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Will Comcast Corporation Raise Its Dividend in 2016? | article Comcast has had a rough year. Continue Reading Below The company had to drop its bid to acquire Time Warner Cable for $45 billion in April after the Federal Communications Commission made it clear it would not approve the merger. To make matters worse Comcast had to watch TWC agree to be acquired by Charter Communications in a deal that should win approval, if only because Charter does not have quite as awful a reputation with the general public as Comcast does. In addition to losing a merger, which might have helped the company continue to dictate terms as a near-monopoly in many markets, it also spent 2015 dealing with the same woes as the rest of the pay television industry. On the negative side, while it did not reach the numbers some predicted, cord cutting has become a real issue. On the positive, cutting the cord requires quality broadband service. That puts Comcast in an odd position as we start 2016. The company is still not liked by a lot of the public and that may cause increasing numbers of subscribers to consider dropping cable. But, it will also force those same customers into making sure they have good broadband and for some Comcast will be there only choice. As Comcast decides what to do with its dividend for the new year, it must factor in the likely decline of its cable business and its potential growth as an Internet service provider. Source: YCharts.com Advertisement A look at the businessComcast gained 24,000 cable subscribers in Q1, lost 69,000 in Q2, and dropped another 48,000 in Q3, according to numbers from Leichtman Research Group (LRG). That's a relatively minor loss of 93,000 pay-TV customers for the first three quarters of 2015 for a company that closed Q3 with over 22.25 million cable subscribers. In broadband the company gained 407,000 paying users in Q1, added another 170,000 in Q2, and tacked on 320,000 more in Q3, according to LRG. That's nearly 900,000 new broadband connections, more than a third of the roughly 2.2 million adds for the industry as a while during the first three quarters of 2015. Put together those two numbers give Comcast a fairly rosy picture. It may lose cable customers, but it's likely to add many more broadband users than it loses if these trends hold up. Given this, even with the lingering disappointment over the quashed Time Warner Cable deal, there is no reason to believe the company won't do what it always does when it comes to its dividend -- raise it slightly. Comcast's dividend historySince first offering a dividend in 2008, Comcast has raised the annual payout slightly each year. Last year the company paid $0.25 per share each quarter, up from $0.225 for the four quarters in 2014. That follows similar increases in each of the years preceding this one since the company instituted the dividend. So, even in a somewhat unsteady business environment where it may have a new, large competitor in Charter should the Time Warner Cable deal go through, Comcast will almost certainly increase its dividend in 2016. originally appeared on Fool.com. Daniel Kline has no position in any stocks mentioned.He believes there can never be enough superhero programming on TV. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. | https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/will-comcast-corporation-raise-its-dividend-in-2016 |
Can Groupon Disrupt Amazon and eBay's Third-Party Sales? | GiveGroupon credit for trying. The company, which started as a daily deals site has changed its business from that initial focus and is broadening into travel and selling hard goods. That segment, which focuses mostly on selling discount, often out-of-season, or last-year's-model merchandise has grown to become the company's second largest revenue stream. Continue Reading Below In the fourth quarter of 2014 Groupon's Goods segment produced $595 million in sales and a $66 million gross profit while Local, the name it uses for its coupon/deal business took in $833 million delivering a $279 million gross profit. The company has transformed its business from the often-copied local store deal model into something closer to a traditional discount retailer. Now Groupon plans to leverage its 260 million global subscribers to take onAmazon andeBay by creating a store which allows third-party merchants to sell their goods -- albeit with a catch. What is Groupon doing?The company is launching Groupon Stores,a third-party marketplace that requires participatingretailers to sell their products atprices 5% lower than they do anywhere else online. "Unlike Amazon and eBay, the Groupon Stores marketplace is meant for a select number of your products that you're looking to liquidate or promote through a discount," the company wrote in an FAQ. "There are no listing fees, but we do require that products be placed at lower prices than Amazon, eBay, or anywhere else they may be listed online." The difference between this offering and Groupon Goods is that the merchants hold the inventory and fulfill any orders which come through Stores. The new platform should give the company more items to sell without increasing its inventory or risk. It's a smart move for Groupon which comes with a fair amount of upside and very little risk. Advertisement Stores is still in private beta and has not settled on official pricing according to a company spokesman,GeekWirereported. How is this different than Amazon and eBay?Aside from requiring merchants to offer items at the lowest price they sell them online, Stores has a few other differences from Amazon and eBay's third-party seller marketplaces. Groupon, at least in the beta test, is charging a flat 15% of the sale price as its fee to retailers using the platform,Re/Codereported. That fee could change, Groupon PR chief Bill Robert told the website, as the company is still testing the platform. eBay has a much more complicated pricing structure which depends on what type of store a retailer signs up to have on the auction site. The cost, which can include listing fees and commissions, can be estimated using the company's Fee Illustrator tool. eBay's structure has a lot of variables, which makes it hard to compare to Groupon or Amazon's offer, but it's fair to say Stores is a more straightforward proposition. Amazon charges a base fee of $39.99 a month and takes a percentage of the sale or a flat fee (depending upon the item being sold) which varies widely based on what you are selling. Once again, Groupon's deal -- should it stand as it is in the beta -- may not be cheaper, but it's a lot easier to understand. Can Groupon topple the giants?Groupon has a big hill to climb but growing its Goods business from nothing to around $2 billion a year in under five years is fairly impressive. The company has also stocked up on ex-Amazon talent to help it undertake its assault on the category. The company'sCFO Jason Child and North AmericanPresident Rich Williams are both former Amazon employees; as areRobbie Schwietzer, Groupon's SVP of operations, andVinayak Hegde, who heads Groupon's Seattle office. This is a smart play as Groupon is not asking retailers to abandon Amazon or eBay. Instead the growing retailer is asking them to bring a good deal or two to its platform. That fits with the value proposition model which is at the core of the company's brand and it should be an attractive offer to at least some sellers. eBay and Amazon may have nothing to worry about right now, but Groupon has found a way to build a steady assault on their businesses. Right now it's just nibbling away at the edges, but establishing relationships with third-party vendors -- should they be successful -- gives the company the building blocks for an all-out assault down the road. originally appeared on Fool.com. Daniel Kline has no position in any stocks mentioned. He booked his last vacation using Groupon Getaways. The Motley Fool recommends Amazon.com and eBay. The Motley Fool owns shares of Amazon.com and eBay. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2015 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. | https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/can-groupon-disrupt-amazon-and-ebays-third-party-sales |
Will Syria be Invited to Arab League Summit in Tunisia in March? | Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (AFP Photo) Follow > Disable alert for Bashar al-Assad Follow > Tunisia and Egypt are in talks over inviting Bashar al-Assad to attend an Arab League summit in March in Tunis, senior diplomatic sources said, amid increasing regional and international moves to rehabilitate the Syrian dictator despite his brutal record in his country's civil war. Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui met with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi on Saturday concluding a series of meetings with Egyptian officials to discuss the matter, the sources said. "The Tunisian minister's visit to Cairo comes at the request of the Egyptian side to settle the issue of the Assad regime's participation in the 33rd Arab summit and discuss ways to implement this after the approval of other Arab states," the sources said. "This would come after Syria makes certain pledges," they added. According to observers, this could promises about containing Iranian presence in Syria, which a number of Gulf Arab states are keen to counter; and accepting the deployment of pan-Arab forces to replace US forces in some parts of Syria, according to the sources. Reports in Arabic media suggest that an Arab League meeting on Sunday will discuss the issue of normalising ties with the Assad regime. Last month, Tunisia denied reports that it was would hold talks on inviting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to an Arab League summit in March next year. Syria was expelled from the 22-member Arab League soon after war broke out in 2011. Arab countries also sanctioned Damascus and condemned Assad for using overwhelming military force and failing to negotiate with the opposition. But as troops loyal to Assad's regime recapture key cities and population centres, some Arab officials have expressed interest in exploring the restoration of ties, even as a number of Arab countries including Egypt and the UAE continued to have covert relations with Assad. Sudan's embattled leader Omar al-Bashir visited Damascus last month, a move followed shortly by the UAE reopening its embassy in the Syrian capital and Bahrain resuming diplomatic ties with the Assad regime. Reports also suggest Iraq and Mauritania's leaders could visit Damascus soon, as Western capitals signal Assad is here to stay. The Syrian war began when the Baath regime, in power since 1963 and led by President Bashar al-Assad, responded with military force to peaceful protests demanding democratic reforms during the Arab Spring wave of uprisings, triggering an armed rebellion fuelled by mass defections from the Syrian army. At least tens of thousands of civilians have been killed in the war, mostly by the regime and its powerful allies, and millions have been displaced both inside and outside of Syria. The brutal tactics pursued mainly by the regime, which have included the use of chemical weapons, sieges, mass executions and torture against civilians have led to war crimes investigations against Assad and his henchmen. This article has been adapted from its original source. | https://www.albawaba.com/news/will-syria-be-invited-arab-league-summit-tunisia-march-1234822 |
Who are FIFA pro gamers voting for in FIFA 19 Team of the Year? | The new year is a time to set goals, for a fresh start but for FIFA players it means only one thing - the release of the highly-anticipated Team of the Year (TOTY) cards on Ultimate Team. Esports professionals and FIFA influencers have been given the chance to pick their best XI from 2018 out of 55 world-class candidates. The 11 players who receive the most votes will form the official TOTY and will each be given special blue cards on Ultimate Team with overalls in the high 90s. Goal has also been given a voting box but you'll have to stay tuned to see those results. In the meantime, some FIFA pros and personalities have already revealed who they picked to receive special blue cards on FUT. One of them is former FIFA Interactive finalist and Manchester City esports pro Kai 'Deto' Wollin. The German has opted for a team of David de Gea, Joshua Kimmich, Virgil Van Dijk, Raphael Varane, Marcelo, Paul Pogba, N'Golo Kante, Luka Modric, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo. One interesting omission from the team is Man City's own Kevin De Bruyne, with Deto going against his club by including Pogba of rivals Manchester United. The even bigger snub from Deto's side is Lionel Messi, who Deto admitted is "one of the greatest ever". F2's Donovan 'Tekkz' Hunt won't be making the same choice as he tweeted: "If you dont put Messi in TOTY youre deluded." Tekkz has made an incredible start to FIFA 19 with multiple trophy wins and we will undoubtedly see him make use of TOTY cards this year. The teenager hasn't revealed who he will be voting for but along with Messi you will probably see the Liverpool fan include Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah in his team. Fellow pro player Jamie 'Jamboo' Rigden has revealed his votes with a team of De Gea, Kyle Walker, Sergio Ramos, Varane, Marcelo, Kante, Modric, Toni Kroos, Mbappe, Messi and Ronaldo. The West Ham man almost included KDB in his team over Kroos but felt that the four months the Belgian missed through injury held him back. Article continues below Fellow pro Nathan 'Zelonius' Horton from FUTWIZ opted for a similar team but with some minor differences. The biggest surprises were at the back as the Englishman put Thibaut Courtois in goal and opted for three centre-backs in Van Dijk, Ramos and Varane over a right-back. Zelonius also decided to include De Bruyne after the Belgian's phenomenal showing in the Premier League and World Cup last season. As for influencers, most have allowed their community to vote - however you can see who is currently leading the votes from Bateson's community. The line-up is pretty expected with De Gea, Van Dijk, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo, De Bruyne, Kante, Modric, Mbappe, Messi and Ronaldo. That is almost the exact same as the team chosen by FIFA esports commentator Brandon Smith other than the fact he opted for a standard team with Walker at right-back ahead of Van Dijk. Smith controversially left Messi out last year but has decided to put the Argentine back into his side for FIFA 19. | https://www.goal.com/en-au/news/who-are-fifa-pro-gamers-voting-for-in-fifa-19-team-of-the/1olnezkk0217q1jvx8zhqoqm6x |
Is Momo a Buy? | Another year of strong organic growth for Chinese social media app Momo (NASDAQ: MOMO) -- plus its acquisition of match-making peer Tantan in the spring of 2018 -- did not equate to much in the way of share price appreciation in 2018. After doubling in the first half of the year, the stock promptly reversed course and gave up all of its gains and then some, losing 3% in 2018. The upshot for the company is that its growth story remains intact, albeit at a slower clip than in the recent past. While that may not indicate completely clear skies ahead for the social and entertainment technologist, the stock does look like a value. When good isn't good enough Momo is still expanding at an extremely healthy rate. During the third quarter of 2018, revenue improved 51% year-over-year, monthly active users increased by 17% to 110.5 million, and paying subscribers increased by 71% to 12.5 million, although 3.6 million of those new subscribers came via the Tantan buyout. Metric Q1 2018 Q2 2018 Q3 2018 2018 To-Date Total Revenue $435.10 $494.30 $536.00 $1,465.40 YOY revenue growth 64% 58% 51% 57% Operating expenses $288.7 $369.40 $442.10 $1,100.2 YOY operating expense growth 65% 50% 66% 60% Earnings per share $0.31 $0.28 $0.20 $0.79 YOY earnings-per-share growth 55% 87% 5% 47% 2018 Adjusted earnings per share $0.69 $0.66 $0.53 $1.88 YOY adjusted earnings-per-share growth 57% 89% 18% 52% Data source: Momo. All dollar figures in millions. YOY=Year over year. Nevertheless, Momo's momentum is slowing as of late. A top line growing north of 60% at the beginning of the year curbed to 51% in the third quarter. Also, the 17% increase in monthly active users in the third quarter represents a cooled-down cadence from the 21% pace set during the first quarter. Alongside third-quarter results, management advised investors to expect revenue to grow 43% to 47% year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2018. Paired with an overall bad year for Chinese stocks, the decelerating results put Momo investors in a sour mood the second half of 2018. A group of people sitting on a bench holding laptops, tablets, and smartphones. More Image source: Getty Images. The upshot... It's true that Momo is losing steam, but revenue growth north of 40% is nothing to get too upset about. Plus, while the company continues to invest in itself to maximize growth, it's worth noting that the social app is still a very profitable concern. Momo' stock is currently priced at 11.7 times trailing 12-month earnings, and the company's forward 12-month price to earnings (PE) ratio based on analyst expectations is 8.5. That implies a big gain in the bottom line in the year ahead, even as Momo continues to dump money into its social network and entertainment productions. For the sake of comparison, Tencent Holdings (NASDAQOTH: TCEHY) -- the owner of China's largest social network platform, WeChat -- improved year-over-year revenue 24% in the third quarter of 2018 and carries a trailing 12-month PE ratio of 28.1. That makes Momo a good value relative to its larger peer, both from a revenue growth and a valuation standpoint. While Tencent has other irons in the fire that could drive results -- like its video game, cloud computing, and investment arms -- Momo's stock shouldn't be dismissed after its big pullback. Investors willing to stomach a little volatility should add this one to their watch lists. More From The Motley Fool Nicholas Rossolillo and his clients own shares of Tencent Holdings. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Tencent Holdings. The Motley Fool recommends Momo. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. | https://news.yahoo.com/momo-buy-131700202.html |
Is there a way for computer programs to run on Windows and iOS? | Emulators are applications that create self-contained simulations of operating systems within entirely different operating systems. They are primarily used by developers to test the stability of programs in various computing environments. (Photo: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO FROM STOCK PHOTO) Q: I tried to download and open an iOS app into my Windows 8.1 laptop. Bob Snow, Stuart A: Windows and iOS are two different operating systems entirely. iOS is the operating system used on mobile Apple devices, like iPhones and iPads, and Windows is the operating system that runs on Windows-based PCs and laptops. When programs are developed, they are made to run on one specific operating system per version, not on ALL operating systems at once. So if you download an app made for iOS and try to open it on a Windows computer, it will not open because that app has not been made to run in Windows. If you want to use an iOS app on a Windows machine, you either need to find a version of that app that's been made specifically to work in Windows, or you can install and run an iOS emulator on your Windows machine and open the app through that. The former is preferred, however, as the latter can produce inconsistent results. Emulators are applications that create self-contained simulations of operating systems within entirely different operating systems. They are primarily used by developers to test the stability of programs in various computing environments, and as such they let you open programs made for different operating systems on non-compatible machines. iPadian (https://www.ipadian.net/) is such a program. This emulator is a standalone app that creates a self-contained iPad environment on your PC. BlueStacks (https://www.bluestacks.com/) is another emulator, though this one simulates the Android environment on a PC as opposed to iOS. For your situation, iPadian would be a great option. To use it, first download iPadian from the site above, then download the iOS app you want to use to your PC's desktop from the App Store, and finally launch iPadian and open the app through iPadian to start using it. While working with emulators, please know that these are approximations of alternative operating systems and not full replacements of them. While they allow you to open some programs (not all) made for other operating systems , they typically do not offer much in terms of operating system functionality beyond basic use. That means the iOS app you want to use in iPadian may not have the same capabilities in the emulator as it would in its native operating environment and it may crash if you performs tasks that the emulator is not prepared to handle. Similarly, access to other operating system capabilities, such as surfing the web or opening files on your hard drive, as well as basic overall support, may also be limited or restricted in the emulator. Having said that, emulators do tend to be safe to install and use, though as with most free downloads it may also try to put unwanted third-party programs or bloatware on your system during installation. Proceed slowly and cautiously during install, and make sure to reject items you don't need as you go. Keep in mind that if it seems sketchy or too good to be true, then chances are is it and you should do your best to avoid it. Visit this site for help. You can connect virtually with a personal trainer, form a personalized fitness plans, track workouts, identify unhealthy habits and set lifestyle goals that work for you. Much of this can be done for free after account setup. If you need help from a virtual trainer, you can also sign up for extended services via a number of monthly subscription options. Contact Eyal Goldshmid at [email protected] Read or Share this story: https://www.tcpalm.com/story/life/columnists/2019/01/06/can-computers-programs-run-windows-and-ios/2417669002/ | https://www.tcpalm.com/story/life/columnists/2019/01/06/can-computers-programs-run-windows-and-ios/2417669002/ |
Can Nick Foles deliver again for Eagles in NFL playoffs against Bears? | In five starts this season, including the past three for the Eagles in place of Carson Wentz, Nick Foles has completed 72.3 percent of his passes for 1,413 yards, seven touchdowns, four interceptions and a 96.0 passer rating. (Matt Rourke/Associated Press) If familiarity breeds contempt, there should be plenty of ill will in this matchup, at least on the part of the Eagles, who find themselves in a playoff situation they know all too well. As with last year, they enter the postseason as underdogs who are playing with their backup quarterback, Nick Foles, and theyre even sporting another thematic accessory: ski masks, in place of last years dog masks. The two head coaches are certainly familiar with each other, as Philadelphias Doug Pederson and Chicagos Matt Nagy worked together for several years as offensive assistants under Andy Reid in Kansas City. Then there are the Long brothers, the Eagles Chris and the Bears Kyle, who will be squaring off on the 59th birthday of their Hall of Fame father, Howie Long. [On Sunday, were not related: Brothers Chris and Kyle Long will face off in NFL playoffs] One major difference for the Eagles (9-7) is that as the NFCs No. 6 seed this year, they wont have the luxury of home-field advantage in any of their playoff games; in 2018 they were the conferences top seed. Arguably the biggest factor in last seasons run to an NFL championship, though, was the surprisingly effective play of Foles, who took over for starter Carson Wentz late in the season and went on to be named Super Bowl MVP. That dynamic is playing out once again, although if Foles plans on catching another touchdown pass on a Philly Special play, he wont have Trey Burton throwing it to him because the tight end is now playing for Chicago. In his first season with the Bears (12-4), Nagy was able to guide the previously last-place squad to an NFC North title and the conferences No. 3 seed, but while he helped improve the play of young quarterback Mitchell Trubisky and an overhauled offense, Chicagos calling card has been its defense. Led by blockbuster trade acquisition Khalil Mack, these Monsters of the Midway gave up an NFL-low 17.7 points per game during the regular season and forced the most turnovers (36), including the most interceptions (27). The Eagles are trying to become just the third No. 6 seed to win a Super Bowl, joining the 2005 Steelers and 2010 Packers, but they wouldnt even be in the playoffs if it werent for the Bears, who cleared Philadelphias path last week by defeating the Vikings. That result that left some observers wondering if Nagy and Co., who would have been playing Minnesota again this week if theyd lost, preferred to take on Philadelphia. [NFL playoffs bracket and schedule] When: Sunday, 4:40 p.m. Eastern. Where: Soldier Field, Chicago. How to watch on TV: NBC. How to stream online: NBC Sports app; DirectTV Now; Hulu with Live TV; FuboTV; PlayStation Vue; YouTube TV; Sling TV; NFL Mobile app (mobile only); Yahoo Sports app (mobile only). Odds: Bears -6.5. Whats next: An NFC divisional game next weekend for the winner. If its the Bears, theyll head to Los Angeles to take on the No. 2-seeded Rams, whom they beat, 15-6, at home in Week 14. The Eagles would make a second trip this season to New Orleans to play the top-seeded Saints, who trounced Philadelphia, 48-7, in Week 11. How you feel about the Bears likely hinges on how you feel about Mitchell Trubisky. (Brad Rempel/USA Today Sports) Matchup to watch: Eagles quarterback Nick Foles vs. the Bears secondary One of the biggest changes from Nick Foles over the course of last seasons playoffs and the 2018 regular season has been his much-improved decision-making. On 333 dropbacks since the start of 2017s divisional round, Foles has just six turnover-worthy plays. Thats good for a 1.8 percent rate that is well below the 2.9 percent league average, and is actually even lower than what Drew Brees produced during his MVP-caliber campaign this year (2.0 percent). [Andrew Luck and the Colts matter again, and they present a real threat to Chiefs] Hell be put to the test Sunday, however, facing a Bears defense that has forced opposing passers into turnover-worthy plays 3.5 percent of the time this season. The Bears 27 interceptions are six more than the next-closest team, and theyve dropped six more passes that should have been picks. If Foles, who used to struggle to take care of the ball, can protect it against a defense like Chicagos, there are some higher powers at work for the Eagles. Mike Renner, Pro Football Focus Eagles' fatal flaw: Its very difficult for a team to emerge as champion from the wild-card round. Since 2002, only six teams have been able to do it and only one, the 2011 New York Giants, had fewer than 10 wins. However, that Giants team won the NFC East whereas this years Eagles are a runner up. Plus, road teams such as Philadelphia have a tough task ahead of them: Visitors are 28-36 in the wild-card round and 58-102 overall since 2002. There are other knocks against Philadelphia, too. Its net passer rating differential is too low (plus-7.3, 10th best), it has trouble protecting the passer (6.7 percent adjusted sack rate, 17th) and its pass coverage can be porous at times, especially against Rasul Douglas, who allows almost two yards per snap in coverage (1.9), the fifth-highest rate at the position this year. Neil Greenberg Bears' fatal flaw: Your outlook on the Bears likely hinges on how you feel about quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. The 24-year-old completed 67 percent of his passes for 3,233 yards, 24 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, ending the season with a 95.4 passer rating. However, seven of his 14 outings resulted in a passer rating below 85 with one other, a win against the Minnesota Vikings, coming close (85.9). Over the past 15 postseasons, teams have a 53-115 record (a .315 win rate) when their quarterback fails to achieve a passer rating in excess of 85. One clunker from Trubisky and the Bears could see their postseason cut short. Neil Greenberg More coverage of the NFL playoffs: Andrew Luck and the Colts matter again, and they present a real threat to the Chiefs Dak Prescott and the Cowboys hold off Seahawks, move on in NFL playoffs Defense still matters in the NFL playoffs, and the Ravens are playing it as well as anybody One question has tortured Tyrann Mathieus entire life. Hes not sure he wants the answer. Squirrel oil, raccoon thighs and tobacco spit: Capt. Andrew Luck is back in the NFL playoffs I see my own daughter: Texans DeAndre Hopkins to give playoff check to family of slain girl On Sunday, were not related: Brothers Chris and Kyle Long will face off in NFL playoffs A cheap QB is a quick route to NFL playoffs, but sustained success costs big money The NFL playoffs always include some duds at quarterback, but not this year Trick plays are now the norm in NFL playbooks, and theyll be on display this postseason NFL playoff ATS picks and easiest, hardest paths to the Super Bowl NFL coaching carousel news and rumors: Conflicting reports emerge about Bucs interest in Brian Kelly | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/01/06/eagles-vs-bears/ |
What does 2019 have planned for us? | The new White Park skate house is making progress as the roof is being put up and walls are up at the site of the old skate house. GEOFF FORESTER An interior of the old Concord Theatre is shown on August 29, 2018. Caitlin Andrews Capital Center for the Arts moves ahead with Concord Theatre project as work started on site Monday, August 27, 2018 in downtown Concord. GEOFF FORESTER Laura Stevenson shreds at the 2017 Rock On Fest in downtown Concord. The 2018 festival will take place this Friday and Saturday. Jeff Topping / Courtesy of Rock On Foundation Pictures from slacklining at Market Days Festival Jacob Dawson The Budmen and White Park Hockey Club battle it out on Saturday at the Black Ice Pond Hockey Tournament at White Park. The Budmen won 5-2. GEOFF FORESTER Upcoming book about the history of the Concord Theatre by Concord's Paul Brogan. Courtesy A lot went down in Concord in 2018. And we were there to not only enjoy it (like all the new places to grab a bite, sweet treat and have a little fun) but also share all the juicy details. While we would love to be able to look into the future and tell you exactly how 2019 is going to play out, we just dont have those capabilities. So instead, weve come up with some things to be on the lookout for over the next 12 months. And anything we dont yet know about that comes up, well make sure to update you as the year goes along. For now, just enjoy not having to holiday shop anymore and think spring. Market Days This will be year 45 for the annual three-day extravaganza that takes over Concords Main Street. While its more than six months away, the planning happens well in advance, so make sure you circle your calendar for June 20 to 22. Every year seems to be a little bigger and better, and we can only hope that trend continues in 2019. And dont worry about the little details as to what will be new and returning, well have all the details about this years happenings once the dates draw closer. Black Ice The 9th annual winter festival and pond hockey tournament is scheduled for White Park from Thursday, Jan. 24 to Sunday Jan. 27 weather permitting, of course. Annually, the event hosts 95 teams and close to 700 hockey players, and includes a wide array of family activities like interactive games, a rock wall, bonfires, live entertainment, fireworks, food trucks and ice and snow sculptures. The event will also include youth hockey teams from around the state who will play in the Shinny Classic. Things are moving along nicely at the former Concord movie house that will be known as the Bank of New Hampshire Stage. Capitol Center for the Arts Executive Director Nicki Clarke said construction is in full swing with a move in date tentatively scheduled for the end of May. The hope is to be able to invite people in to look around at Market Days with the first full season set for the fall. The new performance venue will include seats for 300 people, while they can also convert the area to an open club setup for up to 450. New book Paul Brogans The Concord Theatre & Concords Love Affair with the Movies is set to be released in April. It tells the story of the Concord Theatre, its 61 years of operation and the life of owner, Theresa Cantin, who kept it going all those years. Barbecue joint A new restaurant is slated to open at the former location of the Korner Kupboard in April. Alan Natkiel a Granite State native and New York City Southern barbecue legend is set to open Georgias Northside, serving up Southern bites and craft beer. Sounds like a perfect pairing. Skate House While it wont be ready for this years skating season, progress is being made on the new digs at White Park. The $1.15 million project is expected to be done by March and open to the public in April. Keep an eye on After sweeping changes to the way folks can park in downtown Concord, it will be interesting to see how it all plays out for an entire year and once it has all been implemented, i.e. new metered spaces. A lot has been discussed when it comes to the future of Rundlett Middle School and expect those conversations to continue in 2019. This fall, it was reported that demolition of the former Department of Employment Security building on South Main Street had been pushed to next spring to give developers more time to complete market studies. Time will only tell when the project will begin and take shape. And what it will ultimately turn in to. The Penacook tannery apartment project cleared some major hurdles late last year and it seems as though it will move forward, beginning in the spring. And selfishly, we cant wait to see what else gets added to the list of restaurants and places to grab a drink in the city. Once they do, you better believe well go check them out and report back all the juicy and delicious details. Related Posts | https://www.theconcordinsider.com/2019/01/02/what-does-2019-have-planned-for-us/ |
What is the latest on the Chesterfield Hotel building? | Rough sleepers are currently seeking shelter in the doorway of the Chesterfield Hotel building. Many residents have voiced concern about the situation at the prominent premises on Malkin Street. Last spring, the Derbyshire Times revealed that Chesterfield Borough Council had applied to the D2N2 organisation for a grant to buy and demolish the building and then redevelop the site as part of HS2 plans. The property had been due to go under the hammer in an online auction towards the end of last year. A spokesperson for Lambert Smith Hampton, which is marketing it, said in November: "It's being looked at by multiple developers for uses including student accommodation, other accommodation, a hotel and office space." However, the spokesperson subsequently confirmed that the site had been withdrawn from auction - but couldn't publicly explain why - and said they would provide Derbyshire Times' readers with an update when one is available. The scene in the doorway to the Chesterfield Hotel building. The building is currently owned by Prestige Hotels (Midlands) Ltd, which bought it for 900,000 in 2017 and is understood to have spent up to 300,000 on repair and refurbishment work. Several members of the public rented rooms at the 73-room property, which is now vacant. Chesterfield Hotel, formerly the Station Hotel, opened in 1877 and closed in 2015 after the previous company which owned it went bust. It was one of the town's longest-running businesses, a major employer and a venue for thousands of occasions over the years. | https://www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk/news/what-is-the-latest-on-the-chesterfield-hotel-building-1-9522509 |
Who will be next from the SEC to enter the College Football Hall of Fame? | Thirteen players and two coaches have been chosen for the College Football Hall of Fame as members of its Class of 2019, the National Football Foundation announced last week. Their names will be revealed on Monday, during the 8 a.m. CST showing of "SportsCenter" on ESPN2. The ballot for the Class of 2019 included 76 players and six coaches from the Football Bowl Subdivision and 100 players and 32 coaches from the divisional ranks, including Alabamas E.J. Junior. Junior was one of the 11 former SEC players on the ballot. Ninety players from the SEC already are members of the College Football Hall of Fame. In addition to Junior, the nominees to join those 90 players from the SEC this year are Florida offensive tackle Lomas Brown, Arkansas guard Brandon Burlsworth, Kentucky quarterback Tim Couch, LSU running back Kevin Faulk, Tennessee safety Bobby Majors, wide receiver Larry Seivers and linebacker Al Wilson, Arkansas running back Darren McFadden, Georgia defensive end David Pollack and Ole Miss linebacker Patrick Willis. FOR MORE OF AL.COMS COMPREHENSIVE COVERAGE OF THE SEC, GO TO OUR SEC PAGE A closer look at this years SEC nominees: Lomas Brown, Florida, offensive tackle, 1981-84: Brown won the Jacobs Blocking Trophy as the SEC's best blocker and was a consensus All-American in 1984, when Florida finished first in the conference for the first time (although that title was later vacated). Brown played 18 NFL seasons, including seven as a Pro Bowl selection. Brandon Burlsworth, Arkansas, guard, 1995-98: Burlsworth was a walk-on who initially was known more for his thick, black glasses and resemblance to comedian Drew Carey, but he ended up starting 34 consecutive games for the Razorbacks and playing a key role for their 1998 Western Division title team. If elected, he'd become the first Arkansas player from the Razorbacks' SEC era to earn enshrinement. Burlsworth died in a traffic accident 11 days after being picked in the third round of the 1999 NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts. The Burlsworth Trophy has been given annually since 2010 to the outstanding NCAA FBS player who began his career as a walk-on. Tim Couch, Kentucky, quarterback, 1996-98: As a senior, Couch set SEC records for pass completions with 400, passing yards with 4,275, completion percentage at .723 and yards of total offense at 4,151. He became the first SEC player with more than 4,000 yards of total offense in a season. Couch finished fourth in the 1998 Heisman Trophy balloting and was the first player selected in the 1999 NFL Draft. Kevin Faulk, LSU, running back, 1995-98: Faulk is the SECs leader in career all-purpose yards with 6,833 4,557 rushing, 600 receiving, 832 punt-return and 844 kickoff-return yards. Thats 952 more all-purpose yards than any other player in SEC history. Hes No. 2 on the SECs all-time touchdown list with 53. E.J. Junior, Alabama, defensive end, 1977-1980: A three-time All-SEC selection, Junior was a unanimous All-American in 1980. During his four seasons with Alabama, the Crimson Tide compiled a 24-1 conference record and a 44-4 overall mark. The 1978 team won the AP national title and the 1979 squad earned consensus national-championship recognition. Bobby Majors, Tennessee, defensive back, 1969-71: Majors older brother, Johnny, is a Hall of Fame member, and like his brother, Bobby excelled in more than one phase of the game. He intercepted 10 passes to lead the nation in 1970, when the Volunteers made an SEC-record 36 interceptions. The next year, he was a unanimous All-American. Majors finished his career as Tennessees leader in punt-return yards in a season and a career. Darren McFadden, running back, Arkansas, 2005-2007: McFadden was the second player to finish second twice in the Heisman Trophy voting -- in 2006 and 2007, when he was the SEC Offensive Player of the Year both years. McFadden also won the Doak Walker Award as the nation's best running back in both those seasons and received the Walter Camp Award as the national player of the year in 2007. When McFadden left Arkansas, he ranked second in SEC history in career rushing yards, and he's still second in the league record book for career all-purpose yards. David Pollack, Georgia, defensive end, 2001-2004: Pollack is the only two-time winner of the SEC Defensive Player of the Year Award. He was also a two-time consensus All-American, and he was a first-team All-American for at least one major selector in three seasons. As a senior, he received the Bednarik Award as the nation's best defensive player, Lombardi Award as the nation's best lineman or linebacker, and the Lott IMPACT Trophy, which considers personal character and athletic excellence to determine the nation's top defensive player. He also won the Hendricks Award as the nation's best defensive end twice. Larry Seivers, Tennessee, wide receiver, 1974-76: Seivers is one of the 27 SEC players who has been a consensus All-American more than once. Seivers led the SEC in receiving in 1975 and 1976, catching 41 passes for a league-leading 840 yards in 1975 and making 51 catches for 737 yards in 1976. When he left Tennessee, he was the Volunteers all-time leader in receptions and receiving yards. Patrick Willis, Ole Miss, linebacker, 2003-2006: Willis was the SEC Defensive Player of the Year for the 2006 season. He also won the Butkus Award as the nations best linebacker and was a consensus All-American that season. Willis led the SEC in tackles as a junior and as a senior. Al Wilson, Tennessee, linebacker, 1995-1998: Wilson was a consensus All-American and team captain for the Tennessee squad that won the first BCS national-championship in 1998. The Volunteers won their second straight SEC crown that season, and they haven't won it since. During Wilson's four seasons on Rocky Top, Tennessee compiled a 29-3 SEC record and a 45-5 overall mark. SEC members Arkansas and Texas A&M also have players on the ballot that pre-date those schools' membership in the SEC -- defensive tackle Dan Hampton of the Razorbacks and defensive lineman Jacob Green of the Aggies. Alabama candidates stacking up for College Football Hall of Fame To be eligible for the Hall of Fame, a player must have been named a first-team All-American by a selector used by the NCAA in determining the consensus All-American team, be at least 10 years but not more than 50 years removed from his final college season, and no longer be an active pro player. The Veterans Committee can make recommendations that allow for the inductions of players from more than 50 years ago. While the selection process includes college nominations, District Steering Committees and a vote by the more than 12,000 members of the National Football Foundation, the NFF Honors Court makes the final selections for the Hall of Fame class. Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1. | https://www.al.com/sports/2019/01/who-will-be-next-from-the-sec-to-enter-the-college-football-hall-of-fame.html |
Should Kevin Hart be reconsidered as the 2019 Oscars host? | Kevin Hart backed out of hosting the Oscars after homophobic tweets he made resurfaced. Ellen DeGeneres is advocating for Hart to get his job back as host, but not everyone is welcoming Hart with open arms. Hart went on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" to explain himself, but LGBTQ people of color aren't buying what Hart is selling. They also say DeGeneres is not the spokesperson of the LGBTQ community and doesn't have the authority to excuse Hart's comments. PERSPECTIVES DeGeneres sat down with Hart and not only did she forgive him, she reached out to the Academy and suggested he be allowed to host the awards show. #KevinHart @KevinHart4real @TheEllenShow Thank you Kevin for your honesty Nobody's perfect We'd have halos if we were God forgives us all Only he can judge Those who live in glass houses...Pot calling kettle... Forget the trolls Their mission is to run others [?] [?] to build them [?] [?] -- [?] [?] [?] Debbie[?] [?] [?] (@DebbieGBUK) January 4, 2019 Members of the Black LGBTQ community say Hart's apology was insincere. Some also say it wasn't DeGeneres' place to forgive Hart and that LGBTQ people of color were the ones singled out by the comments. Journalist George M. Johnson took to Twitter to share his thoughts. He says LGBTQ people of color cannot be spoken for by DeGeneres because they do not share the same experiences. My thoughts on Ellen and this absolving of Kevin Hart. pic.twitter.com/tn7Amh6oDv -- George M Johnson (@IamGMJohnson) January 4, 2019 In light of Ellen absolving Kevin Hart for his history of homophobic remarks, this seems like a good time to reiterate that no one member of a marginalized identity can forgive a bigot on behalf of the entire group. -- ella dawson (@brosandprose) January 4, 2019 The Tylt is focused on debates and conversations around news, current events and pop culture. We provide our community with the opportunity to share their opinions and vote on topics that matter most to them. We actively engage the community and present meaningful data on the debates and conversations as they progress. The Tylt is a place where your opinion counts, literally. The Tylt is an Advance Local Media, LLC property. Join us on Twitter @TheTylt, on Instagram @TheTylt or on Facebook, we'd love to hear what you have to say. | https://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2019/01/should_kevin_hart_be_reconside.html |
