question
stringlengths 11
179
| article
stringlengths 522
97.6k
| url
stringlengths 35
310
|
|---|---|---|
When will the Packers pick on the third and final day of the NFL draft? | It's Day 3 of the NFL draft Saturday, which means you won't have to wait all day to find out who's getting added to the Green Bay Packers. Let's review what you need to know about today's finish to the draft, covering rounds 4-7. Round 4 will begin at 11 a.m. CDT Saturday. The Packers own picks No. 142 (fourth round), No. 173 (fifth round), No. 178 (fifth round), No. 214 (sixth round), No. 220 (sixth round), No. 256 (seventh round). The NFL draft will air on ABC, ESPN and the NFL Network, and the ESPN coverage will be led by first-time host Mike Greenberg, along with Mel Kiper Jr., Louis Riddick, Booger McFarland and reporters such as Adam Schefter, Chris Mortensen and Suzy Kolber. On ABC, you'll find Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Todd McShay, Maria Taylor, Jesse Palmer and David Pollack. On NFL Network, you'll get Rich Eisen, Charles Davis, Daniel Jeremiah, David Shaw and reporting from Melissa Stark, Kurt Warner, Joel Klatt and Ian Rapoport. Viewers can stream the draft on the ESPN app, NFL mobile app and find it on streaming services like Sling TV and YouTubeTV. It's a wildly unsafe assumption to think the Packers will keep all their picks, and the timing will get less and less predictable as the day unfolds. At least to start with, we can look at the 142nd overall pick, Green Bay's first of the day. In the last five years (starting with 2020), that pick has been selected at (central time) 12:54 p.m., 12:57 p.m., 1:04 p.m., 1:01 p.m. and 1:06 p.m. None of this matters; just tell me more about Aaron Rodgers Fair enough. Here's your reading list. DOUGHERTY: Aaron Rodgers' rift with Packers unlikely to end anytime soon GREEN 19 PODCAST: Packers may not have Aaron Rodgers this season, but that doesn't mean they won't have an A-Rod GUTEKUNST: Packers GM puts positive spin on Aaron Rodgers standoff: 'I do think he'll play for us again' SILVERSTEIN: Aaron Rodgers and Packers seem headed for an ugly divorce NICKEL:In a matter of hours, my stress from 2008 came back. This time, Im ready for the drama. Give me some names to reassure me that great players get taken this late Here are a few names to ponder taken in the past at Green Bay's current slots Green Bay safety Adrian Amos (142nd pick in 2015) Washington Pro Bowl running back Alfred Morris (172nd pick in 2012) Jacksonville quarterback Gardner Minshew (178th pick in 2019) Cincinnati first-team All Pro punter Kevin Huber (142nd pick in 2009) Yes, that's a punter on the list, taken 12 years ago, so it's a bit of a reach. Still: first-team All Pro! Alas, Green Bay traded the 135th pick Friday night, which meant Dak Prescott was no longer applicable. If you really want to feel good, make note that San Francisco star tight end George Kittle was taken 146th overall in 2017, two-time Pro Bowl defensive end Matthew Judon was taken 146th in 2016 and star receiver Stefon Diggs was selected 146th in 2015. Same neighborhood as the Packers pick. Here are a few that should jump out, highlighted by one of the NFL's top left tackles and one of the top running backs, both of whom just signed big contracts to stay in Green Bay. Kamal Martin (2020 fifth round, 175th pick) Kingsley Keke (2019 fifth round, 150th pick) Marquez Valdes-Scantling (2018 fifth round, 174th pick) Aaron Jones (2017 fifth round, 182nd pick) Dean Lowry (2016 fourth round, 137th pick) David Bakhtiari (2013 fourth round, 109th pick) Mason Crosby (2007 sixth round, 193rd pick) Though they're not Packers anymore, Jamaal Williams was taken in the fourth round in 2017 (134th), and Corey Linsley was taken in the fifth round in 2014 (161st). Other current Packers taking in the final four rounds include Jon Runyan, Vernon Scott, Ka'dar Hollman, Dexter Williams, Ty Summers, JK Scott, Equanimeous St. Brown and Hunter Bradley. If we're talking the University of Wisconsin: probably. UW has had multiple players selected in the draft every year since 1994 (and more than two every year since 2016), but the continuation of that streak could be a subplot to watch as Day 3 unfolds, with no Badgers off the board just yet. These are the guys who might hear their name in the home stretch: Rachad Wildgoose, cornerback (decent chance in fourth or fifth round) Cole Van Lanen, offensive tackle (decent chance in sixth or seventh round) Eric Burrell, safety (possible seventh round) Isaiahh Loudermilk, defensive lineman (likely undrafted free agent) Mason Stokke, fullback (likely undrafted free agent) Garrett Groshek, running back (likely undrafted free agent) Jon Dietzen, offensive line (likely undrafted free agent) Meanwhile, Kenosha native Daviyon Nixon, a defensive tackle who played at Kenosha Indian Trail and the University of Iowa, was projected in the second round and is one of the best players available heading into Day 3 on many mock draft boards. One other notable: USC receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, the brother of Packers receiver Equanimeous St. Brown, is also among the best players available. Remind me what the Packers have done so far ROUND ONE: Packers pick speedy Georgia cornerback Eric Stokes in first round of NFL draft ROUNDS TWO AND THREE:Packers draft Ohio State center Josh Myers as likely Linsley successor, trade up for receiver Amari Rodgers JR Radcliffe can be reached at (262) 361-9141 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @JRRadcliffe. | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/2021/05/01/packers-nfl-draft-what-know-day-3-rounds-4-7/4892258001/ |
How Will Camps Keep Kids Safe This Summer? | At 8:30 one morning in March, online registration opened for the summer day camp run by my local community center. By 8:35 a.m., all the spots were taken and a waitlist was building. After more than a year of living with pandemic restrictions, its not surprising that families are in a frenzy over in-person camp this year. In contrast to last summer, when many camps didnt open at all or opened with strict limitations, the American Camp Association said that most overnight and day camps plan to open this summer. There is a huge demand, said Paul McEntire, chief operating officer of the YMCA of the USA. For many of its more than 10,000 camps, registrations are at their highest levels ever. Camps have never been more needed, he said. To find out, we scoured the updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and spoke with three public health experts who are working with camps to develop rigorous safety protocols, as well as with two camp executives. While just 18% of overnight camps, and 60% of day camps, ran in-person last year, according to the ACA, camp and health officials were still able to learn quite a bit about the kinds of practices that did and didnt keep campers and employees safe. Between June 17 and 27, for instance, nearly half of the 597 campers, staff members and trainees at one overnight camp in Georgia tested positive for COVID-19 after an outbreak there caused the camp to close. According to a later CDC report, health officials learned that the camp had not implemented certain safety protocols, like requiring masks for campers or opening windows and doors for ventilation; the camp also allowed daily vigorous singing and cheering, the report said. The experience taught camps what you dont want to do, said Dr. Dipesh Navsaria, a pediatrician at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health who has been working to develop COVID-19 protocols for camps, including one in Wisconsin. Advertising But there were also signs that camps could be run safely. Between June 15 and Aug. 16, four overnight camps in Maine had just three positive cases out of 1,022 campers and staff members, because they followed a multilayered approach, which is generally recognized as the best way to handle any aspect of this pandemic distancing, outdoors, masking, hand hygiene, Navsaria said. One study published this month also found that among 54 YMCA day camps in North Carolina, which followed similar protocols, few experienced COVID-19 infections. If a parent asked me, Can you guarantee my child wont get COVID? Well, no, Navsaria added. On April 24, the CDC released updated and detailed guidance for both day and overnight summer camps, which emphasized a few basic principles. It called for outdoor, masked and distanced activities whenever possible; ventilation and reduced capacity in poorly ventilated or indoor areas; and a strong recommendation for vaccination of any employees and campers who are eligible (though camps will probably not require staff members to be vaccinated, McEntire, of the YMCA, said). It did not recommend limiting how many people can attend camp overall. For day camps, the CDC said that children 2 and up should wear masks at all times except when eating, drinking, swimming or napping, and should be broken into small groups that interact only with each other. All campers must stay 3 feet from others in their cohort (6 feet when eating or drinking), and 6 feet from everyone else (including their own counselors). The guidelines also recommend daily symptom checks for campers and staff, and periodic COVID-19 testing for campers, if tests are available. Employees should be tested weekly if they interact with multiple camper groups. If your child is attending an overnight camp, the CDC advised that anyone who is eligible to receive a COVID vaccine should get one before they arrive, ideally receiving their final shot at least two weeks before. Unvaccinated attendees should try to practice COVID-19 safety measures like avoiding unnecessary travel, physical distancing and wearing masks in public as much as possible for two weeks before overnight camp begins, and they should take a COVID-19 test one to three days before they arrive. Advertising Once at camp, the CDC recommended breaking campers into groups by cabin, as well as daily symptom checks and periodic testing. Campers will only need to wear masks and physical distance around those not in their bunks. Keep in mind that the federal guidance is meant to supplement, not replace, state and local guidelines. So some states may choose not to follow it, said Tom Rosenberg, president and CEO of the ACA. Texas overnight camp guidelines, for instance, do not require camps to screen campers or the staff for COVID-19 before or during camp (though they do recommend testing if a camper or staff member becomes ill during their stay). And some overnight camps will allow campers from different groups to intermingle over time, if local guidelines allow it and there have been no cases, Rosenberg said. State guidelines may also change between now and when camp starts, said Dr. Lucy McBride, a physician in Washington, D.C., who is advising an overnight camp in Maine. The landscape is changing enormously, she said. So parents may want to check camp protocols close to when their kids will attend to confirm which procedures will be in place. Campers who are at high risk for coronavirus complications (or whose family members are) may want to be even more stringent with risk mitigation and should be sure to get vaccinated as soon as theyre eligible, McBride added. Camps may even advise some families that they would be better off not sending their kids to camp at all; high-risk families may want to consult with their doctors. Some camps for kids with medical conditions such as camps run by the Muscular Dystrophy Association and the American Diabetes Association will be run virtually again this year for safety reasons. Some camp traditions may not make an appearance this year. Were not going to have the loud, raucous dining hall filled with incomprehensible yelling, Navsaria said. (Campers may still sing and chant, just outdoors.) Parents probably wont be able to visit, or even step foot inside cabins at drop-off, and staff members may not be allowed to leave camp premises during breaks. Advertising Camp activities that involve cabins competing against each other, like the popular Color War competitions, may not happen this year, Navsaria added. Other camp activities may be allowed, but modified. For instance, camps probably wont allow kids from different cohorts to mingle during electives like dance or archery. Evening campfires might still take place, but campers may be required to sit with their cohorts and 6 feet away from other groups. Camp performances will still happen, but they will most likely be held outside. And campers may still play some outdoor sports, but the CDC advised against indoor sports as well as close-contact sports, like wrestling and basketball, even if done outside. The CDC has also advised camps to avoid day trips to places like amusement parks or movie theaters that would put attendees in close contact with the public. Camp policies may vary, but if your child is in day camp and develops symptoms of (or tests positive for) COVID-19, the camp will probably isolate the child from other campers and call you to come pick her up. If your child is positive, she will most likely be able to return to camp after 10 days, provided she has no fever and her symptoms are improving. If your child is exposed to COVID-19 at camp or if you or someone else in your household (or another close contact) contracts COVID-19 your child may be asked to stay home and quarantine for up to 14 days. If your child is at an overnight camp and develops symptoms of COVID-19, the staff should immediately isolate and test her. If she tests positive, they will most likely move her to a dedicated facility with any other infected campers, under the care of medical providers. The staff will probably call you and let you decide if you want to pick her up or let her stay at camp until she has recovered. If your child is exposed to COVID-19 at camp, her group should also be quarantined for up to 14 days, monitored for symptoms, and may be tested regularly, though they should still be able to do some limited sports and activities as a group, said Dr. Daniel Griffin, an infectious disease physician at Columbia University who is advising a handful of camps this summer. If kids go home because of COVID-19, or if camps have to close because of an outbreak, McEntire said that most YMCA day and overnight camps plan to provide prorated refunds. Its wise to ask camps in advance about their refund policies. If this all seems complicated, it is but experts say that camps need to be run carefully in order to keep everyone safe. And despite the rules and regulations, campers can still have plenty of fun. Kids can have a joyous, immersive summer experience, Rosenberg said, as long as the camps do it in a very structured, smart way. | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/how-will-camps-keep-kids-safe-this-summer/ |
Why Is CarMax (KMX) Up 8% Since Last Earnings Report? | The New York Times Jennifer Hill Booker has spent much of her professional life on the road. Booker, 45, a chef and entrepreneur, is the author of two cookbooks, and her travels on the lecture circuit have taken her around the country but always back to Atlanta, where she lived with her two children. Then, last year, with her daughters off at college, she realized there was nothing keeping her there. I am an empty nester looking for that next stage in my life, she said. Last winter, as the pandemic kept most Americans confined to their homes and flattened local economies, she learned that the Northwest Arkansas Council had launched a program offering select remote workers $10,000 and a free bicycle (the region has 322 miles of biking trails) if they relocated there within six months. Booker had been to the area a few times and found the budding restaurant scene exciting, so she decided to give it a shot. The $10,000 would give me an opportunity to put down a down payment on a small little bachelorette pad, she said. I also like that the program introduces you to other transplants, plus people who are already residents of northwest Arkansas. They can tell me where to shop, where to eat, where to worship. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Nearly 30,000 people applied for the Life Works Here initiative, said Nelson Peacock, president and chief executive of the Northwest Arkansas Council, with slots for only a few dozen in the first round of selections. Booker was one of the winners and is preparing to move this summer to Springdale, a small city outside Fayetteville, home to the University of Arkansas and about 85,000 residents. She will have to stay for at least a year as part of the program, which is fine with her. Seeing people who are so excited to welcome me into the community, its like, I want to go there, she said. The Fayetteville region including Bentonville, best known as the home of Walmarts global headquarters is one of several smaller metro areas and states across the country, from Georgia to Hawaii, trying to lure high-net-worth workers who can increasingly do their jobs remotely. The idea is that they will shop in local stores and pay real estate taxes, but they will not take jobs away from locals. For regional economic development organizations, it is an effort to build communities with high skill sets to attract startups and larger companies in the future. For the migrating workers, it is a chance to try out an up-and-coming place alongside other newcomers. Peacock said the program has been overwhelmed with interest. We had 29,000 people apply for our first round, from every state and also multiple countries around the world, he said, including James Beard-nominated chefs and Emmy Award-winning artists. We never expected this response. The problem was figuring out how to choose. The council, with philanthropic assistance from the Walton Family Foundation, currently has $1 million set aside for the program. Were looking at awarding multiple dozens of people, Peacock said. We arent sure exactly how far the money will stretch. Although that money is intended to spur the local economy, some area residents argue that it is being spent in the wrong place, especially as Arkansas continues to live under a public health emergency order. I could probably get a lot of my life together with $10,000, said Justin Ratliff, 31, a Fayetteville resident who has been a vocal opponent of the initiative. When they announced it, it was the thing everybody was talking about. It made a stir. As these initiatives have picked up steam around the country, so have their detractors, who push back against the idea of giving much-needed financial assistance to prosperous out-of-towners. The money can be rerouted to help people who are struggling, Ratliff said. This program is spitting in the face of people who are already here and doing the best they can. They are graduating from university and getting degrees. He said he understood that the goal was to attract prized talent to the region, but he rejected the notion that people should be paid to move there. We have more and more people moving here without the incentive, he said. The town has expanded so much in the past few years just from people moving here. (Indeed, the Northwest Arkansas Council estimates that 32 new people moved to the region every day in most of 2019 and into early 2020.) Peacock acknowledged the backlash and pointed to the programs long-term goals. There were a few local organizations that felt we should be investing in some of the businesses that were being harmed during the pandemic, he said. I think they made a fair point, and we have invested in a lot of our small businesses, but what we are trying to focus on here is: What does the future look like? He added, We dont need any individuals to move here. We need the people working in the right types of industries. In Georgia, the city of Savannah is aiming specifically for tech professionals. Last June, the Savannah Economic Development Authority announced that it would award $2,000 to selected tech workers who committed to living in the city, Georgias third-largest, for at least two years. Applicants had to have at least three years of work experience and move from a destination at least 60 miles from City Hall. We dont want to steal from our neighbors, said Jen Bonnett, who oversees the program. City officials consider the Savannah Technology Workforce Incentive a chance to import residents who might one day build Savannah into a tech hub. When COVID hit, we thought this was a unique opportunity to get the right people with skills here so when the world opens up again, we will have more skilled labor in our community, Bonnett said. If the next tech company wants to move here and hire 30 people, we want to have people already here who can do the job. Those people are typically young and middle-tier economically an age group the city felt it was missing. Its $2,000, which is not enough for recent graduates, but its also not for someone who wants to move a five-bedroom house from California to Savannah, she said. Thus far, she said, 26 recipients and their families have moved to Savannah under the program, including Bridget Overson, 41, who was living in Concord, New Hampshire, and works in user engagement for Updater, a company that streamlines the moving process. As the pandemic stretched on, Overson realized she was hungry for more space and warmer weather. I had been to Savannah a few times on family vacations, and its a beautiful city, she said. The weather is great, and the property values are amazing. Its such an appealing environment: the parks, the trees, the nature, the history, the culture. She is now living in a three-bedroom ranch with a big yard that costs less than her two-bedroom townhouse up north. The $2,000 did not make her decision she probably would have moved anyway but it felt like a present. It cost me around $6,000 to move my things down here, so I was happy for the stipend for sure, she said. It just made it feel easier. Other programs have more short-term goals. At the end of November, a group of business and community leaders in Hawaii launched Movers and Shakas, which is designed to encourage professionals to live in their state for at least 30 consecutive days. Recipients receive a free plane ticket as well as discounted long-term hotel rates. In exchange, they must commit to 15 hours of community service each month mentoring local businesses and nonprofits and participate in group activities where they learn about Hawaiis culture and ecosystem. The initial goal was simple: to replenish revenue for a state that lost countless tourism dollars in 2020. Beyond that, Movers and Shakas hopes its participants will provide needed guidance and skills to local professionals who might not have regular access to tech conferences, networking events or graduate courses. We talk a lot about brain drain, about people who go to the mainland for college and careers, said Nicole Lim, the director of the program, who used to work for eBay out of San Francisco. We hope to promote brain gain, where our locals can build professional collaborations. Lim hopes some recipients will stay in Hawaii long-term and help diversify the economy. But those who leave can serve as ambassadors for the state. We want to create a sense of shared stewardship for Hawaiis culture, she said. As in Arkansas, the local community is not entirely on board with the initiative, especially during the pandemic. Certainly we are getting backlash, and its something we take superseriously, Lim said. Here in Hawaii, its a small community, and we care about our elders. She said the program is following the states travel guidelines, including a 10-day quarantine or a pretravel testing regime. Lim said nearly 90,000 applications poured in for the Movers and Shakas program, which currently has 50 slots. One of them went to Krist Wong-Yamamoto, 51, an Oahu native who moved to the mainland to attend Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. She has lived in the Salt Lake City area ever since and now works as a corporate communications manager for JetBlue. She had always wanted to return home one day; her parents still live there, and she missed the lifestyle. But she could not bring herself to take the needed steps. I looked at this like a trial, she said. I needed to understand how this would work and get a feel for what the lifestyle will be if I move back. She spent a month networking and socializing with fellow participants and business leaders to see if it could be a stimulating professional home for her. After completing the program, she said she was still interested in moving back home if her company would allow it. For some cities, appealing to outside talent with development programs is nothing new but the volume of interested applicants is. Tulsa Remote, a program that offers people $10,000 to move to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for a year, started in fall 2018 but has seen a spike in demand during the pandemic. Of the nearly 800 people who have moved there as part of the program, 380 arrived last year. We had 50,000 applicants in 2020, said Ben Stewart, executive director of Tulsa Remote. We are more selective than Harvard. The program has no age or industry specifications; the main requirement is articulating why you want to call Tulsa home. While participants are required to stay for a year, the vast majority have remained after that deadline, Stewart said, adding that the program organizes regular events, including drive-in movies, cooking classes, historic tours and volunteer opportunities. Alana Mbanza, 35, applied for the program mostly because she was looking to move somewhere new with a built-in community. I moved to Chicago 10 years ago from a small town, and I really struggled to break into social networks, she said. But literally two months into moving to Tulsa, I had enough friends to host a Super Bowl party. She moved into a cute brick house in Tulsa and met some new friends on her first day in the city. There was a street party, and I reached out to a few people on the Tulsa Remote Slack channel to see if anyone was going, said Mbanza, a writer and educational leadership coach. Those people are still my friends. Locals are, in turn, making friends with the transplants. Everyone I have met has been really freaking cool, said Darku Jarmola, 30, a DJ and program manager at a dance club in Tulsa. One of them has even become one of my best friends. Still, he said he resented the notion that the city felt it had to import culture. I have been throwing parties in Tulsa since 2008 and putting all my money into creating this culture of disco and house music, he said. I dont understand this mentality that if you have a stamp of New York City or Los Angeles or a major city, your product is infinitely better than what we have here. Its a little confusing. For the people organizing these programs, the bottom line is the investment in talent growth. Peacock, of the Northwest Arkansas Council, reiterated that the pandemic, for all its devastation, has created a moment worth seizing for local economies namely, expanding the workforce with remote workers who will not take jobs from locals. When the pandemic hit, we had to make sure we had visibility for individuals who were leaving the Bay Area or New York City or other metro areas, who were looking to reset their lifestyles, he said. We wanted to take advantage of those migration patterns. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company | https://news.yahoo.com/why-carmax-kmx-8-since-153003113.html |
What happens when lines blur between real and virtual beauty through filters? | Camera filters, powered by augmented reality, or AR, are at nearly everyone's fingertips. Opening a smartphone and downloading any one of an array of free apps can give anyone the instant power to create unreal images that have never looked more real. While there are plenty of filters to turn a person into something cute, goofy or even scary, there are some that make a person look thinner, have larger eyes or lips or whiten their teeth. The unavoidable question is whether for some people this is creating a warped sense of beauty, especially among the youngest and most impressionable. With nearly half a million followers, TikTok sensation Tefi Pessoa is known for her unvarnished opinions. "I am someone who grew up on the internet, and it totally skewed with my sense of confidence," she told ABC News. "I do feel like we're losing touch with what reality looks like, and it hurts me because I feel like reality is beautiful." The effects from even some of the simplest filters are astonishing, with some completely altering a user's likeness to conform to conventionally beautiful features, such as smoothed skin. Lenses and filters like these are available on all the most popular social media platforms from Snapchat to Instagram. Users can enhance their appearance with a simple swipe. Manuel Borrero, a top AR artist, saw his Grinch filter on Instagram go viral. He described his work as an art form, where the human face is his virtual canvas. "I don't try to go over the top because I don't want to change so much," he told ABC News. "When you start loving something that you're not, then it goes wrong. It's so easy to grab color and makeup and put on your face, you know, and you can correct [it]." Even with his more quirky creations, like one called "Patricia" that gives users an adorable bob with retro shades and hoop earrings, his line of work also comes with pressure to meet a certain demand for more conventionally natural enhancements. "I love to do characters, but sometimes I follow, I will say, 'the trend,'" Borrero added. Social psychologist Erin Vogel said beauty filters can be alienating for some and create a sense of unattainable perfection. "People are changing how they look with these filters and getting used to seeing themselves that way because filters are so commonplace," Vogel told ABC News. Experts say what starts out making you feel good can end up damaging your self-esteem. "It's not just the self-esteem boost that we get from looking at our own positively presented selves, we also get a self-esteem boost from other people's reactions," Vogel continued. "So we really do fall into this cycle of posting and waiting for that reaction in order to know that people approve." According to the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, 62% of plastic surgeons reported their patients wanted to go under the knife because of dissatisfaction with their social media profile, while 57% said patients wanted to look better in selfies. The association warns that if results don't match that of a beauty filter, it could trigger dysmorphia. "The rise in social media has coincided with the rise in depression and anxiety among teenagers in the U.S.," Vogel said. "I think that this image and the pressure to present a certain filtered image on social media can certainly play into those concerns for younger people who are just developing their identities." Pessoa said she receives messages from girls aged 13 to 15 confiding in her "they couldn't post a photo of themselves or a video to their Instagram stories or grid or anywhere on social media without a filter on." Snapchat, a leader in AR filters, told ABC News in a statement that it "rejects any lenses that mimic cosmetic surgery." Facebook, which owns Instagram, said in a similar statement that the company knows "people may feel pressure to look a certain way on social media, so we ban effects that clearly promote eating disorders or that encourage potentially dangerous cosmetic surgery procedures." Even without filters, Nyome Nicholas-Williams, a model and social media influencer, is no stranger to fighting back against conventional standards of beauty. "A lot of the standard is someone that doesn't look like me," Nicholas-Williams told ABC News. "So if people see these filters on their phones, they're going to want to look like the standard that we see even on TV." Last year, Instagram apologized for mistakenly flagging her semi-nude image because automatic censoring algorithms recognized her curvy body differently. In an industry known for airbrushing and touch-ups, she said putting these powerful tools in the hands of users as young as 13 can be a slippery slope. "If someone's got their phone, they can just change whatever they want," Nicolas-Williams said. "I mean, just continue to change things. Yeah. So that's dangerous in that sense." Experts say there's a fine line between playfulness and unhealthy obsession. For Borerro, growing his platform also means harnessing the opportunity to educate. "I'm able now to set that trend. And instead of having a beauty filter now we're going to have these learning field trips, we're going to have this game or we're going to have this character," he said. He said there are people in his own family who struggle with the unrealistic expectation of real life looking like it does through filters. "They start feeling that they have to be like these Instagram model and that thing," he said. "They don't realize that there [are] more things behind that and they start feeling depressed." Pessoa urged parents to open a line of communication on the subject. "Talk to your children," she said. "You cannot disregard that it is affecting other people and how it might affect the people that you love around you, but you just haven't talked to them about it. We can close a magazine, and we can drive past a billboard. But we are on our phones all the time." | https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/lines-blur-real-virtual-beauty-filters/story?id=77427989 |
Why has Iowa State not had a first round NFL draft pick since 1973? | In this weekend's Hot Clicks: Seven defunct college programs have more first-round NFL draft picks than Iowa State, a racing dog on meth and more. Marquette Football On Dec. 12, 1936, three weeks after failing to lead Marquette to a win over Duquesne and their first undefeated regular season, Golden Avalanche quarterback Ray "Buzz" Buivid was selected by the Chicago Bears with the No. 3 pick in the 1937 NFL draft. Buivid, the third-place finisher in 1936 Heisman Trophy voting, was the first of three first-round draft picks for a Marquette program that disbanded 24 years later. After the 1960 season, its seventh straight sub-.500 season (13 total wins from 1954 to '60), the university cited a loss of $50,000 in eliminating the program after nearly seven decades of existence. The decision promoted a downtown march for justice from students and alumni. Despite not playing a snap of football in more than 60 years, Marquette has more first-round draft picks than Iowa State. Michael C. Johnson/USA TODAY Sports Since 1961, Iowa State has 275 wins, 16 bowl appearances, and one first-round pick in the NFL draft: Running back George Amundson was selected at No. 14 by the Houston Oilers in 1973. The 1972 Big 8 Player of the Year was their first-ever first-round pick and, with another shutout on Thursday night, remains their last. Marquette is one of seven defunct college football programs with more first-round picks than Iowa State. The six others have two apiece: Boston University, Detroit Mercy, Long Beach State, Saint Marys, San Francisco and the University of Tampa. Iowa State had multiple draft picks in 2019 (David Montgomery and Hakeem Butler) for just the second time since 2008, has four straight seasons with at least seven wins for the first time ever, and is ranked seventh in SIs early college football rankings for 2021. The Cyclones are rolling, which makes their draft futility even more bizarre. Other draft notes: Kene Nwangwu is the NFL draft sleeper you want ... Updated big board 10 most questionable picks through Friday (and three things to love and question) Najee Harriss draft party was at a homeless shelter where he once lived. Dog on Meth Zipping Sarah, a three-year-old Italian greyhound, won the Len, Jane, and Penny Hart Memorial Feature at the Canterbury Greyhound Racing Club in New Zealand in November. After the race, a urine test revealed she had methamphetamine in her system. Methamphetamine is a potent central nervous system stimulant, which poses significant animal welfare issues, and the level of amphetamine . . . in the sample was particularly large, Warwick Gendall QC, panel chairman of the Judicial Control Authority, said last week as the government announced a review of the greyhound racing industry. For the violation, the trainer, Angela Helen Turnwald was fined only $3,500, stripped of the winning stake ($4,000), and disqualified for four months. Justin Bannan In October 2019, former NFL defensive lineman Justin Bannan was arrested in connection with a shooting in Boulder, Colo. The former fifth-round pick was charged with attempted first-degree murder and burglary after shooting a woman in the shoulder. Eighteen months later, we have more details of the shooting and arrest after USA Todays Tom Schad wrote an unbelievable article on Bannans insistence he was being followed by the Russian mob. Really Pathetic... Good Morning, Andy Naomi Osaka New Trailers Follow me on Twitter, check out my podcast, and bookmark this page to see previous editions of Hot Clicks and find the newest edition every day. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories. More From SI: | https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2021/05/01/iowa-state-first-round-nfl-draft-picks |
How Does Ifeatu Melifonwu Fit with the Lions? | The Detroit Lions selected Ifeatu Melifonwu with the 101st pick overall, which came in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Melifonwu was one of the better cover corners in the nation last season, and was an All-ACC Third Team selection. Iffy finished his Syracuse career with 88 tackles, five tackles for loss, one sack, three interceptions and 19 passes defensed in three seasons. His best individual year was this past season when he had 54 tackles, three tackles for loss, one sack, one interception and six passes defensed in 10 games. We spoke with John Maakaron of All Lions to get the inside scoop. Maakaron: "He should be able to see the field quickly in new defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn's defense. He will have to earn increased snaps, as Detroit features Jeff Okudah, Amani Oruwariye, Quinton Dunbar and Corn Elder, who are ahead of him on the depth chart. Melifonwu was rated No. 57 on Dane Brugler's big board and earned a second round grade in many analysts profile of him. There is early talk of him playing safety, but general manager Brad Holmes expressed he would leave it up to the coaching staff as to where he lines up." Maakaron: "Fans have been generally understanding with the selections made by Detroit's front office. The Lions have needs everyone, so adding any player on defense will be met with positivity by the majority of fans based on how bad the defense performed the past few seasons." Maakaron: "It has been emphasized on numerous occasions by this new regime that the goal is to blend their beliefs with the skills the players on the roster have. They have their core beliefs, but the goal is to place the players on the field in the best position to succeed. Glenn is from the Bill Parcells coaching tree and has experience playing in the 3-4. In New Orleans, the defense was often in a 4-3 base scheme. I think the talent lends itself to the team playing more 3-4, but with the flexibility to adapt when certain matchups are in their favor." Maakaron: "The Lions are looking to build the right way, and their belief is that is accomplished by building in the trenches. Look, this team has needs at every position, so to add a player of Melifonwu's caliber is going to help upgrade the defense. I feel the front office has been excited about every player they have selected, as they are following their board as closely as possible and selecting the best player. Now, we hope he gets on the field and produces at a high level." | https://www.si.com/college/syracuse/football/how-ifeatu-melifonwu-fits-in-detroit |
Is Washington prepared for a geopolitical 'tech race'? | When Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan sat down with Chinese officials in Anchorage, Alaska for the first high-level bilateral summit of the new administration, it was not a typical diplomatic meeting. Instead of a polite but restrained diplomatic exchange, the two sides traded pointed barbs for almost two hours. There is growing consensus that the era of engagement with China has come to an unceremonious close, wrote Sullivan and Kurt Campbell, the Administration's Asia czar also in attendance, back in 2019. How apt that they were present for that moments arrival. A little more than one hundred days into the Biden Administration, there is no shortage of views on how it should handle this new era of Sino-American relations. From a blue-ribbon panel assembled by former Google Chairman Eric Schmidt to a Politico essay from an anonymous former Trump Administration official that consciously echoes (in both its name and its authors anonymity) George Kennans famous Long Telegram laying out the theory of Cold War containment, to countless think tank reports, it seems everyone is having their say. What is largely uncontroversial though is that technology is at the center of U.S.-China relations, and any competition with China will be won or lost in the digital and cyber spheres. Part of the goal of the Alaska meeting was to convince the Chinese that the Biden administration is determined to compete with Beijing across the board to offer competitive technology, wrote David Sanger in the New York Times shortly afterward. Tech has brought Republicans and Democrats uneasily together One encouraging sign is that China has emerged as one of the few issues on which even Democrats agree that President Trump had some valid points. Trump really was the spark that reframed the entire debate around U.S.-China relations in DC, says Jordan Schneider, a China analyst at the Rhodium Group and the host of the ChinaTalk podcast and newsletter. Story continues While many in the foreign policy community favored some degree of cooperation with China before the Trump presidency, now competition if not outright rivalry is widely assumed. Democrats, even those who served in the Obama Administration, have become much more hawkish, says Erik Brattberg of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Trump has caused the Overton Window on China [to become] a lot narrower than it was before, adds Schneider. The US delegation led by Secretary of State Antony Blinken face their Chinese counterparts at the opening session of US-China talks at the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage, Alaska on March 18, 2021. Image Credits: FREDERIC J. BROWN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images As the U.S.-China rivalry has evolved, it has become more and more centered around competing philosophies on the use of technology. At their core, democracies are open systems that believe in the free flow of information, whereas for autocrats, information is something to be weaponized and stifled in the service of the regime, says Lindsay Gorman, Fellow for Emerging Technologies at the German Marshall Fund. So its not too surprising that technology, so much of which is about how we store and process and leverage information, has become such a focus of the U.S.-China relationship and of the [broader] democratic-autocratic competition around the world. Tech touches everything now and the stakes could not be higher. Tech and the business models around tech are really embedded ideology,' says Tyson Barker of the German Council on Foreign Relations. When Chinese firms expand around the world, Barker tells me, they bring their norms with them. So when Huawei builds a 5G network in Latin America, or Alipay is adopted for digital payments in Central Europe, or Xiaomi takes more market share in Southeast Asia, they are helping digitize those economies on Chinese terms using Chinese norms (as opposed to American ones). The implication is clear: whoever defines the future of technology will determine the rest of the twenty-first century. That shifting balance has focused minds in Washington. I think there is a strong bipartisan consensus that technology is at the core of U.S.-China competition, says Brattberg. But, adds Gorman, theres less agreement on what the prescription should be. While the Democratic experts now ascendant in Washington agree with Trumps diagnosis of the China challenge, they believe in a vastly different approach from their Trump Administration predecessors. Out, for instance, are restrictions on Chinese firms just for being Chinese. That was one of the problems with Trump, says Walter Kerr, a former U.S. diplomat who publishes the China Journal Review. Trump cast broad strokes, targeting firms whether it was merited or not. Sticking it to the Chinese is not a good policy. Instead the focus is on inward investment and outward cooperation. Foreign policy is domestic policy Democrats are first shoring up America domestically in short, be strong at home to be strong abroad. Theres no longer a bright line between foreign and domestic policy, President Biden said in his first major foreign policy speech. Every action we take in our conduct abroad, we must take with American working families in mind. Advancing a foreign policy for the middle class demands urgent focus on our domestic economic renewal. This is a particular passion of Jake Sullivan, Bidens national security advisor, who immersed himself in domestic policy while he was Hillary Clintons chief policy aide during her 2016 presidential campaign. "We've reached a point where foreign policy is domestic policy, and domestic policy is foreign policy, he told NPR during the transition. Jake Sullivan, White House national security adviser, speaks during a news conference Image Credits: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images This is increasingly important for technology, as concern grows that America is lagging behind on research and development. Were realizing that weve underinvested in the government grants and research and development projects that American companies [need] to become highly innovative in fields like quantum computing, AI, biotechnology, etc, says Kerr. Rebuilding or sustaining Americas technological leadership is a major theme of the Longer Telegram and is the very operating premise of the report of the China Strategy Group assembled by Eric Schmidt, former executive chairman of Alphabet, Googles parent company, and the first chair of the Department of Defenses Innovation Advisory Board. Those priorities have only become more important during the pandemic. Its a question of how do we orient the research system to fill in the industrial gaps that have been made very clear by the COVID crisis? says Schneider of Rhodium. While it hasnt gone so far as to adopt a national industrial strategy, the Administrations most ambitious officials are looking to prod along tech research in critical sectors. To that end, the National Security Council, which Sullivan runs, is reshaping itself around technology issues; Biden appointed the first deputy national security advisor focusing on technology issues as well as a high-profile senior director for technology. Their goal: to harness the same energy that drove the development of Silicon Valley during the Cold War into out-competing China. That said, the ingredients to American (and Western) innovation arent exactly a secret: investment in education, research, and talent. The West still has [most of] the universities, R&D and leading companies, says Brattberg. Theres still a lot of competitiveness and leverage. Unsurprisingly, investing to retain that edge is a key theme of Bidens $2 trillion infrastructure plan, which includes funds for basic research, supply chain support, broadband connectivity, and support for the semiconductor industry. As almost anyone in Silicon Valley will tell you, a functioning and welcoming immigration system is a crucial ingredient, too. The U.S. is at its best when it welcomes talent from around the world and gives people the tools to succeed and thrive here, says Gorman. Whether the Biden Administration can strike a deal with Senate Republicans on comprehensive immigration reform or even funding basic research remains an open question, though. And even if it can succeed, American ingenuity is no longer sufficient on its own. Team America Whether its for talent or partnerships, the U.S.-China tech competition will be won overseas. Allies are the most salient and straightforward way Biden can bring leverage to the table compared to Trump, says Schneider. Biden, Blinken, and other senior administration officials have loudly and repeatedly pronounced their preferences to work with democratic partners on international challenges, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region. It is no accident that Blinken and Sullivans meeting in Anchorage was preceded by a trip to Japan and South Korea, two of Americas closest allies in the region, and that Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga was the first foreign leader to visit Biden at the White House. If you add the U.S. to the EU, Australia, Taiwan, and South Korea, you tilt the balance of economic heft and technological prowess back toward us, he adds. U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of Japan hold a news conference in the Rose Garden of the White House on April 16, 2021. Image Credits: Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images) The ground for Blinken and company is increasingly fertile. Chinese diplomats have been aggressive, if not downright condescending, to countries they perceive have slighted China. In one recent example, the Chinese embassy in Dublin sent a series of tweets targeting an Irish-British journalist couple who had been forced to relocate to Taiwan as a result of a harassment campaign over their critical coverage of Chinas Uyghur policy in Xinjiang. This so-called wolf warrior diplomacy (a reference to a jingoist action film) is prompting a backlash, and helping convince many policy elites in countries who had hoped to sit out a U.S.-China conflict that perhaps Washigntons China skeptics have a point. This perhaps explains the proliferating alpha-numeric soup of coalitions and alliances being floated to secure a free and democratic internet for the future. Theres the D10, a secure supply chain network floated by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, which adds Australia, India, and South Korea to the existing G7 countries (U.S., U.K., Canada, France, Italy, Germany, and Japan). Schmidts report calls for a T-12 (the D10 minus Italy plus Finland, Sweden, and Israel). Others look to expand existing technology-related groupings like the Five Eyes signals intelligence alliance of the U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, or harness burgeoning non-technical ones like the Quad. Gorman points to the significance of the news that the Quad itself Australia, India, Japan, and the US announced the creation of a working group on emerging technology at its first-ever (virtual) leaders summit in March. Meanwhile, Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia, has proposed a technology partnership to be run out of the State Department to coordinate with allies including a $5 billion fund for research with the explicit purpose of countering China. International tech standards are increasingly not set by the West Even if it can shephard its allies, the U.S. still faces stiff international headwinds. The Trump Administration's decision to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade deal negotiated by the Obama Administration with ten other Pacific Rim countries with the intent of setting trade standards in the Asia-Pacific, was taken as a sign that perhaps the U.S. pivot to Asia was less ambitious than advertised. The pact, rebranded as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), has continued without the U.S. and now even China has expressed interest in joining. Trumps disdain for working within multilateral forums has also meant that Washington has essentially ceded the field of global technical standard-setting. Beijing has taken advantage, aggressively working the UN system so that Chinese officials now lead four of the 15 specialized UN agencies, including the two most focused on regulating technology: the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), which helps set global technical standards, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which is responsible for protecting intellectual property rights around the world. China is also backing Russian efforts to rewrite internet governance. With Chinese support, Russia won a UN General Assembly vote in 2019 to start drafting a new cybercrime treaty. Their goal is to replace the U.S-backed 2001 Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, which was created by democracies through the Council of Europe, with a treaty that one critic said would include provisions likely to provide cover to authoritarian governments to persecute their political opponents. Russia and China also unsuccessfully tried to use the (now Chinese-led) ITU to replace the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a private body of experts that governs internet domain names. These efforts are all part of China Standards 2035, an explicit plan to internationalize standards to Chinese preferences in areas like 5G and the Internet of Things (IoT). As Emily de La Bruyre and Nathan Picarsic wrote on TechCrunch last year, Beijing has spent the past two decades establishing influential footholds in multilateral bodies and targeted industrial areas. Now, it is using those footholds to set their rules with them, to define the infrastructure of the future world. Hawks, doves, and U.S. divisions Even within the new consensus on China, there are fissures on how to handle China itself. On the hawkish side, the Schmidt Report concedes that some degree of technological bifurcation is in U.S. interests. But calibrating just how much is a difficult question. Its already a reality, says Barker of the German Council on Foreign Relations. The question is: how deep does the split have to be? Few argue for complete decoupling, Brattberg, the Carnegie scholar who has written extensively on tech diplomacy, says. After all, many are loath to concede completely separate free and authoritarian internets. There are other implications as well: a bipolar, bifurcated internet would have some very serious adverse implications in terms of cost [and] a slowdown in innovation, one former UK intelligence official told me last year. The key is to pinpoint which specific technologies are essential to produce domestically. To the extent we [decouple from China], we have to do it in a smart way, says Gorman. Theres a risk of going too far and hurting potential innovation in the U.S. So the debate going forward is going to be: How do you address true national security vulnerabilities without emulating an authoritarian approach that might say just ban everything from a certain country. And even if we can form a consensus at home, Americas allies are no less divided as I wrote last year with regards to Huawei. While the debate over the Chinese companys role in 5G has evolved, with both France and the U.K. (in a reversal) moving to phase out its kit, the debate over what role China should play economically and technologically in Europe is still very much alive. The U.K. government is clear-eyed; in its Integrated Review of foreign and defense policy published in March, it acknowledged that Chinas growing international assertiveness will pose an increasing risk to UK interests and set an explicit goal for itself to be a third science and tech superpower. France, meanwhile, laid out an Indo-Pacific strategy backing the principle of a free and open Pacific, an explicit challenge to Chinese preferences. But many are still equivocal. As Singapores Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong wrote last year in Foreign Affairs, Asian countries do not want to be forced to choose between the two. Berlin made clear in its Indo-Pacific strategy last year that it was also reticent to make an outright choice. New Zealand, conscious of its important trade with China, is reluctant to expand the use of Five Eyes beyond intelligence sharing. Meanwhile, Italy endorsed Chinas infrastructure-focused Belt and Road Initiative in 2019 and called the country a strategic partner last year. And the European Union moved forward on a trade deal with China late last year despite very public lobbying against it from the United States. A world of tradeoffs The challenge for the Biden Administration will be to assemble practical coalitions without asking allies and partners to make impossible choices. They will succeed if they can reframe the question. In Europe, they don't like decoupling but they do like diversification, says Brattberg. They also dont like the idea of joining a U.S.-led alliance. Instead, he says, Washington should frame cooperation as coalitions among like-minded democrtaic partners. For that to work, the U.S. will have to work out the bilateral issues it has with its allies first. We need to be much more savvy on engaging directly with the EU on resolving issues like data transfers, digital taxation, and data privacy, he said. Digital sovereignty shouldnt come at the expense of partnership with like-minded partners. Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel gives a speech during the press conference at the end of the meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (not pictured) of at The Great Hall Of The People on September 06, 2019 in Beijing, China. Image Credits: Andrea Verdelli-Pool/Getty Images Nimbleness will be key multiple experts told me it will be far better to create ad hoc coalitions on particular issues than to create a single fixed democratic tech alliance. This would have the benefit of keeping groupings tight without excluding countries with key expertise in particular areas (think Sweden and 5G or Taiwan and semiconductors). Washington should also take a collegiate approach, recognizing and respecting that its allies will not always be in lock-step on every aspect of the relations with China. In other words, the U.S. shouldnt let the perfect be the enemy of the good, as agreement most of the time on most issues is probably sufficient to create the momentum Washington needs. The U.S. can still compete globally and widen the circle of like-minded countries, Gorman, the scholar at GMF, tells me, but it has to invest in them if they are going to build out their tech sectors in a way that is aligned with democratic values and standards. Its really about providing an attractive counteroffer, she said. Even if the United States retains its technological edge for the near future, Americans should start adjusting to a future where Silicon Valley's dominance is no longer inevitable. Chinese technologists are pulling ahead in areas like 5G while Chinese firms are competing on price (mobile phones) and increasingly on quality (e-commerce) and innovation (see: TikTok). China also exerts enormous clout through its control of supply chains and rare earth metals as well as its vast customer base. Perhaps Chinas greatest leverage point is its looming presence over Taiwan. As long as Taiwan remains one of the leading manufacturers of semiconductors (chip giant TSMC manufactures 90% of the worlds most advanced chips), the worlds technology industry will be vulnerable to the precarity of cross-Strait relations. The Biden Administration is more prepared than its predecessor to weigh the tradeoffs, Barker of the German Council on Foreign Relation retells me. But its unclear how Washington, so early in this administration, will prioritize technology issues if faced with the prospects of Chinese cooperation on other priorities. After all, at any given moment, the U.S. (and its allies) must weigh a host of priorities vis--vis China. And for all of the downsides to its bellicosity, the Trump Administration's fixation on a handful of issues gave it leverage: it was willing to ignore Uyghurs and other human rights abuses in order to get a trade deal (even if it was deeply flawed). The Biden Administration, on the other hand, has not yet articulated any priorities at all. If the rhetoric from Washington can be believed, the White House thinks it can make progress on climate, Taiwan, trade, human rights, and any number of other areas, all at once. This on its own creates a vulnerability. As historian Niall Ferguson reminded us in a recent Bloomberg column, then National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger was outmaneuvered when he went to China in 1971 with a multi-issue agenda and China singularly focused on Taiwan. Beijings diplomats, despite their wolf-warrior missteps, are still savvy negotiators. If they are allowed to do so, they will once again try to play different parts of the Administration against each other, conditioning progress on climate, for example, on a softening over geopolitics, as the Brookings scholar Thomas Wright has warned. In that light, it simply strains credulity that an all of the above approach will work, especially when Bidens wish list keeps the issues Trump cared about, like trade, 5G, and Taiwan, and adds those he ignored, like human rights, democracy, and climate change. This is where Americas alliances may prove to be Bidens hidden ace. If Biden can forge a common-enough front with a wide-enough spectrum of allies, the U.S. will be better able to withstand Chinese pressure to trade progress on one issue against another. Instead, forcing China to negotiate with the U.S. and its allies on an issue-by-issue basis may put Washington in a better position to succeed. Of all the issues in Americas China portfolio, though, the tech race provides one extra advantage: for all the talk of industrial strategy, alliances, and diplomatic maneuvers, Washington is not the only or even primary actor involved. The Biden Administration can help set the rules, invest in basic research, and defend American interests abroad, but American innovation depends on its innovators and there are still bountiful numbers of them tinkering away. | https://finance.yahoo.com/news/washington-prepared-geopolitical-tech-race-161931739.html |
How is the 2021 NFL Draft going for the Ohio State Buckeyes? | COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Ohio State Buckeyes had one player taken in the first round Thursday and five players taken in Rounds 2 and 3 on Friday. On this Saturday Buckeye Talk, Nathan Baird, Stephen Means and I talked about how the draft has unfolded for Ohio State players so far. Weve also been breaking down every OSU pick on our Ohio State football YouTube channel. In the battle to have the most players selected, through the first three rounds, Alabama led all schools with eight draft picks, while Ohio State and Georgia each had six. If youve never listened to Buckeye Talk before, this is a great time to listen and get subscribed at one of these podcast platforms. Podcast How Fields in Chicago is like Brady in Tampa Bay: Lesmerises Clay Wedin on OSUs blue-blood program: Recruiting Roundup Buy Buckeyes gear: Fanatics, Nike, Amazon, Lids Get Ohio State Sugar Bowl champs & CFP gear: Check out shirts, hats and more merchandise commemorating Ohio States Sugar Bowl win over Clemson, as well as gear on the Buckeyes advancing to the College Football Playoff national championship game | https://www.cleveland.com/osu/2021/05/how-is-the-2021-nfl-draft-going-for-the-ohio-state-buckeyes.html |
What does Ohio State footballs Tommy Togiai bring to the Browns? | CLEVELAND Tommy Togiai made the most of one season as an Ohio State football starter, turning himself from a role player into one of the Big Tens best defensive tackles. The most intriguing piece of his NFL Draft prospect profile more than the brute strength or the unexpected quickness is the fact that Togiai may still have unrealized potential. The Browns are banking on that upside after taking Togiai with the 132nd pick in the fourth round on Saturday. Togiai joins a team with an immediate need for impact players on the interior defensive line. Togiai, long considered the strongest player in the Buckeyes program, started the first seven games at nose tackle in 2020. A positive COVID-19 test kept him out of the national championship game. The absence of his disruptive presence in the middle of the defense was conspicuous. Togiai hoping to add another feat of strength to growing legend Togiais 23 tackles in 2020 included 4.5 for loss and three sacks all against Penn State in the second game of the season. Ohio State ranked 14th nationally in rushing yards per carry, and the wall Togiai created in the middle was a major factor. The Idaho native went into his pro day hoping to break the NFL Scouting Combine record of 49 bench press reps. He only managed 40, which tied for the most in the nation. In addition to that strength, though, Togiai moves better than he is often given credit for. His 40-yard dash (4.97 seconds), 3-cone drill (7.20) and shuttle (4.49) times ranked well ahead of many of the other players with top bench press performances this offseason. At 6-2, 300, there is some question whether Togiai can play nose in the NFL or whether he will need to shift to 3-technique. ESPNs Mel Kiper Jr. said he thought a team could select Togiai in the fourth round and get what could turn out to be second-round value as he improves. Get Ohio State Sugar Bowl champs & CFP gear: Check out shirts, hats and more merchandise commemorating Ohio States Sugar Bowl win over Clemson, as well as gear on the Buckeyes advancing to the College Football Playoff national championship game. | https://www.cleveland.com/osu/2021/05/what-does-ohio-state-footballs-tommy-togiai-bring-to-the-browns.html |
Who Can Visit Scandinavia In May 2021? | The fjords of Norway remain open largely to domestic travelers this spring. Getty Images EU president Ursula von der Leyen said recently that fully-vaccinated Americans may be able to visit Europe this summer. While that news has been widely reported, not everyone is so optimistic. With new lockdowns coming into force in some countries and varying progress with vaccination programs, Europe may remain difficult to visit for some time yet. In the Scandinavian countries Denmark, Norway and Sweden, slow progress with national vaccination programs means that travel restrictions are highly unlikely to be lifted to any great extent during May. At present, none of the entry requirements set down by the three countries distinguish between vaccinated and non-vaccinated visitors, although such rules are expected to be introduced later this year. Here are the rules and regulations currently in place for anyone entering Denmark, Norway and Sweden during May 2021. These are of course subject to change at short notice. Denmark Latest coronavirus situation: As of April 29, a total of 251,428 positive test results have been recorded since the pandemic began. 2,485 people have died. Vaccination progress: As of April 29, 10.9% of Denmarks population is fully vaccinated, with 22.5% having received at least one dose. Entry rules and restrictions: Most foreign citizens not resident in Denmark can only enter the country with a "worthy purpose" and a negative Covid-19 test result. If traveling by air, the test result must be shown before boarding the plane to Denmark. A worthy purpose includes employment, critical business travel, and visiting family or a partner. It does not include tourism or any form of leisure travel. Anyone entering Denmark will be required to test and then self-isolate for 10 days. Denmarks color-coded system allows travelers from some countries to enter for any reason and skip the isolation requirement, although the requirement for a negative test result still applies. However, at the time of writing, just a handful of countries fall into this yellow category, including Australia and New Zealand. For updates, see the official Covid-19 website of Denmark. Norway Latest coronavirus situation: As of April 29, a total of 112,715 positive test results have been recorded since the pandemic began. 756 people have died. Vaccination progress: As of April 29, 6.63% of Norway's population is fully vaccinated, with 24.92% having received at least one dose. Entry rules and restrictions: The prime minister has announced a four-step plan to reopen the country over the coming months. However, entry restrictions are set to remain strict throughout May, although there may be some extra family visits and business travel permitted. At the time of writing, the vast majority of non-resident foreigners are only permitted to enter Norway for essential reasons, such as visiting children or a select few business reasons including seafarers and commercial transport operators. People arriving from abroad must present a negative Covid-19 test and then quarantine for 10 days, with just a few exceptions for those on business travel. If a private residence is not available for quarantine, the traveler must stay at a quarantine hotel at a cost of 500 Norwegian kroner ($60) per night. Residents of Norway must also stay at a quarantine hotel if the trip was non-essential. For updates, see the coronavirus webpages of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. Sweden Latest coronavirus situation: As of April 29, a total of 973,604 positive test results have been recorded since the pandemic began. 14,048 people have died. Vaccination progress: As of April 30, 9.2% of Swedens population is fully vaccinated, with 30.7% having received at least one dose. Entry rules and restrictions: The temporary entry ban for non-essential travel to the EU via Sweden remains in place throughout May. Exemptions are possible for urgent travel and for seasonal workers employed in agriculture, forestry and horticulture. All foreign nations that do visit Sweden must present a negative Covid-19 test to gain entry. The government recommendsbut does not requiretesting upon arrival and after five days in Sweden. For updates, see Swedens crisis information website. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidnikel/2021/05/01/who-can-visit-scandinavia-in-may-2021/ |
Did Trumps actions as president cost Florida a seat in Congress and an electoral vote? | The hundreds of people who streamed into Florida every day for a decade brought with them, along with traffic and everything else, an increase in the states political clout greater representation in Congress and in electoral votes that decide the presidency. But not as big an increase as expected. When official numbers came out from the Census Bureau on Monday, Florida was awarded one more congressional district, for a total of 28, and one more electoral vote, for a total of 30. For years, Democrats, Republicans and independent analysts were practically certain that Florida was in line for two more of each. Theres no disputing Florida is on a roll, with the official population count up 14.6% since 2010 to 21.5 million as of April 1, 2020. Nationally, population increased 7.4% to 332.4 million. The numbers confirmed, once again, the South and West are growing much faster than the Midwest and Northeast. The big surprise leapt out when congressional seats were allocated. The Constitution requires a census every 10 years to apportion seats in the U.S. House. Each state gets one representative; the rest are divided based on population. Each states electoral votes are based on its number of House seats, plus two. Actions and rhetoric by former President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis could have played a role. Immigrant population Florida, widely expected to get two more seats, got one. Texas, expected to get three seats, got two. And Arizona, expected to get one, got zero. A big commonality among those three states is a large Hispanic population, including many immigrants, both legally in the U.S. and here without documentation. And that raises questions about the Trump effect. For much of the former presidents time in office, he demonized immigrants who arent in the country legally. And for much of the planning for the 2020 census, the Trump administration wanted to add a question about citizenship to the census. Ultimately the Supreme Court stopped the citizenship question. Story continues Advocates for the immigrant community said that almost certainly reduced census participation by people who are in the U.S. without permission. (Regardless of what anyone thinks of people in the U.S. without documents, the Constitution requires counting of everyone in the country.) If, as some suspect, that led immigrants to complete the census at a lower rate, it probably hurt Florida, Texas and Arizona, said Michael Garcia, president of the civic group The Hispanic Vote, in Broward County. Like others, Garcia said he couldnt be certain. Kevin Wagner, a Florida Atlantic University political scientist, and Matthew Isbell, a Florida-based Democratic data consultant who runs the MCI Maps firm, said its impossible to know until more data comes out, and even then there may not be a definitive answer. Broward County Commissioner Nan Rich, a former Democratic leader in the Florida Senate, said she has no doubt about what happened. Theres no question in my mind, said Rich, who was chairwoman of Browards Complete Count Committee, which brought civic, government and business leaders together to encourage people to complete the census. I believe it was a whole, orchestrated attempt to undercount certain groups of people in the United States. I think theres a definite corollary to the whole intent of the Trump administration not to count the immigrant population or certainly to undercount it. Census information is legally protected and cant be turned over to law enforcement or immigration authorities. Jorge Garrido, who leads Hispanic Vote in Palm Beach County, said many immigrants, including newly legal immigrants, dont trust the federal government something he said predates Trump. And assuring people the information couldnt be used for anything other than census purposes ran into what was coming out of the Trump Administration, Rich said. Everything they did was to undermine that and to raise the level of fear and uncertainty among people who are undocumented and not just undocumented, but immigrants in general that somehow this would be turned over to ICE and other authorities. One bit of evidence: the states population was 0.9% less than population estimates, one of the larger shortfalls in the country and about double the national shortfall. Its a small percentage, but in a state with 21 million-plus residents, potentially significant. Florida was about 171,000 people short of a second additional seat. I dont think its something thats Florida-specific, Isbell said. A lot of the Sunbelt areas with Hispanic populations seemed to fall a little bit below where the statistical estimates for their populations were, he said, while some northeastern states had populations higher than the estimates. You see a pretty clear pattern. Census promotion Many states and communities had robust efforts to encourage people to participate in the census and backed up their efforts with promotional money. Under DeSantis, critics say, Florida did relatively little, and it was late. Arizona and Texas didnt have the kind of ambitious promotional efforts as some other states. Arturo Vargas, CEO of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, who termed the counts in some states surprising in a statement, said the robust promotional efforts in states like California and New York and anemic efforts in Arizona and Florida may have had an impact. There appears to be a correlation between the investment of statewide governmental resources in census outreach and apportionment tallies, he said. DeSantis appointed a Florida Complete Count Committee, chaired by Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuez, on Jan. 6, 2020. Rich said the effort was minimal, at best. The state was missing in action. Mon Holder, senior director of advocacy and programs at the left-leaning advocacy group Florida Rising, said the state could have done much more. One of the predecessor organizations that merged to create Florida Rising did extensive outreach efforts to encourage people to participate in the census. We didnt see a state Complete Count Committee formed until the final hours of the census. And that committee didnt do what it needed to do to make sure that education was widespread, especially in Black and brown communities, Holder said. Taryn Fenske, the governors communications director, said by email that the Nuez-led group accomplished a lot, funded from existing state resources at no additional expense to Florida taxpayers. She pointed to a list of efforts including partnerships through which Florida pro sports teams, coaches and players touted the census; video messages tailored to each county; faith-based content sent to 30,000 faith and community leaders; thousands of fliers at food distribution and COVID-19 testing sites, and a Nuez media blitz in English and Spanish. Fenske noted that two states that spent heavily, California at $187 million and New York at $60 million, still lost one seat each. Pandemic The coronavirus pandemic was exploding just as people were supposed to fill out their census forms last spring, something Fenske said obviously yielded extraordinary impacts and obstacles to enumeration and field operation efforts. Florida had an uptick in the share of households that self-reported their information to the census, to 63.8% in 2020, up from 63% in 2010. It was the first time that people were supposed to go online to answer the census questions. Households that didnt complete the census were supposed to be visited by enumerators to collect the information. Rich said professionals in the Census Bureau wanted more time, but that was short-circuited by Trump Administration political appointees. The pandemic made in-person follow-ups more difficult, said Maria Ilcheva, an expert in data analytics and behavioral research at the Metropolitan Center at Florida International University who was a researcher on reports on census outreach efforts in Broward and Miami-Dade counties. It was difficult to find and train those workers and get them into the field during the pandemic. Still, Ilcheva said, the Census Bureau was largely successful in collecting information in the context of the pandemic. ______ | https://news.yahoo.com/did-trump-actions-president-cost-194300593.html |
