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Will Jets find a trade partner in Arizona for the No. 3 pick? | Last year, the Jets traded up from No. 6 to No. 3 weeks before the draft. This year, the Jets hold the No. 3 pick, and their G.M. has made it clear that theyre willing to trade it. With all teams gathering in Arizona for the NFLs 2019 annual meeting, its the perfect place to wheel and to deal and to maybe get something done. Scroll to continue with content Ad But heres the thing that made the Jets move in 2018 risky, and that makes it harder to convince someone to pull the same trigger now. If a quarterback-needy team makes the climb to No. 3 a month before the draft, an engraved invitation to leapfrog the new No. 3 team will have been supplied to any/every other team that would like to draft one of the top quarterbacks. Last year, the Jets were reasonably confident that a top-flight quarterback would be available at No. 3, with the consolation prize being generational tailback Saquon Barkley. This year, its possible that Kyler Murray and Dwayne Haskins will be gone with the first two picks. Unless the team that would move to No. 3 will be happy to pivot to someone like Nick Bosa, the much safer play would be to make the move to No. 3 once picks No. 1 and No. 2 had been taken. That same reasoning applied last year to the Jets, but the thinking was that the Colts had other options (like the Bills) for a trade out of No. 3. This year, theres apparently no sense yet of multiple teams clamoring to get in position behind the Cardinals and 49ers at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. Timing wont matter to the Jets; the goal will be to get the best possible deal. And if waiting to see whos left after the first two picks is what it takes, then thats what the Jets will have to do. | https://sports.yahoo.com/jets-trade-partner-arizona-no-144654718.html?src=rss |
Why Is The ATF Making Secret Rules For The Firearms Industry? | Federal rulemaking should be open and transparent . This outcome is supposedly ensured by the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946 (APA). Across federal agencies, the rules should be the same for everyone. They should be open for public comment while still in draft form and publicly available once finalized. Moreover, every industry and every individual should get the same answer to the same question. Anything less is not rulemaking: it is arbitrary government. As conservatives have anxiously pointed out for years, the rise of the administrative state has corrupted the rulemaking process. Enabled by an overly-deferential judiciary and a supine Congress have allowed agencies to move beyond drawing up rules to implement carefully written laws passed by Congress. Now, regulators take block grants of Congressional power to make their own laws as they see fit. This is incompatible with the continued existence of the United States as a constitutional republic. So conservatives rightly cheered when President Trump, in one of his first acts in office, issued a 2 for 1 executive order, requiring the federal government to cut two rules for every new rule it issued. They cheered again when former Attorney General Jeff Sessions reined in administrative rulemakers in the Department of Justice. His Nov. 16, 2017, memo prohibited them from using public guidance documents as a substitute for rule-making under the APA and required to work within the authority delegated by Congress. All of this was entirely for the good. But in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the ATF, it has gone entirely wrong. The Sessions memo was backed up in January 2018 by a new Department of Justice policy that prohibits the use of agency guidance documents in affirmative civil litigation in a manner that would convert such guidance into binding rules of conduct. The ATF understood these directives to mean that it had to stop issuing public, industry-wide guidance or opinionsthe very documents that could ensure uniform compliance in industry with existing regulations. When this author reached out to ATF for comment, the ATF stated that it was of course abiding by the former Attorney Generals memo, and that we do not interpret the law. As a result of its understanding, the ATF now operates almost exclusively by private letters. It has not published a ruling on firearms or explosives since July 2017, and its only notifications on proposed rule-making since December 2017 relate to the politically-charged (and politically-motivated) pursuit of bump stocks. This was not the outcome the Sessions memo envisaged. The memo makes it clear that not every agency action is required to undergo notice-and-comment rulemaking.... [A]gencies may use guidance and similar documents to educate regulated parties through plain-language restatements of existing legal requirements or provide non-binding advice on technical issues. The point of the memo was to prevent department rule-makers from using public guidance documents to evade the rulemaking process, not to stop them from issuing any public guidance at all. Education is not interpretation. The ATFs approach means that each industry member that asks a question about how to apply or interpret the rules gets its own private answer, an answer that none of its competitors knows about and which does not serve as a legal precedent. It means that no one in the industry has any certainty, not even the firm that asked the question in the first place, because the ATF can always change a decision it made in a private no-action letter later on. And it means that the ATF has almost complete discretion in how it regulates, because it is creating no precedents. According to Jared Febbroriello, a lawyer working with firearms and defense companies It is disconcerting that any agency that is tasked with interpreting the law might seek to restrict the publics ability to access their interpretations but given the potential for criminal prosecution and the heightened risk for the loss of life, liberty and property that is associated with firearms one would think that ATF would be embracing complete transparency. Sadly, they are not. At this years Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade Show, run by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, disquiet at the ATFs position had grown from last years unhappy rumble to a persistent buzz. And at the annual meeting of the F.A.I.R. Trade Group the industry group for firearms importers and exporters industry members expressed frustration over ATFs inability to issue public guidance. As attorney Johanna Reeves, executive director of the F.A.I.R. Trade Group put it to me, ATFs inability to issue public guidance documents is a significant regulatory challenge to the industry and our members in terms of compliance. In the Trump administration, this is bad enough. In an administration that actually wanted to hurt the firearms industry, the damage this approach could do is incalculable. It is arbitrary and unfair. It is also tailor-made for those wishing to create legal uncertainty and play political favorites. Incredibly, in the hands and the realm of the ATF, an effort to clamp down on the power of the administrative state has ended up making the administrative state more powerful than ever. There are excellent reasons not to want federal bureaucracies to circumvent the APA. But the alternative to preventing circumvention of the APA is not private letter rulings. It is law passed by Congress and administered by the federal government publicly, fairly, and in line with Congresss intent. Anyone who says that the firearms industry just hates the ATF because the ATF is reining in the cowboys by private letter is, frankly, ignorant. The firearms industry is already one of the most heavily-regulated in the United States. Anyone who works in this industry and doesnt follow the rules can get in big trouble very quickly. What the firearms industry wants is for ATF policies and interpretations to be open and transparent so as to promote an even playing field. Few in the firearms industry doubt that the Trump administration has been better for it than a Hillary Clinton administration would have been. But from its prohibition of bump stocks to its inaction on the Arms Trade Treaty to its private letter ATF, the administration is far from winning the industrys unconditional plaudits. And thats fine: governments shouldnt be on industrys side. Government shouldnt play favorites which is exactly what the ATF risks doing by ruling by private letter . | https://www.forbes.com/sites/tedbromund/2019/03/24/why-is-the-atf-making-secret-rules-for-the-firearms-industry/ |
Are Kofi Kingston And The New Day Already WWE Hall Of Famers? | Getty In a recent interview with Planeta Wrestling, Kofi Kingston talked about The New Day's Hall-of-Fame legitimacy. Kingston made it known, he believes the trio has already done enough to be enshrined in the promotion's Hall of Fame. Well, Im not trying to come across as a cocky comment or anything like that, but I think that were already were kind of already in there. From our accolades alone, I feel like were the longest reigning champions in all of WWE, I think weve been able to do some historic things in the ring, very entertaining segments weve been in there with The Rock, now weve been in there with Vince McMahon, weve had amazing matches with The Usos. I guess well see though, well take it one day at a time and kind of see what happens. If I was a betting man, I would put your money on the New Day being in the Hall of Fame someday. Quite honestly, it's rather ridiculous to suggest Kofi and The New Day aren't Hall of Famers. The trio has the record for longest reign as tag-team champions. That accomplishment in itself should get them in considering some of the past performers who have already been enshrined. With all due respect to the Bushwhackers, The Briscoe, The Wild Samoans, and The Blackjacks, but if those teams are a part of the WWE/F Hall of Fame, Kofi, Big E and Xavier Woods should ride in on a magic pancake. In just five years, the trio has already won the tag-team titles five times while captivating professional wrestling audiences with their colorful personalities. Most recently, we've seen them switch gears to a more serious side as the WWE loosely references its longstanding race issue within a storyline. The mic work that has been done by Kofi, Big E and Xavier Woods during this time is proof of their versatility. It only augments their open-and-shut case for Hall-of-Fame induction. We're in the era of double HOF inductions. Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels have been inducted twice and a few others are on pace for the same dual honors because of their involvement with multiple angles. Separate from what he's done with The New Day, Kingston has put together a HOF career as a singles performer and with other tag-teams. Take a look at these accomplishments: 4-Time WWE Intercontinental Champion 3-Time WWE United States Champion 4-Time WWE (Raw) Tag Team Champion with Evan Bourne (1), R-Truth (1), Big E and Xavier Woods (2) Evan Bourne (1), R-Truth (1), Big E and Xavier Woods (2) 3-Time WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champion with Big E and Xavier Woods Big E and Xavier Woods World Tag Team Champion with CM Punk Factor in the less tangible accomplishments such as memorable Royal Rumble moments and classic matches, and you have something truly special. It's difficult to find a past performer with a similar resume, let alone one who isn't in the Hall of Fame. Kingston should not only be inducted as a part of The New Day, but he should also get a second ring for his accomplishments prior to 2014. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianmazique/2019/03/24/are-kofi-kingston-and-the-new-day-already-wwe-hall-of-famers/ |
Who wouldn't want to hang out with Samuel L. Jackson? | "He spends a lot of time trying to figure out how he can make ... a character different, while still sort of having the Sam Jackson persona," Steve Kroft says about the actor Samuel L. Jackson, whom he profiles this week on 60 Minutes. One place Jackson finds inspiration for his myriad of often intense, raw, commanding movie characters is at his favorite comic book store, where the owners keep a bin of new comic books for Jackson to review. "He's a big reader of comic books. It's just a constant source of ideas for him," Kroft tells 60 Minutes Overtime's Ann Silvio. "[Comic books] give me great ideas for interesting character quirks that I want to have in a movie," Jackson tells Kroft. The one and only Star Wars purple light saber Below is a transcript of Overtime's story: "Who wouldn't want to hang out with Samuel L. Jackson?" STEVE KROFT: Right. ANN SILVIO: Your interview lets us all do that. STEVE KROFT: Oh, that's good. CAMERA CREW: OK. We're rolling. STEVE KROFT: Ok. SAMUEL L. JACKSON: You got like eight pages of stuff. STEVE KROFT: I know, man. SAMUEL L. JACKSON: I am not that interesting STEVE KROFT: He's very funny, shrewd, and he's also a great, he's really a great actor, which he doesn't always get credit for. ANN SILVIO: Sometimes he's the best part of sort of a bad movie. STEVE KROFT: Quite often he's the best part of a bad movie. SAMUEL L. JACKSON: I've been in movies where I know that I did things that woulda made the movie better, and they didn't make it to the movie. One of the first movies I was in in Hollywood, and I remember, first day I got there, was the first scene I did on that movie and when I finished doing that scene, everybody on set was crying. Everybody's like, "Oh my God." It was like, "Nailed it." And I get there to watch the movie, and it's gone. And it's like ANN SILVIO: In your interviews we see all of his performer's tools on display. ANN SILVIO: his facial expressions. STEVE KROFT: His eyes. ANN SILVIO: His eyes. STEVE KROFT: He's really a performer. He's an entertainer. Which makes him ANN SILVIO: Just innately. STEVE KROFT: Yes, innately. And he spends a lot of time trying to figure out how he can make such and such a character different, while still sort of having the you know, the Sam Jackson persona. CAMERA CREW: This is Samuel Jackson at comic book store, take one. SAMUEL L. JACKSON: Comic books have changed a bit since the day. STEVE KROFT He's a big reader of comic books. It's just a constant source of ideas for him. SAMUEL L. JACKSON: Mom and Pop store. Really nice people. Hey, man, good to see ya. SAMUEL L. JACKSON: No, I did not. And they give me great ideas for interesting character quirks that I want to have in a movie. STEVE KROFT: Give me an example. SAMUEL L. JACKSON: There's this one series called 100 Bullets. And it's, you know, there's some interesting criminal guys in there that have interesting traits. And I think one of them had a lisp in one of the things. So I stole that for Kingsman. FILM: KINGSMAN: I have trouble understanding you people sometimes. You all talk so funny. ANN SILVIO: He talked about playing a bad guy and making bad guys likeable. SAMUEL L. JACKSON: Bad guys don't wake up thinking they're bad guys. So you try and keep people as human as you possibly can keep them like Jules in Pulp Fiction. Yeah, he's a killer, but when you first meet those two guys, you don't really know they're killers. Vincent: A Big Mac is a Big Mac, but they call it Le Big Mac. Jules: Le Big Mac SAMUEL L. JACKSON: They're just ordinary humans that do ordinary human things until you incite them. FILM: PULP FICTION: Guy: We got into this thing with the best intentions, really. I never [gunshot] Jules: Oh, I'm sorry did I break your concentration. I didn't mean to do that. Please continue. SAMUEL L. JACKSON: I always think that my facility for language comes from a lot of different things. You know, 1) I read a lot. And 2) when I was very small, we didn't have television. So my grandfather and I listened to radio drama on the radio. So I learned to hear stories and how to make the words kind of flow and roll over each other, and do stuff. It was always fun. And my grandfather would make me tell him stories. He would, like, tell me stories. And then he'd make me tell him a story. STEVE KROFT: I think that, he says that the one thing he tries to do is always figure out what the audience wants, what they want to see. He's interested in continuity and not doing anything that the audience is not gonna buy. ANN SILVIO: Right, because it will take them out of the story. STEVE KROFT: Yeah. SAMUEL L. JACKSON: So when sometimes a director asks me to do something stupid, I'll go, "Well, I'm not gonna do that, because there's somebody in the audience that's gonna sit there and go, that's stupid." You know, it's like somebody asked me one day "Don't stop and pick up that guy's gun. Just keep going." You know, 'cause I killed him, and I'm like, "Well, I got a revolver. That's an automatic weapon. So I'm in a gun fight." STEVE KROFT: You need an upgrade. SAMUEL L. JACKSON: I need an upgrade. So I'm sorry, I'm just not gonna leave a good weapon laying around on the floor so an audience person can go STEVE KROFT: Control it, you want to control it. SAMUEL L. JACKSON: I want it to make sense. STEVE KROFT: We're good. The video above was produced by Ann Silvio and Lisa Orlando. It was edited by Lisa Orlando. | https://www.cbsnews.com/news/who-wouldnt-want-to-hang-out-with-samuel-l-jackson-60-minutes/ |
Is Canada flirting with the dreaded R-word? | Probably not. Granted, stellar economists like David Rosenberg warn that Canada is awfully close to tipping into recession, and while Rosenberg is something of a perma-bear, his bearish forecasts have more often than not been proven right. Minister of Finance Bill Morneau says the country is not in a recession, nor is it headed that way. ( Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS ) Granted also that its part of Morneaus job as federal finance minister to talk up the economy and to concede that a recession looms or is upon us only when that fact is starkly evident. Asked after delivering his budget last week about those who fear a recession, Morneau said: They would be incorrect. That would be technically wrong and certainly not in line with our expectations. What Morneau didnt allow is that negative GDP growth is a distinct possibility in the second quarter. GDP growth in recent months, dating from late last year, has been miserably low, dipping at times to 0.1 per cent. That sure looks like an economy flirting with recession. Article Continued Below But the federal finance ministry, the Bank of Canada and the consensus of economic forecasters believe that GDP will pick up considerably in the second half enough, perhaps, to justify Morneaus projection of 1.8 per cent GDP growth for the year as a whole. What that means for investors, notably those betting on the loonie, is that GDP growth in the second half of 2019 might actually be stronger than 1.8 per cent, itself a decent performance in a world of volatile factors such as trade wars, global political instability and uncertainly in the oil markets, to make up for a weak first half of the year. SNC-Lavalin is overplaying its hand In a round of media appearances last week, Neil Bruce, CEO of SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., the Montreal-based engineering and construction giant, suggested that the jobs of his 9,000 Canadian employees are in jeopardy. That his firm is threatened with foreign takeover. And that SNC-Lavalin might have to relocate offshore. Those grim spectres arise from SNC-Lavalins inability to obtain an out-of-court settlement on charges of alleged fraud and bribery dating back several years. If a criminal trial of the firm ended in a conviction, SNC-Lavalin would be disqualified from billions of dollars in federal contracts. As it happens, SNC-Lavalin failed to fess up to unethical conduct at the firm, a requirement of companies seeking a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) in the countries that offer them. The firms talented Canadian employees would be snapped up by rival firms if the company hit the wall. And SNC-Lavalin wont leave Montreal. Quebec has said it will buy the firm if it is threatened by foreign takeover, with a big assist from the Caisse de dpt et placement du Qubec, one of the worlds biggest sovereign wealth funds. Article Continued Below Bruce reports that his 9,000 Canadian employees are bitter. Were not sure on that, since Bruce might not have spoken with all of them. Though he insists he is now wholly occupied with preparing for a criminal trial, Bruce in fact is still seeking his elusive out-of-court settlement. Its a certainty that the more he traffics in threats the less likely he is to obtain one. Rescuing Canadas free press Watch for significant changes in the detailed plan for assisting Canadas troubled news industry unveiled in last weeks federal budget. While in the main laudable, the plan burdens Canadian taxpayers with the entire $595 million cost of the assistance it provides, rather than imposing a tax on Facebook, Google and the other digital platforms that have hoovered up most of the ad revenue that for generations subsidized traditional private-sector news gathering. The European Union is contemplating the breakup of the Facebook-Google duopoly and taxing their successor firms to support the traditional news outlets the digital juggernauts have starved of revenue. As well, private broadcasters are disqualified from the biggest part of Ottawas plan, a 25 per cent tax credit to subsidize the cost of a media groups news-gathering personnel. If private-sector broadcasters can raise their game with more investigative reporting, for instance these primary sources of news for millions of Canadians should also qualify for assistance. The initiative as it stands also disqualifies publications focused on sports, arts and other topic areas of great interest to audiences and an indelible part of Canadian culture. It will be devilishly hard to decide who qualifies for assistance here, given that most mainstream news organizations, of necessity in satisfying their audiences, provide substantial amounts of content in those fields. Finally, a proposed tax credit for buyers of digital subscriptions to news publications is useless to low-income Canadians who dont pay taxes and is therefore regressive. (Youll find those readers at your local library, whose paid digital subscriptions are funded by ratepayers, not Facebook and Google.) And so, Ottawas welcome interest in restoring the strength of Canadian journalism remains a work in progress. David Olive is a business columnist based in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @TheGrtRecession Read more about: | https://www.thestar.com/business/opinion/2019/03/24/is-canada-flirting-with-the-dreaded-r-word.html |
Will legalized sports betting curtail corruption or encourage it? | Yes, our March Madness brackets are already a mess, too. But here's one safe prediction for the 2019 NCAA Basketball Tournament that tipped off this week: it will feature more wagering than ever before. That's because last year the Supreme Court overturned a federal law and ruled that it is up to the states to decide whether they want to legalize sports gambling. New Jersey led the way, many more followed and more are planning to soon. This shift will bring a windfall to bookmakers, sports leagues, and states' tax revenues. This is the first year of widely legalized sports gambling, but 2019 also marks another milestone: the 100-year anniversary of the Chicago Black Sox scandal, when a team in the clutches of gambling mobsters threw the World Series. It's a reminder that, you might say, there's no such thing as a free hunch. Thursday's opening day of March Madness provided a feast for college basketball fans: 16 games in one day and another 16 on tap the next, super-teams, Cinderellas, and nail-biting finishes. But for all the familiar trappings, this year brought a new wrinkle. On Thursday, gamblers thronged FanDuel's New Jersey sportsbook - think of a sports bar where you can bet on anything. People also put money down on total points scored, which highly seeded team will lose soonest, even whether a team with a tiger mascot will make the Final Four. Some wagers were made with a clerk at a betting window. More were made on mobile phone apps, with just a tap and a swipe. And some of those bets were made on games as they were being played. "There's people that will do what they need to do to make a buck at the expense of an 18 or 19-year-old kid." It's estimated that March Madness generated $10 billion in gambling last year yes, ten billion virtually all of it through illegal bookies or offshore websites. Jon Wertheim: You have an event like the NCAA tournament, one of the most wagered-upon sports events of the year. You gotta think more money is gonna be wagered this year than ever before. Ryan Rodenberg: The amount that we can measure will certainly be, be much larger. Ryan Rodenberg Ryan Rodenberg is a law professor at Florida State with a specialty in sports gambling. Jon Wertheim: Make like a bookmaker. Set a line. Ryan Rodenberg: By the end of the year, there'll be 15 states that have some form of sports betting and probably a dozen more that have passed a law but just haven't put it into effect yet. Jon Wertheim: So by 2020, more than half the states'll have some form of legalized sports gambling. Ryan Rodenberg: Yes. And as legalized gambling spreads across the country, Rodenberg says unpaid college athletes are ripe targets for unscrupulous bettors. Ryan Rodenberg: The typical-- situation in terms of bribing someone to-- to shave some points, you just don't see that at that-- the-- the high level, professional level. But the one area where you do see it, and there's countless examples is in college sports, par-- particularly college basketball. Mike Hamrick: There's people that will do what they need to do to make a buck at the expense of an 18 or 19-year-old kid. Mike Hamrick Mike Hamrick is athletic director at Marshall University in West Virginia, one of the first states to legalize sports gambling after the Supreme Court ruling. Jon Wertheim: You can give your athletes tuition, scholarship, room and board, but you can't pay 'em. Mike Hamrick: It's very tempting. It's very tempting. Jon Wertheim: It's not like gambling on sports hasn't existed before. Mike Hamrick: It's right in front of my face, Jon. It's legal. Hamrick made it clear that his worry is far from isolated. Mike Hamrick: And most athletic directors that I've spoken with feel the same way. It's like, "oh no, it's here. What do I do?" Before coming to Marshall, Hamrick was athletic director at UNLV, the University of Nevada Las Vegas. At the time, the one place in America where sports gambling was legal. Right after he took the job there, Hamrick went to a home basketball game. UNLV was winning by what he thought was a comfortable margin. Mike Hamrick: And the game was almost over. One of our players had a wide-open layup and didn't take it. And the game's over and the fans booed. Mike Hamrick: The fans booed. And my wife looked at me and said, "This is really gonna be a difficult job. We beat this team as bad as we did and the fans want us to beat 'em worse." And I said, "I don't know." And the guy beside me, who was with me at the game, said, "That's not why the fans are unhappy. They're unhappy that if this young man would have made that layup, UNLV would have covered the point spread." So right then, I said to myself, "This is something we gotta keep an eye on." By now, he's had to build an entire infrastructure, adding staff to monitor and protect his athletes. Mike Hamrick: They can be compromised. Our job is to make sure they're not compromised. Mike Hamrick: Ya educate 'em. You see a key player on your team driving a brand new car, you gotta find out where that car came from. It isn't just gamblers trying to pay off players that Hamrick worries about; it's also gamblers seeking insider tipoffs from players and staff, particularly about injuries. Jon Wertheim: That seems like a big challenge to keep those people from your players. Mike Hamrick: Absolutely. And that little bit of information could make a big difference. I met with all our medical staff and absolutely no information is out there on injury, period. You don't tell your-- your wives, you don't tell your brother-in-laws, you don't tell anybody. But talk of injuries and their impact on betting lines is still everywhere. You can't follow sports these days without hearing about picks and odds. And who's fit to play and who is not. It hasn't happened overnight, but gambling, long seen as a vice best kept at arm's length, is now embraced in popular culture. Ryan Rodenberg, the law professor, stresses that this is a huge shift from the days when every network and every sports league wanted nothing to do with sports gambling. Jon Wertheim: For decades it was, "This could corrupt our product, this is gonna pollute competition, and we can't have this." Ryan Rodenberg: Exactly. And that was the consistent message that-- that they said both in court and on Capitol Hill. That they needed to keep sports betting illegal. But as soon as the Supreme Court freed states to legalize sports betting last May, the pro leagues immediately reversed course. In sports terms, they transitioned from defense to offense. Within months of the ruling, the NBA, Major League Baseball, and the National Hockey League all made deals with MGM, and the NFL partnered up with Caesars Palace. Joe Asher: It's amazing how quickly the landscape-- has shifted. Joe Asher Joe Asher is the U.S. CEO of William Hill, a British-based company that runs the biggest sports gambling operation in Nevada, and aspires to do the same in every state that legalizes. Joe Asher: It was about 15 years ago when the city of Las Vegas wanted to buy advertising on the Super Bowl. And that commercial was turned down. So to go from that to having the Oakland Raiders moving to Las Vegas in a stadium that's right behind Mandalay Bay is just a stunning shift. No surprise: it's a shift driven by dollars. Recent research by the American Gaming Association found that, perhaps contrary to stereotype, today's sports gamblers tend to be younger, and wealthier and better educated than the population at large. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was one of the first leaders in mainstream sports to see the economic opportunity. Adam Silver: The data is clear-- that if somebody has a bet on a game, even a small bet, they're much more likely to engage in that match. They're much more likely to watch it. They're more likely to watch it for more minutes. They're more likely to be interested in the participants and to follow the sport. So there's no doubt there's a business component to this. A huge part of that business will be what's called in-play wagering, hundreds of options to bet during games. Adam Silver: When you and I were kids, people bet an hour before the game or whenever and then waited for many hours for the game to be over. Now, people are betting constantly throughout a sports match. They're betting on quarter scores. They're betting on the-- the amount of points a particular player will have in a quarter. In some cases, they're betting on free throws. Look to professional soccer in Great Britain and Europe, where in-play betting has been stitched into the fabric of that culture for years. Ryan Rodenberg: Over there, the in-game, real-time betting, which is all technology enhanced, that's what the big deal is. Joe Asher: In Europe, it's about 50 percent. And-- and here, clearly it's growing rapidly and I think it'll continue to grow. And in this brave new betting world, Adam Silver claims that legal gambling is much more likely to be on the up-and-up than the old way with the neighborhood bookie. Jon Wertheim: Make your case. Adam Silver: I think it decreases risk dramatically because we have access to the betting information. I think when you have an underground business operating in the shadows, you have no idea what people are betting on your own events. Ryan Rodenberg: Because of technology, you can essentially get a fingerprint for every bet that's placed. You can detect unusual and unnatural line movements, bets. Jon Wertheim: That technology can facilitate betting, but it can also facilitate detection. Ryan Rodenberg: Absolutely. Jon Wertheim: The proponents of legalized gambling say, "Listen, moving this into the sunlight is gonna decrease risk, not increase it." Mike Hamrick: I don't buy that. No. Mike Hamrick: It's gambling. It can be handled to a certain extent. But nobody can sit here and tell you-- that they can deal with this and be 100% clean. Can't-- they can't. That's at least partly because technology makes gambling much more accessible to many more people. In states where mobile betting is allowed, up to three quarters of all wagers are now made on phones. Just download an app, which by the way can detect whether you're within state lines, and start betting. Jon Wertheim: So you're even sitting in the crowd at a Marshall basketball game. Mike Hamrick: Absolutely. And the fact that people will bet on every detail of every game presents Mike Hamrick with one more reason to worry about how gamblers could corrupt college athletics. Mike Hamrick: If you were an 18, 19-year-old person from a difficult background and you didn't have a lot and someone put their arm around you and said "Hey, you know, don't want Marshall to lose tonight, but, you know, if it gets late in the game and it's two touchdowns, you miss a tackle. Drop a pass, fumble." That can happen. Jon Wertheim: That must scare the hell out of you. Mike Hamrick: It does. It does. It scares Hamrick enough that he's giving the names of every one of his players and employees to every West Virginia casino and gambling operator, to ensure that his people abide by the NCAA rules prohibiting any sports betting. Hamrick also regularly invites FBI agents to come to campus and speak to his athletes. Mike Hamrick: They have to understand that if they get tied up with the wrong people, there are bad things that can happen. Mike Hamrick: Well, I, - I don't want to sit here and tell you we're gonna try to scare our student athletes into not gambling, but we are. Produced by Rome Hartman and Sara Kuzmarov | https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ncaa-march-madness-betting-will-legalized-sports-betting-curtail-corruption-or-encourage-it-60-minutes/ |
Is the Samsung Galaxy S10 worth the $2600 price tag? | The Samsung Galaxy S10+ with 128-gigabyte storage is expensive, but you can spend even more if you get a 512 GB model ($2099) and the one terabyte variant sets you back $2599. With Apple's iPhone Xs Max uhh, maxes out at $2799 for 512 GB storage which can't be expanded like the Galaxy phones that can add another 512 GB with microSD memory cards. If you want to spend more than that, Samsung's got you covered with the Fold that's not available yet in New Zealand, and which will go for US$1980 or NZ$2895 which will no doubt become a figure closer to four grand after GST and other costs are added. Then there's not yet available Galaxy S10+ 5G that works with the latest and greatest cellular technology, adds a bigger screen and time-of-flight cameras front and back for 3D depth sensing. Advertisement It'll cost more than S10+ because of the added features and it's a little odd to think that the pricey phone I have isn't close to being top of the range. Nevertheless, the S10+ is every millimetre a premium smartphone that's very nicely put together. There's Gorilla Glass 6 for the front, and Gorilla Glass 5 for the back, which on my device was had a prismatic white finish, achieved with nano-film. Maybe a bit over the top, but it does look very stylish. Samsung's stubbornly clinging onto the 3.5mm phone jack, instead of outputting audio via the USB-C jack or Bluetooth only. Dolby Atmos support means you get good sound from the S10+ without earphones, but a pair of wireless Galaxy Buds (bundled with the preorder of the phone currently) are probably worth getting for music, movies and gaming enjoyment. Fire up the S10+ and you'll see a stunning curved dynamic Infinity-O AMOLED display that measures 6.4-inches diagonally, and can be set to a very high 3044 x by 1440 pixel resolution. By default though, the S10+ display runs at a lower 2280 by 1080 resolution, and in both cases you get a 19:9 ratio. The display covers most of the phone and is HDR10+ certified with fantastic colours and two million to one contrast ratio. Also, it emits 40 per cent less nasty blue light (yeay!). Samsung's put an ultrasonic fingerprint reader into the display so there's no bezel at the bottom of the device (or a scanner at the back, thank goodness). It works pretty well, and I switched to using only fingerprint biometrics as Samsung's facial recognition unlocking isn't as secure as Apple's variant and doesn't work very well in the dark. The new layout places emphasis on voice command. Photo/Juha Saarinen. There's no notch to squeeze in scanners and sensors on the S10+, but the twin front cameras have a little hole cut for them in the screen. Either way, the cut-out isn't too noticeable in my opinion. Faster tech that you can't use yet We get the Exynos 9 chipset and not the Qualcomm 855 one because of the modems in them not being suitable for NZ. There's either 8GB of RAM for the 128GB and 512GB storage models, or 12 GB of RAM with the 1TB device. Every year phone makers cram more powerful chips into their devices, and the 64-bit Exynos has eight cores, two of which that can run as fast as 2730 MHz. Another two run at up to 2314 MHz, and a further four cores top out at 1950 MHz. They drop the speed to as low as 442 to 507 MHz and turbo up and down to save battery and keep cool. That got a bit geeky sorry, but all those megahertzy cores mean the S10+ is rather quick as Geekbench 4 and other benchmarks showed. Apple's Xs Max A12 Bionic is still a bit ahead overall, and quite a bit in graphics, but Samsung's new system memory is really super fast. It's not quite an apples for apples comparison, but processor in the S10+ is around 10 per cent faster than the 3.1 GHz Core i5 part in my 13-inch MacBook Pro on most tasks. In practice it means that the S10+ never runs out of breath with any application, be it games, augmented/virtual reality, browsing, taking photos and videos. Then again, nor does its predecessor, the S9. Battery life in my relatively short period of time testing the S10+ has been rather good. The power management which Samsung says uses artificial intelligence to learn which bits of the device you use and switch off the rest works well; even with heavy use, the S10+ lasted well over a day before the 4.1 Ampere-hour battery needed a top up. Charging is quick through the USB-C port. I didn't get a Wireless Duo Charger pad, which can handle a phone and a digital watch at the same time. You might not need a pad though, as the S10+ has a Qi-standard Wireless Powershare feature that means you can charge a watch or another phone by placing it on the back of the device. Except it doesn't work quite right yet. I plugged in the S10+ with USB-C for fast charging, and plonked an iPhone Xs Max on top of it, but the Samsung device overheated and turned off Wireless Powershare. The phone overheated during the trial. Photo/Juha Saarinen. This despite a fancy vapour cooling system on the S10+. Here's hoping Samsung fixes that heat-gremlin soon. The new Wifi 6 wireless networking standard is supported, ditto Category 20 Long Term Evolution cellular broadband. Wifi 6 access points are starting to appear and they promise a theoretical speed of 9.6 gigabit/s but I've yet to lay my hands on one. Cat 20 LTE is unlikely to arrive at NZ telcos anytime soon, but yes, 2 Gbps downloads and 150 Mbps uploads give the S10+ speed bragging rights. Android 9 and new user interface The powerful hardware runs latest Google's Android 9 operating system with Samsung user interface tweaks, a generally pleasant experience. Samsung's additions like the edge panel for shortcuts are toned-down and useful, and you can tame the UI even more by turning off animations in the settings. Bixby the personal digital assistant is there too and still has its own button on the S10+, and routines that learn what you do during the day and automatically creates multi-stage tasks. You can edit the routines and create your own ones as well, similar to Siri shortcuts on iOS. I'm not a fan of having both a Google and a Samsung account for apps, storage and other features though. However, the Samsung account can be associated with your Google one though, so it's less of an annoyance than in the past. Count the cameras A premium smartphone has to have multiple cameras in 2019, and the S10+ does not disappoint with its five imagers. There are two selfie cams at the front: one 8 megapixel unit for depth sensing for augmented reality, filters and "fauxkeh" (bokeh) computer-generated background blur, and a normal 10 megapixel resolution shooter for photos. Samsung's new phone could set you back as much as $2600. Photo/Juha Saarinen. The three at the back are: one fixed-focus ultra-wide angle with 16 Mpixel sensor, and wide-angle and a telephoto camera with 12 Mpixel resolution (there's a flash and heartrate sensor too). Of these, the middle wide-angle unit is the most feature-packed with dual-pixel phase-detection autofocus and a variable f/1.5-2.4 aperture that was introduced with the S9+. In terms of viewing angles, the three cameras provide 123, 77 and 45 degrees respectively, and the S10+ manages 0.5 and 2 times optical zoom, and a 10 times digital zoom. The two longer cameras have optical image stabilisation. Here are some samples to show how the three cameras plus maximum digital zoom work. Fairly good, although the colour changes in the images when you switch from the ultrawide camera to the others bothers me. A photo taken with Samsung's new smartphone. Photo/Juha Saarinen. The camera system has masses of features: high dynamic range, tracking autofocus, super and "normal" slow motion, time-lapse, panorama, pro mode with manual exposure settings, and my favourite, the live focus that lets you adjust and apply different types of background blur. And filters! Lots of filters. You can shoot 4K high definition video at up to 60 frames per second for smoother action. If you want all the video features, including the useful digital stabilisation and tracking autofocus, the highest you can go is 1920 by 1080 pixels and 30 frames per second. Samsung's timing of the S10+ release is a bit odd, given that it'll face competition from the company's two even higher end devices soon. Maybe three even, if Samsung drops a new Note 10 on the market. The cost of the S10+ is steep too, and there are indications that people's price pain threshold was reached last year. Customers are holding onto older but still very capable devices instead of buying new ones, or casting side-eyes at cheaper but feature-rich Chinese brands. Ignoring all that, if you're thinking about upgrading the Samsung Galaxy S10+ delivers on all fronts as a premium Android device. | https://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=12216012&ref=rss |
Could an ancient Greek have predicted a US-China conflict? | Image copyright Getty Images Not so long ago, China's rise was seen as essentially benign. A growing economy, it was thought, would go hand-in-hand with a liberalising political system. China was, to use the phrase favoured by US experts, becoming a responsible global stakeholder. But today China is increasingly viewed as a threat. Indeed, many fear that rivalry between China and the US could ultimately even lead to war, a conflict with global ramifications. In America, a new model is being proposed, one that harks back to the ancient world and the work of Thucydides, the historian of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta. Prof Graham Allison, of Harvard University's Belfer Center, is one of the US's leading scholars of international relations. - has become required reading for many policymakers, academics and journalists. Thucydides's trap, he told me, is the dangerous dynamic that occurs when a rising power threatens to displace an established power. In the ancient Greek world, it was Athens that threatened Sparta. In the late 19th Century, Germany challenged Britain. Today a rising China is potentially challenging the United States. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Harvard professor Graham Allison's book has popularised the Thucydides trap Having reviewed 500 years of history, Prof Allison has identified 16 examples of rising powers confronting an established power: 12 of those led to war. The rivalry between Washington and Beijing is, he says, "the defining feature of international relations today and for as far as any eye can see". So asking if the US and China can avoid Thucydides's trap is no mere academic question. The trap has fast become a major analytical prism through which to view the competition between Washington and Beijing. Of course, not everyone agrees. Prof Hu Bo for example, of Peking University's Institute of Ocean Research and one of China's foremost naval strategists, told me: "I think the balance of power doesn't support the Thucydides hypothesis." Although China's rise is remarkable, he believes its overall strength is simply not comparable with that of the US. It is only in the Western Pacific, he says, where China stands a chance of matching US capabilities. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The Peloponnesian War was a 27-year conflict between Athens and Sparta But a confrontation there might just be enough to tip these two great powers into war. Not least because China is pursuing the world's largest comprehensive naval build-up. "That's not just impressive today," says Andrew Erickson, a professor of strategy at the US Naval War College and one of the leading experts on the Chinese Navy, "that's impressive in world historical terms." Its quality is also improving significantly, with larger, more sophisticated warships whose capabilities are, in many respects, getting closer to those of comparable Western vessels. China's maritime strategy is also becoming more assertive. Image copyright Reuters Image caption The Chinese Navy is becoming bigger, stronger and more sophisticated Though the focus of this assertiveness remains, for now, relatively close to Chinese territory, Beijing is trying to raise the costs of possible US interference in a crisis. It wants to be able to keep the United States at bay if, for example, China decided to use force against Taiwan. And the US is determined to maintain access. But growing Sino-US tensions are also a product of personalities. Chinese President Xi Jinping brings a sense of history, even of destiny, to the rivalry with Washington. Elizabeth Economy, director of Asia Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, told me that Mr Xi has been a transformative leader with "a much more expansive and ambitious sense of China's place on the global stage". She argues that the most underappreciated element of Mr Xi's ambition is "his effort to reshape norms and institutions on the global stage in ways that more closely reflect Chinese values and priorities". Image copyright Elizabeth Economy Image caption Elizabeth Economy thinks China's President Xi Jinping has an "ambitious sense" of China's global destiny The US is also shifting its position. Washington has branded China, along with Russia, a revisionist power. The US military now regards China as a near-peer competitor, the benchmark against which key air and naval capabilities must be measured. But while there is a new mood in Washington, it is still very much early days in terms of setting out a new strategy towards Beijing. Some have spoken of the possibility of a second Cold War, this time between the US and China. However, unlike the 20th Century Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union, the American and Chinese economies are deeply interlinked. This gives their rivalry a new dimension: a battle for technological dominance. The giant Chinese telecommunications company Huawei is at the eye of the storm. The US is refusing to allow the company's technology to be used for key future communications networks, and is pressuring its allies to impose a similar ban. Washington's battle with Huawei exemplifies broader concerns about China's high-tech sector over the theft of intellectual property, illicit sales to Iran and espionage. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption China's President Xi Jinping has overseen a huge expansion of China's military capabilities Underlying all this is a fear that China may soon dominate key technologies on which future prosperity will depend. Economics and grand strategy are inextricably bound up in this debate, with China intent on becoming the dominant global player within the next decade. This of course will depend upon China continuing to rise. There are signs that its economy may be faltering as it clings to its authoritarian model and rejects further market reforms. Some argue that Mr Xi might rein in his ambitions. Others fear his domestic legitimacy could be hit, encouraging him to ratchet up nationalism, leading potentially to even greater assertiveness. The rivalry between China and the United States is real and is not going away. Strategic miscalculation is a clear danger, not least because of the absence of any rule book to help to manage tensions between them. The two countries are at a strategic crossroads. Either they will find ways to accommodate each other's concerns, or they will move towards a much more confrontational relationship. This brings us back to Thucydides's trap. But Mr Allison emphasises that nothing here is fated. War between the US and China is not inevitable. His book, he told me, is about diplomacy, not destiny. on BBC Radio 4 at 20:30 GMT on Monday 25 March and available afterwards via BBC Sounds. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-47613416 |
Is Lakers G Lonzo Ball leaving Big Baller Brand for Nike? | (AP) On Friday, ESPN dropped a Ball family bombshell with a report that Lonzo Ball had parted ways with a former confidant who was a co-owner and the inspiration behind Big Baller Brand. The breakup is centered around $1.5 million in funds allegedly missing from the company account that Balls advisers have pinned on Alan Foster, who was a 16.3 percent owner of Big Baller Brand. Scroll to continue with content Ad Lonzo just cut ties with Big Baller Brand partner [Foster] used his access to my business and personal finances to enrich himself, Ball told ESPN. As a result, I have decided to sever all ties with Alan, effective immediately." Foster has a criminal history that includes a seven-year prison sentence in 2002 for defrauding 70 investors of $4 million. Foster pleaded guilty in that case to one count of mail fraud and two counts of money laundering, according to documents obtained by ESPN. On Saturday, Ball posted this on Instagram, fueling speculation that Ball is leaving Big Baller Brand which he is the majority owner of for Nike. The focus of the post is on Balls dream of having his jersey hung among Los Angeles Lakers greats in the rafters of the Staples Center. But there are certainly undercurrents there that allude to a potential change of apparel. The Nike swoosh on Balls Lakers jersey in the image is prominently placed next to the caption reading, Its only a crazy dream until you do it, a Nike slogan. The text below the photo reads, Moving on to bigger and better #MyOwnMan. Story continues If thats not an allusion to putting an end to the Big Baller Brand for Nike while separating his decisions from those of his father LaVar Ball, then it certainly seems like one. Ball noted in the ESPN report that it was he not his father who made the decision to cut ties with Foster. LaVar Ball, of course, has been the boisterous face of Big Baller Brand, pushing the shoe and apparel that has largely been a failure. The company was slow to deliver on the debut of its $495 ZO2 shoes. When they finally arrived, they werent the same product as advertised Consumer complaints prompted the Better Business Bureau to award Big Baller Brand a grade of F. LaVar Ball was also a driving force in allowing Foster into the family business, according to ESPN. BBB shoes cause of concern for Lakers The Lakers were concerned this season that Balls season-ending ankle injury could be partly attributed to wearing Big Baller Brand shoes, according to ESPN. From the report: "Yeah, they talked to me," Ball told ESPN. "They asked me about it, and I told 'em, 'I feel comfortable. If I wasn't comfortable, I wouldn't play in 'em. If I didn't play in [ BBB shoes], I'd play in Kobe [Bryant's signature Nike shoe]. I work out in [LeBron James' signature Nike shoe], but that's because they're heavier." So yeah. This all seems to add up to Ball pointing to a future with Nike. But as tends to be the case with omnipresent Ball family drama, nothing is clear-cut. More from Yahoo Sports: | https://sports.yahoo.com/is-lonzo-ball-dropping-hints-at-joining-nike-with-instagram-post-004848594.html?src=rss |
Could These "Super Corals" Withstand Climate Change? | Oregon State University | Wikimedia Commons A series of heat waves have caused massive bleaching events in coral reefs around the globe. During these bleaching events, stressed corals evict the tiny algae that live within them and provide them with food. Without the algae, the corals become malnourished and lose their coloration, which leaves them white in appearance. And, if the seawater does not cool quickly enough, the corals are unable to recover their algal inhabitants and eventually perish. Over the past three years, approximately half of all corals in Australia's Great Barrier Reef - which is considered the planet's largest continuous coral reef - have become bleached. In response to the alarming die-off, the Australian government has set aside $300 million (AUD) for protecting and restoring the Great Barrier Reef. One approach being considered to revive these coral reefs is breeding corals resistant to unusually warm seawater. This so-called 'assisted evolution' can potentially be achieved by manipulating the genetic make-up of the coral hosts, the algae inhabitants, and the community of microbes that exist on and within them. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration A team in Australia led by Dr. Madeline van Oppen, an ecological geneticist at the University of Melbourne's Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) has transplanted some of these heat-resistant corals into the Great Barrier Reef. Similarly, Florida's Mote Marine Lab has partnered with a start-up, Coral Vita, to restore corals around the Looe Key Sanctuary Preservation Area. Most corals in the wild are now living at the very top of their survival limit in terms of temperature, says van Oppen, But these corals are showing promise ... They have shown resilience in the lab so now we have placed them back on reef where their parents were originally collected to see how they survive in their natural environment. However, some scientists remain skeptical of these "super corals". Even if a laboratory-based solution is found, an area half the size of Texas would need to be transplanted with these super coral in the Great Barrier Reef alone. Additionally, a recent study shows that corals closer to the equator may be able to better tolerate warming seawater. Thus, further testing is necessary to determine the true potential and efficacy of the "super corals" . | https://www.forbes.com/sites/priyashukla/2019/03/24/could-these-super-corals-withstand-climate-change/ |
What time, TV channel is Oregons Sweet 16 matchup with Virginia? | The game time and television network are set for Oregons Sweet 16 matchup with Virginia in the NCAA Tournament. No. 12 seed Oregon (25-12) will top-seeded Virginia (31-3) at approximately 7 p.m. PT Thursday in Louisville, Ky. on TBS. Brian Anderson, Chris Webber and Allie LaForc will be on the call for the game, which will begin roughly 30 minutes after the conclusion of the earlier game between No. 3 seed Purdue and No. 2 seed Tennessee, which is set for 4:29 p.m. PT. The Ducks defeated Wisconsin and UC Irvine to reach their seventh Sweet 16. The Cavaliers defeated Gardner-Webb and Oklahoma in the first and second rounds, respectively. | https://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/2019/03/what-time-tv-channel-is-oregons-sweet-16-matchup-with-virginia.html |
Whats going on in Henderson? | Bizuayehu Tesfaye Las Vegas Review-Journal @bizutesfaye Theres something rotten in the state of Henderson. Ive lost track of how many Henderson police chiefs have been fired for one reason or another since I moved here in 1995. I feel sorry for the rank and file Henderson cops who do a great job under the crazy circumstances they work under. There is something wrong with a city administration that keeps coming up with chiefs who never seem to work out. The Review-Journal did a great job on the Chief LaTesha Watson story (March 15). I dont know which side I believe in this story, but I do know there is something really nefarious at the top. | https://www.reviewjournal.com/opinion/letters/whats-going-on-in-henderson-1625424/ |
