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When is Disney+ launching? How much does it cost? How do I sign up? | Entertainment industry juggernauts Disney are set to enter the online streaming market in 2019. Advertisement This is big news, as it means that there will be a another player in the battle for streaming supremacy currently headed up by Netflix and Amazon. Plus, it means well be getting a LOT more from the Mickey Mouse corp and its subsidiaries Marvel and LucasFilms. Theyve already announced a new Jon Favreau-produced Star Wars series and a Tom Hiddleston-fronted Marvel show, and that appears to be just the tip of the iceberg. Find out everything you need to know about the upcoming streaming service below. A major new streaming service owned by The Walt Disney Company which will feature a host of new and past TV series and films from Disney and its subsidiaries. The service is set to launch in the USA in September 2019. There is no known date for the UK launch. Disney has yet to announce how much a subscription to Disney+ will cost. However, Disney CEO Bob Iger reportedly told investors that the plan is to charge users substantially less than Netflix. The major confirmed releases are The Mandalorian, a new Star Wars series set in the outer reaches of the galaxy between episodes VI and VII, and a Marvel show based on Tom Hiddlestons Loki. Pedro Pascal leads a most impressive cast in #TheMandalorian, the first ever live-action @StarWars series, coming to Disney+: https://t.co/lrA4iUn8Yv pic.twitter.com/zqNQPeaduW Disney (@Disney) December 12, 2018 There is also set to be a Rogue One prequel series, based around Diego Lunas character Cassian Andor from the Star Wars spin-off film. Variety reports that there are plans for shows based around The Avengers Scarlett Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and one based around Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) and Falcon (Anthony Mackie). On top of this, Iger has confirmed that a live-action remake of Lady and the Tramp (with real dogs!) will launch exclusively on the service, along with other new, as-yet-unconfirmed Disney movies. Initially, it is expected that Disney+ will be focused on movies and TV series from Walt Disney Studios (those directly produced by Disney, including Marvel films from 2010 onwards, and the new Star Wars trilogy). However, this is expected to expand greatly. Disney owns Marvel, Lucasfilm, Pixar, The Muppets Studio and US network ABC. On top of this, theyre expected to close on a deal to take over Rupert Murdochs 21st Century Fox. This would mean the likes of Avatar (and its upcoming sequels), Titanic, the Planet of the Apes reboot series and TV series like Homeland, Modern Family, The Simpsons, Family Guy, Buffy The Vampire Slayer and 24 meaning they could all come into play on the streaming service. Add that to all of the Marvel, Star Wars and Pixar properties, and youve got yourself a fairly stacked and impressive catalogue. Of course, it is unclear which of these shows and movies are already tied down to deals with other streaming services, or how Disney will seek to distribute them, but we could see them all become available on Disney+ at one point or another. Disney already have an active subscription service in the UK, called DisneyLife. A 4.99 subscription grants access to a catalogue of 450+ Disney movies (including all the original versions of The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, The Jungle Book and so on). There is no word on whether Disney+ will replace DisneyLife in the UK when it eventually launches, or if it will even launch at all though, if Disney are serious about competing with Netflix on a global basis, theyre not likely to leave the UK market out of the equation. Disney CEO Bob Iger recently told Barrons that the company had to act when they saw the tides turning in the entertainment industry, with relation to online streaming. It became very clear that what we were observing was real, sustainable, he said. Sweeping, permanent, profound transformation. What I posed to my senior team and ultimately to the board was, We cant sit back and let this happen. I can imagine other companies in other industries in similar positions in the past 50 years, He said. The major Disney film releases will still hit theatres as the first port of call. Our studio makes between eight and 10 movies a year, and theyre big budget, hopefully big box-office films, that really belong, we believe, on the big screen, Iger says. He adds that any films produced for the streaming service will be low-mid-level budget. Almost every movie the studio makes is a $100 million-plus movie, and were not looking to make movies at that level for the service, he said. But, the likes of Avengers: Endgame and Star Wars: Episode IX will eventually end up on there. The launch of the service will coincide with the expiration of a deal between Marvel and Netflix. Weve seen a culling of Netflixs Marvel TV series in recent months, which may be related to Disneys own streaming agenda. Iron Fist, Daredevil and Luke Cage have all been cancelled, with the future of Jessica Jones and The Punisher currently unknown (beyond the already slated third season of Jessica Jones, and the imminent second season of The Punisher). Disney+ is not up-and-running as yet, but you can sign up for updates on the service here. | https://www.radiotimes.com/news/on-demand/2019-01-11/disney-plus-guide/ |
When is Lucifer series 4 on Netflix? | Lucifer fans launched a huge campaign to save the show when it was cancelled by Fox after three series and now its fourth season is coming to Netflix. Lucifer is expected to land on Netflix in 2019. It previously aired on Fox in America and was later released on Amazon Prime in the UK, but seeing as the show has been revived by Netflix, it will now air internationally on the streaming giant, meaning British viewers will no longer have to wait for the new episodes. Lucifer series four will run for ten episodes but will be split into two parts, with a mid-season break taking place after episode five. It is likely, therefore, that Netflix will drop the first five episodes in one go and there will be a delay before we get to see the second half of the season. It is currently unclear whether the previous three seasons will move over to Netflix. For now, Lucifer series one to three are available to watch on Amazon Prime Video. Lucifer is a fantasy comedy-drama which revolves around the devil. It follows Lucifer Morningstar, a fallen angel whos bored with his role as the Lord of Hell, so becomes a consultant with the LAPD, as you do. He possesses superhuman strength and invulnerability, and has the ability to make people tell him their hidden desires. The show is based on the Lucifer character created by Neil Gaiman for The Sandman comic-book series. Lucifer fans tirelessly campaigned for a revival following Foxs decision to cancel the show in May 2018. After monumental support for the series on Twitter under the #SaveLucifer hashtag, it was then picked up by Netflix in June 2018. Series star Tom Ellis had previously told RadioTimes.com how the fan campaign had motivated him to work to revive the series, saying, The outpouring of love for the show has mirrored how Ive felt about it. The response has spurred me on to at least go, OK, well Im going to go and take part in these conversations. Showrunners Joe Henderson and Ildy Modrovich said the #SaveLucifer campaign played a big part in Netflixs decision to revive the show. They really noticed it, Henderson told TV Line. The fans were heard, and thats the biggest thing that we should convey. Tom Ellis and Lauren German will reprise their roles as Lucifer Morningstar and Detective Chloe Decker. Kevin Alejandro will also be back as Detective Dan Espinoza, as will Lesley-Ann Brandt as Mazikeen, Aimee Garcia as Ella Lopez and Rachael Harris as Dr Linda Martin, among others. Prison Break star Inbar Levi is joining the cast as Eve (as in Adam and). She is fed up with Adam and is pining for Lucifer, her rebellious first love. Newcomer Vinessa Vidotto also joins the line-up as angel Remiel, who is described as the classic little-sister to DB Woodsides mighty Amenadiel. The complete episode list for Lucifers fourth season is as follows: Everythings Okay, written by Joe Henderson Somebodys Been Reading Dantes Inferno, written by Idly Modrovich O, Ye Of Little Faith, Father, written by Jessika Borsiczky All About Eve, written by Chris Refferty Expire Erect, written by Mike Costa Orgy Pants to Work, written by Aiyana White Devil Is As Devil Does, written by Jen Graham Imada Super Bad Boyfriend, written by Jason Ning Save Lucifer, written by Joe Henderson King of Hell, written by Idly Modrovich Series four is expected to revisit Chloes discovery about Lucifer. When we last saw her in the bonus episode Boo Normal, Chloe was struggling to come to terms with Lucifer revealing his true devil face to her, and co-showrunner Modrovich believes Chloe will be taking a journey in the new season. Advertisement She wouldnt just accept it right away. Shes going to go through all the emotions that weve been through, the audience, he told TV Line. For her to be able to see his struggle, every single side of him, and she is going to feel a little bit like what he says in the penultimate episode, which is I feel like youve seen one side of me. ' | https://www.radiotimes.com/news/on-demand/2019-01-11/lucifer-s4-netflix/ |
When is Johanna Kontas first match at the Australian Open? How can I watch? | Britains number one female tennis player Johanna Konta, 27, has recovered from a neck injury that forced her retirement at Sydney International and she is ready to hit the courts in Melbourne. Advertisement Konta reached the semifinals of the Australian Open in 2016 and the quarters in 2017, so will be hoping to emulate her success again this year. She will face Ajla Tomljanovic in the first round. Johanna Konta will play her first round match on either Monday 14th or Tuesday 15th January. Schedules will be confirmed shortly. The Australian Open will be broadcast live on Eurosport in the UK. If you dont already have Eurosport on your TV, theres a cheaper alternative With an Amazon Prime subscription, you can gain access to Eurosport for six months for 0.01 using Amazon Channels. The Eurosport channel is 6.99 per month after those first six months, and an Amazon Prime membership costs 7.99 per month but it can be accessed with a 30-day free trial. In order to access the Eurosport Player direct, it will cost 9.99 per month or 59.88 a year. There is also a seven-day free trial on offer at the beginning of your subscription however the Australian Open runs over a fortnight, so if you choose to start with the free trial youll still need to pay to watch the whole competition. For those seeking a more versatile option you could subscribe to the TVPlayer PLUS Lite package for 6.99. This allows you to watch both Eurosport 1 and 2 channels, as well as several others. Highlights of the tournament will be shown on the BBC if youre just after the best bits. Matches with British players are expected to feature prominently in the Beebs selected highlights. Konta will go up against Ajla Tomljanovic in the first round both players are unseeded. Tomljanovic beat Konta in Brisbane earlier this month, but this has not deterred the British player: I think its a great opportunity for me to play someone Ive just lost to, who played very well and for me to try to do better, to immediately learn from how that match went, she told The Guardian. The 25-year-old Croatian-born Australian player turned pro in 2009 and is ranked 45th in the world. She is yet to make it beyond the fourth round of any of the Grand Slam tournaments but will have an advantage in Melbourne with the home crowd on her side. Konta is the world number 38, having dropped considerably since July 2017 when she was ranked 4th. Konta made it no further than the 2nd round in the Australian Open 2018. She fared much better in previous years, having made it to the quarter-finals in 2017 and the semi-finals in 2016 when she was knocked out by Angelique Kerber. Advertisement The Australian Open takes place from Monday 14th January, concluding with the mens final on Sunday 27th January | https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2019-01-11/johanna-konta-australian-open-how-to-watch/ |