Which 49ers Running Back Will be the Odd Man Out? | The 49ers might have a running back controversy on their hands. Much to the surprise of many, the 49ers drafted two running backs. They selected Ohio State's Trey Sermon in the third round and Louisiana's Elijah Mitchell in the sixth round. That makes SIX running backs currently on the roster. Either the 49ers are looking to throw back their offense to the 60s and 70s, or a couple of these players are going to be shown the door. There is no way the 49ers are going to keep six running backs rostered along with Kyle Juszczyk. Four running backs has been Kyle Shanahan's staple, so at least one player is going to be axed. Wayne Gallman is the immediate thought since he has no guaranteed money. He was always just merely for depth and is an expendable player. JaMycal Hasty could also be on the chopping block as well. Since he was an undrafted free agent, Shanahan has no ties to him or any reason to retain him. He may just remain as a practice squad player that ends up getting poached. One "out of the park" scenario the 49ers could do is trade Raheem Mostert. As superb of a runner as he can be when he is on it, Mostert is not reliable. He has proven he cannot be a workhorse running back, let alone stay healthy for an entire season. His phenomenal performances in 2019 came on the second half of the season, which is not a coincidence. Mostert has proven to be the running back that optimizes Shanahan's offense the most. However, if 2020 taught the 49ers anything it is that they need to devalue players who are made of glass. It is the main reason they traded up to the third pick to draft Trey Lance in the first place. Drafting two running backs may seem unnecessary since the 49ers did not have a dramatic need there, but it is clearly a move to either ship someone off or at least set themselves up for the future. Mostert and Jeff Wilson Jr. are on expiring contracts this season. It is not a guarantee they would return or even be worth the money should they boost their value. It is better to grab younger and more promising running backs on cost-controlled rookie contracts. Gallman and Hasty are my clear-cut choices as the odd men out, but do not be surprised if Mostert ends being placed their as well. | https://www.si.com/nfl/49ers/news/which-49ers-running-back-will-be-the-odd-man-out |
Will Notre Dame freshman Tyler Buchner's Blue-Gold Game surge morph into relevance? | Eric Hansen South Bend Tribune SOUTH BEND Unless Brian Kelly is gaslighting us, the Notre Dame head football coach emerged from Saturdays Blue-Gold Game spring football finale with a manageable summer to-do list. Even if the 17-3 Blue victory over the Gold at Notre Dame Stadium was notably reminiscent at times of the 2002 rendition, a portending 3-0 snoozefest in Tyrone Willinghams first spring in his three-year regime. Like 5-of-21 combined third-down conversions, 1-of-4 fourth-down tries, nine sacks, 18 tackles for loss, a combined 64 rushing yards on 40 carries, and three turnovers. Were still trying to figure out our (offensive) identity, honestly, sophomore running back Chris Tyree offered. The assumption, from a purely optics standpoint Saturday, was that the identity is decidedly introverted. And thats the opposite of where second-year coordinator Tommy Rees and Kelly are committed to coaxing it. Then again, the only public/media peek at a Notre Dame football team ticketed for a preseason top 10 ranking wasnt designed to impress at least not through an offensive prism. We really wanted to put guys out there and force them to compete in some of the more difficult situations that they would be in, an upbeat Kelly said. We wanted them out there in the most difficult circumstances. So today thats why you saw some sacks. Thats why you saw maybe not as many points. But it was all calculated, and (we) got exactly what we wanted out of it from that perspective. Well have a great evaluation. It allows us to move in the direction that we need to into the offseason. Suddenly, the most intriguing thread of that is the quarterback position. Not urgent, mind you, but fascinating. Because of freshman Tyler Buchner. Wisconsin grad transfer Jack Coan will still likely be the starter when the Irish open the 2021 season Sept. 5 at Florida State, and sophomore Drew Pyne will continue to confound those who want to write him off because of his stature (6-foot, 194 pounds). But Buchner, unlike Pyne and Coan playing Saturday without the protective hands off red jersey, continued his late-spring surge and was the statistical star of the Blue-Gold Game. Comparisons to Junior Jabbie, the Notre Dame poster child for spring cautionary tales and the MVP of the 2007 Blue-Gold Game on a day when a record crowd showed up primarily to watch another freshman QB prodigy, Jimmy Clausen. Jabbie never played a meaningful down thereafter and transferred twice to FCS school Delaware and NCAA Div. II Edinboro each of the next two seasons. Kelly to be open-minded enough to get to the bottom of how real Saturdays performance was and what it could turn into. And it appears he is from pondering a niche role for the best running QB on the roster to trying to find more equitable summer reps during the players-only workouts. Its the growth progression for him. Today he took a big step up in terms of his growth, Kelly said. He was given more of an opportunity, obviously, by being live. He took advantage of it. He had some really good throws down the field. Were never going to close the door on what can help our offense be a better offense. Were not going to say, Well, Tyler Buchners a freshman. He cant play. If he can help our football team, well find any role for somebody that can help us. He just needs to continue to grow, continue to learn. If he does that and we feel like when we get to the fall that theres a role or some form of playing that can help us with Tyler Buchner, we'll certainly consider that as well. Whatever makes us better, I guess is what Im saying, were certainly going to consider. Braden Lenzy makes one of his five catches during Notre Dame's Blue-Gold Game, Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium. Tribune Photo/MICHAEL CATERINA The 6-1, 207-pound midyear, who enrolled with just one year of high school football starting experience, completed 6-of-9 passes for 140 yards and led both touchdown drives. He covered the final seven yards himself on the first with a QB keeper, and handed off to walk-on Leo Albano for the second. Buchners 197.3 passer rating was higher than Coans and Pynes combined. Pyne finished 11-of-23 for 146 yards and an interception. Coan was 18-of-132 for 197 and a pick. Both had impressive moments. Both were hamstrung by splitting up offensive line units that had been used to working together and by some liberal interpretations at times at what was considered a sack. We want to see decision-making, Kelly said of the QBs he had framed as 1 and 1A this spring. We want to see management of the game. We want to see how the quarterbacks handle themselves in the pocket, out of the pocket, what kind of throws theyre making, on-platform throws. Tommy did a great job of giving them all the various throws that weve put in, so that we can continue to help them grow and develop. All in all, all of them did a fine job of what we asked them to do in this format. That format incidentally was a rare standard spring game, splitting up the teams evenly rather than keeping players together who are used to playing together and using a contrived scoring system for things like first downs and defensive three-and-outs. Notre Dames older receivers thrived in the format Lawrence Key III (5 catches for 115), Braden Lenzy (5 for 88) and Avery Davis (5 for 84) in particular. Freshman tight end Mitchell Evans flashed (3 for 59) as did senior tight end George Takacs (3 for 32) on a day when star Michael Mayer was put in mothballs for being 80-percent healthy. The running game, meanwhile, had nothing to prove, and it didnt. The lines evolution should remedy that come August. Marcus Freemans defense, playing without the schematic wrinkles that will make it more formidable in September, instead overwhelmed with its depth on Saturday. The way that I see things right now is that were a good team, Kelly said. And good teams are not good enough. We want to be a great team. Good teams dont win a national championship. You have to be a great team. If its Pyne, if its Buchner, if its Coan, weve got to find a way to develop the quarterback at Notre Dame to be ready to play, Kelly said. I dont know if all three can get equal reps to see that that happens. So something will have to give along the way as this continues to unfold when we go into camp. | https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/college/notre-dame/2021/05/01/notre-dame-freshman-tyler-buchners-blue-gold-game-surge-morph-into-relevance/4911070001/ |
Should NBA switch to NFL-style calendar with free agency before the draft? | Our look at four topics players, issues, numbers, trends that are impacting and, in some cases, changing the game. First Quarter: NFL approach to NBA calendar Just thinking aloud here The NFL has started to copy the NBA in some ways, most notably the players beginning to realize their power. It cant be apples to apples, not with the power structure of the NFL heavily tilting toward the front offices and team owners, but we have seen marquee players take matters into their hands in ways that look like the NBAs player empowerment era. The first round of the NFL draft was Thursday night, and free agency was not scheduled to open in the coming days because it already happened. Teams already filled certain needs through free agency and didnt have to wait on the draft, although the draft is used to plug holes. That doesnt happen in the NBA, but perhaps it should change. There was a proposal from the then-Houston Rockets front office, led by Daryl Morey, to reform the offseason in 2018. Have free agency begin in July as usual, but have the draft around July 10. That would push Summer League back, which teams didnt appear fond of back then, and even though the NBA is becoming a 24/7/365 operation, folks do like having their summers off. A league source told Yahoo Sports about two-thirds of the teams were against it, with reasons ranging from the shock of change to yes, summer vacations. There are logistical reasons, calculating revenue from the Finals comes into play, which sets the salary cap so teams know how much money theyll have to spend so its not just frivolous arguments against it. But quietly, momentum is changing and two general managers told Yahoo Sports they believe its a 50-50 split across the league. One is a strong proponent for it, the other would favor it but wouldnt fight hard for the change. But imagine how teams would do things knowing that their big free agency signing was already in or out of the fold. Or merely being able to leverage draft picks to work out sign-and-trades with the draft around the corner. Story continues Teams couldnt comprehend having to do free agency and then the draft, which in their mind was overwhelming, the GM whos strongly in favor of change said. But the reality of it is that its the same amount of time. Change is hard for a lot of people. The salaries for the draft are already set, so it wouldnt mess with teams free agency plans if things flipped. It could create more activity, though, since teams usually want to maximize cap space headed into the draft. For the flurry of trades we see on draft night, there could be more if the calendar changed. Last year with the pandemic, the climate was totally different, and I saw an uptick in terms of [teams] considering it, he said. Its a prehistoric approach. Utilizing cap space, assets and team needs are backwards, its ridiculous. Another team executive points out the challenge for small-market teams that have to value the draft more than free agency because there arent the financial advantages therefore amplifying the trade market for teams who are trying to create cap space in free agency and are willing to part ways with draft picks in the meantime. As a whole, change is hard, and the league hasnt applied pressure on the matter one way or the other. A senior league official told Yahoo there hasnt been serious discussion about it recently. I am open to it, [although] one issue becomes the extension of the summer, another general manager told Yahoo Sports. I do like how football can fill free agent needs first and supplement their rosters with the draft second. I have logistical concerns. Theres been a natural order to the way things have been done in the NBA, but it doesnt mean it cant be changed in ways to create a new natural order. The GMs reached by Yahoo Sports didnt come down to a 50-50 split, they were more in favor of the NFL model by a decent margin. Either way, the tide is changing and you wonder if the NBA will bring this up to a vote at some point in the near future. It would have to pass by at least a majority, although it could require a two-thirds or three-fourths margin depending on what else is on the docket. Its something to watch over the next couple years. Ehhh, kinda. New Orleans Zion Williamson getting whacked upside the head by Denvers Nikola Jokic in the final seconds of the Nuggets-Pelicans game Wednesday caused a bit of a stir. It looked like Jokic blocked Williamsons shot just as he made contact with the back of Williamsons head, a no-call in the moment that secured Denvers seventh win in eight games keeping them in play for the third seed, a shocker in the wake of Jamal Murrays ACL injury. For New Orleans, it was yet another close loss that has it on the outside of the play-in tournament. Pelicans coach Stan Van Gundy stopped short of going nuclear in the postgame, but everyone knew what he was thinking. Williamson handled it even better, saying he has to earn the respect of the officials. "I do think strength gets punished in this league a lot more than quickness," Van Gundy said. "If you're able to go through contact a little bit, it's called differently. If you fall down every time you're hit or you flop, you get calls. That's just the way it is. It's not just Zion, that's just the way it is. Williamson could be as difficult to officiate as Shaquille ONeal was, who seemingly got hacked on every play but swatted bigs and guards off like mosquitos. Williamsons quickness and willingness to play inside in an increasingly perimeter-oriented game could be tough for officials to watch and see everything, especially if he doesnt react demonstratively. Williamson gets to the line nearly nine times a game but if hes fouled more, he should be at the line more is one of Van Gundys gripes. Perhaps it was an MVP call (yes, Jokic is the MVP), with the ground-bound but precise Jokic getting the benefit of the doubt from the officials in a way that say, JaVale McGee would not. Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic had a huge, controversial block on New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson during Wednesday's game. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) The leagues two-minute report called it an incorrect no-call, saying Jokic made contact with Williamsons wrist. But isnt the old adage, hand is part of the ball? Or is it No blood, no foul? Depends on when you started playing or what side of town you grew up on, but one thing most agree with on all corners is nobody wants the officials to decide the games. And despite what a few Twitter detectives believe, official X doesnt hate your team and would rather not be the center of attention in a late-game situation. The feeling from here is this: minimal incidental contact on a good defensive play should be rewarded, with the key word minimal. If a player is hit in the eye after getting his shot blocked on the follow through, it should probably be called. And late in games, plays at the rim should come with a certain amount of acceptable contact. Again, this isnt the 90s. Nobody wants to go back to Charles Oakley and Xavier McDaniel leading with the elbow because someone dared travel to the paint. But in a league thats increasingly tilted toward the offense, its OK to give defenders a little leeway, especially at the rim, especially late in games. Good no-call. Third Quarter: Kobe Bryant's Nike line ends It wasnt a fun sight to see the divorce between Nike and the estate of Kobe Bryant last week. After months of negotiations, the two sides couldnt come to an agreement, with Vanessa Bryant wanting what appeared to be reasonable concessions from Nike on Kobes line. Since Kobe Bryants death in early 2020, his retro shoe releases have exploded in ways that didnt happen even at his height with Nike. Anyone whos tried to get a pair of his shoes on Nikes SNKRS app knows the pain of seeing a rejection for a raffle. Vanessa Bryant has heard the complaints of his fans who find Nikes inventory inaccessible and has asked for it to be more available on release day. Whether it was that or the belief Vanessa Bryant wanted a lifetime deal on par with Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Cristiano Ronaldo, the negotiations broke off as Kobe Bryants deal expired. Its believed Nike will have two final releases from the Kobe line. Vanessa Bryant is free to speak with other shoe brands about a deal. There have been more and more complaints about the accessibility of Nike signature releases in general as websites have been flooded through the pandemic and the apps have been taken over by bots then jacking up the price of the shoes on the resale market. While thats a bigger problem Nike should fix, Vanessa Bryant's desire to have more shoes and apparel for more fans to buy doesnt seem unreasonable and would seem to be an easy fix for Nike on paper. More shoes and more apparel equals more money for the sneaker giant that already laps all competitors in the space. NBA players seemed to clamor for more Bryant models, as more and more have worn his shoes over the past year to honor him. Those will not be easy conversations when the asks come next season and beyond as Nike will have to discontinue any production of the Kobe line. Youd like to think the two sides could come to some reasonable conclusion to restart the relationship, but its hard to see that happening. And nobody wins, either. Break up the Celtics! Theyre tied with the Miami Heat, meaning the Eastern Conference finalists from the bubble are battling to not be in the play-in tournament a year later. There are myriad reasons why the Celtics have underachieved this season not excuses, but valid reasons. Battling COVID-19, which hit the Celtics seemingly harder than other teams. Jayson Tatum revealed he still uses an inhaler as a result of his bout with the virus, along with new addition Evan Fournier not being able to find his footing due to recovering from COVID-19. Kemba Walker hasnt been himself, having undergone a stem cell injection in his left knee in the short offseason. Not playing back-to-backs, and shooting 41% and 35% from three are his lowest shooting numbers since 2014-15 before his four straight All-Star appearances. Hes been better (45% shooting in April), but his availability is still being monitored as the Celtics head to the playoffs. Boston Celtics guard Kemba Walker shoots past Charlotte Hornets forward P.J. Washington during ttheir game on April 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson) Its hard to pinpoint exactly why the Celtics are so inconsistent, when you consider they should be able to deal with some of the nagging injuries to guys like Marcus Smart. For the Celtics to be great, in a sense, their best players have to match up with the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Kevin Durant and James Harden. This isnt the Eastern Conference of a few years ago, when general manager Danny Ainge could swindle a team like the Brooklyn Nets for all of their draft picks, with his only worry being LeBron James in Miami or Cleveland. But the Nets have recovered to pass the Celtics, along with Philadelphia and Milwaukee, largely due to Ainges unwillingness to part ways with a treasure trove of picks since he picked Tatum and Brown. The picks havent worked out, and with Ainges success in big deals where he clearly came out the winner, it seems he refuses to make a deal unless he swindles his trade partner. As a result, they look like a team without a country, no identity and thin up front which falls on Ainge and coach Brad Stevens. Its year eight for Stevens in Boston, which means only Erik Spoelstra in Miami has a longer tenure. Counting the Kyrie Irving experience in 2018-19, this is the second time in three years the Celtics have underachieved and Stevens largely skated from criticism that time. Hes a good coach, but it cant just fall on the players here. Tatum and Brown not being supernovas can only fly so far, considering how theyve developed since being drafted. But how this season is summarized and explained will be curious. More from Yahoo Sports: | https://sports.yahoo.com/should-nba-switch-to-nfl-style-calendar-with-free-agency-before-the-draft-175758595.html?src=rss |
Have the Broncos done enough this offseason to ignite their offense? | If there was ever a defensive masterpiece in a loss while allowing 447 yards, the Broncos delivered it last December in Kansas City. The Chiefs failed to score a touchdown in all four of their red-zone possessions, including three goal-to-go situations, and were held to 22 points, quarterback Patrick Mahomes lowest output of the regular season. But the Broncos anemic offense managed only 16 points, producing the same amount of touchdowns and turnovers (two). Its been heavy offensive drafts before I came and we have a young group of offensive players; I think they need to develop, Paton said Saturday. We had a few tweaks here and there, obviously we brought in (quarterback) Teddy (Bridgewater) so I think the offense will grow and continue to grow. I like the young offensive talent. Paton should like the young offensive talent at receiver (Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy and KJ Hamler), tight end (Noah Fant and Albert Okwuegbunam) and running back (second-round pick Javonte Williams) but you know the position that isnt mentioned. Bridgewater is a Band-Aid, capable of helping Minnesota to the playoffs as a second-year starter, but incapable of sticking with a team as their multi-year guy. The uncertainty at quarterback, no matter how good the Broncos feel about it, continues to be a dark cloud over the organization. Drafting Justin Fields would have been terrific for online clicks and subscriptions (thank you for contributing to our cause), but not immediately beneficial for coach Vic Fangio. No doubt cornerback Pat Surtain II will have a bigger impact this year with the Broncos than Fields with Chicago. But the perception and potential reality of the Broncos quarterback position is the same exiting April as it was entering March: Not good enough. Patons plan seemed to be geared toward giving Fangio every chance at Year 3 success, thus earning him a fourth season. The Broncos signed cornerbacks Ronald Darby and Kyle Fuller. They retained defensive end Shelby Harris and safety Justin Simmons. And starting with Surtain, seven of their 10 draft picks play defense. The only notable offensive moves so far are Bridgewater and Williams, both of whom should start in Week 1. Little offensive tackle depth. No blocking tight end. And, so far, no Aaron Rodgers. The response to five years of offensive futility scoring averages of 20.8, 18.1, 20.6, 17.6 and 20.8 was short on action and long on hope. The Broncos hope Sutton returns to Pro Bowl form, hope Jeudy/Hamler make second-year jumps, hope Fant has a break-out third year and hope right tackle JaWuan James stays available. Thats a lot of hope, folks. Sutton is the linchpin to an offensive revival. Period. The Broncos best offensive player in last years training camp, he can stretch the field vertically and horizontally, which will open things up for Jeudy, Hamler and Fant. And his ability to win contested passes in the red zone merit him getting 100-plus targets. A dynamic Sutton will help any quarterback look good. Hes doing really, really good (in his rehab) and I see him working out every day and I talk to him every day in the trainers room and I cant imagine he can be doing any better at this stage of his rehab, Fangio said. I see him running. I see him in the weight room. Hes been unbelievable and its been infectious to the other guys that are rehabbing. (And) hell help those guys (Jeudy, Hamler and Fant) once hes on the field. Put all of the Broncos offensive talent together and it looks good on paper. And on that paper, they should have a motto: Mission 25. Increase their scoring average to 25 points, and the playoffs which still look miles away even after free agency, the Bridgewater trade and the draft becomes realistic. Reach 25 points and the defense will be able to rush the quarterback and create more takeaways than the last two years. Reach 25 points and the Broncos become relevant and successful again finally. Since 2016, the Broncos are 14-3 in games when they scored at least 25 points 14 stinkin games out of 80. In the last four years, they are 8-2. Compare that to the Chiefs, who are 50-8 in the last five years when they score at least 25 points. From the outside, it appears the Broncos are building themselves to win 20-17 or 17-13. Fans should hope the perception isnt accurate. Last year, teams won only 32 games when scoring 20 or fewer points compared to 72 games when scoring 25 or fewer points. The Broncos will play two games apiece against Mahomes, Las Vegas Derek Carr and the Chargers Justin Herbert. They will also face Dak Prescott (Dallas), Lamar Jackson (Baltimore), Joe Burrow (Cincinnati), Baker Mayfield (Cleveland) and Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsburgh). Translation: A scoring average below 25 points will mean a sixth consecutive year out of the playoffs. But the offseason has made clear that the Broncos are banking on the combination of internal improvement, Suttons return, Bridgewater thriving in Pat Shurmurs offense and Williams to ignite the running game. The Broncos need all those gambles to pay off. | https://www.denverpost.com/2021/05/01/broncos-offseason-offense-nfl-draft/ |
Will Scott Peterson, convicted of killing wife Laci and unborn child, get a new trial? | In a California courtroom this week, there was a hearing in a sensational murder case that most think ended nearly 20 years ago. In 2004, Scott Peterson was convicted and later sentenced to death for killing his pregnant wife Laci and dumping her body in the San Francisco Bay. But now there's a new twist in the case. California's highest court overturned Peterson's death sentence last summer, meaning he will get a new sentencing trial. His supporters want him to be retried on all charges, saying they have new evidence that could exonerate him. "Scott did not get a fair trial," Peterson's sister-in-law, Janey Peterson, tells CBS News correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti. Janey Peterson maintains police did not look hard enough at others or consider a connection to Laci's death and a burglary that happened across the street from the Peterson's home. "The wrong person's in prison," she says. Authorities are not commenting, but Jon Buehler, one of the original detectives on the case, disagrees. "There's nothing that's come out that's made me change my view that Scott got a fair trial and that Scott is the one who killed Laci," he tells Vigliotti. "Twenty years later, this case still holds a lot of interest," says Jack Leonard, senior editor of investigations at the Los Angeles Times. "Mostly because it remains an enduring mystery. CHRISTMAS EVE 2002 The infamous San Quentin prison is the last stop for men on death row in California, and where our story begins. Because that's where Scott Peterson remains behind bars. For years, the Peterson murder mystery captivated America. SHARON ROCHA | LACI PETERSON'S MOTHER [at press conference]: Laci and her unborn child did not deserve to die. Peterson was ultimately convicted of murdering his pregnant wife Laci and their unborn child Conner. He was sentenced to death. "This was ... a perfect true crime case. It had mystery, murder, sex, media obsession," says Jack Leonard, senior editor of investigations at the Los Angeles Times, of the Peterson case. AP But Scott Peterson's death sentence has since been thrown out and several questions still remain. Some people believe he is innocent that he was railroaded, even framed. Others say there is no question he is guilty. It was just on the other side of the same bay nearly 20 years ago, the bodies of Laci Peterson and her unborn child washed up on shore. On Christmas Eve 2002, Laci Peterson was first reported missing by her family. GRETCHEN CARLSON [CBS News report]: Police in Modesto, California, have a mystery on their hands. A woman who is eight months pregnant has been missing since Tuesday when she left home to take her dog for a walk. Scott Peterson and Laci Rocha met in 1994 while both were attending college at California Polytechnic State University. They married two years later. In 2002, Laci became pregnant. The two lived in Modesto, California and planned to raise their unborn son Conner there. Court evidence It happened in the city of Modesto, in California's Central Valley. Scott and Laci Peterson lived here on a quiet residential street. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: Christmas Day morning, about 9 o'clock, I get a call I was a police detective at Modesto Police Department. Detective Jon Buehler worked the case from the beginning. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: Laci was as about as pure a victim as you can get. She was about eight months pregnant when she disappeared. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: We went over to the Peterson house, which is when I first met Scott. And the detective remembers noticing something odd about Scott's behavior. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: He was a little bit he just didn't seem interested. SCOTT PETERSON: I do not. SCOTT PETERSON: No. SCOTT PETERSON: Mm-hmm. Scott told police that Christmas Eve day he left Laci alone and went off a fishing trip. He said when he got home Laci wasn't there only their dog McKenzie. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: McKenzie's there in the front yard area, the street area with a leash on that's kind of muddy. And he's thinking that this is kind of strange. His theory was that she had gone down into the park and had been walking the dog and something happened down there, abduction or something like that. Police immediately started a search. NEWS REPORT: Officers returned in force this morning combing the park and creek bank on foot and on horseback. Relatives, friends, and neighbors joined in distributing fliers and searching the park. SCOTT PETERSON: No, I mean I've asked you a couple times what to do, um, so I have the answers to that. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: Oftentimes, a victim who's left behind is firing tons of questions at us. And we didn't get any of that from him. The response from everyone else close to Laci was very different. SUSAN CAUDILLO | SCOTT PETERSON'S SISTER: We're searching we're looking and we're going to find you. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: Everybody was going crazy. Everybody was impatient. SHARON ROCHA: Whoever has her, please, please, please, let her go. Bring her back to us" DENNIS ROCHA | LACI PETERSON'S FATHER [sobbing]: Please let us have her back. Family, friends the whole community mobilized immediately to join the search for Laci. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: Sharon Rocha, Laci's mom, her stepdad, Ron Grantski, her friends her brother Brent, her sister Amy. They just saw this whole world coming down. They were always struggling to hold back tears. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: But when it came to Scott, he always would hold back a little bit. He wouldn't show you all of his cards. LOCAL NEWS REPORT: Officers began a search of the couple's home late last night Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: We knew we had to focus on him from the start because that's the way you work a homicide. DOUG RIDENOUR | MODESTO P.D. [at press conference]: Nobody's been ruled out. That's what we're trying to do right now. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: Because generally, there's going to be somebody with motive and generally, the motive is going to be somebody close. On the morning of Laci's disappearance Scott told police he drove to a boat launch about 90 miles away from his home. He said he wanted to take his brand-new boat out on the water to go fishing for sturgeon, but he never caught a single fish. As he drove home, he called Laci and left a message on her phone: SCOTT PETERSON [voicemail]: Hey, beautiful. I just left a message at home 2:15. I'm leaving Berkeley. I won't be able to get to Vella Farms to get the basket for Papa. I was hoping you would get this message and go on out there. I'll see you in a bit, sweetie. Love you. Bye. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: it seemed like a very scripted message. It just it seemed phony to me. Skeptical detectives also wondered why Scott would have gone fishing in the first place. It was Christmas Eve and his wife was eight months pregnant. Peterson told investigators he had originally planned to golf that day but decided to go fishing because of the chilly weather. SCOTT PETERSON [police interview]: It seemed too cold to go play golf at the club, so ... Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: You got a guy who said it was too cold to golf, but it ain't too cold to go fishing. Family, friends, and volunteers launched a huge search for Laci Peterson. KMAX Day after day, the search widened, and the story spread. DENNIS ROCHA : Whoever has Laci. The reward is 500 thousand. Take the money, bring my daughter back safe and take the money and go get away free. Jack Leonard: First of all, you had an attractive looking couple. And it was Christmas Eve, so there's nothing else going on in the news. So, this attracted attention, first of all, from local news, and then national, and then it went global. But hopes for finding Laci Peterson alive were fading. DOUG RIDENOUR | MODESTO P.D. [at press conference]: We still don't have any significant lead into finding Laci Peterson SHARON ROCHA: Please don't give up on us. JACKIE PETERSON | SCOTT'S MOTHER: Please send Laci back to us. And police continued to play close attention to Scott Peterson. DOUG RIDENOUR | MODESTO P.D. [to reporter]: Our discoveries during the investigation have resuscitated the revisiting of the Peterson residence with a second search warrant. They also asked him to take a polygraph. He refused. Ret. Jon Buehler: Scott told us that he wouldn't take the polygraph And so that arched our eyebrows a little bit that he wouldn't take this thing. GLORIA GOMEZ |NEWS REPORT]: Recently authorities released photos of Peterson's pickup and boat, hoping someone could back up his story. Both Scott and Laci's family stood with him. LEE PETERSON | SCOTT'S FATHER: There is no way in god's green earth that he is, you know, even remotely involved in this thing. SHARON ROCHA: We feel Scott has nothing to do with it. LEE PETERSON: We're looking for Laci, and we're gonna find her. Then it looked like there was a break in the case. POLICE PRESS CONFERENCE: We're received a tip yesterday Detectives discovered there had been burglary just across the street from the Peterson home. One witness told police she believed that burglary happened the same morning Laci disappeared. Police quickly put that clue to rest. DOUG RIDENOUR | MODESTO P.D. [at press conference]: We're confident that we have the people in custody for the burglary and they are not connected with the missing of Laci Peterson. Then, about a month after Laci went missing DOUG RIDENOUR | MODESTO P.D. [at press conference]: She is prepared to give a statement. This case took a dramatic turn. Ret. Jon Buehler: The first big break we got in the case was of course Amber coming forward. AMBER FREY [at press conference]: We did have a romantic relationship. THE OTHER WOMAN SCOTT PETERSON [phone recording]: I wanted to call you. AMBER FREY: Thank you. Amber Frey had no idea her boyfriend Scott Peterson was married with a pregnant wife. In 2005 she told "Inside Edition" all about their love affair. AMBER FREY ["Inside Edition"]: He was looking for someone to be with, someone to spend the rest of his life with. You know, I was at a point in my life that I was ready to meet someone, too. Less than a week after Laci Peterson went missing, Modesto detectives raced over to investigate an intriguing lead: a Fresno massage therapist named Amber Frey revealed that she had been dating Scott Peterson for over a month. She told police that Peterson had lied to her and said he was single. Court evidence Amber was 27 years old when she met Peterson. It was November 2002 a month before Laci went missing. Amber says Scott told her he was a widower. They dined on strawberries and champagne and she was beginning to fall for him. AMBER FREY ["Inside Edition"]: It was real for me. And it felt real for him, too. But after a friend saw the Peterson story in the news, he told Amber. And Amber called the police. Detective Buehler and his partner raced down to Amber's home. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: Her recall was fantastic. It was almost like it was a script from a Hallmark TV show or something. She could remember restaurants they went to and what they ate. She could remember what Scott was wearing. She would remember what she was wearing. And Amber had pictures. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: You know, Scott's in a tux and Ambers in that red dress they're getting ready for the Christmas party. Hoping for clues that might lead them to Laci Peterson, detectives ask Amber Frey to record phone calls between her and Scott Peterson, and she agrees. Court evidence That Christmas party was just a week-and-a-half before Laci would go missing. The detectives were stunned. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: We had a guy who looked like the guy you want to marry your younger sister. But now we found that there was that chink in the armor. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: It doesn't mean that he killed Laci. But what it meant to us is there was another side to him that had not been exposed before. Investigators saw an opportunity. Maybe Amber could help them find out what happened to Laci. AMBER FREY ["Inside Edition"]: They asked how I felt about tape-recording conversation with Scott And I said "yes." Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: She had an investment, an emotional and a budding romantic investment in this guy I think she saw it crumbling in front of her. The recordings would become part of a damning case against Scott, but first, Amber addressed the questions about her relationship. In an explosive press conference one month after Laci Peterson goes missing, Amber Frey publicly reveals her affair with Scott Peterson. "I am very sorry for Laci's family and the pain that this has caused them," she said. "And I pray for her safe return, as well." Evidence photo AMBER FREY [at press conference]: Scott told me he was not married. AMBER FREY [at press conference]: I am very sorry for Laci's family and the pain that this has caused them. Laci's family turned on him. BRENT ROCHA | LACI'S BROTHER [addressing reporters]: I would like Scott to know that I trusted him. However, Scott has not been forthcoming with information regarding my sister's disappearance and I am only left to question what else he may be hiding. The story sparked a media frenzy. Jack Leonard: It was huge. It was wild. And it made the case even bigger. You really had the rise of the 24-hour cable news. You had Larry King on there interviewing legal experts, including Nancy Grace. Jack Leonard: Almost from the beginning, she was zeroing in on Scott. Scott Peterson gave an interview to ABC's Diane Sawyer while Laci was still missing. When asked about the marriage, he appeared to refer to Laci in the past tense: SCOTT PETERSON: We took care of each other very well. She was amazing is amazing. SCOTT PETERSON: OK. Scott explains that as a couple they had different interests: SCOTT PETERSON: We have separate pursuits. and being, you know, seven-and-a-half months pregnant she's not going to want to go out in a boat. Scott Peterson speaks with reporter Gloria Gomez. "... some would say that why, if you're a concerned husband, if your wife is missing, you know, you would have that cell phone clinging to you and every call would be an urgent call," Gomez commented about Peterson turning off his ringing cell phone during their interview. KMAX But critics of Scott say the most surprising moment may be what happened when Scott's phone began to ring during the interview. Laci was missing and Scott doesn't pick up the phone. SCOTT PETERSON: That's my phone, unfortunately. I thought it was off. [Scott gets up] Yeah, it's kind of going crazy isn't it. Gloria Gomez: He didn't hesitate to turn it off and some would say that why, if you're a concerned husband, if your wife is missing, you know, you would have that cell phone clinging to you and every call would be an urgent call. And then, more than three months after Laci disappeared, in San Francisco Bay the bodies of Laci and Conner washed up only a few miles away from where Scott Peterson said he was fishing. Two bodies are found about a mile apart on the shores of the San Francisco Bay on April 13 and 14, 2003. They are later identified as Laci Peterson and her unborn child. CBS News With the discovery of the bodies, detectives decided to move quickly. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: Our concern was maybe he's going to head for the border. Authorities finally caught up with Scott at a San Diego golf course. He told them he was supposed to play a round with his father. He also had about $15,000 in cash and his hair was dyed blond. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: He had his brother's driver's license in the car with him, two or three cell phones. And so, you know, not the normal stuff you have if you're going down to the local Winn-Dixie to get groceries. POLICE PRESS CONFERENCE: Scott Peterson has been arrested. He is in the custody of Modesto Police Department detectives. On April 18, 2003, authorities caught up with Scott Peterson at a golf course in San Diego and arrested him. Authorities found a wad of cash, his brother's ID card, and multiple cell phones inside the vehicle. Days later, Peterson pleaded not guilty to two counts of capital murder. Evidence photo Just over a year later in Redwood City, California, Scott Peterson went on trial. The trial had been moved about 90 miles from Modesto because of the huge amount of publicity. Peterson had a high-priced Hollywood dream team of attorneys led by Marc Geragos, famous for defending celebrities like Michael Jackson. MARC GERAGOS [during trial]: This is a capital case. I'm worried about my client's life. [laughs] They changed their story a couple times. Attorney Michael Cardoza also worked on Scott Peterson's case. And though he was not part of the court room defense team he says the prosecutors' theory of what Scott did to Laci was confusing. Michael Cardoza: First, it was he killed her the night before, put her in the rug, put her in the truck, took her to the warehouse. Took her to Berkeley and dumped her in the bay. Then later it was, "Yeah, I guess we really don't know when she was killed, where she was killed. But we do know he did it." Well, come on, guys. Make up your mind. But the case against Scott would get a lot clearer when prosecutors started playing recordings the ones Amber Frey managed to secretly make. AMBER FREY [phone recording]: Hello. AMBER FREY: Yes. SCOTT PETERSON: Hey. AMBER FREY: Oh, my goodness. AMBER FREY: I'm here. SCOTT PETERSON: Amber. AMBER FREY: I wish you could hear me. Happy New Year. Just about everyone who was inside the courthouse at the time agrees it was the tape- recorded phone calls between Amber Frey and Scott Peterson that really grabbed the jury: SCOTT PETERSON [phone recording]: I'm near the Eiffel Tower, the New Years' celebration is unreal. That's Scott Peterson one week after Laci went missing on the phone with Amber Frey pretending he's calling from Paris when authorities say he was really in Modesto while the search for Laci was still going on. Michael Cardoza: Amber Frey. Simply. That's what turned that trial It was the pretext phone calls that Amber Frey made to Scott Peterson. Jonathan Vigliotti: They were pretty damning. Michael Cardoza: There's no question. That's what changed this trial. SCOTT PETERSON: I never cheated on you I never did. AMBER FREY: You're married. Explain that one to me. After the jury heard those calls with Amber, attorney Cardoza says everything changed. Because of massive publicity, Scott Peterson's trial was moved from Modesto to Redwood City, in San Mateo County. The decision was made because the judge decided it would be difficult for Peterson to get a fair trial too close to home, where emotions were running high. Michael Cardoza: That emotion was so loud, they could hear nothing else. And then, with crowds gathered outside and no cameras allowed in court, on November 12, 2004, a verdict: We the jury, in the above entitled cause, find the defendant, Scott Lee Peterson, guilty of the crime of murder of Laci Denise Peterson. Michael Cardoza: When the guilty verdict came back, you could hear the crowd outside when you were in the courtroom cheering. Cheering. What kind of effect did that have on the next phase of the trial, the death. Four months later, sentenced to death, the applause was even louder. But inside the courtroom, it seemed to Laci's family that Scott hardly responded. Harvey Kemple | Laci's Uncle: It was just like always, no emotion. No nothing. The man is a definite psychopath. He is getting exactly what he deserves. After sentencing, some of the jurors lashed out at Peterson: Four months after his conviction, Scott Peterson is sentenced to death. At a press conference, Juror No. 7, Richelle Nice, [pictured center] called Peterson a "jerk" and commented "San Quentin is your new home," referring to the prison where he would serve his sentence. CBS News RICHELLE NICE |JUROR [to reporters]: He is a jerk and I have one comment for Scott: You look somebody in the face when they're talking to you. MIKE BELMESSIERI |JUROR [to reporters]: Well, Scott came in with a great big smile on his face, laughing. It was just another day in paradise for Scott, another day that he had to go through emotions. But he's on his way home, Scott figures. Well, guess what, Scotty RICHELLE NICE: San Quentin's your new home. MIKE BELMESSIERI: And it's illegal to kill your wife and child in California. Michael Cardoza: Juror number seven Miss Nice. Listen to what she says. You'd think you'd be a little introspective about that because there's nothing worse, nothing more ultimate, nothing more final than taking someone's life. Michael Cardoza: Scott Peterson, I have no opinion on whether he's guilty or not guilty. But I do know Scott did not get a fair trial. He absolutely did not. Scott Peterson's attorneys filed appeals and nearly 16 years after his conviction, a decision. After two appeals, Scott Peterson's death sentence was overturned by the California Supreme Court on August 24, 2020, after deciding that the original trial judge made a mistake when jurors were being picked for trial. The result of that mistake, Peterson's supporters say, was that the jury was stacked with pro death penalty jurors. Peterson, shown here in 2018, will now receive a new trial for only the sentence phase. The court upheld his murder convictions. AP Last summer, as Scott sat behind bars in San Quentin, the California Supreme Court threw out his death sentence. Pat Harris: The Supreme Court said, "He is going to get a new trial on the death penalty phase." Pat Harris was part of Scott's defense team in the original trial and he continues to represent him. Pat Harris: They determined that the judge had made a mistake in how the jurors were selected based on the death penalty part of the trial. The result of that mistake, Scott supporters say, was that the jury was stacked against him with pro death penalty jurors. Peterson's team is also arguing that it's not just his death sentence that was all wrong. They say Scott deserves a completely new trial to determine guilt. The reason: that juror number 7 Richelle Nice. Let's get rid of this guy." Nice declined "48 Hours"' request for an interview. Harris maintains that Nice was biased from the beginning and when they were picking the original jury Nice was not forthcoming about her own history. Pat Harris: It's pretty clear that she lied to us straight to our face about her own situation. Prospective jurors filled out a questionnaire asking if they had in the past been in a lawsuit and if they had been crime victims. And Nice checked "no". Pat Harris: And we've come to learn that in fact there were issues in her own circle of people. And there were restraining orders. In fact, Nice was involved in two domestic disputes in the past. But prosecutors say when Nice filled out that questionnaire she didn't lie, she just didn't think her past experiences were relevant to the questions and didn't see herself as a victim. Now a lower court will consider if Peterson will get a complete retrial. And his defenders are ready. Janey Peterson: Every piece of information we find out about this day further confirms that Scott is innocent. Scott's sister-in-law Janey Peterson says there are witnesses who claim they saw Laci very much alive after Scott had already left for his fishing trip that day. Janey Peterson: Absolutely. Janey Peterson: This is our family business we have a back office here that we've dedicated to the case files Jonathan Vigliotti: Oh, wow. Janey Peterson for Scott's case. Janey Peterson: Yeah. Yeah. And Scott's sister-in-law Janey Peterson has been at war for almost 20 years now. Even though Scott has only been granted a new trial on the death penalty, Janey is gearing up to prove his innocence. Pat Harris: Janey is the heart and soul of the the case. Janey Peterson: I'm not talking about emotions. I'm talking about evidence. Everything on this board is a fact. there's no scenario of guilt for Scott. Much of the case for Scott, she says, comes down to the timeline what happened the morning Laci disappeared. He's on death row for the murder of his wife and child. And no one has ever said what time he did this crime, how he did this crime, or the series of events of how he carried out this crime that fits the evidence. Janey Peterson [pointing to evidence board]: Basically, the day starts on the left side According to Scott, that morning he and Laci had breakfast and watched Martha Stewart. SCOTT PETERSON: cookies of some sort they were talking about what to do with meringues. Scott told police Laci told him she was going to clean the house and then walk their dog, McKenzie. He told them that he left the house around 9:30 a.m. He said he went to a nearby warehouse where he had an office and sent an email from his computer, before setting off with his boat to the Berkeley Marina. The prosecution argued that Scott had killed Laci sometime before he left the house that morning. Janey Peterson: The state asserts that Scott murdered Laci and that he loaded her body in his pickup, drove it to his warehouse. But if Laci was seen alive after Scott left the house, Janey says the prosecution's case falls apart. Janey Peterson: There's an abundance of evidence that shows that Laci was alive when he left for the day. CBS News' Jonathan Vigliotti interviews Scott Peterson's sister-in-law Janey Peterson in her "war room" of evidence she claims proves his innocence. "Everything on this board is a fact. there's no scenario of guilt for Scott,: she says. Janey Peterson: The pink squares are all the people in the neighborhood who reported seeing Laci or McKenzie that morning. Janey says most of these witnesses reported the sightings between 9:45 and 10:30 in the morning after Scott said he left the house. She says so much depends on these witnesses, but the defense never called them to defend Scott at his trial. Janey Peterson: I think there were multiple factors that played into it. you had people who, as time went by, thought that maybe what they saw wasn't relevant to the case. Pat Harris: There's been a lot of criticism because we didn't call some witnesses who saw Laci that day. Scott Peterson's attorney Pat Harris. Pat Harris: The original thought process at the time was a number of the witnesses who saw her didn't have great memories or had contra were contradicting each other. Police Detective Jon Buehler says none of the witnesses were actually sure if they did in fact see Laci. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: There were three girls in the neighborhood, two of which were pregnant at the time and two of them having dogs walking in the neighborhood So, it would be real easy for somebody to mistakenly see one of those three girls as being Laci. Still, Janey Peterson says there is a witness who helps prove Laci was alive after Scott left that morning. It was the mailman. Janey Peterson: What the mailman said is that, when I went by the Peterson house the morning of December 24th, I went by there between 10:30 and 10:50. the gate was open, and McKenzie was not on the property. Janey says that's because Laci was out walking McKenzie. If McKenzie had been home, she argues, he would have barked at the mailman because he always did. Janey Peterson: this dog, in particular, barked at that mailman every single day, whether he was behind the gate or in the house. Jonathan Vigliotti: So, what you are saying is during this time, Laci had McKenzie and they were Janey Peterson: On a walk. And according to Janey, if Laci was out walking her dog, then Scott who was in his office sending an email could not have killed her. But when it came time to testify, the mailman didn't have a clear recollection and said "nothing out of the ordinary" happened that day. Scott Peterson was sentenced to death for the murder of his pregnant wife Laci and their unborn child in 2005. But after appeals, his death sentence was overturned. KMAX Maybe more importantly to a new defense case though, is what Janey believes actually happened to Laci. Instead of Scott killing his pregnant wife, she says it's more likely it was those burglars who robbed the house just across the street. Janey Peterson: There's too many unanswered questions about that burglary to set it aside. The day Laci disappeared, December 24, the homeowners left to go on a trip around 10:30 in the morning. Scott Peterson and his team believe that Laci actually confronted the burglars and something bad happened. To prove it, they point to what they call the "Aponte tip." Janey Peterson [pointing at evidence board]: This is the Aponte tip ... that was the call that was overheard by Lieutenant Aponte at Norco Prison. Lieutenant Xavier Aponte was a corrections officer. He called in a tip about a phone recording he had heard about a month after Laci disappeared. Janey Peterson: And he said he had an inmate who was on the phone with his brother in Modesto discussing the fact that Laci had encountered the burglars across the street from her house. Janey Peterson points to a burglary she believes happened on the same day Laci disappeared, right across the street from the Peterson home. Scott Peterson's supporters theorize that Laci confronted the burglars and that ended badly. But Police quickly arrested the burglars - Steven Todd and Donald Pearce. Modesto Police Department Janey Peterson: When we heard this, we all thought, "Wow, maybe maybe this'll give us some answers as to what happened to Laci." But remember, police dismissed the burglary early on: DOUG RIDENOUR | MODESTO P.D. [at press conference]: We do not believe at this time that there's any connection with the missing of Laci. Here's why: Pat Harris: The police figured out who did it. They asked the culprits, "Well, when did you do this?" And the two gentlemen that were arrested said, "Oh, it was December 26th, the day after Christmas." Not on December 24, when Laci went missing, but two days later. Peterson's defense isn't buying it. Pat Harris: On December 26th, there was a line of media reporters standing outside the Peterson home up and down that street. There is no way in hell you could burglarize a house with all those people standing out there. But police say the burglars broke in through a back door on the 26th, out of sight of the street and any reporters who may have been there. As for the tip about an inmate phone call from prison, prosecutors say the phone call is just hearsay. Still, Peterson's attorney says if Scott gets a chance at a new trial, that burglary will be front and center. And so will their theory of the crime: that Scott Peterson was actually framed for his wife's murder. In a 2017 A&E documentary, Scott Peterson spoke about the moment he heard the word "guilty." SCOTT PETERSON [phone recording]: I was staggered by it. I had no idea it was coming. SCOTT PETERSON [phone recording]: and I just had this weird sensation that I was falling forward. Those thoughts seem starkly different from courtroom reports that describe Peterson as "emotionless." JUROR [at press conference]: Scott had no emotion on his face, Scott was being Scott. And according to his lawyer, that lack of outward emotion hurt Scott from day one. Pat Harris: I think the biggest problem I have is what I call the "he didn't act right" evidence. There is no such thing as how to act. There's no playbook on how to act when your wife has been murdered. No matter what you do, when you've built the narrative in your mind that he's guilty, whatever Scott did was gonna be interpreted through the lens of he's guilty Pat Harris: It was a terrible investigation from the first minute. Harris says authorities had tunnel vision. He claims they never looked at other possibilities, or even the logic of their own theories. Pat Harris: We did an experiment which we filmed. The defense team loaded weights into a boat. Pat Harris: We took the exact weight We had the boat, similar We recreated it, did a video. And sure enough, when the body was dumped over, the boat flipped. We had a video of this. The judge refused to let it in. But the Supreme Court said that the judge was correct not to let it in. They said the defense had used a different boat, a different motor, in different weather, and one of their own employees who stepped on the side of the boat to let in water and allow the boat to swamp. They even pointed out that the original judge offered the defense a chance to redo the experiment with the original boat and someone who was not a defense employee. But the defense declined. Still, Janey says if given a chance, the defense will present other exonerating evidence. Janey Peterson: We have an ongoing investigation that we don't discuss publicly. But I guarantee you that Scott will never be convicted of capital murder again in a court of law. Jonathan Vigliotti: Some of the most damning evidence is where Laci and her unborn child were found. They washed up very close to an area where Scott Peterson was fishing. Janey Peterson: I'm not saying it's a coincidence. I'm I would argue it was on purpose. Janey Peterson: On purpose. They claim that Peterson was actually framed for the murder, and the real killer or killers held on to Laci's body, eventually dumping it into the San Francisco Bay. Janey Peterson: Her body wasn't taken to the bay December 24th. The bay wasn't sealed off as a crime scene. There are multiple points of access directly to the water, 24 hours a day. I think they took Laci, had Laci, realized the national attention that this case was getting, realized they were in trouble. Janey Peterson: Well I I can't get past the burglary. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: The two burglars that were involved in that both told consistent stories that were backed up by other independent witnesses. Laci and Scott Peterson Evidence photo Detective Jon Buehler, one of the original investigators, says burglars had nothing to do with Laci's murder. And the idea that Laci was kidnapped in broad daylight in that neighborhood just doesn't make sense. Ret. Det. nobody saw an abduction in broad daylight where a girl had a dog, and the dog would be barking, and a girl would be screaming. Tell me how that is going to happen because I don't see it. As for the idea that Scott was framed Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: What is the likelihood that somebody is going to abduct Laci, and then all of a sudden, the media has intense scrutiny and attention to it. All the while we're doing searches up there, all the while that the media is camped out over there, that you've got cops and deputies and other agencies over there looking into this. Ret. Det. Well, I guess possible. But you know, there's still people that believe the earth is flat, too. The District Attorney is not commenting on the defense's theories, but at Peterson's trial, contrary to what the defense argued, prosecutors laid out their relatively clear theory of the crime: that Laci had been murdered in the home either the night before or the morning she disappeared. And they focused on all the falsehoods Peterson had told. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: We knew that he was able to lie fairly easily. Everything from the big lies he told to Amber Frey SCOTT PETERSON [phone recording]: It's pretty awesome, fireworks there at the Eiffel Tower. SCOTT PETERSON [phone recording]: I have I've lied to you that I've been traveling. to the little lies prosecutors say he told about the morning Laci vanished. SCOTT PETERSON: Mm-hmm [affirms]. SCOTT PETERSON: We were watching her favorite show, "Martha Stewart." That didn't come on until 9:48 a.m. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: You have to dismiss so much circumstantial evidence in this case to believe that Scott didn't do this. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: In a circumstantial evidence case becomes like a big rope. It's got strand after stranded after strand. And when you get so many strands weaved together on this big rope, this rope is very, very strong. Buehler remains as confident as he ever was in Peterson's guilt. But Scott's defenders are just as confident. Pat Harris: Yes. Jonathan Vigliotti: Or you are. Pat Harris: Yes. Pat Harris: Oh, he's innocent. I would bet my life on it. Both sides wait to see if the court will allow Peterson's team a chance to fight not just the death penalty, but for his innocence as well. Laci Peterson Evidence photo Until then, we're left with an almost unspeakable tragedy the murder of 27-year-old Laci and her unborn baby, Conner and you have to wonder what's going through Scott Peterson's mind as he sits in prison just a few short miles across the bay from where their bodies washed ashore. Scott Peterson's next court appearance is expected in June 2021 Produced by Chuck Stevenson. Michelle Fanucci is the development producer along with Ryan Smith. Emily Wichick is the field producer. Lauren Turner Dunn is the associate producer. Richard Barber is the producer-editor. Phil Tangel is the editor. Patti Aronofsky is the senior producer. Nancy Kramer is the executive story editor. Judy Tygard is the executive producer. | https://www.cbsnews.com/news/scott-peterson-convicted-killer-new-trial-48-hours/ |
Why are Republicans so threatened by universal daycare? | The New York Times NEW YORK When Marwan Shalaby moved to New York from Egypt in 2019 to start an engineering doctorate at New York University, he had $700 in his bank account. He figured that would be enough to get settled. But Shalaby had to pay for the deposit on an apartment, a mattress and winter clothes. After going to the emergency room with a cooking injury, he began to rack up debt. As he waited anxiously for his first graduate student stipend payment, which would add up to $2,500 a month, Shalaby realized those checks would barely cover the cost of living in his new city. The time and energy he wanted to devote to studying for classes was instead spent worrying about his bank account. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times My learning experience wasnt optimal because my mind was so preoccupied with how Id pay for the essentials, he said. This week, Shalaby, 28, joined more than 1,000 NYU graduate students striking for higher wages from the university, among other demands, like better health care and a change in the schools relationship with the Police Department. While on strike, the graduate students are refraining from their work duties, including assistant teaching and grading papers, leaving the campus in limbo as the university and union continue bargaining over the terms of the students new contract. More than seven years ago, NYUs graduate students became the first in the country to win voluntary recognition for their union from a private university. The resulting contract expired in August, and graduate students, who are represented by the United Automobile Workers, have spent months locked in heated negotiations over the terms for its renewal. At the center of the conflict between the union and the university, among the countrys more expensive, is the graduate students demand for higher wages. The unions organizing committee initially proposed a $46 hourly wage more than double the current hourly wages for graduate students there, which start at $20. The organizing committee has since dropped its proposal to $32 per hour. The university has countered with a proposed raise of around 22% over six years, amounting to a $1 raise in the contracts first year. NYU leaders maintain that the graduate students make more than their counterparts at other schools. They noted that graduate students at Harvard, for example, recently settled a contract that granted an hourly wage of $17. This strike need not have happened, John Beckman, an NYU spokesman, said in an email. The university has made generous proposals in this contract renewal. The universitys president emailed the parents of NYU students this week and described the strike as unwarranted, untimely, and regrettable. The email sparked a backlash and a slew of jokes on social media from some of the graduate students, many of them older than 30, whose parents received it. (If Im grounded I still cant go to work, Chloe Jones, 26, a doctoral student, tweeted.) Graduate student organizers at NYU said the comparison with Harvards contract was inappropriate because of the higher cost of living in New York. The NYU organizers determined their proposed wage by using the Massachusetts Institute of Technologys living wage calculator, accounting for the constraint that graduate students can work only 20 hours each week. And while Columbia and Harvard graduate students went on strike in recent years to get their first union contracts, NYUs graduate students are negotiating a second contract, having settled their first in 2015, and therefore have made more ambitious demands. (Columbias strike, which began in March, has paused while students vote on their contract, which would raise wages for hourly student workers to $20 within three years.) A first contract establishes a baseline for future negotiations, said William A. Herbert, executive director of the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions at Hunter College. In the second contract, the union is seeking to broaden and expand their benefits. Its very common for a second contract to be more demanding. The urgency of the unions financial demands has been heightened by the pandemic and the economic crisis, as the academic job market has been squeezed by hiring freezes. Theyre trying to bully us to drop our wage proposals lower and lower, said Ellis Garey, 28, a union organizer and fourth-year doctoral candidate in history and Middle Eastern studies at NYU. We finally now have thousands of graduate workers on the picket line. The crowd that gathered near NYU on Friday, chanting and marching, heard from several City Council candidates as well as Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who called in to congratulate the strikers. If we respect education in this country if we know how important it is that we supply the best education in the world to our young people, he said, it is imperative that we have well-paid faculty members who are treated with respect and dignity. Unionization and collective bargaining among graduate students dates back decades in the public sector, which saw its first higher education contract in 1970 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. But at private schools, the question of whether graduate students should be treated as students or workers has been more contentious. And NYU has long been a battleground for the issue. The National Labor Relations Board first recognized graduate students right to collective bargaining at private universities in 2000, in a case that started at NYU. But the board, whose five members are appointed by the president, had a conservative majority under President George W. Bush. In a 2004 case at Brown University, the board reversed its ruling, leaving private graduate student unions federally unprotected. The board has vacillated on the subject ever since as the White House has changed hands. Though Republicans still hold a majority until at least late summer, the board said in March that it would withdraw a proposed rule on the issue from the Trump era, once again clearing the way for graduate students at private schools to unionize. There has been significant growth in the number of total unionized student employees nationwide, from around 64,680 in 2013 to more than 83,000 in 2019, according to research from the Hunter center. The issue of whether graduate students should be classified as students or employees is more urgent now than ever, Herbert said, as the federal government considers how to classify gig workers and the workplace protections theyre afforded. Many private university leaders have traditionally held that graduate students primary obligation was to their studies, not their labor. But the striking graduate students at NYU argue that there is no distinction between their work and academics and that the university couldnt function without their paid labor. When Im doing my research, that benefits the university, Garey said. I present at conferences, organize workshops within my department, publish articles, publish translations. All of these are things faculty members do as part of their compensation. Compensation isnt the sole issue driving a wedge between the NYU graduate student organizers and the university. The graduate students also asked that the university refrain from calling the New York City Police Department except when legally obligated or when a violent crime has been committed. They dont want the police called in cases of vandalism, for example, citing the risk to people of color and other vulnerable students. The graduate students have also made pandemic-specific demands, including requesting a $500 payment to teaching assistants for the effort theyve put into transitioning to remote teaching. Virgilio Urbina Lazardi, 28, a fourth-year sociology doctoral student, had planned to spend last spring polishing a paper for submission to an academic journal. He had to shelve the project so he could double the number of hours he spent assistant teaching. The professor he assisted was struggling with Zoom, so Lazardi made appointments to visit the professors home and set up his technology. There was a lot of added stress that semester and it disproportionately fell on me with no additional compensation or recognition, Lazardi said. This week all of the duties for which graduate students are compensated planning lessons, emailing students, hosting office hours have halted. Some union organizers have approached the moment as an opportunity to teach their undergraduates about the broader struggle for student-worker rights. Arundhati Velamur, 33, who is getting her doctorate in education, spent the semester leading a course about the teaching of geometry. She opened her first class with a discussion of the book Flatland, an 1800s satire about Victorian social hierarchy, which imagines a fictional world populated by shapes whose power is determined by the number of sides they have; a hexagon, for example, would be more powerful than a square. Velamur returned to the text to explain why she was skipping class for the strike because in NYUs Flatland-like hierarchy, Velamur said, she and her peers were fighting for more power. She told her students in an email that she wouldnt be able to teach until an agreement was reached, and smiled when she received their response: Her undergraduates were spending their class time brainstorming ways to support the union. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company | https://news.yahoo.com/why-republicans-threatened-universal-daycare-130004338.html |