What can Dallas learn from the Germans about civic engagement? | In a period of increased polarization in domestic politics, fragmentation of society and social inequity, efforts to adapt and grow to meet myriad challenges of the 21st century should begin at the local level. Germany and the United States face many of the same domestic challenges, and local communities in both countries can learn from each other's approaches to these issues. Most Americans and Germans enjoy an unprecedented standard of living. Nevertheless, many people in both countries believe something is wrong, regardless of income level. Many Germans and Americans feel left behind even though economic indices are generally positive in both countries. This impression is having a serious impact on our societies and cannot simply be reduced to economic angst. There is a sense that our social fabric is fraying, our social market-based economic systems are failing and our societies are changing so rapidly that people cannot keep pace. In both countries, one can observe greater distrust of institutions (including churches, the media, unions, political parties and government agencies), increased segregation of communities based on income levels, deeper divisions between ethnic groups, more polarization between urban and rural areas and less dialogue among people of differing political beliefs. This comes at a time when some are trapped in information echo chambers they have created themselves. Various trends contribute to this sense of anxiety about the future: 1. Global migration leads to demographic diversity and change. 2. Globalization creates more economic opportunities, but also greater inequality. 3. The internet gives people more choices about how to get information and which issues they want to follow. 4. A growing culture of autonomy deepens individual choice and self-determination versus a concern for society at large. Cities in both countries are finding local solutions. For example, last year, the Dallas City Council unanimously passed a resolution "to establish itself as a Welcoming City and accept a Strategic Welcoming Plan to guide the city's efforts in the economic inclusion and social integration of immigrants" for the next three years. In Cologne, a German city of similar size to Dallas, elected officials and community representatives established an "integration council" to enhance dialogue, develop strategies and find approaches to strengthen the cohesiveness of the community. To confront the challenges posed by economic globalization, a greater focus needs to be put on workforce development opportunities that provide the skills needed for 21st-century jobs. Germany's apprenticeship model, a collaborative approach among schools, unions and employers, provides highly skilled training to 50 percent of German youth. In Texas, companies such as Siemens are starting similar programs, and the Texas Workforce Commission provides funding to local educational institutions to support training through apprenticeship programs. In both countries, there is a recognition that the younger generation should be better informed about issues affecting their communities and more engaged in civic life for the benefit of society in general. The Texas Civic Ambassador program at the University of Texas at Austin successfully cultivates student leaders who work to combat apathy and encourage more young people to get involved in civic life in their communities. And in the German state of Baden-Wrttemberg, the Youth Moves program helps communities actively engage youth in their decision-making processes. These local approaches demonstrate how our civic culture can be revitalized, the social fabric strengthened, and today's economic realities more effectively addressed. They also show how much Germany and the United States can gain from exchanging ideas if we look to the future with common purpose, hope, and aspiration. Nina Smidt directs international strategic planning at ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius in Hamburg. Steven E. Sokol is president of the American Council on Germany. They wrote this column for The Dallas Morning News. They will both be in Dallas on March 25 for a free event titled "Social Disruption: How to Confront the Fraying Social Fabric and Social Inequality in Germany and the U.S.?" at the University of Texas at Dallas. | https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2019/03/25/can-dallas-learn-germans-civic-engagement |
Will enough ever be enough with the Trump, Russia investigation? | Nearly two years have passed since Robert Mueller was appointed, with broad latitude, to investigate possible coordination between Russian government officials and the campaign of President Donald Trump. The intervening time has seen very serious indictments and convictions of Trump campaign officials, as well as troubling clarity on the extensive Russian government effort to sow discord in American society through social media and to influence American politics through computer hacking. But Muellers findings, quoted directly in a report from Attorney General William Barr, show [T]he investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities. | https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2019/03/25/will-enough-ever-enough-trump-russia-investigation |
Has Tesco killed off its Hudl tablet? | If you try to restore it to factory settings, it will not restart and is, in effect, useless I want to warn Tesco Hudl tablet users that the retailer has withdrawn software support which means if you try to restore your tablet to factory settings, it will not restart and is, in effect, useless. The problem first emerged in January and, until now, Tesco has claimed to be working on a fix. But it has just announced via Twitter that Hudl 1 and the first edition Hudl 2 have reached the end of life. This means the update that has been put in place will not fix the issue youre seeing, were afraid. This is a potential disaster, and yet Tesco has said almost nothing formally. Hudl tablets have been really successful, and there is still a buoyant second-hand market as they are easy to use, fast and powerful. For Tesco to kill off the majority in a single blow, without any warning, is not right. Surely it should have made a public announcement before pulling the plug or advising Hudl 2 owners that, if they want to keep their tablets running, they must update to the Android 5.1 Lollipop version before a certain date. ALC, by email This could affect a lot of users the 119 tablet was a big seller between 2013 and 2015, as customers were offered a decent, cheaper alternative to the iPad. Your tablet will continue to work as normal as long as you do nothing so dont try to restore it to factory settings or update its operating system. Given that there could be as many as 500,000 still in use, it is surprising that Tesco had not formally said anything about this issue that has caused considerable anger among users. However, Tesco tells us that it has not switched off the Hudl servers. Newer versions of Hudl 2 devices can be fixed, and it is working on a solution for older models. Were aware of a technical issue affecting a number of Hudl users and apologise to customers for any inconvenience caused. We have already fixed the issue for the majority of those who have contacted us and are urgently working on resolving any outstanding queries. If yours has been bricked and you cant wait, the Amazon Fire tablets are a great, good-value alternative. We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at [email protected] or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to terms and conditions | https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/mar/25/tesco-hudl-tablet-support-kill-fix |
Did Last Night's Shocking Episode Of 'The Walking Dead' Play It Too Safe? | Last night's episode of The Walking Dead ended with a horrible, terrifying revelation. Spoilers follow. Credit: AMC Alpha and the Whisperers, as payback for Daryl and Henry taking Lydia from them, and out of spite toward Lydia herself, murdered ten of the good guys, taken from among the various communities. These victims then had their heads lopped off and set on spikes, but not so far onto the spikes that they stayed that way. Zombified heads muttered and groaned atop their skewers when Daryl and the others found them. But many viewers struggled to recognize some of these victims, and even the big names among them felt largely like secondary characters. To recap, here were the victims of Alpha's monstrous retribution: Ozzy Highwayman second-in-command DJ Frankie Tammy Rose Addy Rodney Tara Enid Henry Alpha gets her petty vengeance. Credit: AMC I think the most shocking of these was actually Henry, who had been built up as a major character ever since the time jump earlier this season, and in some ways as the main character of the back half of Season 9, ever since he met Lydia. I didn't even remember who Frankie was. The two Highwaymen showed promise as new characters, but they'd only been around for a minute or two before they were killed off. The two teenagers, Addy and Rodney, had only been vaguely established as members of Hilltop and "friends" of Henry. Of these side characters, only Tammy Rose had any real character development, but she was only introduced in Season 9, and up until her and her husband were given the baby, she mostly just complained about . . . everything. I guess there's a part of me that hates to say this, but neither character really did much for the past few seasons. Enid was starting to become something more than just . . . a girl with a strange name, taking on the role of doctor and maturing as a character. So just when she was getting mildly interesting they killed her off. Some of the New Veterans we've come to just not really care about. Credit: AMC The New Veterans Tara, meanwhile, has just been a nonentity for so long now that I've probably said she needs to be killed off a dozen times in the past. Both characters fall into a category I'm going to call "The New Veterans." The Walking Dead has a "New Veterans" problem. These characters were introduced after the core cast of Rick, Daryl, Carol, Glenn, Maggie, Beth, Hershel, Carl (and others) and, at the very tail end, Michonne. Most of that core cast is now gone, except for Carol, Daryl and Michonne. The "New Veterans" began arriving in Season 4, beginning with Tara and followed shortly by Abraham (now dead), Rosita, Eugene, Gabriel and others. In between the core cast and the New Veterans we were introduced to Tyreese and Sasha, but since they're long dead now we'll just leave them in that murky gray area. In any case, we'll end the "New Veterans" distinction with the start of the Negan War. So we'll include everyone up to Enid, Ezekiel, Jerry and so forth. Anyone introduced after that, like Siddiq or even newer characters like Yumiko, Luke, Connie, Magna and so forth will be considered just "New Characters." Well, frankly they're just nowhere near as interesting, relatable or likable as the original cast. In many cases, they're less engaging characters than the new characters introduced this season. Frankly, I would have been more bummed out to see Magna or Luke die than Tara or Enid. And that's a problem. You know a TV show has a problem when you've been rooting for an entire segment of the cast to become zombie fodder for this long. I'm constantly disappointed that Eugene and Gabriel are still among us, for instance. Aside from actively making it a worse show, I think they just remind me of how much better the core cast used to be when it was Rick butting heads with Shane, or Hershel offering up his moral compass from time to time, or Glenn being just all around a great guy. Jerry still rocks, though. Credit: AMC I don't want to spend time with Eugene. I like Rosita fine, but she's never had much of a character arc. I wouldn't shed many tears if any of the New Veterans died, and that robs us of a lot of tension and emotional impact. Okay, of them all I think I like Jerry the best, and he's practically a new character if only because he gets so little screen time (inexplicably, as he remains fiercely likable.) Ezekiel is also a good character, but he needs to ditch the King stuff at this point, especially after Henry's death. It's A Nice Day For A Red Wedding My colleague, Paul Tassi, compared last night's episode to Game of Thrones' "Red Wedding" episode. And while that's an apt comparison, where it falls short is the impact these character deaths have not just on the viewers, but on the story. The Red Wedding, without spoiling too much, not only killed off some crucial main characters, it changed the course of the entire war between Starks and Lannisters. Its implications for that show (and books) were far more wide-reaching ways than what happened last night in The Walking Dead. Of course, The Walking Dead has never reached the political or emotional complexity of early Game of Thrones drama. In any case, Angela Kang and AMC are left in a predicament. For one, they need to kill off the New Veterans, and they did that last night. It was a good move to thin the cast and make room for new characters we can actually come to care about. But on the other hand, it means we don't really care when this big iconic heads-on-pikes scene happens, because we're either looking at characters we barely know or characters we don't really care about. Yes, it's shocking and horrible, but it's not on par with Hershel or Glenn's deaths, or numerous others from earlier in the show's run. So when I ask, "Did The Walking Dead play it safe?" the real answer isn't just the obvious "Yes" it's actually "They had no choice." The Walking Dead simply can't kill off any more of its core cast at this point, having failed to establish replacements that we care about. Carol (Melissa McBride) and Daryl (Norman Reedus) are too precious to lose, because they're the only two remaining core cast members that are actually willing to stay on this show, with Danai Gurira (Michonne) on the way out next season thanks to her Marvel stardom and other endeavors. Enid's happiness is short lived, but we aren't actually that bummed out. Credit: AMC I mean, just imagine this show without these three characters and you see what kind of bind Kang was in with last night's episode. It made more sense for Alpha to kill them when she had them captured, but that would all but kill the show. Good lord, no. The fact is, for whatever reason many of the New Veterans never really felt like part of the group. Enid had one foot out the door right up until Negan showed up and then she was just . . . there. Gabriel was actively trying to subvert Rick and the others and only had a change of heart because of reasons that I don't really understand. Eugene was an actual traitor for a long time before his change of heart. Bonds of love and camaraderie are hard to come by in this segment of the cast. I would, on the other hand, probably watch a show that was driven more by Magna, Yumiko, Luke, Connie, Kelly, Siddiq and so forth. The New Characters show a great deal of promise, and it's The Walking Dead's most sacred mission to cultivate them and their stories into ones that viewers truly, madly, deeply care about. Luke and Alden Credit: AMC That's no small task, but if AMC truly wants to keep this show running for ever and ever, amen, then they will need to. Because Daryl and Carol cannot be safe forever. There must come a time when we worry about them and their survival, too. And we need other characters to care about that aren't kids (Judith) or sociopaths (Negan). The thing we forget sometimes is that the reason we used to love this show was that we fell in love with the characters. Yes, it's declined in other ways. But the writing was never great. There were great moments and then lots of filler episodes and silly character decisions way, way back in the day. We didn't notice those as much because we still cared so deeply about who would die, or what other horrors might befall our favorite characters. The reason the show is less engaging now is that we just don't care much about characters like Tara or Enid or Henry dying. Frankly, more of the New Veterans should die to pave way for this new group, led by our core veterans, Carol and Daryl, and bolstered by maybe a few surviving New Veterans like Jerry and Rosita. Alexandria and Hilltop and the Kingdom should all burn to the ground, forcing this new group out into the wild, on to the open road, out into unexplored and uncharted waters. We've largely left the comic books behind at this point, aside from some borrowed scenes and villains. Maybe we should ditch them altogether and set out fresh into the great wide open, leaving this entire, dreary, stagnant community-centered plot behind us. Perhaps some fierce final showdown sparks a new migration, and a new chapter of The Walking Dead. They could all just walk away, and leave Negan in his cage. Let me know on Twitter or Facebook. You can read my review of last night's episode here. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2019/03/25/did-last-nights-shocking-episode-of-the-walking-dead-play-it-too-safe/ |
Who did Dallas' Perot family just put in charge of the family fortune? | Dallas' billionaire Perot family has hired a new investment chief that will manage the family's fortune, according to The Wall Street Journal. Veteran hedge fund trader Boaz Sidikaro, 44, will take on managing the family's wealth after having been a part of Perot Investments since March. Sidikaro worked at New York hedge fund Och-Ziff Capital Management Group for more than 20 years. Sidikaro will take over for the family's longtime investment officer Steve Blasnik who held the position for more than 30 years. Blasnik told The Journal he was stepping back from the daily investment operations after having held onto a "lot of responsibility" for three decades. Blasnik said he will continue to advise Sidikaro. | https://www.dallasnews.com/business/billionaires/2019/03/25/dallas-perot-family-just-putin-charge-family-fortune |
What's the best crisp? | We munch six billion potato treats every single year. According to a poll of the British public, Pringles are the best crisps around. Thousands of members of the British public were asked for their favourite crisps as part of a TV show with Pringles beating Doritos to the top prize. But some viewers of the show took to social media to express their dismay at some of their favourite crisps being at the bottom of the list or not even mentioned. The programme 'Britain's Favourite Crisps' - on Channel 5 - dedicated two hours to the hotly contested debate. Let us know in our poll below. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/47694288 |
Does Arizona really need 207 school districts? | Opinion: Arizona has a ridiculously high number of school districts. But no one wants to talk about whether that makes sense. Rep. John Fillmore doesnt think so. He believes the schools could save a bundle by consolidating districts. He has proposed spending $4 million to study the feasibility of the idea. His proposal, House Bill 2077, didnt even rate a hearing. When I say we need $4 million for a study, youd think I skinned their cat, the Apache Junction Republican, told me. Everybodys afraid of school boards. Everybodys afraid of people back in the districts. House Education Chairwoman Michelle Udall, R-Mesa, didnt return a call to explain why she shelved the bill. A previous effort was rejected Fillmores idea is not a new one. In 2005, then-Gov. Janet Napolitano initiated a push to reduce the ridiculous number of districts by merging elementary and high school districts. The resulting plan went down in flames, as school officials fired up the torches in defense of "local control." As a result, Arizona still has 207 school districts. Thats 207 sets of administrators and 207 school boards overseeing just about as many sets of school buildings, bus fleets and food service operations. The Phoenix Union High School District, for example, has 13 feeder elementary school districts. Five spend less than 50 percent of their funding on instruction, according to a recent state audit (Riverside, 46 percent; Creighton 46.6 percent; Balsz, 48 percent; Murphy, 48.4 percent; Roosevelt, 49.6 percent). Overall, Arizonas districts spent 54 percent of their budgets on instruction in fiscal 2018, slightly up from the previous year. But the national average was 60.9 percent. NEWSLETTERS Get the Opinions Newsletter newsletter delivered to your inbox We're sorry, but something went wrong Our best and latest in commentary in daily digest form. Please try again soon, or contact Customer Service at 1-800-332-6733. Delivery: Mon-Fri Invalid email address Thank you! You're almost signed up for Opinions Newsletter Keep an eye out for an email to confirm your newsletter registration. More newsletters Administrators arent to blame. Districts spent just under the national average on administration 10.4 percent compared to 11.2 percent nationally. But we still have an education system that spends nearly half of its money on things other than classroom instruction, in percentages that exceed the national average in every area. Educators will tell you the real problem is a desperate need for more funding, and they are right. Arizona spends $3,529 less per student than the national average of $13,458, according to that state audit. It shows in what we pay our teachers, in how many kids we cram into a classroom, in our critical shortage of qualified teachers. But a request to raise taxes would go down easier if taxpayers were assured schools were operating as efficiently as possible. It just stands to reason that fewer districts would be more efficient, reducing overhead and spreading fixed costs across a broader base. Napolitano's State District Redistricting Commission concluded that merged districts could free up 10 percent of school funding, money that could then be used to lower class sizes and boost teacher pay. Fillmore thinks the savings could be three times that. Hes dreaming. But Arizonas school districts spent nearly $7.5 billion in fiscal 2018. The possibility of a 10 percent savings or even half that seems worth considering. Yet we hear crickets at the Capitol. The least we could do is talk consolidation Fillmores bill calls for each county superintendent to lead a feasibility study, guided by certain parameters. The smallest counties would be allotted three school districts. Those with five county supervisors would get seven school districts. Maricopa County would get 20. His bill is going nowhere. Just like always. As a result of Napolitanos committee, proposals to merge 76 elementary and high school districts into 27 K-12 districts were put on the ballot in 2008. Only four passed. Of those four, none changed. The affected school districts successfully sued to stave off the mergers. Marty Shultz, who headed Napolitanos redistricting commission, attributed the losses to strident opposition from school administrators, school boards and teacher unions, all worried about preserving their jobs and salaries. The Arizona School Boards Association, which opposed the 2008 unification plans, said there were too many unanswered questions about tax rates and salaries and that any such plan should be initiated by local districts not the state. A decade later, at a time when there is a crying need to get more funding into the classroom, nobody even wants to talk about whether Arizona needs a school district for every 4,357 students. Curious. Reach Roberts at [email protected]. Read or Share this story: https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/laurieroberts/2019/03/25/arizona-does-not-need-207-school-districts-consolidation/3248246002/ | https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/laurieroberts/2019/03/25/arizona-does-not-need-207-school-districts-consolidation/3248246002/ |
Can Rep. Ilhan Omar turn page after string of controversies? | Rep. Ilhan Omars rocky start in Congress has Minnesota Democrats whispering about her political future even as the high-profile freshman works to refocus on her job and downplay fallout from her controversial comments on Israel. But so far, no challengers have emerged publicly. Omars first two months in Washington culminated with the House passage of a wide-ranging condemnation of bigotry, a reaction to remarks she made that were widely criticized as anti-Semitic. In a flash, the Minneapolis congresswoman found herself under attack from President Donald Trump, congressional Republicans and even some House Democrats. In Minnesota, Jewish leaders and constituents in Omars strongly Democratic Fifth Congressional District joined in the criticism, and the weeks following the March 7 anti-bigotry vote in the House found some Democrats and activists in Minnesota privately buzzing about a possible Democratic primary challenge in 2020. In Washington, Republicans are working to capitalize on tension between Democrats and Americas Jewish community, with several upcoming U.S. Senate votes planned on anti-Semitism measures. Even if no clear opponent to Omar stepped up, the sense, even among many of Omars allies and supporters, is that continued missteps would make a challenge by a fellow Democrat much more likely. Ilhan has an amazing ability to be a powerful voice in the U.S. Congress given her unique story and the struggles she faced as a refugee. She has a unique position in Congress to lift voices of the marginalized, said Ken Martin, chairman of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. My hope as we go forward is that she gets back to that work, and I believe she will. Martin did not dispute theres been talk about a possible primary challenge but said hes not aware of any credible candidates who are thinking about it. Several Fifth District Democrats seen as prospects have publicly disclaimed interest. Omar declined an interview for this story. Last week, with Congress on break, she kept up a heavy schedule in her district. She spoke at a solidarity event for the New Zealand mosque shooting and highlighted a looming deadline that could mean deportation for many in Minnesotas sizable Liberian community. You have somebody whos under intense scrutiny, said Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Omars predecessor. He suggested Omar bear down on policy work, ignore the trolls, and meet monthly with Jewish constituents. Ellison, who was at the solidarity event at Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center, said Omar received a sustained standing ovation. In a move that many saw as a potential turning point, Omar penned a Washington Post column last week that explicitly endorsed a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians. A balanced, inclusive approach to the conflict recognizes the shared desire for security and freedom of both peoples, she wrote. Amid the controversy, Omar scored several policy wins. She shaped two provisions to a major House Democratic legislative package meant to crack down on money in politics. Both measures related to Washington lobbying by foreign countries. She plans to soon introduce legislation to boost affordable housing and reduce homelessness and to seek the repeal of some Trump Administration immigration policies. While Omar tries to turn the page, some critics arent ready to move on. We all celebrated this historic election of a Muslim woman, a Somali immigrant, and I feel like she is taking this political capital, this enormous sense of good will and shes blowing it on a subject she is going to have very little effect on, which is the Israeli-Palestinian relationship, said Siyad Abdullahi, a Minneapolis entrepreneur who is well-connected in DFL circles. Abdullahi, who also is Somali, recently wrote a lengthy Facebook post that was critical of Omar. He said hes unlikely to challenge her next year but added: You never say never in politics. Omar stirred perceptions of anti-Semitism with a February tweet that American political support for Israel was all about the Benjamins, a song lyric that many felt raised negative stereotypes about Jews and money. Less than three weeks later at a forum in Washington, again talking about U.S. policy on Israel, she made a comment about allegiance to a foreign country which for many critics resurrected a longstanding charge that Jews who support Israel are guilty of dual loyalty. Critics also point to a 2012 tweet, before she ran for office, that Israel had hypnotized the world. I dont buy it anymore that she doesnt know what shes saying, said Dan Israel, a singer-songwriter from St. Louis Park. Israel, who is Jewish, plans to engage in the Fifth District nominating process next year and is looking for an alternative to Omar. Id like to not cede my party to people I feel dont have its best interests, and the best interests of the Jewish people, at heart, he said. Even after the controversies, any primary challenger would face heavy odds given Omars devoted supporters and national profile. Omar is a first-time Muslim woman representing Minnesota in a difficult and contentious Congress, Mary Ann Van Cura of Minneapolis wrote in an e-mail to the Star Tribune. She has been accused of being anti-Semitic. However, her words and actions do not line up with that. Some prominent DFLers said theyre not ready to judge if a primary challenge is warranted. I think its too early to think about that, said Sylvia Kaplan, a longtime DFL donor and insider. She called the string of controversies a distraction for the party and said of Omar: I hope she stops the tweeting. Amid the turmoil, Omars political team has undergone some staff turnover as she has settled in to Washington. Aisha Chughtai, who managed Omars campaign last year and initially stayed on as her top political aide, has since left that position. A campaign spokesman said the parting was amicable. Will Hailer, a former aide to Ellison and top official at the Democratic National Committee, is now serving as a political adviser. Omars campaign also parted ways with Nick Espinosa, a Minneapolis activist most known for staging a series of glitter-bomb protests in 2011-12 against prominent Republican politicians. Omars campaign spokesman said Espinosa did list-building work on contract and was never an employee of the campaign. The spokesman declined to reveal whether Omar knew of Espinosas past as a high-profile protester. Michael Latz, a Minneapolis rabbi upset by Omars comments about Israel, said he is still willing to give her another chance. He lamented that allegedly anti-Semitic campaign rhetoric by some congressional Republicans hasnt received similar attention. He said Omar apologized to him and acknowledged the pain shes caused, and that her staff has been diligent in responding to concerns. I appreciate this has been a learning curve, said Latz, who is also connected to many DFL leaders. Im hopeful she will live up to all our collective aspirations and lead with great dignity and great integrity. | http://www.startribune.com/can-rep-ilhan-omar-turn-page-after-string-of-controversies/507618972/ |
Are Remote Work Policies Doomed To Fail? | Not that we needed confirmation, but this recent International Workplace Group report confirms that over half of global employees work outside of their main office headquarters at least twicee each week, which is continuing evidence that the remote revolution is in full swing. As travel becomes more affordable, devices more powerful and production becomes less mechanical, any work typically produced on an office computer is now portable. Consequently, any business using virtual communications is now remote friendly, whether they like it or not. However, lists of employers that hire remote employees (both crowdsourced and private) only indicate a few hundred businesses with flexible work models. This suggests that businesses are hesitant to publicly support remote work. One word: Yahoo. Getty In 2013, CEO Marissa Mayer infamously eliminated Yahoos telecommuting policy and required all offsite employees to relocated to company facilities. And Yahoo isnt the only one. Other prestigious brands like IBM and Hewlett-Packard have also called their remote employees back into the office, all citing an increase in productivity and innovation since the changes. Thankfully, we have thought leaders who prove that successful and sustainable virtual operational models are not only possible, but they are also thriving. Amazon, Dell, Apple, Microsoft, and Hilton are all proudly employing virtual workers in various departments. Even more impressive are companies like Automattic and InVision that both have over 700 employees, $1 billion value (each), nearly-perfect employer ratings, and zero offices. By evaluating these case studies, its easy to see that there are both right and wrong ways to offer flexible working. Unfortunately, the right way is not instinctual, nor is it easy, and heres why: Quick operational updates only adjust an existing practice. Converting to true virtual operations requires a fresh start in how productivity is measured and results are managed. If a company isnt fully invested in or intentional enough to make this fresh start, remote work killers like micromanagement, isolation, miscommunication, and burnout are imminent. Business leaders: Whether youre going remote intentionally, or are already remote-friendly by accident, ensure that your operational model isnt founded on the following mistakes that can lead to distributed workforce failure: Mistake #1: No Remote Work Policy Many companies are hesitant to go remote due to fear that their brand will lose credibility as employees arrive in virtual meetings from a noisy coffee shop and wearing casual clothes. Remote work advocates are expected to say that these fears arent valid or relevant. However, the response is usually the opposite: not only are they valid, but they are also unavoidable. Without outlining expectations for the environment, behavior, schedule and accessibility, the representation of your brand will quickly become as flexible as the environments of your workers. It is crucial to the success of your remote initiatives to create and distribute an offsite standard operating procedure which includes best practices and guidance on the standardization of both internal and external interactions with your company. Remote Mistake #2: 100% Autonomy Many distributed teams operate on results-based operational models. In these infrastructures, workers need more trust, asynchronous communication and automated workflows to be effective. However, many leaders misinterpret this advice and provide too much independence by allowing team members to work completely independently. While results are prioritized in remote work, the results are still produced by humans and it is essential to value the people behind the effort. If collaboration is siloed, dehumanized or infrequent, team members can feel isolated and undervalued. To solve this, empower individual contributors to set their own goals and schedules while keeping them connected both socially and informationally with the rest of the staff. Mistake #3: Preserving On-Site Operations Keeping things business as usual for in-office workers while letting other workers escape with remote work can create a drastic imbalance of accessibility, opportunity and loyalty between onsite and offsite workers, and contributes to the high failure rate of hybrid teams. Be creative in your approach to equalizing the work experiences for both worker types in meetings and resources. digitizing all paperwork and hard-copy materials and centralizing all communication on a platform like Slack are a few ways to modernize processes in a remote-friendly way. Using equalizing tools (like Meeting Owl) or scheduling swap weeks for remote workers to work from the office and allow onsite workers to work remotely are creative ways to create connection for all of your workers. If your leadership team is guilty of any of these virtual operations mistakes, dont worryits not too late. Find a virtual operations consultant or remote work policy designer to start fresh and evaluate your current virtual operations model. Look for an expert who has at least 10 years of experience managing an online team of your size to help you uncover any red flags that may be limiting your virtual ops programs success. A quick update to your infrastructure could save the reputation and flexibility of your business in the future. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurelfarrer/2019/03/25/are-remote-work-policies-doomed-to-fail/ |
Can Food Delivery Robots Get More College Students To Eat Breakfast? | Sodexo Today, Sodexo and Starship Technologies launched a fleet of more than 30 food delivery robots on the campus of Northern Arizona University where Sodexo serves as the university's contracted food service provider. This follows the unveiling of more than 25 bots on the Fairfax, Virginia campus of George Mason University in January 2019 in the first pairing of the two entities. After two months of use, the George Mason program is considered a success. A primer on the basics of the robots, including their commitment to safety they travel at 4 MPH, look both ways before crossing a street, they can detect humans in their path and are built to keep the food they are transporting secure and at safe temperatures can be found here. According to a Sodexo spokesperson, an extra 1,500 breakfast orders have been delivered autonomously since Starship and Sodexo joined forces to debut the delivery robots on the campus of George Mason University. The spokesperson claims that this activity mirrors a similar uptick in breakfast consumption at corporate campuses where Starships food-delivery robots also have a presence. It is extremely important for college students to eat breakfast, says Beth Winthrop, a registered dietitian on staff in Sodexo's Universities program which manages the food service environments of more than 700 college campuses. College is a very stressful time of life," she says. "Getting up in time to eat breakfast is a challenge for many students. Millions of Americans skip breakfast daily despite the fact that missing this most important meal of the day has been associated with higher rates of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Among youth, studies have linked breakfast consumption with improved academic performance. The cool thing about this program is that its not just fun technology for the sake of technology, Winthrop says about the food delivering bots. It can improve student health in regard to academic and athletic performance, she says. Winthrop notes that there is a body of research that shows that increased focus, engagement and the ability to really give your all academically are closely related to breakfast consumption. Using the Starship app, 25,000 students, faculty and staff on the Flagstaff, Arizona campus can now order food for delivery to their doorstep within minutes from six on-campus retailers. A 2018 study found that Americans ages 18 to 34 spend more than three hours per day on digital media, more than any other age group monitored through the project. As intensive users of technology, companies are increasingly adapting to meet the needs of this clientele. In a release announcing the Northern Arizona University robots, Barry Telford, CEO for Sodexo North Americas Universities West program, called U.S. college students prolific users of food delivery apps who increasingly seek out convenience, ease and diversity of options. Recent headlines have highlighted disheartening nutrition trends on college campuses, such as dismal rates of fruit and vegetable intake and a growing number of food insecure students. Sodexo and Starship Technologies are betting that their food delivery robots will aid students who can afford breakfast from on-campus retailers and the robot's $1.99 delivery fee in eating breakfast more mornings per week. And, based on the evidence, this will hopefully result in improved health and academic outcomes for this demographic of users. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicolerasul/2019/03/25/can-food-delivery-robots-get-more-college-students-to-eat-breakfast/ |
Did Mueller Change His Mind About Collusion? If So, Why? | On December 7, 2018, the special counsel's office filed the pleading below in connection with the sentencing of Michael Cohen, formerly Donald Trump's personal lawyer and fixer. It provides a clear allegation of misleading conduct in connection with the financing of the Moscow Tower project. Yesterday, March 24, 2019, Attorney General Barr wrote to Congress announcing that The investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities. Specifically, it emerges from the special counsel's pleading in December: he Moscow Project was "a lucrative business opportunity that sought, and likely required, the assistance of the Russian government. If the project was completed, the Trump Organization "could have received hundreds of millions of dollars from Russian sources in licensing fees and other revenues." In other words, on December 7, 2018, Mueller clearly indicated that Trump had worked to make a great deal of money from Russia, and to make himself deeply obliged to Russia, and had lied to keep it secret, at the same time as, we know, Russia was working to influence the election in Trumps flavor. Thats not quite conspiracy with Russia, but it is at least a close dovetailing of corrupt interests. These questions underline the need to release the full Mueller report. In the pleading, UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK No. 18 Cr. 850 (WHP) GOVERNMENTS SENTENCING MEMORANDUM The Special Counsels Office (SCO) provides this memorandum in connection with the sentencing of Michael Cohen scheduled for December 12, 2018. On November 29, 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to one count of making false statements to Congress, in violation of 18 U.S.C.... The defendants crime was serious. He withheld information material to the investigations of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election being conducted by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), and the SCO. The defendant lied to Congress about a business project (the Moscow Project) that he worked on during the 2016 presidential campaign, while he served as Executive Vice President at a Manhattan-based real estate company (the Company) and as Special Counsel to the owner of the Company (Individual 1). The defendant admitted he told these lieswhich he made publicly and in submissions to Congressin order to (1) minimize links between the Moscow Project and Individual 1 and (2) give the false impression that the Moscow Project had ended before the Iowa caucus and the first presidential primaries, in hopes of limiting the ongoing Russia investigations being conducted by Congress and the SCO. In recent months, however, the defendant has taken significant steps to mitigate his criminal conduct. He chose to accept responsibility for his false statements and admit to his conduct in open court. He also has gone to significant lengths to assist the Special Counsels investigation. He has met with the SCO on seven occasions, voluntarily provided the SCO with information about his own conduct and that of others on core topics under investigation by the SCO, and committed to continuing to assist the SCOs investigation. The information he has provided has been credible and consistent with other evidence obtained in the SCOs ongoing investigation. Offense Conduct The defendants offense conduct is set forth in the Information and the Presentence Investigation Report (PSR). We underscore particular facts for purposes of sentencing. The defendants lies to Congress were deliberate and premeditated. His false statements did not spring spontaneously from a line of examination or heated colloquy during a congressional hearing. They started in a written submission that he chose to provide to both houses of Congress ahead of his appearances. These circumstances show a deliberate effort to use his lies as a way to set the tone and shape the course of the hearings in an effort to stymie the inquiries. The defendant amplified his false statements by releasing and repeating his lies to the public, including to other potential witnesses. The defendant was scheduled to appear before both intelligence committees in closed sessions. Prior to testifying, the defendant made a public appearance at the U.S. Capitol and released his prepared opening statement, which falsely claimed that the Moscow Project was terminated in January of 2016[,] which occurred before the Iowa caucus and months before the very first primary. By publicly presenting this false narrative, the defendant deliberately shifted the timeline of what had occurred in the hopes of limiting the investigations into possible Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential electionan issue of heightened national interest. The defendants false statements obscured the fact that the Moscow Project was a lucrative business opportunity that sought, and likely required, the assistance of the Russian government. If the project was completed, the Company could have received hundreds of millions of dollars from Russian sources in licensing fees and other revenues. The fact that Cohen continued to work on the project and discuss it with Individual 1 well into the campaign was material to the ongoing congressional and SCO investigations, particularly because it occurred at a time of sustained efforts by the Russian government to interfere with the U.S. presidential election. Similarly, it was material that Cohen, during the campaign, had a substantive telephone call about the project with an assistant to the press secretary for the President of Russia. The defendants false statements to Congress began in approximately late August 2017, when he submitted his written statement about the Moscow Project to SSCI and HPSCI. His false statements continued through his oral testimony before the committees in October 2017. And when Cohen first met with the SCO in August 2018, he repeated many of his prior false statements about the circumstances of the Moscow Project.1/ Only when the defendant met with the SCO a second time on September 12, 2018after he had pled guilty in United States v. Cohen, 18-cr-602 (WHP)did the defendant admit that his prior statements about the Moscow Project had been deliberately false and misleading. Acceptance of Responsibility Starting with his second meeting with the SCO in September 2018, the defendant has accepted responsibility not only for his false statements concerning the Moscow Project, but also his broader efforts through public statements and testimony before Congress to minimize his role in, and what he knew about, contacts between the Company and Russian interests during the course of the campaign. Cohen admitted that he had lied to Congress and to the SCO about the Moscow Project. He provided detailed information about the true circumstances of the Moscow Project, including its duration, the persons involved in the discussions, contacts with Russian government officials, and discussions during the first half of 2016 about the possibility of travel to Russia in connection with the Moscow Project. In addition to correcting the timeline and detailing the contacts he had during pursuit of the Moscow Project, Cohen explained financial aspects of the deal that would have made it highly lucrative for the Company and himself. The information provided by Cohen about the Moscow Project in these proffer sessions is consistent with and corroborated by other information obtained in the course of the SCOs investigation.2/ NOTES 1 This initial meeting with the SCO, on August 7, 2018, was set up at Cohens request. In that meeting, Cohen voluntarily provided information relevant to other aspects of the SCOs ongoing investigation, but when asked questions about the Moscow Project, Cohen provided false answers in what he later explained was an effort not to contradict his congressional testimony. 2 The defendant, without prompting by the SCO, also corrected other false and misleading statements that he had made concerning his outreach to and contacts with Russian officials during the course of the campaign. For example, in a radio interview in September 2015, the defendant suggested that Individual 1 meet with the President of Russia in New York City during his visit for the United Nations General Assembly. When asked previously about these events, the defendant claimed his public comments had been spontaneous and had not been discussed within the campaign or the Company. During his proffer sessions, the defendant admitted that this account was false and that he had in fact conferred with Individual 1 about contacting the Russian government before reaching out to gauge Russias interest in such a meeting. The meeting ultimately did not take place...." | https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2019/03/25/did-mueller-change-his-mind-about-collusion-if-so-why/ |
What Is A Recession Anyway? | Getty Everyone is interested in a glimpse into the future, wondering when the next recession will hit, but when it comes to recessions, you can learn a lot by looking at the past. Recessions have broad, sweeping effects on the economic/consumer climate. Its important to note that recessions are part of the economic cycle: They are necessary as part of a cycle of expansion and contraction. If youre prepared, a recession can present a planning opportunity. The rule of thumb definition of a recession is two consecutive quarters of negative Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth. This definition was coined in a 1974 New York Times article from the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, who also suggested several other measurements. The National Bureau of Economic Statistics (NBER) defines an economic recession as: "a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales." NBER is the authority on recessions, especially when we look at when they started and when they ended. Recession versus Depression. A Depression is an extended, severe recession that lasts longer (3-4 years) and includes a GDP decline of 10% or more. Most of our minds go immediately to the Great Depression of the 1930s as the worst economic contraction. To be sure, the Great Depression (which warrants capitalization) saw the GDP decline between 1929-1933 by 33% and unemployment soar to 25%. What most people dont know is that the recession of 1920 was nearly as deep, and the descent much faster, which is why the Roaring 20s were roaring: they roared out of a big hole. We had a doozy of a depression in 1837 when the Bank of England raised interest rates, which set off a crisis in lending and the country sank into a prolonged depression that lasted until 1843. The California Gold Rush helped bring an end to the Great Depression of 1837 by boosting the US gold supply. The all-time award winner for depressions is the General Crisis of 1640. During this stretch, wars, inflation, population declines, and revolts marked one of the most disruptive periods of history and included the temporary disappearance of the government of Poland and the fall of the Ming Dynasty. Recession alphabets. Economists love letter metaphors, especially when it comes to recessions. They describe the contour of a recession and its recovery with a corresponding letter shape. We could have a V-shaped, W-shaped, U-shaped, or L-shaped recession. Ill even suggest a J-shaped, which is definitely on my wish list. A V-shaped recession obviously looks like a letter V and is recursive. GDP goes down and recovers at the same relative slope. The recession of 1990-91 was V-shaped. V-shaped recessions are like tossing a ball. If the ball bounces back up at a similar angle, there is symmetry. This is the type of recession we most commonly see. A W-shaped recession is a double-dip or a recession with a temporary but failed recovery in the middle. Think of two Vs with a wee touch of hope in the middle. The recession of 1980-1982 was a double dip. Some of us can remember the inflation and interest rates of the 80s when the air traffic controllers were fired, and mortgage rates were above 10%. A U-shaped recession happens when the economy goes down and stays down. The best example of this was the 1973-75 recession when inflation was running hot and oil prices spiked. I remember the gas lines. People with even number license plates able to buy gas on one day and odd numbered plates on another. I once ran out of gas in the gas line. An L is ugly: it goes down and stays down. This is exemplified by the asset bubble in Japan during the 1990s, where the Japanese GDP dropped and stayed down. I find it ironic that the essay The Japan that can say No: Why Japan Will Be First Among Equals was published in 1989, just as Japan GDP declined about 20% and real wages still remain below 1997 levels. There could be other letters. I think if we can call Japan an L, we could call Australia a J. A J-shaped recession would be a case of a downturn that doesnt just recover, it morphs into a period of growth. Australia has enjoyed a 27-year upswing. Ill take the J style recession. Recessions are badand good. We all dread recessions, but they have a silver lining. Lets look at the negatives first. Recessions usually share certain characteristics: Business activity slows Unemployment goes up Capital expenditures go down Credit tightens Inflation goes down Short term interest rates go down All these things sound bad, but think: If business is bad, our competition is weakened, hopefully, weaker than us If people are looking for work, employers can more easily find quality candidates If no one is buying, prices go down on our cap ex If credit gets tight, we can be glad we secured it before we needed it If inflation and rates go down, our money will go further, and well be glad we have cash on hand Recessions are opportunities. They will be painful, but they can have a very pleasant aftermath. Instead of hiding from the reality of recession, we might employ a bit of foresight and planning. We can work toward seizing the opportunities a recession presents. Just as surely as the economic cycle will present times of decline and contraction, growth will come again. Capitalizing on the opportunities presented during a recession will have us poised and ready when the upswing begins. DISCLAIMER: This material is for informational purposes only and is not intended to serve as a substitute for personalized investment advice or as a recommendation or solicitation of any particular security, strategy or investment product. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of author and are subject to change without notice. Diversification cannot assure profit or guarantee against loss. There is no guarantee that any investment will achieve its objectives, generate positive returns, or avoid losses. Sequoia Financial Advisors, LLC makes no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy, reliability, or utility of information obtained from third-parties. Certain assumptions may have been made by these sources in compiling such information, and changes to assumptions may have material impact on the information presented in these materials. Investment advisory services offered through Sequoia Financial Advisors, LLC, an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. Registration as an investment advisor does not imply a certain level of skill or training. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/leonlabrecque/2019/03/25/what-is-a-recession-anyway/ |
Should Rob Gronkowski go to the WWE? | by Daniel Tran Rob Gronkowski may have retired from the NFL, but his time in the spotlight might not be over. The former New England Patriots tight end is rumored to be interested in the WWE, given his 2017 appearance in Wrestlemania 33. With his over the top personality and elite athleticism, he would be a perfect fit for the entertainment company. Still, while it would be fun, Gronkowski is retiring from one of the most dangerous sports in the world and needs to relax. If anyone in the NFL has the personality for the WWE, it's the man who declared, "Yo soy fiesta." Gronkowski was a character in the NFL, and he would be perfect for the wrestling company. Gronk has already made an appearance in the WWE, getting involved in Wrestlemania 33 and possibly Wrestlemania 35. He was made for the spotlight, and professional wrestling is the place where he belongs. Gronkowski has spent nine years getting in car crashes on Sundays. Going to a sport as physically demanding as wrestling may not be the best idea. While the WWE may be scripted, the way these performers throw their bodies at each other is still painful. Its not exactly another human trying to take your head off, but its still dangerous enough that Gronkowski should rethink putting his body through that kind of struggle. He has the chance to party for the rest of his life without having to risk injury to his brain or his body. He needs to relax and stay away from the WWE. The Tylt is focused on debates and conversations around news, current events and pop culture. We provide our community with the opportunity to share their opinions and vote on topics that matter most to them. We actively engage the community and present meaningful data on the debates and conversations as they progress. The Tylt is a place where your opinion counts, literally. The Tylt is an Advance Local Media, LLC property. Join us on Twitter @TheTylt, on Instagram @TheTylt or on Facebook, wed love to hear what you have to say. | https://www.oregonlive.com/tylt/2019/03/should-rob-gronkowski-go-to-the-wwe.html |
