because Amies ovaries dont naturally produce mature eggs, Eyvazzadeh stimulated her ovaries with oral medications and estrogen patches. An ultrasound revealed one promising follicle. The doctor said, This is your golden egg, Amie told me. She got pregnant using IVF and gave birth to a baby boy in May. Her baby is already sporting a double chin and juicy thighs, Amie said. She said shes enjoying every aspect of motherhood so far. Things dont always go so well, however. Leah Kaye, formerly a reproductive endocrinology fellow at the Center for Advanced Reproductive Services at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, told me about a patient at the clinic, Elizabeth (not her real name), who is 38 years old. She and her husband had tried intrauterine insemination three times without success before moving on to two failed rounds of IVF. At that point her doctor recommended that Elizabeth try the Fertilome test. It suggested a genetic variant in Elizabeths androgen receptor, which could potentially influence the function of her ovaries and uterus. In response, her doctors prescribed a course of progesterone and some additional androgen before transferring the next embryo. The procedure was a successElizabeth got pregnant for the first time, with twinsuntil it wasnt. The pregnancy lasted just seven weeks. Elizabeth hasnt been back to the fertility clinic since. I remarked to Kaye how wrenching Elizabeths story was. Her response was gentle and open-minded. We try to remind our patients after a setback like this that families can grow in all sorts of ways, not just the more conventional ways we learn about growing up, she said. When a couple wants to have a family bad enough, we always reassure them that they will make that family, in one way or another, even if it wasnt by the exact route they initially envisioned. That honest acknowledgment of the limits of biological science runs counter to much of Silicon Valleys sloganeering. For all its innovative science, Celmatix isnt offering a cure, much less a treatment, for infertility. For now, the most Celmatix can do is give doctors a hint about what might be wrong. All the doctors I spoke with emphasized that Fertilome may help an experienced reproductive endocrinologist identify new pathways or tweaks for treatment, but no one could say for sure whether this information would lead to the birth of a healthy baby. Brian Levine, the director of CCRM New York, part of a respected chain of fertility clinics, calls Fertilome a highly refined Ouija board. It might point women in the direction of answersbut it might not. There are reasons to be skeptical about the booming femtech industry. In 2014, a company called Ovascience claimed to have identified egg precursor cells, which it said could improve a womans chances of conceiving children and even pause or reverse the biological clock. In 2016, Wall Street valued the company at $1.8 billion. Yet no reputable studies have been able to support the companys claims, and scientists have expressed doubt about whether such cells even exist; in late 2016, Ovasciences valuation dropped to $47 million. In 2015, another company raised more than $160,000 on Kickstarter to produce the worlds first smart menstrual cup, outfitted with a Bluetooth sensor that would signal when the cup needed to be emptied. The campaign went viral and garnered favorable coverage from Fortune, Slate, Jezebel, and others, but more than two years after the cups were supposed to ship, the company is still doing preliminary testing. Period-tracking apps have also caused controversy. In 2015, Glow, a popular app backed by PayPal co-founder Max Levchin, claimed that it had helped more than 150,000 couples get pregnanta figure that experts criticized as questionable. A year later, Consumer Reports showed that Glows lack of security features exposed womens data to significant privacy threats. (The company quickly moved to correct this.) A 2016 study in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine found that many popular period trackers did not accurately predict when women were most fertile. Then, in 2017, a much-hyped Swedish fertility tracking app called Natural Cycles was certified in the European Union as a contraceptive after a major study found that it was 99 percent effective at preventing pregnancy during perfect use and 93 percent effective during imperfect useroughly on par with more established forms of birth control, like the pill. By tracking a womans basal temperature, the Natural Cycles app makes predictions about when a woman is most likely to be ovulating and gives either a red light or a green light on whether it is safe to have unprotected sex. Soon after, a Swedish hospital reported that 37 women who had recently sought abortions there were using Natural Cycles as their sole form of birth control. The Swedish government investigated, ultimately determining that the number of unwanted pregnancies was in line with the products advertised typical use failure rate. Despite the controversy, the Food and Drug Administration approved the app in August for use in the United States. The shadow of Theranos also looms over health care startups. Elizabeth Holmes, Theranoss CEO, convinced the world that she had developed the technology to perform dozens of medical tests with a single drop of bloodclaims, it turns out, that were complete fabrications. Last March, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Holmes with massive fraud for deceiving investors, and in June a federal grand jury indicted her on several counts of criminal wire fraud. For all the startups focused on diagnosing or treating a serious health condition, there are others simply trying to ride the current feminist wave to a generous payday. Celmatix is no Theranos: The Fertilome test passes muster in New York state, which has some of the strictest requirements in the country, and the company works closely with doctors and the academic community, exhibiting the sort of transparency that Theranos resisted. Their leadership is outstanding, their science is incredible, said Levine. Piraye is brilliant. Every time I talk to her, I feel smarter. Beim is confident that Celmatix is helping women who are struggling to get pregnant. The dream when we started was that babies that would not exist without us all showing up at work every day and working our tails off for a decade would exist one dayand were there, she told me. If what were doing makes it a little bit more likely that women can get to have as many healthy kids as they want, on their own terms, its worth it. Yet many fertility experts remain concerned that we still dont know enough about how genetics affect fertility for Celmatixs testing to be truly useful. The difference here is having knowledge versus the wisdom of how to apply it, said Francisco Arredondo, a reproductive endocrinologist and owner of three fertility clinics in Texas. Ten years after Beim founded Celmatix, the femtech industry is awash in companies whose products range from the significant to the superfluous. For all the startups focused on diagnosing or treating a serious health condition, such as infertility or endometriosis, or developing a new form of birth control, there are others that are simply trying to ride the current feminist wave to a generous payday. All of the money currently being invested in femtech might be a sign that Silicon Valley finally considers women as individuals whose needs and desires actually matter. But it is equally likely that venture capitalists see women as little more than lucrative sources of revenueas consumers, rather than patientsand that tugging at the fears and anxieties women have about their bodies and life choices can be a strong marketing hook. Beim, for her part, is earnest about her desire to help women, and forthright about the limits of what shes been able to accomplish so far. Is Fertilome, like, We planted the flag, mission accomplished? No, she told me. The detailed diagnoses and treatments she hopes to offer women are still some ways away, at the very earliest. Yet its clear that Silicon Valley startups need not be as mendacious as Theranos to cause harm. Even companies that cast themselves as high-minded can have a detrimental impact on society, as Facebooks recent scandals illustrate. Tech firms have forged their identities around the idea that they can solve the worlds problems through disruption and innovation, through the amassing of personal data and the achievement of scalepromises that seem increasingly dubious as time wears on and the effects of their products on the real world are revealed. The stakes could hardly be higher than they are with fertility. Millions of women who are delaying having children want to know if the gamble they are makingwaiting for better circumstances, without knowing how their fertility will agewill pay off. Were talking about the most sensitive topic I can think of: your fertility and your ability to reproduce, said Levine. Femtech companies have provided avenues for women to discuss their desires, fears, and experiences with friends and doctors, and to combat the stigma associated with infertility. That alone represents a form of empowerment. But even as fertility startups market themselves as sources of clarity and answers, the science still cannotand may neversay with certainty when, how quickly, or if a woman will get pregnant. Given that reality, it may be challenging for Celmatix and other femtech firms to make good on their promises to womenand live up to their own ideals. | https://newrepublic.com/article/152693/femtech-companies-alleviate-exploit-female-anxiety |
Which harmful additives are in my food, and how do I avoid them? | Open this photo in gallery In some people, additives can trigger hives, headache, diarrhea, asthma, even severe anaphylactic allergic reactions. And some may contain carcinogenic compounds. heinteh/iStockPhoto / Getty Images Most of us dont have time to prepare all of our meals and meal ingredients from scratch. We rely on processed foods such as ready-to-eat breakfast cereals, sliced bread, canned tomatoes, frozen meals, packaged snack foods and store-bought condiments. Read ingredient lists and you may find that food additives are a bigger part of your diet than you thought. Most have excellent safety records, but others are controversial because questions about their safety have been difficult to answer. Food additives are used by manufacturers to improve texture, enhance taste and/or appearance, maintain nutritional quality or prevent spoilage. Story continues below advertisement Regulated by the Food and Drug Regulations issued by Health Canada, food additives must pass through rigorous testing that assesses their effectiveness and safety. Still, some scientists and watchdog groups are concerned that consuming certain permitted additives may pose health risks. In some people, additives can trigger hives, headache, diarrhea, asthma, even severe anaphylactic allergic reactions. And some may contain carcinogenic compounds. Heres what you need to know about controversial synthetic additives what theyre used for, which foods youll find them in and how to avoid them. Allura Red, Sunset Yellow, tartrazine These synthetic dyes are used to enhance a foods natural colour or add colour thats not naturally present. On ingredient lists, they also go by FD&C Red No. 40 (Allura Red), FD&C Yellow No. 6 (Sunset Yellow) and FD&C Yellow No. 5 (tartrazine). These artificial colours are allowed to be added to jams and jellies, candy, fruit-juice concentrates, caviar, relish, ketchup, smoked fish, lobster paste and sherbet. Sunset Yellow can also be used to colour cheese-flavoured corn chips and sausage casings. Food dyes have been linked to hyperactivity and aggressiveness in a small percentage of children, even those with no prior behavioural problems. In Europe, food products that contain these dyes must carry a warning that the additives may have adverse effects on activity and attention in children. Story continues below advertisement Story continues below advertisement Tartrazine may cause allergic reactions such as hives, itching and nasal congestion in some people. Lab studies also suggest these dyes contain cancer-causing contaminants. One such chemical in Allura Red is thought to be possibly carcinogenic to humans. To date, theres no evidence that consuming foods containing these dyes increase cancer risk in people. And the evidence that they do so in lab rodents is controversial and inconclusive. Even so, it seems an unnecessary risk to be eating foods that contain artificial colours. BHA, BHT Allowed in shortening, olive oil, margarine, potato chips, breakfast cereals, parboiled rice and chewing gum, these preservatives prevent oils in foods from oxidizing and becoming rancid. Most studies on BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) and BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) have been conducted in animals and test tubes, not in people. While findings on BHT have been mixed, international organizations have found BHA to cause cancer in lab animals. In 2010, after evaluating the science, Health Canada concluded that BHA is not harmful to human health at current levels of exposure. Use of BHA and BHT in foods is restricted in Europe. Story continues below advertisement Azodicarbonamide (ADA) This dough-conditioning agent may be added to white and whole-wheat flour to add volume and texture to products such as hamburger buns, English muffins, pizza dough and doughnuts. ADA was banned in Europe after it was learned that the additive breaks down to form carcinogenic chemicals during baking. Health Canada has deemed the additive and its byproducts safe after an assessment of data collected by Statistics Canada four decades ago outdated research according to some experts. If ADA is added to flour thats used as an ingredient in bread, the food additive does not have to be included on the ingredient list. (It must be declared on ingredient lists in the United States.) Brominated vegetable oils Banned in Europe and Japan, brominated oils are permitted in Canada. They are added to some soft drinks and sports drinks to prevent citrus flavouring from separating and floating to the surface. The concern: Brominated oils contain bromine, a chemical element also found in brominated flame retardants. Bromine appears to accumulate in the body and some reports suggest that consuming drinks with brominated oils may lead to muscle problems, fatigue and memory loss. How to avoid: To avoid these synthetic additives, read ingredients lists to find out if theyre in a food product (this doesnt work for bakery products made from flour with ADA). Story continues below advertisement Use your voice. Its up to food manufacturers to decide whether or not to use certain additives; let them know your concerns. Eat more whole foods such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, eggs, fish and poultry. Make time to cook more foods from scratch; batch-cook on the weekend. Consider choosing organic foods, which are produced without synthetic additives. Leslie Beck, a Toronto-based private-practice dietitian, is director of food and nutrition at Medcan. Live your best. We have a daily Life & Arts newsletter, providing you with our latest stories on health, travel, food and culture. Sign up today. | https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/article-which-harmful-additives-are-in-my-food-and-how-do-i-avoid-them/ |
What happened to sheriff who caught Green River Killer? | Dave Reichert became a national celebrity in 2001 when, as a county sheriff in Washington, he used DNA analysis to help capture the nations most elusive serial murderer, the Green River Killer. That high-profile arrest vaulted Reichert into politics and the U.S. House, where he just completed seven terms representing Washingtons 8th Congressional District. Now, in another life transition, Reichert is joining a firm that is assisting Central American countries in developing DNA databases, which they could use to reunite separated families and combat human trafficking. This is something that, it seemed to me, brought me back full circle, Reichert said in a recent interview with McClatchy. Expanding DNA forensics in Central America will bring me back to the law enforcement realm, but in an entirely different way. Reichert is joining Gordon Thomas Honeywell Governmental Affairs as a vice president, the firm announced Monday. The firm, which has offices in Tacoma and D.C., is a subcontractor for the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth. In 2017, the State Department awarded the north Texas science center a $3.3 million federal grant to assist Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador in expanding their DNA forensics and sharing information. Digital Access For Only $0.99 For the most comprehensive local coverage, subscribe today. Under the terms of the grant, the science center is tasked to establish a DNA database of known samples from parents or family members with missing or abducted children in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, or enhance any existing database which can provide this service. Reicherts role will be to meet with Central American officials at the highest levels, and help with passage of laws and data-sharing agreements among the three countries, said Tim Schellberg, president of Gordon Thomas Honeywell Governmental Affairs. Dave has always had a passion for this (DNA forensics), said Schellberg. Hes the ideal match for this project. The U.S. push on genetic forensics comes as U.S.-Mexico border security has become the most high-profile issue at the White House, prompting a partial government shutdown. While theres been a drop in migrants illegally crossing the U.S. border from Mexico in recent years, there still are hundreds who die every year making the attempt, some of them victims of human trafficking. Irma Carrillo of Phoenix holds up a heart with two holes in it for her two children who have been missing since 1999, as she speaks during a hearing of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, on Oct. 5, 2018, at the University Colorado in Boulder, Colo. Human rights groups have been calling for greater use of DNA analysis to help families find missing loved ones in the U.S.-Mexico border region. David Zalubowski AP When bodies are found near the border, they often are examined by experts such as Bruce Budowle, a internationally known forensics scientist at the University of North Texas Health Science Center, who is heading up the Central America database project. He has the unpleasant task of using DNA to try and identify human remains found in Texas. Sometimes they are murdered, sometimes they die of dehydration, said Budowle, noting that many of the migrants cannot easily be identified. Some hail from distant countries, such as Guatemala, Honduras and beyond. Without family reference samples DNA from the victims close relatives in those countries scientists such as Budowle cannot make a solid match. More expansive DNA databases, he said, would also help in identifying children in the border region who are alive but get separated from their parents, or who are being trafficked across the border by criminals. We want to develop capabilities, and take the capabilities we have, so the governments can demonstrate to the people they care about them, and can solve some of these cases, he said. Developing effective databases across multiple countries, however, will not be easy. Programs have to be set up to encourage families especially those with missing family members to submit their DNA for analysis. Before that occurs, each country must establish laws and protocols for protecting the privacy of participants, a key step for winning public trust. While Guatemala last year passed regulations for creating a genetic data bank, similar regulations and data-sharing agreements must be negotiated among the three countries. That is the challenge, said Reichert, referring to the need to win widespread public support. As I begin to meet with folks in that region, I hope we could just focus on missing persons, and then construct laws that put us in that space, so that people in those countries feel comfortable with this new technology. A tube of extracted DNA. Jacquelyn Martin Associated Press Reichert used DNA forensics in the Green River case, but that only came after two decades of often-vexing sleuthing. Reichert, who joined the King County sheriffs department in 1972, was the first detective assigned to the case, in 1982. It was the start of gruesome series of killings that would eventually claim the lives of at least 49 young women, many of them prostitutes and runaways. After Reichert became sheriff in 1997, he reopened the investigation, and caught a break because of a saliva sample taken in 1987 from one of the possible suspects, Gary Leon Ridgway. Genetic analysis wasnt an option in the mid-1980s, but in 2001, investigators were able to match Ridgways DNA to evidence taken from some of the murder scenes. Ridgway was arrested in November of that year, and his confession ended one of the most confounding serial killer investigations in U.S. history. Although I had looked forward to this day for almost 20 years, nothing could have prepared me for the emotion I felt, Reichert stated in a 2004 book, Chasing the Devil, which he co-authored with a ghost writer. Like others on the task force, I had been frustrated and angry over our past failures. Now those feelings had disappeared. During his 14 years in Congress, Reichert established himself as a moderate Republican who grew increasingly popular in his district, winning his last reelection, in 2016, with 60 percent of the vote. Part of his focus in Congress was improving foster care and combating sex trafficking, priorities rooted in his years investigating the Green River case. In the fall of 2017, Reichert announced he would not again seek office, creating an open seat in a congressional district made up of growing suburbs and rural areas east of Seattle and Tacoma that was trending more blue. Reicherts decision came after he had called Donald Trump a joke during his presidential campaign and talked openly about his frustrations with an increasingly partisan Congress. Reichert said he has few regrets about leaving Congress, even though his retirement created an opportunity for Democrats to take the 8th District seat, which they did, with Kim Schrier defeating the GOPs Dino Rossi. In his new job, Reichert will need to travel regularly, but not as often as when he was shuttling from D.C. to his home state. It is a little bittersweet, but I think this transition will make it easier, he said. Reicherts new job will go beyond the Central America project. Although he is barred from lobbying for one year, he will advising Gordon Thomas Honeywells clients on certain issues, particularly trade matters, said Schellberg. He will also be helping one of the firms clients, Thermo Fisher Scientific, which is working to sell state and local agencies on its Rapid DNA technology. Rapid DNA would allow police departments to immediately test people arrested, to see if they were involved with other crimes, such as ongoing serial rapes. But the practice is controversial, because it would require about 20 states to change their laws, allowing DNA analysis of people arrested, not just convicted, for crimes. It also would take DNA analysis out of hands of established labs, separate from police departments, and put it directly in police hands. Most of Reicherts immediate focus, said Schellberg, will be on the human trafficking project. If that effort proves successful in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, the State Department plans to expand it to other Central American countries. | https://www.star-telegram.com/news/nation-world/national/article224077655.html |