Where does N.J. stand on legal weed as we head into 2019? | NJ Cannabis Insider is a new premium intelligence briefing that features exclusive weekly content geared toward entrepreneurs, lawyers and realtors. View a sample issue. Last year was big for cannabis in New Jersey, though not nearly as big as it could have been. The state saw a substantial increase in the size of the medical marijuana program, both in terms of patients and potentially the number of dispensaries. But New Jersey still missed out on recreational marijuana, when this time last year legalization seemed a real possibility. The next several weeks will be revelatory for the future of legal weed in the state. If lawmakers can sit down and hash out the finer details of legalization, its possible that Gov. Phil Murphy could sign a bill by February. But if the chasm between the governor and legislative leaders on marijuana keeps growing and the yes votes dont materialize, lawmakers could go deep into the year without legalizing weed. There was a lot of debate From the time Murphy took office in January of 2018, the state seemed on the cusp on legalization. The governor had promised it in his campaign and Sen. Nicholas Scutari introduced a bill early last year that would have legalized the possession and personal use of marijuana, as well as create a regulated market. As lawmakers and lobbyists took interest, different visions of legal weed began to emerge. Then came the delays. The budget got in the way in June and lawmakers didnt seriously return to legalization until the fall. They did make some progress By late November there was enough agreement on legal weed for the Scutari bill -- heavily amended throughout the year -- to pass legislative committees in both the state Assembly and the Senate. All it needed then was approval in the full chambers of the legislature and a signature from the governor. But there were still a couple of hang-ups. The governor and legislative leaders couldnt agree on how much tax to charge or on how to regulate the market, so the bill was never heard in the full legislature last year. So, thats where lawmakers pick up on legal weed in 2019. Its no secret one of the largest sticking points in the negotiations over the marijuana legalization bill is who controls the potentially multi-billion-dollar market. Gov. Phil Murphy thinks it should be run by state government. Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin want to turn it over to a five-member independent commission they and the governor approve. The bill that passed Senate and Assembly committee creates the Cannabis Regulatory Commission, which would control every aspect of the cannabis market from the medical program run by the Department of Health, to the licensing of providers and enforcement of rules. The latest version of the bill isnt acceptable to the Administration, said a source inside the Murphy administration, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Despite the governors office shooting down the latest iteration of the commission, state Sen. Nicholas Scutari wrote an op-ed on NJ.com Wednesday in favor of the five-person body, comparing it to the casino commission introduced in the state decades ago. Much like the casino industry of the 1970s, the new marijuana industry must be given unique and detailed attention, Scutari wrote. To promote public trust, private investment and market stability, we need to create a system of accountability, adaptability and full transparency." Lawmakers are set to meet with Murphy in the coming days to discuss legal weed and other issues. If they can reach a compromise, its possible that the legislature could take up legalization by the end of the month. But compromise remains a big if. That has led some lobbyists and lawmakers to wonder if the state will be able to legalize marijuana through the legislature. Vermont is the only other state to do it that way, and lawmakers there didnt create a commercial market. More than a few people close to the legalization discussions have said they see a ballot question as an alternative, should legislation fail. Its still far too early to consider that as a likelihood, but heres a quick reminder about ballot questions in New Jersey: Unlike other states, where questions can be put on a ballot with a grassroots effort that yields a certain number of signatures, the New Jersey Legislature must vote to put a question on a ballot, which would be asking voters to approve a constitutional amendment. To get a question in front of voters this year, a 60 percent supermajority in the Legislature would have to approve it. If it passes with only a simple majority, the question couldnt make the ballot until 2020, assuming it was approved again next year. The concern for marijuana advocates is that if legalization is done by ballot question in New Jersey, it likely undoes much of the work done on the bill in 2018. If legalization is approved by New Jersey voters, legislators are required to make it law, with or without many of the provisions debated so far. Again, a ballot question is not the most likely scenario, but the farther we go in 2019 without action from the Legislature, the more traction a ballot question could get. In his op-ed, Scutari repeated his call for the legislature to take its time on legal weed. Legalization of marijuana is just around the corner, Scutari wrote in his op-ed on NJ.com. The impact of legalization will be felt in all corners of the state and it is up to us to ensure the maximum possible benefit for the public. Subscribe here for exclusive insider information from NJ Cannabis Insider. Payton Guion may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @PaytonGuion. Find NJ.com on Facebook. | https://www.nj.com/marijuana/2019/01/where-does-nj-stand-on-legal-weed-as-we-head-into-2019.html |
What is Gemma Collins' net worth? | She's been on her fair share of reality shows! Queen of Essex Gemma Collins has swapped her usual stilettos for a pair of skating boots in the new series of Dancing on Ice. The 37-year-old former The Only Way Is Essex star is known for her big 'diva' personality, no-nonsense attitude and hilarious one-liners - which is why fans can't wait to see her on the ITV show presented by Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield. Gemma lasted just 72 hours in the I'm a Celebrity camp Ever since joining hit ITV2 constructed reality show The Only Way Is Essex, Gemma has gone on to take part in a number of reality series. Fans will have spotted her on shows including I'm a Celebrity, Celebrity Big Brother, Splash, Masterchef and Celebs Go Dating. She also had her own spin-off show, Diva Espana. Because of her laugh-out-loud behaviour, Gemma has also become a bit of a meme sensation, and has often gone viral on the internet. Gemma's book The GC: How To Be A Diva Aside from her TV work, Gemma has also published two books, collaborated with clothing brand Boohoo and featured in advertisements for companies including Netflix. The star also regularly runs sponsored posts on her popular Instagram account. However, although her company Gemma Collins Ltd made over 56,000 profit in 2017, her Brentwood boutique went into liquidation last year with 80,000 debt. She told Now magazine: "I'm not as loaded as people think." Gemma met her boyfriend Arg on the set of TOWIE Gemma will be skating with Matt Evers on Dancing on Ice. Amid rumours that Gemma has been throwing tantrums in training with Matt, a spokesperson told Radio Times: "There is absolutely no truth in this story. Gemma is loving being on the show and we love having her." Off the rink, Gemma has been in an off-and-on relationship with fellow TOWIE star James 'Arg' Argent since they met on the show. Sign up to our newsletter to get other stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. | https://www.hellomagazine.com/celebrities/2019010266133/what-is-gemma-collins-net-worth/ |
Who is Dancing on Ice star Saara Alto's partner Meri Sopanen? | The couple have been engaged since August 2016 Fans will recognise Saara Alto as a breakout star on The X Factor, who finished runner-up in 2016. The Finnish singer, who competed in The Voice of Finland, has also graced the Eurovision stage more than once. This weekend, Saara is returning to our screens as she joins the 2019 celebrity line-up of Dancing on Ice, hosted by Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield and airing on Sunday night. And one superfan who we can guarantee to be in the audience is her long-term love and fiance, Meri Sopanen. Saara was in a long-term relationship with her boyfriend and fellow singer Teemu Roivainen when she met Meri. Meri was a huge fan of Saara from her time on The Voice of Finland in 2012 when she finished second and approached her through Facebook. Saara has previously revealed to The Sun: "I was in The Voice of Finland in 2012 and my girlfriend fiance now watched the show, liked me a lot and sent me a fan message through Facebook. She wrote, 'I have never, ever sent a message like this to anybody, but I just had this intuition that I have to send this to you.' I was like, 'That's so cute,' and thought, 'What a nice-looking girl.'" Saara added: "Then, after a year, she actually came to my concert and we met. We started talking and realised we just shared the same view of life and everything." Meri and Saara got engaged in August 2016 MORE: When royals break protocol! See photos Romance blossomed in 2014 and Meri signed up to be Saara's manager a role she still holds today and also encouraged Saara to audition for the X Factor. In August 2016, Meri popped the question on their two-year anniversary. Saara was in her pyjamas, without any makeup on, during the low-key proposal, with Meri explaining that she didn't want the singer to be wearing any makeup as she "loves her soul". The couple moved to London in 2017 after Saara's success on the X Factor. Despite already being engaged, Saara proposed to her fiance in March 2017 to celebrate the legalisation of gay marriage in Finland. Taking to Twitter, she wrote: "Same sex marriage is legal in Finland today!!! Would you marry me @MeriSopanen?" The pair are hoping to marry in a hot country, with her X Factor mentor Sharon Osbourne in attendance. Saara was in a nine-year relationship with singer Teemu Roivainen until 2013, after which she came out as gay. Teemu played the keyboard in Saara's band. The Dancing on Ice star has said that she and her ex-boyfriend are still friends, that Teemu is like her "brother", and that she, Teemu and Meri hang out like one big "happy family". Saara Alto on The X Factor The Finnish star competed in The X Factor in 2016, when she was placed in the over-25s category with Sharon Osbourne as her mentor. She stunned judges by singing Frozen theme tune Let It Go in 15 languages, while her other memorable performance was a medley of Diamonds Are Forever and Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend. She may not have made it to the final of The X Factor had it not been for her lifeline. Saara was booted off the competition by Sharon, but returned after fellow judge Nicole Scherzinger voted her in as a wildcard. She finished the competition in second place behind Matt Terry, with 40 per cent of the votes. Saara Alto on Eurovision Apart from The Voice of Finland and The X Factor, Saara has also graced the Eurovision stage various times before. She represented her country in 2011 singing Blessed with Love and again in 2016 with No Fear, both times finishing second. In 2018, she was chosen by Finnish national broadcaster Yle to represent Finland again in the competition. Saara performed her own song Monsters, but finished second to last overall. Sign up to our newsletter to get other stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. | https://www.hellomagazine.com/celebrities/2019010666194/dancing-on-ice-saara-alto-girlfriend-meri-sopanen/ |
Is Dell's Mini Inspiron netbook imminent? | Minilaptops, ultraportables, netbooks whatever you want to call them, small portable computers are all the range at the moment, with Asus Eee standing tall (or should that be small?) at the top of the pack. Rumours abound, however, that Dell is to finally enter the netbook frame, with the much-anticipated Inspiron 910. Specs of the laptop that we reported on back in May have been leaked online, which show that the computer will support SSDs up to 16GB, carry 800MHz of memory, and come with either Windows XP or Ubuntu 8.04. So, this should make Linux users very happy indeed. Eagerly awaited We spoke to Michael Browne, the editor of What Laptop, and he told us this: "Dell is the last major player to officially announce a Netbook (it first hinted at one in May) and its game of cat-and-mouse with details and release dates has made it one of the more eagerly awaited machines. "That said, we're not expecting it to offer anything the other machines out there currently don't offer, so it may be a little too late to make a grab for huge market share." Pressed about whether the Inspiron 910 can take the Asus Eee PC crown, Browne said: "If the Dell Netbook is to be a real Eee PC killer it'll need to do more than just deliver on time it'll need a great price, which means being under 200." With speculation that the US price for the Dell subnotebook is to be around $299, this could well be the case. | https://www.techradar.com/sg/news/tablets/laptops/mobile-computing/is-dell-s-mini-inspiron-netbook-imminent-453876 |
What time is Les Miserables on BBC One tonight? | Les Miserables has proven popular with audiences and critics alike (Picture: BBC) BBC Ones new adaptation of Les Miserables has been a hit with viewers and critics since it debuted last weekend. The six-part take on Victor Hugos classic features an impressive cast which includes the likes of Dominic West, Lily Collins, David Oyelowo and Olivia Colman. And having settled into the Sunday night drama slot on the channel, the second part is due with us on Sunday night. Well as last week Les Miserables will be on BBC One on Sunday night at 9pm. There are four more episodes to go which means you can expect the season finale around early February. This weeks instalment sees things go from bad to worse for poor Fantine, who flees Paris in search of work and is forced to take desperate measures to ensure a better future for her daughter. Advertisement Advertisement Valjean, meanwhile, has enjoyed a change in fortunes, having been freed from prison and now settling into life as a wealthy factory owner. Thats not going to last though, now that new police inspector Javert is in town. Filming took place across Belgium and Northern France as the production recreated the battles of the French Revolution that saw the underdogs rise up and fight against the system. Fantines facing some difficult decisions as the series continues (Picture: BBC) Star West spoke about the production where he praised Davies. In a statement he said: Jean Valjean is one of the great characters in world literature. If you've got a story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk Entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page - we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Les Miserables revealed Fantines I Dreamed a Dream love story was an epic case of ghosting | https://metro.co.uk/2019/01/06/time-les-miserables-bbc-one-tonight-8314825/ |
When is the FA Cup fourth round draw and what ball number are Derby County? | The video will start in 8 Cancel Get Weekday Derby County FC updates directly to your inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email Derby County will find out their potential fourth round opponents for the FA Cup when the draw is made on Monday night. The draw is due to take place after Wolverhampton Wanderers host Premier League leaders Liverpool at Molineux tomorrow, and will be conducted by former Wolves duo Carl Ikeme and Robbie Keane. The fourth round is scheduled to take place between Friday 25 January and Monday 28 January. The Rams drew 2-2 with Southampton on Saturday in their third round tie, and will have a replay to see who earns a place in the fourth round. A brace from Nathan Redmond had put the Saints 2-0 up at Pride Park, but second half goals from Jack Marriott and Tom Lawrence means that Derbys dreams of another cup run this season remain alive. But with the outright winner of the tie still to be decided, both teams will share the ball number 13 in Monday nights draw. Saturdays matches saw a few shocks as Premier League side Cardiff City lost 1-0 to Gillingham, while Huddersfield Town also tasted defeat by the same scoreline to Bristol City and Championship high-fliers Norwich conceded in stoppage time to lose at home to Portsmouth. Nottingham Forest are out of the competition after they lost 2-0 away to current holders Chelsea, while last years finalists Manchester United are also through after a 2-0 home win over Reading. Here are the ball numbers for the FA Cup fourth round draw: 1 BOLTON WANDERERS 2 MILLWALL OR HULL CITY 3 GILLINGHAM 4 BRENTFORD 5 SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY OR LUTON TOWN 6 MANCHESTER UNITED 7 EVERTON 8 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 9 PRESTON NORTH END OR DONCASTER ROVERS 10 NEWCASTLE UNITED OR BLACKBURN ROVERS 11 CHELSEA 12 CRYSTAL PALACE 13 DERBY COUNTY OR SOUTHAMPTON 14 ACCRINGTON STANLEY 15 BRISTOL CITY 16 NEWPORT COUNTY OR LEICESTER CITY 17 FULHAM OR OLDHAM ATHLETIC 18 SHREWSBURY TOWN OR STOKE CITY 19 ARSENAL 20 MANCHESTER CITY OR ROTHERHAM UNITED 21 BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION 22 WEST HAM UNITED 23 WOKING OR WATFORD 24 BURNLEY 25 QUEENS PARK RANGERS OR LEEDS UNITED 26 SHEFFIELD UNITED OR BARNET 27 PORTSMOUTH 28 AFC WIMBLEDON 29 WEST BROMWICH ALBION 30 MIDDLESBROUGH 31 WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS OR LIVERPOOL 32 SWANSEA CITY | https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/fa-cup-fourth-round-draw-2394223 |
Is WWE planning an 'AJ Styles vs Batista' match for WrestleMania 35? | WWE is known for planning dream matches for their Grandest Pay-Per-View of the year, WrestleMania and the road to WrestleMania 35 will kick off at the Royal Rumble PPV on 27th January 2019. AJ Styles, who has been the MVP of the WWE since joining the company will definitely have a marquee position in the event and having battled Shane McMahon, Shinsuke Nakamura and Chris Jericho on the Show of Shows, his next opponent could well be Batista. If you have followed the last 2 episodes of SmackDown closely, you would have definitely noticed that Vince McMahon has been interacting with AJ Styles backstage. On the Christmas special episode, the Chairman tried to unleash the Animal (which is the famous nickname of Batista) in the Phenomenal One and Vince was even successful in doing so. This past week on SD Live we saw AJ Styles, Shane McMahon and Vince McMahon in another backstage segment where AJ Styles warned Vince McMahon that he is going to see the real AJ Styles in the ring ahead of his fatal 5 way match and instead of reacting to AJ's words, Vince McMahon just kept smiling as if he had something big in his mind for Styles. Styles is set to battle the New Daniel Bryan at Royal Rumble and this match will most probably see Daniel Bryan walk out as the WWE Champion. So, this would leave AJ Styles looking for a new opponent ahead of WrestleMania 35. And that is when Vince McMahon would come out and reveal why he asked AJ Styles to unleash his Animal on the Christmas night and the reason was that Styles was going to battle an animal at WM 35. Batista could then come out amidst deafening cheers and point at the WrestleMania logo to make the match official. The AJ Styles vs Batista match could surely steal the show at WrestleMania 35 and given that Batista has been away from the ring since a long time, AJ Styles would be the perfect opponent to mark the Animal's return. Let us know in the comments. Advertisement | https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe/is-the-wwe-planning-a-aj-styles-vs-batista-match-for-wrestlemania-35 |
What Is the US Government Shutdown and What Can Washington Do to End It? | For over two weeks, some US departments and agencies have been closed, while others have continued their work, but with employees' pay being left in limbo. Sputnik has gathered the facts about how the current government shutdown began and what politicians can do to end it. A shutdown of the US government takes place either when Congress fails to pass funding for government operations before the expiration of the previous budget or when the president opposes some or all of the budget bills passed by congressmen. The mechanism has existed since 1976, but the shutdown doesn't usually last long only for a day or two. REUTERS / Mohammed Salem Econ 101: Trump Govt Shutdown Costs More Than His Border Wall Budget The 2013 government shutdown, which was caused by political disagreement over Obamacare, lasted for 17 days, while the 1996 shutdown during the Bill Clinton administration was a result of an argument over Medicare, public health and education funding, lasting for three weeks. Funding for Trump's border wall with Mexico has become the stumbling block in the negotiations, with the president refusing to sign a budget bill that doesn't include spending on the wall. The Democrats, in turn, have refused to provide funding for the project, leading talks into a deadlock and the government to shut down. READ MORE: Trump: Dems Can Solve Shutdown Very Quickly by Approving REAL Border Security There are two ways to end the ongoing shutdown the arguing sides must agree either on the whole budget or pass stopgap bills, which would fill in the existing gaps in funding and buy time to negotiate a new budget. Congress passed such a bill on 6 December 2018, extending the time for negotiations until 21 December. Despite its name, the shutdown doesn't stop the entire government from working. While all non-essential staff have been furloughed (around 380,000), some essential departments and agencies are continuing to work. At the same time, the remaining federal employees working (around 420,000) are left without their pay until Congress and the president agree on a new budget. At the moment, employees at the Departments of State, Transportation, Homeland Security, Commerce, the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and others are directly affected by the shutdown. Necessary staff at each of the departments or agencies is continuing to work without receiving pay, while the rest have been furloughed. National parks and zoos have mostly closed. Immigration courts are currently also non-operational. READ MORE: US House Approves Bills to End Govt Shutdown, Ignores Trump Veto Threats The Transportation Security Administration and Federal courts remain in operation, with Medicare and Medicaid also remaining unaffected by the shutdown. Special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation is also continuing its activity, despite the gap in funding. So far, both sides of the conflict over the US budget remain adamant in their positions, with Democrats refusing to provide $5.7 billion in funding for the border wall and Trump being relentless in keeping funding for the wall as a requirement for him to sign the budget. According to Trump, the previous two talks between the White House and the Democratic leadership on the issue have "not [made] much headway". Trump has reportedly threatened that he could "keep the government closed for a very long period of time [] months or even years" in a bid to find money for the wall. The US president has also mulled using emergency presidential powers to pass funding for the wall, noting that it's "another way of doing it". READ MORE: US Gov't Shutdown is Only Because of the 2020 Presidential Election Trump At the same time, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has stated that the Democrats are planning to pass a number of individual appropriation bills in the upcoming week to enable opening certain government agencies, such as the IRS and the Treasury Department, without resolving the core issue that caused the shutdown. | https://sputniknews.com/us/201901061071258842-us-government-shutdown/ |
Is Ballard Power Systems a Millionaire-Maker Stock? | Looking ahead is what investors do (or, what they should do, anyway). And the start of a new year is a natural time to consider the future. Hydrogen fuel-cell stocks like Ballard and Plug Power (NASDAQ: PLUG) have had a rough few years as battery technology has dominated the race to electrify vehicles. In fact, neither are currently profitable. Still, Ballard is planning to roll out a series of "next gen" fuel-cell stacks in 2019. It's also working with Chinese partners to ramp up production. Let's dig a little deeper to find out. Continue Reading Below State of play Right now, electric batteries are the primary green technology being used in automotive applications. Automakers including Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) and General Motors have mass-produced battery-powered cars. Many others are developing their own versions, and battery-powered buses and delivery trucks are on the roads as well. Battery-powered semis appear headed for their own debuts relatively soon. On the flip side, nobody is mass-producing fuel-cell passenger cars; when it comes to vehicles, the technology is currently used only in a few niche applications like forklifts and airport vehicles. But Ballard and Plug are pushing to try to expand the market. Plug Power recently delivered a fuel-cell powered delivery truck to FedEx, and Ballard Power has stated its intention to go after the trucking market with its new Chinese joint ventures and its next-gen fuel cells. Batteries may have the jump on fuel cells, but considering how small a share of the market non-gasoline powered vehicles occupy, it's not impossible for fuel cells to make substantial inroads. The uphill climb Advertisement Fuel-cell manufacturers have a steep road ahead if they hope to propel adoption of their technology to the point where it even comes close to rivaling batteries for dominance in the alternative power segment. But that's what would be required if Ballard were going to make millionaires of its investors. So let's take a look at how that might happen. Ballard CEO Randall MacEwen rightly refers to fuel cells as a "disruptive technology," and on the company's third-quarter 2018 earnings call, he pointed to "long range, rapid refueling, heavy payloads, and route flexibility" as areas in which fuel-cell powered vehicles could successfully challenge batteries. He has a point: Most battery-powered vehicles have limited ranges and long recharging times. Even Tesla's superchargers take 75 minutes to charge a Model S battery from zero to 100%, and that's far from a "heavy payload." By contrast, refueling a hydrogen cell vehicle would be similar to a trip to the gas station: Pump in fresh hydrogen and you're good to go. Fuel-cell vehicles also currently have longer ranges than most similarly sized battery-powered vehicles. Ballard's next generation fuel-cell stacks promise a 33% improvement in power density, a 40% reduction in overall cost of ownership, and a 50% improvement in durability. But because there are so many other components to a finished fuel-cell vehicle besides the cells themselves, it's really impossible to say at this point how such a vehicle would compare to a similar battery powered model. But, if vehicles powered by Ballard's next generation of fuel-cell stacks prove to have markedly longer ranges and favorable economics compared to similar battery-powered vehicles, it's possible they could gain a significant following. However (as we've seen with Tesla) such economy usually comes with a long ramp-up to scale, and for fuel-cell vehicles, that means scale of both production and construction of hydrogen refueling stations. After all, the ability to make a long-haul trip doesn't mean much if there's nowhere to refuel once you get where you're going. The ball and chain Right now, the biggest obstacle to Ballard Power's strategy is also its biggest opportunity: China. MacEwen expects 50% of Ballard's revenue to come from Asia Pacific markets (read: China) over the next few years. But thus far, the company's Chinese plans haven't panned out as hoped. Evolving government subsidy rules and certification delays resulted in slower than expected sales by one of the company's joint ventures, which absolutely clobbered the company's Q3 revenues. MacEwen also candidly admitted that bringing fueling stations online in China has been "a little challenging." "In a couple of cases you see situations where the fueling station is constructed, but it takes a long time to get the permits or they're kind of permitted on a trial basis...[s]o it's difficult to know exactly when these things will move forward." Ballard currently has only 16 fueling stations in service in all of China, with another 69 in some stage of planning or construction. Given the delays the company has encountered so far, those numbers don't exactly scream that mass-market adoption is around the corner. By comparison, there are 1,386 Tesla Supercharger stations across the globe, including more than 180 in China. One projection that MacEwen threw out on the earnings call was that high volume might arrive in China in "2025 or 2030." So, about 10 years down the road, unless there are further delays of the sort we've already seen. Given how rapidly battery technology is advancing, and how many companies are working on it, this seems like more of a Hail Mary pass than a sure thing. Sure, if things in China suddenly shift gears, with swift permitting of fuel-cell technology, accelerated construction of hydrogen fueling stations, and a speedy production ramp-up of viable vehicles that could take advantage of the infrastructure. But that's projected to be nearly a decade down line in the best of cases. Investors who are interested in this technology would be better off waiting until the fuel-cell industry shows that it can become competitive with the battery industry -- or at the very least, that it can create a viable heavy-duty motive product and corresponding support system. Otherwise, this once-promising technology (and its shareholders) may be left in the dust. 10 stocks we like better than Ballard Power SystemsWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has quadrupled the market. * David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Ballard Power Systems wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of November 14, 2018 John Bromels owns shares of Tesla. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends FedEx and Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. | https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/is-ballard-power-systems-a-millionaire-maker-stock |
Should she accept her dream job if it means moving away from her child? | A mother wonders if shes being selfish. She is, says Carolyn Hax. Dear Carolyn DEAR CAROLYN: I immigrated to marry a man Id dated for four years. It was an incredibly toxic and abusive relationship and I finally managed to leave after 11 years. I was unemployed and without family or friends. After two years Ive found an amazing job and have done brilliant work in my community and my new country. Im literally receiving awards for my work. Our 12-year-old child has not only adjusted but thrived. We co-parent well and actually maintain a very solid friendship. Im even friends with his new partner. Im surrounded by loving friends and found family. Im in a loving, supportive relationship. All in all life is perfect. But. Ive been offered my dream job 12 hours away. During our divorce we agreed our child has a say in his living situation should I move. Im pretty confident he will choose to stay in his hometown, but hopeful he will choose to move with me. Ive made peace with it. The logistics arent that hard to manage. But I feel guilty. Society judges absent mothers so harshly. Im worried about him having the support and compassion he needs. Im worried Im abandoning him and he will end up with weird issues. I feel justified after so many years of abuse and sacrifice that I deserve to chase my own dreams. Woman on Hold DEAR WOMAN ON HOLD: Tempting. Theyre your feelings to feel, of course, but I see room as in, pristine acres of rolling landscape for you to reframe your view of your life, if you really wanted to do that. As you did just a few paragraphs prior, with, perfect. I also dont think its possible to make peace with it and feel guilty and be worried, all about the same move. And you wont get a you-go-girl (or, alas, a bad-mother) answer from me, because to treat this as an issue of society and judgments and misogyny, if thats what youre implying sounds like a cynical dodge. Just facts: The price you pay for a bad decision here wont be charged to your public-image account itll come straight from your kids emotional health. And he didnt choose to be born or move anywhere or marry badly. Thats not a rhetorical question; my advice for you is to answer it. Especially since the nature of the dream matters. Parents live away from minor children plenty, for reasons society accepts and even applauds. Military deployments; diplomatic or political positions; humanitarian aid work; career necessity (astronauts, journalists, mountaineers, ship captains); economic pressure anything from a job transfer to emigration from an impoverished country. These have in common some combination of necessity and a higher purpose and typically an end date. ** At least it feels important. If you really are just talking about dream-fulfillment beyond your current perfection, then your decision feels heavily optional. Like, second-cherry-on-a-sundae optional. Id say this about any dad or mom who has viable and non-soul-crushing local employment options and whose affected child is just 12. The chances youll have other dreamy career opportunities, especially if youre brilliant at it: excellent. The chances your child will have another crack at childhood: zero. And I cant believe Im only now getting to this (the issue is deceptively complex): Youre also dumping a horrific choice on your child. Who, presumably, has just found stability after being put through a wringer by his parents abusive marriage and divorce. Take your time, Honey. Seriously. And, youre doing this just as he has one foot on the threshold into adolescence, one of the most dizzying, unnerving, and impressionable times of our lives. One promising element is that youre even torn about it. You dont say so yourself, but your peace-guilt-worry pretzel does. Your asking this question does. Of course, the only one whose vote counts is your son. For that? ** Extra credit: Read Reyna Grandes The Distance Between Us for a childs nuanced perspective on parents who leave. Or just play Cats in the Cradle on a loop about an absentee dad, at that. | https://www.seattletimes.com/life/should-she-accept-her-dream-job-if-it-means-moving-away-from-her-child/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all |
Is iTunes Match worth the money? | Looking after a big iTunes library can be a problem. We started ripping our CDs in the early days of the iPod when disk space was still at a premium, and as a result a good chunk of our library consists of poor quality, low bitrate MP3s. It's enormous, too, and fear of losing the lot means we're constantly spending cash on ever larger hard disks. And then there's syncing. Oh, the syncing. Maybe we're unusual, but our iTunes library is shared across a few devices. There's the iMac, of course, but we like to listen to the odd thing on our old MacBook Pro too. There's the iPhones - the 4 and the 3GS - and the iPad, and the Apple TV. Home Sharing helps, but we're still spending more time syncing music than we do actually listening to it. iTunes Match solves all of that. It replaces your rubbish rips with shiny 256Kbps AACs, and if it doesn't recognise a track it automatically uploads your copy of it. It automatically syncs playlists and purchases between all your devices. And it saves on storage space by streaming music from iCloud. It sounds brilliant. Data grumbles The problem with anything cloud-based is that at home you have speedy cable or ADSL and the joys of Airport Extreme, but when you're out and about you're dependent on the UK's mobile data networks. And in our experience, they're usually rubbish. The short answer is that you wait. A lot. We tried iTunes Match in multiple locations - in the gym, in the garden, on the bus - on an iPhone 4 and the results weren't great, even when we had a strong 3G signal. Clicking on a song that wasn't already on our iPhone meant waiting ten seconds or more for it to start playing, and switching from song to song killed the currently playing track long before the next one was ready to start. We also encountered playback problems with songs stopping, and starting, and stopping again. 3G mobile broadband should be up to the job - its top speed in our area is 7.2Mbps - but that figure only applies if you cover yourself in tinfoil and tie yourself to a mobile phone mast. Our mobile broadband struggles with small PDFs in email attachments, so it's not a huge surprise that it chokes on good-quality music files too. Things are more successful on Wi-Fi. We tried iTunes match on our iPhone and on our Apple TV, and, in both cases, songs started instantly. You could use iTunes Match as an alternative to Home Sharing for your Apple TV, although we're not sure why you'd want to: after all, Home Sharing uses your home network, not the wider internet, so it's less likely to suffer from connection problems. When it comes to streaming, then, iTunes Match is great on Wi-Fi and less great on 3G. Apple knows this, we think, because 3G's off by default: to enable it you need to go to Settings > Store > Use Cellular Data > On. It's also worth mentioning that you should disable 3G if you're off on holiday. If you don't, the data roaming charges could ruin you. Backups and better There's much more to iTunes Match than mobile music: it's an excellent backup service, and it's an exceptionally easy way to upgrade your iTunes library too. That's not bad for 21.99 per year. There are several benefits to backing up your iTunes library. The first is that the alternative of re-ripping years of CDs is horrible, and the second is that it saves you from having to buy an external hard disk or go through the process of burning CDs or DVDs. That said, we'd advise making a backup of your music before signing up for the service. Better safe than sorry. The icing on the cake is that you can also use iTunes Match to improve the quality of your library. Provided you've ripped tracks at 128Kbps or higher and iTunes Match recognises them, you can replace the existing copies with a new AAC file converted at 256Kbps. In our case, that meant updating 6,400 songs. There are a couple of conditions. You can only upgrade music, not other kinds of audio content, and you're limited to 25,000 songs plus iTunes purchases - they don't count towards the total number of tracks. There isn't a one-button "Upgrade my music" option, but the upgrade process is still simple. Once you've signed up for iTunes Match and let iTunes scan and upload your library (a process that takes hours), you can create a Smart Playlist. The criteria should be: * Match all of the following rules * Bit rate is less than 256kbps * Media kind is music * Any of the following are true (Option-click the Plus sign to do this) * iCloud status is Matched * iCloud status is Purchased. Save your playlist. Now for the scary bit: you need to select every file in your new playlist, press Option-delete, and select Move to Trash. iTunes will now ask whether you're sure about deleting the files; before clicking on Delete Songs, make sure that the "also delete these songs from iCloud" box is NOT checked. Your songs don't disappear when you do this. Instead, a cloud icon appears next to each one. That icon means the songs are not on your Mac, but are available in iCloud. The next step is to download them. To do that, it's time for another Smart Playlist. This time your criteria are: * Match all of the following rules * Location is iCloud * Location is not on this computer * Media kind is music. Open your new playlist, select everything, right-click and then select Download. Now, go to bed: if you've got a hefty selection of songs to download, downloading the new versions is an overnight job. There are a number of things to consider before putting your head in the iCloud. Once you hit 25,000 songs you can't add anything else to iTunes that you didn't buy from iTunes. There is a way round that, but it's a clunky one: you can split large iTunes libraries in two and then only synchronise one of them with iCloud. Then again, it's not a problem that's going to affect huge numbers of people: 25,000 songs is the equivalent of nearly 2,100 CDs. You're more likely to run into the device limit, as iTunes Match is limited to ten devices. The main limit, however, is financial. If you don't renew the service after 12 months, your iCloud music library disappears. The tracks you've updated won't revert to rubbish bitrates again - they're yours to keep forever - but if there's anything in iCloud you haven't downloaded to your Mac it'll be gone. iTunes Match simply doesn't recognise some tracks, which is particularly annoying if it's happily matched the other 11 songs from the same album, and if there is more than one version of a particular song - for example, because it appeared on more than one album - it sometimes matches the wrong one. We found that albums were occasionally split up, so you might have tracks 1, 2 and 3 in one version of the album and the others in a second version. It's not the end of the world - a quick Command+I enables you to fix the metadata - but it's quite annoying. To be fair to Gracenote, whose MusicID technology does the matching, it's an incredibly difficult job: not only are there hundreds of thousands of records to compare tracks to, but those records have been released as remasters, anniversary editions, radio edits, US, UK, Japanese and German editions, collectors' editions, box sets it's amazing the system works at all. Nevertheless, don't be surprised if iTunes Match sometimes fails to, er, match. If that happens, it'll upload the version from your library instead. There are other issues. Some people have experienced artwork disappearing from matched music, while others have seen explicit versions of their favourite songs replaced with the swear-free radio edits or found that iTunes Match reset their ratings and play counts. Others didn't realise that iTunes Match erases libraries from other devices, so for example if you turn it on on your iPhone it'll erase your playlists (although it'll keep the songs that you've already got on the device) and some people have found their smart playlists playing dumb. If you're looking for Spotify-style 3G streaming, iTunes isn't for you: unless you have an exceptionally good connection mobile broadband really struggles with the high-quality tracks. On 3G, it's better to think of iTunes Match as a solution to those "Aaagh! I really want to listen to some Bowie but it isn't on my iPhone!" moments than a streaming music service. The real draw here is threefold: iTunes Match makes it easy to share content between your various bits of Apple kit; it backs up all your music; and you can use it to upgrade all the duff tracks in your library, which in our case meant over 6,000 songs. It's possible, but for Apple it represents a lot of effort and expense for very little return; Spotify, famously, doesn't make a great deal of money. We suspect that Apple will keep iTunes Match as-is, not least because 4G mobile broadband, which is already rolling out in key US cities, is more than up to the job of delivering 256Kbps songs properly. Rather than copying Spotify, we think Apple will add more kinds of content to iTunes Match: just look at the range of TV and movie apps available for the iPad, and the size of iTunes' film and TV catalogue. For now, iTunes Match is just about music - but in the not too distant future it might match movies and TV shows too. | https://www.techradar.com/sg/news/computing/apple/is-itunes-match-worth-the-money-1074473 |
How can we make New Orleans a truly peaceful city? | The 146 murders in New Orleans in 2018 were the fewest since 1971, which was long before many victims this year were born. The city is much smaller now than it was 47 years ago, so our homicide rate remains one of the highest in the nation. That means we have a lot of work to do to make New Orleans safer. Still, there were 54 fewer murders last year than in 2011, which was the high point of the past eight years. That is 54 lives that were saved. Fifty-four families that are still intact. If New Orleans can continue that trajectory, the city could be transformed. That is not guaranteed, of course. Murders fell in New Orleans from a high of 424 to 158 between 1994 and 1999, and then went back up to 274 in 2003. But other cities have shown that a peaceful city is possible, and we must do everything we can to keep reducing violence. Police Superintendent Michael Harrison gives credit to his officers and to the NOPDs improved efficiency for the downturn. Thats fair. The ups and downs of the murder rate are due to many factors but having a more effective Police Department has to help curb crime. Superintendent Harrison has brought stability to the department as it implements the consent decree ordered by a federal court judge to correct abuses. One of the positive effects of that wide-ranging order is that officers are being trained to handle crisis situations. The program is voluntary, but about 40 percent of officers have gone through Crisis Intervention Team training. That training includes how to quickly assess a mental health crisis call, how to recognize the signs of different mental illnesses and how to de-escalate a situation. CIT officers also typically are able to connect people to community services. NOPD is well ahead of the target number for CIT training in the consent decree, but the goal ought to be to get every officer trained. Officers are dealing with more and more mental health calls, which grew from around 3,800 in 2014 to 4,950 in 2017. CIT skills can make those encounters safer both for the officer and for the person in crisis. That training is an example of the citys broad-based approach to reducing violence: treating it not just as a law enforcement issue, but as a public health problem as well. Former Mayor Mitch Landrieu made that a priority through NOLA for Life and programs like Strive, which was created to provide job training and opportunities for young African-American men. Mayor LaToya Cantrell also is committed to improving health and social services. She has created an Office of Youth and Families, which is working to coordinate and expand services like preschool and child care for families in need, trauma counseling and more. Director Emily Wolff has created a partnership with the citys 311 system to connect children to youth development, counseling and other services. The high levels of violence in New Orleans take a toll on our children, leaving emotional scars that can last a lifetime. Some city schools understand that and are training teachers to recognize and deal with the effects of trauma. But so far only 11 of the citys 80 public schools have fully embraced trauma-informed methods. That must change. The city also needs more mental health services to help people cope with trauma. The City Council formed a task force to recommend how to expand services to deal with emotional trauma. When that report is issued, the council and mayor ought to make its findings a top priority. Families see the effects of violence on children. I looked up and saw our children just looking at us. They were confused. They didn't know what was going on. How do you explain something like this to a child? the girlfriend of Jarvis Jarrow said after he was shot in the head last year while taking his toddler to school. Research by the Institute of Women and Ethnic Studies found that 42 children who attend Lawrence D. Crocker College Prep screened positive for lifetime PTSD. Since 2016, the institute's surveys of more than 300 students from public schools in and around Central City found that one in five children had witnessed a murder. Among the 10- to 16-year-olds surveyed between 2012 and 2015, rates of mental health disorders were dramatically higher here than the national average. More than half of the children said they worried about violence in their neighborhoods. They need help coping with those anxieties. That is why the citys public health and education initiatives are so important. Long-time youth football coach Jerome Temple, who is better known as DJ Jubilee, has seen the effects of violence on young people. After Hurricane Katrina, he started keeping a list of his former players who were killed. When he was interviewed last year by NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune reporters for our Children of Central City project, the total was at 28. If we dont support these kids, do everything we can, we know whats going to happen, he said. So why do we let it? We shouldnt. | https://www.nola.com/opinions/2019/01/how-can-we-make-new-orleans-a-truly-peaceful-city.html |