How Does a Parent Explain the Christchurch Massacre to a Child? | Sign up for Take Action Now and get three actions in your inbox every week. You will receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nations journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here. Sign up for Take Action Now and get three actions in your inbox every week. Thank you for signing up. For more from The Nation, check out our latest issue Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month! Support Progressive Journalism The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter. The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter. Fight Back! Sign up for Take Action Now and well send you three meaningful actions you can take each week. You will receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nations journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here. Sign up for Take Action Now and well send you three meaningful actions you can take each week. Thank you for signing up. For more from The Nation, check out our latest issue Travel With The Nation Be the first to hear about Nation Travels destinations, and explore the world with kindred spirits. Be the first to hear about Nation Travels destinations, and explore the world with kindred spirits. Sign up for our Wine Club today. On a recent morning, Sami, my 4-year-old-son, and I sat down for breakfast, as we do most mornings. Sami asked for cereal and I asked him to prepare the French press. We didnt talk about the flowers on the kitchen table or the book we read before going to bed. We talked about the terrorist attacks at two mosques in New Zealand, where 51 worshippers were killed, including children who were younger and older than Sami. Ad Policy My son is only 4, but I felt compelled to speak to him, attempt an American Muslim version of the talk that countless black and brown parents have with their children. I did not know how to talk to him about it. Like many parents, my wife, Azin, and I, are learning on the fly. I am a historian of the modern Middle East at Skidmore College; Azin works as an immigration attorney at a nonprofit, the Legal Project. We live in an upper-middle-class town, which, although largely white, also has a decent amount of international and religious diversity. We have Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Hindu, agnostic, and atheist neighbors and friends. Sami goes to a Jewish preschool. Our routine is a fairly simple one: Sami and I get up together around 6:30 am for breakfast while Azin is getting ready for her workday. Sami gets dressed upstairs and I start the breakfast downstairs, listening to NPR. Far more often than not, Sami comes downstairs demanding, Turn that off! I dont want to hear his voice! My 4-year-old son is referring to President Trumps voice. The first time this happened, I obliged. Why dont you want to hear his voice? Current Issue View our current issue Im scared, Sami replied. Samis fears are rooted in hearing Azin and me talk about her work as an immigration attorney, President Trumps policy of family separation, and his unabashed othering of Islam and Muslims. Defending his Muslim travel ban, Mr. Trump stated, I think Islam hates us. Like other Muslim Americans, we often ask ourselves who the us is in this sentence. On that Friday morning, after I took in the news about the Christchurch massacre, Sami and I sat down for breakfast. I asked myself what I would tell my son about it. It wasnt a question of whether we should discuss it, but how. Sami, I said, not knowing exactly how I would continue. Yes, Baba, he responded. Something terrible happened the other day in a country named New Zealand. Yes, I know, Sami replied confidently. How do you know that? I asked puzzled. I heard about it upstairs when I was getting dressed. I struggled to string together the right words to describe the massacre. Someone attacked a mosque and hurt a lot of people there, I offered. But why? Sami asked incredulously. Sami loves running around mosques and greeting people, young and old, with a creative rendition of the Muslim greeting, Al-Salaam Alaikum. We dont go to the mosque that often, as we are not very religious, but we take Sami because we want him to have a connection with the Muslim community. We want him to identify with our community, a community that is diverse in race, beliefs, socioeconomic status, lifestyle, and so much more; it is also a community that collectively feels a visceral sense of fear when hearing Mr. Trumps voice. Why did he want to harm as many people as possible? Sami countered. Related Article The New Zealand Massacre Was Mass Murder as a Marketing Strategy Moustafa Bayoumi Because he believed many wrong things and harbored many hateful ideas about Muslims, I stated with great trepidation. Sami and I have discussed hate before; however, this was the first time that I introduced the topic of someone hating another person simply because they are Muslim. But were Muslim, Baba, Sami told me, confidently. Just as he said this, his demeanor changed. Sami was connecting the dots: Hes Muslim, Im Muslim, his mother is Muslim, some of our neighbors and his friends are Muslims, and so are the people who were attacked in the two mosques in New Zealand. He immediately followed with a question: Are the people in the mosque okay? Silence descended on the table. I wasnt sure how to answer. As I hesitated, the sun radiated off Samis beautiful brown hair. I thought about Sami and the children in the two mosques, like 3-year-old Mucaad Ibrahim, who were killed by the white-supremacist shooter. I teared up. Azin walked in and joined us for breakfast. Our conversation moved in another direction as Sami wanted to talk to his mother about Nowruz and the Hot Wheels track she had promised to buy for him. The massacre in New Zealand and the ubiquity of anti-Muslim ideas do not surprise me. I am simply confused as a father because I dont know what I should have told Sami. Some friends disapproved of my attempt to have this conversation. Sami is too young to learn about such things, said an older member in the Muslim community. Although conflicted, I disagree. Sami is vulnerable, but aware. Hes aware of our conversations and fears. He wants to be a part of the conversation. Sami has his own fears; he is only 4 years old, and he is already afraid of Mr. Trumps voice. But Sami is not afraid because hes a child or naive. No, his fears are warranted. Im afraid too. But I dont want to hide. We dont have the luxury to hide. Sami is Muslim, his mother is Muslim, and I am Muslim. These are the existential questions that Azin and I, like countless other Muslim parents, think about as we process the attacks in New Zealand and seek to protect our childrens vulnerable Muslim bodies. | https://www.thenation.com/article/christchurch-massacre-discussion-father-son/ |
Why is Trump still bent on discrediting law enforcement? | CLOSE President Trump claims "total exoneration" after Attorney General William Barr released a summary of the Mueller report to lawmakers and the public. USA Today U.S. Attorney General William Barr's revelation that a 22-month investigation failed to establish that either President Donald Trump or his subordinates had conspired in Russian efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election provided a golden opportunity for Trump to celebrate both his own deliverance and the integrity of the institutions that furnished it. That is what people accused of serious criminal conduct ordinarily do when a prosecutor or court concludes that the evidence fails to support those allegations. "I always had confidence that a full and fair investigation would clear me," they say, or more simply: "The system works." So it's odd that the president's first response to Barr's disclosure was to attack the people and institutions responsible for lifting a cloud that shadowed his presidency from its beginnings. "This was an illegal takedown that failed," the president told reporters Sunday afternoon a few hours after being briefed on Barr's initial review of the still-confidential report in which special counsel Robert Mueller disclosed the details of his marathon investigation. He went on to assert that Mueller's report amounted to "a complete and total exoneration" of his own conduct, an assertion explicitly contradicted by Barr's more candid summary. More: Before they head out to pasture, GOP veterans owe us this More: Attorney General nominee Barr on collision course with history The truth, if we are to believe the attorney general's account, is that Mueller's team discovered credible evidence that the president and his subordinates conspired to obstruct their investigation, but declined to say whether that evidence was sufficient to sustain a conviction on criminal charges. Barr and Rod Rosenstein, the deputy AG to whom Mueller reported after Barr's predecessor, Jeff Sessions, recused himself, subsequently decided not to pursue an obstruction charge. It would be reassuring to believe they reached their decision after carefully considering all the evidence surrounding Trump's firing of FBI director James Comey and subsequent efforts to influence the testimony of critical witnesses. But it's more likely the decision not to pursue obstruction charges was preordained by Barr's dubious conviction, highlighted in an unsolicited memo dispatched to Rosenstein last spring, that entire line of inquiry was beyond Mueller's jurisdiction. (Props to Michigan U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, who presciently recognized that Barr's advertised objection to any obstruction charges made him a poor choice to lead the Justice Dept.) Whatever Trump may have done to derail Mueller's investigation or misdirect his investigators is surely less significant, and less dangerous to the rule of law, than the president's continuing attack on the integrity of those who enforce it. In suggesting that the Justice Department, the FBI, and the courts in which seven of his subordinates were convicted of federal crimes have been parties to a failed coup attempt, the president has doubled down on his efforts to undermine public confidence in those institutions. That is the real and continuing obstruction of justice, and it will take courageous action by Republicans in all three branches of government to assure that it does not become the pretext for a flagrantly unconstitutional expansion of presidential authority. President Trump reacts to Mueller report (Photo: Associated Press) The first step is to press the campaign, in which every member of Michigan's congressional delegation has already enlisted, for public disclosure of Mueller's full report. This is a no-brainer: Mueller's conduct throughout this investigation has only reinforced his lifelong reputation for probity and integrity, and to allow a political appointee to limit access to Mueller's work product would be a travesty. It would also sabotage the Justice Department's mission to cultivate public confidence in,the rule of law. Barr and his congressional overseers must also ensure the integrity of the continuing criminal investigations spawned by Mueller's probe.Like Mueller, the prosecutors overseeing those investigations answer ultimately to the attorney general, and any suggestion that Barr is abusing his authority to protect the White House should compel a muscular response from Congress. It would be premature to say whether lawmakers should limit their own inquiries, or foreclose once and for all the option of impeachment proceedings, until Mueller's uncensored report is available and the results of ongoing criminal probes are known. In the meantime, it is in the president's selfish interest as well as the country's to support the institutions that have dispelled some, but by no means all, of the suspicions surrounding his own integrity. Read or Share this story: https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/2019/03/25/editorial-mueller-report/3265872002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/2019/03/25/editorial-mueller-report/3265872002/ |
Whats going on with the Giants fancy new scoreboard? | The Giants are spending $10 million this offseason to replace the scoreboard at Oracle Park with a fancy, new version, three times the size of its predecessor. The new video board will stand 153 feet wide, by 70 feet high, with a resolution twice as sharp as the previous scoreboard, which had become the second-oldest in baseball, believe it or not. It all sounds great, except for one thing: Its not done yet. The season opens next week, but its not time to panic, say Giants officials, who are are confident the new board will be ready by the home opener on April 5th. That seems to be cutting things a little close. A visit to the park on Friday, March 22nd, revealed a frame of a scoreboard, but nothing close to a complete product. For tonights exhibition against the As, Giants brass says they will have a working version constructed. When we play baseball on Monday, it will not be in its final form, said Giants Executive VP Alfonso Felder. (But) it will probably be two times the size of the board we had last year. Thatll allow us to really unveil the full impact of that board on Opening Day. When it is finally finished, the Mitsubishi Electronic Diamond Vision board will represent the largest single capital improvement (to the stadium) since 2000, said Felder. The 4K board should allow the team to display enhanced statistics and videos. The San Francisco Giants are building a $10 million video board at newly named Oracle Park for the 2019 season. Here's how it looked on March 22, 2019, just two weeks prior to the home opener. (Al Saracevic/San Francisco Chronicle) less The San Francisco Giants are building a $10 million video board at newly named Oracle Park for the 2019 season. Here's how it looked on March 22, 2019, just two weeks prior to the home opener. 1 / 3 Back to Gallery Well be working with a 2/3rd version, or thereabouts, on Monday. I think itll be fun to see that evolution over the next couple of weeks, said Felder. Its going to be able to show stats weve never shown. Video content thats really going to enliven the in-game experience. Were just excited about it. It will be interesting to see how it works at tonights game. The board is part of a larger, five-year capital improvement plan aimed to be done by the time Oracle Park celebrates its 25th birthday in 2025. Its hard to believe were almost 20 years into this building, but we are, said Felder. At that 25 year mark, we want this building to stand the test of time. We want it to be better than it was the day we opened. I think were really on track to do that. They grow up so fast. Al Saracevic is Sports Editor of The San Francisco Chronicle. E-mail: [email protected] Twitter: @alsaracevic | https://www.sfgate.com/giants/article/What-s-going-on-with-the-Giants-fancy-new-13714756.php |
Did Mesa police officers shoot at man 'acting erratically' early Monday? | Shooting (Photo: The Republic) Shots were fired as Mesa police confronted a man who was causing a disturbance near an apartment complex pool early Monday, but officers would not say whether one of their officers discharged their weapon. Mesa police spokesman Nikolas Rasheta would only confirm that "shots were fired." No one was apparently injured, and the man was later taken into custody. The incident occurred shortly before 12:30 a.m. Monday when police received a call about a man who reported threw a stroller into a pool at a complex hear Ellsworth and Baseline roads, Rasheta said. The caller noted the man appeared to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol and was "acting erratically," Rasheta said. When officers arrived, they found the man and were attempting to identify him when one of the officers noticed a handgun tucked into the suspect's rear waistband, Rasheta said. The man then ran away from the officers and "shots were fired," Rasheta said. No officer injuries were reported, and the suspect was later found in the area of 8900 E Guadalupe Road, about two miles away and taken into custody. Conflicting reports from media outlets describe the incident as a "shootout" between both the police and the man, while others say simply "shots fired." NEWSLETTERS Get the AZ Memo newsletter delivered to your inbox We're sorry, but something went wrong Get the pulse of Arizona -- Local news, in-depth state coverage and what it all means for you Please try again soon, or contact Customer Service at 1-800-332-6733. Delivery: Mon-Fri Invalid email address Thank you! You're almost signed up for AZ Memo Keep an eye out for an email to confirm your newsletter registration. More newsletters There have been nine reported police shootings this year in Maricopa County, and a total of 16 across the state of Arizona. This is a developing story. Check back with azcentral.com for updates. Subscribe to azcentral.com. Read or Share this story: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/mesa-breaking/2019/03/25/mesa-pd-involved-early-morning-shooting/3266584002/ | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/mesa-breaking/2019/03/25/mesa-pd-involved-early-morning-shooting/3266584002/ |
Who wants earlier start times for weeknight Giants games? | Giants executives spent time meeting with season ticketholders in the offseason, hoping to find out what they could do better. At the top of the wish list were: Earlier start times for weeknight games. An easier way to offload unwanted tickets. It looks like the Giants will deliver on both fronts. This winter, we did something we havent done in years, said Giants Executive VP Mario Alioto. A number of us went around the Bay Area and met in focus groups with our season ticketholders. From those focus groups, we made a few changes. One thing that came across clearer than anything else, they wanted to see if we could start our night games a little bit sooner. To address that request, the Giants plan to start games on Monday and Thursday evenings at 6:45 p.m. That should help the school kids get to bed at a more reasonable hour, if theyre watching at games or at home. We also started a ticket exchange program for our season ticket holders, said Alioto. The exchange, called Ticket Trade, will be avaialble at SFGiants.com/seasontickets. One other change regarding tickets might not be as popular, but that remains to be seen. We will be mobile only in 2019. Weve eliminated the print at home option for fans, said Alioto. It minimizes the risk of loss. You have to go to SFGiants/ballparkapp to make this work. Its a new app for this season that will have a number of features. For instance, youll be able to order food via the app for delivery to your seats if youre in the lower levels. Its really your personal guide to all things Giants this year, said Alioto. Al Saracevic is Sports Editor of The San Francisco Chronicle. E-mail: [email protected] Twitter: @alsaracevic | https://www.sfchronicle.com/giants/article/Who-wants-earlier-start-times-for-weeknight-13714841.php |
Who should throw out the first pitch at the Brewers home opener March 28? | Bob Uecker throws out a ceremonial first pitch before Game 1 of the 2018 NLCS between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Miller Park. (Photo: Jon Durr-USA TODAY Sports) The Milwaukee Brewers will open one of their most anticipated seasons ever Thursday when the St. Louis Cardinals pay a visit to Miller Park in the 2019 season opener. Last year, members of the Wisconsin Badgers football team, fresh off a win in the Orange Bowl, participated in the ceremonial first pitch on opening day in Milwaukee. Here are your options. RELATED: As Wisconsin football players prepare to throw first pitch, a look back at the past decade of ceremonial throwers on Opening Day Giannis Antetokounmpo Giannis Antetokounmpo watches his shot go through the basket while the Bucks take on the Cavaliers at Fiserv Forum. (Photo: Michael Sears / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) The Bucks superstar has a game later that night at Fiserv Forum, making Thursday a pretty packed night on the Wisconsin sports calendar. The Bucks have the best record in the NBA and its not all that close right now, either and could be contending for an NBA championship into the month of June. This is the best and most obvious choice. Matt LaFleur Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst (left) laughs with new Packers head coach Matt LaFleur at his introductory press conference in the Lambeau Field media auditorium. (Photo: Jim Matthews/USA TODAY NETWORK-W, Jim Matthews/USA TODAY NETWORK-W) If the Brewers are comfortable with the Packers sneaking into their news cycle, then this could represent a unique opportunity for the new Green Bay coach to meet his fan base. Paul Molitor 1982 BREWERS: L TO R. HARVEY KUENN, PAUL MOLITOR, AND ROBIN YOUNT - Pre-game introductions - 1982 American League playoff. Also published 7-18-99, Robin Yount 5S; The affable Harvey Kuenn led Paul Molitor, Robin Yount and their teammates to the World Series in 1982. Also published Milwaukee Sentinel; 2-29-1988; Harvey Kuenn (lower right) was all smiles as the Brewers were introduced prior to the start of the 1982 American League Championship Series. Paul Molitor and Robin Yount were next to the Brewer skipper. (Photo: John Biever) There were many former Brewers who made appearances during last years run to the seventh game of the NLCS: Nyjer Morgan, Robin Yount, Gorman Thomas and Cecil Cooper were among some of the returnees. Molitor, who had recently been fired as manager of the Minnesota Twins, was not among them. Molly is inarguably one of the three or four greatest players in franchise history, and it would be cool to see him return for a big moment. Junior goalie Kristen Campbell set a single-season program record for wins, finishing with a 2-0 win over Minnesota on Sunday in the national-championship contest. Steve Stricker Steve Stricker (right) gets presented with a Milwaukee Brewers jersey by Milwaukee Brewers TV announcer Brian Anderson after being introduced as the U.S. captain for the 2020 Ryder Cup. (Photo: Michael Sears, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) The Madison-area native and fan favorite has been named captain of the United States Ryder Cup team for 2020, a biennial clash between the United States and Europe that will take place on Wisconsin soil next summer at Whistling Straits in Kohler. Craig Counsell Milwaukee Brewers Manager Craig Counsell signs autographs prior to their spring training game against the San Diego Padres at American Family Fields of Phoenix, Tuesday, February 26, in Phoenix, Arizona. Christopher Perez Milwaukee Brewers Hernan Perez gives his son Christopher a "big league" wrap on his wrist on March 19, 2019. (Photo: Roy Dabner, for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) The 5-year-old son of Hernan Perez has been an adorable staple at Brewers games for years. Give that boy the baseball. A crash course on #Brewers batting stances, courtesy of 4-year-old Christopher Prez: pic.twitter.com/DUtZGItQy6 Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) February 27, 2018 Bud Selig or Bob Uecker Former Brewers owner and MLB commissioner emeritus Bud Selig throws out the first pitch. (Photo: Rick Wood, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) They are the reliable options as two of the most iconic members of the Brewers extended family. Heck, let them throw out as many first pitches as they want. JR Radcliffe can be reached at (262) 361-9141 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @JRRadcliffe. | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2019/03/25/milwaukee-brewers-first-pitch-who-should-toss-out-march-28/3269398002/ |
Can Apple Take On Visa And Amex With Its New Credit Card Service Apple Card? | Getty Today Apple announced its move into banking with the imminent launch of Apple Card, a primarily virtual card issued by Goldman Sachs in partnership with Mastercard, that will sit on all Apple devices in the Apple Wallet but will probably be largely used via the iPhone or Apple Watch. Unlike standard credit cards, this card won't take a few days to arrive in the post. It will land on the user's screen dashboard ready for spending within minutes of signing up. A hardcore version of the card made from titanium will also be mailed out to be used where Apple Pay is not acceptable. Apple has always taken an intuitive approach to everything it designs and the Apple Card is no different. The main criticism of credit cards has always been their propensity to encourage users to spend more than they earn so that they can not afford to pay off the balance each month and rack up huge debts. The Apple Card is designed to help users 'lead a healthier financial life.' With no annual fee and a promised low-interest rate, it aims to make spending easier to track with an instant onscreen statement update available via the Wallet app, so that users can be always aware of how much they owe and better manage their debt. There is also the option to pay off the balance in between standard payment intervals and there are weekly and monthly spending updates divided into categories such as food and drink, shopping and entertainment so that users can see exactly where their money is going. And while many other cards offer rewards in the form of monthly or annual vouchers, air miles or cash back, the virtual Apple Card will reward users with a 2% instant cashback daily. This Daily Cash can be used to instantly pay off the card balance, for additional spending or even gifting to others. Any spending with Apple direct will reward users with a 3% daily cashback. And, any spending made with the hard copy Apple Card will be rewarded with 1% instant cashback. This should be one of the most secure credit cards on the market, with each Apple Card's unique card number stored in the iPhone's Secure Element security chip used by Apple Pay and all purchases requiring authorization via Apple Face ID or Touch ID and a one-time unique dynamic security code. The way the Secure Element security chip is created, means that Apple has no access to the user's purchasing data. The card will be rolled out first in the US over the summer and then likely launch in other Apple Pay global markets soon after. The tech giant's move further into finance has been seen as a logical next step following the successful launch of Apple Pay. It will likely be popular with the youth market, those who are keen to move over to a cash-free life and fans of the comprehensive Apple experience, but there are signs that some are tiring of Apple's joined-up all-encompassing offerings and this new launch will do nothing to reengage them. Amex and Visa will be watching take up carefully, however. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/annatobin/2019/03/25/can-apple-take-on-visa-and-amex-with-its-new-credit-card-service-apple-card/ |
Why Is There Still A Lack Of Diversity In Tech Product Roles? | originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. Answer by Nancy Wang, Founder of Advancing Women in Product, on Quora: Because PMs are the voice of the customer, the PM function within a company helps keep development efforts on the true north. That is why the requirements for a PM are not only related to technical abilities to design a product, but also leadership abilities (to work across different teams with differing agendas) and communication abilities (to communicate priorities to leadership). Engineering is a function that defines success as the ability to deliver features and execute against tight timelines. Thats why PMs have a hard job and the specific needs for PMs can differ widely from company to company. In fact, Im teaming up with a product leader from Facebook to produce an article on this very topic. For female PMs specificially, I think the root of this problem is a funnel issue. Because fewer female are encouraged to go into STEM fields, PM roles that require candidates to come from a more technical background are therefore out of reach for a lot of women. Unfortunately, because PM roles also require business acumen and leadership skills, some biases for folks without MBA degrees or native English-speaking skills still exist. At the end of the day, fit for roles often comes to do your availability to demonstrate fit within a very short amount of time for the recruiter/hiring manager. When there are thousands of applications (using a statistic from my Google days) for a single PM job, hiring managers sometimes need a surefire way to ensure that candidates theyre interviewing have what it takes: therefore, communication skills or MBA degrees, while not 100% guarantees of someones ability in those areas, are more like safety nets for a higher probability that the candidate does. My advice for engineers who are looking to make the transition should be to establish a relationship with a hiring manager long before you intend to make the transition. Demonstrate through actively contributing to projects, that you have the executive communication skills or ability to drive projects, to think big, and most importantly, to advocate for the customer. Please also check out our website, www.advancingwomeninproduct.org, for articles and tips on making the transition and moving up in your product career! 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/2019/03/25/why-is-there-still-a-lack-of-diversity-in-tech-product-roles/ |
How Can Science Explain Group Dynamics? | originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. Answer by Safi Bahcall, Biotech Entrepreneur and Author of Loonshots, on Quora: Over the past couple decades, scientists have been applying the tools and techniques of a new kind of science, called the science of emergence, to help us understand a broad range of systems that are called complex systems, a fancy name that just means systems with many parts that follow certain rules or principles. We can think of cars on a highway as a complex system: Drivers would like to travel at some cruising speed (often constrained by the speed limit). But they also want to avoid crashing, so they like to maintain some distance from the car in front of them. Those sound like simple rules, but those two rules can help us understand many of the important collective properties (emergent behaviors) of traffic flow: when traffic will flow smoothly, when it will jam, and what we can do to design better highwaysmore smooth flow and less jammed flow. It turns out that in recent years scientists have been applying those rules to help us understand the behavior of groups. Researches focus on the collective properties of groups that dont depend much on the details of the individuals, just like the collective properties of cars on highways dont depend much the types of cars or drivers. A research team at Cornell, for example, identified emergent behaviors among Humans in Mosh and Circle Pits at Heavy Metal Concerts. A researcher in France used similar techniques to explain The Hipster Effect: why anti-conformists all look the same. We want a model of our system that captures enough of the rules behind the interactions we wish to study, but not so much that it because impossible to extract useful lessons. A key feature we wish to understand in any complex system is the sudden change between two types of emergent behaviors. That sudden snap is known as a phase transition. Water, for example, will suddenly change from liquid to solid. Highways will suddenly change from smooth flow to jammed flow. Systems snap when the tide turns in a microscopic tug-of-war. Binding energy ties to lock water molecules into rigid formation. Entropy encourages those molecules to roam. As temperature decreases, binding forces get relatively stronger and entropy forces get relatively weaker. When the strengths of those two forces cross, the system snaps. Water freezes. All phase transitions are the result of two competing forces, like the tug-of-war between binding energy and entropy in water. And thats how we can begin to apply these ideas to teams and companies: when people organize into any kind of group with a mission, and a reward system tied to that mission, they also create two competing forcestwo forms of incentives. We can think of the two competing incentives, loosely, as stake in outcome and perks of rank. As structure changes, one grows stronger and the other grows weaker. When groups are small, for example, everyones stake in the outcome of the group project is high. At a small biotech, if the drug works everyone will be a hero and a millionaire. If it fails, everyone will be looking for a job. The perks of rankjob titles or the increase in salary from being promotedare small compared to those high stakes. As teams and companies grow larger, the stakes in outcome decrease while the perks of rank increase. When the two cross, the system snaps. Incentives shift from encouraging a focus on projects and outcomes to encouraging a focus on politics and promotion. A simplebut not simplisticmodel of incentives inside organizations allows us to calculate when this transition will occur. The most important breakthroughsthe ones that change the course of science, business, or historyare fragile. Theyre rarely announced with blaring trumpets and a red carpet, dazzling everyone with their brilliance. Instead, they often arrive covered in wartsthe failures and seemingly obvious reasons they could never work that make them so easy to dismiss. They pass through long dark tunnels of skepticism and uncertainty, their champions dismissed as crazy. Thats why I call them loonshots. In the first phase of team organization mentioned above, when stake in outcome dominates, incentives favor uniting around these early stage-projects. Individuals have so much collectively at stake in the outcome of their mission, that they will come together to rescue those projects from their inevitable stumbles and wrong directions. We can call this the loonshot phase. In the second phase, when perks of rank dominates, incentives favor a focus on careers and promotion. Early-stage projects covered in warts are rejected in favor of ideas that raise the fewest objections. Those are typically franchise projects: the next generation of an already-established product or program (the next statin drug, the next Avengers movie). We can call this the franchise phase. The sudden change between these two emergent behaviors is a phase transition. The bad news about these changes in organizations is that phase transitions are inevitable. All liquids freeze. The good news is that understanding the forces that cause a transition allows us to manage it. Water freezes at 32 Fahrenheit. On snowy days, we toss salt on our sidewalks to lower that freezing temperature. We want the snow to melt rather than harden into ice. We use the same principle to engineer better materials. Adding a small amount of carbon to iron creates a much stronger material: steel. Adding nickel and tungsten to steel creates some of the strongest alloys we know: the steels used inside jet engines and nuclear reactors. Understanding the analogous control parameters that govern the transition inside teams and companies helps us engineer more innovative organizations. 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/2019/03/25/how-can-science-explain-group-dynamics/ |
Will Patriots trade up to draft the Gronk replacement? | This is New Englands projected tight end depth chart in the wake of Rob Gronkowskis retirement: Matt LaCosse Jacob Hollister Stephen Anderson Ryan Izzo Izzo, a seventh-round pick for New England in 2018, is the only one who didn't go undrafted. Their combined career stats: 71 catches for 801 yards and three touchdowns. The Patriots next tight end is probably not currently on the roster, and the free-agent TE market has dried up, which means Gronks retirement is going to have a direct impact on the Patriots draft plans. The draft does include a perfect replacement for Gronkowski, and in a perfect world the Patriots would be able to get their hands on him. Iowa tight end T.J. Hockenson is the rare collegiate tight end who is both an athletic pass-catching threat and a physicalat times maulingblocker. He has drawn comparisons to Gronk, and one scout I spoke to said those comparisons arent unrealistic. Right now, hes not at Gronks level as a blocker, but he has the potential to get there. He isnt as big as Gronk (Hockenson is 6' 5", 241 pounds compared to Gronks 6' 6", 265), but hes close. He has reliable hands and is strong at the point of attack as a blocker. The Patriots first pick of April's draft is No. 32, and one scout I spoke with said that theres no way Hockenson will make it past the 17th pick. New England does have a wealth of picks to deal, with six selections between 32 and 101. But their picks are late in each round, and New England would probably have to package quite a few of them to make it to Hockensonhistory suggests the they wont make a move that high for one player. He has natural ties to New England. At Iowa he was coached by Kirk Ferentz, who was on Belichicks Cleveland Browns staff and with whom Belichick has a good relationship. Iowas coaches have offered glowing reviews on Hockenson to NFL teams. There are two Hawkeyes on the Patriots current roster, including third-string center James Ferentz, Kirks son. If New England cant trade up to snag Hockenson, they could go after his Iowa teammate, Noah Fant. Fant isnt the blocker that Hockenson is, but he might be the most athletic receiver in this years TE class. However, our Albert Breer reported last fall that Fant clashed with Iowa coaches at times. Another option late in the first or early in the second would be Alabamas Irv Smith Jr. The son of the former Saints first-round tight end of the same name, hes a well-rounded player who can contribute as a receiver or runner, though he doesnt approach the kind of physical talent Gronkowski has. (Smiths college coach, of course, also has a good relationship with Belichick.) There is decent depth at tight end in this draft, and if New England chooses to use its first two picks (32 and 56) on defense they might still find a good option. San Jose States Josh Oliver, Texas A&Ms Jace Sternberger, San Diego States Kahale Warring, Isaac Nauta of Georgia (New Englands new pipeline), and Dawson Knox of Ole Miss offer intriguing skillsets, but might not be ready to contribute immediately in the Patriots offense. PRO DAY SLATE FOR TUESDAY: Campbell, Central Florida, Duke, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Iowa State, James Madison, Monmouth (N.J.), Morgan State, Northern Iowa, Richmond, Southeast Missouri, Texas A&M, Texas-San Antonio. Email us at [email protected]. | https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/03/25/rob-gronkowski-retirement-replacement-tj-hockenson-iowa-belichick-ferentz |
Have MPs gained the upper hand in the Brexit battle? | On the first day for what seems likely to be a crucial week in the Brexit process, MPs have voted on a series of amendments which will help shape the next steps. MPs have voted to give themselves considerably more control of the Brexit process, starting more or less immediately. They passed by a comfortable 329 to 302 margin an amendment led by the Conservative former minister Sir Oliver Letwin which sets aside Commons business on Wednesday for a series of so-called indicative votes on finding a consensus Brexit solution. Potentially. Amid an ever-greater sense of drift and gridlock in Theresa Mays government, MPs have acted to take control of the timetable and possibly the actual process of departure. Earlier this month, they passed up the chance when they voted down a similar amendment, defeating it by just two votes. On Wednesday, MPs will hold a series of votes on a variety of possible Brexit solutions, for example leaving with Mays deal; leaving with membership of a customs union and/or single market; a no-deal departure; a second referendum. The various possible options and the form of voting are yet to be confirmed. No. These are indicative votes that is, not binding and speaking in the Commons earlier, May indicated that it would be hard for the government to implement a plan which went against the Conservative manifesto, which ruled out a customs union or single market membership. Cabinet ministers have previously made the same point. Theresa May maintains carry-on-regardless Brexit strategy Read more While there has been talk of MPs trying to seize further control of the Commons and push through an agreed plan via statute, this would appear constitutionally very tricky; it is the executive which is supposed to push laws, not the legislature, and so the main lever on May would thus be political pressure. Political slings and arrows are something of a daily event for a prime minister who has rapidly gone from embattled to beleaguered to hanging on to power by her fingertips, but this is still a significant loss on a vote the government spoke and whipped against. Amid opposition predictions the result would be closer than it actually was, three junior ministers resigned to vote for the Letwin amendment: the business minister, Richard Harrington, the Foreign Office minister, Alistair Burt, and the health minister, Steve Brine. In all, 30 Conservative MPs rebelled the whip. One of these was Damian Green, Mays former deputy and one of her closest political allies. MPs narrowly defeated an amendment tabled by the veteran Labour backbencher Dame Margaret Beckett to seek to permanently block a no-deal Brexit without parliaments consent. It said that if the UK was seven calendar days from leaving without a deal, the house should be recalled to consider a motion on whether or not MPs approved such a move. It was defeated by 314 votes to 311. However, this does not necessarily mean no deal is necessarily back on the table. MPs have previously voted against it and May told the Commons on Monday that it would not happen without the say-so of parliament. In all, seven amendments were tabled for Monday, and the Speaker, John Bercow, selected three. As well as the Letwin and Beckett ones, he picked a Labour frontbench plan for indicative votes, similar to Letwins but notably less prescriptive as to how the process should take place. Labour opted to not put this to a vote, thus focusing attention on the Letwin plan, and boosting its chances of passing. A final vote took place on the main motion as amended in essence a rerun of the vote on the Letwin amendment. This was passed by 327 to 300. It was, yet again, a so-called neutral motion saying only that MPs had considered Brexit under section 13 of the EU Withdrawal Act, which covers the matter of gaining parliamentary approval. As with previous such motions, it is intended as a vehicle for MPs to table amendments to help shape the process. It was tabled by the government as a consequence of an amendment passed in December, led by Tory MP Dominic Grieve, to give MPs more control of the Brexit process. | https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/mar/25/have-mps-gained-the-upper-hand-in-the-brexit-battle |
What do voters make of Brexit now? | Image copyright Getty Images Almost three years ago the UK voted in favour of leaving the EU. Yet the original departure date of 29 March has been delayed and the government is searching for a way forward. Theresa May argues that her deal is the best way of fulfilling the instruction to leave given by voters in the EU referendum. Trouble is, voters themselves - including not least those who voted Leave - have become deeply critical of how the UK government has handled Brexit negotiations; as data from research organisations NatCen Social Research and What UK Thinks suggests. Two years ago, those who voted Leave were inclined to give the government the benefit of the doubt. However, as many as 80% of Leave voters now say that it has handled Brexit negotiations badly. That figure is almost as high as it is among Remain voters (85%), who had previously been more critical of the government's approach. Remarkably, Leave voters are now just as critical of the UK government's role as they are of the EU's: 79% of Leave supporters say the EU has handled Brexit badly. Meanwhile, the longer negotiations have continued, the more pessimistic voters have become about how good a deal the UK will secure. Two years ago, there were almost as many who thought that the UK would obtain a good deal (33%) as thought it would find itself with a bad one (37%). However, that mood soon changed and by last summer as many as 57% reckoned the UK would emerge with a bad deal. Now that the first phase of the Brexit negotiations has been concluded - though, as yet at least, not approved by MPs - the proportion who think the UK is heading for a bad deal is, at 63%, even higher. Here too, Remain and Leave voters are now largely in agreement. This is despite Leave voters initially being much more positive. As many as 66% of Leave supporters now believe that the UK is faced with a bad deal - even more than the 64% of Remain voters who express that view. It seems that the prime minister's deal has failed to satisfy many of the very voters whose wishes the deal is intended to fulfil. In truth, the polls have for some time been indicating that slightly more people now say they would vote Remain than Leave in another ballot. At present, the average level of support for the two options (after Don't Knows are excluded) is Remain 54%, Leave 46%. In part, this is because Leave voters are a little less likely to say they would vote the same way again (82%), than Remain voters are (86%). But the swing to Remain, such as it is, is also down to those who did not vote in 2016. Of this group, 43% say they would vote Remain, whereas 19% say they would back Leave. In truth, the polls are too close for opponents of Brexit to assume that a second ballot would produce a different result. But, equally, supporters of Brexit cannot say with confidence that the balance of opinion remains as it was in June 2016. That depends on how they are asked. Some polls introduce the idea of another ballot as a "people's vote", or a "public vote" and do not make it clear that remaining in the EU would be an option. When put to the public in this way, the polls suggest on average that supporters of a second referendum outnumber opponents by 12 points. However, the average level of support and opposition changes when people are asked if there should be another referendum with Remain as an option on the ballot paper. Asked in this way, opponents outnumber supporters by 11 points. But perhaps what is more important is that Remain voters are much keener on this idea than Leave supporters. That suggests the proposal is not yet a way out of the Brexit impasse that is backed by both sides in the Brexit debate. Remain and Leave voters may agree that they do not like Mrs May's deal, but that does not mean that they agree on what should happen instead. About this piece This analysis piece was commissioned by the BBC from an expert working for an outside organisation. Sir John Curtice is professor of politics at Strathclyde University, senior fellow at NatCen Social Research and The UK in a Changing Europe. He is also chief commentator at WhatUKthinks.org. Edited by Duncan Walker Charts by David Brown | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-47693645 |
Will Cleveland Indians 2019 bullpen have better results than last years pen? | ARLINGTON, Tex. -- The Indians had pitchers piled on top of pitchers when spring training started on Feb. 12. There was a common link among most of them they werent there to win a starting job. The rotation of Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer, Carlos Carrasco, Mike Clevinger and Shane Bieber was already set. Injury or trade were the only things that was going to change that. Despite rumors that resurfaced late in spring training that the Indians were once again talking to the Padres about a trade involving Kluber or Bauer, it was clear that the rotation would open the regular season intact. While the names in the rotation were written in reinforced steel, the names in the bullpen were written in sand. It appeared change was needed and needed in a hurry. Veterans were brought in on minor league deals. Hard-throwing prospects from the minors were invited to big-league camp. Pitchers rebounding from surgery were given an opportunity to show their stuff. The Indians even made a trade, acquiring Nick Wittgren from the Marlins on Feb. 4, and putting him on the 40-man roster. Yet when the pen was finally revealed on Sunday, all seven arms had spent time with the Indians last year. Time with a bullpen that put up a 4.60 ERA last year and would not have Cody Allen and Andrew Miller pitching in the late innings. There were no newcomers or big surprises. Just Brad Hand, Adam Cimber, Tyler Olson, Dan Otero, Jon Edwards, Oliver Perez and Neil Ramirez. It wasnt like there was a lack of competition. It seemed like every Tribe reliever put up a constant string of zeroes throughout the Cactus League schedule. Alex Wilson and Justin Grimm, two veterans in camp on minor league deals, had good showings. But they didnt quite make it and opted out of their contracts. Wilson signed a big-league contract with Milwaukee and Grimm signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers. Francona said he would have liked to keep them, but the Tribe had to make a decision because of their opt clauses. Wittgren, the last reliever cut, was optioned to Class AAA Columbus after posting a 3.86 ERA in eight games. He struck out six, walked one and allowed four earned runs. Prospect Henry Martinez made six scoreless appearances and was sent down early in camp. Nick Goody, another late demotion, posted a 3.86 ERA coming off right elbow surgery. Asked what he thought of the new bullpen, Otero said, Im excited but its not really a new bullpen. Everybody was there last year. But like Ive said time and time again, everybody who is in our bullpen has had success in the big leagues. So Im looking forward to it. There might be some new roles. We might have to figure some things out. I think it will take care of itself. Right now the only reliever with a role is Hand, the closer. We know hes going to pitch at the end of the game, said manager Terry Francona. I talked to our other guys the other day and just said to be patient. One, you want to win the game. But early on you want to monitor workload. You want to make sure everyone is getting work. By the way guys pitch, they usually pitch themselves into roles. I think thats the best way to do it rather than just name somebody. The Tribes pen includes three lefties in Hand, Perez and Olson. The four righties are Otero, Ramirez, Cimber and Edwards. Cimber is a submariner. Francona said he likes Olson as a left-on-left guy lefties hit .182 against him last year. Perez got lefties (.194) and righties (.104) out last year. Cimber, with his submarine style, could be Olsons equivalent against right-handers. Edwards and Ramirez, with good velocity, could get the first look in the late innings. When you have a guy at the back end like Hand and you have our starting rotation, said Otero, if we just pitch to our abilities, and not try to do too much, well be fine. | https://www.cleveland.com/tribe/2019/03/will-cleveland-indians-2019-bullpen-have-better-results-than-last-years-pen.html |
Why are Frisco's autonomous vans moving to another North Texas suburb? | For about eight months, a fleet of bright orange self-driving vans have been rolling around Frisco. But the autonomous vehicles and the pilot program run by Silicon Valley-based Drive.ai will be permanently parked on Friday. The city of Frisco announced Monday that the autonomous vehicle pilot program will end, despite city officials and the company deeming it a success. Nearly 5,000 unique riders used the service during the pilot program and there were no safety issues. Frisco Mayor Jeff Cheney said the city could not justify the service's high cost, which he declined to specify because of a nondisclosure agreement. He said the city considered ways to lower the price tag, such as using grant funding, collecting fees from riders and asking nearby companies to foot part of the bill. In the end, he said, the city came up short. "Is it a cost effective use of taxpayer money?" Cheney said. "Today, it is not." | https://www.dallasnews.com/business/technology/2019/03/25/autonomous-car-pilot-ends-frisco-rolls-another-north-texas-suburb |
Does Amazon even make money when Fire 7 tablets are on sale for $35, like it is right now? | At just $50, weve often wondered what kind of margin Amazon could possibly make on the Fire 7 Tablet. Its an excellent compact tablet that gives users easy access to all of Amazons services, so perhaps the company just tries to break even on the hardware. If youre a Prime subscriber though, you can buy a Fire 7 Tablet today for just $34.99. Ultra-thin iPhone cases made of real body armor are back in stock on Amazon Logitech's $120 Harmony 665 universal remote is just $35 if you get a refurb on Amazon 7 IPS display; 8 or 16 GB of internal storage (up to 256 GB with microSD) 1.3 GHz quad-core processor Up to 8 hours of battery life Alexa enabled 1 GB of RAM VGA front-facing camera + 2 MP rear-facing camera with 720p HD video recording Dual-band Wi-Fi 90-day limited warranty Enjoy millions of movies, TV episodes, songs, books, apps, and games Sign up for BGR's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Trending Right Now: See the original version of this article on BGR.com | https://news.yahoo.com/does-amazon-even-money-fire-201919223.html |
Why aren't Ohioans rushing to buy medical marijuana? | CLOSE Ohio's seed to sale process for producing medical marijuana. Michael Nyerges, Cincinnati Enquirer COLUMBUS Ohio's faltering medical marijuana program has exceeded in one area: signing up patients on the patient registry. But most of those patients have yet to buy marijuana at one of the state's licensed dispensaries. Of the nearly 20,000 patients who signed up in the first three months of Ohio's registry, only 28 percent made a purchase during that time, according to the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy, which oversees the patient registry and dispensary parts of the program. On average, patients bought 6 tenths of an ounce during that time. That's not a lot. The pharmacy board considers a tenth a "whole day unit." Ohio dispensaries have sold more than $2.47 million worth of marijuana since Jan. 16. But sales have declined over the last two weeks straight even as more dispensaries come online. Prices are too high Several medical marijuana patients told The Enquirer the prices are just too high. The average price has hovered around $470 per ounce in Ohio. That's more than double the median price in Michigan, where patients from Ohio and other states can use their cards. And they're not expected to drop too much any time soon. Neighboring Pennsylvania, whose program resembles Ohio's, began sales about 13 months ago. The average price there is $480 per ounce, according to analysis by trade publication Marijuana Business Daily. Ohio medical marijuana sales (Photo: Jackie Borchardt) More mature markets such as Massachusetts and Illinois have lower average prices, $350 and $375 an ounce, respectively. There are several reasons why Ohio's prices are high. Among them: There are few cultivators selling product to a few dispensaries Ohio has some of the highest license fees in the country and companies have spent millions of dollars on state-of-the-art facilities. Ohio has more restrictive rules for testing and packaging marijuana. Dispensaries are far away Nine of the state's 56 licensed retail dispensaries have opened. All are in the eastern half of the state. NEWSLETTERS Get the News Alerts newsletter delivered to your inbox We're sorry, but something went wrong Be the first to be informed of important news as it happens in Greater Cincinnati. Please try again soon, or contact Customer Service at 1-800-876-4500. Delivery: Varies Invalid email address Thank you! You're almost signed up for News Alerts Keep an eye out for an email to confirm your newsletter registration. More newsletters The closest dispensary to Cincinnati is a two-hour drive away in Jackson Buckeye Botanicals. Before that store opened, many Southwest Ohioans drove four hours to Wintersville, on the eastern edge of the state. It could be several weeks before a dispensary opens in Southwest Ohio. Lorrie Callahan, a Dayton-area patient who has multiple sclerosis, gets messages every day from fellow patients who are frustrated with the program's slow rollout and lack of dispensaries in Southwest Ohio. Callahan plans to make her first dispensary purchase Saturday at The Forest in Sandusky a 5-and-one-half-hour drive, round trip. Driving for long periods of time is painful for Callahan; it gives her muscle spasms. "Sunday and Monday Im going to be absolutely nothing," Callahan said. Callahan said she'll probably wait to buy more medicine until a store opens in Dayton or Cincinnati. Buy Photo The future site of Care Med Associates LLC, a medical marijuana dispensary at 5149 Kennedy Avenue across from Madtree Brewing in Columbia Township, March 19, 2019. (Photo: Ryan Terhune / The Enquirer) Customer experience Patients are also hesitant to travel far or spend big because of little problems others have experienced at dispensaries. One big one: Ohio calculates its maximum supply differently than most other states. Patients are limited to a 90-day supply of marijuana, based on THC content of the product. But that's not calculated on a rolling basis. Instead, the 90-day clock starts when the physician registers the patient in the program. If someone waits 30 days for his first visit to a dispensary, he will only be able to purchase 60 days worth of marijuana instead of 90. The pharmacy board set that rule to prevent patients from breaking the law for how much medical marijuana they can possess, agency spokeswoman Ali Simon said. "It sets the system up so the patient never could have more than 90 days at a time," Simon said. Ohio's limit disadvantages patients who can't afford a 90-day supply average price $3,760 in one initial purchase or travel frequently to a dispensary, patients told The Enquirer. Bill Schmitt Jr., an Ohio patient who lives in Bellaire, was surprised to learn he could only buy two day's worth of marijuana after buying only eight individually packaged "whole day units" a few weeks earlier. In addition to the "use it or lose" it calculation, the state's system rounds up the units so when someone buys three daily units, they're marked in the system as buying four days worth. And dispensaries say another Ohio rule prevents them from listing their inventory, known as a menu, on popular websites such as Weedmaps. Schmitt said he can pull up the site on his phone and easily find out what's in stock at most Michigan dispensaries. I can find the exact medication I need before I go there, before I waste any gas, before I waste any time, Schmitt said. Access to the dispensing room at the Ohio Cannabis Company medical marijuana dispensary is restricted. (Photo: Nathan Harris/Coshocton Tribune) Limited product selection The only medical marijuana available is the dried flower form. Marijuana bud is typically smoked, but Ohio law only allows vaporizing plant material. Oils, tinctures, lotions, patches and marijuana-infused foods which are preferred by many patients are not yet on dispensary shelves. Dr. Timothy Thress, a Cincinnati doctor who sees patients through Ohio Medical Card, said some patients, such as those with heart conditions, shouldn't be vaping their medicine. "A lot of people arent getting their cards yet because they dont want to pay money and not use it," Thress said. While many patients still rely on black market products or travel to Michigan and other states, those are not options for many patients. L.A., a Southwest Ohio woman who asked not to be named, has a rare disease and can't risk her marijuana being contaminated. All Ohio medical marijuana is tested for safety and purity and labeled with the amounts of cannabinoids, the active compounds in marijuana, each contains. She also can't vape because of her asthma and cannot travel by car for long periods of time. "I cant use my (medical marijuana) card," she said. "Its been a lot of money that basically went down the tubes." Marijuana-infused products are expected on dispensary shelves next month. Grow Ohio Pharmaceuticals became the first of 39 state-licensed processors to get approval to open. The company also operates a large grow site at its Zanesville-area location and will use all its harvested flower to make marijuana-infused products, said executive vice president Justin Hunt. Hunt said he hopes to have oils and tinctures available later this month and next month produce marijuana-infused gummy candy. Standard Wellness in Gibsonburg, in the Northwestern corner of the state, was the second processor to get approval. It plans to have oils, tinctures, edibles and topicals in dispensaries next month. The Enquirer has the largest team of journalists covering Ohio's medical marijuana program and cannabis industry. If you'd like to stay informed on this issue, please consider signing up for an Enquirer subscription today. Read or Share this story: https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2019/03/25/why-arent-ohioans-rushing-buy-medical-marijuana/3205803002/ | https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2019/03/25/why-arent-ohioans-rushing-buy-medical-marijuana/3205803002/ |