When is The Greatest Dancer final on TV? | The Greatest Dancer aims to find the best of Britains dance talent, with performers of all ages and dance backgrounds encouraged to dance in front of the infamous two-way mirror in a bid to impress the Dance Captains and the studio audience. Advertisement After four weeks of auditions followed by three live challenge shows, its the on to the grand finale. The acts will all face the public vote for one last time, as the power is put back into the audiences hands to choose who they want to be crowned The Greatest Dancer. The winner will receive a hefty 50,000 prize fund and a chance to perform as a very special guest on Strictly Come Dancing. While it is yet to be confirmed in the schedules, The Greatest Dancer is set to run for eight weeks, meaning we should expect The Greatest Dancer final to air on BBC1 on Saturday 23rd February 2019. It is also likely to be on at around the same time it is currently being billed to air, which is around the 8pm slot. Advertisement RadioTimes.com have contacted BBC for confirmation. | https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2019-01-11/when-is-the-greatest-dancer-final-on-tv/ |
What are the top technology trends and challenges for 2019? | GlobalData is the market leader in providing actionable insight into the technology industry. With market analysts in 18 countries around the world, along with a team of researchers and consultants, we can provide you with the reliable, in-depth industry information you need. Cicero, the ancient Roman philosopher, is not often quoted in relation to the challenges faced in digital age, but it is perhaps a sign of troubled times that his adage: The greater the difficulty, the greater the glory has been included in a New Year message from the Chinese tech giant Huawei. In a message entitled fire is the test of gold, Huaweis rotating chairman, Guo Ping, described 2018 as an eventful year, to say the least. Australia and New Zealand have already barred the use of Huawei equipment in 5G networks on security grounds, joining the US and Taiwan in putting curbs on Huaweis activities. Japans cybersecurity agency has said suppliers deemed high-risk will be excluded from government purchases, hitting Huawei and its compatriot ZTE, while, in the UK, equipment made by Huawei is being removed from the heart of the Emergency Services Network communication system under development for the UKs police forces and other emergency services. The issues surrounding Huawei intersect with some of the major themes that will shape the technology, media and telecoms (TMT) industry in 2019, including cybersecurity, 5G, and the impact of China. Research conducted by GlobalDatas technology thematic research team indicates that companies who invest in the right themes become success stories, while those who miss the big themes end up as failures. What to watch out for The 2019 Tech Theme Map highlights the big themes that are driving share prices for TMT companies and is the result of a series of interviews with senior industry executives and investors, reflecting an up-to-date view of the issues that keep them awake at night. Our theme map covers not only disruptive tech themes but also macroeconomic and regulatory themes. GlobalDatas latest thematic report, Tech, Media & Telecom Trends 2019, provides a top-down, comprehensive outlook for the key players in TMT, based on the key themes set to transform their industry landscape over the next two years. China is undoubtedly one of those themes, with the country locked in an increasingly hostile battle with the US for leadership in next-generation technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), cloud-enabled technology, and 5G. Top tech trends China Several TMT sectors are also experiencing the China Effect. In semiconductors, for example, Chinas growing influence over chip manufacturing and, increasingly, chip design is unlikely to be held back by the protectionist policies of the US government under Donald Trump. In fact, current US policy risks causing more harm to the US technology industry than good. In other areas, China looms large as a potential source of disruption. Not only is China a major market for industrial automation technology, but it is also a major source of investment and innovation. Nearly 2 million new industrial robots are forecast to be sold in 2020, with a third of those in China. Video gaming is one of the fastest-growing industries worldwide and China is the worlds largest video games market, having overtaken the US in recent years. Tencent is Chinas leading publisher and has been aggressively acquiring global properties. 3 Things That Will Change the World Today Get the Verdict morning email China is just one of the major themes to watch in 2019. Others include: Brexit Much will depend on the outcome of UK Prime Minister Theresa Mays so-called meaningful vote in mid-January. If the vote goes against May, then the path towards the proposed exit from the European Union (EU) at the end of March becomes more uncertain. Tech companies are likely to wait until they have more clarity before taking action and then move quickly to implement existing plans. It is unlikely that the largest Silicon Valley companies will be impacted many of them already have EU operations but it is the smaller UK players who may struggle to acquire skills, access new European markets, or cope with new, more burdensome business processes. Up and coming US tech companies will still need a base to be able to access European markets, a fact that hasnt escaped the attention of Irelands inward investment promotion agency. Cybersecurity Businesses desperately need reliable new sources of intelligence, not only to help accurately identify when an anomaly may be a genuine cybersecurity attack but also to help with the constant flood of false positives. While still in its early stages, the power and potential of machine learning in support of behavioural analytics in enterprise security solutions is impossible to deny, which is why all the major enterprise security vendors are building, buying, or partnering to add machine learning in support of high-accuracy, intelligence-led solutions. However, machine learning has little value if a vendor doesnt have a massive data set on which to apply the technology. This will shift the enterprise cybersecurity market to grant a significant competitive advantage to those vendors that not only build the largest data set but also demonstrate the expertise to apply machine learning in such a way that it produces meaningful analytical insights. Blockchain In the course of 2017 blockchain became one of the most hyped technologies the sector has seen, with increasingly outlandish claims made about its capabilities and benefits. We expect 2019 to be a difficult year for blockchain technology, as the cost and complexity of implementing blockchain solutions become apparent. The technology will have lost its gloss by 2025, though it is likely to have found its way into the heart of many key business processes, especially those involving multiple, disparate participants. Next Generation network 5G will become commercially available in 2019 but initial uptake will be minimal, with fewer than 5 million subscriptions worldwide by the end of the year. By 2023, however, GlobalData estimates that 5G subscriptions will have reached nearly 850 million, at a phenomenal compound annual growth rate of 271%. The share of 5G mobile subscriptions is expected to jump from 0.05% in 2019 to more than 8% by 2023. Internet of Things The fundamental purpose of the IoT is for connected endpoint devices to sense phenomena in the environment and then react as a result of the data they gather from onboard sensors. The past decade has seen radical improvements in the range of phenomena that can be sensed with innovation driving the cost of sensors down. Silicon-sensors can now measure 3D depth, proximity, and pressure, as well as gyroscopic and acoustic phenomena. Todays average car carries 60-100 sensors; by 2025 that number will have grown to 500 as vehicles become increasingly autonomous. The same dynamic applies to robotics, drones and, with the arrival of ambient commerce, to backdrops such as grab and go and scan and go stores pioneered by Amazon in the US and Alibaba in China. However, with IoT taking off, a growing number of non-technology companies are now vulnerable to hacking via connected devices. Year of the Pig The coming New Year always has some well-meaning label attached to it and 2019 will be no different. As this year is the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements (IYPT 2019), it would be entirely appropriate if 2019 heralded plenty of new discoveries, technological bubble, fizz, and explosive reactions. The forthcoming Chinese New Year will herald the Year of the Pig, apparently a symbol of wealth and good fortune. On the other hand, years ending in 9 often bring upheaval. So, expect a rollercoaster ride. Latest reports from Tech, Media & Telecom Trends 2019 - Thematic Research Or to search over 50,000 other reports please visit GlobalData Report Store GlobalData is this websites parent business intelligence company. | https://www.verdict.co.uk/technology-industry-trends-2019/ |
Will Michael Jackson Doc Leaving Neverland Be the Next Surviving R. Kelly ? | As the aftermath of the recent Lifetime docuseries Surviving R. Kelly continued to ripple across the entertainment landscape this week, Sundance announced a new entry in its lineup: Leaving Neverland, from BAFTA winner Dan Reed. The film will examine the accusations of sexual abuse Michael Jackson faced during his later yearsand, per the synopsis, [craft] a portrait of sustained exploitation and deception, documenting the power of celebrity that allowed a revered figure to infiltrate the lives of starstruck children and their parents. The Jackson estate has already decried the project, but in light of the real-world ramifications of Surviving R. Kelly, its worth wondering what effect this documentary might have on its own subjects legacy. Leaving Neverland takes its name from Neverland Ranch, the California estate where Jackson lived from 1988 to 2003. In Jacksons last year at the ranch, a 13-year-old boy accused Jackson of molestation, which led to a police raid. The documentary examines relationships Jackson allegedly formed with two boys, aged 7 and 10, and their families; both men, now in their thirties, allege in the film that Jackson sexually abused them. (Jackson was acquitted on all counts against him after a trial in 2005.) The documentary will air on Channel 4 in the spring, and on HBO in the U.S. the same week. In a statement, the Jackson estate, which has consistently denied the allegations against the late singer, wrote, This is yet another lurid production in an outrageous and pathetic attempt to exploit and cash in on Michael Jackson. Jacksons nephew Taj Jackson expressed his own thoughts on Twitter as well, writing, Im so tired of these lies about my uncle. MJfam, I see all your comments and messages about wanting to fight back. I doubt the media wants to learn the truth or is even interested in it. Negativity sells. But please post below on what we all can do to expose this documentary. Given the impact of Surviving R. Kelly, which broke Lifetime ratings records earlier this month, it seems possible that Leaving Neverland might have a similar effect on Jacksons legacy. Kelly was accused in 2017 of holding young women against their will in an environment described as a cult; he denied the allegations hours after the story broke. The ramifications Kelly faced at the time were minimal. Since Surviving R. Kelly aired, however, Facebook has removed a group dedicated to discrediting the singers accusers, a criminal investigation has opened in Georgia, more accusers have come forward, and Lady Gaga has pulled her collaboration with Kelly from streaming services. Sign up for our daily Hollywood newsletter and never miss a story. | https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/01/michael-jackson-documentary-leaving-neverland-surviving-r-kelly |