Can Marijuana Stop Beer Sales From Falling? | As more states legalize marijuana, speculation has grown about the potential for it to be the catalyst that finally reverses the years-long decline in the beer industry. Yet as Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE: BUD) becomes the latest brewer to partner with a marijuana producer, investors ought to step back, ignore the buzz, and ask themselves whether this is more fad than trend. Brewers often latch onto gimmicks, like ice beer, imperials, nitros, the oxymoronic black IPAs (it's an India pale ale after all), or the new New England IPAs that are cloudy rather than clear. You can still find these beers on store shelves, but their heyday has largely come and gone. Although marijuana-infused beer appears to be another publicity stunt that will eventually fade away to become a niche product, this time brewers are paying tens of millions of dollars -- sometimes hundreds of millions -- for the privilege. Female and male smoking marijuana and drinking beer More The law prohibits you from getting high and catching a buzz from a single beverage. Image source: Getty Images. Canna-beer is here Legal weed is still a new phenomenon, and because it's not yet national it still has a mystique that makes pairing suds and buds a seemingly forbidden pleasure. While Boston Beer and distiller Brown-Forman have warned in their SEC filings for years that legalization is a threat to alcoholic beverages because of the so-called substitution effect, there have been brewers that have been offering a happy mix from the beginning. In Colorado, where marijuana has been legal longest, Dad & Dude's Breweria has been successfully selling a cannabis-infused beer for years, and Oregon's Coalition Brewing has introduced several varieties of beer made with cannabidiol (CBD). Similarly, Heineken's Lagunitas introduced its SuperCritical limited edition ale made with terpenes, which is responsible for the cannabis plant's unique aroma and flavor, while Vermont's Long Trail Brewing made a limited run IPA-like beer made with cannabis compounds. Although these beers were popular when introduced and enjoy a cult-like following, it's only because of their newness and the heightened attention to legal weed that they got off the ground. Marijuana is now attracting the big guns of the business, like Anheuser-Busch, which paid $50 million to partner with Tilray; Constellation Brands, which initially bought a 9.9% stake in Canopy Growth early last year for $190 million and then added another $4 billion investment later in the year; and Molson Coors (NYSE: TAP), which is forming a joint venture with Hydropothecary (NASDAQOTH: HYYDF), in which the brewer will have the controlling interest as it pursues cannabis-infused beverages. Legal implications But it's not as if you're going to get high while having a beer. The government doesn't allow the psychoactive compounds of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, to be mixed with alcohol, which is why CBD and terpenes are most often used (there are over 100 cannabinoids, or the chemical compounds secreted by cannabis flowers that are found in both cannabis and hemp plants). So if you're buying a marijuana-infused beer thinking you will feel the effects from both, you're likely going to be disappointed. The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau (TTB) has pretty strict standards about what products brewers and distillers can use in their alcoholic beverages and what the labels can say. Brewers have to submit lab analyses of their products stating whether they're using oils, seeds, or some other component of the plant; how much THC, if any, is detected; and submit a sample to be tested by the TTB. Also, no words, description, images, slang, etc. can be used "implying or referencing the presence of hemp, marijuana, any other controlled substance; or any psychoactive effects." | https://news.yahoo.com/marijuana-stop-beer-sales-falling-135900428.html |
Could Romney block Kasich's anti-Trump message? | Mitt Romney and John Kasich have a lot of the same criticism of President Donald Trump. WASHINGTON Utah Sen. Mitt Romneys public rebuke of President Donald Trump has not only opened a fissure inside the Republican Party but might complicate Ohio Gov. John Kasichs plans to seek the presidency next year. In an opinion piece in the Washington Post and an interview on CNN last week, Romney criticized Trump for his divisive governing style, telling CNNs Jake Tapper Americans yearn for leaders who can unite us, all but borrowing one of Kasichs themes. By doing so, some analysts say Romney the GOPs 2012 presidential nominee has emerged as Trumps chief Republican critic in the Senate, but might also block Kasich from mounting a challenge of his own, either in the Republican presidential primary or as an independent. It was never anything but a dream (for Kasich) and Romneys positioning makes it an impossible dream, said Barry Bennett, who served as a senior adviser to Trumps 2016 campaign. Hes a much better fundraiser. Hes much better looking, too. James Ruvolo, former chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, said should Trumps presidency implode because of the ongoing investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller, Republicans would instinctively turn to Romney first. Hes more predictable and hes been there. By contrast, Kevin Madden, a former Romney campaign adviser, said while it would be hard for Kasich as a former governor to establish himself on the same platform Romney has established, if Kasich were to declare himself as a candidate that would all change. He would clearly become the most direct threat to the president inside a potential Republican primary. In a tweet last week, Kasich told Romney, Welcome to the fray. Chris Schrimpf, a Kasich spokesman, said Romneys opinion story shows that more and more Republicans and Americans agree with principled position that Governor Kasich has consistently held and led on. It certainly has no impact on the governor's decision beyond being another indication that many Americans are looking for better leadership for our country, Schrimpf said. But one senior Ohio Republican who spoke only on the condition of anonymity said if Romney wants to own that territory, he can take it away from Kasich. Hes got resources that exceed Kasichs. Kasich has been more consistently outspoken on Trump than Romney, who criticized Trump during the 2016 campaign but accepted his endorsement last year. Romney also did not seriously question Trump's stance on domestic issues in the op-ed in fact he backs the president on building a wall and tax cuts while Kasich has departed from Trump on immigration policy, gun rights and other key issues. During his CNN interview, Romney dismissed the idea he would run for president, saying he was not looking for the next election and the next spot. I havent decided who Im going to endorse in 2020. Im going to wait and see what the alternatives are. But Bennett, a fierce critic of Romney during the 2012 Republican presidential primaries, said Romney wants to be president so bad. Running for the Senate was just a temporary distraction. He has no interest in being in the Senate. He is using it as a platform to run for president. At the very least, he has seamlessly occupied the space held by such Trump critics as Kasich, and retiring Republican Senators Bob Corker of Tennessee and Jeff Flake of Arizona. Hes genuinely shocked at Trumps behavior, Ruvolo said of Romney. Two, at his age he didnt want to be any other freshman senator. Before he got sworn in, he staked out a position that the press is going to run to all the time. Although Trump is extremely popular among Republicans, privately GOP lawmakers worry about his impulsive style, such as his threat to fire Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell and his tariffs against China and Canada. Just last week, Trump stunned Republicans when he said the reason the Soviet Union sent troops into Afghanistan in 1979 was because terrorists were going into Russia," adding the Soviets "were right to be there. In reality, the Soviets invaded Afghanistan to restore a pro-Russian government in Kabul, move that provoked an intense Cold War standoff. In his Post opinion piece, Romney wrote the Trump presidency made a deep descent in December with the departure of Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and the abandonment of allies who fight beside us, a clear reference to the Syrian Kurds the United States has backed in that war-torn country. Republicans also worry about the outcome of Muellers investigation into allegations that Trump campaign aides colluded with Russian officials to damage the 2016 presidential campaign of Democrat Hillary Clinton. By bringing out his differences with Trump, Romney is all but advertising he could be an alternative in 2020. If there is anyone who is thinking that right now whether John Kasich or Mitt Romney they are flying on instruments right now, said Matt Borges, former chairman of the Ohio Republican Party. You cant see the ground. The idea is that Trump will implode and render himself unelectable, then some Republican needs to be in place. American political history is littered with primary challenges against sitting presidents. Unhappy with the prolonged Vietnam War, Democratic Sen. Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota entered the 1968 primary race against President Lyndon B. Johnson. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy of New York launched a later challenge, but was assassinated in June. In 1976, former California Gov. Ronald Reagan nearly ousted President Gerald R. Ford for the GOP nomination while President Jimmy Carter had to survive a tough 1980 primary challenge from Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts. Each challenge, however, came with a big price. Carter and Ford both lost re-election bids while Johnson dropped out of the race. His chosen successor, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, lost the 1968 general election. Romney, however, could be a formidable candidate in 2020. He ran a spirited race against Obama in 2012 and after the first presidential debate, an exuberant Borges e-mailed Kasich with the subject line, Romney will win Ohio. However, Romney would lose Ohio by less than 200,000 votes. Privately, Romney aides blamed Kasich, saying he made no effort to help his campaign. But Borges said the idea that Kasich didnt lift a finger isnt true. Kasich did indeed make joint campaign appearances with Romney, although it was awkward with the former Massachusetts governor arguing Ohio's economy was faltering when Kasich was contending it was good. Looking back at all of our roles in that process, I wish the Beltway political types brought to Ohio for Romneys campaign and the Ohio political establishment had done a better job of getting along, Borges said. Both sides were at fault. We should have put those aside. Had Mitt Romney won, we never would have been in this situation, Borges said. There never would have been a Trump presidency and we wouldnt be in this crevice right now. | https://www.cantonrep.com/news/20190106/could-romney-block-kasichs-anti-trump-message |
What Is the Trump coalition? | Trump voters are described in various amorphous terms, not all of which are friendly: working class, nationalist, rural, populist, provincial, anti-globalist, immigration skeptics, racist dissidents. It's also unclear what kind of president Trump will end up being. Pundits, commentators, penny-ante prognosticators all talk with certainty about the mixture of voters who sent Donald J. Trump, a gaudy real-estate developer, to the White House. Yet most can't pinpoint who composed this group of Americans who were willing to roll the dice on an unknown compared to someone as politically familiar too familiar, even as Hillary Clinton. It's hard to say. Trump's governing style lacks predictability. That's because his philosophical core is, at best, inchoate. Trump himself may not fully comprehend the larger picture formed by his beliefs an attribute not unfamiliar to most Americans. A cottage industry has formed around explaining what Trumpism is and isn't. But many of these tracts, which are sold for inflated prices at airport bookstores, focus on the man, not what he represents compared to the current political order. Israeli philosopher Yoram Hazony just took a big intellectual leap forward in developing a social system close to what Trump voters may be seeking. In the current state of things, both Democrat and Republican, and their party congeners greenie, libertarian, democratic socialist hold fast to the principles of liberalism. And by liberalism, I don't mean generic Democratic policies. In this case, it's liberalism qua liberalism individual equality, consensual exchange, the supremacy of reason. The American system of government was established largely along these principles, which are based on the thinking of philosophers like John Locke and Thomas Hobbes. Most modern politicians still govern along liberal lines. Democrats relentlessly push for the equality of newly discovered sexual and racial classifications. Republicans embrace the freedom of the marketplace, within our borders and out. The one prominent exception is Trump, who has never been a doctrinaire Republican, nor a typical Democrat despite being registered as one for years. He refers to himself as a "nationalist," despite the term's open-ended implications. Hazony has just written a well received book on the positive attributes of nationalism, The Virtue of Nationalism. But it's his recent essay in First Things outlining the alternative to liberalism that paves the way for new thinking on our old system of government. Titled "Conservative Democracy," Hazony picks up where Notre Dame professor Patrick Deneen left off with last year's "Why Liberalism Failed," and sketches out what a more conservative approach to liberal democracy can look like. Hazony right away dispenses with the old canard that fascism and Marxism are liberalism's only replacements. While recognizing the indisputable benefits of liberalism no one can seriously claim market capitalism hasn't been a boon for human living standards. Hello, modern dentistry! Hazony homes in on its failures: the inability to keep families intact and religion a crucial aspect of our collective lives. He writes: The most significant institutions that have characterized America and Britain for the last five centuries, giving these countries their internal coherence and stability the Bible, public religion, the independent national state, and the traditional family are not merely under assault. They have been, at least since World War II, in precipitous decline. Hazony points out a glaring omission that even right-leaning defenders of liberalism are guilty of: family stability, faith, and patriotic loyalty are not intrinsic characteristics of liberalism. The latter doesn't need the former to exist indeed, their absence is increasingly the national norm. Skyrocketing out-of-wedlock birth rates, declining church attendance, a withering of our reverence for history and tradition. These have been liberalism's fruits. Hazony envisions a new regimen, one that emphasizes national continuity and historical faith while maintaining the better aspects of liberalism, including limited government and individual liberty. A conservative system, he stipulates, would emphasize five main points: historical empiricism, nationalism, religion, limited executive power, and individual freedoms. Where liberalism fails, Hazony contends, is in its fatal conceit, to borrow a term from one of the ideology's most famous exponents. "In their campaign for universal 'liberal democracy,' liberals have thus confused certain historical-empirical principles of the traditional Anglo-American constitution," he writes, "for universal truths that are equally accessible to all human beings, regardless of historical or cultural circumstances." Hazony's "conservative democracy" is, in short, a return to particularity. Like all social systems, it's imperfect and in need of refinement. But it has potential, not just to supplant liberalism, but to improve it. The desire for some aspects of conservative democracy was apparent in Trump's election. The hollowing out of our manufacturing base through liberalism's championing of free trade, the opioid epidemic that stems from a lack of transcendent meaning inculcated through churching, the ever upward tick of the divorce rate among older Americans these factors boosted the poignancy of Trump's nostalgia-heavy campaign message. Books and polemics are one way of getting the message out that untrammeled liberalism is behind many of our woes. Hazony has done a valuable service adumbrating an alternative to liberalism that isn't liquidating the kulaks. But he can't popularize it on his own. Coincidentally enough, an unexpected voice has distilled some of the more straightforward aspects of conservative democracy and broadcasted them to a wide audience. Fox News host Tucker Carlson began the year with a ripping monologue, taking American elites to task for living bourgeois lifestyles but not passing those values down the social ladder. He describes members of the "educated upper-middle classes" as "functionally libertarian" in lifestyle that is, liberal. This hands-off approach has given way to a raft of fatherless homes and hopeless drug addiction cases we see everywhere outside high-income ZIP codes. Carlson, like sociologist Charles Murray before him, wants an elite class better attuned to the needs of the working and middle class. Hazony has developed an intellectual framework to conserve the best of liberalism while shoring up its shortcomings. Trump won a presidential election based on the notion that our nation is not as cohesive as it once was. This constellation of doubt in the status quo isn't a mistake. Liberalism is due for a rethinking. At the very least, the motivating forces that elected Trump and Hazony's proposition gives us something more to think about in the highly circumscribed arena of political ideas. | https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/01/what_is_the_trump_coalition.html |
Is Facebook making a VR-ready video app? | Facebook may be looking to get the world ready for virtual reality with a new report suggesting the company is working on an app for 360-degree videos. Sources 'familiar with the matter' have told the Wall Street Journal that the social media giant is preparing a standalone app that supports spherical videos and would work on both Apple and Android handsets. Like with other 360-degree video platforms for phones and tablets, like those that works with Google Cardboard, users will be able to move their phone around to get a full 360-degree experience. The app is reportedly still in its early development stage, so it might not ever launch, but given that Mark Zuckerberg announced back in March that Facebook would begin supporting 360-degree videos on user's News Feeds, we're inclined to believe that we may end up seeing the app eventually. After all, Facebook has recently been pushing into the video streaming market, as well as taking big steps into VR with the purchase of Oculus last year. Google has already introduced 360-degree videos on YouTube, with VR headset-ready videos are expected to be supported soon, as well. | https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/is-facebook-making-a-vr-ready-video-app-1304278 |
Does Ole Gunnar Solskjaer already know his best Manchester United FC team? | Get daily updates directly to your inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email Manchester United went through to the FA Cup fourth round after beating Reading but the biggest beneficiaries were the players who sat the game out. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made nine changes from the side that beat Newcastle 2-0 with just Juan Mata and Phil Jones keeping their places in the starting line-up. Matteo Darmian started at centre back, Andreas Pereira was handed his fourth start of the season while Fred was in the starting XI for only the 11th time since his big money summer move and, with Reading struggling badly in the Championship and without a win in two months, it was a perfect opportunity for the squads fringe players to put on a show. But, that's not what happened. The game lacked the flair and attacking quality United have shown in the weeks since Solskjaer took over, there was a spark missing in midfield and there weren't many chances created in the way they have in the four games of the Norwegian's reign report the MEN. The front three of Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez and Juan Mata lacked the spark weve seen between Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial in the games leading up to the third round clash and the trio will have no concerns about getting back in to the starting XI having watched that win. Uniteds passing accuracy and possession were the lowest theyve been since Solskjaer took over and, while the result never looked in doubt, it wasnt pretty. Solskjaer hailed Darmian at full time as the biggest plus after he didnt put a foot wrong but no matter how impressed Solskjaer was with the Italian it would take an injury nightmare for him to make the starting XI against Spurs next weekend. But the good news for Solskjaer is the majority of these players arent needed in his regular starting XI, and if he didnt know that before kick off he will have realised it by full time. Before this cup game Solskjaer had tinkered with his starting line ups, making nine changes over his first four games in charge. A stark contrast to the 67 made by Jose Mourinho before he was sacked. Paul Pogba, Nemanja Matic, David de Gea, Victor Lindelof, Luke Shaw, Rashford and Martial are all regular fixtures in his starting XIs and thats unlikely to change. Mourinho couldnt work out his best starting XI to stick with after two and a half years at the club but it appears Solskjaer may have done just that after 16 days in charge. Solskjaers sticking to his pledge to give everyone a chance but the performance against Reading shows that some may have to wait until the next round of the competition before that chance comes again, if at all. | https://www.dailypost.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/ole-gunnar-solskjaer-already-know-15637030 |
Where will Bama land in history of wire-to-wire national champs? | If the Tide can top the Tigers, a big feather in Bamas cap in a greatest ever? debate: theyll officially be the third No. 1 team to go wire-to-wire in the top AP spot. That means that from the preseason poll in August to the post-bowl poll in January, the Tide were always on top. Theyll join 1999 Florida State and 2004 USC if they can pull it off. History has two other full-season No. 1 teams: 1943 Notre Dame and 1945 Army. But the preseason poll as we know it didnt begin until 1950, and the champ was declared before the bowls back then. The 43 Notre Dame team actually lost to a two-loss team (albeit a Great Lakes team that lost two other top-10 teams) to end the season. The 45 Army team was properly unblemished all season, but was 2-0 by the time the first AP Poll was released. But if Bama loses to Clemson, theyll join a different group of teams. Those are the teams that tripped up right at the finish line. Four teams have come agonizingly close to getting the job done. 2016 Alabama came one second away ... until Deshaun Watson had his say. 2005 USC also got to the doorstep of immortality before Vince Young vanquished them. 1983 Nebraska infamously lost by going for two and the win instead of settling for the tie against then No. 5 Miami. But the absolute closest a teams come to going wire-to-wire is 2002 Miami. The Canes forced an incompletion on fourth down in overtime, but a bad call gave Ohio State new life after we all thought the game was over. Other notables didnt get quite that close. Floridas 2009 team got all the way to the conference championship game undefeated before running into Alabama. 2003 Oklahoma also made it to the Big 12 title game before getting blown out by Kansas State. team got all the way to the conference championship game undefeated before running into Alabama. also made it to the Big 12 title game before getting blown out by Kansas State. 2006 Ohio State got blown out by Florida in the title game. got blown out by Florida in the title game. 1993s Florida State started as No. 1 and ended as No. 1, but didnt go wire-to-wire. In fact, they only spent one week out of the top spot. The Noles lost to No. 2 Notre Dame in Week 11, but were back in the top spot by Week 13. 1952 Michigan State also had one week outside of the top spot, but didnt lose. started as No. 1 and ended as No. 1, but didnt go wire-to-wire. In fact, they only spent one week out of the top spot. The Noles lost to No. 2 Notre Dame in Week 11, but were back in the top spot by Week 13. also had one week outside of the top spot, but didnt lose. 1972 USC actually did go wire-to-wire ... if you dont count the preseason poll. The Trojans went 12-0, but assumed the top spot after Week 1. actually did go wire-to-wire ... if you dont count the preseason poll. The Trojans went 12-0, but assumed the top spot after Week 1. 1971 Nebraska did the same thing. did the same thing. 1956 Oklahoma also deserves a brief mention here because in the midst of 47-game winning streak and en route to a repeat national championship the Sooners the Sooners were No. 1 in 10-12 polls. Going wire-to-wire has never been tougher. First of all, youll have to go undefeated at 15-0 to do it, something no FBS-equivalent team has done in more than a century. Thats undefeated through a 12 game regular season, a conference championship game against at least a decent team, a Playoff semifinal against a really good team, and a national title game against an elite team. Stifling expectations come when you play 15 games as the No. 1 team. It means youve gone through an offseason when everyone assumes youre going to win it. Then you have to actually go and do the thing for four months avoiding upsets, injuries, and all other pitfalls. The Alabama team deserves to be put in a legendary stratosphere. Going wire-to-wire No. 1 is that impressive, but the Tide have to actually pull it off first. | https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2019/1/6/18163448/wire-to-wire-national-champions-ap-poll-history |
Can the Springboks win the World Cup? | The question many South Africans will be asking after a year in which the Springboks took one step forward and one back is if their team can win the 2019 Rugby World Cup. The Boks may have been wildly inconsistent with seven wins from their 14 Tests in 2018 but they occasionally showed that they are capable of scaling heights that seem beyond their reach. With so many mediocre results in the season, their undoubted highlight was their win over the All Blacks in Wellington. It shouldnt just imbue them with self-belief ahead of the World Cup, but it stands as a beacon of hope for the other teams with a realistic chance of lifting the Webb Ellis Cup. That win would also have served the purpose of creating doubt in the All Black ranks. They had been near invincible at home. They lost in Wellington to the British and Irish Lions in 2017 and drew the deciding Test at Eden Park a week later. Their only other home defeats in the last decade came against France at Carisbrook in 2009 and the Springboks in Hamilton the same year. Apart from that win, the Boks can draw inspiration from their most recent engagements against the All Blacks. On aggregate, only one point separates the two teams in their last three meetings. In 2018 the Boks won by two points in Wellington and lost by the same margin at Loftus Versfeld while 2017s clash at Newlands was a one-point win for the All Blacks. In their most recent meeting against the All Blacks at the RWC, the men in black won 2018 in the semifinal in London in 2015. The Boks still have the muscle to combat the All Blacks at close quarters, but they also have a skill shortfall to consistently test the Kiwis in the less-populated areas of the field. Still with enough composure in the cauldron of a World Cup knockout match they can upset the All Blacks but the odds remain against them. The two teams will get the opportunity to suss each other out when they meet in the pool stages in Yokohama on September 21. It may provide a portent of whats to come later in the tournament. As for the other leading contenders the Boks at the very least have an equal shot. Ireland have of late held more than their own against the Boks. In their most recent outing in November 2017 Ireland thoroughly dominated the Boks under Allister Coetzee. It is hard to think the Boks can be poorer than they were on that miserable evening in Dublin. Wales too seemed to have grown an arm and a leg in their recent encounters with the Springboks. Since losing in the quarterfinals of the last World Cup against the Boks Wales have beaten South Africa in four consecutive matches. The only other team to boast two wins over the Boks under Rassie Erasmus are England. They probably fall into the same category as the Boks as will the Wallabies, who have a decent record against the Green and Gold. The Wallabies however seem a little further off the pace than the Boks or indeed England. France and Argentina are undoubtedly capable of springing a one-off surprise, but winning three knockout matches en route seems beyond them. The Boks cannot be ruled out as potential World Cup champions but they will have to find the kind of consistency we have not seen for years. | https://www.heraldlive.co.za/sport/2019-01-06-can-the-springboks-win-the-world-cup/ |
Why are Northwest Montanas Ski Areas Still Independent? | The young skier dressed in a black mesh shirt ties a black bandana around his forehead and pulls a goofy face for the camera. His friends, dressed up in Hawaiian shirts, cheer. Others smile on, chatting and holding dark beers while waiting in the queue for a Whitefish Mountain Resort season pass sale event hosted by the Great Northern Brewery this fall. This is the best day of the year second best, after opening day, one passholder says. Over the years, skiers and snowboarders collect these plastic rectangles like scout badges, saving them as mementos of good times and worse hairstyles. For many locals, theyre tokens of commitment to the home hill. The biggest ski companies in America are growing through the acquisition and homogenization of independently owned resorts, small and large. This well-established trend has escalated, in recent years, into an arms race to dominate regional markets. The empire-building, bottom-line-driven approach of resort group titans has resulted in the accelerated development and commodification of mountain valleys, in some cases to the detriment of human and natural communities. But there are exceptions. Northwest Montana is one of few remaining regions in American snow states where a conglomerate giant hasnt taken up residence. Turner Mountain Ski Area, in Libby, is owned by a nonprofit foundation and operated almost entirely by volunteers. Whitefish Mountain Resort is owned and operated by the corporation that founded the mountain, and whose largest shareholder is a billionaire businessman with local ties. Blacktail Mountain resort, in Lakeside, is still owned by its four founders, who are seeking a successor. Many skiers love multi-destination passes, like Vails EPIC and Alterras Ikon, which open up wonderful travel opportunities for those who are able to take advantage of them. As with Vails Afton Alps, located on the outskirts of Minneapolis, conglomerate investment promises to keep mom-and-pop ski areas alive and introduce skiing to more folks living in urban areas. But a balanced mountain town culture requires meaningful agency of locals in its resorts. Outsized outside investment often creates dramatic wealth disparity in rural mountain towns, exacerbating the proliferation of second- and third-homes, and eventually pushing out lower-income workers, including those who prioritize skiing above all else. This displacement, compounded by the corporate effort to create a more streamlined experience across its properties, can undermine the idiosyncratic character that originally made the ski town special. Due to the significant costs of running a winter resort, especially in a densely consolidating industry, many ski areas havent been able to stay open under independent ownership, either shutting down or selling out. But the chairlifts at Turner, Whitefish, and Blacktail are still spinning. Overdevelopment has never been a concern for Turner or Blacktail; growth at Whitefish has been more ambitious, but by national standards, its still rootsy and unpretentious for a resort of its size. Theres no guarantee that independent ownership will continue to be successful here, but the skiers and snowboarders who smile for a pass photo in Northwest Montana do so knowing that theyre paying to recreate someplace built and sustained by local interests and investment. Turner Mountain Ski Area Base elevation: 3,842 Summit elevation: 5,952 Annual skier visits 2017/2018: 4,600 Cost: An adult day pass is $38, an adult season pass is $495, and a four-person family pass is $1,285 Volunteers opened Turner Ski Area in 1961, about 20 miles north of Libby inside the Kootenai National Forest. Located in a remote corner of the state, its more reliant on its community of locals than most ski areas. But a formidable volunteer ethic is embedded in Libby, and its supporters have been able to keep the mountain open every single winter since it opened. The people who live here understand that if they dont contribute, in whatever way theyre able, they will lose Turner. For decades, the longest T-Bar in North America hauled skiers 2,100 feet straight up Turners fall line. When passholders joked that going up was harder than going down, they werent really joking. But chairlifts are expensive. By the mid-1990s, the T-Bar had aged beyond reliability, and the community rallied behind Kootenai Winter Sports Inc., the nonprofit that owns the hill, to raise enough money to purchase used chairlift materials. Licensed engineers, electricians, and experts in other journeymen trades donated their expertise to refurbish and install the lift, which opened in January 2002. Three years later, volunteers built a new lodge, replacing a primitive warming shack. In December 2014, a catastrophic fire ravaged the equipment workshop, destroying many critical tools, and the mountain still opened two weeks later. We didnt skip a beat. We survived that. That goes to show you what this community is capable of, Bruce Zwang, Turners board of directors president, says. If you roll up your sleeves and get to work up there, youre going to feel a sense of ownership and a sense of pride. You helped keep the dream alive. All this time, Turner has been the quietest surviving ski area in Montana, in terms of skier visits. And though it has grown since the 60s, it hasnt grown a lot. All services lift tickets, patrol, rentals, and the modest cafeteria are under one roof. Aprs-ski revelers congregate in the small parking lot. Everything runs on a generator. If you call the main number, the phone rings in Zwangs office in Libby, where he works as an accountant. Aside from the December holidays and Presidents Day, Turner is open only on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. At least 50 people contribute enough volunteer hours to earn a pass; the only two paid employees are lift operation and maintenance. Midweek private rentals that cost $3,750, a 20-year-tradition, help keep Turner in the black. Mountain manager Jon Jeresek says theyve never missed a payment on long-term loans, and that very dedicated financial supporters will sometimes call up and see if the ski area could use a big check. For the people who ski Turner, this effort is, without question, worth the sacrifices that sustain the business. What I see people appreciating the most about Turner, Jersek says, is just the absolute freedom and relaxation with the experience. Skiing at Turner is one of the most relaxing ski experiences you can ever imagine This is an experience that was fairly common in the Mountain West. Its faded, with small areas going under, and big areas surviving, and big areas becoming a destination catering to regional or out-of-region skiers. Ours is not that. We are not that. At Turner, its often quiet in the lodge. People here like that. They dont worry about losing friends. They dont worry about skiing fast enough, or in the right places, to get the good snow before its skied out. They see wildlife all the time. (Jeresek says hes observed wolverine and mountain lions.) At 9 a.m. on a Saturday, they park a few hundred feet from the chairlift. Lap after lap, they ski through evenly spaced glades with high-limbed trees, down 2,100 feet of fall line slopes with a consistent pitch. At 3:59 p.m. on a powder day, they spot un-skied lines from the slow double chair. Turner evokes the joy of skiing in a place where a communitys dedication alone has preserved the leisure and pleasure of this completely nonessential, but absolutely blissful, pastime for almost 60 years. Ive never been concerned about our survival, Zwang says. Well do whats necessary to keep going. We always have. We always will. Whitefish Mountain Resort Base elevation: 4,464 ft. Summit elevation: 6,817 ft. Annual skier visits 2017/2018: 382,066 Cost: An adult season pass, which offers 18 days at partner ski resorts like Great Divide and Red Lodge, is $660 if purchased pre-season. A lift ticket is $81 at the window; its cheaper if you buy it in advance online, or at Costco. Whitefishs pioneering skiers, Lloyd Mully Muldown and Ole Dalen, marked the first descent on the Big Mountain in 1933, a generation after the town of Whitefishs founding, and two years before Sun Valley, Americas first destination ski resort, opened in Idaho. Many skiers in the Hell-Roaring Ski Club, which formed in 1937, were enthusiastic about the prospect of growth. Their aspirations for winter tourism in this railroad town reached far beyond anything that Montanas quaint ski areas had ever seen. There was a vision of what could happen there, says Mike Muldown, Mullys son and a Whitefish real estate agent. [Sun Valley] was the icon. And when they tried to advocate for Whitefish becoming at least something like that, they were a little unrealistic in their expectations. They were on a shoestring budget. In March 1947, the winter before opening day, Winter Sports Inc. (WSI) the corporation that still owns and operates the resort formed, with $70,000 in stock authorized. Whitefish locals financed more than half of the startup investment; the rest came from Ed Schenck and George Prentice, Great Falls businessmen who moved to the area to help start the resort. Eight months into the first year of operations on the Big Mountain, Schenck reportedly declared the project dead broke, according to Jean Arthurs book Hellroaring. Supporters locked the doors on a community meeting until attendees ponied up an additional $6,000 in donations. Rusty Abel, the founder of Whitefish Credit Union, loaned skiers money at no interest so they could buy more stock. Resort employees accepted stocks instead of paychecks, and businesses, like Nelsons Hardware, accepted stocks instead of cash. Schencks descendants have said that his personal finances suffered because of how hard he worked up there, frequently without compensation. Only two years after the ski area opened, Whitefish hosted the National Ski Association Championships. This was the biggest ski-racing event in the country. Whitefish didnt even have a chairlift. But the event was a success. Whitefish continued to host ski races, producing talented athletes, which kept the community in the news. Trains filled with families from the Midwest and Seattle rolled into town every week. It was a lively scene up on the mountain, day and night. As more people relocated to experience the frontier of skiing in the northern American Rockies, the rail town began its transformation into a ski town. A ski culture grew, shaped by the regions seclusion, often-harsh weather conditions, and glorious powder days. By the late 50s, it had pretty well been figured out that one T-Bar, one Poma Lift, and one rope tow were not just going to hack it if The Big Mountain was ever going to become a real destination ski resort, Norm Kurtz wrote in his memoir Chair One. Originally a Whitefish ski bum, Kurtz was promoted through the ranks to general manager in the late 70s. According to Kurtz, two stockholders loaned the money to buy a lift that would reach the top of the mountain. When Chair 1 was installed in 1960, Kurtz says, it was euphoria up on the hill! In the 70s, local families who purchased WSI stock finally saw a return on their initial investment. The next growth push was to expand mountain facilities and on-hill bed capacity. First came two subdivisions, and then the Alpenglow, which was Montanas first recreational condominium. In the early 80s, WSI began selling parcels of base area real estate via The Big Mountain Development Corporation. In the 90s, Mike Collins, a ski resort developer, was hired as the CEO, and he installed Whitefishs first high-speed chair and a snowmaking system, undergrounded power in the village, and began arranging direct flights from Minneapolis. I wanted to be a competitive resort in the Northwest, Collins says. He says there was never enough funding to build a hotel, and though he courted hoteliers, they expressed more interest in downtown opportunities. What was attainable was building duplex, townhome, and single-family home developments. The board of directors majority, which was full of longtime Whitefish locals, approved all this growth. But some board and community members worried that it distracted from the resorts core competency. Real estate investments helped the business weather some difficult seasons, but by the turn of the century, the resort was mired in debt. In 2004, and then again in 2006, the board of directors voted to reduce the number of WSI shares through reverse-stock splits, buying out investors with smaller amounts of stock. On the Big Mountains 50th anniversary, in 1997, WSI had more than 800 stockholders. After the reverse-stock splits, only a few dozen remained. Bill Foley, an independently wealthy, non-skiing investor, held the majority share. Fred Jones, who replaced Collins as CEO of WSI, explained that the reverse-stock split was needed to make the Big Mountains operating model more tax-efficient. But skiers felt blindsided and betrayed. In 1950, Schenck had told the Evening Post that, through collaboration, the Big Mountain had become a concrete expression of the towns spirit of adventure and cooperation. The reverse-stock split buried this history of grassroots, generational support. Foley changed the name to Whitefish Mountain Resort (WMR) the following year, which did not endear him to spurned locals. Diehards still call it the Big. But Foley began loaning the resort funds for major on-mountain improvements. Just before the 2008 recession, Foley and Dan Graves, the CFO hired by Jones, refocused on making operations profitable without relying on real estate. Under Foleys leadership, Whitefish has seen chairlift upgrades and the instillation of beloved new lifts, the Summit House expansion, and significant development of summer operations, including downhill mountain biking. This fall, WMR sold a record-breaking 10,000 season passes. Since 2006, the resort has seen an overall growth trend in skier visits. The readers of SKI magazine recently voted Whitefish #1 in the west for Overall Satisfaction. (The past two seasons, while other regions struggled with snowfall, Whitefish received more than 400 inches, which hasnt hurt.) Foley and Graves went from being demonized to being our savior, Kent Gilkerson, a 30-year Whitefish passholder, says. Muldown believes the founders would be pleased with how the ski area has evolved, with the exception of losing local shareholders. A ski area that values its locals, thats what makes a healthy and vibrant skiing community, says John Davies, a former POWDER magazine editor who has been visiting his brother in Whitefish for 20 years. The trick with ski areas is to change the place without really changing the place. You have to keep the lights on, improve infrastructure, and protect the identity. That manifests in local pride. Theres a lot of that in Whitefish. Theres no official platform for local input, such as an advisory council of passholders, but Graves, the former CFO who is now CEO, says he gladly listens to skiers with feedback on operations. The resort also regularly processes customer surveys, and many big decisions, like the proposed Hellroaring Basin expansion, are open to public comment because WMR is partially on U.S. Forest Service lands. For his part, Graves says big resort conglomerates occasionally call, but he would prefer the resort to be owned independently by a small group of investors with interest in the resort and community vs. a large, distant conglomerate. Certainly, our largest shareholder, Mr. Foley, doesnt want to jeopardize the way the community feels about this resort, related to an ownership change, Graves added. Theres a reason the rumor that Foley plans to sell out never dies. This gossip reflects classic mountain town anxieties about cost of living and overdevelopment. More than that, it expresses the protectiveness and kinship that Whitefishs skiers and snowboarders feel for what is still their beloved home hill. Blacktail Mountain Ski Area Base elevation: 5,340 Summit elevation: 6,780 Annual skier visits 2017/2018: 44,260 Cost: A day ticket is $42, and an adult season pass costs $395. While Steve Spencer worked as mountain manager on the Big Mountain in Whitefish in the 90s, he grew increasingly uncomfortable with its trajectory. The Columbia Falls-born skier wanted a return to the regional ski area model that catered to local families, no bells or whistles. So he recruited Flathead Valley contractors he knew from the Big Mountain Tom Sands, a surveyor; Dennis Carver, a civil engineer; and Jeff Sorg, a carpenter and set his sights on the Island Unit of the Flathead National Forest, overlooking Flathead Lake. They paid a local research firm to assess consumer interest. It came out so positive, we didnt believe it, so we did it again, Spencer says. He consulted wildlife and conservation environmental groups, who were supportive of recreational development in the isolated district. A snow study performed by the Forest Service in the late 60s had already demonstrated reliable annual snowfall. Their proposal was so solid that the Forest Service issued its first Special Use Permit for ski resort development since 1987 it has not issued one since. The founders poured sweat equity into the place. Spencer drew the ski runs, Carver designed the sewer and water systems, Sands profiled the topography for lift placement, and Sorg built resort facilities. After opening in December 1988, it took about a decade of financial uncertainty for Blacktail to find its groove. We operate on a tight budget, Spencer says. If its got any risk to it, we dont think about it. It pays for itself, its not a burden The whole time, its been word of mouth, which is a healthy way to grow. It wasnt a fast growth. It wasnt a dishonest growth. It wasnt an unrealistic growth. People come here, and if we get them once, we get them back. Skiers are often surprised by Blacktails size, he says. From the airport, or from Bigfork, you only see the top third of the big lift. Its situated almost entirely on north-facing slopes, where snow is better preserved. Because the mountain is not open on Mondays or Tuesdays, so-called powder Wednesdays can be deep. The weather patterns are different from Whitefish; youll never see a snow ghost, those rime-encrusted tree formations caused by persistent fog coverage. Skiers expect more sunny days, and terrific vistas of the Mission and Cabinet Mountains, Flathead Lake, and Glacier National Park. Passholders at Blacktail are also vocal about how highly they value local ownership. What I see happening at Big Mountain is offensive to me, says Diane Edge, a Bigfork-based Blacktail skier who used to buy a Whitefish pass, too. She doesnt like the crowds, and shes nostalgic about uncommercialized skiing experiences. The Blacktail owners, she believes, give a damn They dont just own it; they love it. In 2002, Spencer and his three partners listed Blacktail for sale, but they didnt receive any offers. Theyre not rushing to unload the property just ready for retirement, sometime soon. They re-listed it in May of this year, asking $3.5 million for the turnkey operation, including three chairlifts and a 17,000-square-foot base lodge. Blacktail is unlikely to appeal to conglomerates, which typically acquire smaller ski areas only when they are easily accessed by a major metropolis. An outside buyer could support local interests, like Foley has at Whitefish. Because Blacktail, including its base area, is located entirely on Forest Service land, the federal agency will have to approve the buyer, and private commercial and real estate developments will never be permitted. The downhome character that Blacktail passholders love is secure. Through a realtor, Spencer has fielded interest from prospective buyers in China, Australia, England, Canada, New York, and the American West. The ideal buyer would not be an individual, but a consortium of individuals, says Gordon Phillips, a Blacktail skier since day one, who also buys a Whitefish pass. Other passholders, like Bill Metzler, have expressed interest in pooling resources to buy the property. A lifelong Lakeside resident, Metzler skied on this mountain before the resort was founded, and hes specified in his will that his ashes be spread up there. He respects community-based ownership models that have been successful at Bridger Bowl, in Bozeman, and Red Mountain, in interior British Columbia, less than five hours from Kalispell. Because Bridger and Red are renowned for their challenging terrain, theyve easily attracted skier support from near and far. Metzler says hed be in total favor of a grassroots option, even if it involves some outside investment. The history of Northwest Montana skiing shows that the immense challenge of maintaining, or growing, an independent ski business extends beyond luck or good snowfall or even business savvy. A healthy ski area takes care of its locals, regardless of how much it depends on tourism dollars. By operating in a way that reflects local pride and passion, Turner, Whitefish, and Blacktail continue to receive community support and investment. This tight-knit, reciprocal spirit is keeping Northwest Montana ski areas alive, and thriving. If you enjoy stories like this one, please consider joining the Flathead Beacon Editors Club. For as little as $5 per month, Editors Club members support independent local journalism and earn a special deal every month from one of our great local business partners. Members also gain access to www.beaconeditorsclub.com, where they will find exclusive content like deep dives into our biggest stories and a behind-the-scenes look at our newsroom. 