Will Covid-19 vaccines reduce virus transmission? | There are two ways that getting vaccinated can slow the spread of the virus. First, it can help prevent you getting infected. Second, even if you are unlucky and catch the virus, it may reduce the risk of passing it on. It is crucial to understand how big these benefits are. Two huge new studies have taken advantage of the successful UK vaccine rollout. An Oxford-ONS analysis of more than 370,000 survey participants found infections were reduced by 65% after a single dose. For protection against the virus, one dose was similar to having had a prior infection. There was no major difference between the two available vaccines. Curiously, infection rates were lower up to three weeks before the jab. More plausible is the idea of reverse causation. People can have the vaccination only if they have not tested positive or shown recent symptoms, so it is inevitable there were fewer recorded infections before vaccinations took place. Statistics can be tricky things. Most important, the studies showed that if you are infected after vaccination, it tends to be much milder, both in terms of self-reported symptoms and viral load. If vaccinated people develop a weaker infection, then they might be less likely to pass on the virus. This seems to be the case. Public Health England studied more than 500,000 households in England and estimated that unvaccinated cases infected around 10% of people in their households. But that rate was nearly halved, to around 6%, if the original case had been vaccinated, with a similar reduction from either the Oxford-AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines. Put these two studies together and it means that, for every six people that unvaccinated people infect, only one would have been infected had they had the jab. People in societies link through their contacts: viruses travel along those links. The evidence builds that Covid-19 vaccines weaken that transmission. By getting vaccinated, you help protect those around you. The UK vaccine rollout is an extraordinary success: directly protecting people and their contacts and providing vital scientific information to the world. | https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/commentisfree/2021/may/02/vaccinated-people-less-likely-to-pass-covid-on |
Where's Minnesota's economy headed? | The Minnesota Chamber Foundation's Center for Economic Research has produced a comprehensive blueprint look at growing this state's economy over the next decade. State and local leaders would be wise to heed its advice. "Minnesota 2030: A framework for economic growth" displays an impressive breadth of research, with the type of private-sector analysis missing for too long in this state. It provides an unflinching analysis that demonstrates how the state's many strengths have lulled some into a false sense of security, masking serious weaknesses. For instance, despite its many advantages, when comparing growth "Minnesota's economy has been trailing its peers and the U.S. economy the past two decades. GDP and job growth ranked 36th and 45th nationally in 2019," the report said. That reality has been creeping up on Minnesota for years: Since 2000, the state has trailed U.S. job growth in 14 out of 20 years, including every year since 2012. Those who reflexively blame tax rates should look far deeper and wider. An aging population, lack of in-migration from other states, a brain drain of students who go outside of Minnesota for colleges elsewhere and too often don't come back, and underutilized populations in both rural areas and communities of color have all combined to take a toll. The worker shortage, the report found, is now a primary constraint on Minnesota's economy. The state also ranks 49th in entrepreneurship and small-business startups. The ease of finding a job in a low-unemployment economy is partly to blame, but so is access to capital and other obstacles, said Doug Loon, president of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce. Ranking that low is another red flag. Some of Minnesota's biggest corporations began as homegrown startups. The remedies recommended by the foundation are too numerous to list here, but they center around a strategy of wasting no one: not the 40-something miner who needs new skills to switch careers; not the immigrant who needs affordable housing and a reliable car before taking that new job; not the single mom who can't go back to work without affordable child care, and not those disadvantaged by some of the worst educational achievement gaps in the country. The recommendations focus on a few key principles: building on existing strengths, including key growth areas such as technology and health care; leveraging our best asset Minnesotans themselves and equipping them with needed skills, and finally, strengthening communities so they become places where all thrive. "We need to make inclusivity our strength," said Jon Campbell, chairman of the Minnesota Chamber Foundation Board, noting that immigrant populations are growing 32 times faster than those born here. At its heart, Campbell said, the report is built around the premise that creating the conditions for every Minnesotan to succeed is not only the just thing to do, it makes good economic sense. "I'm optimistic that when the state sees inclusion as more than a social good but as an actual driver of economic growth, we will convert some people's way of thinking," Campbell said. It creates a more pragmatic, less polarizing framework, he said, "that we think people will be able to sign on to." | https://www.startribune.com/where-s-minnesota-s-economy-headed/600052583/ |
How have bats inspired a FANG-tastic new phone technology? | Getty Images Scientists say they have created a tool that can produce images from sound, in a similar way to bats. Bats use something called echolocation to hunt and navigate - they produce clicks that bounce off objects to give them a picture of their environment. The new tech could give devices like smartphones and laptops a bat-like sense of their surroundings too. The tool has been developed by experts at the University of Glasgow and can measure echoes and sounds to make images and map shapes, sizes and layouts, wherever it is. Hugh Clark/Bat Conservation Trust/PA Bats use something called echolocation to hunt and navigate It could work on any device with a microphone and speakers or radio antennae. Researchers hope the new tech could detect unwanted intruders in buildings, protect vulnerable patients in nursing homes by tracking their movements, and even monitor the bodies of patients in hospitals to alert doctors and nurses to changes in their breathing. Dr Alex Turpin and Dr Valentin Kapitany, of the University of Glasgow's School of Computing Science and School of Physics and Astronomy, are working together on the research. Dr Turpin said: "Echolocation in animals is a remarkable ability, and science has managed to recreate the ability to generate three-dimensional images from reflected echoes in a number of different ways, like Radar and LiDAR. Hugh Clark/Bat Conservation Trust/PA Bats are the most widespread mammal on Earth "What sets this research apart from other systems is that, firstly, it requires data from just a single input - the microphone or the antenna - to create three-dimensional images. Secondly, we believe that the algorithm we've developed could turn any device with either of those pieces of kit into an echolocation device. "That means that the cost of this kind of 3D imaging could be greatly reduced, opening up many new applications. "It's clear that there is a lot of potential here for sensing the world in new ways, and we're keen to continue exploring the possibilities of generating more high-resolution images in the future." The research, "3D imaging from multipath temporal echoes", is published in the journal Physical Review Letters. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/56956264 |
What if we turned empty offices into housing? | Originally the building was going to be converted into a hotel and luxury apartments, but the pandemic upended those plans and offered an opportunity for something more creative. Rents in the complex will be affordable for people earning 50 to 80 percent of Clevelands median income. The project, which is being financed by tax breaks for the developers, is meant to keep teachers, tradespeople, and service workers from being priced out of the city . Cleveland has a lot of empty commercial real estate and a glaring need for affordable housing, especially downtown. So a new development there aims to address both things. Itll turn most of a sprawling old bank building into 868 units of workforce housing. Advertisement The office and hotel markets dried up. People werent traveling, says Tom Mignogna, senior tax credit developer with the Millennia Companies, which owns the building. So we put the project on hold and took a good look at the community needs, the markets that still needed to be served. Its a timely twist on an old idea. Developers have converted commercial space into housing for decades. Old mills, factories, and hospitals have become residential lofts and apartments. A wave of tax breaks aimed at developers sparked the conversion of many office buildings into apartments in Lower Manhattan in the early 1990s. But rarely have these efforts been steered specifically toward affordable housing. Now, however, with remote work emptying downtown offices while affordable housing in metro areas continues to be scarce, cities have a chance to deal with both issues at once, as in the Cleveland project. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has said hed like to transform offices into apartments to mitigate the housing crisis afflicting New York City. It wouldnt be easy, but with some foresight and strategic vision, it could happen. Advertisement Muscling in Structurally speaking, converting an office building into residential units presents challenges that can be both daunting and tempting for an architect. The heavy lifting isnt just installing new plumbing and electrical infrastructure or ensuring that the converted building has an energy-efficient wall-to-window ratio. The new housing units also need to be located near essentials like grocery stores and transit stations, and they should also be aesthetically familiar and welcoming to potential new residents. Wealthier people in big cities are accustomed to living in glass high-rise towers, but if were talking about moderate- or lower-income housing, its the question of How do you make a big boxy office building feel more like a residential environment? says Alberto Crdenas, a principal with DHK Architects, which has converted schools into housing. Single-family housing elements like porches, double hung windows, pitched roofs, and yards can give housing a traditional appeal. It doesnt have to be that way. I love modern buildings, and I could certainly live in a glassy building myself, but a lot of people just dont go for that. That said, the nuts-and-bolts problems of turning newer office buildings into housing dont appear to be deterring architects and officials in some cities from considering such projects. The New York architecture firm Architecture Research Office recently joined forces with the website Curbed to explain how a cramped office building on Madison Avenue could be converted into a mixed-use tower with more natural light and greenery-filled terraces. Advertisement The percentage of office space in Boston thats unoccupied has nearly doubled in the past year, to 16 percent, and more downsizing seems likely as remote and hybrid work becomes the norm rather than the exception. However, an empty office is not necessarily vacant and available. Matt Daniels, the executive managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle, a commercial real estate firm, believes the forecast of hollowed-out offices in Boston is overstated. People are still renewing leases and paying their rental rates, Daniels says. Open offices downtown are also being taken up by commercial tenants moving in from the suburbs. Were not seeing an exodus here, Daniels says. Even if Bostons white-collar workforce remains largely remote beyond 2021, office leases can last for years, and theres not much stopping leaseholders or landlords from sitting on empty spaces, waiting for the tide to turn. Converting one of those spaces into housing would require buying out the lease. Multiply that transaction by several floors and youre looking at huge preliminary costs before construction even starts. This could reduce the affordability of residential units wrought from offices especially if the project is helmed by a private developer working with limited support from the state. Most of the apartments would likely be priced at market rates, to justify the projects costs. Advertisement This might sound like overreach. It would be unprecedented in Boston. But as more offices gather dust in New York, that states legislature and Governor Cuomo are debating how the state should intervene. Earlier this year, the New York legislature introduced the Housing Our Neighbors with Dignity Act, a.k.a. HONDA, which would establish a program through which the state could buy distressed commercial real estate and transfer it to partners for conversion into affordable housing. It was a much bolder approach than the plan promised by Governor Cuomo, which would create a five-year window for landlords to convert their commercial spaces into housing with support from the state. Cuomos idea would potentially be a rerun of the office-to-housing conversions that the city catalyzed in the 1990s. It yielded housing units, but those units were not rent stabilized. For now, the New York legislature has set aside only $100 million for such conversion projects, which doesnt bode well for HONDAs being realized anytime soon. Massachusetts has the same dire need for affordable housing stock. A recent report by the Brookings Institute found that between 2009 and early 2020, housing prices in Greater Boston rose by 35 percent, with two-thirds of low-income households spending more than half of their income on rent or mortgage payments. But whats lacking here is a vision for where some of that housing could take root and a plan for making it happen if the opportunity arises. Advertisement The new Winthrop Center building in Boston, surrounded by other towers. David L. Ryan/Globe Staff Imagining the possibilities Not every office building is suitable for conversion, but as Crdenas sees it, some of Bostons newer ones have the potential to be transformed into housing units for less money than building housing from the ground up. In most office buildings, youre dealing with large open spaces, and its much easier to insert nonbearing partitions to make your walls, he says. You can readily subdivide those office spaces without the expense of destruction and heavy structural redoing. Its also worth remembering that the Biden administration has committed to reforming exclusionary zoning in cities and funding new affordable housing, clearing the path for conversions. If Massachusetts were to pass something like New Yorks HONDA bill, or even enact a commercial vacancy tax to deter landlords from holding on to vacant office space indefinitely, the state could position itself to scoop up commercial real estate if the decline of offices continues. If the state isnt ready for this outcome with a plan for acquiring offices, a historic opportunity for much-needed housing could be wasted. To better imagine the possibilities, I took a self-guided vacancy tour around some of Bostons most prolifically developed neighborhoods. My first stop, John Hancocks former Seaport building on Congress Street, was recently acquired by BioMed Realty for conversion into a 14-story lab. A short walk delivered me to Post Office Square, where an overhaul of the looming One Post Office Square high-rise will add even more office space to the Financial District. Serenaded by the clanging of heavy machinery, I wandered around the tower periphery, only to find a more modest prospect tucked away on Broad Street. The Insurance Exchange Building at 40 Broad offers 11 floors of office space, and more than half of it is currently available for leasing. There would be several leases to buy out, but perhaps some of the existing tenants, such as the ground-level restaurant, could coexist with new apartments. But my most intriguing find was 25-29 Beach Street an older six-story office building and investment property on sale for $15 million. Permit applications for converting the building into a 14- and 27-story hotel have been filed. Much of the interior would have to be rehabbed, but one day, people could stay here. Or better yet, people could live here. Miles Howard is a journalist in Boston. Follow him on Twitter @milesperhoward. | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/05/02/opinion/what-if-we-turned-empty-offices-into-housing/ |
What picks do the Cleveland Browns have in 2022, 2023 NFL Drafts? | CLEVELAND, Ohio The Browns wont draft players again until 2022. But those picks could be used before then as pieces in trades. With that in mind -- or if you simply want to think way ahead -- here are the picks the Browns have in both the 2022 and 2023 drafts. 2022 NFL DRAFT First round: Own pick. Second round: Own pick. Third round: Own pick. Fourth round: Own pick; Pick via trade with Lions. Fifth round: Own pick. Sixth round: Own pick. Seventh round: Pick via trade with Lions. 2023 NFL DRAFT First round: Own pick. Second round: Own pick. Third round: Own pick. Fourth round: Own pick. Fifth round: Own pick. Sixth round: Own pick. Seventh round: Own pick. - Browns playoffs shirts, hats for sale: Heres where Cleveland Browns fans can order shirts and hats celebrating the team qualifying for the 2020 NFL playoffs. Pluto Fields II: Grade the Browns fifth-round pick Georgia safety Richard LeCounte selected at No. 169 LeCounte: Grade the Browns fifth-round pick Cincinnati OT James Hudson, a fan of Joe Thomas, taken in fourth round Browns trade pick No. Grade the acquisition of OSUs Tommy Togiai Hudson III: 3 things to know about the new offensive tackle Anthony Schwartz brings speed and gadget ability -- Film review Fifth-round pick LB Tony Fields compares to Owusu-Koramoah Browns defense needed lateral quickness found in Owusu-Koramoah: Film review With draft, free agency and returns, Browns add an entire 11-man defense: Lesmerises | https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2021/05/what-picks-do-the-cleveland-browns-have-in-2022-2023-nfl-draft.html |
How did a wildlife lover become one of the bloodiest poachers in California history? | The California department of fish and wildlife relies on an intricate network of citizen-informants to help do its job. The agencys secret tip line is a critical tool in the fight against wildlife crimes because, in more rural areas of the state, a single wildlife officer can be responsible for thousands of miles of territory. Todd Kinnard is one such officer tasked with overseeing agency operations across the expansive Lassen county, five hours north-east of San Francisco by car. He was on duty when an anonymous tip came in that someone in the county was shooting raptors, birds of prey such as red-tailed and ferruginous hawks. Raptors are not typically the subject of poaching tips. They are agile, apex predators that due to a diet consisting largely of pests such as rats, snakes, and mice tend to coexist with humans rather than compete with them. Kinnard took the tip with a grain of salt. In Lassen county, it is not unheard of for neighbors to weaponize the departments anonymous tip line against one another out of spite. Because something as seemingly innocuous as taking one too many fish from a local pond can result in substantial government fines, grazing-rights or property-line disputes can quickly mushroom-cloud into frenzies of sometimes bogus, sometimes legitimate, tit-for-tat poaching complaints. Kinnard drove out to the site of the alleged raptor killings to carry out a preliminary, informal knock-and-talk inquiry. It was a large-tract property, roughly 80 acres, in the unincorporated town of Standish. The property sat perched on the banks of the Susan River, a few miles east of the county seat, Susanville. The owners, Richard Parker and his wife, Tonya, were not at home at the time. But what Kinnard saw upon entering the property was stomach-churning. A cottonwood tree near the Parkers home was strung up with grisly ornamentation several dead raptors, all at varying stages of decomposition. Other bodies were scattered around the trees base, approximately a dozen in all. Kinnard was not prepared to bag and tag the gruesome cache of evidence dangling from the cottonwood tree. He seized what evidence he could and took the bodies to the fish and wildlife departments forensic laboratory in Sacramento. Wildlife officers conduct their investigation. Photograph: Courtesy California department of fish and wildlife The agencys raptor specialist examined the carcasses and was able to determine species, with corresponding protected statuses. Causes of death proved more elusive, however. The bodies had been left to field for quite some time. Still, the probability of a dozen birds of prey dying of natural causes at the same location is spectacularly low. As the Sacramento laboratory got to work on identifying causes of death, Kinnard proceeded with his own investigation. The dead raptors recovered on that day in 2018 were only the tip of a blood-red iceberg. Richard Parker, a seemingly ordinary country gentleman, appeared to have a secret, sadistic hobby and the anonymous tipster had led Kinnard to uncover one of the bloodiest poaching cases in California history. An anti-government streak Lassen county is tucked away in the sparsely populated north-east of California. It sits north of Lake Tahoe along the Nevada border, and east of Redding, the last major population center before the vast wilderness stretching between northern California and southern Oregon. Lt Kyle Kroll, who oversees game wardens in the area, describes the region around Susanville as the Honey Lake Valley, a unique ecosystem straddling a transition zone between the desert and the mountains. But with a lot of water, he says, because the aquifers flow eastward into the desert. Its a perfect habitat for raptors, because its a rich area that attracts a lot of their prey. Topography aside, Lassen is an entirely different world, culturally speaking, from the metropolitan sprawl of the Bay Area to its south-west, or even the exurbs and rich farmland of the nearby Sacramento Valley. The population in 2019 was just over 30,500 residents, less than half that of the San Francisco suburb of Palo Alto, spread out over more than 180 times the square mileage. It is the kind of place people go to get away from the congestion of coastal Californias urban-suburban sprawl, and the many customs and regulations woven into life there. There is a palpable anti-government streak embedded in the culture of Lassen county a dont tread on me mentality that often pits the priorities of local residents against those of state conservation officers such as Kroll and Kinnard. Californias sole pack of wild wolves inhabits a territory encompassing parts of Lassen county. There is no love lost between the endangered canines and area ranchers, who view the pack as a direct threat to their livelihoods. (Wolves occasionally feed on cattle and sheep.) In December of 2020, a state investigation into the shooting of a protected wolf in Lassen county laid bare these tensions by implicating a 23-year-old, sixth-generation rancher, Brett Gagnon. An adult wolf and three pups in Lassen county. Photograph: AP I cant believe you guys would waste your time to investigate somebody for shooting a miserable wolf, Gagnons grandfather told state agents as they executed a search warrant on the family ranch. Gagnon was not ultimately charged with the killing. Analysis of the bullet recovered from the wolfs body did not match any of the guns seized from the Gagnon home. The case remains open. The ordeal did little to warm relations between the fish and wildlife department and county residents. And perhaps a flavor of that tension informed the politics of one Richard Parker. The stakeout As the fish and wildlife departments forensic examiners poked and prodded the bodies recovered from the Parker property, Todd Kinnard remained disturbed and restless over what he could only imagine had occurred there. He knew the physical evidence against the Parkers was damning, but not conclusive, and the agency would need solid proof that one or more members of the family were behind the brutal raptor killings in order to bring about any kind of justice. Kinnard enacted what state agents call a Code Five surveillance plan. In March 2018, for several mornings in a row, he took up a vantage point on a neighboring property and, using a high-powered scope, staked out the Parker home. On one of these mornings, he witnessed an individual emerging from the house, rifle in hand, later determined to be Parker, according to department officials. Kinnard says Parker took up position in the yard, raised his rifle, and shot off several rounds in different directions. Kinnard recalls watching nearby foliage explode to life as birds fled the vicinity. He now had sufficient probable cause to corroborate the initial tip and secure a search warrant. The warrant was served on the Parkers by a team of wildlife officers in the early hours of 11 March 2018. Ill be honest, we thought we were only going to find what was already around that tree, Kroll recalls. But that was just one of the specks of evidence that we found. The true extent of the horror would stretch from fence to fence. Recollecting the broader examination of the property, Kroll describes a scene of complete carnage within a 300-yard radius of the Parker home. Every bird within reach of his house, anything he could hit, was lying there on the ground. Dozens and dozens of carcasses. A river flows toward Lake Tahoe from the smaller mountain Eagle Lake, near Standish. Photograph: tienne Laurent/EPA It was just an unbelievable amount of evidence, Kroll says. The team needed to restrategize. Time was of the essence many of the bodies had clearly been decomposing for some time. Some were little more than skulls and delicate wing bones. State wildlife officers assembled in a kind of phalanx formation and began meticulously surveying the property in four waves. The first wave made initial identifications of body locations, marking points on a GPS app. The second took photographs; the third recorded copious notes on the state and positioning of the carcasses. The fourth collected and bagged them. The process created a map of the butchery, which investigators later transposed on to satellite imagery of the Parker property. It provided unsettling insight into Parkers bloody method. As he entered his property by vehicle, any raptors hed see perched along the access road hed shoot, Kroll says. It was a row of dots along the road and around his home. Parker, for his part, was surprised by the raid, yet calm, Kroll recalls. Kinnard obtained an admission on the scene from Parker that he had shot a red-tailed hawk just the day before. The justification offered was that he believed the raptors were killing off local game birds. He was an upland game hunter, Kroll says, conceding that raptors are known to predate on certain species of quail, dove and pheasant, favored by sportsmen. He said he thought he was doing the game bird population a favor by eradicating the predators. Kroll believes this may have been Parkers original intent, but it eventually became a sick sport, he speculates. There might have been an adrenaline rush; people get addicted to that. We see that from time to time with the larger-scale poaching cases. Likewise, the map of Parkers killings seemingly refutes the notion that his motives lay chiefly with preserving the area game bird population. All of the bodies recovered from Parkers property were killed along the access road and in the immediate vicinity of his home. There is no evidence to suggest he made treks further afield to enact this purported, self-directed population-control program. That same day, Parker was arrested and booked into Lassen county jail on charges including unlawful killing of birds of prey, killing of migratory non-game birds in violation of the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and possession of wildlife unlawfully taken. The man who relished the hunt The man wildlife agents took into custody that day had not necessarily lived a life indicative of a future sport killer. Richard Earl Parker was born and raised in Lassen county. He graduated from Susanville high school, and after receiving his bachelors degree from Sacramento State University in 1973, he returned to the area to settle down. He became a significant figure in the Honey Lake Valley, according to local people who spoke with the Guardian on the condition of anonymity. Parker still has friends in the area. Susanville is small. And even two years after his conviction, anxiety about retaliation persists. They [dont] want to stir up anything, one local resident explains. Parkers charges included the killing of migratory non-game birds, in violation of the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Photograph: Courtesy California department of fish and wildlife For 20 years, Parker was the area milkman. When the home milk-delivery business died out, he pivoted to insurance sales. He served in the Lassen County Chamber of Commerce for 15 years and participated in local theater productions. Members of the community in Susanville say Parkers local status was polarizing. He was intensely liked by his circle of friends and confidants and intensely disliked by others. A lot of people from his community called us after the arrest came out, Capt Patrick Foy of the department of fish and wildlife says. They acknowledged that he was a powerful, well-connected guy in the community, and there was concern he was not going to be prosecuted fairly. Indeed, local residents tell the Guardian that Parker viewed the Honey Lake Valley as a manor and himself as its lord. And like all standard-issue country gentlemen, Parker relished a stalk and a hunt. Sport hunting in many parts of rural America sits at an awkward philosophical crossroads between conservationism and libertarianism. On the one hand, there is a rationale for the preservation of wild lands, which arises from a mixture of legitimate appreciation for nature and simple supply-and-demand economics: better habitats attract more creatures to hunt. On the other hand, there is a natural tension between the autonomy of the hunter and the conservationist machinations of the state. Parker seemingly resided, for a time, at this crossroads. But the tension perhaps proved untenable for him. In the late 1990s, shortly after purchasing the property in Standish, Parker asked state forestry authorities to set a controlled fire on his land. Parker thought the riverside property was a perfect nesting ground for waterfowl. But at the time, it was infested with whitetop, an invasive weed that chokes out competing grasses. The controlled blaze, administered in November 1999, wiped out a mat of whitetop and made way for the areas natural weeds and grasses to take root. What I was going to grow was wildlife, little critters, waterfowl, Parker told the Lassen County News just after the fire. My interest is to have birds and wildlife around me. But something in Parkers philosophy would change in the ensuing years. The self-described hunter and naturalist began advocating seemingly contrary positions to the conservationist movement. In 2013, he told the Lassen County Times, another local newspaper, that he hoped a commission tasked with making countywide economic projections would prioritize logging, largely viewed as one of the most ecologically devastating industries in the world. This committee should recommend to the people that our biggest opportunity for economic growth is timber, he said. We uncovered a hundredfold more than we thought wed find, says Lt Kyle Kroll. Photograph: Courtesy California department of fish and wildlife The inciting incident for this change of heart may have been a small-town political scandal, at the heart of which was Parker himself. Despite the shades of anti-government spirit that pervade Lassen county, Parker seemed to crave public office. He has made several runs at various positions most recently, it appears, in 2008, for the Lassen Community College board. In 2000, he was elected director of the Lassen municipal utility district, the public utility provider for the county. Less than a year into his tenure, citizens launched a vigorous recall effort against Parker and his fellow board members. Organizers accused Parker of abdication of authority, violation of public trust, abuse of power, and intentional misuse of public funds arising from a proposed 162% rate hike in electrical costs for the county that year. Public meetings in response to the proposed rate hike were vile and disorderly, according newspaper reports from the time, with community members lodging concerns that such a move would destroy the countys fragile economy. Richard Parker was effectively villainized by the whole ordeal. The place to which he devoted years of time and effort cultivating a reputation seemed to be rejecting him. And he scrambled to shift blame first, to unnamed local environmentalists, allegedly to blame for preventing the construction of more power plants. Bunny huggers, he called them in one public meeting, with palpable, newfound derision. The crimes come full circle Nearly two decades after the recall effort, Parker found himself on trial for conduct that was arguably the polar opposite of bunny hugging. In April of 2019, Parker, then 68, pleaded guilty to crimes associated with poaching in excess of 150 birds of prey and other wildlife. He was sentenced to three months in jail, a $75,000 fine, and five years probation. Terms of his probation forbid him from possessing firearms or engaging in hunting or fishing of any kind. Wildlife officers are reluctant to label crimes like Parkers serial killings, as it conflates terminology associated with homicide and animal poaching. Still, they acknowledge a distinction between the crimes of Richard Parker and your average poacher. Poaching can be taking one too many trout from a pond, or redirecting a creek on your own property, says Foy. But there are individuals who seem to enjoy killing for the sake of killing, he says, noting that in cases where the body count is as high as Parkers, it is difficult to identify a motive other than rank cruelty or sadism. Who knows what the true extent was, Kroll says of Parkers crimes. We uncovered a hundredfold more than we assumed wed find. But things dont last long in the wild. The true extent of the carnage was probably much greater. We truly think that his kill number was so much higher than what we were able to collect. Kroll speculates Parkers conviction was largely attributable to the strength of the governments case against him, primarily due to forensic assistance from the federal Fish and Wildlife Service. Federal wildlife officials were an immense help in the investigation, Kroll says. Photograph: Courtesy California department of fish and wildlife Because these birds are federally protected, we were in constant contact with them, Kroll says. They were an immense help because we were able to ship the [dead] birds up to their lab in Ashland, Oregon, which is really world-renowned in wildlife forensics. They spent an immense amount of time going through every piece of evidence submitted and writing a comprehensive report for each way beyond anything we could have compiled locally. Ultimately, despite committing several federal crimes, Parker was tried in state court by the office of the former California attorney general Xavier Becerra. This, Kroll says, allowed for the story of Richard Parker bloody as it may be to inspire a happy ending. Because of the case disposition, a huge sum of money went back into community conservation and education programs, he explains. Per the California fish code, 10% of fish and wildlife-related fines go to individual county fish and game commissions, which can reinvest those funds to the benefit of local ecology. Seventy-five hundred dollars goes a long way in Lassen county. They might donate the money to a fishing program for inner-city youth, Kroll says, Or wildlife projects like installing [water] guzzlers for antelope in the high desert. Its a nice way of bringing wildlife crimes full circle, he says. Despite himself, Richard Parker, one of the most extensively prosecuted poachers in California history, became an indirect bunny hugger after all. | https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/may/02/california-poaching-birds |
Should scientists be allowed to grow human embryos in a dish beyond 14 days? Is it scientifically important or morally wrong? | For more than 30 years, scientists have followed a rule they imposed on themselves to avoid growing a human embryo in a lab dish for more than 14 days. Until recently, the "14-day rule" was largely academic. Scientists couldn't grow them for that long if they wanted to. But in 2016, two teams of researchers reached 12 days, and in 2019, another group grew monkey embryos for 19 days. These advances have spurred some scientists to argue in two recent papers that the 14-day rule should be modified or dropped. There's a lot to be learned by pushing embryos out to 28 days, they say. The regulatory committee of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, which lays down guidelines for the scientific field, has been debating the issue for months and is expected to issue its final decision this month. Some ethicists and scientists are concerned that revising the rule just as it becomes technologically feasible to break it is ridiculous and morally repugnant. Copy text Copy this quote's text The quote has been copied Tweet Facebook Email Email this story Share Share this story Ben Hurlbut, historian of science at Arizona State University If you abandoned every rule or law that inhibits you as soon as it inhibits you, wed live in a lawless world. Quote icon "If you abandoned every rule or law that inhibits you as soon as it inhibits you, we'd live in a lawless world," said Ben Hurlbut, a historian of science at Arizona State University. And some people consider human embryo research to be unethical at any stage. "Whether 14 days, 14 months, or anywhere in between, such 'rules' remain contrivances to justify the most unethical kinds of science and to allow for the exploitation of our own vulnerable human offspring," said Tadeusz Pacholczyk, a neuroscientist and director of education at the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia. A single cell is removed from a human embryo to be used in generating embryonic stem cells for scientific research. Advanced Cell Technology via AP Countries are free to ignore rules set by the society, but scientists for decades have generally abided by them. (In the U.S., there's no national law about the 14-day rule, though some states have their own regulations.) Some cultures and religions believe that human life begins at conception, or that the human embryo carries a special status from conception onward. Other cultures believe that life starts later in fetal development, or even at birth. Biologists routinely grow amphibian and mammal embryos in petri dishes, but human embryos are different. Until about 14 days after conception, the human embryo looks like an undifferentiated blob of cells, which is one of the reasons the two week timeframe made sense, several scientists said. Robin Lovell-Badge, who sits on the International Stem Cell Society committee that's considering overturning the rule, said scientists will take any changes seriously. "We've stuck with that rule for over 30 years," he said. Lovell-Badge favors extending the limit, as long as the research is scientifically justified and has public support. Not everyone in the scientific community shares this position. "It's been a difficult part of the guidelines to get agreement on," Lovell-Badge said. "You have very wide-ranging views." The scientific argument Some scientists argue there's a lot to be learned by pushing the 14-day rule out another two weeks. Right now the second two weeks after fertilization is considered a "black box" because so little is known about it, said Insoo Hyun, a professor of bioethics at Case Western and Harvard universities. He co-wrote a March 5 opinion piece arguing for a careful, stepwise extension of the 14-day rule. "You have to really make your case for it," Hyun said. "You have to explain what you want to do and why, have a very clear picture of where the next stopping point is." Women generally don't know they're pregnant before 28 days, so historically, there has not been tissue from aborted or miscarried fetuses available for research. Show caption Hide caption In this Aug. 14, 2013 file photo, an in vitro fertilization embryologist works on a petri dish at a fertility clinic in London. In vitro... In this Aug. 14, 2013 file photo, an in vitro fertilization embryologist works on a petri dish at a fertility clinic in London. In vitro fertilization involves surgically removing eggs from a womans ovaries, combining them with sperm in a laboratory, and transferring the days-old embryo to the womans uterus. Sang Tan, AP The central nervous system, heart and other organs begin to develop during this crucial two-week period. The body plan is established. Cells that will become eggs and sperm start to form. Aspects of the placenta are set up. In many ways, days 14 through 28 are the most interesting period of human development, Lovell-Badge said. "You can do a whole lot of incredibly valuable research," in that timeframe, he said. And it's in that window that many things can go wrong in a pregnancy, such as miscarriage or abnormalities. Perhaps there are treatments that could be developed to fix these problems, if they are better understood, Hyun said, just as pregnant women now take vitamin supplements to prevent spina bifida, in which the spine doesn't develop properly. Share this story. Developing embryos for another week "will thus illuminate this poorly understood period of our development and bring greater understanding of pregnancy loss and developmental disease," said Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, the British scientist who developed the technique for growing human embryos for nearly two weeks. Zernicka-Goetz, author of a 2020 book on human development called "The Dance of Life," would like to extend the 14-day rule out one week to 21 days. "This will enable the scientists to study a period of development that are highly susceptible to developmental failure, something that happens quite frequently in human pregnancy," she wrote in an email, stressing work should be closely regulated "to achieve these potential biomedical advances within an appropriate bi-ethical framework." Despite their differences, most scientists seem to agree there's no reason to push development past 28 days. By one month after conception, embryonic tissue is easier to obtain and study and the organs have formed, leaving fewer questions to answer. "You wouldn't need to take them much beyond that point anyway," Lovell-Badge said. The moral counterargument Pacholczyk, of the Catholic Bioethics Center, said there's simply no justification for 14 days or any other time limit. "Researchers have been feigning for a long time that the 14-day rule was somehow an ethical tenet grounded in biological facts while in reality it has been little more than a ceremonial 'line in the sand' and it should come as little surprise that they are now seeking to move that line beyond 14 days," he wrote in an email. Even some who strongly support scientific research are uncomfortable extending the 14-day rule. Henry Greely, who directs the Stanford Center for Law and the Biosciences at Stanford University in California, said there should be a hard-stop endpoint for embryo research. "Even though I do not personally give strong moral status to embryos, the idea of doing research on 18-day-old human embryos is disturbing," said Greely, author of the new book "CRISPR People: The Science and Ethics of Editing Humans." This sequence of images shows the development of embryos after correcting for a genetic error that would otherwise cause a type of inherited heart disease. OHSU "I'd like to see an endpoint that had some rationale that would make it likely to stick," he said. Growing an embryo in a lab dish instead of a woman's womb is necessarily different, Greely said, and may not represent a "real" embryo anyway. "Does a 14-day embryo that is not implanted deep in a woman's uterus tell us anything meaningful about a 14-day embryo that is?" he asked. Copy text Copy this quote's text The quote has been copied Tweet Facebook Email Email this story Share Share this story Marcy Darnovsky, executive director of the Center for Genetics and Society If moves are made to usurp these questions from wider society, its to the detriment of democracy and to the detriment of science. Quote icon Marcy Darnovsky, executive director of the Center for Genetics and Society, a nonprofit advocacy group, said efforts to overturn the 14-day rule are another example of scientific over-reach. "There's a real problem with scientists who are jumping ahead of the public," she said. Scientists should not be the ones who get to decide where society's moral boundaries lie, she and Hurlbut said. "If moves are made to usurp these questions from wider society," Hurlbut said, "it's to the detriment of democracy and to the detriment of science certainly in the long run, and probably in the short run." Contact Karen Weintraub at kweintraub@usatoday. Health and patient safety coverage at USA TODAY is made possible in part by a grant from the Masimo Foundation for Ethics, Innovation and Competition in Healthcare. The Masimo Foundation does not provide editorial input. | https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/health/2021/05/02/embryo-research-14-day-rule-under-review-raising-ethical-questions/6916582002/ |
How often do the 49ers' late-round picks work out? | The San Francisco made four selections on day three of the 2021 NFL Draft. Since head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch took over in 2017, here's a full list of their day-three selections: 2017: Joe Williams (running back, fourth round, 121st overall) George Kittle (tight end, fifth round, 146th overall) Trent Taylor (wide receiver, fifth round, 177th overall) D.J. Jones (defensive tackle, sixth round, 198th overall) Pita Taumoepenu (outside linebacker, sixth round, 202nd overall) Adrian Colbert (safety, seventh round, 229th overall) 2018: Kentavious Street (defensive tackle, fourth round, 128th overall) D.J. Reed (cornerback, fifth round, 142nd overall) Marcell Harris (safety, sixth round, 184th overall) Julian Taylor (defensive tackle, seventh round, 223rd overall) Richie James (wide receiver, seventh round, 240th overall) 2019: Mitch Wishnowsky (punter, fourth round, 110th overall) Dre Greenlaw (linebacker, fifth round, 148th overall) Kaden Smith (tight end, sixth round, 176th overall) Justin Skule (offensive tackle, sixth round, 183rd overall) Tim Harris (cornerback, sixth round, 198th overall) 2020: Colton McKivitz (offensive tackle/guard, fifth round, 153rd overall) Charlie Woerner (tight end, sixth round, 190th overall) Jauan Jennings (wide receiver, seventh round, 217th overall) Of this group of 19, two Kittle and Greenlaw became high-impact starters (sorry Mitch Wishnowsky, but you're a punter, so you don't count), so there's something about a 2 in 18 (11%) chance one of the 49ers' 2021 day-three picks turns into a star. Taylor, Jones, Colbert, Street, Harris (Marcell, not Tim), James, Skule and Wishnowsky have all contributed in various ways over the past few seasons, so there's roughly a 10 in 19 chance (53%) we see a 49ers day-three pick play meaningful snaps. Given those odds, the most likely scenario is that exactly two out of Jaylon Moore, Deommodore Lenoir, Talanoa Hufanga and Elijah Mitchell turn into contributors at some point in their 49ers careers. If this author had to guess who the two contributors would be, he would guess Mitchell who finds himself in a crowded backfield now but is well-positioned for 2022 and beyond, because Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson will be free agents after the season and Hufanga who presumably will be the second-string strong safety behind the oft-injured Jaquiski Tartt. | https://www.sfgate.com/49ers/article/49ers-draft-day-three-picks-how-often-NFL-round-RB-16144242.php |
Who is the referee for Man City vs PSG? | The second-leg of the Champions League semi-final between Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night will be officiated on the field by a team of Dutch match officials, as confirmed by UEFA. The second-leg of the Champions League semi-final between Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night will be officiated on the field by a team of Dutch match officials, as confirmed by UEFA. Pep Guardiola's side will be looking to better their first appearance in the last-four of Europe's premier competition in 2016, when a Manuel Pellegrini lead squad crashed out at the penultimate hurdle at the hands of La Liga giants Real Madrid. Manchester City do of course have an advantage going into Tuesday night's second-leg clash, after goals from Kevin de Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez secured a 2-1 victory in Paris last Wednesday, after falling behind to a Marquinhos header early on. Ahead of the clash in Manchester, UEFA have confirmed the team of match officials to oversee the clash between Pep Guardiola and Mauricio Pochettino. READ MORE: Everton join race to sign Man City forward READ MORE: Man City fans are fuming at Puma over leaked kit The man in charge of proceedings on the field will be 48 year-old Dutch referee, Bjrn Kuipers. He will be joined by assistant referees, Sander van Roekel and Erwin Zeinstra. As for video assistant referee duties, Kuipers and his team at the Etihad will be aided by Dutch pairing Pol van Boekel, and on assistant VAR duties, Dennis Higler. On the touchline, handling all the technicalities of substitutions and ensuring Pep Guardiola and Mauricio Pochettino are both abiding by laws, Greek referee Tasos Sidiropoulos will be the fourth official. Kuipers will be a familiar face to Manchester City and their players, after already officiating one of their Champions League fixtures this season: the 0-0 draw against FC Porto during the group stages back in December. READ MORE: Sergio Aguero makes surprising statue admission READ MORE: Man City star admits he's backing Liverpool against Man United Prior to then, there have been four other occasions when Kuiper has taken charge of games involving Manchester City; most notably, the Champions League Quarter-Final First-Leg against Tottenham back in 2019. Although that game will be remembered for Spurs taking a 1-0 advantage to the Etihad, it didn't come without it's controversy. Kuipers and his team awarded Manchester City a penalty via a VAR review for a handball from Danny Rose during the early moments of the game - a penalty which Sergio Aguero failed to convert. Other matches featuring Kuipers include a 4-0 home win over Borussia Monchengladbach in 2016, a 1-1 draw with Roma in 2014, and a 3-1 home defeat to Bayern Munich in 2013. You can follow us for live updates here: @City_Xtra | https://www.si.com/soccer/manchestercity/news/who-is-the-referee-for-manchester-city-vs-psg |
Will Kylian Mbappe be fit for PSG to face Man City in the Champions League? | Paris Saint-Germain hope to have their star forward Kylian Mbappe back on the pitch against Manchester City, after the French international missed out on the Ligue 1 game against Lens on Saturday afternoon. Paris Saint-Germain hope to have their star forward Kylian Mbappe back on the pitch against Manchester City, after the French international missed out on the Ligue 1 game against Lens on Saturday afternoon. Kylian Mbappe picked up an injury in the first-leg of the Champions League Semi-final against Manchester City, and the Parisian outfit are hoping that he recovers in time for Tuesdays return leg in Manchester. The youngster has scored eight goals in 10 Champions League games so far this season and has been a vital cog in Paris Saint-Germains campaign in Europe's premier competition. READ MORE: Everton join race to sign Man City forward READ MORE: Man City fans are fuming at Puma over leaked kit Speaking to Canal+ in the aftermath of his teams league game on Saturday, manager Mauricio Pochettino provided an update on the French forwards fitness. I'm optimistic. We think he will be there. We will see how it evolves tomorrow. We will decide before the match." When asked about the nature and reason for the injury, Mauricio Pochettino revealed that the forward suffered from "discomfort in his right calf" after the game against Manchester City, though it was unclear exactly when the injury had occurred. "He received a blow that could have happened at any time during the match [against Man City]. It can happen. It's not a serious problem but it created a muscle imbalance in the calf, Pochettino said in an earlier press conference on Friday. READ MORE: Sergio Aguero makes surprising statue admission READ MORE: Man City star admits he's backing Liverpool against Man United Manchester City hold the cards in this tie thanks to their 2-1 away win at the Parc des Princes last Wednesday, and PSG desperately need their French sensation Kylian Mbappe to be on the pitch to give them any chance of progressing through to the Champions League Final. You can follow us for live updates here: @City_Xtra | https://www.si.com/soccer/manchestercity/news/will-kylian-mbappe-be-fit-for-psg-to-face-man-city-in-the-champions-league |
Will Virgin Galactic ever lift off? | Richard Branson was running almost 15 years late. But as we rode into the Mojave desert on the morning of 12 December 2018, he was feeling upbeat and untroubled by the past. He wore jeans, a leather jacket and the easy smile of someone used to being behind schedule. Branson hadnt exactly squandered the past 15 years. Hed become a grandfather, moved to a private island in the Caribbean and expanded Virgins business empire into banking, hotels, gyms, wedding dresses and more. But he was staking his legacy on Virgin Galactic, the space tourism company he formed in 2004. The idea was to build a rocketship with seats for eight two pilots, six passengers that would be carried aloft by a mothership, released about 45,000ft in the air and then zoom just beyond the lower limit of space, float around for a few minutes, before returning to Earth. He was charging $200,000 a seat. It did not initially seem like such a crazy idea. That year, a boutique aviation firm in Mojave, California, two hours north of Los Angeles, had built a prototype mothership and rocketship that a pair of test pilots flew to space three times, becoming the first privately built space craft. Branson hired the firm to design, build and test him a bigger version of the craft. But the undertaking was proving far more difficult than Branson anticipated. An accidental explosion in 2007 killed three engineers. A mid-air accident in 2014 destroyed the ship and killed a test pilot, forcing Virgin Galactic to more or less start over. Lofty ambitions: Richard Branson holds a model of LauncherOne in 2012 at the Farnborough Air Show. Photograph: Richard Baker/Getty Images I approached the company shortly after the accident to ask if I could embed with them and write a story about their space programme for the New Yorker. I worked on the story for four years. After it came out, in August 2018, I spent another two years reporting and writing a book about the test pilots who fly Bransons spaceship. Amid the tragedies and setbacks, Branson remained optimistic of the prospect of imminent success. In 2004: It is envisaged that Virgin Galactic will open for business by the beginning of 2005 and, subject to the necessary safety and regulatory approvals, begin operating flights from 2007. Then, in 2009: Im very confident that we should be able to meet 2011. Later, in 2017: We are hopefully about three months before we are in space, maybe six months before Im in space. Meanwhile, other private space companies, such as Elon Musks SpaceX and Jeff Bezoss Blue Origin, were making progress. Branson confessed that had he known in 2004 what he knew now, I wouldnt have gone ahead with the project We simply couldnt afford it. His record on delivering promises has made him a polarising figure. Branson has appeared on lists of both hucksters and heroes. One poll ranked him second among people whom British children should emulate; Jesus Christ came third. His biographer describes him as a card player with a weak hand who plays to strength, but also a self-made and self-deprecating man whose flamboyance endears him to aspiring tycoons, who snap up his books and flock to his lectures to glean the secrets of fortune-hunting. But all of that was in the past; the turmoil and hardship would hopefully make the triumph all that much sweeter. For he and I knew as we headed into the desert that tomorrow could finally be the day that Virgin Galactic went to space. Fly right: Virgins WhiteKnightTwo mothership on a fly over, New Mexico, October 2010. Photograph: Getty Images Branson was all smiles as we arrived at our destination north of the airport in Mojave, an expansive, Asimovian facility where Bransons other space company, Virgin Orbit, tests rockets and where Branson was about to be given a special tour. He listened to the engineers canned deliveries, but did not ask about cryogenics or flow rates or other technical details. That was not his gift. His gift was knowing what people like. Branson is a tastemaker, a marketing genius. He spruces up airplanes, trains, hotels and gyms, rebrands them as his own and moves on. He knows when to get in and get out: he earned a reported 200m when he sold his stake in Virgin Media, for instance, and another 230m when he sold his stake in Virgin Active. He does not typically make stuff. Yet here he was in the business of making spacecraft. This brought particular challenges. For one, US law prohibits citizens from sharing technical details with foreigners, even if those foreigners own the company. When Branson asked a rocket question, an engineer responded with silence. Its because Im British, isnt it? Branson said, betraying a hint of frustration. Ringing endorsement: Richard Branson sounds a ceremonial bell at the New York Stock Exchange to celebrate the first day of trading of Virgin Galactic Holdings shares, 28 October 2019. Photograph: Justin Lane/EPA Later in the tour, we visited a test pad where engineers were bent over intricate foil-wrapped tubes, hoses and piping, preparing to conduct a ground test. Branson asked how many more ground tests they intended to conduct and when they could launch an aerial test. Every day they were testing meant another day they werent making money. At least a couple, said the engineer. Stop testing! said Branson, half-joking. You might find something wrong! It all started for Branson with the Sex Pistols. In December 1976, the punk band went on a primetime talkshow where the guitarist called the host a dirty fucker on air, bringing the segment to an abrupt end. Venues cancelled the bands upcoming gigs. Their record label dropped them. Branson was a 26-year-old music producer. He saw an opportunity and signed the band to his label. Five months later, when the Sex Pistols released God Save the Queen, a mockery of the royal Silver Jubilee, the BBC refused to play the single. Branson responded by chartering a boat and setting up a stage on deck. They sailed up the Thames, in front of parliament, while the band played God Save the Queen. Police boarded the boat and shut down the concert. God Save the Queen jumped to No 2 in the charts. But the stunt was equally important for Branson; it established his rebel reputation, one he has nurtured ever since: I wont let silly rules stop me. He branched into other sectors. Before long, Virgin had its own line of soft drinks, trains, wedding dresses, limousines, wines, airlines, casinos, and condoms. Virgins formula is Bransons adventuresome brand. He has promoted soda from the top of a tank in Times Square and dangled naked from a crane with only a mobile phone covering his privates to advertise that Virgin Mobile had nothing to hide on its bills. He has flown hot-air balloons across oceans and set speedboat records. Along the way, he has survived some close calls like when his boat capsized in a nasty storm, or when he was attempting to sail across the Atlantic, through the Bermuda Triangle, when the mainsail ripped and forced him to turn back. (He promised, We will build another boat and try again!) He is accustomed to handling setbacks with a smile. This has proven particularly useful at Virgin Galactic, where the company has not provided what it promised, but somehow continues to sell promise. At the February 2016 rollout for SpaceShipTwo in Mojave, a reporter asked Branson about Virgin Galactics longer-term ambitions. We will start to do that. I just had a meeting with a senator, talking about asteroids. And they asked, Can Virgin Galactic come up with ideas to try to remove giant asteroids coming toward the Earth? Well have a look at that. And, Could Virgin Galactic help sort out the debris in space? Well have a look at that, too. And once all thats sorted wed like to join the race for deep-space exploration. Virgin Galactics president, Mike Moses, sat nearby, and, speaking after Branson, stressed how an experimental rocketship programme required evolutionary steps that were gradual, deliberate and realistic. High point: Branson with pilots Rick Sturckow and Mark Stucky after Virgin Galactics tourism spaceship climbed more than 50 miles high above Californias Mojave Desert on 13 December 2018. Photograph: John Antczak/AP One of the things I hate is the world judging us based on what our marketing has said in terms of our readiness to fly and the depth of our knowledge, Moses once told me. Branson knows that people snigger. It would be embarrassing if someone went back over the last 13 years and wrote down all my quotes about when I thought we would be in space, he told me. But he is uniquely unfazed by embarrassment. He stutters when he speaks without notes. He shares unflattering details about his sex life, like his bizarre sexual allergy to his first wife. Whenever we made love a painful rash spread across me which would take about three weeks to heal, he once wrote. We went to a number of doctors, but we never resolved the problem. I even had a circumcision to try to stop the reaction. Somehow it added to his charm. A couple years ago, I contacted him and asked if I could visit him in the British Virgin Islands to discuss the programme. He extended a personal invitation. I booked plane tickets, while his assistant arranged a speedboat transfer and asked if I had any dietary restrictions. So I can let our chefs know in advance, she said. But on the eve of my trip, Bransons advisers found out what was happening and revoked the invitation. Branson had apparently made plans without consulting his communications director. At the time, I saw it as proof of Bransons swashbuckling insouciance: he could live that persona and let others protect him from himself. Perhaps I should have seen it as another empty promise. The day after we drove into the desert, Branson stepped on to a stage beside the runway. Behind him, Virgin Galactics mothership, with SpaceShipTwo fixed to its belly, was preparing to takeoff. Branson welcomed the select crowd. Im not allowed to say it, but hopefully were going to space today! he said. Hopefully well have some magic in the next couple of hours. An hour later, Branson was squinting against the sun, tracking SpaceShipTwos contrails across the blue morning sky. Space travel has been a longtime obsession of his. He once produced a documentary to commemorate the moon landing, featuring ambient soundscapes, a psychedelic montage of telescope images and clips of John F Kennedys moon shot speech. Later, when Branson appeared on the BBCs Going Live!, a viewer called in and asked if hed contemplated any extraterrestrial ventures. Id love to go into space, said Branson. If youre building a spacecraft, Id love to come with you. Accounts from astronauts further fuelled Bransons fascination. Weightlessness sounded positively bananas to him having to Velcro everything down so that it didnt float away; being able to pitch a bread roll at your tablemate without worrying it would end up falling on to a dirty floor. But what moved Branson most was how astronauts described the transformative power of it all, its almost baptismal nature. Once people have gone to space they come back with renewed enthusiasm to try and tackle what is happening on this planet, he told me. He regarded space travel as a humanistic, rather than an escapist, venture. And now, suddenly, it seemed possible that he could offer that experience to the masses. He watched the flight from the foot of the stage while an engineer stood at the mic, relaying updates from mission control. They had to get above 264,000ft, or 50 miles, which the US government defines as the boundary of space. The ship was climbing. Two hundred thousand, said the engineer. Two hundred and twenty thousand feet. Two hundred and forty thousand feet. Branson looked up. Tears welled in his eyes. Two hundred and fifty thousand feet. Two sixty. Two hundred and The engineer paused, awaiting confirmation. He got it: Two. Hundred. And. Sixty. Four. Thousand. Feet. Up in the cockpit the pilot Mark Stucky said: Great motor burn, everybody! Were going to space, Richard! The crowd whooped and cheered. Great motor burn, everybody! Were going to space, Richard! Mark Stucky, pilot Branson covered his face with both hands, cratering with emotion. His son Sam stood next to him and put his hand on his fathers back. That was the definition of a picture telling a thousand words, a thousand sleepless nights, Sam told me. Later, Branson held an impromptu press conference. He burned easily in the sun so he found a sliver of shade behind a trailer and reporters crowded in. Mike Moses hung near the back, but within earshot. Branson declared that SpaceShipTwo could be done with its flight-test programme in as little as three months. As yet, they have only returned to space once and are still testing. I am no longer embedded with the company, but stay in touch with people there. I know that two years ago the vice-president of safety resigned because of safety concerns, and that a December 2020 flight was aborted in midair. (In a statement, a Virgin Galactic spokesperson said, We feel confident about our space operations, which are regulated by the FAA office of commercial spaceflight transportation. Flight test programmes are an iterative process with safety as the first priority and it is well known that we have overcome a variety of technical challenges over the past 15 years. Our safety culture is built around the principle that everyone in the company has the ability to call attention to an issue. They added: As we are still in the flight test phase of the programme, we continue to analyse, inspect and modify the vehicles as necessary, and we are on track to conduct our next spaceflight in May.) I also know, from public information, that while Virgin Galactics space programme may be struggling, its bottom line seems strong. In late 2019, Virgin Galactic became a publicly traded company: at one point the stock was trading at almost five times its initial price offering. However, in recent weeks, as Virgin Galactics competitors progress, the stock has begun to fall. Last year, Branson sold $500m worth of shares. Last month, he sold another $150m worth of shares. He has always seemed to have known when to get in and when to get out. Test Gods: Tragedy and Triumph in the New Space Race by Nicholas Schmidle is published by Hutchinson on 6 May at 20. Order a copy for 17.40 at guardianbookshop.com | https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/may/02/will-virgin-galactic-ever-lift-off-richard-bransons-space-mission-is-still-stuck-on-earth |
Will ETFs Gain on Starbucks' Q2 Earnings Beat Amid Pandemic? | Starbucks Corporation SBUX released second-quarter fiscal 2021 results, after market close, on Apr 27. The companys earnings topped estimates while revenues lagged the same. However, the metrics rose year over year amid the pandemic. Notably, shares of Starbucks have declined 1.3% since the earnings release, largely due to revenues missing analysts estimates. Earnings in Detail Starbucks reported adjusted earnings of 62 cents per share, surpassing the consensus mark of 52 cents. In the prior-year quarter, the company had reported adjusted earnings per share of 32 cents. Notably, the bottom line surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the sixth straight quarter. Revenues rose nearly 11.2% year over year to nearly $6.67 billion but lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.80 billion. The upside was primarily driven by growth in comparable store sales, partially offset by the unfavorable impact of Global Coffee Alliance transition-related activities. Business Update Starbucks opened five net new stores worldwide in the fiscal second quarter, taking the total tally to 32,943. Global store growth was 3% on a year-over-year basis. Meanwhile, global comparable store sales rose 15% year over year. Global comps were up on a 19% increase in average ticket, marginally offset by a 4% decline in comparable transactions. The companys Active Starbucks Rewards loyalty program expanded to 22.9 million active members in the United States, up 18% on a year-over-year basis. Guidance Starbucks has updated its fiscal 2021 GAAP earnings guidance. Management noted that fiscal year 2021 is a 53-week year instead of the normal 52 weeks. The company continues to expect global comparable sales growth between 18% and 23% in fiscal 2021. Moreover, fiscal year 2021 earnings are expected in the range of $2.90-$3.00 compared with the previous estimate of $2.70-$2.90. The company projects consolidated revenues in the range of $28.5-$29.3 billion, inclusive of a $500-million impact attributable to the 53rd week. Story continues ETFs in Focus Investors might want to take a look at a few ETFs, which have notable exposure to Starbucks and can cash in on the coffee giants earnings results: iShares Evolved U.S. Consumer Staples ETF IECS 4.49% exposure to Starbucks It is an actively-managed fund which employs data science techniques to identify companies with exposure to the consumer staples sector. The fund comprises 122 holdings. Its AUM is $14.5 million and expense ratio is 0.18%. The fund has returned around 0.9% since the coffee giants earnings release (read: Coke, PepsiCo Earnings Should Help Staples ETFs). The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund XLY 3.45% exposure The fund tracks the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector Index and comprises 63 holdings. The funds AUM is $20.56 billion and expense ratio is 0.12%. The fund has lost 0.09% since Starbucks earnings release (read: Amazon Posts Biggest Profit Ever With a Huge Beat: ETFs to Tap). Fidelity MSCI Consumer Discretionary Index ETF FDIS 2.52% exposure This fund tracks the MSCI USA IMI Consumer Discretionary Index. The funds AUM is $1.63 billion and expense ratio is 0.08%. However, it has lost around 0.07% since the coffee giants earnings release (read: ETFs to Shine Bright on Upbeat US Consumer Confidence in April). Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF VCR 2.51% exposure This fund currently follows the MSCI US Investable Market Consumer Discretionary 25/50 Index. The funds AUM is $6.17 billion and expense ratio is 0.10%. The fund has almost remained flat since Starbucks earnings release. Zacks free Fund Newsletter will brief you on top news and analysis, as well as top-performing ETFs, each week. Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Starbucks Corporation (SBUX) : Free Stock Analysis Report VIPERS-CONS DIS (VCR): ETF Research Reports SPDR-CONS DISCR (XLY): ETF Research Reports FID-CON DIS (FDIS): ETF Research Reports ISHR-EUS CON ST (IECS): ETF Research Reports To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report | https://news.yahoo.com/etfs-gain-starbucks-q2-earnings-100010873.html |