Can Donald Trump Invoke Emergency Powers to Get His Wall? | A wise person once said that perusal of the days news requires an answer to the question, Is this crisis worth worrying about? When it comes to the prospect of President Donald Trump invoking emergency powers to build a wall at the border with Mexico, the answer to that question is an emphatic yes. The political logic for Trump to declare a national emergency in order to build a wall has become increasingly clear. He believes that the wall is an unbreakable commitment to his supporters, but negotiations with Congress over money to pay for it are at an impasse. It looks like an emergency is his only chance to get the walland securing funding for it in this way, outside the normal appropriations process, would allow him to start the process of building it, while also signing a bill that would reopen the full federal government. On Thursday, the President seemed to be leaning this way. If this doesnt work out, he said, referring to budget negotiations with Congress, probably I will do it, I would almost say definitely. This is a national emergency. In some ways, the emergency option might suit Trumps Democratic opponents in Congress, too. It would allow the government to reopen before the public starts blaming them, in addition to the President, for the shutdown. It all makes so much senseand it would be a sign that the country is rushing toward an authoritarian future. The situation is even more perilous because, in my view, the current law favors Trump. The National Emergencies Act of 1976 is a sloppily written statute that, even though it was passed in response to Watergate, presupposes a level of good faith on the part of the President. This is because the law doesnt provide a definition of emergency, thus leaving that determination essentially up to the Commander-in-Chief. Its been invoked by Presidents more than forty times, and there are currently thirty-one emergencies in effect. Three have been declared by Trump, including one about sanctions on Russia for interference in the 2016 election. Virtually all of these declared emergencies are uncontroversial; many involve the imposition of sanctions on people involved in human-rights violations in Africa and Central America. Most important, none of them was declared in explicit defiance of Congresss power to appropriate funds. Clearly, the law was not intended to be used as an end run around Congress, but, given its imprecise wording, the courts may well allow Trump to use it that way. (Indeed, the courts might not even address the constitutionality of the Presidents emergency action, because its possible that no one, especially not members of Congress, would have standingthat is, the legal right to challenge Trumps invocation of an emergency. If Trump were to use the emergency powers to seize private land under the doctrine of eminent domain, the owners of that land would have the right to go to court; but the process of identifying the landowners and seizing their land would likely take many months, if not years, meaning that there would be no resolution in the courts for a very long time.) During nearly two hundred and fifty years of American constitutional history, two things have been true: the power of the Presidency has grown, and Congress has always retained the power of the pursethe heart of its authority under Article I of the Constitution. During that same history, many of the disputes between the executive and legislative branches have been about how much the federal government should spend, and on what. These disputes have ended in one of two ways: with the President signing a budget passed by Congress, or with Congress overriding the Presidents veto. If the President can spend government funds without congressional approvalindeed, if he can do so in the face of an explicit congressional refusal to spend funds for precisely the purpose that he seeksthat fundamentally reorders the relations between the branches. Specifically, it vastly expands the Presidents power at the expense of Congress. Even conservatives purport to recognize the risk of this kind of restructuring of the constitutional balance. After all, Trump will not always be the President. On Wednesday, Senator Marco Rubio, the Florida Republican, warned against the practice of emergency spending by the President. If today, the national emergency is border security, tomorrow the national emergency might be climate change, he said. (He was right about the process if wrong on the issues; climate change really is an emergency.) Still, if the first two years of Trumps Presidency is a guide, Republicans like Rubio will express their concern and then fall in line behind the President. A Supreme Court anchored by two Trump appointees with a capacious understanding of executive power will likely be no check, either. And, if todays emergency is the need for a border wall, tomorrows, as Rubio said, will be a need for something else. Congress, and the American people, will have to live with whatever that turns out to be. | https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/can-donald-trump-invoke-emergency-powers-to-get-his-wall |
What next for Syrias Idlib? | Beirut, Lebanon | AFP | The Idlib area in northern Syria is now fully ruled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a jihadist organisation dominated by members of Al-Qaedas former affiliate. Some of the other factions in the region are already allies, the others will either have to leave to other areas or be absorbed into the so-called Salvation Government run by the HTS. Jihadist expansion A deal was struck between rebel-backer Turkey and Damascus ally Russia in September to stave off a threatened government offensive on Idlib. It has successfully prevented a massive Russian-backed regime assault on an area that is home to around three million people but its terms have remained unfulfilled. Moscow had tasked Turkey, whose proxies fell under an umbrella known as the National Liberation Front, with disarming hardline factions in Idlib. It failed to do so and it was HTS that went on the offensive instead. They made rapid gains and intense clashes that left more than 130 dead this year, which led to a deal Thursday that saw the two Turkish-backed remaining factions stand down, capping the jihadists clean sweep. Turkey, which has troops deployed in parts of Idlib and elsewhere in northern Syria, appeared to do little to stop HTS expansion. Turkey didnt prevent HTS takeover, but its not obvious that it was in a position to do so, said Sam Heller, an analyst with the International Crisis Group. HTS has an estimated 25,000 seasoned and well-armed fighters in its bastion, and has long been the dominant force in Idlib. Turkey setback The jihadists lightning advance across Idlib earlier this year mark an unequivocal defeat for several outfits that were directly supported by Turkey. For Turkey, its the defeat of its allies, said Fabrice Balanche, a Syria expert and geographer. Two factions in the Turkey-backed National Liberation Front that had been battling HTS stood down and signed the deal on Thursday which essentially sees them absorbed. Ahrar al-Sham and Suqur al-Sham said they were keeping some of their forces in the Idlib area for now, but they will fall under the newly expanded administration of the Salvation Government. Just like the forces from the Nureddine al-Zinki group that HTS defeated last week, the rebels who reject jihadist rule will most likely relocate to other Turkish-controlled areas such as Afrin. Turkey has been training and equipping Syrian proxies to use against the Kurdish militia that controls the northeast of the country. They have threatened a cross-border assault against the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG), but the main deterrent has been the presence of a US-led coalition. The troop pullout announced by US President Donald Trump last month, and which the coalition confirmed Friday was under way, could clear the way for a Turkish offensive. HTS takeover of Idlib means the terms of a deal reached in the Russian resort of Sochi on September 17 have not been respected. After the agreement with Damascus sponsor Russia, Turkey was tasked with using its proxies in Idlib to rein in jihadists. The Sochi deal froze a threatened Russian-backed government offensive which had seemed imminent four months ago. An onslaught on an area home to an estimated three million people would have caused an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe. Turkey, which already provides shelter to 3.6 million Syria refugees, is keen to avoid a fresh round of violence that could spark another wave of displacement. The HTS takeover revives the threat of a Syrian offensive but Balanche predicted it might not be the regimes priority. The Russians are ready to attack at any moment but they wont do it, he said. They are using (Turkish President Recep Tayyip) Erdogan to put pressure on the Americans to leave northeastern Syria, he said. Turkey on Thursday reacted angrily to the mixed messages the US administration has been sending about the pace of the troop withdrawal, and warned that any further delay would prompt it to trigger its invasion. | https://www.independent.co.ug/what-next-for-syrias-idlib/ |
What Does It Take For A Team To Be In The Top 1% In The Tech Industry? | originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. Answer by Vishnu Raju Datla, Founder & CEO at AutoRABIT, on Quora: Recently, one of our clients Chief Information Officer commented that he wanted his team to be in the top 1% in the industry. Soon after, our sponsor, their VP of IT, and I tried to unpack the CIOs statements and get something tangible to help my customer deliver the CIOs vision. In a word, speed. It wasnt long ago that software companies could enjoy the luxury of moving slowly. The whole two-year process would start all over again. Today, however, if you want to be in the top 1% of IT teams, that approach is laughable, due to the new benchmarks of software delivery. Companies like Amazon, Facebook, Netflix, and Etsy have blazed the trail to get their code from a developer all the way to an end user on a daily basis. The only way to get there is by implementing DevOps, refining processes, staying competitive, and applying pragmatic leadership goals. It takes a ton of hard work, but if youre passionate, strategic and confident enough, you'll be able to pull it off. Heres how to go about it: Grasp the importance of speed and agility. Increasing the delivery velocity is a business imperative. There have never been more tools and opportunities (along with online communities) to get help for those who want to move fast. Today, a broke college kid with access to open-source software can build an app along with e-commerce integration in weeks. As an IT leader, you need to be a passionate and hungry college kid. Moving quickly allows you to challenge the Goliaths of the industry that cant react as fast. Take giants like Capital One and Bank of America, for example. For a random consumer in Minneapolis, there really isnt much of a difference between the two banks in terms of their services. But the mobile app software is really what tips the scales. If Capital Ones app keeps giving customers new features that they demand regularly, those customers will begin to move more of their business over to that platform and away from the competition. Its no longer beneficial to be quick, its actively detrimental to be slow. Any company that isn't keeping pace is already on their way to extinction. Create a sense of urgency to stay competitive. Unfortunately, just understanding of the importance of velocity and speed is not