Why is Canada so hot under the collar about Venezuela? | For mild-mannered Canada, the denunciation of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was unusually harsh. Today, Nicolas Maduros regime loses any remaining appearance of legitimacy, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said Thursday in a statement marking the Venezuelan presidents inauguration for a second term. An opposition member holds a sign with the likeness of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro with text that reads in Spanish "Tyrant" during a protest in Caracas on Friday. The head of Venezuela's opposition-run congress says that with the nation's backing he's ready to take on Nicolas Maduro's presidential powers and call new elections. ( Fernando Llano / AP ) Having seized power through fraudulent and anti-democratic elections, Freeland went on, the Maduro regime is now fully entrenched as a dictatorship We call on him to immediately cede power. Exactly why Justin Trudeaus Canadian government is so hot under the collar about Maduro is unclear. Article Continued Below True, Venezuela is a mess economically. In part, this is the result of outside pressure from those opposed to the regime. But in the main, the Maduro governments sheer incompetence is to blame. Maduro himself has said that internal corruption is the biggest culprit. True also that the election last summer that returned Maduro to power was flawed. But arguably so was the election last year of Brazils new right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro. In that contest, Bolsonaros most formidable opponent, left-leaning Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, was barred from running. Certainly, a countrys failure to follow democratic norms has not bothered Canada in other instances. Ottawa does not question the legitimacy of Chinas Communist President Xi Jinping. It gets along famously with Middle Eastern autocrats in the United Arab Emirates. It has never fussed much about the fact that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi seized power in a bloody military coup. And while it has complained about the Saudi Arabian monarchy, it has never questioned the legitimacy of that undemocratic regime. Indeed, it is famously supplying the Saudis with weapons. In part, the answer may be that Ottawa wants to stake out a position in Latin America. Canada is already an economic player in the region and hopes to do more business there. In taking on Venezuela, Ottawa has allied itself not only with the new rightist government in Brazil but with other countries in the 14-member Lima Group, such as Argentina and Peru. Thirteen members of the Lima Group, which was set up in 2017 to challenge Maduro, issued a separate communiqu last week attacking the Venezuelan president. Tellingly, Mexico one of the groups original members refused to sign it. Mexico, along with Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Uruguay continues to recognize Maduro as Venezuelas legitimate president. In fact, Mexicos new left-leaning president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, invited Maduro to his inauguration. This underscores the second dynamic in the Maduro controversy: right-of-centre governments tend to want him out; leftish governments tend to be more forgiving. The third dynamic is the proverbial elephant in the room: the U.S. America desperately wants to see oil-rich Venezuela under new management. U.S. President Donald Trump has mused about invading Venezuela. Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson talked publicly of a coup, predicting that Venezuelas military would successfully manage a peaceful transition to a new president. Last fall, the New York Times reported that American officials had met secretly with Venezuelan coup plotters for more than a year, stopping only after Maduros security forces arrested most of the would-be putschists. But the U.S. has to be careful. Its history of deposing governments unfriendly to American business is not remembered fondly in Latin America. In the event of a coup, it would be better for the U.S. if no fingerprints were left that might implicate Washington. And it would be better still if the fiercest rhetorical attacks on Maduros political legitimacy came from non-U. S. sources like Canada. I suspect its not. I suspect it doesnt much care what happens in that country. But at time when Canada is increasingly offside from Trumps Washington, Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus government is looking for areas in which it can demonstrate to the U.S. that it is still a staunch ally. And Maduro is a convenient target. Thomas Walkom is a Toronto-based columnist covering politics. Follow him on Twitter: @tomwalkom Read more about: | https://www.thestar.com/opinion/star-columnists/2019/01/14/why-is-canada-so-hot-under-the-collar-about-venezuela.html |
What Would Others Think Of Me? | By Homaira Kabir What others think of us is a natural concern for almost all of us. And for good reason! Other peoples opinions often lead to pro-social behaviors such as reciprocity of kind gestures or the urge to make amends when were in the wrong. Its what keeps us moral and makes for a fair and just society. However, any virtue can turn into a vice when taken to an extreme. When we stop listening to our own opinions in favor of what other people may think, we become disconnected from our values, our aspirations and from the difference we can each make in the world. We become hooked onto approval and a constant need for validation, we avoid situations that can lead to disagreement, and we fall apart with even the most subtle sign of criticism. This dependence on other people to feel good about ourselves keeps many high-achieving women stuck in jobs that have become too small for their capabilities. Despite their competence, they fear speaking up and sharing their ideasand watch in regret as others claim them. Despite being the best person for a more senior role, they avoid putting themselves forward, and get frustrated when more junior colleagues get the job. They hide behind their achievements, expecting these to speak for themselves, and get upset when theyre not valued nor rewarded the way they know they should be. I have spent years researching why competent and other-wise confident looking women struggle to take the steps that will help them advance professionally despite knowing why its important and how to do so. The answer lies in the psychological construct of fragile confidence where their competence and apparent confidence is underpinned by low self-worth. However, the feelings of unworthiness are often inaccessible to logic and reason because they emerged at a time when the brain had yet to develop a cognitive system capable of making sense of their experiences. For high-achieving women, who have had a lifetime of successes and approval, this may be even more so. As a result, many women are driven by a subconscious fear of rejection that forces them to engage in behaviors that keep them stuck. In their latest book How Women Rise: Break the 12 Habits Holding You Back from Your Next Raise, Promotion, or Job, leadership expert Sally Helgesen and leadership coach Marshall Goldsmith identify three habits in particular that relate to this fear. In their combined 60 years of experience, they have found that women tend to overvalue expertise, become trapped in perfection and put their job before their career, becoming indispensable in their roles and thus stalling their career advancement. The Human Truth For the millions of women who feel stuck at middle management, and for the countless organizations that are frustrated by the lack of visible change despite the time, money and effort invested in womens leadership development, heres an undeniable truth of the human psyche: our subconscious minds drive our behaviors. To move past the proverbial glass ceiling and rise to the top while lifting those below them, women need more than skills and strategies. They also need to build an authentic sense of self-worth so they do not cut the rungs off the ladder that gets them to the topif theyre able to actually get there. Based on the framework of Authentic Confidence that I have developed and tested in randomized controlled trials and in my work as a womens leadership coach, I propose two things in particular that women can focus on: Ground Yourself The journey for women past the early stages of their careers is challenging at best. There is the double bind of competence and likeability based on subconscious biases. There is the double burden of motherhood and management given that both work and relationships are important sources of meaning in womens lives. To manage these swampy waters without getting sucked in by them, its essential for women to be deeply connected with their values and with their vision of a fulfilled life. Research shows that unless individuals internalize the behaviors they need to engage in as being important to them, their motivation will wane with challenges, or lead to burnout in a futile attempt to prove their worth through their successes. Embrace Failure Workplaces reward success and discourage failure. For women who depend on approval to preserve their sense of self, it magnifies their dependence on outcomes and keeps them stuck in behaviors that signify competence and maintain their success. However, the research is clear that failure builds mastery, a construct far more critical to success than competence. Mastery allows individuals to take risks even in the face of uncertainty, essential in todays unpredictable and ambiguous workplaces. Helgesen and Goldsmith have found that when women identify areas they need to work on, and enlist regular feedback from their bosses, they not only build mastery, they also increase their visibility and are rewarded for their efforts. By grounding themselves in their authentic expression, women can unhook themselves from what others think of them while also respecting and honoring important relationships. Research in developmental psychology shows that this ability to hold a me within a we will help them not only rise to their highest potential, but also embrace a higher consciousness. Homaira Kabir is a wellbeing and leadership coach who helps high-achieving women develop authentic presence. She is also a self-worth researcher and writer. You can take her confidence quiz here. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/womensmedia/2019/01/14/what-would-others-think-of-me/ |
When does Game of Thrones' final season premiere? | CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Winter is coming on April 14. HBO announced the premiere date for the eighth and final season of Game of Thrones on Sunday. The first of six movie-sized episodes arrives in 13 weeks. Fans got a glimpse of whats to come in a new teaser which sees Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) and Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) reunite with their adopted brother Jon Snow (Kit Harington) in the family crypt at Winterfell. As they look upon a statue of Lyanna Stark -- Sansa and Aryas aunt and, unbeknownst to Jon, his mother -- they draw their swords and prepare for the apparent arrival of the Army of the Death. Its the first time the three characters have appeared on screen since the shows first season, though it isnt immediately clear if the footage is actually part of an episode or just for promotional purposes. The reunion is one of several highly anticipated events to happen in the upcoming season, including new lovers Joe Snow and Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) finding out theyre actually brother and sister, which gives each of them a claim to the throne. Theres also the long-awaited arrival of the Mother of Dragons in Kings Landing to look forward too and the final showdown with the White Walkers, who now have a dragon of their own. Well start to find out how it all plays out in 91 days. | https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2019/01/when-does-game-of-thrones-final-season-premiere.html |
Are boarding schools effective? | When it comes to education, everyone wants the best. Some say attending a boarding school is a better option than attending a "day school," or any other school where students arrive in the morning and leave in the afternoon. Boarding school advocates argue the total immersion approach offers students more competition and teaches them greater responsibility. Others say boarding school achieves the opposite; separating kids and families too early can stunt emotional growth. PERSPECTIVES Boarding school fosters independence and responsibility. When you are surrounded by teachers and classmates, helicopter parenting becomes a thing of the past. No one is asking you if you got your homework done, telling you to go to bed or asking you to come down for dinner. You're on your own much in the same way that you will be during college, putting boarding school students on a quicker path to maturity. As the Boarding School Review's Robert Kennedy points out: It's never easy to leave the nest. Of course it does. You will learn how to cope with life and all its many high and low points within a community of your peers who are going through the same things you are. All of this is happening under the watchful eye of your teachers who are mentors, not baby-sitters. 10 Top Reasons to Go to Boarding School Boarding school isn't always the academic haven perched on a grassy hill that you imagine (let's be honest, you're all picturing PCA from "Zoey 101"). According to The Guardian's Nick Duffell, a psychotherapist and former boarding school teacher, in Britain, boarding school is a rite of passage for those who can afford it-much to their detriment, in Duffell's opinion. Leaving your family at an early age has a huge psychological impact, and Duffell believes that doing so leaves boarding school students emotionally stunted. Parents obviously hope for the best when they send their kids away for school, probably believing that a regretful separation will result in stronger academics and greater leadership potential for their kids. Yet, according to Duffell: But it is less well known that costly, elite boarding consistently turns out people who appear much more competent than they actually are. They are particularly deficient in non-rational skills, such as those needed to sustain relationships, and are not, in fact, well-equipped to be leaders in today's world. My studies show that children survive boarding by cutting off their feelings and constructing a defensively organized self that severely limits their later lives...Prematurely separated from home and family, from love and touch, they must speedily reinvent themselves as self-reliant pseudo-adults. Why boarding schools produce bad leaders Classes at boarding schools can also be much smaller than what you might find at a traditional public school. The Boarding School Review continues: If you are in a public school with 30-40 students to a class, chances are that you will just be a number...In a boarding school, on the other hand, classes typically are 10-15 students. You cannot hide in a class that small. You have to participate. And according to Teen Life's Marie Schwartz, smaller classes and a tight-knit community might be what a student needs in order to succeed. For some, boarding school is just a better fit: Even the best local public or private school may not be a good fit for your student. 'The public school was too large and the (local) private schools had too entitled an atmosphere,' one parent said. 10 Reasons Why Boarding School is Worth It According to author Dr. Meg Meeker, boarding schools are not worth the sacrifice for teens. She writes: While some students may study harder, receive better instruction or be exposed to a greater breadth of academic studies, parents sacrifice enormous opportunities for their children's psychological, spiritual and intellectual growth when they live separately. Furthermore, although class size is certainly an issue in many schools, there are other ways for students and parents to supplement education that stop short of shipping students off to boarding school: With advances in technology, most teens can access any academic materials they need in order to excel and succeed in college. Yes, they need good teachers but the truth is, there are many great teachers in private day schools, public schools and parochial schools. The Tylt is focused on debates and conversations around news, current events and pop culture. We provide our community with the opportunity to share their opinions and vote on topics that matter most to them. We actively engage the community and present meaningful data on the debates and conversations as they progress. The Tylt is a place where your opinion counts, literally. The Tylt is an Advance Local Media, LLC property. Join us on Twitter @TheTylt, on Instagram @TheTylt or on Facebook, we'd love to hear what you have to say. | https://www.cleveland.com/education/index.ssf/2019/01/are_boarding_schools_effective.html |
Was Aurora Cannabis Smart to Buy MedReleaf? | Marijuana stocks have started out 2019 on a positive note, and investors who see the promise of the cannabis industry are looking for the best way to invest in the space. One key proposition for many cannabis investors is finding promising companies that are likely to get attention from bigger players in the field, whether it's through key partnerships with nonmarijuana companies or buyouts from established marijuana businesses looking to expand their scope. Smart deals can make a company more successful, but bad deals can prove costly in the current ultracompetitive environment. One of key deals in 2018 involved the acquisition of MedReleaf by Aurora Cannabis (NYSE: ACB). The $2.5 billion deal became the largest buyout in industry history, marking the latest in a series of Aurora purchases designed to add to its growing capacity. Having been announced in May, Aurora completed the acquisition in July. Six months after the deal closed, now's a good time to reflect on the MedReleaf acquisition to see what difference it's made for Aurora -- and whether it represents a model for other cannabis companies to follow in their own expansion plans. Rows of cannabis plants under dim lighting in a greenhouse. More Image source: Aurora Cannabis. Why Aurora thought MedReleaf was a good buy Under the terms of the deal, shareholders got 3.575 shares of Aurora Cannabis for every MedReleaf share that they owned. That represented a 34% premium above the average price of MedReleaf shares during the 20 trading days preceding the offer. Although that's a sizable markup, it was far less than Aurora had paid in some of its previous deals. Still, even at the time, some had concerns about how much Aurora was paying for MedReleaf. With MedReleaf having annual production capacity of roughly 140,000 kilograms of cannabis at the time of the deal, the purchase price amounted to nearly $18,000 per kilogram of capacity. Moreover, Aurora structured its purchase of MedReleaf as an all-stock deal. For investors who've gotten used to the big share-price increases that cannabis stocks saw in the second half of 2018, that might seem to have been a good capital allocation strategy. Yet at the time of the deal in May, Aurora Cannabis was going through a share-price slump that had lopped nearly half its value off the stock in just a few months. That didn't stop Aurora from issuing the huge number of new shares necessary to make the deal go through. What MedReleaf has done for Aurora So far, Aurora seems to be happy with how the acquisition went. In Aurora's most recent quarterly conference call, CEO Cam Battley pointed to several success stories related to MedReleaf: MedReleaf's San Rafael brand had the most popular strain of cannabis in the Ontario recreational market, helping Aurora hit 30% market share in the province. MedReleaf's brands have shown similar success across the adult recreational marijuana market. The addition of MedReleaf production facilities helped Aurora more than double its production levels in just three months' time. Aurora has been able to use MedReleaf's operational methods and data-driven cultivation practices to boost production across its network. MedReleaf's interest in a Colombian business has helped Aurora expand its scope in South America, which has a lot of potential to be a key market for the marijuana company. Of course, not everything about the deal was immediately beneficial. Because of the way that MedReleaf priced its extract products, overall average sales prices fell for Aurora after the integration was complete. Yet MedReleaf got higher prices for its dried cannabis products on the medical side of the business, and that had positive effects for Aurora. In the long run, Aurora has high hopes that the successful integration of MedReleaf will lead to innovative new products, advances in production capacity, and efficiency gains that will benefit shareholders. With its Markham facility contributing to Aurora's overall boom in total cannabis capacity, MedReleaf could well prove to have been a crucial buy for the budding marijuana giant. | https://news.yahoo.com/aurora-cannabis-smart-buy-medreleaf-131300744.html |