How did local trio The Bundys fare in their 'Voice' Battle Round? | The Wyoming Bundys took the stage in the first Battle Round for Team Kelly Clarkson Monday night on NBC's "The Voice," facing 14-year-old Mikaela Astel. It's the first time four people have taken the stage in a Battle Round: The Bundys Megan, Katey and Ryan Bundy are the first trio to make it to the Battle Rounds. SUBSCRIBE NOW: For unlimited access to our coverage on Cincinnati.com Singer Kelsea Ballerini was the adviser helping artists on Team Kelly Clarkson prepare for their Battle Rounds. Clarkson picked "Songbird," a song by Fleetwood Mac recently covered by one of the trio's favorite artists, Eva Cassidy. The sibling vocals melded into harmonies that welcomed Mikaela's pure, clear voice into the mix. These dynamic harmonies from @TheBundysMusic and @mikaelaastel will have you wondering where one voice ends and another begins. : Song Bird - @fleetwoodmacpic.twitter.com/dI1UrgGVSx The Voice (@NBCTheVoice) March 26, 2019 During the coaching session, the Bundy siblings "adopted" the teen. "She's our little sister now. We've adopted her into our family," said Katey Bundy. That struck a chord with Ballerini. "I loved how much they embraced Mikaela," she said. "You could tell they kind of took her under their wing. This performance is about collaborating having a great performance for both people's benefit. I saw that with them today." The trio supported and encouraged the teen during the coaching with Ballerini and onstage. Mikaela's piercing tone fit the song well, and the performance wove all four voices in harmonies. They fit together well. Newcomer coach John Legend said The Bundys' harmonies were gorgeous. Coach Adam Levine said The Bundys were "super-sweet. I could feel the energy of like 'we're doing this together. It was really graceful." The coaches all commented on Mikaela's pure tone, and Blake Shelton told her she should not be discouraged, but keep working. "This is what you were meant to do," he said. In the end, Clarkson picked the trio, and they move on in the competition. NEWSLETTERS Get the News Alerts newsletter delivered to your inbox We're sorry, but something went wrong Be the first to be informed of important news as it happens in Greater Cincinnati. Please try again soon, or contact Customer Service at 1-800-876-4500. Delivery: Varies Invalid email address Thank you! You're almost signed up for News Alerts Keep an eye out for an email to confirm your newsletter registration. More newsletters More: How a Wyoming trio made 'The Voice' history More: Wyoming siblings on new season of 'The Voice' starting Feb. 25 Astel admitted nerves got the best of her, but she also celebrated the encouragement she received from the coaches and The Bundys to continue developing her talent. "We love this girl so much. She truly became part of our family. Just promise us, @MikaelaAstel that youll have us open for you someday," the trio tweeted after the Battle aired. Clarkson felt the love. "Such a beautiful moment between all four of you! It was like one big happy family. Yall made me so proud!" she tweeted after the performance. The Battle Rounds Part 2 continue at 8 p.m., Monday, April 1, on NBC, WLWT-5 in Cincinnati. Follow The Bundys: YouTube channel: The Bundys Instagram: thebundysmusic Facebook: The Bundys Website: www.thebundys.com Twitter: @TheBundysMusic Read or Share this story: https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2019/03/25/how-did-local-trio-bundys-fare-the-voice-battle-round/3273154002/ | https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2019/03/25/how-did-local-trio-bundys-fare-the-voice-battle-round/3273154002/ |
Will Chemicals Save The Downstream Sector? | Chemicals are integral to modern urban life, from the packaging that keeps our food fresher for longer, to the carpets in our homes and offices, the casings of our phones and computers, to the vehicles we drive. The petrochemicals industry emerged after the Second World War, as catalyst technology enabled the production of long chain polymers, which were lighter and stronger than traditional/natural alternatives. Petrochemical demand growth, in percentage terms, typically exceeds economic growth rates, as new applications continue to be discovered and developed. The future growth expectations are, however, far from uniform globally. We believe they follow a S-curve adoption profile. This S-curve links per capita demand of petrochemicals to GDP per capita high income nations (Europe and North America) are at the top of the S-curve, so demand growth is limited to economic and population growth rates, which are typically low. Emerging economies such as India are entering the steep part of the S-curve, where growth rates are far higher than GDP growth, due to the emergence of large middle class populations. This group fuels strong petrochemicals demand as they urbanize and buy petrochemical rich products, such as consumer goods and cars, which are key features of rising living standards. Getty Globally, the demand for ethylene a key petrochemical building block - grows by 34% per year each and every year, equivalent to an additional 5 million to 6 million tonnes annually. The scale of this growth is significant, as to meet demand - it means three to four world-scale, multi-billion dollar petrochemical projects need to be developed each year. The profitability of the commodity petrochemicals sector is cyclical, going through peaks and troughs in conjunction with the broader business cycle. Despite the strength of demand growth, the market is highly fragmented as there is a multitude of different companies in the sector. As the petrochemical market is global, all see the same pricing signals and for many, the investment economics are similar as such, petrochemicals is prone to over-investment, so a bust lurks behind every boom period. There is also a disruptive investment challenge for the chemicals sector gas-based feedstocks are low cost and so provide a competitive advantage and ensure some profitability even during the periods of bust. However, there are not enough gas-based feedstocks to fully satisfy global demand growth over an extended period. The oil and refining industry is focusing on this outlook for sustained petrochemical demand growth and the opportunity it presents. This is because the demand outlook for transport fuels in mature economies is in decline. This lack of growth is primarily due to the legislative requirement for auto makers to deliver fuel efficiency improvements. The move towards electrification of the transport sector will see the demand for transport fuels decline. The sustained growth outlook for the petrochemical sector offers and opportunity for the oil and refining sectors to hedge against the impact of falling transportation fuel demand, ensuring the sectors continued profitability and ultimate long term viability. There are a number of implications of this mega-trend, such as: Huge interest in projects that can utilize gas-based feedstocks, particularly in North America, where the growth in shale-gas production offers a steady supply of gas; New downstream facilities will increasingly integrate petrochemicals with refining. Currently, there are projects being developed in China and the Middle East - petrochemicals represent around half of the total site production, which is over twice historic levels; Existing refiners in the mature markets of Europe and North America will increasingly look to extend their product range into petrochemicals; Stand-alone refiners that are fuels oriented and competitively weak will face a more challenging future, particularly if they are in regions in which demand is declining; Refiners could destroy the profitability of this petrochemical growth sector, simply by transitioning too early and too strongly. The components that are used to make gasoline can be petrochemical feedstocks, but the current volume of available gasoline components is four times bigger than the petrochemical feedstock requirement; Current chemical players need to change their approach and deliver more specialized products as refiners will grow to dominate the commodity markets (as they are set up to produce large volumes of material cheaply). Aside from the risk of sustained over-investment by the refining sector, there are regulatory clouds that could darken the outlook for petrochemicals. Single-use plastics may become socially unacceptable. Recycling of consumer goods and single use plastics needs to improve, as it is currently costly and difficult, but technology could help move towards a circular economy. Petrochemicals is an opportunity for the oil and refining sectors, but as ever, risks abound for those that are not market leaders or have an advantaged feedstock position. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/woodmackenzie/2019/03/26/will-chemicals-save-the-downstream-sector/ |
Can Pete Buttigieg turn his 'buzz' into a viable 2020 bid? | COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg is riding in the back of a rented minivan to his last event of the day in South Carolina, munching on cold french fries and critiquing his stage performance so far. The enthusiastic crowds of hundreds who've packed his first two stops have been much larger than the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and his team expected. It's "wonderful," he says, but the cheering and prolonged applause are messing with his delivery. Sometimes he neglects to pause, and his next words are drowned out. Other times people start clapping when he doesn't expect it. "I need to relearn the timing of my stump speech," Buttigieg says. "I've been used to a format where I go in, there's 50 people, I do my little spiel and then we have some Q&A and hopefully they walk away impressed. Now every one of these things we put on the calendar as a meet and greet is turning out to be a rally." Buttigieg, a veteran and Rhodes scholar, was the longest of long shots when he announced a presidential exploratory committee in January. No mayor has ever been elected president, much less one from a community of roughly 100,000 people in the middle of America, and Buttigieg is barely old enough to be eligible for the job. But his underdog bid is gaining momentum, and the clean-cut guy known to most people as "Mayor Pete" can feel it. Now he has to figure out how to turn one of the first surprises of the nascent race for the Democratic nomination into a full-fledged presidential campaign and one that isn't remembered as a mere quirk. "The buzz helps," Buttigieg says. "But you want to make sure that you have enough substance and enough organization that any kind of flavor-of-the-month period is something you can outlive." Besides the crowds and the cheering, Buttigieg has seen increasing national media attention, from Fox News to MSNBC and his second appearance on ABC's "The View." After a breakout performance in a CNN town hall earlier this month, Buttigieg's team says he raised roughly $600,000 from 22,000 donors in just over 24 hours. He has now received enough individual contributions to qualify for a spot on the Democratic debate stage this summer. But there's still plenty of work to do, starting with raising money and hiring staff. Buttigieg said his goal early on was to raise $1 million by the end of the first quarter on March 31, adding, "We're definitely there." He's fairly confident they'll have the funds needed for a healthy operation, at least in the early stages. But he also wants to "show well" when all candidates' first-quarter totals become public the first time this cycle that campaigns are required to file campaign finance reports. "I think we benefit from the fact that it's graded on a curve," Buttigieg said. "No one is expecting us to raise as though I were a senator from Florida or from a big city. But we've got to show that we can compete at this level." Buttigieg also plans to double the size of his roughly 20-person team in the new few weeks, in preparation for an official campaign launch. He doesn't have an advance team - those campaign staffers who coordinate events on-site before the candidate arrives, hang campaign signs and ensure someone is capturing emails and phone numbers for every person who walks in the door. Volunteers and local Democratic officials handled most of those duties during Buttigieg's swing Saturday through South Carolina, site of the South's first primary. Instead of professionally printed banners, someone hung poster boards with messages handwritten in black marker urging attendees to tweet photos and video using several different hashtags and Twitter handles. When Buttigieg took questions from the crowd in Rock Hill, there were no microphones for people in the audience, forcing him to ask a woman at the back of the gymnasium to shout her question twice so he could hear. None of that seemed to bother voters. After his event in Columbia, Christina Goodwin, 32, called Buttigieg "exciting" and said he'd moved into her top three list, along with Sens. Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand, despite her misgivings about supporting another white man for president in 2020. Goodwin, like other voters, said she's been picking up bits of intriguing information about Buttigieg through social media that have piqued her interest. That he learned to speak Norwegian, for instance, so he could read more books by a Norwegian author, Erlend Loe. Buttigieg, who speaks seven languages, demonstrated some of his language skills when a Norwegian media crew showed up to ask questions after the Columbia event. (He also speaks French, Italian, Spanish, Arabic, Dari and Maltese, the language of his father's home country.) Buttigieg also plays piano and has been known to join local performers on stage in South Bend video of which sometimes pops up on social media. When he was applying to his alma mater, Harvard, he won the Profiles in Courage essay contest with a piece about an independent then-congressman from Vermont whom he admired: Bernie Sanders. They would speak years later, when the senator called in 2017 to encourage him to drop out of the race for Democratic National Committee chairman, which Buttigieg later did. Buttigieg believes he's gaining support because people are looking for something different and a more hopeful message to combat President Donald Trump. The openly gay former lieutenant in the Navy Reserve uses his stump speech to talk about how political decisions have shaped his life, and how much is at stake in 2020. He recalls writing a letter to his family before he deployed to Afghanistan in 2014 so they could read it if he didn't return. He also talks about his marriage to his husband, which "exists by the grace of a single vote on the U.S. Supreme Court" - a line that generated some of his biggest applause during his trip through South Carolina. Friends Catherine Paquin, 36, and Jonah Burrell, 37, attended Buttigieg's stop in Greenville wearing "Mayor Pete 2020" T-shirts they bought off Amazon.com. Burrell, who is gay, said it's "really cool" to have an openly gay man in the race, but it's not the main reason he's supporting Buttigieg. "That calm demeanor, the way he speaks is smart," Burrell said. "You can tell he thinks about all his answers. He's done his research." "I think they underestimate him," Paquin said. Wrapping up his remarks in Greenville, Buttigieg noted that's happening less these days than it did a few months ago, when hardly anyone knew his name. "I don't know whether we can pull this off, but I'm feeling pretty good about it," he said. ___ Follow Sara Burnett on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sara_burnett | https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/article/Can-Pete-Buttigieg-turn-his-buzz-into-a-viable-13716162.php |
Can Pete Buttigieg turn his buzz into a viable 2020 bid? | COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg is riding in the back of a rented minivan to his last event of the day in South Carolina, munching on cold french fries and critiquing his stage performance so far. The enthusiastic crowds of hundreds whove packed his first two stops have been much larger than the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and his team expected. Its wonderful, he says, but the cheering and prolonged applause are messing with his delivery. Sometimes he neglects to pause, and his next words are drowned out. Other times people start clapping when he doesnt expect it. I need to relearn the timing of my stump speech, Buttigieg says. Ive been used to a format where I go in, theres 50 people, I do my little spiel and then we have some Q&A and hopefully they walk away impressed. Now every one of these things we put on the calendar as a meet and greet is turning out to be a rally. Buttigieg, a veteran and Rhodes scholar, was the longest of long shots when he announced a presidential exploratory committee in January. No mayor has ever been elected president, much less one from a community of roughly 100,000 people in the middle of America, and Buttigieg is barely old enough to be eligible for the job. But his underdog bid is gaining momentum, and the clean-cut guy known to most people as Mayor Pete can feel it. Now he has to figure out how to turn one of the first surprises of the nascent race for the Democratic nomination into a full-fledged presidential campaign and one that isnt remembered as a mere quirk. The buzz helps, Buttigieg says. But you want to make sure that you have enough substance and enough organization that any kind of flavor-of-the-month period is something you can outlive. Advertising Besides the crowds and the cheering, Buttigieg has seen increasing national media attention, from Fox News to MSNBC and his second appearance on ABCs The View. After a breakout performance in a CNN town hall earlier this month, Buttigiegs team says he raised roughly $600,000 from 22,000 donors in just over 24 hours. He has now received enough individual contributions to qualify for a spot on the Democratic debate stage this summer. But theres still plenty of work to do, starting with raising money and hiring staff. Buttigieg said his goal early on was to raise $1 million by the end of the first quarter on March 31, adding, Were definitely there. Hes fairly confident theyll have the funds needed for a healthy operation, at least in the early stages. But he also wants to show well when all candidates first-quarter totals become public the first time this cycle that campaigns are required to file campaign finance reports. I think we benefit from the fact that its graded on a curve, Buttigieg said. No one is expecting us to raise as though I were a senator from Florida or from a big city. But weve got to show that we can compete at this level. Buttigieg also plans to double the size of his roughly 20-person team in the new few weeks, in preparation for an official campaign launch. He doesnt have an advance team those campaign staffers who coordinate events on-site before the candidate arrives, hang campaign signs and ensure someone is capturing emails and phone numbers for every person who walks in the door. Volunteers and local Democratic officials handled most of those duties during Buttigiegs swing Saturday through South Carolina, site of the Souths first primary. Instead of professionally printed banners, someone hung poster boards with messages handwritten in black marker urging attendees to tweet photos and video using several different hashtags and Twitter handles. When Buttigieg took questions from the crowd in Rock Hill, there were no microphones for people in the audience, forcing him to ask a woman at the back of the gymnasium to shout her question twice so he could hear. None of that seemed to bother voters. After his event in Columbia, Christina Goodwin, 32, called Buttigieg exciting and said hed moved into her top three list, along with Sens. Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand, despite her misgivings about supporting another white man for president in 2020. Advertising Goodwin, like other voters, said shes been picking up bits of intriguing information about Buttigieg through social media that have piqued her interest. That he learned to speak Norwegian, for instance, so he could read more books by a Norwegian author, Erlend Loe. Buttigieg, who speaks seven languages, demonstrated some of his language skills when a Norwegian media crew showed up to ask questions after the Columbia event. (He also speaks French, Italian, Spanish, Arabic, Dari and Maltese, the language of his fathers home country.) Buttigieg also plays piano and has been known to join local performers on stage in South Bend video of which sometimes pops up on social media. When he was applying to his alma mater, Harvard, he won the Profiles in Courage essay contest with a piece about an independent then-congressman from Vermont whom he admired: Bernie Sanders. They would speak years later, when the senator called in 2017 to encourage him to drop out of the race for Democratic National Committee chairman, which Buttigieg later did. Buttigieg believes hes gaining support because people are looking for something different and a more hopeful message to combat President Donald Trump. The openly gay former lieutenant in the Navy Reserve uses his stump speech to talk about how political decisions have shaped his life, and how much is at stake in 2020. He recalls writing a letter to his family before he deployed to Afghanistan in 2014 so they could read it if he didnt return. He also talks about his marriage to his husband, which exists by the grace of a single vote on the U.S. Supreme Court a line that generated some of his biggest applause during his trip through South Carolina. Friends Catherine Paquin, 36, and Jonah Burrell, 37, attended Buttigiegs stop in Greenville wearing Mayor Pete 2020 T-shirts they bought off Amazon.com. Burrell, who is gay, said its really cool to have an openly gay man in the race, but its not the main reason hes supporting Buttigieg. That calm demeanor, the way he speaks is smart, Burrell said. You can tell he thinks about all his answers. I think they underestimate him, Paquin said. Wrapping up his remarks in Greenville, Buttigieg noted thats happening less these days than it did a few months ago, when hardly anyone knew his name. I dont know whether we can pull this off, but Im feeling pretty good about it, he said. ___ Follow Sara Burnett on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sara_burnett | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation/can-pete-buttigieg-turn-his-buzz-into-a-viable-2020-bid/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all |
What's Going On Between Kang Daniel and His Agency? | In response, LM Entertainment has denied all of the accusations that Kang Daniel raised, in particular, the signing of "joint business contracts that sell Kang Daniel's exclusive contract rights to third parties." Their statement reads: "1. Hello. This is lawyer Kim Mun Hee from the law firm Jipyong, representing Kang Daniel's agency LM Entertainment. I am relaying LM Entertainment's official statement on the recent application for an injunction and subsequent suspension of his exclusive contract by Kang Daniel. 2. The exclusive contract between Kang Daniel and LM Entertainment is a standard exclusive contract provided by the Fair Trade Commission, and LM Entertainment has paid the signing bonus agreed to in the contract. Despite this, before his contract even went into effect, [Kang Daniel] sent us a notice through a representative vaguely saying that the contract was unfair, requesting that the contract be changed without giving us any specifics. Afterwards, we had four negotiation meetings with a CEO Won, who had declared himself a mediator, but we eventually received a notice from various lawyers with false truths, including a claim that [Kang Daniel] never received the signing bonus. Moreover, this latest injunction from Kang Daniel's side claims that LM Entertainment breached contract terms by signing over rights to a third party, but the contract in question is simply a contract in which LM Entertainment receives an investment from Kang Daniel's old agency, MMO Entertainment, in order to best support Kang Daniel in his entertainment activities. LM Entertainment has never signed exclusive rights over to another party and holds all rights, including for album planning, fan meetings, concerts, and other performance contracts, merchandise businesses, casting, and management. LM Entertainment exclusively exercises these rights, with no participation from anyone. 3. LM Entertainment has refrained from taking any immediate action in the interest of reaching a mutual agreement, and has sat down several times with the various representatives of Kang Daniel in order to dispel misunderstandings and in a continued effort to reach a point of compromise. However, Kang Daniel's side has changed representatives as well as their stance on issues several times, eventually ignoring what was discussed in our meetings and filing for an injunction and termination of his contract. The situation is such that LM Entertainment has no choice but to carefully review the contents of the injunction request and to take legal action. 4. LM Entertainment had been preparing so that Kang Daniel would immediately be able to jump into solo promotions once his contract went into effect, and we regret having to relay this kind of news to Kang Daniel's fans and to the public. Though we have no choice but to move forward with the legal dispute, LM Entertainment will, with an open mind, continue its efforts towards regaining trust and reaching a compromise with Kang Daniel as well as working on getting Kang Daniel back to his activities as soon as possible. Thank you." | https://www.eonline.com/ap/news/1026783/what-s-going-on-between-kang-daniel-and-his-agency |
Will DOJ's Mueller Probe Summary Satisfy Congress And The Public? | Rachel Martin talks with Robert Ray, a prosecutor and former head of the Office of the Independent Counsel, about the summary letter from the Justice Department about the end of the Mueller probe. RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: After 22 months, the special counsel's investigation is over. And according to Attorney General William Barr, the main conclusion of the report is good news for President Trump. In a letter to Congress, Barr includes this quote from the Mueller report - "the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities," end quote - although, on the issue of obstruction of justice, Mueller and his team did not draw a conclusion one way or the other. President Trump says the report totally exonerates him. Here's what he said on the tarmac yesterday afternoon before boarding Air Force One. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: This was an illegal takedown that failed. And hopefully, somebody's going to be looking at the other side. MARTIN: But Democrat Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, repeated yesterday on ABC's "This Week" his claim that there is evidence of collusion among the Trump campaign. (SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THIS WEEK") ADAM SCHIFF: Yeah, I did say that there is ample evidence - and indeed, there is - of collusion of people in the Trump campaign with the Russians. And that evidence, of course, includes secret meetings at Trump Tower with Russian delegations with the promise of dirt on Hillary Clinton, the provision of polling data to someone linked to Russian intelligence by Trump's own campaign chair. I could go on and on and on. MARTIN: To walk us through what all this means, we're joined by the former head of the Office of Independent Counsel, Robert Ray. Mr. Ray, thanks for being with us. ROBERT RAY: Thanks for having me. Good morning. MARTIN: I want to focus in on the issue of obstruction of justice because this seems to be what is raising the most questions in the conclusions of the Mueller report. RAY: I do, and I think it was important for the Department of Justice to speak with one voice on the subject. The president of the United States is not above the law. But the Office of the President creates some unique issues when it comes to a determination as to whether or not an obstruction offense has been committed. And as Bob Mueller himself recognized in the report - and Bill Barr's letter indicates this - there are some complicated questions of both law and fact that go to that question. And ultimately, as it have - is indicated in the report, that determination was left to the attorney general to make. And he made it. I think that that decision is correct, at least as I understand it from the - you know, the limited disclosure of information that is in the four-page letter that has now been released to the public. MARTIN: But it seems the underlying argument is that because the special counsel did not find that the president committed any conspiracy crime, that as a result of that, he can't be guilty of trying to obstruct the investigation. RAY: Well, I don't think it's that he can't be guilty. It's just that I think everyone recognized, as they went through this - and remember, this was now been considered over the course of 22 months. It's not just the end determination, but this is close coordination between Bob Mueller's office and the higher reaches of the Justice Department over the span of that almost two-year period to try to figure out sort of something as a practical matter is a central issue. And that is if there's not an underlying crime here, then it's certainly - while it's not determinative, it does bear on the president's intent. And now there's been a determination that there was not sufficient evidence on that issue. The two... MARTIN: Although, I mean, even though the... RAY: The two worked - the two obviously have bearing on one another. MARTIN: Right. RAY: And while it doesn't, as a legal matter, preclude a determination that there was obstruction of justice, it is certainly indicative of the difficulty that one would face in having to prove the president's intent with regard to obstruction. MARTIN: There is a conversation going on right now about whether or not the report should be made public. William Barr, the attorney general, has released a letter summarizing the main conclusions of the Mueller report, has given that over to congressional leaders. Democrats are clamoring for the entire report to be released. You've got some experience with this, as a former independent counsel. RAY: Yes. RAY: No, and he acknowledges that it would not be sufficient either. He says at - in the - on the fourth page in the relevant section of the letter, I am mindful of the public interest in this matter. And for that reason, my goal and intent is to release as much of the special counsel's report as I can consistent with applicable law, regulations and departmental policies. He identifies at least a couple of issues that have been previously discussed and that I have discussed. One, of course, is the barrier presented by Rule 6(c) under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure regarding disclosure of grand jury information. And the other is disclosure of information that potentially could impact ongoing investigations. Now, I think those two issues can be overcome, either, in the first instance, by court order, and then the second, you know, by appropriate redaction. MARTIN: OK. RAY: But I do think you're going to see another disclosure here in the report. In one fashion or another, it will be disclosed. MARTIN: OK. Robert Ray, a former independent counsel for the DOJ. Thank you so much for your time this morning. RAY: Thank you very much. Copyright 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. | https://www.npr.org/2019/03/25/706462260/will-dojs-mueller-probe-summary-satisfy-congress-and-the-public?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=morningedition |
How Can We Still See The Disappearing Universe? | ESO/INAF-VST/OmegaCAM. Acknowledgement: OmegaCen/Astro-WISE/Kapteyn Institute In the 1920s, scientists discovered that the Universe was expanding based on measurements of the distances to galaxies and how redshifted their light was. In the 1990s, we learned that the Universe wasn't simply expanding, but that distant galaxies are moving to greater distances at an accelerating rate. The underlying cause has been identified as dark energy, which is causing the Universe to disappear as time goes on. It's true: there are some 2 trillion galaxies within the observable Universe, and 97% of them are already beyond our reach, even if we left today at the speed of light. But even though we cannot reach them, we can still see them. Even more puzzling is this: new, never-before-seen galaxies are continuously revealing themselves to us as time goes on. We may not be able to reach the disappearing Universe, but we can still see it. Here's how. Wikipedia user Pablo Carlos Budassi Under the rules of General Relativity, our theory of gravitation, it's impossible for our Universe to remain static. Unless we're willing to throw out one of our two most successful physical theories of all-time, it's inescapable that our Universe must be either expanding or contracting. The reason is simple: if your Universe is filled with equal amounts of matter and energy everywhere and in all directions like we observe our Universe to be we can calculate an exact solution for how that spacetime evolves. Depending on only three factors: what the initial expansion or contraction rate is (including zero as a possibility), how much total matter-and-energy is present within the Universe, and what the ratios of the different types of energy (matter, dark matter, neutrinos, radiation, dark energy, etc.) are, we can derive what both the past and future histories of the Universe are. Larry McNish of RASC Calgary Center, via http://calgary.rasc.ca/redshift.htm Over the past few decades, astronomers have been able to determine what the Universe looks like today on extragalactic scales. The way galaxies clump together in groups, clusters, and along filaments have enabled us to understand the large-scale structure of the Universe. When you factor in our observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background, which provides the seeds of structure that grew up into the galaxies we have today, we get a compelling end-to-end picture of how things came to be the way they are today. When we start at the beginning and come forward in time, we get a single, consistent conclusion. Our Universe has been around for 13.8 billion years since the Big Bang, is made up of 68% dark energy, 27% dark matter, 4.9% normal matter, and 0.1% neutrinos, photons, and everything else combined, and will never recollapse. NASA & ESA If you were to take a single, nearby galaxy, and ask how it would appear throughout time from our perspective, here's what you'd see. Over time, it would undergo its intrinsic evolution: it would attract smaller, satellite galaxies, absorbing and cannibalizing them, forming new stars in waves when this occurs. If it collides with a similarly-sized galaxy, it would create a starburst, leading to an elliptical galaxy but using up the star-forming gas. But this galaxy, even as it evolves, would get farther and farther away, and would appear to redshift by greater and greater amounts over time. When the galaxy reaches a critical distance from us about 15 billion light-years away its redshift appears greater than 1, indicating that it's reached a crucial location, straddling the difference between what is and isn't reachable, in principle, by something traveling from us at the speed of light. E. Siegel, based on work by Wikimedia Commons users Azcolvin 429 and Frederic MICHEL But if you were to look at a single, ultra-distant galaxy, you'd see something very different. Assuming the galaxy is visible today, you'd see it as it was in the distant past: back when the light was first emitted, and stretched after a multi-billion year journey of traveling through the expanding Universe. The light would be severely redshifted to more than double its original, emitted wavelength and you'd see the galaxy as it was when it was far younger and less evolved than the galaxies we see today, 13.8 billion years after the Big Bang. As time went on, if you fast-forwarded the clock by billions of years, you'd see the light from this galaxy: get redder, get fainter, indicate that it was at greater and greater distances, reach a limit as far as the amount of galactic aging it would show. Even if you watched it for tens or hundreds of billions of years, it would never evolve to the same point that ours has. Its age, as seen by us, would never reach 13.8 billion years. NASA, ESA, R. Bouwens and G. Illingworth (UC, Santa Cruz) In fact, we can even think about what you'd see if you were to look at a galaxy whose light hasn't arrived at our eyes yet. The most distant object we can see, 13.8 billion years after the Big Bang, is presently 46 billion light-years away from us. But any object that's presently within 61 billion light-years of us will someday have that light eventually reach us. That light was already emitted, and is already on its way to us. In fact, that light is already most of the way there; it's closer than the 15 billion light-year limit of what we could possibly reach if we left for it at the speed of light. Even though the Universe is expanding, and even though the expansion is accelerating, that journeying light will someday arrive at our eyes, giving us, in the far future, the ability to see even more galaxies than we can today. Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) While, in principle, there are 2 trillion galaxies in our presently-observable Universe, that number will increase to 4.7 trillion in the very far future. But we just said that the Universe is disappearing. This requires us to think very deeply about what we mean when we talk about a distant galaxy disappearing when it comes to dark energy. To put things in perspective, let's imagine what we'd see in a Universe that were made of 100% matter: a Universe without dark energy. If this were the case, a distant galaxy wouldn't accelerate away from us as time went on, but would have its apparent recession speed drop to lower and lower values as time went on. Frdric MICHEL and Andrew Z. Colvin, annotated by E. Siegel This means, as the Universe ages, any object that's visible to us will have its redshift decrease over time. As the clock ticks forward, newly-emitted light will travel through the Universe and eventually reach our eyes; as we age, the distant galaxy will age, with no limit in sight. In fact, in a Universe without dark energy in a decelerating Universe there is no limit to the number of galaxies we can see, or to the apparent age of those galaxies. So long as our Universe exists, there will be new horizons, frontiers, and epochs to explore. In a decelerating Universe, there is no limiting cosmic horizon. There is no galaxy so distant that we cannot envision its light arriving after an arbitrarily long duration of time. And once that light gets to us for the first time, all the light emitted thereafter will also eventually arrive at our eyes. E. Siegel But our Universe isn't decelerating, and free of dark energy. The dark energy we have sets the distance scale and timetable for acceleration, and informs us as to where that cosmic horizon is. From its presence, and the observations we use to infer its existence, we learn the following about a galaxy located: closer than 15 billion light-years away : we will someday see it as it is today: 13.8 billion years after the Big Bang, and we could reach it if we set out for it at the speed of light. : we will someday see it as it is today: 13.8 billion years after the Big Bang, and we could reach it if we set out for it at the speed of light. between 15 and 46 billion light-years distant : we will always see it, but its age will appear to asymptote to a finite value that's smaller than 13.8 billion years, and we can never reach it, even if we left today at the speed of light. : we will always see it, but its age will appear to asymptote to a finite value that's smaller than 13.8 billion years, and we can never reach it, even if we left today at the speed of light. between 46 and 61 billion light-years away : we cannot yet see it today, but will see it someday in the far future and forever thereafter, and it will never appear even as old as the earliest galaxies currently visible today. We can also never reach it. : we cannot yet see it today, but will see it someday in the far future and forever thereafter, and it will never appear even as old as the earliest galaxies currently visible today. We can also never reach it. greater than 61 billion light-years from us: we will never see or reach it, and anyone from there can never see or reach us. Nicole Rager Fuller / National Science Foundation The reason we can see these ultra-distant galaxies is that they were once extremely close to us, and emitted light at a very early time that was sent our way when the Universe was much younger and smaller. Even as the Universe has expanded, and even though the expansion accelerates, those photons, emitted all those billions of years ago, will eventually arrive at our eyes. Moreover, the light emitted since then will continue to arrive here, even if the light emitted at present is too far away to ever reach us. There will be observational challenges, as there will be fewer photons arriving with time, and the photons themselves will be redder and carry less energy. But if we build larger and more sensitive telescopes in the right wavelength range, we should be able to see progressively more galaxies as time goes on up to a maximum of 4.7 trillion, total even in a dark-energy-dominated, disappearing Universe. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2019/03/26/how-can-we-still-see-the-disappearing-universe/ |
What Makes A Successful Team? | Getty Clients reflecting on their teams has featured consistently within my coaching work over the past few weeks. Several different clients* have explored the dynamics within their teams, when they thrive and when they struggle. They have also reflected on what actually builds a successful team and how to do it. Its always interesting when similar themes come up with different clients and it made me recall a piece of research shared by Google into successful teams. Google found that there were 5 key team dynamics that set the teams that thrive aside from those who dont: Psychological safety - This revolved around feelings of security and trust within a team. The level of risk members feel able to take and whether doing so would leave them feeling insecure or embarrassed. Dependability - This is pretty self-explanatory. Dependability encompasses a teams ability to rely on one another, trust that work will be delivered on time and of high quality. Structure & Clarity - Structure and clarity refers to how clear teams are on their goals, the roles and responsibility of each individual and how these are actioned and executed Meaning of Work - Teams that succeed are often made up of individuals who are working on something that feels important on a personal level. The work has meaning that goes beyond just satisfying the company and the team company and has personal value to the individual Impact of Work - Teams who have a genuine belief in the value of the work they are investing in and that it matters, again, influences the success of the teams The findings were published a few years ago now but in discussion with my clients - who are members and leaders of teams - it still very much seems that in their experience psychological safety among teams is still essential to the success or failure of the collective. Because of that I thought it beneficial to reintroduce the Google research, discuss psychological safety and strategies that can help bolster this seemingly essential dynamic. Psychological safety is defined as a belief held by team members that the team provides a safe container for them to take risks. In her publication on Safety Behaviour and Learning Behaviour In Work Teams Amy Edmondson states that psychological safety as a team is meant to suggest neither a careless sense of permissiveness, nor an unrelentingly positive affect but, rather, a sense of confidence that the team will not embarrass, reject, or punish someone for speaking up. This confidence stems from mutual respect and trust among team members. Prioritize Trust, Its Essential - Psychological safety cant exist without trust. Its fundamental. Youre also not going to be able to implement any of the suggestions below without it. Model trustworthiness within your teams and show gratitude for when it is shown by others. Trust takes time to build but its quick to break. Hold that in mind always. Promote a culture of learning and curiosity - Psychological safety disappears pretty rapidly among teams when the blame game takes hold and when leaders are punitive. When the dynamic of a team is to blame and finger point or be critical or punishing when mistakes happen people are going to prioritize watching their own backs. When this happens risk-taking and trust will disappear too and youre suddenly in a culture of self-protection, defensiveness, narrow ideas and little creativity. If youre able to promote a dynamic where mistakes are learning opportunities, where problems are a chance to work together to problem-solve and where your team is able to be curious about these things and the decisions others have made instead of critical youre going to positively influence the levels of psychological safety. Encourage accountability and personal responsibility - This is far easier to promote when you have a culture of learning and curiosity, mainly because team members wont fear criticism or punishment when they own their actions. Its easy to encourage accountability and personal responsibility when there is respect and trust among the team. If that isnt already there, however, it may require owning some of the vulnerability that comes with these things. To begin with, if youre met with criticism or judgment and ask that your ownership over your choices is respected. As always model respect, curiosity and trust within your team and show that its okay to be accountable and responsible. If anything its a great thing as it puts us in the driving seat. Demonstrate & Encourage Active Listening - A lot of us think were listening when were really not. Were either listening to talk - waiting for the person speaking to finish so we can say what we want to - or not fully engaged with what someone is saying. Active listening asks you to concentrate when team members are talking, try to understand what theyre saying and then respond in a way that shows that you have heard them. Feeling heard is extremely powerful and teams that feel heard by one another are far more likely to feel safe enough to engage. Focus On Delivering Projects & Team Work As Productively As Possible, Not As Quickly - Sometimes things have to be completed quickly. When that is the case this suggestion doesnt have a place. However, if time isnt of the essence try and put your focus on delivering teamwork with productivity at its core. Get clear about the shape of the work, look for opportunities to make the most of the project - this may be by supporting the growth, learning and development of teams members - and think about ways that you can get more from the project's delivery than just the completed product. Create A Space Where Everyone Is Encouraged To Talk and Feedback - Sometimes in teams its the loudest, and often most extraverted members who do the majority of the talking. Teams are often made up of a mix of individuals though and having a diverse range of voices and feedback creates a far richer pool of ideas, knowledge, perspectives and expertise. Encourage a forum for all and develop strategies that support the quieter members of the team to have their voices heard and valued. Dont Shy Away From Conflict Or Disagreement But Ensure That Its Healthy, Helpful & Respectful - Conflict and disagreement will always be present when youre working in teams and its not a bad thing. Having conflicts and disagreements that are handled and resolved well can be extremely healthy and positive. Focus on keeping the forum respectful, make sure people are listening and considering the positions and opinions of others, ask open questions and try to reduce unhelpful blame and criticism. Make sure the cause for the disagreement or conflict is aired and understood but if you can try to focus on a resolution rather than circling around the cause and effect. Of course, its important to understand these things but energy is most often better invested in thinking of a way forward and strategies preventing a recurrence of the same problem. Ensure discussions are contained and closed down in a manner that feels resolved and prevents them from spilling out into other parts of the day or week. *All clients provided consent for the themes of their coaching content to be discussed in this article. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/carleysime/2019/03/26/what-makes-a-successful-team/ |
What time, TV channel is Oregon womens basketballs Sweet 16 game in Portland? | EUGENE The game time and television network are set for Oregon womens basketballs Sweet 16 matchup in Portland. No. 2 seed Oregon (31-4) will face No. 6 seed South Dakota State (28-6) at approximately 8:30 p.m. PT Friday at the Moda Center on ESPN2. The Ducks and Jackrabbits will begin roughly 30 minutes after the conclusion of the earlier game between No. 1 seed Mississippi State and No. 5 seed Arizona State, which is set for 6 p.m. PT. Oregon defeated South Dakota State, 87-79, on Dec. 12 in Brookings, S.D. The Ducks defeated Portland State and Indiana to reach the Sweet 16 for a third straight year. The Jackrabbits defeated Quinnipiac and Syracuse to reach the Sweet 16. | https://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/2019/03/what-time-tv-channel-is-oregon-womens-basketballs-sweet-16-game-in-portland.html |
Why wont my 100 Tickemaster gift card work? | For my 70th birthday last year, three friends clubbed together to give me a 100 Ticketmaster prepaid card so I could book some theatre tickets and, at the time, I was delighted. Ever since, we have been trying to use this card but to no avail. My more technically literate husband tried to validate it according to the instructions. When that failed, my daughter-in-law had a go. Ticketmaster told her the card had not been validated by the original retailer and said we would have to return it with the receipt and ask the store to validate it properly. None of the three friends can find the receipt, so it seems they have donated 100 to Ticketmaster coffers. CL, Stockport Every year millions of pounds on gift cards end up in retailers coffers as they are lost, expired or forgotten. It looks as though the fault was with the store or website that your friends used to make the purchase. Happily, Ticketmaster has quickly resolved the matter, and you now have a card that is ready to use. The problem with these disputes is that the recipient is rarely the buyer, so doesnt have a relationship with the provider. If you want to buy someone tickets to an event, problems that may emerge down the line are far easier to resolve if you book direct with the venue. We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at [email protected] or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to terms and conditions | https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/mar/26/ticketmaster-gift-card-validation-value |
What Does 'Born In The U.S.A.' Really Mean? | Enlarge this image toggle caption Shinko Music/Getty Images Shinko Music/Getty Images This story is part of American Anthem, a yearlong series on songs that rouse, unite, celebrate and call to action. Find more at NPR.org/Anthem. If you're listening closely, the lyrics of "Born in the U.S.A." make its subject pretty clear: The 1984 hit by Bruce Springsteen describes a Vietnam veteran who returns home to desperate circumstances and few options. Listen only to its surging refrain, though, and you could mistake it for an uncomplicated celebration of patriotism. You wouldn't be the only one. NPR's American Anthem series is about songs Americans embrace in ways that reveal who we are and of them, "Born in the U.S.A." may hold the title for the most historically misunderstood. But as NPR Music director Lauren Onkey explained to Morning Edition, it took time for Springsteen himself to figure out just what the song was meant to say. "He did a big benefit in the summer of '81 for Vietnam veterans in Los Angeles, and met with vets," Onkey says. "After that tour ends, there's a number of places where he's trying to write about the Vietnam veteran experience, so the song grows out of that moment. And it starts out as something just called 'Vietnam.' " That early attempt at the concept survives as a rough demo. In "Vietnam," a veteran arrives home and tries to get back his old job, but the administrator who greets him can only shrug: "Son, understand, if it was up to me ... 'Bout half the town's out of work Ain't nothin' for you here From the assembly line to the frontline But I guess you didn't hear: You died in Vietnam." The songwriter kept that scene as he set about writing a more haunting, but still muted version which is where he first added the "Born in the U.S.A." refrain. In its story of one American, Onkey says she hears the story of many. "He says, 'I'm 10 years burning down the road / Nowhere to run, ain't got nowhere to go.' Those lines, I think, describe so many of Springsteen's male characters who are lost, who can't find a home. The systems around them of jobs and connection are unattainable." But it still wasn't the song we know. In the version that became the title track on his 1984 smash album, Springsteen made one more change: turning up the volume and shouting out the lyrics almost as if for joy. Rarely has a man with nowhere to go sounded so triumphant. YouTube As the musician later told WHYY's Fresh Air, he meant it that way. "The pride was in the chorus," Springsteen said to host Terry Gross in a 2005 interview. "In my songs, the spiritual part, the hope part, is in the choruses. The blues and your daily realities are in the details of the verses." Springsteen fans will tell you the effect that big chorus had on crowds, whether or not the message of the verses was entirely understood. Take Chris Christie yes, that one who saw Springsteen at New Jersey's Giants Stadium decades before became governor of that state. "Bruce started every show with a really rousing and family-type version of 'Born in the U.S.A.,' " Christie recalls. "With a bandanna on and a cutoff shirt and the fist-pumping, it felt like a celebration of being born in the U.S.A. when really, it's a defiant song about , 'I was born in the U.S.A. and I deserve better than what I'm getting.' I think plenty of people didn't get what it was about, including the president of the United States." That would be President Ronald Reagan, who referenced The Boss in a 1984 campaign speech, saying: "America's future rests in a thousand dreams inside your hearts. It rests in the message of hope in songs of a man so many young Americans admire, New Jersey's own Bruce Springsteen. And helping you make those dreams come true is what this job of mine is all about." By playing on the hope, Reagan seemed to overlook the despair. He may have been influenced by a sometime adviser: The columnist George F. Will, noted for his bowties and conservative politics, tells NPR he saw Springsteen in concert that year. "Max Weinberg, of whom I'd never heard, was the drummer for the E Street Band, of which I'd never heard, called me up out of the blue and said who he worked for and would I like to come see The Boss sing," Will says. "I thought, 'This is a way to impress my children,' and I said yes." After the show, Will penned a column praising the hardworking musicians on stage, albeit in political terms. "If all Americans in labor and management, who make steel or cars or shoes or textiles made their products with as much energy and confidence as Springsteen and his merry band make music, there would be no need for Congress to be thinking about protectionism," he wrote. Springsteen's politics leaned well left of Reagan. After the president praised him, the artist mused that if people misunderstood his music, that was fine it only made him more popular. "After it came out, I read all over the place that nobody knew what it was about," he said before performing "Born in the U.S.A" to a crowd in 1995. "I'm sure that everybody here tonight understood it. If not if there were any misunderstandings out there my mother thanks you, my father thanks you and my children thank you, because I've learned that that's where the money is." After the applause and laughter died down, he added: "But the songwriter always gets another shot to get it right." Over the years, Springsteen himself has been willing to tweak the song's meaning. Chris Christie heard him play an acoustic version in the '90s. YouTube "Much different feeling, much different sound," Christie says. "I can remember, at the show I went to see at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, N.J., a couple of people started to try to sing with him. And he stopped in mid-song and said, 'I can handle this myself.' " Other times, Springsteen dropped the upbeat chorus singing only the verses, forcing his audience to hear the dark story of the veteran. When the U.S. invasion of Iraq loomed in 2003, he told his audience the song was a prayer for peace. Lauren Onkey says the complexity of "Born in the U.S.A." is why it endures: "It describes the ambiguities and challenges of the country that I have grown up in. And for me, it's a rock-and-roll anthem: This singer, this scream, the sound of the guitar and the scale of the song, suggest that rock and roll is big enough and important enough to tell that story." Maybe the meaning of "Born in the U.S.A." is the distance between the grim verses and the joyous chorus. It's the space between frustrating facts and fierce pride the demand to push American reality a bit closer to our ideals. Daoud Tyler-Ameen contributed to the digital version of this story. | https://www.npr.org/2019/03/26/706566556/bruce-springsteen-born-in-the-usa-american-anthem?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=storiesfromnpr |