enough. You have to increase your velocity, not just within your team but within some dependent functions, too. In the SaaS software business, I see a new competitor enter our market every quarterand any one of them has the potential to hurt our market share. A competitor is always knocking at the door. If we lose focus, even for a short time, someone is going to come to take a bite out of my business. I know this from my own experience. At one point, moving slowly affected our growth at my startup, AutoRABIT. We were supporting several tech stacks with 100+ integrations, but we weren't investing in DevOps or tools to support our platform with seven different modules (which are independent products in their own right). Due to our divided attention and slow processes, we lost leadership on a couple of modules. Another company built a better module than us, and we were consistently slow and strugglingand maybe bit complacent. In fact, we ended up partnering with our competitor, and we now refer business to them. While we have refocused and are revamping our core modules today, we lacked a sense of urgency and the 1% mindset we needed to be faster and nimbler. It was a wake-up call for me. Realize that Change Management is key. After our failure, I knew I had to start practicing what I was preaching when it came to DevOps and cultural change. The first thing we did was step back and spend time on planning. Our team began investing in training, tools, and processes, but most importantly in Change Management. We started automating and spending time and money on better processes, better people, better technology. We even increased our salary budgets to attract top talent and brought in a consulting firm to audit our process and service guidelines. We had to tackle: Internal resistance to DevOps and culture changes. External pressure created by our innovation goals versus the external stability needs. Calculated risks in tools, new process, people churn, and the teams breakpoints. It wasnt an easy journey. But as a leader, you have to show your team what it means to be in the top 1%. You have to communicate the vision, the goals, and the way forward. You have to make sure every developer is getting better and enjoying what they do because youll only have success when your team is looking forward to coming into the office and achieving something every day, every week, and every month. Thats how a top 1% team is born. This question originally appeared on Quora - the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. You can follow Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. More questions: | https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2019/01/11/what-does-it-take-for-a-team-to-be-in-the-top-1-in-the-tech-industry/ |
Which Wolves players stand to benefit most under Ryan Saunders? | Welcome to the Friday edition of The Cooler, where its always a good idea to get a running start when jumping to conclusions. Lets get to it: *Ryan Saunders has been a head coach in the NBA for 48 minutes of game time, and in that 119-117 Wolves victory he was without two important players Robert Covington and Derrick Rose while a third, Karl-Anthony Towns, battled foul trouble all game. So that game isnt going to provide us a ton of clues as to what the Wolves rotations will look like when fully healthy. 1 Andrew Wiggins: Wiggins seemed unburdened in pouring in 40 points (including 16 of 18 from the line) and grabbing 10 rebounds in what might have been the best game of his NBA career. He had produced some strong games recently before Tom Thibodeau was fired, and he has tended to play well against Oklahoma City in the past, but its hard to imagine it was a coincidence that he erupted in the first game under Saunders a head coach he genuinely seems to like. His usage rate possessions that ended in him taking a shot, getting fouled or turning the ball over in the game was 37 percent. Thats Russell Westbrook territory, and well above his season average (23.8). Some of that came because of the aforementioned injured players and Towns foul trouble, but an involved Wiggins is an active Wiggins. Saunders seems committed to keeping that up. 2 Tyus Jones: Thibodeau never seemed fully sold on Jones skill set, preferring point guards like Jeff Teague and Derrick Rose who can create their own shot and score. The result when all three players were healthy this season was often Teague and Rose playing about 30 minutes while Jones got 15-20 often with Rose as part of a second unit in which he was sometimes playing off the ball. Saunders has more of an analytics background and might appreciate that Jones has the best defensive rating (102.8) of any Wolves regular this season and has a better real plus-minus rating than Teague or Rose. As someone who was there on draft night in 2015 and saw Flip Saunders Ryans dad, of course embrace Tyus after trading to get him in the first round, I know Flip was a huge fan. Ryan Saunders appears to be a fan, too and Ill be curious to see how the playing time is split up Friday night when Rose is expected to be active along with Teague and Jones. 3 Dario Saric: Hes averaging 23.4 minutes off the bench since coming over in the Jimmy Butler trade, splitting time almost evenly with starter Taj Gibson. He played 25 in Saunders coaching debut Tuesday and had 15 points with 7 rebounds and a team-best plus-22 mark. Saric launched six three-pointers (making two), and if Saunders really wants to play faster and shoot more threes, its fair to wonder if Sarics workload and impact will increase. 4 Josh Okogie: The rookies role has fluctuated dramatically based on injuries this year. When everyone was healthy, Thibodeau stuck heavily to a nine-man rotation and Okogie was often an odd man out playing sparingly or not at all. Saunders seems to be more flexible with his substitutions and rotations and has said he could use 10 guys. It will be interesting to see if he carves out a role for Okogie even with Rose back Friday and particularly when Covington eventually returns. *I showed you Willians Astudillos admiration of his winter league home run the other day, so now you should see the aftermath: The retaliation. After getting brushed back hard in a previous at bat, this happened: *This is from a couple days ago, but check out this trick shot serve on match point! | http://www.startribune.com/which-wolves-players-stand-to-benefit-most-under-ryan-saunders/504220552/ |
Could acid reflux explain sudden unexpected death in epilepsy? | Sudden unexpected deaths in epilepsy have stumped researchers for decades. According to a new study, seemingly harmless acid reflux might offer some clues. A new study investigates how the larynx (pictured) may be involved in SUDEP. A new study investigates how the larynx (pictured) may be involved in SUDEP. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated 3.4 million people in the United States have epilepsy. For around 30 percent of these individuals, medication does not adequately control seizures. Uncontrolled epilepsy is the primary risk factor for sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). SUDEP affects an estimated 1 in 1,000 adults with epilepsy each year. Scientists still do not know the exact causes of SUDEP, but they believe that respiratory and cardiac dysfunction play an essential role. However, more recently, scientists have implicated laryngospasm, which is a sudden spasm of the vocal cords. Earlier studies in mice have shown that this type of spasm can restrict airflow, cause cardiac dysfunction, and death. SUDEP and stomach acid Recently, researchers from Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN decided to investigate the potential role of a relatively minor complaint: acid reflux. They published their findings in the journal Epilepsy Research. The team was headed up by Prof. Pedro Irazoqui who was inspired by his own experience. One night, following a substantial lobster dinner, he awoke unable to breathe. He sat up in bed, and air quickly returned to his lungs. Prof. Irazoqui deduced that stomach acid had reached his larynx, causing it to spasm and cut off the air supply. Laryngospasm is a natural defense mechanism triggered by the low pH of stomach acid; it is designed to protect the sensitive tissues of the vocal cords from damage. His experience, years previously, inspired the recent study. Prof. Irazoqui wanted to test his theory that seizures force stomach acid into the larynx, thereby causing it to spasm, cutting off the air supply, and ultimately leading to SUDEP. Typically, laryngospasm would wake a person up, as happened to Prof. Irazoqui. Once the individual sits up, gravity pulls the acid back down to the stomach, and the airway opens. However, when someone experiences an epileptic seizure, they are generally unconscious and, therefore, remain lying down. Evidence of acid's role To investigate, the scientists used a rat model of epilepsy. They measured levels of acid in the esophagus before, during, and after seizures, and monitored respiration. During some of the trials, they prevented acid from moving up the esophagus using a small balloon. They found that in all cases of SUDEP, the esophagus became substantially more acidic just before respiratory arrest. Conversely, when the scientists blocked acid movement with a balloon, SUDEP did not occur. Although the researchers only carried out this particular study in a small number of animals, according to the researchers, they have since tested more animals with the same results. "The moral of the story isn't just to not be a glutton: what if the mechanism of sudden death is not respiratory or cardiac the two theories held at the moment but all through the stomach?" Lead author Prof. Pedro Irazoqui He continues, "An empty stomach might hold acid down. Since seizures almost always happen during sleep, maybe just not eating after 5 pm could do the trick. We're hoping to test this in humans." Aside from dietary advice, if scientists can replicate these findings, it could help design future medical interventions. The vagus nerve controls acid production. During a seizure, this nerve is stimulated, sparking excess acid production. Potentially, drugs that blocked or reduced activity in this nerve could be useful for those at most risk of SUDEP. Currently, the scientists are designing an implantable device that might help to reduce SUDEP risk over the longer-term. The device activates when a seizure begins and switches off the vagus nerve, thereby preventing acid production. The team plans to trial their device on humans and animals. Although scientists do not consider these findings as conclusive evidence, they offer a potential path to a better understanding of SUDEP and, importantly, provide ways to reduce risk. | https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324157.php |