Will Boeing Do a Stock Split in 2019? | Boeing (NYSE: BA) has been a huge performer in recent years, and 2018 was no different, building on its past success with another solid gain. Admittedly, percentage gains in the low-teens for the year was nothing compared to 2017's monumental rise of nearly 90%, but Boeing is still leading the pack in terms of reaping aircraft orders and capitalizing on a strong airline industry. At times during 2018, Boeing shares approached the $400 mark. Some investors saw that price as being too high, thinking that a stock split would be an appropriate move to reduce the share price and signal confidence in the aerospace giant's long-term future. Let's take a closer look at the company and whether a stock split could come this year. BA Chart More BA data by YCharts. Looking for an even dozen Longtime Boeing shareholders are no strangers to stock splits earlier in the company's history. From the 1950s to the 1990s, Boeing split its shares 11 times, with a roughly even division between 2-for-1 splits and 3-for-2 splits. The decision-making process that Boeing seems to have followed back then was quite consistent with what you saw from most companies at the time. Early on, it took only modest increases in share prices to prompt a move. Over time, the threshold seemed to grow, hitting the roughly $50 mark in the 1980s and then moving up from there. By the mid-1990s, Boeing let its stock climb to more than $100 per share before pulling the trigger on what proved to be its 11th and final split. Split Date Ratio 100 Shares in 1950 Became... May 9, 1952 3-for-2 150 shares May 7, 1954 2-for-1 300 shares July 13, 1956 2-for-1 600 shares May 3, 1966 2-for-1 1,200 shares Aug. 11, 1977 2-for-1 2,400 shares March 12, 1979 3-for-2 3,600 shares March 14, 1980 3-for-2 5,400 shares May 10, 1985 3-for-2 8,100 shares May 12, 1989 3-for-2 12,150 shares May 18, 1990 3-for-2 18,225 shares May 16, 1997 2-for-1 36,450 shares Data source: Boeing investor relations. Since then, the reasons for making frequent splits have nearly disappeared. It used to be that it was difficult to buy stock in less than 100-share blocks, but now, purchases of even a single share are not only possible but reasonable. In some cases, financial institutions will let you buy just a fraction of a share, making it possible even for those investing $50 or $100 a month to buy a stock whose shares cost more than $300 each. Boeing no longer even stands out among its industry peers. Plenty of defense contractors sport share prices in the $200 to $300 range, and several others have triple-digit stock prices. Aerospace supplier TransDigm Group has even seen its price rise above Boeing's regularly over the past several months. | https://news.yahoo.com/boeing-stock-split-2019-131600694.html |
Does A Board Realize What's Needed For The Cybersecurity Of Their Company? | When it comes to accountability, the board of directors should be the last stalwart, the group of people ultimately responsible for the company. Weve seen what can happen to a member of the board when there is a cybersecurity breach, such as when the CEO of a large retailer was forced to resign back in 2014 after a credit card breach that affected 40 million of its customers. A question all companies should ask is, "Does our board of directors understand cybersecurity?" In my experience, about 2 in 10 CEOs can provide an explanation of what their chief information security officer (CISO) does. By comparison, a CEO could be fired if they dont have an answer for their CFO. In an era when technology often is the business, members of a board need a rock-solid understanding of the security risks facing their company. This is needed to not only ensure that security teams have the capabilities to mitigate and respond to attacks but to prepare for the fallout when measures fail. Board members and CEOs should be asking why data breaches and ransomware attacks keep making headlines. While information security spend is on the rise worldwide -- in 2019, Gartner is forecasting 8.7% growth to $124 billion -- this doesnt mean the board should sleep more soundly. When it comes to the cyberthreats, underground criminals and nation states continue to win, which takes years to pay for and resolve -- even when companies think they have robust defenses. Here is a significant opportunity that is often overlooked: Include a CISO or a cybersecurity expert to serve as an observer and advisor on the board. This expert will help the board understand the requirements for robust cybersecurity defenses. A CISO or cybersecurity expert can coach the board on how to prevent and prepare for a breach beyond just the technical response. An Automated Fight A boards security expert should start by asking, "Is the cybersecurity automated or manual?" Because the battle between cybercriminals and corporate security teams is often tilted in favor of the adversaries who utilize automation at scale. When there is a digital reward -- whether its money, espionage, intellectual property or private data -- cyberattackers have persistence and automation on their side. They dont follow the rules of change management, and they enjoy working while you sleep. They even benefit from the poorly contrived compensating controls and audit exceptions, which do little to thwart an attacker but do allow organizations to pass compliance audits. Todays attackers will probe your defenses until they find a weakness. These well-organized criminals often use automation to initiate and replay their attacks, delivering malware, stealing accounts and deploying backdoors. Remember, they only need one breakthrough to be successful. Most cyberthreats are not advanced. All it takes is one impulsive click on a phishing email containing fairly crude malware to take down a network or even attempt to erode a democracy. Finding an answer starts with the help desk, an already overwhelmed resource. Could it be malware or a link to a phishing site?" These questions take time to answer. Attackers have time on their side, attacking when they want and as often as they like. When it comes to patrolling the attack surface of a corporate network, most teams have too few resources to do the job properly. When an attack does occur, theres not much time to respond. And an infection can spread at network speed. There is also little warning because overburdened security can miss the initial signs of an attack. Security tools are notoriously noisy, giving off more alerts than analysts can handle. Couple that with the shortage of security talent available for hire. Organizations can regain ground by looking at their weaknesses: Fog of war: Most security teams observe a small percentage of their computing network using their limited legacy tools. Faulty defenses: Many rely on manual and error-prone work for their defenses. Lack of understanding: Analysts often cant answer if an event should be flagged as normal or if its a security risk. Using Machine Learning To Buy Time And Answer Tough Questions A CISO can explain how investing in automation can make security teams more effective. Artificial intelligence (AI) has been around since the 1950s, and despite the hype, AI is often not well understood. The term AI gets liberally applied to any system that performs tasks with a semblance of automated decision making. AI rules are generally static and unable to adapt to the innovations of cybercriminals. Criminals will continually probe network defenses for vulnerabilities, and basic AI is not designed to learn and adapt. While AI systems appear to be intelligent because they make decisions without a human, theyre often dependent on static rules that were drafted by humans. Contrast this with technologies that dynamically learn from the behavioral patterns in data to make their decisions. Machine learning can provide the right answers to the right humans and machines -- a huge time-saver and advantage for our cybersecurity defenders. 2019s Cyberthreat Landscape Cyberthreats will continue to be challenging in 2019. Having a CISO or cybersecurity expert working with the board will give companies a better understanding of the challenges and risks they face. Using technologies like machine learning will give back time to our cyber defenders so companies can take the right steps to detect and respond to the next attack. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2019/01/14/does-a-board-realize-whats-needed-for-the-cybersecurity-of-their-company/ |
What Does It Say When A Legal Blockchain eBook Has 1.7M Views? | Blockchain For Lawyers, a recently-released eBook by Australian legal tech company Legaler, drew 1.7M views in two weeks. Clearly, blockchain is a hot legal topic, along with artificial intelligence (AI), and legal tech generally. Its also a hot investment; last year a record $1B was pumped into legal tech. The global enthusiasm for tech is manifest in the throngs that attended the Legal Geek Conference, the Global Legal Hackathon, and a slew of events held by legal tech organizations around the world. Tech is the mortar of a global legal community that is transforming law from territorial profession to borderless industry. One explanation is its plain-speak effort to demystify blockchain and analyze its current and future adaptations to law. The book also provides a framework for understanding how AI, software, the cloud, and other technological advances enable new delivery models to better respond to consumer demand for more transparent, efficient, scalable, cost-effective, and predictable outcomes. There is a hungerespecially among those in the early and mid-stages of their careers-- to understand these tools and new delivery models and, more importantly, how it will impact their careers. The immense interest in new delivery models, legal tech, and transformation underscores that law today is as much about the new models, tools, and skillsets that drive it as it is about practice expertise. Law is no longer solely the province of lawyers; it is also comprised of non-licensed legal professionals and others involved in its delivery, funding, and innovation. The profession is being subsumed by a rapidly-evolving industry. Lawyers once controlled the profession and the industry. Clients control the industry now, and that is impacting how the profession operates, the models from which its expertise is most effectively delivered, the skillsets and resources required to augment it, and changing economics. Legal practice and delivery are each changing. New practice areas like cryptocurrency, cybersecurity, and Internet law are emerging as law struggles to keep pace with the speed of business change in the digital age. Concurrently, several staples of traditional practice--research, document review, etc.-- are becoming automated and/or no longer performed by law firm associates. There is more turnover of practice tasks, more reliance on machines and non-licensed attorneys to mine data and provide domain expertise used by lawyers, and more collaboration than ever before. The emergence of new industries demands that lawyers not only provide legal expertise in support of new areas but also that they possess intellectual agility to master them quickly. Many practice areas law students will encounter have yet to be created. That means that all lawyers will be required to be more agile than their predecessors and engage in ongoing training. Legal delivery, once the back office of practice, is now an integral part of the legal delivery process. Technology, process, the inexorable shift to multidisciplinary, collaborative delivery required to solve complex business challenges are now as critical as practice expertise to deliver effective, efficient, predictable, cost-effective, and data-based solutions to complex business challenges. The integration of practice and delivery has become the new paradigm for legal services and is seldom derived from a sole source. Law has become a team game. It is against this backdropand perhaps because of itthat many in the legal industry have a growing anxiety about their future. Law, like so many segments of the society it serves, is changing rapidly and requires ongoing (re)training and dedication to lifelong learning. Todays fast-paced, dynamic, fluid legal industry bears little resemblance to the one most law schools are preparing graduates for. This is another reason why cogent explanations of forces propelling that changelike Legalers eBookare appealing and helpful. Blockchain For Lawyers Stevie Ghiassi, Legalers CEO and Blockchain For Lawyers author, endeavors to offer an easy-to-digest, holistic take on how blockchain applies to the legal industry. Ghiassis book dispenses with unnecessary jargon, explains the basics of blockchain technology, and examinesin his words-- the profound innovation of creating digital trust in a digital age, and how that impacts every aspects of our lives. Ghiassi contends that blockchain represents a new evolutionary stage of trust, arguably the most central concept for organizing human organization. Societies initially relied on tribalism, a personalized, localized trust. As society scaled, institutional trust in governments, corporations, came to replace personal trust as societys glue. Blockchain technology represents a new transparent, distributed trust phase facilitated by decentralized networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Ghiassi argues the degree to which people trust each other and how they manage those trusted relationships is often intermediated by lawyers. With such a profound shift in the nature of trust, the role of lawyers is likely to change. The confluence of blockchain, cryptocurrency, smart contracts, and zero knowledge proofs facilitates new businesses processes that remove intermediaries and reduce transactions costs, making legal services more accessible. This disintermediation process is already underway in law and is accelerating rapidly with the concurrent adoption of AI, platforms, metrics, and other tools and resources enabling new providers to build client-centric delivery models. They are transforming legal delivery from a labor-intensive, lawyer-centric model to a tech and process-enabled, customer centric one. Ghiassi is a poster child for the contemporary legal professional. He does not hold a law license and facetiously notes in his Linkedin profile that All legal knowledge acquired from Suits seasons 1 to 7. He does have a keen grasp of the legal industry and a clear-eyed objective for his technological prowess: Pursuing a better world through technology to advance the delivery of legal services and expand access to justice by leveraging distributed ledger technologies like blockchain and decentralization. Perhaps it is because Ghiassi is not a lawyeryet understands the profession and its new tools-of-the-tradethat he is able to explain and contextualize blockchain so effectively. Ghiassi views legal delivery from an outcome perspectivewhat it should accomplishrather than a practice onewhat is has historically meant to be a lawyer. Conclusion This is an exciting time to be in the legal industry. It was long a guild; now it is an emerging global community. It was homogeneous, and it is slowly morphing into a more diverse culture. It was parochial by design and now it is becoming borderlessat least with respect to the new business models, tools, and resources available to provide legal services. It was lawyer-centric, and is increasingly multi-disciplinary. Law was once exclusively about lawyers; now it is about legal professionals and other disciplines, technology, and new providers expanding access to and improving delivery of legal services. Many in the profession rue these changes, and some remain steadfast in opposing them. The socio-economic forces driving change across multiple industries are far too powerful for the remnants of the legal guild to repel. Law should look more closely at other industries for ideas that can be leveraged. A good place to start is customer-centric companies. The profession will not be compromised by this process; its ability to better serve legal buyers and society will be enhanced. Stevie Ghiassis thoughtful book that encourages lawyers to embrace technology as a tool to better serve legal consumers and society is deserving of even more views. Hopefully, it will encourage others to do the same . | https://www.forbes.com/sites/markcohen1/2019/01/14/what-does-it-say-when-a-legal-blockchain-ebook-has-1-7m-views/ |
Could A Cryptocurrency Service Help Save Venezuela? | Venezuela's government can't seem to do anything right these days, so some enterprising folks have stepped forward to help the inflation-ravaged country. Steve Hanke, hyperinflation expert, and professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University has teamed up with AirTM, a Mexico City-based blockchain-powered currency platform. Their goal is to get financial aid to beleaguered Venezuelans and they've named the project "AirdropVenezuela." The initial target is to attract cryptocurrency donations totaling $1 million and then distribute the money to 100,000 people in Venezuela via the AirTM platform. "In effect, we provide in effect a clearinghouse that allows for the exchange of bolivars for dollars and vice versa," says Hanke who is now a member of AirTM's board of directors. "This is also much superior to distributing physical cash because you dont have to run the risk of driving your armored truck into the country." Armored cash-delivery vehicles are prone to get hijacked. There's a clear need for humanitarian aid in Venezuela. The South American country is suffering brutal hyperinflation leaving the population without access to basic necessities such as food and medicine. The annualized inflation rate hit a record high of 117,681% on January 10 according to estimates from Hanke. For reference, 100% annual inflation halves the spending power of money within a year. Venezuela's current inflation makes the Bolivar worthless in a trice. The result of the money being close to worthless is that Venezuelan stores are mostly empty of essential supplies. While the country's president Nicolas Maduro could solve the currency crisis in an instant by pegging the Bolivar to the U.S. dollar, he and his supporters haven't so far been inclined to do so. That's despite the fact that pegging to the dollar would almost certainly fix the humanitarian crisis afflicting the country. Meanwhile getting aid directly to the country's people is problematic because the socialist regime doesn't allow for the free trading of the Bolivar at market rates. As part of that, the Venezuelan government has no desire to see private foreign exchange dealing inside its country. That's where AirTM comes in handy. "In Venezuela, we dont have a bricks-and-mortar Cambio, that would be illegal," says Hanke. "Instead we have a Cambio in the sky." Cambio is synonymous with a Bureau de Change, where small lots of currency change hands. His reference to "a Cambio in the sky" is because the money can be distributed via the AirTM on-line platform. In other words, the money will be distributed through the ether or cloud. Successful distribution of the target $1 million would also help pave the way to dollarize Venezuela, says Hanke. In other words, the AirTM platform could be used to prompt Venezuelans to use U.S. dollars in everyday transactions, so helping stabilize the economy which has been in freefall lately. It is notable that in one of Zimbabwe's periods of hyperinflation the populous spontaneously decided to use dollars rather than the Zimbabwe dollar which at the time had become worthless. Quickly Zimbabwe's economy stabilized. Hanke also foresees a future potential move by some humanitarian organizations to distribute aid to crisis-stricken areas in a similar way. Crypto Boost The move by AirTM could also be a boost for other all cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, which is perhaps the best known of them all. One of the problems with Bitcoin and the other electronic currencies is that they don't truly meet the grade to qualify as money. For anything to be money it must act as a unit of account, a medium of exchange, and a store of value. So far, cryptocurrencies fail on the latter two conditions: They neither act as a widespread medium of exchange nor do they act as a store of value. Bitcoin values have crashed spectacularly since mid-December 2017 to $around $3,500 recently from close to $20,000 a little over a year ago. However, this experiment by AirTM could help demonstrate crypto's ability to be a widely used medium of exchange. "You could now have the additional demand for cryptos for use as a medium of exchange versus what you have now which is only the speculative demand," says Hanke. In other words, if the Airdrop Venezuela project boosts the use of crypto in everyday transactions, then it could perhaps satisfy the second required attribute of all money. "This experiment would demonstrate whether it could qualify and check that box," says Hanke. Data boost too A further benefit of the AirdropVenezuela project is that by promoting the use of the platform it will help economists get a better gauge on the real free market exchange rate. The Venezuelan government has an official exchange rate and doesn't allow the free exchange of Bolivars at a market rate. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/simonconstable/2019/01/14/could-a-crypto-currency-service-help-save-venezuela/ |
