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Who will be nominated for Best Director at the Academy Awards?

Who else makes the final five is anybodys guess. Eleven other directors including Oscar-nominated veterans and would-be first-timers all have a legitimate path to those remaining spots. Below, going in alphabetical order, your Carpetbagger weighs their odds. BO BURNHAM, EIGHTH GRADE Ryan Coogler directing one of his stars, Danai Gurira. The New York Times In his favour: Burnhams junior high dramedy has netted many breakthrough awards from critics. Working against him: This years race may be too stacked with heavyweight names for Burnham to slip through. DAMIEN CHAZELLE, FIRST MAN In his favour: Chazelle won the best-director Oscar for his last film, La La Land, and the man-on-the-moon drama First Man is even more of a technical feat. The directors category respects a special-effects movie that was difficult to pull off, and First Man has that feel. Working against him: The movie has not lived up to its high expectations during this award season. Neither Chazelle nor his star, Ryan Gosling, scored nominations from the Golden Globes First Man failed to crack the groups best-drama category, too and the Screen Actors Guild snubbed it entirely. RYAN COOGLER, BLACK PANTHER In his favour: Cooglers three-film arc as a director, moving from a Sundance prizewinner (Fruitvale Station) to a mid-budget studio hit (the first Creed) to one of the biggest movies of all time (Black Panther), is the stuff a classic career is made of. Marielle Heller, left, on set with Melissa McCarthy. The New York Times Working against him: Black Panther seems certain to crack Oscar categories where no superhero movie has gone before, but its possible this one will remain out of reach. Though Black Panther earned a notable SAG nomination for its ensemble and a best-drama nod from the Golden Globes, Coogler didnt score one for the latters directing prize. PETER FARRELLY, GREEN BOOK In his favour: This fact-based, race-relations comedy about a black pianist and his white driver is a favourite for many in the academy, and considered one of the few outright crowd-pleasers in the category. Its stars, Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali, are near-locks to be nominated, and Farrellys path from co-directing Dumb and Dumber to helming an Oscar contender will charm voters. Working against him: The best-director category increasingly favours auteurs who can display technical showmanship, which is not a trait Green Book has in abundance. Farrelly must also contend with criticism from the pianists relatives who say the film distorted his character. DEBRA GRANIK, LEAVE NO TRACE Barry Jenkins, center, with his actors, including KiKi Layne, right. The New York Times In her favour: Granik has won multiple best-director laurels from critics groups for this note-perfect study of a father and daughter living off the grid. Jane Campion, one of five women ever nominated for a best-director Oscar, wrote a letter to IndieWire recently arguing that Granik should be the sixth. Working against her: Its hard to get nominated for best director if your film isnt favored to snag nominations for best picture and for its cast, and Leave No Trace which has a lower-profile pair of stars in Ben Foster and Thomasin McKenzie will have trouble breaking into those fields. MARIELLE HELLER, CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? In her favour: Critics loved this true story of two New York misanthropes who forged letters from literary figures, starring Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant. Its picked up many notable nominations this season and even some wins. Working against her: Heller hasnt found much traction with critics groups or awards organisations, and the Golden Globes failed to give the film a nomination for best drama. BARRY JENKINS, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK Yorgos Lanthimos, left, with a cast that included Rachel Weisz, right. The New York Times In his favour: Jenkins directed the 2017 best-picture winner Moonlight, but the academy still has a few things it could make up to him: In addition to the infamous envelope snafu that briefly gave the top prize to La La Land, Jenkins lost the directing Oscar to Damien Chazelle. As far as this years race goes, Jenkins is one of the best liked and most personable directors in this category, which can go a long way with voters. Working against him: Its worrisome that the Screen Actors Guild snubbed If Beale Street Could Talk entirely, and may suggest that the film is breaking too late. YORGOS LANTHIMOS, THE FAVOURITE In his favour: From his unlikely camera setups to the perverse deadpan tone, you can identify a Yorgos Lanthimos film in a matter of seconds. The maker of The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer has never made as accessible a film as The Favourite, but he did it without sacrificing that distinctive personal stamp. Royal period pieces usually go a long way with this group, but Lanthimos films thrive on discomfort, and he isnt afraid to push The Favourite into some untraditional places. SPIKE LEE, BLACKKKLANSMAN In his favour: Lee is one of the most famous and influential directors in Hollywood, yet somehow, hes never been nominated for the best director Oscar. The academy has the perfect opportunity to make it up to him for the successful, critically acclaimed BlacKkKlansman. Working against him: At the 1990 Oscars, presenter Kim Basinger famously used her screen time to criticise the academy for failing to nominate Lees Do the Right Thing in other categories besides original screenplay. The directors branch is very different now thanks to the academys diversity push. ADAM MCKAY, VICE In his favour: McKay won a best adapted screenplay Oscar for his last fact-based comedy, The Big Short, and his new film, a Dick Cheney biopic, is more technically accomplished. Stars Christian Bale and Amy Adams are locks to be nominated, which will only help McKays cause. Working against him: The film is polarising, and reviews were wildly split, with critics calling Vice both the worst film of the year and one of the best. If Christmas audiences arent in the mood to watch a big-budget movie about Cheney, poor box office could further depress McKays chances. PAUL SCHRADER, FIRST REFORMED In his favour: A real directors director, Schrader has never been nominated for an Oscar, not even for writing the screenplays to Taxi Driver and Raging Bull. His focused work on First Reformed had critics raving, and the directors category may seize its opportunity to recognise the man and his career. Working against him: Major awards groups like the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild totally ignored First Reformed, and many academy members still havent seen it. To his handlers dismay, Schrader has not been afraid to court controversy this awards season: He used his press tour to blast modern audiences as the culprit for bad movies and, on his Facebook page, advocated for the disgraced Kevin Spacey to win lead roles again. 2018 New York Times News Service

https://bdnews24.com/film/2019/01/02/who-will-be-nominated-for-best-director-at-the-academy-awards

What did Lyndon Johnson say about getting the black vote for 200 years?

Some say he did and some say he didnt. But whatever he said the Democrats are playing the race card for all it is worth at present. So much for getting over racism. Someone explain to the progressive left that anti-white racism is no better than anti-black racism and two wrongs do not make a right. There is also the false conception of collective justice that enables past wrongs by some members of a particular group to justify blank cheques to be written in favour of all the current members of the previously disadvantaged group against the accounts of everybody else.

http://catallaxyfiles.com/2019/01/02/what-did-lyndon-johnson-say-about-getting-the-black-vote-for-200-years/

Has PM Modi set the tone for 2019 Lok Sabha polls?

In the nearly 95-minute-long interview with news agency ANI, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke on a variety of issues ranging from surgical strikes to demonetisation, and from the Ram temple issue to that of triple talaq and Sabarimala protests. On Tuesday, PM Modi virtually announced that he is prepared for him vs the rest battle. He attacked the Congress by saying that those who ruled the country for four generations and are considered the first family is out on bail for financial irregularities. Modi also said that the Congress is misleading the farmers with loan waivers. He also went on to say he wants to rid India of Congress's culture and its way of thinking.

https://www.indiatoday.in/programme/the-burning-question/video/has-pm-modi-set-the-tone-for-2019-lok-sabha-polls-1421697-2019-01-02

When does The Greatest Dancer start on BBC One and what can we expect?

Cheryl is back on TV as a panellist in The Greatest Dancer along with Glees Matthew Morrison and Strictlys Oti Mabuse (Picture: BBC) Strictly Come Dancing might be over for another year but that doesnt mean the end of dance on BBC One on a Saturday night. The Greatest Dancer is likely to cheer those suffering from Strictly withdrawal symptoms after that show ends while it also marks Cheryl making her comeback as a TV judge. The #GreatestDancer is coming soon to @BBCOne pic.twitter.com/Ey9qVA1mNp The Greatest Dancer (@GreatDancerTV) December 8, 2018 The Greatest Dancer puts its best foot forward on BBC One on Saturday January 5 at 8pm. Advertisement Advertisement That puts it in a direct ratings war with the new series of The Voice UK which starts on ITV at exactly the same time. Jordan Banjo and Alesha Dixon are on hosting duties (Picture: BBC) The show the first that Simon Cowell will have done with the BBC is, as the title suggests, all about finding the countrys most talented dancer. With the continued success of Strictly Come Dancing, the BBC is undoubtedly the home of dance, said the BBCs Kate Phillips. By launching The Greatest Dancer we want to give the vast array of dance talent across the UK the chance to shine. Theres a lot to play for too, with the winner nabbing 50,000 and the chance to perform on the next series of Strictly Come Dancing. Auditions took place across the country over the summer, with hopefuls getting the chance to show off their moves in Glasgow, Cardiff, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Belfast. Those auditions were filmed and reviewed by senior producers to decide who will make it through to the next stage. (Picture: BBC) Hopefuls perform behind a two-way mirror, unable to see the judges or the studio audience, who have to vote on the performers they like. If a contestant receives more than 75 per cent of the studio vote, the mirrored screen opens and they land themselves a place in the next round. The show sees Cheryl making her return to TV as a judge. Shell be joined by Glee star Matthew Morrison, as well as Strictly Come Dancings Oti Mabuse Cheryls involvement in the show was the subject of much speculation in 2018 with Morrison all but confirming the news on her Instagram page as she celebrated her birthday. So happy you were born! he wrote, adding Look forward to getting to know you better this year! As well as the judges, the show will be hosted by Alesha Dixon and Jordan Banjo, both of whom took part in the pilot episode. 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: Cheryl confesses fellow The Greatest Dancer judges have more knowledge than she does

https://metro.co.uk/2019/01/02/greatest-dancer-start-bbc-one-can-expect-8300883/

Should Eddie Jones turn back to Mike Brown as England full-back in 2019?

In the 66th minute of Harlequins scrappy win over Wasps at Twickenham, Mike Brown fielded a chip from Willie Le Roux and stepped into touch. Elliot Daly, Englands incumbent full-back, shoved Brown in the back. Brown turned and chucked the ball into Daly, who attempted to apologise, before crankily swatting away a handshake. The tetchy mini-spat was innocuous. Referee Craig Maxwell-Keys ignored it and brought play back for a knock-on about 20 metres away. But the moment did exemplify Browns spikey defiance. He will do everything in his power to force his way past Daly and back into the England fold before Rugby World Cup 2019. Indeed, although the 33 year-old missed out on all four autumn Tests,...

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union/2019/01/02/should-eddie-jones-turn-back-mike-brown-england-full-back-2019/

What makes MobileMe worth 59 a year?

Apple's suite of online services made headlines last year when it changed its name from .Mac to MobileMe. Not because anyone cared what it was called, but because the revamp went so badly that the internet resounded for months with the caterwauls of dissatisfied users. To cut a long story short, MobileMe is now fixed and does all the things it was supposed to syncing your email, contacts and calendars between devices; hosting websites; storing and transferring files, and creating online photo galleries without falling over. Which is nice. Let's take a closer look at what you get for your cash. Mail bonding MobileMe's best trick is 'push'. When someone sends you an email, it pops up immediately on your iPhone or iPod touch, wherever you may be (that's if you've got a Wi-Fi connection or, with the iPhone, O2 reception) cutting out the need to waste time and battery checking every few minutes just in case. Any changes to Address Book or iCal are also transferred. It all works the other way round as well, so contacts and appointments you add on the move are immediately reflected on your Mac. Emails appear on the iPhone faster than texts, sometimes within one second of being sent. In fact, syncing can be almost too fast: click the To Do icon in OS X Mail, and the new item appears on your iPhone before you've even typed what it is you have to do. The only limitation is, as far as we can establish and despite claims to the contrary, that MobileMe doesn't push to your Mac Mail still has to check the server at preset intervals, set in Mail > Preferences > General. It's incredibly convenient to know you'll see the same messages, contacts and calendars on your main Mac and iPhone or iPod touch, any other Macs running Mac OS X 10.4.11 or later and PCs: MobileMe can also sync Microsoft Outlook and Windows Address Book, and a MobileMe Control Panel is installed in Windows as part of the iTunes download (the latest version is 1.4). LOTS OF OPTIONS: With MobileMe you can see the same mail, contacts and calendars on your main Mac in OS X Leopard, an older Mac running Tiger, an iPhone or iPod touch, or on a PC via Safari for Windows MobileMe isn't the only way to sync, though. Google Mail, for example, can also sync and push to Macs, PCs and iPhones, and Google Calendar and Contacts can join the fun too. However, while setting up MobileMe is as easy as entering your member name and password, Google's tools take a bit more effort if you want to get them to sync. It's not impossible, but there's a fair bit of headscratching involved before it typically runs smoothly. If you get your work email from a Microsoft Exchange server, you can get email pushed to your iPhone or iPod touch by setting up an Exchange ActiveSync account, as explained here. However, you can't have it both ways: mail can only be synced from MobileMe or Exchange, not both. (With contacts and calendars, both systems can coexist but won't merge with each other.) If you use, say, Exchange for work and MobileMe for personal email, a solution is to sync one and set the other to forward all mail to that account.

https://www.techradar.com/sg/news/computing/apple/what-makes-mobileme-worth-59-a-year-641354

What were our most-read articles in 2018?

As New Year's Eve approaches, it's always good to take a look back and reflect on the year that has passed. At Euronews, taking stock means flagging the content our readers you most enjoyed over the past 12 months. Your favourite articles Shock! Neither the most-watched sporting event of the year, the World Cup, nor the US twitter-loving President, Donald Trump, made it into our top five (sad!). Instead, what truly fascinated you, it seems, was the nitty-gritty of... Brexit! 1. Airbus warns against Brexit job cuts This summer European aviation giant Airbus warned that it could be forced to pull out of the UK and thus cut 14,000 jobs if the country was to leave the European without a deal in 2019. It also announced that it had frozen its investment in the country, saying that even if the two sides in the great European divorce were to reach a deal, it wouldn't leave the company or its suppliers nearly enough time to implement the required changes. 2. Prince Harry's wedding to American actress Meghan Markle was the social event of the year and therefore security was a huge worry. Ahead of the wedding, as thousands of revellers were expected to take to the streets of picturesque Windsor, police had warned that an attack was "highly likely". 3. EU citizenship for post-Brexit Brits Citizens' rights were among the thorniest issues for Brexit negotiators leading some Brits to take the matter in their own hands. This summer, a petition was submitted to the European Parliament urging it to legislate on a "Permanent European Union Citizenship", ensuring that no-one could be stripped of their EU citizenship once it had been attained. 4. Driving under the influence A Spanish driver tested positive for "every possible kind of drug" after being pulled by police in August. He was fined 1,000 for testing positive to alcohol and another 1,000 for failing the drugs test. He also lost six points for each failed tests. 5. Taking to Brexit like a fish to water Leading conservation group Oceana said the UK's exit from the EU had created a "window of opportunity" for the country to rebuild its fish stocks by transitioning to more sustainable fishing. But Ireland and the UK were found to be the leading EU countries in ignoring scientific advice on fishing limits in the Atlantic, according to the New Economics Foundation. Your favourite social media posts Facebook A 25-year-old French specialist speech rider (a discipline combining skiing and paragliding) fulfilled one of his dreams this year by gliding across the Bossons glacier at the foot of Europe's highest mountain, Mont Blanc. The footage was captivating, poetic and awe-inspiring. Twitter Astronomers in Chile, peering billions of light years into space, detected the largest, most extensive collection of galaxies ever registered, a "proto-supercluster" they nicknamed Hyeriod after a titan from Grek mythology. YouTube Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was slammed earlier this year for telling a young girl carrying a Turkish flag at a rally that: "If she's martyred, God willing, this flag will be drapped (on her)." Instagram A picture from Turkey also clinched the top spot this year, depicting a glorious full moon rising behind the Camlica Republic Mosque. Euronews' other languages The French favoured an article on former President Nicolas Sarkozy's legal drama, while German readers were riveted by a book from former EU Parliament President, Martin Schulz. In Italy, a story on an adoptive mother calling out Interior Minister Matteo Salvini for what she describes as rampant intolerance in the country was our most read. Spanish visitors read up on the fight against HIV and AIDS, while in Portugal, our article on the history of Labour Day was a hit. But perhaps the most surprising result came from our Russian audience whose most-read Euronews article of the year is on an explosion at a rally in... Zimbabwe. See you in 2019 for more great content!

https://www.euronews.com/2018/12/29/what-were-our-most-read-articles-in-2018

Could Apple disrupt the merchant banking space with the Watch?

The announcement of Apple's iPhone 6 was a little underwhelming. Yes, it boasts a slimmer frame, a larger screen and more battery power but this isn't a revolutionary upgrade. What did catch everyone's attention was Apple's first foray, be it rather late, into the increasingly attractive wearable tech market with the launch of its new smart watches range. The Apple Watch's USP is its movement and tracking diagnostics as well as its potential to be an enabler of the internet of things. What might make all the difference for Apple is its ability to tightly couple its hardware and software to create product interest and consumer value. So far, that remains to be seen, though, no doubt, early adopters will buy first and find a use second. Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, also revealed that the Apple Watch will feature a contactless payment function as it comes with the Apple Pay feature. Essentially, users can pay over the counter with the swipe of their Apple Watch. Not only does this give Apple a crucial edge over its immediate rivals such as Samsung's Gear, it also marks Apple's entry in to the highly competitive world of merchant banking. By introducing its contactless payment system to the Apple Watch and iPhone 6, Apple is now encroaching on the very same space as PayPal, Amazon and Square. To further strengthen its contactless payment offering, Apple has partnered with Visa, MasterCard and American Express. Moreover, Apple has convinced major retail and fast food chain businesses such as Nike, Disney, Subway and Toys R Us to incorporate its new mobile payment. Mobile payment has the very real potential to catch on if Apple is able to make the experience seamless for consumers. In fact Apple could suddenly find itself as one of the largest banks in the world. Stranger things have happened. Game changing As if aware of the looming threat that Apple now poses, shares of Ebay Inc., which operates the PayPal service, declined by 2.8% after Tim Cook had given his presentation. Google will also be another company concerned by Apple's incorporation of contactless payment within its Apple Watch product. Google's own mobile payment system, the Google Wallet, failed to gain any significant traction. But now that Apple has partnered with major brands, its Apple Pay systems has a better chance of finding success in this space. Many retail outlets do not have contactless pay terminals since some still harbour reservations around the technology. However, Apple is a brand known to improve upon existing technologies. If Apple can innovate in the contactless payment space to the same degree it did in the smartphone and laptop categories, then this could inspire more retailers to embrace mobile payment. The customer shopping experience could be completely reshaped, particularly at the point-of-purchase. Although Apple has massive potential to bring mobile payment into the mainstream, the security concerns around mobile payments is still an issue that will irk some consumers. Only 18% of the British public have cited they trust a smartphone wallet from Apple according to a survey conducted earlier this year of 1500 smartphone users by research house Marketing Sciences. Notwithstanding the popularity of iTunes, consumers are weary of storing sensitive banking details on an Apple product. Moreover, the recent furore surrounding leaked celebrity images supposedly from Apple's iCloud will not exactly strengthen Apple's argument that customers' bank details will be safe and secure. Despite this, Apple's brand perception by consumers is positive for the most part and it will no doubt work hard to alleviate customers' concerns. Apple's entrance into the wearable tech market with its Watch is a bold move. Its introduction of Apple Pay, which will be incorporated into the Apple Watch, is even bolder. When Apple first launched the iPhone, it significantly altered the smartphone landscape. No doubt, we can expect to see some fundamental changes in the merchant banking sector as Apple seeks to dominate the space with its first contactless payments wearable tech offering.

https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/computing/apple/could-apple-disrupt-the-merchant-banking-space-with-the-watch-1265153

Should Dr M stay as PM or go after two years?

There are some who would wish for Dr Mahathir to stay on longer than his self-given two-year timeframe as prime minister so that the country will remain stable mid-term. Picture by Razak Ghazali PETALING JAYA, Jan 2 It is now known that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was not given a time limit to hand over his prime ministership of the country to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. As such it is up to the Pakatan Harapan (PH) leadership council to decide when the sitting prime minister should step down. But in the present political and economic climate, there are some who would wish for Dr Mahathir to stay on longer than his self-given two-year timeframe so that the country will remain stable mid-term. This is because many within the PH Cabinet are fledgling members who have yet to grasp their respective portfolios and are still issuing political statements rather than government policies. They have yet to act in sync on many issues despite being on the same team and guided by the same electoral manifesto. Added to that is the view that one PH component, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, is being strengthened by Umno defectors. There has been a build of pressure for Anwar to succeed Dr Mahathir before the two-year timeframe expires, even though the Port Dickson MP has said he is comfortable with the arrangement. At the same time, there has also been efforts pressing Dr Mahathir to stay on until next general election, as seen by the calls from PPBM delegates at their recently-concluded second general assembly over the weekend. As conspiracies over prime ministers post has been spreading like wildfire on social media, PKR is struggling to contain speculation of a rift between Anwar and his party deputy, Datuk Seri Azmin Ali. Talk has been rife that the duo are on poor terms after Anwars protege Rafizi Ramli lost the PKR deputy presidency to Azmin who is also economic affairs minister. The perception has been bolstered by their thinly veiled remarks against each other played out through media reports. This open disagreement between the PKR Number One and his Number Two foreshadow a split between the two who have been each others support since the start the reformasi days in 1998 till just a few months ago. This unsettled problem in PKR is being weighed in calls for Dr Mahathir to either stay on to a full term as prime minister or relinquish it to Anwar.

https://www.malaymail.com/s/1708409/should-dr-m-stay-as-pm-or-go-after-two-years

Who is Bradley Walshs son Barney who appears with him in Breaking Dad?

Barney Walsh is joining dad Bradley on the road in the US (Picture: ITV) Bradley Walsh is keeping it in the family as his newest show Bradley Walsh & Son: Breaking Dad. The four-part series, which kicks off on ITV on Wednesday night, sees Barney Walsh taking The Chase host on an extreme road trip across the USA, travelling more than 2,000 miles from LA to New Orleans. And its Los Angeles where the series begins, as Barney challenges him to some pretty testing activities including gasp! a skydive. While he may be Bradleys son, Barney also has a showbiz career in his own right, as an actor and presenter. Heres what you need to know about him. Barney is 21 years old and is the son of Bradley and his choreographer wife Donna Derby, whom he has been married to since 1997. Advertisement Advertisement As well as appearing alongside his dad onscreen Barney is also an actor and presenter whos featured in the likes of Doctors, Law and Order UK and the movie King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword. Hes also worked on Miss World in 2017 an 2018, and is a patron on the childrens cancer charity Smiles With Grace. Barney has a half-sister, Hayley, who is Bradleys daughter from a previous relationship. He also has a strong Instagram presence, where recently hes been seen posing with Miss World contestants as well as talking about Breaking Dad. Had so much fun making this show with my dad! he told his 21,000 followers. The series kicks off on ITV on Wednesday night at 8pm. 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: Im A Celebritys Anne Hegerty transforms into Ginger Spice for The Chase, gets ripped on by Bradley Walsh

https://metro.co.uk/2019/01/02/bradley-walshs-son-barney-appears-breaking-dad-8301058/

What time is The Twinstitute on TV? Whats it about and how does it work?

TV doctors and identical twin brothers Chris and Xand van Tulleken are back with a new documentary about, you guessed it, identical twins. Twinstute will air on Wednesday 2nd January at 8:30pm on BBC2. Perfectly timed around the New Year when self-improvement is all the rage, this fascinating new series shows you how to live your life better. Well, twins and doctors Chris and Xand van Tulleken have set up a unique centre for science called the Twinstute, and invited 30 pairs of identical twins inside its walls to put rival health theories to the test. Because of their matching DNA, identical twins are perfect for the experiments. In this six-part series, pairs of twins compete, with one trying out one theory and the other trying out another in order to help find out how we could all improve our lives. For example, the twins will test out diet vs exercise, planning vs cramming and meditation vs swearing. TV doctors Chris and Xand have made many shows together, including CBBCs Operation Ouch, Horizon: Fat vs Sugar, Horizon: Is Binge Drinking Really That Bad for You?, The Secret Life of Twins and Medicine Men Go Wild. Yes. The series actually underwent numerous reshoots because the entire production Chris and Xand, the crew and the 30 pairs of twins kept getting everyone and each other mixed up. Advertisement Definitely not helped by the fact that the participants were in matching outfits for most of the time, too.

https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2019-01-02/the-twinstitute-air-date-bbc2-chris-xand-van-tulleken/

When does Flirty Dancing start on Channel 4? How does the new dating show work?

A brand new dating show is coming to Channel 4 in the form of Flirty Dancing. Hosted by choreographer Ashley Banjo, the series aims to help hopeful singles find love through the medium of dance. Flirty Dancing will air in five parts from Thursday 10th January 2019 at 10pm on Channel 4. The new dating format sees hopeful singletons do one single dance with each other in the hope of finding The One. Before each date, the show will take two complete strangers and teach them one half of a fully choreographed dance routine which has been tailored to illustrate their personalities and what they want from a prospective partner. The singles will learn their routine individually so that the first time they meet, itll be on the dance floor. According to Channel 4 the show will be set on location, as if theyre living in a Hollywood musical, and the singletons will not be allowed to talk. Once the couples have finished their dance date, they will part ways still not having exchanged a single word. Choreographer Ashley Banjo, who is a judge on Dancing on Ice and is also known for sitting on the judging panels of Got to Dance and Cant Touch This, will be hosting proceedings. Speaking about how successful he thinks the intriguing new format will be, he said: In the real world you talk to somebody and they might get tongue-tied. They might say the wrong thing; nerves might make them a slightly different person. You make a judgment, but that judgment can be flawed because the person doesnt really give you the best version of themselves in that moment. Whereas with this, I dont really think theres any hiding. Advertisement Sign up for the free RadioTimes.com newsletter

https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2019-01-02/flirty-dancing-channel-4-new-dating-show-air-date-time-channel-4/

What Does It Take To Get Into The Ultra-Competitive Research Science Institute (RSI)?

Every summer, 80 of the top students from around the world come together at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for an intensive summer program called the Research Science Institute (RSI). However, RSI is not a typical summer camp; it is free to students, and you leave with a slew of new connections and experiences that most other high school students will never be able to experience. Interview With Research Science Institute We sat down with Maite Ballestero, the Executive Vice President of Programs and Administration and Maureen Palmer, the Manager, Advisory and Consultancy for the Research Science Institute, to gain further insight into the admission process and how prospective candidates can make their application stronger. A: To gain admission into the Research Science Institute, there is a set of general guidelines that the ideal candidate should meet. On average there are more than 1600 applicants into this camp, of which only 80 are chosen. Admissions are solely based on academics and accomplishments, and no applicant is favored due to legacy or knowing someone who is associated with the program. Students are expected to achieve high marks during their high school career, and perhaps even lead a club or start their own business or nonprofit. While the average GPA and test scores change from year to year, typically the students will be in the top 1%. To combat GPA inflation, the admissions committee looks at individual coursework and the grades. One last thing the committee wants to receive is at least one standardized test score: the PSAT, SAT or ACT. It is not required that you take all three, just one. However, just because you meet all of these requirements doesnt mean you will gain a spot at the camp, and you dont have to meet all of the criteria to be chosen for RSI. The review process is holistic and many factors are considered. A: Be passionate, be well-rounded. Be a leader. Be who you are. Perhaps you have heard of the saying, Jack of all trades, master of none. We want students to find out what they are passionate about and explore it deeply. We dont expect students to be able to list out ten or more activities they excel at and we prefer to see students doing a few activities that they have leadership positions. We do like to see students who have been published. While the committee does love to see this, it is not a requirement and it by no means guarantees your entrance into the program. A gold medal in Science Olympiad also helps your application stand out, but once again it does not mean you will be admitted. Even if the applicants are from small towns, we want to see students who are taking advantage of what opportunities are available to them. We want them to exploit their surroundings in the most positive way. For example, if you are passionate about math, the student should be going to summer programs in math and taking courses online or at community colleges. Some applicants are world class musicians, cross country stars, or accomplished singers. We have even had a previous student who could have qualified in the Olympics in figure skating. There is never a dull moment here! A: We are the first high school program to use SlideRoom, which is an applicant tracking and management system. It makes it easy to share our files with committee member of seven to nine people. The process is very intensive because each member presents the students who they would like to be admitted to the entire committee, and the decision must be unanimous. We will have applications from every single state and many countries. We have partnerships with 15 countries and we typically admit between one to six international students. We also have worked with NGOs and gifted and talented organizations to find the most qualified students. Of course, we thoroughly vet every student who is admitted into the program, regardless of how we find them. We are very proud never to have had to charge for this opportunity. When we are selecting attendees, we make sure that we are giving a spot to a student whose life could be changed by this camp. Regardless of income, background, or where you grew up, all students are looked at objectively. A: After the program ends, the students enter into their senior year. That means they will be competing in and frequently winning science fairs, the Regeneron Science Talent Search, and other math or science-based competitions. Some of our admitted students continue to show great success and continue to research their fields. One of the mentors for our program and an alum is Feng Zhang, the inventor of CRISPR, a gene-editing technique. He is very generous with his time and continues to support the program. The founder of Pinterest, the first female math chair at Harvard, and a Facebook engineer are all alums, and they all continue to give back to the program. As you can see, many of our students go on to achieve great things! They go on to study at Stanford, Harvard, Yale, MIT, Princeton and are the recipients of every type of award and scholarship imaginable including Rhodes Scholars, Waterman Awards, and Simons Investigators. Anything is possible for our alums. A: The program lasts for six weeks, and is packed with activities from start to finish. For the first four days, every single student, regardless of their interests, reads a humanity book. Last year, they read Frankenstein. It helps them start thinking from the first day, and we have a small essay competition, which is a light-heart way to get the students to acclimated into the program. All students take humanities because we want students to realize that communication is crucial. This course helps them to become more effective community members and more well-rounded. After this first week, they get to dive more into their research topic in either biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics, physics, or humanities. We partner with MIT, and an alum or MIT professors teach all of the classes. For Weeks 2-5, the attendees are paired up with a mentor who works in the field the student wants to learn about more. Of course, one of the biggest struggles is finding a good bond between the mentor and the mentee, so we work hard to make sure the student and mentor are a good fit. The students might be working in a lab at Harvard, MIT, Brood Institute, or a local company. We ensure the students are always safe and able to learn more about a specific academic area. Throughout the program, we also have a guest lecture series three or four nights a week. We bring in Nobel Prize winners, people who work in top companies, and other leaders in their fields. We want our attendees to meet and network with the guest lecturers and help them broaden their horizons. During the last week of the program, they will finish the research paper they have been working on throughout the program. The students then present their paper in both an oral and written format. We feel that this is an integral part of the program because some students have never had to present their research in this way, so it is a good learning experience for them. Q: What are some of the biggest challenges students face in the program. A: The heat! Since there is no air conditioning, it can become quite muggy. They have to try to stay cool and still get a good nights rest to keep on working hard all week. A: When the students come to the camp they might be meeting kids that are just like them for the first time - other students who perform competitively and at a high academic level. By the end of the program, they have formed friendships that often last for years. There are Facebook groups, Google Hangouts, and other methods of keeping in touch with the students. We try to help them find internships or even get jobs. Essentially, you are part of this group for life, or as long as you want to continue engaging with other members. The application deadline for the Research Science Institute is January 15. To apply and for more information, visit www.cee.org/apply-rsi. Research for this article was contributed by Moon Prep college counselor, Lindsey Conger.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristenmoon/2019/01/02/what-does-it-take-to-get-into-the-ultra-competitive-research-science-institute-rsi/

Is the Linux philosophy still relevant in 2019?

In August 2018, I published The Linux Philosophy for SysAdmins. It seems to be selling fairly well, and I started thinking about whether the original Linux philosophy (or my own version of it for system administrators) is still relevant. In Chapter 1, I said: "The Unix Philosophy is an important part of what makes Unix unique and powerful. Much has been written about the Unix Philosophy. And the Linux philosophy is essentially the same as the Unix philosophy because of its direct line of descent from Unix. "The original Unix Philosophy was intended primarily for the system developers. In fact, the developers of Unix, led by Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie, designed Unix in a way that made sense to them, creating rules, guidelines, and procedural methods, then designing them into the structure of the operating system. That worked well for system developers and that alsopartly, at leastworked for SysAdmins (System Administrators). That collection of guidance from the originators of the Unix operating system was codified in the excellent book, The Unix Philosophy, by Mike Gancarz, and then later updated by Mr. Gancarz as Linux and the Unix Philosophy. "Another fine book, The Art of Unix Programming, by Eric S. Raymond, provides the author's philosophical view of programming in a Unix environment. It is also somewhat of a history of the development of Unix as it was experienced and recalled by the author. This book is also available in its entirety at no charge on the Internet." The philosophy outlined in these books was critical to the original design of Unix and its modern descendant, Linux. That groundbreaking design and its creative implementation made it possible for us to have the amazing open source operating system we have today. Without the concept of data streams, the use of pipes to modify and transform those data streams, the idea that "everything is a file," and so much more, we would be reduced to struggling with a command line even less powerful than the old IBM or MS-DOS. Even DOS used pipes but never provided powerful utilities like the GNU Core Utilities that we take for granted today and give us access to the most basic of system functions. The more I thought about this, the more I realized that many Linux users and sysadmins have never even heard about the Linux philosophy. So I started wondering whether the Linux philosophy, in whatever form you like it, is still relevant. I decided to ask you what you think. I'm also interested in hearing what else you think about the Linux philosophy's relevance in 2019. Please share your feedback in the comments below.

https://opensource.com/article/19/1/linux-philosophy-poll

What are the Fixings of Praltrix Male Enhancement?

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http://waneenterprises.com/forum/topics/what-are-the-fixings-of-praltrix-male-enhancement

What people says about Keto Weight Loss Plus?

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http://waneenterprises.com/forum/topics/what-people-says-about-keto-weight-loss-plus

Who Else Is Misleading Us About Marketing Case Study?

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http://guideauto.com/else-misleading-us-marketing-case-study/

When will we be released from the burden of racism?

Just before Christmas I went to buy a bottle of wine in a store in a town on the Garden Route. There were two cashiers; one was talking to a friend or relative on the phone, the other one was just staring past me. After several minutes, I asked her if I could pay for the wine. Sorry, she said, she was waiting to finish a transaction with another customer, and she pointed to that person. That customer was having a lively conversation a few metres away with a security guard about the problems of crime in the town. After what must have been a full two more minutes, I approached her and politely asked if she would mind paying for her wine so the casher could serve me I was parked on a yellow line, I explained. She was immediately angry. She accused me of being arrogant and, yes, white. I tried to explain that my request was a polite one and that I was parked on a yellow line, but it just made it worse and the whole exchange became a bit of a public scene. When are "you people" going to realise that you're not baas any longer, she asked. I was deeply embarrassed I'm normally the guy who would intervene when a white customer is rude to a black employee in a shop. I was also annoyed, because I knew if she were white, I would have been far more direct and assertive in asking her to conclude her sale. A month or so before this incident I was driving my car out of the forecourt of a Cape Town petrol station into the street when another car trying to get to the pumps nearly ran into me. I was relaxed; I stopped, reversed a little bit and waved my hand to say, please proceed. The driver jumped out and confronted me aggressively at my car window. What was that hand gesture about, you bloody racist, he asked, and threatened to inflict violence upon me. My explanation that it was a wave to give him right of way was not acceptable. I was not wrong in one of the two incidents. There was nothing racist about my actions. But these experiences stayed with me and made me think. I never met these individuals before or after, so I can't know anything about them. Of course, they could just be unpleasant human beings, but I think there is a bigger chance that their past experiences with white people have made them suspect racism or rudeness when they encounter a white person. If that's the case, I should admire rather than resent their willingness to engage in confrontation. I have now resolved to try and look demurer and friendlier, extra polite and extra careful, when I deal with black strangers in the future. Well, that's our reality in South Africa right now. After a quarter of a century since the political power had been transferred from the white minority to the black majority, many or most of us are still trying to figure out how to deal with race. When private security guards told visitors to vacate Clifton Beach last week, a lot of people reacted very angrily about the perceived racism. At first, I didn't see racism as the obvious problem it's simply not true that black people have been kept away from that beach in the last few years. The secretary of the ANC in the Western Cape, Faiez Jacobs, one of those asked to leave, is proof of that: His family has had their annual twilight picnic there for years. White beachgoers were also told to leave. I was also angry at the illegal actions of the private security company, but I saw the problem as class discrimination: They were doing the super-rich Clifton beach homeowners' dirty work for them. These owners arrogantly feel it's their right to clear the beach in the evenings to make their homes safer. But perhaps nobody would have been told to leave the beach if all the people on the beach were white, as in the days of apartheid. Black people who reacted angrily at the action suspected racism, and perhaps they're right. And even if they're wrong, I still understand why they reacted that way. I was annoyed by the political theatre of a handful of young black men who dragged a sheep onto the beach and cut its throat "to invoke the ancestors" and the "cleanse the beach of racism". I thought it was crude and false. But then, perhaps these men sensed that this kind of ancient African ritual would anger (and scare?) white people more than the ANC's more sensible protest the next day, and that's why they did it. Or perhaps they're attention-seeing charlatans. Either way, I felt it would be inappropriate for me as a white person to express myself on this in public and politely declined when a radio station asked me for my comment. At the same time, I don't think it's going to do anyone any good if we all tiptoed around matters of race. I'm not one of those "good whites" who believe white people should shut up and not take part in public debates. I do believe, however, that there is an onus on white people to be more respectful and to choose their words more carefully when they engage on these matters. Perhaps one day my great-grandchildren, if they're going to be white like me, will be released from this burden. Disclaimer: News24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of columnists published on News24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of News24. Read more on: cape town | racism

https://www.news24.com/Columnists/MaxduPreez/when-will-we-be-released-from-the-burden-of-racism-20190102

Can Patrick McCaw help fix Cleveland Cavaliers' inability to defend point guards?