Is January Really The Best Month To Book Cheap Flights? | We asked travel experts. Once January comes around, most people have hit post-holiday travel fatigue. But there are reports that claim January is the best time to book inexpensive flights. According to data from travel site Hipmunks When to Go 2019 report, which crunched numbers from flight bookings over a two-year period, January has the lowest median domestic flight booking price, compared with any other month. The things that matter most for getting a good deal are when you travel and how far in advance youre booking. - David Solomito, vice president of North America marketing for travel site Kayak Broadly speaking, January is one of the cheapest months to book, David Solomito, vice president of North America marketing for travel site Kayak, told HuffPost. However, two factors in your travel plans matter a lot more than picking a random month to buy a plane ticket. What youre saying is true, but theres nothing magic or special about January, Solomito said. The things that matter most for getting a good deal are when you travel and how far in advance youre booking. Kayak found that for international travel, its data show that people book about three months in advance. That means in January, their travel dates are for March and April, which are among the cheaper months to travel, compared with peak summer months and the holidays. Solomito suggested this could be why January often offers cheap flights. He recommended pinpointing where and when you want to go to get a better deal. According to Kayaks 2019 Travel Hacker Guide, U.S. travelers should book domestic flights one month ahead. The guide generally recommends booking tickets three months in advance for Central America, five months for Africa, and six months for Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Skyscanner offered similar suggestions in its 2019 guide about the best time to book flights from the United States. It recommends booking a domestic flight two to three weeks ahead, and an international trip five to six months in advance. Its not like the Black Friday of the year. - Liana Corwin, consumer travel expert for travel app Hopper Data from travel app Hopper also found that prices drop in January after the holidays because of low demand, said Liana Corwin, consumer travel expert for the site. That makes January a good time to book flights, especially for travel through the remainder of winter. But dont necessarily expect to find a great deal in January for summer travel or for holidays more than six months out, Corwin said. Its not like the Black Friday of the year, she said. Travel agents get a different kind of in-depth look at flight trends. Stacy Small, founder and CEO of boutique luxury travel firm Elite Travel International, said she wouldnt give January the top honor for cheap flights. Ill stand by my theory, she said. Flight prices change overnight. Small did point out that there are decent fares in January, because theres good availability for popular destinations. Still, flight prices are simply too erratic to claim January should be the go-to month to book. Cindy Goldberger, travel adviser for Brooklyn, New York-based agency Hiatus, said that when clients come to her after the holidays with travel plans, shes not always able to find low numbers for certain flights. There are just too many factors that affect the cost of airfare, Goldberger said via email. Just like any time of the year, it all depends on the destination and how far out someone is booking. Ill stand by my theory. Flight prices change overnight. - Stacy Small, founder and CEO of boutique luxury travel firm Elite Travel International Still, there is one thing many travel experts agree on: January is a great time to travel. January historically is the cheapest month to fly for both domestic and international destinations, with domestic airfare 31 percent lower on average than peak summertime booking prices, Hipmunk said in its 2019 report. January, in general, is a great month to travel, said Corwin. Historically, prices drop after the holidays, and this January has been no different. | https://www.huffpost.com/entry/january-best-month-cheap-flights_n_5c37cca1e4b0c469d76c86f6 |
Can Netflix series Sex Education explain why millennials aren't having sex? | Its well-documented that millennials are having less sex than any previous generation, and research suggests Gen Z is going the exact same way. It is entirely possible the new Netflix series Sex Education might have the answers. Sex Education is the story of a Otis, who lives with his sex therapist mother. But while she is intensely relaxed about sex and talks freely about everything from masturbation to impotence, 15-year-old Otis is a virgin. In the trailer for the show, we hear his mother, played by Gillian Anderson, putting the following to her son: Ive noticed that youve been pretending to masturbate and I was wondering if you wanted to talk about that? Its presented... | https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/sex/can-netflix-series-sex-education-explain-millennials-arent-having/ |
Does The Weeknd's New Song With Gesaffelstein Take A Shot At Drake? | YouTube/Columbia All this week, The Weeknd has been teasing a new collaboration with French electronic maestro Gesaffelstein in the form of spooky, oblique social media posts featuring the R&B star and a seemingly Solo-in-carbonite version of the DJ. The pair had previously teamed up for two tracks on My Dear Melancholy, the Weeknd's 2018 EP, and on their new collab, "Lost in the Fire" (which dropped Friday), their joint sound is wiggly and liberated. It came readymade with an atmospheric video, directed by Manu Cossu and complete with crisp flower imagery, blazing visions, and creepy nightmarish visions. It's got shades of David Lynch or something you'd find in a contemporary art museum. But it looks great. Along with its examination of a potentially sexually fluid relationship, "Lost in the Fire" features a line that some have already taken to be a shot at Drake, the Weeknd's former collaborator and Toronto pal. "And I just want a baby with the right one / 'Cause I would never be the one to hurt one," the Weeknd sings in the song, according to Apple Music's official lyrics (as Pitchfork points out). But some have heard the line as "I would never be the one to hide one," a potential reference to the revelation of Drake having a son, as aired out by Pusha T last year on his dis track "The Story of Adidon." Neither artist has weighed in on the line, and they likely won't, but if they do, we'll update this space with new information. In the meantime, you can watch the video, and listen to the song, above and decide for yourself. | http://www.mtv.com/news/3109288/the-weeknd-lost-in-the-fire-gesaffelstein/ |
When does the January transfer window close in Scotland? | The cold, dark mornings and post-Christmas blues making it the longest month of the year. That was until the advent of the January transfer window. Ever since then the first few weeks of the year have been a blur for football fans. And so it is proving again this year. Scotland's top clubs have hardly been slow out the blocks in strengthening their squads at the midway stage of the season. And no wonder, given they have just 31 days in which to conclude deals for their targets. (Image: Rangers FC/Press Association Ima) Rangers were first to strike, landing Jermain Defoe and Steven Davis on loan while Jordan Jones and Glen Kamara agreed pre-contracts. Celtic have been busy too adding 2m striker Vakoun Issouf Bayo to the ranks and securing loan deals for Oliver Burke and Timothy Weah. But every top club is keen to add to their ranks ahead of the business end of the season. And that's why the tension continues to build as we edge closer to Deadline Day. (Image: SNS Group) Well to answer the question, Scottish clubs have right up until the close of play - midnight from Thursday, January 31 into Friday, February 1 - to complete the paperwork on new signings. That's an hour longer than our English counterparts whose window closes at 11pm on January 31. It's far worse for Italian clubs. They only have until the end of play on Friday, January 18 to complete deals. Germany, France and Holland all have until the close of play on January 31. The Primeira Liga window closes on February 2 and spare a thought for the poor blighters at the registration department at the Russian FA. Their window remains open right through until Friday, February 22. | https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/january-transfer-window-close-scotland-13842633 |
What are the real benefits of free USU membership? | You may have already heard it: on Wednesday, the University of Sydney Union (USU) announced that from 2019 onwards, membership will be free for all students. Students may join clubs and societies with no financial barrier aside from the occasional nominal registration fee. Food and retail discounts, previously 15%, will be reduced to 10% but will be available only through an opt-in scheme priced at $45 a year. The move was made possible by a near $1 million offering from the University itself. The changes are no doubt beneficial to students in certain respects. Students will now be able to immerse themselves in a society without the prohibitive financial barrier of ACCESS fees. Under the previous scheme, an eager first year would have to fork out at least $75 before joining any clubs or societies. This would be in addition to over $150 for the Student Services and Amenities Fee, over a quarter of which already goes to the USU. What is less obvious is how the changes to food and retail discounts will benefit students. As mentioned, the previous scheme gave ACCESS members a 15% discount at USU outlets. ACCESS memberships came in three options: one year, three year and five year. A five year membership, the most cost effective of the three, was equivalent to paying $55 a year. As mentioned, under the new scheme, students will have to opt-in to food and retail discounts by paying an annual $45 fee, but will receive only a 10% discount. When applied to a student who spends $600 a year on food and retail goods at USU outlets (or roughly $24 a week during semester), its clear that free membership will, in fact, cost some students more money. Taking into account a 15% discount, as well as the equivalent annual cost of $55 for a five year membership, a student spending $600 a year under the old five year membership would save $35 each year. A student spending the same amount of money but paying $45 annually for a 10% discount will save only $15. This is $20 less than they would save under the old scheme. In fact, anyone spending over $24 a week during semester would have been better off under the old scheme, paying $75 annually for a 15% discount. Under the USUs new membership scheme, the habitual patron of USU outlets will in fact be paying more than they would have under the old scheme. In a statement to Honi, USU President Liliana Tai clarified that current three or five year members would still retain their 15% discount until the expiration of their membership. It might be argued that this is simply a levy on food and retail customers to democratise the USU: though some may pay marginally more for their sandwich or coffee, its worth it if it means all students will now be able to access the benefits that come with club or society membership. Nonetheless, its worth noting that the USUs changes to memberships and discounts will not benefit all students equally. Its also worth noting that the changes will not benefit students exclusively. Hard though it may be to believe, the Universitys million-dollar offering is not pure philanthropy. In her statement to Honi, Tai also explained that the sum was only contributed providing that the USU remove the price barrier to clubs and societies. According to Tai, this was due to the shifting priority within the University and the Senate about prioritising student experience. Its not difficult to see why this priority shifted in the way that Tai describes. The University is perpetually obsessed with its rankings. For that reason, its likely of great concern to the University that in the Student Experience Survey funded by the Department of Education and Training and conducted annually across the nations 41 universities USyd most recently ranked fifth last. Viewed in light of this deficiency, it becomes difficult not to see the USU as essentially a service provider for the University, enlisted to rectify what has become an embarrassing blemish on its reputation. It may be true that, in this case, the goals of the two institutions align. It is also worth noting however, that for a self-proclaimed independent, student-led organisation, the USU now finds itself closely intimated with and dependent on the University. The USUs recent announcement is far from all it seems. Contrary to the eloquent remarks of the editors of Pulp, the new discount scheme is not simply a sweet reduced price, but will in fact cost consumers more. Moreover, in a time when student unionism may again be under attack from the right, students should beware the potential consequences of relying on an institution which at one stage was not afraid to flirt with fee deregulation. Free membership for all it seems, but not without a price. | http://honisoit.com/2019/01/what-are-the-real-benefits-of-free-usu-membership/ |