What does Eddie Lampert really want with tattered old Sears? | After all, the 126-year-old retailer is decades past its prime, while bringing it back to life would almost certainly cost billions more. And Lampert hardly seems like a natural candidate to lead that revival, given Sears' grueling descent during his tenure as chairman, chief executive and largest investor. "Despite repeated promises, Lampert has not managed to turn Sears round -- indeed, performance has drastically deteriorated under his watch," Neil Saunders, managing director for retail at GlobalData, told CBS MoneyWatch. "Instinctively, he's not a retailer." That didn't stop the billionaire and his hedge fund, ESL Investments, from casting their latest offer in bankruptcy court last week as the "only way to preserve tens of thousands of jobs" and to keep "an iconic fixture in American retail" alive. "Every reason to fight for its future" "For as long as I have been involved with Sears, I have cared deeply about the company, its associates and the people they serve," Lampert said in a statement sent through ESL to The Associated Press. "While the opportunity I saw from the start for Sears to benefit from the disruptive changes in retail and technology has not worked out so far, it is still there to be taken. Every transformation involves perseverance and risk, but I am hopeful that we can execute better and faster on the smaller platform we are bidding on. ... There is every reason to fight for its future." Despite that noble sentiment, Lampert's record at Sears Holdings raises plenty of red flags, not the least of which has been his penchant for extracting personal profit from the company even as it continued to fade. Sears may learn its fate on Monday when a bankruptcy court holds an auction that effectively comes down to a contest between Lampert and companies eager to sell the company for scrap. The announcement of the winning bidder or bidders isn't expected until Jan. 16, and creditors and other parties then have eight days to challenge the decision in court. Lampert owns 31 percent of Sears' shares, and ESL holds an 18.5 percent stake, according to FactSet. Milking the cash cow Sears and its Kmart chain have lost a total of $11 billion since 2012. Despite those losses, Lampert (who remains chairman but relinquished his CEO title after the retailer went bust) has pocketed nearly $1.4 billion from his investment in the retailer, Institutional Investor recently calculated. Most of those profits came from performance fees ESL investors paid to Lampert on his Sears and Kmart investments. Saunders' take is that Lampert, as a big lender to Sears, wants to keep the business going to generate more cash -- money that would help pay down debts owed to his other business interests. "There is also a property play as Lampert is a Sears landlord, so if the company keeps going, he can collect rent on some of the stores," Saunders added. Four years ago, Sears created a real estate investment trust to extract revenue from its properties. It sold and leased back more than 200 properties to the REIT, in which Lampert is a significant stakeholder. The fall of Sears Conflicting roles Part of ESL's offer involves forgiving $1.3 billion of Sears debt that Lampert holds, a stipulation challenged by a committee representing many Sears creditors. That arrangement highlights a potential conflict of interest because Lampert's financial incentives as a Sears creditor and lender may be starkly different than those as a shareholder, much less the person charged with resuscitating the company. "He was their CEO, lender, landlord, vendor and largest equity holder," said Philip Emma, a senior Debtwire analyst and an expert in retail bankruptcies. "It's unusual that you have one individual that has played so many roles in a bankruptcy case." Another example of how Lampert's multiple roles at Sears muddy the water: His $5 billion buyout offer is conditioned on capping his liability if shareholders, creditors or other parties decide to sue. That could amount to a "get out of jail free" card given that some creditors think Lampert may be liable for what they see as some self-serving deals before Sears declared bankruptcy. Specifically, creditors argue that Lampert's debt forgiveness shouldn't be part of any deal because he loaned Sears the money when he was CEO, and they claim that the terms unduly benefited him and ESL instead of Sears. Lampert contends that the loans were above-board and necessary to keep the retailer running. "ESL's actions have always been taken in good faith, on fair terms, alongside third parties, regularly reviewed by independent and experienced advisers, and beneficial to all Sears stakeholders," the hedge fund said in a filing with the bankruptcy court. Lampert, through ESL, did not respond to an interview request. Stuck in the '70s Over its decades-long decline, Sears has shuttered more than 3,000 stores and slashed its workforce from 350,000 to roughly 68,000. Today, Sears and Kmart operate just over 500 stores. Lampert's proposal involves keeping 425 running, at least for a while. If experts like Saunders doubt Lampert can save Sears, some former company executives do, too. "The company has been on a death spiral for well over a decade," former Sears executive Mark Cohen said in a recent interview with "CBS Sunday Morning." How Sears went from innovation to bankruptcy "There is so much broken with Sears that I doubt it can be fixed. It really stopped being a viable retailer a long time ago," Saunders said. "The retail market is now entering 2019, and things are moving very fast in terms of channels, digital and the way business is done. Sears is still stuck somewhere in the 1970s." Added Debtwire's Emma, who noted Lampert isn't known for putting much of his own skin in the game: "There has to be some level of investment to keep it going, unless something changes with the status quo of how it's run." -- The Associated Press contributed to this story | https://www.cbsnews.com/news/eddie-lampert-why-buy-faded-sears/ |
Will Philip Morris International Raise Its Dividend in 2019? | Many dividend investors turn to tobacco stocks for high yields and growing payouts, and Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM) has been a great example of how this strategy can work well over the long run. Despite having a global business, Philip Morris is based in the U.S., and that's given it some distinct benefits from tax reform. As regulatory efforts accelerate overseas, though, Philip Morris International has faced the same challenges that its domestic counterparts have dealt with for decades. Even dividend investors have felt the pinch lately, with more sluggish dividend growth in recent years than they enjoyed early in Philip Morris' existence as an independent publicly traded company. Below, we'll look more closely at how Philip Morris is faring and whether shareholders are right to be worried about the dividend. Dividend stats on Philip Morris International Metric Current Stat Quarterly Dividend Per Share $1.14 Dividend Yield 6.8% Number of Consecutive Years With Dividend Increases 11 years Payout Ratio 106% Last Increase September 2018 Data source: Yahoo! Finance. Last increase refers to ex-dividend date. A modest rebound for Philip Morris International's dividend Philip Morris International started out strong in the dividend department, paying a healthy yield and making substantial boosts to the payout in its first several years as a publicly traded company. It was common for the tobacco giant to boost its quarterly payout by roughly 10% to 20% annually in those early years. That continued in the tradition of its former parent company, back when international and U.S. operations were held within the same corporate entity. But as you can see below, Philip Morris ran into challenges in the mid-2010s that caused it to slow the pace of its dividend increases. The strong U.S. dollar had a huge negative impact on Philip Morris earnings, and that in turn put pressure on the company by pushing payout ratios to worrisome levels. Gradually, those double-digit percentage hikes to the dividend turned into single-digit percentage moves, reaching a low point of 2% growth in 2015 and 2016. PM Dividend Chart More PM Dividend data by YCharts. Over the past couple of years, investors have seen some improvement. 2017's increase accelerated to 3%, and last year's raise to $1.14 per share quarterly represented a nearly 7% boost. New worries for Philip Morris International Fundamentally, Philip Morris is dealing with something it hasn't had to face before: weakness in its IQOS heated tobacco platform. Throughout the early stages of the platform's introduction, IQOS produced huge sales growth, especially in the key test market of Japan. The subsequent nationwide rollout produced impressive gains in revenue, helping Philip Morris offset declines in traditional cigarette volume. In early 2018, however, sales of IQOS in Japan unexpectedly slowed. New competition had emerged in the island nation, but Philip Morris also pointed to its failure to make consumers aware of newly expanded production capacity of the HeatSticks tobacco inserts that IQOS uses. Inventory management issues were partially responsible for the disturbing numbers related to IQOS, but even so, just the idea that the heated-tobacco system might not have nearly as long a period of fast growth as initially expected called into question Philip Morris' entire strategy to replace traditional cigarettes with alternatives. Two hands holding a white IQOS device. More | https://news.yahoo.com/philip-morris-international-raise-dividend-141600200.html |
Are Investors Undervaluing Fly Leasing (FLY) Right Now? | Here at Zacks, our focus is on the proven Zacks Rank system, which emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find great stocks. Nevertheless, we are always paying attention to the latest value, growth, and momentum trends to underscore strong picks. Here at Zacks, our focus is on the proven Zacks Rank system, which emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find great stocks. Nevertheless, we are always paying attention to the latest value, growth, and momentum trends to underscore strong picks. Of these, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors use tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels. In addition to the Zacks Rank, investors looking for stocks with specific traits can utilize our Style Scores system. Of course, value investors will be most interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with "A" grades for Value and high Zacks Ranks are among the best value stocks available at any given moment. One company value investors might notice is Fly Leasing (FLY). FLY is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 4.12. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 11.08. Over the past 52 weeks, FLY's Forward P/E has been as high as 6.72 and as low as 3.85, with a median of 5.75. We also note that FLY holds a PEG ratio of 0.41. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. FLY's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 1.09. Over the past 52 weeks, FLY's PEG has been as high as 0.67 and as low as 0.38, with a median of 0.58. Investors should also recognize that FLY has a P/B ratio of 0.48. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 1.27. Over the past year, FLY's P/B has been as high as 0.77 and as low as 0.44, with a median of 0.68. Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. FLY has a P/S ratio of 0.82. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.2. Finally, our model also underscores that FLY has a P/CF ratio of 1.57. This figure highlights a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find firms that are undervalued when considering their impressive cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 4.10. Over the past 52 weeks, FLY's P/CF has been as high as 2.61 and as low as 1.46, with a median of 2.23. These are only a few of the key metrics included in Fly Leasing's strong Value grade, but they help show that the stock is likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, FLY looks like an impressive value stock at the moment. Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research | https://news.yahoo.com/investors-undervaluing-fly-leasing-fly-141002530.html |
Can Buyouts & Project Centennial Fuel Flowers Foods Further? | Flowers Foods, Inc.s FLO shares have gained close to 7% in a year, against the industrys decline of 15.2%. The company has been befitting from strategies like focus on buyouts along with its Project Centennial, though at the same time it is battling cost-related hurdles. So, lets see if Flowers Foods endeavors can help offset obstacles and fuel growth at this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock. Project Centennial & Buyouts on Track Flowers Foods is progressing well with Project Centennial. The company is also making several efforts to revive its core business, lower costs, make use of product advances and develop leading capacities. Project Centennial, which is an enterprise-wide multi-year initiative, is aimed at streamlining operations, fueling efficiencies, improving margins by curtailing costs, optimizing supply chain and making prudent investments to solidify Flowers Foods competitive position, aiding revenue growth, and returning value to stockholders. Further, the company intends to expand its portfolio and increase adjacencies in the bakery category through organic growth and acquisitions. Markedly, management expects gross savings in the upper end of $38-$48 million in 2018, on the back of a more productive organizational structure, lower expenditure on purchased goods and services, supply-chain optimization, and enhanced order and stale reduction efforts. Talking of acquisitions, the company concluded the buyout of gluten-free baking firm Canyon Bakehouse LLC in December 2018. The inclusion of this Johnstown-based company is likely to expand Flowers Foods presence in the gluten-free foods category, which is gaining traction from consumers rising demand for the same. Well, Flowers Foods has long been focused on acquisitions to strengthen its product portfolio and expand in untapped markets. Notably, the company has acquired more than 100 companies since 1968. In 2015, the company bought Daves Killer Bread (DKB) and Alpine Valley Bread companies. With the acquisition of DKB, the company got access to the Pacific Northwest market. These efforts are likely to continue enhancing Flowers Foods portfolio, which, in turn, will help it gain market share. Notably, strength in DKB, Nature's Own and Wonder brands drove Flowers Foods market share in the third quarter of 2018, which marked the companys ninth consecutive quarter of market share improvement. Flowers Foods has been witnessing a year-over-year decline in EBITDA for the past four quarters. In third-quarter 2018, adjusted EBITDA margin contracted 140 basis points (bps) to 10.6%, due to increased costs of marketing inputs, manufacturing, workforce and freight. Also, the company continued to be impacted by disruptions associated with the inferior yeast. Incidentally, the company encountered operational hurdles at many bakeries during the third quarter, owing to substandard yeast received from a supplier. These factors also weighed on gross margin in the reported quarter, which declined 4.1% from the year-ago quarter. Moreover, materials, supplies, labor and other production costs (excluding depreciation and amortization) have been rising for four straight quarters. In the third quarter of 2018, materials, labor, supplies and other production expenses as a percentage of sales expanded 150 bps to 52.6%. This upside was mainly associated with elevated commodity costs, lower production volumes, greater outside product purchases owing to robust demand for DKB breakfast items and lower manufacturing efficiencies. We believe that persistence of rising costs is a threat to the companys margins and profitability. That being said, we expect Flowers Foods growth strategies to tide over these headwinds and help the company draw more attention from investors. Dont Miss These Solid Food Stocks McCormick & Company, Incorporated MKC has long-term earnings per share growth rate of 9% and a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Campbell Soup Company CPB, with long-term earnings per share growth rate of 5.5%, also carries a Zacks Rank #2. Lamb Weston LW, with a Zacks Rank #2, has long-term earnings per share growth rate of 12%. Today's Stocks from Zacks' Hottest Strategies It's hard to believe, even for us at Zacks. But while the market gained +21.9% in 2017, our top stock-picking screens have returned +115.0%, +109.3%, +104.9%, +98.6%, and +67.1%. And this outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. Over the years it has been remarkably consistent. From 2000 - 2017, the composite yearly average gain for these strategies has beaten the market more than 19X over. Maybe even more remarkable is the fact that we're willing to share their latest stocks with you without cost or obligation. See Them Free>> | https://news.yahoo.com/buyouts-project-centennial-fuel-flowers-141302072.html |
What Are The 5 Biggest 401(k) Blunders? | Many think they know what they're doing when it comes to 401(k) investing. But they often believe the wrong things. Investing for retirement is a disciplined endeavor. It may sound dull, but you're rewarded for consistency. Here are five big mistakes, as highlighted by Robert Lawtown of Lawton Retirement Plan Consultants: 1) 401(k) Loans Are Perfectly Okay. No, they're not, because if you leave your employer you have to pay them back -- or pay taxes. Lawton notes: "Account leakage via defaulted loans is one of the reasons some of us are not able to save enough for retirement. Many people, when they change jobs, elect to default on outstanding 401k plan loans because they dont have the cash lying around to pay the loans back. In addition, taking a 401k loan is a horrible investment strategy. Generally, if you can take a loan from somewhere else, you should do it." 2) A 401(k) Is a Good Way to Save For a First Home, College. You might think so, but the rules on 401(k) withdrawals are pretty clear: You'll pay a penalty and income taxes on money you take out before age 59 1/2. It's not worth taking the tax hit. "It is a bad idea to use a 401k plan to save for an initial down payment on a home or to finance a home purchase. Similarly, a 401k plan is not the best place to save for a childs education 529 plans work much better. In addition, your 401k plan is not the best place to save for a new car, boat or that deluxe vacation." 3) I should stop contributing 401(k) contributions when the stock market drops. Actually, when shares get cheaper, that's when you should be buying! "Stick with your contribution plan in all types of markets. Stopping and starting contributions is not a good way to accumulate the balance you are going to need to retire." 4) Target-Date Funds (TDFs) are bad investments. Well, they're not perfect, but they will adjust the stock-market risk downward as you get older. That's a real plus. "Target date funds offer proper age-based diversification. Studies show that the average number of funds used by 401(k) participants is between three and four. That generally is not enough to ensure proper diversification." 5) If I stay in cash, I'll be okay. No, basically you'll lose money and won't keep up with inflation. You need growth, which is not what bonds offer. "Unless you are five years or less away from retirement or have difficulty taking on even a small amount of risk, these funds are below-average investments. Try to invest in stable value or guaranteed fund investment options instead." | https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnwasik/2019/01/14/what-are-the-5-biggest-401k-blunders/ |
Which Oregon counties have the most drunken driving crashes? | A Marion County Sheriff's deputy pulls over a suspected drunk driver (Courtesy MCSO) In Oregons 20 most-populous counties, law enforcement officers responded to at least 3,618 traffic crashes involving drunken drivers in the past five years. Across the state, officers documented drivers with blood alcohol contents of .08 or higher in crashes that killed 543 people from 2013 to 2017. An Oregonian/OregonLive analysis of the most-recent five years of documented crashes involving impaired drivers found 482 deaths across the states 20 most-populous counties. As Sen. President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, said he would push this month to lower the states legal blood alcohol limit to .05, the numbers paint a picture of a state where impaired driving remains a serious issue. The total number of drunken driving crashes in Oregons most-populous 20 counties declined 8 percent from 2016 to 2017. But the 770 crashes tallied in the most-recent year with data available represent a 15 percent increase from the figure in 2013. The Oregonian/OregonLive compared the past five years of DUII data from the states transportation department to population estimates from Portland State Universitys Population Research Center to create the number of total crashes per 100,000 residents. Thats the universal metric used to calculate homicide, assault and crime rates. | https://www.oregonlive.com/expo/news/g66l-2019/01/531b37de473269/which-oregon-counties-have-the.html |