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Who is new Rutgers defensive coordinator Andy Buh? | When speculation about the future of Rutgers' defensive coordinator position began this past season, many expected any change would be made with an eye toward recruiting. But the foundation of Andy Buhs anticipated hire is clearly coaching experience and familiarity with head coach Chris Ash. Rutgers is expected to officially hire Buh, who was Big Ten rival Marylands defensive coordinator the past three seasons, to the same position in the coming days as part of a staff overhaul. Rutgers will not retain Jay Niemann, who was Ashs defensive coordinator the past three seasons, or outside linebackers coach Toby Neinas. Both coaches have contracts expiring later this year. Buh (pronounced boo) has over 20 years of coaching experience at the college level and previously worked with Ash. Here is a closer look at Rutgers' new defensive coordinator. MEET ANDY BUH: Most recent job: Defensive coordinator at Maryland. Connection to Ash: Buh was Wisconsins linebackers coach in 2012 when Ash was the Badgers co-defensive coordinator. New Jersey ties: None apparent. Age: 46 in June. Hometown: Escondido, California. Twitter handle (for now): @UMDCoachBuh Playing background: Buh was a standout linebacker at Palomar College, where he played on a junior college national championship team and was a junior college All-American. He then finished his college career at Nevada, where he was an All-Big West linebacker and played on a conference title team. Uneven results: Buhs one season as Californias defensive coordinator coincided with the programs worst defense ever, although Cal was rocked by injuries. But his defenses at Nevada also made significant strides from the prior regime and helped the Wolf Pack win a conference title. Buh was also part of solid defenses at Stanford and Marylands unit was middle of the pack this past season. Ash is still expected to play a heavy role in Rutgers' defense next season after the unit improved with his increased involvement in the second half of 2018. 10 players who will determine Rutgers' success in 2019 Position expertise: It wasnt immediately clear what position Buh will coach at Rutgers, but he has experience coaching linebackers - inside and outside - as well as defensive backs. Ash did not have an outside linebackers coaching position on his staff until last season when Neinas became the 10th assistant, so its possible that spot could be absorbed into one linebackers position again, with jack defensive ends going to the defensive line room. Power 3 of 5: Buh has coached in three of the five major conferences. Rutgers will be his third Big Ten school, and hes also coached at two Pac-12 programs (California and Stanford) and Kentucky in the SEC. Harbaugh guy: Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh has had Buh on his staff twice - once at San Diego, once at Stanford - and employed him for a total of five seasons. Growing up overseas: Buh was born in Japan and grew up near Okinawa while his father was in the Marine Corps, according to this Washington Post feature. The family eventually moved back to the United States, first in Arizona and then in California. Full coaching history: 2016-18: Maryland defensive coordinator; 2015: Kentucky outside linebackers coach, special teams coordinator; 2013: California defensive coordinator; 2012: Wisconsin linebackers coach; 2010-11: Nevada defensive coordinator; 2008-09: Stanford co-defensive coordinator; 2007: Stanford linebackers coach; 2006: Fresno State assistant; 2002-05: San Diego linebackers coach; 2000-01: California administrative assistant for defense; 1999: Nevada defensive backs and special teams coach; 1997-98: Nevada graduate assistant; 1996: Orange Glen (Calif.) High assistant coach. James Kratch may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JamesKratch. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook. | https://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/2019/01/who-is-new-rutgers-defensive-coordinator-andy-buh.html |
Why Selfie Bebo Simran Singhs death still a mystery? | Sambalpur: On January 3, the entire Odisha was shaken by the mysterious death of Sambalpuri album artist Simran Singh, who was known for her popular music video Selfie Bebo. The 20-year-old actress was found dead with severe injury marks on her face and body under the Mahanadi Bridge near Goira Matha in Sambalpur district. While many doubt that the actress took her own life by jumping off the bridge due to her estranged relationship with her husband, Dhrubaraj Suna aka Yug, the truth still lies buried. Simrans family levelled murder allegations on her husband, a resident of Belapada in Bolangir district. However, the police registered a case of unnatural death and began the probe. However, the case took a new turn next morning after a voice message of Simran went viral on social media in which she was heard crying. In her last message, Simran had said that she was going through mental stress due to her estranged relationship and concluded saying that she was going away from everyone. The deceased actress believed to have recorded the voice message onboard Samaleshwari Express before getting down at Khetrarajpur railway station. If sources are to be believed, Simran had gone to Bhawanipatna to perform in a Zero Night celebration party. According to CCTV footage examined by police, Simran got down from the train at 5.10 pm on January 2. Sources in the police informed that a girl and three youths had later spotted Simran near the bridge at around 11 pm. However, the question as to how she reached the bridge, which is about nine km away from the Khetrarajpur railway station, is yet to be solved. Reports say Simran had talked to her mother on January 1 and told her about the dilemma she was in after her relationship with Yug turned sour. Simrans mother had also asked her to come back home. Though she was willing to return and had boarded the train for home, her alleged suicide seems to be mysterious, a family member said on conditions of anonymity. On the other hand, the deceased actresss mother Raani Singh, who stays in Jharsuguda, questioned the police investigation. Why the police arrested Yug now under POCSO Act, even if she had filed a complaint against him in April last year, she questioned. On the basis of the complaint of the Simrans mother, the police had registered a case (56/18) under Sections 366 & 376 of the IPC and Section 3 of the POCSO Act. However, during that period the young couple had attended many cultural programmes and shot some music videos together. They also tied the nuptial knot and were staying together for some months. The bereaved mother also alleged that despite her repeated requests to arrest Yug for abducting Simran and bring her back, no action was taken by the police. She further alleged that Yugs arrest under the POCSO Act is a conspiracy to shield him and convert the planned murder case into a suicide. And a mirror, which she always carries in her vanity bag did not have a single scratch, even after falling from the 30 feet high bridge. As per the latest reports, Jharsuguda police today received Simrans autopsy report from its Bolangir counterpart. The post-mortem report revealed that Simran died due to injuries on her head and chest. Sources said that the viscera report is yet to be received by the police, which could unearth the real cause behind the actress death. In the meantime, Simrans husband Yug has been forwarded to the court in Jharsuguda today. Earlier, he had denied his involvement in Simrans death and told the media persons that he was uncertain whether Simran committed suicide or killed by someone else. Yug had claimed that they had stopped talking to each other for many days. He also said that there was some personal issue between them following which they were staying separately. The entire incident looks murky and raises several doubts in the minds of people as well as the bereaved family members. Time will tell whether the police will be able to unravel the mystery behind Simrans death or the case will remain unsolved. | http://www.pragativadi.com/why-selfie-bebo-simran-singhs-death-still-a-mystery/ |
When is the FA Cup fourth round draw and when will the games be played? | The video will start in 8 Cancel Get Daily updates directly to your inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email The FA Cup is back and the bigwigs are booking their names into the hat for the fourth round draw. Manchester United secured their spot in Monday nights draw with a win over Reading - but theyre not yet the favourites to win the competition, according to the bookmakers. That honour goes to Pep Guardiolas Manchester City who must first beat Rotherham at the Etihad Stadium today before confirming their place in the hat. The Premier League champions are 4/1 to lift the cup - with United fancied at 7/1. Arsenal have won the FA Cup more than any other team in history and they ensured their safe passage into the next round by beating League One Blackpool. And holders Chelsea are on the road the Wembley after they saw off Nottingham Forest. (Image: Getty) Spurs are in with a shout after Mauricio Pochettinos side laid down a marker with a thumping 7-0 win at Tranmere. Liverpool must overcome Wolves on Monday night before their place in the next round is confirmed, where the likes of Gillingham, Accrington Stanley and AFC Wimbledon will be waiting. The draw takes place on Monday night, January 7, at around 9:45pm following Wolves vs Liverpool. BBC One will screen the draw following the finish of Wolves tie against the Reds. The draw will be staged at Molineux. Former Republic of Ireland striker Robbie Keane will be joined by a fellow Wolves old boy in Carl Ikeme to draw the teams out. Follow Hull Live Our daily newsletter - To get the latest headlines direct to your email inbox every day, click here. Follow Hull Live on Facebook - Like our Facebook page to get the latest news in your feed and join in the lively discussions in the comments. Click here to give it a like! Follow us on Twitter - For breaking news and the latest stories, click here to follow Hull Live on Twitter. Follow us on Instagram - On the Hull Live Instagram page we share gorgeous pictures of our stunning city - and if you tag us in your posts, we could repost your picture on our page! We also put the latest news in our Instagram Stories. Click here to follow Hull Live on Instagram. | https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/football/fa-cup-fourth-round-draw-2399623 |
Can Bernard's dinked finish provide lift off to his Everton career? | First targeted by Everton back in August 2015 when their attempts to land a rather differently-built winger in the Ukrainian league, Andriy Yarmolenko were being thwarted, Bernard's move to Merseyside was a slow burner that was three years in coming. Snapped up on a free transfer on summer deadline day after his contract with Shakhtar Donetsk had inspired, the diminutive wide man brought an air of both anticipation and intrigue. After making his debut with a late cameo at Bournemouth on August 25, Bernard made his Goodison bow coming off the bench just before half-time against West Ham United some three weeks later and despite the scoreline a 3-1 home defeat his class looked evident from the start. However, despite the obvious silky skills that you'd expect from a South American star with such a low centre of gravity, there appeared to be a worrying chink in the armour when it came to his all-round game. Namely this was his finishing as Bernard came up spectacularly short in front of goal in a couple of high-profile away matches when chances were at a premium and such profligacy proved costly. Against Manchester United at Old Trafford, he did the hard bit and held his nerve to dribble the ball around one of the world's best keepers David De Gea no mean feat in itself but then with the goal gaping he slotted his shot wide into the side-netting. Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now A couple of weeks later, Everton were facing Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and in a contest that would finish in a goalless stalemate, Bernard spurned a golden opportunity to break the deadlock for the visitors when he seemed to trip over his own feet while in acres of space in the home side's area. The 26-year-old has now put such co-ordination problems firmly behind him though with a sumptuous first goal for his new club. (Image: Emma Simpson/Everton FC via Getty Images) Yes it was 'only' League Two leaders Lincoln City but how many other players would have the technical ability and poise to score with such an outrageously subtle piece of skill that Bernard displayed to delicately dink the ball over onrushing goalkeeper Josh Vickers. Now up and running having opened his account, Blues will be hoping that it's a case of quantity as well as quality when it comes to Bernard goals. Although he only found the net nine times over his first three seasons at Shakhtar, by the time of his final campaign with the Ukrainian club, he hit double figures in all competitions during 2017/18 including three in the Champions League. Back in 2012, Bernard struck 15 goals for home city club Atletico Mineiro while as a teenager he enjoyed a prolific spell in Brazil's lower divisions, registering on 14 occasions in just 16 outings for Democrata. Given Everton's continuing frustrations at centre-forward, Marco Silva's side could do with all the help they can get from out wide so the expectation will be that some much-needed New Year cheer will come from Bernard finding his shooting boots. | https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/can-bernards-dinked-finish-provide-15637081 |
Could A Droptop Alpine Be On The Way? | The resurrected Alpine brand has been back in the game for quite some time now, but despite that, it is still only offering one car, the A110. While the French sports car is fantastic on its own, there have been a number of rumors about variants and other models from the brand, including a Mercedes GLA-based SUV which could spawn an electric version as well. As we have reported in the past, a hotter version of the A110 adding nearly 50 horsepower and dropping the weight to just 1,050 kilograms (2,314 pounds) has been on the cards since the base model's launch, and could finally see the light of day this October, according to French outlet DownShift, potentially with tweaks to the standard car's Getrag-built gearbox as well. The power figure, while unconfirmed, is likely; the recently-launched Renault Megane RS Trophy produces 296 hp from the same 1.8-liter four-pot as used in the A110. In its standard guise, the A110 puts out 250 hp turbocharged, helping it do the 0-60 mph sprint in around four seconds, and onto a (limited) top speed of 155 mph (250 kph). The car is rumored to be called the Alpine Sport Chassis and will be the third variant of the new A110, after the standard model and Premire Edition. The latter version of the new French car doesn't have any differences mechanically, but it does come with a whole host of standard features, including satellite navigation, climate control, cruise control, Alpine telematics and MySpin mobile phone connectivity. As well as a more potent A110, the guys and girls in Dieppe could be also sharpening their saws in anticipation of a drop-top version hitting the market. Much like the hotter A110, a convertible version has been rumored since the car was first shown a couple of years ago. While the possibility of a convertible A110 was downplayed by Alpine managing director Michael van der Sande in the past, it is yet another old rumor that has resurfaced thanks to DownShift. The publication is saying that the convertible A110 will arrive in 2020, and have the Porsche 718 Boxster firmly in its cross-hairs. It'll be followed by the Alpine SUV a year later, with the high-rider's electric version coming in 2022. Source: DownShift | https://www.motor1.com/news/299896/alpine-a110-convertible-version-rumor/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=RSS-all- |
Who are the Golden Globe Awards presenters? | Sandra Oh and Andy Samberg have the honour of hosting the Golden Globes this year (Picture: Getty Images) Its that time of year again when Hollywoods great and good line up to see which of them will be taking home a Golden Globe Award. The awards will be handed out at the Beverly Hilton on Sunday night for achievements in film and TV over the past 12 months. And therell be no shortage of famous faces from the big and small screens showing up for the big night. The pair made an impact at the Emmys prior to their Globe stint (Picture: NBCUniversal) The ceremony will be hosted by Sandra Oh and Andy Samberg. Advertisement Advertisement The Killing Eve actress-producer, 47, and the comedy hero of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, 40, will come together for the official start to awards season. Sandra and Andy are the perfect choices to host this world-class event, said Paul Telegdy and George Cheeks, co-chairmen of NBC Entertainment. They bring wit, charm and style to a room filled with the very best of film and television. Its sure to be another unforgettable fun-filled night. Both TV actors are former Golden Globes winners. In 2006, Sandra Oh also a SAG winner and five-time Emmy-nominated won the gong for Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries, or Motion Picture for TV. It was her first year in Greys Anatomy, starring in the role of Dr. Cristina Yang, and now she serves as co-executive producer and lead actress in Killing Eve. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Later, in 2014, former SNL comedian Andy was recognised twice for his part in Brooklyn Nine-Nine. He won the Actor in a Musical or Comedy TV Series for the role of Jake Peralta, which he still plays, and also as a producer on the show for Best Television Series Musical or Comedy. Though theyve never worked on the same shows, the unlikely duo first came together for this years Primetime Emmy Awards in September and proved to be a popular pairing. Sandra and Andy will break a run of solo male hosts, including Seth Meyers (2018), Jimmy Fallon (2017) and Ricky Gervais (2016), which was preceded by female double act Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, who teamed up for three consecutive years. Advertisement Advertisement Unfortunately, the ceremony is not broadcast in the UK, but you can keep up to date with metro.co.uks coverage here. You can also see the arrivals in all their designer-frocked glory on E!s Live From The Red Carpet which kicks off at 11pm. If you've got a story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk Entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page - we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Inside the 2019 Golden Globes gift bags worth over 500 MORE: Golden Globes 2019 date, time, nominations, hosts and how to watch in the UK | https://metro.co.uk/2019/01/06/golden-globe-awards-presenters-8315274/ |
What are the Golden Globes and who is nominated this year? | A Golden Globe is a coveted thing (Picture: Getty Images) The 2019 awards season gets properly underway on Sunday night as the Golden Globes take place at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles. The red carpet will be rolled out for the great and good of Hollywood aiming to pick up one of those coveted trophies for their achievements in film or TV over the past year. And therell be no shortage of famous faces from the big and small screens showing up for the big night. The statues are looking a little different this year (Picture: NBC) The Golden Globes, which are given out for both film and TV, are traditionally seen as the unofficial kick-off of the awards season paving the way for the Baftas and the Oscars. Advertisement Advertisement They are voted for by members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, with the first ever ceremony taking place in 1943. Traditionally they are also seen as the first real indication of who could be in line to win Oscar gold this year. However the categories are a little different in the Globes with the best film categories being divided into separate awards for comedy/musical and for drama. The main acting categories are the same with separate awards for comedy/musical and drama performances, although awards for supporting actors and director are limited to a single category each. Andy Samberg and Sandra Oh will be presenting as the gongs are handed out this year (Picture: NBCUniversal) According to the official website, the Golden Globe award got its name in 1946 after Hollywood Foreign Press Associations then-president Marina Cisternas came up with the idea of having a golden globe on a pedestal. And the trophy got the look that we know today. So it was called the Golden Globe because the trophy was literally designed to be a golden globe. The award used to sit on top of a marble stand but has undergone a makeover, with this years winners bagging a trophy in which a bronze stand has replaced the marble. Unfortunately, the ceremony is not broadcast in the UK, but you can keep up to date with metro.co.uks coverage here. You can also see the arrivals in all their designer-frocked glory on E!s Live From The Red Carpet which kicks off at 11pm. If youve got a story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk Entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page wed love to hear from you. MORE: Inside the 2019 Golden Globes gift bags worth over 500 MORE: Golden Globes 2019 date, time, nominations, hosts and how to watch in the UK | https://metro.co.uk/2019/01/06/golden-globes-nominated-year-8315022/ |
What time is Manhunt on TV and what is it about? | The mini series has been written by Ed Whitmore, who has produced other crime dramas including Silent Witness and Rillington Place. In the first episode viewers will see the events unfold following the discovery of a French student found dead after receiving deadly facial injuries. Detective Chief Inspector Colin Sutton then sets out to investigate the crime and track down who did despite having no motive or forensic evidence. The first episode of Manhunt airs on ITV1 at 9pm on Sunday 6 January. The remainder of the series will be shown across the following two nights with episode 2 airing at 9pm on Monday 7 January and then episode 3 on Tuesday 8 January. Advertisement Advertisement The new ITV drama follows a detective trying to capture the serial killer Levi Bellfield, following the death of a student whos body was found on Twickenham Green. DCI Colin Sutton, played by Martin Clunes, worked for the Metropolitan police and was placed in charge of investigating the murder. It is based on the true story of Levi Bellfield, who was convicted in 2008 of murdering Marsha McDonnell and Amelie Delagrange, as well as the attempted murder of Kate Sheedy. He was then later found guilty of the murder of Milly Dowler and he was sentenced to life imprisonment. MORE: Inside the 2019 Golden Globes gift bags worth over 500 MORE: Emma Willis pays tribute to Celebrity Big Brother on the week show would normally launch | https://metro.co.uk/2019/01/06/time-manhunt-tv-8314814/ |
What Happened to These Shark Tank Pitches? | Shark Tank begins its 10th season on Oct. 7 on ABC, which means 10 years of successful pitches and business bombs. Stepping in front of the sharks isn't easy when you have judges like Mark Cuban, Daymond John, Lori Greiner, Barbara Corcoran or Kevin "Mr. Wonderful" O'Leary there to add some snark to the presentations. More: 15 Products You Didn't Realize Got Their Start on Shark Tank Yet sometimes, Mr. Wonderful isn't enough to deter the most eager entrepreneur. They can walk away without a deal and still wind up successful. Other times, they make a deal with a shark only to have it fall through later on or, even worse, the business doesn't make it in the long run. We took a look back at a few of our favorite pitches and what happened to them after their Shark Tank appearance. 1. Ring (formerly DoorBot) The Ring, a video doorbell system, was originally known as the DoorBot when it aired on season five. CEO Jamie Siminoff was looking for a $700,000 investment in exchange for 10 percent equity in the company. Only O'Leary gave an offer that included a loan, a royalty deal and equity, but most of the sharks didn't think the company was ready for the next step. Fast-forward five years, and The Ring was acquired by Amazon in February 2018 for $1 billion. O'Leary doesn't regret that Siminoff didn't accept his deal. "I never think about it a second time, I really don't," he explains. "I feel that the road is always going forward," O'Leary told CNBC. "You can't go looking back you can't second guess yourself. You have to do what you think is right in the moment For that time, I made the correct decision." Congrats Jamie !!! Always a beautiful thing when an entrepreneur succeeds. Way to ring the Amazon bell! #TheAmericanDream https://t.co/33JMoB9SXk Mark Cuban (@mcuban) February 28, 2018 More: Why I'm So Addicted to Shark Tank 2. Scrub Daddy In season four, Shark Lori Greiner invested in Scrub Daddy, a sponge that changes texture when hot or cold water is applied. Aaron Krause was seeking a $100,000 investment for a 10 percent stake in the company. Greiner loved the presentation and gave him $200,000 for 20 percent equity and promised to make him a millionaire. Greiner wasn't lying. Scrub Daddy is considered the most successfully funded Shark Tank company of all time. As of May 2017, the company has sold more than 10 million units and totaled over $50 million in sales. 3. The Bouqs Company The Bouqs Company is a disruptor in the flower industry. They take out the middleman and sell flowers directly to customers. While that seems like a surefire strategy for getting sharks to invest in the company, founder John Tabis got no bites from the sharks in 2014. Three years later, Robert Herjavec was planning his wedding to Dancing With the Stars pro Kym Johnson when he realized flowers are pretty darn expensive. He decided to talk to Tabis to find out why. [Tabis] said, Come and see me. Ill explain the flower business to you. [He] draws it out for me, shows me what theyre doing. Im like, I love it, Herjavec told ABC News in February 2017. So I took part of their last round. I saved a ton of money on my flowers for my wedding, Herjavec laughed. More: Shark Tank Entrepreneurs Shouldn't Mix Business With Romance 4. You Smell soap You Smell was a luxury soap line looking for a $55,000 investment in exchange for 20 percent of the company. Megan Cummins gave a charming presentation, and Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran and Robert Herjavec jumped in with bids. In the end, Herjavec won out with a $55,000 investment and $50,000 entrepreneur salary for 20 percent. The deal didn't wind up smelling so rosy in the end. Cummins claimed she couldn't get in touch with Herjavec, while he claimed he offered her a revised contract that she rejected. The company is no longer in business, but Cummins didn't let her entrepreneurial dreams die. She's now the owner of Sparklepop, a jewelry company that donates a portion of the proceeds to no-kill, nonprofit animal shelters. 5. The Body Jac The Body Jac was a machine that helped a person do push-ups. Jack Barringer, aka Cactus Jack, invented the fitness equipment after his doctor told him to start losing weight by doing push-ups. When he came on Shark Tank in season one, Barbara Corcoran and Kevin Harrington split the $180,000 investment for 50 percent equity that came with a major contingency Barringer would have to lose 30 pounds before he would get a signed deal. He lost the weight and the deal was signed, but the partnership eventually fell apart without Corcoran ever giving a solid reason. My worst [investment] was investing in a fast-talking cowboy selling exercise equipment who needed to lose 50 pounds, Corcoran told Forbes in 2012. Instead, he lost my $50,000. The company went out of business in 2012. Shark Tank will return for its 10th season on Sunday, Oct. 7 at 10/9c to celebrate the show's 200th episode. | https://www.sheknows.com/entertainment/articles/1141434/what-happened-to-these-shark-tank-pitches/ |
What Kind Of Business Is Best For Small Entreprenuers? | Bruce Bell, an attorney at the Chicago office of Schoenberg, Finkel, Newman and Rosenberg, gives us some pointers: Larry Light: Give us a run-down on the different business structures. Bruce Bell: The myriad of factors that must be considered in choosing the proper business structure requires a careful evaluation of the available alternatives. In todays business environment, most closely held businesses operate as conventional C corporations, S corporations or limited liability companies, known as LLCs. The C corp is the one most people have heard of. Bell: From a tax perspective, C corporations are treated as entities separate and apart from their owners. Income earned by a C corporation is taxed to the corporation while dividends paid by a C corporation are taxable to the shareholders. This can result in a dual layer of taxation, a tax at the corporate level on income and a tax at the shareholder level on dividends. Bell: The considerable flexibility in permitting multiple classes of stock and foreign ownership makes C corporations the optimal business structure for publicly traded and other large corporations. The C corporation structure can nevertheless be advantageous for a smaller corporation with owners seeking to reinvest earnings in the business. The 21% flat federal corporate income tax rate imposed on C corporations generally permits the accumulation of funds at a lesser tax cost than would result if earnings are taxed at the individual level and then reinvested in the business. Bell: C corporations can, however, be particularly burdensome when businesses are sold to third parties, as most buyers prefer to buy the assets of a corporation rather than the corporations stock, thereby triggering a potential double tax on the sale proceeds. Light: So tell us about the S corp. Bell: S corporations are generally not subject to income taxation as business income, gain and loss flow through and are reported by the corporations shareholders on their personal income tax returns. Bell: Although the absence of a tax at the corporate level is attractive, it comes with a cost. Only individuals, other than non-resident aliens, estates and certain trusts ,are permissible S corporation shareholders. S corporations can have only one class of stock, which restricts some of the financial flexibility other entities enjoy by offering preferential rights to distributions to some owners but not others. An S corporation cannot have more than 100 shareholders, which limits it. Bell: S corporations do offer payroll tax savings in that only the salaries paid to S corporation owners are subject to payroll taxes. Any dividends or distributions S corporation shareholders receive are not subject to payroll taxes. While an S corporation can readily revoke its S corporation status and become a C corporation, a five-year period must lapse before a C corporation can reelect S corporation status. Bell: A limited liability company or LLC, like a corporation, can be treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes. In many cases, LLCs offer the best of both worlds, the opportunity to avoid federal income tax imposed on C corporations and freedom from the statutory restrictions on S corporations. Because LLCs permit owners or members to share in company distributions without regard for each members ownership interest in the company, differing distributions to members are commonplace in governing LLC documents, which permit the holding of preferred and common interests. LLCs are permitted to have to a variety of owners as corporations, partnerships and non-resident aliens are permitted owners as are individuals, estates and trusts. Bell: In cases where a business entity is borrowing funds from a third party, an LLC may be the entity of choice if losses are anticipated as LLC members can deduct their share of company losses not only to the extent of their capital contributions but also to the extent of their share of loans taken out by the company. In contrast, S corporation shareholders can only deduct losses to the extent of their capital contributions and any loans they have personally made to the corporation. One disadvantage of the LLC structure is that income reportable from operations by the members will be subject to payroll taxes. Bell: The vast majority of closely held businesses are formed as S corporations or LLCs. Unless you are in an expansionary phase where you intend to accumulate earnings for future use of the business or need to maintain a structure thats more widely recognized for institutional investors, the S corporation or LLC structure would appear to be best suited for your needs. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/lawrencelight/2019/01/06/what-kind-of-business-is-best-for-small-entreprenuers/ |
Why Is Big Lots (BIG) Down 25.3% Since Last Earnings Report? | Big Lots (BIG) reported earnings 30 days ago. We take a look at earnings estimates for some clues. A month has gone by since the last earnings report for Big Lots (BIG). Shares have lost about 25.3% in that time frame, underperforming the S&P 500. Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at the most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important catalysts. Big Lots Slumps on Q3 Earnings Miss, Cuts FY18 View Big Lots reported dismal third-quarter fiscal 2018 earnings wherein earnings lagged estimates for the third straight quarter, while sales beat the same. Moreover, the company lowered its earnings guidance for the fourth quarter and fiscal 2018, which is discouraging. Lets Delve Deeper This Columbus, OH-based company posted adjusted loss of 16 cents a share compared with earnings of 6 cents in the prior-year quarter. Further, the figure was wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 1 cent. The bottom line also fell short of the companys guidance for earnings of 4 cents to a loss of 6 cents. Net sales grew 3.6% to $1,149.4 million, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,139 million. Top-line growth was backed positive comparable store sales (comps) and the fiscal calendar shift, partly negated by reduced store count. Comps improved 3.4%, in line with the companys guidance of 2-4% increase. This marked the second consecutive quarter of positive comps. While the companys gross profit increased 3.5% year over year to $459.2 million, gross margin contracted 10 basis points to 39.9%. This was due to high seasonal markdown rate and elevated costs owing to higher tariff. In the reported quarter, SG&A expenses came in at $436.8 million, up 7% year over year. Operating loss was $9.6 million compared with operating income of $5.8 million in the prior-year quarter. Other Financial Details The company ended the fiscal third quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $61.9 million. Inventories were up 3.4% to $1,073.9 million. Total shareholders equity was $592.7 million. Long-term obligations under the bank credit facility totalled $488 million. Big Lots capital expenditures for the fiscal third quarter were $76 million compared with $42 million in the prior-year quarter. Year to date, the company has returned about $139 million to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases. Big Lots has announced a cash dividend of 30 cents per share on Dec 4, payable on Dec 28, 2018. This amounted to dividend payment of nearly $12 million made in December. In the fiscal third quarter, Big Lots opened 15 outlets and shut 15. The company ended the quarter with a total number of 1,415 stores. Guidance Following a soft fiscal third quarter and a flattish start to the fourth, mainly in November, the company lowered its comps and earnings guidance for the fiscal fourth quarter. Further, the company trimmed its earnings outlook for fiscal 2018. For the fiscal fourth quarter, comps are now expected to be flat to up 2%. Due to soft comps, lower gross margin and higher expenses compared with last year, the company trimmed its earnings view. Management now expects earnings of $2.20-$2.40 per share, down from the previous guidance of $2.90-$3.00. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at $1.10 per share. For fiscal 2018, adjusted earnings per share are projected to be $3.55-$3.75 compared with the prior guidance of $4.40-$4.55. We note that the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the fiscal is pegged at $4.44, which might witness a downward revision. Big Lots expects comps to increase roughly 1% in fiscal 2018. Moreover, the company expects cash flow generation of nearly $10-$20 million, which is significantly lower than $100 million anticipated earlier. It turns out, fresh estimates have trended downward during the past month. The consensus estimate has shifted -21.38% due to these changes. VGM Scores At this time, Big Lots has a poor Growth Score of F, however its Momentum Score is doing a bit better with a D. Charting a somewhat similar path, the stock was allocated a grade of C on the value side, putting it in the middle 20% for this investment strategy. | https://news.yahoo.com/why-big-lots-big-down-143002354.html |
Why Is Vail Resorts (MTN) Down 19.9% Since Last Earnings Report? | Vail Resorts (MTN) reported earnings 30 days ago. We take a look at earnings estimates for some clues. A month has gone by since the last earnings report for Vail Resorts (MTN). Shares have lost about 19.9% in that time frame, underperforming the S&P 500. Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at the most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important catalysts. Vail Resorts Reports Q1 Loss Vail Resorts reported narrower-than-expected results in first-quarter fiscal 2019. Adjusted loss of $2.43 per share was narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $2.44. However, it compared unfavorably with the year-ago quarters loss of $2. However, on a GAAP basis, the company reported a net loss of $2.66 per share. Earnings were affected by high operating expenses in Resorts and both the Mountain and Lodging segments. Quarterly revenues of $220 million missed the consensus mark by 6.3% and declined 0.5% year over year. Segment Results Vail Resorts has two reporting segments Mountain (65.9% in first-quarter fiscal 2019) and Lodging (32.4%). The Mountain segment reported revenues of $145 million in the quarter, down 2.1% year over year. The revenue decline can be primarily attributed to decrease in the average Australian exchange rate as compared to the prior year. Under the segment, EBITDA loss was $76.4 million compared with $58.4 million in the prior-year quarter. Operating expenses at the Mountain segment were $222.4 million, up 7.4% year over year. Lodging net revenues in the reported quarter amounted to $74.9 million, up 3.9% year over year. Lodging revenues were favored by an increase in sales across owned hotel rooms, managed condominium rooms, dining, golf and other, partially offset by a drop in transportation sales. Under the segment, EBITDA was $3.9 million compared with $4.4 million in the prior-year quarter. Operating expenses at the Lodging segment increased 4.8% year over year to $71 million. Operating Results Vail Resorts resort reported EBITDA loss was $72.5 million in the reported quarter compared with $54.1 million a year ago. Resort operating expenses totaled $293.4 million, up 6.8% year over year. Total segment operating expenses increased 6.6% year over year to $294.7 million. Balance Sheet Cash and cash equivalents as of Oct 31, 2018, came in at $141 million compared with $140.4 million as of Oct 31, 2017. Net long-term debt as of Oct 31, 2018, was $1,486.9 million compared with $1,262.3 million as of Oct 31, 2017. The company announced a quarterly cash dividend of $1.47 per share, which will be payable on Jan 10, 2019, to shareholders on record as of Dec 27, 2018. In the first quarter of fiscal 2019, the company repurchased 197,896 shares at an average price of $252.66 for a total of approximately $50 million. Fiscal 2019 Guidance For fiscal 2019, Vail Resorts resort reported EBIDTA is estimated at $718-$750 million. In the past month, investors have witnessed a downward trend in fresh estimates. VGM Scores At this time, Vail Resorts has an average Growth Score of C, a grade with the same score on the momentum front. Charting a somewhat similar path, the stock was allocated a grade of D on the value side, putting it in the bottom 40% for this investment strategy. Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of D. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in. Outlook Estimates have been broadly trending downward for the stock, and the magnitude of these revisions indicates a downward shift. Notably, Vail Resorts has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We expect an in-line return from the stock in the next few months. Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Vail Resorts, Inc. (MTN) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research | https://news.yahoo.com/why-vail-resorts-mtn-down-143002658.html |