Was Jane Jetson a Child Bride? | Screenshot: Hanna-Barbera/Warner Bros. A viral tweet about the 1960s TV show The Jetsons recently brought up a troubling question. The answer: Not quite. But its easy to see why people might be outraged. Advertisement If we do the math on the admittedly fictional relationship between George and Janespecifically, when their daughter Judy was bornthen Jane was just a teenager when Judy was conceived. And the seven-year age difference between George and Jane doesnt help matters. But marrying young was less abnormal when the show premiered in 1962. In fact, the median age for marriage was at its lowest in the 1950s. Lets start with the facts. Well, the cartoon facts, as it were. George Jetsons Age George Jetson is 40 years old during the first season of the CBS show in 1962-63. We can watch episode fourteen of the show, titled Test Pilot, which originally aired in the U.S. on December 30, 1962. Advertisement During the episode theres a mix-up with some medical tests and George is told that hes going to die soon. This premise was an extremely popular one in 20th century comedy, by the way. So George agrees to test a new spacesuit created by his bosss company that makes someone invincible. He spends the entire episode doing reckless and idiotic things because hes convinced that hes going to die. But sure enough, he eventually learns the truth: hes not going to die. In fact, the doctor says that he could live to be 150. Thats when we learn Georges age. Please Mr. Spacely, dont launch those missiles! Ive got 110 good years ahead of me, George shouts as his boss is about to shoot anti-missile missiles at him to prove the durability of the suit. When we take 150 and subtract 110 we get 40. George is 40. That settles that. Jane Jetsons Age The show also tells us that Jane Jetson is 33 years old. From comments the characters make in the very first episode of the series, titled Rosey the Robot, which first aired on September 23, 1962. Advertisement Judy calls her mom crazy and way out, much to Janes confusion. Judy explains that this is how people used to talk and that she learned it in Ancient History class. Judy teases that her mom should remember. Dont be smart, you know Im only 33, Jane says. Jane is 33. Check. Judy Jetsons Age And heres where theres some confusion. Judy Jetson is 15 years old during the first season. The Wikipedia page erroneously says shes 16, but we learn from the first episode that Judy is almost certainly 15. And as you can see, that difference matters when you consider that 18 is considered the age of consent in much of the United States today. Advertisement If I was only 15 again, Jane says as Judy leaves the house. In fact, if I was only 32-22-32 again, Jane continues, making a joke about her dimensions. As a side note, The Jetsons was written exclusively by men, as you might have been able to guess from episodes like Janes Driving Lesson, where the entire joke is that women are bad drivers. Judy is 15. That settles that. No, Jane wasnt a child bride. But if we do the math, Jane gave birth to Judy when she was 18 and George was 25. Using Wikipedias incorrect numbers, Jane wouldve been 17, leaving open the possibility that Jane was 16 years old when Judy was conceived. Thats problematic, obviously, though there are many states in the U.S. where 16 is legally the age of consent. Advertisement Interestingly enough, the average age for marriage by Americans was at its lowest in modern history during the 1950s. And both men and women actually got married when they were older before midcentury. In the mid-1950s, the median age at which people got married was about 22 years old for men and about 20 years old for women. Thats the median, meaning that plenty of girls got married in their teens during the 1950s. But thats significantly lower than the period from 1890 to 1940, when the median age for first marriages was closer to 25 for men and 22 for women. And obviously much lower than the following decades, as you can see from this graph by the U.S. Census Bureau. Advertisement Today, the median age for marriage is about 30 for men and about 28 for women, much higher than its ever been. Obviously you can make up your own mind about whether the age difference is creepy. Personally, I vote yes, its creepy. But whatever you decide, the age of consent hasnt been lowered in the futureat least not according to the Jetsons. We can chalk this one up as another internet myth about The Jetsons, much like the claim that theres a horrifying dystopia on the ground level of the Jetsons universe. Birds and hobos. Both walking, as it turns out. | https://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/was-jane-jetson-a-child-bride-1831667901 |
When will the snow start this weekend? Where will it be heaviest in the region? | The Lehigh Valley is forecast to see less than an inch of snow this weekend, but parts south and southwest of the region are expected to get 2-3 or maybe 4 inches, the National Weather Service says. It will be a little colder than normal across Lehigh and Northampton counties and into Warren County: At Lehigh Valley International Airport, daytime highs Friday through Sunday are forecast around 31-32, with nighttime lows around 12 Friday night into Saturday, 24 Saturday into Sunday and 19 Sunday night. The normal high this time of year is 36 with a low of 19 at the airport. Gusty winds of the past few days are forecast to die down from 11-14 mph Friday, gusting as high as 24 mph, to light and variable winds Saturday and Saturday night and 5-8 mph on Sunday. Theres a slight (20 percent) chance snow will arrive at the airport after 1 p.m. Saturday, with snow likely Saturday night totaling less than an inch. The Saturday night snow is forecast mainly near and south of the I-78 corridor, followed by a second round of snow on Sunday mainly confined to southern Delmarva and perhaps extreme southern NJ. Thats where the accumulations of a couple of inches are expected. A map released Friday by the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency shows south-central Pennsylvania also within the 2-4-inch range for snow Saturday into Sunday. The National Weather Service puts the cutoff for heavier snow in an area from Berks County PA to Ocean County NJ and points south including the Greater Philadelphia area. 1/11/19: A bit of snow is on the way for your Saturday. Expect a few inches of snow if you live south of I-80, mainly Saturday afternoon into the early overnight. Expect some slick travel on untreated roads. Snow is done by daybreak Sunday. Be safe. #pawx @ReadyPA pic.twitter.com/7f7FIjm2QW Jeff Jumper PEMA (@JeffJumperWX) January 11, 2019 Sunday looks mainly dry across the region, though Lehigh Valley International Airport is forecast to see a slight (20 percent) chance of snow before 1 p.m. Any lingering flurries quickly come to an end Sunday evening with high pressure building back in from the north bringing a gradual clearing trend, the weather service says in a Friday morning forecast discussion. Accumulating snow is likely from Saturday night into Sunday afternoon. Highest snowfall amounts across portions of Delmarva and far S. NJ, where 2-4 in. are possible. Lesser amounts are likely across the Philadelphia metro, where 1-2 in. are possible. #PAwx #NJwx #MDwx #DEwx pic.twitter.com/gvpnWhcRNP NWS Mount Holly (@NWS_MountHolly) January 11, 2019 Kurt Bresswein may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein and Facebook. Findlehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. | https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/news/2019/01/here-are-the-timing-and-where-the-heavier-snow-is-expected-this-weekend.html |
Is Sunscreen the New Margarine? | These are dark days for supplements. Although they are a $30-plus billion market in the United States alone, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium, beta-carotene, glucosamine, chondroitin, and fish oil have now flopped in study after study. If there was one supplement that seemed sure to survive the rigorous tests, it was vitamin D. People with low levels of vitamin D in their blood have significantly higher rates of virtually every disease and disorder you can think of: cancer, diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, heart attack, stroke, depression, cognitive impairment, autoimmune conditions, and more. The vitamin is required for calcium absorption and is thus essential for bone health, but as evidence mounted that lower levels of vitamin D were associated with so many diseases, health experts began suspecting that it was involved in many other biological processes as well. And they believed that most of us werent getting enough of it. This made sense. Vitamin D is a hormone manufactured by the skin with the help of sunlight. Its difficult to obtain in sufficient quantities through diet. When our ancestors lived outdoors in tropical regions and ran around half naked, this wasnt a problem. We produced all the vitamin D we needed from the sun. But today most of us have indoor jobs, and when we do go outside, weve been taught to protect ourselves from dangerous UV rays, which can cause skin cancer. Sunscreen also blocks our skin from making vitamin D, but thats OK, says the American Academy of Dermatology, which takes a zero-tolerance stance on sun exposure: You need to protect your skin from the sun every day, even when its cloudy, it advises on its website. Better to slather on sunblock, weve all been told, and compensate with vitamin D pills. Yet vitamin D supplementation has failed spectacularly in clinical trials. Five years ago, researchers were already warning that it showed zero benefit, and the evidence has only grown stronger. In November, one of the largest and most rigorous trials of the vitamin ever conductedin which 25,871 participants received high doses for five yearsfound no impact on cancer, heart disease, or stroke. As it turns out, a rogue band of researchers has had an explanation all along. And if theyre right, it means that once again we have been epically misled. These rebels argue that what made the people with high vitamin D levels so healthy was not the vitamin itself. That was just a marker. Their vitamin D levels were high because they were getting plenty of exposure to the thing that was really responsible for their good healththat big orange ball shining down from above. One of the leaders of this rebellion is a mild-mannered dermatologist at the University of Edinburgh named Richard Weller. For years, Weller swallowed the party line about the destructive nature of the suns rays. Im not by nature a rebel, he insisted when I called him up this fall. I was always the good boy that toed the line at school. This pathway is one which came from following the data rather than a desire to overturn apple carts. Wellers doubts began around 2010, when he was researching nitric oxide, a molecule produced in the body that dilates blood vessels and lowers blood pressure. He discovered a previously unknown biological pathway by which the skin uses sunlight to make nitric oxide. It was already well established that rates of high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and overall mortality all rise the farther you get from the sunny equator, and they all rise in the darker months. Sure enough, when he exposed volunteers to the equivalent of 30 minutes of summer sunlight without sunscreen, their nitric oxide levels went up and their blood pressure went down. Because of its connection to heart disease and strokes, blood pressure is the leading cause of premature death and disease in the world, and the reduction was of a magnitude large enough to prevent millions of deaths on a global level. Yes, but skin cancer kills surprisingly few people: less than 3 per 100,000 in the U.S. each year. For every person who dies of skin cancer, more than 100 die from cardiovascular diseases. People dont realize this because several different diseases