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Way back on Opening Night, Toronto Raptors All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry torched the Cleveland Cavaliers, scoring 27 points to go with eight assists while making 10 of his 12 shots. Call it a precursor of what was to come this season. More than two months later, the Cavaliers still have few answers when it comes to defending opposing lead guards. "I can see him doing some of that, absolutely," head coach Larry Drew said when asked if McCaw would get a chance to defend high-level backcourt players. "What we've done, against scoring point guards like Mike Conley, like Trae Young, we did switch our matchups and go bigger on both guys. That seemed to have some effect." Since sliding into the starting lineup for an injured Rodney Hood, Alec Burks has taken over that defensive role. Burks, who is 6-foot-6, helped pester Mike Conley into a 15-point, 6-of-16 shooting night last week. Burks' combination of length and athleticism bothered Hawks rookie Young early in Saturday's game, forcing Young to get yanked after struggling in the first three minutes. Young rebounded, started hunting switches and finished with 21 points on 8-of-16 from the field. McCaw, listed at 6-foot-7 with long arms, brings some of those same characteristics as Burks. "Some point guards have a problem with size. I see Patrick in that same role. I think he has that ability to play a smaller point guard," Drew said. "He really defends well on the ball. He's athletic and he has long arms and he gets his hands on a lot of balls defensively. You can't play with the ball in front of him. He's got a knack for coming up with it. "I really like his on-ball defense, because he has long arms and he really gets down in a stance. I saw something (at practice) that I was very happy to see from a defensive standpoint, that we have been struggling with this year. He certainly has some tangibles that really excite us." Drew compared McCaw to Corey Brewer. McCaw said he doesn't have a specific position. He called himself a "basketball player," one that brings the necessary tools to play -- and defend -- multiple spots. But defending point guards is where the Cavs need the most help. Even with some decent performances recently, they rank 27th in points allowed to the position. The only teams worse: Atlanta, Detroit and Washington. Rookie Collin Sexton is at the center of the issue. Statistically, he has been one of the league's worst defensive players. According to ESPN's Defensive Real Plus-Minus metric -- a player's estimated on-court impact on team defensive performance, measured in points allowed per 100 defensive possessions -- Sexton ranks 465th out of 466 total players. With Sexton on the floor, opponents boast an offensive rating of 123.1. For perspective, the Warriors' No. 1 ranked offense has a rating of 112.9. With Sexton off the floor, the offensive rating drops significantly to 114.4. Sexton admitted recently that adjusting on defense has been a challenge. The amount of film work required and detailed scouting reports is a change from college. "You have to know different teams' plays," Sexton said. "As a point guard I have to know what they like to run and what positions, so I have to do more of watching film before the game." Cleveland has tried hiding him on defense. Against Memphis last week, Sexton was matched up against Garrett Temple. Sexton primarily guarded Rodney McGruder a few nights later in the Miami matchup, with the Cavs not wanting to expose Sexton against Justise Winslow or Josh Richardson. On Saturday night, Sexton spent most of his defensive possessions against rookie Kevin Huerter, who was the lowest-scoring perimeter player in the Hawks' starting group that night. Having McCaw gives the Cavs another option on defense, letting them continue the same strategy of keeping Sexton off opposing point guards. Perhaps McCaw will even help solve this big problem, one that became evident at the start of the season and has only gotten worse from there.

https://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2019/01/can_patrick_mccaw_help_with_cl.html

How many people in Northamptonshire are planning on having a Dry January?

Almost 50,000 people in Northamptonshire are expected to quit drinking for Dry January this year. Around one in ten drinkers in the UK are planning to start the new year with an entire month of sobriety, according to the charity Alcohol Change UK. Thats a grand total of 4.2 million people kicking their booze habit. In Northamptonshire, an estimated 89% of adults drink alcohol, according to the most recent figures from Public Health England. This would mean around 49,500 drinkers could be planning to go cold turkey from New Years Day. Alcohol Change UK, which runs the challenge, says those taking part can expect to feel healthier, save money, and improve their relationship with alcohol in the long term. Dr Richard Piper, CEO of Alcohol Change UK, said: Put simply, Dry January can change lives. Many of us know about the health risks of alcohol seven forms of cancer, liver disease, mental health problems but we are often unaware that drinking less has more immediate benefits too. Sleeping better, feeling more energetic, saving money, better skin, losing weight. The list goes on. Alcohol abstinence in Northamptonshire is far less popular than in other parts of the country. Only around 11% of people say they live booze-free lives, compared to 15% across England. The area also has a higher than average population of heavy drinkers. Around 28% of people say they drink more than 14 units of alcohol a week- the NHS recommended safe limit - compared to 26% across England. Thats the equivalent of more than six pints of average strength beer or six standard glasses of wine. NHS guidelines also advise against binge drinking, which it defines as drinking lots of alcohol in a short space of time or drinking to get drunk. But in Northamptonshire, 20% of adults surveyed admitted to binge drinking on their heaviest day of drinking in the last week. Dr Piper continued: The brilliant thing about Dry January is that its not really about January. Being alcohol-free for 31 days shows us that we dont need alcohol to have fun, to relax, to socialise. That means that for the rest of the year we are better able to make decisions about our drinking, and to avoid slipping into drinking more than we really want to.

https://www.northantstelegraph.co.uk/news/how-many-people-in-northamptonshire-are-planning-on-having-a-dry-january-1-8755249

How many people in Leicestershire are planning on having a Dry January?

Almost 50,000 people in Leicestershire are expected to quit drinking for Dry January this year. About one in ten drinkers in the UK are planning to start the new year with an entire month of sobriety, according to the charity Alcohol Change UK. Thats a grand total of 4.2 million people kicking their booze habit. In Leicestershire, an estimated 92% of adults drink alcohol, according to the most recent figures from Public Health England. This would mean around 48,900 drinkers could be planning to go cold turkey from New Years Day. Alcohol Change UK, which runs the challenge, says those taking part can expect to feel healthier, save money, and improve their relationship with alcohol in the long term. Dr Richard Piper, CEO of Alcohol Change UK, said: Put simply, Dry January can change lives. Many of us know about the health risks of alcohol seven forms of cancer, liver disease, mental health problems but we are often unaware that drinking less has more immediate benefits too. Sleeping better, feeling more energetic, saving money, better skin, losing weight. The list goes on. Alcohol abstinence in Leicestershire is far less popular than in other parts of the country. Only around 8% of people say they live booze-free lives, compared to 15% across England. The area also has a higher than average population of heavy drinkers. Around 30% of people say they drink more than 14 units of alcohol a week- the NHS recommended safe limit - compared to 26% across England. Thats the equivalent of more than six pints of average strength beer or six standard glasses of wine. NHS guidelines also advise against binge drinking, which it defines as drinking lots of alcohol in a short space of time or drinking to get drunk. But in Leicestershire, 21% of adults surveyed admitted to binge drinking on their heaviest day of drinking in the last week. Dr Piper continued: The brilliant thing about Dry January is that its not really about January. Being alcohol-free for 31 days shows us that we dont need alcohol to have fun, to relax, to socialise. That means that for the rest of the year we are better able to make decisions about our drinking, and to avoid slipping into drinking more than we really want to.

https://www.harboroughmail.co.uk/news/how-many-people-in-leicestershire-are-planning-on-having-a-dry-january-1-8755229

Is 2019 a leap year and when is the next one?

We are into 2019 now and many are wondering if we are experiencing a leap year. Most of the world follows the Gregorian calendar which consists of 365 days, but every four years it adds an extra day, giving us a leap year. At least six dead after train crashes on bridge over 10-mile stretch of water This extra 24 hours is important in ensuring the calendar doesnt go out of sync, so February 29 comes to the rescue. If it wasnt added, then we could eventually be braving the winter during what we know as the summer months. It can be a nuisance for some, particularly people who are born on a leap day, as they will only be able to celebrate their birth date once every four years. Leapers often use either 28 February or 1 March as their substitute birthday. The extra day has also become a traditional time for women to propose to men. The earth doesnt orbit the sun in exactly 365 days. Advertisement Advertisement Leap years normally take place every four years, meaning that the next leap year will be 2020. The leap day will be Saturday 29 February 2020, while the last leap day fell on Monday 29 February 2016. The next five leap years will be 2020, 2024, 2028, 2032 and 2036. Leap days are added every four years because the earth doesnt orbit the sun in exactly 365 days. The extra day helps to ensure that the calendar year remains synced up with the solar year. MORE: All the full moon dates for 2019 in the UK MORE: Evil woman who helped husband abduct child sex slave moves in next to school

https://metro.co.uk/2019/01/02/is-2019-a-leap-year-and-when-is-the-next-one-8300299/

What Could Be Wrong with a Little Moral Clarity?

During the 2004 presidential campaign, George W. Bush would defend the prosecution of the war he started by reiterating Bennetts themes the vigilance and courage required for singleminded action, the flaccidity of dissent. I will continue to lead with clarity, Bush said during one news conference, in a resolute way. This clarity, of course, proved more perishable than first believed: American momentum in the Middle East soon petered out inside a self-made labyrinth, replete with traps and dead ends. Over the past 15 years, the association of moral clarity with a bellicose approach to overseas affairs has faded only slightly. Rarely does international politics present a moment of such moral clarity, Charles Krauthammer wrote in The Washington Post in 2014 defending what others perceived, no less clearly, as an Israeli war of collective punishment that killed more than 2,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly civilians. (Moral clarity has been a euphemism in constant use through this conflict, as in Alan Dershowitzs book The Case for Moral Clarity: Israel, Hamas and Gaza.) After the death of John McCain, a fierce advocate for any and all wars, the senator was praised for his voice of moral clarity by Jennifer Rubin, another conservative columnist at The Post. Rubin contrasted McCains enthusiasm for doing the right thing overseas with the Trump administrations indifference to human rights, but President Trump himself was no stranger to the discourse of clarity regarding Muslims. Anyone who cannot name our enemy is not fit to lead this country, he said during a 2016 campaign speech, adding that anyone who cannot condemn the hatred, oppression and violence of radical Islam lacks the moral clarity to serve as our president. There seemed to be an opening, after Barack Obamas election, for moral clarity to become a liberal watchword. Perhaps the philosopher Susan Neiman, whose 2008 book Moral Clarity: A Guide for Grown-Up Idealists argued for a liberal reembrace of such language, could have served as its Bennett. Yet by 2011, it had become clear that, regarding foreign policy and economics, the Obama White House would lean instead toward pragmatism and accommodation, not the stubborn force of moral commitment. Alexandria OcasioCortezs congressional bid was preceded by a decade in which many youthful nonreactionaries despaired of democratic institutions ability to deliver any kind of systemic change and chafed at the obtuse contempt with which older, more established liberals frequently reacted to demands for bolder action. Its only natural that, having been chosen to replace one such established Democrat, OcasioCortez would argue that moral clarity was not the province of radicals or dreamy idealists, but exactly the kind of principled action her constituents had voted for.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/02/magazine/what-could-be-wrong-with-a-little-moral-clarity.html

Was I Wrong to Facebook-Friend My Nephews Girlfriend?

When they reached their full majority, they respectfully and clearly told him they wanted no further contact. A few years later, he got in touch only to say he hopes they are well and happy. They did not respond. There are no inheritance issues at stake. My quandary is that I am certain he feels a lot of pain, regret and sadness, and although I no longer love him, I feel a bond of parenthood with him, and in the best world I would want him to know how they are. I have honored my childrens wishes, and will continue to do so, as my relationship is now only with them, but I also feel his desire to know how his children are doing theyre doing very well is right, justified and sincere, so I feel utterly conflicted. I know the children will not change their minds and that they would feel betrayed if I contact him with news. But almost every day I think about my responsibility or duty to him, as my partner in creating these exceptional children, and it plagues me more with each year, due to creeping up in age and because I try to be guided by kindness and doing the least harm. If I decide its best not ever to contact him, I want to find peace about not doing so, but I dont see how. I am on a razors edge and dont know what to do. Name Withheld Here weve got a very different story of intergenerational disaffection. Your children have made a decision that is, in your view, unfair to their father. You should tell them so and ask them to reconsider. If, as you say, theres no chance of their changing their minds, youll at least have set your own at ease. But they dont have the right to stop you from maintaining ties with him, any more than you have the right to stop them from severing ties with him. So let them know that you plan to pass on news about them from time to time. And if they ask you not to, you can say that just as youve agreed to respect their decision, they should respect yours. A friend of mine recently did an online crowdsourcing effort to attract money to fund her new small-business venture. She obtained her goal of many thousands of dollars. The problem I have is that I stopped by her home recently and discovered that she and her husband purchased a new (used) Jeep that Im guessing cost more than the amount she asked for. They also own newer, nice vehicles, an S.U.V. and a large pickup truck, as well as an expensive motorcycle, a camper and a boat. Now, if I needed extra cash, I would consider selling something and most certainly not buy another set of wheels. There was not a hint of guilt when I was admiring the new Jeep. I feel stupid for contributing money toward her campaign. Name Withheld, Cape Cod, Mass. If the money she raised was from investors as with sites like Wefunder and Crowdfunder there isnt necessarily any problem here. They gave her money for the business, and she owes them interest or stock or dividends or whatever else she offered on the terms that were agreed. (Lets assume there hasnt been any commingling of business and personal funds.) But there is a problem if this was free money given by generous people wanting to support someone in difficulty with no expectation of an economic return. She plainly didnt need all the money she raised to start the business; she had funds of her own. One trouble with those sorts of crowdsourcing websites such as GoFundMe is that its very easy to mislead people. Caveat donor is a good motto here.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/02/magazine/was-i-wrong-to-facebook-friend-my-nephews-girlfriend.html

Will Pelosi Open the Floor to Bipartisan Ideas?

Nancy Pelosi is returning as speaker of the House of Representatives amid a partisan standoff that has made it virtually impossible to move forward on major legislation requiring the support of both Democrats and Republicans. Now, she has a chance to fix at least part of the problem. Prodded by some House Democrats, in late November she agreed to establish a more open process for working on legislation and to allow more votes on amendments supported by both parties. The changes in rules, expected to come to a vote after the House reconvenes Thursday, will help set the parameters for Ms. Pelosis second stint as speaker. Historically, amendment votes have been critical to legislation, allowing in a variety of ideas. They are one way for lawmakers to change a bills contents after it goes through committee, or when it skips that step entirely. They are often used on spending bills to get lawmakers on record on important issues and to build consensus solutions. But since the House began using electronic voting in 1973, minority party members have increasingly adopted the floor amendment one of the few legislative tools available to them as a way to force their opponents to cast politically difficult or symbolic votes. In response, House majority party leaders have clamped down on amendments to shield their members from those electorally risky votes.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/02/upshot/will-pelosi-open-the-floor-to-bipartisan-ideas.html

Can the charter of patients rights provide real protections against hospital malpractices?

One of the big health debates that will continue in 2019 is the the protection of patients in Indias poorly regulated medical sector. One move that can help strengthen such protections is the adoption and implementation of the Charter for Patients Rights. The National Human Rights Commission prepared the draft and adopted it in August following which the health ministry released the document for public comments. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is still in the process of finalising the draft Charter of Patients Rights. The comprehensive document enumerates the rights of patients as well as protection and redressal mechanisms in cases of violations by doctors and hospitals to be made enforceable through existing regulatory frameworks across the country. The charter comes after two high profile cases of alleged medical negligence and over-billing at Medanta Hospital in Delhi and Fortis Hospital in Gurugram triggered a national conversation about widespread malpractices at both government and private hospitals. The discussion around the draft charter has highlighted the fault lines between patients rights activists and medical doctors, especially those working in the private sector, with the former seeking even stronger protections of patients and the latter insisting on emphasis on patients responsibilities. In its present form, the draft charter details 17 rights of patients, including right to adequate and relevant information about their illness and treatment, right to emergency medical care without any conditions, right to informed consent before any test or treatment, right to confidentiality as well and human dignity and privacy, right to a second opinion, right to transparency in rates, right to non-discrimination and right to redressal in case of complaints against a doctor or hospital. The National Human Rights Commission has proposed that this charter be implemented through all regulatory frameworks, said Dr Abhay Shukla, member of the commissions core group on health and convener of the Jan Swasthya Abhiyan. Once it becomes part of a standard set of rules, then it is like any other standard. Just as a hospital is supposed to keep a certain number of square feet for a bed or have certain facilities, it will also have to observe patients rights. If they do not observe patients rights, there will be penalties. Shukla said that especially with the massive national health insurance programme, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, being rolled out with extensive participation of private hospitals, it was imperative to ensure patient protections. How can we hand over thousands of crores to private hospitals without expecting them to observe patients rights? he asked. Doctors demand their own protections Bodies like the Indian Medical Association and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry have suggested changes to the health ministry to reflect their view that doctors and medical establishments also need to be given protection. One provision that FICCI has contested is the right of a patient to choose the source for obtaining medicines or tests, arguing that this can only be applied to out-patients. In an in-patient setting it can not only be deleterious, it can be fatal, said Dr Narottam Puri, advisor to the FICCI Health Services Committee, former chairman of the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers and and ENT specialist at Fortis Hospital in Delhi. Suppose, someone is admitted in the Intensive Care Unit and the relative looking after him says that he does not want the injection or antibiotic given at the hospital because is costs Rs 20 more than outside. If you want to allow this for in-patients then you should indemnify the doctor and the hospital and dont sue them. The charter also provides for the right to obtain discharge or for the body of a deceased to be released without delay on procedural grounds, that is, discharge or release of a body cannot be withheld if a bill is not paid or payment is contested. Dr Ramendra Tandon, secretary general of the Indian Medical Association, said that this provision is incomplete if the document does not also emphasise patients obligations to pay their bills. Someone should take the responsibility to make payment, he said. Not discharging patients or releasing a dead body is not acceptable but someone has to take the responsibility to make the payment. That should be made clear and it cannot be open-ended. Patients responsibilities Puri and Tandon were quick to bring up protections for doctors and medical establishments, given the number of reports of violence against them across the country in recent years. There is no mention at all about violence against doctors, said Puri. You are making every law to give rights to patients but where is the law to protect caregivers? At least 19 states have enacted laws prohibiting violence against medical practitioners and damage of medical establishments but the doctors claim that these are poorly implemented. The draft charter also lists five responsibilities of patients, including that patients and caregivers should not resort to violence in any form. The doctors bodies want a longer, more comprehensive list of responsibilities. Several public health activists have argued that the charter should have not have patients responsibilities slipped in because these may be used as excuses for hospitals not to ensure the enumerated rights. Not only do private hospitals have money and muscle power but doctors themselves are extremely privileged, said Akhila Vasan, an activist with the Karnataka Janaarogya Chaaluvali. They are hegemonically much more powerful in terms of class, caste and knowledge backgrounds. This is an extremely unequal situation. The section on patients responsibilities that has been slipped in must be contested. Question of implementation The charter recommends that all states and union territories adopt the charter in the entire range of existing and emerging regulatory frameworks for healthcare. States like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand that have adopted the central Clinical Establishments Act must include the rights enumerated in the charter into the law as should states like West Bengal and Karnataka that have enacted their own versions of the central law. Even in states that do not have the Clinical Establishments Act, they can start displaying the hospital in government hospitals and private hospitals that receive state subsidies in any form or charitable hospitals, said Shukla. In that way patients will start seeing it, it will become part of the discourse and hospitals will have to ensure these rights. Further, the charter recommends that central and state governments ensure grievance redressal mechanisms for patients. The first step is an internal grievance officer within every clinical establishment. If this officer fails to resolve the problem, it can be escalated to the district registering authority, failing which a patient can approach the state councils and expect resolution within 30 days. An analysis from the University of Toronto in 2012 of patients rights charters in 39 countries showed that such documents have been largely ineffective in ensuring protections unless patients have a cheap, accessible and independent complaints process. Many countries have appointed independent ombudsmen or commissioners to look into patient complaints. One of the thing that was demanded under the Karnataka Private Medical Establishments Act amendment was to have a tribunal that will hear cases of patients right violations that will be heard by a district judge at the district level and a high court judge at the high court level, said Vasan. A tribunal will provide a lot more space in terms of enforcement rather than consumer protections forums.

https://scroll.in/pulse/907502/can-the-charter-of-patients-rights-provide-real-protections-against-hospital-malpractices

Is Pakistan-India ice silently breaking?

In May, in most parts of Pakistan and India the ice usually melts rapidly with the punishing heat, but next year it could break instead between the two countries. Prime Minister Imran Khan must have a good reason for believing so when he expressed the hope to The Washington Post recently that talks between the sullen neighbours could resume after the Indian elections in May 2019. On the one hand the contest would be a referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modis controversy-laden tenure, and on the other the keen fight between the rightwing ultra-nationalist establishment and a Congress-led opposition could harbour clues to the future tweaking of New Delhis difficult relations with its South Asian neighbours, beginning with Pakistan. The announcement of a billion-plus-dollar Indian support to the Maldives late in the year is being seen as a diplomatic manoeuvre to keep China from gaining more influence in South Asia than it already has. By most accounts, Mr Modi may have missed a big chance to change the discourse with Pakistan in 2018, which would have been to his benefit, even perhaps electorally, and to the region as a whole. But the opportunity to improve bilateral ties, which in turn would usher a better era of regional engagement is bound to come with or without Modi sooner than later. Pakistans recent declaration that Indias involvement was needed to resolve the Afghan question comes as a new paradigm to ponder for all concerned, particularly those that have a bigger stake in a peaceful resolution of the blood-drenched conflict. Consider also that President Trump would not want canvass support for a second term in 2020 with the baggage of American casualties and a virtual defeat at the hands of the Taliban staring him in the face. That is clearly a factor in the fresh assessment he has made with regard to Pakistans current and future role in ending the Afghan conflict. Russia, China and Iran are also weighing in with that objective. India would not wish to be left out from the high table of global diplomacy already underway. PM Khan is also understood to have hinted that a resolution to the Kashmir imbroglio may not be a distant dream, and speculation is rife about reviving the Dr Manmohan Singh-General Musharraf formula to end the tragic stalemate in the valley. This would inherently come with the added advantage to India of an open-arm welcome to join the economic corridor initiated by China to open up the region to myriad benefits, all packed with affirmation of a shared interest. The business elite in India would want to agree to a favourable deal in this regard with China and Pakistan. There is an untenable narrative that a military standoff with Pakistan helps the person in the saddle in Delhi to swing the votes. If that were so, Atal Bihari Vajpayees vote count would not have fallen but risen in the wake of the Kargil outing. Similarly, Singhs refusal to move the military against Pakistan over the November 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai should have cost him his job. Instead, he won a second term with his phlegmatic appeal that led to Sharm el Sheikh. Prime Minister Khan has made several overtures in tandem with the military to improve ties with India, and the alacrity with which he moved on the Kartarpur corridor to ease visa-less travel for Sikh pilgrims appears to have taken Delhi by surprise. The corridor is critical now for both sides as Sikhisms first Guru is believed to have lived for the last 18 years of his life at the site where the Kartarpur gurdwara was built. A needless and potentially self-defeating controversy was set off by Delhi when Navjot Sidhu, a former cricketer and a Sikh politician and a friend of Imran Khan, struck up a spontaneous accord on a visit to Pakistan with the army chief. But perhaps the most important gesture that came from the Pakistan leader in his efforts to mend ties with India has been his reference to the Mumbai nightmare of November 2008 as an act of terrorism, which he said needs to be fully investigated in Pakistan for the countrys own good. India on its part has repeated its calls for the prosecution of people it says were masterminds and facilitators of the attacks in Mumbai. It blames the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) for the carnage, and says Pakistan had shown little sincerity in bringing the perpetrators to justice. In his interview with the Post, Mr Khan said: We also want something done about the bombers of Mumbai. I have asked our government to find out the status of the case. Resolving that case is in our interest because it was an act of terrorism. But he is equally aware of the fraught circumstances he is dealing with. Mr Khan, who spoke about Pakistan taking two steps for peace for every step taken by India in his first speech after his party won the general election, referred to the reasons why he believes his peace overtures had been rejected by New Delhi. I know, because India has elections coming up. The ruling party has an anti-Muslim, anti-Pakistan approach. They rebuffed all my overtures, he said. I have opened a visa-free peace corridor with India called Kartarpur. Lets hope that after the election is over, we can again resume talks with India. Lets all of us hope too.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1455047/is-pakistan-india-ice-silently-breaking?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dawn-news+%28Dawn+News%29

Why Has the World Gone Easy on Cristiano Ronaldo?

Juventus, meanwhile, issued a statement praising Ronaldos professionalism and dedication, adding, The events allegedly dating back to almost 10 years ago do not change this opinion, which is shared by anyone who has come into contact with this great champion. Fernando Gomes, president of Portugals soccer federation, said, In my name and in the name of the Portuguese Football Federation, I express total solidarity with Cristiano Ronaldo, in a circumstance where his good name and reputation are at risk. Some Italian news outlets ignored the rape accusation until it started to affect Juventus share price, said Susy Campanale, a soccer journalist who edits the Football Italia website. (The clubs stock stabilized in late October.) And some papers explicitly sided with him. Cristiano Crucified, declared the sports daily Corriere dello Sport. Tuttosport ran his photograph beside the headline Pi forte del fango, or stronger than the mud-slinging. On social media, Italian soccer fans initially split along partisan lines, with Juventus supporters defending him and rivals reveling in the possibility of his downfall. But what controversy there was has since subsided. People in Italy didnt care about it at all, said Ilaria Maroni, an Italian sports writer based in New York. The majority of the people didnt believe the story was true. They only believed the girl wanted to get more money out of it. To wit, the Italian newspaper La Repubblica was inundated with hostile comments after publishing a letter in October from a 27-year-old woman who criticized Juventus statement of support for Ronaldo. Mayorga cannot say she has been raped, one commenter wrote. Either she was giving consent, or she staged the whole thing to get money. It was disconcerting, yet really not that surprising, to see the reaction from women, said Campanale, of Football Italia. They tended to range from Hes rich, handsome and successful, he doesnt need to rape anybody to If a woman is raped, she goes to the police straight away and doesnt accept a payout. Mayorga has not spoken publicly since Der Spiegel published the story, and her lawyer, Leslie Stovall, did not respond to a request for comment. But Antje Windmann, one of the reporters who worked on the story for Der Spiegel, said she has spoken with Mayorga about the reaction to her allegation. She was desperate and heartbroken about what people think about her nowthat she wants his money or that shes a disappointed lover, Windmann said. She felt completely helpless. The allegation is not the first #MeToo claim to meet a cold reception in Italy. After Italian film actress and director Asia Argento accused Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault in 2017, she said she felt doubly crucifiedfirst by the assault itself, then by the hostile reaction in her home country. Argentos case offers a prime example of Italys broader victim-blaming culture, said Farren, the Womens March organizer. #MeToo, I think its fair to say, just has not been a cultural phenomenon in Italy the way it has been elsewhere, said Rachel Vogelstein, who runs the Women and Foreign Policy Program at the Council on Foreign Relations. The media still remains hostile to women who speak out, so I think the conversation continues to remain an uphill battle. What Happens When the Worlds Most Famous Athlete Is Accused of Rape? a New York magazine story asked in early October. This is the most famous athlete on the planet credibly accused of a heinous crime of sexual assault, Will Leitch wrote, referring to Ronaldo. It is unprecedented, and it is going to tell us everything about how the world of #MeToo is either going to crash against the world of sports or become a part of it. The answer thus far to the articles question is clear: Not much happens at all. Ronaldo continues to play every week, with nary a mention about the allegations against him. While Italys resistance to the #MeToo movement has certainly helped Ronaldo, so too has his prowess on the pitch. Soccer is an extremely protective environment in Italy, Farren said. Soccer comes before almost anything. But its not just soccer. #MeToo has yet to make inroads in the sports world, where tribal affinities often outweigh ethical concernseven in the U.S., where the movement originated and has been the most influential. Big-name American athletes have been accused of sexual misconduct over the years, often with only minor consequences. Former L.A. Lakers guard Kobe Bryant and Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger were accused of sexual assault at the peak of their careers; they lost endorsement deals, but not their jobs. Their cases also predated #MeToo. In a more recent case, quarterback Jameis Winston was the number-one pick in the 2015 NFL draft despite a rape accusation against him, and he continued to play this season after a second allegation surfaced in September. Broadly speaking, the world of professional sports to date has not really been significantly changed by #MeToo, said Vogelstein, the Council on Foreign Relations official. That world is really notorious for silencing claims of sexual violence. The accusation against Ronaldo differs in some important respects from many of the stories that have surfaced during the #MeToo era. Mayorga was not Ronaldos subordinate, or even involved in the sports industry; he was unlikely to make or break her career. Unlike Weinstein or Bill Cosby, Ronaldo has not been charged with a crime. Its possible that soccer fans, the media, and corporate sponsors are withholding judgment until Las Vegas police completes its investigation. Then again, accused men have suffered professional repercussions before the conclusion of official inquiries, or even in their absence. The muted reaction may have more to do with the gender dynamics of sports than the details of the legal process. Sports fandom is so invested in this elite form of masculinity that really in some ways is consistent with sexual aggression, said Susan Cahn, a history professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo who studies gender in sports. Male athletes in their prime really represent a kind of virility thats physical but also sexual. Fans want to escape daily life, and so anything that enters into the sports realm or enters into this escape mechanism really turns them off, said Adam Earnheardt, an expert on sports fandom who chairs the communications department at Youngstown State University in Ohio. When NFL players knelt during the national anthem, some fans were upset simply because the protests were violating their escape, Earnheardt said. They didnt want to think about politics. Still, he said, Roethlisberger faced criticism from fans who once cheered for him. And memories of the accusation against Bryant have lingered: In October, he was removed from the jury of a cartoon film festival he was slated to judge after backlash from the animation community. The Ronaldo story would have had greater attention, would have had probably a bigger reaction, if he were a sports star in the United States, Earnheardt said. Juventus has ten official supporters clubs in the United States. Fabrizio Capobianco, an Italian expat, founded the Silicon Valley branch in 2015. He said his clubs membership has almost doubled, to more than 100 people, since Ronaldo joined the team. He has changed the way the team plays, Capobianco said. They just walk into the pitch knowing they are going to win because the best player on the planet is playing with them. As for the rape accusation, Capobianco says it hasnt been a major concern for the California-based Juventus fans who gather every weekend to cheer on their new hero. In Italy, he noted, Soccer is first and everything else comes after. As long as he doesnt actually go to jail and he can play on Sunday, I think people will be fine, Capobianco said. Were hoping this disappears.

https://newrepublic.com/article/152828/world-gone-easy-cristiano-ronaldo

Could Altering Memories Help Treat Addiction?

This fall, a person addicted to cocaine arrived at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. There, he or she watched a video of people using cocaine and was shown a small bag of what appeared to be either crack or powder cocaine, along with other drug-related paraphernalia. These cues were specifically designed to evoke memories of previous cocaine use and trigger intense craving. Shortly afterwards, the individual was given a powerful pharmaceutical called propranolol that interferes with the brains ability to form memories. All of this may sound like a bad idea, but its actually a new and promising experimental treatment for addiction. Outside the controlled environment of a hospital, such a procedure would be risky, but this person the last participant in a trial to test a new approach for preventing relapse was carefully monitored on site and for six weeks after going home. Recently, much attention has focused on addiction as a chronic disease, but Mike Saladin, the research and clinical psychologist who led the study, explains that addiction is, in part, a disorder of learning and memory. The goal of his study is to reactivate memories of drug use and then weaken them so they lose their power. The trial is one of 10 or more over the past decade inspired by lab experiments with rodents showing that memory can be manipulated to lessen its influence on addictive behavior. Researchers like Saladin arent trying to change the content of peoples memories. Instead, he says, were turning down the volume so that particular cues dont excite drug use the way they used to. Although the approach sounds like science fiction, its based on an understanding of learning and memory that goes back to an accidental discovery at the beginning of the last century, when the physiologist Ivan Pavlov, who was studying digestion in dogs, found that by repeatedly pairing a cue such as the tick of a metronome with the provision of food, the dogs would learn to salivate when they heard the noise even before the meal arrived. The same associative learning applies to addiction. When you learn that the pop of a wine cork predicts you will soon be enjoying a drink, youve created a memory. The more meaningful the experience and the more often youve paired those two events, the stronger the memory, even though it may be unconscious. Saladin points out that people who have long substance use histories are responding to a myriad of cues, some of which they are not really aware of. Ravi Das, a psychologist at University College London, is also testing ways to modify memories in order to treat addiction. Our brains are great at learning around rewards and what predicts them, he says, noting that smells, sounds, and even people can serve as cues that promote relapse. This may help explain why 40 to 60 percent of people who have found a way to stop using drugs eventually relapse. Even if theyve succeeded in staying off drugs for weeks or months or years, the paired association between cues and rewards can reactivate those drug memories, creating an overwhelming desire to use again. Although we tend to think of longstanding memories as permanent, learning can be reversed, as Pavlov discovered with his dogs. When he repeatedly stopped providing food after starting the metronome, the dogs no longer salivated when they heard the cue. Targeting memories in order to treat addiction, as well as anxiety, is not entirely new. The concept is the basis for extinction learning (also called exposure therapy), in which patients in the safe environment of a therapists office are exposed to environmental cues that normally trigger maladaptive memories. Because theyre exposed repeatedly to the cues without the response, those cues should gradually lose their power. But its not that straightforward. It can be hard to transfer that new learning from the lab, to the therapists office, to the unpredictable chaos of the real world. This is the million-dollar question, says R. Kathryn McHugh, a research and clinical psychologist at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, who treats anxiety and substance use disorders. People have been looking at this for decades now. In the lab, you absolutely can extinguish these cues. You can decrease craving. Yet studies to assess the efficacy of incorporating cue exposure with cognitive behavioral therapy to treat alcohol addiction in earlier decades didnt show much of a benefit, says McHugh. If the basic research can make that jump more effectively, that would be a tremendous tool for us to have. David Epstein, who heads up the Real-world Assessment, Prediction, and Treatment Unit at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, is at the forefront of trying to make that jump. We cant treat addiction just by using extinction, in which someone is repeatedly exposed to drug-related cues until the cues cease to induce craving, he said via email, because extinction doesnt generalize outside the environment where it occurs. Researchers in this nascent field aim to solve that problem by tinkering with how patients are exposed to cues. They were inspired in part by recent advances in treating post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, in which maladaptive memories are triggered by stimuli associated with the original event, like a news report of an assault, or a sudden loud noise. Nearly a decade ago, neuroscientists studying these so-called fear memories discovered what seemed to be a way around the weakness of extinction learning. Their method was based on the idea that when memories are reactivated, they are temporarily unstable. (It makes sense for memories to be fluid and dynamic, capable of incorporating new information, so they can help us make accurate predictions about the future.) Normally the memory would subsequently re-stabilize, says Das, who was not involved in these early studies. The trick was to make sure the behavioral therapy happened while the window of vulnerability was still open. Surprisingly, simply inserting a correctly timed pause between reactivating the memory and providing extinction learning was all that was needed to break the link between the cue and the fear memory, making the new approach more effective in both rodents and humans. Epstein helped analyze the results of a clinical trial published in 2012 that sought to reduce heroin craving by inserting these properly timed cues prior to therapy. The research team, based at Peking University in Beijing, worked with hospitalized patients who had detoxified. If the researchers activated the drug-reward memory by showing a video of heroin use, but waited 10 minutes before beginning an hour-long extinction session, they could reduce their patients craving. However, if they waited six hours or more, it was too late. The memory had already reconsolidated without the new learning, and the craving for heroin was as strong as before. This is so remarkable on its face that I wouldnt believe it if it hadnt been replicated, says Epstein, who points to follow-up studies in rats and humans. Six years later, Epstein is now enrolling patients in the first clinical trial in this country testing a similar approach to treat alcohol misuse, but hes added a new maneuver to address another weakness of extinction learning. Normally exposure cues that are just images, sounds, smells, or words associated with the drug are only capable of making a subset of drug-reward memories unstable. In Epsteins trial, the cue for some participants will consist of drinking the alcohol itself. The hope is that this technique will, as Epstein puts it, get you to the hub of where all learned associations are stored, instead of having to weaken them one by one. For safety reasons, any test subjects who drink alcohol will stay in the hospital until their blood alcohol levels are very low and will then be taken home. Over the course of the following month, everyone in the trial will use a smartphone to keep track of their drinking and craving. At University College London, Das is also testing memory manipulation to prevent relapse, but instead of using extinction learning to modify the memory, he uses drugs to block its reconsolidation. Ninety college graduates who drank heavily at least four times a week participated in a recent trial. They were at risk of transitioning to alcohol addiction and wanted to cut back. As with the heroin users in the 2012 study, these so-called hazardous drinkers were exposed to visual cues such as pictures of beer and were asked to rate how appealing the images were. This procedure alone should reactivate drinking memories, making them temporarily unstable, but Das added a twist. Its harder with these reward memories because theyre really robust, says Das. So, you have to get the parameters right during the retrieval in order to destabilize. On the first day of the experiment, participants were allowed to drink a glass of beer at the end of the rating session. When they returned the following day, they began the session assuming that the procedure would be the same. But after rating the pictures and being instructed to pick up the glass and prepare to drink, the beer was withheld at the very last moment. Das hope is that this extra element of surprise, which neuroscientists call a prediction error, will destabilize the memory more than just a simple retrieval would. The theory is that if the function of memory is to make accurate predictions, any time your predictions are wrong memories require more updating than usual. The coup de grace to the memory occurs five to 10 minutes later with the administration of a drug called ketamine, a safe and widely used anesthetic which, at the low dose used in this trial, causes a psychedelic dissociative experience. Ketamine blocks certain receptors on the surfaces of neurons called NMDA receptors, which Das says have been shown to be key to restabilizing memories once theyve been destabilized. This blockade makes it difficult for the now-destabilized and weaker alcohol reward memory to reform. In the trial, which concluded in September, one third of the hazardous drinkers went through this procedure, another third got saline solution instead of ketamine, and the final third received ketamine but only rated pictures of orange juice. All the subjects kept diaries and returned one week, one month, three months, six months, and nine months later to report on their drinking. Das called the preliminary results encouraging and presented a poster session on the trial at a recent conference in Barcelona. Das acknowledges that there is some stigma against using a psychedelic drug to treat drug addiction. But he argues that if it proves effective, that concern should be put aside. If it works, then it works, and you have to weigh up the cost-benefit of giving people a single dose of ketamine versus repeatedly drinking heavily on an almost nightly basis for many years. In the cocaine cue exposure trial in Charleston, South Carolina, Saladin uses a beta-blocking drug called propranolol commonly used to treat high blood pressure which accumulating evidence suggests may be effective in treating anxiety disorders and modulating memory. The five-year study he is now concluding is the follow-up to an earlier trial to treat cravings and reduce relapse in cocaine users. In that first trial, session participants who received propranolol reported less craving the next day, but when they returned for evaluation one week later, there was no significant difference between them and participants who did not receive propranolol. In the new trial, Saladin is using two retrieval sessions instead of just one, and testing double the original dose of propranolol to see if drug reward memories will be weakened enough to prevent craving and cocaine use for longer than a day. Participants will be evaluated 18 times over the course of six weeks so researchers can document their craving in response to cues both in and out of the hospital, and to find out whether they have used cocaine. Theories about precisely whats going on are just that theories. Its possible that memories are not reconsolidating. Theres no consensus on whether these reconsolidation-targeted treatments really weaken or erase memories at the neural level. Its possible that the memories are still physically present, but difficult to access. In practical terms, that might be fine unless the memories return, says Epstein. And memory manipulation does not address the underlying and complex reasons that lead to substance use disorders in the first place. So its not yet clear how effective this approach will be for individuals who struggle with depression, anxiety, or a history of trauma. Finally, its often the case that people use multiple drugs and are vulnerable to relapsing on multiple drugs. That could mean having to use separate memory manipulation treatments for each substance. For these and other reasons, researchers are treading cautiously while also recognizing the urgent need for better treatment of addiction. These people are in desperate circumstances and help is necessary, says Saladin, adding that reducing suffering is critical. Lauren Aguirre is a freelance science journalist based in Boston and a former staff editor, writer, and producer for the PBS series NOVA. She is currently writing a book about memory.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/could-altering-memories-help-treat-addiction?source=articles&via=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+thedailybeast%2Farticles+%28The+Daily+Beast+-+Latest+Articles%29