Does Endless Big Auto EV Hype Help Or Hinder Tesla? | While theyve been slow to cut the umbilical cord from gas (and diesel) powered cars, Big Auto is starting to open up to vehicle electrification. This sparked speculation, especially from financial pundits, that Teslas days were numbered. Or, would their impact draw more attention to the electric car innovator. *This article comes to us courtesy of EVANNEX (which also makes aftermarket Tesla accessories). Authored by Matt Pressman. The opinions expressed in these articles are not necessarily our own at InsideEVs. Above: The Porsche Taycan was spotted this fall being benchmarked against Teslas Model S (Source: Electrek) Regardless, the EV segment, once a small industry niche, is destined to expand. Stephanie Brinley, IHS-Markits principal automotive analyst tells Consumer Reports, The more choice you have, the more attention gets drawn to the segment, and the more opportunities customers have to see it as something thats attainable, thats viable. And while Big Autos EV progress remains sluggish, theres a new crop of high-performance luxury EVs that wont wear a Tesla badge. These new electric cars and SUVs are from traditional manufacturers, including Audi, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche, and theyre entering a market that some analysts predict will explode in the next few yearswith sales increasing sixfold in the U.S. by 2025. When asked for comment, a Tesla spokesperson repeated a statement the company made in 2016 when the Jaguar I-Pace EV was first announced. Every compelling EV on the road is a win for Tesla, the spokesperson wrote to CR. Above: The Jaguar I-Pace and Tesla Model X (Image: InsideEVs) Regardless, Tesla maintains some hard-to-beat street cred in the EV world. Theres no question that they made EVs cool, says Chelsea Sexton, an industry analyst and EV advocate. In addition, Most of these new luxury EVs from traditional manufacturers cant match Teslas promise of 300 or more miles on a single charge, but [theyre] hoping to capture something similar to Teslas magic. However, it could prove difficult for legacy automakers to take down Elon Musk. Despite spending virtually no money on traditional advertising, Tesla is the best-known electric car manufacturer in the world, according to a 2017 survey from market research firm Dalia Research. And obviously, Teslas other big advantage in the EV space is its network of 644 Supercharger 480-volt fast-charging stations in the U.S. and Canada. But right now, Tesla doesnt currently have the production capacity to meet that potential surge in demand, Brinley said, and so that opens the door wide for these new offerings. In turn, To support the cars, automakers are building out [albeit slowly] a nationwide charging network to rival Teslas own Supercharger system. And theyre also working hard to reach technology levels that Tesla, headquartered in Silicon Valley, has already reached. Above: VWs Electrify America initiative just installed its first charging station in Livermore, CA a few weeks ago (Source: Electric Revs) In the end, Brinley told CR that Tesla does indeed stand to gain as other brands debut their EVs. The more choice you have, the more attention gets drawn to the segment, she says. If you expect EVs to be a larger part of the marketplace, eventually other players have to come in, she says. Tesla cant supply the world. === Source: Consumer Reports *Editors Note: EVANNEX, which also sells aftermarket gear for Teslas, has kindly allowed us to share some of its content with our readers, free of charge. Our thanks go out to EVANNEX. Check out the site here. | https://insideevs.com/big-auto-ev-hype-help-hurt-tesla/ |
How Good Does the Toronto Maple Leafs Hutchinson Feel Right Now? | This was Michael Hutchinsons second game with the Toronto Maple Leafs. In his first game, he gave his team a chance to win; but, in the second game, he made no mistake. Nothing got past him. Only playing because the Maple Leafs had no better option and really no where else to turn, Hutchinson shut out the Vancouver Canucks on home ice 5-0. A Short Summary of the Game The result of this game was really never in question. All-star bound Auston Matthews had a goal and two assists, while the other Maple Leafs all-star John Tavares also scored. Andreas Johnsson, Trevor Moore, and Igor Ozhiganov added the other three Maple Leaf goals. The Maple Leafs snapped a two-game losing streak on a high note, especially for Hutchinson who grew up hoping one day to play with the Blue and White. The Canucks were shut out for the third time in its last four games (playing their third game in four nights). They were also playing without star rookie Elias Pettersson after he injured his right knee in Thursdays 2-0 loss in Montreal. Not that Pettersson would have made that much of a difference tonight, but he does lead all NHL rookies with 42 points (22 goals, 20 assists), which is more than a-point-a-game pace. Related Maple Leafs 2019: Rielly, Power Rankings & Projected Moves More About Hutchinson Hutchinson, who was acquired in a trade from Florida last weekend, made his second consecutive start for Toronto with starter Frederik Andersen (groin) and backup Garret Sparks (concussion) out. He responded by stopping all 28 shots he faced, recording his first shutout in more than two years. Hutchinsons last shutout was on Oct. 28, 2016, when he played for the Winnipeg Jets. This shutout was the fourth in his career. Hutchinson has always played well against the Canucks. He entered the night 3-1-0, a .935 save percentage, and a 1.77 goals-against average in four career starts against Vancouver all registered when he played with Winnipeg. He even improved that record tonight. You dont even have to read between the lines to know his feelings; they were clear: Its awesome, its an amazing feeling, something you grow up thinking about as a kid and for it to actually happen is hard to put words to. Hutchinson, who grew up an hours drive from Toronto in Barrie, Ont., like all good goalies, praised the skaters in front of him. The guys made it about as easy as it comes. We did a great job blocking shots, letting me have time to cover rebounds whenever they were around. We back-checked really hard tonight. The guys played really well in front of me tonight. Hutchinson, probably new to many Maple Leaf fans, had played 102 games with Winnipeg between 2013 and 2018 and four games this season with the Panthers before being traded to Toronto as little more than goaltending depth. Where he stands with the Maple Leafs is still in question, but his shutout tonight probably, at least, sets him up for more work in the future somewhere, if not in Toronto. Maple Leaf After-Game Notes Matthews scored his 20th goal in the third period. It was his first in six games, but was financially noteworthy. Scoring 20 goals triggered a $212,500 payday as part of the bonus structure of his entry-level contract. Congratulations to Trevor Moore. His goal tonight was his first NHL goal. Although the Maple Leafs came into this game with two straight losses, they had won their five previous games and now six of their last eight. Their record now is 27-12-2 at the half-way point in the season. Andersen, the Maple Leafs injured starter reported, after Fridays practice, that hes close to returning. Patrick Marleau, who seems to be setting some personal or NHL record every other game or so, played the 1,616th game of his career tonight. With this game, he passed Larry Murphy and moved into sole possession for ninth all-time in NHL history. On the other end of the scale, tonight was Mitch Marners 200th game. One wonders if someone someday will be recording that he passed Marleaus record. The Maple Leafs play host to the powerful Nashville Predators Monday night. Theres no word yet on whether Hutchinson will get another start; but, if I were Maple Leafs management, I would breathe a sigh of relief knowing that theres no rush to get Andersen between the pipes when he might not be ready. It might be fun to see Hutchinson get another start; but, the Predators arent the Canucks. Related: Maple Leafs Lose, but Nylander Scores & Non-All-Star Marner Shines | https://thehockeywriters.com/toronto-maple-leafs-hutchinson-positive-win/ |
What is the FAVR Car Allowance? | Small businesses need to be aware of the Fixed and Variable Rate (FAVR) because its designed to reimburse employees who drive their vehicles for business. Most companies use the more familiar IRS business mileage standard, but FAVR presents another more precise option. Small Business Trends contacted Craig Powell, Motus CEO, to dig deeper into how this rate can benefit small businesses. He started by giving us a high-level overview of what FAVR is and what it does. What is FAVR and Why is It Important Fixed and Variable Rate (FAVR) is an IRS revenue procedure (2010-51) that was designed to reimburse employees tax-free for both the fixed (insurance, license and registrations fees) and variable (fuel, maintenance) costs associated with driving for business, Powell wrote. There is a general lack of awareness around FAVR since most companies reimburse their workers using the more commonly known IRS business mileage standard, which is used to calculate the deduction for operating a personal vehicle for business purposes. How Does FAVR Differ from IRS Mileage Standards Powell went on to describe how FAVR recognizes that driving your own car for business makes for a different set of costs than driving a company vehicle. He describes how this rate breaks down all the calculations for reimbursement into fixed and variable categories. Its more specific and takes into account the fluctuations in business cycles too. Why is FAVR More Accurate FAVR is the most accurate reimbursement solution because it provides a customized reimbursement to each mobile employee based on their local costs and business mileage, which can vary month to month. What are Some Other Advantages Another advantage to using FAVR is the fact that the IRS business mileage standard can make mistakes when reimbursing employees because the costs can actually fluctuate on any given day. The existing business mileage standard runs the risk of over/ under reimbursing employees. One of the problems with the IRS standard is it doesnt use real-time data but average from past numbers. Powell explains: What are the Problems with IRS Mileage Standards The IRS standard is a point-in-time average of costs which is determined using data from previous years, not an actual reimbursement rate. Employees could be spending more on travel than theyre being reimbursed for or on the flipside, could be over-reimbursed if gas prices have fallen. One of the big problems here is in the fact there arent any adjustments made for reimbursement because the data is being used is from the previous year. What are the Consequences for Inaccurate Reimbursement FAVR, on the other hand, allows companies to account for the full range of costs for driving for work, so employers can tailor reimbursements specifically to each individual employee, Powell writes. On another level, there are some other consequences for inaccurately reimbursing workers. Small businesses can lose thousands of dollars yearly according to Powell, and theres even the danger of class action lawsuits. What Kinds of Small Businesses will Benefit States often have strict employee-protection laws that outline specific requirements for expense reimbursements or deductions (such as New Hampshire , Montana and California Labor Code Section 2802 ), he writes. What are the Specific Requirements FAVR does have some specific requirements that small businesses will want to pay attention to. Namely, its for any company that has mobile workers driving more than 5000 miles for business on a yearly basis. That could include a range of sales executives who need to drive to their clients for pharmaceutical companies. Small business consultants as well as home healthcare companies and even nurses who make patient visits are all other examples. How can FAVR Help with Growing Demand Simply put, its a great way for getting more specific about these costs and Powell adds some other industries to the mix. FAVR is, and should be, an effective tool for restaurants and food franchisees who have faced a growing demand for faster delivery service. How to Speed Up the Process Finally, Powell points out that while the IRS lays out the framework for collecting the data under FAVR, there are a few simple tips to speed the process along and make it all more user-friendly. Companies can now leverage GPS-enabled smart devices, cutting-edge software, and comprehensive vehicle management solutions to track, collect and store all of their employees business travel information, which can then be reported to the IRS without creating mountains of paperwork. Its much more efficient for small businesses to use mobile apps to track mileage and make distinctions between business miles, commuting and personal trips than trying to keep paper logs. | https://smallbiztrends.com/2019/01/favr-car-allowance.html |
Will the tenant fee ban really benefit residential lettings tenants? | Mike White, from Martin & Co in Norwich, discusses. Share Email this article to a friend To send a link to this page you must be logged in. Mike White, lettings agent at Martin & Co, Norwich. Pic: www.edp24.co.uk Mike White, lettings agent at Martin & Co, Norwich. Pic: www.edp24.co.uk The Tenant Fees bill continued its journey through the House of Lords in the last quarter of 2018. The bill is due to have its third reading in the Lords in January 2019 and will then return to the House of Commons for consideration of Lords Amendments. An implementation date will be confirmed after the bill receives Royal Assent, most likely April 2019. The bill seeks to amend the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 by stopping letting agents from charging tenants or prospective tenants: admin fees; inventory check fees; reference check fees; renewal fees etc. But, before I answer that, lets look at the dynamic between the fees agents charge to landlords and those charged to tenants together with the commonly held view that agents charge both parties for the same thing. In Norwich, your typical properly registered letting agent, will charge the landlord somewhere around 300 - 400 including VAT to find them a tenant, do the referencing, draw up the tenancy agreement etc. Although they may be described in a myriad of different ways, tenants on average get hit with total tenancy setting up fees of 325. Before anyone with an anti- agent bent starts shouting at me that both parties are paying for the same thing, agents are rip-off merchants and how can it possibly cost 625-725 to set up a tenancy, hold on a minute. What each party pays is their contribution to the total cost and I believe this is fair as both receive a service and moreover, peace of mind. A good agent will only take on decent properties that conform to all legislative standards, having checked the bona fides of the owner, thereby protecting the tenant, while the landlord is assured their tenant has been appropriately checked. Both get a tenancy agreement properly conforming to the Housing Acts plus the security deposit gets protected etc. Interestingly, what letting agents do, fee-wise, is not hugely different from what a travel agent does, for example, they charge both the hotel company and the holidaymaker but this all gets bundled up in the brochure price of the holiday and no-one complains! The only difference is a letting agent is legally obligated to publish their individual tariff of charges for both landlords and tenants online. No, it doesnt but a letting agent is in business to make a profit and we do need to put beans on our toast. I cant speak for the transparency of other agents but youre very welcome to have a look at the annual audited report and accounts for Martin & Co Norwich which are a matter of public record at Companies House. Well someone is going to have to pay that 600 odd, if its the letting agent theyll be a lot of empty shop fronts in the city centre as they all start going bust at a rate of knots. Okay, so the cost is put onto the landlords shoulders. Sorry, thats a rhetorical question because the answer is so obviously, not a chance. The vast majority of landlords in the UK own one or perhaps two properties and dont make a heap of cash from them. Getting landlords to pay will simply prompt a huge percentage to stop playing the game and take their bat and ball home. No, the only sensible solution will be for rents to increase using the 325 tenant fee, this means rents will need to go up by a minimum of 27 per month, assuming a tenant signs an initial agreement for 12 months (more if shorter). In all likelihood theyll go up by more than 27 to compensate the landlord for having wait up to a year to receive back the extra money theyve had to pay the agent at the outset. I havent a clue but for the purposes of this argument, lets say the rent goes up by 35 per month, thats an extra 420 over the course of a year. If the tenant wants to stay on at the property for a second or third year, thats another 420 per annum, all to have saved 300 at the start. I agree, this bill would do more to harm tenants than help them. If youre interested to see what different letting agents charge their clients and how these compare with what youre paying, it should be a simple matter of looking at the individual agents website to see their published tariffs. As I mentioned, this is now a legal requirement. You can contact Mike White at Martin & Co, column sponsors, in Norwich on 01603 766860. | https://www.edp24.co.uk/business/who-really-benefits-from-the-tenant-fee-ban-1-5841587 |
Did the PA play a role in Jerusalem home sale to settlers? | Occupied East Jerusalem One evening in October, Adeeb Joudeh woke up at around 1:30am with news that Jewish settlers were moving into his former house in the Old City. Joudeh was in shock as he had sold his house to Khaled Attari, a Palestinian businessman, just six months ago, after spending six years trying to find a trustworthy buyer. "For the whole family, it's like the sky has fallen on our heads," Joudeh told Al Jazeera from his parents' house in Sheikh Jarrah. "We're a long-rooted family here in Jerusalem. We were very diligent in making sure that the person who buys this property is clean. And then our fears came true when we heard that our home was leaked to the settlers." "We wouldn't wish this even on our worst enemy." His former house located in a prime location just a two-minute walk from the Holy Al-Aqsa Mosque now reportedly belongs to Ateret Cohanim - a settler organisation whose purpose is to Judaise the Old City and its surroundings. Joudeh holds the title of "key holder of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre" in the Old City, one of Christianity's most sacred sites. His ancestors have served as custodians of the keys since the 12th century. Not only has his family's reputation been damaged and is under pressure to relinquish the key, but Joudeh has also received death threats from fellow Palestinians over the sale, a grave crime. Under PA law, the selling of land and property to Jews is illegal. The laws aim to protect Palestinian properties from Zionist settler takeovers. While this isn't the first time a Palestinian home has been transferred to a settler group through an intermediary, it has provoked a wave of reactions among the residents of Jerusalem as the case raises questions about the possible involvement of the Palestinian Authority (PA). Due diligence Joudeh says he had done his due diligence to make sure his house ends up in safe hands. He says he was first approached in 2014 by Fadi Elsalameen, an American Palestinian activist from Hebron known for his criticism of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the PA's corruption, and a non-resident fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute at John Hopkins School of Advanced Studies. 180125115938726 Since it was Nabil Jaabari, a respected leader and chairman of the board of Hebron University who had suggested Elsalameen, Joudeh felt confident that he had a trustworthy buyer. Through his contacts in the Gulf, Elsalameen learned that an Emirati business conglomerate was interested in protecting Palestinian homes from settlers and that they would transfer $2.5m as a grant to buy the house. However, shortly after Elsalameen proceeded with a down payment of $1.5m, the PA reportedly froze his bank funds for allegedly having ties with Mohammed Dahlan, a former Gaza security chief living in exile in the UAE and Abbas' most bitter rival. With Elsalameen unable to transfer the rest of the money, Joudeh cancelled the contract. Elsalameen, however, has denied accusations of being Dahlan's proxy. "I'm not a part of Dahlan's political movement, I'm not part of Dahlan's political orbit, I do not work for Dahlan. I have nothing to do with any political work for Dahlan whether inside or outside of Palestine," Elsalameen told Al Jazeera. "The PA has continuously tried to discredit me in every possible way, mainly because of my anti-corruption work." Joudeh was then contacted by Khaled Attari, a Palestinian businessman. He's considered to have close ties with the PA, particularly its intelligence chief Majed Faraj, according to Israel's Haaretz newspaper. 170914132606085 Prior to making the deal with Attari, the PA's appointed governor of Jerusalem at the time, Adnan Husseini, gave Joudeh the green light to sell his home to Attari. It's a standard practice for Jerusalemites to confirm with the governorate prior to selling one's home, as it consults with the PA's specialised security forces, who complete a check on the buyer. Since the PA had given their blessing, Joudeh sold the house on April 23, 2018, to Attari. The same day, Attari transferred ownership of the home from his name to his company, Daho Holdings, registered in the West Indies to save on taxes, Joudeh said. Some six months later, settlers moved into the house. Ateret Cohanim had reportedly bought the house from Daho Holdings for $17m. Arrests Sheikh Abdullah al-Qam, the secretary-general representing the families of Jerusalem, formed a committee to investigate the case. Qam told Al Jazeera they had obtained documents which prove that Attari did sell the home to settlers. The same month, the Israeli police arrested members of the committee, including Qam, for investigating the case, Qam said. Upon his release, Qam was told not to pursue the investigation. 170313103710942 But this didn't deter the group and they quickly planned for another session. This time, the PA intervened and made the same demand as the Israeli authorities, breaking up the committee, Qam told Al Jazeera. "I was asked by one of the official representatives of the PA, Adel Abu Zunied [to stop the investigation]," Qam said. It went to the PA," Qam alleged. The spokesperson for the PA's security service could not be reached for comment. Jerusalem's political orphans The problem of homes being leaked to settlers is emblematic of a larger problem - Jerusalem's 330,000 Palestinians turning into "political orphans" due to the absence of a "unified political leadership that can guide" them, as journalist Daoud Kuttab wrote in his article about the case. Khaled Abu Arafeh, former minister for Jerusalem affairs during the 2006-2007 Palestinian government led by Hamas, told Al Jazeera that the PA should submit formal complaints for legal action to be taken against Israel as it had breached the Oslo Accords. "Contracts between the local civilian population and the occupying power are considered null and void under international law," Arafeh said, noting that this includes contracts with settler organisations as they are funded by the Israeli government. "The PA is meant to exercise its role in Jerusalem especially to combat this problem. They should have held Israel accountable via Oslo agreements for attempting to change the demographics of the city." "It is also the responsibility of international organisations to uphold their commitments towards Jerusalem, to implement the relevant international agreements that consider Jerusalem as occupied land, and to not leave Jerusalemites under the mercy of occupying forces," Arafeh said. "The PA has been doing a poor job at addressing the issue. It has only taken superficial steps so far and that's just to save face in front of the Palestinian people." Al Akhbar news reported in 2016 that eight of the 10 houses on the same street as Joudeh's former home had already been leaked to settlers over the past few years. Some 2,500 settlers currently live in about 100 buildings in Palestinian neighbourhoods in and around the Old City. Fakhri Abu Diab, spokesperson for a local committee defending Palestinian properties in Silwan just outside the Old City, told Al Jazeera that a new, independent body is needed, run by renowned individuals and institutions in Jerusalem in order to properly vet potential buyers and make sure the homes remain in safe hands. However, their calls for a new body have gone unanswered for years from the Palestinian leadership including the governor of Jerusalem, Abu Diab said. A similar situation arose in 2014 when a Palestinian businessman from Israel offered to buy Palestinian homes in Silwan. The buyer presented himself as having connections with wealthy businessmen in the Emirates and claimed that the properties would be used to house Muslim tourists visiting the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque, according to locals. After the sale was made, settlers accompanied by police and armed guards moved into their homes. "It was the biggest deal of its kind to have taken place in Silwan when 27 houses were sold to him at once," Abu Diab said. According to him, there are currently 72 settler housing units in Silwan, 43 of which were leaked to settlers. Palestinians are in a difficult position as they resort to selling their homes in order to make ends meet amid crippling poverty. Eighty-two percent of East Jerusalem residents live below the poverty line. "It is one thing when the occupation confiscates or demolishes your home by force, but it's another when it comes in the form of being presented to settlers on a gold platter," Abu Diab said. "It's a painful phenomenon that has created a black mark on our society." Farah Najjar contributed to this report. | https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/settlers-palestinian-home-jerusalem-city-190104195634335.html |
Is HTC's Desire more wanted than the iPhone? | HTC's latest Android offerings - the Desire, the Legend and the Google branded Nexus One HTC's Desire was announced at Mobile World Congress and immediately got the TechRadar office buzzing. 'Was this,' we asked, 'the phone that has finally made us want to leave our iPhones behind and move onto the wildly promising Android platform?' "We're mightily impressed with the HTC Desire, and can see that this is going to be a real iPhone contender in 2010, no matter what Steve Jobs brings out later this year," said Phone Editor Gareth Beavis in his Hands on: HTC Desire review. Over to you | https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/is-htc-s-desire-more-wanted-than-the-iphone-671519 |
Whats driving the deal-making frenzy in auto components sector? | There has been a lot of focus and funding activity in the electric vehicle ecosystem in India. Photo:Bloomberg Over the last 12 months the auto parts sector has seen heightened funding and acquisition activity, with over 15 transactions in 2018. This is more than double that of 2017. The focus on the sector is driven by strong tail winds driving impressive growth across vehicle segments. Apart from the speed-bump faced by the sector over the last couple of months, all sub-segments, including passenger vehicles, two wheelers, commercial vehicles and tractors grew at double digits. This is the first time such uniform growth has been seen in a decade. Additionally, there has been a lot of focus and funding activity in the electric vehicle ecosystem in India. Robust agrarian growth, increasing consumer preference for premium variants in urban India and successful product launches have supported the positive momentum in the sector. Moreover, the knee jerk impacts on account of demonetisation, GST implementation and BS IV transition were absorbed quickly with long-term favourable dynamics rapidly restoring the growth momentum. Apart from local demand, global demand also showed no signs of slowing, helping Indian companies. The strong outlook for the automotive sector has resulted in some keen interest from institutional investors in the auto-component sector. This has been evidenced by some large bets being made by private equity funds in this sector. Some of the recent buy-out transactions include Blackstones acquisition of Comstar and Kedaara Capitals acquisition of Sunbeam Auto. Apart from fresh investments, there have also been several profitable exits in the last few years, with some of the more noteworthy ones being KKRs sale of Alliance Tires to Yokohama, Kedaara Capitals exit from Bill Forge to Mahindra CIE and Actis exit from Endurance in a very successful IPO. Since the acid test for private equity investors lies in being able to profitably exit their investments, these transactions have instilled a lot of confidence in the sector. While there have been several minority investments as well, such as Motilal Oswals recent investment in Happy Forging, there seems to be a clear trend towards taking controlling positions and even outright acquisitions. Given the imminent consolidation in the industry brought about by OEMs aggressively reducing their number of suppliers, many buyout funds now see these companies as platforms for consolidation through a series of bolt-on synergistic acquisitions. Apart from the financial rationale, there are other factors driving fund raising and M&As in the sector. The automotive industry, not only in India, but globally, is undergoing transformational changes led by the central themes of electric vehicles, shared mobility and safety, and the adjacent themes of light weighting, fuel efficiency, tighter emission norms and connected cars. While the on-ground impact of some of these themes are very limited as of now, they have the long-term ability to disrupt the sector more fundamentally than anything that has been witnessed over the last several decades. Succession issues have also played an important role in driving M&As in the sector. Several first-generation entrepreneurs, who started their businesses in the eighties, supporting OEMs such as Maruti and Hero Honda are now at a stage where they are considering passing the baton to the next generation or hanging up their boots. In situations where the next generation isnt keen to continue in the business, a strategic exit becomes a natural choice. Randhir Kochchar is partner, transaction advisory services - automotive, EY India. | https://www.livemint.com/Auto/P2vFeViw9juadgw1eWuzWK/Whats-driving-the-dealmaking-frenzy-in-auto-components-sec.html |
Can Nick Foles solve Vic Fangios defense? | Getty Images Broadly, its Eagles vs. Bears on Sunday. More narrowly, its Nick vs. Vic. Foles vs. Fangio. Quarterback vs. defensive coordinator. And they have a history. Twice before, Foles has faced a Fangio defense. Both times, it didnt go well for the quarterback. The first meeting came in 2014, with Foles quarterbacking the Eagles and Fangio running the 49ers defense. The final score, 26-21, suggests that Foles and company were able to score some point. But the three touchdowns came from a blocked punt recovered in the end zone, an interception return for a touchdown, and a punt return for a touchdown. Foles in that game completed 21 of 43 passes (48.8 percent) for 195 yards (4.53 yards per attempt), no touchdowns, and two interceptions. Passer rating: 42.3. The next year, with Foles on the Rams and Fangio running the Chicago defense, the Bears won 37-13. Foles completed 17 of 36 (47.2 percent) for 200 yards (5.55 yards per attempt), no touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 53.0. Its round three later today, with Foles back in Philly and Fangio still in Chicago. As Chris Simms explained earlier this week on PFT Live, Fangios defense will smother the underneath crossing routes that the Eagles may use in order to allow Foles to get rid of the ball quickly. Foles will therefore need to find a way to hold the ball a little longer, find a guy a little more open, and hope for the best. Yes, the other 21 players on the field will be factors in the outcome. Fundamentally, however, the quarterback will be trying to figure out what the defense is throwing at him. Foles has figured it out consistently in the playoffs last year and late in the 2018 regular season. But this could be his biggest test yet, especially since Foles has failed twice before when facing Fangio. | https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/01/06/can-nick-foles-solve-vic-fangios-defense/ |
What record did Ritzy's Fantasy of Lights break this year? | CLOSE Queenie is one of seven carriage horses providing rides at Ritzy's Fantasy of Lights Noah Stubbs, Courier & Press Buy Photo Jimmy Collins, top center, and Bradon Gretler, bottom center, work with other volunteers from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 16 to dismantle Ritzy's Fantasy of Lights displays at Garvin Park in Evansville, Ind., Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019. According to Easterseals Rehabilitation Center, the 25th annual light show raised $160,000 for the nonprofit. (Photo: SAM OWENS/ COURIER & PRESS)Buy Photo EVANSVILLE, Ind. If you drove a vehicle or took a carriage ride through Ritzy's Fantasy of Lights at Garvin Park, you made a difference. The 25th annual light display at Garvin Park raised about $160,000 between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. Those proceeds will help underwrite about 3,300 therapy sessions for children and adults from throughout the Tri-State region who otherwise could not afford those services. This years total included about $22,500 in extra donations from Ritzys Fantasy of Lights visitors, above and beyond admission fees. That was the largest amount of extra donations received in a single year at the event. More: New Easterseals Rehabilitation Center ambassadors, aged 4 and 44, are 'buddies' About 11,530 vehicles, including horse-drawn carriage rides, drove through the display this year. The annual fund-raiser is volunteer-driven, and on Saturday, about 100 volunteers from Teamsters Local 215, IBEW Local 16, NECA and Electrical JATC dismantled the displays and transported them to storage. In the event's 25 years, net proceeds have reached about $3.46 million. Easterseals offers a sliding fee scale for medical rehabilitation services, and no one is turned away due to inability to pay for therapy. The nonprofit at 3701 Bellemeade Ave. provides a wide range of services to about 5,300 people from 30 area counties. CLOSE Take a look at some of the light displays at this years Ritzy's Fantasy of Lights. MaCabe Brown - Digital Content Producer The 26th annual Ritzy's Fantasy of Lights will open on Thanksgiving 2019 and will run through New Years Day 2020. Companies, organizations, churches and families interested in sponsoring a light display are invited to contact Easterseals at 812-437-2607. Read or Share this story: https://www.courierpress.com/story/news/2019/01/06/easterseals-fantasy-lights-wraps-up-another-successful-year-evansville/2490894002/ | https://www.courierpress.com/story/news/2019/01/06/easterseals-fantasy-lights-wraps-up-another-successful-year-evansville/2490894002/ |
Are China and India gearing up to reprise the soft power rivalry between America and Soviet Union? | Though the concept certainly predates his analysis, Joseph Nyes work on soft power has opened a stream of claims regarding the exercise of power outside of the formal channels of governance. As globalisation has distributed economic benefits around the world more broadly, emerging economies are stepping up to express their role as actors in the global sphere. Two approaches are observed one more organised and controlled in China and another more spontaneous in India, sponsored by individuals and corporations. Ambitious projects such as Chinas Belt and Road Initiative aim to remake global trade with a central position for the country. While China is shoring up its sphere of influence through economic partnerships, its leaders launched a five-year plan to build 3,500 museums in five years; they completed this in three years in 2012 and have added hundreds every year since. There is a hint of civic largesse, but China is also signaling its cultural centrality, aiming to demonstrate the enduring edifice of Chinese civilization and the authority it confers on the Chinese people and state to rule over an ever-widening domain. Government support is one of several means through which art can transform into soft power. India, among rising global economies, can make similar claims to global centrality and a case for global significance as a producer of culture. Because India does not have the same state resources devoted to cultural institutions as China does, museums have not played a central role. Nonetheless, one private initiative has sought to put Delhi on the art world map. The Kiran Nadar Museum of Art is built around the private collection of a single individual with the goal of leaving large impact. This institutions scope has been to engage with a wider variety of Indian contemporary art than any other museum. Thanks to the funding of touring exhibitions and catalogues, this museum has provided a broader spectrum of South Asian contemporary art than can be seen in most Western museums. KNMA has also commissioned new works to promote the capacity of contemporary South Asian art. One caveat of this institution and others discussed here: KNMA is not overtly national in its character, but seeks to promote South Asia art more broadly. Bucking the trend of tempestuous national politics between India and Pakistan, KNMA works with artists on both sides of the border as well as from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. In this sense, one might categorise this as an expression of regional soft power, offering a pan-South Asian vision of cultural development. In the era of globalisation, the museum may no longer be the primary site for encounters with contemporary art, replaced by the biennial and the art fair. These two forms of festival, offering cultural riches to cosmopolitan elite and local inhabitants for a limited time, have proliferated due to their comparable flexibility. India arrived late to the biennial party, initiating its first, the Kochi Muziris Biennial, in 2012. Notably, artists acting as organisers and curators advanced this initiative, and selected artists have run the biennial since. The idea came from Mumbai-based artists Bose Krishnamachari and Riyas Komu, both from Kerala state, who conceived an exhibition venue far from the commercial capitals of India. Their aim was primarily to provide a new platform for contemporary art in India and do so where it might have an impact on the local population. Access to art is provided in a variety of formats as contemporary artists present murals, public art projects, performances, architectural installations and other works. This biennial has attracted the attention of the art world and local government, but has not transmitted the same kind of cultural authority as more publicised biennials such as the Dhaka Art Summit and the Shanghai Biennial. Nevertheless, the artist-run Kochi Muzriis Biennial has credibility in the art world because it does not aim for commercial promotion. Installation from the series Traces at the Kochi Biennale 2017. Photo courtesy Gauri Gill On another tack The India Art Fair, held annually in Delhi, is another story. Its focus is commercial and self-promotional and, in recent years, the fair has become notable for hosting more visitors than any other art fair in the world, including an impressive 1,28,000 visitors in 2013. Founded in 2009 by Neha Kirpal, the fair has grown considerably, receiving international acclaim. Its traditional focus on Modern Indian Art has helped build the value of paintings of leading Indian artists such as MF Husain and Tyeb Mehta to more than $1 million. Such valuations serve as a marker of the relative significance of these artists to the global culture and establish a metric for art produced in India. More importantly perhaps, the fair lures art enthusiasts who happen to be business and cultural leaders to India to see the most recent contributions by India, and South Asia more broadly, to the domain of global culture. The fair, like the biennial and the museum, argues for the depth and vibrancy of Indias culture in a global market. As proof of success, the fair attracted interest of MCH group, the largest producer of art fairs internationally and owner of the Art Basel brand, which bought a majority share in 2017. Several changes resulted, including a new director, but what has not changed is promotion of Indian civilization and culture among the global elite. Of course, there is a long history of the use of art as soft power, and it makes sense to apply some recent examples to this new situation. The Cold War was a standoff of hard power nuclear weapons buildup to achieve mutual assured destruction but actual battle lines were drawn through a series of proxy wars between the United States and the Soviet Union and efforts to win over newly independent post-colonial nations to capitalist or socialist ideologies. The US side deployed visual art to promote freedom of the American way of life. Artists in communist countries were expected to produce propaganda for the cause of the state, dubbed Socialist Realism by Western art historians, while American artists were free to experiment with whatever techniques they could conceive, leading to the development of Abstract Expressionism. Artists such as Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning or Mark Rothko generated abstract painting with such little regard for external realities that it seemed they were creating something entirely new. The art history notion of progressive development in the arts helped the US government make the case that American painting was avant garde, ahead of its time and leading in a competition to achieve cultural superiority. By the 1960s, the US had not only taken the position of the worlds most powerful state and economy, it was also the capital of culture. So we might look to Asia as a site of competition, not only with American political and cultural dominance, but also between two rising powers. China may not see itself in deliberate soft power competition with India over art, but the governments support of art swings both ways. For many years, Chinese artists produced Socialist Realism as a government-sanctioned form of painting. Art schools there still train painters in these techniques. Needless to say, the current generation of globally recognised Chinese contemporary artists do not follow this line. The most famous, Ai Weiwei, left the country, and the government destroyed his studio. The Communist Partys goal of controlling national imagery can conflict with Chinese artists success in international venues. On the Indian side, the state does not see this form of soft power as worthy of investment, focusing arts expenditures on cultural heritage for the most part, but has produced a group of elites who seek to promote the image of India and South Asia as an incipient leader in the broader domain of global cultural production. John Zarobell is associate professor and chair of International Studies at the University of San Francisco. Formerly, he was assistant curator at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and associate curator at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He is the author of Empire of Landscape and Art and the Global Economy. This article first appeared on Yale Global Online. | https://scroll.in/article/908007/are-china-and-india-gearing-up-to-reprise-the-soft-power-rivalry-between-america-and-soviet-union |
When is the FA Cup fourth round draw and how to watch? | (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images) After a weekend full of third round drama, attention will now turn towards the fourth round of the competition. Why Unai Emery has decided to sign Denis Suarez and where will he fit in at Arsenal Many of the Premier League sides have made it through to the next round of the competition. One of the upsets of the tournament so far saw League One team Gillingham get a 1-0 win against struggling Premier League side Cardiff. Here is everything you need to know about when the FA Cup fourth round draw will take place and how you can watch it live. The draw for the FA Cup fourth round will take place on Monday 7 January . You can watch the draw take place live on BBC One following the match between Wolves and Liverpool. The fourth round matches will take place in just a few weeks time between Friday 25 January and Monday 28 January. FA Cup fourth round draw ball numbers 1 Bolton Wanders 2 Millwall 3 Gillingham 4 Brentford 5 Sheffield Wednesday or Luton Town 6 Manchester United 7 Everton 8 Tottenham 9 Doncaster Rovers 10 Newcastle or Blackburn 11 Chelsea 12 Crystal Palace 13 Derby County or Southampton 14 Accrington Stanley 15 Bristol City 16 Newport County or Leicester City 17 Oldham Ahtletic 18 Shrewsbury or Stoke City 19 Arsenal 20 Manchester City 21 Brighton & Hove Albion 22 West Ham United 23 Watford 24 Burnley 25 Queens Park Rangers 26 Barnet 27 Portsmouth 28 AFC Wimbledon 29 West Brom 30 Middlesbrough 31 Wolves or Liverpool 32 Swansea City MORE: Why Unai Emery has decided to sign Denis Suarez and where will he fit in at Arsenal MORE: Why Alvaro Morata refused to celebrate after scoring against Nottingham Forest | https://metro.co.uk/2019/01/06/fa-cup-fourth-round-draw-watch-8315262/ |