Is Veeva Systems a Millionaire-Maker Stock? | While working at Salesforce.com, Peter Gassner realized that the pharmaceutical industry had specific cloud-based needs. These needs were so industry-specific that Salesforce couldn't be the answer to the sector's problems. Armed with that information, he founded Veeva Systems (NYSE: VEEV) in 2007 to build a cloud solution for drug companies. Investors -- myself included -- have been rewarded handsomely; Shares have nearly quintupled since February 2016. That's not surprising given that the company has been capturing huge swaths of its total addressable market and continues to add new products to its list of offerings. Medical worker shows the data cloud on blurred background. More Image source: Getty Images And yet, even though I'm a shareholder myself, I'm doubting that Veeva has the potential to truly be a "Millionaire-Maker" stock -- a stock with the potential to increase in value ten times over in the course of two decades. A barbell technique that keeps on working While the visual might not be perfect, best-selling author and former trader Nassim Nicholas Taleb has highlighted a way for companies -- or individuals -- to continue pursuing opportunities without jeopardizing themselves in the long run. He calls it the barbell technique: Devote roughly 80% of your resources to business that is reliable and stable. This is the "safe" area of your business, and is protected by a wide moat. With the other 20%, pursue high-risk, high-reward ventures. Most will fail, but the few that succeed will lead to massive returns. Veeva is a textbook implementation of the barbell method. When the company got its start, it focused on providing customer relationship management (CRM) solutions for drug company salespeople. It then took the reliable cash streams from that Software-as-a-Service offering and invested in Vault -- an entirely different venture. Vault aims to be a one-stop cloud repository for everything a drug company needs to bring a compound from the idea stage through clinical trials and FDA approval, and finally to the market. It has been a resounding success. Chart showing Veeva revenue by segment since 2014 More Chart by author. Data source: SEC filings. All figures rounded to nearest million. 2018 figures reflect trailing twelve months as of September 30, 2018. Within Vault, the company adds two or three new key products every year. I wouldn't be surprised to see it outshine the commercial cloud (principally the CRM suite) in the next 18 months. Not only that, Vault has been so popular that companies outside of life sciences -- namely consumer-packaged goods and chemical companies -- have asked for access to a Vault-esque product. Veeva rolled it out, on a limited basis, over the past 18 months. | https://news.yahoo.com/veeva-systems-millionaire-maker-stock-154232806.html |
Is BioMarin Pharmaceutical Stock a Bargain? | What happened Most biopharma stocks saw their annual gains evaporate over the course of last December. Shares of the top orphan-drug specialist BioMarin Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ: BMRN), for example, were up by a healthy 7.69% heading into the last month of the year, but ended up losing a staggering 11.3% of their value in December, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. As a result, BioMarin's stock exited 2018 with a modest loss of 4.51%. BioMarin, like most biotechs and biopharmas, experienced a drastic decline in its value last month due to the uncertainty created by President Trump's trade war with China, the continued political unrest in Washington, D.C., as well as rising interest rates. Green chalkboard chart showing a positive trend turn negative. More Image source: Getty Images. So what The bright spot is that BioMarin's December swoon wasn't sparked by a company-specific event, such as a major clinical failure or regulatory setback. In fact, BioMarin arguably sports one of the better growth outlooks, product portfolios, and clinical pipelines in the industry right now -- a fact that probably explains the company's strong rebound during the first two weeks of 2019. At the time of this writing, BioMarin's shares have gained almost 11% in just the first nine days of trading this year. Now what Fortunately for shareholders, BioMarin's strong momentum appears set to continue for the remainder of the year. The reason is that the company noted -- during a presentation at the 37th annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference last week -- that it should end up rolling out two major clinical updates later this year. Specifically, BioMarin is expected to update investors on the status of its gene therapy candidate, valoctocogene roxaparvovec, for hemophilia A, as well as its late-stage achondroplasia candidate vosoritide, before year's end. Both of these experimental therapies have the potential to reach blockbuster status (annual sales exceeding $1 billion per year), giving investors good reason to be optimistic about the company's long-term growth outlook. More From The Motley Fool George Budwell has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends BioMarin Pharmaceutical. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. | https://news.yahoo.com/biomarin-pharmaceutical-stock-bargain-154000184.html |
Can Inovio Pharmaceuticals Stock Keep Bounding Higher? | What happened Like most biotechs, Inovio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: INO), a pre-revenue vaccine developer, had a rather poor showing in December. Specifically, it lost exactly a quarter of its value last month, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The upside is that Inovio's year-end sell-off wasn't triggered by a clinical or regulatory setback. Rather, its shares simply fell in tandem with the broader market. So, not surprisingly, they've also come charging back with the market's sharp reversal over the first two weeks of the new year -- gaining a healthy 21% year to date. Man in a suit facing a wall of white arrows pointing to the left and a bigger yellow arrow pointing to the right. More Image Source: Getty Images. So what The particularly noteworthy aspect of last month's downturn is the fact that Inovio -- and, really, all biotechs -- plummeted regardless of events on the ground. As proof, Inovio kicked off December with a solid clinical update: the start of the company's phase 2 cancer trial with big pharma partner AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN). Turning to the details, the two companies announced on Dec. 4 that the first patient had been dosed in a mid-stage trial designed to assess Astra's MEDI0457 (formerly INO-3112 prior to the licensing deal) in combination with the checkpoint inhibitor durvalumab across a diverse array of cancers associated with the human papilloma virus. This upbeat clinical update failed to save Inovio's stock from the ravages of the moody market, however. Now what Inovio's stock appears set to continue its recent rally in the days and weeks ahead. After all, this clinical-stage biotech sports a promising late-stage cervical dysplasia vaccine known as VGX-3100, which has the potential to generate hundreds of millions in sales over the next decade, according to EvaluatePharma. That said, Inovio's stock will probably remain at the mercy of the broader market until the company finally transforms into a commercial-stage operation and begins to generate profits on a consistent basis. Shareholders should, therefore, expect a good deal of volatility going forward, despite the monstrous commercial opportunity offered by the company's portfolio of high-value vaccine candidates. More From The Motley Fool George Budwell owns shares of AstraZeneca. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. | https://news.yahoo.com/inovio-pharmaceuticals-stock-keep-bounding-152200911.html |
Is Jeff Bezos still seeing his alleged mistress, Lauren Sanchez? | Jeff Bezos and his alleged mistress, Lauren Sanchez, are still together, despite facing a worldwide scandal last week when their reported affair was revealed to the public. Following the announcement that Bezos and his wife of 25 years, MacKenzie, were getting a divorce, tabloids reported that Bezos had been seeing one another for about nine months. After being reached for comment on a story about his affair, the Amazon CEO reportedly informed his wife that he had been unfaithful. SEE ALSO: 5 things to know about Lauren Sanchez "Jeff had told MacKenzie about Lauren and that the story was going to be coming out, so she was prepared," a source told Page Six. "They're focusing on the kids and their welfare right now. Jeff spent all week at home with the family. They're still living together at the moment." The former couple shares four children. Last week, Page Six also reported that Sanchez, who getting a divorce from her agent husband Patrick Whitesell, had shown a friend dirty text messages that she had reportedly exchanged with Bezos throughout their affair. The alleged texts apparently include "erotic photos" sent by both parties and were obtained by the National Enquirer. Despite the embarrassing texts leaking because of Sanchez, not only is the couple still together, but Bezos also "doesn't blame" her. Sources told Page Six that they consider themselves to be in love with one another. SEE ALSO: Jeff Bezos caught with mistress at the Golden Globes, days before divorce announcement For his part, Whitesell was apparently "blindsided" by his wife's affair with Bezos, who is worth a reported $140 billion. "Patrick was totally blindsided," a source told Us Weekly. "He had no idea how serious the affair was or how long it was going on for. Patrick had no idea she was having an affair with Jeff." | https://news.yahoo.com/jeff-bezos-still-seeing-alleged-152000390.html |
Are Data Breaches Becoming More Common? | originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. Answer by Marc Groman, Former Senior Advisor for Privacy in the White House, co-host of Their Own Devices podcast, on Quora: Although we are reading about data breaches more frequently in the news, it may be that data breaches are not actually becoming more common. What has changed are the laws across the US and world that now require companies to report data breaches. Before such laws were in place, companies were under no obligation to notify individuals, the public, or the government when they experienced a data breach. So what has changed is that announcing data breaches has become more common. There are many reasons for this. Unfortunately, many companies still do not invest adequate resources in data security and cyber security. In other cases, they invest money but implement cookie cutter data security programs that dont actually address the most significant risks. Moreover, companies that produce software and hardware routinely put products on the market that have bugs and vulnerabilities sometimes these are known, other times not. I would like to see companies wait to put products on the market until additional testing has ruled out potential vulnerabilities, but there are often reasons to move forward. Thus we often read about updates to software to fix newly discovered bugs. Another reality is that many data breaches are caused by human error or negligence. This includes the failure to properly configure a server or other hardware, the failure to update software on a timely basis, using administrative passwords, and failing to use strong passwords or two-factor authentication. In addition, many compromises are caused by people clicking on links in phishing emails or in pop ups. Some of the largest and most serious data breaches were caused by mistakes and entirely avoidable. I will also note that there is no such thing as perfect security. In addition, data security is everyones responsibility and just one small mistake by one employee can cause huge problems. The threats and risks are constantly evolving and hackers from organized crime or foreign governments are getting more and more sophisticated. This question originally appeared on Quora - the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. You can follow Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. More questions: | https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2019/01/14/are-data-breaches-becoming-more-common/ |
Is The U.S. Emissions Increase A Warning About Future U.S. Technology Leadership? | The projected increase in 2018 US emissions has been making headlines around the world. The Rhodium Group projected that US emissions will be up 3.5% in 2018, with a 5.7% increase in emissions from manufacturing. US emissions have been declining largely due to recession and the increasing use of natural gas but demand for electricity, trucking fuel, heating and cooling are all driving emissions growth, following a steady decline since 2007. These latest figures, coming as they do after the US announced plans to withdraw from the international Paris Agreement on climate change and as the federal government plans to strip environmental protections in the energy sector, are a worrying sign that the negative impact of one of the worlds largest economies could scupper the deal. While the agreement targets full decarbonisation of the electricity sector by 2050, and the necessary technology exists and is competitive, there are huge steps to be taken in both manufacturing and industry. The underlying reality however is even more worrying for the US. By backing out of the Paris Agreement, and rolling back regulation on clean air, carbon emissions and enabling drilling on protected lands and increasing fossil fuel use, is the federal government not only abnegating its role as a global leader in climate terms, but moving against technology trends that are fundamentally changing the global economy?. The current trade row with China is said to be an attempt to get the Chinese to open their markets. Yet despite increasing tariffs, the latest news suggest that Chinas trade balance with the US continues to grow. China is also now the global leader in electric vehicles and has a strong position in renewables manufacturing, while installing the worlds largest renewables base. While the fossil fuel industry expects energy transition to a low carbon economy to take many decades, many investors are now recognising the speed of disruptive change coming from renewable technologies, storage, machine learning, sensors and big data. There is a fundamental shift in markets driven by what BNP Paribass Mark Lewis calls the virtuous feedback loop of global policy and technological competitiveness. Investors are increasingly looking to screen their investment portfolios from companies on the wrong side of this trend and it looks like that is where the US is heading. Of course, the US is still one of the best places in the world to do business. Silicon Valley has been at the forefront of technological development for the past few decades and the ingenuity of US business has driven change around the world. Current business leaders want to maintain that leadership position and it seems there is concern that current approaches undercut that position. Many US businesses (fossil fuel and energy lobbyists aside) are not on the side of the current federal government. Companies like Nike, Johnson Controls, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Mars, Nestle and Google have criticised the pull-out from the Paris Agreement. For tech companies as a whole, for large manufacturers, engineers and retailers embracing the digital opportunities of big data, the cost of electricity and energy is playing a huge part in their desire to focus on cost-competitive renewables. US States and cities too are playing a major role in how the US response to climate change impacts and resource scarcity is going to play out. Cities like Washington DC which voted to procure 100% renewable energy by 2032, states like California (the 5th largest economy in the world) remains committed to clean air, water and power. There are growing numbers of projects, financial models and support programmes to encourage action in the mitigation of, and increasingly potential adaptation to, the risk of climate change. This is not an issue that is going to go away, in part because its a huge opportunity as well. If large parts of the US are going to flood, prevention and protection are going to provide investment opportunities. A growing number of asset managers, pension groups and sovereign wealth funds are taking action to ensure that large global companies respond to the threat of climate and technological change. Many are running campaigns to drive the private sector to cut emissions, increase climate risk disclosure and bring their concerns to the mainstream. Many see the moment where Larry Fink of Blackrock sent a letter to CEOs discussing a sustainable investing revolution as a pivotal moment. Operations like the CERES Investor Network on Sustainability and Climate Risk have signed up investors with over $25 trillion in assets under management. In December 2018, the Global Investor Statement to Governments on Climate Change, with $32 trillion of assets under management, repeated their support of the Paris Agreement. These trends in technological change are going to have even more wide-spread repercussions if the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)s latest report proves prescient. It warns that the geopolitical and socio-economic consequences of a new energy age may be as profound as those which accompanied the shift from biomass to fossil fuels two hundred years ago. As the use of traditional fossil fuels decline, this could be accompanied by major shifts in geopolitical power. As countries develop renewables and increasingly integrate their electricity grids with neighbouring countries, new interdependencies and trade patterns will emerge. While no-one can predict exactly what this might mean, it is yet another strong signal that looking backwards is a dangerous choice. Director General Adnan Z Amin said,Unless you have a response strategy to the changes you see around you, you are going to be in trouble. The report Commission's Chair Olafur Grimsson, the former President of Iceland added, The renewables revolution enhances the global leadership of China, reduces the influence of fossil fuel exporters and brings energy independence to countries around the world. A fascinating geopolitical future is in store for countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. The transformation of energy brings big power shifts. In the end, markets drive change in response to policy frameworks and economic competitiveness. The market is forcing companies to address the risks of energy transition or risk failing completely - and if the US government chooses to ignore this trend, it could find itself on the wrong side of history. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/feliciajackson/2019/01/14/is-the-us-emissions-increase-a-warning-about-future-us-technology-leadership/ |
Is Fusion Power Within Our Grasp? | Two recent developments in the world of fusion power are giving scientists and policymakers newfound optimism for the elusive holy grail of energy technologies. The first is a discovery by the Department of Energys (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) which uses radio frequency (RF) technology to greatly reduce so-called plasma disruption the leading challenge to achieving a sustained, net energy gain fusion reaction. This is a key element in making fusion a feasible source of electricity. The second is a report by a panel of distinguished scientists from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to the DOE which concluded that a $200 million annual investment in the technology for the next several decades could lead to a commercially viable reactor before 2050. This timeline includes demonstrating energy-gain fusion (a reaction which produces more energy than it takes in) by the mid-2020s and a concept reactor by the 2030s. As Ive written about before, nuclear fusion is a technology that is easy to get excited about. The power emitted from sustained thermonuclear fusion is safe, carbon-free, and abundant. The primary fuel hydrogen isotopes can be found in regular sea water, and just a few grams are enough to kick-start a reaction. General Atomics, a manufacturer of the powerful magnets necessary for fusion plasma containment, estimates that a working reactor would only need 11 pounds of hydrogen to generate the energy equivalent of 18,750 tons of coal, 56,000 barrels of oil or 755 acres of solar panels an amazing feat of science and technology. The implications are near limitless. Aside from the obvious benefits for combatting climate change, ending energy scarcity, and growing the global economy, fusion could also have applications for space travel and U.S. national security (provided we develop the technology first). Its no wonder, then, that a number of private entities are aggressively pursuing the technology. Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) announced last year its plan to develop a prototype compact fusion reactor (CFR) within the next decade. If it works, the truck-sized device would be capable of providing enough electricity to meet the demand of a small city of 100,000 people. Lockheed is joined by TAE Technologies, The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Plasma Fusion Center (MIT PSFC), and Canadian-backed General Fusion Inc., in a group of contenders promising to bring fusion commercialization before 2030. Even Amazons (NYSE:AMZN) Jeff Bezos and Microsofts (NYSE:MSFT) Bill Gates have thrown their hats into the fusion power ring. But dont get too excited this tricky technology has eluded scientists for more than 50 years. The Fusion process is the same one that powers our sun (you can think of a star as one gigantic fusion reactor): hydrogen atoms forced together under immense heat and pressure break their atomic bonds, fusing into a new heavier element, helium. Some mass is lost in the process, however, and great amounts of energy are released as a result. This is what Einstein's famous formula E=mc describes: the tiny bit of lost mass (m), multiplied by the square of the speed of light (c), results in a very large figure (E), which is the amount of energy created by a fusion reaction. The catch is that these reactions generate very hot and very unstable globs of plasma (in excess of 500 million degrees Fahrenheit) which require tremendous amounts of energy to maintain. To date, the longest recorded sustained plasma operation is just over one minute long. Scientists believe that magnetic fields offer the best method for containing the super-heated plasma, a key principle of the Soviet-designed Tokamak reactors which most of todays leading prototypes are modeled after. The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project under construction in Cadarache, France is the most celebrated Tokamak-style reactor in existence. The multi-billion dollar, 35-nation effort including the United States, Russia, China, India, the European Union, Japan and South Korea and is now on pace for a 2050 commercial debut after a number of cost overruns and delays. The United States has already contributed $1.13 billion to ITER since 2016, roughly 9 percent of ITERs total costs. For the international project to meet its current timeline, the National Academy of scientists estimates that the U.S. will need to contribute at least another $2.2 billion over the next decade (certainly not chump change, but a small price to pay for a revolutionary energy breakthrough). The 19 scientists who urged the DOE to continue their pursuit of fusion technology are primarily advocating for increased U.S. involvement in ITER, noting that it still represents humanitys best shot at making fusion a reality. According to Professor Nat Fisch, associate director for academic affairs at PPPL, the new radio frequency discovery should make it much easier to stabilize ITER plasmas a huge step toward fusion viability. However, post-World War Two tech developments from hydraulic fraction to Apple (NYSE:AAPL) smartphones to TESLA (NYSE:TSLA) electric cars suggest that it is the private sector, profit-driven companies and entrepreneurs, that are most effective in the commercialization of basic science. While fusion technology certainly seems to be gaining momentum in academic, policymaking, and venture capital circles, the promise of reliable fusion power has always been just a decade or two away. No one is rooting for the success of this energy panacea more than I am, but if history is any guide, we should not hold our breath just yet. James C. Grant, Program Manager at International Market Analysis Ltd., contributed to this article | https://www.forbes.com/sites/arielcohen/2019/01/14/is-fusion-power-within-our-grasp/ |