What excites the Miami Dolphins about adding RB Gerrid Doaks? | National Review If Nelson Mandela had been Cuban rather than South African, he never would have been awarded a Nobel Peace Prize or become a 20th-century human-rights icon and statesman. Instead, he would have been a plantado, one of the political prisoners (the immovable ones) who refused to cooperate with the regime in exchange for shorter sentences and lesser punishments. Cooperate meant accepting the re-education and indoctrination program introduced in the early 1960s by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, then in charge of La Cabaa, an 18th-century fortress turned into a prison and execution camp. For most of the plantados who spent decades in Castros cells, there was no redemption, except among some in Cubas South Florida exile community. Many in the West, including the self-proclaimed champions of civil rights, were oblivious to the plight of Castros political prisoners often deliberately so. Thats why Plantados, a new film directed by Lilo Vilaplana, is important. Released recently at the Miami Film Festival, it follows the story of Ramn, a former plantado who escaped and discovers years later that his torturer, lieutenant Mauricio Lpez, is living with impunity with his family in Miami. Ramons discovery takes us back, through his painful memory, to Castros prisons, where he suffered the worst tortures and witnessed executions and unspeakable acts of violence against other political prisoners. The punishments included being thrown in sewer trenches, having to stand naked for days in tiny cells shared by four prisoners, where only one could lie down to sleep, suffering routine beatings, watching the humiliation to which their loved ones were subjected when visiting them, and other degrading experiences. In Miami, Ramn and his family, among them the son of Jorge (nicknamed the poet by other inmates), who died in Mauricios prison, confront the impossible dilemma: whether to kill Mauricio and avenge their suffering or try to bring him to justice, which probably would yield no result in U.S. courts. The plantados were known to favor justice over vengeance, but it is one thing to be principled in the abstract and another to have to confront the dilemma in flesh and blood. Vilaplanas movie presents the spectator with the wrenching gamut of moral dilemmas and psychological drama derived from the plantados story. At one point, the wife of one of the prisoners tells her husband that she and her family are living like pariahs for being associated with counterrevolutionaries, not to speak of the sexual humiliations suffered when entering the prison on visit days. The story of the plantados and their persecutors also carries long-lasting moral implications for the latter. Mauricios family, confronted with details of his shameful past, initially refuse to acknowledge the truth that is, accept that they have been blind to the atrocities the loving husband and father committed in the past. And then there is the crucial question of how much responsibility those who served in Castros prisons had for carrying out the orders they received. At one point, a corporal who throws the prisoners into the sewer trenches tells one of them, a dissident: You were part of the victors and ended up with the vanquished . . . and we sided with the communists. What he is telling him is that in a totalitarian system there is only one way to survive. Years later Mauricio, confronted by Ramn and his nephew, tells them he was not responsible for setting up the system; he was just following orders: If it hadnt been me, it would have been someone else. . . . Now I am with you. But the moral of Plantados is that you always have a choice, no matter how narrow the options and how strenuous the circumstances. They opted for resistance knowing it could cost them their lives, as when they drew blood from their own veins to color a piece of tissue red so they could brandish it from their cells window, as if it were a Soviet flag, while jeering a visiting dignitary. Mario Chanes de Armas, who served 30 years in Castros cells, died without the world recognizing his heroism. Eusebio Pealver Mazorra, who endured 28 years of torture, some of it racially motivated because he was black, never got the Nobel Peace Prize nor will the others who lived to tell the tale and give brief personal testimonies at the end of Vilaplanas movie. None of them will receive the recognition they deserve. Vilaplanas film begins, only begins, to do justice to these immovable heroes. | https://sports.yahoo.com/excites-miami-dolphins-adding-rb-121021328.html?src=rss |
Who is new mysterious Mets hitting assistant, Donnie Stevenson? | Pete Alonso swinging on home run vs. Nats The Mets have a "new hire." We don't really know. No one knows. But the Mets have a lot of faith in "Donnie Stevenson." Luis Rojas told reporters after Saturday's win that the Mets had a hitters' meeting prior to the game, which clearly helped propel them to a 5-4 victory. When Pete Alonso talked to reporters about the meeting, he dropped some breaking news. "Also, we just made a nice new hire, Donnie. He's nice. He's a great hitting/approach coach. Donnie's been great helping the team. I think Luis forgot to mention Donnie. Donnie really helped us today. When asked who exactly he was, Alonso said he's a "new hire. He's our mental/approach coach. I feel like we had a really cool collective team approach today, and Donnie helped us out for sure." It seemed kind of odd that a player would just drop news like that after a game. Alonso said he had to ask Chili Davis what his last name was, but remembered it was Stevenson. Michael Conforto "confirmed" the new hire soon after. "Donnie's a new guy," Conforto joked - or at least, we think he joked. "He made an appearance today at our hitter's meeting. He's all about the approach. He's a hitting approach guy. He's a guy that just gets the boys fired up and ready to go. So yeah, there is a new guy." Conforto drove in three runs on Saturday and hit the game-winning solo home run in the ninth inning. He's hitting .320 in his last seven games, and looked comfortable in all four at bats on Saturday. "Maybe I gotta give credit to Donnie. He got my approach right," Conforto said. When speaking of Coach Stevenson, Alonso barely cracked, but Conforto couldn't help but laugh. There is no mention of Donnie Stevenson on the Mets website or media guide. But Donnie Stevenson, whoever you are, you are good luck. | https://sports.yahoo.com/did-pete-alonso-just-tell-021514852.html?src=rss |
Can California keep Modernism alive? | Palm Springs isnt just a great place to spend a weekend. Its one of our last and most fervent defenders of what California really is not what it pretends to be. Thats because Palm Springs, like the Golden State, is a modernist project, built by people who broke from old tradition and established cultures and experimented relentlessly to construct new systems that buried the past. Throughout California, modernism has produced freeways that span the state, waterworks through swamps and deserts, culture-dominating industries from Hollywood to Silicon Valley, and brand-new approaches to art, architecture, literature, philosophy, politics and religion. But modernism also damaged California communities, structures and habitats. So, today modernism is in retreat, with post-modernism ascendant. We worship the past, and tell ourselves we want to go backward and restore it. We talk about taking down the dams and interstates, getting back to nature and repairing the environment, staying off our screens and cracking down on the tech companies, and restoring the lands and traditions of our ancestors. Thats what makes Palm Springs and its public devotion to modernism so distinctive. The city is effectively promoting the creation of the new, by looking not forward but backward into its own past. Palm Springs has long touted its mid-century modern architecture those 20th century desert homes, with lots of glass and open spaces, that encourage indoor-outdoor living and have become synonymous with California in the American mind. In 2006, after some years of holding a Modernism Show & Sale and successful symposia on modern design, Palm Springs created a major event Modernism Week. Its grown into a colossus of the February calendar, with home tours, bus tours, walking tours, bike tours, garden tours, films, lectures, parties, concerts, fashion shows and car shows. Theres now a second, smaller-scale Modernism Week in the fall. This year, the pandemic expanded the calendar, with Palm Springs hosting an online Modernism Week in February, followed by an in-person week in April. All celebrate a Palm Springs modernist aesthetic of as the designer-writer Brad Dunning told Palm Springs Life forward-facing the future with open arms and a martini. Modernism Week, of course, is about commerce. Palm Springs tourist economy needs visitors, local arts-oriented businesses want customers, and real estate interests need to sell local homes. But the event also taps into what might be called a nostalgia for the new. Palm Springs is keeping alive a time when Californians could violate old strictures and fashion entirely novel things without having to spend years fighting planning commissions or CEQA lawsuits. But Modernism Week also evangelizes for an updating of modernism, to fit the more diverse needs of today. This years Fast Forward/Designing the Future of Palm Springs event showcased a new and decidedly modernist design for affordable housing by local architect Maria Song. Her design for the 60-unit Monarch Apartment Homes on Indian Canyon Way nods to the renowned work of Donald Wexler, the architect of many of the areas steel-and-glass homes. Songs goal is creating affordable housing beautiful and distinguished enough to be embraced by wealthy neighborhoods. I want people to understand that there is nothing cheap about affordable housing, Song told me. Rents are affordable, but not the materials or landscaping or the quality of the building. The Monarch proposal, being developed by Fairfield-based Community Housing Opportunities Corporation, should produce a building that opens minds and that any community would be proud to have as part of its fabric, she added. That Palm Springs is a citadel of modernism is both appropriate, and rich with contradictions. This is a lush city in the middle of a desert valley full of golf courses and swimming pools, in a state plagued by drought. The largest landowner in Palm Springs is actually the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, which in recent years has asserted more of its property rights, frustrating the expansive ambitions of some businesses. Palm Springs is thus, like California itself, caught in a purgatory, between the urge for the new and the demands of the old. In other words, we Californians occupy a no-mans land, somewhere between modernism and post-modernism. We know we need to create new systems that are sustainable and climate-friendly, inclusive and anti-racist. But we are afraid of displacing stakeholders, or burying the past or not respecting our ancestors. For these and other reasons, we maintain nearly insurmountable regulations and obstacles to building anything new. This conundrum can leave us feeling as though we are trapped in time, not sure which way lies the past and which way lies the future. The feeling is expertly captured in a new installation outside the Palm Springs Art Museum by the artist Gonzalo Lebrija. It is a car that is suspended over a pool of liquid not going in any direction, frozen. The works title is History of Suspended Time (A monument for the impossible). If we take inspiration from Palm Springs, well try to go multiple directions at once. Well take the risk of creating modern novelties for our post-modern world. And well recognize that the fastest way to restore the past is to go boldly forward into the future. Joe Mathews writes for Zcalo Public Square, a Los Angeles-based media nonprofit affiliated with Arizona State University. | https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/article/Can-California-keep-Modernism-alive-16143368.php |
Who is getting COVID-19 in Oregons fourth surge? | I didnt think about how many people he sees in a day who might sit in his car, said Blashishin, adding that he wore a mask while the driver didnt. Days later, Blashishin tested positive for COVID-19. He ultimately spread the virus to his wife and he believes a friend, who was forced to isolate away from his 11-month-old daughter for 10 days but ended up giving it to her anyway. I felt guilty for the longest time, Blashishin said. Blashishin is one of more than 28,000 Oregonians known to be infected so far in a fourth wave of coronavirus cases that began building about eight weeks ago. While new known cases and hospitalizations have been declining in the United States as a whole, Oregon now finds itself as an outlier. Oregon cases are up roughly 30% and hospitalizations 40% in the past two weeks. Both have roughly tripled since the lows of early March. New infections are, in fact, accelerating faster in Oregon than in any other state in the nation. Cases per capita in the past two weeks are the 13th highest even though Oregon has recorded the third lowest rate of infections since the beginning of the pandemic. Confounding public health experts is why cases are dramatically rising in Oregon when in line with the rest of the nation about 30% of residents are now fully vaccinated. Officials at the Oregon Health Authority suspect Oregons relatively low rate of infections for most of the rest of the pandemic have left a larger proportion of the population more susceptible to the virus. On top of that, the much more contagious B.1.1.7 variant now the dominant strain in Oregon and the nation as of early April is allowing the virus to transmit with greater ease. Some studies have found it also causes more severe disease. Whatever the reason, Oregons spring surge so far has been far less devastating than the fall and winter with daily cases averaging a little over half of their earlier highs. And deaths are just a fraction of the December peak. Gov. Kate Brown said Friday that while fewer seniors are being hospitalized thanks to their higher rates of vaccination, the proportion of hospitalized patients who are between the ages of 18 and 34 has grown by almost 50% recently. COVID-19 is now knocking more younger people off their feet, Brown said. The demographics of people infected by coronavirus are similarly shifting. Compared to the months-long fall surge, Oregon has seen a significantly smaller percentage of cases among Oregonians 60 and older. The state, meanwhile, continues to post robust numbers of new cases among 20-somethings, who continue to represent the highest share of infections. Like many Oregonians, Blashishin, 26, will never know the source of his infection for sure. Blashishin said he accepted the ride from the tow-truck driver only because his wifes car was out of commission and getting home would have required a very long walk from Interstate 205. Six days later, he felt chills and some mild congestion. He brushed it off as spring allergies, which hit him every year around that time. He wore a mask when he rode in the car the next day with his friend to visit a trading-card shop the first time in more than a year the two had ventured out in a car together. Its a trip that the friend, Max Virnig, chalks up to maybe a little bit of pandemic fatigue. Several days later, Blashishin was eating a bowl of soup when he was overcome with the realization that hed lost his sense of taste. He grabbed a bottle of vinegar and sniffed. Nothing. He got tested. It came back positive for COVID-19, he said. His wife tested positive a day later, similarly losing her sense of taste and smell while feeling like she had a cold. Their toddler tested negative. I should have been smarter, but I thought it was allergies, Blashishin said. Virnig tested positive around the same time in March, then his 11-month-old daughter in early April, although neither experienced symptoms. Blashishin has repeatedly expressed how sorry he is. Hes told me that so many times, said Virnig, 30, a Southeast Portland resident. I told him, Its fine. I keep stopping him. Dude, it happened, we cant go back and now were here. Both friends were surprised they caught the virus after so many months of living what they consider very cautious lives. They say as dads of young children, they dont go to parties or bars. I dont go places without a mask, Virnig said. Ive only been out to a restaurant once in over a year. Said Blashishin: Man, we went a whole year without getting anything. Its funny to me to think you could go so long and be so cautious and then theres one little thing, and you get it. * Oregons spring surge has seen a notable drop in the share of coronavirus cases among older residents and, in particular, those 80 and older. That age group has always represented a minuscule share of total cases less than 4% while accounting for more than half of all COVID-19 deaths. But the case share for Oregonians 80 and older has been cut by more than half, to 1.7% since early March. Thats almost certainly due to vaccinations of Oregons eldest residents that began in February. The percentage of cases also has dipped among younger seniors, extending to those in their 60s. * Mike Heskett snapped this photo of himself the day he was admitted into Hillsboro Medical Center in early April. (Courtesy of Savanna Morrow) Savanna Morrow looks at the selfie her 58-year-old father, Mike Heskett, texted her from his bed at Oregon Health & Science Universitys Hillsboro Medical Center, shortly after he was admitted there in early April. Morrow knows he was trying to look upbeat, but she could see the uncertainty in his eyes. My dad is just this very healthy, vital person and seeing him lying in a hospital bed at all, it was hard, said Morrow, 33. And I know my dad was trying to make it seem like he was better than he really was. Morrow, who is her fathers primary caregiver during his bout with COVID-19, is awed at how swiftly the disease took over their lives. One morning in late March he came down with a bit of congestion and immediately started to isolate within the Hillsboro home he shares with Morrow, her mother and her brother, Morrow said. He called into the manufacturing plant where he works as a quality-control inspector and was told to get tested because someone else had just tested positive for the virus. Morrow said her father ultimately became part of a larger outbreak. By day three, Heskett felt like he had pneumonia, his blood oxygen level had plummeted into the danger zone of the 80s and he was gasping for air as Morrows brother masked up and with the car windows rolled down drove him to the medical center, Morrow said. By day five, Heskett was thinking about what to say in his final good-byes. But he no longer had the strength to talk to Morrow or her mom by phone. He attempted to draft his messages, he later told them, by text, but he was too weak to hold his phone up and type while lying in his hospital bed. He was so sure he was going to lose that fight, Morrow said. It was so hard to hear him admit that. It still makes me shake when I talk about it. Mike Heskett and daughter, Savanna Morrow. (Beth Nakamura/Staff)The Oregonian But the farewells didnt turn out to be necessary. Her dads fortunes turned, and he was able to come home April 9 beginning his slow recovery, Morrow said. Beyond Hesketts lung damage, misfiring taste buds (bacon tastes like rubber) and overwhelming fatigue, the virus has been financially devastating to their lives. The medical bills for his nearly week-long hospital stay add up to $36,000, Morrow said, and she knows thousands of that wont be covered by insurance. Theres also the time off from work that has hit her father hard. This past week he returned to the facility part-time, but he ended up having to nap during breaks even though his employer allowed him to sit for most of his shift, Morrow said. Morrow thinks of the small blessings the Native American Youth and Family Center that has brought them food and groceries. Both her parents, Morrow said, are of Native American descent. She also thinks of how her dad appears to be the only one who got sick in their household. Although Morrow said only her father was tested, she thinks at least her 60-year-old mother would have shown symptoms if infected because her chronic pulmonary obstructive disease puts her at high risk for severe disease. That has been a big motivator, Morrow said, for the family to wear masks, wash their hands and keep their distance from others throughout the pandemic. We were so careful, we thought it was really unlikely it would enter our lives, Morrow said. Morrow has watched in frustration as apathy about the virus and the vaccines appears to have grown. I hear so many people talking online: Its not really a big problem because Im so healthy or Im careful in public, it will be fine, Morrow said. Its hard for it to be real until it enters your life and reshapes your reality. * Public health experts say younger people are more likely to socialize with others outside their household, are less worried about adverse effects from COVID-19 and are less likely to want to get a vaccine. One survey has found that fewer than 50% of people ages 18 to 29 say they have already been vaccinated or want to get vaccinated as soon as possible, compared to 82% of people 65 and older. Some medical experts say because B.1.1.7 is so much more contagious than previous strains, precautions such as the distance one person stands from another is no longer as safe as it once was. * Forrest Murphy says it was stunning to see the results of his COVID-19 test in early April 2021. (Photo by Dave Killen)The Oregonian Oregon City resident Forrest Murphy, 27, spent the winter working in the kitchen of an assisted-living facility that -- like so many in Oregon and across the country -- was ravaged by the pandemic last year. Three people died and 32 people linked to the facility were infected, according to health authority records. Its a high-risk community, but they tested every week, Murphy said. I got like 20 tests. He said when he had a chance to get his first shot of Pfizer vaccine in early February, he was relieved. Three weeks later, he got his second dose. By March 12, two more weeks had passed, and he was considered fully vaccinated. But in the end, it wasnt the assisted-living facility where Murphy thinks he was exposed. It was hanging out with one unvaccinated friend at each others homes -- something the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said is considered safe because Murphy is fully vaccinated. Murphy said by late March, hed started coughing. It felt like a miserable cold or the start of seasonal allergies. Crummy, said Murphy, summing it up in one word. When he woke up one day and couldnt taste or smell, he wondered if it was possible hed caught COVID-19. He went to urgent care in early April, got a rapid test and it came back positive. Stunned and not wanting to expose anyone else, Murphy said he made the 15-minute walk back home. I almost passed out, Murphy said. I was not feeling OK. I felt like I couldnt catch my breath. Murphy is a breakthrough case -- one of a minute number of Americans whove been fully vaccinated but still tested positive for the coronavirus. In Oregon, officials announced 168 fully vaccinated people who have been infected, including 19 who were hospitalized and three who died as of early April. Thats 0.024% of the 700,000 residents whod already been fully immunized at the time -- figures so small that officials said they were good news. The health authority only releases figures once a month, with the next announcement due in the next week. Nationwide, the CDC reports an even tinier percentage, with just over 7,000 of 87 million fully vaccinated Americans infected, although officials acknowledge its an undercount because someone with no symptoms isnt likely to be tested. I guess Im just part of that unlucky percentage, said Murphy. He said plenty of friends have asked Murphy about his experience getting sick despite his vaccination status. He tells them no vaccine is 100% effective and he believes in the COVID-19 vaccines. Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are more than 90% effective. He doesnt want to be used as a reason people dont get the vaccines. My friend told me that made up his mind: Im not going to get the vaccine now, Murphy said. Im like No, no, no, no. Dont have that opinion. Kids dont get polio anymore because of vaccines. I think vaccines are still really, really important and people should definitely get them. Its unclear if Murphy was infected by a more contagious variant, such as B.1.1.7, which some research shows is slightly more successful at evading the effectiveness of vaccines. The Oregon Health Authority says it analyzes breakthrough cases for variants if theres enough sample material available. Murphy has never heard anything from health officials about whether genomic sequencing was done on his sample, or what the results were. Murphy said he feels fortunate to have had just quit his job at the assisted living facility, and he said he feels relieved not to have exposed anyone there. At final count, he said hes been able to trace the infections to at least half a dozen friends and family in a viral chain starting with his friends aunt, who infected his friend, who infected his wife and Murphy, who infected another friend and his roommate. His roommates daughter, who didnt show symptoms, visited her grandmother, who soon tested positive. Its insane how contagious this disease is, Murphy said. Its just astounding. Coronavirus in Oregon: Latest news | Live map tracker |Text alerts | Newsletter -- Aimee Green; [email protected]; @o_aimee | https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2021/05/who-is-getting-covid-19-in-oregons-fourth-surge.html |
What Is Destiny 2s Closing Ceremony For Guardian Games? | Destiny 2 Bungie Guardian Games has arrived with a few tweaks this time around, namely the new strike playlist that groups the classes together with different bonuses. But theres something else new that its doing this year that didnt happen last year. From May 7 to May 11, there is a Closing Ceremony. Heres the only thing Bungie has said about it so far: We will be throwing a special final weekend closing ceremony in the Tower that will be live from May 7 to May 11 to celebrate the winning class! So, at this point it seems the winning class will already be chosen. I assume this will mark the reveal of their statue in the Tower, one that is hopefully less hilariously tiny than the micro one that sat by Zavala all next year. Supposedly its going to be. I do wonder, however, what else might be happening. Before Guardian Games was here, there were promotional materials saying that there were new story components to the event. So far, that hasnt been the case, unless youre counting say, the lore attached to the class items for the event (which you should read). I cannot guarantee any of the following will happen, but I see two main potential options here for narrative beats that would make sense with this season, and the coming one. Destiny 2 Bungie The first idea is that to celebrate our new cease-fire with the Cabal, we could invite Empress Caiatl to the Tower itself for the closing ceremonies. This seems like the kind of event you would invite foreign dignitaries to, and it would be a good bookend for that storyline which has sort of been left hanging as Caiatl is trying to root out the cause of her Psion problem. It would also be pretty symbolic, taking place in the shadow of the ruined original Tower that is still damaged from the Red War. Of course, my ultimate goal with this storyline is that Caiatl would bring a gift with her, and bestow upon us the true Hammer of Proving, the seasonal device weve been charging to smash through chests, but in this case, it would transform into an actual exotic, giving us our first non-sword third person weapon. Weve only had two exotics this season, and even though both are great, I really, really want to see this happen, and Bungie has been dropping hints about non-sword melee weapons for a while now. Well, its been a long time since weve had a live event in Destiny, and we know Bungie enjoys doing this. The last one was when we watched the Traveler heal itself right before everything went into the DCV, so its been a bit. Destiny 2 Bungie In this case, I could see some sort of live event happen that ties into whatever the threat is for next season. Right now all I have to go on is the rumored Season of the Splicer idea where we may see a Fallen/SIVA focused season. Something catastrophic interrupting the Closing Ceremonies and serving as an introduction to next season would be pretty neat to see, in whatever form that might take. Again, its certainly possible none of this happens. The entire Closing Ceremony might just be them setting up the statue and then launching themed class fireworks for four days. I mean I hope its more than that, but well have to see. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. Subscribe to my free weekly content round-up newsletter, God Rolls. Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series, and The Earthborn Trilogy, which is also on audiobook. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2021/05/02/what-is-destiny-2s-closing-ceremony-for-guardian-games/ |
Why are Apple and Epic going to court over Fortnite currency? | Apple and Epic Games will go head to head in court in front of a US federal judge on Monday, the latest stage in the Fortnite makers campaign to break open the iPhones walled garden. The feud has been growing since last August, when Epic set in motion a plan known internally as project liberty to try to get past the restrictions Apple places on software made for iPhones and iPads. Here is what brought the two companies to this point. The App Store is the only way to install software on iPhones and iPads, but companies have to play by Apples rules if they want to be included. Those rules are byzantine, controlling everything from adult content to security practices, but Epics main issue is with the rules controlling how it can charge customers for V-bucks, the in-game currency used to buy items in Fortnite. Apple requires large companies to pay 30% of the money they receive for such sales of digital goods since last December, smaller companies can apply for a discounted rate a cut which Epics founder and chief executive, Tim Sweeney, had long complained was extortionate. Sweeney sent Apple a behind-the-scenes ultimatum: allow Epic to run its own App Store for iPhones, where it could take payments without a cut. Apple rejected Epics terms, and on 13 August Epic unilaterally updated Fortnite to allow users to buy V-bucks direct, and offered a discount for those who did. Apple and Google, whose Google Play app store rules were also circumvented, retaliated within hours by removing the game. Epic took the fight public, reworking Apples famous 1984 commercial to pitch the company under Tim Cook as the new villain. The showdown with Apple has echoes of past Epic campaigns, which have had mixed results. It successfully forced Sonys hand in 2017 in a nearly identical playbook. Fortnite was updated to allow cross play, letting Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo Switch players compete directly, but Sony refused to allow PlayStation owners to join. That autumn, a brief software update which Epic said was a mistake enabled the feature for PlayStation owners, proving that it was possible and casting Sony as the sole holdout. The company panicked, fearing it could lose its reputation as the console platform for the players, its tagline at the time, and relented. Another attempt to bypass controls was less successful. Epic launched the Epic Games Store on Android in 2018, using a technical feature of Googles mobile platform to legitimately bypass the companys control. Apple has held fast. The company not only removed Fortnite from the App Store, as Epic expected, but initially tried to go further by threatening Epics ability to publish software for Macs too. That would have harmed another wing of Epics business, where the company makes the Unreal engine, a popular tool for developing 3D graphics for the gaming, film and design industries. The courts blocked that salvo after Microsoft joined in on Epics side. Apple insists there is no room for negotiation, and that the rules the App Store runs on are there to ensure the safety and security of its users. Requirements to funnel payments through Apple protect users against financial scams, and a ban on installing alternative app stores prevents malware from running rampant on the platform. A whole load. Shortly after the case was launched, a new body, the Coalition for App Fairness appeared, with members including Epic, Spotify and the Tinder owner Match Group. CAF is firmly aimed at Apple, and argues that the companys 30% cut represents an enormous portion of their revenue, in many cases an untenably large one. The Guardian is a member of the News Media Association, itself a member of News Media Europe, which in turn is part of CAF. Other CAF members have similar complaints about different parts of the App Store. makes gadgets which can track lost items, a market Apple entered in April. Tile argues Apple has an unfair advantage, because it allows its AirTags software capabilities that Tile was barred from using. According to court filings, Epic will present Apples restrictions as the acts of a monopoly player that is extracting unfair payments from companies with no option but to accede. Apple will argue that the success of other mobile phone makers shows that it is not a monopolist, and that the small portion of Epics business that occurs on iOS reportedly less than 10% of Fortnites revenues before it was pulled - further supports the idea that the two companies are equals. It is rare that battles between companies this big make it to open court, because the incentive to settle beforehand is so big. The list of executives lined up to testify includes Tim Cook and Tim Sweeney, Apples Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi, the former App Store boss Scott Forstall and witnesses from Facebook and Microsoft. Testimony under oath extracted by skilled lawyers could produce some uncomfortable disclosures from everyone. | https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/may/02/why-are-apple-and-epic-going-to-court-over-fortnite-currency |
Will convicted wife killer Scott Peterson get a new trial? | In a California courtroom this week, there was a hearing in a sensational murder case that most think ended nearly 20 years ago. In 2004, Scott Peterson was convicted and later sentenced to death for killing his pregnant wife Laci and dumping her body in the San Francisco Bay. But now there's a new twist in the case. California's highest court overturned Peterson's death sentence last summer, meaning he will get a new sentencing trial. His supporters want him to be retried on all charges, saying they have new evidence that could exonerate him. "Scott did not get a fair trial," Peterson's sister-in-law, Janey Peterson, tells CBS News correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti. Janey Peterson maintains police did not look hard enough at others or consider a connection to Laci's death and a burglary that happened across the street from the Peterson's home. "The wrong person's in prison," she says. Authorities are not commenting, but Jon Buehler, one of the original detectives on the case, disagrees. "There's nothing that's come out that's made me change my view that Scott got a fair trial and that Scott is the one who killed Laci," he tells Vigliotti. "Twenty years later, this case still holds a lot of interest," says Jack Leonard, senior editor of investigations at the Los Angeles Times. "Mostly because it remains an enduring mystery. CHRISTMAS EVE 2002 The infamous San Quentin prison is the last stop for men on death row in California, and where our story begins. Because that's where Scott Peterson remains behind bars. For years, the Peterson murder mystery captivated America. SHARON ROCHA | LACI PETERSON'S MOTHER [at press conference]: Laci and her unborn child did not deserve to die. Peterson was ultimately convicted of murdering his pregnant wife Laci and their unborn child Conner. He was sentenced to death. But Scott Peterson's death sentence has since been thrown out and several questions still remain. Some people believe he is innocent that he was railroaded, even framed. Others say there is no question he is guilty. Story continues It was just on the other side of the same bay nearly 20 years ago, the bodies of Laci Peterson and her unborn child washed up on shore. On Christmas Eve 2002, Laci Peterson was first reported missing by her family. Scott Peterson and Laci Rocha met in 1994 while both were attending college at California Polytechnic State University. They married two years later. In 2002, Laci became pregnant. The two lived in Modesto, California, and planned to raise their unborn son Conner there. / Credit: Court evidence GRETCHEN CARLSON [CBS News report]: Police in Modesto, California, have a mystery on their hands. A woman who is eight months pregnant has been missing since Tuesday when she left home to take her dog for a walk. It happened in the city of Modesto, in California's Central Valley. Scott and Laci Peterson lived here on a quiet residential street. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: Christmas Day morning, about 9 o'clock, I get a call I was a police detective at Modesto Police Department. Detective Jon Buehler worked the case from the beginning. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: Laci was as about as pure a victim as you can get. She was about eight months pregnant when she disappeared. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: We went over to the Peterson house, which is when I first met Scott. And the detective remembers noticing something odd about Scott's behavior. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: He was a little bit he just didn't seem interested. SCOTT PETERSON: I do not. SCOTT PETERSON: No. SCOTT PETERSON: Mm-hmm. Scott told police that Christmas Eve day he left Laci alone and went off a fishing trip. He said when he got home Laci wasn't there only their dog McKenzie. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: McKenzie's there in the front yard area, the street area with a leash on that's kind of muddy. And he's thinking that this is kind of strange. His theory was that she had gone down into the park and had been walking the dog and something happened down there, abduction or something like that. Police immediately started a search. NEWS REPORT: Officers returned in force this morning combing the park and creek bank on foot and on horseback. Relatives, friends, and neighbors joined in distributing fliers and searching the park. SCOTT PETERSON: No, I mean I've asked you a couple times what to do, um, so I have the answers to that. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: Oftentimes, a victim who's left behind is firing tons of questions at us. And we didn't get any of that from him. The response from everyone else close to Laci was very different. SUSAN CAUDILLO | SCOTT PETERSON'S SISTER: We're searching we're looking and we're going to find you. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: Everybody was going crazy. Everybody was impatient. SHARON ROCHA: Whoever has her, please, please, please, let her go. Bring her back to us" DENNIS ROCHA | LACI PETERSON'S FATHER [sobbing]: Please let us have her back. Family, friends the whole community mobilized immediately to join the search for Laci. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: Sharon Rocha, Laci's mom, her stepdad, Ron Grantski, her friends her brother Brent, her sister Amy. They just saw this whole world coming down. They were always struggling to hold back tears. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: But when it came to Scott, he always would hold back a little bit. He wouldn't show you all of his cards. LOCAL NEWS REPORT: Officers began a search of the couple's home late last night Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: We knew we had to focus on him from the start because that's the way you work a homicide. DOUG RIDENOUR | MODESTO P.D. [at press conference]: Nobody's been ruled out. That's what we're trying to do right now. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: Because generally, there's going to be somebody with motive and generally, the motive is going to be somebody close. On the morning of Laci's disappearance Scott told police he drove to a boat launch about 90 miles away from his home. He said he wanted to take his brand-new boat out on the water to go fishing for sturgeon, but he never caught a single fish. As he drove home, he called Laci and left a message on her phone: SCOTT PETERSON [voicemail]: Hey, beautiful. I just left a message at home 2:15. I'm leaving Berkeley. I won't be able to get to Vella Farms to get the basket for Papa. I was hoping you would get this message and go on out there. I'll see you in a bit, sweetie. Love you. Bye. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: it seemed like a very scripted message. It just it seemed phony to me. Skeptical detectives also wondered why Scott would have gone fishing in the first place. It was Christmas Eve and his wife was eight months pregnant. Peterson told investigators he had originally planned to golf that day but decided to go fishing because of the chilly weather. SCOTT PETERSON [police interview]: It seemed too cold to go play golf at the club, so ... Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: You got a guy who said it was too cold to golf, but it ain't too cold to go fishing. Family, friends, and volunteers launched a huge search for Laci Peterson. / Credit: KMAX Day after day, the search widened, and the story spread. DENNIS ROCHA : Whoever has Laci. The reward is 500 thousand. Take the money, bring my daughter back safe and take the money and go get away free. Jack Leonard: First of all, you had an attractive looking couple. And it was Christmas Eve, so there's nothing else going on in the news. So, this attracted attention, first of all, from local news, and then national, and then it went global. But hopes for finding Laci Peterson alive were fading. DOUG RIDENOUR | MODESTO P.D. [at press conference]: We still don't have any significant lead into finding Laci Peterson SHARON ROCHA: Please don't give up on us. JACKIE PETERSON | SCOTT'S MOTHER: Please send Laci back to us. And police continued to play close attention to Scott Peterson. DOUG RIDENOUR | MODESTO P.D. [to reporter]: Our discoveries during the investigation have resuscitated the revisiting of the Peterson residence with a second search warrant. They also asked him to take a polygraph. He refused. Ret. Jon Buehler: Scott told us that he wouldn't take the polygraph And so that arched our eyebrows a little bit that he wouldn't take this thing. GLORIA GOMEZ |NEWS REPORT]: Recently authorities released photos of Peterson's pickup and boat, hoping someone could back up his story. Both Scott and Laci's family stood with him. LEE PETERSON | SCOTT'S FATHER: There is no way in god's green earth that he is, you know, even remotely involved in this thing. SHARON ROCHA: We feel Scott has nothing to do with it. LEE PETERSON: We're looking for Laci, and we're gonna find her. Then it looked like there was a break in the case. POLICE PRESS CONFERENCE: We're received a tip yesterday Detectives discovered there had been a burglary just across the street from the Peterson home. One witness told police she believed that burglary happened the same morning Laci disappeared. Police quickly put that clue to rest. DOUG RIDENOUR | MODESTO P.D. [at press conference]: We're confident that we have the people in custody for the burglary and they are not connected with the missing of Laci Peterson. Then, about a month after Laci went missing DOUG RIDENOUR | MODESTO P.D. [at press conference]: She is prepared to give a statement. This case took a dramatic turn. Ret. Jon Buehler: The first big break we got in the case was of course Amber coming forward. AMBER FREY [at press conference]: We did have a romantic relationship. THE OTHER WOMAN SCOTT PETERSON [phone recording]: I wanted to call you. AMBER FREY: Thank you. Amber Frey had no idea her boyfriend Scott Peterson was married with a pregnant wife. In 2005 she told "Inside Edition" all about their love affair. AMBER FREY ["Inside Edition"]: He was looking for someone to be with, someone to spend the rest of his life with. You know, I was at a point in my life that I was ready to meet someone, too. Less than a week after Laci Peterson went missing, Modesto detectives investigate an intriguing lead: a Fresno massage therapist named Amber Frey revealed that she had been dating Scott Peterson for over a month. She told police that Peterson had lied to her and said he was single. / Credit: Court evidence Amber was 27 years old when she met Peterson. It was November 2002 a month before Laci went missing. Amber says Scott told her he was a widower. They dined on strawberries and champagne and she was beginning to fall for him. AMBER FREY ["Inside Edition"]: It was real for me. And it felt real for him, too. But after a friend saw the Peterson story in the news, he told Amber. And Amber called the police. Detective Buehler and his partner raced down to Amber's home. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: Her recall was fantastic. It was almost like it was a script from a Hallmark TV show or something. She could remember restaurants they went to and what they ate. She could remember what Scott was wearing. She would remember what she was wearing. And Amber had pictures. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: You know, Scott's in a tux and Ambers in that red dress they're getting ready for the Christmas party. Hoping for clues that might lead them to Laci Peterson, detectives ask Amber Frey to record phone calls between her and Scott Peterson, and she agrees. / Credit: Court evidence That Christmas party was just a week-and-a-half before Laci would go missing. The detectives were stunned. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: We had a guy who looked like the guy you want to marry your younger sister. But now we found that there was that chink in the armor. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: It doesn't mean that he killed Laci. But what it meant to us is there was another side to him that had not been exposed before. Investigators saw an opportunity. Maybe Amber could help them find out what happened to Laci. AMBER FREY ["Inside Edition"]: They asked how I felt about tape-recording conversation with Scott And I said "yes." Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: She had an investment, an emotional and a budding romantic investment in this guy I think she saw it crumbling in front of her. The recordings would become part of a damning case against Scott, but first, Amber addressed the questions about her relationship. In an explosive press conference one month after Laci Peterson goes missing, Amber Frey publicly reveals her affair with Scott Peterson. AMBER FREY [at press conference]: Scott told me he was not married. AMBER FREY [at press conference]: I am very sorry for Laci's family and the pain that this has caused them. Laci's family turned on him. BRENT ROCHA | LACI'S BROTHER [addressing reporters]: I would like Scott to know that I trusted him. However, Scott has not been forthcoming with information regarding my sister's disappearance and I am only left to question what else he may be hiding. The story sparked a media frenzy. Jack Leonard: It was huge. It was wild. And it made the case even bigger. You really had the rise of the 24-hour cable news. You had Larry King on there interviewing legal experts, including Nancy Grace. Jack Leonard: Almost from the beginning, she was zeroing in on Scott. Scott Peterson gave an interview to ABC's Diane Sawyer while Laci was still missing. When asked about the marriage, he appeared to refer to Laci in the past tense: SCOTT PETERSON: We took care of each other very well. She was amazing is amazing. SCOTT PETERSON: OK. Scott explains that as a couple they had different interests: SCOTT PETERSON: We have separate pursuits. and being, you know, seven-and-a-half months pregnant she's not going to want to go out in a boat. Scott Peterson speaks with reporter Gloria Gomez. But critics of Scott say the most surprising moment may be what happened when Scott's phone began to ring during the interview. Laci was missing and Scott doesn't pick up the phone. SCOTT PETERSON: That's my phone, unfortunately. I thought it was off. [Scott gets up] Yeah, it's kind of going crazy isn't it. Gloria Gomez: He didn't hesitate to turn it off and some would say that why, if you're a concerned husband, if your wife is missing, you know, you would have that cell phone clinging to you and every call would be an urgent call. And then, more than three months after Laci disappeared, in San Francisco Bay the bodies of Laci and Conner washed up only a few miles away from where Scott Peterson said he was fishing. Two bodies are found about a mile apart on the shores of the San Francisco Bay on April 13 and 14, 2003. They are later identified as Laci Peterson and her unborn child. / Credit: CBS News With the discovery of the bodies, detectives decided to move quickly. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: Our concern was maybe he's going to head for the border. Authorities finally caught up with Scott at a San Diego golf course. He told them he was supposed to play a round with his father. He also had about $15,000 in cash and his hair was dyed blond. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: He had his brother's driver's license in the car with him, two or three cell phones. And so, you know, not the normal stuff you have if you're going down to the local Winn-Dixie to get groceries. POLICE PRESS CONFERENCE: Scott Peterson has been arrested. He is in the custody of Modesto Police Department detectives. On April 18, 2003, police say Scott Peterson led them on a high-speed freeway evasion. When they caught up with him, he had dyed his hair blond and had $15,000 in cash and camping gear in his car. Days later, Peterson pleaded not guilty to two counts of capital murder. / Credit: Evidence photo Just over a year later in Redwood City, California, Scott Peterson went on trial. The trial had been moved about 90 miles from Modesto because of the huge amount of publicity. Peterson had a high-priced Hollywood dream team of attorneys led by Marc Geragos, famous for defending celebrities like Michael Jackson. MARC GERAGOS [at trial]: This is a capital case. I'm worried about my client's life. [laughs] They changed their story a couple times. Attorney Michael Cardoza also worked on Scott Peterson's case. And though he was not part of the court room defense team he says the prosecutors' theory of what Scott did to Laci was confusing. Michael Cardoza: First, it was he killed her the night before, put her in the rug, put her in the truck, took her to the warehouse. Took her to Berkeley and dumped her in the bay. Then later it was, "Yeah, I guess we really don't know when she was killed, where she was killed. But we do know he did it." Well, come on, guys. Make up your mind. But the case against Scott would get a lot clearer when prosecutors started playing recordings the ones Amber Frey managed to secretly make. AMBER FREY [phone recording]: Hello. AMBER FREY: Yes. SCOTT PETERSON: Hey. AMBER FREY: Oh, my goodness. AMBER FREY: I'm here. SCOTT PETERSON: Amber. AMBER FREY: I wish you could hear me. Happy New Year. Just about everyone who was inside the courthouse at the time agrees it was the tape- recorded phone calls between Amber Frey and Scott Peterson that really grabbed the jury: SCOTT PETERSON [phone recording]: I'm near the Eiffel Tower, the New Years' celebration is unreal. That's Scott Peterson one week after Laci went missing on the phone with Amber Frey pretending he's calling from Paris when authorities say he was really in Modesto while the search for Laci was still going on. Michael Cardoza: Amber Frey. Simply. That's what turned that trial It was the pretext phone calls that Amber Frey made to Scott Peterson. Jonathan Vigliotti: They were pretty damning. Michael Cardoza: There's no question. That's what changed this trial. SCOTT PETERSON: I never cheated on you I never did. AMBER FREY: You're married. Explain that one to me. After the jury heard those calls with Amber, attorney Cardoza says everything changed. Because of massive publicity, Scott Peterson's trial was moved from Modesto to Redwood City, in San Mateo County. The decision was made because the judge decided it would be difficult for Peterson to get a fair trial too close to home, where emotions were running high. Michael Cardoza: That emotion was so loud, they could hear nothing else. And then, with crowds gathered outside and no cameras allowed in court, on November 12, 2004, a verdict: We the jury, in the above entitled cause, find the defendant, Scott Lee Peterson, guilty of the crime of murder of Laci Denise Peterson. Michael Cardoza: When the guilty verdict came back, you could hear the crowd outside when you were in the courtroom cheering. Cheering. What kind of effect did that have on the next phase of the trial, the death. Four months later, sentenced to death, the applause was even louder. But inside the courtroom, it seemed to Laci's family that Scott hardly responded. Harvey Kemple | Laci's Uncle: It was just like always, no emotion. No nothing. The man is a definite psychopath. He is getting exactly what he deserves. After sentencing, some of the jurors lashed out at Peterson: Four months after his conviction, Scott Peterson is sentenced to death. At a press conference, Juror No. 7, Richelle Nice, [pictured center] called Peterson a RICHELLE NICE |JUROR [to reporters]: He is a jerk and I have one comment for Scott: You look somebody in the face when they're talking to you. MIKE BELMESSIERI |JUROR [to reporters]: Well, Scott came in with a great big smile on his face, laughing. It was just another day in paradise for Scott, another day that he had to go through emotions. But he's on his way home, Scott figures. Well, guess what, Scotty RICHELLE NICE: San Quentin's your new home. MIKE BELMESSIERI: And it's illegal to kill your wife and child in California. Michael Cardoza: Juror number seven Miss Nice. Listen to what she says. You'd think you'd be a little introspective about that because there's nothing worse, nothing more ultimate, nothing more final than taking someone's life. Michael Cardoza: Scott Peterson, I have no opinion on whether he's guilty or not guilty. But I do know Scott did not get a fair trial. He absolutely did not. Scott Peterson's attorneys filed appeals and nearly 16 years after his conviction, a decision. After two appeals, Scott Peterson's death sentence was overturned by the California Supreme Court on August 24, 2020, after deciding that the original trial judge made a mistake when jurors were being picked for trial. The result of that mistake, Peterson's supporters say, was that the jury was stacked with pro death penalty jurors. Peterson, shown here in 2011, will now receive a new trial for only the sentence phase. The court upheld his murder convictions. / Credit: AP Last summer, as Scott sat behind bars in San Quentin, the California Supreme Court threw out his death sentence. Pat Harris: The Supreme Court said, "He is going to get a new trial on the death penalty phase." Pat Harris was part of Scott's defense team in the original trial and he continues to represent him. Pat Harris: They determined that the judge had made a mistake in how the jurors were selected based on the death penalty part of the trial. The result of that mistake, Scott supporters say, was that the jury was stacked against him with pro death penalty jurors. Peterson's team is also arguing that it's not just his death sentence that was all wrong. They say Scott deserves a completely new trial to determine guilt. The reason: that juror number 7 Richelle Nice. Let's get rid of this guy." Nice declined "48 Hours"' request for an interview. Harris maintains that Nice was biased from the beginning and when they were picking the original jury Nice was not forthcoming about her own history. Pat Harris: It's pretty clear that she lied to us straight to our face about her own situation. Prospective jurors filled out a questionnaire asking if they had in the past been in a lawsuit and if they had been crime victims. And Nice checked "no". Pat Harris: And we've come to learn that in fact there were issues in her own circle of people. And there were restraining orders. In fact, Nice was involved in two domestic disputes in the past. But prosecutors say when Nice filled out that questionnaire she didn't lie, she just didn't think her past experiences were relevant to the questions and didn't see herself as a victim. Now a lower court will consider if Peterson will get a complete retrial. And his defenders are ready. Janey Peterson: Every piece of information we find out about this day further confirms that Scott is innocent. Scott's sister-in-law Janey Peterson says there are witnesses who claim they saw Laci very much alive after Scott had already left for his fishing trip that day. Janey Peterson: Absolutely. Janey Peterson: This is our family business we have a back office here that we've dedicated to the case files Jonathan Vigliotti: Oh, wow. Janey Peterson for Scott's case. Janey Peterson: Yeah. Yeah. And Scott's sister-in-law Janey Peterson has been at war for almost 20 years now. Even though Scott has only been granted a new trial on the death penalty, Janey is gearing up to prove his innocence. Pat Harris: Janey is the heart and soul of the the case. Janey Peterson: I'm not talking about emotions. I'm talking about evidence. Everything on this board is a fact. there's no scenario of guilt for Scott. Much of the case for Scott, she says, comes down to the timeline what happened the morning Laci disappeared. He's on death row for the murder of his wife and child. And no one has ever said what time he did this crime, how he did this crime, or the series of events of how he carried out this crime that fits the evidence. Janey Peterson [pointing to evidence board]: Basically, the day starts on the left side According to Scott, that morning he and Laci had breakfast and watched Martha Stewart. SCOTT PETERSON: cookies of some sort they were talking about what to do with meringues. Scott told police Laci told him she was going to clean the house and then walk their dog, McKenzie. He told them that he left the house around 9:30 a.m. He said he went to a nearby warehouse where he had an office and sent an email from his computer, before setting off with his boat to the Berkeley Marina. The prosecution argued that Scott had killed Laci sometime before he left the house that morning. Janey Peterson: The state asserts that Scott murdered Laci and that he loaded her body in his pickup, drove it to his warehouse. But if Laci was seen alive after Scott left the house, Janey says the prosecution's case falls apart. Janey Peterson: There's an abundance of evidence that shows that Laci was alive when he left for the day. Janey Peterson: The pink squares are all the people in the neighborhood who reported seeing Laci or McKenzie that morning. Janey says most of these witnesses reported the sightings between 9:45 and 10:30 in the morning after Scott said he left the house. She says so much depends on these witnesses, but the defense never called them to defend Scott at his trial. Janey Peterson: I think there were multiple factors that played into it. you had people who, as time went by, thought that maybe what they saw wasn't relevant to the case. Pat Harris: There's been a lot of criticism because we didn't call some witnesses who saw Laci that day. Scott Peterson's attorney Pat Harris. Pat Harris: The original thought process at the time was a number of the witnesses who saw her didn't have great memories or had contra were contradicting each other. Police Detective Jon Buehler says none of the witnesses were actually sure if they did in fact see Laci. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: There were three girls in the neighborhood, two of which were pregnant at the time and two of them having dogs walking in the neighborhood So, it would be real easy for somebody to mistakenly see one of those three girls as being Laci. Still, Janey Peterson says there is a witness who helps prove Laci was alive after Scott left that morning. It was the mailman. Janey Peterson: What the mailman said is that, when I went by the Peterson house the morning of December 24th, I went by there between 10:30 and 10:50. the gate was open, and McKenzie was not on the property. Janey says that's because Laci was out walking McKenzie. If McKenzie had been home, she argues, he would have barked at the mailman because he always did. Janey Peterson: this dog, in particular, barked at that mailman every single day, whether he was behind the gate or in the house. Jonathan Vigliotti: So, what you are saying is during this time, Laci had McKenzie and they were Janey Peterson: On a walk. And according to Janey, if Laci was out walking her dog, then Scott who was in his office sending an email could not have killed her. But when it came time to testify, the mailman didn't have a clear recollection and said "nothing out of the ordinary" happened that day. Scott Peterson was sentenced to death for the murder of his pregnant wife Laci and their unborn child in 2005. But after appeals, his death sentence was overturned. / Credit: KMAX Maybe more importantly to a new defense case though, is what Janey believes actually happened to Laci. Instead of Scott killing his pregnant wife, she says it's more likely it was those burglars who robbed the house just across the street. Janey Peterson: There's too many unanswered questions about that burglary to set it aside. The day Laci disappeared, December 24, the homeowners left to go on a trip around 10:30 in the morning. Scott Peterson and his team believe that Laci actually confronted the burglars and something bad happened. To prove it, they point to what they call the "Aponte tip." Janey Peterson [pointing at evidence board]: This is the Aponte tip ... that was the call that was overheard by Lieutenant Aponte at Norco Prison. Lieutenant Xavier Aponte was a corrections officer. He called in a tip about a phone recording he had heard about a month after Laci disappeared. Janey Peterson: And he said he had an inmate who was on the phone with his brother in Modesto discussing the fact that Laci had encountered the burglars across the street from her house. Janey Peterson points to a burglary she believes happened on the same day Laci disappeared, right across the street from the Peterson home. Scott Peterson's supporters theorize that Laci confronted the burglars and that ended badly. But police quickly arrested the burglars - Steven Todd and Donald Pearce. / Credit: Modesto Police Department Janey Peterson: When we heard this, we all thought, "Wow, maybe maybe this'll give us some answers as to what happened to Laci." But remember, police dismissed the burglary early on: DOUG RIDENOUR | MODESTO P.D. [at press conference]: We do not believe at this time that there's any connection with the missing of Laci. Here's why: Pat Harris: The police figured out who did it. They asked the culprits, "Well, when did you do this?" And the two gentlemen that were arrested said, "Oh, it was December 26th, the day after Christmas." Not on December 24, when Laci went missing, but two days later. Peterson's defense isn't buying it. Pat Harris: On December 26th, there was a line of media reporters standing outside the Peterson home up and down that street. There is no way in hell you could burglarize a house with all those people standing out there. But police say the burglars broke in through a back door on the 26th, out of sight of the street and any reporters who may have been there. As for the tip about an inmate phone call from prison, prosecutors say the phone call is just hearsay. Still, Peterson's attorney says if Scott gets a chance at a new trial, that burglary will be front and center. And so will their theory of the crime: that Scott Peterson was actually framed for his wife's murder. In a 2017 A&E documentary, Scott Peterson spoke about the moment he heard the word "guilty." SCOTT PETERSON [phone recording]: I was staggered by it. I had no idea it was coming. SCOTT PETERSON [phone recording]: and I just had this weird sensation that I was falling forward. Those thoughts seem starkly different from courtroom reports that describe Peterson as "emotionless." JUROR [at press conference]: Scott had no emotion on his face, Scott was being Scott. And according to his lawyer, that lack of outward emotion hurt Scott from day one. Pat Harris: I think the biggest problem I have is what I call the "he didn't act right" evidence. There is no such thing as how to act. There's no playbook on how to act when your wife has been murdered. No matter what you do, when you've built the narrative in your mind that he's guilty, whatever Scott did was gonna be interpreted through the lens of he's guilty Pat Harris: It was a terrible investigation from the first minute. Harris says authorities had tunnel vision. He claims they never looked at other possibilities, or even the logic of their own theories. Pat Harris: We did an experiment which we filmed. The defense team loaded weights into a boat. Pat Harris: We took the exact weight We had the boat, similar We recreated it, did a video. And sure enough, when the body was dumped over, the boat flipped. We had a video of this. The judge refused to let it in. But the Supreme Court said that the judge was correct not to let it in. They said the defense had used a different boat, a different motor, in different weather, and one of their own employees who stepped on the side of the boat to let in water and allow the boat to swamp. They even pointed out that the original judge offered the defense a chance to redo the experiment with the original boat and someone who was not a defense employee. But the defense declined. Still, Janey says if given a chance, the defense will present other exonerating evidence. Janey Peterson: We have an ongoing investigation that we don't discuss publicly. But I guarantee you that Scott will never be convicted of capital murder again in a court of law. Jonathan Vigliotti: Some of the most damning evidence is where Laci and her unborn child were found. They washed up very close to an area where Scott Peterson was fishing. Janey Peterson: I'm not saying it's a coincidence. I'm I would argue it was on purpose. Janey Peterson: On purpose. They claim that Peterson was actually framed for the murder, and the real killer or killers held on to Laci's body, eventually dumping it into the San Francisco Bay. Janey Peterson: Her body wasn't taken to the bay December 24th. The bay wasn't sealed off as a crime scene. There are multiple points of access directly to the water, 24 hours a day. I think they took Laci, had Laci, realized the national attention that this case was getting, realized they were in trouble. Janey Peterson: Well I I can't get past the burglary. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: The two burglars that were involved in that both told consistent stories that were backed up by other independent witnesses. Jon Buehler, one of the original detectives on the case, tells Detective Jon Buehler, one of the original investigators, says burglars had nothing to do with Laci's murder. And the idea that Laci was kidnapped in broad daylight in that neighborhood just doesn't make sense. Ret. Det. nobody saw an abduction in broad daylight where a girl had a dog, and the dog would be barking, and a girl would be screaming. Tell me how that is going to happen because I don't see it. As for the idea that Scott was framed Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: What is the likelihood that somebody is going to abduct Laci, and then all of a sudden, the media has intense scrutiny and attention to it. All the while we're doing searches up there, all the while that the media is camped out over there, that you've got cops and deputies and other agencies over there looking into this. Ret. Det. Well, I guess possible. But you know, there's still people that believe the earth is flat, too. The District Attorney is not commenting on the defense's theories, but at Peterson's trial, contrary to what the defense argued, prosecutors laid out their relatively clear theory of the crime: that Laci had been murdered in the home either the night before or the morning she disappeared. And they focused on all the falsehoods Peterson had told. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: We knew that he was able to lie fairly easily. Everything from the big lies he told to Amber Frey SCOTT PETERSON [phone recording]: It's pretty awesome, fireworks there at the Eiffel Tower. SCOTT PETERSON [phone recording]: I have I've lied to you that I've been traveling. to the little lies prosecutors say he told about the morning Laci vanished. SCOTT PETERSON: Mm-hmm [affirms]. SCOTT PETERSON: We were watching her favorite show, "Martha Stewart." That didn't come on until 9:48 a.m. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: You have to dismiss so much circumstantial evidence in this case to believe that Scott didn't do this. Ret. Det. Jon Buehler: In a circumstantial evidence case becomes like a big rope. It's got strand after stranded after strand. And when you get so many strands weaved together on this big rope, this rope is very, very strong. Buehler remains as confident as he ever was in Peterson's guilt. But Scott's defenders are just as confident. Pat Harris: Yes. Jonathan Vigliotti: Or you are. Pat Harris: Yes. Pat Harris: Oh, he's innocent. I would bet my life on it. Both sides wait to see if the court will allow Peterson's team a chance to fight not just the death penalty, but for his innocence as well. Laci Peterson / Credit: Evidence photo Until then, we're left with an almost unspeakable tragedy the murder of 27-year-old Laci and her unborn baby, Conner and you have to wonder what's going through Scott Peterson's mind as he sits in prison just a few short miles across the bay from where their bodies washed ashore. Scott Peterson's next court appearance is expected in June 2021 Produced by Chuck Stevenson. Michelle Fanucci is the development producer along with Ryan Smith. Emily Wichick is the field producer. Lauren Turner Dunn is the associate producer. Richard Barber is the producer-editor. Phil Tangel is the editor. Patti Aronofsky is the senior producer. Nancy Kramer is the executive story editor. Judy Tygard is the executive producer. Voters spar over race and recovery in "Face the Nation" focus group Stunning science: COVID-19 vaccines' life-saving breakthrough Gottlieb says U.S. "locking in" gains against COVID-19 as vaccinations continue | https://news.yahoo.com/convicted-wife-killer-scott-peterson-030600170.html |
How Does Former Gators QB Kyle Trask Align in Tampa Bay? | Assuming the starting position at Florida in 2019, Kyle Trask made the most of his opportunity to be selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the second round of the NFL draft. The possible heir apparent to Tom Bradys (pretty newly constructed) throne in Tampa Bay has been appointed. Fresh off a Super Bowl victory in the first year of Bradys run in Tampa, the Buccaneers executed a near-perfect offseason, returning all 22 starters and a majority of the teams' reserves for a title defending season in 2021. As a result, the Bucs front office was looking to bolster the depth of its roster. Picking EDGE rusher Joe Tyron in the first round, general manager Jason Licht was looking to secure their signal-caller of the future in the second. Therefore, as the final pick of the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers looked to the future, securing former Florida Gators quarterback Kyle Trask as the inevitable successor of Brady. Set to be given multiple years to develop on the practice field before hes thrown into action, Trask sits in a favorable position in Tampa. Seven years: The amount of time between starts from the high school to the collegiate level. As a well-followed storyline throughout Trasks meteoric rise as commander of the Florida Gators offense, his virtue of patience as a backup prevailed, ultimately deciding his standing as a second-rounder. Spending time behind the likes of DEriq King and Feleipe Franks since his freshman season of high school, the Manvel (Texas) native and former two-star recruit stayed the course to assume the starting position when Franks went down with a leg injury against Kentucky. Leading the Gators to another New Years Six bowl victory, Trask capitalized on his nearly two-year run as the Gators starter. Throwing for 4,283 yards, 43 touchdowns and eight interceptions on 68.9 percent completion in his final collegiate season, Trask dominated as a pocket passer, showing great touch and accuracy at all the short and intermediate levels of the field. Trask shows comfortability playing in an offense that emphasizes quick hitters across the middle, playing with a high football IQ and increased sense of decision-making skills last season. Despite being limited in terms of arm strength, Trask makes up for it with his ability to throw receivers open, targeting space at the top of the route that makes the offense he plays in better. His lack of mobility outside of the pocket was a concern going into the draft, but given the man hell be learning from who has made a career of playing inside the pocket the Bucs felt Trask embodied an ideal replacement for Brady. As a plus, Trask showed his significant improvement inside the pocket with awareness and ball security last season, a tribute to his progression since being thrust into the starting lineup. Without a designated role in the offense for at least two seasons, Trask will get loads of time to grow accustomed to the playbook and verbiage of the offense. Looking to take over the reins in Tampa eventually, Trask will provide adequate depth to offensive coordinator Byron Leftwichs offense for now. Overall, Trask is a teachable rookie that will see his first years in the NFL on the bench. His familiarity in that spot and proven history of waiting his turn prepares him for the road ahead. | https://www.si.com/college/florida/football/florida-gators-kyle-trask-buccaneers-fit-nfl-draft |
Is 49ers' Trey Lance the hottest draft pick in Bay Area history? | When Roger Goodell stepped to the podium and read the name of the 49ers first draft pick Thursday evening, it was harder to tell which was louder the cheers of the 49ers faithful, or their sighs of relief. Mac Jones, San Franciscos Public Enemy No. 1, would not be coming to the 49ers. The 49ers staked their future on Trey Lance, even though, as legend now has it, Lance has never even held a football. However light Trey may be on experience, the 49ers like Lance a lot. So do the fans. In fact, I hereby assert that the 49ers drafting Trey Lance was the single most seismic draft pick in Bay Area history, all factors considered. The main factor is that Trey Lance is not Mac Jones. Jones might make a fun and effective quarterback for the Patriots, who drafted him at No. 15. But he is a traditional pocket passer and 49ers fans were deathly afraid that their team was being rendered obsolete by coach Kyle Shanahans love for old-school, no-run pocket passers. Many 49ers fans saw the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl two years ago as a sign from the football gods that it was time to move into the future. The 49ers and their old-school QB were smoked by a crafty, mobile quarterback, whom the 49ers had shunned in the draft. Shanahan is a very popular coach among most fans and media experts, for his innovative offense, leadership style and cool hats. But the love affair was cooling. The draft of Lance was an eye-opener. Look, dad traded in his minivan for a Corvette! Deep was the dread that Shanahan would draft Danny Dropback, so 49ers fans might have been just as happy with Justin Fields. Stephen Curry changed the basic offensive structure of the NBA, but when he was drafted nobody anticipated his pioneering future. Timing is one reason Lance gets the nod as the most instantly-exciting draft pick in the Bay Area. Alex Smith looked like a splendid pick when the 49ers took him No. 1 overall in 2006, but the fan enthusiasm was damped by the sadness of the Aaron Rodgers lovers. Plus, the 49ers were coming off a 2-14 season, and had no Super Bowl dreams. The current 49ers have a Super Bowl window, with big-time playmakers, they just need someone to open it up. Lance is the missing link, not just another rebuilding block. Another factor is the mystery. Lance has imperfections, but his potential is enticing. As draftnik Conor Myles of si.com said, Hed provide a power element to this offense, which the NFL is completely unprepared to stop. Tim Lincecum had some of that mysterious vibe when drafted No. 10 overall, an undersized kid with a quirky delivery and big fastball. But nobody was saying, Three World Series titles, here we come! It would be hard for a player in a sport other than football to top this list. The NBA draft is catching up, but football is still king, its draft is a season in itself. I admit, I wasnt around for Y.A. Title draft in 1951 or Hugh McElhenny in 52. Im sure they were big deals, as was John Brodie out of Stanford in 57. Too many fans werent sold. The Raiders dont have a first rounder whose draft caused the stir that Lance did for the 49ers. A lot of hope, but faith in Al Davis judgment was badly faded, and the Raiders were in a brutal four-year tailspin that no rookie was going to pull them out of. The Raiders did create some interest drafting Eldridge Dickey in 68, the first Black quarterback ever picked in the NFLs first round. Posey, having won the Golden Spikes Award at Florida State, created considerable buzz. Reggie Jackson in 66, Todd Van Poppel in 90, Ariel Prieto in 95, Kyler Murray in 2018. Nate Thurmond in 63, Joe Barry Carroll in 80, Chris Mullin in 85, Chris Washburn in 86, Curry in 09. The Sharks: Logan Couture in 07, Devin Setoguchi in 05 and Patrick Marleau in 97. Exciting first-round picks, all of them, but Trey Lance is the guy. Scott Ostler is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @scottostler | https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/49ers/article/Is-49ers-Trey-Lance-the-hottest-draft-pick-in-16145833.php |