Are we clear about climate change? | (NNPA)In the last two months we have had two devastating hurricanes along with two devastating reports regarding climate change. If anyone wants to further deny the reality of climate change they need to go into a corner along with those who continue to believe that the Earth is flat. Lets start with the hurricanes. Florence and Michael have brought tremendous and near apocalyptic damage to the regions that they hit. Entire towns have been wiped out. Looking at pictures of the Florida panhandle in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael brought to mind pictures of areas that had been devastated by carpet bombing. The warnings, in connection with both hurricanes, were very ominous. The strength of the hurricanes before they hit, with Florence initially off the charts and with Michael the strongest on record to hit the panhandle, should have led even the dimmest light in the room to glow brightly. Something is definitely wrong. Scientists explained this in the immediate aftermath of Michael: yes, they said, there is a direct connection between climate change and the increased intensity and unpredictability of hurricanes. There, its been stated. There were also two reports. The first was from the Trump administration itself, and one, from what I can figure, they did not want the public to see. In essence the report indicated that the Administration expects the temperature of planet Earth to jump 6-7 degrees by the 22nd century. Ironically, they also conclude that nothing can be done, therefore, there is no point in increased regulations on the greenhouse gases that promote climate change! The other report was from the United Nations warning us that nations are not keeping to their agreed targets from the Paris Climate Accords and, as a result, the planet is hurtling towards a point of no return, which could arrive within the next 10-15 years. The conclusion that we should take from all of this is that the debate is finally over. There is clear and verifiable evidence of climate change underway and the direct relationship of human activity to this phenomenon. For those who raise the point that there has been climate change in the past and that this is natural, guess again. Yes, there has been climate change and it has taken place over hundreds of years. There is no precedent for what we are currently experiencing. This is something new and it is dangerous. And it is something that may envelope humanity in our current life-times, not to mention the life-times of our children. Not if strong and direct methods are undertaken to change the way that we live, the way that we work, and the things that we produce. That means that capitalism, as we know it, has proven itself incapable of solving the planets crisis. It is now up to us to construct an alternative. Lets get busy and make this a central issue in all local, state and national elections. We must avoid disaster. I dont know about you but my daughter means too much to me to remain silent and inactive. (Bill Fletcher Jr. is the former president of TransAfrica Forum.) Like us at https://www.facebook.com/pages/New-Pittsburgh-Courier/143866755628836?ref=hl Follow @NewPghCourier on Twitter https://twitter.com/NewPghCourier Also On New Pittsburgh Courier: | https://newpittsburghcourieronline.com/2019/01/06/are-we-clear-about-climate-change/ |
Can Three's 24 hour mobile ad-blocking experiment really unbreak the internet? | Mobile ads can be annoying any smartphone user can testify to that but the industry is working on making things better and mobile network Three is trying to lead the charge. It's asking customers to sign up to a 24-hour trial, which will see all ads blocked in browser and apps, but the goal isn't to blanket block ads when the feature eventually rolls out in its final form. This is a technical test and feedback-gathering exercise for Three, which is looking for around 20,000 customers to take part as it works with users, publishers, brands and the industry-at-large to improve mobile browsing experiences. The hope is this will encourage better integration of adverts, faster load times, less data dependency and a cleaner, more user friendly experience for users. Facebook exempt Three is using ad blocking firm Shine's technology, and while it will remove pesky banners ads from games and the like, it won't be hiding sponsored posts in Facebook or Twitter. It's also worth noting the technology only works when you're utilising Three's network. If you connect to Wi-Fi at home or in the office, the ad-blocking service won't work until you uncouple and jump back on Three's frequency. These are just baby steps however, and there's a long way to go before any clear improvements are made, but there's at least light at the end of the tunnel. | https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/can-three-s-24-hour-mobile-ad-blocking-experiment-really-unbreak-the-internet-1322187 |
How Is The Dna Packing Affecting Development In Early Embryos? | Yes, it does. During the earliest stages of development, more compacted gene-coding regions arise so that a cell can make rapid "decisions" about which genes should be made into proteins. However, if genes are not open at the correct regions to be read and made into appropriate proteins, cells lose their proper identity and give rise to damaged tissue, and eventually death. To fit inside each nucleus, DNA coils around specialized proteins. These spools of wrapped DNA inhibit gene regulatory proteins from binding to protein-coding stretches along the genome, which help keep genes in the "off" position when they're not needed. Our bodies hold roughly 14 trillion cells, each containing a nucleus with DNA measuring two meters long by 20 atoms wide. To fit inside each nucleus, DNA coils around specialized proteins. These spools of wrapped DNA inhibit gene regulatory proteins from binding to protein-coding stretches along the genome, which help keep genes in the "off" position when they're not needed.Until now, it was unclear how this DNA packing affected development in early embryos. In a paper published this week in Science, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found that in mouse embryos--only eight days after fertilization--compacted regions along the genome increase at protein-coding genes. Days later in the cell differentiation phase, these domains open to allow certain genes to be read and made into their corresponding proteins. "This is a fundamental change in our understanding of how genes are controlled in the early embryo, even if we can't yet see all the potential clinical impacts," said Ken Zaret, PhD, director of the Penn Institute of Regenerative Medicine and a professor of Cell and Developmental Biology. "This study demonstrates the importance of the 'off position' for gene activity in early animal development. "First author Dario Nicetto, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in Zaret's lab, explains that he and coauthors think that during the earliest stages of development, more compacted gene-coding regions arise so that a cell can make rapid "decisions" about which genes should be made into proteins. However, if genes are not open at the correct regions to be read and made into appropriate proteins, cells lose their proper identity and give rise to damaged tissue, and eventually death.The team also found that compacted regions were marked by three methyl molecules, which occur at specific sites of protein binding along the genome. Basically, more trimethylation leads to more compaction, which means less of the genome is available to mRNA to eventually make full-length proteins. On the other hand, less trimethylation means less compaction, so more of the genome is available for transcribing into working proteins.The team showed that if they deactivated the enzymes that add the methyl groups onto chromosomes, it causes out-of-place expression of cell-inappropriate genes leading to the eventual death of tissue. For example, they found that genes that are not normally "on" in liver cells are activated, which led to cell death and ultimately inadequate liver function.Future studies will look at how the three enzymes "learn" which parts of the genome to silence.Source: Eurekalert | https://www.medindia.net/news/how-is-the-dna-packing-affecting-development-in-early-embryos-184936-1.htm |
Where are all the jobs? | I am a fresh graduate and had started applying for a job since my last day at university. To date, I havent received one call from any company. My seniors are painting a scary picture and almost all of them have told me that there are not enough jobs in Pakistan. I spent four years in studying and worked hard to get good grades. All of my hard work has gone down the drain as I am unable to find a good job. Government jobs are hard to get and often one cannot step inside a government institution unless he/she has an influential background. The only option people have is to apply in private companies which, these days, have slowed down their hiring process. Suleman Shah Karachi | https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/415180-where-are-all-the-jobs |
Is the FDA One of the USA's Biggest Killers? | DMCA FDA policies may be responsible for over 80,000 deaths caused by inadequately or completely untested medical devices. There are over 32 million Americans with implanted devices in their bodies-- about ten percent of Americans. That's mind-boggling. But more so is the fact, reported by an article in the Washington Post, The FDA is still letting doctors implant untested devices into our bodies. The ICIJ-- International Consortium of Investigative Journalists reports that "FDA data reveals more than 80,000 deaths and 1.7 million injuries possibly linked to medical devices in the past decade." And hundreds of thousands of patients with implants have had to deal with device recalls, often requiring removal of a device. While the FDA is claiming to be planning to make "transformative" changes in their regulations, the reality is that there are huge loopholes that, for decades, have allowed manufacturers to evade real clinical trial testing. The problem is, the FDA identifies the device manufacturers as it's customer base. That reflects the pathological neoliberal capitalism over a people-supporting-commons nature of politics today. The WaPo article advocates for the re-opening of the Office of Technology Assessment, which, the post observes, " the House of Representatives killed in 1995, during a fit of anti-regulation insanity inspired by Newt Gingrich's Contract With America." - Advertisement - The problem is, in recent decades, presidents have appointed FDA heads who are loaded with conflicts of interest, coming from the industries they are supposed to regulate. The WaPo argues that the head of the FDA should be a civil servant, not a political appointee. Of course that takes away power from the president who appoints and the congress which authorizes. So the FDA problem is really a symptom of power-grabbing gone wild. It's a conundrum. The ICIJ article reports that it's even worse in other countries, where they "place their trust in U.S. and European authorities." That mirrors my experience. Twenty five years ago I met, in Moscow, with the head of the Russian counterpart to the the USA's National Institute of Health. Shortly after, I received a call from someone at the FDA, asking me to advocate to him for adoption of the FDA's policies on drugs and devices. The FDA was actively evangelizing it's policies to the rest of the world. I saw it as an extension of the marketing arm of Big Pharma and the device manufacturers. The WaPo article also observes "Lawmakers should also revive the congressional Office of Technology Assessment, which the House of Representatives killed in 1995, during a fit of anti-regulation insanity inspired by Newt Gingrich's Contract With America." - Advertisement - The idea of anti-regulation and deregulation is a core value of conservatism. The policy, which is, in my mind, a core reason tens of thousands of people are dying because of inadequately tested medical devices, is a part of the malignant form of predatory, psychopathic capitalism that both political parties in the USA have allowed to become dominant. It is certainly possible for the existence of a regulation-embracing capitalism couched in the wisdom of bio-mimicry and an understanding of how nature sustainably functions. This is a bottom-up, connection conscious way of seeing the bigger picture, which includes the effects of products on people's health. It is insane that the FDA has failed to identify the U.S. health consumer as its customer. And it is outrageous that congress and decades of recent presidents have enabled, even encouraged this to happen. Worse, it is clear that deregulation of protections is happening in virtually every federal agency with mandates to protect the public, workers and the environment. Adding insult to injury, we have this added reason to be concerned. The FDA has been hit by Trump's refusal to approve government funding. This is the message the Trump administration has authorized, that's on the FDA website: | https://www.opednews.com/articles/Is-the-FDA-One-of-the-USA-by-Rob-Kall-Deregulation-Regulation_FDA_Medical-Devices-190106-976.html |
Will Apple Raise Its Dividend in 2019? | Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has seen a lot of controversy lately, falling from its former leadership position atop the list of stocks with the highest market capitalizations. With concerns that iPhone sales are starting to struggle, many investors fear that Apple's high-growth days are long behind it. Yet one often-overlooked aspect of Apple's success is how it's returned capital to shareholders. Despite spending billions on stock buybacks over the years, Apple has also been committed to regularly raising its dividend. After boosting its payout by 16% in 2018, Apple reached the seven-year mark in making consecutive annual dividend increases. Let's look at Apple more closely to see what's in store for 2019. Dividend Stats on Apple Current quarterly dividend per share $0.73 Current yield 2% Number of consecutive years with dividend increases 7 years Payout ratio 25% Last increase May 2018 Data Source: Yahoo! Finance. Last increase refers to ex-dividend date. A short history of Apple's dividends For most of its existence, Apple didn't pay a dividend. That was consistent with how tech companies usually worked, instead reinvesting available cash back into their businesses. After starting out with a modest payout, Apple discontinued its dividends in the mid-1990s to focus more on growth opportunities. By 2012, though, Apple had achieved huge success. In response to having so much cash on its balance sheet and free cash flow coming in, Apple started paying a dividend again. The tech giant set an initial yield of about 2%, with a payout ratio of about 30% of its earnings. Outside view of an Apple Store at an outdoor mall with palm trees nearby. More Image source: Apple. In seven years, Apple's dividend yield hasn't really gone anywhere, but that's not for lack of trying. The stock has exploded higher, but the pace of the dividend increases that Apple has paid its shareholders has largely matched the stock's moves. Most of the company's hikes have been in the vicinity of 10% in recent years, but the most recent 16% boost marked an acceleration that stemmed in part from the positive future impact of tax reform. AAPL Dividend Chart More AAPL Dividend data by YCharts. Lately, investors have been in a near-panic about Apple's slowing revenue metrics. Just this past week, CEO Tim Cook warned that revenue would fall from year-ago levels to just $84 billion, with weakness in China and slower rates of upgrades among customers elsewhere weighing on sales. | https://news.yahoo.com/apple-raise-dividend-2019-170100776.html |
Should the Texans consider moving on from Bill O'Brien? | The Houston Texans had another first-round playoff exit yesterday, losing at home to the division rival Indianapolis Colts 21-7 in their wild card matchup. For Houston, the loss brings an end to what was an impressive season. After starting off 0-3, Houston reeled off nine-straight wins, and finished the year 11-5 and kings of the AFC South. But after the loss to the Colts, OBriens playoff record with Houston fell to 1-2, and his one win came back in the 2016 season, when the Texans beat a depleted Oakland Raiders team using a backup quarterback in place of the injured Derek Carr. You can say that OBrien has done a good job since being in Houston. He took over the coaching gig in 2014, and went 9-7 for three-straight years before dropping to 4-12 in 2017 and rebounding this year. Yes, the Texans won 11 games, but you have to ask yourselves if youve seen a big jump in the teams performance year in, year out. Its hard to say that the Texans are one of the more fearsome teams in the league. When they are firing on all cylinders they are a true threat, but for some reason, postseason success under OBrien has been hard to come by. With the unfortunate passing of Texans owner Bob McNair this season, you have to believe Houston would be hesitant about making any big decisions in terms of coaching, especially after finishing 11-5. There was a time not too long ago when the Texans were 0-3 and OBriens name was mentioned as one on the hot seat. It looks like hes quelled talk of a change at least for one more year. | https://touchdownwire.usatoday.com/2019/01/06/should-the-texans-consider-moving-on-from-bill-obrien/ |
Who is Celyn Jones the actor who plays Levi Bellfield in Manhunt? | Get MyWestLondon News updates directly to your inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email Serial killer Levi Bellfield was arrested at his West Drayton home on November 22, 2004. The chilling events that led to his capture were documented at the time by real-life detective Colin Sutton, whose memoirs inspired the new ITV series, Manhunt. Bellfield is currently serving three life sentences for murdering a string of young women, including 13-year-old Milly Dowler. Martin Clunes stars in the series as Detective Sutton, while Bellfield is played by the less well-known actor, Celyn Jones. (Image: Neil Genower, Buffalo Pictures for ITV) Celyn Jones, 39, is a Welsh actor and screen-writer. He played Aeron in the Channel 4 comedy series Catastrophe and has recently finished filming Born a King, an upcoming film about Prince Faisal, in which he plays Winston Churchill. Jones has also appeared in TV hit series like the Stella, The Bill and Shameless. He was born in Anglesey, North Wales and trained as an actor at Manchester Youth Theatre before winning a scholarship to the Oxford School of Drama. He is the co-founder of Mad as Birds Film company and an ambassador of Welsh children's charity Into Film. | https://www.mylondon.news/news/west-london-news/who-celyn-jones-actor-who-15633692 |
Is 2019 the end of Indias anti-Pakistan narrative? | Published: January 6, 2019 The writer is a member faculty of contemporary studies at NDU Islamabad and can be reached at By Muhammad Ali Ehsan Published: January 6, 2019The writer is a member faculty of contemporary studies at NDU Islamabad and can be reached at [email protected] In an interview to ANI news agency that was broadcast live by almost the entire Indian media, the Indian prime minister made a statement that it would be a huge mistake to believe that Pakistan would mend its ways anytime soon. The reference was being made to cross-border terrorism and beyond anything else clearly indicated that as expected there is no change in the Indian anti-Pakistan narrative. Reading Thomas J Wrights book All measures short of war the contest of 21st century and the future of American power, I was reminded that in a post-9/11 political and military environment how Pakistan missed out on so many opportunities that the others cashed in. But for Pakistan, Steins law (Herbert Stein was the economic adviser to president Nixon) which states What cannot go on forever will stop will soon take the shape of reality. While Pakistan suffered considerably fighting the war on terror, countries like India benefited a lot from the opportunities of convergence that fighting war on terror and the changed international environment brought. India got a free ticket to escalate unchecked state terrorism in Kashmir and developed and created a world opinion that its Pakistan that was fuelling the fire in Kashmir. Indias most powerful foreign policy instruments have not been weapons, military build-up or forging of alliances but the selling of the idea that Pakistan is a rouge State India did everything possible to project a negative image of Pakistan. India itself benefited from the liberal international order and worked together with the major world and regional powers it offered them the opportunities to compete in its economy only if they stayed quiet with Indias projection of Pakistan as a trouble-making state. The story of past many years of Indo-Pak relations is a story of how a regional hegemon pushed back a smaller neighbouring country by arming its rivals and enemies on the western front, by executing military build-ups on its eastern borders and threatening and setting red lines to execute surgical strikes or initiate limited wars. The carrot of economic participation that it offered to the rest of the world whether it was the access to its markets or investment in giant sports leagues like Indian Premier League was all at the cost of all of them making a choice of not looking at Pakistan as a country that was suffering and was being victimised but as a country that harboured terrorist and provided them safe havens and exported terrorism internationally. The rest of the world looked at India as a huge vehicle that provided them with indisputable opportunities for making wealth. While we suffered and fought a war for our existence the world turned a blind eye on how the Indians carried out state terrorism in Kashmir not that the world didnt know about Indian atrocities in Kashmir but only because they had willingly agreed to participate in the Indian offered strategic economic reset in which the rest of the world could only benefit from the Indian economy and the opportunities its huge market offered if it did not point political fingers at the premises of the Indias Kashmir and Pakistan policies. To the world what mattered was being faithful only to the economic interests and never the merits and demerits of the issues at hand. Most of the Indian (Modi government) premises based on which it built its anti-Pakistan policies have now turned out wrong. Pakistan is playing an active role in negotiating a peace process in Afghanistan. The Indian sponsored terrorism in the country is fast disappearing and the sphere of Indian influence in Afghanistan as well as in Iran is also contracting and shrinking which means the Indians may no longer have the undisputed leverage in executing its war by other means through some of these countries. The Indian dream of becoming the centre of authority, the centre of force and decision- making is now falling apart. The whole idea of India acting as a spoiler through Afghanistan despite Indias huge political and economic investment is falling apart and with the pullout of American forces from Afghanistan on the cards the American commitment to the Indian interests in Afghanistan seems also no more guaranteed. If Afghanistan descends into a forecasted political upheaval during or beyond the Afghan elections (May 2019), the repercussions for the Indian interests in Afghanistan would be severely damaging. Alliances are power-multipliers and while India has benefited from its new found alliance with the Americans in the last decade or so Pakistan lost its opportunities in the past, but now it is gradually repositioning itself to fight against the Indian-induced regional and international isolation by showcasing its deployable power of an efficient and operationally trained force to fight the common enemy of terrorism. Russia, China, Iran and the Central Asian States all respect and admire Pakistans anti-terrorism fighting capabilities. The first and the most important step for the Modi government should be a change of mindset. Its anti-Pakistan narrative has miserably flopped. There are multiple actors that have their changing interests that are competing for influence in the region and this region has dynamics of its own, the nature of which also keeps changing. India has tried its best to weaken Pakistan and exploit its vulnerabilities but the world is a witness of the resilience and perseverance of the Pakistani nation that despite its problems it has continued to fight and adapt and respond to all the Indian challenges that it has so far thrown at it. With most of the Indian premises about Pakistan going wrong it is still not late for the Indians to understand that if Pakistan stagnates or is troubled, India will also not remain immune. It is for India to decide whether to entrench against or engage with Pakistan. For India, living with Pakistan as a friendly neighbour that engages in dialogue to reach political ends rather than bullying with threats of surgical strikes should be the right strategic option. Simply put, for PM Modi to continue to seek and to push Pakistan to a corner and proudly boast that India has been able to isolate Pakistan internationally is an Indian policy that in coming days will no more be sustainable. India tried a full-scale policy of isolation against Pakistan this policy of isolation and non-engagement only increased unprecedented risks and uncertainty in the relations between the two countries. The year 2019 may finally prove to be the deathbed of flawed built-up Indian premises, policies and narrative against Pakistan. Through hardships, tests and trials what Pakistan has managed to do is find its way. In the coming days not Pakistan but its India that would be under the worlds spotlight to mend its way in Kashmir. Even PM Modi and the whole India knows it. | https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/is-2019-the-end-of-indias-anti-pakistan-narrative.595454/ |
Could Ethan Ampadu be Cesc Fabregas's midfield successor at Chelsea? | Get Daily updates directly to your inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email Former Exeter City youngster Ethan Ampadu is thriving in a new midfield role under Chelsea manager Mauricio Sarri. The 18-year-old Wales international played his tenth game for the Blues in their comfortable 2-0 FA Cup third round victory over Nottingham Forest on Saturday, something that earned the Grecians 250,000 as part of Ampadu's move to Stamford Bridge. The versatile Ampadu, comfortable in defence or in midfield, again earned rave reviews for his mature performance from Chelsea supporters, but the game will be remembered for being the farewell match of Spanish international Cesc Fabregas. The 31-year-old looks set to leave West London and head to Monaco during the January transfer window and given the ease with which Ampadu slotted into the midfield, some have suggested he could be the long-term successor to Fabregas. Speaking after the match, he talked about how he had been preparing to play in such a key position for Chelsea under their new head coach. "I enjoyed it," he told the club's in-house TV channel. "It's nice being back out there on the pitch in front of the home fans. "It was tough playing in that position for the first time this year but I'm just grateful to get minutes. "I've been training in that position for the last couple of weeks. Obviously we've had a few injuries haven't we so I've slotted in there in training and I guess when you try and train well you hope the manager can see that. "You're got to stay focused, stay sharp for whenever the chances come. You've got to train and prepare in case something does happen so you can fit in." Ampadu had been tipped to head out on loan in January with Championship clubs Derby County and Aston Villa both linked with his services, but for now, Ampadu is focused on success with Chelsea, who are targetting a top four finish and are in the Europa League, Carabao Cup and FA Cup still. "It's always about the next game but when you think of the bigger picture, and the bigger targets, you want to win everything," he said. "Obviously we won this last season so we want to try and defend it. "I was injured last time so I didn't get to be involved so hopefully I can be a bit more involved this year." | https://www.devonlive.com/sport/could-ethan-ampadu-cesc-fabregass-2400128 |
Is Mike Munchak the favorite for Broncos' head coach job? | ESPNs Adam Schefter has reported that Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line coach Mike Munchak has strong interest in the Denver Broncos head coach opening. but its notable for two reasons. First, Munchak turned down a head coach offer from an NFL team last year, according to Schefter. If the Broncos offered him their head coach job, he probably wouldnt turn it down. Second, the interest appears to be mutual. NFL Networks Ian Rapoport tweeted Sunday morning that Munchak has emerged as the early favorite to land the job in Denver. KUSA-TVs Mike Klis also tweeted Sunday that Munchak does appear to be the guy to beat. Before joining the Steelers coaching staff, Munchak went 22-26 as head coach of the Tennessee Titans. He earned nine Pro Bowl selections during his time as an offensive lineman with the Titans/Oilers. Related Todd Davis believes Broncos are an attractive team for head coach candidates | https://broncoswire.usatoday.com/2019/01/06/denver-broncos-mike-munchak-may-be-favorite-for-head-coach-job/ |
Who is set to win big at star-studded Golden Globes? | As the 76th annual Golden Globes get underway in Los Angeles, its Bradley Cooper's A Star Is Born that is expected to dominate. The reinterpretation of the enduring Hollywood love story stars Lady Gaga alongside Cooper who also wrote and directed it has everything Hollywood loves fame, music, alcoholism and love. It's the favourite for taking out gongs in Best Picture (Drama), Best Actress (Drama) for Gaga, Best Song for Shallow and Best Actor (Drama) for Cooper. It's main competition is set to come from another musical film, Bohemian Rhapsody, whose star Rami Malek some believe could pull off the acting upset over Cooper. Advertisement Both films are up for Best Picture (Drama) against Black Panther, BlacKkKlansmanand If Beale Street Could Talk. Meanwhile, though the Christian Bale-led political drama Vice the story of former US vice-president Dick Cheney has six nominations (the most of any film), it is Yorgos Lanthimos' The Favourite, a period power struggle set in the 18th century English court of Queen Anne, that is the most decorated film of the bunch. So far this awards season, there has been no deviation from the acclaim for The Favourite trio of Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone. Sandra Oh (L) and Andy Samberg are hosting the Golden Globes. Photo / Getty Emily Blunt, nominated twice this year by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (Best Actress for Mary Poppins Returns and Best Supporting Actress for A Quiet Place) could give Colman a run for her money, as both are up for the Best Actress (Musical or Comedy) category. Last year's ceremony was the first major awards show after the birth of the #MeToo movement. Female attendees wore black in solidarity, with presenter Natalie Portman pointedly introduced the "all male" directing nominees. A year later, Hollywood remains consumed with gender inequality and highly placed men have continued to fall. But this year's best director nominees are also all male again. Up for the director's gong alongside Cooper are Alfonso Cuaron (Roma), Peter Farrelly (Green Book), Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman) and Adam McKay (Vice). How much these subjects will be discussed in the broadcast, to be hosted by the unexpected pairing of Andy Samberg and Sandra Oh, is unknown. Samberg and Oh have said they're hoping to set a lively and carefree tone. Oh, the star of the BBC America drama series Killing Eve, is also a nominee. Actor Christian Bale. Photo / Getty The lines between film and TV are particularly blurred at this year's Globes as more and more Hollywood stars take roles on the small screen. In fact, there are just as many movie stars nominated in the TV categories as there are in the film categories. Among them: Julia Roberts (Homecoming), Jim Carrey (Kidding), Amy Adams (up for both film Vice and TV miniseries Sharp Objects) Michael Douglas (The Kominsky Method), Benedict Cumberbatch (Patrick Melrose), Penelope Cruz (The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story), Patricia Arquette (Escape At Dannemora), Hugh Grant (A Very English Scandal) and Laura Dern (The Tale). | https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=12186499 |
Will Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Kids Have Official Royal Titles? | There's no doubt that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's baby will be a little prince or princess in all of our hearts. There is still plenty of doubt, however, about if that baby will officially be a little His or Her Royal Highness. In the end, like so many other things in the royal family, it will all come down to what Queen Elizabeth II feels like doing. Here's how it works: For the longest time, with the exception of the first son of the Prince of Wales (right now, of course, that's Prince Charles and his firstborn son, Prince William), no new royal was really guaranteed a fancy pants HRH title. Before Prince George was born in 2013, the Queen changed the rules to include all of the kids of the direct heir. This is why Charlotte is officially, and automatically, a princess. Unlike William, however, Harry is not directly in line for the throne. In order for Harry to become King Harry, there would have to be several abdications or a lot of tragedyneither of which is likely. That means, of course, that it's even less likely that Harry's kids will ever assume the throne. As a result, their HRH titles are not automatic or guaranteed, but at the Queen's discretion. And, according to Express, there are rumblings that Elizabeth won't bestow a royal title on Harry and Meghan's kids. This is probably not a snub from the Queen, however. If Harry and Meghan's kids don't get the HRH title, it's probably because they didn't want the kids to have it. I am determined to have a relatively normal life, and if I am lucky enough to have children they can have one too," Harry explained in 2017. "We dont want to be just a bunch of celebrities but instead use our role for good." There's precedent for this, too. Will and Harry's cousins don't all have official royal titles. Prince Andrew reportedly wanted princess titles for his daughter, Eugenie and Beatrice, so they go them. Princess Anne's kids, Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips, however, don't have them. So it's clear that Elizabeth takes the parents' preference into consideration. If it's not Harry and Meghan's choice, it might come down to Prince Charles' preference. "Charles might have decided only the children of his eldest son are to be HRH," a source said, according to Express. We'll just have to wait and see, of course, if Harry and Meghan's kids use a royal title or not. | https://www.marieclaire.com/celebrity/a25763362/prince-harry-meghan-markle-kids-might-not-have-royal-titles/ |
Will WWE's 2019 be as wild as its 2018? | A WWE Logo at the WWE Live Tryout at the Motorworld on November 7, 2018 in Cologne, Germany. (Photo by Marc Pfitzenreuter/Getty Images) At the start of 2018, WWEs (WWE) stock hovered around $30 a share. By the end of December, it closed at an impressive $74.72 a share. Its particularly impressive when you consider the fact that the market overall had its worst year since 2008 with the S&P 500 losing 6.2%. There were some major controversies and dips along the way, but one thing is for sure 2018 was a year that the WWE, its shareholders, and fans will never forget. Major TV deals NBCUNIVERSAL UPFRONT EVENTS -- 2018 NBCUniversal Upfront in New York City on Monday, May 14, 2018 -- Pictured: (l-r) Charlotte Flair, Nina Jax, Ronda Rousey, 'WWE' on USA Network -- (Photo by: Paul Drinkwater/NBCUniversal/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) More In late June, WWE announced that it secured two major television deals one a $265 million renewal with NBC Universal (CMCSA) for flagship program Monday Night Raw and the other a 5-year $1.025 billion deal with Fox (FOX) for Smackdown Live. If WWE officials were happy about the news, stockholders were ecstatic for the next three months the companys stock marched toward the stratosphere. The company was firing on all cylinders, but as summer turned to fall all of that momentum seemed to shift downward. Saudi controversy Fans film the opening of the "Greatest Royal Rumble" event in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, Friday, April 27, 2018. A previous WWE event held in the ultraconservative kingdom in 2014 was for men only. But Friday night's event in Jiddah included both women and children in attendance. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) More Early in 2018, the company entered a partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The 10-year deal is part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmans Saudi Vision 2030 a plan created to increase tourism and reduce its dependency on oil revenue. For WWEs part in the agreement, the company is obligated to produce a number of events in the country. The first of these events the Greatest Royal Rumble took place on April 27 in Jeddah, and was by all accounts a success. Fans cheer during the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Crown Jewel pay-per-view at the King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh on November 2, 2018. (Photo by Fayez Nureldine / AFP) (Photo credit should read FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP/Getty Images) More However the second event of the partnership Novembers Crown Jewel was mired in controversy. On October 2, Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed while visiting the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Khashoggi had been a vocal critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the Saudi government. At first, the Saudis denied knowing what happened to Khashoggi only to later say the journalist was killed on the orders of a rogue intelligence officer. Most in the global community didnt buy this story, and many multinational companies began to distance themselves from Saudi Arabia. One company that did not distance itself from the Kingdom was WWE. Many called for the pro-wrestling company to cancel the Crown Jewel event amid the storm of controversy surrounding Khashoggis death. Protests even came from within WWE's own locker room with WWE superstars Daniel Bryan and wrestler turned actor John Cena both refusing to perform at the show in a show of solidarity over Khashoggi's death. As fall progressed, the hits just kept on coming. Television ratings continued a steady decline. The September 10 episode of Raw earned 2.73 million viewers; the December 10 edition of Raw had an average viewership rate of 2.19 million. On that night, the ratings for the flagship program reached their lowest point in its history. | https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/wwes-2019-wild-2018-174359297.html?src=rss |
Is David Cage Teasing Detroit Become Human Connor DLC? | David Cage Teasing Exciting Plans for 2019, Fans Think Its Detroit: Become Human Connor DLC On new years eve, Quantic Dreams official Twitter account asked fans to stay tuned for some great news, giving birth to speculation that the developer may be working on downloadable content for its hit title, Detroit: Become Human. However, given the studios history, some remained skeptical. Quantic Dreams founder, David Cage, has now jumped in. In a tweet this weekend, Cage wished fans a happy new year and teased exciting plans for 2019 with the hashtags Detroit: Become Human and Connor Army alongside the following image: HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL! We wish you all a wonderful New Year with a lot of love, friends, laughs, and of course a lot of fun! 2018 has been an amazing year for Quantic Dream, thanks to you. We have plans to make 2019 very exciting too!#DetroitBecomeHuman #ConnorArmy pic.twitter.com/I9e11CTPQY David Cage (@David__Cage) January 4, 2019 Fans think the hashtags suggest that Quantic Dream is working on Detroit: Become Human DLC, and itll focus on fan favorite police investigator and android, Connor. Whether the studio has changed its stance on DLC or not remains to be seen, and were certainly not holding our breath. However, the idea doesnt seem like a stretch considering Detroit: Become Human has become Quantic Dreams most successful project to date. With two million copies sold as of December 2018, its also the studios fastest-selling title. For more on Detroit: Become Human, check out our recent coverage and stay tuned for updates. | https://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2019/01/06/is-cage-teasing-detroit-become-human-connor-dlc/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=is-cage-teasing-detroit-become-human-connor-dlc |
Who caused huge loss? | Former ruling party PML-N was scheduled to step down on May 31, 2018 on completion of its constitutional five-year tenure and it did that accordingly. But before doing that the then Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had gone around different parts of the country in a whirlwind manner inaugurating or laying foundation of all sorts of major and minor projects In the process, he had also inaugurated Tarbela Dam IV Extension project rather prematurely in March 2018 reportedly against the advice of German engineers working on it. This pre-mature inauguration of the project on one hand had caused public exchequer huge loss of about Rs 25 billion and on the other hand caused unnecessary delay in its completion. Even after passage of many months, nobody seems to be concerned for conducting an inquiry into this ugly episode to fix the responsibility and also recover the huge amount of Rs 25 billion from those who had caused this loss to the national exchequer. This ought to be done forthwith without any further delay and the amount recovered from those found guilty so as to give much needed lesson to the rulers that they should inaugurate only completed development projects of any nature and avoid to the maximum possible in cutting ribbons of incomplete projects and in the process also cause huge losses to the public exchequer, please. OSAMA BIN ASIM Rawalpindi Share on: WhatsApp | https://pakobserver.net/who-caused-huge-loss-2/ |
Will Jitendra Singh replace Gehlot to become Rahul's most trusted advisor? | To be sure, Singh lacks Gehlot's experience and connect with the masses. But he was among the most influential leaders of the party in convincing Sachin Pilot that he should make way for Gehlot as Chief Minister and serve as his deputy. Singh has worked with Gandhi earlier as his secretary when the latter was a general secretary in charge of the youth wings. Gandhi has his own compulsions. Having promoted the old guard in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, he needs to send a signal to the younger people in the party that the top posts won't always be the monopoly of the old and experienced. Same difference The Winter session of Parliament ends on Tuesday. The big question, however, is whether the government would hold a separate Budget session to present its interim Budget or extend the Winter session. According to sources in the government, the session would begin on January 30, and would last for a week. It would involve presentation of the interim Budget. The Economic Survey will not be presented. But there are two views within the government on whether it should prorogue the ongoing Winter session, and call a separate Budget session, or treat the break between January 8 and 30 as recess and count the last few sittings of the current Lok Sabha as an extension of the Winter session. In 2009 and 2014, the UPA governments had combined the Winter and Budget sessions. Last minute change The Communist Party of India (Marxist) planned to organise a press conference in Parliament on Thursday. Most political parties, including the CPI (M), hold routine press conferences, if not every day, then once in two days, inside Parliament when it is in session. The CPI (M) press conference was likely to focus on the violence related to the Sabarimala issue allegedly perpetrated by the Sangh Parivar. Usually, the CPI (M) press conferences are addressed by the party's leaders in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. In the Lok Sabha, the party's leader is Mohammed Salim, and Elamaram Kareem is its leader in the Rajya Sabha. However, since the issue related to Sabarimala, the party thought it wiser that one of its Hindu member of Parliament from Kerala should address the press conferences, and the CPI (M)'s Lok Sabha MP from Palakkad, M B Rajesh, was roped in at the last minute. | https://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/will-jitendra-singh-replace-gehlot-to-become-rahul-s-most-trusted-advisor-119010700023_1.html |