are lumped together under the term skin cancer. The most common by far are basal-cell carcinomas and squamous-cell carcinomas, which are almost never fatal. In fact, says Weller, When I diagnose a basal-cell skin cancer in a patient, the first thing I say is congratulations, because youre walking out of my office with a longer life expectancy than when you walked in. Thats probably because people who get carcinomas, which are strongly linked to sun exposure, tend to be healthy types that are outside getting plenty of exercise and sunlight. Melanoma, the deadly type of skin cancer, is much rarer, accounting for only 1 to 3 percent of new skin cancers. And perplexingly, outdoor workers have half the melanoma rate of indoor workers. Tanned people have lower rates in general. The risk factor for melanoma appears to be intermittent sunshine and sunburn, especially when youre young, says Weller. But theres evidence that long-term sun exposure associates with less melanoma. These are pretty radical words in the established dermatological community. We do know that melanoma is deadly, says Yales David Leffell, one of the leading dermatologists in the country, and we know that the vast majority of cases are due to sun exposure. So certainly people need to be cautious. Still, Weller kept finding evidence that didnt fit the official story. Some of the best came from Pelle Lindqvist, a senior research fellow in obstetrics and gynecology at Swedens Karolinska Institute, home of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Lindqvist tracked the sunbathing habits of nearly 30,000 women in Sweden over 20 years. Originally, he was studying blood clots, which he found occurred less frequently in women who spent more time in the sunand less frequently during the summer. Lindqvist looked at diabetes next. Sure enough, the sun worshippers had much lower rates. True, the sun worshippers had a higher incidence of itbut they were eight times less likely to die from it. So Lindqvist decided to look at overall mortality rates, and the results were shocking. Over the 20 years of the study, sun avoiders were twice as likely to die as sun worshippers. There are not many daily lifestyle choices that double your risk of dying. In a 2016 study published in the Journal of Internal Medicine, Lindqvists team put it in perspective: Avoidance of sun exposure is a risk factor of a similar magnitude as smoking, in terms of life expectancy. The idea that slavish application of SPF 50 might be as bad for you as Marlboro 100s generated a flurry of short news items, but the idea was so weird that it didnt break through the deadly-sun paradigm. Some doctors, in fact, found it quite dangerous. I dont argue with their data, says David Fisher, chair of the dermatology department at Massachusetts General Hospital. But I do disagree with the implications. The risks of skin cancer, he believes, far outweigh the benefits of sun exposure. Somebody might take these conclusions to mean that the skin-cancer risk is worth it to lower all-cause mortality or to get a benefit in blood pressure, he says. I strongly disagree with that." It is not worth it, he says, unless all other options for lowering blood pressure are exhausted. Instead he recommends vitamin D pills and hypertension drugs as safer approaches. Wellers largest study yet is due to be published later in 2019. For three years, his team tracked the blood pressure of 340,000 people in 2,000 spots around the U.S., adjusting for variables such as age and skin type. The results clearly showed that the reason people in sunnier climes have lower blood pressure is as simple as light hitting skin. When I spoke with Weller, I made the mistake of characterizing this notion as counterintuitive. Its entirely intuitive, he responded. Homo sapiens have been around for 200,000 years. Until the industrial revolution, we lived outside. Actually, perfectly well. Whats counterintuitive is that dermatologists run around saying, Dont go outside, you might die. When you spend much of your day treating patients with terrible melanomas, its natural to focus on preventing them, but you need to keep the big picture in mind. Orthopedic surgeons, after all, dont advise their patients to avoid exercise in order to reduce the risk of knee injuries. Meanwhile, that big picture just keeps getting more interesting. Vitamin D now looks like the tip of the solar iceberg. Sunlight triggers the release of a number of other important compounds in the body, not only nitric oxide but also serotonin and endorphins. It reduces the risk of prostate, breast, colorectal, and pancreatic cancers. It improves circadian rhythms. It reduces inflammation and dampens autoimmune responses. It improves virtually every mental condition you can think of. And its free. These seem like benefits everyone should be able to take advantage of. But not all people process sunlight the same way. And the current U.S. sun-exposure guidelines were written for the whitest people on earth. Every year, Richard Weller spends time working in a skin hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Not only is Addis Ababa near the equator, it also sits above 7,500 feet, so it receives massive UV radiation. Despite that, says Weller, I have not seen a skin cancer. And yet Africans in Britain and America are told to avoid the sun. All early humans evolved outdoors beneath a tropical sun. Like air, water, and food, sunlight was one of our key inputs. Humans also evolved a way to protect our skin from receiving too much radiationmelanin, a natural sunscreen. Our dark-skinned African ancestors produced so much melanin that they never had to worry about the sun. As humans migrated farther from the tropics and faced months of light shortages each winter, they evolved to produce less melanin when the sun was weak, absorbing all the sun they could possibly get. They also began producing much more of a protein that stores vitamin D for later use. In spring, as the sun strengthened, theyd gradually build up a sun-blocking tan. Sunburn was probably a rarity until modern times, when we began spending most of our time indoors. Suddenly, pasty office workers were hitting the beach in summer and getting zapped. Thats a recipe for melanoma. People of color rarely get melanoma. The rate is 26 per 100,000 in Caucasians, 5 per 100,000 in Hispanics, and 1 per 100,000 in African Americans. On the rare occasion when African Americans do get melanoma, its particularly lethalbut its mostly a kind that occurs on the palms, soles, or under the nails and is not caused by sun exposure. At the same time, African Americans suffer high rates of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, internal cancers, and other diseases that seem to improve in the presence of sunlight, of which they may well not be getting enough. Because of their genetically higher levels of melanin, they require more sun exposure to produce compounds like vitamin D, and they are less able to store that vitamin for darker days. They have much to gain from the sun and little to fear. And yet they are being told a very different story, misled into believing that sunscreen can prevent their melanomas, which Weller finds exasperating. The cosmetic industry is now trying to push sunscreen at dark-skinned people, he says. At dermatology meetings, you get people standing up and saying, We have to adapt products for this market. Well, no we dont. This is a marketing ploy. When I asked the American Academy of Dermatology for clarification on its position on dark-skinned people and the sun, it pointed me back to the official line on its website: The American Academy of Dermatology recommends that all people, regardless of skin color, protect themselves from the suns harmful ultraviolet rays by seeking shade, wearing protective clothing, and using a broad-spectrum, water-resistant sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher. This seemed to me a little boilerplate, and I wondered whether the official guidelines hadnt yet caught up to current thinking. So I asked David Leffell, at Yale. I think that sun-protection advice, he told me, has always been directed at those most at riskpeople with fair skin or a family history of skin cancer. While it is true that people with olive skin are at less risk, we do see an increasing number of people with that type of skin getting skin cancer. But skin cancer... is very rare in African Americans... and although they represent a spectrum of pigmentation, [they] are not at as much risk. Still, David Fisher at Mass General didn't think that changed the equation. Theres a pharmacopoeia of drugs that are extremely effective at lowering blood pressure, he said. I am, because its happened before. In the 1970s, as nutritionists began to see signs that people whose diets were high in saturated fat and cholesterol also had high rates of cardiovascular disease, they told us to avoid butter and choose margarine, which is made by bubbling hydrogen gas through vegetable oils to turn them into solid trans fats. From its inception in the mid-1800s, margarine had always been considered creepers, a freakish substitute for people who couldnt afford real butter. By the late 1800s, several midwestern dairy states had banned it outright, while others, including Vermont and New Hampshire, passed laws requiring that it be dyed pink so it could never pass itself off as butter. Yet somehow margarine became the thing we spread on toast for decades, a reminder that even the weirdest product can become mainstream with enough industry muscle. Eventually, better science revealed that the trans fats created by the hydrogenation process were far worse for our arteries than the natural fats in butter. In 1994, Harvard researchers estimated that 30,000 people per year were dying unnecessarily thanks to trans fats. Yet they werent banned in the U.S. until 2015. One of the first sunscreens, Red Vet Pet (for Red Veterinary Petrolatum) was a thick red petroleum jelly invented in 1944 to protect soldiers in the South Pacific; it must have been eerily reminiscent of pink margarine. Only after Coppertone bought the rights and reformulated Red Vet Pet to suit the needs of the new midcentury tanning culture did sunscreen take off. However, like margarine, early sunscreen formulations were disastrous, shielding users from the UVB rays that cause sunburn but not the UVA rays that cause skin cancer. Even today, SPF ratings refer only to UVB rays, so many users may be absorbing far more UVA radiation than they realize. Meanwhile, many common sunscreen ingredients have been found to be hormone disruptors that can be detected in users blood and breast milk. The worst offender, oxybenzone, also mutates the DNA of corals and is believed to be killing coral reefs. Hawaii and the western Pacific nation of Palau have already banned it, to take effect in 2021 and 2020 respectively, and other governments are expected to follow. The industry is now scrambling to move away from oxybenzone, embracing opaque, even neon, mineral-based formulations, a fashion statement reminiscent of the old Red Vet Pet. But with its long track record of pushing products that later turn out to be unhealthy, I remain skeptical of industry assurances that it finally has everything figured out. We are always being told to replace something natural with some artificial pill or product that is going to improve our health, and it almost always turns out to be a mistake because we didnt know enough. Multivitamins cant replace fruits and vegetables, and vitamin D supplements are clearly no substitute for natural sunlight. Old beliefs dont die easily, and I can understand if you remain skeptical of old Sol. Heres why: many experts in the rest of the world have already come around to the benefits of sunlight. Sunny Australia changed its tune back in 2005. Cancer Council Australias official-position paper (endorsed by the Australasian College of Dermatologists) states, Ultraviolet radiation from the sun has both beneficial and harmful effects on human health.... A balance is required between excessive