Who Are The Winners And Losers From Apple's Announcement? | Apple Riddled with a lot of unknowns around pricing, a good amount of me-too features and 'coming soon' endings, Apple's slew of announcements confused as much as excited if the online sentiment reflects anything. The star-studded announcement felt distinctly un-Apple as Tim Cook, and a slew of executives announced new products and models for everything from gaming to the news with an Upfronts presentation awkwardly pushed in. The star of the show and the cause of much derision online is Apple TV+, Apple's new original content offering with heavy hitters Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey attached. Through the emotional and somewhat sociological address, Cook and co. have a vision for the future and that future is high-end, subscription-led and star-studded. Despite large questions looming on pricing and things like algorithms, Apple likely has a solid entrance thanks to the bank it sits on (and just created). Oprah perhaps put it best; They're in a billion pockets, y'all. Here are the Winners and Losers from the most recent Apple announcement: WINNERS 1) Apple - Launching an eagerly anticipated new era for a massive company was never going to easy or smooth. Announcing a much-rumoured product like Apple Card (a boon for Apple Pay across the world) and a lot of crucial messaging around privacy never hurts. Apple looks like a hero for the consumer at the moment but whether this stays once pricing becomes clear (considering tough economic times ahead for many) is another matter. 2) Consumers (and consumers in general) - The slew of new content will excite a specific demographic that Apple wants to lock in; Boomers. Perhaps not so much younger demographics but thanks to the Smart TV integrations and deals, consumers have more options. Apple did not announce pricing; a lot rides on this, switching service will hinge heavily on this feature. 3) Families - Apple Arcade is a nice touch for mobile gamers with exclusive content and family sharing. A likely easy win for Apple considering the low price-point. The key will be pushing people to the service and convincing regular gamers that $9.99 a month is worth it. 3) Cable companies - With Apple TV+ essentially now doing what others have been doing, cable companies got a mini lifeline. 4) Smart TV producers - Instead of competing with and requiring the purchase of an Apple TV, Apple working with Smart TV manufacturers means a larger potential audience and more data. 5) Celebrities, Content Producers and Hollywood - While this announcement won't have Netflix quaking in their boots, Apple has just given Netflix competition from someone with a much larger bank account. Apple could buy content to stop others having it and eventually force people to switch. Time will tell, but content producers and talent just got another hefty outlet who can pimp their wares. 6) Higher-brow content Based on the presentations, Apple TV+ appears to be a large blow against reality TV and low-brow entertainment. Apple loves stories and wants to tell big ones. 7) Authors - Even if just for individual authors, the Oprah book club could be a cultural phenomenon and will likely thrill the book community. 8) Netflix - Apple TV+ is no Netflix killer (for now at least). 9) Goldman Sachs and Mastercard - A massive win for both brands - more relevance, data and a considerable partner in Apple. LOSERS 1) Zinio, Magzter, Readly and other all-you-can-eat magazine subscription services - Unless publishers pull their support, expect Apple News+ to be the de facto magazine subscription service within a year. We've been here before and the moment feels a bit devil-you-know but time will tell if consumers love magazines and news enough to buy into $9.99 a month. 2) Adtech / Martech - Apple came out swinging with big words around privacy and not shifting data to partners with everything from Apple News+ to Apple Card. Gaming was a surprise, but with the new model, it makes sense. Data hounds won't be happy. 3) Banks, credit card companies and new banking startups who aren't Mastercard and Goldman Sachs - Despite the bluster, Apple Card is similar for APR offered by most credit cards ("Variable APRs range from 13.24% to 24.24% based on creditworthiness. Rates as of March 2019.) Even with this, Apple Card is likely to be a hit with younger demographics and perhaps some older ones. 'Daily Cash' is a nice instant cashback feature that will pump billions into Apple's ecosystem as people will respond to its simplicity. Apple has enough people to convert to upset a few banks apple carts. Expect a fuller loyalty scheme to follow to push AmEx's buttons. 4) Finance health apps - A new range of financial startups that aim to help people save and spend less will not be happy with the Apple Card app which seems to take the best of these and sprinkle in interest avoidance. 5) Google's Stadia - Apple just gave them a challenger (albeit a small one for right now), while both are going after different consumers, money is finite for consumers. 6) Games companies - While they may be rich, they won't be full of data. Apple is not sharing data with games companies to use or be sold on for marketing purposes. If consumers want to do this, they need to opt-in which means more work for games people (or a sweeping one-time-only opt-in move by Apple). 7) Netflix and Prime Video (less so) - While neither will be uncontrollably crying thanks to Apple's lack of content at launch, but both now have a rich competitor. Amazon looks more secure than Netflix because of the services that come with Prime Video thanks to Amazon Prime. Specifics are still fuzzy with how Apple TV channels will work and just precisely what the cost will be. Any way you look at it, both Netflix's and Amazon's lives just got a little harder. 8) TV guides - Apple just cancelled them with their algorithm although how this will work in reality may be terrible. 9) Advertising Agencies and TV companies - Apple is siding with the consumer, no ads, no tracking and no third-party data. Less revenue for Advertising Agencies and TV companies won't get a new source of data to mine and utilise. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/paularmstrongtech/2019/03/26/who-are-the-winners-and-losers-from-apples-announcement/ |
What Should Stacey Abrams Do? | I am going to run for something. And I will tell you in April, she said earlier this month. But everything is on the table. Im not being coy. This is hard. When you spend two years focusing on one thing, its not easy to turn to something else. A Senate seat, she said in a recent speech at Vanderbilt University, would be an indirect solution to some of the challenges I see. She smilingly hinted at what she really wants next: Revenge can be very cathartic, she said. By ousting Kemp, Abrams would be setting herself upagainas the model for a revivified Democratic Party going forward. Shed be formidable in a 2022 rematch, not only because her statewide voter-engagement project has worked wonders, but also because of the states fast-evolving demographicswith its rapidly growing African American, Latino, and Asian populations, Georgias on a fast track to be majority-nonwhite in the next decade. As the first liberal governor of a Deep South statelike, evershe could show how to bring progressive governance and reform to a state that isnt overwhelmingly blue like California or New York. The considerable savvy she showed as House minority leader in Georgia leaves little doubt that shed be a consequential governor. And that would put her in an even stronger position to pursue the White House in 2028 or later. Shes only 45, so theres ample time on her side. By eschewing national politics for now, Abrams would be taking a powerful symbolic stand against the recent drift of the Democratic Partyin stark contrast to ORourke and Julin Castro, whove given up on changing Texas to pursue long-shot presidential bids. (Castros twin brother, U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro, is challenging Republican Senator John Cornyn in 2020, though.) Shes already forged a new path for Democrats to compete in red states, running successfully as a full-on progressive rather than falling back on conservative values. And after she lost her disputed election to Kemp, she demonstrated the kind of fighting spirit that Democrats have also been sorely lacking for a long time, stubbornly refusing to go through the motions of graciously accepting defeat to an opponent who rigged his own election. I dont concede that I lost, she said in March for the umpteenth time. I feel very comfortable saying that this election was not fair, and not only was it not fair, it was not accurate. But rather than just complaining, or lighting out on a self-pity tour la ORourke, she went to work after the election to make sure that such an injustice couldnt happen againto any Democrat. She turned her campaign operation into a political action group, Fair Fight, thats working to democratize elections in Georgia and elsewhere; the group filed what could become a landmark federal lawsuit challenging the gross mismanagement of the states elections. As shes been making the rounds on a far-flung speaking tourwowing crowds in Las Vegas, San Francisco, New York, and Oxford University, as well as on late-night TVshes continued to flash the big, broad grin and ferocious brain that lit up the campaign trail in Georgia, displaying her rare talent for pursuing her ambitions while conveying that shes not in politics just because of what she wants to be, but what she wants to do. Stacey Abrams should run for anything she damn well pleases, anytime she wants. With all due apologies to ORourke, she is the next-generation Democrat who was born to be in it. If she sees a route to the presidency in 2020, she should go for it; if she thinks she could make a real difference in the Senate, she should give that a shot. But shes already shown that you dont need the rhetorical pedestal of a seat in Congress to be the countrys most influential champion for voting rights. And while vanquishing Kemp and becoming governor of Georgia in 2022 might strike establishment pundits and Democrats as sadly unsexy, it might just be the most important task she could undertakefor her party, for the progressive cause, and also for her own limitless political future. | https://newrepublic.com/article/153394/stacey-abrams-do |
Why Do Fertility Rates Rise and Fall? | Its impossible to address these questions without taking a long view. The United States was among the first modern nations to see a steady, large-scale fertility decline. In 1800, the average American had seven kids. By 1900, that figure was 3.5, and President Theodore Roosevelt was excoriating his people for committing race suicidea sin for which the penalty is national death, race death; a sin for which there is no atonement. Roosevelts denunciations caused a sensation, not only because the president was discussing sex rather than, say, tariffs, but also because his diagnosis was so grim. A major civic debate broke out. In letters, newspapers, radio shows, and surveys, thousands of Americans looked to themselves and their communities, and tried to explain the desire for smaller families. Over the next few decades, they produced a highly plausible composite portrait of the popular birth-control movement, with birth control here meaning the practice of controlling births, rather than specific technologies used for that purpose. Observers considered a thick tangle of overlapping social explanations, ranging from sprawling generalities to daily practicalities. At the practical end, for example, was housing discrimination against large families. Early 20th-century landlords had both the right and the inclination to turn away tenants based on the number and the unruliness of their children. Landlords posted signs prohibiting dogs and children; in 1904, stories circulated about a mother of five from Brooklyn who was turned away by 87 apartment houses, despite her husbands steady job. Somewhat less practical were a series of aspirational issues. Americans seemed to expect more for their children and themselves than did previous generations. More education, better health, less grueling work, more leisure. On top of that, many parents shared a growing sense that responsibility for their childrens success fell on them more than on the child. And then there were economic considerations. Everyone agreed that children were expensiveeven farmers, for whom a child was only truly useful for a short time, as a teenager, before he left home. Crucially, though, economic decisions about children were unlike economic decisions about lumber. Childrens costs and benefits were bound up in fundamental moral questions about self, society, transcendence, and cosmic time. | https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/03/underpopulation-problem/585568/?utm_source=feed |
Are Current HIPAA Regulations Enough To Protect Sensitive Data? | Getty The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ( HIPAA ) was updated and expanded with the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009 ( HITECH ). However, many feel its rules are still not stringent enough to sufficiently protect against breaches. After all, health care has been in the crosshairs of cybercriminals for some time. As Eric Perakslis noted in a New England Journal of Medicine piece (registration required) in 2014, the health care sector "is being aggressively and specifically targeted." I've seen that this has remained the case through 2018, and it's easy to see why when you look at the value of electronic protected health information (ePHI) in comparison to other sensitive information. While CNBC reported that your social security number and credit card information might fetch $2 and $10 respectively on the black market, your electronic health record (EHR) could go for up to $1,000. While some say HIPAA breaches haven't become less common, one HIPAA Journal article used data from the Department of Health and Human Services to show that reported HIPAA violations have decreased from 326 in 2014 to 86 in 2018. Still, it was debatable then -- and remains debatable today -- whether the law alone has been effective enough in cutting the volume of health records that are released to unauthorized parties. There is a flexibility built into HIPAA regulations. Those stipulations only provide a baseline, and that baseline is the establishment of protections that are "reasonable and appropriate." The notion of what is reasonable and appropriate is necessarily vague, so it is a good idea to consider steps above and beyond what is mandated in your business. It is smart to go beyond the rules of HIPAA, especially given what I expect will be an increasing complexity of health care security threats. People And Processes Steps beyond basic compliance with federal mandates are needed. Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) privacy and security director Lee Kim has noted the importance of a "technology, processes, and people" approach. These three elements are integrated and interdependent for optimal security. We talk a lot about technology, and the other components deserve serious, focused attention. Your people are your first line of defense. If you need any further indication that your staff is a key priority, more than half of health care breaches are caused by an insider threat, according to a Protected Health Information Data Breach Report released in 2018. I believe substantial money and time should be dedicated to protecting patient privacy, and that has as much to do with your people as with your technology. You want personnel who are not error-prone and will not intentionally disregard compliance practices which requires strong training but also strong recruitment. Make certain your employees are specifically aware of phishing and social engineering. To get back again to the issue of cybersecurity skill, one of the top sources of violation I've seen is misconfigured servers. (My company offers server management, but many organizations self-manage.) Having great cybersecurity professionals related to each of your key technologies (such as cloud, for instance) is critical. It is important to either have expertise related to the security of the technology in-house or through a third-party. Either way, it is fundamental to compliance with the HIPAA Security Rule to ensure digital systems are properly secured. When you recruit these staff, you need people who are detail-oriented but also know to communicate quickly as appropriate. Anyone you hire should be adaptive and excited to keep learning since the landscape continues to evolve. Having better processes means implementing better communication. Be open about what you are doing to safeguard data. Notably, a broader network of information helps, but it's still important to be aware of your ecosystem and to monitor it carefully. Plus, you want processes to be interoperable beyond what is required by law. Business process interoperability occurs when various processes work together and when the orchestrated whole can meet a need of the business with the most efficient use of human action. Interoperability has been a core objective identified by health care regulators for much the same reason the overall benefit resulting from interconnection. Interoperability is about coming to an agreement. In that sense, it is centrally critical to have a strong non-technical policy regarding organizational interoperability. That applies to partnerships as well; in those cases, you can foster trust by creating a clear business associate agreement. Business associates should offer flexibility to advance interoperability; however, certain best practices are necessary for any HIPAA-compliant environment. To return to the issue of training, we have to wonder why violations occur in organizations that have robust training programs. I think part of the reason training often fails is that the training itself must be interoperable with the human brain (if you will). If we want comprehension and retention, we should engage and respect our audience. The field of education offers interesting ideas on how to improve training via diversification and training to multiple intelligences. One theory, from Howard Gardner's book Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, suggests there are at least eight intelligences: interpersonal, intrapersonal, logical-mathematical, verbal-linguistic, visual-spatial, musical, naturalistic, and bodily-kinesthetic. By understanding that and recognizing these approaches holistically as different ways to think, you can fine-tune your HIPAA training to cater to different employees' needs. In my experience, great training on regulatory and security issues draws in both sides of the brain; utilizes reflection and impulse; and implements auditory, visual, and kinesthetic strategies. Above And Beyond HIPAA With health care, a bright red target of hackers, the covered entities and business associates of HIPAA must be particularly careful in their security defenses. That is especially the case given the needs of compliance, but it goes beyond compliance -- especially since I believe health care regulations have been insufficient for stemming the flow of breaches. Put additional effort into your people and processes, especially in your training. Go above and beyond HIPAA with a conscientious approach that meets the needs of today's threat landscape. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2019/03/26/are-current-hipaa-regulations-enough-to-protect-sensitive-data/ |
Should Investors Wait For The Next Real Estate Crash To Make A Move? | Getty There are many investors who decide to wait until the market crashes before purchasing real estate. After all, some investors reason, if the market is down, then prices are probably at their lowest point, and any investment is sure to show gains. The problem is, that philosophy just doesnt work for multiple reasons. Reason 1: You need to be an active player. If youre sitting on the sidelines waiting for the market to tank, you wont be tuned in to the players who are making deals. In fact, you wont hear of deals at all. Its not a matter of deciding to jump in when you feel the timing is right; you have to be playing all along just like everyone else is. Commercial real estate brokers and syndicators like to offer deals to those people who always show an interest in what they are offering. If youre not around because youre waiting for the market to slow, you could be out of the proverbial loop. Youve probably heard the old proverb He who hesitates is lost. Simply put, swift action leads to success, while self-doubt is a prelude to disaster. This is especially true when it comes to finding killer investment deals in real estate. If you cant commit to a decision when one is quickly needed, youre going to miss out. Another problem determining that the market has actually tanked. Different investors have their own takes on what defines a bottomed-out real estate market, so there really isnt a barometer that accurately measures a markets low point. Certain properties may be available at reduced prices for a multitude of reasons, but this can happen even when the market is booming. I am not saying that you should buy at any price and overpay for a property in fact, I never overpay. What I am saying is that investors should adjust their expectations based on the stage of the real estate cycle. For example, a few years ago, 20% internal rate of return (IRR) was common for multifamily properties. Today, however, we have adjusted our model to look for 1517% IRR. It doesnt mean well overpay and be fine with 9% IRR, but we are satisfied with 15% IRR, which is still a solid return. And if and when opportunities present themselves in a downturn, as active players in the market, well be there to take advantage of those opportunities. Reason 2: Financing may be a problem. In a distressed market, banks and other lenders might not be motivated to finance a property especially if they have to adjust mark-to-market values. Mark-to-market is a type of accounting practice where the value of an asset is recorded to reflect its current market level. However, problems can happen with the market-based measure doesnt accurately reflect the assets true value. The last time this happened was during the financial crisis of 2008-2009. At that time, the mortgage-backed securities held as assets on banks balance sheets couldnt be valued efficiently because those securities had disappeared. This issue was eliminated when the Financial Accounting Standards Board voted to allow the valuation to be based on a price reflective of an orderly market, instead of a market that would force liquidation. The bottom line is that in a down market, banks wont be interested in financing a fire sale property, because they wont necessarily need to get rid of those underperforming loans. Thats why many investors prefer to invest in a strong real estate market. So the best course of action is to not sit and wait for the market to tank before trying to acquire and finance a property. You simply may be out of luck. Its important to remember that real estate is a cyclical business. It has historically had its peaks and valleys, and investors are always looking to buy low and sell high. Unfortunately, its hard to predict when a property is at its lowest point before buying, or its highest point if selling is a consideration. The real estate market is simply too volatile to make such predictions. Summary It really doesnt pay to wait for the real estate market to tank before investing, as history shows there is a lot of money to be made as a real estate investor regardless of when you invest in a project. You can't sit on the sidelines and wait for your turn to play, because the game just doesnt work this way. Lastly, dont expect banks to be motivated to sell properties at a deep discount, because regulations can help them avoid such a drastic step, just as it did before. As long as you adjust your expectations and are comfortable with them, youll still be around when and if great opportunities arise. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesrealestatecouncil/2019/03/26/should-investors-wait-for-the-next-real-estate-crash-to-make-a-move/ |
Can Music Make Cheese Taste Better? | Earlier this month, a team from the Bern University of the Arts announced the results of what they called a culinary art experiment. They revealed that Emmental cheese that has matured to the sounds of hip hop music for several months is tastier than cheese exposed to other music. Working with a local cheesemaker, students of the Sound Arts course selected nine cheeses that were each matured in a special box. Five cheeses only heard one particular piece of music from September to March: Mozarts The Magic Flute, Led Zeppelins Stairway to Heaven, A Tribe Called Quests Jazz (Weve Got), Yellos Monolith, or Vrils UV. Three other cheeses listened to sounds of particular frequencies, and the last cheese was a control cheese left to be matured in silence. This month, a team of judges including a TV chef and the mayor of the town of Burgsdorf, tasted all nine cheeses and picked a favourite: The cheese that had listened to A Tribe Called Quest on repeat was deemed to be slightly sweeter than the others. Food scientists from the ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences confirmed that this cheese had a stronger smell and fruitier taste than the other samples and that all cheeses that were exposed to music had a milder flavour than the control sample. Probably not. First of all, there were only nine wheels of Emmental involved in the study. That is not enough cheese. To be certain that a certain piece of music affects cheese maturation, you need at least several cheeses per sample and compare the averages. With only one cheese, its impossible to know whether another factor affected the flavor of that individual cheese. The cheese study bears strong resemblance to a classic science fair experiment, where students play music to plants to see how it affects growth. The effect of music on plant growth has been far more extensively studied than the effect of music on cheese, so its worth looking at those studies first. Plant growth is not only affected by light, air and water, but also by gravity, so its not out of the ordinary to assume that vibrations from music could have an effect on seed germination. Some plant studies also focused on the idea that vibrations can boost a plants defence mechanisms, to protect it from insects. In the cheese study, its possible that the vibrations of the music somehow affect the behavior and metabolism of the bacteria responsible for the aging process, but this has not been studied yet. To go from observations about vibrations to conclusions about music genres is a very big step, and its best to be wary of studies that make big claims based only on a few music samples. Another reason to be skeptical about studies that claim a connection between music and plant growth is that the experimenters are often very invested in the results. They want the music plants to do better, and may unintentionally take better care of them. Due to the nature of the experiments, the investigator always knows which plants have been exposed to which music sample. With the cheeses, too, the experimenters knew which cheese had been listening to which music. However, the people who tasted the samples did not know which cheese they were trying, so at least there was a blinded element in this experiment. There dont seem to be any other studies about music and cheese growth, but there are plenty of papers about plants and music. However, they are difficult to compare with each other. Each research group chose their own plants and music samples, and of course they all have individually different growth conditions. We also cant really tell how many studies have not shown any effect of music on plant growth, because its difficult for researchers to publish papers about experiments where nothing happened. This isnt just the case for studies on music and plant growth, but across all scientific fields: Negative results are less likely to be published. One solution to encourage researchers to publish their negative results is to have them announce their experiments before they start. This way, people at least know that the studies happened. To the credit of the musical cheesemakers, this is exactly what they did. In a video published in November, they describe the experiment and share what was going to happen. At the end of the video, cheese maker Beat Wampfler says I hope that hip hop cheese will be the best. In March, the judges indeed labeled the hip hop cheese the tastiest. That could be a coincidence, but it could also suggest that one of the cheeses was always considered the favorite, which could have affected the experiment in some way. A final reason to be wary about the cheese study is that this work was not published in a scientific journal. It was only announced by press release, and not independently verified. Even though the press release does mention that the Zurich University of Applied Sciences recommends carrying out an investigation on a larger scale in order to confirm the hypothesis, this note is not always included when the article is picked up in the news. This project did not start as a better way to produce cheese, but as a cultural exchange, to involve the students of the Bern University of the Arts with the local community. It certainly helped put the community in the spotlight. People love cheese and music, so the cheese experiment received a lot of attention in the news. It will probably be referenced for years to come, at any occasion where cheese is served. Did you know cheese matures better when it has listened to music,people will say, while they grab a piece of Roquefort from a tray at a party. Gradually this one experiment will become a trivia fact, and school children will be playing music at brie and Gouda at future science fairs. But when someone brings up this story over dinner or at a reception, you can tell them that the sample size was tiny, they only used one type of cheese and five songs, the study wasnt peer-reviewed and requires far more research. Or you could just enjoy your cheese. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/evaamsen/2019/03/26/can-music-make-cheese-taste-better/ |
Is Climate Change's Most Dreadful Impact Really Decades Away? | Getty The Trump administrations position on climate change is evolving from it being a hoax to it being a real problem 50-75 years out. That view runs counter to that of the Democrats, who want the federal government to take charge and to mitigate the potential damages before it is too late. The 2020 election will decide the countrys direction on this issue. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler does not deny the existence of human-caused climate change, although he does say that more urgent ecological problems such as clean drinking water are now on his radar. At the same time, he points out that the United States has reduced its CO2 releases by 13% since 2005, outpacing other industrialized nations. Climate change, he adds in a CBS televised interview, is an important issue we have to be addressing and we are addressing. But Wheeler goes on to call Democratic proposals dangerous for the economy and national security. His statements are partisan and downplay concerns tied to the planet overheating and leading to melting ice caps, rising sea levels and even crazier weather patterns. Wheeler's boss routinely mocks climate change. Indeed, as a real estate developer, Donald Trump has battled environmental regulators at the federal and state levels over everything from the cost of environmental impact statements to trying to get public dollars to repair damages his businesses have created. During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump said on Twitter that climate change was a hoax. And as president, he has tried to rollback the Obama administrations Clean Power Plan that would cut CO2 releases by 32% by 2032 the same administration that ushered in the New Energy Economy that led to the emergence of green technologies and the rise of natural gas. Trump has also withdrawn from the voluntary Paris climate agreement that tries to limit temperature increases to 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit by mid century. Those moves contradict the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which says that the time is fast approaching to take meaningful action: it notes that within 12 years, it will be too late to reverse the trajectory. Thirteen U.S. government agencies agreed with those same findings. And therein is the premise behind the Green New Deal to act now to avert the worst possible environmental catastrophes. The practical questions for those who agree with such findings are just how much they are willing to spend and over what time frame. I believe very strongly that defeating climate change and building clean energy must be the No. 1 job in the United States, because if its not job No. 1, it wont get done, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee told a crowd gathered for the Renewable Energy Policy Forum, as quoted in The Hill. I think the Green New Deal has been helpful in that it started the discussion. Inslee is running for U.S. president. 2018 Bloomberg Finance LP Enter the Ignoramus To be clear, the oil and coal sectors helped build this country and they have helped industrialize much of the world. And they will remain vital. But they are no longer exclusive to economic progress. Today, renewables including hydropower make up about about 17% of the U.S. energy mix. And electric cars are gaining market share and they have to potential to overtake the internal combustion engine. While some politicians are stuck in the 1950s, American enterprise has moved on. U.S. businesses have already procured nearly 4,000 megawatts of utility-scale wind and solar capacity, which breaks 2015's numbers by nearly 750 MW. Collectively, they have bought 13,000 MW of green power. The goal is 60,000 MW by 2025, says the Wind Solar Alliance. The most progressive enterprises include Microsoft Corp., Intel Corp., Google, Apple and Bank of America. Yet, Trump has vested himself with the oil and coal industries while he continues to deride the wind and solar sectors. Consider that a federal judge just invalidated federal leases for oil and gas drilling on 300,000 acres of public lands in Wyoming, ruling that the government must consider the impact that such development would have on climate change. Its especially noteworthy given the current White Houses efforts to expand drilling and mining on public properties. A news clip is, furthermore, making the rounds on social media that shows the president telling an audience it should plan to turn off the TV if the wind stops blowing. The remark highlights what an ignoramus Trump actually is; fast-reacting natural gas generation is specifically designed to kick on when the weather does not permit, allowing for the growth of wind and solar energies. There are more renewables coming onto the grid and we will see more flexible natural gas plants those that can turn up-and-down at a much faster rate, says says Amit Kulkarni, general manager for product management at GE Power. GE says that renewables will comprise 61% of all its new power plant installations through 2026. 2016 Bloomberg Finance LP The Common Link The context here is that a new report by Energy Innovation found that 74% of the current coal fleet in the United States is providing electricity that is more expensive than what wind and solar could offer. And within six years as renewable technologies improve and prices drop 86% of the coal fleet will be outmatched. Bloomberg New Energy Finance reached similar conclusions, saying that wind and solar electricity will make up 50% of the worlds energy mix by 2050. The policy analysts go on to say that natural gas will get used mostly to firm up intermittent wind and solar energies. Meantime, the International Energy Agencys outlook has renewable energy growing from a quarter of the globes electricity mix today to 40% by 2040. Due to the rapid recent cost decline of wind and solar, the combined fuel, maintenance, and other going-forward costs of coal-fired power from many existing coal plants is now more expensive than the all-in costs of new wind or solar projects, the Energy Innovation report says. This cost crossover raises substantial questions for regulators and utilities as to why these coal plants should keep running instead of new renewable power plants. The gales of the free market are blowing. But it is clear that those forces wont create an energy line-up with 100% renewables by 2030, as prescribed by the Green New Deal. Even the most ambitious states Hawaii, California, New York, New Mexico and Puerto Rico wont complete their transitions until 2045, and 50% by 2030. New Mexico, which is part of the U.S. Climate Alliance that seeks to be in compliance with the Paris agreement, calls its Energy Transition Act a promise to future generations. The common link shared among those jurisdictions is that they are using the public levers to facilitate newer, better and cheaper technologies to achieve their aims. That includes everything from smart grids that get more green electrons over the wires to demand response programs that shift peak energy usage to battery storage that injects electricity onto the grid when the weather doesnt permit. President Obamas investments in the New Energy Economy started the movement. A scaled-down version of the Green New Deal would catapult it. In 2020, the people will decide the countrys long-term focus not the current president or other politicians who are concerned mostly about the next election cycle. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/kensilverstein/2019/03/26/is-climate-changes-most-dreadful-impact-really-decades-away/ |
What Is Up With Health Insurance? | Over the years, I have tried to stay in my lane or area of expertise. I have written about startups, small businesses, risk and intellectual property plus the occasional article on legal technology. Using my understanding of basic business principles across industries, I am now looking at health care as mentioned when I recently wrote here on Front Health, a startup that helps companies with the value of their healthcare by shifting focus from volume to outcomes. The impetus for this article is born out of personal frustration over almost fifteen years of living in the U.S. and struggling with the healthcare system for most of that time. I moved to the U.S. in 2005 from Canada and for several years had no issues, mainly because we were fortunate to be a relatively healthy family. Getty However, when a family member had multiple concussions, I started to see the serious cracks in our health coverage and the incredible level of waste in terms of bureaucracy, not to mention the errors. I spent hours reviewing explanations of benefits and writing letters to both the Mayo Clinic and our insurance provider. There were so many errors and much confusion about coverage; all of this centered on the money side, with nothing to do with the care. At one point, I was listed as the patient for a medical procedure that was never performed on me! More recently, I was in a car accident and needed physical therapy. I went diligently, under the care of a doctor, and in the end, less than half of my sessions were covered. But thats not the real issue. I had treatment in Arizona and all of the physical therapy claims are now reviewed for medical necessity by a company contracted by the insurance companies. So, the administration of my claim drowned me in paperwork. I had roughly 30 sessions and this company sent a letter out for each session telling me to send in more information. Not once, not twice, but a total of four times over the four months. The number of letters grew each time as I took more sessions. Despite the response by my provider, the letters continued. The last round had each of the appointment in a separate envelope with two pieces of paper, one that just had my address. And in the end, those last set of twenty-six letters were unnecessary because my benefits capped my visits, with nothing to do with medical necessity. Its a system on autopilot and its out of control. Also, the insurance system does not focus on prevention. I have an excellent primary care physician who now works under the MD VIP personalized medicine model and we spend hours each year on my test results, focusing on preventing heart disease and stroke. I have had elevated cholesterol and taken medication that is covered by insurance. However, a blood test that goes beyond the traditional cholesterol numbers and is better at detecting risks for heart and stroke health issues is not covered by insurance. And for that matter, neither is the annual fee that to MD VIP. And dont get me started on the lack of insurance coverage for meditation, yoga, and licensed massage therapy; all which contributed to my improved test results and ability to embrace and manage stress. In other words, I am covered if I have a heart attack or stroke which would be much more expensive than my preventative costs, which are routinely rejected by my insurance company. I believe that the cost of my health care premiums is not the issue; the insurance companies simply refuse to look forward. That said, the healthcare premiums have been outpacing inflation for years. Research by Of Two Minds here shows that workers deductibles grew 176% and coinsurance by 67% from 2006 to 2016, while wages only increased by 29%. Enter Haven, the recently named joint health-care venture between Amazon, J.P. Morgan, and Berkshire Hathaway hired one of my idols as CEO, Dr. Atul Gawande, who wrote the Checklist Manifesto, amongst other numerous books and achievements. With the three CEOs of the major players plus Dr. Gawande, I have hope that they can address the problem of rising health-care costs and the lack of preventative care coverage. When the name was announced in early March, Boston-based Haven also launched a website at havenhealthcare.com with a stated vision to create better outcomes, greater satisfaction, and lower costs for their U.S. employees and families. The same article outlined the exciting news that, after working on the disruptive change and improvement necessary for the three founding companies 1.2 million employees, that Haven will sell products and services to other companies. I will be in that line, or likely online. #onwards. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryjuetten/2019/03/26/what-is-up-with-health-insurance/ |
Do I have to live in London to work in law? | Agile working is on the rise in the legal profession, with employees free to work where, when and how they choose Some love the corporate environment: the after-work beers, the client dinners, the sense of belonging. I hated that, says Jack Celand, who trained at a top 10 UK law firm. I couldnt wait to get home after work. My body felt ruined from all the stress and strong coffee. Others agree. Theres talk of burnout but people stick with it because its a long process getting the job, says 28-year-old lawyer Olivia Smith. Long working hours, all-nighters, demanding clients and a hyper-competitive culture are often the nature of corporate law. But it can be a punishing mix, especially for newcomers. As a result, mental wellbeing has become a talking point. There is a recognition that young lawyers might want to work in a different way, and agile working is on the rise. Read more Last October, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) won nearly 700,000 of government funding to do more to create innovative ways of working. Law firms are increasingly claiming employees can work where, when and how they choose, and many are redesigning their offices to be agile-ready in order to recruit and retain the best talent. In Bristol, some are claiming the rise is causing a departure from the traditional London-centric set up and making the profession more accessible to those facing barriers to entry, such as people with disabilities or caring responsibilities. There are a growing number of firms where people are agile working pretty much all the time, says Simon Bennett, a partner at Fox Williams LLP. One of our associates lives in Hampshire and only comes into the office one day a week. As long as the job gets done it doesnt matter where and how you do it. Theres a recognition that peoples lives follow different paths. Chris Price, CEO of EY Riverview Law, says firms are increasingly encouraging a better work-life balance. They now offer more flexible options in the form of working from home or part-time, job sharing, compressed hours and varied working patterns. Experts say law is one of the most suitable industries for agile working. With the exception of client meetings, legal work can often be quite solitary. For many, it involves the quiet drafting of documents and occasional telephone calls, and lawyers offices are often hushed places of concentration and analysis. All you need is a laptop, a phone and clever technology that makes location irrelevant. As a result, self-motivation and discipline are becoming a key part of the trainee recruitment process, as there needs to be trust that the work is being done. It is also vital that employees are able to become part of a team very quickly, given less time is spent physically together, says Price. Others say applicants should be wary of applying to firms on the basis that they might be able to work from home, as some may be using it simply as a recruitment tool. If a student thinks its one of the benefits of a job in the firm, then that student is naive, says James Catchpole, director of the legal practice course (LPC) at the City Law School. If you want to get to the top its going to be difficult unless you work in the way they want you to, which is pretty much a 24-hour service model. William Robins, operations director at Keystone Law, points out that students entering the workplace still have much to learn from being around experienced colleagues. Trainees pick up a lot from hearing what others are doing. Were fully agile but all our trainees are office-based, he says. Theyd be missing out if they werent. Career pressure starts early for law students heres how to cope Read more However, with juniors still expected to be at their desks, one associate at a global law firm questions whether anything has really changed at all. Leave when they want, come in later or work from home. There is one nice partner here who does it but Ive just found out shes leaving, she says. Men dont seem to buy into agile working. Ultimately, there are more than 10,000 law firms in England and Wales and it is up to them to decide how they want to work, depending on their business model and what works for their clients. If you want the cynical view, then yes, says Catchpole. I think you can say that for most of them. Its a tough environment and people want their return out of you. | https://www.theguardian.com/law/2019/mar/26/do-i-have-to-live-in-london-to-work-in-law |
Does Apple Have A Shot At Success In The Credit Card Market? | ASSOCIATED PRESS Apple announced a slew of new services at its event on Monday, targeting the entertainment, financial services, news, and video game industries. Although the biggest focus of the event was a new video-subscription service that will carry original programming, the most interesting introduction in our view was the Apple Card, a digital-first credit card that Apple is offering in partnership with Goldman Sachs and Mastercard. In this note, we take a look at what the new card could mean for Apples growing services business. We have created an interactive dashboard analysis on the revenue potential of Apples new Credit Card. You can modify our key drivers to arrive at your own revenue estimates for the card, and see more data for Technology Companies here. Focus On Simplicity, Greater Transparency While the premium credit card market is crowded and increasingly competitive, Apple appears to be emphasizing on ease of use, lower costs and greater transparency to sell its offering. For instance, the company will not charge late fees or annual fees on the card. Interest rates are also likely to be lower than rivals, coming in at between 13.24% to 24.24% based on a users creditworthiness. Apple is also offering tighter integration with the iPhones Wallet app, showing users how much they spend, where they spend it and the various repayment options and how much interest they could end up paying if they dont settle their card bills in full. Customer service is also simplified via Apples messages application. Rewards Program Apples rewards program is also quite straightforward, offering cash that is credited back on a daily basis (unlike the typical monthly interval for most cards), although the rewards are far from the best in the industry. The card will offer 2% cash back on payments made via the iPhones on ApplePay. While this is roughly in line with what most cards offer, U.S. Bank has a card that offers 3% cash back on ApplePay. In-store swipes with the companion physical card will provide a 1% rewards rate, which is well below other cards. This could be an issue, as Apple Pay has lower acceptance compared to swipe machines (Apple Pay covered 65% of U.S. retail locations as of early 2019), meaning that customers could be getting rewards that are below the industry standard under most scenarios. The cash back will stand at 3% for spends on Apple products and services. Apple Should Be Able To Quickly Sign Up Users, But Loyalty Could Be An Issue Customer acquisition costs are typically very high in the credit card industry, with major banks spending heavily on advertising while offering large sign-up bonuses and promotions on new cards to garner customers. However, Apple could find it easier and cheaper to sign up customers, given that the card is targeted squarely at iPhone users, who are also typically more affluent. Apple has roughly 190 million active iPhone users in the U.S., and the simple and almost instant sign-up process via the iPhone Wallet app could entice users to at least try out the new offering. However, stickiness could be a challenge. Credit card penetration in the U.S. is already high, with about 7 in 10 Americans estimated to be holding at least one credit card, and iPhone users are more likely to have other cards of their own many of which could have higher rewards rates and benefits. Users could avail some of the security and convenience features of the Apple Card by just using their existing cards with Apple Pay, while continuing to avail their existing rewards programs which are likely more lucrative. Explore example interactive dashboards and create your own. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2019/03/26/does-apple-have-a-shot-at-success-in-the-credit-card-market/ |
How much did the Mueller report cost? | Robert Mueller has concluded his 22-month investigation, and while the special counsels full report remains under wraps, some elements of the probe are known to the public including its cost. From the day the special counsel was appointed, his office has released statements of expenditures every few months detailing its spendings. Three such statements are currently available, with a fourth one likely coming soon. Based on the published statements, plus an estimate of what is to come in the fourth statement, it appears likely that the Mueller investigation itself will have cost around $17m. The special counsels office also reported Department of Justice spending that supported its activities, stating that it wasnt legally required to do so and that those expenditures would have occurred regardless of whether or not the special counsels office was conducting an investigation. If those additional expenditures are taken into account, the final estimate for the cost of the Mueller investigation reaches around $31m. Mr Muellers office filed its first expense report for the period of 17 May, 2017 (when Mr Mueller was first appointed as special counsel) to 30 September, 2017. The special counsels expenses for that period came to roughly $3.2m, with an additional $3.5m in DOJ expenditures, amounting to $6.7m in total. The second expense report covers the period from 1 October, 2017 to 31 March, 2018 and includes costs of $4.5m with an additional $5.5 in DOJ expenditures, meaning about $10m total. The third expense report is dated 1 April, 2018 to 30 September, 2018, and states that Mr Muellers office spent $4.5m, with approximately $4m of additional DOJ spendings, for a total of about $8.5m. This means that the special counsels office has reported a total of about $12.2m in spendings without the DOJ expenditures, and $25.2m if DOJ expenditures are taken into account. While the fourth and final expense report has yet to be published, it is possible to make an estimate based on the three reports that have already been filed. The fourth report will cover a period of six months (between September 2018 and March 2019). Based on the previous three reports, will likely feature expenses of between $4m and $5m for the special counsels office, meaning a conservative total estimate of $16m to $17m. If the DOJ components are included at a projection of approximately $5m, the previous total of $25.2 jumps to about $30m or $31m. This is below figures previously touted by Donald Trump, who in a November 2018 tweet claimed the probe had cost $40m. Mr Muellers report found no evidence that Mr Trumps campaign conspired or coordinated with Russian officials to influence the 2016 election. The special counsel submitted his findings to Attorney General William Barr, who on Sunday released a four-page summary. Mr Mueller said in a passage from the report quoted by Mr Barr that there was no evidence that Trump was involved in an underlying crime related to Russian election interference, but he reached no conclusion on whether Mr Trump obstructed justice. Mr Mueller neither accused Mr Trump of obstruction of justice in trying to impede the investigation nor exonerated him of obstruction, according to Mr Barrs summary. Democrats have called for Mr Muellers complete findings to be released to Congress and the public. Additional reporting by agencies | https://news.yahoo.com/much-did-mueller-report-cost-165418179.html |
Are Rob Gronkowski and Conor McGregor headed to WWE? | CLOSE What I'm Hearing: MMAjunkie's Mike Bohn feels we should temper our reactions to the announcement that Conor McGregor is retiring from the UFC. USA TODAY WrestleMania 35 is only 11 days away, and the stage has been set for a loaded card that includes the first women's WrestleMania main event in WWE history. Two recent retirement announcements have some fans expecting new arrivals to the company at the biggest show of the year. Three-time Super Bowl champion Rob Gronkowski announced Sunday that he is retiring from the NFL at the age of 29. The future Hall of Famer leaves the game as arguably the best tight end in history, and though he hasn't indicated his future plans as of yet, it wouldn't be all that surprising to see Gronk return to WrestleMania. Gronkowski is close friends with WWE star Mojo Rawley, and he had his first WrestleMania moment two years ago in Orlando. Gronkowksi was antagonized by Jinder Mahal, and later jumped into the ring and leveled Mahal. Congratulations go out to @RobGronkowski on his retirement from the NFL and a fantastic career! pic.twitter.com/NN7pEEifbv WWE (@WWE) March 24, 2019 Gronkowski has been highlighted as a fan at several other WWE events, and Rawley told TMZ Sports that it's likely the NFL superstar returns at some point. "In the future," Rawley said, "I'm sure at some point you'll see him inside a WWE ring in one capacity or another." Monday Night Raw came to Boston this week just one day after Gronkowski's retirement, and Gronk was called out by Lio Rush setting up a potential opening feud. Boston did NOT appreciate Lio Rushs shot at Gronk pic.twitter.com/2mcxEso0q9 SI Wrestling (@SI_wrestling) March 26, 2019 "You should have just quit while you were ahead," Rush said. "You really should have. Now you're going to be forced to leave the game as a beaten, broken, hot piece of garbage like Rob Gronkowski." Gronkowski's move to WWE seems inevitable, and though he'll need plenty of time to develop, the company could hide his deficiencies early on by pairing him with Rawley in a tag team. Gronkowski could also be an asset in promoting Vince McMahon's XFL when the league launches in 2020. The biggest prize on the free-agency market, however, may be UFC icon Conor McGregor, who announced his retirement in a tweet on Tuesday morning. McGregor has long been rumored as a WWE target, and Finn Balor had an interesting reply to McGregor on Twitter. See you at mania brother Finn Blor forEVERYone (@FinnBalor) March 26, 2019 McGregor took a swipe at the WWE roster back in 2016, and said that former UFC champion Brock Lesnar was "juiced up to the (expletive) eyeballs." I didn't mean no disrespect to the @wwe fans. What I meant to say was that I'd slap the head off your entire roster. And twice on Sunday's. Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) August 7, 2016 McGregor certainly has the charisma and the ability on the microphone to be successful as a WWE heel the biggest hurdle is opportunity cost. Financially speaking, making the jump to professional wrestling doesn't make sense for McGregor at this stage in his career unless he truly intends to stay away from prize fighting for the rest of his life. Brock Lesnar, WWE's highest-paid performer, reportedly earns $12 million per year, and receives significant appearance bonuses. Given his fanbase and crossover appeal, McGregor could demand more money, but he's unlikely to land a job with WWE that can match his per-night earnings in MMA, while also leaving him ample time to attend to his other business interests. As long as McGregor is healthy and skilled enough to deliver huge pay-per-view buy numbers for UFC, fighting in the octagon and focusing on his whiskey business is his best route to becoming a billionaire. There will likely always be a door open to WWE down the line. | https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ftw/2019/03/26/are-rob-gronkowski-and-conor-mcgregor-headed-to-wwe/39257433/ |