What Do College Freshmen Struggle With Most? | originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. Answer by David Reitman, board-certified adolescent medicine specialist, co-host of Their Own Devices podcast, on Quora: I work with a ton of freshmen in college and I talk about these adjustment issues with LOTS of them. Moving out of the home and starting college is frequently the most difficult and dramatic life change that they have experienced and the degree to which students can struggle cannot be understated. Many students get homesick, particularly half-way into the first semester. They miss their high school friends and family and they have a hard time understanding why they are not as close with their new college peers as they were with their friends from high school and middle school. Social media also presents challenges because they will frequently see their friends posting pictures from other universities and they wonder why they arent having as much trouble adjusting (of course, they dont realize that their friends are only posting the good things). Sleep deprivation frequently becomes a challenge and can exacerbate anxiety, depression or even just plain homesickness. Many students have their first experimentation with alcohol, marijuana and even sex/relationships during their freshman year of college and this can all present challenges to their overall sense of self-worth and adjustment. Its important that parents and friends check in on their college freshmen often. Remind them that this is a hard adjustment and that almost EVERYONE has issues with the adjustment from time to time. Its a normal life stage. But, if the student really is struggling, they should be encouraged to speak with someone in the university counseling center, a residence hall director, etc. who can help support the student if necessary. This question originally appeared on Quora - the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. You can follow Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. More questions: | https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2019/01/14/what-do-college-freshmen-struggle-with-most/ |
Who is Montrealer David Lametti, Canada's new justice minister? | David Lamettis interest in politics and the law have been apparent constants over the course of a life that in 2015 saw him elected as a Liberal member of Parliament and named a professor of law at McGill University. Those two mainstays dovetailed dramatically on Monday morning, when 56-year-old Lametti was named federal justice minister in the Trudeau government during a cabinet shuffle that saw incumbent Jody-Wilson Raybould moved to Veterans Affairs. First elected to the riding of LaSalle-mard-Verdun in 2015, Lamettis legal training began at McGill, where he graduated with his first common and civil law degrees in 1989. Lametti worked as a clerk for Supreme Court Justice Peter Cory and attended Yale Law School, earning his masters degree in law in 1991 before obtaining a doctorate at Oxford University with a thesis titled Ethical Aspects of the Theory and Practice of Private Property. An internationally recognized expert in property and intellectual property, Lamettis first appointment once in government saw him named parliamentary secretary, International Trade, a post he held from December 2015 to January 2017. Prior to Mondays promotion, Lametti was parliamentary secretary to the minister of innovation, science and economic development. Lamettis interests also include sports. While at Oxford he served as co-captain of the universitys hockey team (along with Mark Carney, who would go on to become governor of the Bank of Canada before assuming the same role with the Bank of England). He also coached youth league soccer in Montreal. The author of numerous publications, Lametti has taught or lectured internationally in French, English and Italian. He has been a professor of law at McGill since 2015 after serving from 2010 to 2012 as the director of its Centre for Intellectual Property Policy, which he co-founded. Born in Ontario, Lamettis interest in politics and the federal Liberals began in his teenage years, when he first worked for the party as a volunteer during the 1979 general election. He later went on to co-found the youth wing of the federal Liberal Party in southern Ontario. | https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/who-is-montrealer-david-lametti-canadas-new-justice-minister |
Whats So Controversial About a Medieval Nuns Teeth? | When an academic makes a research breakthrough, two things can happen in the public consciousness: nothing, or something. Its hard to know which is worse. Lets say youre a physicist who discovers a particle that isnt affected by gravity. If nobody outside the physics world cares about your discovery, you sigh, shake your head, get back to the lab. If your story does hit the newspapers, on the other hand, youll have to adjust to a different kind of outrage: Your scrupulous research will be repurposed into some bad headline (GRAVITY DISPROVEN) designed to yank eyeballs, extract clicks, and generally trample over your precious academic principles. Last week, the second thing happened. In a new article for Science Advances, Anita Radini, an archaeologist at Britains University of York, published evidence showing the presence of lapis lazulian ancient, rare, lovely blue stone pigmenton the teeth of a medieval German nun. The nuns skeleton, named B78, dates from the 11th or early 12th century and was found in an unmarked grave in the German town of Dalheim. By working with tartar experts, microscopists, and medieval historians, Radini was able to conclude that this woman must have been a painter or scribe (or both) who illuminated manuscripts. Images of B78s teeth. Christina Warinner, Institute for Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zrich. She must also have been a very good one, since lapis lazuli was an extremely expensive pigment only mined in Afghanistan. It was reserved for the hands of high-end professionals. The pigment probably got into her mouth directly from the paintbrush, over the course of many years of work. The story is delightful, all by itself. Theres an element of chance to the findingsnobody was looking for lapis lazuli on these teethwhich lends them the charm of serendipity. The confluence of beautiful medieval art and chemistry has a poetry all of its own. | https://newrepublic.com/article/152887/whats-controversial-medieval-nuns-teeth |
Are NBA referees too soft? | NBA referees have been quick to hand out technical fouls and many NBA fans are sick of seeing the zebras inject themselves into games. Some think this batch of refs is the most thin-skinned group the league has ever had. Others think the referees are being consistent and players are complaining more than ever--these selfish, diva-like NBA players are the real snowflakes. PERSPECTIVES There used to be a time when referees weren't so sensitive. They understood that in the heat of the moment, competitors are going to be emotional. Officials nowadays are quick with a whistle or a technical for the smallest complaints or reactions. Snowflake refs ruined a classic Thunder-Spurs game with a technical foul that was neither necessary nor warranted. They are the definition of snowflakes. The ref really called a tech on Paul George for this...when the score was tied in double OT! (Via @BleacherReport, @StephenCurry30) pic.twitter.com/CbMZpTfqd8 -- Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) January 11, 2019 Referees might be quick to a whistle, but it's only because players are testing their patience constantly. While players complain they can't have a conversation with refs anymore, they also complain about every single call for the entirety of the game. Referees aren't perfect, but they don't get every call wrong. That kind of whining is grating and unprofessional. The referees are just doing their jobs. They aren't soft. Good job Ref! Tech these babies up pic.twitter.com/m1tnDh6yIf -- Adam Cap (@CoachCapellan) January 11, 2019 The Tylt is focused on debates and conversations around news, current events and pop culture. We provide our community with the opportunity to share their opinions and vote on topics that matter most to them. We actively engage the community and present meaningful data on the debates and conversations as they progress. The Tylt is a place where your opinion counts, literally. The Tylt is an Advance Local Media, LLC property. Join us on Twitter @TheTylt, on Instagram @TheTylt or on Facebook, we'd love to hear what you have to say. | https://www.nola.com/interact/2019/01/are_nba_referees_too_soft.html |
Who is Shaun Ferguson, NOPDs next police chief? | New Orleans Police Department Commander Shaun Ferguson was named the citys new police superintendent on Monday (Jan. 14) by Mayor LaToya Cantrell. He will be sworn in Friday. Ferguson, 46, who had been seen as a rising star in NOPD by some observers, has served as a district commander at NOPD since 2014. Commanders, 16 of which the NOPD superintendent appoints at will, fall administratively just behind the three assistant superintendents and the superintendent. Ferguson currently serves as commander of the Education and Training Division, which oversees the police academy. He has held the position for the past six months. Prior to overseeing the academy, Ferguson served for about three years as commander of NOPDs 2nd District before being moved to the academy assignment in June 2018. The 2nd District comprises the Carrollton, Freret, Leonidas neighborhoods and Uptown, all within Cantrells former council district. The 2nd District also includes the mayors neighborhood of Broadmoor. He has a reputation for integrity and being a crime fighter, said Peter Scharf, a criminologist at LSU School of Public Health, who spoke about Ferguson last week in an interview about the then-prospective candidate. Fergusons first commander assignment was in the 4th District, which polices Algiers and has often been the starting ground for lieutenants who have been promoted to commander. He was promoted to that job in March 2014, near the end of former superintendent Ronal Serpas tenure. He worked for a time as a supervisor in the homicide division. Shaun Ferguson named new NOPD chief by Mayor LaToya Cantrell Ferguson was hired by NOPD in 1995, NOPD records show. He has a bachelors degree in business administration from Southern University of New Orleans, NOPD said in a 2015 news release about his promotion to 2nd District commander. NOPD said then he was working toward a masters degree, though its unclear if hes yet obtained it. Ferguson graduated from O. Perry Walker High School in Algiers in 1990, according to his personal history record. In the roughly five years between graduating high school and joining the force, he worked as a private security guard and as a maintenance assistant for the Army Corps of Engineers. The summer after graduating high school, he also worked as a deputy for the Orleans Parish Sheriffs Office, guarding inmates at the jail. His other jobs shortly after high school included a salesman at Maison Blanche and a mail clerk assistant at Conoco Oil Co. in Algiers. Scharf said Ferguson was mentored by current NOPD Deputy Chief of Operations Paul Noel, an advocate of data-and technology-driven policing whos seen as No. 2 in rank at the department. Its unclear if Noel will remain in that role. Noel and Ferguson worked together in the 2nd District when Noel was the commander there. They made a very powerful team in the 2nd District, Scharf said. They had an open-door policy, very community focused, excellent community policing skills." Jacob Lundy, a former NOPD officer who resigned in 2017 after 10 years and works as a criminal justice consultant, worked under Ferguson in the 2nd District when he joined the department. Hes just a really sincere person. Across the board, people respect him, Lundy said. Lundy described Fergusons management style as valuing the employees under his charge, and that makes people work so much harder, he said. InspireNOLA charter school network in November honored Ferguson with a community service award. Ferguson, along with NOPD 4th District Commander Ceasar Ruffin, appeared alongside Cantrell in August to speak at a peace rally in Eleanor McMain Secondarys gym, to honor slain 15-year-old Chance Smith, a freshman at the school, who was fatally shot by another teen in Algiers on Aug. 18. Ferguson told McMain students at the rally that by spearheading the event and planning a march to City Hall, the they demonstrated their leadership to the community. You just let the city know, no we will not let this unfortunate situation dictate who we are, Ferguson said at the time. | https://www.nola.com/politics/2019/01/who-is-shaun-ferguson-nopds-next-police-chief.html |
Are Estimated Taxes Still Due Despite the Government Shutdown? | The IRS might be partially shut down, but you can't use that as an excuse for missing a tax payment. For millions of Americans, that means you still have to pay your final 2018 estimated tax payment by January 15, 2019. Our tax system operates on a "pay-as-you-go" basis, which means the IRS wants its cut of your income when you earn it. For employees, the government gets paid through tax withholding each time you get a paycheck. If you're self-employed, it's up to you to periodically pay the IRS by making estimated tax payments - they're generally due April 15, June 15, and September 15 of the tax year, and January 15 of the following year. Whether you make estimated tax payments or rely on withholding, you could be hit with a penalty if you don't pay enough tax throughout the year. The penalty doesn't apply if you owe less than $1,000 in tax. You can also avoid the penalty if your withholding or estimated tax payments equal at least 90% of your tax due for the current year, or 100% of the tax shown on your return for the prior year. Individuals use Form 1040-ES to calculate and pay estimated taxes. There are a number of ways to pay estimated taxes, including by check, cash, credit card, and debit card. There are many online payment options, too, such as the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS). The various payment methods are described in the instructions for Form 1040-ES. Finally, don't forget about your state, whose tax collectors aren't affected by the federal government shutdown anyway. Unless you live in a state with no income tax, you probably owe estimated tax payments to your state, too. Due dates for state payments may or may not coincide with the federal dates, so be sure to check with the appropriate tax agency in your state. EDITOR'S PICKS Copyright 2019 The Kiplinger Washington Editors | https://news.yahoo.com/estimated-taxes-still-due-despite-171333856.html |
What's New For Medicare In 2019? | By Joe Baker, Next Avenue Contributor Medicare costs change each year, so if youre 65 or older, its important to understand and review your benefits for the upcoming year. Some new rules affect the cost of prescription drugs covered under Part D (Medicares prescription drug benefit) and change the times when you can revise your Medicare health and drug coverage. Medicare Premiums and Deductibles in 2019 Medicare premiums and deductibles have risen a bit since 2018. Medicare Part A covers inpatient hospital services, skilled nursing facility services, home health care and hospice, and people who have worked for more than 10 years about 99% of Medicare beneficiaries generally do not need to pay a premium. If you have worked between 7 and 10 years, your Part A premium will increase to $240 per month in 2019, and if you have worked fewer than 7 years, your Part A premium will be $437 per month. Also on Forbes: The Part A deductible and coinsurances are also increasing this year. The hospital deductible will be $1,364. Beneficiaries must pay a coinsurance amount of $341 per day for the 61st through 90th day of a hospitalization in a benefit period. For beneficiaries in skilled nursing facilities, the daily coinsurance for days 21 through 100 of extended care services in a benefit period will be $170.50 Medicare Part B covers physician services, outpatient services, certain home health services and medical items. This year, the standard monthly premium for Part B is $135.50 for individuals with a yearly income below $85,000 ($170,000 for a married couple). If your income is higher than that, you may have to pay an income-related monthly adjustment amount, also known as an IRMAA. In that case, your monthly premium will be between $189.60 and $460.50, depending on your income. The Part B annual deductible is $185 in 2019, and you will continue to pay 20% for most Part B-covered services after meeting your deductible in 2019. Medicare Prescription Drug Costs in 2019 The amount you pay for your prescription drugs on Medicare depends on which Part D prescription drug plan you are enrolled in and which coverage period youre in. Every Part D plan has a premium; this year, the national average for Part D premiums is $33.19 per month. Many Part D plans also have a yearly deductible. Deductibles vary from plan to plan, but no deductible in 2019 can be higher than $415. After meeting the deductible, youll pay your plans regular copays or coinsurances for any drugs you take (if youre not sure of these amounts, call your plan using the number on the back of your membership card), until the total costs that you and your plan have paid for drugs in a year totals $3,820. Once you and your plan have together paid $3,820 in drug costs, you will enter what is known as the donut hole or coverage gap. After falling into the donut hole, the amount you pay for prescription drugs increases, until youve spent $5,100 in out-of-pocket drug costs for the year. At that point, you enter the coverage phase known as catastrophic coverage. During this period, in 2019, you pay 5% of the cost of each drug, or $3.35 for generics and $8.25 for brand name drugs whichever is greater. Because of federal legislation, the donut hole will be closing for brand-name drugs in 2019. That means in this coverage period, you will be responsible for paying for 25% of the cost of your brand-name drugs. The coverage gap will close for generic drugs in 2020, at which point you will pay 25% of the cost of your brand-name drugs. The Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period If you have a Medicare Advantage Plan in 2019, youll have the opportunity to change your coverage using the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period, which occurs from January 1 to March 31. During this time, you can switch from your Medicare Advantage Plan to another one or to Original Medicare, with or without a stand-alone Part D prescription drug plan. If you make a change during the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period, it will become effective the month after the month when you make the switch. The Extra Help Special Enrollment Period If you have Extra Help, the federal Part D Low-Income Subsidy program that helps pay for some to most of the out-of-pocket costs of Medicare prescription drug coverage, your opportunities to switch Part D prescription drug plans will change in 2019. Previously, people with Extra Help had a Special Enrollment Period to enroll in a Part D plan or switch between plans once every month. Starting in 2019, this Special Enrollment Period will be available once per calendar quarter for the first three quarters of the year. To qualify for Extra Help, your monthly income currently must be less than $1,538 ($2,078 for married couples) and your assets must be below specified limits. If you have Extra Help, these new limits may mean that you are locked into a drug plan at certain times of the year. For this reason, it is important to make sure that any drug plan you enroll in covers as many of your drugs as possible with the fewest restrictions on coverage. Increased Medicare Advantage Plan cFlexibility Beginning in 2019, Medicare Advantage plans have increased flexibility in their plan offerings. This means that plans may be able to reduce cost-sharing for certain benefits, offer extra benefits or charge different deductibles for some enrollees who meet specific medical criteria. Medicare Advantage plans are also gaining the ability to offer new supplemental benefits that are not directly considered medical treatment. Some services that plans can begin offering in 2019 include nutrition services, in-home supports and home modifications. These changes mean that there may be more Medicare Advantage Plan options available in 2019, and it may become more complicated to compare these options. Remember to carefully review your Medicare Advantage plans Evidence of Coverage and any other materials from the insurer. If you need help understanding your plans benefits or reviewing your coverage options, call your State Health Insurance Assistance Program for assistance, 877-839-2675, or visit www.shiptacenter.org. For more information on Medicare costs, visit Medicare Interactive, the free online resource powered by the Medicare Rights Center, and download the Medicare Rights Centers free guide, Medicare in 2019. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2019/01/14/whats-new-for-medicare-in-2019/ |