Is Fear The Walking Dead Really Going To Outlive The Walking Dead? | Fear the Walking Dead AMC Fear the Walking Dead continues its pandemic-delayed season tonight with another episode, this one presumably focusing on the coming conflict with the mysterious group that keeps spray painting dire messages around the world and may or may not have access to a nuclear submarine. But now the show is in a weird situation where as far as we know, it may actually outlive The Walking Dead proper, which has a hard end date set after an extended 11th season. No, Fear the Walking Dead has not passed TWD in total time, yet. Its on season 6 and we know season 7 is coming. But it very well may still be airing when both The Walking Dead is over and limited series spin-offs like World Beyond are ending. What seems increasingly clear is that the long-rumored idea of a crossover is probably not going to happen at this point. Season 11 of The Walking Dead appears to be dealing with the dual problems of the non-comic storyline of Maggie and her Reaper enemies, and the comic finale storyline of the Commonwealth, despite many of the major players being gone from the show (Rick, Carl, Michonne, Dwight). There does not seem to be a plan to bring Morgan or Dwight back to TWD, nor does there appear to be a plan to merge long-running Fear characters like Alicia or Strand with the main cast, which is something fans used to dream about. Fear the Walking Dead 2019 AMC Film Holdings LLC. All Rights Reserved. Fear continues to be years behind the actual timeline of The Walking Dead, and while time movesoddly across all these series, I dont think weve had anywhere near enough jumps to keep up overall. The Fear cast has started to bloat quite a bit, which is why were seeing characters like John and Virginia killed off in quick succession. The show has had wild swings in quality, going from extremely great episodes with the Clarke family in early seasons, to a terrible few years as they were killed off, to some improvements and now were hovering somewhere in the middle. Ratings continue to drop, with season 6 setting new lows every few weeks, but thats not all that unexpected for a show ending its sixth season. Overall, we have seen Fear the Walking Dead lose a smaller percentage of viewers than The Walking Dead over time, and TWD now has less than double the viewership of Fear, when that figure used to be more like 3-4x. In short, Fear has a pretty loyal core audience. AMC maintains they are committed to The Walking Dead universe as a whole. The projects we know about going forward will be the Daryl and Carol spin-off, the Rick Grimes movies and Fear the Walking Dead, as no announcement has been made about it ending. Whether it becomes the lead Walking Dead show is unclear, or if the Carol and Daryl show is supposed to be that instead, given the high profile of its leads. Strange times for TWD after a decade now. Im going to keep watching Fear, but things are getting pretty weird all around, and Im not clear on what the endgame is here, if there is one. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. Subscribe to my free weekly content round-up newsletter, God Rolls. Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series, and The Earthborn Trilogy, which is also on audiobook. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2021/05/02/is-fear-the-walking-dead-really-going-to-outlive-the-walking-dead/ |
Why Is LEGO Encouraging All Leaders To Play More? | Dr Kathy Sullivan, First female American astronaut to walk on the moon has teamed up with LEGO to ... [+] encourage more adults to play. Over the last year, when working with leaders who need to find different ways to approach challenges, I have found one word emerging consistently; curiosity. New, complex problems, the big wicked ones we have been navigating since March 2020, demand entirely different thinking. The leaders handling the crisis more effectively recognize the need to rethink processes and ways of working. New thinking doesn't emerge overnight. Even though we understand the value of curiosity as a leadership trait, this behavior is difficult to nurture when a leader is used to be the person to whom colleagues defer when seeking solutions. Over time, as leadership builds their expertise and skill, they work at a deeper level of cognition, which helps spot patterns and trends and quickly and efficiently identifies solutions. But when dealing with complex, wicked problems, applying pre-existing solutions are not always the best way forward and can be more damaging to the organization. For leaders to admit that they don't have the answers is also incredibly difficult and even more so in organizations and cultures where colleagues look to the leader for strong direction. Integrating curiosity can be difficult for leaders who have adopted a well-defined and robust leadership style. At the same time, as we increasingly acknowledge leaders need to be even more open to different ideas, there is a leap from knowing the importance of curiosity to leading with more inquisitiveness and openness, where playing becomes the bridge to curiosity. Dr.Kathy Sullivan, whose achievements range from the brightest stars to the ocean's deepest depths, shared her views with Forbes. Sullivan was a crew member on three Space Shuttle missions and the first American woman to walk in space on October 11, 1984. Her first-hand experience on the STS-31 mission launched the Hubble Telescope. Thirty-six years later, she also achieved the accolade for the first woman to reach the ocean's deepest point, Mariana Trench, through a 35 thousand foot dive to the Challenger Deep, achieving a world record in the process. Sullivan is working with LEGO to encourage more play among adults. Speaking to Sullivan, a geologist by training, she explained what drives her to continue to push boundaries; "I think the complete answer is curiosity, I'm not driving by titles or awards. I'm curious, and I've always been intensely curious about everything and especially this planet. Curiosity has always propelled me." Sullivan's insatiable curiosity allowed her to challenge boundaries, assumptions and learn more. Sullivan explains the importance of play as a core to her leadership and career; her background as a geologist and working with scientists and engineers creates the bedrock to have fun and the satisfaction of creating and achieving new outcomes. "Scientists and engineers solve problems, but you have to let your creativity and your lateral thinking release." It can seem counter-intuitive to encourage leaders to consider playing, particularly during the global pandemic and economic crises, the relationship between play and higher cognitive function. Today, more than ever, leaders need to offset the impact of prolonged stress with the need for even higher cognitive thinking to address complex problems. Research by the LEGO Foundation identified the benefits of play across five main areas. Play associated with learning allows individuals to regulate emotions, defined by researchers Mary Helen Immordino-Yang and Antonio Damasio as the 'emotional rudder.' Playfulness creates joyful experiences stimulating dopamine, the hormone helping us to make sense of new information and strengthen memories. Dopamine helps to enhance neural activity that correlates with creative thinking. If we understand the activities in our brain and what helps to build stronger cognitive function, then we realize that play is not just limited to children. Sullivan and Lego have joined forces in their quest to encourage more opportunities for adults to play using familiar models such as the LEGO NASA Space Shuttle Discovery. Esben Staerk, President of Lego Education, explains the importance of this approach; "Research shows the benefits of learning by doing and real-world application, like building the space shuttle of the future out of LEGO bricks or simulating a spacewalk. These meaningful, playful, hands-on learning experiences nurture and stimulate the confidence, curiosity, and creativity needed to take on the challenges of today and tomorrow." Sullivan explains the importance of play for adults; "We tend to denigrate the word, and forget that play is intrinsic for development as every human infant turns into a capable functioning adult. I love that fun is, is right central to the core values of LEGO as a company. They design every product to spark the spirit all of is need to solve any problem from a small household or new family problems to bigger, more challenging ones. We need that creativity. We need that imagination, that's, that's what drives us forward." Genevieve Capa Cruz, Head of Adult Business, explains why Lego is paying more attention to adults; "We've seen that more adults are rediscovering LEGO building as a means to switch off and relax from the stresses of every day. This became even more apparent when the pandemic hit, with a lot of our adults saying they turned to play as a way to relax, get creative and enjoy time with their family as they build together. LEGO has teamed up with NASA to create models aimed at adults to encourage more play and creativity LEGO We designed our portfolio to cater to what adults look for in a model challenging and immersive build, great display value, and in line with the themes they're passionate about, such as space, movies, sports, art, and design or supercars. Everything from the model design and building instructions to the packaging of this set is designed to reflect the interests of adults and help them relax and switch off with an immersive building experience. Sullivan sees our renewed interest in space and moon exploration as a perfect opportunity to fuel our curiosity to create "a shared journey of discovery and creativity." As the first woman to walk on the Moon and then dive to the depths of the Ocean, Sullivan is the living embodiment of the power of curiosity and how it can propel us to achieve goals we hadn't considered. Strong commitment to curiosity leads to inspirational and powerful leadership, far more effective than leadership for leadership's sake. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/shaheenajanjuhajivrajeurope/2021/05/02/why-lego-is-encouraging-all-leaders-to-play-more/ |
Did Cowboys 'Panic' Or Get Their Guy In Micah? | Cowboys Blitzcast FRISCO - Behind us. Completed. Take a deep breath! Then tell the truth. And while we're at it ... hey, Dallas Cowboys: Same question, same framework - that is, "Tell the truth.'' Welcome to Daily Blitz with Indy Car Tim presented by DSP Media in partnership with CowboysSI.com. The Cowboys specifically pledged to us - with team owner Jerry Jones' $1,000 bet with yours truly (Mike Fisher) that Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons was the top target all along. COO Stephen Jones reiterated that late Thursday after Round 1 ... and then came a text from a team official to CowboysSI.com confirming it one more time. "But, c'mon, you guys tell us that every year!'' we said skeptically to the Joneses during the live post-Round 1 presser. READ MORE: Sources: Cowboys Tried To Trade Up To 6 - But Also Had Micah No. 1 But ... Its done. The opinions of the Cowboys selection at 12 after trading down with the Eagles are as varied as the mock drafts before the draft. Lets discuss! Please join us daily for the Daily Blitz or each Thursday night starting at 7 pm for sports talk LIVE on Facebook, YouTube, or Twitter, or listen to the recorded podcast the next day at CowboysSI.com and TheBlitzcast.com! - Vs. NFC East in Draft To be featured in our BlitzBox segment please reach out to us on Twitter with the hashtag #Blitzbox or send your questions to [email protected] and well read your question and answer it on the air on our next show. Please continue the conversation on Twitter: @BlitzcastNFL, @ColbySapp, and @IndyCarTim. And make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for all the latest videos and visual content! READ MORE: 'This Is All I Ever Wanted!' Micah Parsons To Cowboys | https://www.si.com/nfl/cowboys/podcasts/did-dallas-cowboys-panic-or-get-their-guy-in-micah-parsons-nfl-draft |
Who Is Dillon Radunz and Why Did The Titans Draft Him in Round 2? | He is a well-rounded lineman who excelled at an FCS program and will try to become Tennessee's next right tackle. The right tackle competition for the Tennessee Titans got much more interesting on day two of the NFL Draft. A few weeks ago, coach Mike Vrabel, when asked about the position, said there was no predetermined depth chart. Those with a chance to end up on top include free agent Kendall Lamm, the recently re-signed Ty Sambrailo and David Quessenberry. Dillon Radunz, Tennessees second-round pick, will add some youth to the battle. While the 6-foot-6, 298-pound North Dakota State product knows he will be the least experienced player compared to the three veterans, but he also has every intention of winning the job. Because thats just who he is. I'm always going to want to start. I'm not going to speak it into existence that I won't be (the starter), if that for some reason happens, Radunz said. I'm always going to be competitive. I'm always going to want teams to win. I'm always going to want my team to win, so I'll push the guys in front of me and make sure they're on their P's and Q's about that. It's going to be a competitive atmosphere. What to know about the newest candidate to be the Titans right tackle: He prides himself on versatility. A few days before the NFL Draft, ESPNs Jeremy Fowler reported that Radunzs stock was rising because some people around the league believed he could play all five offensive line spots. Radunz said he focused on making himself versatile throughout the draft process. That will be important because he primarily played left tackle in college. He will be shuffling over to the other side in the NFL, at least early on, and may also be expected to play other positions. I've been working on it in the offseason, doing drills and stuff with the right tackle if that is the position they want me to be at, he said. So, I've been working on both sides of the ball, switching up my stance like that, so that is probably the biggest challenge and then making sure everything you're dotting your I's and crossing your T's when you switch over. He has plenty of experience with NFL players and coaches. Leading up to the NFL Draft, Radunz trained with one of the best offensive tackles in recent league history, Joe Staley, the former San Francisco 49er who made six Pro Bowl appearances and made the Pro Football Hall of Fame All-2010s team. He has also worked with former NFL offensive line coach Paul Alexander. I flew out to California immediately after that game, went to train with Joe Staley, ex-49er, future Hall of Famer, so he was super good in my development, Radunz said He was a huge testament to that, so shout out to him. I did that a lot with previous NFL players. I worked out with Paul Alexander. He was a previous NFL coach. And of course, he has played with some NFL players at NDSU, including the No. 3 overall pick in this years draft, quarterback Trey Lance, and 2016 No. 1 overall pick, quarterback Carson Wentz. He feels like his stock rose at Senior Bowl. Radunz played in just two games in the past several months due to COVID-19, and only one of those was for the NDSU Bison due to COVID-19. The other was at the Reeses Senior Bowl, where he was named player of the week after a strong showing throughout. You can always lift weights, stuff like that, but there's something different about hitting guys, he said. So, being able to just hit pads, being able to train with other offensive linemen, they understand the physicality of the game, so having them hold pads for you and stuff. It's been difficult, but at the same time, I think I did a good job at it. Things showed at the Senior Bowl, and we'll continue to do that through OTAs and rookie minicamp. Titans general manager Jon Robinson agreed. Their season was shortened obviously. That Senior Bowl exposure was really good for him to go against some of the best of the best in college football, Robinson said. Got a chance to spend some time down there with him, get to know him. He's about what we're about, you know, football-wise and makeup and commitment to being a good football player. Hes durable. After redshirting as a freshman, he entered the 2017 season with a much large role. However, he tore his ACL after playing 15 snaps in NDSUs season-opener the following season and went on to miss the entire season. After that, though, he went on to start 32 consecutive games for the Bison. He enters the NFL about as healthy as could be. My body is super fresh, he said. I literally have no injuries at all, no nicks and bruises. I was able to gain a lot of strength too through that because I wasn't playing in the season, so my body's in tip-top shape. It's just a matter of getting back into or I should say coasting into that football shape that I was talking about since I haven't played football, but I'd say there's a lot of positives about only playing one game. | https://www.si.com/nfl/titans/news/tennessee-titans-nfl-dillon-radunz-roundup |
How Many 2021 Starters did Eagles Find in Draft? | There is at least one, perhaps two, but the future could see several of the drafted players hit the starting lineup in 2022 PHILADELPHIA - My goal for the Eagles going into draft weekend was to see if they could land at least two starters for the coming season. Three preferred, but two acceptable. Well, theres one for sure, and thats DeVonta Smith, the A+ selection general manager Howie Roseman made just 10 picks into the draft. He will be the No. 1 receiver and could very well become, in his rookie season, the first Eagles WR to top 1,000 yards receiving since Jeremy Maclin seven years ago. The aggression Roseman showed in jumping ahead of the Giants in a trade with the Giants was worth it. Also worth it was the original trade back from No. 6 to No. 12 on March 26 with the Dolphins. Coming out of that deal for the Eagles was Miamis No. 1 pick in 2022, the Heisman Trophy winner, DeVonta Smith, and cornerback Zech McPhearson, who was taken by the Eagles with the 123rd overall pick the Dolphins also sent them to climb those six spots. It ultimately only cost the Eagles the third-round pick they sent to the Cowboys to move up two spots, the 84th overall pick the Eagles had acquired from the Colts in the Carson Wentz trade, and one the Cowboys used to take Iowa pass rusher Chauncey Golston. Speaking of McPhearson, he could be starter No. 2 in this draft class. Hes the only cornerback the Eagles drafted, and they needed cornerbacks, so, if he has a good summer, he could line up for the season opener opposite Darius Slay. Granted, its not easy to trust rookie corners. It is one of the most demanding positions on the field aside from the quarterback spot. Jonathan Gannons zone defensive scheme, though, could help McPhearson, who can play both man-to-man press and zone but is considered more adept at zone. Gannon is also expected to play more cover two than his predecessor and that can help make the job of a corner especially a rookie corner easier. Roseman, though, was quick to point out that the roster isnt done being assembled, and he referenced August of 2017, and specifically a preseason game in Green Bay when he swung a trade for Bills CB Ronald Darby, who became a starter on the Eagles Super Bowl team. We've had experiences about getting guys late in the process, the GM said. And in that same year we needed a running back at the trade deadline, we made a trade at the trade deadline. I promise you and the fans we'll do whatever it takes at any time of the year to improve the roster. Receiver and cornerback were the two positions that I believe the Eagles needed to find starters in 2021. Lets go through it: Second-round pick Landon Dickerson could be a surprise starter. There are rumblings that Roseman could find a way to part with right guard Brandon Brooks, in which case, Dickerson likely slides into that spot, provided, of course, he has fully recovered from a second torn ACL. Third-round selection Milton Williams wont start, but he should be able to see significant defensive line time in a rotation with Fletcher Cox, Javon Hargrave, and Hassan Ridgeway. Fifth-round running back Kenny Gainwell will also see plenty of snaps, but Miles Sanders is still the starter. The sixth round brought defensive tackle Marlon Tuitupolu, who will need to stand out to earn snaps in the D-line rotation, and defensive end Tarron Jackson. Jackson wont start, but he could very well find himself in a rotation with Brandon Graham, Derek Barnett, and Josh Sweat. The same thing could happen with seventh-round pick Patrick Johnson who can shuffle between end and linebacker. While some of these players may not start in 2021, they could gain some valuable experience and be ready to step into that role in 2022. Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.coms EagleMaven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze. | https://www.si.com/nfl/eagles/news/how-many-2021-starters-did-eagles-find-in-draft |
How Can the Olympics Protect 78,000 Volunteers From the Coronavirus? | TOKYO For Olympic host cities, one of the keys to a successful Games is the army of volunteers cheerfully performing a range of duties, like fetching water, driving Olympic vehicles, interpreting for athletes or carrying medals to ceremonies. If the rescheduled Tokyo Games go ahead as planned this summer, roughly 78,000 volunteers will have another responsibility: preventing the spread of the coronavirus, both among participants and themselves. For protection, the volunteers are being offered little more than a couple of cloth masks, a bottle of sanitizer and mantras about social distancing. Unless they qualify for vaccination through Japans slow age-based rollout, they will not be inoculated against the coronavirus. I dont know how were going to be able to do this, said Akiko Kariya, 40, a paralegal in Tokyo who signed up to volunteer as an interpreter. The Olympic committee hasnt told us exactly what they will do to keep us safe. As organizers have scrambled to assure the globe that Tokyo can pull off the Games in the midst of a pandemic, the volunteers have been left largely on their own to figure out how to avoid infection. Much of the planning for the postponed Olympics has a seat-of-the-pants quality. With less than three months to go before the opening ceremony, the organizers have yet to decide whether domestic spectators will be admitted, or hammer out details about who, besides the athletes, will be tested regularly. Advertising Tens of thousands of participants will descend on Tokyo from more than 200 countries after nearly a year in which Japans borders have been largely closed to outsiders. The volunteers assignments will bring them into contact with many of the Olympic visitors as they pass in and out of a bubble that will encompass the Olympic Village and other venues. There are a lot of people who have to go in and out of the bubble, and they are not protected at all and not even being tested, said Barbara Holthus, a volunteer and deputy director of the German Institute for Japanese Studies in Tokyo. I do see the risk of a superspreader event. A leaflet distributed to volunteers advises them to ask visitors to stand at least 1 meter a little more than 3 feet apart. During shifts, they should disinfect their hands frequently. If offering assistance to someone, they should avoid directly facing the other person and never talk without a mask. Mask-wearing and hand-washing are very basic, but doing that to the max is the most important thing we can do, said Natsuki Den, senior director of volunteer promotion for the Tokyo organizing committee. People often say, That is so basic; is that all you can do? Den said. But if every volunteer implements these basic measures, she said, it can really limit the risk. Beyond that, it is hard to think of any magic countermeasures because they dont really exist. Even as a majority of the Japanese public has remained opposed to hosting the Olympics this year, many volunteers say they are committed, at least in principle, to fostering international fellowship after more than a year of isolation. (The ranks of volunteers did take a sizable hit when about 1,000 volunteers quit after the first president of the Tokyo organizing committee, Yoshiro Mori, made sexist comments.) Advertising But volunteers worry about their own health as well as the safety of the athletes and other Olympic participants, especially as Tokyo experiences new spikes in virus cases. The capital is currently under a state of emergency. I am scared that I would get the virus and show no symptoms, and accidentally give it to the athletes, said Yuto Hirano, 30, who works at a technology company in Tokyo and is assigned to help athletes backstage at the Paralympics events for boccia, a ball sport. I want to protect myself so that I can protect them. In addition to the Olympic volunteers, organizers need to secure medical workers to staff the Games. Typically, doctors and nurses also volunteer to work at the Olympics, but this year, with the medical system overstretched from a year of fighting the coronavirus, health care workers have begun to balk. We are surprised about the talk going around requesting the dispatch of 500 nurses to the Tokyo Olympics, the Japan Federation of Medical Workers Unions said in a statement posted on its website, adding that now is not the time for the Olympics, its time for coronavirus countermeasures. As the pandemic rages on, some nonmedical volunteers are going to great lengths to keep safe. Yoko Aoshima, 49, who teaches English at a business college in Shizuoka, about 90 miles outside Tokyo, has booked a hotel for the days she is scheduled to work, at a cost of 110,000 yen, or about $1,000. That means she will not have to commute. To avoid public transit in Tokyo, she plans to purchase a bicycle when she gets to Tokyo to commute to the field hockey stadium where she is assigned shifts. Advertising But Aoshima, who decided to volunteer in part to honor the legacy of her father, a former physical education teacher, wonders how she will protect her family when she returns home after the Games. When I go back to Shizuoka, is it safe enough for my family to stay with me? Aoshima asked. Will I be able to go back to work? She said she had already purchased a few at-home coronavirus tests to use after the Olympics. For volunteers who have spent the past year avoiding crowds, the concept of suddenly being thrust into contact with athletes, coaches, officials or members of the media from outside Japan is triggering a sense of cognitive dissonance. I only saw one friend last year, when she had a baby, said Kariya, the paralegal in Tokyo. I go to the supermarket or the bank, where I really need to go. The last time I rode the train was last March. In the absence of more safety measures, Kariya said she was considering quitting as a volunteer. Sponsored Many volunteers are disappointed that they will not be offered vaccines before the Games. So far, organizers have said they are not considering prioritizing Japans Olympic athletes for vaccination, much less volunteers. They cant say they have priority because then the people would start shouting at them, said Chiharu Charles Nishikawa, 61, who volunteered at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and London in 2012 and advises the Olympic committee about volunteering. Some volunteers said they were worried that organizers did not have the resources to monitor everyone for adherence to the rules, which include wearing masks, avoiding dining in restaurants and staying off public transit. Holthus said volunteers could be put in a sticky spot, given that their primary role is to project an image of harmonious hospitality. A volunteer handbook issued before the Olympics was postponed last year encouraged them to address people with a smile. In online sessions and other messaging since, Holthus said, they still keep saying, Oh, and your smile is going to be so important. Were supposed to be wearing masks, she said. So I find that very insensitive. Advertising Not every volunteer has serious concerns about safety. Some said that they expected widespread compliance with the rules, given what is on the line. I think athletes will do whatever it takes to participate in the Olympics, said Philbert Ono, a travel writer, photographer and translator. If we tell them to wear a mask, they will wear a mask, he said. When they have meals, they will sit way far apart and separated and facing only one direction. So I think they are very disciplined, and they know what is at stake. | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/how-can-the-olympics-protect-78000-volunteers-from-the-coronavirus/ |
Will Patriots' Rhamondre Stevenson heed Julian Edelman's advice? | originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston At 6-foot, 230 pounds, Rhamondre Stevenson is built like a between-the-tackles sledgehammer. But the former Oklahoma running back hopes to bring a bit more versatility to New England. The Patriots' fourth-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft (No. 120 overall) told reporters Saturday he has experience playing on all four special teams units: kickoff, kick return, punt and punt return. Stevenson's experience caught the eye of a certain former Patriot who got his start on special teams before becoming one of the best wide receivers in franchise history: Julian Edelman. Providing value on ST cannot be underrated in NE, trust me... https://t.co/Mer7u0ZPkL Julian Edelman (@Edelman11) May 1, 2021 The Patriots famously didn't know what to do with Edelman when they drafted him in the seventh round in 2009. But the converted Kent State quarterback carved out a roster spot thanks to his early success as a punt returner, and four seasons later he caught 105 passes for over 1,056 yards as a prolific wide receiver. Stevenson is well aware of Edelman's journey, it appears. Most of Stevenson's special teams action came on the kickoff unit, where he tallied six tackles for the Sooners during the 2019 season. With Damien Harris and Sony Michel ahead of him on the running back depth chart, the 23-year-old indeed could see action on special teams early in his NFL career. Story continues If that's the case, he'll have a good mentor in fellow running back Brandon Bolden, who has been a core special teamer in New England for the better part of a decade. Not every running back would be thrilled about trading carries for special teams reps, but Stevenson appears to have the right mindset in Foxboro. "I just know in the NFL youve got to be very versatile," Stevenson said Saturday. "So, my versatility I take a lot of pride in. " ... Im willing to do anything and I know the coach is going to put me in the right position." | https://sports.yahoo.com/patriots-rhamondre-stevenson-heed-julian-210708949.html?src=rss |
What Are The Hottest Cryptocurrencies In China, Korea & Japan? | Not ... [+] really. Though the South Koreans like one coin most of us have never heard of. KMR Images China, South Korea, and Japan are often seen as drivers of the cryptocurrency market. When Beijing threatens to close cryptocurrency exchanges and ban Bitcoin purchases, prices tank. For Bitcoin folklore, where a person (or persons) pseudonymously named Satoshi Nakamoto, a Japanese name, the gambling cultures of China, coupled with the Asian economic powers, suggests these three countries house some of the best crypto investors around. Chinas taking its currency digital, ahead of the U.S. Dogecoin. KMR Images South Korea is now in the process of approving a state sanctioned crypto currency fund, Joseph Young of the Forbes Alpha Alarm newsletter said this past week. Hanwha Asset Management is potentially forming a digital asset fund that would set an important precedent in the South Korean crypto scene, similar to how MicroStrategy MSTR marked the start of an institutional frenzy around crypto in the U.S., Young says. There has been little institutional demand coming from South Korea compared to the U.S. and Europe, says Young. If this leads to significant capital inflow into the South Korean crypto market, the entire crypto market rally could see additional steam throughout this year. I asked some Asian based executives where the smart money in these countries was going. There are just some coins that are top in almost every market, like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and recently Dogecoin (DOGE), says Jonathan Lyu, CEO of KuCoin in Seychelles. He says that there are different investment preferences among those three countries and you can spot them in their trading patterns. Cryptocurrency has their own base image. This is Cardano coin. KMR Imagese In general, the Japanese traders are more prone to invest into major tokens like XRP and Cardano (ADA), because they tend to show a relatively risk averse behavior, Lyu says. South Korean investors are more in favor of local projects like Enjin (ENJ) and Luna Coin (LUNA). Chinese traders are following the latest trends closely and Filecoin (FIL) is quite popular in the Chinese market lately. Most of these coins, other than Luna and Enjin, are top 10 coins. Luna Coin is not available on Coinbase. I think sentiment across Asia has shifted to a more speculative nature, and ETH has been driving interest in the altcoin market, says Jonathan Leong, CEO of BTSE, a cryptocurrency trading platform based in the British Virgin Islands. For sure Japanese traders love XRP, and Chinese traders like to trade exchange coins and DeFi coins, among others. Korean investors are risk takers and trade the long-tail of coins, he says. XRP KMR Images Large Asian exchanges like AAX believe there is no use in trying to track the trading trends of China, Japan or South Korea. Theyre really not any more savvy than the rest of us sitting Stateside. In China, retail trading is restricted and often done across multiple exchanges via VPN. In South Korea, there are capital controls which bring in arbitrage opportunities, known as the Kimchi Premium. Japan is similar. In all three countries, Bitcoin gives investors an opportunity to decrease exposure and reliance on the dollar, which is not a concern in Europe or the U.S., of course. Whales are entities and individuals that hold between 1,000 and 10,000 BTC. Elon Musks Tesla TSLA is now a Whale. But where whales are concentrated cannot easily be determined on the basis of on-chain metrics, and so to assume that whales are particularly concentrated in Asia would be unfounded anyway, says Ben Caselin, head of Research and Strategy at the Hong Kong-based AAX. Enjin. KMR Images Lyu says there are plenty of whales in China. If we are talking about Bitcoin, I know a number of them in Asia, especially in China, he says. China pioneers in Bitcoin mining in the early days of Bitcoin and many of those miners have accumulated a large amount of . The holdings of a few of the top Chinese miners is over six digits and they are holding. Maybe they sell a few when they need to pay their electric bills, he joked, though Bitcoin mining is surely energy intensive. China banned Bitcoin trading back in 2017, but being a decentralized network, Bitcoin is hard to ban effectively. Policy changes in China could one day affect the Bitcoin mining industry, imposing an indirect impact on the Bitcoin price. There is always a risk that China views Bitcoin as a threat to its national currency, the yuan, or to the digital yuan, says Caselin. The Peoples Bank of China recently hinted taking a softer stance on Bitcoin, saying cryptocurrencies should just be regulated as an alternative asset, rather than a currency ultimately allowing for its trading like gambling on horse racing, or on alt-coins. I find the Asian cryptocurrency traders to be more opportunistic in nature, and there are higher investment hurdle rates in Asia which can be seen in China-centric quantitative funds versus their Western counterparts, thinks Shane Ai, head of product R&D at Bybit, a Singapore-based digital asset derivatives trading platform. Professional traders are more focused on smoothing out market inefficiencies, and employing leverage. Lyu agrees on that part. Leverage makes trading in crypto all the more dangerous. Compared to their Western counterparts, I think Asian crypto investors are more aggressive, he says. They may not give the whitepaper a look before they buy, they tend to use higher leveraged bets and trade more frequently, Lyu tells me. Theres a lot of blockchain true believers and developers in Asia, but for investors, the gamblers constitute the majority. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2021/05/02/what-are-the-hottest-cryptocurrencies-in-china-korea--japan/ |
What will Acting Mayor Kim Janey do about Boston police? | In addition, a recent Globe investigation revealed the department determined in 1995 that Patrick M. Rose Sr., the onetime president of the citys powerful patrolmens union, had more than likely molested a 12-year-old child. The department had repeatedly refused to release the case files or discuss why Rose, who is now charged with sexually abusing five additional children, continued as a patrolman and had access to children. Janey released 13 pages from a 105-page internal affairs file for Rose earlier this month. The remaining 92 pages were withheld by the city to protect the identity of the victims, officials said. The chief controversies swirling around the nations oldest police force are threefold. The citys police commissioner, Dennis White, is on paid administrative leave while an independent investigator probes a 1999 domestic abuse allegation. Scandal has engulfed Boston police, presenting Acting Mayor Kim Janey with one of the first major tests of her crisis management skills as city executive. And in March, federal authorities arrested and charged a retired Boston police captain with pocketing more than $12,395 in fraudulent overtime earnings, escalating a yearslong probe into payroll abuse at the departments evidence warehouse. Advertisement That trio of problems predates Janeys tenure as acting mayor. But navigating the political currents churning the departments future ranks among the most immediate challenges she faces in her new role, and underscores the potential political peril that serving as acting mayor carries, even with all the advantages the post brings to Janey as she simultaneously runs for a full term. In a tight primary, when most candidates are trying to run under the moniker of most progressive, mishandling a police issue could definitely be an issue, said Erin OBrien, a University of Massachusetts political science professor. Thats true for all the candidates. Most candidates, their calculus is being tough on police is good policy and its good politics. Advertisement Janey said in early April she expected the White investigation to conclude before the end of that month. And while the final report from that probe has been submitted to City Hall, as of Sunday Janey had yet to be briefed on the matter. A decision regarding Whites future is likely to come in early May, a Janey spokesman said. Another UMass Boston professor, Kevin Wozniak, said that the issue of policing is likely going to matter at the ballot box this fall, adding that Janey, no matter what she does on the issue is likely to please some voters and alienate others. Some advocates will always want more drastic reforms, while police unions may bristle at substantial department changes. At a time when there is continued erosion between communities and police across the nation, Boston leaders and its police department need to convince members of the public in actions as well as words that they do not tolerate inappropriate behavior from members in that department, said Christine Cole, executive director of the Crime and Justice Institute in Boston, a nonprofit that seeks to improve criminal and juvenile justice systems. Covering up prior bad acts is not consistent with that expectation, she said. Janey has a history of calling for substantial overhaul of the police as a city councilor and recently unveiled a $3.75 billion operating budget that includes cuts to the police department, although the cuts do not go far enough for some critics. She also revealed that she was budgeting $1 million for a new independent city watchdog that will probe officer misconduct. Advertisement The proposed budget also calls for another $1 million for racial equity training for police and $2 million for additional clinicians that will help police respond to calls involving people with mental health problems and other difficult situations. Rosanna Cavallaro, who teaches criminal law and evidence at Suffolk University, said it was Janeys responsibility to figure out whats broken and whats going to fix it regarding Boston police. The mayor has an opportunity to convey that not disclosing or properly addressing information about misconduct will have significant consequences, said Cavallaro. Obviously, the cumulation of these things suggest that the mechanisms that are there in that institution for oversight are deeply flawed and that may be part of a larger conversation about institutional reforms, and the need for greater transparency, she said. One option for Janey, said Deborah Ramirez, a law professor at Northeastern University: The acting mayor could declare the city will no longer pay 100 percent of legal costs, judgments, and settlements associated with civil suits alleging on-the-job police misconduct and require officers to have professional liability insurance. That way, she said, if they engage in misconduct, they will be priced out of policing. Police unions, said Ramirez, held too much power in the city. The provisions in contracts that allow for an arbitration process for misconduct too often hampers the ability of the department to discipline or fire officers, she said. Boston police brass are also handcuffed in terms of whom they hire and promote by the states civil service exam, according to Ramirez. Advertisement Right now, there is no way to get bad cops off the streets, she said. Larry Calderone, who is president of the Boston Police Patrolmens Association, rejected that argument, saying other union contracts with the city include a grievance and arbitration provision and that his unions contract is no different. Arbitration does not protect bad employees, he said, but helps ensure good management. Unions historically have given up their right to strike in exchange for an agreement from management to submit disputes to binding arbitration, he said. Arbitration provides union members with a fair, due process forum which only requires an employer to show that it had cause or a good reason to terminate an employee. Thomas Nolan, a retired Boston police sergeant who now teaches criminology and criminal justice at Emmanuel College, did not think the police unions, or officers themselves, were the potent political force they were in the city in decades past. Many officers live outside Boston, he said. But with White, Janey is in a bit of bind, said Nolan. If she reinstates him, she will likely anger domestic violence prevention advocates in the city, and if she replaces him, she may alienate people within the department. Still, if she wanted to make a bold stroke, allowing White to stay in the department in a position other than commissioner and impaneling a search committee to look for a new commissioner could make political sense, said Nolan. White, he said, is not seen as a change agent for the department. Advertisement Shes definitely got her work cut out for her, said Nolan of Janeys handling of the police department. Some political observers in the city, including Paul Parara, a local radio host known as Notorious VOG, maintain that the commissioner decision is not Janeys call to make. Janey, said Parara, is hamstrung by the city charter, which states that an acting mayor shall possess the powers of mayor only in matters not admitting of delay, but shall have no power to make permanent appointments. Parara argued that Walsh appointed an interim police commissioner, Gregory Long, who can serve in that role until city voters elect a mayor this fall. If Walsh hadnt made that appointment, it would be a different story, he said. Kim Janey doesnt have the authority to even touch it, said Parara. Danny McDonald can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @Danny__McDonald. | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/05/02/metro/what-will-acting-mayor-kim-janey-do-about-boston-police/ |
Why are Epic Games and Apple going to court? | EPIC GAMES, the video-game developer behind the runaway success Fortnite, faces Apple in a blockbuster antitrust trial in America this week. The terms to which developers must agree in order to sell their wares in the App Store on Apples iOS devices are a constant source of gripes. On April 30th the European Commission took the preliminary view that Apple was in breach of competition rules, after Spotify, a music-streaming service, complained about the cut that Apple takes from purchases on its devices and its tight control over the App Store. Epic now hopes American judges will loosen Apples iron grip on how apps are distributed on iPhones. In August 2020, Epic enabled Fortnite players on iPhones to make cheaper in-game purchases (such as V-Bucks, the games internal currency) if they paid directly instead of through Apples App Store, which takes a 30% cut. In return, Apple booted Fortnite off the store. But Epic had already made plans for a fight. The company immediately pulled the trigger on an antitrust suit in California and released a cheeky PR campaign calling on the public to #FreeFortnite. The money at stake explains Epics willingness to do battle. Fortnite players have spent more than $1.2bn in the App Store in the two years since it launched. And Apple has loosened its grip for other companies. Amazon does not pay the 30% commission on in-app purchases for its Prime Video streaming app, for example. And last year when events companies, forced by the covid-19 pandemic to go virtual, put on virtual events through Facebooks iPhone app, Apple waived its fee by allowing users to pay via their own payment methodsoutside the App Store. Since Fortnite was kicked off the App Store, Apple has offered what many see as a half-hearted concession. In November, it reduced its commission to 15% for developers who make less than $1m a year. But that does little to help big developers such as Epic, which generate almost all the App Store revenue. Epic hopes judges will agree that Apples rules for developers stifle competition and raise prices. Many developers would appreciate having the option to distribute their apps to iPhone users by means other than Apples App Store. Users of Apples Mac computers, for example, can download apps through Apple or directly from developers. Epic claims that if two new stores came in to rival Apples, commission fees could fall to 15.6% and the average price of an app could dip by 6.5%. It cites its own PC and Mac games store, which charges 12% commission, as an example. After Epic introduced it in 2018, Steam, the dominant store, dropped its cut from 30% to 20% for top-selling games. Apple says its strict rules for developers ensure a good user experience and protect users privacy; those who dislike it can go elsewhere. Fortnite is also available on PCs, games consoles and phones that run on Android, Googles operating system. It also claims 30% commission is a fair price for the billions of dollars Apple has poured into its iOS infrastructure. And Apple hopes to curry some favour by showing that Epic was playing dirty. In Apples eyes, the update that led to Fortnites removal was planned with the intent of starting a war. The case will hinge on how the court defines the relevant market. Apple sees itself as one of many players in the games-distribution market. Epic takes a narrower view, arguing that the App Store has a monopoly on selling iPhone apps. In 2018, in its judgment that Google breached European antitrust rules, the European Commission said that Android and iOS were not part of the same market. Epic, and plenty of other developers who feel they have been short-changed, will hope the judges in California come to a similar conclusion. | https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2021/05/02/why-are-epic-games-and-apple-going-to-court |
How bad is the census news for Democrats? | The 360 shows you diverse perspectives on the days top stories and debates. Whats happening The first numbers from the nations decennial census were published this week. On top of providing top-level figures about the U.S. population which grew to 331,449,281 last year census data is used to determine how many seats in the House of Representatives and how many Electoral College votes each state gets. The total number of House seats is capped at 435, meaning for one state to gain a seat, another state must lose one. Texas added 4 million new residents in the past 10 years and is the only state to gain two additional congressional seats. Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, Montana and Oregon each get one more seat. California, New York, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and West Virginia each lost one seat as well. The Census Bureau said New York would have kept its seat if just 89 more people in the state had been counted. Attempting to count everyone in the U.S. is an extremely difficult task under the best of circumstances, but 2020 presented unprecedented challenges. The coronavirus pandemic made the in-person interviews that typically make up the backbone of the census unsafe to conduct. The count was also thrown into uncertainty by a back-and-forth over the Trump administrations failed attempts to add a citizenship question to the survey a move seen by critics as an attempt to deter immigrants from participating. Why theres debate The reallocation of congressional seats is widely considered to be a win for Republicans as they seek to reclaim the House in 2022. Five of the new seats are being granted to states that voted for Donald Trump both times he was on the ballot. Four of the states losing those seats voted for Biden in 2020. The new map could give the GOP a slight boost in the next presidential election. Had the new Electoral College apportionment been in place last year, President Bidens margin of victory over Donald Trump would have shrunk by three votes. That wouldnt have changed the outcome, but three Electoral College votes could be critical if the 2024 or 2028 races are more competitive. Story continues The census is also followed every 10 years by redistricting, the process in which states redraw House districts based on new population data. Experts say redistricting is where the GOP has an even bigger advantage, since Republican-led state legislatures have more power than their blue-state counterparts to create maps that give them the best chance of winning the highest number of seats a process called gerrymandering. There is a sense among some Democrats, however, that the news could have been much worse for them. Many census experts had expected the shift of House seats from blue to red states to be even bigger than it was. Some estimates predicted Texas and Florida to each receive one more seat than they did. Both states have large Latino populations, which could indicate that the battle over the citizenship question stunted Republican gains in these states. Democrats may also be able to take advantage of redistricting to improve their odds of holding the House. Its possible, for example, that New Yorks lost seat could currently be located in one of the states Republican districts. Congressional Democrats are also pushing for the passage of a sweeping voting rights bill that, among its many reforms, would establish independent redistricting commissions to prevent gerrymandering. Whats next Redistricting cant begin in earnest until more detailed census data is released sometime later this year. That process is expected to be fiercely contentious as the two parties jockey to draw congressional maps that give them the best chance of holding power in Washington. Perspectives The GOP's odds of taking back the House in 2022 are stronger The current lineup in the House is 218 Democrats to 212 Republicans. Population shifts nationwide...are one of the two big reasons Republicans are seen as having a good chance to win control of the House of Representatives in the 2024 elections. (In addition, the presidents party typically loses seats. ) Anthony Man, South Florida Sun Sentinel Republicans got a boost, but it's small Changes in how many congressional representatives each state gets for 2022 and beyond appear to benefit Republicans but only a little. Emily Brooks, Washington Examiner Big, Republican-leaning states have become even more important Reapportionment will advantage Republicans because votes are shifting to states that lean towards the GOP. Places like Florida and Texas will be big winners, and Republican presidential candidates do very well there. Elections expert Darrell West to Washington Examiner The GOP is in a strong position to take advantage of redistricting The detailed data needed to draw official district lines won't be released until the fall. But Republicans, who only need to pick up five seats to win back the House, enter the upcoming mapping wars with a clear advantage. David Wasserman, Cook Political Report The citizenship question fight may have backfired on Republicans We do not know how many Hispanics were frightened by this ploy (thereby potentially depressing the count), but it is a reminder that simply because Republicans engage in antidemocratic tactics designed to preserve white supremacy does not mean they know what they are doing. They are entirely capable of self-sabotage. Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post Democrats path to winning the Electoral College becomes more difficult One example of how it gets slightly tougher for Dems: it is no longer true that whoever wins three of PA/MI/AZ/WI/GA wins the presidency, as was true in 2020, provided other states vote as they did. Now, Dems can't win with three smaller states MI/WI/AZ or GA/WI/AZ alone. Nate Cohn, New York Times Population trends are bad news for the GOP in the long term In the long term, its not clear the migration is good news for Republicans. Many of the fastest-growing states are increasingly competitive political battlegrounds where the new arrivals including many young people and people of color could at some point give Democrats an edge. Mike Schneider and Nicholas Riccardi, Associated Press The fact that we have a reasonably accurate census at all is good for everyone Winner: American democracy. There were real fears that the Census numbers would come in too late to be practically applied to draw new district lines in the House, which could have set off all manner of trouble. Send your suggestions to [email protected]. Read more 360s Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Getty Images | https://news.yahoo.com/how-bad-is-the-census-news-for-democrats-134859944.html |
How many more images of Covid disaster will it take to jolt rich countries into action? | As the number of Covid-19 cases rose dramatically in Europe and the US during the early part of last year, something strange seemed to be happening in the global south. South Africas entire death toll was less than 100 at the same time that Britain was losing more than 1,000 lives a day. Indias death rate during this period was so low that it was termed a mystery. More confident conclusions were drawn about Africas fate; some thought it had been spared the worst of Covid-19 because it took decisive action early on in the pandemic, while others said the continent had been saved by its warm climate, its low elderly population and its good community health systems. There was even brief excitement about the curative potential of homegrown sweet wormwood, a plant that the president of Madagascar claimed was a treatment for Covid-19. Most of this reasoning was speculative. But by the late summer of 2020, two clear trends were emerging. While parts of western Europe were enduring a devastating first wave of Covid-19 cases, Africa and south Asia were experiencing a slow-moving, sometimes stalling rate of infection and a comparatively low death toll. Those trends are now being reversed. With vaccination programmes gaining momentum in the global north, the pandemic in western countries finally appears to be waning. The opposite is happening in low-income countries. Most can expect no access to either vaccine technology or donations in the near future. Healthcare facilities are overstretched and under-resourced, and data collection is limited, meaning death statistics are unreliable. Most of the worlds population outside rich countries are confronting an extended Covid crisis. Indeed, for several countries there is no way of estimating when the pandemic will be over. Instead, what lies ahead is an open-ended stretch of uncertainty, as populations try, and inevitably fail, to coexist with this virus. For every measure that placed Africa and south Asia in a good position at the start of the pandemic, there is another that undermines it. There are indeed strong community health systems in parts of west Africa, a legacy of the Ebola crisis. Those networks can raise awareness, but without the ability to test for Covid-19, they are unable to get a clear idea of infection rates. The same applies to mortality figures. In rural areas, many people dont have access to large hospitals, and some deaths arent formally recorded. The fear of social stigma that a Covid-19 diagnosis can carry means some people bury their deceased relatives in haste, without getting a diagnosis or alerting family and social networks. Instead of reliable data, those of us with family and friends in low-income countries have hushed, anecdotal evidence that does not correspond to official accounts. We measure waves by keeping track of what we hear; we learn to recognise the signs. Whenever relatives tell us of a quick illness or a hushed-up death, the deceased person is added to an informal mental tally of Covid-19 cases. Successfully defeating the virus depends on having solid numbers and a dashboard of data. Without those, scientists are fighting this disease in the dark, as Michelle Gayer, director of emergency health at the International Rescue Committee, recently told the business publication Quartz. When a virus is allowed to quietly spread and scientists dont have the data to map its trajectory, its difficult to tell whats actually happening until a traumatic spike in death rates sheds light on the number of cases. This is the current reality in India, and while I dont wish to be a doom-monger, it seems likely this will soon be the case in other countries too. A brief survey of a few of the largest African countries by population shows how volatile the situation still is. South Africa and Ethiopia remain on the UKs red list and are in varying stages of lockdown while their governments cobble together vaccine programmes. Kenya has wobbled out of another lockdown but maintains a strict curfew and remains on the red list. Egypt has truncated the school year and appears to be heading for the peak of its third wave. The main coping strategies available to these countries are sisyphean cycles of lockdowns and easing. These buy governments time and reduce the pressure on limited healthcare facilities, but they ravage the economy in the process. In poorer countries where state support is limited, lockdowns can be as deadly as the virus itself, because they remove peoples ability to make a living. The outcome is not only sporadic flare-ups or confined challenges, but an entire population trapped by and condemned to live with the virus. The best-case scenario is that governments are able to contain a high peak of cases through lockdowns, while lives and livelihoods are lost to economic restrictions. The worst is the kind of explosion we are seeing in India. Some observers estimate that the virus will kill more people in 2021 than it did in 2020. Which brings us to what can and should be done. That the pandemic is not playing out in poorer countries with the same virulence we saw in western countries does not mean there arent slow and deadly fires smouldering, which could yet grow into an inferno. There is a delay built into our responses to Covid-19, both at home and abroad. As western governments learned from the first wave, by the time the heavy death tolls are upon us, it is already too late. By the time the world had seen the images from India showing mass cremations, the country was already embroiled in a crisis. Those images prompted Joe Biden to reverse his position and pledge to send a whole series of help. Id wager that if the world had been exposed to similar images from other countries, it would have become untenable for the west to maintain vaccine apartheid. But we shouldnt have to wait for images like those to spur action. What is required is something far more ambitious than vaccine donations. The world needs a global logistical exercise, a sort of Marshall plan that would provide financial support, expert manpower and medical technology. In the US, Democratic senators, progressives, NGOs and an alliance of 175 former world leaders and Nobel laureates have come together to apply pressure on Biden to waive intellectual-property protections on vaccines. As the virus recedes in the west, now is the time to apply this kind of pressure on leaders to deliver the south from its almost certain fate. By the time the real numbers of deaths and infections in poorer countries become clear, it will be far too late for many people. | https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/03/west-images-covid-disaster-poorer-nations-india-crisis |
Why can't Google get a grip on rip-off ads? | Google has failed to stop "shyster" websites advertising on its search engine, despite promising to fix the problem, the BBC has found. Adverts for unofficial services selling government documents such as travel permits and driving licences are against Google's own rules. But the BBC found adverts for expensive third-party sellers every time it searched during a 12-month period. In a statement Google said it had taken down billions of rule-breaking adverts. In the UK, changing the address on your driving licence is free - but Google consistently showed adverts for services charging 49.99. Applying for an Esta travel permit to visit the US should cost no more $14 (10) - but Google repeatedly allowed adverts for websites charging more than $80. In Google's search results, adverts look similar to organic results and appear at the top of the list. Websites like these are not illegal and customers may still get the documents for which they have applied. However, some of the companies charge more than five times the amount that the official websites do. "They are not scams, they're shysters," said Martin Lewis, founder of the website Money Saving Expert. "They're not stealing your money, they're charging you a fee for something that is completely pointless." Some justify their prices by offering support to anybody struggling with an application. Advertising such services is against Google's own policies. In October 2018, the BBC brought several adverts to Google's attention that broke its rules. A month later, Google told the BBC it had developed a machine learning system that could prevent the adverts appearing again. At the time, it only banned adverts for third-party services that charged more than the official government website. However, in May 2020 it changed its policy to ban "adverts for documents and/or services that can be obtained directly from a government or a delegated provider" including "offers of assistance to obtain these products or services". Story continues Since that change, the BBC has repeated the same set of Google searches on seven separate occasions over a 12-month period. Every time, there were adverts for expensive third-party services when searching for: Esta US Esta apply for Esta US visa Canada ETA (a travel document for Canada) apply for Canada ETA apply for Canada visa apply for Australia visa apply driving licence renew driving licence driving licence change address Some of the websites continued to appear in the adverts even after they were flagged to Google with its reporting tools. "Machine learning is very good when you have a clear target in mind," said Prof Sandra Wachter, from the Oxford Internet Institute. But trying to catch rule-breakers is a game of "cat and mouse", as the companies can change their tactics and reappear. "Consumers trust Google. There is an expectation that what is happening on Google is legitimate," said Prof Wachter. "If they know there are certain problems out there, they need to take more precautions." Travel permit adverts are not the only ones slipping through Google's systems. Earlier in April, news website This Is Money set up a fake online investment company and was able to advertise it on Google. In May 2020, the BBC found a suspected scam store had topped Google's search and shopping results for weeks, encouraging customers to pay for tech via direct bank transfer. Last week, the BBC found another fake gadget store at the top of Google's search results when customers were hunting for gadgets such as iPhone 12, Samsung S21 and Sony headphones. Google has since removed the store from its results. In a statement, Google said: "We have strict policies that govern the types of ads and advertisers we allow on our platforms. We only allow governments or their delegated providers to advertise for official documents or services." It said it used machine learning and human reviewers to spot problems, and had removed 3.1 billion adverts that violated its policies in 2020. In addition, it started to verify advertisers on its platforms in January 2021. "When you use the major search engines including Google, you have to always look for the 'ad' label," said Mr Lewis. "If there's a little box that says 'ad' on the left, the only reason they are where they are is because they have paid to be there. Scroll down below all the ads and find the natural search winner." If you are looking for one of the government documents mentioned in this article, you can find the official websites below. UK driving licence It is free to change the name or address on your driving licence at gov.uk/change-address-driving-licence. Fees for other changes are listed on the gov.uk/driving-licence-fees website. United States Esta An Esta costs $14 (10) and is available at esta.cbp.dhs.gov Canada ETA Applying for Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) costs $7CAD (4.10). The official website is canada.ca Australia ETA Applying for the Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) costs $20AUD (11.15). The official website is immi.homeaffairs.gov.au | https://news.yahoo.com/why-cant-google-grip-rip-052854954.html |
Why arent our Black girls shown mercy and compassion? | Like any other parent, I can vividly remember the first moments I laid eyes on my babies at their sweet faces and caps of curly black hair, at their small, delicate bodies and their varying amounts of melanin. Being their mother, I loved them instantly. But I knew that soon enough they would be exposed to others whose feelings would range from indifference to animosity, so we tried to prepare them for that harsh fact of life. Recently and jarringly Ive seen reinforcement of this truth from those who resemble us and are supposed to understand our precarious place in this world as African Americans. Unfortunately, the wide-ranging largesse that Black men and boys often receive from their peers and community, the benefit of the doubt bestowed upon them when accused of crimes (or even worse, injured or murdered by the police), hasnt been granted in equal measure to African American girls or woman. This fact is highlighted horrifically by the recent death of Ohio teen MaKhia Bryant. The incident happened hours after a jury declared former Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin guilty on all three charges resulting from his reckless and malevolent conduct against George Floyd, a suspect he pinned to the ground by the neck for nearly 10 minutes straight. Reportedly, as she was advanced upon by a several girls and women, and as other adults watched, MaKhia called the police for help as she defended herself at the home where she lived. Despite a castle doctrine that legally permitted force for self-defense, and despite the fact that several adults were present and did nothing to help, instead of attempting to defuse the conflict, one of the arriving officers reportedly decided not to announce his presence or try subduing the frightened teen with a Taser or baton. Instead, Officer Nicholas Reardon shot MaKhia in the back, at close range. She died at the scene. The same folks who rejoiced at accountability for Floyds death suddenly took to social media siding with the officers actions: She had a knife, what was he supposed to do? Who told her to get into a fight? Have. Mercy. Yes, she was in foster care (with two living parents that in itself is a dilemma and column for another day). Yes, she had disabilities. MaKhia Bryants life mattered. Period. Lorrie Irby Jackson is a Briefing columnist. Email her at [email protected]. | https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2021/05/03/why-arent-our-black-girls-shown-mercy-and-compassion/ |
Can Dallas actually make code enforcement work? | Even in the best of times, code enforcement in Dallas had the impact of pouring water into a bucket with hole in the bottom. Then last year, COVID-19 hit and code compliance officers stopped canvassing neighborhoods for months. Instead, their duties shifted to pandemic-related safety tasks such as discouraging large gatherings. But as the city begins to return to more normal activities, code compliance officials are formulating a new community-focused strategy that we think holds great promise to make neighborhoods more livable and safer. Along with crime, code enforcement ranks high on the list of resident concerns. The most common violations are high weeds and litter, which together made up nearly 40,000 of the 68,603 most common code violations in the 2019-2020 fiscal year. At a recent City Council briefing, Carl Simpson, director of Code Compliance Services, outlined a community-based approach that would add 31 new officers and three supervisors at a cost of roughly $3 million a year and assign a code officer to each of the 27 problematic census tracts in mostly southern, northeast and northwest Dallas. Right now, a code officer could have responsibility for up to six census tracts a great mismatch of responsibility, resources and vast geography that makes it less likely that the officer will do the job well. So part of the answer, said Simpson, is to shrink the area of responsibility and require code compliance officers to know the people on their beat the shop owners, apartment managers and homeowners who have a stake in a safe and clean community. In other words, change the culture of the department from routinely writing citations and toward solving problems for residents. Said Simpson, the goal is to put into place the right people with the right frame of mind and provide customer service on steroids. Simpson successfully pioneered a similar approach when he worked in California. Shortly after a sheriffs deputy was gunned down in 2007, in the high-crime area of Sacramento County known as The Avenues, a team of deputies, probation officers and code enforcement officers focused on gang-infested, substandard properties. Crime dropped as gang members fled the area to avoid the heat, calls for code enforcement increased and illegal dumping, graffiti and other symptoms of a neighborhood in decline decreased. Residents began to trust the code compliance officers, reached out for assistance and told them about issues to look into. People became inspired again, Simpson said. Obviously, the proof is in the implementation, including dealing with dumping in vacant lots and working with other departments on bulk trash issues. However, we hope this proposal, which still requires City Council approval, signals an emphasis on common-sense engagement over the robotic check-marking of boxes with scant attention to whether the outcome actually improves neighborhoods. We like the idea of code compliance supplementing the work of Dallas police, who Chief Eddie Garcia has said will be more involved in developing positive relationships with residents. Reducing crime and blight requires the high level of cooperation and trust with residents that comes from a track record of responding to neighborhood concerns. The City Council needs to get behind this approach. Send a letter to the editor, and you just might get published. | https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2021/05/03/can-dallas-actually-make-code-enforcement-work/ |