Did 'Bandersnatch' Launch A Storytelling Revolution Or Kill It In the Crib? | Black Mirror: Bandersnatch created an immediate sensation when it dropped on Netflix late last month, giving viewers the opportunity to meaningfully affect the outcome of the story by making choices at key points during the show. Media theorists have talked about this kind of participative entertainment experience for decades, but it has never been attempted at this scale, using the unique capabilities of a streaming service like Netflix. Well, its complicated. Bandersnatch is definitely new and different, at least for TV. The show is essentially a choose your own adventure story, a format that attempts to bring the open-endedness of role playing games to traditionally linear media like books and comics. Readers are presented with choices some trivial, some consequential at different points in the narrative, and their selection takes them down different branches, toward different endings. When used in books, the format adds a layer of participation and control to the passive experience of reading, and provides more re-readability because you want to explore all the possible story paths and endings. Most of the time, though, it feels like a gimmick, even when its simple and convenient to flip back and forth to different pages, because we are so used to reading sequentially. It gets even trickier with film and TV. Not only are production costs higher to create alternate story content, but it's hard to get a mass audience to collectively make choices unless you have some way to give each viewer their own individual story experience.When producers have occasionally tried to do this sort of thing, as in 1995's odd and terrible Mr Payback, they ran into obvious technical limitations, leading to unsatisfying results. Streaming platforms like Netflix change the calculus. They are fundamentally designed around user choice and interactivity, although in practice, that choice rarely extends beyond what am I going to watch right now? on whatever screen you happen to be watching. But the geniuses behind Black Mirror saw streaming media technology as a way to fuse interactivity at the individual level with the scale of a high production value feature film. Purely on a technical level, Bandersnatch is seamless in how its story paths diverge based on user choice. Decision points appear on the screen, viewers select one with their remote (or the choice times out and one of the options is selected by default), and the scene proceeds naturally. Every so often, if a branch hits a conclusion, the story resets to the beginning, briefly summarizes the story path up to the last branch point, and gives the viewer a chance to explore the alternative. Considering how many people are watching and talking about Bandersnatch in the week since its release, its fair to say Black Mirror and Netflix proved the concept. Well maybe, but if so, future productions will have a high standard to match. Thats because the most compelling thing about Bandersnatch is the relationship between the story and the narrative technique. The plot centers on a programmer in the portentous year of 1984 creating a choose-your-own-adventure game on the emerging technology platform of that era, the personal computer. These are big, powerful themes separate from, but also intimately connected to, both the plot of Bandersnatch and the novelty of its storytelling technique. The multiple layers of self-referentiality and allegory both house specialties of the Black Mirror series elevate the interactive technology aspect from a hey, thats cool gimmick to something integral to the work itself. Once youve been through Bandersnatch a time or two, it becomes clear that there is no other way to tell this particular story: the story would be less without the technology, and the technology would be far less without this story to give it purpose and meaning. There is a literary antecedent to Bandersnatch, a 1963 novel called Rayuela (known in English as Hopscotch) by the Argentine author Julio Cortazar. You can read Hopscotch straight through like a standard novel, or you can follow an alternative reading order that fills in details and changes the storyline significantly by skipping around. Like Bandersnatch, the plot and theme tie integrally to the experimental technique. Hopscotch is a non-linear meditation on linearity; a stream-of-consciousness commentary on consciousness and perception; a deconstructed, frustrating narrative full of dead-ends on the difficulties of writing the stories of our own lives. Its a tour de force that opened up new possibilities for the novel as a literary format, and reimagined the relationship between author and reader. Its also not an invitation that many, if any, other authors accepted. Cortazar proved the concept so well that there was nothing else to say or do with it. His technical accomplishment was absolute. Everything else afterwards would seem like either a cheap trick or a pale imitation. If Bandersnatch had employed the interactive storytelling technique in service of a less-ambitious story a thriller, a D&D-style fantasy adventure, or even a dramatic slice-of-life like the intriguing 1998 parallel-timeline film Sliding Doors other creators might have seen potential for the form and ways to use it in ordinary, entertainment-oriented contexts. But the Black Mirror team set the bar so high, and incorporated so many levels of implications into this one story, that it is tough to see many other productions following this and receiving the same kind of reception. The commercial success that Bandersnatch would seem to be enjoying just on the basis of buzz and attention indicates that someone will be tempted to take another bite at this apple. Unless they are very clever indeed, it seems unlikely to be as sweet, or as tart, as this revolutionary production turned out to be. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/robsalkowitz/2019/01/06/did-bandersnatch-launch-a-storytelling-revolution-or-kill-it-in-the-crib/ |
How Does a Museum Event Planner Do Her Job? | Get More Working Slate Plus members get extended, ad-free versions of our podcastsand much more. Sign up today and try it free for two weeks. Join Slate Plus Subscribe to Working Copy this link and add it in your podcast app. copy link copied! For detailed instructions, see our Slate Plus podcasts page. Listen to Working via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play. Like any museum of its scale, MoMA relies on major donations. Which means, of course, throwing major events to match. This week Jordan talks to Tania Abitbol, MoMAs in-house event planner. Tania is the person charged with dreaming up events worthy of MoMA-lovers. To do her job right, Tania has to make sure every detail of each party is interesting, memorable and, just as important, perfectly executed. She tells Jordan about the tiny details that can inspire entire events and how she completely transforms the museums lobby and sculpture garden for a massive fundraiser every year. You can email us at [email protected]. Podcast production by Jessamine Molli. | https://slate.com/business/2019/01/how-a-museum-event-planner-does-her-job.html |
Is Shopping at Whole Foods Worth It for the Amazon Prime Benefits? | Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) thinks it's time to expand Whole Foods' (NASDAQ: WFM) presence in the U.S. to increase its share of the increasingly competitive grocery market. But it also has a secondary goal: to gain more Amazon Prime members by offering Whole Foods' deals that are exclusive to those who pay the $119 per-year Prime membership fee. Whole Foods currently has about 475 stores in the U.S., but Amazon wants it to have more of a presence in the suburbs. Amazon currently is looking at possible locations in Idaho, southern Utah, and Wyoming, a source told The Wall Street Journal, which was the first to report on the matter. The new potential retail spaces were bigger than the average Whole Foods store, but Amazon could use the extra space to store inventory. Amazon is clearly on a mission to get as many people as possible to become Prime members and think of Whole Foods as their go-to grocery store, rather than the expensive and niche grocer that it was once thought of. But before you jump on the membership just for your grocery shopping, it's worth looking into the actual benefits that Amazon is offering. An Amazon Prime grocery bag is seen atop a pile of fruits in a Whole Foods store. More Amazon wants to lure more people into a Prime membership and to shop at Whole Foods. Image source: Amazon. Amazon Prime benefits available at Whole Foods As 2019 begins, you may be on a health kick and want to shop at a healthy grocer like Whole Foods. While Prime-membership holders get other benefits such as free two-day shipping for qualifying products on Amazon's platform, the benefits below are specific to Whole Foods shopping. These perks all come through opening your Amazon or Whole Foods shopping app and scanning your Prime Code at the Whole Foods checkout. Extra 10% off items with a yellow sale sign (excluding alcohol). Sales exclusive to Prime members, as indicated by blue sale signs. Get select Whole Foods items delivered to your home through Prime Pantry. Share your Whole Foods Prime benefits with one other adult and up to four teens. As you can see, the first two benefits focus on in-store sales you can take part in as a Prime member. Amazon says that the yellow-sign items that give you an extra 10% off the normal sale price typically apply to hundreds of products in the store. And the blue-sign items that indicate sales only available to Prime members change weekly and are applied to select best-selling items in the store. The other two benefits also could save you money and time because you can have certain items delivered instead of driving to the store, plus other family members or friends can use your Prime code for the same perks. Other Amazon Prime benefits to consider Amazon knows that if it can entice Whole Foods shoppers into a Prime membership, they'll probably start shopping on Amazon.com more often to take full advantage of the benefits. It's all about pulling customers into the growing Amazon ecosystem. So if you're on the fence about whether the Whole Foods perks make a Prime membership worth the cost, it's worth looking at the other benefits you'd receive by using Amazon's shopping platform. Ever-expanding fast and free delivery options: These include free two-day shipping on more than 100 million items; free one-day delivery in more than 8,000 cities and towns; free same-day delivery in 8,000 cities and towns when you spend $35 or more; and free two-hour delivery (or one-hour delivery that sometimes requires a small fee) on tens of thousands of items in over 50 cities with Prime Now. Access to tens of thousands of movies and TV shows on Prime Video: This includes Amazon original series, including the Golden Globe-winning titles Transparent and Mozart in the Jungle. Access to over 1 million songs through Prime Music: Prime members have unlimited ad-free listening hours with the service. Unlimited photo storage through Amazon Cloud Drive: Members get unlimited full-resolution photo storage plus 5 GB of video storage. How valuable these benefits are to you will depend on how often you shop on Amazon's platform and how often you use the other services. However, consider the fact that both Apple Music and Spotify Premium cost $9.99 per month, which adds up to about $120 a year. That's the same cost as an Amazon Prime membership, which also comes with Whole Foods deals, a multitude of fast and free delivery options, as well as video streaming and cloud storage. | https://news.yahoo.com/shopping-whole-foods-worth-amazon-190500363.html |
Whose Song Is It Anyway? | In one way or another, all art is political. And any visible shift in the social and political discourse of the times has artists at the forefront. But what is a little puzzling is how a song which was meant to be an enchanting elegy to a writers physical setting, acquires a sinister political edge. Advertising In a recent decision by the new Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Kamal Nath, at 10:45 am on the first working day of every month, a police band will play the tunes that encourage patriotic feelings during their march from Shaurya Smarak to Vallabh Bhawan in Bhopal. On arrival at the Bhawan, the national anthem and Vande Mataram will be sung. This has come only days after Nath ordered that it was no longer mandatory to sing the Vande Mataram in the Secretariat, a practice that was started by three-time former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The order had provoked protests from Chouhan and the Opposition, with many BJP members criticising the decision to not sing the national song. The national song has been a bone of contention for decades now. A battle cry for Indian independence, it compares certain qualities of the motherland with that of Goddess Durga and Lakshmi in the later paragraphs. A few months ago, BJP President Amit Shah had accused the Congress of appeasing Muslims by retaining only two paragraphs of the song and not including the latter ones (with mentions of Durga and Lakshmi) during the freedom movement. In 2017, it caused a rift between BJP members of the Meerut municipality and Muslim councillors. The latter walked out during a session of the Meerut Municipal Corporation when the piece was sung. When the seven Muslim councillors returned, they werent allowed back in. The cries of Hindustan mein rehna hai to Vande Mataram kehna hai were heard. Advertising Shafiqur Rahman Barq, BSP member from Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh, had also walked out of the Lok Sabha in 2013 when the song was played. In the 1870s, about 35 km North of Calcutta, on the banks of the Hoogly where the Malik Ghat is, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, deputy collector of Jessore under the British government, sat in an ivory-hued house and wrote Bande Mataram (I pray/bow down to thee, Mother). This poetic identification with Bengal, written in Bengali and Sanskrit, was inspired by the Sanyasi Rebellion of the late 18th century and the rebellion of 1857 both against the East India Company. While the former took place in Murshidabad and Baikunthpur forests of Jalpaiguri, the Mutiny was in Meerut. First published in his magazine Bangadarshan to fill up a blank page, the poem eventually ended up becoming one of the significant highlights of the Bengal Renaissance and also found itself in Chattopadhyays seminal book Anand Math written after three famines ravaged Bengal. The story was that of the Fakir Sanyasi Rebellion and described a group of monks that fought the British. Chatterjee would have never thought that his ballad for Bengal will have leading politicians of the nation and its people contend over its meanings and patriotism. Bande Mataram, the first phrase of this poem, an ode to Bengal, like all Hindi pronunciations of Bengali words, became Vande Matram. The words go Saptakotikantha kala kala ninadakarale, Dbisaptakoti Bhujaidhrta kharakarbale (When the swords flash out in 70 million hands, and 70 million voices roar). The population of Bengal at the time the song was penned was about 6.2 crore. So 70 million makes sense. The population of undivided India was about 23 crore. Jadunath Bhattacharya, the court musician of Panchetgarh and poet Chatterjees teacher, set the poem to raag Desh. A sweet sounding, hymn-like melody from the Malhar family, the ascent of the composition first found a taker in Rabindranath Tagore, who sang it in the 1896 session of the Indian National Congress, thus turning it into a rallying cry for the days leading up to Independence. Lata Mangeshkar sang it in the 1952 film Anandmath and singer Hemant Kumars debut composition became earmarked as one of the finest pieces of compositions in Indian cinema, reaching people via radio and 72 RPMs. While Tagore considered it universal and made it about India, many made it about religion, and about politics. In an atmosphere rife with tension and insecurities, one wonders if the only way forward is to treat art as just art. | https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/vande-matram-patriotism-bankim-chandra-chatterjee-anthem-whose-song-is-it-anyway-5525885/ |
Was war Silvester 2018 wirklich los? | Angeblich soll es im Osten so gut wie keine Migranten geben. Da bestnde dringender Nachholebedarf, sagen Annetta Kahane, Politiker und Medien. Wie es wirklich aussieht, schreibt Leser M.S. : Sehr geehrte Frau Lengsfeld, da Ihre Publikationen eine der wenigen sind, die die aktuellen Probleme in Deutschland zum Inhalt haben, mchte ich Ihnen diese Information zur Verfgung stellen: Allein im, ja im Sie lesen richtig, Leipziger Hauptbahnhof gab es von Seiten der Bundespolizei an Silvester aufgrund von gewaltttigen Jugendlichen mit sogenannten Migrationshintergrnden 900! Platzverweise. Bis auf einem kurzen und nichtssagenden Artikel in der Leipziger Volkszeitung gibt es keinerlei Informationen ber dieses Ereignis, was so in dieser Form bisher einmalig in Leipzig war. Der Leipziger Hauptbahnhof war bisher nie ein Bestandteil der Feiern zur Silvesternacht, aber seit einigen Jahren ist er leider der Treffpunkt von sogenannten Flchtlingen. 900 Platzverweise lassen auf eine unglaublich groe Menge von Menschen schlieen die sich da erstmalig zum feiern getroffen haben Meiner Meinung nach liegt der Verdacht nah das hier ein zweites Kln von Seiten der Bundespolizei verhindert worden ist, da es seit Jahren blich ist das die meisten jungen Menschen aus dem Leipziger Umland zentral in der Leipziger City und insbesondere auf dem in der Nhe des Bahnhofs liegenden Augustusplatz feiern. Vielleicht ist es Ihnen ja mglich mehr Informationen dazu in einer Recherche zu erhalten. In einem Ihrer Artikel erwhnen Sie fr ganz NRW knapp 1300 Platzverweise, so das 900 alleine an einen einzigen Ort auf ein Ereignis schlieen lassen was mit Sicherheit weitaus schlimmer in den Demissionen ist, als es die LVZ in einem inzwischen nicht mehr aufzufindenden Artikel es darstellt. M.S. Teilen Sie diesen Beitrag teilen teilen e-mail spenden drucken teilen teilen teilen | https://vera-lengsfeld.de/2019/01/06/was-war-silvester-2018-wirklich-los/ |
Why Is Corbyn So Weak on Brexit? | Disclaimer: The views expressed within this article are entirely the authors own and are not attributable to Wessex Scene as a whole. It is well known that Jeremy Corbyn is a very weak leader of his party. The lack of position and stance regarding anything other than the nationalisation of the railways and utility services is a big bugbear for many people, Labour Party supporters and otherwise. I hope to take a look into some of the hypotheses that people have come up with as to explain his support of Theresa Mays Brexit despite many of Labours membership detesting the stance. Firstly, one of the more credible and fact-based hypotheses comes from Nick Cohen, a journalist who often writes for The Observer and Spectator, as well as being nominated for the Orwell prize in journalism. He points out that many of Corbyns top advisers come from the hard or radical left, with some being ex-Communist Party members. Some are even from organisations that campaigned for a one-party communist state to be the governance system in the UK. Cohen argues that they believe that if they allow enough chaos to be created with regards to Brexit that it will break Britain and make a peoples hard or far left rising achievable. Another theory, which developed during the 2016 EU referendum, is that Corbyn has always wanted Brexit. His very weak performance playing minimum lip service to the Remain campaign during the referendum would seem to support this argument. This is also further evidenced in his opposition to the UK joining the EEC, the Maastricht Treaty, the Lisbon Treaty and the fact he also supported the referendum being held in the first place. He has been quoted before, during, and after the referendum saying that the EU position on no state aid was a reason for this. This is despite forms of state aid and state ownership of companies and services being legal within the EU, as seen in the nationalisation of the banks and proposed government bailouts of Tata Steel and Carillion in recent years. Embed from Getty Images A third hypothesis is that he is trying to cover up deep divisions in his own party. By not having a stance on Brexit, he can completely paper over the disagreements in his own party. With arch Brexiters such as Kate Hoey (pictured above), John Mann and Frank Field opposing vocal Remain and peoples vote supporters such as Alex Sobel, Alison McGovern and Rupa Huq, to name just a few from both sides. By hiding the deep divisions, he is avoiding the very public displays of disagreements over Brexit seen in the Conservative Party, despite the same arguments and disagreements occurring. I have shown three common hypotheses but there are many more. The reason for his weak leadership in his role as his majestys leader of the opposition in relation to Brexit may be due to one, all, or none of the hypotheses stated here. For my part, I believe it is due in part to all three, and if my beliefs are true it shows that he is willing to put party and himself above the well-being of the British people for his own political and ideological gain. Something I would be unable to forgive him and the Labour Party for. | https://www.wessexscene.co.uk/politics/2019/01/05/why-is-corbyn-so-weak-on-brexit/ |
What exactly are Newcastle United trying to win if not the FA Cup? | Get Newcastle United FC updates directly to your inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email Different competition - the FA Cup. Different opposition - Championship. Different team - reserves. However for all but the last six minutes of a depressing tie it was the same old sad story. Newcastle were hurtling towards their ninth defeat in 12 home matches. In the end United were rescued by one of the few first-teamers allowed to start by Rafa Benitez, though admittedly only from the penalty spot. This really is a demoralising, sapping season! Now it's another fixture in a competition Rafa clearly doesn't want to interfere with his relentless struggle against relegation, but for a surprisingly big crowd of 36,440 - or at least the Geordie contingent of it - the draw averted yet another supposed giant-killing on Newcastle's record. Though quite how it would have been claimed that giants were cut down like Goliath by David I don't know with no fewer than 10 senior players left out of United's starting line up. There was no Dubravka, Rondon, Lascelles, or Shelvey; no Diame, Yedlin or Perez; no Atsu, Dummett or Fernandez. Those who were most experienced and needed good performances to lift sagging reputations having become sidelined of late simply didn't rise to the occasion. Jacob Murphy, who cost a club not known any more for splashing the cash a whopping 12m, was hooked after looking like a rabbit caught in the headlights while Kenedy was handed the freedom of the No 10 role with no defensive responsibilities but was again massively ineffectual. It's hard to believe he is a Brazilian on loan from a top club like Chelsea. (Image: Getty Images) Then there is Joselu who led the line with all the aggressive determination of a feather duster. United had to go a goal down to a Bradley Dack header in the 57th minute before, staring at another home defeat, the cavalry was sent for, though why Jonjo Shelvey, who is badly in need of game time after a while sidelined, wasn't started is another matter. Later he was joined by Christian Atsu and then Ayoze Perez as United desperately sought an escape from the hangman's noose. Interestingly, though, there was no call to arms for Salomon Rondon just as there wasn't at Liverpool. Leave him out of it. I know Rondon's immense worth to the PL cause - mainly because there is no one else to score goals on the payroll - but some including No 9 legend SuperMac would argue that you cannot totally protect players all of the time. They can be injured in training never mind games. When it comes to centre-forwards United's paucity under Ashley was highlighted once again over the weekend when a club like Bournemouth, confined to the Football League's lowest division until the emergence of Eddie Howe, splashed 19m on a teenage striker Dominic Solanke. That's way above Newcastle's club record fee shelled out donkey's years ago yet Bournemouth have by far the smallest average gate in the Premiership while the Mags have one of the biggest. 3000+ VOTES SO FAR Yes No Blackburn's goal was another example of United's vulnerability at set pieces with Dack punishing them through a bullet header when not picked up. The equaliser on 84 minutes was a clear penalty when Perez was hauled down after at least showing some determination to run directly at goal. Luckily Matt Ritchie was on the pitch - Joselu and Kenedy had both missed from the spot when he wasn't there - and so it was 1-1. United's seventh FA Cup third-round exit on Mike Ashley's watch was at least temporarily averted, but by no means is it all over. If the answer is 'yes' what do they believe the club will win if the domestic cups are virtually ignored. If the biggest baubles are beyond our reach then under such current thinking I'm afraid Newcastle United won't win a trophy in the lifetime of their young supporters and that's a truly sobering thought. | https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/what-exactly-newcastle-united-trying-15636213 |
How can I help my daughter find a job? | My daughter is bright and animated but has been unsuccessful in finding employment. She had a good job for 10 years and is now working as a community activist with no pay. She has letters of recommendations from two members of Congress. Oh Mom, I know how hard it is to see your little girl (and no matter how old, shell always be your little girl) struggling. And of course you want to do everything you can to help. But theres a right way and a wrong way, despite our best intentions. Parents reaching out to their own network of contacts on behalf of their adult children is common and appropriate, but outreach beyond that should be left to the young uns. From now on, your daughter must be the one applying for jobs and making the pitch herself to anyone outside of your network. I know its hard I still cut the edges off my teenage daughters toast. What you can also do is help guide her to career resources that help her evaluate her approach to finding a job, her skills, interviewing preparedness, etc. Former schools and organizations where she has some contacts can certainly help. Im in a career rut and feel that the New Year is a perfect time to do something completely different, but I dont know where or how to begin. Helping you change your life requires just a little bit more info, because Im not a magician. (Actually, I contemplated pursuing magic as a career when I was in middle school until an unfortunate mishap with a hat and a bunny. Just kidding not about the magician part, but about the bunny.) Making a change may seem so daunting that many people never try. Instead of getting overwhelmed, break it down into small steps. Make a list and resolve to do one thing in pursuit of your new path each day. Before long, as if by magic, youll find yourself in a new place. Gregory Giangrande is a chief human resources and communications officer in the media industry. E-mail your career questions to [email protected]. Follow Greg on Twitter: @greggiangrande. His Go to Greg podcast series is available on iTunes. | https://nypost.com/2019/01/06/how-can-i-help-my-daughter-find-a-job/ |
What are the differences between Les Misrables the musical and the new BBC TV series? | The BBCs new adaptation of Les Misrables has finally come to TV but anyone expecting an all-singing, all-dancing version of the hit stage musical may find themselves a little surprised by the series, which is actually a straight dramatic adaptation of the original 1862 Les Mis novel written by Victor Hugo. Advertisement In other words, there are no songs. And in telling the story over six hour-long episodes, screenwriter Andrew Davies has also chosen to include parts of the novel that are only referred to in backstory in the shorter musical, making for a slightly different viewing experience. With that in mind, we thought it might be useful to compare this new adaptation with the musical, which is probably the most famous version of this story, rather than the comparatively less well-known novel that both works were adapted from. First, though, a note. Obviously many of the differences between the two adaptations come from Davies drawing extra material from the original novel, so the intention here isnt to suggest which parts are new additions invented by the BBC. Rather, well be looking at each episode to see which elements of the book the TV adaptation has chosen to include, versus the parts the musical (and by extension, the 2012 film) went for. And the differences are rather intriguing Episode one The first episode of this new adaptation is almost entirely separate from the action of the musical, often choosing (perhaps consciously) to cover ground only referred to retrospectively in the stage version. For example, the opening scene of the Battle of Waterloos aftermath featuring Thnardier (Adeel Akhtar) has no place in the musical, which traditionally opens with Jean Valjeans time in a penal colony. In the musical, Thnardier turns up much later, and according to Davies himself (writing in the Christmas issue of the Radio Times) the character will be woven throughout this adaptation, as he is in the novel. In the same scene we also meet Colonel Baron Pontmercy (Henry Lloyd-Hughes, pictured), the Napoleon-allied father of lead character Marius. Pontmercy Snr is not a character in the musical, and we never meet Marius as a child as we do here instead, in the stage production hes introduced as an adult when the action jumps to 1832. As in this new adaptation, Marius is raised by his wealthy grandfather in the musical (the character makes a short appearance in the 2012 film), but the tension between his father and grandfather is not a major story point. And the differences dont stop with the Pontmercy family. Fantine (Lily Collins), arguably one of the most iconic characters in the musical, is introduced in that production as already a mother, having given birth to her daughter Cosette some time before she first appears in the section of the story set in 1823. The story we see in this episode where shes seduced and then abandoned by a well-off young man (Johnny Flynn) is only referred to in retrospect in the musical, most notably in Les Miss best-known song I Dreamed a Dream. She sings: He slept a summer by my side He filled my days with endless wonder He took my childhood in his stride But he was gone when autumn came This roughly correlates to what we see in episode one, where we witness Fantines relationship with Felix from beginning to end. Presumably, future episodes will pick up her storyline where the musical does, when Cosette is living with the Thnardiers. So yes, quite a lot is changed but these differences arent to say that fans of the musical will have nothing to recognise in this new version of the story. Jean Valjeans (Dominic Wests) storyline is more or less the same as it appears in the musical, with both stories following him from imprisonment under the eye of Javert to a difficult parole, to the house of the Bishop (Derek Jacobi) whose kindness (and gift of silverware) eventually changes his life. Even a couple of lines are shared in the musical and the TV drama. Theres Javerts (David Oyelowos) habit of referring to Valjean by his prisoner number 24601, a regular feature of the musical, while the Bishops assertion that he has bought Valjeans soul for God is one of that characters sung lines in the stage production as well. Still, even this storyline has some differences, showing us a longer period of Valjeans imprisonment in the musical, hes released at the start and a slower redemption for the character, who takes a little longer to take the Bishops advice. Overall, then, its a good mix of the familiar and the less-familiar in the series first episode, with one notable quirk the opening caption explaining the year and historical context of Daviess piece has a similar thrust to the caption that also opens the 2012 movie adaptation of the musical, in whats probably a complete coincidence. Exhibit A, from the movie musical: 1815. Twenty six years after the start of the French Revolution a King is once again on the throne of France. Exhibit B, from the new BBC drama: June 1815. After twenty years of war France is defeated. Napoleon is exiled. A new King is waiting to be crowned. The old order will be restored. The revolution forgotten. Going forward, it may be that the two versions of the story dovetail much more, or it could be that the greater sprawl of the novel influenced Davies to create something almost unrecognisable to fans of the Les Mis musical. Either way, we cant wait to see what happens next. Advertisement Les Misrables airs on BBC1 on Sundays at 9:00pm | https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2019-01-06/les-miserables-differences-between-musical-bbc-tv-series-book/ |
Where is BBC drama Les Misrables filmed? | Set in France in the turbulent years between 1815 and 1832, Les Misrables is an epic story of poverty, cruelty, love, revolution and redemption. Advertisement Filming began in February 2018 and wrapped in June, with the majority of scenes shot on location in Belgium and Northern France. In Belgium, producers found suitable period architecture in Brussels, as well as in caussinnes and Enghien within the province of Hainaut. Further filming took place in Namur, the capital of Wallonia. In France meanwhile, the Les Misrables cast carried out extensive filming in and around Sedan in the Ardennes in north-eastern France. Limburg in The Netherlands was also used as a filming location. Find out more about all the filming locations for Les Misrables below. The BBC drama begins in the blood-soaked aftermath of the 1815 Battle of Waterloo, on a muddy field blanketed with slaughtered soldiers and dead horses. Thief and looter Thnardier (Adeel Akhtar) picks his way across the battlefield stealing wallets and watches. Then, suddenly, Pontmercy (Henry Lloyd-Hughes) regains consciousness. With the help of VFX, the scene was filmed in a field in the village of caussinnes, south of Belgium and 16 miles from the spot where the Battle of Waterloo actually took place. Nineteenth century Paris was recreated with the help of the Belgian capital, Brussels. Some of the most memorable scenes in the drama were filmed around the Bguinage Church. A flower market was created outside the church on the Place du Bguinage, and the surrounding streets were used to shoot the scene where Pontmercy tries to visit his son Marius, and where Fantine and her friends walk through the streets of of the capital. Pontmercys father-in-law Monsieur Gillenormand lives in a grand apartment, which was filmed in an antiques shop called Costermans in Brussels. Over in France itself (but near the border with Belgium), the small historic town of Sedan also stood in for 19th century Paris. The production team spent three weeks filming here, including night shoots, and more than 70 extras were brought in to take part in the barricades scene for the 1832 June Rebellion. According to local reports, electrical cables were transformed into clothes lines, and a kebab shop became an old clothing store. We visited 20, 30 cities in France and Belgium. When we arrived in Sedan, it was immediate. Everything here is a gift for production, Chris Carey, principal producer of Les Misrables, told Estrepublican. During the first week, we filmed at night, with guns, with a hundred people in the street at 5am. Filming for the Paris scenes also took place in Ghent. Sedan also provided Les Misrables with its rock quarry, where prisoner Jean Valjean (Dominic West) labours under the watchful eye of Inspector Javert (David Oyelowo). This was filmed just outside the town, again with the help of VFX. Additional scenes were shot at the castle (the Chteau de Sedan), which served as the Toulon prison (or Bagne of Toulon) where Valjean spends 19 miserable years. Filming for prison scenes also took place in a former jail in Vilvoorde, north of Brussels. Naive Fantine (Lily Collins) falls for love interest Felixs (Johnny Flynn) charms during a ride in a rowboat. The scene was shot in the grounds of Solvay Castle, in La Hulpe a small town on the southern outskirts of Brussels. A turning point in Valjeans life comes when he arrives at a French village, where he labours all day but only earns an ex-convicts wage. Later that night, he meets the kind-hearted Bishop (Derek Jacobi). These scenes were filmed in the small village of Marville in France, about an hour east of Sedan and six miles from the Belgian border. Producer Carey told CN Traveller: The fountain Valjean drinks from and the church in the square, even the bishops garden were real. Montreuil is actually a real town in northern France, and was featured in Victor Hugos novel. In fact, the author spent several vacations there. But filming took place in eastern Belgium, in a town called Limbourg. The scheming and abusive Madame and Monsieur Thnardier (Olivia Colman and Adeel Akhtar) run an inn, with a pretty little square in front. The exterior was shot at the Chteau de Meez riding school near Yvoir in Belgium, and the interiors were filmed inside the nearby castle, Chteau dEcaussines-Lalaing. That castle also doubled up as a courtroom for a later scene. The production team made good use of Enghien Castle, which stood in for a police station, a convent and a safe house. Advertisement Les Misrables airs on Sundays at 9pm on BBC1 | https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2019-01-06/les-miserables-bbc-tv-location-guide-filming/ |
Does the length of a book matter? | Hi guys! Happy New Year! Hope 2019 started with a bang, that you enjoyed your time off, if you had any, and spent memorable moments with your loved ones. Hellhow long should a book be?! Wellkeep on reading if youre interested to know my point of view on that topic! Short books vs. long books: an endless battle Both have pros and cons, like everything in life I guess. Long books can be scary! They are huge and they require commitment. You can get impatient to get to the crucial parts of the story. But long books can also be awesome! The story is often complex, full of twists and turns. The characters are well developed and you can see them evolve with time. Little books may not be deep enough, the story can feel rushed and you wont have enough time to get attached to the characters. But beware of those clichs! Its not always the case. Sometimes, its just the right amount of pages especially for a contemporary story : it doesnt need as much world-building as a dystopia or a fantasy. YES: the size of a book matters in some cases. When Im going on holidays, I will pay attention to the size of the books I take with me. When Im traveling, far away or not, I may be looking for a long book so that it will last during all of my vacation time. But if my suitcase is full and I have SO many activities planned, maybe Ill choose a short book, easy to transport. Yes I knowwith e-readers, the size or weight is not really a problem anymore. Maybe Im just not in the mood to read a long book. Im scared to commit. I wont enjoy getting back to the book because of all thoses pages staring straight at me, feeling like the story is taking ages to unfold. Maybe Im in the mood to read a short story. Maybe I want to read something light, something cute. Or the other way around, maybe Ill want to immerse myself into a complex story with plots and twists, a story I dont ever want to see ending. Im not going to lie: I pay attention to the size and weight of my books, I look at the page count before even picking it up. That doesnt mean I am scared of bigger books or that I avoid them like the plague. The length of a book doesnt matter what matters is whats inside. Despite all those factors, I guess a books page count doesnt matter so much to me, as long as I find the story captivating within the first chapter. The story shouldnt take too much time or not be developped enough, I think that what is important in the end. Evaluating a book by its size seems similar to judging a book by its cover! Whether a book is short or long is incidental and not relevant to its content. In the end, we are all looking for characters that feel real, storylines that captivate and worlds we dont want to end. I dont know about you but I feel like YA books are getting longer. 3 big books you shouldnt be scared to commit to because they are action-packed and totally awesome! Tell me why! Lets chat in comments | https://drizzleandhurricanebooks.com/2019/01/06/does-the-length-of-a-book-matter/ |
Why is nobody singing in BBC1s Les Miserables? | Advertisement Well, in short, no: the latest adaptation of the 19th century classic tale is totally non-musical. Dominic West (Jean Valjean) wont be singing about his plight as prisoner 24601 or begging God to bring Marius (Josh OConnor) home in the new drama from War & Peace screenwriter Andrew Davies. David Oyelowo (Javert) will have to find some other way to encourage someone to tell him quickly whats the story, who saw what and why and where. And his victims will have to refrain from breaking into song when they answer to Javert. Lily Collins (Fantine) will have to dream an entirely non-musical dream and her on-screen daughter, Cosette (Ellie Bamber), may need to find another way to tell Marius that shes got a heart full of love for him. Well, she really will be lamenting her situation on her own she wont have any music to accompany her. Perhaps most disappointingly, Olivia Colman and Adeel Akhtar (Madame and Monsieur Thnardier) will be doling out the charm, ready with a handshake and an open palm, but they will NOT be breaking out into song either. Oh my friends, my friends dont ask me, what this particular sacrifice was for Andrew Davies has decided to go back to the source text and take a different approach with the classic novel from French author Victor Hugo. This is such an intense and gut-wrenching story and I am delighted that this esteemed ensemble of actors will be bringing it to life led by Dominic West and David Oyelowo in the iconic roles of Jean Valjean and his nemesis Javert, Davies said. In Valjean, we see the terrifying anger and resentment against society but also the tenderness that is hidden deep in his complex psyche. And in Javert, the ferocious dedication to duty that takes him from obsession to madness. The musical adaptation fans know and love was never entirely faithful to the source text, omitting characters, changing the nature of others and tweaking a few plots along the way. Well just have to wait one day more and see Advertisement Les Misrables begins Sunday 30th December at 9pm on BBC1 | https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2019-01-06/les-miserables-not-a-musical-bbc-no-singing/ |
How will the government shutdown affect tax season? | - For the first time every American in the country will finally feel the impacts of the federal tax overhaul passed by Congress in December 2017. But, as we wait for our W-2s, the government shutdown is complicating things even further as IRS employees are out of work. FOX 9s Leah Beno sat down with Financial Advisor Tony Rush of FFP Wealth Management to help clear up some things. Assuming things get back on track soon, there are big changes ahead that everyone is going to feel. While there are still seven tax brackets, the rates have decreased overall. New standard deductions: Individuals: $6,350 (2017) up to $12,000 (2018) Heads of households: $9,350 (2017) up to $18,000 (2018) Married couples: $12, 270 (2017) now $24,000 (2018) Additionally, families with dependents over 17 years old may qualify for a new family tax credit or $500 per dependent. | http://www.fox9.com/news/how-will-the-government-shutdown-affect-tax-season- |
Who replaces Tony Brooks-James as Oregons kickoff returner in 2019? | EUGENE Oregon has to identify a new lead kickoff returner this offseason Tony Brooks-James had 21 kickoff returns for 548 yards this season, with his 26.1-yard average ranking 21st nationally. He also had three fumbles on kickoff returns though. The Ducks, who ranked 70th on kickoff returns as a team, had a chance to get an early start at finding their next returner during the Redbox Bowl but two of their three returns did not fare well and concerns about ball security will continue to linger. Jaylon Redd had a 32-yard return but also had trouble securing another that resulted in just a two-yard return and forced Oregon to start in the shadow of its own uprights. Redd had six returns for 85 yards on the season while Travis Dye had an 11-yard return during the bowl game, giving him two returns for 29 yards on the season. Theyll be the first two players to have a chance to win the job followed by safety Jevon Holland, who is also vying for the role as punt returner. Incoming signees Sean Dollars and Mykael Wright are also options in the return game. Though the competition should be relatively wide open, Oregon should have some time to work out kinks in its return game. Of its 2019 opponents, only Colorado and Auburn ranked in the top 40 in kickoff return defense while Cal, Nevada, Arizona State, USC and Stanford all ranked in the bottom 35 nationally. | https://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/2019/01/who-replaces-tony-brooks-james-as-oregons-kickoff-returner-in-2019.html |
Is Anthony Smith Ready For The Challenge Of Jon Jones? | Earlier this morning, Dana White confirmed that Jon Jones would take on Anthony Smith at UFC 235 in the first title defense of his new reign. As with most Bones bouts, the fight actually happening rests on Jones ability to get licensed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC). Hes scheduled to appear at their next hearing on January 29. The champs latest issue with performance-enhancing drugs stems from multiple flagged USADA drug tests this year. Jones was found to have Turinabol in his system. With that drug being the last banned substance he was suspended for, the NSAC declined to license Jones for December 29s UFC 232. The CSAC did, and he won the title by defeating Alexander Gustafsson. Talk of Bones rematching Daniel Cormier ran wild. However, momentum for Jones vs. Smith was already building. Smith called out the controversial MMA great on the UFC 232 post-fight show, and the rivalry blossomed on social media. Jones wanted to get back into the cage sooner than later, so the fight was made for March. Its great for the UFC to keep Jones active as one of their top pay-per-view stars. He can potentially begin building trust back with his fans and make up for the lost time of his suspensions. A fight with Cormier may not be around for much longer, however. Regardless, DC probably wouldnt have fought Jones at UFC 235 anyway, so Smith was undoubtedly the most deserving next man up. Smiths Rise And he is, with two knockout wins over Rashad Evans and Shogun Rua preceding a submission win over previous No. 2 Volkan Oezdemir in 2018. It was a momentous year for Lionheart, one that proved the merits of ditching the draining weight cuts seen far too often in MMA. He was at least one media outlets pick for Comeback Fighter of the Year. It was a meteoric rise in a division that quite frankly needed a new star. They got it with Smith, but its more than fair to wonder if he will keep his momentum rolling against Jones. The warning signs are there. For all of Evans and Shoguns past accomplishments, they were aging fighters Jones had already defeated. They simply couldnt hang with an up-and-coming force like Lionheart. The more dangerous current contender Oezdemir gave him more of a fight. Yes, Smith got an impressive finish in the end, but he also had his back taken against a known striker in No Time. Warning Signs Smith also appeared to tire somewhat in that fight. If he does against Jones, who looked none the worse for wear after another long layoff at UFC 232, it could be a long (or short) night for him. Its not to discredit Smiths talent or accomplishments; theres just no room for error when facing a man who would be the best fighter in MMA history if not for his out-of-the-cage troubles. Smith appears more than mentally ready, approaching his rivalry with Jones in a tactful-yet-forceful manner. He picked his spots on social media but never made it personal like Jones rivalry with Cormier. Or at least, not yet. Smith doesnt seem like the guy for much trash talk outside of some monotone back-and-forth. His response to getting the fight proves that. But being just mentally ready isnt nearly enough to beat Bones. Smith will have to show a technical mastery hes not yet been forced to display in the Octagon. Jones may be a lot of things, and one of them is being one of the smartest in-cage fighters of all-time. Out of it is a different story, so lets hope Jones actually makes it to the fight. When it does happen, Smith will have to pick his spots more than wisely and avoid being taken down and controlled by Jones. He has to do all that while conserving his energy and making sure he doesnt gas out. Its no small task. If he can accomplish it, Smith will have one of the biggest upsets in UFC history to his name. Until he proves he can, however, questions will remain about his ability to match up with the legendary Jones. | https://www.lowkickmma.com/is-anthony-smith-ready-for-the-challenge-of-jon-jones/ |