Do Sleeping Bears Hold Secrets for Human Health?

by By now most of Yellowstones grizzly bears are snug hibernating in winter dens, safe at last from human dangers. But in the darkness below the snow, mysteries and miracles unfold, apropos of our Christmas season. Researchers have long known the basics of bear hibernation. These bruins dont eat or drink or excrete waste for between 150 and 180 days. But when grizzly bears crawl out of their dens in spring, they are specimens of health. They lose very little bone strength or lean muscle mass, though they may lose as much as 30 percent of their fall weight. Unlike deep hibernators like ground squirrels, bears are not unconscious during their winter slumber, which allows mother grizzlies to give birth in the dead of winter to a cub or two, each the size of a teacup, which she groggily nurses in her den until sometime during April or even May. Part of her secret involves obesity. Gorging on foods ranging from bison to ants, she packs on several pounds a day during her late summer and fall feeding frenzy. Her choice of a den site helps boost her chances of successfully reproducing. She digs her den at high elevations and on north-facing slopes where snows pile deep enough to cover the entrance hole and provide not only good insulation but also safety from predators. What happens next, physiologically, is not only fascinating, but also of potentially profound benefit to us humans although dependent on the continued ingenuity of medical researchers supported by federal research dollars. Yes and no. They are not yet able to replicate adaptations that might help people suffering from diabetes. Even though healthy bears get manifestly obese by the time they den, they do not get Type 2 diabetes. Diabetes occurs when cells are no longer able to take up sugar in response to infusions of insulin. When humans who are starving or who have uncontrolled diabetes rely on fat for energy, the body cannot handle the toxic byproducts of fat catabolism. Not so for bears. They just recycle these byproducts into making more fat. Researchers are making headway with treatments for osteoporosis. If we are inactive for months, even weeks, our bones deteriorate to the point we can no longer walk. But bears produce a parathyroid hormone that maintains bone density and strength. Today, some doctors are treating people suffering from osteoporosis with a manufactured hormone that matches what bears produce. Kidney function in bears is also weird and wonderful. If our kidneys did not excrete otherwise toxic wastes such as uric acid, we would soon die. But get this: in winter, microbes in bears guts convert urea to nitrogen to make new amino acids that are the building blocks of protein. This enables bears to maintain lean body tissue in the comfort of their own dens without eating or eliminating waste. Scientists studying hibernation are not the only ones who at some point just stand back in awe. Indeed, awe lies at the heart of the relationship between ancient cultures and bears. All species of bear share the ability to seemingly die in winter and re-emerge in spring with new life. Because of this, bears have symbolized transformation since time immemorial. In modern ecology, you hear that the grizzly bear is an umbrella species. The health of grizzly bear populations engenders health for entire ecosystems. Ancients had a different way of orienting to the same issue. There is an old story of a bear that goes into her den to dream the world into being each winter. In her imagination, she creates each plant and animal entire ecosystems during the long barren months. But I have found one story that truly baffles me, a contemporary story. It legitimizes killing bears for ego gratification and extols destroying bears that cause any problems for people. This story is the opposite of reverence and wonder. The ethos of domination and violence that drove the genocides of bears, bison, wolves, and native peoples survives today in many forms, especially in the West, and especially in our institutions of wildlife management. But people and institutions are changing. Thankfully, reverence, tolerance, and gratitude are rapidly becoming the new norm. As grizzly bears disappear into high-country dens to undertake the annual miracle of hibernation, we need to pause for reflection.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/01/02/do-sleeping-bears-hold-secrets-for-human-health/

What time is Luther on tonight and how many episodes are left in series 5?

Luther is back in 2019 (Picture: BBC Photographer: Robert Viglasky) Luther came crashing back onto our TV screens on Monday night, with the first episode of series 5. TVs best detective is back for another series, three years after the last season had its outing on BBC1. Luther returns with its second episode tonight on BBC1 at 9pm. The four-part series is broadcasting over consecutive nights, continuing on Thursday with its final episode on Friday. Luther series 5 will be a return to form (Picture: BBC) Writer and show creator Neil Cross had said in December last year: We missed John Luther. We missed some old friends. And we wanted to make the biggest, scariest, darkest, most thrilling series of Luther theres ever been. So thats what weve come back to do. Advertisement Advertisement Luther has never been scheduled to do it every year, Idris Elba recently pointed out. We do it whenever we want, and thats why this feels like a good time to come back; its just because weve been away for a while. There is unfinished business, but theres also more Luther. A new nightmare awaits DCI John Luther in series five, and he must once again confront the depths of human depravity. The official press release states: As a series of monstrous killings becomes ever more audacious, Luther and new recruit D.S. Catherine Halliday are confounded by a tangle of leads and misdirection that seems designed to protect an unspeakable horror. But even as the case brings him closer than ever to the nature of true evil, a reluctant Luther must also face the ghosts of his own past. Striding back into the line of fire, he must choose who to protect and who to sacrifice. Whatever his next move, it will have devastating consequences for those around him and change John Luther forever. Luther is back filming (Picture: BBC) Lets see a trailer To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The BBC finally released the trailer for the fifth series in November and it looks bloody good. Advertisement Advertisement A long three years has passed since we last Idris Elbas DCI Luther swooping in to save Londoners from a horrifying number of murderers and his return looks set to be as dramatic and exciting as ever. Idris Elba as Luther is finally back (Picture: BBC) Set to a revamped version of Britney Spears Toxic, the trailer sees the iconic character delve right into the deepest depths of human depravity with new recruit D.S. Catherine Halliday (Wunmi Mosaku) by his side. Luther is forced to confront his own demons of his own recent past and must choose who to protect and who to sacrifice. Yep, were bursting with anticipation too. As well as Idris and Ruth, Dermot Crowley, Michael Smiley and Patrick Malahide will return for the four-part series as DSU Martin Schenk, Benny Silver and George Cornelius; and Wunmi Mosaku, who won a BAFTA for her performance in BBC Ones Damilola, Our Loved Boy in 2017, as well as starring in current Channel 4 drama Kiri, will join as new recruit D.S. Catherine Halliday. Filming for series five, created by Emmy-nominated writer Neil Cross and produced by BBC Studios,.took place in London. Advertisement Ruth Wilson has admitted hat she is open to fronting a Luther spin-off if the script was right. The 36-year-old actress, who plays wicked research scientist Alice Morgan in the BBC1 detective drama, said that she is in talks to star in a show focused on her own villainous character. Weve talked about it actually. Yes, definitely, if the script is right and the storyline is right, she said. Its funny. People like watching her because she comes in and out. I dont know. Ruths character Alice Morgan is obsessed with Luther, played by Idris Elba (Picture: BBC) The screen star said that she would be prepared to branch out on her own because her alter ego is so multifaceted. Shes a scientist, shes incredibly intelligent. Shes not like Luther [played by Idris Elba], she told The Sun newspapers Bizarre TV column. Youd have to make the show quite different in style though, and get inside her head. Youd have to find a new pivot, but yes we have talked about it, and she is an amazing character. Whether youre late to the party or you want to relive all of the great previous series, all four seasons are available to download on BBC iPlayer, so theres no reason not to get acquainted with Luther. Luther airs on BBC One every night this week at 9pm. Series 1-4 is available to stream on BBC iPlayer now.

https://metro.co.uk/2019/01/02/time-luther-tonight-many-episodes-left-series-5-8301289/

How can young people save on rail fares in 2019?

Image copyright Getty Images Two new railcards in 2019 should mean cheaper fares for millions of young people in Britain. The long-awaited 26-to-30 railcard - known as the Millennial Railcard - goes on sale at mid-day on Wednesday. It offers a third off most leisure fares. And a new 16-to-17 railcard, to be launched in the summer, will offer 50% off all fares. The idea is to help students travelling to school or college. The categories below are valid for the whole of Britain. Fares and discounts in Northern Ireland are set locally. For 16-to-17-year-olds Currently, this age group is covered by the 16-to-25 railcard - see below - but from September, they will also be eligible for a new, more generous discount. The 16-to-17 railcard will entitle holders to a 50% discount on season tickets, peak, off-peak and advance fares. The idea is to help students travelling to college. It is not yet known whether students will have to pay a fee for the card. The government says it will announce more details in the summer. In many parts of the country, local authorities already subsidise fares for this age group, so it is not clear whether the new card will offer larger savings. For 16-to-25-year-olds The existing card offers one-third off many fares, including off-peak and anytime tickets, for anyone in the age group or in full-time education. However, there is a minimum fare of 12 for journeys that start before 10:00 on weekdays - but not in July or August, when students are on holiday. It costs 30 a year or 70 for three years. The government says the average annual saving for such cardholders is 192 a year. The card is available either as a physical document, or in an app on a phone. Image copyright RDG Image caption The 26-to-30 cards will be available in digital form only The 26-to-30 Millennial cards For a 30 fee, the new railcard will offer one-third off most leisure fares for 12 months, the same as with the 16-to-25 railcard. Journeys starting before 10:00 carry a minimum fare of 12. But unlike the card for younger passengers, that minimum fare will also apply on weekdays throughout July and August. There will be no fare reductions on season tickets or Eurostar services. The government calculates that the average passenger in this age group can save 125 a year by having a railcard. This is a digital-only card, so it needs to be stored on a mobile phone. The app can be downloaded from 26-30railcard.co.uk. Full details of all the railcards available can be found here. Under-14s Children under the age of five travel free. Those between the ages of six and 14 are eligible for child fares. The discount varies according to the train operator.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-46735643

Who gets custody of the dog in a divorce?

Get Daily updates directly to your inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email Our pets have a special place in our lives, providing love, loyalty, and companionship, especially during tough times such as a relationship breakdown. So its really no surprise many pet owners see keeping custody of their fluffy friends as a main priority when faced in that situation. The time between Christmas and Valentines Day is a famous break-up hotspot, with people twice as likely to split compared to the rest of the year . A study by British equestrian and pet specialist Harry Hall found in the event of a relationship break-up, 81% of animal owners would make keeping their pet a main priority. Most pet owners said getting custody of their fur baby was "very important" after a break-up, and companionship (49%), improving happiness (18%), and exercise (12%) were found to be the top three reasons for getting (and wanting to keep) a pet. The research also found seeing and spending time with animals makes people feel happier, particularly for women. As sadness and loneliness are some of the most common negative feelings during a break-up, having a pet around can provide a level of comfort, and be somewhat of a coping mechanism. When asked how animals make us feel, 91% of respondents used words that were overwhelmingly positive, including "affection", "content", "loved" and "comforted", showing that animals can make a real difference to how we feel. Other findings suggested that, aside from difficult life events, our pets make us happier people in general - over half (51%) of pet owners would rank their happiness levels at 8 or above, compared with just 39% of non-pet owners. The most common method included a frank discussion around each person's financial situation and living arrangements, followed by negotiating and compromising around other shared assets. One respondent shared her own story about the custody decision of the dog that she owned with an ex-boyfriend. "To be fair there wasn't much of a discussion - he kept the dog and I was really sad! "Rather than a conversation to decide, it was more of a given that she would stay there (he was staying in the house which had land and he could afford at least 200 per month on doggy day care, and I had to move into a flat with no garden and no pets allowed). "Also, we had such a horrible break-up that I never wanted to see him again." Some say they would even consider shared custody, as a last resort. Dipti Tait, a hypnotherapist and behaviour expert, says: "The primitive brain that animals have like routine, familiarity and consistency. "This part of the brain is also very associative and responds to triggers easily - like tapping on the food bowl. "When there is a disruption to this (such as during a relationship breakdown, where an owner's familiar face becomes an absent one) it can cause anxiety and stress for our pets." Vets reckon the animals best interest should be at the forefront of any decision. They suggest the pet going with their 'alpha'. From a practical perspective, it is also important to think about who has the most time to overcome any anxiety that the split may cause the animal, as this can be a very slow process. Vets say every animal is different - some may react to change by barking, some destroy the house, urinate, and so forth. If your dog follows you everywhere in the house, that's a sign of separation anxiety, and they need to learn it's okay to be on their own. To overcome that, stand up and see if the pet gets up to follow. If so, sit back down and wait for the pet to settle, and repeat, repeat, repeat until you can leave the room. Once you can do that, the next thing will be leaving the house. Just standing outside for a few seconds, not allowing the pet time to get themselves stressed, can help them get used to being alone again in the early stages, and then you can look to prolong this duration incrementally over time. If you're still concerned, head to your veterinary practice and ask about other options - sometimes supplements (non-sedative) can help.

https://www.devonlive.com/whats-on/family-kids/divorce-who-gets-custody-dog-2381277

How Does Advncd Test Booster Work?

Advncd Test Booster Testosterone decides such a great amount about what makes man. It resembles a wellspring of youth, giving limitless vitality and a supercharged drive. Be that as it may, as men age, testosterone levels dive. This outcomes in men putting on weight, ending up immediately exhausted and notwithstanding having issues in the room. A low dimension of testosterone will likewise cause muscle additions to be almost non-existent. On the off chance that you are tired of squandering your time and need to see some genuine increase, at that point siphoning up testosterone is the arrangement. There is one item that conveys grant winning outcomes. Presenting, Advncd Test Booster. This incredible recipe elevates free testosterone to help divert results from normal to staggering!Click Here https://maximumenhancement.com/advncd-test-male-enhancement/

http://waneenterprises.com/forum/topics/how-does-advncd-test-booster-work

How Did Ethereum Take Over Ripple With 80% Gain in One Month?

Over the past 30 days, the Ethereum price has risen from $83 to $150, by 80 percent against the U.S. dollar in a strong corrective rally. On January 2, following a seven percent increase in its price, Ethereum (ETH) surpassed Ripple (XRP) to reclaim its throne as the second most valuable cryptocurrency in the global market. Two main factors have likely contributed to the short-term surge in the price of Ethereum in the past month: oversold conditions and the upcoming Constantinople fork. From early November to mid-December, Ethereum experienced a steep decline in value as its price fell from $220 to $83. Despite its recent 80 percent climb, the asset is yet to achieve November levels and would still have to increase by an additional 46 percent to rise back to $220. The market demonstrated oversold conditions subsequent to the sudden decline in the price of Ethereum from November to December, relieving sell-pressure on the crypto asset and allowing the asset to recover. According to Alex Krger, an economist and a cryptocurrency trader, the upcoming fork of Ethereum called Constantinople is increasing the demand for Ethereum, as the fork would reduce the block rewards of ETH from 3 to 2. Notable outperformance of ETH over BTC in the last few weeks. Theres a reason for it: the upcoming fork / supply reduction. Another BAKKT delay adds to it, the trader said. 1/ #Ethereum's Constantinople fork is coming on block 7080000, around January 16, 2019. Constantinople will reduce the block rewards from 3 to 2, decreasing new $ETH supply accordingly. On the long run, this is decidedly bullish. https://t.co/4bbgAHMz7Z Alex Krger (@Crypto_Macro) December 24, 2018 The reduction of the block rewards of ETH restricts the amount of ETH miners can generate, which in the long-term will lead to a gradual decline in the potential circulating supply of ETH. As the supply of ETH goes down and the demand goes up or remains the same, the ETH price is expected to increase. On Christmas Eve of last year, Krger added: Ethereums Constantinople fork is coming on block 7080000, around January 16, 2019. Constantinople will reduce the block rewards from 3 to 2, decreasing new ETH supply accordingly. On the long run, this is decidedly bullish. Krger also pointed out in his analysis that in previous forks, Ethereum increased substantially in value. While the state of the market is significantly different than in previous instances, in consideration of the historical performance of ETH, the trader suggested that the Constantinople fork could contribute to the rise in the price of the asset. On the Homestead fork, ETH increased by 1150% in the two months prior (in both USD and BTC terms, as BTC was relatively flat during that period). Price started a 50% reversal the day of the fork. Not suggesting one should expect the same different market, different times, Krger noted. Ethereum (ETH) Best Performing Asset in December ETH remains as one of the best-performing assets in December 2018, outperforming Bitcoin, Ripple, and Bitcoin Cash. However, the valuation of the cryptocurrency market still remains at $130 billion and it is far from recovering to previous highs and as such, it is still too early to conclude that ETH has started to enter a mid-term bull rally. Featured image from Shutterstock. appeared first on CCN.

https://news.yahoo.com/did-ethereum-over-ripple-80-101417491.html

Could the Nokia 9 Pureview be the best camera phone of 2019?

The Nokia 9 Pureview has been leaked again in a promotional video - and it looks like the five camera array is on the way with more post-snapping credentials. Tech site MySmartPrice is claiming a new video is a leaked promotional effort for the new phone, and it shows off a number of new features of the phone. (A still from the same video was tweeted by @Evleaks too, showing off the new camera setup). The first thing highlighted by the video is that we're definitely getting the penta-sensor set up, with enhanced low-light performance being a key element (10 times better than a 'regular' smartphone, whatever parent brand HMD Global considers that to be), and post-snap background blurring a possibility with Google Photos. It's clear that Nokia is going all-in on its relationship with Google as one of the key partners of the Android One initiative, as most of the video focuses on the benefits of that rather than really explaining what this camera will do. In terms of specs, the leaked video claims that the Nokia 9 Pureview will have 6GB of RAM, a Snapdragon 845 CPU and 128GB of internal storage - with no note on whether there will be expansion through a microSD port. There's also Qi wireless charging listed, allowing you to ditch the wires, as well as an in-screen fingerprint scanner coming too. Snap unhappy However, we want more information on the camera - the ability to take five photos at once, combined with the use of the Pureview name (something that used to denote the very best Nokia cameraphones) mean we could be seeing something that really steps things up in the smartphone snapping game. The key thing is what the brand does with the hardware though, as it's fine to chuck on a few sensors but there needs to be some great post-processing software as well, like we've seen with the Google Pixel 3 or the Huawei Mate 20 Pro, otherwise the technical prowess of the camera will remain irrelevant. In terms of the leaked video itself, it does have all the hallmarks of being genuine (not least because we believe that the launch of the new phone is imminent, so such a thing would be being created at this time) so it's worth putting some stock in these rumors. Whether the Nokia 9 Pureview, which claims an edge to edge display despite some pretty chunky bezels, will be a flagship winner this year, remains to be seen. If the brand can have some impact in the smartphone camera game, though, that would push other big players to improve as well - which will only benefit the user.

https://www.techradar.com/au/news/could-the-nokia-9-pureview-be-the-best-camera-phone-of-2019

How did the opioid crisis impact Staten Island in 2018?

Staten Island Advance photo Saves occurring in the home "The fact that so many saves are occurring in the home... families are coming to terms with the addiction of a loved one and are saving their lives," McMahon told the Advance during a recent sit-down interview. Data from his office shows that adults aged 20 to 29 were "saved" 94 times with naloxone this year, the most of any age group. McMahon said anecdotally that it could be because the stigma surrounding addiction is diminishing and more families are keeping naloxone in the home, where many individuals aged 20 to 29 live. He also explained that that the number of "saves" is not the number of individuals saved -- but the number of times naloxone was administered; several of the individuals who were revived using naloxone have been revived multiple times this year.

https://expo.silive.com/news/g66l-2019/01/66488d41205588/how-did-the-opioid-crisis-impa.html

What's ahead for Welsh politics in 2019?

To say 2018 was an eventful year in Welsh politics would be something of an understatement. While 2019 might not see the changes this year brought, it's going to be far from quiet. IAN CRAIG looks at the year ahead in Welsh politics. THE next 12 months could prove a defining year in politics in Wales, and across the UK. It will mark the first full year of Mark Drakeford's tenure as first minister, hopefully bring answers into questions surrounding the death of Carl Sargeant, see Wales take on some new tax powers and - unless the saga takes another unexpected twist - see the UK leave the European Union. Mr Drakeford's first year leading the Welsh Government will be seen as a key test of his leadership. He's long been seen as a likely successor to Carwyn Jones, but he'll have some work to do to prove Labour members were right to put their faith in him - and convince others he is the man to steer Wales through the next few years. And one of his first orders of business will be the M4 relief road. Mr Jones had repeatedly said he would make a decision on the long-awaited scheme before he left office. But as time drew short it became clear this would not be possible, with the ex-first minister saying just a week before he left office that he was yet to see the report of the public inquiry into the scheme - pushing the decision back yet again. AMs have been promised a vote on the scheme, but opposition towards the project has been building - with even some in the Labour camp voicing concerns - and Mr Drakeford himself is believed to be largely sceptical towards the plan. And it says a lot that Llanelli AM Lee Waters - one of the most vocal opponents to the proposal within Labour - has been made deputy minister for economy and transport in the new Welsh Government cabinet. So the long-awaited stretch of road could join the Circuit of Wales and the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon on the list of projects Wales was promised for years, but never materialised. Environmental campaigners and those who feel a new stretch of motorway is the wrong way to go will celebrate, but this leaves the issue of traffic problems around the Brynglas Tunnels unsolved. Across the UK as a whole, Brexit will continue to make headlines and baffle political commentators. Every few days seems to bring a new twist in the process, with Theresa May's government always seeming just on the verge of collapse. Mrs May managed to survive a confidence vote last month, but did so on the promise she would step down before the next General Election. So the odds of a new prime minister - or even a fresh election - in the next 12 months are pretty good. The fact that we managed to get through the entirety of 2018 without a General Election seems a minor miracle, so returning to the polls in the next 12 months seems almost a certainty. Regardless, we'll be leaving the European Union at 11pm on Friday, March 29. What happens then is anyone's guess. And a new General Election would have significant implications closer to home - with Newport West MP Paul Flynn announcing in October he would step down from the role he has held since 1987 the next time voters go to the polls due to failing health. And in the slim possibility there's no General Election, we may be in for a by-election, depending how long the Labour stalwart feels he can continue. With Mr Flynn having represented the constituency since 1987, this is something of an end of an era, and could provide the best chance the Conservatives have had in decades to snatch back the seat they lost in 1987. Likewise, Labour will be planning on bringing in a fresh new face - and would no doubt expect to keep the seat given Newport's Labour faithful have consistently come out when it's time to go to the ballot box. While this isn't the way Mr Flynn would have wanted to end his Parliamentary career, circumstances have intervened, and more than 30 years in any job - let alone in public service - is not to be sniffed at. Regardless of what you think of him personally or politically, it's hard to deny he's earned a rest. Back in Cardiff Bay, control over income tax will be devolved to Wales for the first time in April. The Welsh Government has said rates won't change this year, so it'll be business as usual for a year at least. And Labour promised in its 2016 manifesto not to increase rates before the next Assembly Election - so we'd seemingly be safe for the next few years. But during his leadership campaign Mr Drakeford suggested he couldn't rule out putting up rates before 2021. Doing so would be a deeply unpopular move, and one which the new first minister would have a job to sell to the Welsh public. And it would be politically risky, providing easy fodder for opposition parties heading into the 2021 election. While raising extra money would go some way to solving the funding crisis in public services, not all voters would see it that way. Whether Mr Drakeford is able to hold off until after the next election remains to be seen - but maybe start putting a few pennies away just in case. Meanwhile, the aftermath of the death of Carl Sargeant will continue. Carwyn Jones had reportedly hoped the inquiry into his own actions in the days around the former minister's death could be concluded before he left office. But this has not happened. And the inquest into Mr Sargeant's death was adjourned last month while witnesses - including Mr Jones himself - are recalled to explain why evidence doesn't match up, meaning the Sargeant family are still no closer to answers. There's a lot of anger around the circumstances leading up to and immediately following Mr Sargeant's death, and it seems this will continue to permeate Welsh politics for some time to come. If no answers are determined in 2019 it will have been more than two years since Mr Sargeant died. That will be an unbearable wait for his family. If the last few years has taught us anything, it's that predicting what's going to happen in politics is a fool's game. At this point little would come as a surprise. Watch this space.

https://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/17330304.whats-ahead-for-welsh-politics-in-2019/?ref=rss

Could Auburn WR commit George Pickens flip decision?

Hoover big-play receiver George Pickens has maintained the same recruiting stance for nearly a year: Hes committed to Auburn but listening to other schools. Nothing has changed, and Pickens plans to take his final three official visits in January to make sure he chooses wisely before signing Feb. 6, the traditional National Signing Day. "Auburn is home-state feel," Pickens said at the Under Armour All-American Game in Orlando, Florida. "It's like me at home, but I already know what to expect. Auburn is a good school, but I want to see everything. If other schools present the same feeling as the other schools I've been to, it's probably going to be Auburn." Best of the best: See the 2018 Super All-State HS Football Team https://t.co/YF3loV2YZ8 pic.twitter.com/8dlNN99tEl AL.com H.S. Sports (@aldotcomPreps) January 1, 2019 So, what other schools are making a push for Pickens, a 6-foot-3 1/2, 200-pounder, consensus 4-star prospect and No. Pickens said Alabama has essentially stopped contacting him, so the Crimson Tide appears out of contention, and he added Florida State is also no longer a major option. Why 4-star WR Jashawn Sheffield stuck with Auburn Pickens burned two of his official visits before the holidays with trips to Auburn and LSU. He said he hasnt scheduled any of his January official visits, but Georgia, Florida, Miami, Tennessee and Ohio State remain possibilities. Miami and Ohio State are late arrivals in Pickens' recruitment. Pickens said he wants his family to be comfortable with his final decision, but stressed a schools quarterback situation will be a major factor. The quarterback is what I have to have to even consider the school, Pickens said. That's good news for Auburn. Pickens has developed a close relationship with Auburn quarterback signee and early enrollee Bo Nix, playing alongside him on a summer 7on7 team and travelling with him to postseason all-star games. "I feel like George is going to come to Auburn because him and Bo have a very good connection," Auburn receiver signee Jashawn Sheffield said. "They're always talking, always hanging out." Incoming freshman Sam Howell's flip from Florida State to North Carolina on Early Signing Day is the major he's no longer considering Florida State, he said, and Justin Fields' impending transfer from Georgia hurts the Bulldogs' chances. https://t.co/eo4YgJvIc9 pic.twitter.com/3FeEa0ou5o AL.com H.S. Sports (@aldotcomPreps) December 30, 2018 Auburn signed 16 players, including receivers JaVarrius Johnson of Hewitt-Trussville and Sheffield, during college footballs December signing period. He is the Tigers' top-ranked signee or commit in the Class of 2019 and was the first 2019 prospect to commit to Auburn way back in July 2017. Pickens said Auburns offense impressed him during last weeks 63-14 victory over Purdue in the Music City Bowl, when the Tigers' set a bevy of offensive records in Gus Malzahns return as primary play-caller. "It kind of reminded me when he had Cam when they were dropping 50, 60," Pickens said. "It was kind of crazy for me to look at the game and think about old times. I was thinking, if he's going to be calling plays that just lets me know he's going to be airing the ball out." Pickens finished 2018 with 69 catches for 1,368 yards and 16 TDs in 2018, helping Hoover advance to the Class 7A semifinals. In last months Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic, he caught nine passes -- all from Nix -- for 155 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-20 loss. He was named Alabamas MVP. Alabama, Auburn signees headline ASWA Back/Lineman of the Year finalists https://t.co/qwsZ6WmJIO pic.twitter.com/6m0ZwUH6Dv AL.com H.S. Sports (@aldotcomPreps) December 30, 2018

https://www.al.com/sports/2019/01/could-auburn-wr-commit-george-pickens-flip-decision.html

Will Lehigh Valley see more snow-less storm systems ahead?

The Lehigh Valley didnt get a white Christmas in 2018, with temperatures near 40 degrees. By New Years Day, the temperature hit 57 degrees, just five degrees shy of the record high set back in 2005. Lehigh Valley International Airport recorded just a trace of snow in December undoubtedly one of the least snowiest Decembers ever. Normal snowfall for the month is 5.2 inches, leaving this area and many other parts of the region recording much less snow than average. According to the National Weather Service, there are three systems upcoming we should pay attention to. The first system will arrive later tonight into Thursday morning but is expected to bring just light precipitation to the area. Meteorologists say temperatures across the Poconos will be cold enough initially for some freezing rain or snow, with perhaps some light rain or a mix of rain and snow for the rest of us. Snowfall amounts are anticipated to be only a few tenths of an inch at most. Late Friday night into Saturday evening, another rain maker will affect the area. The weather service says this system has been trending stronger over the past few days, with another 1 to 2 inches of rain expected. The active weather pattern is expected to continue into next week, when another system pushes from the Midwest into the Northeast Monday into Tuesday. Meteorologists say some models depict high pressure moving into eastern Canada with this system, which would result in more cold air being locked into the region. This could result in the chance of frozen precipitation, but confidence is low at this time. A look ahead The Climate Prediction Center projects the back half of January may bring a cold air outbreak over the eastern U.S. The week 3-4 outlook suggests not only a better chance of below average temperatures, but a higher probability of precipitation. Thats good news for snow lovers, and for ski resorts in the area. Here is the extended Lehigh Valley forecast from the National Weather Service: Today Mostly cloudy, with a high near 40. Light and variable wind becoming southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon. Tonight Rain and snow likely before 2am, then a chance of rain between 2am and 4am, then a chance of rain and snow after 4am. Cloudy, with a low around 34. Southeast wind around 6 mph becoming calm after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. Thursday Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 43. Light west wind becoming northwest 6 to 11 mph in the morning. Thursday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 29. West wind 3 to 5 mph. Friday Mostly sunny, with a high near 44. West wind 3 to 7 mph. Friday Night Rain likely, mainly after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 33. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. Saturday Rain likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 43. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Saturday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 35. Sunday Mostly sunny, with a high near 46. Sunday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 32. Monday Partly sunny, with a high near 42. Monday Night A chance of rain and snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 33. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Tuesday A chance of rain and snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 42. Chance of precipitation is 40%. [email protected] Twitter @ssigafoos 610-820-6612

https://www.mcall.com/news/weather/mc-nws-three-storm-systems-target-lehigh-valley-region-20190102-story.html

Can I put Christmas wrapping paper and cards in the bin and what do I do with my tree?