How many players with Ohio roots were picked in the 2021 NFL Draft? | CLEVELAND, Ohio While Cleveland served as host of the draft, nine players from Ohio took the next steps in their football careers during the 2021 NFL Draft. The first four who played high school football in Ohio are offensive linemen, and two of the first five are from Northeast Ohio. Tackle Liam Eichenberg went to school down the street from FirstEnergy Stadium at St. Ignatius, while tight end Luke Farrell played up the shoreline at Perry. Seven of the nine players from Ohio are on the offensive or defensive line. Here is a summary of the states home-grown football talents taken in this years draft: Liam Eichenberg, Notre Dame offensive tackle Picked: No. 42 overall in the second round by Miami About Eichenberg: Five tackles came off the board before Eichenberg on Friday, as the Dolphins will likely place him in a preseason competition with Robert Hunt for their starting right tackle job. Eichenberg is St. Ignatius third active NFL player, joining free-agent quarterback Brian Hoyer and Denver Broncos defensive lineman DreMont Jones. Clemson offensive tackle Jackson Carman looks to block Ohio State's Chase Young during the Fiesta Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz.(Rick Scuteri, Associated Press) Jackson Carman, Clemson offensive tackle Picked: No. 46 in the second round by Cincinnati About Carman: He gets to go home. Carman left Ohio for Clemson, spurning the Buckeyes as one of the top recruits in the country out of Fairfield. He will likely begin at guard for the Bengals, where they have a need. Cincinnati invested a first-round pick two years ago in Jonah Williams from Alabama and signed Riley Reiff as a short-term solution at right tackle. Ohio State Buckeyes center Josh Myers dons the number 50 in honor of his grandfather before the start of their game against Indiana University, November 21, 2020, at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.John Kuntz, cleveland.com Josh Myers, Ohio State center Picked: No. 62 in the second round by Green Bay About Myers: Corey Linsley spent seven years in Green Bay as Aaron Rodgers center. He left this offseason for the Los Angeles Chargers. Now, Green Bay replaces one Ohio State center with another. Myers, who played high school ball at Miamisburg, said replacing Linsley would mean everything. Myers should compete with Elgton Jenkins for that job. 6 James Hudson drafted by Cleveland Browns James Hudson III, Cincinnati offensive tackle Picked: No. 110 in the fourth round by Cleveland About Hudson: Two big years at Toledo Central Catholic led Hudson to Michigan before he transferred to Cincinnati in 2019. Hudson served Central Catholic as a massive lineman on both sides of the ball, but settled in on the offensive side in college. He will be a backup in Cleveland, but could be a long-term solution for swing tackle Chris Hubbard, who is in the last year of his deal. Ohio State tight end Luke Farrell makes a catch during an NFL Pro Day at Ohio State University on Tuesday, March 30, 2021, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)AP Luke Farrell, Ohio State tight end Picked: No. 145 in the fifth round by Jacksonville About Farrell: Urban Meyer recruited Farrell to Ohio State and now hes drafted him to the NFL. Farrell came out of Perry as a four-star tight end and caught a touchdown pass last season in the Buckeyes College Football Playoff semifinal win vs. Clemson. He could find himself competing against Tim Tebow, who reportedly worked out with the Jaguars as a tight end and could be making a comeback. OSU DE Jonathon Cooper (0) during first half action Saturday, October 24, 2020, in Columbus during the Nebraska at Ohio State University game.David Petkiewicz, cleveland.com Jonathon Cooper, Ohio State defensive end Picked: No. 239 in the seventh round by Denver About Cooper: He will join St. Ignatius DreMont Jones on the defensive line in Denver, where Jones and Shelby Harris are the starters on a three-man front. Cooper stayed in Columbus with the Buckeyes as a five-star recruit from Gahanna Lincoln. Darrick Forest, Cincinnati safety Picked: No. 163 in the fifth round by Washington About Forrest: The former Walnut Ridge star from Columbus is headed to the nations capital after three years as a starter in Cincinnati. He will begin as a backup in Washington, where Landon Collins is set as one starter at safety. Camaron Cheesman, Michigan long snapper Picked: No. 225 in the sixth round by Washington About Cheesman: He last played in 2019 for the Wolverines as a senior and long snapped all 13 games that year. From Gahanna Lincoln, Cheesman told ESPN he opted out last year because coach Jim Harbaugh told him no scholarship was available. Phil Hoskins, Kentucky defensive tackle Picked: No. 232 in the seventh round by Carolina About Hoskins: From Toledo Whitmer, Hoskins is a 6-5, 315-pound defensive tackle with 11 starts in his career at Kentucky. He isnt the only Wildcat from Ohio to end up with an NFL team during the weekend. Garfield Heights A.J. Rose signed with Minnesota as an undrafted free agent at running back. Rose is among three Northeast Ohio natives to sign with teams after the draft. St. Edwards Shaun Crawford (Notre Dame safety) signed with the Las Vegas Raiders. Coventrys Bryce Hargrove (Pittsburgh guard) found a home with Atlanta. Browns playoffs shirts, hats for sale: Heres where Cleveland Browns fans can order shirts and hats celebrating the team qualifying for the 2020 NFL playoffs. Pluto Fields II: Grade the Browns fifth-round pick Georgia safety Richard LeCounte selected at No. 169 LeCounte: Grade the Browns fifth-round pick Cincinnati OT James Hudson, a fan of Joe Thomas, taken in fourth round Browns trade pick No. Grade the acquisition of OSUs Tommy Togiai Hudson III: 3 things to know about the new offensive tackle Anthony Schwartz brings speed and gadget ability -- Film review Fifth-round pick LB Tony Fields compares to Owusu-Koramoah Browns defense needed lateral quickness found in Owusu-Koramoah: Film review With draft, free agency and returns, Browns add an entire 11-man defense: Lesmerises | https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2021/05/how-many-players-with-ohio-roots-were-picked-in-the-2021-nfl-draft.html |
How much will Browns draft picks be paid in 2021? | CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Browns are adding eight draft picks to the roster, and that means eight rookie contracts. With the NFLs rookie salary structure, gone are the days of rookies becoming the highest-paid players on the team before taking a snap. Now rookies are slotted into a wage scale, with each rookie making slightly less than the one drafted before. According to Spotrac, which projects rookie contracts based on league salary cap information, quarterback Trevor Lawrence, drafted first overall by the Jaguars, is projected to get a four-year deal worth $36,793,488, and a signing bonus worth $24,118,900. Lawrence will count $6.6 million toward the Jaguars 2021 salary cap. Quarterback Zach Wilson, the second overall pick, will get contract worth slightly less ($35,150,680), and so on. Defensive end Joe Tryon, the last pick in the first round, is projected to sign for $11,171,238. Heres a breakdown of projected contracts for the Browns 2021 draft picks: GREG NEWSOME II, CB Round 1 Total value: $12,748,736. Signing bonus: $6,631,808. 2021 cap dollars: $2,317,952. * Because Newsome is a first-round pick, the Browns have a fifth-year option on his contract. JEREMIA OWUSU-KORAMOAH, LB Round 2 Total value: $6,476,215. Signing bonus: $2,069,975. 2021 cap dollars: $1,177,494. ANTHONY SCHWARTZ, WR Round 3 Total value: $4,863,020. Signing bonus: $896,742. 2020 cap dollars: $884,185. JAMES HUDSON, OL Round 4 Total value: $4,272,415. Signing bonus: $792,415. 2021 cap dollars: $858,104. TOMMY TOGIAI, DL Round 4 Total value: $4,157,145. Signing bonus: $677,145. 2021 cap dollars: $829,286. TONY FIELDS, LB Round 5 Total value: $3,809,758. Signing bonus: $329,758. 2021 cap dollars: $742,439. RICHARD LECOUNTE, S Round 5 Total value: $3,776,585. Signing bonus: $296,586. 2021 cap dollars: $734,146. DEMETRIC FELTON, RB Round 6 Total value: $3,641,141. Signing bonus: $161,141. 2021 cap dollars: $700,285. - Browns playoffs shirts, hats for sale: Heres where Cleveland Browns fans can order shirts and hats celebrating the team qualifying for the 2020 NFL playoffs. Pluto Fields II: Grade the Browns fifth-round pick Georgia safety Richard LeCounte selected at No. 169 LeCounte: Grade the Browns fifth-round pick Cincinnati OT James Hudson, a fan of Joe Thomas, taken in fourth round Browns trade pick No. Grade the acquisition of OSUs Tommy Togiai Hudson III: 3 things to know about the new offensive tackle Anthony Schwartz brings speed and gadget ability -- Film review Fifth-round pick LB Tony Fields compares to Owusu-Koramoah Browns defense needed lateral quickness found in Owusu-Koramoah: Film review With draft, free agency and returns, Browns add an entire 11-man defense: Lesmerises | https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2021/05/how-much-will-browns-draft-picks-be-paid-in-2021.html |
Who's the real MAGA man? | Presented by Pre-K Our Way Good Monday morning! Jack Ciattarelli has his work cut out for him in the general election. But right now he gets to watch his Republican primary rivals fight over who can show more fealty to a former president who supported an assault on democracy. My personal policy is not to report on internal polls unless a campaign shares the full poll, including the questions asked and methodology. Polling memos are worthless. Whats more notable is that perennial Republican candidate Hirsh Singh has hired Trumps ousted 2020 campaign manager, Brad Parscale, to conduct one for him. You know, the shirtless guy who got tackled and arrested by a cop last summer . Not to be outdone, Republican candidate and late paperwork submitter Phil Rizzo got a picture of himself with the former president at Mar-a-Lago. That caused Parscale to tweet Getting a photo at Mar-a-Lago doesnt erase your Never-Trumper history. @HirshSingh is the only pro Trump candidate running. New Jersey needs a Governor that does [not] just sway to the tide that helps them personally. Had enough of that. (Rizzo in a video clip being circulated acknowledges not voting for Trump in 2016). Neither Singh nor Rizzo have qualified for public funds, though Singh whose father lent his 2017 campaign almost $1 million raised enough to qualify for the two publicly-sanctioned debates. Rizzo also appears to come from some money as a third generation real estate developer whose luxurious house cuts quite a contrast to his churchs tiny North Bergen storefront. So that means the two pro-MAGA candidates have some money, but it looks like they may spend it competing to become the top MAGA candidate, giving Ciattarelli the only candidate to qualify for matching funds a way to get through the primary without having to prostrate himself at the alter of Trumpism. But for Ciattarelli, some of the general election damage may be done. When it looked like he had a more serious pro-Trump primary rival in Doug Steinhardt, he spoke favorably of the former president, declined to weigh in on who won the 2020 election and even spoke at a Stop the Steal rally enough ammunition for Murphy should MAGAism remain as toxic in New Jersey as it was when Trump was in office. WHERES MURPHY In Trenton for a 1 p.m. coronavirus press conference for which he's teasing a "major announcement" on easing restrictions, presumably after consulting with Brent Spiner, and something on vaccines. Then a 2:15 p.m. announcement. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Cat servant Matt Friedman QUOTE OF THE DAY: Their story is the rose that grew through the pavement during a difficult time They act like teenagers they have no inhibitions, and theyre always up for fun. Applewood retirement community Executive Director Keith Grady on Bill Biega and Iris Ivers, two nonagenarian residents whose love couldnt be contained by COVID restrictions . CORONAVIRUS TRACKER 1,048 newly-reported positive PCR tests for a total of 875,277. 19 more deaths for a total of 25,600. 1,474 hospitalized, 325 in intensive care. 3,081,748 fully vaccainted, or about 33.2 percent of the population. A message from Pre-K Our Way: Thanks, Governor and Legislature! Pre-k expansion fundings been in every recent state budget! Working families in 150+ school districts have pre-k expansion but families in 110+ districts still wait. Theyre waiting in rural, suburban and suburban communities from east to west, north to south. Continue substantial pre-k expansion THIS YEAR! Visit prekourway.org WHAT TRENTON MADE TOO MUCH PATRONAGE. Its still mostly men. Powerful boards lack women, despite Murphys pledge for diversity, by NJ Advance Medias Kelly Heyboer and Susan K. Livio: At her first meeting as a new commissioner of the state Sports and Exposition Authority, Karen Kessler said officials handed her a gift. It was a mens necktie The year was 1992 Nearly 30 years after Kesslers term as the first woman appointed to the board, the Sports and Exposition Authority isnt handing out mens neckties anymore. Still, some things have not changed. The board currently has 14 men and one woman. Same goes for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority board, the state Public Employment Relations Commission, the Water Supply Authority and several other state commissions and authorities. All have just one woman on the board. And there are no female board members on the State Investment Council, the North Jersey District Water Supply Commission or the School Ethics Commission. A vast majority of the states most powerful boards, authorities and commissions where big and small decisions affecting the state and the everyday lives of residents are made every month still have few, if any, women at the table. An NJ Advance Media review of appointments to more than 900 seats on 85 of the states most influential boards found women held about 28% of the seats as of April 1. Men are in the majority on 67 of the 85 boards, including nearly all of the boards considered the most influential, from the Rutgers Board of Governors to the NJ Transit board and the Board of Public Utilities. Just 30% of elected officials in NJ are women. See where it ranks in the U.S. MURPHYS SOCCER TEAM VIOLATES LIQUOR LICENSE REGULATIONS The transformation of a soccer club, and the ways we value womens sports, by The New Yorkers Louisa Thomas: The stories about poor conditions at Sky Blue F.C. were embarrassing for the franchise, but they had the benefit of catching Tammy Murphys attention. If the club was going to survive, she realized, she would have to get involved, and the owners would have to invest in the team dramatically. Before the start of the 2019 season, the general manager, Tony Novo, resigned. Alyse LaHue, who had worked for the W.N.B.A.s Seattle Storm after several years with the Chicago Red Stars, and had recently been brought to Sky Blue in a consulting role, became the interim G.M. LaHue set about overhauling the club. Front-office personnel and coaches who had been working part time were hired full time. LaHue found a new training facility, which featured a wellness center with ice baths and a hydro room. She met with members of the team, listened to their concerns, and registered their anger. She took a similar approach with the staff and even with fanswhen a ticket holder phoned with a complaint, LaHue took the call. Rutgers lost its liquor license midseason, after the team had promoted a beer garden at an upcoming game. LaHue went to a store and filled four carts for a free-beer tailgate. (For liability reasons, I cant confirm that happened, LaHue told me, laughing. ). BECAUSE NJ DESPERATELY NEEDS ANOTHER POLITICALLY-CONNECTED LAW FIRM Monmouth prosecutor and Superior Court Judge are resigning, by New Jersey Globes David Wildstein: Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni submitted his letter of resignation today and will be leaving on June 1, the New Jersey Globe has learned. His wife, Superior Court Judge Deborah Gramiccioni, is also expected to resign after just four years on the bench, according to sources familiar with the move. The two are expected to start a law firm together. Chris Gramiccioni, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney and U.S Navy veteran, was named acting prosecutor in 2012 by then-Gov. Chris Christie. Pa. and N.J. arent making plans for vaccine passports, but the topic is hot Democratic lawmaker calls on Murphy to fully reopen New Jersey by July 1 Voter suppression by another name | Opinion BIDEN TIME HEALTH CMS pausing Trump-era rule that subjected Central Jersey hospitals to lower Medicare rates, by Sam: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is hitting pause on a plan that would have carved hospitals in Central Jersey from the New York labor market, a move that could potentially cost them hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicare reimbursements, Sen. Bob Menendez and Rep. Bill Pascrell announced Friday. The Trump-era rule slashed more than a dozen of the states hospitals from the New York-Jersey City metropolitan area, creating a new New Brunswick-Lakewood core-based statistical area that would use a lower wage index for calculating federal reimbursements for patient care. Fridays announcement is good news for hospitals in Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean counties, particularly those owned by Hackensack Meridian Health. Eight Republican 2024 candidates speak in Texas next week, but not Trump Malinowski bill limits pipeline companies' use of eminent domain A message from Pre-K Our Way: LOCAL BIG (MCCOR)MAC VS. GARDNER SALAD Im the mayor, everythings mine A Woodbridge clash caught on tape, by InsiderNJs Max Pizarro: A hard-edged firehouse encounter between Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac and former Council Gardner Gardner President/volunteer firefighter Ken Gardner sparked angry words from the mayor, which prompted Gardner to file an official misconduct complaint against him with the state Attorney Generals Office, now inflaming a local Democratic Primary election Gardner, who is now a particularly motivated Democratic Primary candidate for the township committee against McCormac ally Councilwoman Nancy Drumm, said he caught the infamous exchange on tape, which he shared with InsiderNJ. The nose-to-nose meeting started semi-innocently enough. Whats up with that project on Main Street, all the apartments? Gardner wanted to know. Thats the best taxpayer weve ever had in the history of Woodbridge Township, said McCormac, according to the recording supplied by Gardner. They never appealed their taxes since 1992 when I was the CFO. If they want to sell their property for apartments, Im all in. Gardner protested. Were getting beat up enough with traffic up there, he said. I dont get it. Thats when McCormac let him have it. You want to someday let me help you and you came out against my project so forget it, the mayor seemed to say on tape. Forget it. I got you a turnpike job; youre trying to get me to get you a promotion, and you come out against my project, McCormac said. Dont even talk to me anymore. Im done with you. Listen, said Gardner, a 30-year volunteer, youre in my firehouse. If you want to leave, leave. Im not leaving, McCormac shot back. This is my firehouse, Im a member here, said Gardner. 'Im the mayor, everythings mine, McCormac said. PUTTING THE DICK IN DICKINSON NJ teacher gives profane rant during Zoom Lesson, Calls George Floyd a criminal', by NBC 4s Checkey Beckford: On the same day Jersey City students finally returned to their classrooms, a high school teacher was removed from them while under investigation for allegedly going on a vulgar tirade aimed at the children in his class. In what turned out to be a Zoom class unlike any other, students at Dickinson High School said their teacher gave them a profane rant and a lesson in hate. A discussion on climate change devolved as teacher Howard Zlotkin aired his grievances with the students. If you think I'm privileged then f--- you, because my daughter thinks I'm privileged and I don't speak to her, he was seen saying in a recording of the online class session. At one point he started yelling and cursing at one student. Timmia Williams, a 17-year-old senior, said the landscape and design teacher seemed to focus on Black students, sharing his thoughts on the killing of George Floyd. I hear people whining and crying about Black Lives Matter, but George Floyd was a f-----g criminal and he got arrested and he got killed because he wouldn't comply and the bottom line is we make him a f-----g hero, Zlotkin is heard saying in a recording. REPORTERS HOPE THIS VALDES LEAKS Passaic County prosecutor promises full review of Paterson police internal affairs, by The Paterson Press Ed Rumley and Joe Malinconico: Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia Valdes called the ongoing problems in the Paterson police department regrettable as she spoke at length on Friday about her enlarged role in overseeing Internal Affairs investigations. This goes beyond individual police officers, Valdes stated during a press conference at Paterson City Hall. This is about the system. There needs to be investigation about communication, accountability and infrastructure. How are things done? New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal announced Valdes would assume an expanded IA oversight role shortly after the United States Attorneys Office on Tuesday disclosed the filing of criminal charges against two Paterson cops Kevin Patino and Kendry Tineo-Restituyo for allegedly assaulting a city resident and lying about it in their reports. WHEN YOU HIRE NATE SILVER TO REVIEW YOUR PAYROLL NJ says Palisades Park gave $200K in payouts. Town says it was $538. Here's what we know, by The Records ristie Cattafi: Officials and attorneys are disputing a state comptroller's report that claimed the borough wasted hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on sick-time payouts. Instead, the number could be as low as $538 or, if part-time employees are included, as high as $13,000 a sharp contrast to the report that came out March 2, officials said The council is still waiting for a final report from Matthew Giacobbe of Cleary, Giacobbe, Alfieri and Jacobs, who was hired to serve as the special counsel. He will be paid $150 per hour to review the 56-page report, which alleged widespread profligate spending by the borough. Sussex board takes action LOCAL BOLDLY STEPPING INTO THE 20TH CENTURY Pine Valley, No. 1 golf course in the U.S., to allow female members for first time in its 100-plus year history, by Gold Digests Stephen Hennessey: Pine Valley, the exclusive mens-only golf club in southern New Jersey and home to the No. 1-ranked golf course in the United States, voted to allow female members and unrestricted womens play for the first time in its 108 years. The news was announced to all members in an emailed letter on April 30 that was obtained by Golf Digest. 'This evening at our Annual Meeting of the Members we made a historic change to Pine Valleys bylaws, wrote club president Jim Davis. The future of golf must move toward inclusion, and I am pleased to report that the Trustees and members of the Pine Valley Golf Club have voted unanimously and with enthusiasm to remove all gender-specific language from our bylaws. Women guests at Pine Valley were previously allowed to play the course only on Sunday afternoons. The most noticeable immediate change will be in the presence of women on the course at any time. THE MASKLESS MARTYR N.J. school nurse fails science, experts say, in comments about face masks, by NJ Advance Medias Ted Sherman: Shes a school nurse who claims face masks are dangerous to kids and do nothing to stop the spread of COVID. After refusing to wear a mask herself, Erin Pein said she was suspended from her job in the Stafford Township school district. Now her supporters are planning a rally and her cause has become an issue in the upcoming Republican primary for Hirsh Singh, who arranged and posted a widely shared video interview with her and argues that no one should be forced to wear masks calling it a matter of personal freedom. But epidemiologists say such claims are little more than inflammatory rhetoric and at odds with the science that has repeatedly shown that face masks are highly effective in reducing the spread of the coronavirus. At the same time, they said as new variants of the virus develop, the wearing of masks has become more important than ever. Bobby was violently abused at a state institution decades ago. Why his brother spread his ashes there Rutgers postdoctoral associates nearing two years without contract R.I.P. Oscar winner, former Montclair resident Olympia Dukakis dead at 89 Kean U. requires COVID vaccine for in-person classes in the fall A message from Pre-K Our Way: Thanks to the Governor and Legislature, theres been pre-k expansion funding in every recent state budget! Thats enabled NJ to expand pre-k for working families into 150+ school districts. However, families in 110+ eligible districts still wait in rural, suburban and urban communities, and from east to west and north to south. The proposed FY2022 budget would continue to recognize pre-k expansion as a priority for now, and for our future. We agree with former Governor Tom Kean, There are a few priority reforms we need to make to improve education in our state. One of our highest priorities should be the availability of quality pre-k programs for all of our children. These programs offer our best hope for future success in school and life. Lets maintain pre-k expansion as a statewide priority. Continue substantial pre-k expansion in the coming year for New Jersey, and especially for its working families. Visit prekourway.org Follow us on Twitter Matt Friedman @mattfriedmannj | https://www.politico.com/newsletters/new-jersey-playbook/2021/05/03/whos-the-real-maga-man-492691 |
How have the Dolphins addressed their primary defensive needs? | Back at the beginning of the 2021 offseason, we profiled what we felt were the Miami Dolphins three biggest needs on each side of the football were. Defensively, the punch list for the Dolphins wasnt necessarily large but it did spur some needed action out of the team to try their best to fine-tune a winning formula to compete with the high-powered offense of the Buffalo Bills in the AFC East. With the majority of free agency and the 2021 NFL Draft behind us, Miamis biggest chance to address such needs have come and one. And one thing that has to make Miami fans feel good is just how much the team did to take care of these defensive soft spots. The inside linebacker role not only saw the Dolphins bring back Elandon Roberts, but the team also traded for ILB Benardrick McKinney to man the middle. His presence as a big body in the middle capable of filling gaps with authority will go a long way to ensure that Miami has the interior group on defense to be stout up the middle. The pass rusher role was filled most effectively through the draft with the addition of this years best pass rusher, Jaelan Phillips. Phillips doesnt have the cleanest resume as it pertains to healthy and durability, but he was fully healthy in 2020 and the end result was a masterful season as a disruptive presence for the Hurricanes. The challenge Miami faces is hoping that Phillips can be an impact player right away for them. But if he is, the defense will reap the benefits. And at nickel cornerback, Miami went all-in to find a new presence. The team did bring back RFA Nik Needham but also signed free agent Justin Coleman and drafted Oregon safety Jevon Holland to play a role all over the secondary as well. You guessed it. In the slot. It seems as though Miami felt similarly with their roster assessment at the end of the season. And, thankfully, the team acted confidently to move and fill those needs ahead of the 2021 season. | https://sports.yahoo.com/dolphins-addressed-primary-defensive-needs-115556832.html?src=rss |
Where Is The Value In Financial Planning? | Founder & CEO of Artisan Financial Strategies LLC. She is fascinated by the interplay between gender, money and power. getty People often ask me whether financial planning services actually provide any value. Oh, not directly, of course. Theyre far too polite to spell it out that way, but thats definitely the meaning behind their diplomatically worded queries. Financial planning is not just managing investments. Financial planning is not just referring you to an attorney and maybe placing some insurance. Planning is engaging in a clear process moderated by a professional. Planning encompasses the process of building your plan as well as the ongoing support involved in consistently updating this plan every year. I know the part about the ongoing support starts to sound a bit hokey and intangible, but it is so critical to your success. Over 22 years as a financial advisor, Ive watched and helped cheer on many clients as they built a comfortable nest egg, secured future income streams and established a legacy beyond their wildest dreams. Since you dont have the opportunity to observe the impacts of financial planning the way I can, lets look at its value in terms of professional stewardship. This is the true value proposition inherent to financial advisory services. It starts with helping you make informed decisions figuring out how to employ your money most effectively to achieve your personal objectives and mitigate financial risk. Professional stewardship includes things like saving strategies and optimal investment vehicles for different types of savings, cash flow management, analysis to help you determine which kinds of insurance coverage make sense for you and in what amounts, thinking through estate plans, and how to balance your legacy goals with current and future lifestyle preferences. Market-based investment advice and evaluating financial moves in terms of tax efficiency are other basic services a competent financial advisor provides. Besides helping you understand what you should be doing with money, your advisor is alert to potential risks and lets you know what not to do. Financial planners help you avoid a host of financial mistakes: things like taking distributions from the wrong accounts or at the wrong time, retiring before youre financially prepared, or committing to a large purchase or financial obligation (college education, anyone?) without understanding the impact of the decision on your financial reality. But youre intelligent. You could, if you really put the time and effort into it, learn the same techniques and strategies that your financial advisor is sharing with you. You would, and thats because professional stewardship doesnt end with the technical advice you receive. Behavioral finance guidance and support are key things clients get from their advisors, and this holds considerable value measured in dollars, not touchy-feely metrics. As humans, we have a natural impulse to avoid risky situations, including market volatility. But that inclination to run away (by selling during a market downturn or periods of exceptional volatility) invariably comes at a financial cost. Research shows that investors who work with professional advisors maintain a more passive investment strategy during market downturns, selling less and buying more than other investors. By communicating positive news on the financial front during market volatility and in other ways encouraging clients to maintain the status quo, investment advisors help their clients resist the urge to overreact and engage in panic selling. Net result: better portfolio outcomes. Its not just about money, though. Professional financial planning services can give you a psychological boost that could make you measurably happier by reducing stress and freeing up your time to focus on the things that matter to you. Professional advice helps you turn off the worry cycle. The time you dont spend worrying about financial questions, sifting through often-conflicting information as you try to figure out what you should do, can be devoted to activities that bring you joy rather than frustration and anxiety. Choosing how you spend your time can have a huge impact on your happiness and well-being, regardless of financial stressors. So in a nutshell, professional financial planning can potentially lead to better decisions, more money, less financial risk, less stress, more leisure time at your disposal and a happier life. However, its a valuable service but not a free one, so professional assistance may not be appropriate for some earners. If cost is a drawback, its best to focus on the basics to get your financial house in order while you boost your earning power. Once youre ready to start working with an advisor, heres how to get the most value out of the engagement: Thoroughly vet potential advisors to choose someone who is well qualified and works frequently with clients similar to you in terms of income level and lifestyle. Check the fit before you commit. Look for someone you enjoy on a personal level so youll feel comfortable sharing intimate details of your family and financial life. Once youve found the right one, be sure to share information honestly and completely so your advisor can truly understand your situation, establish realistic goals and help you formulate the most effective strategies for achieving them. The information provided here is not investment, tax or financial advice. You should consult with a licensed professional for advice concerning your specific situation. Forbes Finance Council is an invitation-only organization for executives in successful accounting, financial planning and wealth management firms. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesfinancecouncil/2021/05/03/where-is-the-value-in-financial-planning/ |
Should Fintech Startups Hire Bankers? | If you think the answer is a simple no way or of course they should youre overlooking the nuances in the question. Alex Johnson, author of the Fintech Takes newsletter, lit the fuse to a Twitter debate recently with the following tweet: Its not that simple, however. Some people disagreed with Johnson: A blanket ban is a bit over the top, but most traditional bankers have the wrong mindset for a crypto startup. It might be disturbing for bankers to realize nobody wants them, but people who are successful in banks wouldnt fit in the crypto culture anyway. Marc van der Chijs A very small % of these people are actually ready for startup land. Many challenges re: culture, comp expectations, title/reporting/seniority issues, lifestyle expectations, being scrappy, etc. Justin Overdorff Frank Rotman, founding partner of QED Investorsand a former banker himselfweighed in with his own thread and commented: Banker Perspective: Fintechs dont realize how the machinery works. They dont appreciate how to navigate building products and delivering services in a highly regulated world. They should appreciate how many landmines could be avoided if they just hired experienced people. Fintech Perspective: People trained in the traditional banking ecosystem wont survive our environment. They take too long to make decisions and almost uniformly err on the side of minimizing risk vs. managing risk. Bankers aren't ready for fintech land. Speed is life. Great Thread, Stupid Debate Good points on both sides of the argument. But whether or not fintech startups should hire bankers is the wrong question to consider. Too many startups (fintech or otherwise) wait too long to transition from a move fast and break things approach to a process-oriented, self-sustaining environment. Ironically, Ive met a few founders on the other side of the spectrumthose who want to move to a more structured environment too soon in their startups evolution. Overdorff is spot on when he says few bankers are ready for startups. But just as banks want to work with fintechs to help instill a more entrepreneurial culture, a fintech startup might be at a point where it needs bankers to evolve its culture. As Keith Rabois, general partner at Founders Fund, explains, the process of interviewing an executive is vastly different than interviewing individual contributors. Hiring a banker for an individual contributor role might be a no-brainer. I know three former bankers working for fintech startups who have done well theremostly due to the fact that their role is to build bank partnership/distribution channels. Hiring a banker for a more general, executive level position at a startup isnt as easy a decision, however. Rabois suggests evaluating candidates on the extent to which they: Create or protect value. Think like an owner. Are capable of strategic thinking. Fill management gaps. Attract talent. Quick story: Some years ago, when I was working for a big technology analyst firm on a team that did research for CIOs on how to manage IT, we received the resume of a candidate with impeccable credentials. This individual was been the CIO of a major Wall Street firm. We had no doubt he could have opened doors for us in financial services firms. During the interview process, we asked why he was entertaining a move to a technology analyst firm like ours. His response: Im at the point in my career when I want to downshift a bit, and start giving back to others some of the lessons Ive learned throughout my career. That was the end of that process. As we were working 60-70 hour weeks, the last thing we wanted was a colleague who wanted to downshift. In addition, having worked for one company for the majority of his career, his life lessons were too narrowly focused on his experience with one company. As our CEO concluded, he should be one of our clientsnot one of us. The tough reality for many bankers looking for positions in fintech startups is that theyre looking there for the wrong reasons. Perhaps theyve been laid off because of downsizing or a merger, or maybe theyre trying to escape a no-growth environment. Whatever the reason, in many cases, theyre the wrong reasons for looking for a job in a fintech startup. The bottom line on the question regarding the hiring of bankers by fintech startups is that theres no simple answer. Rotman summed it up well, however, when he tweeted: The Venn diagram of 1) traditional banker experience; 2) willingness to jump to a startup; and 3) will thrive at a startup has very little overlap. That's the challenge. Thats very truebut the bankers in the overlap of the Venn diagram could be worth their weight in Bitcoin at the right fintech. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronshevlin/2021/05/03/should-fintech-startups-hire-bankers/ |
What happened to Confederate money after the Civil War? | (The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Robert Gudmestad, Colorado State University (THE CONVERSATION) Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question youd like an expert to answer, send it to [email protected]. Ray G., 12, Arlington, Virginia At the time the Civil War began in 1861, the United States government did not print paper money; it only minted coins. As a historian of the American Civil War, I study how the Confederate government used a radical idea: printing paper money. In 1861, 11 states tried to leave the United States and form a new country, causing a four-year war. Wars cost a lot of money so the new country, called the Confederate States of America, printed money as a way to pay its bills. But this money was more like a promise in technical terms, a promissory note because its certificates were really pledges to give the currencys holder a specific amount of gold or silver, but only if the Confederacy won the war. Bills issued earlier in the war said right on them, Six months after the ratification of a treaty of peace between the Confederate States and the United States, the Confederate States of America will pay the bills amount to the person holding it. Later currency delayed the promised payout until two years after a peace treaty. The notes were commonly called graybacks, after Confederate soldiers, who wore gray uniforms. They bills were decorated with a variety of images, including depictions of mythological gods or goddesses, like the goddess of liberty. Other graybacks bore images of important people in Southern history like George Washington, Andrew Jackson and Jefferson Davis. Some of the bills depicted enslaved Americans working in the fields, or featured pictures of cotton or trains. But these images often werent very good quality, because the Confederacy didnt have many engravers who could make the detailed plates to print the money. When the South started losing the war, the value of Confederate money dropped. In addition, prices for food, clothing and other necessities rose because many items were scarce during the war. Graybacks became almost worthless. In late 1864, a few months before the wars end, one Confederate dollar was worth just three cents in U.S. currency. When the Confederate army surrendered in April 1865, graybacks lost any remaining value they might have had. The Confederacy no longer existed, so there was nobody who would exchange its paper money for gold or silver. Today, though, Confederate dollars have value as a collectible item. Just like people will pay money to own a Civil War hat or musket, they will pay money to own Confederate money. Some rare Confederate bills are now worth 10 times more than they were in 1861. Hello, curious kids! Ask an adult to send your question to [email protected]. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live. And since curiosity has no age limit adults, let us know what youre wondering, too. We wont be able to answer every question, but we will do our best. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/what-happened-to-confederate-money-after-the-civil-war-159117. | https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/article/What-happened-to-Confederate-money-after-the-16146940.php |
How could a vote on the unification of Ireland play out? | There appears to be no chance of political leaders on both sides in Northern Ireland buying into the kind of pre-designed outcomes a referendum would require. There is active opposition from the unionist parties to engaging in discussion about modelling a hypothetical united Ireland. That would be like discussing our own suicide, said one leading unionist politician. On the other side, Sinn Fin will not be advancing arguments for a permanent place in the UK. So the chances of both sides agreeing the terms of a vote appear slim to none. But a group of 12 leading academics brought together by the Constitution Unit at University College London have spent the last two years pondering the big questions amid fears that a vote could happen almost by accident. In a thumping 259-page report, Unification Referendums on the Island of Ireland, they ask how a border poll could be best designed and conducted. The Belfast Good Friday agreement (BGFA) of 1998 gives the Northern Ireland secretary discretion to call a referendum at any point. However he is legally obliged to call one if there is a majority in Northern Ireland in favour of unification. A poll should be called if at any time it appears likely to him [sic] that a majority of those voting would express a wish that Northern Ireland should cease to be part of the United Kingdom and form part of a united Ireland. Yes, says Alan Renwick, the deputy director of UCLs Constitution Unit and one of the lead authors in the working groups report. This piece of the agreement is written in the Northern Ireland Act 1998. And therefore, it can be taken to court in the UK. Whether judges would be particularly keen to weigh in on this is another matter, he notes. It is not defined. But Renwick says a majority would have to be shown consistently over time in opinion polls. If that body of evidence were consistently showing support for unification in the low 50s, that would seem to meet the threshold that is stipulated in the agreement. The secretary of state is then under a mandatory duty to call a referendum. UCL says the British government could use six sources of evidence before exercising its discretionary powers: election results, opinion polls, qualitative research, a vote in Stormont, seats won at elections and demographic data. Using the latter as a poll benchmark is something unionists fear. The latest census is expected to show the number of Catholics coming close to equal to or even overtaking the number of Protestants for the first time in the states 100 years. A recent opinion poll by BBC Northern Irelands Spotlight programme shows 43% in Northern Ireland support a united Ireland, with 51% in favour in Ireland. Yes, says UCL. A referendum should be called if a vote for unification appears likely, even if by a slender margin. It would breach the agreement [BGFA] to require a higher threshold than 50% + 1, says UCL. However, the working group observed in detail the need for legitimacy for a border poll and the need for consensus espoused in the Good Friday agreement. If politics prevails then a simple majority wont be enough. Consent would also be needed south of the border. UCL outlines five constitutional options: Devolved institutions retained in Northern Ireland but with sovereignty transferred from London to Dublin. A single central legislature, likely to be in Dublin. Unionists would be likely to see this as a hostile takeover. This model has been the historic preference of many Irish republicans, constitutional or otherwise. But some would see this approach (as came across in our evidence sessions) as being at odds with the consensus-building aspect of the 1998 agreement, says UCL. A federal state. This model would avoid some of the governance complications of lopsided devolution. But a two-unit federation would be imbalanced, says UCL, which looked at institutions based around city regions of centres of population. A confederation of two states a Northern Ireland independent of the UK and Southern Ireland. UCL found this would less clearly meet the prescription of unity laid down by the 1998 agreement. The post-Brexit status of Northern Ireland in or out of the EU could also require a referendum. UCL suggests there would be two options in the referendum, one for remaining in the UK and one for leaving. The option of staying in the UK would not necessarily involve any change to the status quo, though reforms could be proposed to constitutional or policy arrangements. Conclusion A border poll is not inevitable even if Brexit made it part of the national conversation in Ireland. While the basic question of sovereignty is binary and majoritarian UCL says, the peace deal also underlines the need to conform to the ethos of reconciliation, tolerance, and mutual trust, qualities not always abundant in the entrenched communities of Northern Ireland. | https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/may/03/how-could-a-vote-on-the-unification-of-ireland-play-out |
Can conflict between Aaron Rodgers, Packers be resolved? | The Guardian Chicago made an aggressive and impressive move for the talented Justin Fields while Pittsburgh overreached to take a running back Former Alabama quarterback Mac Jones, center, poses with team owner Robert Kraft, left, and team president Jonathan Kraft after his selection by the New England Patriots. Photograph: Charles Krupa/AP Winners Chicago Bears: Chicago had the most to shout about after the dust settled in Cleveland. The Bears executed the finest move of the weekend when they traded up to snag Justin Fields at the expense of first- and fifth-round picks this year, and a first- and fourth-rounder in 2022. Aggressive decisions like this are often a desperate reach but getting such an all-round talented quarterback at No 11 feels like an unmitigated steal. Fields being given breathing room to learn while veteran Andy Dalton starts in September points to a very bright future. Indeed, Bears head coach Matt Nagy saw the same blueprint work when he was at the Kansas City Chiefs, and Patrick Mahomes acted as Alex Smiths back-up in his rookie season. Chicago followed up the Fields pick by addressing their threadbare offensive line in the second round with right tackle Teven Jenkins, who should be an instant starter and will be a much-needed upgrade in Chicagos run and pass blocking. Finally, the Bears may have pulled off another solid-gold steal when they picked Thomas Graham Jr down in round six. The cornerback opted out in 2020 but his previous three stellar seasons with Oregon point to a sky-high upside. New England Patriots: The scrutiny of Mac Jones shrank the moment San Francisco passed on him at No 3. 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan might have decided he needed more juice, in the form of Trey Lance, or San Francisco might have never been in the market for Jones at all. But, as Jones tumbled all the way down to 15, all of negativity aimed his way was wiped away. New England are now the proud owners of the most accurate quarterbacks available, a perfect fit for Bill Belichick. Jones has little running ability but he is excellent when working from inside the pocket, and the comparison with Tom Brady is naturally hard to avoid. Obviously Jones is not guaranteed even a sliver of Bradys success but Pats offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels will be delighted to be working with a talent who would have fit so easily into his pocket-passing schemes from New Englands glory years. The draft only got better for New England in round two. I had defensive tackle Christian Barmore pegged for the Pats with their first pick, so for him to slide all the way to No 38 was a huge surprise. He was comfortably the best interior lineman going, a consistently fearsome pass rusher for Alabama. Barmores small sample size from college, with production against small schools, offers some risk but his athletic ability is undeniable. Barmore is another steal, and New England look set to rise from the mat quickly and be a serious contender in 2021.Los Angeles Chargers: Los Angeles round off the weekends big winners with the eye-catching addition of offensive tackle Rashawn Slater, Asante Samuel Jr at cornerback and a solid third option at receiver in Josh Palmer. Completing the offensive line rebuild for quarterback Justin Herbert may have been a no brainer for the Chargers but the record-breaking rookies second season can only be enhanced with Slater, who was a true star in college. He was a true blocking menace, and allowed no sacks and only five pressures in 355 snaps when pass protecting in 2019. Slater is a 300lbs miracle for Herbert, who was hostage to 21 pressures per game in 2020. Samuel Jr is a welcome boost on the other side of the ball for Chargers head coach Brandon Staley, too. Los Angeles new-look zonal defense now boasts a cornerback with a forced incompletion rate of over 20% across his career with Florida State. The Chargers brutal record of seven one-score losses last season could be reversed with Slater on receiver patrol. Finally, the Chargers should be thrilled by pilfering Palmer with the 77th pick. The receivers stock suffered from having poor production but that is more an indictment of his quarterback in Tennessee than anything in his control. Palmer has searing pace, demonstrated when beating new Denver cornerback Patrick Surtain II deep last season. He is another new face for Herbert to get excited about, a serious target behind Keenan Allen and Mike Williams. Losers Najee Harris may well turn out to have been a reach as a first-round pick. Photograph: Gary Cosby/USA Today Sports Pittsburgh Steelers: Pittsburghs reputation as master draftsmen took a significant dent this year. Yes, the Steelers need a running back, and they may finally have a legitimate successor to LeVeon Bell in Najee Harris, but he may end up routinely brutalised behind one of the leagues worst offensive lines. A running back in the opening round is a consensus reach, one Pittsburgh should have avoided. James Robinsons jump from scrapheap to show stopping 1,000 yard season for the Jaguars last season should have been a recent enough example to help avoid an itchy trigger finger. Harris is an excellent pass catcher but not a three-down back, and is the second-worst pick of the draft considering the Steelers holes at corner and on the edge as well as o-line. Your wooden spoon is in the mail for Alex Leatherwood, Las Vegas.Green Bay Packers: Amari Rodgers meet Aaron Rodgers (hopefully). The Packers finally picked up a pass catcher for their great quarterback but it could be much too little, too late. The reigning MVPs desire to leave Green Bay was arguably the drafts biggest story, but whatever happens the waters appear, at minimum, temporarily muddied to the detriment of the team. Should Aaron stay, Amari is an excellent slot receiver and should ease the unceasing workload on Devante Adams shoulders. Elsewhere the Packers addressed the need for help at corner and center in round one and two respectively but with head-scratching selections in Eric Stokes and Josh Myers. Better prospects at both positions were available, notably Asante Samuel Jr at cornerback. | https://sports.yahoo.com/conflict-between-aaron-rodgers-packers-134933086.html?src=rss |
How have the Dolphins addressed their primary offensive needs? | Back at the beginning of the 2021 offseason, we profiled what we felt were the Miami Dolphins three biggest needs on each side of the football were. Offensively, the punch list for the Dolphins was painfully obvious down the stretch. But given the way the Dolphins attacked their rebuild during the 2020 offseason (with a heavy focus on defense), that wasnt necessarily a surprise. But the time for upgrade opportunities is wearing thin. Here were our three primary needs on offense: The biggest area of improvement falls with the wide receivers. Miami tabbed two speedsters in Will Fuller (free agency) and Jaylen Waddle (NFL Draft) to help bolster the skill group and we have a feeling creating after the catch will be a little easier for Dolphins receivers this year as as result. Too many times we saw the Dolphins struggle to break big plays due to the presence of bigger receivers that problem is alleviated to some degree with the addition of these two burners. And the offensive line appears to be improved as well. Ereck Flowers departure is addition by subtraction and the free agent signing of DJ Fluker should not be overlooked. But Miami also exchanged Ted Karras for Matt Skura at center (a push?) and added Liam Eichenberg with a trade-up in the 2nd-round. Regardless of where Eichenberg plays, Miami can re-shuffle the deck and find improved play at a guard spot with him in the mix. The running back position didnt get the glow up that many fans wanted this season. It also didnt get the investment attention that the other two needs on offense did. But the Dolphins did add Malcolm Brown in free agency and Gerrid Doaks in the 7th-round to bring more size and physicality to the group. Miamis investments, much like on defense, aligned with our assessment of the roster at the end of the 2020 season. Now comes the fun part: finding out who can fill what voids for the 2021 season and beyond. | https://sports.yahoo.com/dolphins-addressed-primary-offensive-needs-120916326.html?src=rss |
How Many Roster Positions Do Detroit Lions Have Open? | Following the conclusion of the 2021 NFL Draft, the quest to stock an NFL roster full of talent does not end. Almost immediately after the draft concludes, teams hurry to contact the representatives of undrafted free agents and attempt to get those left out of the draft into the fold. For Detroit, it appears as though they have targeted 13 undrafted free agents. If that number remains true, as signings are not official until they hit the NFL transaction wire, then Detroit would have five remaining roster positions open to attempt to add more talent and add depth in the secondary and along the offensive line. Their is also an advantage to wait until 4 p.m. on Monday, as "unrestricted free agents that sign with a new team no longer count towards the NFLs compensatory pick formula. Amongst those available: Richard Sherman, Justin Houston, Alejandro Villanueva, Russell Okung, Melvin Ingram, K.J. Wright & Jason McCourty," per ESPN. Picks made by Lions in 2021 NFL Draft: Lions undrafted free-agents: | https://www.si.com/nfl/lions/news/lions-roster-update-post-nfl-draft |
Who Is Likely To File For Social Security Later In Life? | Theres rarely a simple answer to this, but the bottom line is that the vast majority of retirees file for Social Security by age 67, although everyone can reap a higher benefit at age 70. The reasons generally have to do with household wealth. If you need the money at 62 the earliest age you can file for Social Security benefits youre more likely to take the money on the table. Health and occupation are big factors as well. The messaging from financial journalists and planners over the years about the benefits of delayed claiming have sunk in with retirees, to an extent, writes Mark Miller in his excellent RetirementRevised blog. The share of workers claiming at age 62 has fallen sharply - and the share of claims at 66 has risen gradually. Filing later is a wealthy persons game, as reflected in the below breakout of claiming ages by income from the Center on Retirement Research at Boston College. All of this signals a need for you to tally up all of your present and future retirement resources. Whats in your kitty and your current savings rate matters a lot now, but will matter even more in the future. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnwasik/2021/05/03/who-is-likely-to-file-for-social-security-later-in-life/ |
What Is the Maximum Possible Social Security Benefit in 2021? | The average monthly Social Security payment for retirees was $1,551 in March 2021. But many retirees receive over $3,000 per month from the Social Security Administration, and payments could be as much as $3,895 in 2021. The maximum possible Social Security benefit in 2021 depends on the age you begin to collect payments and is: -- $2,324 at age 62. -- $3,148 at age 66 and 2 months. -- $3,895 at age 70. However, qualifying for payments worth $3,000 or more requires some serious career planning throughout your life. Here's what you need to do to qualify for the maximum possible Social Security payment. [See: 10 Ways to Increase Your Social Security Payments.] Start Social Security Payments at Age 70 The maximum Social Security benefit changes based on the age you start your benefit. Those who postpone claiming Social Security between ages 62 and 70 become eligible for higher payments with each month of delay. For example, someone who signs up for Social Security at full retirement age in 2021, which is 66 and two months for people born in 1955, could be eligible for as much as $3,148 per month. A person who claims payments at age 62 in 2021 has a smaller maximum possible benefit of $2,324 monthly. Only those who delay claiming past full retirement age are eligible for Social Security payments of significantly more than $3,500 per month. A high earner who enrolls at age 70 could get a maximum Social Security benefit of $3,895 each month. Consistently Earn a High Salary You will need to maintain a high income throughout your career to qualify for large Social Security payments in retirement. In recent years, you need to earn a six-figure salary to get a top Social Security payment. The maximum wage taxable by Social Security is $142,800 in 2021. However, the exact amount changes each year and has increased over time. It was $137,700 in 2020 and $106,800 in 2010. Back in 2000, the taxable maximum was just $76,200. Only $39,600 was taxed by Social Security in 1985. Story continues [READ: How Much You Will Get From Social Security.] Workers pay 6.2% of their earnings into the Social Security system, and employers match this amount until their salary exceeds the taxable maximum amount of income for that year. Those who have salaries larger than the taxable maximum do not pay Social Security taxes on that income or have those earnings factored into their future Social Security payments. "In order to receive the maximum Social Security benefit, you would need to earn at least the maximum Social Security wage base for at least 35 years in your career," says Jim Blankenship, a certified financial planner for Blankenship Financial Planning in New Berlin, Illinois, and author of "A Social Security Owner's Manual." "The figure is adjusted each year based on changes to the national average wage index." If you earn more than the taxable maximum amount in a single year, you won't have to pay Social Security taxes on that income. However, that income also won't be used to calculate your Social Security payments. Earn the Social Security Taxable Maximum for 35 Years You need to earn at least the taxable maximum each year for 35 years to get the maximum possible Social Security payment. If you don't work for 35 years, zeros are averaged into your calculation and will decrease your Social Security payments. "Whether because of a layoff or choosing not to work, these years of low or no income will ultimately impact the benefit you receive," says William Meyer, founder of Social Security Solutions, a company that analyzes Social Security claiming strategies. "If you are laid off, find a part-time or lower-wage job, even if it's temporary, your earnings will likely count toward your future benefit and will prevent a zero from being used in the calculation." [Read: Social Security Changes Coming in 2021.] If you work for more than 35 years, a higher-earning year will replace a year when you earned less in the Social Security calculation. You can increase your Social Security payments even after you retire if you earn more now than you did earlier in your career. "Your benefits, after inflation, will keep rising if you work past 60 because of Social Security's annual recomputation of benefits," says Laurence Kotlikoff, an economics professor at Boston University and co-author of "Get What's Yours: The Secrets to Maxing Out Your Social Security." "You can be 100, earn above the ceiling, and the next year you'll get a real benefit hike." The Maximum Social Security Family Benefit Certain family members may be able to receive additional payments based on your work record. For example, a spouse qualifies for spousal payments worth up to 50% of the higher earner's benefit, if that is worth more than the payment based on his or her own work record. So, if one spouse has a Social Security payment of $3,895 per month, the other spouse might qualify for a spousal payment of $1,947.50 monthly. And after you pass away, your spouse could receive a survivor's payment of the full $3,895 per month, which would also be adjusted annually for inflation. Children who are under age 19 or disabled may also qualify for benefits based on your work record. The maximum family benefit all your family members can receive is usually about 150% to 180% of your full retirement benefit. A divorced spouse can additionally claim benefits based on your work record, but it will not impact the amount you and your current family members receive. | https://news.yahoo.com/maximum-possible-social-security-benefit-134336725.html |
What does Arizona's new abortion law do, what are the exceptions and how does it compare to other states? | PHOENIX Arizona made national headlines Tuesday when Republican Gov. Doug Ducey signed one of the state's most restrictive abortion laws in years: Senate Bill 1457, which criminalizes abortions based on certain genetic conditions and extends civil rights to fetuses. The signing followed months of intense committee hearings, rallies and debates. Proponents insisted the legislation would protect Arizona's most vulnerable, while opponents deemed the bill unconstitutional and "medically unsound." Ducey cited "immeasurable value in every single life" in explaining his signature Tuesday, saying Arizona would "continue to prioritize protecting life in our preborn children." Within hours, though, reproductive rights advocates were considering taking the state to court. Here's a closer look at the law's journey to passage and its potential impact. Medical providers who terminate pregnancies based solely on survivable conditions like Down syndrome or cystic fibrosis will face a class 6 felony charge under Senate Bill 1457. Medical professionals who fail to report such abortions will also face fines of up to $10,000. Fetuses will enjoy all rights, privileges and immunities available to other Arizonans, "subject to the federal constitution and U.S. Supreme Court rulings." Fetal remains must be buried or cremated. Public educational institutions will be prohibited from performing abortions unless the mother's life is in jeopardy and from using public money to support research involving abortions or embryo transfers. The mailing and delivery of abortion-inducing drugs also will be illegal. Yes. The ban does not apply to any abortion involving a "lethal fetal condition," defined in state law as a "condition diagnosed before birth and that will result, within reasonable certainty, in the death of the unborn child within three months after birth." The law also does not apply to embryos used for in vitro fertilization. Because it does not contain an emergency clause, Senate Bill 1457 will not go into effect until 90 days after the Legislature adjourns for the year. A spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona said reproductive rights activists and others were weighing legal action to block the law from going into effect. As of Thursday, advocacy groups had not yet filed a lawsuit. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Nancy Barto, R-Phoenix, pointed to Arizona's existing ban on abortions based on race or sex, arguing those with genetic abnormalities should have the same level of protection. "Almost 100% of (fetuses) with Down syndrome in Iceland never see the light of day" because women choose to terminate those pregnancies, Barto said. "Here in the United States, we're getting there." The senator also maintained that requiring burial or cremation of fetal remains would "give value to the unborn" and highlighted the provision banning the delivery of abortion medication as an effort to ensure women were "not left on their own." "Arizona women ... deserve better than to have their health gambled to benefit the abortion industry," she said. Other Republican lawmakers said the bill would help prevent "modern day eugenics" by ensuring equal treatment for babies with genetic abnormalities. They claimed Democrats had conflated health care with murder, with one representative contending any doctor who "intentionally kills their patients should lose their license." Opponents accused Barto of using people with disabilities as pawns, noting prominent disability rights groups had not backed the measure. Rep. Daniel Hernandez, D-Tucson, charged GOP leaders with caring about protecting children with disabilities only until they were born. The general threat of criminalization also prompted various OB-GYNs to testify that they would fear providing pregnant patients comprehensive genetic testing and counseling. "Without routine screening, genetic conditions that could be detected, some of which are treatable in utero, will go undetected, leading to potential harms to the mother and child," one medical professional wrote in a letter to her state representative. The fetal rights provision proved contentious as well, vexing several Arizona faith leaders who argued there was no consensus on when life begins. "One group's interpretation of scripture or personal beliefs, no matter how strongly held, should not be legislated over others," they wrote in a joint letter. Rep. Kelli Butler, D-Phoenix, fought the provision banning delivery of abortion-inducing medications, calling its possible impact on women prescribed a drug also used to manage miscarriages "horrible." Yes. Sen. Tyler Pace, R-Mesa, temporarily sunk the legislation in early April, when he joined Democrats in voting "no" on the Senate floor. At the time, the bill exempted abortions involving "severe fetal abnormalities," but Pace argued the bill did not clearly define the phrase. He worried laypeople on juries could have to determine whether doctors had exercised reasonable medical judgment "a large reach," in his opinion and was concerned the fetal "rights, privileges and immunities" provision would threaten in vitro fertilization procedures. After reviving the legislation through a series of procedural maneuvers, Barto brokered a compromise with Pace, accepting three changes to the bill in exchange for his support. The revisions included the IVF exemption; the replacement of "severe fetal abnormalities" with the more precisely defined "lethal fetal conditions"; and a clarification that the ban applied to abortions performed solely because of a genetic condition. Other states' abortion laws Energized by the U.S. Supreme Court's expanded conservative majority, Republican lawmakers throughout the country put forward a host of aggressive bills seeking to limit access to and, in many cases, criminalize abortion this year. As of late March, more than 500 restrictions were introduced in 44 states, according to data compiled by the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion-rights research organization. Arizona's Senate Bill 1457 was certainly among the more sweeping proposals, but it was not the most aggressive. Legislatures in South Carolina, Oklahoma and Idaho passed so-called heartbeat bans, which prohibit abortions as early as six weeks into pregnancy. Oklahoma also enacted a measure that would immediately outlaw abortion in the state if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. Follow Maria Polletta on Twitter @mpolletta. | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/05/03/arizona-abortion-law-genetic-conditions-based/4920230001/ |
What more can be done to help homeless students? | Presented by the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) Editors Note: Welcome to Weekly Education: Coronavirus special edition. Each week, we will explore how the pandemic is reshaping and upending education as we know it across the country, from pre-K through grad school. We will explore the debates of the day, new challenges and talk to movers and shakers about whether changes ushered in now are here to stay. This newsletter is a weekly version of POLITICO Pros daily Education policy newsletter, Morning Education. POLITICO Pro is a policy intelligence platform that combines the news you need with tools you can use to take action on the days biggest stories. Act on the news with POLITICO Pro. 'WHAT MORE CAN WE DO?' More than 1 million homeless students were enrolled in Americas public schools last year. But untold numbers of them are missing from the system today, and they may be losing out on an enormous amount of federal pandemic relief aid. A bipartisan group of alarmed lawmakers is setting up a debate over how to give needy kids more government assistance, and how that money gets spent. A mother puts shoes on her son while visiting family at the Lafayette Gardens housing development in the Brooklyn borough of New York. They live at a shelter for families in the Crown Heights neighborhood. | Jessie Wardarski/AP Photo Katie Danielson, a homeless student coordinator in Minnesota, has been considering how shed help her charges with a new stream of stimulus dollars from the American Rescue Plan. Shes also been thinking about how her students in Duluth Public Schools will fare now if they missed out on remote learning, perhaps because they lacked consistent access to devices or web connections, and wondering if theyll have to make up course credits to graduate on time. I don't know if we can even project what that's going to look like a year or two from now, Danielson said of her students future. There's so many worries and what ifs, which I don't know if people who make the decisions have really thought about. I think our population of students is never part of that equation, she added. And it is hard. It is emotional. I love and care for all my students and my families. And sometimes you just feel like, What more can we do? ITS MONDAY, MAY 3. WELCOME TO MORNING EDUCATION. A sudden and dramatic decline in U.S. vaccination rates is laying bare inequities within states, setting up the possibility that some localities will see businesses and schools broadly reopening while others just a few counties over still fight to tamp down cases. Reach out with tips to todays host at [email protected] and also my colleagues Michael Stratford ([email protected]) and Bianca Quilantan ([email protected]). And dont forget to follow us on Twitter: @Morning_Edu and @POLITICOPro. A message from the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP): Higher education programs that deliver strong outcomes for students who are incarcerated are not only a sound investment of public dollars; quality programs improve students lives, make correctional facilities safer, contribute college-educated talent to support a robust workforce, and strengthen communities across the country. Knowing these benefits, IHEP developed a groundbreaking set of comprehensive metrics to measure what matters and promote positive outcomes for students, families, employers, and the country as a whole. Learn more. Education A child receives bags of food in Immokalee, Fla. | Spencer Platt/Getty Images HOW SCHOOLS CAN HELP To support homeless K-12 students in the short term, schools can turn to $800 million included in the American Rescue Plan. Roughly $200 million of that money was just parceled out to state governments to supplement homeless assistance grant funds some schools already receive under federal law. This new money can be used in several ways, including hiring staff to help find and reconnect with housing-insecure students whove been missing from school. Schools can buy homeless students cell phones, personal care products, prepaid debit cards and other items. Critically, the money can also provide families with a few days in a motel if they need emergency housing to attend school. Students that are experiencing homelessness are a group of students that we have to be focused on, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told your host last week. Not only on their academic, social, and emotional [needs], but also on those other factors that contribute to school success like making sure they have food, making sure they have their health care needs taken care of. So it's critically important that that is a prioritization for districts and for schools when receiving students. The remaining $600 million could be available to states by this summer, once the Education Department spells out additional regulations for distributing the money. Later today: Cardona is scheduled to visit the Community College of Baltimore County Catonsville Campus in Maryland later this morning. He will visit its on-site childcare center and visit a classroom, the Education Department said, beginning at 11 a.m. ET. And elsewhere: President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will visit Yorktown Elementary School and deliver remarks at Tidewater Community College in Virginia to promote the American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan. BY THE NUMBERS More than 1.3 million homeless students were enrolled in public school districts during the 2018-19 school year, according to the latest data available from the federally-funded National Center for Homeless Education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. That number only includes students who are enrolled in public school districts, not children and youth who experience homelessness only during the summer, students who drop out or young children who are not enrolled in preschool programs administered by school districts. Most students categorized as homeless live in "doubled-up arrangements, where they live with members of another household. But those kids also dont necessarily qualify for some federal benefits, causing considerable tension for families. In Congress People wait in line on Skid Row to collect new school supplies being donated to thousands at Fred Jordan Missions in Los Angeles, Calif. Fred Jordan Missions feeds over 100 people experiencing homelessness daily. | Mario Tama/Getty Images ALIGNING DEFINITIONS Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio) introduced the Homeless Children and Youth Act last week, a bill that would change how the Department of Housing and Urban Development defines homelessness so that more children in unstable housing situations can get access to federal aid. Heres the basic issue: People qualify as homeless under HUDs definition if theyre living on the streets; in motels, emergency shelters or safe havens; or fleeing domestic violence. But children are homeless under federal education law if they lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. That includes students who live in motels or on campgrounds, but also migrant youth and families who are doubled up. These conflicting definitions have a real impact. The Education Department identified more than 271,500 homeless public school students in California during the 2018-19 school year, for example a number Feinstein and Portman said is well over the total number of homeless Californians (including adults) identified by HUD. The senators said just 10 percent of homeless kids in California are eligible for federal homeless assistance programs because of the split between HUDs definition and those used by other federal agencies. Simply aligning the definition of homelessness used by federal agencies will remove significant barriers to obtaining critical assistance, while ensuring that homeless children can receive all the resources available to them, Feinstein said in a statement. A message from the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP): Housing People living in tents under a railroad bridge in Washington, D.C. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images WHERE ARE THEY? Working through the nuances of federal rules is one thing. But schools that serve homeless students must confront a more fundamental problem first: finding them. The number of identified homeless students increased by a modest 2 percent between the 2016-17 and 2018-19 school years. Yet as Covid-19 forced schools into unprecedented semesters of remote learning and limited classroom instruction, reports suggest the number of identified homeless students plummeted. The drop in the number of homeless students identified by their school districts is an alarming crisis, Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) wrote in a recent letter to Cardona. A fall survey conducted by the SchoolHouse Connection advocacy group and University of Michigan researchers concluded that schools identified 420,000 fewer homeless students, a 28 percent decrease from 2019. Such a drop seems unlikely when low-income and minority families were getting pummeled by an intense economic crisis; the fear is that these students simply arent getting counted. When you dont have the eyes and ears of educators on children and youth every single day, there are far fewer opportunities to notice potential signs of homelessness, said Barbara Duffield, executive director of homelessness nonprofit SchoolHouse Connection. Schools will need to closely examine their homeless student outreach efforts if population counts remain lower than expected through the rest of the year, she said. Reengagement is a tremendous issue, particularly as we look towards the next school year, she said. And schools need to be able to understand not just that their [student] numbers are lower, but where are [these students], and why are they there? Quotable A Jefferson County School District virtual-learning student receives several bags with meals in Fayette, Miss. | Rogelio V. Solis/AP Photo WE DONT KNOW WHERE THEY WENT Your host asked Kerri Tobin, a Louisiana State University professor who specializes in the effects of poverty on childrens education, to discuss the challenges ahead for identifying and educating Americas homeless youth. It's kind of discouraging because we have made a lot of strides in recent years. We had been identifying more students, we had been doing more outreach and that seemed to be working which kind of resulted in these alarming numbers. Then Covid hit and we lost almost half a million students, and we dont know where they went. Given that economic circumstances have not gotten better for most people, we actually would have expected to see a lot more. The fact were seeing fewer is really concerning. I do think that we're probably going to be relying on the same tactics for a while, especially as we return to in-person schooling. State and local education agencies maybe need to get a little more creative about what they do. Teachers are also a really important piece of the puzzle. But some of these challenges have to be addressed by almost a societal shift. People experiencing homelessness are not usually proud of that. They're not shouting it from the rooftops, because there's stigma attached. I don't know how we do it, but it would be great if we could reduce that stigma and help parents feel supported and accepted and feel that they're not going to be judged. I applaud any legislators who want to take that on. It will take a lot of courage for anybody to introduce and support legislation that would expand HUDs definition. Because when you expand the definition, then you expand the number of people who qualify for services. Nobody wants to say, When I was in charge, the homeless population doubled! Which is what would happen if we included people who are doubled up. It doesn't look great politically and it would require us to acknowledge that we need more funding if were including those families. But we really should include those families. A message from the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP): The power of higher education to change ones trajectory in life is perhaps nowhere more visible or more needed than in our nations correctional facilities. Higher education in prison improves the environment inside prison facilities, as well as the chances of meaningful employment, stable housing, and successful reintegration outside. As federal funding expands opportunities for students earning a degree while incarcerated, lets be sure the investment is doing all it can for Americas students, families, employers, and communities. Our robust framework will help programs produce crucial baselines, measure improvement, and strengthen outcomes for students, families, employers, correctional facilities, and communities. Lets measure what matters. Learn more today. Syllabus Biden stocks his White House with Ivy Leaguers: POLITICO Judge rules New Mexico must give at-home students fast internet: Associated Press Colorado state epidemiologist defends use of student quarantines as school leaders call for their end: Denver Post New leadership for Big Ten universities beginning to crack the glass ceiling: Forbes How the University of Minnesota got itself banned from the Linux kernel: The Verge Follow us on Twitter Delece Smith-Barrow @DeleceWrites Michael Stratford @mstratford Bianca Quilantan @biancaquilan Juan Perez Jr. @PerezJr | https://www.politico.com/newsletters/weekly-education-coronavirus-special-edition/2021/05/03/what-more-can-be-done-to-help-homeless-students-492696 |