What do major copyright changes mean for internet freedom? | The European parliament approved the largest, and most contentious, overhaul of copyright legislation in two decades on Monday. When the directive comes into effect, it will be the biggest change to internet regulation since General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). MEPs approve sweeping changes to copyright law Read more The copyright changes are best known because of their two most controversial clauses, articles 11 and 13, which have been the nexus of a ferocious battle between corporate lobbyists, online activists and freedom of expression groups. The legislation emphasises people will still be able to upload content, but technology firms, including Google, have warned they will have to remove vastly more content automatically. Companies such as YouTube and Facebook already remove music and videos that are copyrighted. For example, YouTube scans uploads and matches them up to a database of files submitted by content owners, giving the original creator of the work the option to block, monetise or simply track it. Under the new legislation, tech companies will be more liable for any copyrighted content uploaded on to their platforms, particularly if they already run automated scans. Companies affected by the changes argue the reforms are unrealistic and existing systems already pay artists fairly. YouTube in particular has warned EU-based users could be cut off entirely from videos. Yes. Many campaigners have argued the copyright directive will be harmful to free expression on the internet, since the only way to guarantee compliance is to simply block any user-generated content that references other copyrighted material in any way, including criticism, remixes, or even simple quotes. In fact, some warn the law could paradoxically help big tech, since only the very largest companies will have the resources to comply with the regulations. Where article 13 makes it harder for tech companies to release user-generated content, article 11 relates specifically to the sharing of news articles. Publishers argue it is increasingly difficult for news organisations to continue funding quality journalism, and that technology firms which monetise the sharing of news should pay their share. The directive introduces a new requirement on information sector service providers to secure the right to share news articles. The likes of Google News and Facebook will still be able show snippets of news articles, and non-commercial encyclopaedias like Wikipedia have also be exempt. The inclusion of news agencies in the text of the directive can also be interpreted as a recognition of the quality of our work and of the importance that news agency journalism has, especially for safeguarding European media as a whole, as European news agencies are the main providers of quality news to most of the other media organisations in Europe, said Alexandru Giboi, the secretary general of the European Alliance of News Agencies. A key argument against the directive is that it could serve as a meme ban, given the strong rules against uploading copyrighted material without permission, and the fact that much shareable content depends on things like TV and movie scenes. Tweaks made this year were intended to specifically protect the use of such content for purposes of quotation, criticism, review, caricature, parody and pastiche. But technology companies say the protection is impossible to uphold, since no automatic filter can usefully determine whether a given upload is parody or simply infringement. EU member states will have two years to implement the new rules, from the date it finally passes out of the European council probably in May or June this year. It means the UK will essentially be able to decide if it wants to implement the rules if it has left the EU by then. Raffaella De Santis, an associate at the law firm Harbottle & Lewis, said the size of the European market meant the UK would probably follow suit. Whether the UK leaves Europe with or without a deal, its hard to see that it would not follow Europes lead on this. | https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/mar/26/what-do-major-copyright-changes-mean-for-internet-freedom |
Is $7.6M The Value Of Sexual Harassment? | Getty The federal government currently caps sexual harassment damages at $300,000, a figure that hasnt budged since 1991. In other words, the most a victim of sexual harassment can receive in damages if they sue their employer under Title VII is $300,000. This represents a drop in the bucket for most large organizations and certainly does not function as a deterrent. Joni Hersch, Professor of Law and Economics at Vanderbilt University set out to find the true statistical monetary value of sexual harassment and concluded the cap should be a whopping $7.3 million higher. The Statistical Value Of Sexual Harassment Is $7.6 Million Title VII is the federal law that protects against sexual harassment, and the $300,000 cap on damages was instituted as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1991. There were no damages other than back pay awarded prior to 1991, so at least this was progress, Hersch says. She isnt sure how they came up with the $300,000 limit, but Hersch's goal was to statistically figure out what the correct cap should be. Having studied what economists call the value of statistical life (think of it as how much more youd need to be paid if your job had some risk of death), Hersch thought maybe she could apply the same statistical technique to sexual harassment. When she did, she found that the statistical value of one case of sexual harassment was a stunning $7.6 million. Heres the basic idea of her research. If your work comes with some risk of death on the job, you are typically compensated more for accepting this risk. Hersch thought that perhaps women were similarly compensated for taking on the extra risk of sexual harassment in certain industries. Her analysis found they were. In fact, she found women are paid an extra 0.18% in wages for every 1 in 100,000 increase in the likelihood of sexual harassment they take on. She then used those calculations to determine the statistical value of sexual harassment, $7.6 million in todays dollars. Her results were published in the Journal of Risk and Uncertainty. Higher Cap Would Provide A Deterrent For Organizations As a result, Hersch believes the sexual harassment damages cap should be increased to $7.6 million. In addition to providing greater dollar amounts to victims, Hersch says that setting a $7.6 million cap on sexual harassment damages would also work as a financial deterrent for organizations, just as workers compensation has deterred organization from unsafe work practices. Workers comp has reduced fatality rates at work by about a third," Hersch says. Increasing the [sexual harassment] damages would provide incentive for organizations to better monitor and reduce sexual harassment. And it also would provide incentives to employees to file charges. Right now, the incentive is not sufficiently strong, and most sexual harassment goes unreported. Hersch first thought of the idea of applying risk analysis to sexual harassment when she learned about the severity of the repercussions of harassment. In the United States we think of sexual harassment as a form of sex discrimination under Title VII, but in Europe its considered a dignity harm, Hersch explains. When you think of it as a dignity harm, that makes it seem more like a risk rather than just an illegal behavior. And the more I read about how egregious the consequences of harassment are in terms of the psychological loss and work productivity loss, it made me realize this should be compensated like the risk of fatality. The Statistical Details Add Up In order to undertake her analysis, she filed a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain all the sexual harassment cases filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). All cases must first be filed with the EEOC, before anyone can pursue a lawsuit on their own. And, although most harassment goes unreported, those filed with the EEOC tend to be the more egregious cases. She was then able to determine which industries had the highest incidence of sexual harassment. Not surprisingly, the industries that had the highest sexual harassment rates were typically male-dominated (mining, agriculture and construction were among the top on the list). She ran a statistical analysis to determine if women received extra compensation when they worked in an industry with a higher incidence of sexual harassment. She controlled for everything that might be relevant to compensation including the percentage of men in the industry. Thats how she came up with the extra 0.18% in compensation for every 1/100,000 increase in the risk of sexual harassment. Although white women received extra compensation for the risk of sexual harassment, women of color did not receive the extra compensation. Hersch says that race plays a factor in compensation for the risk of fatality as well. Increasing The Cap Would Incent Organizations To Reduce Harassment Since #MeToo, the search for solutions to the sexual harassment problem has intensified. Hersch's research provides a clear action item. The current federal cap on sexual harassment damages was set in 1991. It has never been adjusted for inflation, nor has it been adjusted to reflect our increasing knowledge of the repercussions of sexual harassment. It seems like its time for a change. If the federal cap were set at $7.6 million, Hersch says this would be the amount that employers should be willing to spend to avoid one case of sexual harassment. Incenting organizations to take their sexual harassment prevention more seriously seems like an obvious first step in decreasing workplace sexual harassment. Its time to revisit this cap. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimelsesser/2019/03/26/is-7-6m-the-value-of-sexual-harassment/ |
What Are Possible Ramifications To The Year Of The Contract Extension? | ASSOCIATED PRESS If there was anything to get out of spring training besides how opening day rosters are being configured, it will be forever known as the year of the contract extension. In a year when it took Bryce Harper and Manny Machado deep into the offseason to sign with new teams, several other players with good track records and projected track records signed contract extensions of varying length and dollars. It's a number of factors leading to this being known as the contract extension with some numbers being similar to deals allocated a decade ago. Among the main factors is the sudden unknown landscape in free agency with teams slowing down the pace and the fact that the average salary has declined for only the fourth time in the last half-century according to the Associated Press, from $4,097,122 to $4,095,686. The previous instances were 1987 when owners were late found to have engaged in collusion, 1995 following a 7 1/2 month strike and in 2004. And according to the AP salaries will decline for the second consecutive season. Another is the current uncertainty of the CBA deal which expires following the 2021 season even as revenues continue to increase. It may not impact the elite players but those in the tiers below will feel some ramifications (see Gio Gonzalez). "Elite players will always get paid," said Joe Casale, a sports agent for broadcasters and football players from 1987 to 2003 "Whats happening is the middle class is getting squeezed out of the game. "Since owners want to stay under the luxury tax, they have figured out the best way to do it is to buy out arbitration and free agent years from players with two to four years (of) service time. Players approaching free agency, who are elite, are being scared into not going into uncertain free agent waters. " From the end of the 2017 season to the end of the 2018 season, eight players who were not free agents signed contract extensions longer than two years. The combined total of the extensions signed by a group highlighted by Jose Altuve was 34 years, 321 million. Since the end of last season, 19 players have signed extensions of more than two years with their current teams. The estimated combined totals of those seasons are 102 years, $596 billion. It started quietly with three deals before spring training started as Raisel Iglesias, Carlos Carrasco and Whit Merrifield signed extensions for three or four years that did not go higher than 37 million with Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Kansas City. Then extension fever intensified as spring training started. Before the Phillies finalized their 13-year, $330 million deal with Harper, they agreed to a four-year, $45 million deal with Aaron Nola. Then the Minnesota Twins allocated a combined $60 million to retain Jorge Polanco and Max Kepler. The Yankees then upped it to $110 million to sign Luis Severino and Aaron Hicks for a combined 11 years. After Miles Mikolas signed his extension with the Cardinals, Nolan Arrenado agreed to a seven-year, $234 million deal with the Rockies, thus removing him from any trade discussion. The smallest of these deals was next when the Rangers inked Jose Leclerc to a four-year deal. Leclerc's deal occurred around the time when Harper was openly recruiting Mike Trout to join him in Philadelphia. Instead, Trout broke the record by getting 10 years and $360 million from the Angels. After Trout's extension, Alex Bregman was next with five years, $100 million and then two prospects got their deals with Tampa Bay signing Brandon Lowe six years, $24 million and the White Sox inking Eloy Jimenez for six years, $43 million to buy out all of their arbitration years. In the last week of spring training, Blake Snell was signed for five years, $50 million by Tampa Bay, less than a year after many thought the Rays should trade him. Paul Goldschmidt then was taken off the free agent market after this season by inking a five-year, $130 million from the Cardinals and the same thing happened for Chris Sale, who agreed to a five-year, $145 million. And the most recent of those deals occurred Tuesday morning when reports surfaced about Jacob deGrom agreeing to a deal that is five years for $137.5 million and could max out over $160 million if a club option is picked up in 2024. His deal contains an opt-out after the 2022 season and it could be like CC Sabathia's original $161 million. And later Tuesday, the Cubs announced Kyle Hendricks agreed to a four-year deal, worth approximately $55.5 million to start in 2020. These deals are good for teams and fans of teams who like to see their favorite players retained but Casale says it will definitely impact future labor negotiations, especially since as of Tuesday 151 free agents signed one-year deals or minor league contracts and six players 30 years or older signed deals more for than two years (Eduardo Escobar, A.J. Pollock, Andrew McCutchen, Adam Ottavino, Joe Kelly and Zach Britton) while Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel remained unsigned. "It impacts labor negotiations on numerous fronts," Casale said. Especially with teams like the Yankees determined to stay under the luxury tax. It also makes it more difficult for rebuilding teams to rebuild when free agents are few and far between. The Union has a lot of work ahead of them." What will be intriguing going forward is if and by how much in dollars will the trend continue into subsequent years, especially with names like Aaron Judge and Kris Bryant heading into free agency in the future. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/larryfleisher/2019/03/26/what-are-possible-ramifications-to-the-year-of-the-contract-extension/ |
Is it Time to Pull the Plug on Amtrak? | Getty In a recent essay for Jalopnik, Jason Torchinsky explained: "I Took Amtrak Instead of Flying and It Made Me Want to Die a Little Bit." I've taken Amtrak between Birmingham and New Orleans several times, and I will almost certainly do so again at some point in the future; however, Amtrak's performance suggests that it's time for taxpayer-subsidized rail service to go quietly into the night. To join the choir invisible. To cease to be. In other words, it's time to pull the plug on Amtrak--or at least the taxpayer subsidies that prop it up. First, as Torchinsky amply documents, the Amtrak experience is "meh" at best and positively awful at worst, especially when air travel is more convenient and at least competitive on price. I've only taken it between Birmingham and New Orleans, where it is a credible substitute for either driving or flying. Even then, the train takes half again as long as driving--about seven and a half as opposed to five hours--and that's assuming everything operates on time. I can get a lot of work done on a train that I can't get done while driving, and I hate driving. I can get a lot of work done on planes, though, and a quick search shows that I can get from Birmingham to New Orleans by plane in fewer than four hours even with a connection somewhere like Atlanta. Even booking far in advance, the price of a plane ticket is still about twice what a coach seat on a train would be, but at the very least the plane trip would be much more reliable and predictable. I don't think I've been on a train that both departed on time and arrived on time, and any airline with Amtrak's absolutely dismal on-time performance probably wouldn't last long. Speaking of Atlanta, I'm headed there for a conference in a few weeks and just checked the Amtrak schedule. There is one train daily from Birmingham to Atlanta, and I'd have to cancel my Friday afternoon classes to take it. There is one train back from Atlanta to Birmingham, and I would miss about a third of the conference I'm attending if I were to take it. No thanks. This doesn't mean I'm driving myself. There are cheap substitutes for Amtrak for inter-city travel, as well, that don't need federal subsidies to stay in operation. Greyhound and Megabus offer several trips to and from Atlanta every day. This answers the "what would people do?" question about how they would get around if they can't fly for some reason and Amtrak were to disappear. Intercity bus service would likely expand to fill the gap. Only one part of the Amtrak network is economically viable: the northeastern network linking Boston, New York, and Washington DC, where its Acela express train operates. The rest of Amtrak's operation loses money, so much so that I recall the economist Antony Davies saying in a presentation once that it would be cheaper for Amtrak to simply buy plane tickets for everyone taking its LA to Orlando route and then not run the train at all. It should live or die by its own merits as tested by people's willingness to part with their hard-earned money in the market rather than by its ability to wrangle subsidies from Congress. Most of Amtrak's network would likely disappear, but that would be no great tragedy. Indeed, Americans would be richer for it. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/artcarden/2019/03/26/is-it-time-to-pull-the-plug-on-amtrak/ |
Is The Mass Middle Of The Market A Marketing Death Trap? | Getty Henry Ford had a vision. His said, I will build a motorcar for the great multitude. It will be so low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one. When I'm through everybody will be able to afford one, and everyone will have one and will be able to enjoy with his family the blessing of hours of pleasure in God's great open spaces. The horse will have disappeared from our highways, the automobile will be taken for granted and we will give a large number of men employment at wages. Henry Ford democratized car ownership and driving. In the 1990s, the Target brand became a purveyor of cheap-chic. Targets vision was to be a place where stylish, well-designed products were affordable. The brands trendy, fashionable, modern items such as an Alessi teakettle or a specially designed line from Missoni. Target democratized stylishness. The Franklin Mint sold collectibles for 50 years. Offerings included die-cast airplanes and vehicles, plates, commemorative pieces, dolls, coins, sculptures and other pieces of artwork. The brand gave people in far-flung places the opportunity to own and collect affordable art. The Franklin Mint democratized owning and collecting artworks. Olay Skincare The Science behind Ageless Skin. According to Olays marketing, Olay reflects a deep understanding of skin aging, superior ingredients and formulation and proven performance testing. Olay is democratizing scientifically designed skincare products with affordable pricing. Today, many brands that built their businesses by democratizing their special appeal are in trouble Campbells, Kelloggs, General Mills, Sears, Ford. Being special has different forms: superior quality, stylish, exclusivity, taste, features, functions, luxury, customization and convenience. But, instead of democratizing a brands special appeal, brands are abandoning the mass middle of the market focusing on the extremes of the continuum: either be the low price offer or be the premium priced best-in class. A recent study by Deloitte, one of the big four accounting firms focused on retailing in the US. The study, The Great Retail Bifurcation, takes the following position: Those retail establishments that either focus on selling goods at the lowest possible prices or focus on selling premium goods are doing just fine, even great. The problem is with the retail establishments in the middle, stores Deloitte calls balanced retailers. The retail apocalypse is in the muddled middle where stores attempt a compromise of price ranges and price promotion. In other words, retail at the extremes is where the action is, not in the middle. The study ends with the thought that retail is not dying; it is retail in the middle that is muddling through. This view is misleading. Marketing to the mass middle of the market is not a misfortune: it is a marketing opportunity. Marketing to the middle becomes a malaise only when mismanaged. Stitch Fix is disrupting the fashion shopping experience by marketing to the middle. Its mission is to offer personal fashion shopping, once the domain of high-end shoppers at high-end stores, to the masses. In an interview with Emily Chang on Bloomberg TV, Katrina Lake, a co-founder and the CEO of Stitch Fix explained that the brands mission is to democratize personal shopping. Stitch Fix brings anyone signed on to the subscription service a personal stylist who knows you. Although originally started for women, the service has expanded to men, children and plus sizes. A subscribers personal stylist selects clothing and accessories items for a one-time styling fee. The Stitch Fix stylists learn a customers preferences through the online survey, along with information from the customers social media, if the customer agrees. Once customers receive their Fix they have three days to decide whether they will keep or reject items. If customers keep an item, the initial styling fee applies towards the cost of that item. If all five items are kept, there is 25% off the total cost of those items. Ms. Lake is passionate about the way in which anyone can receive the personalized styling help once reserved for the elite. In a retail world dominated by Amazon, Costco thrives. Costco democratizes retail marketing by providing quality at great prices. Costco offers its very highly rated exclusive Kirkland brand. Kirkland products are cool. Shoppers can find Kirkland products in virtually any category, from groceries to household products and clothing. In Costco's annual report released in December 2018, the retailer announced that sales of Kirkland brand products grew to $39 billion in 2018, up from $35 billion in 2017, a sales growth rate of more than 10%. Along with a wide range of items from food, beverages, fine wine, clothing, home appliances, electronics, flat TVs, jewelry to tires, Costco also provides a discovery experience. Costco has a frequently changing inventory. The available merchandise changes. You just never know what will be todays great deal. Costcos reputation for high quality at discounted prices, particularly Kirkland brand, is the big selling point. In addition, Costco makes customer service a top priority, and it has paid off. According to the latest survey by ACSI (American Customer Satisfaction Index). Costco topped Amazon for the top spot among retailer brands. Ninety percent of Costco members renew their subscriptions. To top all this off, Costco has an amazing return policy that allows customers to bring back items for a full refund (even years later). Here are 11 tenets: 1: Know Your Customer: More than demographics: know their attitudes, opinions, behaviors and values. Have a clear definition of your market. Be specific. 2: Help the shopper/guest feel confident: Offer risk-free choices, guarantees (100% satisfaction), quality commitments, ease of choice and ease of use (experience), limited promotions but consistent, extraordinary savings. 3: Democratize your appeal: Identify a Paradox Promise. Luxury vs. 4: Communicate Your Promise And Deliver Consistently: Everything communicates. It is not about advertising. It is about everything you do: every contact with a customer matters. 5: Internal Marketing Comes Before External Marketing: Align the organization. Align every employee. Customers come second. In a customer-focused organization, customer-focused employees come first. 6: Be consistent. Be persistent. Be insistent: Lead by example. Do what you say we should do. Be consistent in what you say and what you do. Be consistent in what you promise. Be consistent in what you deliver. 7: Avoid excessive emphasis on price alone: Low price is not the same as best value. Value is all about what you get for what you pay. Being a best value brand means delivering an exceptional functional and emotional total brand experience relative to the brands total costs in terms of money, time, and effort. If people dont like what they will get, then they dont care what they will pay. TJ Maxx democratizes access to stylish clothes by providing a combination of fashion, brand, quality and price. Unlike traditional retailers, we generally dont do promotions, sales, coupons or other gimmicks just brand name and designer fashions that are 20%-60% less than department and specialty store regular prices on comparable merchandise, every single day! 8: Build trust: Build trustworthiness. Simplicity. Authenticity. Return policy. Service. Consistency. Speed of response. Customer assistance. Employee responsibility. Leadership integrity. Be the most trustworthy brand in your category. 9: Do not be a trend follower. Be a trend creator: Be a brave democratizer. Do not just look at the trends; look into what is behind the trends. Know your customers and their problems. Do not just know what is happening. Develop genuine insights. Know why it is happening. Always ask, Why? Then ask Why? again. See what others fail to see. Be adaptable. Move quickly to respond with new varieties/products, Invest in the future to create the future. 10: Create delightful amazements. Leverage the power of discovery. Create ongoing special events. Products with limited availability (LTOs), affordable rarities such as wines, craft beers, products that are available as first come, first serve, surprise finds, new, latest products. Surprise and delight your customers. Research shows that through hunting for a product, people feel that they not only saved money, but that they earned the savings because of their search/discovery efforts. ), Build a culture based on openness, sustainability and healthfulness. Put your customers mind at ease. For todays younger generations, betterment is big. Marketing to the middle of the market does not have to be mass mistake. The massive mistake is to miss the middle marketing opportunity. Be a brave marketing democratizer. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/larrylight/2019/03/26/is-the-mass-middle-of-the-market-a-marketing-death-trap/ |
Should Oregonians be allowed to pump their own gas? | Oregon is one of just two states where drivers arent allowed to pump their own gas. (New Jersey is the other.) Native Oregonians and many who live on the west side of the state love it, and wouldnt have it any other way. Full-service gas stations, they argue, provide good-paying jobs and are convenient for the consumer. Many transplants, though, find the idea mystifying. Those who live in rural areas of Oregon where gas stations can be hard to staff have successfully argued in recent years that they should be exempt from the state law requiring an attendant to pump gas. Now, a bill introduced in the Oregon House would authorize Oregon gas stations to designate up to a quarter of their pumps for self-service use. The remaining pumps would still be staffed by gas station attendants. Actually, Oregon's ban on self-service gas is good (commentary) Yes, we could pump our own gas if we had to. No, we'd rather not. In 2017, Oregon lawmakers passed a bill allowing limited self-service gas in rural areas of the state. | https://www.oregonlive.com/tylt/2018/01/should_oregonians_be_allowed_t_2.html |
Will Kamala Harris' proposal to increase teacher pay be enough? | Democratic presidential hopeful and California Sen. Kamala Harris has unveiled a new plan to increase teacher pay by $13,500 nationwide. According to her campaign, the plan would cost $315 billion over 10 years, and would be paid for by adjusting the federal estate tax and closing loopholes for the wealthiest Americans. "I think there is no question that we all know there are two groups of people who are raising our children that's our parents, which can be grandparents, aunties and uncles, and it's our teachers. So let's pay them their value," Harris told "CBS This Morning." Teacher walkouts have happened recently in cities like Los Angeles, Denver and Charleston, West Virginia. But researcher and author Dr. Lois Weiner told CBSN it's important to remember teachers are not just concerned about pay. There needs to be a focus on how much money is allocated for each student. "I think that when you talk to teachers about what they want, it comes down to the schools being funded adequately and better than they are," Weiner said. "Nobody wants a salary increase if it means kids are gonna be in classes of 40 or 50. Nobody wants a salary increase if it means that aids are going to be laid off. Nobody wants a salary increase if it means their health care costs are gonna go up." Weiner also said more attention should be paid on the current reliance on property taxes to fund public education. "If we're gonna talk about improving education across the board, including for low income kids of color, we have to talk about getting rid of the property tax and having equalization formulas so that every state pays the same amount per pupil for every child. And that means the federal government has to step in with big money," Weiner said. Some districts have dealt with teacher shortages as more educators leave their profession for higher paying jobs. At the same time, fewer college students are studying education. According to the Learning Policy Institute, enrollment dropped by 35 percent between 2009 and 2014. Turnover can be even worse in low-income districts, where a lack of resources makes it difficult to attract new teachers. | https://www.cbsnews.com/news/will-kamala-harris-proposal-to-increase-teacher-pay-be-enough/ |
What are the 8 new dishes at Jazz Fest this year? | When it comes to food, Jazz Fest is all about the familiar. We spend 12 months craving crawfish bread, oyster patties and cochon de lait po-boys, and then stuff our faces with favorites as soon as we hit the Fair Grounds. If you search carefully this year, however, youll find a few new dishes among the vendors at the 2019 Jazz and Heritage Festival presented by Shell. Here are the eight new dishes added to the Jazz Fest menu this year: Yucca fries with chimichurri Congreso Cubano Food Area I Mini shrimp and andouille pies Mini broccoli and cheese pies Mrs. Wheat's Foods Food Area II Oyster Rockefeller bisque TJ Gourmet Food Area II Redfish Baquet Baquet's Li'l Dizzy Caf Heritage Square Each year, the Cultural Exchange Pavilion celebrates the music, art and food a different country or region. For its 50th anniversary, Jazz Fest will look back at all the cultures it has brought to the Fair Ground over the last half century. The local restaurant Carmo will offer three international dishes near the pavilion: Colombo de Poulet (Martinican Chicken Curry) Po de Queijo (Brazilian Cheese Bread) Bunny Chow (South African Veggie Curry) For the full list of Jazz Fest food vendors and their menus, see www.nojazzfest.com/food. | https://www.nola.com/eat-drink/2019/03/what-are-the-8-new-dishes-at-jazz-fest-this-year.html |
Why Are We Above International Law? | EDITORS NOTE: This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To stay on top of important articles like these, sign up to receive the latest updates from TomDispatch. Sign up for Take Action Now and get three actions in your inbox every week. You will receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nations journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here. Sign up for Take Action Now and get three actions in your inbox every week. Thank you for signing up. For more from The Nation, check out our latest issue Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month! Support Progressive Journalism The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter. The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter. Fight Back! Sign up for Take Action Now and well send you three meaningful actions you can take each week. You will receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nations journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here. Sign up for Take Action Now and well send you three meaningful actions you can take each week. Thank you for signing up. For more from The Nation, check out our latest issue Travel With The Nation Be the first to hear about Nation Travels destinations, and explore the world with kindred spirits. Be the first to hear about Nation Travels destinations, and explore the world with kindred spirits. Sign up for our Wine Club today. Events just fly by in the ever-accelerating rush of Trump Time, so its easy enough to miss important ones in the chaos. Paul Manafort is sentenced twice and indicted a third time! Whoosh! Gone! The Senate agrees with the House that the United States should stop supporting Saudi Arabia in Yemen (and Mitch McConnell calls this attempt to extricate the country from cooperation in further war crimes inappropriate and counterproductive)! Whoosh! Gone! Twelve Republican senators cross party lines to overturn Trumps declaration of a national emergency on the US-Mexico border, followed by the presidents veto! Whoosh! Gone! Delegates to the March 2019 UN Environment Assembly meeting agree to a non-binding but important resolution drastically reducing the production of single-use plastic. The US delegation, however, succeeds in watering down the final language lest it endorse the approach being taken in other countries, which is different than our own! Once again, the rest of the world is briefly reminded of the curse of American exceptionalism and then, whoosh! Gone! Ad Policy Under the circumstances, it wouldnt be surprising if you had missed the Associated Press report about Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announcing that the United States will revoke or deny visas to International Criminal Court personnel seeking to investigate alleged war crimes and other abuses committed by U.S. forces in Afghanistan or elsewhere. In fact, said Pompeo, some visas may already have been denied or revoked, but he refused to provide details as to who has been affected and who will be affected (supposedly to protect the confidentiality of visa applicants). National Security Adviser John Bolton had already signaled such a move last September in a speech to the Federalist Society. In what The Guardian called an excoriating attack on the International Criminal Court, or ICC, Bolton said, The United States will use any means necessary to protect our citizens and those of our allies from unjust prosecution by this illegitimate court. By unjust prosecution, he clearly meant any attempt to hold Americans accountable for possible war crimes. An exception even among exceptional nations, the United States simply cannot commit such crimes. Hence, by the logic of Bolton or Pompeo, any prosecution for such a crime must, by definition, be unjust. In calling it this illegitimate court, Bolton was referring to the only international venue now in existence for trying alleged war criminals whose countries cannot or will not prosecute them. By our allies, Bolton appeared to mean Israel, a supposition Pompeo confirmed last week when he told reporters, These visa restrictions may also be used to deter ICC efforts to pursue allied personnel, including Israelis. And when it came to threats, Bolton didnt stop there. He also suggested that the United States might even arrest ICC officials: We will ban its judges and prosecutors from entering the United States. We will sanction their funds in the U.S. financial system, and we will prosecute them in the U.S. criminal system. We will do the same for any company or state that assists an ICC investigation of Americans. Current Issue View our current issue This is a dangerous precedent indeed, as the director of the American Civil Liberty Unions Human Rights Project, Jamil Dakwar, told Democracy Now! The story goes back to December 2017, when Fatou Bensouda, the ICCs chief prosecutor, announced an investigation into the possibility that US military and CIA personnel had committed war crimes during Americas Afghan War or in other countries that have a nexus to the armed conflict in Afghanistan. These included some of the countries that hosted the CIAs so-called black sites, where, in the earlier years of the war on terror, detainees were held incommunicado and tortured. Specifically, the ICC opened an investigation into the possible commission of war crimes, including torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity, rape, and other forms of sexual violence by US armed forces and members of the CIA on the territories of Afghanistan, Poland, Romania, and Lithuania. When Bensouda made her announcement, it looked as if at least some Americans might finally be held accountable for crimes committed in the post-9/11 war on terror launched to avenge the criminal deaths of 3,000 souls in New York City and Washington, DC. That never-ending war has seen the United States illegally invade and occupy Iraq; directly kill at least 210,000 civilians (not to mention actual combatants) in Iraq and Afghanistan; torture an unknown number of prisoners; and continue to detain without trial or conviction 39 men at the Guantnamo Bay prison in Cuba. But wait. Thats true, but the alleged crimes didnt take place in the United States. They were committed in Afghanistan, Poland, Romania, and Lithuania, all of which have ratified the treaty. Note that Thailand, site of egregious CIA abuses, doesnt appear on the ICCs list, nor does Iraq (the site of the now infamous Abu Ghraib prison, among other things), presumably because neither is a signatory to the treaty. However, before it could prosecute such crimes, the ICC would have to investigate any potential charges, interview possible witnesses, and gather the evidence necessary to prepare an indictment. That would undoubtedly require its investigators to visit the United States. This, say Bolton and Pompeo, will never be permitted. The ICCs origins go back to the Nuremberg trials at the end of World War II. In 1943, the leaders of the Allied powersEngland, France, the United States, and the Soviet Unionmet in Tehran, Iran. One subject on the table: how, once the war was won, the Allies would deal with Nazi war criminals. Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin is said to have proposed simply lining up and executing 50,000 Nazis. American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt reportedly tried to break the resulting tension by jokingly suggesting that 49,000 might be sufficient. Two years later, at wars end, confronting evidence of barbarism on a scale previously unseen in history, the wars victors found themselves responsible for bringing accountability to the perpetrators of genocide and some modicum of justice to its victims. It was decided then to establish a tribunal, a court, where such criminals could be tried. The problem the Great Powers now faced was how to create a process that the world would consider something more than vengeance masquerading as righteousness, something more than victors justice. The solution was to demonstrate that their prosecutions had a basis in the Geneva Conventions and other international treatiesin, that is, the already existing laws of war. In the process of designing those prosecutions, they consolidated and advanced the meaning and power of international law itself, a concept particularly needed in a postwar world of atomic weapons and a looming US-Soviet conflict. Three-quarters of a century and many wars and weapon systems later, enforceable international law still remains humanitys best hope for adjudicating past war crimes and preventing future onesbut only if great nations like the United States do not declare themselves exceptions to the rule of law. In addition to the verdicts rendered, the Nuremberg tribunal produced other enduring results, including the 1950 Nuremberg Principles, commissioned and adopted by the new United Nations. Those principles established that actions violating international law were punishable crimes, whether they violated any specific countrys domestic laws or not. Even heads of state or other high government officials were not considered immune from prosecution for such war crimes or crimes against humanity. And no one could be exonerated for them on the sole grounds of following the orders of a superior. There were those who said that was all it was, invoking what was called the tu quoque (Latin for you did it, too) argument. Indeed, its been argued that, because the Allies didnt want to answer for Dresden, they excluded the earlier German air war against England from the charges brought at Nuremberg. Nevertheless, many observers there believed that, after rendering verdicts for Nazi crimes, a more permanent tribunal would turn its attention to the crimes of the Allies. It might even, for example, have taken up the legality of the US use of the worlds first atomic weapons to obliterate the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This, of course, never happened. Nor has any court ever prosecuted those responsible for the US firebombing of 67 Japanese cities. Those lesser-known attacks killed hundreds of thousands of civilians and reduced many of that countrys largely wooden urban areas to ashes. Robert McNamara, secretary of defense under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson (and an architect of American policy in Vietnam), described those attacks in Errol Morriss brilliant documentary The Fog of War. Reflecting on his own actions in World War II when, as an Air Force captain, he served in the Office of Statistical Control (where he analyzed the efficiency of bomber aircraft), he told Morris: What one can criticize is that the human race, prior to that timeand today!has not really grappled with what are called the rules of war. The ICC is itself an outgrowth of the Nuremberg process. Even during the original Nuremberg trial, observers expected that the newly established United Nations would create a permanent war-crimes court as one of its earliest actions. In the end, it took more than half a century, but in 1998, at a United Nations General Assembly convention in Rome, 120 countries adopted the Rome Statute, which established the court at The Hague in the Netherlands and described its jurisdiction and rules of operation. (Among the 148 votes, there were 21 abstentions and seven no votes, including the United States.) The ICC officially opened in 2002, when 60 nations ratified the Rome Statute. It took up its first prosecution in 2005. Today, about 120 member states back its role on this planet. (A side note: The ICC is often confused with the International Court of Justice, commonly called the World Court. The ICC deals with the criminal prosecution of individuals. The World Court deals with civil disputes between nations. Unlike the ICC, the United States is a member of the World Court, although its record of abiding by that courts decisions is spotty at best.) The United States and the ICCa Strange Dance Despite having participated in the work of formulating the Rome Statute, the United States never ratified it or joined the court. The first administration to deal with it would take a confusing and contradictory stance. In 1999, President Bill Clinton signed a Foreign Relations Authorization Act that included language prohibiting federal funding for the ICC and the extradition of any US citizen to a country that might surrender him or her to that court for prosecution. The following year, however, Clinton actually signed the Rome Statute, the treaty creating the ICC. In fact, the United States had been instrumental in drafting the courts procedures, rules of evidence, and definitions of various crimes. In spite of that Foreign Relations Authorization Act, it looked as if the United States was on the way to future full participation in the ICC. The year 2000, however, saw the election of George W. Bush. In 2002, the Bush administration rescinded Clintons signature and notified the United Nations that the United States would not ratify the treaty. It was hardly a surprising move given that the Bush-Cheney administration had already begun torturing detainees in its newly born war on terror. (Torture techniques would even reportedly be demonstrated to some of those officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney and National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice, in the White House.) It was John Bolton, then Bushs undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, who sent the notification letter to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and personally trekked to UN headquarters in New York City to unsign the Rome Statute. That, of course, is the very John Bolton who now is Donald Trumps national-security adviser and who attacked the ICC at the Federalist Society last September. This was hardly surprising, since his record of opposing any international constraints on Washington has been long and consistent. In fact, when George W. Bush tapped him as ambassador to the United Nations in 2005, the Senate refused to confirm him. It took a recess appointment to get him the job. The Senates reluctance was reasonable, given Boltons contempt for the institution. (Hed once said that if its headquarters building lost ten stories, it wouldnt make a bit of difference.) In 2002, Bush signed the American Servicemembers Protection Act (ASPA), which, as the American Bar Association explains, contained several provisions meant to prohibit or otherwise complicate U.S. cooperation with the ICC. These included restricting U.S. participation in UN peacekeeping operations, and prohibiting use of any appropriated funds to support or cooperate with the Court. They also included a provision authorizing the use of military force to liberate any American citizens held by the Court, leading it to be dubbed by critics the Invade The Hague Act. And yet even the ASPA demonstrated an American ambivalence towards the ICC. It had an amendment allowing the United States to cooperate with the court in order to bring other foreign nationals accused of genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity to justice. In other words, the ICC was considered good enough to try other countries accused war criminals, just not ours. Under President Barack Obama, the United States began a rapprochement with the court, opening diplomatic relations and starting to attend meetings of its Assembly of States Parties as an observer, which it continues to do today. In 2011, the United States sent a delegation to an ICC meeting in Kampala, Uganda, where important language was adopted defining the crime of aggression. Making an aggressive war was the first of the three categories of crimes under which Nazi leaders were charged at Nuremberg. At the time, Washington officials strongly advocated for the position that all other Nazi atrocities sprang from that initial crime. The same could well be said of the Bush-Cheney administrations decision to invade first Afghanistan and then Iraq. Cooperation with the ICC continued under Obama, who also signed a law providing rewards of up to $5 million for the capture of individuals indicted by the court. It should be noted that the ICC is not without its critics. African nations in particular have rightly complained that the only people who have stood trial so far are from that continent, leading some to threaten to withdraw. In 2017, Burundi did leave, but so far no other African members have followed suit. Nonetheless, the ICC remains a court of last resort when it comes to bringing war criminals to justice. Reversing Course Under Trump Given Trumps America first rhetoric, it should hardly be surprising that the ICC is among the international organizations he and his top foreign-policy officials particularly despise. As a result, his administration has already rolled back Obamas rapprochement and then some. In view of the presidents lack of attention to detail (not to mention his short attention span), it seems likely that John Bolton is the true architect of this latest move. Its the State Department that grants (or doesnt grant) visas, so Mike Pompeo made the official announcement, but this approach fits Boltons MO. The poison now seeping out of Washington continues to spread. On March 18, Rodrigo Dutertes Philippines became the second country to leave the ICC, where it, like the United States, is being investigated for possible crimesin its case, against its own people. As The Washington Post reports, the country is under preliminary examination [by the ICC] for thousands of [domestic drug war] killings since Duterte rose to the presidency in 2016. In its menacing rejection of the court, the Trump administration is turning its back on the system of international law and justice the United States helped establish at Nuremberg. The rule of law must not hold only, as hotelier Leona Helmsley once said about taxes, for the little people. If Donald Trump had truly wanted to make America great again, he would have recognized that international law is not just for the little countries. The greater a world power, the more consequential is its submission to the rule of law. The attacks of John Bolton and Mike Pompeo on the ICC, however, simply represent a new spate of lawless actions from a lawless administration in an increasingly lawless era in Washington. | https://www.thenation.com/article/rebecca-gordon-international-criminal-court-john-bolton/ |
What Are Abbott Laboratories' Key Sources of Revenue? | Getty Abbott Labs (NYSE:ABT) generates its revenues from Medical Devices, Nutritionals, Diagnostics, and Generic Pharmaceuticals business. Medical Devices is the largest segment, and accounts for more than one-third of the companys total revenues and profits. The companys acquisitions of St. Jude Medical, and Alere, has strengthened its Medical Devices and Diagnostics business in the recent years. We forecast mid-single-digit revenue growth for Abbott in 2019, led by steady growth across its businesses. We have created an interactive dashboard ~ What Are Abbotts Key Sources of Revenue. You can adjust segment-wise sales to see the impact on the companys overall revenues. Also, heres more Healthcare Data. Expect Revenues To Grow In Mid-Single-Digits Trefis Trefis Abbotts Medical Devices business includes minimally invasive medical devices for heart diseases, stroke, carotid artery disease, and other vascular conditions. In addition, it also contains St. Jude Medicals business, which Abbott acquired in 2017. The segment revenues grew from $5.3 billion in 2016 to $11.4 billion in 2018, primarily reflecting the impact of the St. Jude acquisition. We forecast the revenues to grow in high single-digits in 2019, and in mid-single-digits thereafter, primarily led by electrophysiology, and neuromodulation business. Electrophysiology refers to a test performed to assess the hearts activity and is used to diagnose arrhythmia. Abbotts electrophysiology product line primarily includes catheters, which are used to run this test. The company is seeing strong demand for heart mapping and ablation portfolio, while neuromodulation is seeing growth in its product line for the treatment of chronic pain and movement disorders. Apart from electrophysiology, structural heart continues to benefit from higher MitraClip sales. In fact, MitraClip was recently approved by the U.S. FDA for the treatment of heart failure in patients with clinically significant secondary mitral regurgitation. Abbotts Diagnostics business includes systems and tests such as immunoassay, assays used for screening for drugs of abuse, cancer, therapeutic drug monitoring, fertility, physiological diseases, and infectious diseases. An assay is a quantitative or qualitative test of a drug to determine its components. The segment revenues have grown from $4.8 billion in 2016 to $7.5 billion in 2018, primarily reflecting the impact of the Alere acquisition. We expect the divisions revenue to grow in mid-single-digits in the coming years. This can primarily be attributed to the Alere acquisition, which will further strengthen Abbotts share in the diagnostics business. With this acquisition Abbott has added the tests for heart attacks, influenza, and drug abuse to its suite of diagnostic products. The companys Nutritionals business, which primarily includes dietary supplements, functional foods, and clinical & medical foods, hasnt seen much growth over the past few years, and the revenues have hovered around $7 billion. We dont expect any significant growth in this segment, given the nutritional industry is highly fragmented, and large pharmaceutical companies and packaged food and beverage companies compete for the same consumer base. Further, there is also a challenge from local label brands. Looking at Abbotts generic pharmaceutical business, the segment includes branded generic drugs such as Creon, Biaxin, Klacid, Influvac, Brufen, Synthroid, and Dicetel among others. The segment revenues have grown from $3.9 billion in 2016 to $4.4 billion in 2018. We forecast mid-single-digits growth in revenues in the coming years, primarily led by its expansion in emerging markets. The company has been focused on the emerging markets, especially Brazil, Russia, China, and India, and it is seeing strong growth in these regions. However, the pharmaceutical industry is characterized by intense competition globally, as many companies compete for the same consumer base. This will likely cap the overall sales growth for the segment. Explore example interactive dashboards and create your own. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2019/03/26/what-are-abbott-laboratories-key-sources-of-revenue/ |
What's Happening With NAFTA? | ASSOCIATED PRESS The future of US-Mexico-Canada trade relations is still uncertain. For years Trump lambasted the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as the worst trade deal in the history of the country. He lauded the effort to establish a new United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) as a significant achievement. On November 30 Trump tweeted that USMCA is sooo much better than NAFTA. He has also told Congress, I hope you can pass the USMCA into law so we can bring back our manufacturing jobs in even greater numbers, expand American agriculture, protect intellectual property, and ensure that more cars are proudly stamped with our four beautiful words: made in the U.S.A. But its still not clear whats going to happen with NAFTA. I view the USMCA as NAFTA 2.0, an update rather than a fundamental re-write. Its telling that US farm lobbies mostly like the new agreement because it preserves the benefits they enjoy under the NAFTA framework. Dave Salmonsen, senior director for congressional relations at the American Farm Bureau, a business chamber, explained, "The most important part [of USMCA] for us was the continuity of it all." After all, Mexico imported $3.2 billion of corn from the US in 2018. Kevin Brady, a Texas Republican who is a ranking member on the House Ways and Means Committee explained, USMCA will allow us to sell more Made In America products to our two best customers, Canada and Mexico. Its crucial. Brady hopes that the deal can be ratified by summer 2019. House Democrats are less enthusiastic. Nancy Pelosi has explained that The concerns we have [with USMCA] center around workers' rights, center around the environment, center around prescription drug prices. Representative Earl Blumenauer, a Democrat from Oregon who leads the Ways and Means Committee's trade subcommittee, has acknowledged that he has some reservations about the updated deal. There are questions about labor enforcement, questions about environmental protections. I want to find out if NAFTA 2.0 is any better [than the original deal],he explained. Its unclear what will happen now. Trump would obviously like to see the legislation passed as soon as possible but Democrats seem unlikely to give him an easy victory in the lead-up to the 2020 election cycle. Trump claims that his top priority is creating and protecting jobs. Over the last three years he has used the threat of unilaterally leaving NAFTA to prod action at the negotiating table. Its hard to imagine that Trump would now try to scuttle the original deal if he is frustrated with the speed of the approval for the update his team negotiated. Sending letters notifying Canada and Mexico of his intent to withdraw from NAFTA would introduce a new level of uncertainty and invariably hurt investment and job creation in all three countries. So, right now the future of the USMCA deal is still uncertain. As I explained in a recent essay for Mexican news outlet Horizontal although Trump likes making threats it isn't likely that he'll try to pull out of NAFTA or start a trade war with Mexico and Canada. He couldn't stand the risk of losing. At this point it seems likely that we'll either end up with NAFTA or with Trump's NAFTA 2.0. Any other outcome would involve significant job losses and economic upheaval. After years of making threats on Twitter Trump still seems unlikely to look for that kind of fight in real life. Additional reading: see here for a recent Q&A I did with Andrew Selee about the past, present, and future of US-Mexico relations. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanielparishflannery/2019/03/26/whats-happening-with-nafta/ |