Get Daily updates directly to your inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email To recycle or not recycle that is the question for the post-Christmas period. But each council across Devon has its own rules on what can or cannot be recycled. This is what you need to know about what can be recycled where you live. TORBAY COUNCIL What you can and should recycle: Christmas cards (without glitter), wrapping paper and gift bags (if you can scrunch it and it doesnt bounce back, its recyclable! ), cardboard packaging (eg from the post), toilet roll tubes, food and drink cartons, takeaway pizza boxes (only if the cardboard is clean), glossy magazines and newspapers, cardboard toothpaste boxes. What you cant and SHOULD NOT recycle: anything with glitter on it, anything that retains its shape when scrunched (ie wrapping paper, gift bags), tissues, kitchen roll, wet wipes, cotton wool, soiled or greasy card, anything that isnt card or paper. TOR2 will be collecting Christmas trees 9am to 1pm at Lymington Road Coach Station Car Park, Torquay and Brixham College, Ranscombe Road, Brixham on: Sunday, January 6, and Sunday, January 13. You can also take Christmas trees to the Recycling Centre on any day of the week during normal opening hours. For more details see http://www.torbay.gov.uk/recycling/recycling-card-and-paper/ EXETER CITY COUNCIL The Green Bin: They will take the following items in your green bin (remember you dont need to wash things out, just please make sure its all empty) paper/cardboard, tins/cans/foil, plastic bottles with lids, plastic tubs/pots/trays/film/wrap. Christmas trees : garden waste customers can put their real Christmas trees out (with their brown bin or ECC garden sacks, if required) for a one-off collection on their first scheduled collection of the year. See exeter.gov.uk/bincollections for details of collections in your area. The 2019 brown bin collections start again on January 28. They encourage everyone else to take their tree/s to the recycling centres on Exton Road (Marsh Barton) and Pinbrook Road (off Pinhoe Road, near Pinhoe Aldi). See devon.gov.uk/recyclingcentres. They wont be collecting trees with grey bins. (Image: Richard Monk) Wrapping paper: This year they are unable to take wrapping paper in the green bin. Their paper mill doesnt like it, because it doesnt produce good pulp (its fibres are too short and it tends to just turn into a sludge). They will reject any bales they find wrapping paper in, which will mean us losing out on revenue for public services. Glass: there are more than 60 glass banks around Exeter and they are always hungry for glass. They have a real feast over Christmas indulge them. Find your nearest recycling bank: exeter.gov.uk/recyclingbanks. For more details see https://exeter.gov.uk/christmas-new-year-services/christmas-recycling/ Christmas cards: To ensure our card matches the highest quality demanded for export, the council are unable to take Christmas cards. They too are poor-quality but there is also the problem of glitter, which many cards are dusted with and which is classed as a contaminant, being either plastic or metal. MID DEVON COUNCIL Christmas cards without glitter or embellishments can be placed in your green recycling box along with your cardboard and cartons. Were unable to process cards with glitter or embellishments please place these in your refuse. Wrapping paper: Only non-glittery and non-metallic wrapping paper can be placed in your green recycling box. Please try to remove as much Sellotape and decorative accessories such as ribbons and bows where possible. Were unable to process foil-lined wrapping paper please place this in your refuse. Please dont use a black recycling box or their paper recycling banks for wrapping paper; fibre quality in this material is too low for medium and high grade recycling streams. Real Christmas trees: If youve subscribed to the garden waste service, you can put your Christmas tree out either inside, or next to your brown bin for collection throughout January 2019. They accept Christmas trees with a trunk no bigger than six inches in diameter. If you havent subscribed to the garden waste collection, you can take your Christmas tree to your nearest recycling centre. Christmas recycling hints: If your blue kerbside caddy is full, you may place excess food waste into a compostable liner and leave on top of your caddy for collection. If you run out of room in your green recycling box, you can put greetings cards and wrapping paper out for collection in an unwanted cardboard box. Plastic toiletry packaging such as shower gels and shampoo bottles can go in your black recycling box. Dont forget tins, cans and plastics can all be mixed together; if you are running out of room in your black box(es), these can go out for collection in a white pedal bin liner. See https://www.middevon.gov.uk/residents/recycling-rubbish/what-can-you-put-out/recycling/christmas-recycling/ NORTH DEVON COUNCIL Recycling box: Household batteries (please put them in a small plastic bag before placing in your recycling box), Small waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) such as kettles, toasters and mobile phones, Mixed plastics including yoghurt pots, margarine tubs, plastic bottles and food trays squashed where possible, Glass bottles and jars, Food tins and drink cans, Aluminium foil, Aerosol cans. Unfortunately, they are not able to take black plastic products , plant pots, cling film and packaging film. This includes cellophane, sweet wrappers and crisp packs. Please ensure all bottles, tins and cans are rinsed well, as these are sorted by hand. To help save space on vehicles, please also squash your plastics and cans where possible. GREEN WHEELED BIN: Real Christmas trees chopped up, bark, hedge clippings, grass cuttings, weeds, cut flowers, plants (no soil), windfalls, untreated sawdust, wood shavings, clean straw. KERBSIDE CADDY AND KITCHEN CADDY: All cooked food, All raw food, Bones and carcasses, Leftovers from plates. Tea bags and coffee grounds, Fruit and vegetables, including peelings, Egg shells.Please line your caddies with special compostable caddy liners (7 litre or 23 litre), which you can buy from the supermarket. This helps contain the food waste and is more hygienic for you and our recycling crews. Alternatively wrap your food waste in a sheet of newspaper or kitchen roll. Please do not use plastic bags. BROWN BAG: The following flattened cardboard items (with packaging tape removed) can go in corrugated cardboard, cereal boxes and other cardboard food packaging, toothpaste boxes, toilet roll and kitchen roll cores, cardboard egg boxes, card sleeves (from food trays), greetings cards, You can have up to two brown bags per household. If you have a large quantity of cardboard, please contact the council so that they can arrange a free bulky cardboard collection. Cardboard can also be taken to recycling centres in North Devon. GREEN BAG: newspapers, paper, including shredded paper, white and brown envelopes (windowed or non-windowed), brown paper, magazines, catalogues, telephone books, junk mail (no plastics). Plus: dry, undamaged clothes, undamaged shoes (in pairs), undamaged blankets and bedding sheets. They are also no longer able to take wrapping paper. All recyclable items listed can also be taken to recycling centres in North Devon. BLACK WHEELED BIN: Vacuum cleaner contents, Cardboard milk or juice cartons (or, you can take these to one of DCCs recycling centres), Disposable nappies, Plastic envelopes, Polystyrene, Plastic food wrappers such as clingfilm and crisp packets, Black plastic food containers (or, you can take these to one of DCCs recycling centres). See http://www.northdevon.gov.uk/bins-and-recycling/what-goes-in-your-binboxbag/ EAST DEVON DISTRICT COUNCIL: Wrapping paper: Plain wrapping paper or plain Christmas cards can be recycled and placed in your green recycling box. Wrapping paper or Christmas cards with glitter or foil cannot be accepted for recycling yet so should be placed in your wheeled bin. Christmas Trees: Put in your green waste bin (no branches thicker than 100mm) or take to the following sites at the following times. Axminster West Street car park Mon 7 Jan, 12.30pm to 2.30pm Broadclyst Victory Hall car park Tue 8 Jan, 12.30pm to 2.30pm Budleigh Salterton Lime Kiln car park Tue 8 Jan, 8.30am to 11.30am Exmouth Imperial Road car park Mon 7 Jan, 8.30am to 2pm Honiton Lace Walk car park Tue 8 Jan, 8.30am to 11.30am Ottery St Mary Land of Canaan car park Tue 8 Jan, 12.30pm to 2.30pm Seaton Harbour Road car park Mon 7 Jan, 8.30am to 11.30am Sidmouth Manor Road car park Wed 9 Jan, 8.30am to 12pm TEIGNBRIDGE COUNCIL Wrapping paper: wrapping made of paper can be recycled from home as part of your cardboard collection, using your green recycling box, or taken to any of our cardboard recycling banks. The scrunch test: to make sure that your wrapping paper can be recycled you can use the scrunch test. If the paper bounces back it contains foil and cannot be recycled, if it stays scrunched its fine. Unfortunately, they are unable to accept wrapping paper in your reusable sack. All paper wrapping needs to be recycled with your cardboard in your green recycling box. Christmas cards: those that do not contain foil or glitter can be recycled from home as part of your cardboard collection using your green recycling box. Christmas cards that contain foil or glitter or any other material cannot be recycled and should be placed in your black general waste bin for disposal. Cardboard: all cardboard can be recycled using your green recycling box. Please make sure that your cardboard is folded or flattened to fit inside your box. Large boxes that do not fit in your green recycling box can be taken for free to your local recycling centre or to one of our recycling banks. Food Waste: food waste can be recycled in your food waste container. Real Christmas trees: Can be recycled at any of our drop off points in January, or they can be taken to one of Devons Recycling Centres for free. Garden waste subscribers can place real Christmas trees inside their green bin provided the branches are less than 10cm thick. Please remember to remove all decorations! Teignbridge Christmas Tree recycling dates Ashburton Location Edwin Tucker Country Stores (green space in front of store gates) Dates: Saturday 5 January, Sunday 6 January, Saturday 12 January and Sunday 13 January 2019 Time: any time Bovey Tracey Location Station Road car park Dates: Saturday 5 January, Sunday 6 January, Saturday 12 January and Sunday 13 January 2019 Time: any time Chudleigh Location Tower Hill Allotments, Mount Pleasant Dates: Saturday 5 January 2019 Time: 10am to 4pm Dawlish Location Sandy Lane car park Dates: Saturday 5 January, Sunday 6 January, Saturday 12 January and Sunday 13 January 2019 Time: any time Dawlish Warren Location outer car park Dates: Saturday 5 January, Sunday 6 January, Saturday 12 January and Sunday 13 January 2019 Time: any time Exminster Location Victory Hall Dates: Saturday 5 January and Sunday 6 January 2019 Time: any time Ipplepen Location Fermoys Garden Centre Dates: Saturday 5 January, Sunday 6 January, Saturday 12 January and Sunday 13 January 2019 Time: any time Kingsteignton Location Homebase Dates: Saturday 5 January, Sunday 6 January, Saturday 12 January and Sunday 13 January 2019 Time: any time Newton Abbot Location B&Q Dates: Saturday 5 January, Sunday 6 January, Saturday 12 January and Sunday 13 January 2019 Time: any time Teignmouth Location Eastcliff car park Dates: Saturday 5 January, Sunday 6 January, Saturday 12 January and Sunday 13 January 2019 Time: any time TORRIDGE DISTRICT COUNCIL: Residents are being reminded that many of their festive items can be fully recycled, including: Plastic bottles, containers and tins (in the green box) Glass bottles and jars (in the black box) Christmas cards (in the brown bag) Christmas card envelopes (in the green bag) Food waste, including turkey bones (to go in the green food caddies Cardboard (broken up or flattened) and must be placed in the brown bag. There are some items which unfortunately cannot be recycled: Large oversized boxes may be rejected unless broken in to pieces and placed in the brown bags or alternatively these can be taken to one of the local recycling centres. Items covered in glitter cannot unfortunately be recycled. This also applies to wrapping paper covered in glitter and metallic or plastic coated wrapping paper. Any non recyclable items need to go in the refuse black bags. Residents with green wheelie bins can cut up their Christmas Trees and recycle them through the fortnightly collection process. Please ensure that there are no branches over 1 metre in length or 4cm in diameter. You can also take your Christmas trees to the Recycling Centres at Bideford, Deep Moor (Torrington) or Anvil Corner (Holsworthy) (Image: Daniel Clark) SOUTH HAMS DISTRICT COUNCIL: Wrapping paper cannot be put into your blue recycling sacks, it needs to go into your grey bin instead. Explaining the reason, the council said that as some wrapping paper is also very thin and contains few good quality fibres for recycling and because so many people leave sticky tape attached to wrapping paper it makes it very difficult to recycle. These are some of the reasons why the companies who process their waste have decided not to accept wrapping paper this year. Christmas trees up to 6 foot can be placed next to the brown bin. You can also take Christmas trees to the Recycling Centres at Ivybridge, Torr Quarry (Kingsbridge) and Totnes. WEST DEVON BOROUGH COUNCIL: Wrapping paper cannot be put into your blue recycling sacks, it needs to go into your grey bin instead. Explaining the reason, the council said that as some wrapping paper is also very thin and contains few good quality fibres for recycling and because so many people leave sticky tape attached to wrapping paper it makes it very difficult to recycle. These are some of the reasons why the companies who process their waste have decided not to accept wrapping paper this year. Registered garden waste customers can put out their real Christmas Trees up to 7 feet with their garden waste collection day on the weeks commencing 7th and 14th January. You can also take your Christmas trees to the Recycling Centre Crowndale (Tavistock) or Okehampton.

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/can-put-christmas-wrapping-paper-2381596

What is development in perspective?

Jan Scholtz There are varying perceptions and approaches today on what development as a concept is. In real life situation, development entails an increase in material well-being of a nation. A nation registering an increase in input of goods and services as measured by Gross National Product (GDP) was previously seen as being on the path of development. Welfare economists were, however, quick to add that such a country is only experiencing economic growth of the benefits from growth accrued to a few people. From these two perspectives, economic growth, coupled with distribution of benefits, constitute development. To many politicians and laymen in Africa, construction of roads, airports, railway lines, schools, hospitals, supermarkets, sky rise buildings, etc., equals development. Hence it is common to hear the number of cattle dips, kilometres of roads tarmacked and growth in the number of university students being cited as indications of development delivered by a government to a particular locality at a given period. To the traditional anthropologist, development is perceived as a transition from the so-called small scale societies with emphasis on particularistic principles, to more complex societies where emphasis is on universalistic principles. To Marxist sociologists, development is when man stops exploring fellow man in the process of production and distribution of economic gains. Society must overcome discrimination and other socio-economic injustices for it to claim having experienced development. For the Christian, development is seeking first the kingdom of Heaven, as opposed to Nkrumah, who asserted that seek ye first the economic kingdom. There can be no doubt that the spiritual dimension is an important element in the development process. From the 1980s to the 1990s, a search for such a definition has been going on. Economic social, cultural, political and environmental variables have been included in the definition of development. Development is now viewed in terms of increased participation by all in the process of democratic governance as well as production of goods and services. In the wake of multiparty democracy in the Africa region, development is also being gauged against the yardstick of human rights. Freedom of speech, assembly and the press are now concepts closely linked to development. Definitions aside, development entails structural changes in economic, social, political and cultural aspects of a people. When the whole person is transformed economically, socially, politically and spiritually, integral development is said to have occurred. * Jan Scholtz, who holds a Diploma in Youth and Development from the University of Zambia (UNZA), writes in his own capacity. 2018-10-17 11:13:10 2 months ago

https://neweralive.na/posts/what-is-development-in-perspective

Was Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment who died aged 122 really the world's 'oldest-ever' person?

Jeanne Calment died at the age of 122 years and 164 days in 1997, setting a record as the world's most long-lived person that is still unsurpassed. The elderly woman used to joke that God must have forgotten about her. But Russian mathematician Nikolai Zak is not convinced by her story. In collaboration with gerontologist Valery Novoselov, he spent months analysing biographies of Jeanne Calment as well as her interviews and photos, witness testimony and the public records of the city of Arles in southern France where she lived. "Analysing all these materials led me to conclude that Jeanne Calment's daughter Yvonne assumed her mother's identity," Zak told AFP. Photo: AFP Zak, a member of the Moscow Society of Naturalists at Moscow State University, recently published his report called "Jeanne Calment: the Secret of Longevity" on ResearchGate, a portal connecting scientists around the world. While opponents have slammed the report, some scientists have welcomed it and stressed the need for closer checks into longevity records. Zak suggests that in 1934 it was not Calment's daughter Yvonne who died of pleurisy, as official records say, but Jeanne Calment herself. Yvonne then took on her mother's identity in order to avoid paying inheritance tax. If that is so, the woman who died in 1997 was in fact Yvonne, and she was aged just 99. The Russian researcher points to discrepancies between physical characteristics listed on Calment's identity card from the 1930s and her appearance in later years. Call for exhuming bodies The card gives her eye colour as dark and her height as 1 metre, 52 centimetres and describes her forehead as low -- all details that jar with her later appearance. "As a doctor I always had doubts about her age," said Novoselov, who heads the gerontology section of the Moscow Society of Naturalists. "The state of her muscle system was different from that of her contemporaries. She could sit up without any support. She had no signs of dementia." Photo: AFP After Calment's death, scientists expressed regret that no autopsy was held to find the reasons for her exceptional longevity. She used to talk of enjoying chocolate and port and would smoke an occasional cigarette before her health deteriorated. Fuelling suspicions, Calment ordered some of her old photos to be burnt when she became famous, the Russian researchers say. Interviewed by AFP, French demographer and gerontologist Jean-Marie Robine, who took part in authenticating Calment's age for Guinness World Records, said he "never had any doubt over the authenticity of the documents" of the woman. He slammed the Russian report, saying it "never examines the facts in favour of the authenticity of the longevity of Madame Calment" and "appears to me to be defamatory against her family." The mayor of Arles at the time of Calment's death, Michel Vauzelle, said that the Russians' theory was "completely impossible and ridiculous" since Calment was monitored by a number of doctors. But others welcomed the research. "The idea of assumed identity had already been considered by those validating (the claim) and I regularly invited demographers to hold onto this hypothesis," said Nicolas Brouard, research director at France's Institut National d'Etudes Demographiques (INED). Photo: AFP "It's good that Nikolai Zak has carried out research that is independent and covers the same area of investigation. It's a very good piece of work and an argument in favour of exhuming the bodies of Jeanne and Yvonne Calment," he said. DNA testing would be able to finally settle the debate, he said. 'National heroine' Belgian demographer Michel Poulain, of the University of Louvain, welcomed what he called "quite a detailed investigation" that he said shows the need for further scientific research "to validate the exceptional age of these supercentenarians" -- those older than 110. "The probability of an erroneous age increases exponentially with presumed age," he said. Zak came up with the idea of investigating Calment's life while creating a mathematical model of the lifespan of supercentenarians. "The more I searched, the more contradictions I found," he said. In a book published in 1997 titled "Insurance and its Secrets", he found a short passage about Calment that supported the idea that her daughter took on her identity. Photo: AFP The book's author, Jean-Pierre Daniel, wrote that an insurance investigator looking into a life annuity taken out by Jeanne Calment had already concluded that fraud took place. "But at the time Jeanne Calment was already considered a national heroine. That official asked his bosses about it and they told him to keep on paying out the annuity. There was no question of creating a scandal over the doyenne of the French," he told AFP. Gerontologist Novoselov argues that question marks over Calment's true age are damaging to his field since "for gerontologists, Jeanne Calment is a symbol. Her name is cited in all the studies... For research to advance, we need to show the true boundaries of the chessboard". Members of Calment's extended family did not respond to requests for comment from AFP. If Calment's record were to be cancelled, the new record-holder would be American Sarah Knauss, who died at 119 in 1999.

https://www.thelocal.fr/20190102/was-frenchwoman-jeanne-calment-who-died-aged-122-really-the-worlds-oldest-ever-person

Has Mars' methane gone missing?

One of Mars most puzzling mysteries has been the discovery of methane in its atmosphere. This is exciting because, on Earth, methane comes from two primary sources biology and geology. Mars methane has been detected by telescopes on Earth, orbiting spacecraft and rovers. But now there is a new wrinkle in the data. Recent observations by the European Space Agencys ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) have shown no presence of the methane, even though its instruments are more sensitive to tiny amounts than any of the instruments used previously. The new results were reported in Science on December 12, 2018, with the peer-reviewed paper published the same day. They were also announced at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union in Washington, D.C. TGO is one of two components of the ExoMars mission (the other was a landing module, which crashed on Mars surface). TGO began searching the atmosphere for traces of methane earlier this year, after the spacecraft achieved its circular science orbit of 250 miles (400 km) above Mars surface in April 2018. Two key spectrometers are being used a Belgian instrument called NOMAD and a Russian one called ACS. They are capable of detecting methane in extremely small amounts better than other instruments used so far. The scientists were sure they would see some methane, but when they analyzed the data sent back they saw nothing. These initial results show no sign of methane down to a very minute level of 50 parts per trillion. The observations scanned most of the atmosphere, going almost all the way down to the surface. Ann Carine Vandaele, NOMADs principal investigator and a planetary scientist at the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy in Brussels, said that there is still some cleanup to do with the data, adding: But we already know we cant see any methane. The results seem disappointing, certainly, but there are a few things to keep in mind. The Curiosity rover has detected small amounts of methane on multiple occasions now. Plus, that data indicates the methane is seasonal in that region of Gale Crater, peaking in summer and dwindling again in winter. Curiosity detected a methane spike of seven parts per billion (ppb), which lasted for several months, before finding a seasonal spike of 0.7 ppb. In 2004, the Mars Express orbiter saw a methane spike of 10 ppb. As Chris Webster, a planetary scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory who leads the methane-sensing instrument on Curiosity noted, it took his team six months to detect the first methane spike and years to find the seasonal background methane cycle. He is optimistic, saying that: Im confident that over time there will be a consistency between the two data sets. Curiosity actually saw a large seasonal variation in the amount of methane. As noted by Webster: The thing thats so shocking here is this large variation. Were left trying to imagine how we can create this seasonal variation. The lowest background level of methane that Curiosity detected was 0.4 ppb. The highest levels ever detected so far were by Mike Mumma, a planetary scientist at Goddard Space Flight Center, and his colleagues in 2009. They detected spectral signs of a 45 ppb methane plume using the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility and the twin telescopes at the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii. Theres another possible positive result in all this. The lack of any methane right now would seem to indicate that it is not coming down through the atmosphere from space, e.g. from comets. That was one possible source of methane that had been considered early on. That would also be consistent with Curiositys findings, that the methane is seasonal and most likely originating from underground sources. According to Webster: The methane is not coming from above. Thats a big result. Scientists also think that methane could form from organic carbon that enters the atmosphere with dust, which would react with solar radiation. It is suspected that Gale Crater is probably just one of many locations where methane seeps to the surface. But even if there are thousands, the total amount of methane produced would still be small. According to Sushil Atreya, a planetary scientist at the University of Michigan and a member of the Curiosity science team: I actually did the calculation. Its going to average out to be a very, very low value, nondetectable. Bottom line: The mystery of Mars methane just got more puzzling. Only further observations will help to answer that question and what the origin of Mars methane actually is. Confirmation that the methane originates from Mars itself most likely underground would be evidence that Mars is still alive either geologically or biologically, or both. Source: Impact of the 2018 global dust storm on Mars atmosphere composition as observed by NOMAD on ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (Invited) Via Science

https://earthsky.org/space/esa-exomars-trace-gas-orbiter-missing-methane

Was macht eigentlich... ein Creative Technologist?

Offenheit gegenber Neuem, Spa an der Recherche und ein stndiges Interesse fr neue Techniken: Als Creative Technologist kann Martin Bing-Messing bei BBDO Dsseldorf die kreativen Herausforderungen des Agenturalltags mit seiner Affinitt fr digitale Techniken verbinden. Ich arbeite als Creative Technologist bei BBDO Dsseldorf. Meine Themen sind neue Technologien und wie sich bereits etablierte Technologien im Marketing und der Kommunikation innovativ nutzen lassen. Im Alltag heit das, dass ich je nach Projekt immer wieder unterschiedliche Aufgaben im Team bernehme: App- und Web-Entwicklung, Hardware- und Software-Prototyping, UX-Design oder technische Beratung. Eigentlich habe ich schon immer alles Digitale spannend gefunden weil sich hier stndig vieles verndert, weil es immer wieder neue Lsungen und neue Technologien gibt. Bereits whrend meiner Schul- und Hochschulzeit habe ich als Ein-Mann-Agentur Web-Entwicklung angeboten. Nach meinem Master der Medienwissenschaften habe ich mich dann erfolgreich fr die BBDO Masterclass beworben, ein High Talent-Trainee-Programm der deutschen BBDO-Gruppe. Nach dieser Ausbildung bin ich als Creative Technologist bei BBDO Dsseldorf eingestiegen. Hier kann ich die kreativen Herausforderungen des Agenturalltags mit meiner Affinitt fr digitale Techniken verbinden. Schildere mglichst anschaulich ein Projekt, das dich besonders begeistert hat Ein aktuelles Highlight ist das Poster fr die diesjhrige SoundLounge. Zusammen mit Designern habe ich fr dieses Branchenevent eine Maschine entwickelt: ber ein Mikrofon aufgenommene Gerusche werden von einem Algorithmus analysiert und durch einen Roboter auf ein Poster gezeichnet. Dazu haben wir erst statische Designs entwickelt und dann in mathematische Funktionen bersetzt, die durch den Audioinput stark beeinflusst werden. Es war toll zu sehen, wie am Abend der SoundLounge die Besucher in die Maschine geflstert, gesprochen und gesungen haben und dabei jedes Mal einzigartige Plakate produziert haben. Dieses Projekt zeigt fr mich perfekt die Vorteile einer Agentur: Hier bringt jeder seine eigene Perspektive und Expertise mit und genau dadurch werden aus Ideen spannende Cases. Wichtig ist es, flexibel zu bleiben. Oft geht es um kurzfristiges Engagement in einem Projekt und erst dabei wird klar, wie ich das Projekt konkret untersttzen kann. Was unbedingt dazu gehrt, ist die Offenheit gegenber Neuem, Spa an der Recherche und ein stndiges Interesse fr neue Techniken denn man wei nie, was als nchstes ntzlich werden knnte. Insgesamt hilft es, positiv an Dinge heranzugehen. So lassen sich auch Lsungen finden, die erstmal nicht so nahe liegen. Es ist die Mischung aus zwei Dingen: Einerseits machen das nerdige Vertiefen in Themen und die technischen Experimente sehr viel Spa. Andererseits wre das alles nur Liebhaberei ohne die Zusammenarbeit mit Leuten, die jeweils ihre eigene Sicht einbringen. Wenn beides zusammen kommt, entstehen spannende Ideen, Webseiten, Apps, Maschinen und vieles mehr. Mein Job ist unverzichtbar, weil Werbung lngst mehr ist als klassische Fernsehspots, Printanzeigen oder Online-Banner. Jetzt arbeitet man an innovativen Ideen, Formaten und Mechaniken. Dabei kann es sehr helfen, ohne viel Aufwand und direkt mit jemandem technische Fragen zu klren, einen Prototypen entwickeln zu lassen oder auch technisches Wissen auszubauen. Und genau das sollte ein Creative Technologist liefern. Vermutlich Medienwissenschaftler, weil es ein unglaublich vielseitiges und spannendes Fach ist. Die Aufgaben als Creative Technologist gefallen mir allerdings so gut, dass ich aktuell nicht ber einen Jobwechsel nachdenke. Dieser Artikel wurde verfasst von Lead Redaktion

https://www.focus.de/digital/internet/was-macht-eigentlich-ein-creative-technologist_id_10131575.html

Can a boss manage emotions in the workplace?

I look at two: Constructive emotions can be motivating and can enhance understanding. But excessively intense emotions block effective communication and hinder problem solving. Maybe we cannot change the way people feel or emotionally behave at work; maybe we can only change the way we react to emotions. Emotions are part of being human and, as a result, part of how we work. In a working environment where expectations are often high emotional outbursts can seem like the norm rather than the exception. The manager most of the times appears under more pressure than everyone at workplace because he/she set the tone by appearing to be in control. Well, maybe not, maybe good if filters well. Speaking under correction, complexities of business make an emotion-free workplace unrealistic, so managers are better served to learn to handle it appropriately versus trying to banish it from the office altogether. Maybe the unflappable boss is a management myth, how to effectively handle job stress and why big girls do cry after all. The demands of being in the business constant time crunch for strategic planning. As a manager, there is added pressure to maintain a management style that keeps a lid on emotions. Even Napoleon had his Watergate. Managers who are honest about their struggles will earn extra employee loyalty and trust. If your team does not know that you have a sword hanging over your head that is making you agitated, they cannot possibly help you in the way you need it. If manager keeps it all in because he/she tries to be superhuman and then explode mid-month when every employee is drained and broke, than that is not a fair game. According to Rose (2009), a good manager might go deeper and look for what is triggering an employees emotional behaviour in the first place. This positions him/her to deal with issues at their root level and provides insight into the danger zones to avoid. If you understand what is causing employees to react to situations emotionally, you are in a much better position to prevent an outburst by not letting things get to that point. Maybe this as an area where great managers can really set themselves apart by approaching emotions as something healthy for business. I believe these profound social changes, in tandem with the new scientific insights into the ways each gender operates, will transform the future of interpersonal dynamics on the job. * Gottlieb Ndeutapo Johannes 2018-10-12 09:18:10 2 months ago

https://neweralive.na/posts/can-a-boss-manage-emotions-in-the-workplace

What Happened To Oil Prices In 2018?

(70.75) November: Why the oil price tailspin may be short lived (56.96) And the punchline: December 19: America's top oil-producing region has a new problem: $40 crude I removed the names of the various pundits out of a sense of fairness, although the links are there for the purpose of verifying the quotes, because first, a quote or headline out of context can be extremely misleading. Oil prices could hit $100 is not a bad forecast, but a statement of conditional fact. Unless the pundit thinks something like oil prices could hit $100 if the cocoa crop is robust. Second, short-term prices are very volatile and difficult to predict, so that it is extremely easy to find bad forecasts from any given punditincluding me. And frankly, I have been somewhat selective in my choice, probably picking more price bulls than bears because it looks more amusing given current low prices. If prices were near $100, I probably would have picked out the bearish stories. First, OPEC plus helpers showed pretty good discipline, more than most expected (probably including themselves). This brought the market back into balance earlier than anticipated, and made the sentiment bullish. Combined with the surprise announcement in May that the U.S. would reimpose sanctions on Iran, the possibility for market tightening later in the year dominated thinking. That, combined with an acceleration in the decline of Venezuelan production this year (see figure), was the major factor in prices going above $70. The initial decision by the Saudis, Russians and others to offset potential losses of Iranian oil, along with the Trump Administrations granting of waivers to major Iranian customers, was a major element, suggesting that the market would not be short of oil (and possibly see the surplus grow). But market fundamentals have also played a big part, especially the unexpectedly strong rise of U.S. shale oil production. The table below shows that, in December of 2017, the IEA was predicting that the demand for OPEC oil would drop by 0.4 mb/d in 2018, whereas the latest estimate puts the actual drop at 1.2 mb/d. (OECD demand grew more than expected, non-OECD demand less.) U.S. oil production has grown by roughly 2 mb/d in 2018, about twice what was expected in late 2017. The figure below shows the forecast growth for 2018 in U.S. oil production as it evolved from the December 2017 market reviews of the IEA, OPEC, and the EIA, until the most recent publication. The EIA has been closest in its forecast and was earliest to revise its prediction, which could represent either an optimistic bias on their part of better data and analysis. (Washington being closer to the shale fields than Paris or Vienna.) Interestingly, in the first half of 2018, U.S. production was up less than 1.5 mb/d year on year, accelerating in the summer to surpass 2 mb/d by August. The EIA seems to have anticipated this, while forecasts by the IEA and OPEC appear to have been reactive, rising only as the actual production rose. Again, this might be more luck on the part of the EIA, but possibly also reflecting the fact that covering the entire world oil market makes it difficult to spot changes. (Conservatism is also typical and normal for such forecasts.) Lower oil prices might mean less shale oil growth this year than last (something most predict), although growing pipeline capacity in the Permian is expected to offset that somewhat. Overall, though, while some recovery from currently depressed prices is likely, the supply picture does not support sharply higher prices this year, especially given the growing pessimism about the global economy.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaellynch/2019/01/02/what-happened-to-oil-prices-in-2018/

Why is A Series Of Unfortunate Events ending after season three?

Thats your lot, Unfortunate Events fans (Picture: Netflix) Far be it from us to encourage you to watch, but the third and final season of A Series Of Unfortunate Events has just arrived on Netflix. Yup, the Baudelaire orphans are still being pursued by Count Olaf, their lives are still in danger and narrator Lemony Snicket still doesnt want you to lay eyes on any of the horrors that unfold. As mentioned though this is the last series of the show with things definitely coming to a very decisive end in the season finale The End (dont worry, no spoilers). To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video No big mystery here its ending simply because theyve run out of books to film. Advertisement Advertisement There are only 13 books in the Series Of Unfortunate Events anthology and with nine having already been put onscreen in the first two seasons of the show, the remaining four are featured here. Neil Patrick Harris previously addressed the shows end, saying: It was always the plan to do three seasons, which I really liked. It makes me feel like were doing a specific piece of art, as opposed to just hoping that the zeitgeist holds us up for as many seasons as people can stomach. The current season of the show has seven episodes with three of the four remaining books The Slippery Slope, The Grim Grotto and The Penultimate Peril being told across two episodes each. The final book, The End, is told over one longer instalment. (Picture: Rex Shutterstock) Neil Patrick Harris is back as Count Olaf of course, along with Malina Weissman, Louis Hynes and Presley Smith, who play Baudelaire orphans Violet, Klaus and Sunny. Patrick Warburton also returns as Lemony Snicket, along with K Todd Freeman as Mr Poe and Lucy Punch as Esme Squalor. Cast newcomers meanwhile include British star Richard E Grant as Count Olafs associate The Man With A Beard But No Hair while Girls star Allison Williams also shows up as Kit Snicket. A Series Of Unfortunate Events season three is available to stream on Netflix UK now. 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: Netflix UK in January 2019: Best new shows from Sex Education to Lemony Snicket MORE: A Series Of Unfortunate Events star Louis Hynes on playing doctor, season 3 and acting with babies

https://metro.co.uk/2019/01/02/series-unfortunate-events-ending-season-three-8301586/

What If Wearable Technologies Can Track Our Emotions?

One of the questions most executives ask themselves in regard to their employees and their organizations is: "How do we achieve peak performance on a continuous basis?" Attaining peak performance is almost always about understanding ones physiology and gaining a better control of emotions, thus enabling smarter decision making. Every success, failure, or opportunity seized or missed is the result of a decision that someone made or failed to make. In neuroscience terms, all decisions are initially driven by feelings, after which they are justified by reason or logic. In effect, dismissing or suppressing emotions causes the brain to underperform. Decision making boils down to the emotions of the individual making a decision. Technology is at its most seductive when it offers to meet our vulnerabilities, and tech entrepreneurs the world over are racing to claim a new technical frontier: human emotions. According to Gartner, "By 2022, 10% of personal devices will have emotion AI capabilities, either on-device or via cloud services, up from less than 1% in 2018." Science and technology are still in the early stages of finding the right answers to that question, but as an initial take, this engineering will involve a deeper analysis of DOSE: dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin and endorphins. DOSE are mood-elevating neurotransmitters that influence our moods, sleep, behavior, reactions and decisions. The Future Of Wearable Technologies A decade ago, the thought of a personalized watch that not only tells the time but reads your text messages, tracks your workouts and even keeps track of your sleep habits sounded like a much-coveted piece of technology from a James Bond movie. But thats exactly what has happened, and over 80 million people now own a wearable device. The Apple watch can now be used for communication, effective exercise patterns and to track the wearers health. It will be working throughout the day, understanding and analyzing how you feel every second and detect any negative emotions. It will also suggest ways to alleviate such emotions or detect positive feelings and suggest measures to prolong or recreate the feeling at a different moment in time. Apple has already proven that it's interested in using technology to decipher human emotion, so the prospect of taking such technology a step further isn't all that far-fetched. For instance, what if a young entrepreneur is on her way to an important meeting seeking funding, and on the way there, the watch detects feelings of underlying stress, which could affect her performance. Such a breakthrough would allow technology to not only make predictions but to also provide insights about what you can do to better understand yourself. As technology gets better at reading different human emotions, we have to focus on seamlessly integrating this technology into human lives to enable people to lead better lives and to have technology that can read emotions we humans fail to detect. Wearables like smartwatches and activity-tracking devices have become an indispensable part of our lives. This is evident by the huge investment that is expected to be poured into the wearables market over the next eight years. I believe integrating these devices with mobile applications and social media platforms can potentially help users develop positive emotional habits. Whatever one thinks of these assertions, its certain that these emotion-reading wearables will tweak our reaction to the world around us. Users of this technology will develop a heightened sense of everything that is going on around them, which will create better experiences for people who have difficulty expressing and communicating emotions. The future in this field promises to be exciting and fulfilling, and as the technology develops, our lives will continue to revolve around it.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2019/01/02/what-if-wearable-technologies-can-track-our-emotions/

Are we going to get a 'pudding tax'?

Image copyright Getty Images After a Christmas of over-indulgence for many, the idea of a "pudding tax" may seem like a good idea. Public health experts have suggested it may be needed to tackle the high rates of sugar consumption. By the age of 10, the average child has exceeded the recommended level of sugar intake for an 18-year-old. The news prompted Public Health England chief nutritionist Dr Alison Tedstone to suggest there may be a case for introducing a sugar tax on puddings. Yes. A sugar tax was introduced in April 2018, but it just applies to fizzy drinks. The levy is applied to manufacturers - whether they pass it on to consumers or not is up to them. There are 457 producers registered for the levy. Drinks with more than 8g per 100ml face a tax rate equivalent to 24p per litre. Those containing 5-8g of sugar per 100ml face a slightly lower rate of tax, of 18p per litre. Pure fruit juices are exempt as they do not carry added sugar, while drinks with a high milk content are also exempt due to their calcium content. Originally, the Treasury forecast it would raise more than 500m a year, but that has now been reduced to 240m because some manufacturers have reduced the sugar content in their products. In England that income is being invested in school sports and breakfast clubs. Products such as cakes, biscuits, puddings and other foods are not covered by the tax. Puddings are in the firing line Image copyright Getty Images But that does not mean puddings are not being targeted in any way. They are covered by a separate initiative that is encouraging manufacturers to reduce the sugar content of those items voluntarily. Public Health England launched a sugar reduction programme in 2017 to cut the amount of sugar in popular foods by a fifth by 2020. It identified 10 categories of foods. Puddings is one, and others include yoghurts, cereals and chocolate sweets. The programme is based on the sugar levels consumed. So, to hit the target, industry must not only produce lower-sugar alternatives but also persuade consumers to buy more of them. Dr Tedstone is not the only person to float the idea of extending the sugar tax. Before Christmas, England's Chief Medical Officer Dame Sally Davies said there needed to be more taxes on unhealthy products, as she was not yet convinced industry could be relied on to act voluntarily. But ultimately the decision will be the government's. While it is not being ruled out, there is a desire to see how the sugar reduction programme is going first. There has already been a one-year progress report. It showed progress in some areas, particularly for yoghurts, but not in other areas. In fact, sugar consumption from pudding actually increased, which may explain some of the interest in the pudding tax at the moment. Public Health England believes it is too early to judge the success of the programme. A second-year report is due out later this year and a close eye will be cast over how the different manufacturers are doing. Until then, the idea of a pudding tax will remain on the shelf - an option but not one yet ready to be deployed. Read more from Nick Follow Nick on Twitter

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-46736124

Who is HGTVs Alison Victoria Married To?

Professional interior designer Alison Victoria is the star of HGTVs newest series, Windy City Rehab. On the Chicago-based show, Victoria and her team flip and renovate homes on the North Side despite the blustering conditions. Windy City Rehab premieres Tuesday, January 1, at 8pm ET/PT. With all this time in the spotlight, people are growing curious about Victorias personal life. Heres what we know: Victoria is married to Luke Harding. According to Frost Snow, the two have been together since 2013. He owns an insurance company. Frost Snow reports that the pair met on a dating site, and have been going strong since. They first met in 2011, and two years later, they tied the knot. Together, the pair is parents to a daughter, whose name has been kept under wraps. Victoria shares pictures of her daughter on social media, but has yet to reveal her name. According to her biography on her website, Victoria is a Chicago native. She graduated from the University of Nevada Las Vegas before working at Christopher Homes as a designer. Two years later, Victoria launched her own consulting firm, Alison Victoria Interiors, which was based in both Chicago and Las Vegas. As many DIY Network watchers know, Victoria is the first female host of the Kitchen Crashers series, which wrapped in 2016 after nine seasons. On the show, she surprisesd homeowners in the Las Vegas and Chicago areas with kitchen redesigns. Now, shes embarking on a new adventure: Windy City Rehab on HGTV. Victoria and her family will head to Chicago to restore vintage homes in the citys historic neighborhoods. In a recent interview with HGTV, Victoria was asked a series of questions about redesigning your home. Thats why Im a big fan of counters in neutral colors like white or gray, or natural-looking shades of blue or green. Victoria tells the Chicago Tribune, Ultimately, all that my goal is and all my goal has ever been is to be able to really do what I want and do what I love and make a difference in the city because these homes that are going up by other developers Im not saying all of them but some developers are putting up homes just to make money. Victoria runs a successful social media account with over 40k followers. Most of her posts promote her new series, while others show her hanging with friends and taking on Chicago. Based on her Instagram, it seems that Victoria is still busy wrapping up filming for the first season of Windy City Rehab. Be sure to tune in to the season premiere tonight on HGTV at 8pm ET/PT.

https://heavy.com/entertainment/2019/01/luke-harding-alison-victoria-husband/

Who should the Dallas Stars play at the 2020 Winter Classic?