Is it the end of history in universities? | Among mountains of depressing news, your report on the further removal of history from core university subjects may appear just a hillock, 1 May) (Studying history should not be only for the elite, say academics. The statement that those who dont know their history are doomed to repeat it has rarely been shown to be so true as it is now: a reinvigorated far right across the globe threatens many communities and democracy itself, and in Britain a fundamental ignorance of our inglorious past fuelled the Brexit debate, and continues to inflame racism. I trust those paid to teach history will challenge this governments pernicious doctrines about the purpose of education. My Oxford University doctorate in history equipped me to work for the common good in the voluntary sector and trade union movement. And developing the ability to think critically and question established norms, achieved through the study of history and other humanities, is valuable in any career, although the prime minister is evidence that studying history and learning from it are not the same thing. Peter Purton Southall, London Richard J Evans is right to say that history helps critical thinking skills and allows us to distinguish fact from fiction. But he implicitly accepts the reductive narrative that a subject should be valued on its desirability in the eyes of employers. If we judge a subject on its monetary outcomes, we lose all sense of the subject itself. When we commodify the act of learning and frame the pursuit of academic success as one of financial self-interest, studying for its own sake becomes an act of rebellion. Studying history allows us to realise the irony and insignificance and therefore the enormous beauty and conflict of our lives, revealing in no uncertain terms the blindness of those who say that nothing is important but equipping yourself for a hyper-globalised economy. A subject should radically reframe our priorities allowing our financial objectives to shape how and what we study puts the cart before the horse. Jude Wilkinson University of Warwick In promoting the cause of history as an academic discipline, and of humanities more generally, it would be helpful to discard the term non-vocational. Papers written by Prof David Nicholls, which can be readily viewed online, demonstrate that history graduates develop insights and skills that enable them to enter a wide range of careers and to be successful in them. A term such as multi-vocational would give a more positive message, as well as portraying reality. Ongoing research and publicity is also needed to highlight the employability value of humanities graduates. Geoff Timmins Emeritus professor and national teaching fellow, School of Humanities, Education and Global Studies, University of Central Lancashire I was saddened to read that Aston University is intending to close its history, language and translation courses. My son studied maths there in a combined honours degree with Spanish. As a result of learning Spanish, he worked in South America and subsequently in Switzerland and the US in each case using Spanish as an essential part of his work. Without this skill, his job prospects and ability to work internationally would have been severely reduced. The government keeps talking about global Britain, but removing language courses from universities seems a strange way to achieve that. Nigel Knowlman Cheltenham, Gloucestershire | https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/may/03/is-it-the-end-of-history-in-universities |
How Did Darius Stills Go Undrafted? | A little insight as to why the former Mountaineer may have been passed on. It never seemed like a matter of if former West Virginia defensive lineman Darius Stills would get drafted but more of when he would get drafted. Most mock drafts had him as a day three pick ranging anywhere from the 4th-7th round of the draft. As the picks continued to be announced late into day three, you could see it coming that all 32 teams were going to pass up on him. When you look at the players that were being drafted, it was not making sense that a Consensus All-American was being picked over by long snappers, kickers, and defensive tackles that accomplished nothing near the achievements that Stills did. To help dive into why Stills went undrafted, I caught up with Lorenz Leinweber of the NFL Draft Bible on Sports Illustrated to get his take. Lorenz's Analysis It was a surprise to not see former Mountaineers defensive tackle Darius Stills selected during last week's NFL Draft. Despite putting together strong junior and senior campaigns, Stills was overlooked throughout the draft process and did not receive a senior bowl invite. The All-American displayed a very quick first step, getting after quarterbacks aligning as a nose tackle in West Virginias three-man front. A gap penetrator, Stills was able to establish a half-man relationship off the ball before dipping and ripping his way past opposing blockers. Outside of that, his pass rush arsenal was limited. As a run defender, Stills was a bull in a china shop. While he got into the backfield to disrupt plays, he would also find himself out of position, not maintaining gap integrity. Overall, the defensive tackle was well worth a selection on the third day of the draft, fitting a gap penetration scheme as a three-technique. He did not have injury concerns, playing in 43 collegiate games. Stills falling out of the draft had to do with teams having a difficult time seeing him stick on their rosters. His explosiveness failed to help him overcome concerns about run defense. At his size, Stills is also unlikely to play nose tackle in the league, which was his position in college. Landing with the Las Vegas Raiders is promising for Stills, as Jon Grudens squad is thin at defensive tackle. During the draft, they did not add a player at the position. Stills has a real chance to make their roster if he can prove scouts wrong about his skills. You can follow us for future coverage by clicking "Follow" on the page's top righthand corner. Also, be sure to like us on Facebook & Twitter: Facebook - @WVUonSI Twitter - @SI_WVU and Schuyler Callihan at @Callihan_. | https://www.si.com/college/westvirginia/area-304-plus/how-did-darius-stills-go-undrafted |
Are Changes to the 49ers Offense on the Horizon? | The 49ers wrapped up the NFL Draft on Saturday, and looking at the selections they made it seems to indicate there may be some adjustments to the offensive attack moving forward. The changes start with the addition of Trey Lance. Lance is a big, strong, athletic quarterback who can beat the defense with his arm from the pocket or run through them with his legs. This skillset is something that Kyle Shanahan hasnt had in a quarterback since drafting Robert Griffin III while with Washington in 2012. With Griffin, Shanahan made some minor tweaks to his offense to take advantage of his rookie quarterbacks unique skillset. While the passing game looked pretty similar to what 49ers fans have become used to, the biggest differences in the offense were how often they lined up in the shotgun formation, and how Shanahan utilized Griffin in the running game. While it has become common to see the quarterback under center during Shanahans first four seasons in San Francisco, in 2012 Washington utilized the shotgun formation for 65% of their offensive snaps, and this number does not include snaps that came out of the pistol formation which is a variation of shotgun in which the quarterback is not under center and a running back is lined up behind him. The increased use of the shotgun was done for a couple of reasons, Griffin had used it extensively in college, and it allowed Washington to run the quarterback read. The read is an option play in which the quarterback looks at a defender, usually the defensive end, and if the end crashes down along the line of scrimmage the quarterback keeps the ball and runs around the end, if the end stays wide the quarterback will give the ball to the running back. In 2012, Washington ran this play at least a few times each game, and Griffin finished with 120 rushing attempts in the regular season. It would make sense to see Kyle Shanahan rekindle some of those wrinkles with Trey Lance. Lance is bigger and stronger than Griffin, and in 17 games at North Dakota State he ran the ball 192 times for 1,325 yards and 18 touchdowns. This addition to Shanahans running game could prove deadly for 49ers opponents. The changes go beyond the quarterback. The 49ers have made it a priority to add running backs with more bulk in recent weeks. After adding Wayne Gallman through free agency, the 49ers added Trey Sermon and Elijah Mitchell through the draft. All three running backs are bigger than current 49ers starting running back, Raheem Mostert, weighing in at over 210 pounds compared to 196 pounds for Mostert. You may be asking why this is important. When Kyle Shanahan changed up his offense in 2012 his starting running back was Alfred Morris. Morris was a big back, weighing in at 222 pounds, and Shanahan used him frequently to help restrict the exposure of his rookie quarterback in the passing game. In 2012, Griffin attempted slightly more than 26 pass attempts per game, the fewest for any quarterback under Kyle Shanahan. Limiting the number of pass attempts, especially early on, could be a key to success for Lance and the 49ers. Lance played in only 17 games with North Dakota State, attempting more than 23 passes in a game only twice. Limiting the exposure of a rookie quarterback in the passing game doesnt necessarily mean that a team is limiting its opportunity to win. That 2012 Washington team won the NFC East division, and in 2004 the Pittsburgh Steelers went all the way to the AFC Championship game with their rookie signal caller, Ben Roethlisberger, attempting just over 22 passes per game. While Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch have been steadfast that Jimmy Garoppolo will be back with the team for the 2021 season, when the time comes for Lance to step in, look for these to be a few of the tweaks to the 49ers offense. | https://www.si.com/nfl/49ers/news/are-changes-to-the-49ers-offense-on-the-horizon |
Which Seahawks Rookies Could Take Advantage of New NFL Jersey Number Rules? | As the NFL begins to relax some of its rules on jersey numbers, we take a look at which of the Seahawks' 15 rookies could maintain their 'non-traditional' numbers from college. The NFL is going to look a lot different in 2021. A year after adding a seventh playoff team to each conference, the game is undergoing even more significant changes. Not only will the schedule and final records be forever altered with an additional 17th game in the regular season, but the product on the field may take some time to readjust to as well, with players at several positions now being able to wear 'non-traditional' numbers on their uniforms. This includes a plethora of position groups now being allowed to wear single-digit numbers, much like in amateur levels of football, which has become an exciting and fun discussion amongst players and fans since the rule change was put into effect on April 21. However, it does come with a bit of a caveat: for NFL veterans who wish to change their number this year, they'll have to buy out the remaining inventory of all jersey distributors. If they opt to wait until 2022, they'll be able to freely make the shift over to a new number. Rookies coming into the league won't have to worry about this, thougha nice perk for those who were either just drafted or signed this past weekend. The Seahawks don't necessarily have an abundance of rookies set to join them this season, with just three selections made in the draft and 12 known undrafted free agent signings as of this writing. But quite a few of them rocked single-digit numbers with their college teams, and may continue doing so at the professional level. WR D'Wayne Eskridge - No. 1 and No. 7 The Seahawks' first selection in the 2021 NFL Draft donned a pair of single-digit numbers in his time at Western Michigan, switching from No. 7 to No. 1 in his fifth and final season. He certainly felt good in it, going on to put up a whopping 768 yards and eight touchdowns on 33 catches in a mere six-game span. While Eskridge's old number is currently on lock after backup quarterback Geno Smith re-signed with the team on April 22, No. 1 is fair game. Seattle's social media team even posted a clean-looking photo edit of Eskridge - though, as they note, is not an official announcement for his new number - rocking No. 1 in the team's navy home uniforms. CB Tre Brown - No. 6 Offensive skill players are not the only ones who will reap the benefits of the recent rule changes. Defensive backs are also allowed to wear anywhere between Nos. 1-49, and Brown - the Seahawks' fourth-round selection out of Oklahoma - may be keen on taking advantage of that. Rocking the No. 6 for the Sooners, Brown's physical play style and above-average athleticism caught the attention of Seattle's scouting department and coaching staff. So much so that they're aiming to buck trend and let the 5-foot-9 corner compete for a job on the outside. Like Eskridge, the Seahawks took to Twitter with a possible preview of him wearing his college number at the next level, though he'll have to pry it away from quarterback Alex McGough. RB BJ Emmons - No. 4 One of the Seahawks' undrafted rookie free agent signings on Saturday, Emmons switched to No. 4 after transferring from Alabama to Florida Atlantic. While he's unlikely to rip the number away from All-Pro punter Michael Dickson, nor the one he wore in high school - No. 5 - from kicker Jason Myers, there should still be ways for him to get creative if he so chooses. In addition to single digits, running backs are also now allowed to wear numbers inside the teens and 80s. WR Connor Wedington - No. 5 At Stanford, the Tacoma native and special teams artist had some tough shoes to fill with the No. 5. Following in the footsteps of now All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey, Wedington had a decent enough collegiate career to be heavily pursued by the Seahawks in undrafted free agency. He'll likely have to deviate from the number he wore in college and high school, however, as it's currently held by the former Pro Bowler Myers, as mentioned. RB Josh Johnson - No. 8 Quickly becoming a fan-favorite in the Seahawks' community for his social media presence, Johnson wore the No. 8 at Louisiana-Monroe. Rushing for nearly 1,300 yards the year he switched to the number, he's someone to watch in a fairly deep running back corps for Seattle. While the number - made famous in Seattle by quarterback Matt Hasselbeck - is currently available, veteran defensive end Carlos Dunlap also wore it in college and has shown interest in returning to it on social media. However, defensive linemen are exempt from the new rule changes, so unless the Seahawks list him as a linebacker, it's Johnson's for the taking. For more on potential jersey number changes, check out Corbin Smith's deep-dive on veteran Seahawks who rocked single digits in college. | https://www.si.com/nfl/seahawks/news/which-seahawks-rookies-could-take-advantage-of-new-nfl-jersey-number-rules |
What happened to the 2021 Kentucky Derby favorite, Essential Quality? | As the thoroughbreds crossed the finish line at the 147th Kentucky Derby on Saturday, trainer Brad Cox, a Louisville native, walked away from the monitor he was watching from disappointed. After all, he was the trainer of Essential Quality, the favorite to win the Kentucky Derby who had 5-2 odds. He was such a favorite that a man reportedly bet $2.4 million on Essential Quality. But it was Media Spirit overcoming 12-1 odds to give trainer Bob Baffert his seventh Kentucky Derby win, with Mandaloun, also trained by Cox, and Hot Rod Charlie rounding out second and third. Essential Quality finished fourth. Kentucky Derby 2021:Medina Spirit wins, snagging trainer Bob Baffert his 7th Derby "He didnt get the greatest trip as he was wide around both turns," Cox said. "That can happen when you start from the 14 hole, especially when dont get off to a good start. He was leaning out on the far turn and Luis (Saez) said he was shying away from the other horses. We will just have to regroup. Proud of both horses. They trained well and just wish the order of finish was just a little different. There were a lot of reasons to like Essential Quality for the race. After winning the Grade 2 Blue Grass on April 3 at Keeneland, Essential Quality had the most points, with 140, leading up to the Kentucky Derby. He was undefeated in all of his five starts. In the race, Essential Quality began to move up from the far outside as the thoroughbreds made their way around the far turn. After the final turn, Medina Spirit and Mandolun emerged as the top leaders while Hot Rod Charlie and Essential Quality closed in on them from the outside. But no one could catch up with Medina Spirit at the end. Reach David J. Kim at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter at @_DavidJKim. | https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/2021/05/03/essential-quality-finishes-fourth-kentucky-derby-churchill-downs/4922760001/ |
Is Further Abstraction The Answer To Cloud Complexities? | The cloud world continues to grow in complexity causing companies to face a number of challenges. SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images With each passing day, the cloud world seemingly becomes more complex. Anyone who has been to an AWS Reinvent event would admit that the dizzying number of product and services introductions by AWS at that one event is just overwhelming for most. The reason for this vast array of product and services, is that a modern cloud-based environment is composed of many parts and an ecosystem of intertwined technologies such as: Compute and storage Analytics Monitoring Edge computing Patching Mobility Application deployment Data transfer The list goes on and doesnt even touch application software, or mission-critical topics such as data security, disaster recovery, privacy, scalability, rapid deployment, and compliance. With so many functions happening in the cloud ecosystem, there is little doubt of this complex nature. Interestingly, however, just like most complex systems, with time they find a way to normalize. Cars went from manual gears to automatic to now self-driving. As multi-cloud adoption grows, uniformity is growing through a shift in computing principles to more abstraction. Cant Avoid Complexity Clouds were born to be complex because applications were able to break away from the confines of the racked physical servers, storage, and networking devices. Once unleashed, new ways to manage, ensure, and secure applications would be required. All the while, IT departments were faced with the dual mission to operationalize IT on cloud technologies and to help build business success. Through operational hurdles and an uncertain tipping point, company cloud deployments grew in complexity. Getting More ComplexMulti-cloud integration can be summarized as the simultaneous connection of multiple clouds with traditional computer environments. Think of this as connecting Azure, GCP, and AWS to private clouds, and gaining a benefit from each of these in some way. That benefit could play out in disaster recovery, application performance, edge computing, deployment technology, or even an advantage in infrastructure cost. Whatever the case, multi-cloud integration is happening because in many cases, it just needs to happen due to footprint expansion, mergers and acquisitions, or critical feature needs that only exist in a specific cloud. Some of the challenges that companies are experiencing include: Single pane of visibility Environmental consistency Massive amounts of data flowing from IoT and Big Data systems, along with unstructured data Streaming data at the edge or in diverse geographic locations Security Compliance In every case, the underlying concerns are not options or luxuriesthey are requirements and taking these challenges on is not for the uninitiated. Still, the rewards of multi-cloud are many and organizations continue to head down this track in what they hope are ingestible progressions. An Accidental vs Designed Cloud One database here, one web system there, and then suddenly multi-cloud is a reality. Thats one approach. According to Gartner, 80% of organizations use more than two clouds today. Another approach is a designed entry into multiple clouds using tools such as containers and micro services such as Kubernetes. By creating portable, designed elements of architecture, security, data, and applications, containers and micro services makes multi-cloud adoption easier, simpler, and more abstracted. Under the powerful and structured control of orchestration tools such as Kubernetes and Anthos, businesses are picking up the freedom to become better operationally, streamlining processes and technical requirements, and the ability to spin up/down applications based on demand/planning. The concept of an ultimate cloud composed of the best pieces possible for your needs is a fascinating and achievable target. Yet, an optimized multi-cloud environment is neither ready to go out of the box, nor easy to manage. There is little business value in simply stringing clouds together and being done with it. Cloud missions and multi-cloud missions are everyday components of our cloud conversations, and they should be at the core of your business mission and conversations. Once you release the fear of cloud complexity, you can look forward to a unified perspective of how a multi-cloud fits your multi-cloud needs. Along with selecting the right partners in your cloud journey, containers, and micro serviceswhile a further abstractionare a way to simplify deployments and management of multi-cloud. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilsayegh/2021/05/03/is-further-abstraction-the-answer-to-cloud-complexities/ |
How Is The Digital Marketing Landscape Changing? | originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. Answer by Haris Krijestorac, Information Systems Research and Professor, on Quora: The digital marketing landscape has facilitated the creation of more and more content, although with this comes the challenge of getting noticed among a sea of information. Moreover, tools like recommendation systems, customized search, and ad blockers make it easier for individuals to avoid content that is not of high interest to them. Thus, it will be critical for firms and content creators to stay ahead of the curve by creating attractive content and promoting this content strategically. One way to promote content effectively is by establishing an omni-channel strategy across multiple platforms (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, YouTube), as there is evidence of a positive spillover across these platforms due to word of mouth. In addition, gaining empirical insights into what content generates traction though content engineering may be beneficial. Overall, creating content rather than relying merely on advertising will be critical for firms to succeed in the evolving digital landscape. Furthermore, new evidence-based approaches to maximizing the effectiveness of this content will likely be developed through research and practice. This question originally appeared on Quora - the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2021/05/03/how-is-the-digital-marketing-landscape-changing/ |
Who Audits The Auditors? | Proposals to Reform the Statutory Audit Process in the U.S. The Arthur Andersen office at 180, The Strand, in Central London. (Photo by John Stillwell - PA ... [+] Images/PA Images via Getty Images) PA Images via Getty Images In March, the U.K. government proposed a set of reforms to restore the perceived loss of credibility of statutory audits. Meanwhile in the U.S., there is growing dissatisfaction that its statutory audit process is not working as well as it coulda feeling stemming from a combination of several factors. When students ask me who audits the auditors, I often tell them its the litigation process. After repeating that pat answer many times, my colleagues and I have decided to look into the evidence. We were somewhat surprised that the number of 10b(5) lawsuits against auditors has fallen into the single digits. Claims are often made that management is skilled at hiding fraud while auditors often assert that they arent responsible for actively looking for it. Perhaps the issuer-pays model where the company appoints and pays for the auditors time, as opposed to an investor, is to blame. Worries about whether auditors are skeptical enough are also cited. Moreover, there is always pressure on the audit firm to cut operating costs and compete on price (audit fees) and not as much on audit quality. Even with documents being declassified in 10 years through the Official Secrets Act, we never seem to be able to inspect audit work papers or any documents to assess the quality of an auditors work. To be sure, progress has been made. The recent expansion of the audit report by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) to critical audit matters is one way to go beyond the pass/fail statement towards a slightly more customized audit report. The PCAOB conducts regular inspections of audit firms and publishes data on deficiencies found in the inspected audits. However, it does not divulge information about the clients or companies whose audits were found to be deficient. I have five concrete proposals for regulators to consider: Allow large or even activist shareholders to appoint the auditor: I have asked before why Blackrock, usually the largest and a vocal owner, cannot appoint the firms auditor. Perhaps we could even allow activist investors to appoint auditors in addition to asking for board seats. The PCAOB could consider releasing the names of the clients, as opposed to audit firms, whose audits were found to be deficient. In order to ease implementation, clients names could be divulged after three years. To give investors a peek (with confidentiality considerations built in) into the negotiations that took place, the PCAOB might want to consider setting up a secure electronic data room where the auditor leaves documentation of the tests performed to arrive at their conclusions and that information can be made available to investors, either on a subsidized basis or for free. That access can be made available to investors on a staggered basis, say after three years. Consider changing the objective of the audit from one related to compliance with GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) to one where the auditor opines whether the financial statements fairly present the financial condition of the company, as done in the U.K. The change would be subtle. But in the long run, it would wean the system away from rule-based accounting and auditing standards and more towards a regime where the auditor is judged on how fairly the books represent the financial performance and position of the company. To help the auditors defray some of the costs associated with these additional burdens, we could potentially expand the statutory audit requirement to either new ESG disclosures that may be made mandatory at some future point in time. Alternatively, encourage companies to ask their auditors to address questions that we traditionally do not get an audit opinion on. Examples include whether CEOs pay actually tracks company performance or whether the firm is adequately positioned to weather the next recession or quantifying the companys contribution to systemic risk if it were to fail. An even more radical proposal is to allow the auditor issue a credit rating for the firm and hence enhance the value of a statutory audit (to compensate for releasing new information about the audit) and the credit rating (by putting out another signal to compete with credit rating agencies). These suggestions are just a few for regulators to consider, but others are welcomed. Either way, we need a serious conversation about alternate institutional structures that will help address investors doubts about the credibility and relevance of statutory audits. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/shivaramrajgopal/2021/05/03/who-audits-the-auditors/ |
Are Bridge Jobs a Good Idea to Cover Career Gaps? | As more COVID-19 vaccines are distributed across the United States, businesses are starting to reopen and bring back employees. In the week ending April 29, weekly unemployment claims fell to 553,000 a significant decrease from the height of the pandemic. See: How to Approach Your Job Hunt After a Long Stretch of Unemployment Find: The YOLO Economy How Millennials are Reimagining Life Post-Pandemic However, the reduced number of unemployment claims doesnt mean that workers are returning to their careers of choice. Many have considered taking a bridge job to keep the cash flowing in. Why Bridge Jobs Can Help Your Career Trajectory As a matter of career development, bridge jobs can help individuals add skills to their resume and drive increased value for a future potential employer. Working in an area that stretches your comfort zone and allows you to develop new skills like public speaking, sales or new computer programs could help you land an upward career position. If youre lucky, you mayfind a bridge job that helps you develop a skill youve been wanting to hone or network with people who could help with your dream job search, writes life coach Kristen Walker on her blog, Clarity on Fire. But Walker adds, While those things are nice to have, theyre not necessary to getting the full benefit of a bridge job. See: 10 Times Taking a Pay Cut Can Make You Richer Find: 22 Side Gigs That Can Make You Richer Than a Full-Time Job In other situations, a bridge job can be a means towards a certain goal, like launching a business or getting onto a new career path. The profits from a bridge job can help you save the extra cash to go in a new direction. A bridge job is a job that gets you from point A to point C, writes accountability and business coach Amanda Boleyn. If point A is your current job and point C is the point in which you become your own boss [then] point B is your bridge job. Before agreeing to take on a bridge job, its important to consider your goals and strategy for what likely is a temporary career move. Know exactly why youve chosen the bridge job in the first place and what you hope to get out of it, writes Jennifer Faherty, founder of Financial Wealth-being, LLC. If its solely for income, be specific about how much youll need to save until you can transition fully. If its skills or certain experience you need, define exactly what that means. Bridge jobs can be a great way to keep money coming in, while learning new skills. As you begin your search, its critical to determine whats most important to get out of the job and the key ways it will ultimately drive your career trajectory forward. | https://news.yahoo.com/bridge-jobs-good-idea-cover-151957943.html |
Is Pure Cycle Corporation (PCYO) A Good Investment Choice? | Maran Capital Management, an investment management firm, published its first quarter 2021 investor letter a copy of which can be downloaded here. A return of +22.5% was delivered by the fund for the Q1 of 2021. Over the past five years, the partnership has compounded at a rate of +19.8%, net. You can view the funds top 5 holdings to have a peek at their top bets for 2021. Maran Capital Management, in their Q1 2021 investor letter, mentioned Pure Cycle Corporation (NASDAQ: PCYO), and shared their insights on the company. Pure Cycle Corporation is a Thornton, Colorado-based water services company that currently has a $365 million market capitalization. Since the beginning of the year, PCYO delivered a 35.98% return, extending its 12-month gains to 55.18%. As of April 30, 2021, the stock closed at $15.27 per share. Here is what Maran Capital Management has to say about Pure Cycle Corporation in their Q1 2021 investor letter: "Pure Cycle (PCYO) PCYOs scarce land and water assets continue to appreciate, and the pace of monetization is accelerating. PCYO continues to execute on delivering affordable lots into the tight Denver real estate market, which is marked by an acute shortage of entry-level homes." Our calculations show that Pure Cycle Corporation (NASDAQ: PCYO) does not belong in our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As of the end of the fourth quarter of 2020, Pure Cycle Corporation was in 9 hedge fund portfolios, compared to 11 funds in the third quarter. PCYO delivered a 43.11% return in the past 3 months. The top 10 stocks among hedge funds returned 231.2% between 2015 and 2020, and outperformed the S&P 500 Index ETFs by more than 126 percentage points. We know it sounds unbelievable. You have been dismissing our articles about top hedge fund stocks mostly because you were fed biased information by other media outlets about hedge funds poor performance. You could have doubled the size of your nest egg by investing in the top hedge fund stocks instead of dumb S&P 500 ETFs. Here you can watch our video about the top 5 hedge fund stocks right now. All of these stocks had positive returns in 2020. At Insider Monkey, we scour multiple sources to uncover the next great investment idea. For example, Federal Reserve has been creating trillions of dollars electronically to keep the interest rates near zero. We believe this will lead to inflation and boost real estate prices. So, we recommended this real estate stock to our monthly premium newsletter subscribers. We go through lists like the 15 best innovative stocks to buy to pick the next Tesla that will deliver a 10x return. Even though we recommend positions in only a tiny fraction of the companies we analyze, we check out as many stocks as we can. We read hedge fund investor letters and listen to stock pitches at hedge fund conferences. You can subscribe to our free daily newsletter on our website: Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. | https://news.yahoo.com/pure-cycle-corporation-pcyo-good-170945585.html |
Should Bengals Make a Run at Recently Released Pro Bowl Tackle Charles Leno? | Leno was released by the Bears on Monday CINCINNATI The Bears released veteran left tackle Charles Leno on Monday morning. The 29-year-old made 93 consecutive starts for Chicago over the past six seasons. Leno earned a 74.6 overall grade from Pro Football Focus in 2020, allowing five sacks and seven hits in 1,066 offensive snaps. It's surprising because of how much stability he brought to the Bears offensive line. Chicago saves $9 million in cap space with the move. The Bears selected Leno in the seventh-round (246th overall) in the 2014 NFL Draft. That depends on a few factors. If so, then there's no reason why they shouldn't pursue him. The other option would be moving Jonah Williams from left tackle to guard or right tackle. The Bengals don't seem willing to do that, but it is an option, at least on paper. Cincinnati signed Riley Reiff this offseason to play right tackle. They also drafted Jackson Carman and D'Ante Smithboth guys played tackle in college. Carman is expected to begin his career at right guard. He's a proven left tackle that may be willing to move to the right side. If that's the case then they could move Reiff to guard. That would give them multiple proven veterans and two Pro Bowlers on their offensive line. Veterans like Reiff, Mike Hilton and even Kenny Golladay had their eye on the Bengals because of quarterback Joe Burrow. They also have plenty of cap space. It's probably a long shot, since he's going to receive interest from teams across the NFL, but the Bengals should absolutely kick the tires on the Boise State alum. For the latest Bengals news and coverage, bookmark AllBengals and check out some of our other articles below. ----- You May Also Like: Watch: A Quality Breakdown of New Bengals Kicker Evan McPherson A Closer Look at the Bengals' Decision to Take Ja'Marr Chase Over Penei Sewell An Inside Look at the Bengals' Pursuit of Second Round OL Jackson Carman Draft Grades Are In: Here's What the National Media is Saying About the Bengals A Three Down Look at All Seven Bengals Day 3 Draft Picks Track EVERY Bengals Undrafted Free Agent Signing Here Chris Evans Worked on 'The Mixon' At Michigan Bengals Add Giovani Bernard Replacement at Running Back Bengals Take Center Trey Hill in Sixth Round Watch: New Bengals Kicker Evan McPherson Made One of the Best Kicks Ever Bengals Bolster Offensive Line With D'Ante Smith LSU Reunion: Bengals Take BIG Tyler Shelvin in Round Four Bengals Bolster Pass Rush With Cam Sample in Fourth Round Former Bengals Coach Has HIGH Praise for Jackson Carman Here are the Top Players the Bengals May Target on Day Three of the NFL Draft Bengals Receive Mixed Grades on Day Two of NFL Draft Willie Anderson Gives Stamp of Approval on Bengals 2nd Rounder Jackson Carman Analyst Praises Bengals' Second-Round Pick Jackson Carman Bengals Get Defensive, Take Edge Rusher Joseph Ossai From Texas Watch: Joseph Ossai is a human highlight reel Bengals Second Round Selection Jackson Carman Earns Big-Time Praise Bengals Take Offensive Lineman Jackson Carman is Second Round Ja'Marr Chase Gives Shoutout to Bengals Super Fan Passing on Penei: Here's Why Ja'Marr Chase Was the Right Pick Watch: Ja'Marr Chase Reacts to Emotional Letter From Parents Here's What National Analysts Are Saying About the Ja'Marr Chase Pick Ja'Marr Chase Makes BOLD Statement on Draft Night Watch Zac Taylor's Call With Ja'Marr Chase Joe Burrow, Other Bengals Players React to Team Taking Ja'Marr Chase at No. 5 Get To Know New Bengals Wide Receiver Ja'Marr Chase Ja'Marr Chase Has BIG Goals for the 2021 Season Bengals Take Ja'Marr Chase at No. 5 Watch: Film Breakdown of new Bengals Wide Receiver Ja'Marr Chase Watch: Footage of Joe Burrow Throwing and Planting on Left Leg ----- Be sure to keep it locked on AllBengals all the time! Subscribe to the AllBengals YouTube channel Follow AllBengals on Twitter: @AllBengals Like and follow AllBengals on Facebook | https://www.si.com/nfl/bengals/news/should-bengals-make-a-run-former-chicago-bears-left-tackle-charles-leno |
Did the New York Jets get the biggest steal in the 2021 NFL Draft? | Florida State Seminole safety, Hamasah Nasirildeen could end up being the biggest steal for the New York Jets. Hamsah Nasirildeen might be a steal for the New York Jets in the NFL Draft, a sixth-round pick who has far greater upside than being a Day 3 selection. An ACL tear in the 2019 season limited the Florida State safety to just two games in 2020. But Nasirildeen has the potential to make an impact for the Jets at either safety or potentially as a linebacker. And, there is some motivation from Nasirildeen, who the Jets took No. 186 overall. If healthy, Nasirildeen was likely a Day 2 pick, a bit of intelligent drafting from general manager Joe Douglas. I like myself, I feel the Jets got a first-round talent with myself and when I come into work, they got a dog mentally they definitely got one, Nasirildeen told reporters in a video call after the NFL Draft. Im not really worried about where I go in this process; I just want to go out there and show everybody what I can do. Show everybody what type of player I am, what type of man I am. Let everything play out like it is supposed to. Hamsah Nasirildeen could be the biggest steal for the New York Jets in the 2021 NFL Draft. He added that his drop into the latter rounds of the draft was likely with concerns about his health I definitely feel like my knee played a part. With the Jets, theres a good chance he gets his start at linebacker and definitely with special teams. He is one of five players drafted by the Jets this past week who played as a defensive back in college. Three of the players taken were safeties. The questions about his knee injury two years ago persist. While rehab exercises are still a part of his routine, Nasirildeen said he is full and ready to go. In 2019 in 12 games played (10 starts) as a safety, Nasirildeen had 101 tackles, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, two interceptions and three pass breakups. Im fast and physical. Hard-hitting, to the ball, Nasirildeen said. Everything you want in a football player. The selection of Nasirildeen follows a similar mentality to what Douglas did in the latter rounds of his first draft with the Jets in 2020. While there is little question about Nasirildeens talent, his health remains a huge concern. It is similar to Virginia cornerback Bryce Hall, who missed much of his final season in college with an ankle injury, but if healthy was a likely pick in the top 50 selections of the NFL Draft. The Jets nabbed Hall in the fifth round last spring. | https://www.si.com/nfl/draft/nfl-draft/did-the-new-york-jets-get-the-biggest-steal-in-the-2021-nfl-draft |
What To Expect From CVS Healths Q1? | NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 26: A man wearing masks walks past a CVS Pharmacy where a "Free flue ... [+] shots here" sign is displayed as the city continues Phase 4 of re-opening following restrictions imposed to slow the spread of coronavirus on August 26, 2020 in New York City. The fourth phase allows outdoor arts and entertainment, sporting events without fans and media production. (Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images) Getty Images CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) is scheduled to report its Q1 2021 results on Tuesday, May 4. We expect CVS Health CVS to likely post revenue and earnings below the street expectations, as a rebound in total procedure volume may result in higher benefit costs, while pricing pressure in the pharmacy management business is likely to impact the overall growth. That said, continued growth in prescription volume and increased Covid-19 testing as well as vaccination is expected to more than offset any decline owing to the factors mentioned above. Despite our forecast indicating revenues and earnings below the street estimates, we believe that CVS Healths valuation is about $88 per share, which is roughly 16% above the current market price of $76. See our interactive dashboard analysis on CVS Healths Pre-Earnings has additional details. (1) Revenues expected to be slightly below the consensus estimates Trefis estimates CVS Healths Q1 2021 net revenues to be around $68.1 billion, slightly below the $68.4 billion consensus estimate. A deferment in elective surgeries amid the spread of Covid-19 impacted the overall prescription volume growth in the first half of 2020, but that trend has reversed over the recent quarters, and prescription volume is expected to trend higher going forward. Now that over 40% of the U.S. population have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, the overall economic activities are likely to move a step closer to normalcy, boding well for CVS Healths business. The companys Health Care Benefits segment, which provides health insurance, has been expanding its reach to 23.4 million people as of 2020, compared to 22.1 million in 2018. An overall increase in Medicaid enrollments, especially during the Covid-19 crisis, has helped the company expand its membership base, and this trend is expected to continue in the near term. CVS Healths Q4 2020 sales were up 4% to $69.6 billion, as a 2% decline in the Pharmacy Services segment was more than offset by gains in both Retail as well as Health Care Benefits segments. Our dashboard on CVS Healths Revenues offers more details on the companys segments. 2) EPS also likely to be below the consensus estimates CVS Healths Q1 2021 adjusted earnings per share is expected to be $1.65 per Trefis analysis, compared to consensus estimate of $1.71. CVS Healths adjusted net income of $1.7 billion in Q4 2020 reflected a 25% drop from its $2.3 billion figure in the prior-year quarter. This can be attributed to increased operating costs during the pandemic. For the full-year 2021, we expect the adjusted EPS to be $7.50, reflecting no change from the 2020 figure. (3) Stock price estimate 16% higher than the current market price Trefis Price Estimate For CVS Health Trefis CVS stock has underperformed the broader markets over the last one year, with the companys share price rising just 27%, compared to a 47% rise for S&P500. This can largely be attributed to investor concerns over Amazons AMZN entry into online pharmacy, which is likely to eat market share from CVS. The investors concerns are largely reflected in low P/E multiple the stock currently trades at, compared to some of the other names in the healthcare sector. Going by our CVS Healths Valuation, with an EPS estimate of around $7.49 and a P/E multiple of around 12x in 2021, this translates into a price of $88, which is 16% above the current market price of $76. Note: P/E Multiples are based on Share Price at the end of the year and reported (or expected) Earnings for the full year While CVS stock looks undervalued, it is helpful to see how its peers stack up. Check out UNH stock comparison with its peers to see how UnitedHealth UNH compares against peers on metrics that matter. You can find more such useful comparisons on Peer Comparisons. See How Its Powering New Collaboration and What-Ifs For CFOs and Finance Teams | Product, R&D, and Marketing Teams | https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2021/05/03/what-to-expect-from-cvs-healths-q1/ |
Will the Indy 500 be blacked out? | The Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced on April 21 that the Indianapolis 500 would be held with a maximum of 135,000 fans. It did not, however, say the local television blackout will be lifted. "Literally yesterday, we reached an agreement on how we're going to manage the COVID challenge," Miles said. "And now we'll turn our attention to other questions, including that one." The series has not commented further on the status of the blackout. Last year, IMS and IndyCar would not commit to lifting the blackout when a 50% cap on attendance was announced in June. However, when the capacity was reduced to 25% in July, it was announced the blackout would be lifted for a fourth time in the race's history. The race was eventually held without fans. Expect the blackout to be lifted if the track sells 135,000 tickets. "Under these unique circumstances, we felt it was the right thing to do," said Penske Entertainment Corp. CEO Mark Miles when the blackout was lifted in July. Story continues below the gallery. The blackout was not in place in 1949, 1950, 2016 and 2020, despite drawing more than 300,000 fans from 1976-95 and 2001-02. Television sets went on sale in Indianapolis in mid-March 1949, selling for $400 ($5,000 in today's dollars). To boost sales, IMS agreed to have the race televised live, according to an IndyStar article that spring. Indianapolis' first station, WFBM-TV (Channel 6), broadcast the race. About 3,000 Indianapolis households tuned in. WFMB televised the race again in 1950, and there was talk of starting nationally syndicated coverage the following year. Instead, IMS management decided to eliminate live television coverage altogether. They feared "live local television coverage would hurt gate attendance," IndyStar reported. In 2016, Indianapolis got to see the Indy 500 live along with the rest of the country when the 100th running of the race sold out. The blackout, as noted above, was lifted last year due to fan restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic. "The blackout happens exactly why people think," said Dom Caristi, a professor of telecommunications at Ball State University. "They would have a harder time selling tickets if people locally were able to watch the race live. It's really that simple." There is evidence, however, that this is an antiquated approach. "The sports blackout rules are a bad hangover from the days when barely 40% of games sold out and gate receipts were the (NFL) leagues principal source of revenue," Tom Wheeler, then-commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission said in early September 2014. "There is no better example of an FCC rule that has outlived its usefulness and deserves to be eliminated than our sports blackout rule." Fans in the Indianapolis television market can't watch the Indianapolis 500 live on TV. They can see a re-broadcast after the race has been completed. Contact IndyStar Deputy Sports Editor Nat Newell at (317) 444-6182 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @NatJNewell. | https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/motor/2021/05/03/indy-500-television-broadcast-blacked-out/4925922001/ |
What should the Bay Area's new normal look like after COVID? | Jessica Christian / The Chronicle 2020 The end is near. At least it feels that way. After more than a year of chaos, and the deaths of nearly 600,000 Americans, Americas widespread coronavirus vaccination regimen is giving us a glimpse of a light at the end of the tunnel. Of course, that could change in an instant. COVID-19 rates have never been higher in the rest of the world, and amid that proliferation, a vaccine-resistant variant could emerge that sends us back to square one. The pandemic put a spotlight on our regions ills, but it certainly didnt make them any better. Homelessness has arguably never been worse. Police shootings still feel like an almost daily occurrence. Rental prices dipped but are rising once again. Traffic dipped as well, but that too has returned. | https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/SF-Bay-Area-covid-new-normal-16143087.php |
Is Giannis close to his masterpiece after 49-point effort against the Brooklyn Nets? | In the opening minutes of the Milwaukee Bucks 117-114 win over Brooklyn on Sunday afternoon, it was clear Nets coach Steve Nash was going let the court at Fiserv Forum act as a canvas and give Giannis Antetokounmpo the paint brush and palate. I think theres no secret with Giannis, Nash said before the game. You want to keep him away from the basket. Once the game began Nets center DeAndre Jordan immediately sagged deep in the paint. A wide-open three-pointer was there, and Antetokounmpo stepped into it confidently. It went in and out. The next trip down, Jordan sagged further. Antetokounmpo hesitated before launching a 17-footer. He missed. In fact, Antetokounmpo started 1 for 5 shooting jumpers beyond 10 feet. Call it the primer. Ive been working on jump shot my whole life, Antetokounmpo said after the game. I know eventually one day, its all going to click. Ive said in previous interviews, basketball is like art. Every day you have an opportunity to create the art, and once youre done with that, you put it in your garage or wherever you want to put it and move on away from that. He then drained a three to open the second quarter and lifted his arms defiantly. RELATED:How Giannis Antetokounmpo is working to win a third straight MVP Speaking of patience and finding a spot, with just under 10 minutes to go in the third quarter Jordan gave Antetokounmpo room. But rather than hurry into a jumper, Antetokounmpo settled in, backed in, got to a place he felt comfortable and stepped back on Jordan for a 14-footer. He followed that up with a three-pointer. Antetokounmpo went on to make nine of his next 17 shots from at least 11 feet, according to the running NBA shot chart. Tonight, that picture I created, thats who I want to be moving forward, Antetokounmpo said. It doesnt matter the points I score, 49 points, it does not matter. I dont care about that. Absolutely. What I care about is how I get into my spot, how I slowed down, how I was able to find my teammates, how I was able to miss one, miss a second one, miss a third and still be able to come down and shoot another one. "So, looking at this picture, this is who I want to be moving forward and this who I believe I can be. Bucks general Jon Horst offered up a reasonable facsimile of Antetokounmpos art analogy earlier in the season: Giannis is on the foundation piece of the canvas of a Bob Ross painting thats going to become this masterpiece." Against Brooklyn, Antetokounmpo finished with career highs in shot attempts (36) and makes (21) and season highs in three-pointers made (4) and points (49). He wont be pleased with a 3 for 6 from the free throw line, but its hard not to think what it could mean for Antetokounmpo and the Bucks in the playoffs if hes taking and making the outside shots hes been practicing all season. He has scored more points in his career, had more efficient games by the numbers but how this game unfolded could mean bigger things. It just opens up the court not only for himself but for everybody, Khris Middleton said. When hes playing on the perimeter a lot of teams like to sag off him or build a wall. But if he starts knocking down that jump shot, they have to respect him out there and it just creates more drive lanes for everybody else, more space for everybody else, including himself. Of course, as Budenholzer said early in the season, going to the rim will always be Antetokounmpos fastball. And he blew one by Blake Griffin inside with 1:12 left in the game as he spun and stepped through to the basket for the clinching points. With less than two weeks to go in the regular season, Antetokounmpo has not only put in the work, but put aside the canvases that werent as pretty. The 4 for 14 against Golden State or the 8 for 20 against Toronto. The 1 for 10 from the free throw line. The handful of times he went 0 for 4 from behind the three-point line. He was never afraid to not create a successful picture in the short-term, knowing where he could go in the long run. I want to apply what Ive been working on in practice and I want to trust my work, Antetokounmpo said earlier in the year. Thats what my mindset is going into every game. He has very specific and detailed pregame routine for not just his free throws but different types of shots in different areas on the court, so he will be back to sketching Tuesday afternoon. The game is over with, we play them again (Tuesday), Antetokounmpo said Sunday evening. Keep improving as a team, keep believing in ourselves and were going to be in a good spot. Contact Jim Owczarski at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat at @JimOwczarski or Facebook at facebook.com/JOwczarski. | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/nba/bucks/2021/05/03/giannis-antetokounmpo-evolving-he-scores-49-points-against-nets/4918215001/ |
How Does Former Gators OT Stone Forsythe Square Up On the Seahawks Front? | Drafted in the sixth round, the Seattle Seahawks grabbed Stone Forsythe, arguably the biggest steal of any Florida Gators draftee. The Seattle Seahawks offseason has been filled with loads of turmoil surrounding their franchise quarterback. Over the course of his nine-year career starting in 2012, the Hawks signal-caller Russell Wilson has been sacked more than any other quarterback in the league (394). Calling for increased protection to ensure his longevity as a top performer the NFL has to offer, Seattle was expected to target offensive lineman this offseason. However, failing to do so in free agency outside of a trade for guard Gabe Jackson from the Raiders, Seattle looked to the draft for potential on the exterior. Making just three picks in the 2021 draft, Pete Carroll and John Schneider had little draft capital to meet the demands of their frustrated star entity. Using two-thirds of the picks in their pocket to aid Wilson, Schneider chose to target another pass catcher in DWayne Eskridge out of Western Michigan and Floridas high-ceiling offensive tackle prospect Stone Forsythe. Selected as the 208th overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft, Seattle traded up to take the monstrous pass protector in Forsythe. Equipped with a prototypical stature for a blindside protector in the NFL, the former Florida Gators left tackle joined the Seattle Seahawks as arguably the best value pick of the eight Gators draftees. Standing 6-foot-8, 307 pounds, Forsythe contains incredible size and length at the tackle position with firm hands and a powerful punch at the point of attack. Playing his best season of football in 2020, Forsythe would anchor down the blind side of quarterback Kyle Trask who was drafted to the Bucs in the second round to play a key role up front for the prolific Florida offense. Operating without a sack against the professional-caliber edge rushers on Georgia and Alabama, Forsythe showcased himself in a big way for NFL scouts, especially when halting second-round pick Azeez Ojulari pass rush attempts in Jacksonville. On the season as a whole, Forsythe would allow just two sacks in 513 pass-blocking snaps, showcasing consistency paired with his pro day testing numbers, causing the Seahawks to trade up for the big man in the sixth. As it turns out, trading up for the monster among men was something they had been looking to do for quite some time. Following the draft, Schneider told Seattle reporters that it seemed like forever we waited for Stone, we tried trading up forever to get him. A hot commodity on the board as the draft progressed that seemingly slipped later than many expected, Forsythe would end up in a favorable spot, with time to learn behind grizzled veteran Duane Brown. With one of the major gripes against Forsythe being his heavy feet in 2019, the big man began to show drastic improvements in that department last season. Moving with a noticeable difference in athleticism and nimbleness, the trench monster became the Gators' best offensive lineman and cashed in as a draft pick as a result. Brought in as a depth addition to Seahawks offensive line coach Mike Solaris unit, for now, Forsythe will be groomed as the future successor for 35-year-old Brown who was acquired from Houston during the 2017 season via trade at left tackle when his playing days come to a close. Containing positional versatility if need be, seeing time at right tackle throughout the past two seasons, Forsythe can be a valuable factor for the Seahawks offense sooner rather than later, depending on circumstances. Headed to the Emerald City to rejoin former Gators teammate Freddie Swain, Forsythe is set to prove his drastic jump in progression from his junior to senior season at UF connotes an upward trend of development that sparks a flourishing career as a starter in the NFL. | https://www.si.com/college/florida/football/florida-gators-stone-forsythe-seattle-seahawks-fit |
What is the best way to control weeds n Las Vegas? | Weed control is the No. 1 pest problem for farmers. Pests include insects, diseases and weeds, not just insects. Annual weeds start from seed, germinate quickly, grow fast and cover as much area as possible as fast as it can. They are the easiest to control with a hoe. (Bob Morris) Weeds growing in rock are best killed with a flame weeder. (Bob Morris) Weed control is the No. 1 pest problem for farmers. Pests include insects, diseases and weeds, not just insects. More money is spent by farmers on controlling weeds than controlling or preventing insects and diseases combined. Once weeds are entrenched either annuals by seed or perennials by stolons or rhizomes they are more difficult to control. Farmers mostly use cultivation and weed control chemicals. Basically, weed control chemicals save farmers money they would otherwise spend on fuel and labor. Most of the time, homeowners are better off controlling weeds using cultivation. Oftentimes this is simply using a hoe. Make your landscape weed-free without chemicals by hoeing for 20 minutes or less, consistently, once a week. To get good control, stay on top of weeds and control them as soon as they start growing. That means getting rid of weeds weekly, very soon after they are seen. Weeds are not like most insects or diseases; when the weather changes, their population increases or decreases. When temperatures get warmer, summer weeds grow faster and stronger. Weeds love to invade disturbed soils. Thats why during the first few months in new landscapes many weeds grow near plants getting water, weed barriers or not. Thats normal. Get out your hoe. The first weeds to grow are annual weeds. They grow quickly from seed and try to cover as much soil as possible. Once they are removed when young, they are gone forever. All annual weeds come from seed whether they appear in the spring (summer annual weeds) or fall (winter annual weeds). When preparing the soil for a garden, the first plants seen are annual weeds, usually within one to three days after cultivating and planting just before vegetables emerge from the seed. Most of their energy forces new top growth. They want to grow quickly, become large and cover as much of the soil as possible. This, and their flowers/seed, is how they spread. These weeds are called invaders. You can use weed barriers, 3 to 4 inches of mulch on the soil surface, pre-emergent weed killers or you can use a hoe. Your choice. Q: I made a huge mistake. I used a flame weeder as you suggested close to my drip emitters surrounded by wood mulch. They melted where it got hot. Sad, but now I have to repair them. A: Flame weeders use fire from propane tanks to kill weeds. They are 100 percent organic, but they will melt plastic. Used near anything that melts or catches fire, they can bring disaster. On the other hand, its good for rock landscapes. After rain, there are weeds everywhere, and the weeds that will be burnt should be small. Use flame weeders on days when there is no wind and soon after it rains or when water has wet the landscape. If the flame weeder produces enough BTU, the wet weeds wont matter. They will die. It just takes a bit longer. Places not to use flame weeders include wood chip mulch, near plasticlike drip emitters or tubing, on large weeds or in municipalities that dont allow flame weeders. A: My favorite method is to use a hoe when the weeds are small. Hoes are easy to grab and fast when controlling weeds in landscapes and raised beds. I would be done hoeing in half the time needed for mixing a chemical weed spray. Use a hoe once a week during the growing season. My two favorite types of hoes are the hula or stirrup hoe and diamond hoe. I use a Warren hoe and triangular (onion) hoe for making vegetable planting rows. I have four or five different kinds of hoes for different purposes. My next favorite way of controlling weeds in large areas is the fire or flame weeders. Fire weeders like the Dragon types produce enough heat to kill wet weeds. They are particularly good for burning back small or cut weeds growing in rock. Be careful using this type of weeder if weeds are large or burst into flames. Have a hose and water available for emergencies. Some municipalities will not allow fire weeders without a permit. Q: I see some areas in my fescue lawn that are drying out faster than the others. Im watering nearly every day. I hate to think about how many times each day I will have to water when it gets hot. A: Most likely you are watering this frequently because of uneven wetting of the lawn by the sprinklers. That means the pressure is too low or the sprinklers are too far apart. Pop-up sprinkler heads should spray water from one head to the next. This is called head-to-head coverage. These pop-up type of overhead sprinklers should deliver water evenly across an area if they are outfitted with similar nozzles, its not windy, and if watered a total of 12 to 15 minutes each time. Maintenance companies are notorious for mixing and not matching sprinkler nozzles when they are repaired. This increases the water your lawn needs. Its a good idea to keep some spare nozzles in case they need repair. They are not expensive. Sometimes water applications are split into three each, four- or five-minute applications about one hour apart to reduce puddling and runoff into the street. But the total number of minutes for a single application should still total 12 to 15 minutes each time. Use a long piece of rebar pushed into the soil in several areas to judge the watering depth in the soil. The watering depth after an irrigation should be 10 to 12 inches deep in several locations. Avoid watering at night. The best time to finish sprinkler irrigations is just before sunrise You barely have time before the arrival of hot summer weather, so seed the lawn now. If the grass is dead in spots, cut it close to the soil with a line trimmer and apply good quality fescue seed to the soil in those spots. One pound of seed per hundred square feet is enough. Remove any loose or dead grass when seeding. Scratch the soil surface and lightly cover the seed with a thin layer of sand or other topper and water twice a day until you see new grass. It should take four to five days in warm weather. If this happens during the heat of the summer, leave the dead grass alone and let it cover the soil to prevent Bermuda grass and other weeds from growing from seed in those dead spots. Rake those areas starting in late September and October until you see bare soil and then seed the same way. A: Its much easier to kill fescue growing in a Bermuda grass lawn than it is to kill Bermuda grass growing in a fescue lawn. Your problem is more difficult. You will have to use chemicals if you want to correct this problem. The two chemicals are either Roundup if the Bermuda grass is growing in a few areas or spraying Fusilade if Bermuda grass is growing throughout the fescue lawn. Roundup is spot-sprayed where Bermuda grass is a problem and kills all the grass in those spots. Roundup will be sprayed in those spots now and through the summer when you see Bermuda grass trying to get established again. And it will try. The lawn is seeded with a good quality fescue seed in those dead spots as early as late September and through October. Until that time, the dead grass is left in place to help prevent the growth of other weeds in those spots. Fusilade is a grass killer. It will kill all grasses at a high concentration. The concentration of Fusilade sprayed determines if it kills the Bermuda grass growing in a fescue lawn without damaging the fescue. So spraying Fusilade at exactly the correct concentration is very important. It is best sprayed in a fescue lawn in late September or October. As a warning, it is normal to see the fescue lawn becoming yellowish after it is sprayed with Fusilade. Be sure to follow the label directions exactly. Preventing Bermuda grass from getting established in a lawn is the most effective way to control it in a fescue lawn. Keep the mowing height above 2 inches. Mowing too short encourages Bermuda grass invasion. Keep lawns dense and thick. Dense and thick lawns are encouraged by regularly fertilizing, mowing high and using the right kind of fertilizer. Lawns in our climate should receive fertilizer applied at least four times each year: Memorial Day, Labor Day, Halloween and Thanksgiving. Clean mowers before they are used. A strong stream of water from a hose that cleans the blades and deck is necessary each time you mow. Avoid line trimmers to edge a lawn. If it must be used, never cut the edge of the grass at an angle or use line trimmers around trees or sprinklers. Bob Morris is a horticulture expert and UNLV professor emeritus. Visit his blog at xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com. Send questions to [email protected]. | https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-columns/bob-morris/what-is-the-best-way-to-control-weeds-n-las-vegas-2344049/ |