How will the Brexit indicative votes process work? | Like everything else Brexit lately, nothing is set in stone, but here is what to expect After another humiliating defeat for Theresa Mays government on Monday, parliament will attempt to end the Brexit deadlock on Wednesday with a series of indicative votes on alternative proposals. The schedule itself will be subject to change, but here is what else to expect if you wish to keep an eye on proceedings. As with most government business before the House of Commons, the Speaker, John Bercow, will have a major role in proceedings. He will select the motions to be voted on, but it is expected that several indicative vote proposals will have been handed in to parliaments tables office by Tuesday night. Get set for Brexit: Indicative Day the one where the Grand Wizards turn on each other | Marina Hyde Read more These could include proposals for the withdrawal of article 50, a second referendum, an economic relationship based on membership of the European Free Trade Association, a looser Canada-style trade agreement, a no-deal Brexit, or Mays deal. It could begin straight after prime ministers questions, which usually ends at around 12.45pm. Whether it starts then depends on whether any other government business has been tabled, such as urgent questions on topical matters. Bercow is under instruction to interrupt any government business at 2pm and hand control over to parliament. After a debate on the various proposals, MPs are expected to start voting at 7pm and the results should come in between 8.30pm and 10pm. At 7pm, ballot papers will be made available in the division lobbies next to the Commons chamber. Unlike most parliamentary votes, which are cast by walking through a lobby, MPs will vote by putting crosses next to aye or noe for each proposal. MPs will be able to vote for as many of the proposals as they wish to support. How each MP has voted will be published later that night. Bercow is not expected to hold different debates on each motion. Instead, MPs will be allowed to make points about any of the proposals. Parliament will take over proceedings once Bercow begins a debate on what to do next in a business motion that decides the process of the coming votes. This is expected to be put forward by the former Conservative minister Oliver Letwin, but alternative proposals might be put forward. In theory, this business motion is amendable, which could give Brexiters or the government an opportunity to cause procedural chaos. Letwin and others will be on hand to try to prevent any such attempts. MPs will debate the various indicative vote proposals from 3pm at the latest until 7pm. We do not know if MPs will be expected to follow a particularly line by their parties. Parliament could end up supporting contradictory motions, or with no overall majority for any of the motions. In theory, Theresa Mays deal, which has already been rejected twice, could end up having more support than any other proposal. There is the small matter of officially delaying Brexit. The government will lead a debate on a legal order that needs to be passed to delay the UKs scheduled departure on Friday 29 March. This is expected to pass with ease. No. Under Letwins proposals, parliament will next have control of its own agenda on Monday 1 April. That could be used to order the government to pursue a particular course of action. The government has until 12 April to propose a different way forward to the EU if it cannot get Mays deal through parliament. | https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/mar/26/how-will-the-brexit-indicative-votes-process-work |
Was Jusuf Nurkics injury too painful to watch? | Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic suffered a devastating, season-ending leg injury on Monday night the type of injury that was so gruesome they refused to show it within the arena or on the television broadcast after it happened. Nurkic sustained compound fractures to his left tibia and fibula during the second overtime of Mondays win over the Brooklyn Nets, reminiscent to the injury Paul George suffered five years ago during a USA Basketball scrimmage that kept him out of action for eight months. It was the kind of gut-wrenching injury that caused the players on and near the court Monday night to turn the other direction. It made me sick to my stomach, Blazers captain Damian Lillard said after the game. It happened right in front of me, added Moe Harkless. It was kind of (messed) up. It didnt look good. I cant explain it. I was just, like, terrified seeing that." For those who didnt witness the break as it happened, they were warned by those who did to avoid viewing the injury, sparking a conversation online about whether or not these types of injuries should be shared or replayed on TV and/or social media. | https://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/2019/03/was-jusuf-nurkics-injury-too-painful-to-watch.html |
Do we finally have a fix for the Columbia Parkway landslides? | Buy Photo A view of Kemper Lane where a landslide caused the road to be closed on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019, in Cincinnati. (Photo: Albert Cesare / The Enquirer) Take heart, Columbia Parkway commuters: The city may have at least a temporary solution for the frequent landslides that have been shutting down the road. City council is expected to allocate $750,000 for a Columbia Parkway stabilization project. Details are scant, but Mayor John Cranley is expected to reveal more on Wednesday during an 11 a.m. press conference at the corner of Columbia and Torrence parkways. Columbia Parkway is one of Cincinnatis most heavily traveled roads, getting tens of thousands of drivers each day. But lately, it seems the road is more often than not shut down for landslide repair. City officials have estimated a permanent solution for the parkway could cost up to $10 million, so it's unclear if this is the first step in a larger plan. Columbia Parkway landslides: We dont want to wake up to a fatality 'Like someone put a bomb in your yard': Landslides in Greater Cincinnati are bad. And they'll probably get worse. CLOSE With our hilly city, Cincinnati is watching the slopes, too. Carrie Blackmore Smith/The Enquirer Read or Share this story: https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2019/03/26/columbia-parkway-landslides-does-city-finally-have-fix/3280600002/ | https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2019/03/26/columbia-parkway-landslides-does-city-finally-have-fix/3280600002/ |
Are Millennials A Threat To Fine Wines? | Photo: Helena Lopes from Pexels Millennials have already been blamed, fairly or unfairly, for the demise of many things. They binge-watch shows instead of going to the movies, prefer to pay for experiences over physical products and opt to swipe left or right, rather than committing to expensive dinner dates. Millennials are the largest generation to date. In fact there are 79M of them in the U.S. alone almost a quarter of the American population. The U.S. is the largest wine market in the world with annual sales in the region of $62B and in 2015 millennials were responsible for 42% of all wine consumed (in the U.S.) According to the Silicon Valley Bank State Of The Wine Industry Report 2019 wine sales in the U.S. are down for the first time in 25 years and it turns out that millennials are not drinking their fair share. With all millennials now of a legal drinking age (22-37 years), they wield serious buying power, but wine is not their first choice, with their preferences instead running to craft beer and craft spirits. Those who do choose wine are making it clear to producers and merchants alike that they will only shop and imbibe on their own terms and those in the wine industry are paying attention. Here are the five ways that millennials are making waves in the wine industry: 1. Digital This is their territory be it online or in app. Innovative online wine clubs, on-demand delivery and a plethora of mobile apps are making wine more accessible than ever before. In 2017 Wine.com the nations leading online wine retailer launched its mobile app. As of February 2019, mobile sales were 30% of their overall $130M revenues. 2. Price Millennials are price sensitive with the average wine drinker choosing wines in the $15-$20 range. The fact that many are still moving into their careers and earning potential means that financial capacity is certainly a factor, but its not the only consideration. Millennials are less concerned with luxury or status in general, instead seeking out authentic experiences and brands. A $15 bottle of wine that has a great story or offers a personal connection will make it into a digital shopping cart before any 92-Point Grand Cru. 3. Convenience Oenophiles the world over cringe at the notion of wine in a can but this is not something to be sniffed at. According to Nielsen its now a $45M business and thanks to millennials is one of the fastest growing categories in the wine industry. Theyre easier to recycle, more portable and available in single servings. 4. Variety Millennials are eschewing big name producers and regions in favor of lesser known and oft-times better priced options. As a result well continue to see more wines from diverse regions like Bulgaria, Georgia, Croatia and Hungary. Health conscious and environmentally aware, millennials are also demanding more organic and natural wines so we can expect to see more of those options from a country you probably havent even been to, on wine lists in the future. 5. Trust They dont subscribe to wine magazines, they dont trust wine scores and they dont buy into online reviews. Word of mouth, informative and educational pieces (such as blog posts), personal connections like tasting events and influencers. They want to connect in some way with what they are drinking and with the producers, so theyll go to the source for recommendations or trusted influencers on social media. If theres a story they can appreciate or get behind then that brand stands a greater chance of being championed. As millennials continue to mature and their earning power increases perhaps we will see a greater leaning towards the more recognized and established fine wines. Until then tech savvy, digitally engaged, environmentally conscious millennials will continue to shy away from the $45 Napa Valley tasting room pour. Instead, theyll opt for a $5 can of organic ros that they can tote to the park and which may or may not have come from Armenia, because whatever the price, the experience will live on long after the wine is gone. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanobrien/2019/03/26/are-millennials-a-threat-to-fine-wines/ |
Will The Much-Hyped CBS-Viacom Merger Ever Happen? | The on-again, off-again merger talks between former corporate siblings CBS and Viacom reportedly are poised to restart. According to the New York Post, the media giants are gearing up to begin discussions about joining forces though it wasnt clear when talks would begin. Even so, Wall Street cheered the news, boosting Viacoms stock price by nearly 8 percent to $28.33. Shares of CBS closed at $47.33, a 4 percent gain. The Post report comes a day after AT&T renewed its contract to carry Viacoms cable channels on its DirecTV satellite TV and U-Verse services and its DirecTV Now skinny bundle of channels aimed at cord-cutters. The deal, worth a reported $1 billion, avoided a blackout of Viacoms cable channels such as BET, Comedy Central, and Nickelodeon on AT&T platforms that would have hurt both companies. Viacom and CBS have a strange history. Viacom bought the parent company of the most watched television network for $36.5 billion in 1999, a deal that CNN at the time predicted would bring the network of Dan Rather in touch with the MTV generation." Seven years later, Sumner Redstone, who controlled both companies through his movie theater chain National Amusements Inc. (NAI), soured on the idea of diversified media conglomerates and split Viacom and CBS. Fast forward to the present and CBS and Viacom with market capitalizations of $18 billion and $12 billion respectively find themselves as small fish in a media sea dominated by whales such as Netflix ($157 billion), Comcast ($179 billion) and Walt Disney ($198 billion). BTIG Analyst Richard Greenfield, who has advocated the merger for years, estimates joining CBS and Viacom would generate $1 billion in cost savings heading into 2020. Gaining additional size is critical as the companies renew agreements with cable, satellite and telecom companies to carry their programs. Merging with Viacom would also bulk up CBS' financial muscle when the broadcast rights for the NFL comes up for renegotiation. Though the current NFL contract expires in 2022, broadcast rights deals are often extended years in advance of their expiration. Former CBS CEO Les Moonves filed to suit last year to block a Viacom-CBS merger that was backed by Sumner Redstones daughter Shari Redstone, president of NAI and vice chairman of both CBS and Viacom. As part of the settlement of that case, Redstone agreed not to raise the possibility of a Viacom-CBS merger for at least two years. Moonves was ousted in the wake of numerous sexual misconduct allegations. According to the Post, CBS and Viacom need to come to terms on both the deals price and who would run the merged company. New York-based CBS is going to ask for a premium valuation in the all-stock transaction since its shares have outperformed Viacoms, the newspaper said. Interim CBS CEO Joe Ianniello and Viacom CEO Robert Bakish are in the running for the permanent CEO position though Bakish is the front-runner since he is a favorite of Redstone, the Post said. The newspaper reported that Ianniello is under consideration for another senior management position. CBS and NAI declined to comment for this story. Viacom couldn't immediately be reached. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanberr/2019/03/26/will-the-much-hyped-cbs-viacom-merger-ever-happen/ |
Does Technology Make Us More Unreasonable? | If not, you probably havent spent much time on social media. All cultures have certain modalities for understanding what is polite and rude and we are continually educated as to what is and is not socially acceptable through experience and social education. For instance, if you take too long to order a bagel and coffee in Manhattan, you will likely have others ask in your turn. While this might seem rude, for the deli owner, time is money and in order to not be rude to the other customers in line, you will likely have to learn to say, Toasted butter bagel, coffee, cream, no sugar far more quickly than you ever imagined. I once refused a gift from a Berber woman living in southern Morocco who offered me the only piece of jewelry she was wearing. I was quickly informed that I had been rude and ought to have accepted the gift. Social graces are not always evident in person and today they are even more challenged by the distance and facelessness dividing speakers online. Among the range of topics presented on social media, it is almost certain that within a thread on any issuenot necessarily religion or politicsthat sooner or later ones opinion will be deemed offensive to someone. I know someone who is [insert the topic of discussion]. In fact, it is often the personal connection that makes people take sides on issues even if common sense and verifiable fact are not on their side. While live, social interactions are quickly becoming less frequent as social media is increasingly the taking over these interactions, it is remarkable how many people still hold their online loyalties to those individuals they have met or know in real life. While we seek out new people and knowledge online, traditional dynamics still translate to the old-world rules: That anonymity breeds distrust and in-person knowledge cultivates affinities. Certainly, truth bias functions as a social default in a world where we would like to be able to agree with others, most especially our friends. Truth bias helps maintain the social order in many situations, but it is not foolproof. Enter human knowledge plus personality and the minute someone tells me that the earth is flat, many of us will challenge this, despite our human dislike for accusing another of not telling the truth. And in real-life situations, we have more at stake by contesting a dear friend on their views than an anonymous person online who is telling us about the transparent dome covering the earths surface. While many of us will smile and change the subject with a friend who raises this subject at dinner, we are more likely to challenge that faceless person online about their anti-science beliefs. There are also negative impacts that social media carries over to real-life interactions such as the decrease of quality face-to-face interactions and relationships to a desire to withdraw entirely from in-person communications. While more people today are blaming in-person rudeness specifically to technology, we must ask if new technology and social media might be to blame for many reactions to scientific information and contrary opinions. As we seek out newer means of communication and a deepening of our scientific knowledge, the paradox is that the more we interact through technology, it seems the less likely we are able to accept newer scientific information. The insularity of certain online groups, while providing a platform to discuss certain concepts, also functions as an echo chamber into which we push our reasonable thoughts. The risk of entering into topic-specific groups online is that we might never question our thoughts again. Confirmation bias certainly seems to be a natural by-product of social media today as we increasingly put ourselves into cognitive peril with our preference to be surrounded by like-minded social media users. Ren Descartes wrote, If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things. Perhaps the true challenge in this era of new technology is that we begin by doubting everything anew. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/julianvigo/2019/03/26/does-technology-make-us-more-unreasonable/ |
Would NY Islanders Belmont Arena Leave County-Owned Nassau Coliseum In Ruins? | Getty A group of New York Islanders fans recently generated an online petition in support of bringing a new arena to Belmont Park on New York's Long Island. They are touting the project as one that would assure a home base for the NHL franchise for years to come. There is little doubt that the Islanders belong in the area, and that its presence would spread jobs, commerce, and goodwill across the community. The call for a new arena owes to the current venue situation not working out as well as ownership, the team, the league, and fans would prefer it to be. This means the Islanders are in the same boat that many other franchises have been at one point in time or another. But unlike the lot of them, the Islanders' route to arriving at a new home has been taking far longer and involved more careering and careening than was anticipated at the outset. That experience has implications for where the franchise should ultimately end up. The Islanders' search for a new home started almost two decades ago. Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the team's home since 1972, had become the NHL's second-oldest and second-smallest arena. So, then-owner Charles Wang proposed The Lighthouse at Long Island, a privately-funded $1-billion project to renovate the county-owned Coliseum and develop retail, residential, office, and entertainment space surrounding it. But a string of rejections by local politicians and the voting public during the next several years, combined with dwindling revenues, led Wang to announce in 2012 that the team would be relocated to Barclays Center in New York City's Brooklyn borough beginning in 2015. He also start exploring opportunities to sell the franchise. Wang sold principal ownership in the franchise to Jonathan Ledecky and Scott Malkin in 2014. As the Islanders took to playing in Brooklyn the next year, the Coliseum underwent the start of a 3-year, $170-million renovation led by funding from Bruce Ratner's Forest City Ratner Companies and NBA Brooklyn Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorovs American Holdings. But the Islanders being away from its traditional base, and in a venue designed with good sight lines for basketball and concerts, proved to be problematic to attendance from the get-go. With fan attendance at Barclays consistently ranking at or near the bottom of the league, along with the Coliseum re-opening, the Islanders and the NHL arranged to split the team's home games between Brooklyn and Long Island during the 2018-2019 season. The return to the Coliseum, where attendance has shown to be better than at Barclays, is being seen as part of a temporary solution to what would be a more-lasting move into the proposed $1-billion arena at Belmont Park. The new arena would sit in a complex that includes 435,000-square feet of retail and entertainment space, plus a hotel. The entire project, including portions of transportation infrastructure, would be privately-funded by a group that features sports business heavyweights Sterling Equities and Oak View Group, along with the outlet mall developer Scott Malkin Group. This has all led to a good deal of excitement for a project that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has taken to calling a win-win-win. With all of that winning, of course, there has to be something on the losing side. In this case, it will be the Coliseum that comes up short. And that means Nassau County coffers will take a hit. Millions of dollars in major events-associated revenue would almost assuredly go to the new arena. Millions of dollars more in venue operator fees, such as from the likes of current holder BSE Global, could also dry-up. Those types of losses, according to the crowd clamoring for a new arena, would pale in comparison to losing the Islanders. That specter is looming, they assert, because the Coliseum does not have enough luxury suites and other amenities for turning the decent profit. The viable alternative, the thing needed to keep the Islanders on Long Island, is a new arena. To be sure, the threat of franchise relocation in any sport is always a real possibility. But it is not likely in this case for the Islanders. While there are a handful of cities that would be receptive to hosting an NHL franchise, the prospects for it coming at the expense of relocating one based in the New York metropolitan area are quite low. Beyond the optics, the league isn't likely to approve a franchise moving out of the nation's top media market. Any move to a different market would conceivably have to include a broadcast rights deal that is at least as lucrative as is available in New York. There are few, if any, potential relocation cities on that list. So, there isn't much to worry about in terms of the Islanders leaving the Island again in the near-future. But the push to gain support for a new arena shouldn't hinge on that factor anyway. Rather, it needs to hinge on a new reality of sports-led development: improving quality of life as a means to improving economic opportunities is at least as important as organizing for economic performance that feeds social pursuits. For the past 30 years, investment in major sports-related infrastructure was defined by the latter, or Its the economy, stupid. It is now being defined by Its the society, stupid. The latest success storiesWashington, DC; Arlington, Texas; Frisco, Texas; Tampa, Florida, to name a feware bearing this out. On Long Island, this means focusing attention on how to manage the social and economic impacts of what would be two major venues that have the capacity to host feature events. Supporters of the new arena suggest that its turning a profit would require 200 event nights in addition to 40 Islanders regular-season home games. That goal could be achieved. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/leeigel/2019/03/26/would-ny-islanders-belmont-arena-leave-county-owned-nassau-coliseum-in-ruins/ |
How Can Developers Build Software That Is Hack-Proof? | originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. Answer by Alex Rebert, Co-Founder at ForAllSecure, Inc., on Quora: I'm not entirely sure that building hack-proof software is possible. There are however some steps that developers could take that would make it significantly harder for attackers. The most successful approach I've seen has been defense in depth. The first step is to minimize the number of bugs in your code. Easier said than done, but here are some concrete steps that would help with that: Prefer memory-safe language when possible, as that might prevent entire classes of vulnerabilities from being in your software. Educate yourself in security a bit if possible. Ideally, you'd know about the common vulnerabilities that could apply to your software: command injection, sql injection, buffer overflow, XSS, CSRF, Test your software. Make sure to test edge cases and sensitive code sections (input parsers, code with elevated privileges) Use automated analysis: linting, static code analyses, ... Fuzz! The attackers certainly will if they get access to your software. This is where a tool like Mayhem can really help. Now you should assume that all the steps above failed and an attacker has found a bug. The second step is to harden your binary, such that even in the presence of a security bug, it will be harder to exploit: Make sure OS defenses are enabled on the system where the software gets deployed. Make sure to enable compiler defenses when applicable: stack canaries, PIE, DEP, Next, you should assume that an attacker will get code execution, and try to minimize the impact of the attack. At a high level, we want to give the software the least amount of permissions and capabilities that we can. This will allow you to isolate fault and impact. There's a few ways you can do that. One successful approach is to sandbox code handling user input: drop privileges, whitelist syscalls that you expect to call and disable others, use namespaces, Some tools can help with that. For instance, google released sandboxed API recently. Browsers like Chrome use sandboxes, which means you have to chain multiple vulnerabilities: first you need to get code execution in the sandbox, and after that, you have to escape the sandbox. That makes full exploitation a lot harder. Finally, if you can afford it, I would also recommend a security code audit and/or pen-testing for your sensitive code & systems to make sure nothing was missed. 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/2019/03/26/how-can-developers-build-software-that-is-hack-proof/ |
Can Pink Papers Solve Brexit? Can Theresa May Save Her Job? Or Is Another Referendum the Answer? | Stacks of little slips of pink paper form one of the latest ideas that the United Kingdoms Parliament has come up with for resolving the Brexit deadlock. The plan, which was put together by Oliver Letwin, a Conservative M.P., will work like this: on Wednesday, members of Parliament will go into the lobbies where they normally divide into yes-or-no contingents to vote on a measure and, instead, mark on pink slips which of multiple Brexit options they would approve. (Pink is the color of the ballots that Parliament uses for procedures such as deferred voting.) In these indicative votes, M.P.s will be able to say yes to as many options as they like, and also no to as many as they like, raising the possibility that no option will command a clear lead or even a majority. Parliament hasnt been able to agree on a plan so farwhich is why the U.K., despite getting a brief respite, is on track for a chaotic, cliffs-edge no-deal Brexit, on April 12th. What will be different on Wednesday is that the Parliament, and not Prime Minister Theresa May and her government, will control the order of business, which means that May doesnt get to determine what the M.P.s do and vote on that day. This is thanks to an amendment to a government motion that Letwin, in an act of rebellion against a Conservative Party that is fast losing its hold on its members, introduced, on Monday. (It passed by a margin of three hundred and twenty-nine to three hundred.) The motion represents a swerve away from the manner in which Parliament generally operates. But it would be far too much to say that this development means that Parliament has taken control of Brexit, as opposed to taking control of Wednesday. The Letwin amendment leaves a lot of loose ends. It doesnt even mention the pink-slip plan. That idea was just something that Letwin offered during a parliamentary debate before his amendment was voted onAll the voting going on at once, with pink slips in the lobbiesthough, by Tuesday, there seemed to be a consensus around it. Brexit, but Scotland gets to bolt from the U.K. and try to join the E.U. on its own?though Letwin said that he assumed that John Bercow, the Speaker of the House of Commons, will exclude wild unicorns, by which he meant limiting the choices to things we could actually do. If nothing emerges as the winner, Letwin said, we should resort to some other method to crystallize the majoritythat is, hold more votes next week, by which time there will be just a week to go before the current no-deal deadline. When asked about the risk of a new deal happening simply because time runs out, Letwin conceded that the danger is real. We all face it. But the biggest limit on Parliaments control is the fact that the votes are merely indicative. They dont legally compel the Prime Minister to act in a certain way, and May has said that she will defy the result if it is something she cant abide. She wants Parliament to vote again on the withdrawal agreement that she negotiated with the European Union, which has already been rejected twice, even though the E.U. has emphasized that it is the only Brexit deal on offer. May is getting a bit closer to a majority: on Tuesday, Jacob Rees-Mogg, a Tory arch-Brexiteer who has dismissed her deal, airily and often, as giving too much away to Europe, said that he would vote for it, after all. Rees-Mogg said that he is afraid that the indicative votes might lead to no Brexit at all. He and other leading Brexiteers met with May at the Prime Ministers country retreat, Chequers, over the weekend; Boris Johnson, who has long been the leading contender for the title of most irresponsible in that group, bolstered his claim to it when he was photographed not wearing a seat belt as he drove up to Chequers. (In a column published on the same day in the Telegraph, Johnson wrote, It is time for the PM to channel the spirit of Moses in Exodus, and say to Pharaoh in BrusselsLET MY PEOPLE GO.) The Brexiteers reportedly tried to wheedle a resignation out of May in return for their votes. She may yet agree to such an exchange, if she is not forced out first. She is also set to address the Tory M.P.s late Wednesday afternoon, assuming that they can tear themselves away from the pink-slip-strewn lobbies. At this rate, she might not last the week anyway. She has a way of making things worse for herself. For example, May relies, for her parliamentary majority, on the ten M.P.s of the Democratic Unionist Party, of Northern Ireland; their opposition to her Brexit deal, which is centered on how it handles the Irish border, has formed a roadblock for her. And yet, on Monday, she gratuitously blamed the sorry state of the regional government in Northern Ireland, in which the D.U.P. plays a major role, in explaining why she had backed away from a no-deal Brexit when the original deadline was reached, last week. (Instead, she asked the E.U. for an extension, which Brexiteers found humiliating.) Northern Irelands Assembly has been suspended since early 2017, when a power-sharing agreement between the D.U.P. and Sinn Fin, the second-largest party, broke down. May said that this means that some aspects of a no-deal Brexit, as it affects Northern Ireland, would have to be managed from London, but it sounded as if her government needed more time to figure out just how that would work. D.U.P. M.P.s reacted with outrage and dismay: both the situation with the Assembly and the Brexit deadline have been well known for more than two years. There are almost as many ways for May to lose her job, at this point, as there are forms of Brexit. If, after the indicative votes are cast, May does indeed ignore the result, Parliament could take that rejection of its expressed opinion as a reason for a no-confidence vote. In this sense, May is a walking version of a no-deal Brexit, the disastrous option that happens by default: the no-deal Prime Ministership. There is speculation that the Queen may even be brought in: usually, she is simply told who commands Parliaments confidence, and that person goes to Buckingham Palace, meets her, and gets the ceremonial go-ahead. If Parliament cant decide, Her Majesty could conceivably be left waiting alone at the tea table. More likely, there could be a snap general election. But this would move the process beyond April 12th, and the E.U. has made it very clear that there will be no more extensions unless the U.K. agrees to take part in the elections for members of the European Parliament, in late May. (April 12th is the last date for those elections to be called under British law.) So all that the indicative votes might indicate is that Britain is heading for two angry election campaigns in the next couple of months. Many in the U.K., including hundreds of thousands who took to the streets of London, on Sunday, are hoping for a third electoral option: a second referendum, and a chance to say no to Brexit. As of Tuesday, nearly six million people had signed a petition on the governments Web site asking for Brexit to be called off, which means that Parliament will be required to debate the question. But first: the pink papers. | https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/can-pink-papers-solve-brexit-can-theresa-may-save-her-job-or-is-another-referendum-the-answer |
How will the Patriots replace Gronk? | The retirement of tight end Rob Gronkowski, though not unexpected, nevertheless carries a suddenness and finality that creates real questions for the Patriots regarding a position that has become an important part of the offense. They have four general options: Sign a free agent, trade for a tight end, turn to the draft, or rely on players currently on the roster. They can also mix and match options, and thats presumably what theyll do. Scroll to continue with content Ad As previously noted, their interest in Jared Cook could be rekindled unless and until he finally signs his name at the bottom of a contract with the Saints. Regarding the draft, they could try to move up in round one to get one of the top prospects, take the best tight end available at No. 32, or pounce on a guy in the later rounds who slips through the cracks but also fits precisely with what theyre trying to do. Coach Bill Belichick always has a plan and his success has vindicated all past plans and its likely that whatever he does eventually will be successful because everything else he ever has done seems to work out. Besides, the Patriots cant claim they werent ready for this. They knew it was coming sooner than later, and they knew it could happen this year. Its now happened, and well learn what the teams plan is as it unfolds. | https://sports.yahoo.com/patriots-replace-gronk-015153026.html?src=rss |
What Next for Venezuela's Opposition Leader Juan Guaid? | It once seemed so encouraging for Venezuelas political opposition: Millions in the streets. Strong international support. An unpopular autocrat seemingly on the ropes. But what a difference a month can make. In early March, Juan Guaid the man recognized by dozens of countries as Venezuelas interim president returned home to cheering crowds. He had been abroad for almost two weeks, currying favor with other regional governments, and trying to get muchneeded humanitarian aid to his countrymen. But in the days since then, little has changed. Venezuelan President Nicols Maduro remains in power, despite having overseen one of the most staggering economic collapses in modern history. Guaids overtures to the military to drop their support for Maduro have had little effect only an estimated 1,000 soldiers and national police have defected, despite huge protests, growing sanctions pressure, and the whispered threat of US military action. The top brass remains loyal to Maduro. In fact, after a few weeks of mostly ignoring Mr. Guaid, Venezuelan authorities have quietly ratcheted up pressure of their own. Earlier this week, in a pre-dawn raid, the intelligence services detained Mr. Guaids chief of staff at his home, raising the possibility that the government may be closing in on Mr. Guaid himself. He sat down to answer these very questions: Contact us at [email protected]. | http://time.com/5557276/what-next-for-venezuelas-juan-guaido/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+time%2Ftopstories+%28TIME%3A+Top+Stories%29 |
What Happens if Obamacare Is Struck Down? | The Affordable Care Act was already in peril after a federal judge in Texas invalidated the entire law late last year. But the stakes ramped up again this week, when President Donald Trumps Justice Department announced it had changed its position and agreed with the judge that the entire law, not just three pieces of it, should be scrapped. A coalition of states is appealing the ruling. If it is upheld, tens of millions more people would be affected than those who already rely on the 9-year-old law for health insurance. Also known as Obamacare, the law touches the lives of most Americans, from nursing mothers to people eating at chain restaurants. Here are some potential consequences, based on estimates by various groups. 21 MILLION People who could lose their health insurance. Of the 23 million people who either buy health insurance through the marketplaces set up by the law (11.4 million) or receive coverage through the expansion of Medicaid (12 million), about 21 million are most at risk if Obamacare is struck down. That includes 9.2 million who receive federal subsidies. Advertising On average, the subsidies covered $525 of a $612 monthly premium for customers in the 39 states that use the federal marketplace, HealthCare.gov, according to a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services. If the marketplaces and subsidies go away, a comprehensive health plan would become unaffordable for most of those people and many of them would become uninsured. States could not possibly replace the full amount of federal subsidies with state funds. 12 MILLION Adults could lose Medicaid coverage. Medicaid, the government insurance program for the poor that is jointly funded by the federal government and the states, has been the workhorse of Obamacare. If the health law were struck down, more than 12 million low-income adultswho have gained Medicaid coverage through the laws expansion of the program could lose it. In all, according to the Urban Institute, enrollment in the program would drop by more than 15 million, including roughly 3 million children who got Medicaid or the Childrens Health Insurance Program when their parents signed up for coverage. Advertising The law ensures that states will never have to pay more than 10 percent of costs for their expanded Medicaid population; few if any states would be able to pick up the remaining 90 percent to keep their programs going. Overall, the federal governments tab was $62 billion last year, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Losing free health insurance would, of course, also mean worse access to care and, quite possibly, worse health for the millions who would be affected. Among other things, studies have found that Medicaid expansion has led to better access to preventive screenings, medications and mental health services. $874 MILLION Medicaid spending for opioid addiction prescriptions has more than doubled. The health law took effect just as the opioid epidemic was spreading to all corners of the country, and health officials in many states say that one of its biggest benefits has been providing access to addiction treatment. It requires insurance companies to cover substance abuse treatment, and they could stop if the law were struck down. The biggest group able to access addiction treatment under the law is adults who have gained Medicaid coverage. The Kaiser Family Foundation estimated that 40 percent of people from 18 to 65 with opioid addiction roughly 800,000 are on Medicaid, many or most of whom became eligible for it through the health law. Kaiser also found that in 2016, Americans with Medicaid coverage were twice as likely as those with no insurance to receive any treatment for addiction. States with expanded Medicaid are spending much more on medications that treat opioid addiction than they used to. From 2013 through 2017, Medicaid spending on prescriptions for two medications that treat opioid addiction more than doubled: It reached $874 million, up from nearly $358 million in 2013, according to the Urban Institute. The growing insured population in many states has also drawn more treatment providers, including methadone clinics, inpatient programs and primary care doctors who prescribe two other anti-craving medications, buprenorphine and naltrexone. These significant expansions of addiction care could shrink if the law were struck down, leaving a handful of federal grant programs as the main sources of funds. 133 MILLION Americans with protected pre-existing conditions. As many as 133 million Americans roughly half the population under the age of 65 have pre-existing medical conditions that could disqualify them from buying a health insurance policy or cause them to pay significantly higher premiums if the health law were overturned, according to a government analysis done in 2017. An existing medical condition includes such common ailments as high blood pressure or asthma, any of which could require someone buying insurance on their own to pay much more for a policy, if they could get one at all. Under the ACA, no one can be denied coverage under any circumstance, and insurance companies cannot retroactively cancel a policy unless they find evidence of fraud. The Kaiser Family Foundation estimated that 52 million people have conditions serious enough that insurers would outright deny them coverage if the ACA were not in effect, according to an analysis it did two years ago. Its estimates are based on the guidelines insurers had in place about whom to cover before the federal law was enacted. Advertising Most Americans would still be able to get coverage under a plan provided by an employer or under a federal program, as they did before the law was passed, but protections for pre-existing conditions are particularly important to those who want to start their own businesses or retire early. Employers would sometimes refuse to cover certain conditions, and companies would have to decide if they would drop any of the conditions they are now required to cover. (BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM.) The need to protect people with existing medical conditions from discrimination by insurers was a central theme in the midterm elections, and Democrats attributed much of their success in reclaiming control of the House of Representatives to voters desire to safeguard those protections. Many Republicans also promised to keep this provision of the law, although exactly how was unclear. Before the law, some individuals were sent to high-risk pools operated by states, but even that coverage was often inadequate. (END OPTIONAL TRIM.) 171 MILLION Americans who no longer face caps on expensive treatments. Advertising The 156 million Americans who get coverage through an employer, as well as the roughly 15 million enrolled in Obamacare and other plans in the individual insurance market,are protected from caps that insurers and employers used to limit how much they had to pay out in coverage each year or over a lifetime. Before the ACA, people with conditions like cancer or hemophilia that were very expensive to treat often faced enormous out-of-pocket costs once their medical bills reached these caps. While not all health coverage was capped, most companies had some sort of limit in place in 2009. A 2017 Brookings analysis estimated that 109 million people would face lifetime limits on their coverage without the health law, with some companies saying they would cover no more than $1 million in medical bills per employee. The vast majority of people never hit those limits, but some who did were forced into bankruptcy or went without treatment. 60 MILLION Medicare beneficiaries would face changes to medical care and possibly higher premiums. About 60 million people are covered under Medicare, the federal insurance program that covers people over 65 years old and people with disabilities. Even though the main aim of the ACA was to overhaul the health insurance markets, the law touches virtually every part of Medicare, said Tricia Neuman, a senior vice president for the Kaiser Family Foundation, which did an analysis of the laws repeal. Overturning the law would be very disruptive, she said. Medicare beneficiaries would have to pay more for preventive care, like a wellness visit or diabetes check, which are now free. They would also have to pay more toward their prescription drugs. About 5 million people faced the so-called Medicare doughnut hole, or coverage gap, in 2016, which the ACA sought to eliminate. If the law were overturned, that coverage gap would widen again. Advertising The law also made other changes, like cutting the amount the federal government paid hospitals and other providers as well as private Medicare Advantage plans. Undoing the cuts could increase the programs overall costs by hundreds of millions of dollars, according to Neuman. Premiums for as many as 55 million people under the program could go up as a result. (BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM.) The ACA was also responsible for promoting experiments into new ways of paying hospitals and doctors, creating vehicles like accountable care organizations to help hospitals, doctors and others to better coordinate patients care. If the groups save Medicare money on the care they provide, they get to keep some of those savings. About 12 million people are now enrolled in these Medicare groups, and it is unclear what would happen to these experiments if the law were deemed unconstitutional. Some of Trumps initiatives, like the efforts to lower drug prices, would also be hindered without the federal authority established under the ACA. (END OPTIONAL TRIM.) 2 MILLION Young adults with coverage through their parents plans. The ACA required employers to cover their employees children under age 26, and it is one of the laws most popular provisions.Roughly 2 million young adultsare covered under a parents insurance plan, according to a 2016 government estimate. If the law were struck down, employers would have to decide if they would continue to offer the coverage. Dorian Smith, a partner at Mercer, a benefits consulting firm, predicted that many companies would most likely continue. Advertising $50 BILLION Medical care for the uninsured could cost billions more dollars. Doctors and hospitals could lose a crucial source of revenue, as some people lose insurance. The Urban Institute estimated that nationwide, without the ACA, the cost of care for people who cannot pay for it could increase as much as $50.2 billion. Hospitals and other medical providers would incur losses, as many now have higher revenues and reduced costs for uncompensated care in states that expanded Medicaid. A study in 2017 by the Commonwealth Fund found that for every dollar of uncompensated care costs those states had in 2013, the health law had erased 40 cents by 2015, or a total of $6.2 billion. Advertising (STORY CAN END HERE. OPTIONAL MATERIAL FOLLOWS.) The health insurance industry would be upended by the elimination of ACA requirements. Insurers in many markets could again deny coverage or charge higher premiums to people with pre-existing medical conditions, and they could charge higher rates to women. States could still regulate insurance, but consumers would see more variation from state to state. Insurers would also probably see lower revenues and fewer members in the plans they operate in the individual market and for state Medicaid programs. 1,000 CALORIES Menu labels are among dozens of the laws provisions that are less well known. The ACA requires nutrition labeling and calorie counts on menu items at chain restaurants. It requires many employers to provide reasonable break time and a private space for nursing mothers to pump breast milk. It created a pathway for federal approval of biosimilars, which are near-copies of biologic drugs, made from living cells. | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation-politics/what-happens-if-obamacare-is-struck-down/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_nation-world |
Who does Ron Hunter want on his Tulane basketball coaching staff? | Ron Hunter thinks he can win in his first season at Tulane, and for evidence, the basketball coach points to what he did in his first season at Georgia State. The Panthers hadnt posted a winning record in the seven seasons before he arrived at the Atlanta-based school. But with a roster that included eight seniors he didnt recruit, he won 22 games while playing in the Colonial Athletic Association. The new Tulane coach thinks he can have a similar turnaround with the players still on the Green Wave roster, he said Tuesday (March 26) after his introductory press conference. Tulane welcomes Ron Hunter with beignets, second-line through campus New basketball coach sets sights on NCAA tournament. Im not used to losing and I dont plan on getting used to losing, ever, he said. "I planned on going to the NCAA tournament next year at Georgia State." His goal now is to go be in the NCAA tournament with Tulane, even after the Green Wave posted an 0-18 record in American Athletic Conference play and finished the season with a 21-game losing streak. His plan is to bring most of the coaching and support staff he had at Georgia State with him to Tulane so they can teach the quick-paced offense and pressing defense he teams won 445 games with while at Georgia State for eight seasons and IUPUI for the 17 seasons before then. He also wants to hire an assistant coach with strong recruiting ties in New Orleans and throughout Louisiana. He made a similar hire once he arrived in Atlanta because he did not know that area well. He said that hire might be completed soon after the Final Four in Minneapolis. He also will continue talking with Samir Sehic. Hes the second-leading scorer and leading rebounder who said after the school fired Mike Dunleavy Sr. he would leave college with one year of eligibility remaining. I want him to say, Hunter said. But I want him to do whats best for him. I think thats important. Whatever he wants to do, Im going to help him, whether thats to go ahead and try to play in the NBA or play professionally. I would love for him to be here. He could be a big part of what Im trying to get done here. Only in New Orleans. Tulane @GreenWaveMBB introduced new head coach @coachrhunter with a second line. pic.twitter.com/OuSqGu9Vux NOLA.com (@NOLAnews) March 26, 2019 Hunter met the team for the first time Monday after he arrived in New Orleans. Leading scorer Caleb Daniels said how he won over some players with what he said. One thing that stood out to me is you had to be a dog to play for him, Daniels said. I feel as if we all have dogs on the team. Thats what weve been waiting for, a coach thats going to dig in us, pushing us to get better. The St. Augustine product held a first-hand impression of Hunters teams from when Tulane lost to Georgia State twice in a pair of non-conference games over the last two seasons, including one Nov. 28 at Devlin Fieldhouse. I can tell from his past teams, they were all dogs; they were all nitty gritty," said Daniels, who will be a junior next season. "I feel as if we have a team like that, and him just adding that culture piece to it really just completes us. | https://www.nola.com/tulane/2019/03/who-does-ron-hunter-want-on-his-tulane-basketball-coaching-staff.html |
Who is Tina Tchen, the attorney linked to Jussie Smollett messages? | Tina Tchen, the attorney and former chief of staff to first lady Michelle Obama, has garnered scrutiny after messages traded with Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx -- about the alleged hoax linked to actor Jussie Smollett -- emerged shortly before prosecutors dropped all charges against Smollett. Tchen started practicing law in 1983, after she graduated from Northwestern Universitys Pritzker School of Law, and currently leads the Chicago branch of Buckley LLC. In between, she worked in the Obama White House, first as the director of the Office of Public Engagement and later as the first lady's chief of staff. Given her comprehensive legal background, her influence on the investigation into the allegations of fraud against Jussie Smollett has raised eyebrows in the Windy City. Public records obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times showed that Tchen sent Foxx an early-morning text on Feb. 1 saying she wanted to give you a call on behalf of Jussie Smollett and family who I know. They have concerns about the investigation. Three days earlier, Smollett had said two men attacked him on the way home. Later that day, the Sun-Times reported that a relative of Smollett sent Foxx a text, sparking a relationship that eventually led to Foxx recusing herself from the investigation and prosecution. Foxx also was shown to have emailed Tchen: Spoke to [Chicago Police] Superintendent [Eddie] Johnson. I convinced him to reach out to FBI to ask that they take over the investigation. He is reaching out now and will get to me shortly. Prosecutors on Tuesday abruptly dropped all charges against Smollett after the "Empire" actor -- accused of faking a racist, anti-gay attack on himself -- agreed to do volunteer service and to let the city keep his $10,000 in bail, in a decision that sparked outrage among Johnson and Mayor Rahm Emanuel, among others. The prosecutors gave no detailed explanation for why they abandoned the case only five weeks after filing the charges and threatening to pursue Smollett for the cost of a monthlong investigation, adding that said they still believe Smollett concocted the assault. Tchens motivations for reaching out to Foxx were unknown. Other links between the two were unclear. Tchen did not respond to multiple interview requests from Fox News and her office declined requests for comment. Questions about any legal or ethical impropriety remained unresolved. The Illinois ethical code for attorneys states: A lawyer shall not engage in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice. Jim Grogan, the deputy administrator and chief counsel at the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, said the law typically applies to attorneys who obfuscate and encumber the legal process by wasting the courts time. Hes not aware of any precedent in Illinois regarding an attorney who has no clients in the case. Its unclear if Tchen was representing anyone in the Smollett family when she reached out to Foxx. The fun thing about that rule is that its so broadly written, Grogan said. Youve got to say to yourself, whats my role as a lawyer being involved in all this? GERALDO RIVERA: JUSSIE SMOLLETT GETS AWAY WITH A DOUBLE FRAUD Tchen started her tenure in the White House in 2009 with an appointment to the Office of Public Engagement. Over the next eight years, she would serve as assistant to the president, chief of staff for Michelle Obama, and executive director of the Council on Women and Girls. In Sept. 2017, Tchen was made partner at Buckley LLC, where she heads the Chicago office and represents a slew of big-name clients. The firm's website described Tchen as a leading voice in the national conversation on fighting sexual harassment, gender equality and discrimination. Recently, the Southern Poverty Law Center selected Tchen to lead an investigation into workplace harassment and advise us on workplace culture issues. In recent weeks, the SPLC has faced an upheaval of leadership after questions arose regarding alleged sexual harassment, gender and racial discrimination at the progressive nonprofit. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Throughout her career, Tchen has accumulated a number of awards. Shes won the Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement award from the American Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession and the Women of Achievement award from the Anti-Defamation League, among many others. Tchen is also a childhood friend of Chicago first lady Amy Rule. The two grew up together in Beachwood, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. Rule has kept a quiet public profile during Mayor Rahm Emanuels tenure. She hasnt sat for many public interviews or made many appearances despite her husbands notable position. Rule could not be reached for comment. The Associated Press contributed to this report. | https://www.foxnews.com/us/who-is-tina-tchen-the-attorney-linked-jussie-smollett-messages |