The NHL announced that Dallas will host the 2020 Winter Classic at the Cotton Bowl next Jan. 1 -- but did not name an opponent for them. Greg Wyshynski, senior NHL writer: It was an odd move by the NHL to announce a Winter Classic host (the Dallas Stars) and a venue (the Cotton Bowl) and not an opponent (TBD). But commissioner Gary Bettman told me that there are a significant number of considerations the league, its television partners and the Stars have to navigate to find the right fit. Nashville is over 650 miles away from Dallas, but the Predators tick off so many of the other boxes the NHL has open. Their fans might travel for the first outdoor game in franchise history -- and keep in mind those fans aren't just local to Nashville, but regional to places like Kentucky and Alabama. The Predators are a division rival of the Stars, and have shown an ability to attract national interest. But more than anything else: This would be like the CMA Awards mixed with pond hockey. A team from Texas vs. a team from Tennessee. What a moment for the NHL to have two non-traditional markets have the Winter Classic spotlight to themselves. What an opportunity for the NHL to celebrate the regional diversity of the league in 2020, with an outdoor game that, for the first time in league history, won't feature a team from either coast, the Northeastern U.S., Canada or the Original Six. Stars. Predators. Winter Classic 2020. Drop the puck. Emily Kaplan, national NHL reporter: Nashville deserves an outdoor game. The Minnesota Wild. Look, relocation is awkward and messy. The league often doesn't know how to properly honor a team when they've left (see: the Carolina Hurricanes' divisive Hartford Whalers night). There's undoubtedly still hard feelings in Minnesota (especially for then-owner Norm Green) after the North Stars bolted, creating an eight-year NHL absence in the State of Hockey. Some might view the Stars hosting the Wild on this stage as a flex. I see it as a celebration of the past, but also the present; two teams that found a way to make it work in their cities, one being a conventional hockey market, the other not. Get Neal Broten, Mike Modano and other old North Stars involved. Have Zach Parise wear his dad J.P.'s old helmet and gloves during warmups again. Build up a narrative of drama. Tell me you wouldn't tune in. Sachin Chandan, ESPN the Magazine researcher: I like to see outdoor games as ways to reward successful teams as well as put on exciting matchups, so I'd like to see the Stars play the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning have the second best record of the past five seasons overall, and are the most successful team that has not been chosen for an outdoor game. The Lightning average the fifth most shots per game and give up the eighth most shots against, and since 2013, the Lightning and Stars have averaged 7.7 combined goals in their head-to-head matchups, so the game should be exciting, fast-paced, and high-scoring. While the Stars may have their, umm, issues with Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, the Lightning feature a stacked lineup led by Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman that deserves a chance to shine in the national spotlight. And like Greg's choice above, it would also be a celebration of two organizations that have developed their own brands of successful southern hockey.

http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/25666441/who-dallas-stars-play-2020-winter-classic

Was macht ein Chief Digital Officer (CDO)?

Der Aufgabenbereich eines CDO ist in jedem Unternehmen sehr unterschiedlich. In manchen Unternehmen ist er fr Transformation zustndig in anderem fr die Grndung eines Innovationslabs. Es ist auch immer die Frage wo der CDO innerhalb eines Unternehmens angesiedelt ist. Ich bin bei Gruner und Jahr hauptschlich im operativen Geschft involviert: Also ich bin fr die digitalen Geschfte wie Brigitte.de, Gala.de oder Chefkoch.de verantwortlich. Die Online Vermarktung dieser digitalen Produkte durch die Anzeigenabteilung gehrt ebenfalls dazu. Es kommen auch innovative Ideen hinzu wie die Marketing-Plattform AppLike (www.applike.info), die wir bei Gruner + Jahr entwickelt haben oder der Innovationsfonds G+J Digital Ventures fr Beteiligungen an innovativen Digital-Unternehmen. In erster Linie der gesunde Menschenverstand bei Beurteilung von Ideen. Ein Technologieinteresse ist auch notwendig, also man sollte so neugierig sein und wirklich verstehen wollen was genau es mit der Technik auf sich hat. Ein Verstndnis ber Geschftsmodelle und wie mit Produkten Geld verdient werden ist auch von Vorteil. Erfahrung mit Finanzen knnen ebenfalls nicht schaden. Also man sollte schon verstehen, was es mit einer GmbH oder einer Aktiengesellschaft auf sich hat und wie sie funktionieren. Kurzbio: Arne Wolter Arne Wolter ist seit Herbst 2015 Chief Digital Officer (CDO) bei Gruner + Jahr und fr den weiteren Ausbau des Digitalgeschftes sowie der digitalen Transformation von G+J verantwortlich. Auerdem leitet er die Bereiche G+J Digital Products, Chefkoch, M&A, den Digital Ventures Fonds, das InnovationLab Greenhouse sowie Growth Projects & Strategic Partnerships.

https://www.huffingtonpost.de/entry/was-macht-ein-chief-digital-officer-cdo_de_5c17f062e4b021f386ebb3a2

Was ist High Performance?

Motivationsspeaker und Gurus aus den USA benutzen diesen Begriff sehr oft und manchmal schon inflationr. Ein Erklrungsversuch. High Performance Definition von Brendon Burchard Bei der Begriffsbestimmung halte ich mich an den Autor Brendon Burchard und seinem Buch High Performance. Darin rumt er auch mit einigen der Mythen auf, die im Zusammengang mit High Performern kursieren. High-Performer wren unglcklich, berarbeitet und kurz vor dem Burn-Out. Um ein High Performer zu werden, mssen Sie, laut Burchard, nicht unglcklich oder berarbeitet sein, sondern laut der Studie im Buch sind High Performer glcklicher und auch produktiver in dem, was sie tun. High Performance bedeutet Spitzenleistung ber einen langfristigen Zeitraum zu leisten. Burchard unterscheidet zwischen High Performance und Peak Performance und erklrt, das bei einem Peak, also einer Spitzenleistung, auch einen Fall nach unten gibt. Wer einmal die Spitze erklommen hat, wird unweigerlich wieder nach unten fallen; bei High Performance ist das allerdings nicht so. Die einmal erklommene Leistung wird gehalten und sogar gesteigert.

https://www.huffingtonpost.de/entry/was-ist-high-performance_de_5c19f8ade4b0eb5c86e0b1a3

Is Namibias agricultural land for sale or for long term lease?

The recently signed 99-year agricultural land lease agreement by the Namibian government with the Russian billionaire Rashid Sardarov has without a doubt exposed the country to a lot of more foreign agricultural land ownership scrambles, which, if not handled properly and urgently, could open up the country to the highest bidder or assumed investors. Sardarov, through his company Comsar Properties, in an approved private transaction purchased four additional farms measuring a combined 17,000 hectares for N$43 million dollars from two Namibian willing sellers in the Khomas Region. This latest acquisition is in addition to the three other farms that he had initially acquired in 2014. This development effectively now gives him control of seven Namibian farms, with a combined size of more than 45,000 hectares of prime land on the edge of the capital city, Windhoek. This specific situation of the 99-year agricultural land lease agreement although not factored in now could have a fundamental developmental impact on the urbanisation expansions plans of the City of Windhoek at a potentially higher cost to the city or the entire region in the next 60 to 80 years. Thats however a matter for those that will be around in the next 70 to 80 years from now. I will not for the purpose of this article dwell in detail on the relevant sections of the Agricultural Land Reform Act of 1995 and related that pertains to the sell and acquisition of agricultural land to a foreign national but will merely focus on just three very interesting but important points which I picked up from the recent press interview of the Minister of Land Reform as was aired on NBC National radio on the 19th of October 2018. It should however be accepted and respected at this juncture that the current Agricultural Land Reform Act of 1995 does give the Minister of Land Reform the prerogative to grant within the prescribed laws the right to either approve or decline certain agricultural land applications. With that said, the condition to however grant the Russian a 99-year agricultural land lease duration period is another matter altogether which in my opinion needs further deliberations and careful re-considerations as it could open up a whole lot of possibilities with appealing conditions to lease Namibia out to any eligible wealthy foreigner. The Minister of land Reform, Mr. Utoni Nujoma after a detailed explanation of the procedure followed to eventually grant the go ahead for this specific agricultural land lease deal stated three very important points which in my view should be accepted at face value. And they are as follows: 1) That Cabinet was consulted of the entire transaction process on several occasions; The involvement of Cabinet in this specific land application process is a very critical aspect in terms of broad procedural transparency and collective decision making but what eventually transpired is that they played more of an advisory role leaving the last decision to be taken by the Minister of Land Reform as per the relevant sections of the Agricultural Land Reform Act of 1995. What is however not clear is what role did Cabinet play on the condition of granting a 99-year lease duration period to the Russian. Thats however a matter for another day. However, this 99-year land lease deal agreement that was deliberately signed 2 days before the 2nd National Land Conference now expose the Namibian Government in making land deals that are in contrary to the laws of the country and further against the resolutions of the land conference. How the Namibian government is going to restore these deals and others relative to the recently resolved land conference resolutions will be of great interest. 2) That the Ministry of Land Reform did not at the time have the necessary financial means to purchase the four farms. The Minister of Land Reform repeatedly stated during his media interview on the 19th of October 2018 that the Ministry of Land Reform did not have the necessary financial means at the time to acquire the four farms and due to that and taking into account the additional due process followed that he then eventually allowed the Russian billionaire to purchase and lease back the four additional farms for 99 years from the Namibian Government albeit on certain conditions. This specific admission then made me realize that the main reason to approve this deal is actually due to the dismal financial position of the Ministry of Land Reform which if accepted at face value could expose going forward a precedence of leasing Namibia out to wealthy foreigners for many years at the disadvantage to the poor indigenous inhabitants. 3) That he has been trying to have the Agricultural Land Reform Act of 1995 to be amended but to no avail as his appeal has being ignored. Last but not least, the Ministers repeated call to his colleagues to have the Agricultural Land Reform Act of 1995 amended accordingly speaks volume exposing an element of disunity and perhaps delay tactics which if not intercepted soonest could leave the country critically exposed to once again become a colony to wealthy foreign individuals. In conclusion, this specific agricultural land deal and its related impact are actually bigger than what it looks like of which a wholistic legislative review and reform is actually needed before the nation is gradually sold or leased off completely to the disadvantaged of the masses. Pendapala Hangala is a Namibian Socio-Economist who strongly believes in the nations vision 2030 development agenda 2018-10-26 09:23:10 2 months ago

https://neweralive.na/posts/is-namibias-agricultural-land-for-sale-or-for-long-term-lease

Can the humanities prepare African students for 4th industrial revolution?

Ruksana Osman The term fourth industrial revolution is understood in various ways. Some people are excited about it. Others are cautious. Some assume it means that technology and robots will take over every human activity. And still others imagine that this revolution will lead only to joblessness and automation. There are also those who are sceptical and insist its no revolution at all. They argue that its just an improvement and fusion of various technologies like artificial intelligence and 3D printing and acceleration in productivity. In all these instances, the interaction of technology with humans and humans with technology is underestimated. The emphasis on interaction is key to understanding the fourth industrial revolution. And this epoch will, like all times of change, require universities to push the boundaries of teaching and learning. Universities will need to ensure that students are equipped with approaches to learning that involve agility, adaptability and curiosity. It will be a challenge for us all. The fourth industrial revolution will also raise many questions for universities to consider. In seeking answers, societies must create the space to have conversations across social, academic, and industry and community boundaries. The purpose of these conversations is to determine priority areas that need to be improved by the rapid technological changes we are currently experiencing as well as thinking about how we redefine the human condition. Universities have a crucial role to play in these conversations. And a humanities education has a lot to offer when it comes to preparing students for the fourth industrial revolution. Harnessing the humanities A humanities education inculcates the importance of reflecting on the vast array of methodological and societal issues that arise from any practices. These include the technological and computational practices that underpin the fourth industrial revolution. Critical thinking, debating and creative problem solving are taught in the humanities. This kind of critical orientation allows students to explore the complex human-to-human relations and the human to robotic relations that we are already encountering and that will become ever more common. This isnt to suggest that only the humanities are relevant. Cross-disciplinary communities of researchers and educators matter and will matter now more than ever. This is particularly true in South Africa where the education system hasnt provided for the breaking down of boundaries between the sciences, let alone between the disciplines in the humanities. Collectively we will need to do more when it comes to drawing on approaches from various disciplines, which will allow for quantitative reasoning, problem solving and systems thinking that are socially relevant. Such partnerships are already happening in small pockets, and are yielding promising results. Collaborating and mutuality For instance, the Faculty of Humanities at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg collaborates with the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment to offer a joint undergraduate programme that meshes engineering with arts to make a programme in game design and digital arts. Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Engineering students work alongside each other in courses that are team-taught to design innovative high tech games. Its not all fun: games, after all, are a means of challenging ourselves, controlling outcomes, competing, and figuring out successful strategies of doing things. Students from this programme draw on a variety of skills like problem solving, inferential thinking and visualisation. They have produced games that are frequently downloaded from various app stores. Similarly, the universitys faculties of science and humanities offer a postgraduate programme on e-Science or Data Science. The programme brings together science and humanities students and staff to work on complex, big data problems. Theyre also taught to think of ways to visualise and communicate this information and to question the predictive powers of big data. Students are exposed to various interdisciplinary approaches like statistical computing and modelling, data visualisation, text analysis, and geographical information systems. Master of Arts students take courses in data privacy and ethics alongside MSc students. This course is team-taught and students engage with complex problems from two or more science and humanities disciplines. These and other examples of innovative teaching and learning help to disrupt the current techno talk that dominates conversations about the fourth industrial revolution. Its essential that we bring our ideas to the fore and reshape the conversations in ways that resonate with who we are, where we are located and what this means for us and our futures. Africa.com *Ruksana Osman is a professor and dean of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg in South Africa 2018-10-10 10:20:10 2 months ago

https://neweralive.na/posts/can-the-humanities-prepare-african-students-for-4th-industrial-revolution

Is 'Holmes & Watson' so bad its good?

And yet, despite the terrible reviews, there I was on a rainy Friday in a Manhattan theatre with about 20 other people waiting for the movie to start. Tommy Wiseau, centre, wearing a tie, wrote, directed, produced and starred in The Room. Here's the thing: I've always loved bad movies. Really, loved them. But for a bad movie to be so terrible it's redeemable, it must have certain characteristics, like unrealistic dialogue and canyon-sized plot holes. Good, even with the campy action scenes. Even better poor Johnny Cage! Star Trek Generations is one of my favourites of the franchise, even though it nonsensically left Kirk to die under a bridge. Every gruesome scene from Street Fighter is comical to me. If I come across 1993's Super Mario Bros, I'm hoping to catch the scene of Goombas appearing in an elevator. (Yes, there's a trend with movies based on video games.) And a good bad movie must not take itself too seriously. On that front, The Godfather: Part III fails. The gold standard for bad movies that became good is Plan 9 From Outer Space, directed by Edward D. Wood Jr in 1959. One of its stars, Gregory Walcott, said that the script, about aliens attacking Earth by resurrecting the dead, "made no sense". The film was to feature Bela Lugosi, but he died before shooting began, so Wood used unrelated footage he'd shot of the horror star and a noticeably taller body double. Despite or because of its continuity errors, low production value and absurd dialogue, the film became a cult favourite. It now has a 67 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes because it is "unintentionally hilarious" and displays "staggering ineptitude", the site says. With Holmes & Watson, some audience members hated it so much that they put up social media posts saying they had walked out before the film finished. Todd Moye, a history professor at the University of North Texas, told me, "The projector conked out midway through the showing I took my family to and I got my money back. Luckiest break I've ever gotten in a movie theatre." Watson (John C. Reilly), Queen Victoria (Pam Ferris) and Sherlock Holmes (Will Ferrell). Credit:John Wilson When asked by email about reported walkouts, representatives for AMC and Regal, two big US theatre chains showing the movie, perhaps unsurprisingly did not respond. At the Friday showing, the film began with an ominous sign: It didn't. After a projector malfunction that left the audience in the dark for about 20 minutes, we finally watched Watson disguising himself as a manure salesman in one scene and, in another, conducting a, shall we say, sexy autopsy alongside his crush. (At least his crush wasn't the body.) Not done yet, Watson later lactates. It's not like Holmes fares any better, with lengthy attempts at urination humour. Two men walked out midway through the showing. I bounded out after them to ask them why. Both declined to be interviewed. One simply said, "Going to go watch a football game". (Purdue and Auburn were facing off.) I did find some endearing moments, like a catchy musical number written by Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken and lyricist Glenn Slater, sung by Ferrell and Reilly near the movie's end. There are fun cameos, including from actor Billy Zane and wrestler Braun Strowman. And two bits got chuckles out of me: one when Holmes put on a "Make England Great Again" hat. (There are several references to President Donald Trump and the plight of American democracy.) The other was an anachronistic spin class that took place in a gym. Watson (John C. Reilly) and Sherlock Holmes (Will Ferrell) in Holmes and Watson. Credit:Sony After the movie ended, I ran into Manny Alvarez and his wife, Reizel, who were visiting from Miami. Let's call them the Nine Per Cent. "I loved the movie I thought it was funny," Reizel Alvarez said. She also said it was her birthday. "It was interesting," Manny Alvarez chimed in. "I liked the fact that they were comparing their democracy and comparing it to what we have in the United States. I thought that was kind of cute." Then there was Andy Sanchez and Hunter Freeman, a married couple who were fans of Ferrell and Reilly's past works, like Step Brothers. They went into Holmes & Watson knowing about the bad reviews. "Honestly, I didn't really like it," Sanchez (literally) yawned as he told me. Freeman said she fell asleep inside the theatre. "I still wanted to give it a shot because Will Ferrell, I give him the benefit of the doubt," Sanchez said. To me, Holmes & Watson lacks ironic rewatchability because it actually tries (and fails) to be funny. "I know what you mean," Sanchez said. "This isn't one of them." Holmes & Watson is in cinemas now. The New York Times

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/entertainment/movies/is-holmes-and-watson-so-bad-it-s-good-20181231-p50oza.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed

Is there a 'right' age for a child to transition from the gender of their birth?

Eleven-year-old Max is about to make the biggest decision of his life; whether to live with the gender birth has assigned him, or to take steps to change it. If that piques your attention, you can only imagine the tumultuous emotions his parents, sister and extended family are about to wrestle with in this surprisingly adroit and emotional British miniseries. Anna Friel and Callum Booth-Ford in Butterfly. Credit:Ben Blackall Writer Tony Marchant (Public Enemies, Secret Agent) can never be accused of backing away from subject matter that is both topical and rich. And it's a credit to him and his cast that he pulls it off with such aplomb, mastery and even-handedness. Separated from her husband, Vicky Duffy (Anna Friel) raises Max (Callum Booth-Ford) and his sister Lily (Millie Gibson) as well as she can manage. Faultlessly doting and sympathetic, she wants to protect Max from the bullying and harassment that his effeminate demeanour and habits elicit at school. She naively believes the situation can be contained by allowing Max to wear female clothes and make-up at home. But the onset of puberty leads to a crisis (which viewers may find confronting and disturbing), prompting Vicky to realise the situation can no longer be contained within the confines of a perfectly loving and supportive family home.

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/is-there-a-right-age-for-a-child-to-transition-from-the-gender-of-their-birth-20181221-h19dxz.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed

When is Island of Dreams on TV? Whos in the cast of the Richard Branson comedy?

Fans of The Windsors, rejoice, as the writers behind the royal spoof show, Bert Tyler-Moore and George Jeffrie, have set their sights on a new celebrity clan: Sir Richard Branson and his famous chums, who gather together at his Caribbean island paradise, Necker. Advertisement Heres everything you need to know about the brand new comedy. Island of Dreams is a one-off special that airs on BBC2 at 10pm on Thursday 3rd January. However, if this pilot is successful, the show may return for a full series. The series follows the Virgin billionaire, Sir Richard Branson (played by Harry Enfield, who starred as Prince Charles in The Windsors), who invites various celebrities to his island, Necker, and attempts to solve their problems for them. The celebrities are able to kick back and relax under the tropical sun, sipping cocktails served by bikini-clad waitresses. Harry Enfield as Richard Branson is everything youd hope it would be and more. Island of Dreams. Thursday 3rd January, 10pm, @BBCTwo. https://t.co/F0DPP1HPPW pic.twitter.com/79GLPcCKD5 BBC Comedy (@bbccomedy) December 29, 2018 Alongside Enfield are a host of The Windsors alumni, including Richard Goulding (who played a dim-witted Prince Harry) as actor Daniel Radcliffe and Morgana Robinson (Pippa Middleton) as singer Adele. Advertisement Samantha Spiro (Game of Thrones) plays Harry Potter author JK Rowling, comedian Al Murray is Gregg Wallace, and Dustin Demri-Burns (The Spy Who Dumped Me) plays physicist Professor Brian Cox.

https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2019-01-02/island-of-dreams-richard-branson-bbc2-air-date-time-cast/

Is Seinfeld on Netflix?

The creation of Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David and running on NBC in the US from 1989 to 1998, Seinfeld is one of the best-loved and most-celebrated sitcoms in American television history. Advertisement Set in an around an apartment block in New York, the show stars Jerry Seinfeld as a fictionalised version of himself as he goes about his daily life. It co-stars best friend Jason Alexander as Jerrys best friend George Costanza, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Elaine Benes and Michael Richards Cosmo Kramer, the strange neighbour from across the hall. Widely regarded by television critics as one of the most influential comedies of the modern era, the cast and crew have gone on to many different successful projects perhaps most notably Larry David as the star of Curb Your Enthusiasm and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as star of Veep. Some of the best-loved episodes of Seinfeld include The Parking Garage and The Chinese Restaurant. Advertisement At present, sadly Seinfeld isnt available on Netflix in the UK.

https://www.radiotimes.com/news/2019-01-02/is-seinfeld-on-netflix/

What will be on Grimsby Town manager Michael Jolley's to-do list in January transfer window?

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 January transfer window is now officially open, and business is already well underway throughout the Football League. Grimsby Town have already made their first signing, with the arrival of Swedish full-back Sebastian Ring having been confirmed before the turn of the year. And, before the window slams shut on January 31, Mariners boss Michael Jolley will be aiming to do some business as he aims to strengthen his side for the remainder of the League Two season. EXTENDING DUOS STAY First things first for Jolley will be sorting out the immediate futures of on-loan stars Elliot Embleton and Luke Hendrie. The pair have impressed since making the temporary move to Blundell Park in the summer, but both deals are set to run out very soon. Fans have made it clear they want the pair to stay beyond January and, although he hasnt quite said it himself, Jolley will no doubt be in the same frame of mind. Jolley has always said in the build-up to the transfer window that there will be some departures from the squad in order to make room for some new arrivals. Hes been true to his word, with Paul Dixon and Louis Robles both leaving the club, while JJ Hooper made the move on loan to Bromley last month. Whether the strikers move to London is made permanent remains to be seen, but should he depart the club, he might not be the last player to make the move away from Cleethorpes. Andrew Fox has been rumoured to be looking at a move back to the US, having previously played in the States for four years. (Image: Lee Blease) And with the arrival of fellow full-back Ring, the way appears to be clear for Fox to head over the Atlantic should he choose to head back Stateside. SHORT TERM SOLUTIONS The Mariners havent had the best of luck when it comes to injuries over recent weeks, particularly in defence. Akin Famewo, Reece Hall-Johnson, Danny Collins, Luke Hendrie and Harry Davis have all had to spend time on the treatment table recently, leading to a couple of makeshift back fours over the last couple of league games. Hall-Johnson and Hendrie have both recently returned to the team, while Famewo and Collins have an outside chance of being back in for this weekends FA Cup clash at Crystal Palace and Davis concussion protocol will come to an end next week. When all of his defenders are fully fit, the Town boss will have two options for each position in the back four although, as previously mentioned, the potential departure of Andrew Fox could change that situation. With Famewo and Davis both capable of filling in at full-back, an extra body on loan at the heart of the defence could be in order as the centre-backs make their returns from injury. STRENGTH IN NUMBERS Fans hopes for the transfer window have perhaps changed quite a bit compared to a couple of months ago, with recent results putting Town in a strong position at the turn of the year. Having said that, theyll still want to see a few new faces arriving over the next few weeks and Jolley will certainly do his upmost to strengthen his squad. (Image: Tom Sandberg/PPAUK) The Mariners boss has already hit upon the nucleus of a strong team over the past few months, the key now will be to add to his options and if possible improve on what hes already got. Defence, as previously mentioned, could be an obvious area to target, while having made some room up front, another striker could be high up on the wish list. The options in the centre of midfield look pretty good already with Mitch Rose and John Welsh providing competition for current incumbents Jake Hessenthaler and Harry Clifton. Therefore, some more competition in the wide areas for Ben Pringle and (hopefully) Embleton might be the way to go, particularly if the latter doesnt extend his stay. Keep up to date with all the latest Grimsby Town news, features and opinions throughout the day with our dedicated page to the Mariners. You can also keep track of all the goings on at Blundell Park by following us on Twitter and Facebook.

https://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/what-grimsby-town-manager-michael-2381785

Can anyone explain what Chris Grayling is for?

Get politics 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 Welcome to 2019, a year in which your government will charge rape victims to be rescued so long as they're brown, and give a nationally-vital shipping contract to a firm that does not have any ships. The best thing to do at this point is find a nice soft cushion and position it on the desk in front of you, because you are going to be hitting it with your head quite a lot. It's time to for us to discuss Chris Grayling. A man with the body of Donald Trump and the IQ of a roll of Sellotape, seeing him in a hi-vis jacket is as much reason to despair as spotting lumps in the groin: a sure sign that something is amiss. From Carillion to the criminal justice system, from the welfare state to the prison service, and to Gatwick Airport by way of London Bridge, there's nothing Grayling has touched and not cocked up. And now, despite a long history of incompetence and twattery, he has decided to ring in the New Year the same way he ended the last one. Doing stupid things stupidly, and spitting out another stream of sticky stuff in a vain attempt to hold all the stupid bits together long enough for something even more stupid to happen. (Image: PA) In his two years as Minister of State at the Department for Work and Pensions he helped sacked 100,000 JobCentre staff, meaning they all had to go to, well, the JobCentre. Which was shut. When he was put in charge of the 5bn Back to Work programme getting the long-term unemployed into jobs, he was told they were genuinely "sicker than expected". His response was to tighten the criteria, making their illnesses bureaucratically unnoticeable, and arguably, it must be said, making them sicker. He was called the worst Lord Chancellor since 1673. He tried to charge defendants to plead not guilty, forcing the poor to admit crimes they may not have committed. He slashed legal aid for domestic abuse victims and banned books for prisoners. It was all deeply stupid, and very horrible. And as person in charge of the legal system, he tried to restrict the legal system's ability to scrutinise politicians. (Image: Daily Mirror) And throughout it all, he yanked a never-ending stream of sticky tape out of his mouth to bundle it all up in one big, sticky mess. As Shadow Home Secretary he was found to have used "dodgy" and "misleading" statistics on violent crime, claiming it had risen under Labour when, er, it hadn't. He claimed Moss Side was in the grip of "an urban war" like that of The Wire. It was left to the Manchester Evening News to point out Baltimore had 191 gun murders the previous year, while the Mancs suffered the grand total of zero. "I pay the same train fares as you!" he squeaked this time last year, failing to mention that unlike the rest of us he had a salary of 141,505 from the public purse, could claim his train fares on expenses, and in any case had the use of a ministerial car. (Image: Christopher Furlong) All of which, you would think, would be enough to convince anyone that the best use for Chris Grayling would be as ballast in the foundations of a motorway flyover, rather than the complicated job of handing out big-money government contracts. Instead he was made Transport Secretary, a job he has truly made his own in that he has curled one out on everything that's crossed his desk. In July 2017, now-notorious firm Carillion issued a profit warning that saw its market value drop by 600m. A week later Grayling gave it a 1.34bn contract to build tunnels for HS2. Grayling claimed he had "secure undertakings" the contract would be delivered. At the time, there was a 845m hole in Carillion's books and it was 6 months from liquidation. (Image: Manchester Evening News) Last month a drone closed Britain's second-busiest airport, stranded 350,000 passengers a week before Christmas, and cost millions. CSI Gatwick was reduced to standing in fields staring at the sky, and Grayling was offered the services of a crack RAF team of specialists to find the culprit. It's been reported Grayling quibbled for 19 hours because his department would have to pay for it. By the time the experts were finally called, the drone and its operator had all but disappeared and the government's costs were sky-high. Now, for the second year in a row, he has marked the New Year rail fares increase by disappearing to Qatar on what is claimed to be a post-Brexit trade mission. Why he has to return having done the same last January, and why it is always arranged during the most indefensible thing he would otherwise have to defend, is not clear. But at the same time, fairly obvious. (Image: PA) All of this could have been predicted some years ago, if anyone had noted his 1991, pre-politics job as business development manager for a short-lived experiment called BBC Select. It was an overnight service aimed at professionals who, it was envisioned, would record educational programmes on their VCRs (younger readers may need to Google this). All well and good, except the business plan young Grayling was tasked with developing involved charging a subscription for it - despite the fact that the BBC, rather famously, is already paid for by everyone with a television. Unsurprisingly, BBC Select closed after 2 years. More astonishingly though, Grayling was elevated to the lofty position of borough councillor, MP, shadow minister, the Privy Council and then some of the most important offices in the land. (Image: Manchester Evening News) The question is not why he does the stupid things he does, but why anyone lets him play with this stuff. Either he has found something to blackmail Theresa May with, or she's using him to destroy the country so that Brexit doesn't seem so bad. But raise your head from the desk; for there are two reasons to hope that the cold, stupid hands of Oh Christ Not Grayling may soon be removed from the tender neck of the British state. The first is that he has awarded a 13m contract for a vital post-Brexit shipping service to a firm that has no ships. This is standard Grayling stupidity, but if a deeper scandal is uncovered he might, finally, have his ministerial career terminated. The second is that we may be getting to the end of that roll of Sellotape. Tackled about his avoidance of the train fares rise, Grayling uttered the truest words he has ever spoken: "My presence in the country doesn't make any difference." He's wrong, of course. His presence only makes things worse. But if even HE realises he's not helping, perhaps one day soon he will do the decent thing and scuttle back to whichever village will have him.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/can-anyone-explain-what-chris-13803044

Is Namibia a 24-hour brothel for rich foreigners?

Job Shipululo Amupanda Last August I was scheduled to address Heroes Day in Manchester. Due to sabotage, I could not make it. Understandably, organisers the Community of Namibian in Great Britain (CNGB) were disappointed. Last week, one of CNGB members contacted me regarding the Russian land deal. She was concerned about her British business friends who interpreted the deal as an indicator that Namibia is, in her own words, the The Real McCoy for foreigners. They too, like the Russians, are planning to visit politicians to get their land for 99 years. I told her that Namibia is a 24 hours brothel for rich foreign imbeciles. I had to explain this discomforting comparison. A brothel, a place of commercial sexual acts, has the following stakeholders; the manager and bouncers, the prostitutes and the clients. The prostitute is central in the brothel enterprise. To a client, a prostitute is a tantalising object of desire, conquest and indulgence. A client is not concerned with the prostitutes humanity. To a brothel manager and bouncers, a prostitute is a gold mine, a source of income. Like the client, managers are not concerned with the prostitutes humanity. Then there are relatives and parents who await Gods intervention for their own to terminate her relationship with the brothel. Our country is in a similar state. Our country (brothel) has become a paradise for rich foreign imbeciles (clients) whose eyes are set on our resources (prostitute). Our leaders (managers and bouncers) stand ready to make our resources (prostitutes) available to rich foreign imbeciles (clients) for use (sexual exploits). This has been happening from 1990 to date (24 hours) resulting in foreigners benefiting handsomely at Namibias expense (endless orgasms). Our departed ancestor Frantz Fanon had long warned us about post-colonial Africa falling for neo-liberal universalism because of the unpreparedness and distance between the masses and the political elites. The result, he argued, of their cowardice at the decisive moment of the struggle will give rise to tragic mishaps. It is as if he was looking at Namibia whose economic constitutional content was designed by foreigners, for foreigners. For seven years from 1990 to 1996, the Bank of Namibia was ran by foreigner governors: Netherlands Bernard (1990 -1991), Swedens Karlsson (1991 - 1993) and Malaysias Ahmad (1994 -1996). During the formulation of Vision 2030, a Nigerian consultant was appointed to be the brain behind Namibias then long-term strategic vision. In the 2000s, an Indian consultant played a domineering role in the formulation of Namibias foreign policy, resulting in the 2004 adopted foreign policy white paper. Before feeble minds find cover in xenophobia, lets immediately be clear that a countrys constitution, foreign policy and long-term development vision are not auction areas. Indeed, these cannot be compared to waste management policy or photography. No serious country hands over these sovereign and patriotic spaces to outsiders. While a good neighbour can enter your kitchen and sitting room, it is extraordinary if they proceed to your bedroom. However, in a brothel all rooms are available to clients. To Africans, pain and grief are personal. Foreigners were consulted by government and paid millions to advise Namibians how to redress the results of the pain from the 1904 Herero and Nama genocide. Foreigners are busy, for millions of dollars, drafting the crime prevention strategy. A few months ago, President Hage Geingob effectively disclosed that it was the Queen of England who caused government to abandon the 25 peercent clause in the New Equitable Economic Empowerment Framework (NEEEF). To government, foreigners are royalty. Both Johnny Johnson Doeseb (Namibian) and Chinese Stina Wu (Chinese) are in the construction and property development industry. While Doeseb has several qualifications, Wu was a mere alphabet teaching kindergarten teacher in China. She is now a millionaire who donated N$600 000 to a private foundation of President Geingobs wife. Consider the Malaysian multinational group Ramatex that came to Namibia in the 2000s. The company got Windhoek land on a 99-year lease at a cost of only N$1 188. The municipality spent N$80 million to service this land for the Malaysians, who were also allowed not to pay tax. The results were disastrous. After contaminating the Windhoek Aquifer (layer of underground water), flouting environmental laws, subjecting female employees to undergo pregnancy tests and other exploitations, Ramatex took the money made and left. It was speculated then that pockets of Swapo elites were decorated by Malaysians. The Russian deal is the same. From the 99-year lease, flouting of environmental laws (given reports of disappearing wild animals and the burial of anthrax-infected rhinos) and the exploitation of workers. It will not be surprising, given the high-gear defence of the dubious deal, that politician pockets were again populated. Our politicians can be bought for personal use, like a loaf of bread. While everyone is being asked to tighten their belts under supposed economic headwinds, the elite are loosening theirs in full gratification. In 2012, Australians concluded a deal, outside Namibia, selling the countrys land to the Chinese for N$20 billion to set up Husab uranium mine. The Chinese gave Namibia only 10 percent shares in its own resources. To get this 10 percent share, Namibia got a loan about N$ 2 billion, from the same Chinese to buy these shares. This loan will be repaid for 15 years, likely meaning that Namibias share would not yield anything for the country for the 15 years of the investment. Scandalously, Husabs lifespan is between 20 to 25 years. Imagine Chinese packing up and leaving at the 16th year when Namibia is supposed to start benefiting. In a brothel, a client can demand and do as he wishes to a prostitute. The Husab deal corroborates a brothel scenario. The leaders will not help us. They have always been willing bouncers at the door of the brothel. As a Swapo chief whip in the National Assembly and later as a trade minister, President Geingob was paid by foreigners to facilitate the smoothening of their deals. These same investors are in French courts answering their relations with our president. He is a business partner with tax fraud accused Chinese Jack Huang. He recently, as chairperson of Cabinet, presided over the agreement that gave multiple farms to the Russian for 99 years. There is now consensus that the brothel must be shut and prostitutes rescued for rehabilitation and reintegration in the new society. The bouncers and clients will not close the brothel but young men and women, with talent and energy. The options are limited. In fact, there is only one option; radical. The 2018 gimmick land conference has demonstrated foolishness inherent in sitting with managers/bouncers, and clients, to discuss the negative impact of the brothel. Without a radical intervention things can get worse instead of losing a toe we may lose a leg. Without doubt, Namibia is a 24-hours rich foreigners brothel. * Job Shipululo Amupanda is de-colonial scholar and activist from Omaalala village in northern Namibia. 2018-12-12 09:59:36 21 days ago

https://neweralive.na/posts/is-namibia-a-24-hour-brothel-for-rich-foreigners

Is Chelsea move the right step for Pulisic?

And there is no simple answer. [ MORE: Pulisic issues statement ] We all know that Pulisic was destined to play in the Premier League. He has said time and time again that he hoped to move there one day, and his love for the league is clear after his spell living in England as a youngster and watching closely from Hershey, Pennsylvania growing up. The fact Pulisic has arrived at one of the biggest clubs on the planet for such a massive transfer fee is a massive moment for American soccer. He has arrived at Chelsea for a huge $73 million fee and will join them in the summer after being loaned back to Borussia Dortmund for the rest of the current campaign. The players remaining at Chelsea when Pulisic arrives in the summer will likely dictate if his move to England and the Premier League is a successful one. Pro Soccer Talk understands that Pulisic has been told that some key attacking players at Chelsea will be moved on between now and this summer to allow him to become a key player for the west London club. [ STREAM: Watch every PL match live ] He is not the first youngster to arrive at the Blues with huge expectations placed upon him, but Pulisics character has so far seen him deal comfortably with being the golden boy of American soccer and he will be unfazed by everything swirling around him in the Premier League. Aside from the huge marketing potential Chelsea will see in having the first global American superstar in their squad, they have paid this huge fee for a reason. They believe in Pulisics talents. Despite that, getting into this Chelsea team will be tough for Pulisic to do on a weekly basis. At least at first. If Eden Hazard does stay at Chelsea and doesnt head to Real Madrid, Pulisic will be fighting with Willian and Pedro for the one remaining spot out wide. However, his arrival is likely to signal the departure of either Willian or Pedro, or maybe both, and even if one of their wingers remains Maurizio Sarri has played with three wingers going forward many times this season. Having Hazard as a false nine with Pulisic and Willian buzzing around him could work very well. That said, you cannot brush aside Chelseas track record of stockpiling young talent and then seeing many of their careers stagnating at Stamford Bridge. Pulisic falls into a slightly different category, but academy products Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Nathaniel Chalboah, Nathan Ake, Tammy Abraham and many others have all had to move elsewhere (either on loan or permanently) to try and kick-start their careers. The fact that Chelsea splashed this cash to sign Pulisic proves they are going to use him and he will be a key cog under Sarri. And that is perhaps the biggest plus for him signing for Chelsea. Sarri loves players who are able to possess the ball and press high up the pitch. That suits Pulisics game to a tee, and if Hazard stays this summer he will be able to link up and learn from one of the best players on the planet. Even if Hazard leaves then Pulisic will be given a greater responsibility to be Chelseas main attacking threat. He may not score as many goals as he would like, but his creativity, pace and ability to play in multiple positions means he will slot into this Chelsea system seamlessly. Liverpools front three are going nowhere, and although Pulisic has a great relationship with Jurgen Klopp, a move to Anfield just didnt seem like a good fit, at least right now. If he gets the opportunity to play regularly, as he should do, then this move looks perfect for Pulisic. Follow @JPW_NBCSports

https://soccer.nbcsports.com/2019/01/02/is-chelsea-move-the-right-step-for-pulisic/

Why is SA shaken by Peugeots Namibian plant?