What Does the Feather in the Game of Thrones Teaser Signify? | Warning: This post contains spoilers for Game of Thrones. The new Game of Thrones teaser that debuted ahead of Sunday nights True Detective premiere opened with Jon Snow (Kit Harington) walking solemnly through the crypts of Winterfell and seemed to hint at a long-awaited reveal. As Jon passes by the effigy of Lyanna Stark in the teaser we see the feather. Fans might recognize that its the very same feather that Robert Baratheon placed in her statues hand in the series first episode. The feather flutters to the ground behind Jon and he looks back, appearing confused, before continuing down the tunnel. As fans know but Jon Snow is not yet aware, the King in the North is not actually the illegitimate son of Ned Stark, but rather the child of Neds sister, Lyanna, and Rhaegar Targaryen. In a series of flashbacks shown in the season 7 finale, it was revealed that Rhaegar wed Lyanna after annuling his marriage to Elia Martell. Lyanna then gave birth to Jon whose real name is Aegon Targaryen before she died, making him a trueborn Targaryen. The Brief Newsletter Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. View Sample Sign Up Now Lyanna and Rhaegar were very much in love when she ran away to be with him while still betrothed to Robert. However, Robert was blinded by his feelings for Lyanna and incited a rebellion against the Targaryen throne by claiming that Rhaegar kidnapped and raped her. Many in the Seven Kingdoms still believe that Roberts version of events was credible. But after seeing Roberts feather finally fall from Lyannas statue in the new teaser, some fans are speculating that the truth about Lyanna, Rhaegar and Jon will finally be revealed to all in season 8. Jon walking by and blowing the feather off the statue is symbolic of the fact that Jon is a child of Lyanna and the Targaryen, one reddit user posits. Jons existence is a symbol of Lyannas rejection of Roberts love for her. Jon is a force of revealing the truth and his character destroys the lies everyone believes. Watch the full teaser above. Game of Thrones returns for its eighth and final season on April 14. Write to Megan McCluskey at [email protected]. | http://time.com/5502165/game-of-thrones-teaser-feather/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+time%2Ftopstories+%28TIME%3A+Top+Stories%29 |
Whats the Difference Between Steve King and Donald Trump? | It was only after Kings latest remarks that Republicans condemned him with any kind of force. King drew a rebuke from Iowas two Republican senators, House Republicans have said they may take action against the congressman, and other high profile Republican legislators, such as Texas Senator Ted Cruz and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, have condemned his remarks. The conservative intellectual Henry Olsen warned that the seeds of bigotry could take root in the Republican Party, and National Review called for King to be expelled from Congress, declaring that one of the glories of American history is how we finally shed our shameful racist past. Hardly. While it is heartening to see that Kings antics have finally drawn a unified response of condemnation from the right, the reactions seem to miss the obvious point that there is little daylight between Steve King and the president of the United States, Donald Trump. (Neither National Reviews editorial nor Scotts op-ed even mention the presidents name.) But dont take my word for it. In 2014, as Trump was mulling a run for president, he made an appearance in Iowa with King, calling him special guy, a smart person, with really the right views on almost everything, and noting that their views on the issues were so similar that we dont even have to compare notes. Little has changed. The president has defended white nationalists; sought to exploit the census to dilute the political power of minority voters, described immigration as an infestation, warning that it was changing the culture of Europe; derided black and Latino immigrants as coming from shithole countries, while expressing a preference for immigrants from places like Norway; and generally portrayed non-white immigrants as little more than rapists, drug dealers, and murderers at every opportunity. Unlike King however, the president has the authority, by himself, to make his views into policy. From his travel ban to his child-separation policy to his revocation of protections for immigrants brought here as children, he has pursued discriminatory policies with a commitment he has shown for few other campaign promises. Even now, the federal government remains shut down, its workforce denied payment for their labor, all in pursuit of the construction of a taxpayer funded symbolic monument of disapproval towards immigrants of Latin American descent. As if to remind the world of his similarity to King, on Sunday night, Trump tweeted a column from Pat Buchanan arguing that the president should seize executive power and build the wall without approval from Congress, warning that unless he does so, the United States, as we have known it, is going to cease to exist. Such a barrier is made necessary, Buchanan argues, because of the increasing diversity of the United States, which he portrays in apocalyptic terms. The more multiracial, multiethnic, multicultural, multilingual America becomesthe less it looks like Ronald Reagans Americathe more dependably Democratic it will become, he argues in the same column. The Democratic Party is hostile to white men, because the smaller the share of the U.S. population that white men become, the sooner that Democrats inherit the national estate. | https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/01/steve-king-and-donald-trump-share-same-beliefs/580288/?utm_source=feed |
Could Marcus Mariota and Mark Helfrich reunite in Tennessee? | Marcus Mariota and Mark Helfrich took the Oregon Ducks to the greatest season in program history. Since then, the two have gone their separate ways in the NFL. Mariota is the star quarterback for the Tennessee Titans and Helfrich is the offensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears. However, the two could reunite in Tennessee. The Titans are looking for a new offensive coordinator and Helfrich is being mentioned as a potential candidate for the position. There are the obvious options such as Mark Helfrich and John DeFilippo to replace Matt LaFleur as #Titans OC, then there's a candidate that hasn't been mentioned but is a perfect fit. https://t.co/PEu3GPkW9w TURRON DAVENPORT (@TDavenport_NFL) January 10, 2019 The Titans previous coordinator, Matt LaFleur, was named head coach of the Green Bay Packers on Tuesday. LeFleur was in the position for the 2018. Helfrich has been mentioned along with current Titans quarterbacks coach Pat OHara and former Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator John DeFilippo. The Titans could contact former Denver Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak, who was expected to become the offensive coordinator with the Broncos, but reportedly will not be joining the Broncos. While Helfrich is the offensive coordinator with the Bears, head coach Matt Nagy calls the plays. Helfrich worked with quarterback Mitchell Trubisky during his first season in the position, helping the quarterback develop and improve. Trubisky threw 24 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions in 2018 after throwing just seven scoring passes and seven interceptions in 2017. Titans general manager Jon Robinson said he and head coach Mike Vrabel will take their time making a decision. Were probably going to be a little bit more deliberate in our approach here, not rush into anything, take a lot of things into consideration as we make a decision for whats best for our team," Robinson told reporters last week. Playing under Helfrich, Mariota set Ducks program single-season records with 4,454 passing yards and 42 touchdowns along with just four interceptions while leading the Ducks to the national championship game during the 2014 season. Mariota was the Heisman Trophy in 2014 and was the No. 2 pick in the 2015 NFL draft. When the Titans do find their next offensive coordinator, it will be Mariotas fifth coordinator going into his fifth season. Robinson said he would like to find a coordinator who can provide some continuity. It is always challenging when you are talking about new terminology, and concepts. I kind of liken it to learning a foreign language, and he is on his fifth language now, Robinson told reporters. But well do our best to try and help the team and keep a lot of that the same." -- Geoffrey C. Arnold | @geoffreyCarnold | https://www.oregonlive.com/nfl/2019/01/could-marcus-mariota-and-mark-helfrich-reunite-in-tennessee.html |
What To Expect From CSX Corporation's Q4 Results? | CSX Corporation (NYSE: CSX) is set to release its Q4 financial performance on January 16, and we expect the company to post steady growth in all segments. The company saw a record low operating ratio of 58.7% in the previous quarter, as it effectively managed its costs. We expect this trend to continue in Q4 as well, and aid the bottom line. Overall, we estimate the company to post $3.60 adjusted EPS for the full year 2018. We have created an interactive dashboard analysis ~ What Is The Outlook For CSX Corporation ~ on the companys expected performance for the full year 2018 and 2019. You can adjust the revenue and margin drivers to see the impact on the companys earnings, and price estimate. Below we discuss the key segments which could see growth in Q4. Expect Coal Freight To See Mid-Single Digit Growth For The Full Year We expect CSXs coal freight revenues to grow in mid-single digits led by both volume and price gains for the full year 2018. The company posted a 14% jump in coal revenues in the previous quarter, as the weakness in utility coal was offset by strength in the export business, and we expect this trend to continue in the near term. The U.S. coal export segment is seeing growth due to a rise in global benchmark coal prices, which were up roughly 15% in 2018. The decline in utility coal demand can largely be attributed to the trends in natural gas prices. The benchmark Henry Hub natural gas price is currently trading around $3 levels, similar to what it was in the prior year. The prices did move to north of $4.50 last month over supply concerns, but have corrected since then. With gas prices being more attractive, the dependency on coal as an energy source continues to come down. In fact, as per the latest EIA estimates of 650 million short tons (mst) coal consumption in 2019 will mark the year with the lowest coal consumption over the last 40 years. On the other hand, there has been a sharp growth in the coal exports, which were up over 25% (y-o-y) to 87 mst for the nine month period ending September 2018. For the full year, exports are estimated to grow in mid-teens, according to EIA. As such, the utility coal shipments for CSX will likely remain lower, while exports should continue to trend higher in the near term. Intermodal Will Likely See High Single Digit Revenue Growth For The Full Year CSXs Intermodal segment has seen volume gains of late, and we expect this trend to continue in the near term. This can be attributed to continued driver shortage after the full implementation of the ELD mandate in late 2017, which has put capacity constraints in the trucking industry, and manufacturers are looking for alternative means of transport. The segment revenues were up in high single digits for the nine month period ending September 2018, and we forecast a similar growth in Q4 as well. Merchandise Freight Revenues Could Grow In Mid-Single Digits Looking at Merchandise freight, we forecast mid-single digit growth in segment revenues, primarily led by automotive, metals, and forest products. In fact, the segment revenues were up 12% for the nine month period ending September 2018, with growth across all sub-segments but fertilizers, which saw low single digit revenue decline amid closure of a facility in late 2017. This trend could continue in Q4 as well. However, pricing gains may be moderate going forward, given that crude oil prices have fallen sharply over the last couple of months. Note that fuel surcharge is a component of average revenue per carload for railroad companies, and the same is impacted by any movement in oil prices. We forecast the companys EBITDA margins to expand by 300 bps for the full year 2018, as the company remains focused on reducing its operating ratio. We estimate the EBITDA to be a little under $7 per share in 2018. We currently have a $80 price target for CSX Corporation, which we will update post the Q4 earnings announcement. Explore example interactive dashboards and create your own. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2019/01/14/what-to-expect-from-csx-corporations-q4-results/ |
Will A Bidding War Emerge For Gannett? | Shares of Gannett surged more than 20% in trading Monday after MNG Enterprises (better known as Digital First Media) made an unsolicited $1.36 billion offer for the corporate parent of USA Today and announced it acquired a 7.5% stake in the newspaper publisher, making it its largest shareholder. The $12 per share offer represents a premium of 41% to the Gannett stock price as of December 31, 2018. According to the McClean, Virginia-based company, the companys board of directors will carefully review the proposal to see if it is in the best interest of Gannetts shareholders. It declined to elaborate further. Gannett recently changed hands at $11.88, indicating that Wall Street may be anticipating a higher bid. "In the very short term they (MNG) could probably make some more money by making deep cuts as they have with their other properties," said Rick Edmonds, a media business analyst at the non-profit Poynter Institute, in an interview, adding that another hedge fund might be interested in Gannett. "There are some other possibilities for consolidation and as it's often the case, we are going to have to wait for what happens." Before its recent run-up, Gannett shares had plunged 41 percent since its debut as a public company in 2015 after the company split its television and newspaper businesses. Gannetts TV operations trade under the Tegna name. According to MNG, Gannett was spent about $350 million on questionable digital acquisitions over the past four years instead of trying to bolster its core newspaper operations. Gannetts strategy has resulted in a substantial deterioration of the companys financial performance, destroying more than $650 million in shareholder, MNG says. MNG has invested in Gannett because we see significant value in Gannetts assets, particularly its core newspaper business, MNGs Chairman, R. Joseph Fuchs wrote in a letter to Gannetts board that was released to the press.., However, Gannett has been moving in the wrong direction, resulting in a declining stock price and lack of confidence that the Board and existing management are willing and able to take the steps necessary to turn the company around. Merging the two companies would create the countrys largest newspaper publisher. MNG owns 200 titles including Calfornias Mercury News, The St. Paul Pioneer Press in Minnesota and New Jerseys The Trentonian. Gannett owns more than 100 dailies including The Des Moines Register in Iowa, Michigans Detroit News and New York-based Democrat & Chronicle. Gannett is no slouch when it comes to cutting costs and growth through acquisitions such as its $280 million acquisition of Journal Media Group in 2015. A year later, Gannetts fortunes fell after it withdrew its $680 million offer for Tronc, now called Tribune Publishing after the financing fell through. In his letter to the company, Fuchs wrote that Gannett hasnt responded to its buyout overtures. "We request that the board promptly contact us to arrange an opportunity to discuss our proposal to purchase the Company, Fuchs wrote. If the board refuses to engage with us in good faith and in a timely fashion, we reserve our rights to take action to protect the value of our investment, which may include seeking changes to the composition of the board. MNG, which is backed by hedge fund Alden Capital that focuses on distressed companies, has asked Gannett to halt any efforts to replace Chief Executive Robert J. Dickey, who is scheduled to retire in May until the company commits to a feasible, strategic and financial path forward. The fund has come under fire for slashing newsroom budgets at papers such as the Denver Post, whose editorial board took the unprecedented step last year of calling on its corporate owners to sell the paper. The company, though, is unapologetic, noting that it had invested and revitalized newspapers such as The Orange County Register in California and Massachusetts The Boston Herald which many experts have given up for dead. We save newspapers: When other people wont step up, we do, Fuchs writes. We save newspapers and position them for a strong and profitable future so they can weather the secular decline. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanberr/2019/01/14/will-a-bidding-war-emerge-for-gannett/ |
Should vegans avoid avocados and almonds? | A video recently doing the rounds on Facebook included a segment from the BBC comedy quiz show QI. The video asks which of avocados, almonds, melon, kiwi or butternut squash are suitable for vegans. The answer, at least according to QI, is none of them. Commercial farming of those vegetables, at least in some parts of the world, often involves migratory beekeeping. In places such as California, there are not enough local bees or other pollinating insects to pollinate the massive almond orchards. Bee hives are transported on the back of large trucks between farms they might go from almond orchards in one part of the US then on to avocado orchards in another, and later to sunflower fields in time for summer. Vegans avoid animal products. For strict vegans this means avoiding honey because of the exploitation of bees. That seems to imply that vegans should also avoid vegetables like avocados that involve exploiting bees in their production. Advertisement Defending avocados The revelation that avocados might not be "vegan-friendly" could seem to be a reductio ad absurdum of the ethical vegan argument. Some people might point to this and claim that those who are vegan but still consume avocados (or almonds and the like) are hypocrites. Alternatively, this sort of news might lead some people to throw up their hands at the impossibility of living a truly vegan diet, and so to give up. Pass me the foie gras someone However, one initial defence for vegans is that this is only a problem for certain vegetables that are produced commercially on a large scale and which are dependent on migratory beekeeping. In places such as the UK, this practice is still (as far as I can tell) uncommon. Locally sourced butternut squash would probably be fine (although you could never guarantee a bee kept in a hive hadn't pollinated a crop), while avocados and almonds (including most almond milk) sourced from California might be a problem. Another answer might depend on someone's view about the moral status of insects. Commercial beekeeping may injure or kill bees. Transporting bees to pollinate crops appears to negatively affect their health and lifespan. But some may question whether bees are capable of suffering in the same way as animals, while others may wonder whether bees are self-aware whether they have a desire to continue to live. If they do not, some philosophers argue that they would not be harmed by being killed (others, such as Gary Francione, would beg to differ). Depends on your ethical rationale The more important general response is that whether or not migratory beekeeping is a problem depends on your ethical rationale for being vegan. Some vegans have a non-consequentialist justification for being vegan they wish to avoid acting immorally through their diet. This could be based on something like the Kantian rule of avoiding using another sentient being as a means to an end. Or they may have a rights-based view, according to which animals (including bees) are rights holders. Any amount of rights violation is wrong under this view it is simply not ethically permissible to use bees as slaves. Other vegans choose not to eat meat or other animal products for consequentialist reasons they wish to minimise animal suffering and killing. This ethical argument might also have trouble with migratory beekeeping. While the amount of suffering experienced by an individual bee is probably small, this would be magnified by the very large number of insects potentially affected (31 billion honeybees in the Californian almond orchards alone). A vegan who chooses to eat almonds or avocados is not doing what would most reduce animal suffering. However, a different, (perhaps more practical) ethical rationale that might underlie a decision to go vegan is the wish to reduce the animal suffering and killing and environmental impact involved in food production. Migratory beekeeping also has negative environmental effects, for example, through the spread of disease and effect on native honeybee populations Taking this view, dietary choices that reduce animal exploitation are still valuable even if some animal exploitation would still occur. After all, there is a need to draw a line somewhere. When we make choices about our diet, we a need to balance the effort we expend against the impact on our daily life. The same applies when we make choices about how much we should donate to charity, or how much effort we should make to reduce water consumption, energy use, or CO emissions. One ethical theory for how resources should be distributed is sometimes called "sufficientarianism". Briefly, it is the idea that resources should be shared out in a way that is not perfectly equal, and may not maximise happiness, but at least ensures that everyone has a basic minimum has enough. In another area of ethics, there is sometimes discussion of the idea that the aim of parenting is not to be the perfect parent (we all fail at that), but to be a "good enough" parent. Taking a similar "sufficientarian" approach to the ethics of avoiding animal products, the aim is not to be absolutely vegan, or maximally vegan, but to be sufficiently vegan to make as much effort as feasible to reduce harm to animals for the sake of our diet we could call this a "vegantarian" diet. For some people this may mean choosing to avoid Californian avocados, but others may find their personal ethical balance at a different point. What is more, accepting and embracing all these variations may provide room for more people to adopt or sustain a vegan lifestyle. Pass me the avo on toast, someone. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. | https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=12190452 |