Is It True? Has Milan Lucic Checked Out in Edmonton? | Anyone who has watched Milan Lucic play for the Edmonton Oilers this and last season has watched a player who seems disinterested, ineffective and snake-bitten. Its a situation that has to be frustrating for the player, the organization and definitely the fans who know the team has committed millions of dollars to an asset who was brought in to help the franchise become a year-after-year contender in the playoffs. After Saturdays loss to the Los Angeles Kings, it seems apparent, Lucic is anything but helpful. Worse yet, if the speculation by the Edmonton-based media is to be believed, Lucic is all but checked out, likely ready to be traded at any moment. Before joining the Oilers, Lucic was a relatively effective player. Yes, it can be argued he was on a downward trend and its certainly proved to be the case that the contract he was offered by the Oilers, namely GM Peter Chiarelli, was a massive overpayment and a mistake. At this point, theres not much the Oilers can do about that mistake without taking a major hit financially or in terms of moving something else off the roster to facilitate a trade. Lucic has one goal in 41 games this season and two goals in his last well, lets not go there. But, after being called out by Edmonton-based media on Saturday, its not his lack of scoring that has everyone up in arms. After an abysmal start to his season, speculation is Milan Lucic has refused to be effective in other ways that can help the team. Related: NHL Rumors: Hamilton, Duchene, Eberle, Lucic, More A Serious Issue For Lucic and the NHL if True Earlier in the summer, speculation was that Lucic had advised the Oilers organization that if they were to trade him, he wouldnt stand in the way and would waive his no-movement clause. When those rumors went public, both sides back-pedaled. Lucics representation suggested there was no truth to the rumor and the Oilers were looking forward to a motivated player who could offer the team more than just scoring. When Ken Hitchcock took the reigns of the team, it was told to Lucic his goal shouldnt be to worry about scoring, instead go back to what made him an effective junior player. As part of Edmontons new identity line and for about 10 games, Lucic looked like a new man. But, things have faded. He was getting his chances but that line was ineffective when it came to producing on the scoresheet and Hitchcock has since split them up. On Saturday, as the Oilers suffered an embarrassing loss to the Los Angeles Kings, Lucic was called out by media for not responding to liberties taken on Connor McDavid. The suggestion being that Lucics good friends played for the Kings and that was enough to warrant no response. Lucic was eventually kicked out of the game for slashing and whacking a Kings player when the game was already out of reach and meant very little. Nick Kypreos said during the Saturday night broadcast, Lucic picked his spot versus a small 4th liner who doesnt even fight. He should be ashamed. On Sunday morning, social media has called for Lucic to be benched for Edmontons game versus the Anaheim Ducks. While there has been no report from the Oilers on the situation, Lucic is once again the target of ire out of Edmonton. There is no confirmation he has asked for a trade or that the Oilers are shopping him, but if there is any truth to the speculation that Lucic refused to come to McDavids aid because he has friends on the Kings team, this is a serious issue in Edmonton and for the NHL. And, if Lucic has, in fact, checked out, Edmonton has a massive dilemma on its hands. The lack of competitive spirit in the NHL is something that has been questioned by coaches and media personalities like Brian Burke this season and Lucic is proving there may be something to that speculation. If the Oilers now have a $6 million player who cant score and wont provide physicality when those two attributes are the only two skills hes potentially known to offer, the Oilers employ an anchor weighing them down. Its not ideal to buy him out or trade a player that you want to keep to facilitate a trade, but the longer this version of Lucic is with the team, the more damage he can potentially do. Edmontons culture, at the very least, is fragile. A player like Lucic, who might be checked out, is a dangerous player. And, not the kind of dangerous that is good for Edmonton. His play on Sunday against Anaheim, should he play, will tell fans all they need to know. | https://thehockeywriters.com/edmonton-oilers-milan-lucic-checked-out/ |
What lessons does Barrick Golds fate really teach us? | Open this photo in gallery Randgold CEO Mark Bristow at the London Stock Exchange. (File Photo). HENRY NICHOLLS/Reuters Robert Yalden is the Stephen Sigurdson Professor in Corporate Law and Finance at Queens University and previously a senior partner at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, where he served as co-chair of its M&A Group. The year 2019 has barely begun, yet some have already started wringing their hands in public about the fate of corporate Canada. This time, the focus is a set of changes that are unfolding at Barrick Gold Corporation, a Canadian company that the legendary Peter Munk built into one of the worlds largest gold-mining businesses. The changes include Barricks decision to acquire Randgold Resources Ltd., announced in September, 2018, and completed on Jan. 1, 2019, after receiving shareholder and regulatory approvals. The transaction forms part of Barricks plan to refocus its business and implement other related initiatives that have now suddenly caught peoples attention: revamping Barricks board of directors, so that instead of having several resident Canadian directors, it will have only one with Canadian roots; and reducing the number of positions in Barricks Toronto head office from the 150 or so that were there in September to approximately 65 to 70. Pierre Lassonde, chair of the board of Franco-Nevada Corp., was quoted in The Globe and Mail on Jan. 4 as saying that he thought Mr. Munk, Barricks founder, is going to roll over in his grave 10 times. Mr Lassonde went on to observe: Dont tell me in the Canadian mining industry theres not great people to run a company like Barrick. A day later, The Globes Eric Reguly bemoaned Barricks fate, suggesting that it may eventually take further steps to disconnect from Canada. Story continues below advertisement Public hand-wringing of this kind is rarely productive unless it ultimately leads to some clear-eyed analysis of the public-policy issues at play. In this case, we are not off to a good start. Allusions are being made to the fate of companies such as Inco, Falconbridge and Alcan and to the spectre of a hollowed-out mining sector in Canada, all of which risks overshadowing questions that warrant careful analysis. So lets review what is going on here in an attempt to clarify at least some of the policy issues that this episode shines a light on. First, unlike one kind of transaction that has got some in Canada excited in recent years, Barrick is not being taken over by a foreign company. Instead, it is Barricks board of directors that decided to pursue a transformative merger because it concluded this was in Barricks best interests. Moreover, the board (including those Canadians who served on it prior to the recent turnover) presumably did so well aware of the implications for Barricks Canadian presence. Time will tell whether that board made the right decision and much will of course turn on how effectively the reconstituted board and the new management team (including chief executive Mark Bristow, previously CEO at Randgold) implement plans for the business (including the role of its head office). The point, then, is that this is not a case that should be conflated with foreign acquisitions of companies such as Inco, Falconbridge or Alcan. The policy challenges that Canada faces when confronted with foreign takeovers and the tools available to address those challenges are not the same as when a company with roots in Canada decides it is necessary to transform its business, its board or its head office in ways that will result in a company with fewer ties to Canada, but that in the boards estimation will nevertheless provide for a more viable business. The Investment Canada review process is one mechanism available to the federal government if it wishes to secure commitments from foreign buyers, and we should certainly engage in vigorous discussion about whether and how best to use that process to preserve head-office jobs. But this tool is not available when a Canadian company such as Barrick is doing the buying. Notwithstanding claims made about the hollowing out of corporate Canada as a result of mergers and acquisitions, data from organizations such as Crosbie & Company consistently show that Canadian companies buy far more companies abroad than vice versa. Foreign acquisitions are in fact integral to the growth of a good many successful Canadian businesses. So we need to be careful not to lose sight of that reality (and the flexibility that we should be giving Canadian companies to bring non-Canadians onto their boards or senior management teams) because some are concerned about the business decisions being made by those in charge at Barrick. This brings us to a second point: It has been clear since Barrick announced its deal with Randgold last September that Barrick wanted to get out from under director residency constraints and that significant change would be forthcoming at the board level. Indeed, the media release announcing the deal stated that Barrick was proposing to change its jurisdiction of incorporation from Ontario to British Columbia. In this regard, it is worth noting that in Canada, we have a patchwork of approaches to director residency. Some corporate law statutes, such as the one in place in Ontario, mandate that at least a quarter of the board be resident Canadians. Others, such as the ones in place in B.C., do not have this requirement. On the whole, since the introduction of residency requirements in some jurisdictions at the height of nationalist fervour in the 1970s (which in some cases required half the board to be resident Canadians), the trend in recent years in Canada has been to loosen these requirements or do away with them altogether. It is also worth noting that Barricks decision to move to B.C. in order to get out from under director residency requirements was not just the boards call. Canadian corporate law statutes give shareholders an opportunity to vote on a proposal to continue to another jurisdiction and it is open to them to veto such a move. In Barricks case, the decision to approve the move to B.C. is all the more interesting because many of Barricks shareholders (a significant percentage of whom are highly sophisticated investors) voted in favour of the continuance and remain shareholders with a continuing economic stake in Barricks financial performance. Barricks shareholders have therefore had a very real interest throughout the piece in who would be on Barricks board and saw merit in the proposal to get it out from under residency requirements. We should therefore be asking ourselves what policy lessons to take away from Barricks continuance into British Columbia. Story continues below advertisement Story continues below advertisement If we are going to wring our hands about Barricks fate, lets at least do so in a way that ensures we discuss some of the policy issues that this episode should have us focus on: the ease with which Canadian companies can get out from under director residency requirements (and the implications for other potential board composition requirements) and the absence of any requirement for a Canadian company not being bought by foreign interests to keep head-office jobs in Canada. This author suspects there is limited appetite in Canada to revert to the stricter director residency regime we once had and that there is even less of an appetite for having government mandate what head-office jobs must be filled by Canadians. But there is certainly value in having a well-focused debate about these important public-policy issues. So lets have at it. | https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-what-lessons-does-barrick-golds-fate-really-teach-us/ |
How can my marriage move past my cheating? habits this year? | Hi Achokis. I have been married for 10 years now. Last year was a tough year for my marriage. My wife discovered that Id been flirting with someone else and though she forgave me, it wasnt easy. We talked a lot over the Christmas break and agreed to turn over a new leaf this year. Please help! Our take It is good that you were able to talk with your wife over the Christmas holidays and she was willing and ready to forgive you and to turn over a new leaf this year. A new year presents all of us with a fresh start. It affords us the opportunity to look back over the last year and deal with whatever went wrong even as we carry forward what went well. As you embark on correcting what went wrong last year, it will be important to first start by trying to understand why it is that you found yourselves in that space. Mostly, by the time someone is coming to that space, things may not be working well in the marriage. You may need to go back and diagnose what it is that wasnt working well in the marriage. Please do this without attacking or blaming each other for whatever happened. This is just to help you see where your marriage was and what needed to have been done. Be honest After realising what went wrong, it would be good to see how you can correct that. This will call for both of you to improve on your communication. It requires that you both be willing to be open and honest with each other without holding back anything. There should be nothing to hide, especially now that your worst has come out. Be brutally honest with her as this will help in rebuilding the trust that was broken. From experience, working with couples, such situations provide partners with an awesome opportunity to begin to have conversations that they would otherwise not have had. It is when we stop working on our marriage that we so often find ourselves drifting apart and falling into temptation. So evaluate how your relationship has been in the past, agree and decide on what needs to be worked on and then concentrate on those relational goals. Identify potential obstacles that might hinder you realising your goals and brainstorm ways in which you can overcome them. Hold each other accountable to what you have agreed upon and you will be amazed by the progress you will make. Have a wonderful 2019! | http://www.mediamaxnetwork.co.ke/495672/how-can-my-marriage-move-past-my-cheating-habits-this-year/ |
Was ist eigentlich MicroRhythm? | Sptestens beim Programmieren eines Sequenzers oder beim Arbeiten mit einer DAW reicht es nicht mehr ganz, Rhythmen halt so irgendwie spielen zu knnen. Sptestens in der Nachbearbeitung eurer Beats kommt es dann eben auch ein bisschen auf Theorie und das Know-How an, warum eure Drum-Spur so klingt, wie sie klingt. Wenn es ans Programmieren von Drumsounds geht scheiden sich bei Tasteninstrumentlern ja die Geister: die einen knnen stundenlang herumprobieren, basteln an einzelnen Phrasen oder whlen detailliert ihre Samples aus die andere Fraktion ist froh, wenn sie sich schnell wieder Leads, Flchen und Sinusklngen widmen darf und greift in der Not zur Drumloop. Anzeige Doch wem das nicht genug ist, der muss sich ein bisschen in die groe Welt der Drums und Rhythmen einarbeiten und dann geht nach kurzer Zeit auch um Spezialitten wie den MicroRhythm. Solche Tricks und Kniffe hauchen euren Drums Lebendigkeit ein, sorgen fr einen Sog oder drcken euren Beat, worauf sich dann mit den anderen Instrumenten aufbauen lsst. Was es aber nun mit MicroRhythm damit genau auf sich hat, erfahrt ihr im Video von David Bruce Composer. Das knnte Sie auch interessieren: | https://www.keyboards.de/stories/was-ist-eigentlich-microrhythm/ |
Does everyone really need 8 hours of sleep a night? | Many of us try to live by the mantra eight hours of work, eight hours of leisure, eight hours of rest. Conventional wisdom has long told us we need eight hours of sleep per day, but some swear they need more, and some (politicians, mostly) say they function fine on four or five. We asked five experts if everyone needs eight hours of sleep per day. Five out of five experts said no. Here are their detailed responses: CHELSIE ROHRSCHEIB, NEUROSCIENTIST Sleep is absolutely essential, and prolonged sleep deprivation has many detrimental effects on health and lifespan. This is because sleep achieves many critical brain and body maintenance functions that cannot be performed while we are awake. While humans need, on average, eight hours of sleep each night, the exact length of time it takes to accomplish these sleep functions is highly dictated by an individuals genes. | https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/lifestyle/health-and-sex/2019-01-07-does-everyone-really-need-8-hours-of-sleep-a-night/ |
Why don't more people snap at the chance to eat crocodile? | When you consider the scale of the world's hunger problems, and that meat is becoming increasingly expensive, it's a shame that crocodile, an affordable, lean protein, fails to make it on to menus. Even more so when you learn that crocodile meat is considered a waste product of the leather industry. Just because it's a waste product, doesn't mean you cant eat it. "The leather produced by crocodile farms is mostly exported to be used by high-end luxury brands, who have extremely strict hygiene and quality guidelines. So, luckily, this leads to very clean, healthy meat," says Nerike Uys, who researched the feasibility of crocodile as a meat alternative as part of her degree in food management at Pretoria University. Its the concept of a crocodile being a carnivore that attacks animals and humans that puts people off eating the meat, says Uys. Get over your squeamishness and you'll discover that crocodile is a versatile ingredient. Uys tells us more and shares inspiring recipes. It's low in fat and sodium; it has a fairly bland flavour, which means it carries other flavours well. There are no abattoirs or producers that focus on crocodile meat. It is available at most crocodile farms that either produce crocodile leather or market the farms as a tourist attraction. These farms sell crocodile in the form of fillets, kebabs, steaks, patties and more. The easiest cut to work with is the tail-eye fillet. Crocodile farmers say the jowls are very tender and that the claws are very close to chicken wings. | https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/lifestyle/food/2019-01-07-why-dont-more-people-snap-at-the-chance-to-eat-crocodile/ |
Will Donald Trump build the wall or hit a wall? | US President has threatened years of government shutdown if Congress doesn't approve money for his border wall. 'Build that wall' was a regular slogan by US President Donald Trump during and after his campaign. Now, he's demanding over $5bn from the Democrat controlled House of Representatives to keep his promise. The Democrats have refused to give in, leading to a partial government shutdown that began on December 22, affecting nearly 800,000 government employees. The president has threatened to prolong the shutdown for months or even years. And there's even talk of declaring a national emergency and bypassing Congress altogether. Presenter: Sami Zeidan Guests: Oliver McGee - a former senior White House adviser and former deputy assistant secretary for transportation under the Bill Clinton administration. Shawn Zeller - Deputy editor of Congressional Quarterly Magazine. Allan Lichtman - Professor of Political History at the American University. Source: Al Jazeera News | https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2019/01/donald-trump-build-wall-hit-wall-190106195639305.html |
Does the latest Walking Dead trailer introduce Whisperers Alpha and Beta? | To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The trailer for the next installment of The Walking Dead has finally dropped, and it looks amazing. Although the clip barely lasts 30 seconds, it seemingly introduces the characters weve all been waiting to see. Alpha and Beta. Well one or the other anyway its hard to tell who it is at this point in time with all that zombie flesh on their face. As four walkers can be seen heading away from the camera, one slows down from its group and turns to face the screen. (Picture: AMC) Despite the character looking very zombie-like, were not all that convinced theyre dead, as if you look closely around its mouth it appears the person is wearing a mask. From the comics, we know that The Whisperers blend in with herds by covering themselves in rotting flesh and it seems to be working for them. Advertisement Advertisement Although, its still unknown as to whether or not the character in the trailer is Alpha or Beta, were putting our bets on that its one of them, as theyre set to play a large role in the upcoming series. Back in the first part of the season, we were made aware of the group nearer the end when they came after both Eugene and Rosita. In their very cool, and very creepy voices, the herd whispered: Where are they? as they walked past the pair who had covered themselves in mud as a camouflage. We were introduced to The Whisperers when they seemingly murdered Jesus (Picture: AMC) There was no siting of them after that, until the final episode where Jesus appeared to be stabbed to death by the group. Producers have shown how brutal the newbies can be, and with them in full zombie disguise, its hard to pin point a time when they might have started to watch our beloved Alexadrians. And it seems theyre about to take out even more of our favs, as Ryan Hurst, who will be playing Beta, teased more deaths. Following Jesus death scene, the star took to Twitter and wrote: We talk low. We walk slow. We killeveryone. Executive producer Denise Huth also warned that The Whisperers are a brand new threat, telling Comicbook.com: No one expects Jesus to be caught off guard. Advertisement Advertisement He was just one of those characters who could handle just about anything. Our characters have learned to survive in this world. Theyre no longer in a place where theyre losing people all of the time. Theyve figured out to thrive in this world. She added: There are families. Theres growth. There is life. Life is coming back. So, to have someone as vibrant and as full of life and as kind as Jesus be cut down like that, it makes them all vulnerable. The Walking Dead returns to AMC 10 February in the US and follows a day later on Fox UK. If you've got a story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk Entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page - we'd love to hear from you. MORE: The Walking Dead release deleted Rick Grimes scene which would have changed everything for Negan in season 9B MORE: The Walking Dead films to explore wider world as Andrew Lincoln reveals where Rick Grimes story will go | https://metro.co.uk/2019/01/06/latest-walking-dead-trailer-introduce-whisperers-alpha-beta-8315860/ |
Are Bradley Cooper and Irina Shayk engaged? | The model has sparked engagement rumours Golden Globes nominee Bradley Cooper and his long-term girlfriend Irina Shayk like to keep their relationship private, so fans will be waiting to see if a) they walk the red carpet at the prestigious awards ceremony together and b) if Irina is wearing a ring on *that* finger. Although the couple skipped the Golden Globes in 2018, therell be no missing out on Sunday evening, as Bradley has been nominated for two awards best actor in a drama motion picture and best director of a motion picture both of which are for A Star is Born. Irina Shayk sparked engagement rumours with this Instagram photo It was during their New Years holiday in 2018 that Bradley and Irina first sparked engagement rumours, when the model shared an Instagram photo showing what could be a gold engagement or wedding ring on her left hand. The snap shows Irina holding a hermit crab in both hands while standing on the beach. While some fans commented simply adding ring emojis, others sent congratulatory messages to the couple. "I see a ring on *that* finger," one wrote, while another commented: "She's telling us she's married, congrats!" MORE: See the 2019 Golden Globes nominees The celebrity couple have managed to keep their relationship out of the public eye since they began dating in 2015. Indeed, they skipped the 75th Golden Globes Awards in favour of a romantic holiday together in January 2018. While Irina has not disclosed much about where they went or who they were with, she did share an idyllic shot of a palm-tree lined beach, showing fans where she was celebrating her birthday. Bradley and Irina have been dating since 2015 The couple are no doubt also enjoying some quality time with their daughter, Lea de Seine Shayk Cooper, who was born in April 2017. Both Irina and Bradley have stayed tight-lipped about their baby girl, but the brunette beauty was previously outspoken about her desire to start a family in an interview with HOLA!. STORY: Bradley Cooper and Irina Shayk's baby's name revealed "I think family is our reason for being," she said in the October 2016 interview as she modelled Pronovias wedding gowns. "I was lucky to be born into a very close-knit family. My parents got married over 20 years ago and they're true role models." Irina added: "I would definitely like to start a family because its the most important thing in the world and what you should take care of, along with your friends and the people you love." Sign up to our newsletter to get other stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. | https://www.hellomagazine.com/brides/2019010666207/are-irina-shayk-bradley-cooper-engaged/ |
Is the world is run by superconnected companies? | By By Tim Sandle 3 hours ago in Business Scientists have been looking at the economic connections that shape the world and theyve established the worst nightmare of the conspiracy theorist - that a very small group of companies hold most power in the world economy. The research To unpick the network, the researchers drew on mathematical models that were originally developed to study natural systems. These formulas were used to assess comprehensive corporate data, which included both direct and indirect ownership patterns, and then to construct the map of interconnected ownership. Using a database called In terms of the major power centers, there is a core of 1318 companies with interlocking ownerships who are essentially involved with or able to influence the actions of the other 42,000 or so transnationals. The transnationals in turn can influence the behaviors of other companies and even nation states. In terms of economic weight, the 1318 companies represent 20 percent of global operating revenues, and collectively through share ownership they own the majority of the worlds leading firms, representing a further 60 percent of global revenues. Within the 1318 lies a so-termed super-entity of 147 tightly knit companies. These 1 percent of the companies appear to be able to exert control over 40 percent of the entire international business network. The top ten superconnected companies are: 1. Barclays plc 2. Capital Group Companies Inc 3. FMR Corporation 4. AXA 5. State Street Corporation 6. JP Morgan Chase & Co 7. Legal & General Group plc 8. Vanguard Group Inc 9. UBS AG 10. Merrill Lynch & Co Inc The researchers secondary aim was to identify ways of making global capitalism more stable. The study is The analysis was conducted into the interconnections between 43,000 transnational corporations and it reveals that certain types of companies are more powerful that others (primarily banks) and that a very small number hold a disproportionate amount of global power.The research was undertaken at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, where the researchers had the aim of empirically identifying the extent to which a network of power actually exists (going beyond the assumptions in some political theories).To unpick the network, the researchers drew on mathematical models that were originally developed to study natural systems. These formulas were used to assess comprehensive corporate data, which included both direct and indirect ownership patterns, and then to construct the map of interconnected ownership.Using a database called Orbis 2007 , which contains 37 million companies and investors globally, researchers pulled out 43,060 transnational corporations and proceeded to examine the share ownerships linking them.In terms of the major power centers, there is a core of 1318 companies with interlocking ownerships who are essentially involved with or able to influence the actions of the other 42,000 or so transnationals. The transnationals in turn can influence the behaviors of other companies and even nation states.In terms of economic weight, the 1318 companies represent 20 percent of global operating revenues, and collectively through share ownership they own the majority of the worlds leading firms, representing a further 60 percent of global revenues.Within the 1318 lies a so-termed super-entity of 147 tightly knit companies. These 1 percent of the companies appear to be able to exert control over 40 percent of the entire international business network.The top ten superconnected companies are:The researchers secondary aim was to identify ways of making global capitalism more stable. Discussing the findings with New Scientist magazine , researcher James Glattfelder said: Reality is so complex, we must move away from dogma, whether its conspiracy theories or free-market. Our analysis is reality-based.The study is published in PLoS One and the research paper is titled The network of global corporate control, and it can be viewed on line in its entirety. More about Business, Networks, Companies, transnationals Business Networks Companies transnationals | http://www.digitaljournal.com/business/is-the-world-is-run-by-superconnected-companies/article/540323 |
Did Seattle Seahawks decision to stick with run game cost them a win against the Dallas Cowboys? | The Seattle Seahawks came into Saturdays game against the Dallas Cowboys as the NFCs best rushing team. What they apparently forgot was they also possessed one of the NFLs best passing quarterbacks. The Seahawks couldnt get their running game going against the Cowboys, but their refusal to deemphasize the running game and allow quarterback Russell Wilson to use his arm more often may have been a reason why they lost 24-22 to the Cowboys in a NFC Wild Card playoff game. The Seahawks, who averaged 160 rushing yards a game during the regular season, gained just 73 yards on 24 carries against the Cowboys, with Chris Carson gaining 20 yards on 13 carries. The Seahawks simply couldnt run the football all game long. Yet, head coach Pete Carroll and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer stuck to the run game and didnt let Wilson be Wilson in the passing game until it was too late. Carroll was asked, given the struggles to run the ball, if he shouldve tried to pass more often. We would have liked to, Carroll told reporters after the game. The protection was good on play-passes and he threw some strikes. Carroll paused for a few moments. Yeah, its easy to say that now. Wilson completed 18-of-27 passes for 233 yards and a touchdown in the game. Wilson, who arguably throws the best deep-ball in the league, had five completions of at least 20 yards, including completions of 53 and 40 yards to wide receiver Tyler Lockett. The Seahawks showed they could move the football through the air against the Cowboys. The Seahawks continued to run against a wall that was the Cowboys defense. Take away Wilsons 14 rushing yards on three carries and the Seahawks averaged a meager 2.8 yards a carry against the Cowboys. Wilson had just completed one of the best seasons of his career, throwing a career-high 35 touchdown passes while tying a career-low of seven interceptions. Wilson also set a career-high with a 110.9 passer rating despite operating in a run-first offense. Wilson threw 11 passes in the first half and just seven in the second half. Wilson was asked after the game if he wished they had thrown the football more. I wish we would have won the game, Wilson told reporters. The Seahawks defied the trend in the pass-happy NFL by going old school and running the football successfully during the regular season. However, their decision to stick to the run game instead of adjusting to throw the football was in part why they suffered an early dismissal from the playoffs. -- Geoffrey C. Arnold | @geoffreyCarnold | https://www.oregonlive.com/nfl/2019/01/did-seattle-seahawks-decision-to-stick-with-run-game-cost-them-a-win-against-the-dallas-cowboys.html |
Can fresh US-China trade talks bring a breakthrough? | Ahead of US-China trade talks set for Monday and Tuesday, China's Commerce Ministry said in a statement that the renewed negotiations over the ongoing trade row would include "positive and constructive discussions." The key will be how seriously Beijing takes the arrival of the working team led by Deputy US Trade Representative Jeffrey Gerrish, who is set to meet mid-level Chinese officials in Beijing. The two sides are expected to discuss a series of technical issues, including non-tariff barriers, intellectual property and agriculture and industrial purchases. The talks are the first between the world's two largest economies since last month's summit in Argentina, where US President Donald Trump and his counterpart, Xi Jinping, agreed to hold off on more tariffs for 90 days starting December 1 while they attempted to negotiate a deal. The trade war has damaged both economies over the past year. The Chinese government expects growth to have eased to around 6.5 percent in 2018, down from 6.9 percent in 2017, meaning Beijing may be ready to make a deal. And the conflict has also started to hit global stock prices, with Apple dragging markets down this past week. Watch video 01:23 Now live 01:23 mins. The US-China trade imbalance will be a major theme during this week's bilateral trade talks. China has said it could consider a deal that involves increasing its purchases of US goods. In December, it promised to reduce tariff rates on 700 products, including drug ingredients and animal feed. Beijing wants to lower prices for items such as pork and medicine, and opened the door to imports of rice from the US for the first time in late December. China's major state-owned grain firm has since said it has resumed buying US soybeans, and Beijing suspended extra tariffs on US-made cars and auto parts on January 1. In exchange, Trump agreed to put on hold a planned increase in tariffs on $200 billion (175 billion) in imports from China. China, however, has resisted US demands for it to combat technology transfers and reduce state support for strategic industries like robotics, electric cars, computer chips and artificial intelligence. Chinese officials have said new measures will combat intellectual property theft, indicating that Beijing may make major changes to its "Made in China 2025" initiative, which calls for state-led creation of champions in robotics, artificial intelligence and other fields. Those changes could consist of reductions in state subsidies for new technologies. A potential deal could include a Chinese agreement to boost purchases of US agricultural and energy products and offer more market access in areas such as autos and financial services. In December, China issued a list of industries where investors are restricted or prohibited, widely seen as an attempt to allay concerns that there is no level playing field in China. But investment in key Chinese sectors is still prohibited. The Commerce Ministry said it was working on improving market access to foreign investors in telecommunications, education, medicine and culture. If there is no deal by March 1, Washington has said it will go ahead with a sharp hike in tariffs on Chinese goods originally set for January 1. Michael Hirson, Asia director at Eurasia Group consultancy and a former US Treasury Department official, said an indicator of real progress this week would be whether the two sides announce a substantive round of negotiations at a more senior level. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, in charge of the overall talks with China, is expected to meet with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, Xi's top economic adviser, later this month. Lighthizer is deeply skeptical of Beijing and has warned Trump that the US may need to exert more pressure through "additional tariffs" to win "true" concessions, The New York Times has reported. Watch forex markets China's currency moves against the dollar may be the best measure of whether this week's talks are a success. The yuan, also known as the renminbi, has been nudging up and that is seen as one of a number of positive signs that the Chinese are serious about the talks. China's currency has been a bone of contention between China and the Trump administration, with the US accusing Beijing of manipulating the yuan to lower export prices to the US. | https://www.dw.com/en/can-fresh-us-china-trade-talks-bring-a-breakthrough/a-46959559 |
What is DevOps and how will it benefit my business? | The origin of DevOps is broadly attributed to Patrick Debois five or so years ago - you can learn more about the history of DevOps here. DevOps runs the risk of becoming a word without meaning as the industry rallies to attribute it to every product and service in their portfolio. The reality is that I can't sell you DevOps, and you can't buy it. DevOps is more than simply automation. It includes things like culture. It's a way of working that values collaboration with a shared view of success. As the name implies, this collaboration is primarily between developers and operators, but it is not restricted to that. DevOps means that you see the end to end delivery system from concept to production, your DevOps scope is any group that are involved in that workflow. So if you're willing to make a cultural investment in changing how you work, then you can start to implement some of the working practices that DevOps recommends. Integrating DevOps But before you jump head first into identifying work and managing constraints, ensure you know why you want to make DevOps part of how you succeed at IT services. Many successful implementations have been driven by a desire to: Reduce time to market for new products and features Build more agility to adapt to internal and external influences Unlock cost savings offered by cloud platforms Eliminate the risk of shadow IT services Successful DevOps adoptions are easy to spot. They are the organisations that talk about making tens and even hundreds of code releases into production every day, where there seems to be a constant flow of new features to keep users engaged and loyal. The leaders here are internet giants like Google, Facebook, Netflix, Etsy and more. But whilst many of these grab headlines, there are large numbers of success stories where organisations require internet and web services as a significant portion of their go to market channel, examples are Spotify, thetrainline.com, even Rackspace. From the eclectic list above it should be apparent that DevOps is not an exclusive club, anyone can pick it up and try to make positive changes in their business. However, there are some common traits that identify the strong fit candidates for change: Existing strong culture of collaboration and open communication An executive leadership team who sees IT as a business enabler Sponsorship from a high enough level to allow challenges to status quo Revenue and brand derived substantially from web and mobile channels Established organisations who view internet start-ups as a threat Start-ups who want to be more nimble than their established competition Applications that are self-built and developed on open technology All of these provide compelling business drivers to embrace change as an opportunity to create an advantage in your industry. But the transformation will be hard at times and leaders who are sponsoring these initiatives need patience and clear expectations to ensure the team are given every opportunity to succeed. As with cloud transformations, DevOps transformations will not be universally successful. In fact you should expect to fail at times. The trick is to fail fast, learn and repeat. Removing fear of failure is deep rooted in culture where incident reviews are a blame session rather than a learning outcome. This is why it is vital that you must commit to the culture as well as the working practices. However, the risk of not addressing DevOps does carry risks itself. DevOps adoption should not be driven by fear, but not making it part of your IT plans should be a well-managed risk in your organisation's strategy. Where to start So hopefully, you've reached the point where you're interested in getting started. Don't do this wholesale across your IT estate. The application and teams around them are key factors in success, identify a candidate application and create a bubble of autonomy around it. Simply drawing out your processes is a great way to identify stakeholders and eliminate waste. Never assume you have all the right people in the room in the first meeting! The key to increasing flow through a system is to manage constraints. Creating capacity either side without addressing the bottleneck will not increase output. Work out which parts of your system slow you down and improve them. DevOps skill sets are in high demand right now. If you don't, make plans for additional hiring, training, or look to introduce a third party who can help offload some of the core functions. There is a huge amount of reference material online. DevOps as an approach values sharing, many organisations have published materials about their successes and failures for you to learn from. | https://www.techradar.com/sg/news/world-of-tech/management/what-is-devops-and-how-will-it-benefit-my-business-1266031 |
How well has Raiders GM Mike Mayock evaluated the receiver position? | One of the great things about the Raiders hiring former NFL Network star Mike Mayock is that we have access to all of his player rankings since the 2006 NFL Draft. With all of that information, we may be able to find trends and make educated guesses throughout the draft process as to who Mayock may like, but also, what positions he knows bests. While we have all offseason to run through the tape and his draft boards, this piece is going to be a little less comprehensive. Instead, this simply a list of Mayocks top-five for each draft class since 2008. In Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, we reviewed Mayocks top quarterbacks and running backs. Today, we are looking at how well Mayock has done evaluating wide receivers. Here is the full list of his receivers since 2008, via the NFL.com archives: 2008 1. Devin Thomas, Michigan State 2. DeSean Jackson, California 3. Limas Sweed, Texas 4. Mario Manningham, Michigan 5. Jordy Nelson, Kansas State 2009 1. Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech 2. Percy Harvin, Florida 3. Jeremy Maclin, Missouri 4. Darrius Heyward-Bey, Maryland 5. Brian Robiskie, Ohio State 2010 1. Dez Bryant, Oklahoma State 2. Demaryius Thomas, Georgia Tech 3. Golden Tate, Notre Dame 4. Emmanuel Sanders, SMU T-5.Arrelious Benn, Illinois T-5. Eric Decker, Minnesota 2011 1. A.J. Green, Georgia 2. Julio Jones, Alabama 3. Torrey Smith, Maryland 4. Jonathan Baldwin, Pittsburgh T-5. Titus Young, Boise State T-5. Randall Cobb, Kentucky 2012 1. Justin Blackmon, Oklahoma State 2. Michael Floyd, Notre Dame 3. Kendall Wright, Baylor 4. Stephen Hill, Georgia Tech 5. Alshon Jeffery, South Carolina 2013 1. Tavon Austin, West Virginia 2. Cordarrelle Patterson, Tennessee 3. Justin Hunter, Tennessee 4. Keenan Allen, Cal T-5. DeAndre Hopkins, Clemson T-5. Robert Woods, USC 2014 1. Sammy Watkins, Clemson 2. Mike Evans, Texas A&M 3. Odell Beckham Jr., LSU 4. Brandin Cooks, Oregon State T-5. Kelvin Benjamin, Florida State T-5. Marqise Lee, USC 2015 1. Kevin White, West Virginia 2. Amari Cooper, Alabama 3. DeVante Parker, Louisville 4. Breshad Perriman, Central Florida 5. Nelson Agholor, USC 2016 1. Laquon Treadwell, Ole Miss 2. Corey Coleman, Baylor 3. Josh Doctson, TCU 4. Will Fuller, Notre Dame T-5. Sterling Shepard, Oklahoma T-5. Michael Thomas, Ohio State 2017 1. Mike Williams, Clemson 2. John Ross, Washington 3. Corey Davis, Western Michigan 4. Curtis Samuel, Ohio State 5. Zay Jones, East Carolina 2018 1. DJ Moore, Maryland 2. Calvin Ridley, Alabama 3. Courtland Sutton, SMU 4. Christian Kirk, Texas A&M T-5. James Washington, Oklahoma State T-5. Feel free to comment below. | https://raiderswire.usatoday.com/2019/01/06/how-well-has-raiders-gm-mike-mayock-evaluated-the-receiver-position/ |
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