WINDHOEK The National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) has been on a warpath against the establishment of a Peugeot plant in Namibia, saying this development is potentially in breach of regional trade rules. The plant, known as Peugeot Opel Assembly Namibia, is a joint venture between French company Groupe PSA who own 51 percent, and Namibia Development Corporation (NDC), a wholly state-owned Namibian company which holds the remaining 49 percent. Naamsa specifically cited the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu) whose rules it believes are potentially being violated by the Walvis Bay-based plant especially those on import duties. Namibia on the other hand has denied any wrongdoing, leaving the obligation to prove any infringements squarely on the shoulders of the whining South African motoring industry. The Permanent Secretary in Namibias Ministry of Industrialisation, Trade and SME Development, Dr Michael Humavindu, says he was not aware of any infringement emanating from the countrys first ever car-assembly factory. We would like the South African motoring industry to confirm their facts and verify that the assembly plant breaches Sacu regulations, Humavindu told New Era. They must make their case to South Africas department of trade and industry and their government will communicate with the Namibian government. We cannot respond to an industry. Nico Vermeulen, Director of Naamsa, told CNBC Africa news network on Monday this week that the Peugeot deal in Namibia needs further clarification. Last week, he was widely quoted in other media platforms as saying more explanation was needed. Humavindu charged that the media reports questioning Namibias compliance with regional trade protocols were written to cause consternation. But Vermeulen disagrees, telling CNBC Africa: We were not well informed about the basis on which the Peugeot [was set up]. Weve since received information that substantially clarifies the position. He said on Monday during a telephonic interview with CNBC Africa. I wouldnt say its tension between Naamsa and the Namibian government [as hinted in the media]. Its more of a question of informing the other, he continued. They (Peugeot in Namibia) are entitled to duty-free access to the South African market, provided they complied with customs and excise regulations as they apply in Sacu. He charged that Peugeot is importing parts that are then all put together to assemble vehicles, in a manner that circumvents Sacus import duties. Our information at this stage is that the vehicle plant in Namibia is a semi-knockdown assembly facility. The other alternative, is a complete knockdown assembly facility which is a high capital investment. Semi-knockdown, or SKD, is lower capital investment and the alternative to SKD manufacturing or CKD (complete knockdown) manufacturing is full importation. The Walvis Bay facility assembles imported car kits from France and Germany. Now, the import duties from Europe, the EU, of parts entering Sacu, for which Namibia is part, is 18 percent. Our understanding is that the Peugeot operation in Namibia is bringing in 55 different types of automotive components and then assembling that into a final vehicle, Vermeulen said. Then theyll pay duty on those components of three to five percent instead of 18 percent duty. So its a way of gaining a foothold in the market on a very cost-effective basis. He said Peugeot should have set up a plant in South Africa instead. If they had so wished, Peugeot could have started a semi-knockdown operation in South Africa, close to the main market. There are various other companies that are producing low volumes on the same basis. SKD is normally a fairly low volume type of manufacturing activity. Peugeot in Namibia have mentioned that they intend to produce 5000 vehicles per annum and the minimum volume that apply in South Africa for a CKD plant in terms of automotive production is 50 000 units per annum. And most models produced in CKD, complete knockdown, in South Africa is around 80 000 to 100 000 units per model. This gives a bit of perspective in terms of the range of volumes of production, he concluded. Humavindu said the Walvis plant is Namibias contribution to integration in both Sacu and Sadc. The Peugeot plant will eventually be inserted into the regional value chain, with the possibility of different components in the assembly process being sourced from within the region, particularly from South Africa, Humavindu said. We are all promoting the Airbus business model that sources components from all over the world in the assembly of their aircraft. This type of business model will ensure that we achieve regional integration, said Humavindu. He continued that with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) gaining momentum, also having recently been ratified by South African lawmakers, both Sadc and Sacu need to be prepared to compete not only regionally but also avoid losing out to the other regional economic blocks on the continent and throughout the globe. Additional reporting by Edgar Brandt 2018-12-12 09:49:19 21 days ago

https://neweralive.na/posts/why-is-sa-shaken-by-peugeots-namibian-plant

Is it Time to Call BS on Body Positivity?

Body positivity sounds like such a nice idea, until you realize its not always attainable. It promises that posting a picture of your rolls on Instagram will suddenly make you fall in love with them. But throwing away a lifetime of body hang-ups is way more complicated than adopting a few empowering hashtags. Believing we should love everything about our bodies, makes us feel like failures when we dont. Sometimes, it feels like body positivity doesnt leave any room for insecurities and frustrations, which every single one of us struggles with. I used to greet their gripes with my perky refrain of body-positivity . Your body is awesome , I would tell them, in as many mutations as I could muster. But the more I preached self-love, the more the message felt problematic. Its not because I dont love the workI really do love working with people to help them reach their goals. But I hate is how this time of year always seems to reinforce and intensify the horrible messages we get about our bodies. Every January, people pour into my gym rattling off a laundry list of things they want to change and reasons why they hate their bodies. Its soul-crushing. As a trainer and gym owner, January means one thing: the floodgates are open and resolution-fueled gym goers are pouring in. Like many gyms around the country, January is our busiest monthnew clients sign up in droves, classes are full, and our personal trainers are all squeezing in workouts before theyve even had their coffee. I should be excited for the onslaught of new clients and the reupped commitment from old ones. But Im notI dread resolution season. I started to notice how harmful the one-dimensional message to love your body can be when talking to my clients. When a client confided their body insecurities in me, and I responded by telling them that they should love their body just the way it is, I was telling them that their experiencethe insecurities, the doubt, the shamewasnt valid. I was gaslighting them with praise. "Body positivity can feel like pressure." Dont get me wrong, I love that the body positivity movement has helped us celebrate our bodies, no matter the shape or size. It's helped us address toxic messages about bikini bodies and messed up ideals of perfection that have been lurking in our cultural conversation for decades. It's been the catalyst to change the narrativeand push brands to keep up . But the pull between the love yourself no matter what message and the realities of what its like to actually do that, creates a tension that I see every day. People feel guilty for not loving their bodies. Body positivity can feel like pressure, says Claire Mysko, CEO of the National Eating Disorder Association. The reality is that we live in a culture that makes it pretty tough to feel positive about our bodies every day. Its a worthy goal to work towards, but when we start blaming ourselves for not loving every single thing about our bodies all the time, it can make us feel even worse. Thats when body positivity can be a problematic term, Mysko says. It can create one more way for you to feel bad about yourself. So, rather than preach body positivity, Im making a shift towards working on body acceptance in 2019. You dont have to want to post your body hang-ups on Instagram to prove that you love yourself. Acceptance is about making peace with our bodies, Mysko says. Its about striving to treat our bodies with respectwherever we are in that journey. In other words, you dont have to feel positive about all aspects of your body all the time. We all have days where we look in the mirror and just arent feelin it. Thats okay. Thats normal. That does not make you a failure. The key of body acceptance is, rather than demonize your jiggly belly or cellulite sprinkled thighs, to work towards simply accepting them. You dont have to want to post them on Instagram to prove that you love yourself. Your body hang-ups also dont have to be wrong or badtheyre simply a part of the way youre built. As a trainer, Ive found that the first step in making body acceptance a reality is shifting your focus from how your body looks to what your body can do . People come to me all the time saying they want to lose 20 pounds or fit into a size six again. But my response is always the same: I want people to stop thinking about appearance as a metric to judge themselves. What your body looks like shouldnt dictate how much you love it. Ive come to believe its not the power of positive thinking that will etch away at the bad messages weve internalizedits the act of radical acceptance. Theres no hashtag or trend that can get you there. We need empowered communities, built on acceptance and supporting incremental changethats what we should resolve to strive for this year. The rest of it is just BS. Alyssa Royse is a certified trainer and gym-owner in Seattle, Washington. Photo by Getty Images

https://www.glamour.com/story/is-it-time-to-call-bs-on-body-positivity

Which NFL Teams Will Own the 2019 Offseason?

0 of 5 Associated Press One offseasonthat's all it takes to turn around an NFL franchise. The Chicago Bears flipped their 5-11 record from last year to 12-4 this season. Now, they're preparing to host a home playoff game. General manager Ryan Pace used free agency to surround quarterback Mitchell Trubisky with pass-catchers, Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel and Trey Burton. He acquired impact assets for the defense as well. The Bears selected linebacker Roquan Smith with the No. 8 overall pick and traded for edge-rusher Khalil Mack. And head coach Matt Nagy and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio put the personnel in the position to succeed. Other than the Bears, the Cleveland Browns changed their franchise with the No. 1 overall pick, quarterback Baker Mayfield, who deserves some Offensive Rookie of the Year buzz. General manager John Dorsey also took lead running back Nick Chubb in the second round of this year's draft and became an active buyer on the trade market. He picked up lead wide receiver Jarvis Landry and ball-hawking safety Damarious Randall. The Browns went from winless to a seven-win team in a year. Both front offices made bold moves, added cornerstone talent through the draft and spent money on impact players during free agency. Focusing on those elements, we'll take a look at teams in position to own the upcoming offseason and surge in 2019.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2813367-which-nfl-teams-will-own-the-2019-offseason

Does Meghan McCain think Martha McSally is unworthy of her father's seat?

Opinion: The McCain family is making a mistake in giving Martha McSally the cold shoulder. She has more in common with the late John McCain than many think. Martha McSally speaks to the press Dec. 18, 2018, after Gov. Doug Ducey announced that the congresswoman will fill out the remainder of Sen. John McCain's Senate term. (Photo: Tom Tingle/The Republic) You have to marvel at the heat the left still throws at Martha McSally, one of the most accomplished people in Arizona a congresswoman, former Air Force colonel, graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy with an advanced degree from Harvard. Lay your money on the latter. Because to Democrats and their friends in the media echo chamber there are few sins as despicable as embracing this particular president. And there is no appreciation for the complications Donald Trump creates for Republican candidates. Seen from the left, a GOP candidate who stands with Donald Trump is Donald Trump in all his cringe-inducing glory. Camp McCain is throwing shade, too It's not only Democrats who dislike McSally. A cold wind blows from Camp McCain, where the family of deceased Sen. John McCain continues to express their distaste for her. Only days before Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey named McSally to fill out the final two years of McCain's term, Meghan McCain's husband, Ben Domenech, founder of the conservative online magazine "The Federalist," tweeted: McSally strikes me as an unwise choice for a number of reasons. She's like an NFL team that plays down to its opponents' level - and she'll be tasked with running for re-election immediately. https://t.co/C01s2sL28e Ben Domenech (@bdomenech) December 14, 2018 Meghan McCain retweeted her husbands post. All of this would have been unremarkable were it not preceded by earlier swipes. During the Republican primary to fill Jeff Flakes U.S. Senate seat, McSallys liberal critics created a new political crime failing to enunciate the full and formal name of an appropriation bill. McSally committed this felony by failing to mention John McCain when describing the National Defense Authorization Bill named in his honor. More importantly she failed to mention McCains name after standing by Donald Trump at a signing ceremony in Fort Drum, N.Y. The left pounced. McSally had snubbed the war hero and senior senator then in the throes of terminal cancer. Meghan McCain took the bait The McCain family bit on this. Meghan McCain, the senators daughter, tweeted: . @RepMcSally 's inability to even mention my father's name when discussing the bill named in his honor is disgraceful (just as it was with Trump) - I had such higher hopes for the next generation of leadership in my home state. https://t.co/MC1qpDS2na Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) August 16, 2018 I root openly for Meghan McCain. I think she is the McCain who will carry the family political franchise because she has demonstrated real growth over the last five years, and because she has her father's fortitude. I compare her to Sarah Palin. Both had extraordinary access to John McCain and all the rights and privileges that entailed: the senator's guiding hand and advice, the McCain platform, the open doors to powerful people. However, Palin squandered all of that. She never grew. She fell in love with celebrity and never mastered the ideals and their details. She never got smarter. Meghan McCain is getting smarter. She improves every year in a crucible filled with media adversaries. Shes been reading and learning. And it shows. You can measure her success by the growing number of shrill voices lashing out against her. They clearly see her as a threat. Good for her. McSally shape-shifted - like McCain did But shes still making youthful mistakes, and she made one when she attacked McSally during the 2018 primary. She unwittingly became the page-turner for the liberal choir that was happy to damage the only electable Republican in the race. Meghan apparently hadn't noticed that the liberals attacking McSally for cozying up to Trump were the same ones who attacked her father in his 2016 race because he wouldn't disavow until the very end the GOP presidential nominee. When McCain ran that race, he understood that a populist insurgent who hijacks the party creates problems for every Republican down-ballot. McCain and McSally were never great fans of Donald Trump. Both had been openly critical. And they faced the same conundrum in their respective Senate races: Trump voters were their voters. So they shape-shifted for the elections. McCain handled it more deftly, never sidling up to Trump. But he was also dealing with a different Trump, one who in 2016 was widely expected to lose to Hillary Clinton in the general election. The Trump dealt to McSally was far more complicated in that he now enjoyed the power and legitimacy of the White House. His takeover of the Republican Party was complete. Like the McCains, she learns from mistakes CLOSE Martha McSally's campaign made two strategic mistakes that had nothing to do with Donald Trump, columnist Robert Robb says. Diana Payan, The Republic | azcentral.com What should have been obvious to critics of Martha McSally is that we didnt need the 2018 U.S. Senate election to tell us who she is. McSally demonstrated that in her first two terms on Capitol Hill. Shes a workhorse, not a show pony. She authored and passed 18 bills in her first three years. Like John McCain, she has moderate impulses and works well with others. No less a source than Kyrsten Sinema told us this. When my colleague Elvia Diaz asked Sinema why she cant look McSally in the eye, Sinema turned in her seat, looked at McSally sitting next to her, and said assertively that she can look McSally in the eye and that she and Martha have worked well together in Congress. In their contest, McSally blundered badly. Her accusation of treason was comically overwrought and her constant refrain of liar, liar grew tedious. If thats the McSally who runs in 2020, Domenech is right, shell be easily dispatched. But McSallys history is Meghan McCains history. She learns from her mistakes. And if McSally is anything, she is a competitor. She lost her first special election primary for Congress in 2012, but came back in the fall and won the regular Republican primary. She lost her 2012 congressional general election, but ran again in 2014 and won. She lost the 2018 U.S. Senate race to Kyrsten Sinema, but won appointment to the McCain seat by Gov. Doug Ducey. Getting the governor's nod was its own test of power and persuasion. No doubt Ducey had many suitors and suggestions from the rich and powerful. He chose McSally. He chose well. Never underestimate Martha McSally A little known fact about the two major candidates who ran to become Arizona's first woman senator is that McSally and Sinema are endurance athletes. They both have trained rigorously for the Ironman Triathlon that entails a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile marathon. McSally and Sinema are two of the toughest people, men or women, to ever hold office in Arizona. I wouldn't underestimate McSally. Anyone who challenges her in two years will face a fierce competitor who enjoys the large advantage of incumbency and a history of triumphing after past failures. If the McCain family is signaling theyll oppose her, theyre making a mistake. Because McSally is a natural torchbearer for Sen. McCain's legacy. MONTINI:Cindy McCain trumps McSally's disrespect with grace Like him, she is an Arizona warrior-statesman who shares his belief in American exceptionalism, the certitude that it is still this nation's special mission to lead the defense of the free world. At the end of his life, McCain warned that the world has not progressed to a point that America can let down its guard. Threats to our freedom still loom in China, Russia, North Korea, the Subcontinent and the Middle East. McSally understands this. She believes in a strong military and making sure it gets the resources it needs. During the Obama years, you could hear the echoes of John McCain, when she said, "Our enemies are no longer afraid of us, and our allies can no longer count on us." Before her appointment to the U.S. Senate, McSally visited with Cindy McCain, to, as Ducey said, clear the air. She apologized to Cindy, but she need not have. She did nothing wrong. When McSally was finally appointed to the job, Cindy issued what journalist Howard Fischer called, a lukewarm endorsement. That's too bad. I would expect and hope that we see political ambition in the rising generations of McCains. I hope Meghan someday "spends (herself) in a worthy cause," as Teddy Roosevelt once said, and goes "into the arena" of public life. If she is thinking in that direction, she would do well to understand that Martha McSally is not her foe, but a logical and powerful ally. Phil Boas is editorial page editor of The Arizona Republic | azcentral.com. He can be reached at [email protected] or 602-444-8292. Click here to subscribe to azcentral.com. Read or Share this story: https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/philboas/2019/01/02/martha-mcsally-not-choice-meghan-mccain-senate/2420493002/

https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/philboas/2019/01/02/martha-mcsally-not-choice-meghan-mccain-senate/2420493002/

Is higher education creating critical thinkers or zombies?

Job Shipululo Amupanda In 1986, the United Nations Institute for Namibia (UNIN) published a study titled Namibia: Perspectives for National Reconstruction and Development. Submitting this book to United Nation Secretary General Perez de Cuellar, then UNIN Director Hage Geingob stated the following in his 30 April 1986 letter: This study will contribute significantly to the body of knowledge for use by the policymakers of independent Namibia both prior to and after the attainment of independence. The book discusses education in colonial Namibia, from missionary education, through Bantu education to education after independence. The book saw post-independence education policy function as that of correcting the educational wrongs of the colonial state. For the University of Namibia then representing higher education it envisaged the following: One of the many functions of the future University of Namibia would be to articulate and confirm the aspirations of the society it is intended to serve. Symbolically, a university adds to the status of the country by being the centre of liberal intellectual pursuit while its functional value would significantly contribute to the growth of the nation by identifying and meeting the functional requirements and fixing the priorities. The planned university must, it directed, aim at training people who are capable of participating in the process of decision-making and independent judgement for the service to their community and to Namibia as a whole. In 1990, some of these ideas found expression in the Constitution with Article 21 (1) (b), on Academic Freedom reading as follows: All persons shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and belief, which shall include academic freedom in institutions of higher learning. Thus, academics must teach, communicate ideas or facts - including unpopular ones with authorities - without being targeted, losing their jobs or face banishment. In 1993, Ministry of Education and Culture published a document called Towards Education for All, articulating the post-independence philosophy of education with democracy being one of the major objectives. To develop education for democracy, the document reads, we must develop democratic educationour learners must study how democratic societies operate and the obligations and rights of citizens. Our learners must understand that democracy means more than voting our learners must also understand that they cannot simply receive democracy from those who rule their society. Instead, they must build, nurture, and protect it to teach democracy, our teachers and our education system as a whole must practice democracy. It went on to state that the basic principle of governance at the University of Namibia is academic freedom. This is a fundamental characteristic of Namibian society entrenched in Article 21 of our constitutionThese rights guarantee the university the basic conditions necessary for the pursuit of excellence. They assure the ability of teachers to teach, learners to learn and researchers to investigate and publish without external interferenceour national university must be a beacon of learningIt must be willing to address difficult issues and ask unpopular questions, systematically, thoroughly, and persistently. I argue that the sector has reneged, with few exceptions, on its historical mission and aspirations as articulated by UNIN (1986), the Constitution (1990) and Towards Education for All (1993). Those who argue that a lot has changed since 1993 must benefit from this 2007 conclusion of this government policy, the Education and Training Sector Improvement Programme (ETSIP): The expected economic and social benefits of education notwithstanding, recent analyses have characterised Namibias education and training system as a very weak tool for supporting the realisation of national development goals, especially the intended transition to knowledge-driven growth and equitable social development. In a nutshell, the current education and training system is not able to rise to the call of Vision 2030. If still unconvinced, a recall of a 2013 discussion organised by the National Council of Higher Education (NCHE), held in the context of the 2011 higher education review, is warranted. Then Unam Pro-Vice Chancellor Osmund Mwandemele, NUST Vice-Chancellor Tjama Tjivikua and South African higher education expert Rolf Stumpf all admitted that the sector is limping. While these problems are acknowledged, there exists scant debate on the causes. I argue that reneging on its historic mission and the principles of academic freedom, democracy, institutional autonomy, independent judgment and intellectual pursuit are part of the causes. Instead of being mediums of development, decolonisation and intellectual pursuit, higher education institutions have become undemocratic autocratic zones rewarding submissiveness and punishing intellectual vibrancy at the caprice of politicians, business elites and higher education executives. The outcomes of such an environment is one; zombies. In his book, The Mis-Education of The Negro, historian Carter Woodson buttresses this point profoundly: If you can control a mans thinking you do not have to concern yourself about what he will do. If you make a man feel that he is inferior, you do not have to compel him to accept an inferior status, for he will seek it himself. If you make a man think that he is justly an outcast, you do not have to order him to the back door. He will go without being told. Indeed, for zombie-like students and staff whose thinking is controlled similarly do not need to be told to be silent in meetings and to accept injustice therein - it automatically occurs. Answers are simple: higher education is not creating critical thinkers but zombies as staff and students. The sector has effectively become an undemocratic autocratic zone rewarding submissiveness and punishing academic vibrancy at the caprice of politicians, business and higher education executives. Frantz Fanon warned us in The Wretched of the Earth: Zombies, believe me, are more terrifying than colonists. * Job Shipululo Amupanda is a decolonial scholar and activist from Omaalala village in northern Namibia 2018-11-30 10:17:34 1 months ago

https://neweralive.na/posts/is-higher-education-creating-critical-thinkers-or-zombies

What was that amazingly bright star next to the moon in the early morning Gloucestershire sky?

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 first early morning return to work in 2019 was made that much brighter by the appearance of a shining 'star' near the crescent moon. Commuters were treated to the celestial display ahead of rush-hour and prompted many to wonder what the light was. First of all, to be clear, it wasn't a star. It was, as keen star-gazers will know, the planet Venus. (Image: In-the-sky.org) The above image is a screen grab from the In-The-Sky.org website which plots out the stars, planets and constellations looking south from Gloucestershire. It says that from the county, the moon and Venus will be visible in the dawn sky, rising at 4:15am, some four hours and four minutes before the sun. They will reach an altitude of 21 above the southern horizon, in the Libra constellation, before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 7.51am. It adds: "The pair will be too widely separated to fit within the field of view of a telescope, but will be visible to the naked eye or through a pair of binoculars." Venus, an earth-sized planet, has been visible before sunrise for a few weeks now, but it was only with a clear morning sky and the early return to work that many were able to see it. Because Venus is closer to the sun than the Earth, the planet orbits within our planet's path through the galaxy. When it is on the far side of the sun it can't be seen from Earth, but as it moves into view it becomes larger and brighter. Venus also reflects a lot of the sunlight that strikes it due to the mirror-like acid clouds that surround it. Share it with out readers by sending it to [email protected]

https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/gloucester-news/what-amazingly-bright-star-next-2382105

What is FTP?

Share FTP is a way to transfer files online. You might think of the sites you visit in your browser as the internet, but your browser only uses one protocol: HTTP. There are many others protocols that, collectively, make up the internet. IMAP and POP, for instance, are two protocols that email clients use to send and receive messages. XMPP is a protocol used to send and receive instant messages. And theres DNS, the protocol used to translate domain names into IP addresses. FTP is another such protocol, one that stands for File Transfer Protocol. Its also one of the oldest protocols in use today, and is a convenient way to move files around. An FTP server offers access to a directory, with sub-directories. Users connect to these servers with an FTP client, a piece of software that lets you download files from the server, as well as upload files to it. Many internet users will never have any use for FTP, but if youre building a website, its an essential tool. And because its such a fundamental tool on the web, its worth knowing about even if youre not a developer. So, heres everything the average internet user needs to know about FTP and how to use it. FTP is a useful tool for moving information from the computer youre working on to the server where a website is hosted. If you want to install WordPress on a web server, for example, youre going to need FTP to copy the files over. Its also occasionally used as a way to share files. One person may upload a file to an FTP server then share a link to it with another person. This sort of usage has become less common in the age of easy-to-use cloud services (these are our favorites) but some people prefer to have their files hosted on a home server, and use FTP to enable that. Although it depends on what client you use to manage the files, it essentially looks like the other files on your computer. Theres a hierarchical folder structure, which you can explore in a similar fashion to Windows Explorer or Finder. You can get an idea of this by browsing a public FTP server. For example, Adobe offers downloads of all its software via FTP, for customers who own software like Photoshop with a valid product key but dont have their installation CD handy. Browsers such as Chrome and Firefox also support exploring FTP servers (but not uploading files). On Reddit, r/opendirectories is an entire community dedicated to sharing publicly accessible FTP servers. However, many of these directories are full of pirated content, porn, and a similar combination thereof. Using FTP to download files in this way is relatively rare. For the most part, FTP is used to upload files from your computer to a server youre working on. Not by design, no. FTP dates back to 1971, a time long before cybersecurity was much more than a hypothetical field. This means that FTP transfers arent encrypted, so its relatively easy to intercept files for anyone capable of packet sniffing. For this reason, many people use FTPS instead. This essentially works in the same manner as FTP, but encrypts everything, meaning prying eyes cant read any files, even if they could intercept them. At this point, many servers refuse to offer unencrypted access, and instead, offer only FTPS. FileZilla and CyberDuck are two of our favorites FTP clients which we can recommend wholeheartedly. Theyre fully featured and have been around for years, so have established, refined user interfaces and tools to make your FTP transfer process quick and easy. If you want more examples of good FTP clients, check out our guide to the best of the best FTP clients. The short answer, is yes. Windows users can download and run FileZilla server. Mac users, meanwhile, dont need any third-party software. Just head to Sharing in System Preferences, then enable Remote Login. This will enable an FTPS server on your Mac, thus granting you a secure way to browse your computer and grab files with any FTP client. Youll need an FTP client installed on another computer in order to browse your files, though. Just use the IP address for the computer you previously set up as a server. To access files from outside your home network, youll need to set up port forwarding on your router. And if you plan on making an FTP server accessible online, its a good idea to lock it down with encryption. For more detailed information on setting up an FTP server on your Android phone or tablet, check out our full guide.

https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/what-is-ftp-and-how-do-i-use-it/

How Do Workers Compete With Machines In the Near Future?

Many of today's jobs did not exist 10 years ago. And a decade from now, technology's march will likely replace many jobs of today. Jennail Chavez, 25, said it was a mid-life crisis that brought her to a noisy classroom where sounds of hammering and sawing surrounded her. She was working at a warehouse and wanted to do something more rewarding. She found her answer back at school. After completing a two-year program at the Los Angles Trade Technical College, Chavez plans to be a general contractor. As a person who loves working with her hands, choosing a career in a male-dominated profession did not intimidate her. "I need a trade to match my personality and why not come into construction," said Chavez. But Chavez realized what she is learning to do may soon be replaced by machines. "I actually came across a 3-D printer that actually built houses, and I was like 'no, I'm actually in the industry to start building houses. What am I going to do?" "Re-skilling is an essential part of so much of the economy right now," said Laurence Frank, president of the Los Angeles Trade Technical College. He said workers constantly have to learn new skills to keep up with advancing technology. Jacob Portillo is well aware of the need to keep up. He recently graduated from a program that trained him to work on diesel trucks, and already has had to adapt to changes in brake systems. "Every year that passes by it evolves into something different, something new. Just keep learning and keep evolving along with the field," Portillo said, who has found a good paying job working on trucks. Jobs that require critical thinking will be hard to replace with robots. "Plumbers, people that work as electricians, where there has to be constant problem solving, constant decision making - those jobs are pretty secure," Frank said. Soft skills such as communication, time management and teamwork will also help workers stay employed in the future. Are we teaching people to synthesize and analyze," asked Jane Oates, president of Working Nation, a campaign to help American workers prepare for future jobs. Oates said many high schools and universities in the United States are not keeping up with the pace of technology to prepare students. "They're teaching things that are antiquated because that's what they have the professors to do," Oates said, suggesting schools hire faculty from industry and develop apprenticeships with industry professionals. "In the 21st century, you are not ever going to be done learning and adapting and figuring out how you fit into the new paradigm," said Oates. After graduating from trade school, Jennail Chavez said she plans on working for a few years before returning to school to learn how to work with electric and solar power.

https://www.voanews.com/a/how-do-workers-compete-with-machines-in-the-near-future-/4725390.html

Can Boks buck run of bad luck and rise up to win world cup?

The question many South Africans will be asking after a year in which the Springboks took one step forward and one step 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 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 stands as a beacon of hope for the other teams with a realistic chance of lifting the Webb Ellis Cup in November. That win would also have created doubt in the All Black, who 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 in 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 lost by the same margin at Loftus Versfeld while 2017s clash at Newlands was a tension-filled one-point win for the All Blacks. In their most recent meeting against the All Blacks at the world cup, in London in 2015, the men in black won 20-18 in the semifinal. The Boks continue to have the muscle to combat the All Blacks at close quarters but still have a skills 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 in the tournament. As for the other leading contenders the Boks at the very least have an equal shot. Ireland have been holding 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 recent encounters with the Springboks. Since losing against the Boks in the quarterfinals of the last world cup Wales have beaten SA in four consecutive matches. The only other team to boast two wins over the Boks under Rassie Erasmus is England. Australia 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 to the title seems well 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. They will also you sense require an inordinate amount of good fortune.

https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/sport/rugby/2019-01-02-can-boks-buck-run-of-bad-luck-and-rise-up-to-win-world-cup/

What will Lane County's economy bring in 2019?

The year 2018 brought record growth to much of Lane County's economy. The jobless rate stayed near all-time lows, below 4.5 percent for all but the last few months of the year, as an economic expansion ran into its eighth year. There were the first big signs of the run-up to the 2021 World Outdoor Track & Field Championships, an event touted by local business advocates as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to showcase the region to the world. New businesses from tech firms and marketing outfits to restaurants, breweries and retailers opened their doors. But mixed signals on the national and global stage could cast storm clouds over the regional economy. As the stock market slogged through its worst year in a decade, Lane County's red-hot housing and job markets began to show cracks toward the end of the year. Here are four major business and economic issues on tap for Lane County in 2019. Ramping up for 2021 The most noteworthy local construction project in 2018 started with a demolition: the June teardown of Hayward Field. As a massive renovation of the stadium continues throughout 2019, the venue's hosting of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials and the 2021 World Championships figures to bring a wide range of support infrastructure such as new lodging across the Eugene-Springfield area. The University of Oregon is working to renovate student dormitories into housing for athletes and possibly guests ahead of the premier athletic events, with tens of thousands of visitors from around the world expected for the World Championships in particular. Multiple large hotels are in various planning stages around the Eugene area, with at least two likely to break ground in 2019 and up to four hoping to open their doors in time for the major track meets. "These (track and field) events are economic drivers for us," Travel Lane County President Kari Westlund said. "There's the impact on our tourism sector and, to a degree, food and beverage. We're really looking forward to getting the new track up and running." Fifth Street Public Market developer Brian Obie last month applied for permits for his three-building, $75 million market expansion, which includes an 82-room hotel. A few weeks later, the local Patel family filed preliminary planning documents for an 86-room Hilton hotel in Glenwood. A Portland firm is preparing to build a 101-room Towneplace Suites next to the Valley River Inn hotel. Farther down the road, the planned redevelopment of the Eugene Water & Electric Board includes a proposed 125-room hotel. "Overall I think the following year will be good," Westlund said. "Hopefully we'll hear about the hotel being developed in the riverfront parcel. And we're looking forward to the groundbreaking of the Obie development." The tech rebound For several years, Lane County's technology sector has told two stories. The number of tech companies operating across the county keeps growing more than 450 tech firms were in business at the end of 2017, up from 418 two years before. But the roughly 4,100 Lane County workers employed in tech jobs at the end of 2017 was down from about 4,500 two years earlier. Symantec, once among Lane County's largest private employers with about 1,400 workers, has whittled its workforce down to about 200 employees through a series of layoffs over the past decade. As a result, the region's tech employee head count has continued to decline from its high of 5,600 workers a decade ago, even as new companies have ramped up operations. "But Symantec layoffs should be pretty much over with. They haven't got many more to lay off," said Brian Rooney, regional economist with the Oregon Employment Department. That could position Lane County's tech sector to finally see net employment increases along with new companies setting up in 2019. The big new arrival on the local tech scene last year was SentinelOne, a Mountain View, Calif.-based cybersecurity company and Symentec competitor. The firm leased space in downtown Eugene's Citizens Building in May, with plans to reach 50 employees by the end of 2018 and up to 100 by the end of this year. The Technology Association of Oregon, which supports the state's tech industry, currently lists 63 Eugene companies looking to fill 275 open tech. The Symantec layoffs "have been a little drag on the economy over the last couple years," Rooney said, "so it will be nice to have a chance to see a (net) gain in tech employment." A mixed housing market For several years now, Lane County's housing market has been a seller's delight and a buyer's pain. Prices have soared into unknown territory over the last four years. In mid-2015, Lane County's median single-family home sale price was $229,000, making it the 47th most expensive metro area to buy a home in the country, according to data from the National Association of Realtors. By early 2018 the median was up to a Lane County record of $274,900, ranked 29th nationally. The median sale this year peaked at $299,000 in August, according to the Portland-based Regional Multiple Listing Service. It's typical for prices and sales activity to dip heading into the fall and winter months the county's median sale price was down to $277,500 in November. But there were also signs that something more than a seasonal slowdown might be in play. After several years of large annual gains in the total number of home sales, Lane County was on track to finish 2018 with a less-than-1-percent gain in closed sales, and just a 0.2-percent gain in new houses coming onto the market, according to RMLS. Signs of a possible slowdown come as the region grapples with record-low housing inventory. Each month from December 2017 to August saw Lane County with fewer than two months of housing inventory defined as the amount of time it would take to sell all of the housing currently on the market based on today's sale price. Most real estate agents consider six months of inventory a healthy rate. But inventory rose above two months in September. As mortgage interest rates continue to rise, economists like Rooney say Lane County's housing market in 2019 could offer signs of the overall strength of the economy. "Housing is always an indicator of what's going on locally," Rooney said. "We've been seeing a little slowing in sales and inventory there." National jitters All was not well on Wall Street in 2018. After experiencing record growth in 2017, stocks entered correction territory in the second half of last year. The S&P 500 ended 2018 down 6.2 percent for the year, with the Dow down 5.6 percent. Consumer confidence and business sentiment tracked by the Federal Reserve dropped to end the year. But economists with the Conference Board, the nonprofit organization that tracks economic and consumer data around the world, still are forecasting consistent growth for 2019. "Expectations regarding job prospects and business conditions weakened (to end 2018), but still suggest that the economy will continue expanding at a solid pace in the short-term," Lynn Franco, the director of economic indicators at the Conference Board, wrote in a recent report. While Lane County's jobless rate edged up and the housing market showed some signs of a slowdown to end the year, unemployment is still near record lows in Lane County and most of the state, said Josh Lehner, an economist with the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis. "Despite all the market turmoil and uncertainty coming from Washington, D.C., which does bring big risks, 2019 should be another solid year for the economy," Lehner said. Most communities in the state are at or near full employment, and residents continue moving into the state for opportunities. Job growth was "moderately slower" in 2018 than from 2015 to 2017, Lehner said. Those years saw roughly 3 percent annual job growth, while last year's rate was closer to 2 percent. But businesses across Oregon still are looking to expand, he said. The biggest drag on growth could be whether or not those companies can find employees to fill their openings. Many of the workers who contributed to the rapid growth from 2015 to 2017 were holdouts and underemployed residents from the aftermath of the Great Recession. Those workers are no longer among the ranks of job-seekers. "I see another good year of growth. It will be slower than a few years ago, it's already slowed down, but I see 2019 being roughly the same" as 2018, Lehner said. "Businesses in Oregon are going to hire as much as they can, but they're only going to be able to hire people in the labor force. There's not a stockpile of labor sitting around anymore." Follow Elon Glucklich on Twitter @EGlucklich. Email [email protected].

https://www.registerguard.com/news/20190102/what-will-lane-countys-economy-bring-in-2019

Can the Proteas win the 2019 World Cup?