How does PG&E bankruptcy affect CA customers & employees? | PG&E is about to go bankrupt. But the troubled utility said it will keep the lights on and is committed to a fair and expeditious resolution of the billions of dollars it faces in potential liabilities from the Camp Fire and the 2017 wine country fires. Heres a look at what might happen, and what it would mean to the state, ratepayers throughout Northern California and those impacted by the wildfires. On or about Jan. 29. The utility was required, under a state law signed in September by former Gov. Jerry Brown, to give 15 days notice before filing. Thats what it did Monday. The notice came out about 12 hours after CEO Geisha Williams resigned. Digital Access for only $0.99 For the most comprehensive local coverage, subscribe today. In a press statement, the utility company said it does not expect any impact to electric or natural gas service for its customers. It also said it is committed to continuing to make investments in system safety as it works with regulators, policymakers and other key stakeholders to consider a range of alternatives to provide for the safe delivery of natural gas and electric service for the long-term in an environment that continues to be challenged by climate change. It also said its employees are expected to continue to receive their pay and benefits. The Legislature, in passing SB 901 last fall, gave PG&E and other utilities limited protection against wildfire claims. Among other things, the law says the Public Utilities Commission could allow utilities to pass some wildfire claim expenses onto ratepayers if the utilities arent strong enough financially to shoulder the costs themselves. The protection, however, only includes the 2017 fires, not the massive Camp Fire last year. Assemblyman Chris Holden, D-Pasadena, has said he would introduce legislation to extend the protections to include the Camp Fire. Fire officials have not determined a cause for that fire, but many residents already have sued PG&E, which had a power-line malfunction near the fire ignition point. It is uncertain whether the Legislature will be willing to go to bat for the utility a second time. No, and no. PG&E would file for protection under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy code. Chapter 11 allows the company to stay in business while it sorts out its ever-growing debt load. PG&E kept the lights on during the three years it spent in Chapter 11 between 2001 and 2004, when it was clobbered by rising power costs during the energy crisis. The state suffered several days of rolling blackouts in 2001, but they were spread beyond PG&Es territory and werent caused by the bankruptcy. Rates could go up, but not necessarily because of a bankruptcy filing. Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has already asked the Public Utilities Commission for authority to raise rates by 6.4 percent in 2020. If the rate hike is granted in full, monthly gas bills would increase $1.84 and electric bills would rise $8.73, on average. The higher rates would generate about $1.1 billion in additional annual revenue. PG&E says about half would be spent on wildfire prevention initiatives, such as installing high-definition cameras in remote areas and trimming trees more aggressively. But bankruptcies can add enormous legal costs, and PG&E could seek to have ratepayers absorb those expenses. Bankruptcy is never a clean, easy process, and theres a lot of costs involved just in terms of lawyers and accountants, said James Bushnell, a UC Davis energy economist. Some of that is going to be passed onto ratepayers. Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network in San Francisco, said ratepayer interests would be neglected. It puts the decision in the hands of a bankruptcy judge whose first priority is paying creditors off. The ratepayers are the last priority. SHARE COPY LINK The Camp Fire tore through Paradise, California, becoming the deadliest and most destructive in state history. Sacramento Bee staff recount covering the impact of the deadly wildfire. Chapter 11 gives companies breathing room of sorts, the chance to sort out their debts while they keep operating. One possible outcome is that PG&E would use a court-supervised auction to sell its natural-gas division to raise money to pay wildfire claims. Bankruptcy could reduce the amount of money available for paying survivors whove sued PG&E over the Camp Fire and the 2017 fires. Survivors would be declared unsecured creditors and would be lumped in with other such creditors namely the investors who hold roughly $18 billion in long-term debt owed by the utility and its corporate parent, PG&E Corp. Wildfire victims seeking recovery could be in deep trouble, said Jared Ellias, a bankruptcy-law expert at UC Hastings College of Law in San Francisco. Ellias did say, however, that bankruptcy could speed the processing of damage claims. A bankruptcy trustee could require that survivors get some funds long before the courts could resolve the mountain of lawsuits. Bankruptcy is often much faster than state court, he said. Its too early to tell. But its worth noting that PG&Es bonds have been trading at about 78 cents on the dollar, said Carol Levenson of Gimme Credit LLC, a debt-analysis firm. That suggests bondholders arent counting on getting paid in full, she said. The same could apply to fire survivors. Survivors lawyers say they believe they can recover damages for their clients regardless. PG&E has a lot of assets, said Dario de Ghetaldi, a Bay Area lawyer whos suing PG&E on survivors behalf. For many California ratepayers, it would mean writing two utility checks each month instead of one. Sacramento residents do that already, paying PG&E for gas and SMUD for electricity. A sale would be overseen by the PUC. We really have to make sure that who they sell it to is experienced (and) has a good track record in operating gas pipeline systems in a safe manner, Toney said. Yes. The company already suspended quarterly dividend payments in late 2017, and its stock price has been crushed since it disclosed that it experienced trouble on a transmission tower near the spot where the Camp Fire ignited Nov. 8. PG&E shares fell to $9.06 in Monday morning trading, and have lost 80 percent of their value since the Camp Fire started. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who used to be mayor of PG&Es hometown of San Francisco, issued a statement early Monday saying in part: Everyones immediate focus is, rightfully, on ensuring Californians have continuous, reliable and safe electric and gas service ... Aside from bankruptcy, plenty. A federal judge has told PG&E to appear in court Jan. 30 to respond to his plan to require the company to fix transmission lines and take other safety steps. In February, PG&E will release its latest financial results, which will provide more detailed analysis on the potential liabilities from the Camp Fire. | https://www.sacbee.com/news/business/article224188410.html |
Did The European Commission Authorize B&B's Bank 'Destruction' With 22B State Aid? | The effective destruction of Bradford & Bingley (B&B), the former bank, savings and mortgage company, by the Bank of England, HM Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the so-called Tripartite bodies, a decade ago in late September 2008, was completed when the European Commission (EC) authorized some 22 billion of State aid to Santander, Spains largest bank, a shareholder action group has claimed. Campaigners involved in the B&B Action Group (BBAG) seeking investor compensation for those that lost out - many of them pensioners - when the bank was nationalized in a transatlantic telephone called between Gordon Brown, the then British prime minister, and Chancellor Alistair Darling. At the time B&B was a highly regarded and viable business, which BBAG have repeatedly argued, was first established in 1851 and based in the North of England. And, the campaigners maintain it had a "far stronger balance sheet" than Northern Rock, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS). For 2007, the B&B, which counted 2,862 employees, reported an operating income of 572.3 million and net income of 93.2 million. Indeed, since B&Bs destruction and the run-down of its mortgage book, it has repaid all State aid, interest, corporation tax, leaving a surplus that will pass - not to former shareholders with now worthless shares on the stock register at least - but to the Treasurys coffers - unless action is taken and matters can be rectified. Furthermore, the sale to Santander of B&Bs 21 billion deposit book, retail network and Isle of Man International operations for c.400 million, was according to BBAG chairman David Blundell deeply flawed since the market value was nearer 1.0 billion, according to the former insurance industry executive. Since October 2010, Bradford & Bingley has been managed and governed under the Board of UK Asset Resolution (UKAR), the holding company for B&B and NRAM Limited (i.e. Northern Rock), created to facilitate the orderly management of the closed mortgage books of both B&B and NRAM and maximise value for taxpayers. In its interim statement for the six month period ended September 2018, UKAR reported that statutory profit had decreased to 49.5 million (H1 2017/18: 216.8 million), which included a 295.2 million profit on two sales. These were namely: (1) 5.0 billion of B&B mortgage assets to an investor group led by Barclays Bank in May 2018; and, (2) 860 million portfolio of equity release mortgages to Rothesay Life Plc. The Leeds-based campaigner and businessman, who has worked in the insurance sector and largely led the campaign since September 2008 to the present day, said: The Treasury have attempted to justify this sale on numerous occasions culminating in the Right Honourable Sajid Javids statement, in a debate with Philip Davies, MP for Shipley, in Westminster Hall on the July 17 2013, describing a competitive process prior to the sale. However, despite numerous Freedom of Information (FOI) requests initiated by the campaign group over the years, the Treasury has refused to provide details of this process. In one reply to Mr Blundell from the Treasury and signed by Nicholas Macpherson, then Permanent Secretary), which I have seen, it was stated that deleting records was fairly standard practice after Treasury staff and officials had departed the organization. Part of the letter dated February 24, 2015, reads as follows: I would like to assure you that there was nothing unusual or out of the ordinary to delete these records." It went on: The Departments policy was then - and remains - that it is not necessary to systematically retain the legacy mailboxes or home drives of any Treasury staff who leave the Department. This approach to record-keeping both encourages users to file accurately and reduces the long-term retention of ephemeral data through the indiscriminate archiving of redundant user accounts. Surely though we are talking about an event and matter of national importance - and impacting just shy on one million people. And, once those records are gone it is a rather convenient for those individuals who had been involved in the discussions around B&B and Santander. Despite the obfuscation of the various authorities and frustration of the shareholder action group in being denied FOI requests (e.g. it was not in the public interest, too difficult to find, etc. ), BBAG have claimed that they now have compelling evidence - inadvertently supported by Baron Macpherson, who stepped down from the Treasury in March 2016, that the competitive process was a parody of the truth resulting in the sale securing only a fraction of its market value. In response to numerous FOI requests over a period of more than ten years, the Treasury has according to the action group (led by Mr Blundell) repeatedly attempted to justify banking failures in the U.K. by talking of a worldwide crisis. Blundell asserted on that point: "This is a fiction. The main causes of the U.K. banking crisis in 2008/9 was the gross misfeasance of the British Government: Firstly, the dilution of the regulatory powers of the Bank of England in 2001; Secondly, ignoring European Union (EU) directives by the introduction of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in 2005; and, thirdly, the light touch regulatory approach of the Tripartite of which Gordon Brown was so inordinately proud, which enabled greedy bankers to indulge in false accounting." In addition, a fourth cause highlighted, which the action group contended was the total failure of the British government to ensure that economic growth was based on sound money. Leeds-based Blundell stated: After ten years and numerous FOI requests, which have been initiated by BBAG and other parties - it is clear that the Tripartite are determined to suppress the truth as to why it and the European Commission colluded in providing around 22 billion of state aid to Santander, a bank recently fined nearly 33 million by the FCA for failing to transfer 183 million to the estates of deceased clients. He added: This [act] effectively destroyed as an on-going business to the total disadvantage of its employees and 930,000 shareholders, most of whom are just about managing retail investors, who are entitled to know why their company was not supported rather than Santander? The action group assert that it is clear that the only way of securing the truth and overcoming the institutionalized mendacity of the Treasury and the FCA is an independent inquiry. Hopefully, as Blundell puts it, the U.K. is still an open democratic society subject to the rule of law with an independent judiciary and in which those who hold high office are accountable to the people. However, they cannot be held accountable when they fail to explain how they exercise their powers, Blundell stressed. BBAG has written to the current Prime Minister, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable several times requesting they support an independent inquiry into the destruction of Bradford & Bingley. Replies garnered from the Cabinet Office, a department of the Government responsible for supporting the Prime Minister and Cabinet of the U.K., have been the standard buck passing obfuscation according to BBAG. It is understood that Sir Vince has not replied and Mr Corbyns office has confirmed that he will not support such an inquiry. These are the same politicians who regularly profess their support for the people, said Blundell. The B&B shareholders, the former owners of the company, are entitled to an independent inquiry to establish the full details of how and why their company was destroyed by the U.K. Government and the European Commission on October 1 2008, whilst simultaneously selling their deposit book and retail network for less than half its market value to Santander (who also received 22 billion of State aid from the UK Government. Back in September 2017, Blundell met his local MEP John Procter and a Reformists group member in Brussels, who was said to have expressed astonishment at the treatment to which B&B shareholders and bond holders have been subjected. The BBAG chair also had a meeting with Nicky Morgan over the issue. He added: The treatment of B&B shareholders by successive U.K. Governments, who have totally failed in their duty of care to them, has been deplorable. And, the spirit of Sir Humphrey from the British political satire sitcom Yes Minister would seem to be very much alive and well in the corridors of Whitehall. The action group suggested in 2015 that the level of compensation sought for dispossessed B&B shareholders was between 55p and 100p a share, which would equate to between 339.9 million and 618 million based on the number of B&B shares cited as being issued from the banks 2007 annual report and accounts. But with the banks subsequent rights issues the number could nudge 1 billion. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogeraitken/2019/01/14/did-the-european-commission-authorize-bbs-bank-destruction-with-22b-state-aid/ |
Who is William Barr, Trump's pick to be the next attorney general? | William Barr, President Trump's choice to become the next attorney general of the United States, has already had the job once before. From 1991 to 1993, he served as attorney general under President George H.W. Bush, and has since served as a prominent litigator in private practice. Barr had been floated as a candidate for the job since then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions was forced to resign after the November midterms. On Friday, Mr. Trump said that Barr had been his pick from "day one." "I did not know him for - until recently when I went through the process of looking at people. He was my first choice from day one," Mr. Trump told reporters at the White House. "Respected by Republicans. Respected by Democrats. He will be nominated for the United States attorney general and hopefully that process will go very quickly. And I think it will go very quickly." Barr's credentials may make him a safer bet for confirmation than some of Mr. Trump's other candidates. However, some in the White House worried that the 68-year-old Barr is too moderate and close to the GOP establishment to be an effective pick. Barr was born and raised in New York City. He attended Columbia University and went to work for the CIA after getting his master's degree in 1973. At his mother's suggestion, he took law classes at night at George Washington University while still at the CIA, earning his law degree in 1977. He specialized in Chinese studies during his time at Columbia, figuring it would give him a leg up at the CIA, which was then fixated on the Soviet threat. He figured the law degree would be an asset at the agency too, but left the CIA, where he analyzed Chinese broadcasts and worked in the legislative affairs unit, shortly after Jimmy Carter was elected president. After cutting short his intelligence career, Barr clerked for a federal judge in the U.S. Court of Appeals, worked in private practice, and did a stint as a domestic policy adviser under President Ronald Reagan. He then returned to private practice before joining the Bush campaign in 1988, where he helped select then-Indiana Sen. Dan Quayle to be the vice president's running mate. Bush won, and Barr joined his Justice Department, quickly rising through the ranks. He would sometimes play the bagpipe at Justice Department functions, according to the Los Angeles Times, "outfitted in kilts and other bagpipe apparel." Barr took the bagpipe so seriously, in fact, that his band would travel to Scotland to compete in world championships. Barr became deputy attorney general in 1990, and then acting attorney general in 1991. Bush decided to make that temporary replacement permanent. He was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously, then confirmed by the full Senate by voice vote. Then-Sen. Joe Biden, the Judiciary Committee chairman, predicted that Barr would make "a fine attorney general." At 41, he was one of the youngest attorney generals in U.S. history. When Bush lost, Barr began a distinguished career in corporate law, perhaps most notably as the general counsel and executive vice president for Verizon. He argued cases before the Supreme Court and the European Commission, and was of counsel at the Washington, D.C. firm Kirkland & Ellis until 2017. Barr and Mr. Trump Mr. Trump and Barr are said to not know each other all that well. But since Mr. Trump took office, Barr has emerged as a sometimes defender of the president in the press. In 2017, he told The New York Times that the Justice Department may have more cause to look at a controversial uranium deal involving Hillary Clinton than any alleged collusion between Mr. Trump and Russia. And while he's criticized the "lock her up" chants common at Trump rallies, he's also said there was some good legal cause to investigate the Clintons. Barr has also told The Washington Post that he worries that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team, which has been criticized by conservatives for a perceived partisan slant, may lean too Democratic. He told the newspaper that "prosecutors who make political contributions are identifying fairly strongly with a political party" and added: "I would have liked to see [Mueller] have more balance on this group." | https://www.cbsnews.com/news/who-is-william-barr-attorney-general-trump-nominee/ |
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