Where is the Islamic State group still active around the world? | Image copyright EPA Image caption The Philippines has seen an uptick in IS attacks in recent years After months of fighting, the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) has finally lost Baghuz, a village in eastern Syria that came to represent the final chapter in its self-styled caliphate. While this is a major blow, the loss of the small enclave near the Iraqi border does not spell the end of IS as a militant group capable of mounting deadly attacks worldwide. IS and its affiliates continue to be active in various countries, claiming attacks on a daily basis through the group's online propaganda outlets. Data collected by BBC Monitoring shows that despite having lost most of its territory in Syria and Iraq at the end of 2017, IS said it was behind 3,670 attacks worldwide last year - an average of 11 attacks per day - and 502 attacks in the first two months of 2019, while Baghuz was under siege. There was a peak in IS attack claims in September 2018. This was likely to have been linked to the start that month of an operation by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance to take the IS stronghold of Hajin, north of Baghuz. The jihadist group commonly steps up its attacks in response to offensives against it, either in the area under siege or elsewhere to divert attention or resources away from there. Although Iraq and Syria continue to account for the lion's share of IS attack claims, Afghanistan, Somalia, the Philippines, Nigeria and Egypt's Sinai peninsula also feature regularly. In a recent message, the IS leadership mocked US President Donald Trump's claim in December to have defeated the group, and insisted that it was far from over. Nevertheless, IS's caliphate model has been over since late 2017, when it lost its strongholds of Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria. After that, the group struggled to project the image of a functioning and flourishing state - which had formed the basis of its claim to have revived the caliphates of early Islam. How data on IS activity was gathered The data is based exclusively on what the group itself has claimed through its official "Nashir News Agency" media outlets on the messaging app Telegram. The dates reflect when IS said the attacks took place, rather than when the claim was published. The data includes every claim of attack, no matter how small or inconsequential. Most attacks that IS claimed solely through its weekly newspaper al-Naba without issuing a separate statement were not reflected in the data. It is worth noting that IS, like any jihadist group, has a tendency to exaggerate the scale of its attacks and their impact. IS has officially declared that it has a presence in the following countries and regions: Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, "Khorasan" (the Afghanistan-Pakistan region), "the Caucasus", "East Asia" (mostly active in the Philippines), Somalia, and "West Africa" (mostly active in Nigeria). Some of these branches, such as Algeria and Saudi Arabia, have barely claimed any activity, and others like "the Caucasus" rarely claim attacks. The group recently signalled through its propaganda an intention to step up its activity in Tunisia, a country where it has so far failed to make inroads following the 2015 attacks on a museum and beach resort that it claimed. IS also announced for the first time a presence in Burkina Faso. The announcements about Tunisia and Burkina Faso suggest that at least in terms of propaganda, IS is keen to indicate that its trademark slogan "Remaining and Expanding" still applies. Unsurprisingly, IS's biggest battleground continues to be in Iraq and Syria, where it clearly has its best resources. Out of a total of 3,670 attacks IS claimed worldwide in 2018, 1,767 were in Iraq (48%) and 1,124 were in Syria (31%). Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Nigeria's army has increasingly come under attack by a branch of IS in recent months But last year also saw a notable increase in claimed activity by other IS branches. It was as if the group wanted to compensate for its losses in Iraq and Syria and to remind people that it also operated outside the Middle East. In 2018, IS claimed 316 attacks in Afghanistan, 181 in Egypt's Sinai peninsula, 73 in Somalia, 44 in Nigeria, 41 in Yemen and 27 in the Philippines. The number of attack claims by IS West Africa Province in Nigeria has notably risen in recent months. The army has been the primary target, possibly because the group is attempting to seize weaponry and in turn boost its capability. IS has claimed 44 attacks in Nigeria in the first three months of 2019, matching the total number of attacks it claimed in a whole year in 2018. In a propaganda video released in January, IS West Africa Province called on Muslims to migrate to the region and join its branch, signalling that it was ready to receive foreign recruits. On 22 March, IS West Africa Province announced for the first time that it had a presence in Burkina Faso - a country where its rival al-Qaeda has already carried out several attacks. There has also been an uptick in the number of attack claims in the Philippines. IS operates in the country through local affiliates, most of which have been fighting to establish an independent Islamic state in the south for decades. But their attacks, mostly against the army, are still sporadic. And despite repeated calls to its supporters, IS did not claim any major attacks in the West during 2018. The previous year, it claimed four attacks in the UK, including the Manchester Arena bombing; the Barcelona attacks in Spain; and the Las Vegas shootings in the US. However, some of those claims appeared to have been opportunistic, as the group failed to provide evidence. In 2018, IS claimed seven, mostly low-profile attacks in the West that appeared to have been inspired by the group. They comprised four knife or gun attacks in France, and one attack each in Belgium, Canada and Australia. Data journalism by Will Dahlgreen, Nassos Stylianou and BBC Monitoring | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-47691006 |
What's next for Brexit, as Theresa May expected to put deal to parliament for third vote? | Michael Higgins examines the key issues at play in this vital week in the U.K.-EU breakup. A large number of Conservative lawmakers under the banner of something called the European Research Group (ERG) are among the hardliners who have consistently voted against British Prime Ministers Theresa Mays Brexit deal. Fellow Tories have even accused them of treachery for their support of a hard Brexit. Now the chairman of the group, Jacob Rees-Mogg, is suggesting he is willing to back Mays deal. The choice seems to be Mrs Mays deal or no Brexit, he tweeted. Others have also indicted they are willing to back May. Daniel Kawczynski, a member of the ERG, has also concluded that Brexiteers must back the deal to avoid a softer form of Brexit being imposed by parliament. We Brexiteers are playing with fire, and we could get very, very burnt if this deal doesnt get through, he told The Daily Telegraph. It seems inconceivable that a deal that has twice been rejected by wide margins should pass a third time. But Mays deal might when it is put to parliament in the coming days. Her deal could pass if she gains enough support from former Tory rebels who now feel that if they dont pass her Withdrawal Agreement, then leaving Europe at all might be impossible. She is also likely to gather support from some opposition members, especially from lawmakers in constituencies that voted heavily to quit the EU. A deal that should be stone-cold dead is, astonishingly, still on life support. The big stumbling block But Mays deal is likely to need the support of her parliamentary partners, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Their ten votes will be crucial and the party has consistently failed to back May. On Tuesday, Sammy Wilson, the partys Brexit spokesman, said Mays deal would essentially lock them in a prison with the EU holding the key. It is difficult to see them backing May. On Monday, lawmakers tried to seize control of the Brexit process by agreeing to hold a series of votes on alternative arrangements. Those other arrangements could include a softer Brexit, a different form of customs union with the EU, a second referendum, or no Brexit at all. Lawmakers will hold a series of indicative votes to see whether any of the other arrangements can command a majority in parliament. The feeling is that if a majority agree on a certain proposal then the prime minister would be under pressure to follow that course. There is intense speculation that Tories are applying pressure for May to quit. The rumour is that May could announce her departure date in the hope of winning over skeptical Brexiteers who would prefer another prime minister and a tougher negotiator to lead the next phrase of Brexit talks. Brexit is only the beginning of the breakup with the EU and crucial trade talks lie ahead. Former foreign minister Boris Johnson has indicated that he could back the deal if May agreed to go. On Wednesday night, May will address the 1922 Committee her Tory backbenchers. The leader of that group, Graham Brady, is believed to have told May that the backbenchers want her to go. With files from Postmedia News services | https://nationalpost.com/news/world/whats-next-for-brexit-as-theresa-may-expected-to-put-deal-to-parliament-for-third-vote |
Have low investment returns become normal? | The Federal Reserve just signaled that the financial world is not going back to normal, not yet anyway. For those too young to remember the details of interest rates and money markets before the financial crisis and Great Recession a decade ago, the old normal was that interest-bearing investments paid a meaningful amount of interest. The 10-year Treasury note is one of those famous benchmark-interest rates, and at the end of the last economic expansion in the summer of 2007, it had a yield of about 5 percent. This week it was closer to 2.4 percent. Small savers are more likely to think about banks as a place to put their money, and certificate of deposit rates on offer don't seem that enticing this week. The average rate was just over 1.5 percent for two-year CDs, according to Bankrate.com, although where this financial website found rates that high was a mystery. CDs rates published online at a handful of brand name Minnesota banks didn't come close to that. It's true that earning 1.5 percent beats keeping money in a Folger's coffee can in the backyard, but the real interest rate isn't what the bank pays the saver for a $10,000 CD. What's important is what the dollars buy when the CD matures, given that what things cost will probably increase in the two years that the money is put away. To get the real rate of interest, subtract the inflation rate from the interest rate. In this example, at least, the calculation is simple, since inflation over the last 12 months was also about 1.5 percent, according to the most recent figure from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. If that inflation rate holds over the next two years, no one will need to reach for a calculator to see the real rate is about zero. "At some point math matters," said Bryce Doty, a senior vice president and senior portfolio manager with Sit Investment Associates in Minneapolis, who also finds this new normal very odd. "Dislocations like that can persist way beyond what would seem logical or reasonable. But at some point people require some kind of return after inflation." It's not really fair to blame the Federal Reserve for two-year CDs with no real rate of return. The Fed had to step in to stabilize the economy during and after the financial crisis. And among the ways it did that was taking the benchmark short-term interest rate almost to zero by the end of 2008. It stayed that way through December 2015. Only then did the Fed gradually start increasing. The idea, through a set of policies the Fed literally called normalization, was to somehow get back to business as usual. In a nutshell, the job of the Fed through the usual ups and downs of economic cycles is to balance two goals that appear contradictory. One is to promote job growth to the point that so few people are looking that wages have to increase, while the other goal is price stability. That has meant an annual rate of inflation of only 2 percent. Low interest rates certainly help fuel job growth, but keeping them too low for too long can lead to price inflation. As the unemployment rate slowly and steadily declined from its 2009 high after the last recession, it made sense for the Federal Reserve to gently pull the foot off the accelerator and move its short-term interest rate up from near zero. That thinking persisted from late 2015 all the way through last week. Then last week the Fed said it was standing pat and suggested there'd be no further increases this year and maybe only one next year. This was such a switch in thinking that it now seems possible that there's a rate cut coming before there's another boost in rates. As it stands right now, the closely watched Fed funds rate is about 2.4 percent. It was twice that in 2007. The main short-term interest rate wasn't the only thing that the Fed wanted to normalize. By early 2015, after years of buying Treasury and federal-agency securities to help keep interest rates down, a monetary policy known as quantitative easing, the assets on the Fed's balance sheet had swelled to $4.5 trillion. The people who run the Fed knew holding trillions of dollars of securities was no more normal that a zero percent short-term interest rate, so beginning in the fall of 2017 the Fed has been working on slowly selling off pieces. This had to be done gently, mostly because the Fed started with an asset pile of unprecedented size. But now that process also seems basically on hold, as the Fed said it's cutting the amount it's selling monthly and then will stop come September. It's apparently normal for the Federal Reserve, about 10 years into an economic expansion, to have about $3.5 trillion of investments, or more than four times the assets it had in the summer just before the last recession. So that's the situation in March 2019. The balance sheet is still bloated, at least by historical terms. Interest rates still look awfully low to anybody who took out a home mortgage or ran a business before 2007. And the Fed seems to have concluded it's now normal enough. Lots of policy wonks have pointed out that this doesn't leave the Fed as many good options when the next recession hits. "I can see why the market is scratching its head," Doty said, considering the Fed's actions. "It's going 'Wow, I didn't think [the economy] was that bad.' " Doty is optimistic that the current thinking doesn't last, and he's giving the pause of normalization about six months before the process resumes. On the other hand, maybe the market for savers and borrowers doesn't get back to normal until enough savers look at a 1-percent CD rate offered at the bank and decide there just has to be a better place for their money. And that might take longer than six more months. [email protected] 612-673-4302 | http://www.startribune.com/have-low-investment-returns-become-normal/507702322/ |
Does friend want sympathy or privacy after a stillbirth? | Dear Carolyn: My husband and I have a mutual friend who was pregnant with her first child. We had planned to give her a congratulatory card with a monetary gift, but she miscarried and lost the baby after 37 weeks. After hearing the news from one of her co-workers, we held off saying anything. The news, I believe, was not to be made public so we didnt want to bring it up first. Since then, she has said nothing. Oh what terrible news. A babys death after 37 weeks is a stillbirth, not a miscarriage involving so many more hopes, and so much more devastation. So, no, never leave people to cope with such a loss unless they ask you, directly or through a spokes-friend, for privacy as they grieve. Even then, remain arms-length attentive and send a sympathy note without exception, because that shows you care without imposing any obligation for a response. Read more: For the future: I believe is not a valid basis for decision-making on how to respond to a death. This was your friends baby. If you suspect someone wants to be left alone, then make sure at a minimum you confirm your suspicion with this friend or with someone closer to her than you are some reliable source before you take any (in)action. And while I will fight for anyones right to keep something private, a visible, openly discussed pregnancy that ends without someone coming home with a baby is something you can piece together without having to be told so you can reasonably show your compassion without breaking anyones vow of silence. Dear Carolyn: My wedding is in June. My soon-to-be wife asked her two sisters to stand with her as bridesmaids. Now, my fiancee is troubled because both of her sisters cant stand for long. Additionally, one sister is asking for special favors, wanting to wear long sleeves because she is fat. This sister is also requesting flat heels and my fiancee wants the bridesmaids to wear high heels. Unfortunately, my fiancee doesnt know how to tell each of them she doesnt want them in the wedding as bridesmaids now because of their health problems. I suggested she call and simply tell them why. My fiancee thinks having someone escort the sisters to the front row of the ceremony and have them sit will be appropriate. J. Im so vain. Thats how she tells them. Thats what would keep me up at night, if I were you. Cold-sweating. The bridesmaid answer is to say yes to sleeves and flats, no to shaming, and yes to seating all attendants during the ceremony. Its not hard. Which is why the fact of the question is so terrifying. To your fiancee, her loved ones are either ornamental or disposable. Wow. Underscore that wow if her attitudes fine by you. Never doubt: If she can excuse treating people like this, in this context, then she can find other ways that serve her interests to do the same thing to you. Email Carolyn at [email protected], follow her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/carolyn.hax or chat with her online at noon Eastern time each Friday at www.washingtonpost.com. Read or Share this story: https://www.freep.com/story/life/advice/2019/03/27/stillbirth-grief/3234675002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/life/advice/2019/03/27/stillbirth-grief/3234675002/ |
Are We Witnessing The Erasure Of Transgender Servicemen And Women? | Getty The Defense Department issued a memorandum on March 12 that walked back much of the advancements the military has made on transgender inclusion. These changes are not fully unexpected. The decision of the Supreme Court in January to allow the implementation of the transgender ban, despite current legal challenges, all but foretold these actions. The new policies will go into effect on April 12. Here is a quick explanation of how things will be changing: For those who wish to enter the military If you entered into contract for enlistment or are selected for commission as an officer prior to April 12, 2019, you can join the military with a history of gender dysphoria, provided the following criteria are met: You have gone the last 18 months without clinically significant impairment or distress that negatively impacts important areas of functioning; you have completed all of your medical treatments; you have been stable in your preferred gender for 18 months; you have been stable on hormones for 18 months if you are receiving gender-affirming hormone therapy; you have not received gender-affirming surgery within the last 18 months; you must have no complications or functional limitations as a result of having had gender-affirming surgery; and there must be no more surgery required. Stated differently, if you entered into a contract for the military prior to April 12 the fact that you are transgender is not a deal breaker. However, if you enter into a contract for enlistment or are selected for commission as an officer on or after April 12, the standards are entirely different. You will be able to enter into the military with a history of gender dysphoria provided the following criteria are met: You have gone the last 36 months without clinically significant impairment or distress that negatively impacts important areas of functioning; you have been stable in your biological sex for 36 months; you have not transitioned to your preferred gender; gender transition is not medically necessary; you are willing to adhere to the standards associated with your biological sex (i.e., physical fitness standards, bathrooms, showers, uniforms, grooming etc. ); and if you have ever had gender-affirming surgery or hormone therapy you cannot enlist or be selected for commission as an officer. Stated differently, if you enter into a contract for the military on or after April 12, being transgender is, for all intents and purposes, a deal breaker unless you are willing to present as cisgender for the entire duration of your service to our country. And if you have ever had gender-affirming surgery or hormones, you need not apply. For those who are already serving our country If you are already serving our country and you have already received a diagnosis of gender dysphoria (or receive it prior to April 12), you will continue to be eligible for all medically necessary treatment. You will also be able to serve in your preferred gender and to have that gender represented in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS), which is a military database. If you are already serving our country and you receive a diagnosis of gender dysphoria on or after April 12, you can receive mental health counseling, but you cannot serve in your preferred gender. You must serve in a manner consistent with your biological sex, which will also be reflected in DEERS. The Department of Defense (DoD) asserts that the answer to this question is: No. The DoD essentially says that it is okay to be transgender as long as military personnel does not require a gender transition. So while you cannot be discharged for being transgender, there are limitations, as evidenced in the DoDs language below: "Service members with a diagnosis of gender dysphoria may be subject to the initiation of administrative separation processing in accordance with Paragraph 2.e. of this attachment if they are unable or unwilling to adhere to all applicable standards, including the standards associated with their biological sex." The Department of Defense has framed these changes as something other than a transgender ban. But as it is currently written, the policy would effectively disallow the recruitment of individuals who have begun the process of transitioning to their preferred gender and discharge service members who refuse to wear the gender-specific uniform, meet the gender-specific grooming standards and toilet and shower in the gender-specific facilities of their biological sex. The military plans to grandfather in transgender service men and women who are already serving. However, grandfathering them in will only slow down the inevitable result of this policy, which is that there eventually will not be transgender individuals serving in the military who have or are currently medically transitioning. This is not hyperbole. Less than 20% of servicemen and women stay in the military for 20 years or more so statistically speaking, in 20 years there will likely be few (if any) transgender servicemen or women who have transitioned medically. And with the recruitment of transgender men and women who have transitioned medically ceased and medical transition while actively serving banned there will be no one to replace them. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashleefowlkes/2019/03/27/are-we-witnessing-the-erasure-of-transgender-servicemen-and-women/ |
Are Giants, without boss Baer, sailing into an epic storm, or just a squall? | There is anxiety among fans now that Giants President and CEO Larry Baer has been benched until July by Major League Baseball for the unpleasant public altercation Baer had with his wife, Pam, on March 1. MLB announced Tuesday morning that Baer cant return to work until July 2. Its unknown whether hell step back into the same role he has had since 2012, which is being the organizations decider. This would be a great time for strong leadership at the top of the Giants food chain. The team has been beset by deaths of key historical figures, and was embarrassed by unsavory campaign contributions of chief investor Charles Johnson. In addition, the Giants struggles on the field for the past two seasons figure to continue. The roster has holes, the minor-league system is not a tree bursting with pickable fruit, and there could be a steep drop in attendance and fan fervor this season. Ch-ch-changes. The Giants head of baseball operations, Farhan Zaidi, is already shopping for a replacement for lame-duck manager Bruce Bochy. Add questions surrounding the future of Baer, and youve got anxious times on the shores of McCovey Cove. A: He has been the Giants decision-maker and philosophy-shaper since his promotion to CEO in 2012. Big spending decisions are subject to approval of the Giants vast ownership group, but Baer has been the big dog and the investors have been the happy tail. A: If an objective person in this case, me were to rank the top decision-makers of Bay Area sports teams, Joe Lacob of the Warriors would be at the top, with Baer a close second, followed by Doug Wilson of the Sharks, Jed York of the 49ers, and, bringing up the rear, Mark Davis of the Fleein Raiders and John Fisher of the As. A: No. The Giants arent that stupid or reckless. A: Smoothly, according to all appearances and indications. This is in no small measure a tribute to the organization Baer has built (or in some cases, maintained). The Giants have trusted executives overseeing various departments, and they have been running the team efficiently. Some say that Baer can be a demanding man to work for. If so, it could be that his top-level staff feels somewhat relieved and empowered now, like in school, when the teacher calls in sick and the substitute doesnt arrive. But if Baer is indeed a demanding boss, he must not be a monster, because there is little turnover among the teams top tier of execs. A: The Giants should be fine. Baer recently overhauled the front office, hiring Zaidi to oversee baseball operations. And because the big-fish free agents have signed with other teams, there is no immediate need to make a decision on a mega-contract or huge trade. A: If the Giants arent in contention near the July 31 trade deadline, Madison Bumgarner will be sought, and will be available for trade. This will be a painful time, because Bumgarner is a future statue outside the ballpark. Zaidi certainly will play a major role in any Bumgarner decision, but he ultimately will need the OK of Baer and the ownership and management groups before sending Bumgarner out of town. Zaidi also will head up the managerial search, but Baer if he returns to his former position will play a major role in that search, and will have the final say. A: Well, hes not impulsive. The main concern right now is the outfield, which consists of Who in left field, What in center and I Dont Know in right. But Zaidi has resisted making desperation moves to appease the masses and the lunatic fringe. If this were chess, Zaidi would be using his full allotted time for each move. No brilliant moves yet, but no head-grabbers, either. A: This will be debated endlessly. From the beginning. I predicted a half-season suspension for Baer, and that seems about right. Scott Ostler is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @scottostler | https://www.sfchronicle.com/giants/ostler/article/Are-Giants-without-boss-Baer-sailing-into-an-13719321.php |
Can co-ops solve the housing crisis? | Before Sophie Slater lived in a housing co-operative, her homes, across south London, were precarious. There was the illegal house share in New Cross where she slept under a dodgy boiler for six months. (Eventually the gas man snitched and they had to move out, which was probably for the best, on account of the potential for carbon monoxide poisoning.) There was the flat on the Old Kent Road where she paid 300 to sleep in the living room and her friend, who had the bedroom, paid 600. The worst thing about that flat was that Slater slept by the kitchen bin. She moved to a flat in Peckham, where she spent more than half her salary on rent and bills. Nine months later, the landlord decided he wanted to sell. After she moved out, he charged her 500, claiming she had stained a carpet. Its a familiar story, and illustrates the shocking excesses of Britains housing crisis. For many low-income and middle-income workers, bouncing between shoddy, overpriced house-shares is a fact of life. After leaving the Peckham flat, Slater who is 27 and runs the feminist fashion brand Birdsong was at the end of her tether. Then, there was an unexpected glimmer of hope: a school friend mentioned there might be a space available in a housing co-operative. Founded in 1973, Sanford is the oldest purpose-built housing co-op in London. Its 125 members live in 14 houses and flats set along a narrow street in New Cross. When I visit on a chilly evening, the development is very quiet, other than the muted babble of TV sets. Passing an outdoor workshop and racks of bicycles, I meet Slater at the entrance to her eight-person house. A spacious living room features gleaming parquet floorboards, reclaimed from a nearby church. We make our way up a staircase hung with fresh laundry to Slaters bedroom. She beams as she shows me around the space, which is lined with books and houseplants. Slater pays 65 a week in rent for her room, a third of what she would pay in the private sector. But Sanfords affordability isnt its only appeal. When you become a member, youre allowed to stay as long as you want; for the first time in Slaters adult life, her housing is secure. She seems slightly abashed by her good fortune. Its so good here, she says in a near-whisper. I just wish there was more space. Housing co-ops are not a new phenomenon. In the UK, they emerged out of the squatting scene of the 70s and 80s. Squatters were given licences to live in short-life houses typically, low-quality housing stock in exchange for maintaining the properties. Some of those co-ops still exist, having been given permanent licences by local councils; others were subsumed into housing associations. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Helima Zindani: My co-op home is an oasis. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian Although they take different forms, most housing co-ops consist of buildings lived in by an association of members. These members pay a below-market rent, which goes towards upkeep, and properties are managed by members on an unpaid basis. If a window needs to be fixed or a boiler serviced, residents will arrange for a tradesperson to visit the property, and pay for it out of the communal repair fund. Members of housing co-ops do not usually own equity in their homes; the properties are owned by the legal entity that is the co-operative itself, rather than individual members. However, in some co-ops, members have pooled finances. Lancaster Cohousing, on the banks of the river Lune, is one such example. Its members own equity in their homes, which they can sell if they choose to move on. However, this is the exception: most new housing co-ops are developed through a mixture of loan funding from financial institutions, grant funding from the government and local authorities, and lending from other housing co-operatives. For example, the forthcoming Bunker housing co-op in Brighton has been made possible by assistance from the local council, as well as unsecured peer-to-peer lending from other housing co-ops. Within co-ops, rules vary: some dont take couples; some welcome families. Members of a housing co-op often hear about it through word of mouth; few advertise, as they dont have the space and already have long waiting lists. As a result, many members end up there through happy accident and connections, rather than through responding to an advert. Although co-ops offer secure housing to their members for as long as they choose to live there, when members leave, the property reverts to the co-operative, which will then allocate the property to someone on its waiting list. Becoming a member of a housing co-op can be life-changing. Private rents have risen faster than wages in England since 2011, according to data from the housing charity Shelter. London is at the heart of the housing crisis: in some boroughs, average rents have jumped 42%, while wages have increased by 2% in the same period. One in seven UK tenants pays more than half their monthly income in rent. Those unable to stump up the deposits needed to secure private rentals (the average deposit in England and Wales is 1,041, rising to 1,750 in London, according to the Tenancy Deposit Scheme) end up living in cramped and substandard housing let illegally by unscrupulous landlords. Housing co-ops offer affordability and safety. Its an oasis, says 50-year-old Helima Zindiani. She has lived in 20/20, a housing co-operative in Balsall Heath, Birmingham, since 1997. When she moved in, she was a single mother of three children, struggling to make ends meet. For her three-bedroom house, she pays 89 a week. For 30-year-old Kevin Percival, being a member of St Marks, a short-life housing co-op in London, is the only reason he is able to support himself as a freelance photographer. St Marks members occupy vacant properties around the capital while they await refurbishment. I wouldnt have moved to London without the co-op at the time, he says. In part, they have an image problem. Say community living and you conjure visions of lentils, incense-burning and acoustic guitars. But thats not the case. Although Slater lives with seven people, this isnt the norm. In most housing co-ops, residents are given their own, self-contained unit. Percival is living in a one-bedroom flat in Kensington, west London, for which he pays 400 a month, a sum that wouldnt cover rental of a car-parking space in the affluent area. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Kevin Percival: I wouldnt have moved to London without the co-op. Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian One reason co-operatives arent more prevalent in the UK is the historically paternalistic attitude towards housing provision. Were used to expecting landlords whether private or local authority to be responsible for the upkeep of the properties we live in. Housing co-ops require a shift in how you conceptualise your role as a tenant. There are some cultural changes that need to happen in terms of developing the perceptions of people who might live in community-led housing, says Nic Bliss of the Confederation of Co-operative Housing. He talks of the challenge in gearing people up to take responsibility for their own homes. Housing co-op life isnt for everyone: theres a time commitment, with members expected to muck in with upkeep. Slater jokes she only got accepted into Sanford because she really loves admin, while Zindiani tells me voluntary participation saves 20/20 40,000 a year in running costs. Its almost like having a part-time job on top of whatever else youre doing, says Percival. Decisions need to be made communally, which can take time. Slaters building has mice, which means someone has to put forward a motion to get pest control in; then the members debate it. But if youre willing to invest the time, housing co-ops can bring greater benefits than just affordable rent. Theres such a good sense of community here, Slater says. Theres always someone to chat to, Percival says. Zindiani credits 20/20 with giving her formative career skills. She has assumed different roles within the co-ops management committee: complaints officer, repairs officer, payments officer. Eventually, she became chair. Those roles gave me the confidence and ability to go out there and get more meaningful jobs. There are, of course, drawbacks, too. Ive been really lucky with my house, but Ive heard other peoples houses arent as harmonious, says Slater. As housing co-ops tend to admit members who have connections to existing residents, cliques can form. In Switzerland, where housing co-ops are well-established, this has sometimes led to problems. You have co-operatives of people who might have been young and poor, says Jean-David Gerber of the University of Bern, an expert in housing co-operatives. They get old and they also get richer, and now they live in a small club ... They dont want to have foreigners, they dont want to have young people, they dont want families, because they can choose who is part of the club. Housing co-ops arent a simple answer to the housing crisis. Land availability is a real problem, says Bliss. Although we would like to see larger community-led schemes develop, the reality is that it isnt always easy. Finding pockets of usable land to develop a new scheme requires adroitness and imagination. Bliss mentions one initiative in an old Pirelli factory in Newport, Wales. Martyn Holmes, 47, is currently developing the Bunker housing co-operative on an infill site undeveloped land in an urban area made available by Brighton council. When we speak, he is on the building site. Were all low-income, zero-equity families, who are a mixture of self-employed and freelance people, who are essentially building our own social housing, Holmes says. His family had been living in the private rental sector and struggling with the costs. After befriending his next-door neighbours, a family in a similar situation, they decided to try and find our own solution to our housing crisis. The first site will be completed in September, housing Holmes and his neighbours in two three-bedroom houses, towards which each household will contribute 1,000 a month. A second development of 10 units will be completed by January 2021. Holmes, who is studying for a PhD, describes the experience of developing Bunker as empowering. He says he has lived in 25 houses since leaving home at 16. It just creates a really precarious existence ... youre living hand-to-mouth, and the landlord could turn around at any minute and go: Right, youve got two months to get out. Hes ebullient when we speak over the phone, and says he knows hes building beautiful housing. Its going to be ours ... its our little place, our paradise. Were safe and secure for as long as we want it, and when we leave, someone else will have it. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Martyn Holmes: Its going to be ours ... our paradise. Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian In many ways, there has never been a better time to try to develop community-led housing. This is absolutely the moment, says Beth Boorman of the National Community Land Trust Network, highlighting the 163m set aside by the government to support community-led efforts. The Community Housing Fund is the biggest investment the sector has seen in over 30 years, and were extremely grateful for that. But although there is buy-in now at a government level, the powers that be havent always been so supportive. In the 1990s and 2000s, some London councils decided to take back short-life housing stock that had been turned over to co-ops. Whereas once it made financial sense to have young people living in these buildings and taking care of them for free, councils began eyeing up land that had become extremely valuable. Councils decided to take back these short-life co-operatives, and evict the co-operators, some of whom did get rehoused into council properties, says Paul Watt of Birkbeck, University of London. The argument from the councils was that it was short-life housing, although the co-operators argued, quite rightly in my view, that 10 years, or often longer, is not short-life. Ive interviewed people who have been in properties for 20 or 30 years, and thats not short-life by any definition. So the residents feel theres a sense of natural justice thats not being met, especially because they put their labour and resources into looking after the councils properties over many years. Lambeth, in south London, once had a thriving network of short-life housing co-ops, but 60-year-old Trace Newton is the last remaining member of Lillieshall Road housing co-op, where she has lived since 1978. She tells me that, when she moved into the co-operative as basically a homeless kid, the houses were near-derelict. Newton and her fellow residents pulled together to fix up the homes. There was no water in some houses, electricity was off, some houses didnt have gas. She says Lambeth council had initially promised residents they would be able to make the co-operative permanent, but relations became fraught from 1997 onwards, when the council began reclaiming short-life housing co-ops, selling them, and rehousing residents in the boroughs over-subscribed social-housing provision. One by one, Lillieshalls residents moved out. Newton, who has heart and kidney problems due to high blood pressure, soldiers on. She tells me her condition has been exacerbated by the nightmare of resisting Lambeth councils efforts to evict her. The council says it has attempted to rehome Newton in a secure council tenancy, that short-life housing was always intended to revert to the council eventually, and that the sale of these buildings funds local services. But Newton tells me the only home she has been offered was unsuitable for her disability. In the meantime, every knock on the door brings a lurching sense of dread: since 2015, Newton has lived under a possession order, meaning she may be evicted at any time. For the first couple of years, youre waiting for people to kick the door in and come and evict you, she says. Then you realise it wont be people, its letters. I do find it very difficult. How co-operatives are tackling the housing crisis Read more The story of housing co-ops in the UK includes the winners, such as Holmes, proudly surveying his creation, but also people such as Newton, too scared to answer the front door. And they only offer a partial solution to the housing crisis. Even if we redevelop infill sites, we dont have the space to build all the housing co-ops we need in urban centres. Besides, home ownership remains Britains true religion. It would take decades to create the revolution of consciousness that would encourage Brits to think of housing in community, rather than individualistic terms. Until that shift takes place, housing co-ops will remain one of the best-kept secrets in the UK and a lifeline for those with the grit, resilience and energy to create their own solution to the housing crisis. Were not people who want something for nothing, says Holmes. Its the opposite of that. Were people who want to do something for ourselves. | https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/mar/27/can-co-ops-solve-the-housing-crisis |
Could A Little Vulnerability Be The Key To Better Leadership? | Getty Bren Brown is the go-to vulnerability expert. Her books are bestsellers and with her latest offering, Dare To Lead, she turns her attention to the world of work. Vulnerability sometimes seems out of place when dropped into the work sphere but it really is powerful stuff. Vulnerability, as a resource in leadership and within the workplace, can impact the entire culture and creativity of a team. It can increase output, it can create a place for courage and is a strength that should be harnessed. Because of that, a whistlestop recap on Bren's research with regards to the power of vulnerability in relation to the workplace is always helpful. Especially when it really might be the key to better leadership. Bren defines vulnerability as uncertainty, risk and emotional exposure. If you replaced vulnerability at the beginning of that sentence with the word leadership it would define that quite well too. That is one of Brens points, vulnerability and leadership go hand in hand. Both require us to take the risk of stepping forward and showing up in a forum that exposes us. When were vulnerable and when we lead there arent any guarantees that we will succeed. Risk and uncertainty are things leaders weather every day. Being vulnerable and leading while owning this vulnerable is brave work and you cant be courageous without being vulnerable. Perhaps its fair to say that courage, vulnerability and leadership all go hand in hand in hand. If thats the case then vulnerable leaders are by far the most courageous. Hopefully, looking at things from this lens will help eradicate the (at times) seemingly unmovable idea that vulnerability is a weakness. Bren discusses seeing vulnerability as courageous and strong in others but as a weakness in ourselves. An unhelpful double standard which prevents leaders from reaping the reward vulnerability brings to the workplace. Far greater creativity and innovation. Your team members are more likely to take risks, to try something new, to deal with the discomfort of failure being an option. Vulnerability can create space for productive failure, as Bren terms it. A tricky thing for people to buy into but a way of thinking and working that turns failure into an opportunity to lear. When you know productive failure is a possibility you may be more inclined to be courageous and try and create something bigger and better despite the risks. When a workforce sees vulnerability named and shared by their leaders, and where they also acknowledge risks of failure but see it as an opportunity for learning they are likely to believe they can mirror some of that themselves. For this to happen youre asking your team members and yourself to get rid of comfort though. Bren shares her thoughts that our tolerance for discomfort has been lost. She discussess the fact that for vulnerability to be an option then comfort has to be taken off of the table. This is because she doesnt see courage and comfort as being able to coexist. You cant be comfortable and courageous. Bren suggests that leaders create a culture where discomfort is synonymous with moving in the right direction because it means were all growing and challenging ourselves, our leaders and one another in a productive and beneficial way. Leaders can go on to normalize this for their workforce and also share their own discomfort too. Bren does acknowledge that the transition from comfort to discomfort asks a lot of people. However, she also points out that innovation and learning - both professionally and personally beneficial things - are often uncomfortable but so worth having. Vulnerability isnt about letting all facets of ourselves show. Its not about exposing our deepest and darkest fears. Bren is very clear about vulnerability not being about letting it all hang out. Leadership vulnerability is about sharing whats appropriate in the workplace and having some boundaries around what is helpful and apt and what isnt. This is because, as she explains it, vulnerability without boundaries is not vulnerability. Of course, every leader needs a place where they can let it all hang out and harness some sympathy or self-help. Vulnerability in the workplace isnt about that though. Vulnerable leaders are ideally motivated to use and share their vulnerability to develop and grow into better leaders, to model the power of vulnerability and courage and create an environment where the workforce is able to do the same. Overarching this is hopefully a desire to progress and develop the organization and workforce. Bren discusses challenges around leaders showing vulnerability as sometimes being different for female and male leaders. In her research, she has found that female leaders find it harder to be imperfect as when they are imperfect, are seen to sweat or openly find things challenging that it can fuel shame. For men, a perceived link between vulnerability and weakness is what makes it difficult to show. There is, in Brens experience, less space for men to be vulnerable while still feeling worthy and good enough. She shares that vulnerability should never feel like something that demonstrates a persons lack of worth. For leaders who are able to be vulnerable and create a culture of productive failure, discomfort and ultimately great courage the personal and professional rewards are there. That doesnt mean its an easy place to get to but it certainly seems more than worth it. To hear Bren discuss all of this in person you can find a short video here. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/carleysime/2019/03/27/could-a-little-vulnerability-be-the-key-to-better-leadership/ |
When will Donald Trump release his promised counter Robert Mueller report? | Opinion: The president has said for two years that Muller's conclusions couldn't be trusted. He said his team was prepared to refute it. So.... President Donald Trump (Photo: Susan Walsh, Associated Press) President Donald Trump has said for two years that the eventual report filed by special counsel Robert Mueller should not be trusted and that the Trump team already was preparing a "counter report." Great. Because we'd all love to see it. Just as much, if not more so, than the actual Mueller report. Which we also haven't seen. The president this week, unlike the past few years, has been tweeting happily about Mueller. Like: Breaking News: Mueller Report Finds No Trump-Russia Conspiracy. @MSNBC Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 25, 2019 And: No Collusion, No Obstruction, Complete and Total EXONERATION. KEEP AMERICA GREAT! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 24, 2019 That last part isnt true, of course. In his letter summarizing Mullers report, Attorney General William Barr said Mueller states that while this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him of possible obstruction of justice. The only way we'll find out what that means is if the entire report is released, something Republicans and Democrats advocated prior to Barrs letter. (Republicans, these days, not so much.) In the meantime, however, what about Trumps counter report. The one he promised. He could release his report any time. After all, a while back he tweeted: We will be doing a major Counter Report to the Mueller Report. This should never again be allowed to happen to a future President of the United States! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2018 Great. Let's see it. Trump even spoke about how a large portion of his "counter report" already had been written. As if the president and his people expected him to be accused of criminal behavior that they would be attempting to refute. Hmmm. It has been incorrectly reported that Rudy Giuliani and others will not be doing a counter to the Mueller Report. That is Fake News. Already 87 pages done, but obviously cannot complete until we see the final Witch Hunt Report. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2018 The final report has been filed. Trump's guys could add a little to that 87 pages -- or not -- and let us see it. Given his opinion of Mueller, I presume the president still wants to debunk the special counsel's version. For example he tweeted: Disgraced and discredited Bob Mueller and his whole group of Angry Democrat Thugs spent over 30 hours with the White House Councel, only with my approval, for purposes of transparency. (Although he doesn't say by whom, other than Trump himself.) Still, the president also claimed that Mueller and his team weren't particularly honest.. Tweeting: Bob Mueller (who is a much different man than people think) and his out of control band of Angry Democrats, dont want the truth, they only want lies. The truth is very bad for their mission! Trump also implied that Muller is a demon destroying the justice system. He tweeted: ....The Fake News Media builds Bob Mueller up as a Saint, when in actuality he is the exact opposite. He is doing TREMENDOUS damage to our Criminal Justice System, where he is only looking at one side and not the other. Heroes will come of this, and it wont be Mueller and his... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2018 You get the idea. I could have quoted a LOT more tweets from the president saying essentially the same thing: Mueller cannot be trusted. For past couple of years Trump has consistently urged the American people to ignore the special counsel's final report. To dismiss it out of hand. As when he tweeted: The Mueller investigation is totally conflicted, illegal and rigged! Should never have been allowed to begin, except for the Collusion and many crimes committed by the Democrats. Witch Hunt! Given everything Trump has said over the past few years, and his promise to rectify what he presumed to be Mueller's untrustworthy conclusions, Im guessing the presidents promised counter report would urge Americans to believe just the opposite of what Mueller concluded. Done. Reach Montini at [email protected] Read or Share this story: https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/ej-montini/2019/03/26/trump-release-his-promised-counter-mueller-report/3285417002/ | https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/ej-montini/2019/03/26/trump-release-his-promised-counter-mueller-report/3285417002/ |
Is Italy playing with fire when it comes to China? | Italy's decision to be the first major European economy to join China's massive investment and infrastructure project, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), can only exacerbate tensions between Italy and its neighbors. On Saturday, President Xi Jinping and the Italian government signed a non-binding agreement for Italy to join China's trade route and inked a total of 29 deals worth 2.5 billion euros ($2.8 billion) across an array of sectors. Italy hopes the project will boost its sluggish economy but the deal raised more than just eyebrows in Europe and the U.S. with officials criticizing the move. The BRI is something of a 21st century Silk Road with the sea and land route stretching from Asia, the Middle East, Africa and now into Europe with Italy being the first Group of Seven (G-7) country to sign up to the global infrastructure and development project. China sees the BRI as a way to export more of its goods to lucrative markets; its critics see the initiative as a vanity project that increases indebtedness among its participating countries. They also complain that the BRI gives Chinese companies unfettered access to other markets and economies, but that its own is still largely closed to foreign investment. At the heart of concerns is that the BRI is seen as a way for China to spread its geopolitical influence an acute concern for a Europe increasingly uncertain of its place in the world. As such, Italy's latest move has been seen by many as undermining Europe's ability to compete with China's economic might. Italy's bilateral deal with China also came a day after French President Emmanuel Macron called for a coordinated European approach to the superpower. Italy's anti-establishment coalition government has already clashed with Brussels over immigration and its spending plans. Its deal with China is likely to be another source of tension. "It's clear that this does undermine Europe's and the West's ability to stand up to China," Federico Santi, senior Europe analyst at Eurasia Group, told CNBC Tuesday. "This will be another source of friction between Italy and Europe which, ultimately, will be to the detriment of Italy itself," he added, although he noted that the terms of the agreement between Italy and China remained to be seen. Italy and China have played down concerns. Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio told CNBC that the accord was "nothing to worry about" and Xi tried to assuage concerns in Europe too, saying on Tuesday during a visit to France that "cooperation is bigger than competition between China and Europe." Other EU leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron are keen for the EU to have a tougher approach to China and stress the need for reciprocal commercial ties. On Tuesday, Macron said while he wants the EU to deepen its ties with China, there must be a united European front when it comes to the superpower. To emphasize this point, he invited German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker for talks with Xi in Paris on Tuesday. There, Macron urged China to "respect the unity of the European Union and the values it carries in the world." Juncker stressed that European companies should find "the same degree of openness in the China market as Chinese ones find in Europe." Merkel, for her part, said that Europeans wanted to take part in the Belt and Road Initiative but that "must lead to a certain reciprocity, and we are still wrangling over that bit." As Macron said in Brussels last week, "the time of European navet is ended" as he called for the EU. For many years we had an uncoordinated approach and China took advantage of our divisions." With Italy pursuing its own deal with China regardless of its neighbors' concerns, China could be able to make the most of those divisions again. | https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/27/italys-joins-chinas-belt-and-road-initiative.html |
What is Mother's Day or Mothering Sunday? | Mother's Day is a special day honouring mothers and it's celebrated in loads of countries throughout the world. In Britain it's also known as Mothering Sunday. In 2019 it's on Sunday 31 March. History of Mother's Day During the Middle Ages the custom developed of allowing people who had moved away from where they grew up to come back and visit their home churches, and their mothers, on the fourth Sunday of the Christian festival of Lent. This became Mothering Sunday in Britain. As the dates of Lent vary each year, so does the date of Mothering Sunday. Although it's often called Mother's Day in the UK, it has no connection with the American Mother's Day. Mother's Day in the US In the United States, Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May each year. The idea started in America when a woman called Anna Jarvis held a small memorial service for her own mother on May 12, 1907. Soon most places in America were observing the day and in 1914 the US president made it a national holiday, celebrated on the second Sunday of May. Lots of other countries celebrate Mother's Day at different times of the year as well. Traditional foods The food item traditionally associated with Mothering Sunday is Simnel cake - a type of fruit cake. These days, Simnel cakes are more usually linked with Easter. But flowers and chocolates are probably more popular still! | https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/17343360 |
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