Note the subtle scaling down of that questions inherent expectations. Time was when South Africans would ask Will they win it? Heading into the 2019 World Cup there are no straight answers and not only because too many South Africans have been shot in this movie too many times before. Theyve seen the team they support go to seven World Cups often as the favourites to win the damned thing. And theyve seen seven teams return emptyhanded often having played so far below themselves it hurt. You have to wonder whether some of South Africas players have thought of packing a losers suitcase as Floyd Patterson did the night before his first heavyweight world title fight against Sonny Liston in Chicago in September 1962. And so with losing on his mind Floyd made arrangements David Remnick wrote in King of the World: Muhammad Ali and the Rise of an American Hero. He carefully stuffed his bag and an attache case with clothes food and a disguise a custom-made beard and mustache. If he won of course hed meet the press and head back to the hotel for a victory party. If not he would leave Comiskey Park in his false whiskers and drive through the night to his training camp in upstate New York. That was always the way it was with Floyd. Fear especially the fear of losing ate at him. He was entitled to call himself the toughest man on the planet yet he didn't much believe it. There were those who wondered if Floyd was beyond sensitive if he was a neurotic in shorts. Some of the reporters from England took to calling him Freud Patterson. Names and places could be changed to protect the guilty but we can all understand how South Africas World Cup teams have had much in common with Floyd Patterson. If you have a look at their recent record not great. South Africa played 17 ODIs in 2018 winning nine and losing the rest. That sounds like a pass-mark if only just. Closer to the truth is that three of those games were against Zimbabwe and thus won and should be removed from the equation in any clear-eyed analysis. That narrows the numbers to played 14 won six lost eight: not quite so average anymore. More happily South Africas most recent foray in the format was in Australia in November when they won the series 2-1. In the first game in Perth Andile Phehlukwayo took three wickets and Dale Steyn Lungi Ngidi and Imran Tahir two each to set up victory by six wickets. Add Kagiso Rabada who went wicketless that day to the mix and you have as skilled and threatening an arsenal of bowlers as can be compiled anywhere in the game. Australia won by seven runs in Adelaide but David Millers 51 only his third half-century in 11 completed innings at that point offered hope that one of the most devastating middle order players in cricket was getting back to his best. So Miller proved in Hobart where he hammered 139 off 108 balls to help South Africa win by 40 runs. He and Faf du Plessis who made 125 shared 252 for the fourth wicket in a stand that endured from the 16th over to the 49th. In the paragraphs immediately above lay much of the answer to the question posed at the top of this piece. Every successful South Africa team will get more from their bowlers than other sides and the current crop old and new are fit for that purpose. Batting frailty has been the story of most of South Africas failures and must be avoided if this World Cup is not to be added to the sad list of those that have gone before. Teams recover when top orders crash as they will do on Englands seaming pitches when crickets best bowlers are in action. But rarely does a side win after their middle order have followed the top three back to the dressingroom cheaply and quickly. So South Africa will need players like Du Plessis and Miller to do with impressive frequency something like what they did in Hobart. Good that they have those players. Thing is South Africa have always had the players to win the World Cup. What they have lacked is the team. Its that simple because sport for all its pretence to complication is that simple. Either you make room for a trophy in your suitcase or you pack a fake moustache.

https://www.heraldlive.co.za/sport/2019-01-02-can-the-proteas-win-the-2019-world-cup-its-complicated/

Who watches the watchdog?

The Windhoek Observer of Friday 05 October 2018 carried a front page report on the estate of revered struggle icon the Late Andimba Ya Toivo. The gist of the article was the distribution of the Late Veterans assets but took a rather awkward twist towards the end in mentioning that politically connected individuals have managed to amass fortunes based on political patronage at the expense of ordinary Namibians. The suggestive commentary is cushioned by a statement that there is no direct evidence that this applies to Ya Toivo. The code of ethics for Namibian media pronounces itself on the need for fairness and accuracy in reporting on matters it considers as being in the public interest. It also takes heed to the idea that The pursuit of news is not a license to arrogance. The issue of fairness is thus subject to interpretation but in matters of good taste the journalist who reported on the estate of Ya Toivo is found lacking for using innuendos to escape liability and defect accountability. Pandering is the act of expressing ones views in accordance with the likes of a group to which one is attempting to appeal and can take on many forms in its attempts to sustain a narrative that fits the agenda of the media house or its owners. In line with the principles of a free and independent media as envisaged in the countrys constitution and the Codes of Ethics for the Namibian Media the Editors Forum of Namibia found itself on the right side of history when it condemned the Informante newspaper for publishing disturbing pictures of a suspect in a murder case hanging from a rope in a garage after committing suicide. However, does admitting wrongdoing and issuing an apology grant closure to those harmed by the behavior of journalists and by extension the media houses they represent. The Namibian newspaper hosts an interactive platform through its SMS column that allows readers to express their views on issues of concern. The newspaper expressly calls on members of the public to exercise good judgment when sending their comments to the paper. This platform is however subject to abuse as some of the SMSs published border on malice and defamation. At times unsubstantiated accusations from people who seek to draw public sympathy are published without the information being verified. This often happens in SMSs addressed to the President. There is a need for broader censorship when choosing which SMSs to publish that should take into account the virtues of truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity, accountability and the right of reply. Effective self-regulation is said to be the best system for promoting high standards in the media and it is informed that captains of industry especially those in leadership positions at State Owned Entreprises, namely, CEOs, M.D.s and Board Members are the victims of bias, sensationalism and magnified scrutiny at the hands of the media. When contrasted with reports on the private sector which are usually fact based reports on events such as the commissioning of a new building at this cost that took place at such place on such date the inverse does not apply when reporting on SOEs where the story line will be stretched and take on a speculative nature concentrating on who was awarded the tender, who is the contractor. Who is the contractor related to and what the link is. When speculation is peddled to satisfy a narrative of corruption within State Owned Enterprises it casts a dark shadow on those who are actually trying to do a decent job in carrying out their mandate and fiduciary duties as custodians of these enterprises. The role of media as watchdog cannot be understated, neither should it be abused. Insinuations of instances of corruption erode future prospects and career progress for M.D.s and CEOs alike once their five year contracts come to an end. The instant an M.D. applies for a positions at an international body such as the Commonwealth Secretariat or the African Development Bank one of the first frames of reference to establish the character of the prospective recruit is research on internet platforms such as goggle. When allegations of corruption and underhand dealings come to light it prejudices an applicant. Given that Namibia is a tight knit community these individuals suffer stigma and victimization within society which affects their families and general well-being. Of course there are people in positions of power who are or may act corruptly. But there are also those who do not. By keeping with the ethos of good journalistic practices it is prudent upon journalists to constantly adhere to the required standards of truthfulness, accuracy, harm-limitation, self-regulation and self- criticism. * Vitalio Angula is a socio-political commentator and is currently participating in the course Civil Society and African media Policy in the Digital Age with the University of Witwatersrand offered on the Wits X edX platform. 2018-11-16 09:53:15 1 months ago

https://neweralive.na/posts/who-watches-the-watchdog

Where is Super Bowl 53 being played?

originally appeared on nbcsportschicago.com Super Bowl LIII is more than a month away and the Bears have plenty of work to do in order to lock up a spot in the big game. However, Super Bowl fever is alive and well in Chicago. And regardless of the path ahead of the Bears, fans should be knowledgeable about the game. Travel arrangements could be in order, after all. Scroll to continue with content Ad The Bears will likely host just one home playoff game - Sunday against the Eagles - as they are the No. 3 seed in the NFC. If they beat the Eagles, the Bears would play the No. 2 seed Rams on Jan. 12. Based on seeding alone, the winner of Bears/Rams would likely face the No. 1 seed Saints in New Orleans on Jan. 20. Playing in the south could become a trend for the Bears this postseason, however. If they ultimately played and beat the Saints, the Bears would then head to Atlanta. Super Bowl LIII will be played in Mercedes-Benz Stadium (home of the Falcons, which opened in Aug. 2017) on Feb. 3. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. CT. and the game can be seen on CBS. Yes, the Bears have to win three more games to get to Atlanta, but the idea of them doing so is very realistic. Click here to download the new MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of the Bears and stream the Football Aftershow' easily on your device.

https://sports.yahoo.com/where-super-bowl-53-being-212144170.html?src=rss

Is India Set To Adopt Elements Of China's Surveillance State?

Over the years, there has been more than a little symbolism to the disputes between China and India along the 5,000-kilometer border separating the worlds most populous countries. The relationship is on something of a high at the moment, with tensions thawed and collaboration warming up. In November, the two countries issued a statement to say they had reached an "important consensus" as they sought to step back from border tensions to promote trade and political ties. PWC forecasts that these two economies will be the largest on the planet by 2050, and so a great deal of attention is now focused on what happens next. Good Fences Make Good Neighbors Despite head to head standoffs, as seen in the disputed Doklam region in 2017, China dwarfs India from a military perspective and India could ill afford any serious escalation. Consequently, how border flare-ups remain under control and the approach India takes over Tibet will prove interesting litmus tests as to how India views the realpolitik of the coming years. There is also a strong sense amongst Indias politicians of the reshaping of the wider world order, with China and the US going head to head over trade, high-tech controls and the accelerated progression of AI with all of its inherent implications. Given the size of its population, economy and tech sector, India will look both east and west as this progresses, particularly the emerging AI Cold War. However, it is hard to imagine a contributing nation continuing to play both sides when access to core technology is at stake. India is a thriving market for the high-tech Chinese giants of communications and surveillance that have come under regulatory threat in recent months for alleged national security concerns. And, in the last week, we have seen rumors of an executive order from President Trump to ban US companies from buying Chinese telecoms and surveillance equipment and curbs on Silicon Valley AI exports. India is an enormous market for infrastructure procurements and also one of the world's leading markets for AI skills. There's every chance the country will soon need to pick a side. Times Have Changed Yesterday, Indias army chief, General Bipin Rawat, delivered a typically unflinching New Years message: We are facing complex and dynamic security challenges along our borders," he said, "which threaten territorial integrity and internal stability of the nation." There was markedly no mention of China. Contrast to 2018, when he said that China is a powerful country, but we are not a weak nation and that "China is an emerging economic competitor of India. Both countries are competing with each other in order to establish dominance in the South East Asia region. The economic growth of India will help to reduce the menace of terrorism." Now, New Delhi seems more likely to mimic Beijing than to criticize. They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and last month Indias Ministry of Home Affairs announced legislation to intercept, monitor and decrypt any information generated, transmitted, received or stored in any computer. Any person or organization failing to cooperate will be liable to sanctions, including seven-year jail sentences. China is further progressed towards the dystopian dream of a surveillance state than anywhere else. The pinnacle of its current ambitions is Sharp Eyes, an integrated surveillance scheme that even includes the introduction of citizen scores, ranking people by 'trustworthiness' and their value to society. Thankfully, the technology in place does not live up to the hype. For the time being at least. By contrast, India has made a much more modest start. Ten federal agencies, as well as the Delhi Police, have been given the powers to monitor, intercept and decrypt data and to seize hardware. In 2019 the Indian government could be set to go further, with the proposed 'Information Technology [Intermediary Guidelines (Amendment) Rules] 2018' mandating that online platforms will have to deploy automated tools to monitor content and identify violations. The legislation would introduce restrictions on encryption to ensure users originating content could be traced when required. According to reports, representatives from major platforms including Facebook, Google, Amazon and Twitter were briefed by government officials. The backlash in the press and across social media has been dismissed by the government as fearmongering, and counter-terrorism has been offered as a key driver. "If there is a recruitment drive which is going on by ISIS using social media, the government must have a provision of law under which it can seek information about a particular operator, who is operating under his or her own name or under a proxy name," explained the head of the ruling party's IT cell. "That is what the law will enable. East Is East What is clear is that 2019 looks set to be an interesting year. The US seems intent on tightening the vice on China's high-tech champions, and knock-on effects could hit prized export markets around the world. Restrictions on US company purchases would make things significantly more difficult for China's national champions. And then there is the AI back-drop as the race heats up to extend spheres of technological influence across the developing world. And here we have India, a vast market for consumers, corporations and skills, right on China's doorstep. Past tensions are being actively thawed. Political collaboration is high on the agenda. Accelerating ties between China and India would position the Chinese high-tech manufacturers extremely favorably as India continues to build out its infrastructure. That would clearly provide Beijing with strong influence in India, a key tenet of its export strategy, but it might also have consequences for India's own high-tech exports. We are now seeing an accelerating technological revolution that sees the combined forces of Cloud, IoT and AI driving generational change. Headlines in recent months have understandably focused on China and the US. However, as we will see in India and elsewhere in 2019 and beyond, the implications touch everyone. And a polarization of US and Chinese interests could well hit hardest at those playing both sides of the fence.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2019/01/02/is-india-set-to-adopt-elements-of-chinas-surveillance-state/

Will Russia Make Any Waves In Crypto This Year?

Russia and crypto seemed to go hand in hand. At least that was the case throughout nearly all of 2016 and 2017. Go to a Consensus crypto event and you were sure to run into Russians talking about their "projects". The initial coin offering (ICO) was a favorite of Russian developers, and -- of course -- scammers. With the ICO market pretty much dead, the crypto world in Russia is not what it used to be. It has lost its shine and its hype. Russian central bank president Elvira Nabiullina recently remarked how "fortunate" it was that her country is no longer "crypto crazy." That doesn't mean the Russians have lost interest in blockchain technology and its counterpart, the cryptocurrency startup. "The majority of investors have their doubts about investing in Russian crypto-startups. There are a lot of red flags for international investors," says John Slyusarev, managing partner of SMC Capital in New York. SMC is a venture capital firm investing in blockchain startups from Shanghai, the U.S. and Europe. None are based in Russia, though the European ones have Russian developers and founders. "I think the Russian projects with Russian founders have the hardest time finding money," he says. "There has been some blowouts in Russian Ponzi projects and fraud schemes that have hurt Russia's reputation." In November, North Dakota state regulators uncovered a Russian cryptocurrency scam and shut it down. In September, a Russian-based company named Coin Miner was charged by Texas securities regulators for committing securities fraud. In May, new Russian and Ukrainian blockchain startup Decenturion was on display at the Consensus forum in New York. They issued passports. It didn't take long for the Reddit community and other Bitcoin forum participants to call it out for being a Ponzi scheme. The coin now trades at around $3, according to CoinGecko, a loss of 98% from its launch last spring. Sadly, Russians seem to be the ones affiliated with crypto fraud. Despite all that, the Asian exchanges love the Russian market. Two of the biggest exchanges are expanding in Russia. China's Binance and Singapore-based Huobi have offices in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Their presence suggests Russia is still a contender in crypto markets. Russia has been slow to regulate the nascent digital assets market. In 2017, there was talk of Russian securities regulators building a blockchain platform with the developers behind the Waves Platform in Moscow. While Waves still exists, the Moscow exchange has moved on from becoming a crypto trader. Waves looks to be in limbo. Its webpage's news section hasn't been updated since June 6. One of the reasons the entire blockchain/crypto market is so tough in Russia is because the Russian Central Bank is not a fan. Nabiullina is against legalizing trading cryptocurrency for rubles and that puts a damper on the retail investing market. The central bank is expected to devise new laws this year to make business rules more clear for cryptocurrency miners in Russia and set the ground rules for raising funds via cryptocurrency tokens. Very few movement is expected on the latter. According to crypto traders in Moscow, the Moscow Stock Exchange (MoEX) is in talks with Asian and European exchanges regarding creating custodial accounts to securely hold digital assets. "Once they have that in place, I think the central bank might accept that MoEX is the true avenue for crypto in Russia," says Dan Wolfe, managing director of a cryptocurrency fund at the Specialized Research and Investment Group (SPRING) in Moscow. "There is tension between Putin and other leaders who see crypto as a way for companies to raise capital," he says. The ICO Grows Up. There's a new token offering in town and it promises to be a big deal this year. Speak to any serious Russian blockchain developer and crypto true believer -- and whether they are living in St. Pete's or in Palo Alto they will say the initial coin offering market is what brought Russians to the crypto startup game in droves. Russians are now joining forces with the venture capital firms to talk about the crypto world's latest "project" -- the Security Token Offering, or STO. In the simplest, non-CalTechie way of describing the STO, it's venture capital meets the stock market meets Bitcoin (or some other coin yet to be created). It's considered the latest move to professionalize the cryptocurrency industry, an industry that has gone bust over the last 12 months. Last December, Bitcoin was worth around $20,000. It starts 2019 at $3,817. "I think you will find that about a third of the STOs are going to either be Russian founders or Russian developers.," Slyusarev says, with a caveat. "I doubt you will find any of them being launched in Russia." Slyusarev's fund invested in one STO last year. He said they might invest in more this year. Regulatory matters will keep Russia closed off to this market. "The STO is appealing, but there are regulatory hurdles to doing this in Russia," says Gregory Klumov, co-founder and CEO of STASIS.net, a tokenization platform based in Malta. "Without access to global markets, Russia won't be able to develop a robust security token market anyway and so STOs won't be any better than existing ways of raising and distributing capital in Russia." Well-known developers in the space, Vitalik Buterin of Ethereum and Pavel Durov of the Telegram Open Network, a spinoff of the Telegram messaging application, are prime examples of Russian blockchain brainpower. Buterin has his Ether coins. Durov is supposed to launch his cryptocurrency next year, to be used on his newly developed blockchain platform. Other lesser-known Russians have become millionaires thanks to crypto. They travel the world, touting projects to blockchain journalists, posting pictures of themselves on their Instagram accounts, somewhere in the tropics, spending money to find themselves, and maybe an investor or two. From afar, it really does look like the Russian crypto market is in trouble. But that goes for a lot of other countries as well. The ICO world Russians happily played in is totally crumbling. "Russia is still better off than Turkey. Or Argentina," says Vladimir Popov, CEO of Synergis. He's best known as "Menaskop" among cryptocurrency aficionados. He thinks Russia can weather the crisis and time will lead to more local investor interest. "Remember the crisis of 2012 in Cyprus...it led to one of the first Bitcoin booms. If you think we are on the threshold of another world crisis, something that can even be like 2008, then I see all the prospects for growth of cryptocurrency as a hedging instrument," he says. That is a mantra repeated by many. Bitcoin becomes a safe haven. Like gold. So far that has proven incorrect. Gold prices are rising. Bitcoin prices are falling. Crypto fund managers like Wolfe at SPRING in Moscow believe the real investment case for cryptocurrencies "is not for things to go up in the short term, but for a fundamental reevaluation of the asset class within the next five to seven years," he says. "It will be driven mainly by countries with volatile currencies." Think Turkey. Or Argentina. Diego Gutierrez Zaldivar, CEO of RIF Labs in Argentina, a blockchain solutions provider, thinks Wolfe is right. Countries in emerging and frontier markets are seen gravitating towards crypto if another major economic crisis occurs. "This is where I think you will see more interest in digital currencies," Zaldivar says. "If it is more stable than their own currency, and easier to get access to then the dollar, then why not crypto?" While Russia's ruble is not as volatile as the Argentine peso, Russian politics are volatile thanks to Western sanctions and oil prices. Russians will be involved in crypto again this year. Retail investors in Russia will as well, if Binance's calculation is correct. But Russian ICOs have come and gone. That market is dead. STOs are the new thing, but the Russians looking to raise money that way are setting up shop in Singapore or here in the U.S. Meanwhile, the professional investor in Russia continues cutting their losses. "We have fewer positions now," Wolfe says. Their Moscow fund now holds 12 tokens. They held 20 in a portfolio last October, two months before Bitcoin hit $20,000. "It's been impossible to pick a winner over the last four months unless you're buying some obscure coin that is probably being manipulated. We are focusing on long-term exposure now," Wolfe says. Russian coins or no Russian coins, Wolfe warns that investors "should avoid this asset class if they don't have the stomach for it."

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2019/01/02/will-russia-make-any-waves-in-crypto-this-year/

Is it possible to stop illegal raves in the Welsh countryside?

Get daily 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 The unspoilt countryside of Wales is supposed to be a haven of tranquility - but that's not always the case. Yet again, an illegal rave has disturbed the peace and caused a headache. Following a large gathering outside Tregaron in Ceredigion on New Years Eve, a team from Natural Resources Wales (NRW) is involved in cleaning up the site near Cwm Berwyn - part of the Tywi Forest. More than 200 people attended the planned event, and many more tried to gain entry to the site but were turned away by police who arrived to restrict access. With Bank Holidays to come at Easter and in May, there are fears other raves could break out in picturesque parts of Wales, leading to disruption and noise pollution for residents who live in rural areas. And police have admitted they may be powerless to stop them from happening. They said detecting when and where these events were going to take place was increasingly difficult as organisers used modern technology to limit the amount of information released into the public domain. (Image: Rob Harries/Media Wales) How a rave is planned One company that has organised raves in the past has been asked to comment on whether it was behind the Tregaron gathering on New Years Eve, but has so far refused to confirm or deny any involvement. Organisers of such events use social media, texts and an app to coordinate gatherings, telling people at short notice where an event is going to take place. Its understood that part of a postcode is sent out to people who wish to attend, informing them of the general area where the rave will take place. Then, shortly before the event is about to start, the full location is revealed, leaving no time for police to arrive to close it down before it starts. Commonly, by the time police arrive some time later, the event is well underway and the only option is to restrict entry, rather than close down the rave itself. This is despite the fact that police do have the power to remove people from a rave site. Section 63 of the 1994 Criminal Justice Act gives police officers the power to remove people from events at which music is being played which is wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats. This section applies to a gathering on land in the open air of 100 or more persons (whether or not trespassers) at which amplified music is played during the night (with or without intermissions) and is such as, by reason of its loudness and duration and the time at which it is played, is likely to cause serious distress to the inhabitants of the locality. However, applying this law is not easy, it seems, when officers are far outnumbered by rave attendees. These types of illegal events are carefully co-ordinated to avoid police attention, and organisers will always try to find new ways to avoid being found out, said Superintendent Robyn Mason of Dyfed-Powys Police. Social networks make it easier for organisers to spread the word rave attendance numbers can grow hugely in short spaces of time, and locations can change quickly. As a force, we have mechanisms in place to monitor the planning of illegal raves, and action is taken as soon as we gather any intelligence of an event being planned. We will continue to respond swiftly to reports of illegal gatherings, and where appropriate will prosecute those responsible in order to protect our communities. In this case, no arrests were made, but enquiries are ongoing to establish if any offences were committed. Raves can cause anxiety to the community they are held in and, if not dealt with swiftly, are difficult to stop due to the sheer numbers of people involved. There is also a safety concern involved in breaking-up such events. It is unfair that residents are made to feel anxious and uncomfortable in their own homes. (Image: Rob Harries/Media Wales) Forcing people to leave could cause further problems Another concern, and also a reason why police may be wary of dispersing people once a rave has begun, is people driving away from the site while under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. Cars were seen being driven away from the area outside Tregaron on Tuesday within a few hours of the event coming to an end. Police have admitted this is a problem and that steps are taken to make sure people "under the influence" do not drive. As well as the disruption caused to residents, there is also the concern of potential drink or drug driving taking place when raves are disrupted, added Superintendent Mason. We work diligently to ensure that nobody turned away or asked to leave an event gets behind the wheel while intoxicated or under the influence of illegal substances. (Image: Jonathan Myers) The event on Monday night was not on the same scale as one that took place in the Brechfa area of Carmarthenshire last May. On that occasion, thousands of people attended over three days and police admitted they did not have the manpower to remove people from the site once they had congregated there, insisting that the only safe thing to do was to monitor the event across the Bank Holiday weekend. Officers from NRW were at the site on Wednesday to asses the damage done to the area, but confirmed that only a "small amount of litter" was left behind and that there was no need for a "specialist clean-up", as there was in Brechfa last year. A spokesman for Natural Resources Wales said: "We will, as we have on this and on previous occasions, continue to work closely with the police and other emergency services regarding these illegal events where they involve our forests, to try and ensure public safety and the safeguarding of the Welsh Governments woodland estate." The demand for such gatherings seems to be increasing, with the Sunday Telegraph reporting that unlicensed music events in London alone have almost doubled in recent years. They reported that plans for 133 illegal raves were identified by the Metropolitan Police in 2017, up from 70 the previous year. Its thought that the decline of licensed venues and a rise in prices at conventional nightclubs is behind this spike in interest. (Image: Submitted) (Image: Jonathan Myers) While difficult to stop, the police are calling on members of the public to help them shut down these events before they get started. Superintendent Mason added: Farmers, landowners and local communities are encouraged to report anything they feel is suspicious or out of the ordinary for example if there are unusual numbers of vehicles, especially camper vans, vans or trucks, seen in the locality. Illegal trespassers may 'recce' sites in advance of any rave, or people may approach landowners and ask around for land, in the guise of hiring it for acceptable activities such as gymkhanas or scout camps. If you suspect anyone who approaches you for land hire might not be who they say they are, please do not hesitate to contact police. Moving forward, working on prevention with rural communities and partners is key - this includes working out how areas can be made inhospitable to illegal gatherings, while remaining attractive beauty spots. Anyone with concerns should call Dyfed-Powys Police by dialling 101.

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/possible-stop-illegal-raves-welsh-15619708

Are These Bulls Right About Philip Morris International?

Shares of Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM) slid nearly 40% in 2018, as investors fretted over declining smoking rates, competition from British American Tobacco's (NYSE: BTI) takeover of Reynolds American, currency headwinds, and higher interest rates making its dividend less attractive. The broader sell-off across the markets exacerbated that pain. However, two analysts recently issued extremely bullish forecasts for the tobacco giant. In November, Wells Fargo analyst Bonnie Herzog reiterated her $100 price target for PMI, stating that it had "reached an inflection point" on positive trends in its cigarette and IQOS businesses. Herzog recommended PMI as a core holding for investors in 2019. Philip Morris' IQOS devices on a flat surface. More Image source: PMI. In December, Piper Jaffray analyst Michael Lavery, who has a price target of $110 on PMI, pointed out that PMI's "cigarette business remains strong, with pricing power still intact." According to Lavery, PMI's sell-off was "overdone," that the company was still generating robust earnings and free cash flow growth, and that IQOS had "proven traction with consumers." As of this writing, only one analyst rates PMI as a "sell," while most are telling investors to buy or hold the stock. Let's take a closer look at its business to find out. Understanding PMI's strategy Altria (NYSE: MO) spun off PMI a decade ago to handle the company's overseas businesses. That move enabled PMI to pursue aggressive growth in countries with higher smoking rates, while allowing Altria to streamline its domestic business, focus on cutting costs, and handle lawsuits in the U.S. However, the split also left PMI exposed to volatile currency exchange rates and economic challenges in certain markets. Despite those challenges, PMI is generating stronger growth than Altria, and it's immune from the Food and Drug Administration's tighter anti-smoking regulations in the U.S. market. During the first nine months of fiscal 2018, PMI's retail market share rose 30 basis points to 38.4% as its total (cigarette and heated tobacco) shipments increased 0.3% (after excluding the impact of trade inventory movements) to 579.3 billion. PMI's traditional cigarette shipments fell 2.7% annually to 550.1 billion, but that decline was fully offset by its growth in heated-tobacco (IQOS and HeatStick) shipments, which surged 42% to 29.2 billion units. PMI bulls believe that robust demand for its IQOS devices, which heat-branded tobacco HeatSticks instead of burning them, will stabilize PMI's business. PMI sells these devices on a razor-and-blades model -- it sells the IQOS unit at a low margin to lock in sales of the higher-margin HeatSticks.

https://news.yahoo.com/bulls-philip-morris-international-143000330.html

What Would Childbirth in Space Be Like?

Human settlements outside of Earth would be pretty pointless without learning how to reproduce in space, Edelbroek says. Fair enough. If human beings someday venture far beyond this planet and land on anothernot to visit but to stayits not impossible to imagine that a pregnancy could occur during the journey or on the ground. One can picture toddlers in puffy spacesuits running around on Mars, the oxygen packs on their backs rattling with each leap. Of course, this future assumes that human beings have resolved many other challenges that come with traveling to other worlds. Scientists are still trying to figure out how to keep adult humans healthy during long stays on the International Space Station, which is indeed in space, but still within Earths magnetic field, an invisible bubble that protects the station and its inhabitants from the worst of space radiation. On top of that, the technology for deep-space travel doesnt exist. Human beings are a long way from becoming an interplanetary species, and reproduction is just one rung on a very tall ladder. Edelbroek says he has met with private spaceflight companies that may be willing to launch the delivery mission, and with people who will pay for it. Hes visited survivalist communities in the United States; he believes preppers are more likely to appreciate the companys ethos, and some are quite wealthy, spending thousands of dollars on high-end shelters. Hes even chatted with some women who are interested in claiming the historic title, for themselves and their offspring. Lets say Edelbroek gets all three: money, a rocket, and a volunteer. Long before anyone gets off the ground, SpaceLife Origin will face a barrage of questions from regulatory authorities, perhaps even from more than one nation. Commercial space travel is not confined by national borders, and its not uncommon for customers in one country to pay the government of another to launch their payloads. SpaceLife Origins ambitious mission could include an American woman, in a Japanese capsule, on an Indian rocket, accompanied by a team of doctors from multiple nations. In this scenario, its difficult to say who will regulate what. The pregnant womans actions may be subject to regulation, too. In the United States, women are harassed and even arrested for leaving their kids unattended, shamed for apparently putting young children in danger. Space is far more dangerous than the sidewalk outside a store. The doctors who would supposedly accompany her, too, might risk violating the physicians oath: First, do no harm. It seems difficult to make the case that helping launch a pregnant woman into space follows this promise.

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/01/space-childbirth-babies/579064/?utm_source=feed

Can a Democrat Win the Presidency on Climate Change?

Inslee has been on the expansive list of would-be Democratic presidential contenders since the 2016 election, mostly because he was then one of the few Democratic governors left in the country. He didnt take the talk seriously at first, nor did anyone else, and he certainly wasnt doing anything to help it along. But as the 2018 midterm campaigns came to an end, he read through searing international and federal climate-change assessments, took a trip to view the wildfire damage in California, and thought through the larger moment for the countryand he shifted. Now were laying the groundwork that would make this a feasible thing in the relatively short term, Inslee told me. If there is a new Democratic president come 2021, he or she will get pulled in all sorts of policy directions. Inslee says he has one priority: global warming. Its not theoretical, or a cause just for tree huggers anymore. Putting off dealing with it for a year or two or kicking it to some new bipartisan commission wont work, he says. He plans to focus on the threat that climate change poses to the environment and national securitythe mega-storms and fires causing millions in damages, the weather changes that will cause mass migrations, the droughts that will devastate farmers in America and around the world. Even more so, he wants to talk about the risk to American opportunity. We have two existential threats right now: one is to our natural systems, and one is to our economic systems, he said. As he did in Washington State, Inslee would propose a mix of government investments and incentives to spur other investment, restrictions on power plants and emissions, and programs to promote R&D and job growth. An endless number of jobs can be created in the climate arena, Inslee says. Its the way to make a real dent in income inequality and have the Democratic Party bring tangible solutions to communities in rural America that have been left behind. With his inaction, President Donald TrumpInslee calls him the commander in chief of delusionis engaged in a disgusting selling-out of the country, a crime against the aspirational optimism of America. Inslee is lining up donors and adding them to the political-action committee he launched in December. An official presidential exploratory committee is next. Aides note that hes attracted new supporters and fans after serving as the Democratic Governors Association chair last year; with Inslee at the helm, Democrats in November picked up seven governorships. Hes put together an email list of 200,000 climate advocates, which could become a beachhead of support around the country. Friends have offered to move to Iowa for him. His campaign, such as it is, seems a lot more seat-of-the-pants than the machines Senators Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, and Kamala Harris have slowly assembled. For now, he seems to be counting on being able to stand out on his recordand preparing for future battles with Trump by testing out zingers like I wish nothing but the best for Donald Trump, including having the top bunk.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/01/washington-governor-jay-inslee-running-president/579217/?utm_source=feed

What does freedom mean when white privilege controls access?

PPA security firm patrol the beach. Supplied A week ago, an incident at Clifton Beach, the nesting grounds of the super-wealthy at the foot of Africa, reminded South Africans how polarised our society remains. There was an uproar over reports that private company PPA Security had allegedly closed down Clifton Fourth Beach at sunset last Sunday. According to mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith, private companies have no right to police public spaces and that PPA was not acting on the citys authority. According to PPA, whose services are paid for by the residents of the area, they merely accompanied law enforcement officers after two teenage girls were allegedly raped. Chief executive Alwyn Landman told News 24: We were requested to accompany law enforcement as our tactical officers are highly trained and skilled professionals. If anyone claims they were on the beach and chased away, they would have seen that it was absolute mayhem and that law enforcement was really doing a great job to stabilise the situation - we did not close the beach. This incident naturally ignited anger and lobby group, Black Peoples National Crisis Committee, staged an event that included the slaughter of a sheep. Activist Chumani Maxwele, who gained prominence in the UCT #RhodesMustFall campaign, said: The offering of the sheep is calling on our ancestors to respond to our trauma at the hands of white people over the years. He went on to say: These private security guards are hired by the Clifton Taxpayers Association; they are actually briefed to not allow black people who look like they are from the townships on to the beach. PPA has subsequently made it clear it will no longer assist the metro police at Clifton Fourth Beach. What Maxwele said next is perhaps the crux of the matter: This is typical racial profiling. You cannot stop people from going to the beach and deem them a criminal just because they are black. The Western Cape was initially investigating claims of an incident of attempted rape of a 15-year-old girl, which was prevented by beach-goers who reported the incident to police. According to police spokesperson Brigadier Novela Potelwa, preliminary findings of the SAPS investigation indicate that no rape was registered at Camps Bay SAPS. The ongoing saga, which now has the EFF staging a night vigil on the beach claiming black peoples rights to access public spaces, has taken many twists and turns. It confirms that, 25 years on, the struggle with racism and white privilege continues. This cannot be written off as a single event, but is a fulcrum of racial and class divide in defence of white privilege. It is not about the beach, it is about the failed transition in which apartheid beneficiaries continue to claim a superior identity. One definition reads: Privilege is defined as a benefit or set of benefits that members of certain social groups have. These benefits are usually unearned and they are easy to take for granted when you have grown up as a member of a privileged social group. Think of privilege as being issues that you do not have to think about on a daily basis. Yet we must not confuse privilege with white privilege. Clifton Fourth Beach lays bare the undeniable reality of white privilege. A definition of white privilege reads as follows: White privilege is the societal privilege that benefits people whom society identifies as white in some countries, beyond what is commonly experienced by non-white people under the same social, political or economic circumstances. Regardless of how South Africans seek to stick their heads in the sand, white privilege lives in post-apartheid South Africa. Clifton unravels the power of class definition in a society that cannot shake the prominence of a racial and class divide. While there are conflicting opinions and views on class definition, it is commonly accepted that a social class is a set of subjectively-defined concepts in the social sciences and political theory, centred on models of social stratification in which people are grouped into a set of hierarchical social categories, the most common being the upper, middle and lower classes. What white beach-goers experienced in arguably the holiest beach week in Cape Town was that their class disposition inflates the notion that their presence at the beach supersedes the access of others to public spaces. Clifton Beach is teaching us that for many, speaking up against racism is merely empty rhetoric since we rely on our class power to maintain apartheid boundaries. Clifton also unveils the hypocrisy of the black elite, who are thriving off the peripheral benefit of white privilege. While most thought white privilege is exclusively for the benefit of the apartheid-configured white identity, we have, in the past 25 years, learnt that white privilege thrives in a symbiotic atmosphere of the presence of the unconscious black elite. Clifton Beach reminds us that the pre-1994 consensus protests, eternalising the race-based divide of binaries of a white and black community and separated by privilege, in what I termed a buffer zone of an economically-privileged group, was created to act as an insurance policy for the ongoing upkeep of white privilege. I have long concluded that the buffer zone group makes up the new black elites. The latter has no problem with white privilege because it does not threaten them, provided they stay in the defined lines of what white privilege determines is their breathable space. In fact, they seem to enjoy the fact that there are so few of them in this unique space. Clifton Beach also lays bare that privilege can determine what constitutes animal rights. South Africans have not yet come to embrace the cultural rituals of the less privileged. Despite centuries of practices that constitute a fundamental belief system, the Africans practices are sneered at and the rights of the animals considered sacrosanct. We must ask what freedom means when privilege rules the roost and white privilege controls the access. Well, it is absent as always - only prevalent during public relations walkabouts at Camps Bay, while a stones throw away, a failed transition has been laid bare. May this year continue to expose the uncomfortable truths we need to face as a country. Ramalaine is a political commentator and writer

https://www.iol.co.za/pretoria-news/what-does-freedom-mean-when-white-privilege-controls-access-18663889

Was there life on mars?

IT looks like the age-old question of whether or not there was once life on Mars will finally be answered before too long.NASAs next rover mission will touch down on the Red Planet with the specific aim of trying to identify evidence of past biology. In particular, it will be searching for clues in rocks that are nearly four billion years old.The new rover will be dropped into the Jezero Crater which satellite observations suggest once held a deep lake.The robot will be equipped with a sophisticated navigation system that will give it the autonomy to work out the best, most direct course between waypoints. This should dramatically speed up its journey to different science targets. For full story see The Munster Express newspaper or subscribe to our Electronic edition.

http://www.munster-express.ie/opinion/was-there-life-on-mars/

Is CBI Preparing to Lop Four Zeroes Off National Currency?

The banknote worth 500,000 rials was unveiled in a ceremony attended by CBI Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati and Economy Minister Farhad Dejpasand. In designing the new banknote, the CBI has whitened four zeroes and highlighted 50. This as the former 500,000 banknote and other Iranian notes are not like this. In its statement, the CBI said the new bills have been produced using a technology used for printing Euro in 2013, making it highly difficult to forge. The government had announced in 2016 it is planning to cut four zeroes off the currency, in an effort to keep up with rampant inflation that has hit the Iranian economy for decades. However, the monetary reconversion was postponed, likely because the financial system was not ready for the measures at a time when the anti-Iran international sanctions had just been removed. Observers say Iranian officials believed they ought to implement the reconversion when the economy is stabilised.

https://ifpnews.com/exclusive/is-cbi-preparing-to-lop-four-zeroes-off-national-currency/

How can a bankrupt republic run the world?