Is red light therapy an anti-aging and hair regrowth miracle? | Last year felt a lot like an episode of "The Twilight Zone." It felt like a particularly bizarre and sadistic episode that involved DIY toilet paper and black market bleach. But, it also provided a rare glimpse into the real lives of, well, everyone. A-list celebrities Instagram feeds became a voyeuristic buffet of sweat pants, gray roots, and unkempt beards. Contrarily, celebrities also doubled down on their anti-aging skincare routines by wearing creepy glowing masks that can only be described as equal parts Jason Voorhees, Kabuki, Jack-O-lantern, "Eyes Wide Shut," and Lucha libre. Hear us out. Chrissy Teigen, Gigi Hadid, Jessica Alba, January Jones, and Victoria Beckham are just a handful of the famous beauties who are going public with their love of red light therapy, often in the form of illuminated masks. Red light therapy devices are either handheld or facemasks that emit light within the visible red spectrum. Red light has been shown to offer several benefits in the skin, providing anti-inflammatory effects and stimulating collagen production. This ultimately strengthens the foundation of the skin to help improve the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, explains Dr. Jacob Zeicher, Associate Professor of Dermatology and the Director of Cosmetic & Clinical Research in Dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital. While the scientific explanation is pretty heavy, the gist is simple. Different wavelengths (aka colors) of the visible light spectrum penetrate the skin at different depths and have unique biological effects. Red light is absorbed by mitochondria and creates energy that triggers reparative activity in the form of increased circulation, collagen production, and protection of existing collagen and elastin. Dr. Zeichner says these benefits extend beyond the face, There is emerging data on the use of red light therapy for thinning hair. The thought is that red light enhances the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the scalp to encourage optimal functioning of the hair follicles. Many at-home LED light therapy devices can combine the anti-aging, hair regrowth magic of red light with other beneficial colors to tackle a variety of skin concerns. Blue light can help heal and prevent acne by blasting bacteria, while infrared light is used for deep muscle recovery and to combat joint inflammation, while the rest of the rainbow is a boasting a laundry list of effects. And now, LED light therapy is no longer limited to spas and doctors offices, anyone can get glowing, younger-looking skin and thicker hair without ever leaving their couch. Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare SpectraLite FaceWare Pro The SpectraLite from Dr. Dennis Gross boasts a whopping 162 LED lights in a blend of skin-plumping red and blemish-busting blue for dual benefits. Dr. Zeichner says that SpectraLites high-energy LED bulbs provide a professional quality treatment that enhances the production of collagen and elastin fibers. And, its FDA-cleared! SolaWave Wand Achieve more youthful-looking skin in just five minutes a day with the 4-in-1 SolaWave Wand. The handheld, rechargeable device combines the anti-aging benefits of red light, heat, microcurrent, and massage to encourage collagen production to visibly plump skin, improve texture, and minimize wrinkles. iRestore Laser Hair Growth System iRestore Laser Hair Growth System - amazon.com 495.00 Shop Now Backed by a clinical study (and thousands of good reviews) the iRestore is one of the most affordable red light systems for thicker, fuller, healthier hair. The safe and non-invasive cap has 51 medical-grade red lights and lasers that are absorbed by hair follicles and skin, increasing circulation and promoting growth. REVIAN RED Hair Growth System REVIAN RED Hair Growth System - revian.com 995.00 Shop Now REVIAN RED uses two wavelengths of LED light (620nm and 660nm) to stimulate the release of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide increases local blood flow, reduces inflammation, and inhibits DHT production, a hormone that contributes to hair thinning and hair loss. Dr. Zeichner recommends this system to his patients with thinning hair, The REVIAN RED Hair Growth System has an immense band of dual red and orange lights and has published clinical data showing improvement in hair density. LightStim for Acne LightStim for Acne - dermstore.com 169.00 Shop Now Sadly, the woes of aging and acne are not mutually exclusive, but with LightStim for Acne, you can address both concerns quickly and effectively. Just a 3-minute treatment with the combination of red and blue lights destroys blemish-causing bacteria, calms and heals by reducing inflammation, and stimulates collagen production for clearer, more youthful skin. Pure Daily Care Luma Pure Daily Care Luma - 4 in 1 Skin Therapy Wand - amazon.com 79.95 Shop Now The Pure Daily Care Luma targets wrinkles, acne, and hyperpigmentation with red, blue, AND green LED light modes. Green light evens skin tone and brightens by breaking up melanin clusters. And, the Luma ups the ante with the addition of three more features massage for increased circulation, bio-wave to firm, and +/- ionic technology to extract impurities and to help skin absorb serums and creams. Trophy Skin RejuvaliteMD Trophy Skin RejuvaliteMD Red Light Therapy Lamp - amazon.com 249.00 Shop Now Get four times the benefits in each treatment with the RejuvaliteMD. The lamp delivers four wavelengths red (660nm), yellow (590nm), amber (630nm), and infrared (880nm) light for collagen and elastin production, improvement in wrinkles and skin tone, reduced inflammation, and skin cell renewal. Translation: Better skin on your face, neck, and body! Deep Red LED Light Bulb ABI LED Light Bulb for Red Light Therapy, 660nm Deep Red, 54W Class - amazon.com 39.95 Shop Now For the benefits of deep red light without the cost of a mask or handheld device, pick up this LED red bulb and install it into a lamp you already own. It provides an effective wavelength of 660nm that penetrates skin cells to trigger collagen and elastin production while reducing inflammation and redness. And, you can use it to stimulate hair growth. Red and Infrared Light Panel 45W Red LED Light Therapy Panel - amazon.com 84.99 Shop Now Because of its long wavelength, infrared light penetrates deep into muscle tissue to help cells repair and regenerate. This panels combination of near-infrared and deep red LED lights can help improve skin, promote healing, and relieve pain from inflamed muscles and joints. Red LED Clamp Light Led Red Light Lamp for 660nm Red Light Device Set with Stand for Skin - amazon.com 88.99 Shop Now This cost-effective clamp light does the job of more expensive devices at a fraction of the price. The 660nm red wavelength is perfect for anti-aging and targeting thinning hair, hands-free. 2-Pack Flexible Eye Protection 2 pack EVO FLEX Sunnies Flexible Tanning Bed Goggles Eye Protection UV Glasses - amazon.com 6.42 Shop Now Protect your eyes while using LED light therapy with inexpensive tanning goggles. | https://www.sfgate.com/shopping/article/benefits-of-red-light-therapy-for-anti-aging-16147441.php |
Should we really consider a 3-time MVP finalist like Jos Ramrez an underdog? | Register for Indians Subtext to hear your Tribe questions answered exclusively on the show. Send a text to 216-208-4346 to subscribe for $3.99/mo. Paul Hoynes and Joe Noga discuss on Mondays podcast. Click here. We have an Apple podcasts channel exclusively for this podcast. Subscribe to it here. You can also subscribe on Google Play and listen on Spotify. Search Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast or download the audio here. - New Indians face masks for sale: Heres where you can buy Cleveland Indians-themed face coverings for coronavirus protection, including a single mask ($14.99) and a 3-pack ($24.99). All MLB proceeds donated to charity. Pluto Daniel Johnson activated; Reyes placed on paternity list Anne Feller, wife of Tribe legend Bob Feller, dies at 91 Indians beat White Sox, 5-3, as Bieber and Ramirez deliver Bieber breaks MLB record with 18th straight 8+ strikeout game Nick Sandlin, delayed by surgery and COVID, finally arrives Francona excited about young bullpen: Theyve got some ammo MLB puts Roberto Alomar on ineligible list after sexual misconduct allegation Indians-White Sox series preview, pitching matchups Indians minor leaguers return to play in 2021 after pandemic shutdown | https://www.cleveland.com/tribe/2021/05/should-we-really-consider-a-3-time-mvp-finalist-like-jose-ramirez-an-underdog.html |
Was The Smart Money Right About Charles Schwab (SCHW)? | We know that hedge funds generate strong, risk-adjusted returns over the long run, therefore imitating the picks that they are collectively bullish on can be a profitable strategy for retail investors. With billions of dollars in assets, smart money investors have to conduct complex analyses, spend many resources and use tools that are not always available for the general crowd. This doesn't mean that they don't have occasional colossal losses; they do (like Melvin Capital's recent GameStop losses). However, it is still a good idea to keep an eye on hedge fund activity. With this in mind, as the current round of 13F filings has just ended, lets examine the smart money sentiment towards The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW). The best stock pickers were betting on the stock. The number of bullish hedge fund positions went up by 8 lately. The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) was in 61 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of December. The all time high for this statistic is 71. Our calculations also showed that SCHW isn't among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds (click for Q4 rankings). There were 53 hedge funds in our database with SCHW holdings at the end of September. In the financial world there are a large number of tools investors have at their disposal to grade stocks. A pair of the most under-the-radar tools are hedge fund and insider trading indicators. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best fund managers can outperform the broader indices by a solid amount. Insider Monkey's monthly stock picks returned 197% since March 2017 and outperformed the S&P 500 ETFs by more than 124 percentage points (see the details here). That's why we believe hedge fund sentiment is a useful indicator that investors should pay attention to. Donald Yacktman of Yacktman Asset Management At Insider Monkey we leave no stone unturned when looking for the next great investment idea. For example, lithium mining is one of the fastest growing industries right now, so we are checking out stock pitches like this emerging lithium stock. We go through lists like the 10 best hydrogen fuel cell stocks to pick the next Tesla that will deliver a 10x return. Even though we recommend positions in only a tiny fraction of the companies we analyze, we check out as many stocks as we can. We read hedge fund investor letters and listen to stock pitches at hedge fund conferences. You can subscribe to our free daily newsletter on our homepage. With all of this in mind let's take a look at the latest hedge fund action regarding The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW). At the end of December, a total of 61 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 15% from the third quarter of 2020. On the other hand, there were a total of 70 hedge funds with a bullish position in SCHW a year ago. With hedgies' positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an "upper tier" of notable hedge fund managers who were adding to their stakes significantly (or already accumulated large positions). The largest stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) was held by Generation Investment Management, which reported holding $1483.8 million worth of stock at the end of December. It was followed by Diamond Hill Capital with a $469.4 million position. Other investors bullish on the company included Route One Investment Company, Southpoint Capital Advisors, and Yacktman Asset Management. In terms of the portfolio weights assigned to each position Yost Capital Management allocated the biggest weight to The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW), around 15.27% of its 13F portfolio. JNE Partners is also relatively very bullish on the stock, earmarking 13.82 percent of its 13F equity portfolio to SCHW. Now, key money managers were breaking ground themselves. Southpoint Capital Advisors, managed by John Smith Clark, established the largest position in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW). Southpoint Capital Advisors had $212.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Tom Purcell and Marco Tablada's Alua Capital Management also made a $87.7 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new SCHW investors: James Parsons's Junto Capital Management, Steve Cohen's Point72 Asset Management, and Joe Magyer's Lakehouse Capital. Let's now review hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) but similarly valued. These stocks are Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT), Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT), Square, Inc. (NYSE:SQ), American Express Company (NYSE:AXP), Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZM), The Estee Lauder Companies Inc (NYSE:EL), and Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG). This group of stocks' market caps are closest to SCHW's market cap. [table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position LMT,53,2527739,6 CAT,53,4157844,12 SQ,89,8819199,16 AXP,60,21887073,12 ZM,59,6002261,3 EL,51,3593398,5 ISRG,49,1802145,-1 Average,59.1,6969951,7.6 [/table] View table here if you experience formatting issues. As you can see these stocks had an average of 59.1 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $6970 million. That figure was $4473 million in SCHW's case. Square, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) is the least popular one with only 49 bullish hedge fund positions. The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. Our overall hedge fund sentiment score for SCHW is 50.8. Stocks with higher number of hedge fund positions relative to other stocks as well as relative to their historical range receive a higher sentiment score. Our calculations showed that top 10 most popular stocks among hedge funds returned 90.7% in 2019 and 2020, and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by 35 percentage points. These stocks gained 13.6% in 2021 through April 30th and still beat the market by 1.6 percentage points. Hedge funds were also right about betting on SCHW as the stock returned 33.2% since the end of Q4 (through 4/30) and outperformed the market. Hedge funds were rewarded for their relative bullishness. Get real-time email alerts: Follow Schwab Charles Corp (NYSE:SCHW) Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey. Related Content | https://news.yahoo.com/smart-money-charles-schwab-schw-201638042.html |
Were Hedge Funds Right About Piling Into Coca-Cola Company (KO)? | After several tireless days we have finished crunching the numbers from nearly 900 13F filings issued by the elite hedge funds and other investment firms that we track at Insider Monkey, which disclosed those firms' equity portfolios as of December 31st. The results of that effort will be put on display in this article, as we share valuable insight into the smart money sentiment towards The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO). The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) shareholders have witnessed an increase in enthusiasm from smart money lately. The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) was in 62 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of the fourth quarter of 2020. The all time high for this statistic is 62. This means the bullish number of hedge fund positions in this stock currently sits at its all time high. Our calculations also showed that KO isn't among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds (click for Q4 rankings). Hedge funds' reputation as shrewd investors has been tarnished in the last decade as their hedged returns couldn't keep up with the unhedged returns of the market indices. Our research has shown that hedge funds' small-cap stock picks managed to beat the market by double digits annually between 1999 and 2016, but the margin of outperformance has been declining in recent years. Nevertheless, we were still able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the S&P 500 ETFs by 124 percentage points since March 2017 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that underperformed the market by 10 percentage points annually between 2006 and 2017. Interestingly the margin of underperformance of these stocks has been increasing in recent years. Investors who are long the market and short these stocks would have returned more than 27% annually between 2015 and 2017. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 in our quarterly newsletter. Story continues BRIDGEWATER ASSOCIATES At Insider Monkey we leave no stone unturned when looking for the next great investment idea. For example, lithium mining is one of the fastest growing industries right now, so we are checking out stock pitches like this emerging lithium stock. We go through lists like the 10 best hydrogen fuel cell stocks to pick the next Tesla that will deliver a 10x return. Even though we recommend positions in only a tiny fraction of the companies we analyze, we check out as many stocks as we can. We read hedge fund investor letters and listen to stock pitches at hedge fund conferences. You can subscribe to our free daily newsletter on our homepage. Now we're going to review the latest hedge fund action regarding The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO). At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 62 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 3% from one quarter earlier. By comparison, 51 hedge funds held shares or bullish call options in KO a year ago. With hedgies' positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an "upper tier" of key hedge fund managers who were adding to their holdings meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions). More specifically, Berkshire Hathaway was the largest shareholder of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO), with a stake worth $21936 million reported as of the end of December. Trailing Berkshire Hathaway was Yacktman Asset Management, which amassed a stake valued at $351.2 million. D E Shaw, Bridgewater Associates, and Adage Capital Management were also very fond of the stock, becoming one of the largest hedge fund holders of the company. In terms of the portfolio weights assigned to each position Berkshire Hathaway allocated the biggest weight to The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO), around 8.13% of its 13F portfolio. Franklin Street Capital is also relatively very bullish on the stock, earmarking 7.39 percent of its 13F equity portfolio to KO. With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, some big names were leading the bulls' herd. Balyasny Asset Management, managed by Dmitry Balyasny, assembled the largest position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO). Balyasny Asset Management had $133.4 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Brandon Haley's Holocene Advisors also initiated a $119.2 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Parvinder Thiara's Athanor Capital, Mark R. Freeman's Socorro Asset Management, and Minhua Zhang's Weld Capital Management. Let's go over hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) but similarly valued. These stocks are NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE), Pinduoduo Inc. (NASDAQ:PDD), Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE:TM), Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS), Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK), ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML), and PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP). All of these stocks' market caps are closest to KO's market cap. [table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position NKE,82,6285513,7 PDD,54,10528058,20 TM,11,797163,-1 NVS,23,1680463,-2 MRK,82,7171072,2 ASML,30,2976227,7 PEP,56,4288005,4 Average,48.3,4818072,5.3 [/table] View table here if you experience formatting issues. As you can see these stocks had an average of 48.3 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $4818 million. That figure was $24683 million in KO's case. NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE:TM) is the least popular one with only 11 bullish hedge fund positions. The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. Our overall hedge fund sentiment score for KO is 72.9. Stocks with higher number of hedge fund positions relative to other stocks as well as relative to their historical range receive a higher sentiment score. This is a slightly positive signal but we'd rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. Our calculations showed that top 10 most popular stocks among hedge funds returned 90.7% in 2019 and 2020, and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by 35 percentage points. These stocks gained 13.6% in 2021 through April 30th and beat the market again by 1.6 percentage points. Unfortunately KO wasn't nearly as popular as these 10 stocks and hedge funds that were betting on KO were disappointed as the stock returned -0.7% since the end of December (through 4/30) and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out the top 10 most popular stocks among hedge funds as many of these stocks already outperformed the market since 2019. Get real-time email alerts: Follow Coca Cola Co (NYSE:KO) Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey. Related Content | https://news.yahoo.com/were-hedge-funds-piling-coca-201708242.html |
What do anonymous Arizona election audit donors get for their investment (besides access)? | Its bad enough that what is supposed to be an official state audit of Arizonas election results is being paid for by well, we dont really know who is really footing the bill. Bad enough that hidden people with a private interest in the outcome of this official state audit are picking up the tab. Now the Arizona Senate is actually promoting a dark money groups fundraising campaign to send money privately, of course to the private firm conducting this official state audit. Consider this tweet, pinned since last week to the top of the Twitter account of @ArizonaAudit, the Official account of the Arizona Senate for the Maricopa County 2020 forensic election audit. Private election funding is illegal, except ... Let me say that again. The Senate which earlier this year approved a bill that would ban private funding for elections is promoting a campaign to raise private funds to audit the election. Ken Bennett, the Senates liaison to the audit, told me he doesnt know who is donating the funds but said the Senate audits Twitter feed should not be promoting it. No, that should not be the pinned tweet. Im trying to fix that right now, he told me. Bennett acknowledged that he also has promoted the fundraising drive, both in a press conference and a video, because the Senates $150,000 falls woefully short of what is needed to do the audit. I would prefer all of the audit costs to come out of the Senate contract and go through the states general fund, he said. But thats not how it happened. The private fundraising drives website, run by a Florida-based dark money group called The America Project, claims to have raised more than $1.2 million of its $2.8 million goal. But this is not the only campaign raising funds to pay the Senates auditor, a Trump supporter who believes the election was stolen. Dont know. Dont know. (We do know that former Overstock founder Patrick Byrne, who claims he can prove Trump won the election, has kicked in $1 million.) This one, I can answer: Oh, %$#$ no. And yet it doesnt seem to bother Bennett, a former secretary of state who once oversaw campaign spending. So far, I believe with complete confidence that the source of funding is not affecting what is happening in the audit, he told me. We are doing it right out there for everybody to see. Yeah, as long as you have binoculars or X-ray vision to check out what they are doing behind closed doors with the Dominion Voting Systems equipment. Despite Bennetts confidence that everything is A-OK, it is less transparent to the rest of us that transparency is the order of the day. are getting in exchange for their platinum-level donations. Access, certainly. On Monday morning, the Arizona press corps had its usual pool of three journalists in stands at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum, a reporter, a videographer and a photographer. Apparently, this 14,870-seat arena only has room for three members of the media to watch as people like former GOP Rep. Anthony Kern who actually posed for a picture on the steps of the nations Capitol on the day of the Trump insurrection recount our ballots. OANN gets its own seat at the table And yet there apparently is room for one more "reporter" if you happen to be a big contributor to the bank account of Cyber Ninjas, the Florida firm that is auditing the election. It seems the far-right One America News Network has its own reserved spot at the Coliseum. No relying on pool reports for OANN reporter Christina Bobb, a former Trump administration official who is also raising money to help pay for the audit. Bennett insists that OANN isn't getting special access but instead is part of a separate rotation of national and international news organizations. "It has nothing to do with whether shes raised money for it (the audit) or not," he said. "If CNN or Tokyo News wanted to have somebody in there, I'd put anyone else in the rotation until we maxxed out the three slots." In other words, OANN is a party of one, allowed to be there all day every day while all of Arizona's media outlets are limited to one reporter at a time. By the way, it took only until Day 3 of the audit for OANN to report that evidence of systematic fraud has already started to show. You get what you pay for, I guess. Besides access, that is. Reach Roberts at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @LaurieRoberts. Support local journalism:Subscribe to azcentral.com today. | https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/laurieroberts/2021/05/03/what-arizona-election-audit-anonymous-donors-getting-for-donation/4926516001/ |
Will going digital transform the yuans status at home and abroad? | WITH A FEW taps on her phone, Lu Qingqing, a 24-year-old office worker, leapt into the monetary future. She was one of 50,000 people in the city of Shenzhen selected late last year for a trial of Chinas digital currency, officially called eCNY. She downloaded an app, received a gift of 200 yuan ($30) from the government and went shopping for books. The apps display showed a traditional banknote and her balance, which ran down as she made purchases. It felt like real money, she says. Legally, it is as real as hard cash. All the money in an eCNY app, offered by one of six commercial banks, is backed by an equivalent amount deposited at the Peoples Bank of China. Just as the central bank issues and stands behind any paper yuan circulating in China, so does it guarantee eCNY. If, say, the commercial bank that made Ms Lus digital wallet went bust, her eCNYlinked to her personal-identity numberwould be transferred to a new wallet. Central banks worldwide are considering issuing digital versions of notes and coins. Although China will not be the first (that honour goes to the Bahamas), it is the most important launching ground. It is the worlds leader in mobile payments, processing about $67trn-worth of transactions last year, nearly 400 times more than in America (see chart 1). More than half a million people have already got their hands on eCNY, in a manner of speaking, in trials since last year. Chinas central bank is studying how to spread it abroad. Niall Ferguson, a historian, has called on America to wake up to the peril of letting China mint the money of the future. Chinas digital currency was first conceived as a way to curb the dominance of the big mobile-money providers. Now three bold claims are being made about it: that it will dramatically enhance Chinas surveillance capabilities; that it will allow the state to wield far more control over money; and that it will challenge the dollar for global prominence. Within China, however, many economists and bankers are far less bullish. The design of the eCNY, and the very nature of Chinas economic system, mean that each of these claims is unlikely to be realised soon. The digital yuan is not magic, so we dont expect magic from it, says Gary Liu of the China Financial Reform Institute in Shanghai. Start with the first claim, that digitisation offers unmatched surveillance abilities, letting the state track peoples spending in real time. It is not entirely wrong. But it is a limited gain for the central bank compared with its existing powers. Most mobile payments today involve a bank card, tethered to users accounts on Alipay or WeChat. These must pass through NetsUnion, a central clearing platform. Similarly, any foreign-exchange transaction in China takes place on the China Foreign Exchange Trade System. In both cases regulators can see how people spend in real time. For mobile payments that do not touch the banking system, officials can demand a record and, says an industry insider, may soon require real-time reporting, too. The upshot is that, even without eCNY, regulators have no real blind spots left, apart from old-fashioned cash. And so long as millions of older citizens do not much like paying for things with smartphones, the government will not phase out cash. Centrally unplanned A second bold claim about eCNY is that it will reshape monetary policy in China. According to this view, the central bank will, among other things, have more control over money, programming it to be used for specific purposes and at predefined times. This, however, both understates what the central bank can already do and overstates what the eCNY will let it do. China already manages both the money supply and interest rates with different sectors in mind. Since 2015, for instance, it has created hundreds of billions of yuan for the construction of affordable housing. More recently it has tried to lower interest rates for small firms, giving cheaper funding to banks that provide such loans. The eCNY, one might assume, will make this targeting more precise. But its design is such that its role will be far more circumscribed. The central bank will replace only a small portion of base money, known as M0, with eCNY, leaving the rest of the money supply undisturbed (see chart 2). It will distribute eCNY through a two-tiered system, issuing the currency to commercial banks, which in turn will make it available to the public. It will not pay interest on eCNY. And it will probably place low ceilings on how much people can actually hold. Granted, the central bank may in time expand the eCNYs role. But the limitations exist for a reason. The government is wary of undermining the financial system. It does not want savers to switch out of bank deposits en masse into eCNY. That would make it harder for banks to fund themselves, thereby slowing lending growth. Moreover, few serious economists in Beijing like the idea of a 100% eCNY money supply, in which the government could directly control how banks lend. We dont want to go back to central planning. That would be a mistake, says Yu Yongding, a former adviser to the central bank. A different world A final bold claim is that eCNY will catapult the yuan to global status. But that misunderstands why the yuan accounts for just 2% of international payments today, about the same as the Australian and Canadian dollars. When deciding which currencies to use, companies and investors around the world consider how easily they can make conversions to other currencies; how freely and widely they can invest them; and whether they trust the issuing countries legal systems. Chinas insistence on maintaining far tighter capital controls than any other major economy, as well as deep-seated doubts about its one-party political system, blunt the yuans international appeal. The limiting factors are policy and politics, not technology. Even the technological case for eCNY is far from clear-cut. When companies transfer money in and out of China, they already use currency in a digital format: electronic messages on the SWIFT payments network instruct banks to credit accounts in one country and debit them in another. What slows things down is complying with Chinas capital controls and with international regulations such as those aimed at stopping money-laundering. The eCNY will not eliminate such checks, and the Belgium-headquartered SWIFT system, which connects more than 11,000 financial institutions, is likely to remain the most efficient conduit for sharing payment information across borders. Even in the long term, SWIFT will remain indispensable, says Liu Dongmin of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Probably, but not a giant one. After the eCNY trial in Shenzhen, Ms Lu said that she would use it for some payments, but that Alipay and WeChat were far more convenient because of how they tie into much wider commercial and social-messaging networks. Mr Liu of the China Financial Reform Institute expects others to reach the same conclusion. In three years he predicts that eCNY will account for less than 5% of mobile payments. Western governments and central bankers mulling digital currencies of their own may wonder if the outcome of the eCNY experiment will contain any lessons for them. But China is unusual in so many waysfrom its sheltered financial system and intricate capital controls to the size of its mobile paymentsthat its experience could well prove to be unique. Other countries might not, for instance, seek to design their digital currencies along the same lines. Yet the caution with which Chinas authorities are proceeding with the eCNY, if nothing else, hints at how disruptive the technology, if unconstrained, could be. | https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2021/05/03/will-going-digital-transform-the-yuans-status-at-home-and-abroad |
Whats next for vaccine diplomacy? | Our weekly podcast at the sharp end of the global vaccination race VACCINES HAVE become a tool of global influence. China and Russia have sent millions of doses abroad, but the West has lagged behind in vaccine diplomacy. Agathe Demarais of The Economist Intelligence Unit, who wrote a report on the subject, tells The Jab how China and Russias vaccine diplomacy could backfire. Alok Jha and Natasha Loder are joined by Edward Carr, The Economists deputy editor, and Argentina correspondent David Smith.Runtime: 36 min Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google | Stitcher | TuneIn For full access to The Economists print, digital and audio editions subscribe at economist.com/thejabpod. Sign up for our new weekly science and data newsletters at economist.com/simplyscience and economist.com/offthecharts. | https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2021/05/03/whats-next-for-vaccine-diplomacy |
Can Kim Janey act her way into the job? | I think Andrea [Campbell] is great. And had Marty [Walsh] not left I would be supporting her. BUT now that we have a Black female in the seat, what is the purpose of changing, Taylor wrote in an e-mail that landed in some of Campbells supporters inboxes. That notion reflects some of the limited and demeaning thinking circulating in the city as the mayoral race heats up. And it also speaks to the built-in advantages of incumbency in this case acting incumbency. Advertisement The Black female Taylor was referring to is Kim Janey, who became acting mayor per the Boston city charter stating that the city council president steps in should the mayoral role become vacant. Janey was sworn in when Marty Walsh left the post to become labor secretary in late March. Taylors e-mail reflects the outdated, pervasive mentality that says politically underrepresented communities of color must coalesce behind a single candidate of color in order for him or her to be successful at the ballot box. Thats as antidemocratic as it is insulting. Taylors note said that Janey is demonstrating that she can do the job but didnt offer any examples or further reasoning other than to say shes already in the seat. As for Campbell, Taylor suggested she should be appointed to fill the Suffolk district attorneys post in the event that Rachael Rollins is nominated for US attorney for the district of Massachusetts. Taylor called that a win/win two Black women in high-level positions, regardless of who they are and what exactly they stand for. Advertisement Both Janey and Campbell denounced Taylors e-mail. Im offended by this idea that all Black women are all the same, Campbell said in an interview. Janey, who a campaign spokesperson said was unavailable for an interview, said via a statement: [T]he email in question in no way reflects my views or values. I disagree with the notion that there can be only one candidate or that multiple Black candidates are somehow harmful. In case one needs proof of how different two Black female candidates can be, one only has to watch them on the campaign trail. Campbell, who launched her mayoral campaign in September, has proposals on a range of issues, such as police reform, public education, and the opioid crisis. In contrast, voters have heard little about Janeys vision for a full mayoral term. She announced she was running a month ago, and her website is still light on policy proposals (those are coming, a Janey campaign spokesperson told me). Janey also skipped two recent mayoral forums, missing key opportunities to talk directly to voters interested in learning the differences among the candidates. Along with the rest of the field, Janey was confirmed as of Monday to attend an NAACP mayoral forum on racial justice scheduled for Thursday evening. Take Boston police reform as an example of an issue that illuminates some disagreements between Janey and Campbell. In her city budget for next fiscal year, Janeys police spending plan of $400 million represents a small cut of just $4 million from last years budget. That is less than the 10 percent reduction she called for last year, as city council president, in a letter to then-mayor Walsh. Meanwhile, Campbell supports a reduction of at least $50 million in the police budget. Advertisement As a councilor, perhaps Janeys most notable victory was her success in pushing for equity in the local marijuana industry. Before being elected to the city council, she spent years working in public education as an advocate. As such, she regularly attended school committee meetings, and she has deep knowledge about the district. Without question, the mayoral seat has given Janey an advantage. But voters havent had much chance to learn more about her vision or what shes selling to get elected. Yes, there are still four months left in the race. But to fully reject Taylors thinking that any Black woman will do, Janey ought to start presenting to voters a fuller picture of what she wants to accomplish other than just playing the role of mayor. Marcela Garca can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @marcela_elisa. | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/05/03/opinion/can-kim-janey-act-her-way-into-job/ |
Is the US doing enough for India? | The number of COVID-19 cases in the USA continues to decrease, but U.S. vaccine aid to other nations may be overdue. And in the South, more tornadoes could be looming. It's Julius and Ashley with the news you'll want to know. But first, breaking news: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and wife Melinda are divorcing after 27 years. They will continue to co-chair the Gates Foundation. The Short List is a snappy USA TODAY news roundup. Subscribe here! New US COVID-19 cases decline as India's crisis deepens The USA averages fewer than 50,000 new coronavirus cases per day, a level not seen since early October and a sign that the nation's mass vaccination program is having an effect on the pandemic. Globally, however, daily deaths and new cases remain at or near all-time highs, driven to a great extent by India's struggles. India broke another record this weekend with more than 400,000 daily new cases, and its daily death toll doubled over the course of 10 days (April 19-29). Independent reporting suggests deaths are vastly undercounted. Though President Joe Biden vowed the United States would be "an arsenal of vaccines" for the world, his advisers have yet to detail how or when the government would begin sharing the U.S. supply. Some have accused the United States of hoarding COVID-19 vaccines. Funeral held for Andrew Brown Jr. in North Carolina Family and friends of Andrew Brown Jr. gathered for a funeral service honoring the man who was fatally shot by North Carolina sheriff's deputies last month. During the service, Brown was remembered as a loving father. "He would have loved this," Khalil Ferebee, Brown's son, said of the service. During his eulogy, Al Sharpton renewed calls for transparency from law enforcement over body camera footage of Brown's death. "Release the whole tape, and let the folks see what happened to Andrew Brown," Sharpton said. Brown, 42, a Black man, was shot five times, including once to the back of his head, when deputies were serving search and arrest warrants related to alleged drug offenses at his home. What everyones talking about 'Boots on the ground' details Minneapolis' Black community after George Floyd During an emotional and complex time in America, USA TODAY journalists Suzette Hackney, Jarrad Henderson and Harrison Hill spent weeks with the Black community in Minneapolis before, during and after the trial and conviction of the former police officer charged with killing George Floyd. "Boots on the Ground," a USA TODAY documentary, chronicles the experiences of the traumatized, frustrated and inspired Black community in the aftermath of Floyd's murder and over the course of the Derek Chauvin trial. The time spent in the city reveals what needs to happen for these killings to end and what it would mean to Black Americans who are exhausted with this reality. Severe weather threatens the South More severe weather including a possible tornado in the Atlanta area roared across the storm-battered South on Monday, a day after multiple tornadoes were reported in Mississippi, causing damage but no injuries. A tornado warning was issued for portions of the Atlanta metro area Monday morning, but it expired after the storm moved through the region. A tornado watch remained in effect for portions of central Alabama and central Georgia. The weather service said severe thunderstorms and heavy rains may bring damaging gusts, large hail, a few tornadoes and flash flooding across parts of the southern Plains into the Southeast and middle Mississippi and lower Ohio Valleys throughout the day Monday. Video: 6 ways to prepare for tornado season Real quick Days after smuggling crackdown, 3 die, 27 hurt when boat capsizes off San Diego A suspected smuggling operation resulted in at least three deaths off the San Diego coast this weekend after the Border Patrol, Coast Guard and other agencies warned that an alarming increase in maritime smuggling could have deadly consequences. The agencies said Friday that they were dedicating "extra resources" to coastal land, sea and air patrols helicopters and planes through Monday. Those resources were tapped Sunday when an overloaded cabin cruiser broke apart in rough seas, prompting a harrowing rescue operation. Seven people were plucked from the turbulent waters; three did not survive. One person was rescued from a cliff, and 22 made it to shore on their own. Twenty-seven people were taken to hospitals with hypothermia or other injuries, and a suspected smuggler was taken into custody. Police help Border Patrol catch migrants at the border. Thats bad policy, experts say. A break from the news: We love our teachers edition It's been a tough year in education: bizarre schedules, little in-class time for millions and so many Zoom rooms. Those challenges took a toll on many; 43% of teachers who quit cited stress both before and during COVID-19 as the chief reason for their departure. For Teacher Appreciation Week, we're highlighting the educators who stuck with us over the past year because of their tenacity or charm or dogged determination to help students or communities. Read about some of the stars here. Send us a few sentences about them at [email protected]. | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2021/05/03/tornado-warning-atlanta-india-covid-19-surge-rebel-wilson-mondays-news/4924093001/ |
Was The Smart Money Right About Biogen Inc. (BIIB)? | Hedge funds and large money managers usually invest with a focus on the long-term horizon and, therefore, short-lived dips or bumps on the charts usually don't make them change their opinion towards a company. This time it may be different. The coronavirus pandemic destroyed the high correlations among major industries and asset classes. We are now in a stock pickers market where fundamentals of a stock have more effect on the price than the overall direction of the market. As a result we observe sudden and large changes in hedge fund positions depending on the news flow. Lets take a look at the hedge fund sentiment towards Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) to find out whether there were any major changes in hedge funds' views. Investors who are in the know were buying. The number of long hedge fund positions inched up by 4 lately. Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) was in 63 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of December. The all time high for this statistic is 81. Our calculations also showed that BIIB isn't among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds (click for Q4 rankings). Our research has shown that a select group of hedge fund holdings outperformed the S&P 500 ETFs by 124 percentage points since March 2017 (see the details here). That's why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to. Donald Sussman Paloma Partners Donald Sussman of Paloma Partners At Insider Monkey we leave no stone unturned when looking for the next great investment idea. For example, lithium mining is one of the fastest growing industries right now, so we are checking out stock pitches like this emerging lithium stock. We go through lists like the 10 best hydrogen fuel cell stocks to pick the next Tesla that will deliver a 10x return. Even though we recommend positions in only a tiny fraction of the companies we analyze, we check out as many stocks as we can. We read hedge fund investor letters and listen to stock pitches at hedge fund conferences. You can subscribe to our free daily newsletter on our homepage. Now we're going to take a look at the key hedge fund action surrounding Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB). At fourth quarter's end, a total of 63 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 7% from the previous quarter. On the other hand, there were a total of 61 hedge funds with a bullish position in BIIB a year ago. So, let's check out which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves. Among these funds, Renaissance Technologies held the most valuable stake in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB), which was worth $743.8 million at the end of the fourth quarter. On the second spot was AQR Capital Management which amassed $245.5 million worth of shares. D E Shaw, Berkshire Hathaway, and Sarissa Capital Management were also very fond of the stock, becoming one of the largest hedge fund holders of the company. In terms of the portfolio weights assigned to each position Sarissa Capital Management allocated the biggest weight to Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB), around 16.07% of its 13F portfolio. Sabby Capital is also relatively very bullish on the stock, earmarking 5.49 percent of its 13F equity portfolio to BIIB. Now, key money managers were breaking ground themselves. Deerfield Management, managed by James E. Flynn, created the most valuable position in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB). Deerfield Management had $109.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Palo Alto Investors also made a $57.4 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Stephen DuBois's Camber Capital Management, Brian Ashford-Russell and Tim Woolley's Polar Capital, and Farallon Capital. Let's go over hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) but similarly valued. We will take a look at The Trade Desk, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTD), The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE:BK), Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP), Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS), Chewy, Inc. (NYSE:CHWY), MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI), and Brown-Forman Corporation (NYSE:BF). This group of stocks' market caps match BIIB's market cap. [table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position TTD,35,1195309,12 BK,47,4689872,-1 MCHP,45,961474,10 CTAS,36,746276,-2 CHWY,38,728528,-8 MSCI,41,984592,-6 BF,29,1575074,-3 Average,38.7,1554446,0.3 [/table] View table here if you experience formatting issues. As you can see these stocks had an average of 38.7 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $1554 million. That figure was $2753 million in BIIB's case. The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE:BK) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Brown-Forman Corporation (NYSE:BF) is the least popular one with only 29 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) is more popular among hedge funds. Our overall hedge fund sentiment score for BIIB is 82.3. Stocks with higher number of hedge fund positions relative to other stocks as well as relative to their historical range receive a higher sentiment score. Our calculations showed that top 10 most popular stocks among hedge funds returned 90.7% in 2019 and 2020, and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by 35 percentage points. These stocks gained 13.6% in 2021 through April 30th and still beat the market by 1.6 percentage points. Unfortunately BIIB wasn't nearly as popular as these 10 stocks and hedge funds that were betting on BIIB were disappointed as the stock returned 9.2% since the end of the fourth quarter (through 4/30) and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out the top 10 most popular stocks among hedge funds as most of these stocks already outperformed the market since 2019. Get real-time email alerts: Follow Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey. Related Content | https://news.yahoo.com/smart-money-biogen-inc-biib-213005186.html |
Was The Smart Money Right About Piling Into Carvana Co. (CVNA)? | After several tireless days we have finished crunching the numbers from nearly 900 13F filings issued by the elite hedge funds and other investment firms that we track at Insider Monkey, which disclosed those firms' equity portfolios as of December 31st. The results of that effort will be put on display in this article, as we share valuable insight into the smart money sentiment towards Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA). Money managers were turning bullish. The number of long hedge fund bets advanced by 10 in recent months. Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) was in 63 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of December. The all time high for this statistic was previously 57. This means the bullish number of hedge fund positions in this stock currently sits at its all time high. Our calculations also showed that CVNA isn't among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds (click for Q4 rankings). There were 53 hedge funds in our database with CVNA positions at the end of the third quarter. Our research has shown that a select group of hedge fund holdings outperformed the S&P 500 ETFs by 124 percentage points since March 2017 (see the details here). That's why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to. Christian Leone of Luxor Capital Group At Insider Monkey we leave no stone unturned when looking for the next great investment idea. For example, lithium mining is one of the fastest growing industries right now, so we are checking out stock pitches like this emerging lithium stock. We go through lists like the 10 best hydrogen fuel cell stocks to pick the next Tesla that will deliver a 10x return. Even though we recommend positions in only a tiny fraction of the companies we analyze, we check out as many stocks as we can. We read hedge fund investor letters and listen to stock pitches at hedge fund conferences. You can subscribe to our free daily newsletter on our homepage. Keeping this in mind let's review the new hedge fund action regarding Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA). At Q4's end, a total of 63 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 19% from the previous quarter. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards CVNA over the last 22 quarters. With the smart money's sentiment swirling, there exists an "upper tier" of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes substantially (or already accumulated large positions). Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Tiger Global Management LLC, managed by Chase Coleman, holds the number one position in Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA). Tiger Global Management LLC has a $1.4403 billion position in the stock, comprising 3.7% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Spruce House Investment Management, managed by Zachary Sternberg and Benjamin Stein, which holds a $949.4 million position; the fund has 29.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedge funds and institutional investors that hold long positions contain Daniel Sundheim's D1 Capital Partners, Clifford A. Sosin's CAS Investment Partners and Lone Pine Capital. In terms of the portfolio weights assigned to each position CAS Investment Partners allocated the biggest weight to Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA), around 42.54% of its 13F portfolio. Spruce House Investment Management is also relatively very bullish on the stock, designating 29.05 percent of its 13F equity portfolio to CVNA. As aggregate interest increased, specific money managers have jumped into Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) headfirst. Lone Pine Capital, established the most outsized position in Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA). Lone Pine Capital had $586.5 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Tom Purcell and Marco Tablada's Alua Capital Management also made a $167.9 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new CVNA investors: Christian Leone's Luxor Capital Group, Steve Cohen's Point72 Asset Management, and Paul Marshall and Ian Wace's Marshall Wace LLP. Let's now review hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA). We will take a look at Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX), CNOOC Limited (NYSE:CEO), Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS), Thomson Reuters Corporation (NYSE:TRI), Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:GOLD), Public Storage (NYSE:PSA), and Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH). This group of stocks' market valuations resemble CVNA's market valuation. [table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position BAX,42,2801959,-9 CEO,13,197301,-1 PINS,95,5840185,15 TRI,23,360755,4 GOLD,53,1751874,1 PSA,31,1038430,14 MTCH,72,3780895,11 Average,47,2253057,5 [/table] View table here if you experience formatting issues. As you can see these stocks had an average of 47 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $2253 million. That figure was $7072 million in CVNA's case. Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand CNOOC Limited (NYSE:CEO) is the least popular one with only 13 bullish hedge fund positions. Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. Our overall hedge fund sentiment score for CVNA is 70.5. Stocks with higher number of hedge fund positions relative to other stocks as well as relative to their historical range receive a higher sentiment score. Our calculations showed that top 10 most popular stocks among hedge funds returned 90.7% in 2019 and 2020, and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by 35 percentage points. These stocks gained 13.6% in 2021 through April 30th and still beat the market by 1.6 percentage points. Hedge funds were also right about betting on CVNA as the stock returned 19.1% since the end of Q4 (through 4/30) and outperformed the market. Hedge funds were rewarded for their relative bullishness. Get real-time email alerts: Follow Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey. Related Content | https://news.yahoo.com/smart-money-piling-carvana-co-213039470.html |
Were Hedge Funds Right About Piling Into Aon plc (AON)? | Out of thousands of stocks that are currently traded on the market, it is difficult to identify those that will really generate strong returns. Hedge funds and institutional investors spend millions of dollars on analysts with MBAs and PhDs, who are industry experts and well connected to other industry and media insiders on top of that. Individual investors can piggyback the hedge funds employing these talents and can benefit from their vast resources and knowledge in that way. We analyze quarterly 13F filings of nearly 900 hedge funds and, by looking at the smart money sentiment that surrounds a stock, we can determine whether it has the potential to beat the market over the long-term. Therefore, lets take a closer look at what smart money thinks about Aon plc (NYSE:AON). Aon plc (NYSE:AON) has seen an increase in enthusiasm from smart money lately. Aon plc (NYSE:AON) was in 63 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of the fourth quarter of 2020. The all time high for this statistic was previously 57. This means the bullish number of hedge fund positions in this stock currently sits at its all time high. There were 52 hedge funds in our database with AON holdings at the end of September. Our calculations also showed that AON isn't among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds (click for Q4 rankings). Hedge funds' reputation as shrewd investors has been tarnished in the last decade as their hedged returns couldn't keep up with the unhedged returns of the market indices. Our research has shown that hedge funds' small-cap stock picks managed to beat the market by double digits annually between 1999 and 2016, but the margin of outperformance has been declining in recent years. Nevertheless, we were still able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the S&P 500 ETFs by 124 percentage points since March 2017 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that underperformed the market by 10 percentage points annually between 2006 and 2017. Interestingly the margin of underperformance of these stocks has been increasing in recent years. Investors who are long the market and short these stocks would have returned more than 27% annually between 2015 and 2017. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 in our quarterly newsletter. Story continues Boykin Curry EAGLE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT Boykin Curry of Eagle Capital At Insider Monkey we leave no stone unturned when looking for the next great investment idea. For example, lithium mining is one of the fastest growing industries right now, so we are checking out stock pitches like this emerging lithium stock. We go through lists like the 10 best hydrogen fuel cell stocks to pick the next Tesla that will deliver a 10x return. Even though we recommend positions in only a tiny fraction of the companies we analyze, we check out as many stocks as we can. We read hedge fund investor letters and listen to stock pitches at hedge fund conferences. You can subscribe to our free daily newsletter on our homepage. Keeping this in mind we're going to take a gander at the new hedge fund action regarding Aon plc (NYSE:AON). At the end of December, a total of 63 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 21% from the third quarter of 2020. The graph below displays the number of hedge funds with bullish position in AON over the last 22 quarters. So, let's review which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves. The largest stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) was held by Eagle Capital Management, which reported holding $1511.2 million worth of stock at the end of December. It was followed by Viking Global with a $543.1 million position. Other investors bullish on the company included BlueSpruce Investments, Farallon Capital, and Brave Warrior Capital. In terms of the portfolio weights assigned to each position Brave Warrior Capital allocated the biggest weight to Aon plc (NYSE:AON), around 11.64% of its 13F portfolio. BlueSpruce Investments is also relatively very bullish on the stock, earmarking 10.34 percent of its 13F equity portfolio to AON. Now, specific money managers were leading the bulls' herd. GQG Partners, managed by Rajiv Jain, created the most valuable position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON). GQG Partners had $245.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Benjamin A. Smith's Laurion Capital Management also made a $46.1 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Carl Tiedemann and Michael Tiedemann's TIG Advisors, Peter Lewis's LFL Advisers, and Paul Tudor Jones's Tudor Investment Corp. Let's go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Aon plc (NYSE:AON). We will take a look at Prudential Public Limited Company (NYSE:PUK), Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR), Ambev SA (NYSE:ABEV), Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM), Eaton Corporation plc (NYSE:ETN), Relx PLC (NYSE:RELX), and CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD). All of these stocks' market caps are similar to AON's market cap. [table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position PUK,2,5988,-2 EMR,46,1044004,10 ABEV,18,306765,-3 NEM,50,1213292,-5 ETN,41,833660,6 RELX,8,136867,2 CRWD,92,7242322,21 Average,36.7,1540414,4.1 [/table] View table here if you experience formatting issues. As you can see these stocks had an average of 36.7 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $1540 million. That figure was $5800 million in AON's case. CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Prudential Public Limited Company (NYSE:PUK) is the least popular one with only 2 bullish hedge fund positions. Aon plc (NYSE:AON) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. Our overall hedge fund sentiment score for AON is 73.9. Stocks with higher number of hedge fund positions relative to other stocks as well as relative to their historical range receive a higher sentiment score. Our calculations showed that top 10 most popular stocks among hedge funds returned 90.7% in 2019 and 2020, and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by 35 percentage points. These stocks gained 13.6% in 2021 through April 30th and still beat the market by 1.6 percentage points. Hedge funds were also right about betting on AON as the stock returned 19.5% since the end of Q4 (through 4/30) and outperformed the market. Hedge funds were rewarded for their relative bullishness. Get real-time email alerts: Follow Aon Plc (NYSE:AON) Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey. Related Content | https://news.yahoo.com/were-hedge-funds-piling-aon-213033500.html |
Were Hedge Funds Right About Piling Into Crown Holdings (CCK)? | Many prominent investors, including Warren Buffett, David Tepper and Stan Druckenmiller, have been cautious regarding the current bull market and missed out as the stock market reached another high in recent weeks. On the other hand, technology hedge funds weren't timid and registered double digit market beating gains. Financials, energy and industrial stocks initially suffered the most but many of these stocks delivered strong returns since November and hedge funds actually increased their positions in these stocks. In this article we will find out how hedge fund sentiment towards Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) changed recently. Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) investors should be aware of an increase in support from the world's most elite money managers in recent months. Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) was in 63 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of the fourth quarter of 2020. The all time high for this statistic was previously 58. This means the bullish number of hedge fund positions in this stock currently sits at its all time high. There were 47 hedge funds in our database with CCK holdings at the end of September. Our calculations also showed that CCK isn't among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds (click for Q4 rankings). Hedge funds' reputation as shrewd investors has been tarnished in the last decade as their hedged returns couldn't keep up with the unhedged returns of the market indices. Hedge funds have more than $3.5 trillion in assets under management, so you can't expect their entire portfolios to beat the market by large margins. Our research was able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the S&P 500 ETFs by more than 124 percentage points since March 2017 (see the details here). So you can still find a lot of gems by following hedge funds' moves today. Matthew Hulsizer PEAK6 Capital Matthew Hulsizer of PEAK6 Capital At Insider Monkey we leave no stone unturned when looking for the next great investment idea. For example, lithium mining is one of the fastest growing industries right now, so we are checking out stock pitches like this emerging lithium stock. We go through lists like the 10 best hydrogen fuel cell stocks to pick the next Tesla that will deliver a 10x return. Even though we recommend positions in only a tiny fraction of the companies we analyze, we check out as many stocks as we can. We read hedge fund investor letters and listen to stock pitches at hedge fund conferences. You can subscribe to our free daily newsletter on our homepage. With all of this in mind let's take a look at the fresh hedge fund action encompassing Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK). At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 63 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of 34% from the previous quarter. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards CCK over the last 22 quarters. So, let's check out which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves. More specifically, Lyrical Asset Management was the largest shareholder of Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK), with a stake worth $339.8 million reported as of the end of December. Trailing Lyrical Asset Management was Maverick Capital, which amassed a stake valued at $152.1 million. Southpoint Capital Advisors, Rivulet Capital, and Citadel Investment Group were also very fond of the stock, becoming one of the largest hedge fund holders of the company. In terms of the portfolio weights assigned to each position SAYA Management allocated the biggest weight to Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK), around 17.37% of its 13F portfolio. Engle Capital is also relatively very bullish on the stock, earmarking 13.03 percent of its 13F equity portfolio to CCK. As industrywide interest jumped, key hedge funds were leading the bulls' herd. TOMS Capital, managed by Benjamin Pass, initiated the biggest position in Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK). TOMS Capital had $80.4 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Ben Jacobs's Anomaly Capital Management also made a $36.4 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Eli Cohen's Crescent Park Management, Guy Shahar's DSAM Partners, and Brad Farber's Atika Capital. Let's go over hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Brookfield Property Partners LP (NYSE:BPY), Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO), ON Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:ON), Sarepta Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SRPT), Cable One Inc (NYSE:CABO), Penn National Gaming, Inc (NASDAQ:PENN), and Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC). This group of stocks' market caps are similar to CCK's market cap. [table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position BPY,9,26137,1 BRO,29,931431,0 ON,45,1377409,16 SRPT,37,978493,2 CABO,17,827605,-6 PENN,41,1324598,-4 OMC,34,546941,0 Average,30.3,858945,1.3 [/table] View table here if you experience formatting issues. As you can see these stocks had an average of 30.3 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $859 million. That figure was $2030 million in CCK's case. ON Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:ON) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Brookfield Property Partners LP (NYSE:BPY) is the least popular one with only 9 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) is more popular among hedge funds. Our overall hedge fund sentiment score for CCK is 90. Stocks with higher number of hedge fund positions relative to other stocks as well as relative to their historical range receive a higher sentiment score. Our calculations showed that top 10 most popular stocks among hedge funds returned 90.7% in 2019 and 2020, and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by 35 percentage points. These stocks gained 13.6% in 2021 through April 30th and still beat the market by 1.6 percentage points. Unfortunately CCK wasn't nearly as popular as these 10 stocks and hedge funds that were betting on CCK were disappointed as the stock returned 9.8% since the end of the fourth quarter (through 4/30) and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out the top 10 most popular stocks among hedge funds as most of these stocks already outperformed the market since 2019. Get real-time email alerts: Follow Crown Holdings Inc (NYSE:CCK) Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey. Related Content | https://news.yahoo.com/were-hedge-funds-piling-crown-212955149.html |
Were Hedge Funds Right About Piling Into Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS)? | In this article we will check out the progression of hedge fund sentiment towards Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) and determine whether it is a good investment right now. We at Insider Monkey like to examine what billionaires and hedge funds think of a company before spending days of research on it. Given their 2 and 20 payment structure, hedge funds have more incentives and resources than the average investor. The funds have access to expert networks and get tips from industry insiders. They also employ numerous Ivy League graduates and MBAs. Like everyone else, hedge funds perform miserably at times, but their consensus picks have historically outperformed the market after risk adjustments. The smart money was turning bullish. The number of long hedge fund bets improved by 16 in recent months. Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) was in 63 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of the fourth quarter of 2020. The all time high for this statistic was previously 47. This means the bullish number of hedge fund positions in this stock currently sits at its all time high. Our calculations also showed that LVS isn't among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds (click for Q4 rankings). In the 21st century investors toolkit there are tons of indicators stock market investors use to analyze publicly traded companies. A duo of the best indicators are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. Our experts have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite fund managers can outclass the S&P 500 by a significant margin (see the details here). Also, our monthly newsletter's portfolio of long stock picks returned 197% since March 2017 (through March 2021) and beat the S&P 500 Index by 124 percentage points. You can download a sample issue of this newsletter on our website . Daniel Sundheim D1 Capital Daniel Sundheim of D1 Capital Partners At Insider Monkey we leave no stone unturned when looking for the next great investment idea. For example, lithium mining is one of the fastest growing industries right now, so we are checking out stock pitches like this emerging lithium stock. We go through lists like the 10 best hydrogen fuel cell stocks to pick the next Tesla that will deliver a 10x return. Even though we recommend positions in only a tiny fraction of the companies we analyze, we check out as many stocks as we can. We read hedge fund investor letters and listen to stock pitches at hedge fund conferences. You can subscribe to our free daily newsletter on our homepage. Now let's take a look at the fresh hedge fund action surrounding Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS). At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 63 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 34% from the third quarter of 2020. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards LVS over the last 22 quarters. With hedgies' capital changing hands, there exists an "upper tier" of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes considerably (or already accumulated large positions). The largest stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) was held by Melvin Capital Management, which reported holding $629.4 million worth of stock at the end of December. It was followed by D1 Capital Partners with a $318.3 million position. Other investors bullish on the company included Palestra Capital Management, Point72 Asset Management, and Citadel Investment Group. In terms of the portfolio weights assigned to each position Cumberland Associates / Springowl Associates allocated the biggest weight to Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS), around 18.08% of its 13F portfolio. 1060 Capital Management is also relatively very bullish on the stock, earmarking 9.42 percent of its 13F equity portfolio to LVS. With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, key money managers have been driving this bullishness. Palestra Capital Management, managed by Andrew Immerman and Jeremy Schiffman, assembled the largest position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS). Palestra Capital Management had $193.1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Alexander Mitchell's Scopus Asset Management also initiated a $123.7 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new LVS investors: Daniel S. Och's OZ Management, Robert Pitts's Steadfast Capital Management, and Amit Nitin Doshi's Harbor Spring Capital. Let's check out hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Lululemon Athletica inc. (NASDAQ:LULU), DoorDash, Inc. (NYSE:DASH), Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE:COF), Roper Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ROP), Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (NASDAQ:KDP), The Blackstone Group Inc. (NYSE:BX), and NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ:NXPI). This group of stocks' market values resemble LVS's market value. [table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position LULU,50,929013,0 DASH,38,3952490,38 COF,56,3028457,14 ROP,40,1348849,-10 KDP,29,1076705,-12 BX,54,1450344,5 NXPI,66,2259680,-2 Average,47.6,2006505,4.7 [/table] View table here if you experience formatting issues. As you can see these stocks had an average of 47.6 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $2007 million. That figure was $3066 million in LVS's case. NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ:NXPI) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (NASDAQ:KDP) is the least popular one with only 29 bullish hedge fund positions. Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. Our overall hedge fund sentiment score for LVS is 85.9. Stocks with higher number of hedge fund positions relative to other stocks as well as relative to their historical range receive a higher sentiment score. This is a slightly positive signal but we'd rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. Our calculations showed that top 10 most popular stocks among hedge funds returned 90.7% in 2019 and 2020, and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by 35 percentage points. These stocks gained 13.6% in 2021 through April 30th and beat the market again by 1.6 percentage points. Unfortunately LVS wasn't nearly as popular as these 10 stocks and hedge funds that were betting on LVS were disappointed as the stock returned 2.8% since the end of December (through 4/30) and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out the top 10 most popular stocks among hedge funds as many of these stocks already outperformed the market since 2019. Get real-time email alerts: Follow Las Vegas Sands Corp (NYSE:LVS) Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey. Related Content | https://news.yahoo.com/were-hedge-funds-piling-las-213016593.html |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.