The annual budget battle is at its peak and Washington continues to flaunt its remarkable dysfunction. In coming years this fiscal irresponsibility is likely to drive U.S. foreign and military policy. The U.S. government has no more important duty than defending the nation. However, providing for the common defense, as the Constitution puts it, is remarkably easy. America has vast oceans east and west and pacific neighbors north and south. Today only Russia, with an arsenal of nuclear-tipped missiles, could launch a serious attack on America. However, Moscow has no incentive to do so, since the result would be devastating retaliation. Chinas military is expanding but directed at preventing Washington from dominating the Peoples Republic of China at home and in its neighborhood. Terrorists abound, but mostly result from maladroit U.S. policies that create enemies and make other peoples conflicts Americas own. Nor do Americas conventional forces and nuclear arsenals offer the best response, since promiscuous war-making does more to accelerate than diminish terrorism. Not for defense, of America, anyway. It is to protect allies, assert influence, remake failed societies, dictate behavior, promote values, and more. All may have offer some benefit, though rarely as much as asserted. And none have much to do with protecting Americaits territory, people, constitutional system, and prosperity. Unfortunately, attacking is far more expensive than deterring. Most of Americas Pentagon outlays go to project power, which is why the U.S. has an outsize military budget, equal to that of the next dozen or so nations combined. The so-called defense budget is the price of Americas aggressive foreign policy. Playing global gendarmeor gauleiter, depending upon ones location when Americas bombs fallis not cheap. Even if the U.S. once felt wealthy enough to squander its financial resources in such pursuits, those days have ended. Washington is effectively bankrupt, with massive unfunded liabilities. Last year the Republican Party, once the self-proclaimed guardian of the treasury, approved a deficit approaching $779 billion. The Congressional Budget Office figured the presidents 2019 budget will push the deficit to nearly $1 trillion, and the numbers will continue to rise, to $1.527 trillion in 2028. This debt increase would be accompanied by rising interest rates. CBO figured net interest, which disguises federal costs by subtracting interest paid to Uncle Sam, will rise from $315 billion last year to $819 billion in 2028. Of course, Congress could cut domestic expenditures. Hah, hah only kidding! To achieve anything approaching a responsible budget requires addressing the four big domestic boulders, which along with military outlays make up 85 percent of the budget: interest, which cannot be reduced without repudiating debt; Social Security, the traditional third rail of U.S. politics; Medicare, the equally popular elder health care program; and Medicaid, the perennially under-funded promise of medical services for the poor. More likely, Congress will act like, well, Congress, and both spend more and collect less than under current law. If so, the CBOs Extended Alternative Fiscal Scenario predicts that the deficit as a percentage of GDP will rise from 78 percent last year to 105 percent in 2028, 148 percent in 2038, and an astonishing 210 percent in 2048. Americas average over the last half century was just 41 percent; only during World War II and in its immediate aftermath did the federal debt exceed 70 percent, peaking at 106 percent in 1946. With larger deficits and debts, interest rates likely would be higher and GDP growth lower. Moreover, noted CBO: Large federal budget deficits over the long term would reduce investment, resulting in lower national income and higher interest rates than would otherwise be the case. A financial implosion would become more likely: Imagine a 2008-style crisis, but with the debt burden twice as great to start. Look forward to a bright 2019 filled with progress Droning in the New Year: Political Cartoons Of course, Congress could raise tax hikes, but they are no more popular than spending cuts. Moreover, the growing deficit is mostly a result of increased spending. Military cuts are inevitable. The starting point, though, is to revise foreign policy. Cutting expenditures without trimming tasks risks creating a dangerous mismatch. Instead, the administration should end unnecessary wars, stop nation-building, and drop obsolete alliances, adjusting its force structure accordingly. To stabilize Washingtons finances, all programs need to be addressed. However, military outlays deserve an especially thorough review. U.S. policymakers need to remember that the governments highest duty is to defend its own people. Doug Bandow is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute. A former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan, he is author of Foreign Follies: Americas New Global Empire.

https://www.ocregister.com/2019/01/02/how-can-a-bankrupt-republic-run-the-world/

Why should I sacrifice when big companies are to blame for climate change?

Invest in nonprofit journalism today. Donate now and every gift will be matched through 12/31. A. Have you ever heard the credo every day, once a day, give yourself a present? It comes from Agent Dale Cooper in Twin Peaks, and personally, I live by it. In response to your question, I propose a slight modification: Every day, once a day, give your future self a present by doing something to counteract climate change. Certainly less catchy, but a more noble motto nonetheless. But you correctly point out that living that motto often seems like an exercise in futility (unless you happen to be the CEO of a major gas conglomerate)! The 100 companies that are responsible for 71 percent of emissions are the biggest fossil fuel producers in the world. The best thing that you can do to fight climate change and hold those companies responsible is to take revenge by jumping into, not out of, the climate action game. Its truly a win-win. Bear with me. The idea of working against a fossil-fueled lifestyle isnt a small decision. The everyday things that are tied to fossil fuels in some way are well very numerous. Anything made with plastic, anything using a combustion engine, and, if you live in most parts of the world, anything that uses electricity. Hmm. This is looking like a very ascetic and, dare I say, rather untenable, life. Im not shading self-driven austerity just because its hard to do. Now that were in the Ill-be-good-now month of January, many of us feel the urge to restrict indulgences more than usual. Im just saying that the whole reason it is hard to do is because our current world is set up pretty much entirely to bolster the position of fossil fuel companies. Youve likely heard the free-market argument that fossil fuels are the cost-effective option. That take isnt really valid, because oil and gas companies receive about $20 billion in subsidies every year. As my former colleague David Roberts points out, thats about seven times the government support that renewables receive. As subsidies age, he writes, they start to look less like subsidies. They start looking like fixed features of the landscape, like mountains or rivers, rather than choices we are making. They just look like the status quo. So the cheap plane tickets and cheap gas and cheap cars were loathe to give up are only that accessible because theyre propped up on artificially affordable oil and gas. And, as you correctly note, fossil fuel companies are doing everything they can to keep that system intact by donating millions of dollars to lawmakers who will favor them. The most obvious solution to moving those mountains would be to vote the people who are giving oil companies a free ride out of office. (Heres a list of representatives who receive the most donations from oil and gas companies. Yes, we know Betos at the top.) But election opportunities only come once a year or so. I posed that question to Richard Heede, head of the Climate Accountability Institute an organization that helped compile that list of the 100 top-emitting companies. A lot of the power of oil gas and coal companies derives not only from political power, but our obeisance to their products, he wrote. That touches the why should I feel guilty part of your dilemma. Its true that as consumers, we have a pretty bad system in which to work but the vast, vast majority of us have been fairly happy with that system until about three minutes ago. Including me! Including, probably, you. Regardless, guilt is probably the wrong thing to feel, because guilt is frequently something that gets pushed down and ignored because it feels bad. A better thing to feel is enthusiasm for change which can, admittedly, be a hard thing to summon when the change in question means doing things that are slightly less comfortable or convenient. An easier motivation, at least in my experience, is vengeance. Maybe you could also call it justice, if youre feeling generous. So the way you do that is by doing somewhat less of all the following things: buying unnecessarily, flying places, eating things that arent plants, driving, throwing stuff away. Choose renewable options to power your home, where theyre available. Thats the best way to boycott those businesses. Then work on telling the banks that fund those companies projects that you dont support their ventures. And in the time you have leftover, you organize and vote against legislators that consistently favor oil and gas interests. Ill leave you with one more golden Twin Peaks quote to guide your daily life: What I want and what I need are two different things, Audrey. (While Agent Cooper was using this line to explain why he couldnt in good conscience have sex with his naked 18-year-old admirer [SCANDAL!!! ], youre going to use it to more generally guide your daily decision-making.) Heres an easy way to differentiate wants from needs: define what you need as the future you want and the future you want is a functional civilization. I promise. With black coffee and warm cherry pie, Umbra

https://grist.org/article/why-should-i-sacrifice-when-big-companies-are-to-blame-for-climate-change/

What could Portsmouth do in the January transfer window?

Have your say The January transfer window is now open and the debate on whats needed to maintain Pompeys League One title charge has been raging among fans. Theres plenty of chit-chat regarding which areas of his squad Kenny Jackett needs to strengthen and who should depart Fratton Park. Pompey manager Kenny Jackett Heres all you need to know about what business the Blues could get up to this month... The transfer window opened on New Years Day. The window will close on Thursday, January 31. Clubs have until 11pm to complete any dealings. Andy Cannon has moved to Fratton Park for a fee of around 150,000 from Rochdale. The midfielders move to Pompey is still waiting to be rubber-stamped by the FA, though. Get the inside track on Cannon by clicking here. A striker is high on Pompeys shopping list. Joe Mason is likely to return to Wolves after featuring just four times during his loan spell. That will leave the Blues with just two recognised strikers in Oli Hawkins and Brett Pitman. With Ben Thompson set to be recalled by Millwall, a centre midfielder will also be required. Jackett may also look to strengthen his defensive options. Although the boss has got three top-class centre-backs in Matt Clarke, Jack Whatmough and Christian Burgess, the Pompey boss could seek to add more cover to that area. Ryan Yates is the transfer rumour that hasnt gone away. The Nottingham Forest midfielder is a target for Kenny Jackett to bolster his engine-room options. The Blues are also reported to be interested in Randell Williams and Jack Hendry. According to Mirror Football, Watford deem Williams as surplus to requirements and will allow him to leave Vicarage Road on a permanent basis. The former Crystal Palace winger has also supposedly held talks with Brentford and Bristol City. Pompey apparently have their eye on Hendry, with Celtic wanting the defender to depart on loan for the rest of the campaign. The Scotland international has also been linked with Sunderland and Bradford. Former Blues loanee Jayden Stockley has also been mentioned but Jackett refuted those reports when question about the player after the Wimbledon game. Danny Roses departure looks inevitable. The popular midfielder has been well out of favour this campaign, making just one appearance off the bench in League One. In addition to Mason and Thompson, theres doubt whether loanees David Wheeler (QPR) and Andre Green (Aston Villa) will stick around. The pair have firmly been behind Jamal Lowe and Ronan Curtis in the pecking order during this terms League One title charge. Jackett could also look to send Adam May back out on loan to enhance his development. The academy graduate had a spell at National League outfit Aldershot before returning to Pompey in December.

https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sport/football/pompey/what-could-portsmouth-do-in-the-january-transfer-window-1-8755772

Are Southseas new permit zones the way to solve our citys parking problems?

PARKING is a problem that has plagued Portsmouth drivers for years. Not only is it rare to park for free when out and about in the city, but now more and more homeowners are having to pay for the privilege of leaving their cars in their roads as the numbers of residents' parking zones increase. Picture: Paul Jacobs After a tumultuous traffic and transport meeting in October it was decided that two new zones, called MB and MC, would be reinstated in Southsea, three years after they were removed by the previous council administration. Today the parking zones come into effect. READ MORE: Controversial parking zones for Southsea residents given the go ahead Until now Portsmouth has had 33 such schemes around the city, with the first one established in 1999. However, several more are earmarked for future implementation. Each zone adheres to different conditions, tailor-made for the specific problems faced in that area. READ MORE: Warning as controversial parking zones return in Southsea Portsmouth City Council's cabinet member for transport, Councillor Lynne Stagg, said: 'Each parking zone is designed to address the specific issues residents highlight in their area. Some residents may have experienced difficulty parking at certain times, while some may be affected by tourist attractions, shopping areas or a large employer operating nearby. 'The residents' parking programme is a rolling programme. It is important that we continue to listen to residents' feedback and monitor parking in residential areas responding to the ever-changing landscape of the city.' But new zones are only considered if enough residents contact the council with parking concerns. 'Proposed zones are added to our residents' parking programme when residents tell us they are experiencing problems parking where they live,' Cllr Stagg added. 'After the proposed zone has been reviewed, and a decision has been made to consult on the zone, all residents in the area are sent a survey. This is to gauge interest and to gather information on the parking problems they experience. 'Once the area has been assessed, a residents' parking zone is designed. Zones are only put in after a detailed public consultation and the final decision is made at a public meeting.' Parking permits cost 30 for the first car, 80 for the second and 550 for the third or further vehicles. These costs are going up to 100 for a second car and 590 for the third and others. The price of the first car permit will remain the same. This article originally appeared on portsmouth.co.uk in November 2018.

https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/our-region/portsmouth/are-southsea-s-new-permit-zones-the-way-to-solve-our-city-s-parking-problems-1-8755842

How does the brain learn by talking to itself?

Human beings, like other animals, possess an enormous learning capacity that allows for the apprehension of new sensory information to master new skills or to adapt to an ever-changing environment. However, many of the mechanisms that enable us to learn remain poorly understood. One of the greatest challenges of systems neuroscience is to explain how synaptic connections change to support adaptive behaviours. Neuroscientists at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, previously showed that synaptic learning mechanisms in the brain's cortex are dependent on feedback from deeper brain regions. They have now precisely deciphered how this feedback gates synaptic strengthening by switching on and off particular inhibitory neurons. This study, which can be read in Neuron, not only constitutes an important milestone in our understanding of the mechanisms for perceptual learning but may also offer insight into computerized learning systems and artificial intelligence. The cortex - the brain's outer and largest region - is important for higher cognitive functions, complex behaviours, perception, and learning. Upon the arrival of a sensory stimulus, the cortex processes and filters its information before it passes the most relevant aspects on to other brain regions. Some of these brain regions, in turn, send information back to the cortex. These loops, known as "feedback systems", are thought to be essential for the functioning of cortical networks and their adaptation to new sensory information. "For perceptual learning - which is the improved ability to respond to a sensory stimulus - neuronal circuits need to first assess the importance of the incoming sensory information and then refine the way it is processed in the future. Feedback systems to a degree confirm that those synapses that were responsible for transmitting the information to other brain areas did this correctly", explains Anthony Holtmaat, professor in basic neurosciences at the UNIGE Faculty of Medicine, who directed this study. How the whiskers highlight the feedback systems The whiskers on a mouse's snout are specialized in tactile sensing and play a major role in the animal's ability to comprehend aspects of its direct environment. The part of the cortex that processes sensory information from the whiskers continuously optimizes its synapses in order to learn new aspects about the tactile environment. Therefore, it constitutes an interesting model for understanding the role of feedback systems in synaptic learning mechanisms. The UNIGE scientists isolated a whiskers-related feedback circuit, and used electrodes to measure the electrical activity of neurons in the cortex. They then mimicked the sensory input by stimulating a specific part of the cortex known for processing this information, and, at the same time, used light to control the feedback circuit. "This ex vivo model allowed us to control the feedback independently from the sensory input, which is impossible to do in vivo. However, disconnecting the sensory input from the feedback was essential to understanding how the interplay between the two leads to synaptic strengthening" adds Holtmaat. Inhibiting neurons gate the information The team found that both components, when triggered separately, activate a wide range of neurons. However, when activated simultaneously, some neurons actually decrease their activity. "Interestingly, the neurons that are inhibited when the sensory input and the feedback occur together usually inhibit neurons that are important for perception, this is known as an inhibition of inhibition or a disinhibition", explains Leena Williams from the UNIGE Faculty of Medicine, the study's first author. "Thus, these neurons act like a gate for the incoming information, and which is normally closed. But when feedback comes in, the gate is opened, allowing those synapses that take care of the primary sensory information to increase their strength. With this study we have identified how feedback possibly optimizes synaptic connections to better prepare for future incoming information", she adds. Now that they have precisely identified which neurons are involved in this mechanism, these scientists will test their results in "real life" to check whether the inhibiting neurons will behave as predicted when a mouse needs to learn new sensory information or when it discovers new aspects in its tactile environment. Apart from being relevant to learning in animals, this question is also at the heart of machine learning programs. Indeed, some deep learning specialists try to mimic brain circuits to build artificially intelligent systems. Insights such as provided by the UNIGE team might be relevant for unsupervised learning, a branch of machine learning that occupies itself with circuit models that are able to self-organize and optimize the processing of new information. This is important for the creation of efficient voice or face recognition programmes, for example. ###

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-01/udg-hdt010219.php

Does January's Super Wolf Blood Moon mean the apocalypse is nigh?

Its cold outside, your bank account is drained and your body bears all the extra heft generated by a season of over-indulgence. So we can totally understand why you might want the world to end. And if youre yearning for doomsday, dont feel alone because there are quite a lot of people who are actually worried about an upcoming apocalypse. Luckily enough for them, theres an unusual Super Blood Wolf Moon on the way which is an ideal sign for people who like to imagine the whirrings of the universes structures are actually hidden messages from God. This natural wonder is a combination of several different types of moon. Firstly, its a supermoon so it will appear larger than usual. It will also appear to be tinted ever-so-slightly red, which means its a blood moon, and Januarys moon is often called a Wolf Moon. Advertisement Advertisement And if all that mooning isnt enough for you, there will also be a lunar eclipse. A blood moon occurs when there is a lunar eclipse which means Earth has wedged itself between the sun and the moon. The moon has no light source of its own and simply reflects the light of the sun, so when Earth blocks this out it will not shine. A blood moons seen after a full lunar eclipse near Munich, Germany, in July 2018 (Picture: Reuters) It appears red as Earths atmosphere filters and scatters the suns light. Now, this is all caused by the fact that Earth, the moon and the sun follow predictable paths through space. But that explanation isnt enough for some of the wilder minds of the internet who think the creator is somehow sending us a sign that the apocalypse is imminent. An American preacher called Pastor Begley is famous for constantly predicting the apocalypse. Happily, his prophecies never seem to come to pass. Now hes once again suggested warnings in the bible could suggest humanity is in big trouble. Well, this is definitely a sign of the end times and America plays a key role in the end times. He said the coming of the Lord is fast approaching and said recent events such as the Yellow Vest riots in France could mean our species is facing the end of its time on Earth. However, you might like to remember that Begley has previously predicted that humanity would be wiped out by a gamma ray and that a planet called Nibiru will hit us. Begley is estimated to earn up to 60,000 a year from his YouTube videos, prompting claims hes a prophet for profit. A blood moon full lunar eclipse viewed over a mountain in Thailand in January 2018 (Photo: Getty) If you follow such people you are following false prophets and their fruit is bitter and they will ruin your life, wrote one critic on Quora. Various other YouTube prophets also use numerology to make their cases, pointing out that January 20 is the second anniversary of Trumps election and the halfway point of his presidency. They also make various dodgy claims about the number 70, which was Trumps age when he took office, and suggest various events in Israel are linked to this number. On May 14 last year, the 70th anniversary of the founding of Israel, there was also an opening ceremony for a temporary embassy in Jerusalem, which opened after Trump said America would move it from Tel Aviv to the capital. Were glad to report that rumours about the apocalypse tend to be greatly exaggerated. Were sure 2019 will be a dreadful year, but we probably dont have to worry about Biblical prophecies coming true.

https://metro.co.uk/2019/01/02/people-think-januarys-super-wolf-blood-moon-means-world-will-end-2019-8302708/

Should Alberta adopt similar distracted driving legislation as Ontario?

Some Alberta drivers are calling on the province to adopt similar penalties for distracted driving as Ontario. Stiff penalties passed by the Ontario government came into effect on Jan. 1. Under the new law, an Ontario motorist caught distracted driving for the first time could face a $1,000 fine, three demerit points and a three-day license suspension. READ MORE: Stiff new penalties for distracted, impaired driving in Ontario begin on Jan. 1 If there are second and third convictions within five years, the fines double and triple, respectively. Each instance would also result in six demerit points. Drivers would lose their licence for seven days upon the second conviction, and 30 days upon the third conviction. In Alberta, the fine for distracted driving is $287 and three demerits, but some drivers say that is not a steep enough penalty. Ive seen it all doing their make-up. I dont care what it is, if youre going to drive like that, you deserve what you get, driver Sherry, who didnt give a last name, said. I would support the position that Ontario has taken because I think that distracted driving is incredibly dangerous, another driver, who didnt provide a name, said. According to Alberta Transportation, distracted driving convictions in Alberta have gone down. But the numbers are still significant, with the latest statistics showing 23,546 fines in 2017-2018. The highest number of offenses (18,659) relate to drivers using handheld devices like phones to communicate while behind the wheel. People have also been caught reading, writing and grooming while driving. READ MORE: Fines, stats and rules: What you need to know about distracted driving in Alberta Lee Brooks is a retired class-one commercial driver. He has driven many kilometres on highways and says he has seen multiple collisions because of distracted driving. He wants the penalties to be much stricter across the country. I believe fully it should be Canada-wide. As a matter of fact, I dont even think $1,000 is enough. I think it should be a three-month suspension automatically, Brooks said. READ MORE: More than 200 Manitobans busted for distracted driving in November In November, Manitoba increased its distracted driving fine to nearly $700 and a three-day licence suspension, but so far it has not had an impact on the habits of some drivers. According to Manitoba Public Insurance, a total of 237 drivers province-wide had their licenses suspended for the minimum three-day period within in the first month of the new penalties coming into place.

https://globalnews.ca/news/4807423/alberta-distracted-driving-legislation/

Is very low LDL-C harmful?

A major Cardiovascular (CV) risk factor is low-density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (LDL-C). A lot of evidence that was accumulated supports a linear association between LDL-C levels and CV risk. However, whether the lower limit of LDL-C might offer CV benefits without any safety concerns is still a topic of debate. This review discusses data from studies of several safety events that have been associated with low LDL-C levels achieved with major lipid-lowering drug. Commonly with the use of a combination of statins with ezetimibe or proprotein convertase subtilisin kexin 9 inhibitors, several large trials have evaluated the safety or reducing LDL-C to levels lower than 50 mg/dl or even lower than 25 mg/dl. Most of the trials showed CV benefits which were observed with LDL-C levels of 50 mg/dl or less compared with higher levels. Favorable results for LDL-C levels lower than 25 mg/dl are limited. Of importance, cancer and hemorrhagic stroke incidences were not increased in patients attaining LDL-C lower than 40-50 mg/dl. In terms of safety, the reduction of LDL-C to such levels was not associated with any significant adverse event. Data regarding the impact of lowering LDL-C with neurocognitive disorders are contradictory; nevertheless, most studies stand in favor of neurocognitive safety with LDL-C reductions to low levels. This article is Open Access. To obtain the article please visit http://www. eurekaselect. com/ 166007 ###

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-01/bsp-ivl010119.php

What is the real secret to a long life?

High-intensity exercise. Plant-based diets. Yoga. Probiotics. The checklist of things you are supposed to do to live well into your golden years is so familiar as to be almost boring. You may even remember making the very same New Years healthy living resolutions this time last year. But a new Yale University study suggests that there may be another key variable that influences how long your life will be: Your attitude. The Yale scientists found that of 4,765 people with an average age of 72, those who carried a gene linked to dementia but also had very positive attitudes about aging, were 50% less likely to develop the disorder than less positive people. People who carried the gene but faced aging with more pessimism and fear were far more likely to suffer from dementia. Basically feeling more positive about aging seemed to serve as a kind of protective shield against mental deterioration. We found that positive age beliefs can reduce the risk of one of the most established genetic risk factors of dementia, said lead author Becca Levy, professor of public health and of psychology Yale News noted. This makes a case for implementing a public health campaign against ageism, which is a source of negative age beliefs. Some suggest that the takeaway from this kind of research may be that our individual temperaments and perspectives could be as important as whether or not we face aging by the book. Maybe its time to stop obsessing over our to do lists and focus on cultivating our positive feelings. The most important advice we offer people about longevity is, Throw away your lists, says Howard Friedman, professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside, and co-author of The Longevity Project, Time reports. People who live a long time can work hard and play hard.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/01/02/study-what-is-the-real-secret-to-a-long-life/

Are foxes and coyotes getting friendly in those dens?

CLICK HERE if you are having trouble viewing these photos on a mobile device DEAR JOAN: Recently, the Sentinel, a free paper here in Danville, had a front page article with a color photo of a red fox. The fox seemed to have extraordinarily long legs, but so did the fox photo in the Sentinel. So I am confused. The article said that the foxes are known to steal food from coyote kills. That area up by the hospital has been known for years as having huge flocks of wild turkeys or perhaps several that were so brazen as to impede the entrances to the medical office buildings. Now they are nowhere to be seen. They were so unafraid that they would get on the cars in the parking lot and poop everywhere, making the entire area a slip and slide and very unsafe. Zoe Jones, Danville DEAR ZOE: If you only see an animal at a glance as it darts across the road, it can be difficult to identify it. Coyotes and foxes are in the same family of canines, but they belong to different branches of the canine family tree. Coyotes are larger than foxes, weighing 20 to 45 pounds, while foxes tip the scales at 8 to 20 pounds. To me, coyotes have a more doglike appearance, while foxes have a more delicate, refined look to them. The foxs ears are upright; the coyotes are triangular shaped. The tail length is another good way of telling them apart. The foxs tail is about the same length as its body, while the coyotes tail is shorter. As for any extracurricular activity, its highly unlikely theres any hanky panky going on. Wild animals mostly tend to breed with their own species, and even though coyotes and foxes are both canines, they are too different to spark a love match. More importantly, they are competitors when it comes to food, something all wildlife takes very seriously. Although coyotes are capable of killing larger animals such as deer, they also eat smaller creatures, which are the very foods the foxes are after. Foxes tend to avoid the larger coyotes, which might kill them to prevent them from partaking of the food. Researchers recently reported that foxes and coyotes coexist better in urban areas, where food tends to be more plentiful, but that hasnt made them friends or snuggle buddies. Sea lion pup found at Oakland airport is active and feisty, veterinarians say The Christmas holidays can be dangerous for our pets Hospitals and large office buildings with a lot of landscaping often find themselves dealing with lots of wild turkeys. In instances where the turkeys pose a threat or hazard, the state will issue predation licenses that allow the birds to be killed. Otherwise, these companies and homeowners use deterrents such as loud noises, flashing lights, bursts of water and other devices to frighten the birds away. For more pets and animals coverage follow us on Flipboard.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/01/02/are-foxes-and-coyotes-getting-friendly-in-those-dens/

Was kann man am Klima denn leugnen?

Klimavernderungen gab es schon immer, Ausgabe vom 22. Dezember Wenn wir unsere CO2-Emissionen nicht in den Griff bekommen, wird sich das Klima in Zukunft noch strker erwrmen, mit negativen Folgen fr die Schweizer Landwirtschaft, Gletscher und Klimasicherheit. Krzlich wollte uns Herr Balsiger mit seiner Multiplikation zum Klimawandel glaubhaft machen, dass das CO2-Problem gar keines sei. Seine Ausfhrungen entsprechen nicht der Wahrheit und bedrfen daher einer Klarstellung. Balsiger sagt, dass der CO2-Anteil von der Temperatur bestimmt wird (nicht umgekehrt). Dies wrde stimmen, wenn man ber 800 000 Jahre zurckblickt in der Erdgeschichte auf eine Zeitskala, in welcher der Mensch keine Rolle spielte. Betrachtet man die CO2-Variabilitt ber die letzten 200 Jahre, erkennt man, dass es sich eben umgekehrt verhlt. Das zunehmend vom Menschen freigesetzte CO2, hauptschlich durch die Verbrennung von fossilen Rohstoffen, ist Ursache fr die Erwrmung. Balsiger meint, dass der CO2-Anteil angeblich bloss zu 1,2 Prozent menschengemacht sei. Messungen auf Mauna Loa, Hawaii, belegen aber, nebst weiteren Messungen, dass der CO2-Anteil in der Atmosphre seit 1850 (Industriezeitalter) von unter 290 ppm auf heute ber 400 ppm gestiegen ist (NOAA). Die menschverursachte Zunahme betrgt somit ca. 40 Prozent, oder 30-mal mehr, als der von Balsiger genannte Wert. Balsiger schreibt, dass die Welttemperatur seit 1997 konstant sei. Dem ist leider auch nicht so. Die Jahre 2015, 2016, 2017 waren die drei wrmsten je gemessenen Jahre weltweit (NOAA). Balsiger sagt schliesslich, dass Klimaspezialisten vom Staat angestellt werden, um die passenden Studien zu erstellen. Diese Aussage passt gut zu den vorhergehenden Falschaussagen. Ich wnsche mir, dass unsere Politiker endlich den Klimawandel verstehen werden, nicht nur die Grnen und die Linken. Aber das ist dann wieder ein Thema bei den nchsten Wahlen. Urs Kunz, Cham Gleich drei Leserbriefe provozierte Rudolf Balsiger mit seinem eigenen vom 22. Dezember. Unter anderem wird er als Klimaleugner verunglimpft. Ein anderer Kritiker differenzierte immerhin so weit, dass er ihm unterstellte, die Klimavernderung zu leugnen. Grundstzlich wird ihm unterstellt, die Fakten aussen vor zu lassen. Kurz gesagt hielt er fest, dass es Klimavernderungen schon immer gegeben hat. Damit hat er die Klimavernderung nicht geleugnet, sondern in einen geschichtlichen Kontext gesetzt. Ferner hat er mit Zahlen aufgezeigt, dass die Beeinflussung des CO2-Ausstosses durch die Schweiz selbst bei drastischen Massnahmen vernachlssigbar klein, ja bedeutungslos ist. Interessanterweise widerlegte keiner seiner Kritiker diese Zahlen. Man hieb einfach mal mit dem rhetorischen Zweihnder auf einen ein, der es wagte, seine Sicht der Dinge dem Mainstream entgegen zu halten. Glaubensstze gegen Fakten. Damit wird Klimapolitik zur Ersatzreligion. Apropos Religion: Vor der Reformation war der Ablasshandel in der katholischen Kirche auf seinem Hhepunkt. Nach dem Motto Wenn das Geld im Kasten klingt, die Seele in den Himmel springt konnte man sich von seinen Snden freikaufen. Bezahlen wir doch 10 Rappen mehr fr den Liter Benzin, dann drfen wir ruhigen Gewissens in den Ferien nach Australien fliegen. Was vor 500 Jahren Gott kaum beeindruckt haben drfte, ist wohl heute auch dem Klima egal. Thomas Ltscher, Neuheim

https://www.luzernerzeitung.ch/zentralschweiz/zug/was-kann-man-am-klima-denn-leugnen-ld.1082095

What could the EuroMillions winner buy with their 127m jackpot?

A UK ticket-holder claimed the 115m (127.8m) jackpot in the first EuroMillions draw of 2019. Here, we take a look at some of the options: There could be a lot of polish needed on all those Rolls Royces (PA) 319 of the latest Rolls Royce Phantom VIII, which has a starting price of 360,000 (400,000). 23,740 annual season tickets from Brighton to London, which cost 4,844 (5,385) following Wednesdays 3.1% price hike. 575 tickets to space with Virgin Galactic. Sir Richard Bransons company plans to charge just under 200,000 (222,362) for the trip. Product Red iPhone XR is a mighty good looking phone pic.twitter.com/GgJPx85uFD Martyn Landi (@MartynLandi) September 12, 2018 153,538 iPhone XRs. The Apple handset costs 749 (832) 1,939 nights in the Royal Penthouse Suite at Hotel President Wilson in Geneva, Switzerland. The most expensive suite in the world costs 75,000 US dollars (65,907) per night. Pay Cristiano Ronaldos Juventus contract for more than four years. The deal was worth 510,483 (567,561) a week when he signed in 2018. Ronaldo could be yours for four years (PA) 460 dresses worn by Kate Middleton at her wedding in 2011. The outfit, by Sarah Burton, set the soon-to-be duchess back 250,000 (277,900) Pay the starting salary for at least 5,758 police constables in England for 19,971 (22,204) each. - Press Association

https://www.breakingnews.ie/world/what-could-the-euromillions-winner-buy-with-their-127m-jackpot-895177.html

Are we in danger of taking technology for granted and losing the magic of innovation?

Technology has become truly pervasive. It is wide and it is deep. It transcends industries, professions, economies (developed and emerging) and straddles the globe, showing no respect for borders or passports. Technology has presented us with a somewhat eccentric narrative over the years. In the 1950s and 1960s, technology was characterised by the space race. The British prime minister at the time called this era the white heat of technology, perhaps summoning up a reimagining of the forges and the dark satanic mills of the Industrial Revolution. In the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, IT and telecoms, together with a myriad of embryonic online businesses, defined tech. In 2018, AI, the internet of things, blockchain, XR (extended reality), AR (augmented reality), VR (virtual reality) and MR (mixed reality) were the buzzwords. Today, at the edge of the 2020s, technology is truly everywhere. The scope and range of innovation in technology is truly awe-inspiring, ranging from advances in materials science, to developments in propulsion systems, to an exponential growth in energy solutions and services. 2019 expected to bring some big changes for China tech In 2018, we saw the beginnings of ambient computing, huge strides in robotics, cloaks of invisibility, robocops and flying police scooters in Dubai, and serious plans for a commercial jet replacement for that venerable Anglo-French queen of the skies, the Concorde. Meanwhile, the convergent technologies of telecoms and IT are no dawdlers. The coming of 5G will represent the greatest leap in processing speed since computing began, and it is predicted that 5G will be a staggering 20 times faster than 4G. And for those of us concerned about the future of education, AI and VR are transforming the classroom. One could devote quite a bit of editorial space to identifying the top technologies to look out for in 2019, but then, everyone does that, dont they (and, frankly, theyre not all that hard to predict). The more important questions to be asked concerning technology are philosophical, and not related to the stepping stones mankind might take in the next year, or even in five, 10 and 50 years. Technology will almost certainly become more and more part of ourselves. Not so much held or worn; we might one day place tech on our faces, insert tech into our eyes, embed it into our ears and we may even ingest tech. Well soon have autonomous vehicles delivering products to our door, UAV ambulances, amazing advances in biomaterials for medical purposes, self-healing concrete, and brain-machine interfaces that enable humans to combine their horizontal intelligence, with the vertical execution capabilities of artificial intelligence. One could go on, but the point is well made. Over the past 200 years, and certainly in the last 50, mankind has created a magnificent, mutable staging point which will continue to see technology evolve rapidly, in all manner of directions. We have truthfully achieved critical mass where, in the words of technologist and science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke, any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Magic or no, rather like latter-day wizards, we have become extremely blas about technology and no longer notice how we ever lived without it and therein lies the problem. We are, I believe, in danger of forgetting the chemistry (or alchemy, to stay with our theme of magic) that fosters technological innovation. Technological innovation does not always come from one direction. Companies need breakthroughs to build businesses on, but they dont always possess the funds for the development of those breakthroughs themselves. And, while convention has it that market forces foster innovation, it is occasionally big government which provides the cradle for invention (the space race, for example). In fact, it is sometimes governments separation from market forces that has historically made it such a successful innovator (witness the potting shed style of inventions which came from state-owned enterprises in Britain over the years). The broader point here is that no matter where future developments in technology do come from, it is the spirit of invention that we need to continue to nurture. From energy to telecoms, from aerospace to the latest in shape memory alloys, whether the invention is from a garage in Palo Alto or through state-funded research in Shenzhen, the incubation and sustained development of new technologies lies at the heart of successful innovation. Hong Kongs best minds must work together to shape AI future Whether one believes in a dystopian vision of the future, a future where we've all got technology at our fingertips, meeting our every need, or a technology-driven nightmare that leads to wide-scale unemployment, the truth is that we need technology in the same way that we need plumbed water and mains electricity. And to sustain the passion for inspiring and promoting the latest developments, we need to look to our schools, our universities and colleges to inspire the young. Dickie Liang-Hong Ke is a business innovator and incubator, technology investor and adviser, educator, London Business School Sloan Fellow and contributing writer for the Handbook on China and Globalisation

https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/hong-kong/article/2180343/are-we-danger-taking-technology-granted-and-losing

What could the EuroMillions winner buy with their 127m jackpot?

A UK ticket-holder claimed the 115m (127.8m) jackpot in the first EuroMillions draw of 2019. Here, we take a look at some of the options: There could be a lot of polish needed on all those Rolls Royces (PA) 319 of the latest Rolls Royce Phantom VIII, which has a starting price of 360,000 (400,000). 23,740 annual season tickets from Brighton to London, which cost 4,844 (5,385) following Wednesdays 3.1% price hike. 575 tickets to space with Virgin Galactic. Sir Richard Bransons company plans to charge just under 200,000 (222,362) for the trip. Product Red iPhone XR is a mighty good looking phone pic.twitter.com/GgJPx85uFD Martyn Landi (@MartynLandi) September 12, 2018 153,538 iPhone XRs. The Apple handset costs 749 (832) 1,939 nights in the Royal Penthouse Suite at Hotel President Wilson in Geneva, Switzerland. The most expensive suite in the world costs 75,000 US dollars (65,907) per night. Pay Cristiano Ronaldos Juventus contract for more than four years. The deal was worth 510,483 (567,561) a week when he signed in 2018. Ronaldo could be yours for four years (PA) 460 dresses worn by Kate Middleton at her wedding in 2011. The outfit, by Sarah Burton, set the soon-to-be duchess back 250,000 (277,900) Pay the starting salary for at least 5,758 police constables in England for 19,971 (22,204) each. - Press Association

https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/world/what-could-the-euromillions-winner-buy-with-their-127m-jackpot-895177.html