sun exposure which increases the risk of skin cancer and enough sun exposure to maintain adequate vitamin D levels.... When the UV index is below 3 (which is true for most of the continental U.S. in the winter), Sun protection is not recommended unless near snow or other reflective surfaces. To support vitamin D production, spend some time outdoors in the middle of the day with some skin uncovered. Even in high summer, Australia recommends a few minutes of sun a day. New Zealand signed on to similar recommendations, and the British Association of Dermatologists went even further in a statement, directly contradicting the position of its American counterpart: Enjoying the sun safely, while taking care not to burn, can help to provide the benefits of vitamin D without unduly raising the risk of skin cancer. Leffell, the Yale dermatologist, recommends what he calls a sensible approach. I have always advised my patients that they dont need to crawl under a rock but should use common sense and be conscious of cumulative sun exposure and sunburns in particular, he told me. This does not mean breaking out the baby oil or cultivating a burnished tan. All the experts agree that sunburnsespecially those suffered during childhood and adolescenceare particularly bad. Ultimately, its your call. Each persons needs vary so much with season, latitude, skin color, personal history, philosophy, and so much else that its impossible to provide a one-size-fits-all recommendation. The Dminder app, which uses factors such as age, weight, and amount of exposed skin to track the amount of sunlight you need for vitamin D production, might be one place to start. Trading your sunscreen for a shirt and a broad-brimmed hat is another. Both have superior safety records. As for me, Ive made my choice. A world of healthy outdoor adventure beckonsif not half naked, then reasonably close. Starting today, Im stepping into the light. | https://www.outsideonline.com/2380751/sunscreen-sun-exposure-skin-cancer-science?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=tweet |
What are people in Dalbeattie looking forward to most in 2019? | 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 A new year can mean a new start, new ideas and a new approach. But its also another milestone ticked off on the way to events and activities that people are excited about whether it be a wedding, holiday, new job or moving house. We headed out on to the streets of Dalbeattie to ask folk what they were most looking forward to in 2019. (Image: Jim McEwan) Photographer Roger Lever, who lives in the town, said: Im looking forward to a very interesting year. Ive got lots of plans and Im going to be doing a lot more travelling and see more of Scotland. Weve just got a new camper van that weve been saving up for years for so thats going to be the method and Ill be doing a bit of photography as well. (Image: Jim McEwan) Rod Morgan is also looking forward to travelling but hes planning to go in the opposite direction. He explained: Im looking at getting a bit further south for some sunshine, probably across the channel. We moved here two years ago after coming up for caravan holidays but I find the winters a bit grey and hard. We were living in what youd call Emmerdale country in Yorkshire which has its bleakness as well I had an old dog who passed away a year ago and I never went abroad because of him I couldnt leave him and I hadnt sorted out a passport. When he moved on last year, the first thing I did was get my passport sorted out! (Image: Jim McEwan) Nicola Penny from Kirkgunzeon has nothing particular in the works but is hoping something in particular doesnt happen. She said: I havent actually got anything planned, its just the same stuff, different year. Hopefully Brexit will be overturned. (Image: Jim McEwan) Paul and Janet McKenny were visiting the area from Ulverston and have lots to look forward to. Paul said: I want to do a personal best at the triathlon at an event that is local to us. Ive also got a new job coming up, so thats a couple of things to be going on with. | https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/what-people-dalbeattie-looking-forward-13834458 |
Why SAARC is still relevant? | Imran Khan earned a lot of popular support in Pakistan by opening up the Kartarpur Sahib gurudwara to Sikh yatris from across the border with India. He talked of peace and trade and was hailed by the man in the street. In fact, Prime Minister Khan was so sure of real public support that he began toying with the idea of mid-term polls to bag a two-thirds majority in parliament that would enable him to change the laws which obstruct his political agenda. Advertising His foreign minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, however, stabbed Khan in the back by calling the Kartarpur overture a googly. Instead of commending him for his anti-India bluster, Pakistans powerful media unanimously condemned him for his gaffe. Khan was silent before the media but reportedly showed his annoyance at what Qureshi had done. That the whole of Pakistan including the army didnt like Qureshis googly means the time for such antics is over. However, Najam Sethi wrote in The Friday Times of November 30: Now Pakistans reopening of the Kartarpuris being billed as some sort of peace breakthrough in Indo-Pak relations. It is nothing of the sort. Bajwa belongs to the post-Musharraf and post-Kargil dispensation and is thoroughly disenchanted with Pakistans past trans-oceanic friends. He could also be sick of the subversive reflex of the army against civilian governments seeking normalisation with India. The pattern is so repetitive you can no longer fix the history books without being laughed at. Bharat Karnad in his recent study, Staggering forward: Narendra Modi and Indias Global Ambition notes that soon after he assumed office, General Bajwa asked his officers to read about the ways in which the Indian Army adjusted to the democratic Indian polity. Karnad also favours going back to the initiative of General Pervez Musharraf now ironically facing a trial for treason in Pakistan. Musharraf offered a compromise on Kashmir which would have formalised the LoC as international border, and afforded Pakistan the fig-leaf of the omission to oversee along with India the affairs of the erstwhile princely state of Kashmir. Had that agreement been approved by Manmohan Singh, India could in the present day have exercised a veto over the CPEC passing through Gilgit and Baltistan. Imran Khan is talking of trade and investment with India. Everybody knows it means free trade, free movement and Indian investments in Pakistan. Khan is religious like Modi but is hounded by the mullahs. Modi too is letting the BJP-RSS combine spread Hindutva that frightens non-Hindus and secularists in India and delays his economic agenda. Advertising For Pakistan, talks should aim at normalisation rather than Kashmir if it wants to avoid a deadlock while its economy is belly-up and India can afford to sit pretty. Khan will respond to an opening-up of the Lahore border, where the two armies currently indulge in a farcical pantomime of attacking each other. All this boils down to the initiation of connectivity that Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh introduced as a theme at SAARC. Indias inability to live normally with its neighbours is frequently acknowledged, but now an economically powerful India needs to return to SAARC instead of scuttling it. According to Karnad: The Modi government may not acknowledge this, but crafting good relations with Pakistan is the fundamental building block of a truly peaceful and economically integrated extended sub-region, one that is slugged into the Indian economy which, thus enlarged, can become the driver of economic prosperity and the kernel around which a loose collective security arrangement can over time grow to protect it. (The writer is consulting editor, Newsweek Pakistan) | https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/why-saarc-is-still-relevant-imran-khan-kartarpur-corridor-india-pakistan-narendra-modi-5534331/ |
When will Upstate NY get more snow? | It doesnt look like much for awhile, said Accuweather meteorologist Paul Patelok, to the dismay of long-suffering winter sports enthusiasts. A strong winter storm expected to dump heavy snow from Missouri to Virginia this weekend will stay south of New York, thanks to a large high pressure system locked in over the Northeast. Youre missing out on the storm while this cold high is setting up over Upstate New York, Pastelok said. The National Weather Service has no snow in the forecast for Upstate this weekend, and just a few flurries in the middle of next week. Any snow accumulations will be light, the weather services Binghamton office said. A cold front sweeping through Upstate on Wednesday could bring at most a few showers. Snow accumulations are not expected to be significant, reports the Buffalo weather service office. Upstate NY Weekend Weather: Cold but dry with sunshine There is some limited and early hope for snow next weekend, Jan. 19 and 20, Pastelok said. Weather computer models, he said, are hinting at possibility of a storm moving across the country and up the Eastern seaboard next weekend." But, he noted, the models are giving widely different scenarios this far out, so its impossible to know whats actually going to happen. Even less precisely, but still welcome news to snow lovers, is the forecast for a colder-than-normal stretch in late January and early February, which is historically the coldest part of the year in Upstate. It looks like a shift in the pattern where it might become more of a trough off the Eastern U.S., so the northwest flow late in the month and into early February would be delivering more cold air shots and more possibility of these lake effect snow events, Pastelok said. Regardless of what comes next, though, the snow that just fell is likely to keep us company for awhile. That high pressure system keeping the storm away is also keeping temperatures cold enough for the snow to stick around. The Climate Prediction Center says temperatures in the Northeast are likely to be about normal or below normal over the next two weeks. Upstate cities are running snow deficits this season. Syracuse has had 46.8 inches, compared to a normal of 54.2 inches by Jan. 11. That doesnt seem like a big gap, but half of that snow fell before Thanksgiving and isnt around anymore to provide a base for skis and snowmobiles. | https://www.syracuse.com/news/2019/01/when-will-upstate-ny-get-more-snow.html |
Will government shutdown slow the flow of beer? | In downtown Syracuse, a new brewery that expects to open soon may not start with all the beers it planned on. In Cazenovia, one of New York states largest craft brewers decided to cancel production of a winter seasonal beer. Around Upstate New York, some new breweries may find they cant open on schedule, and existing breweries may not be able to introduce some new beers. The problem is the ongoing federal government shutdown. The federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) is closed. That means it cant approve licenses for new breweries -- or distilleries or wineries, either. It also cant process alcohol makers requests for new brand labels or formulas. Downtown Syracuse brewery to close, hopes to relocate And the backlog for those approvals is growing. In 2018, according to a recent National Public Radio report, the TTB received about 3,000 brewery brand label applications per week. A prolonged shutdown could slow the flow of new alcoholic beverages. It may not be the most important effect of the government shutdown -- comedian Stephen Colbert made a joke of it on a recent episode of The Late Show -- but the impact on breweries and other alcohol manufacturers is capturing local and national attention. In Syracuse, Talking Cursive Brewing Co. expects to open as planned by February at 301 Erie Blvd W., across from the National Grid (Niagara Mohawk) building. Co-owner Andrew Brooks said the brewerys timing was good -- it got its federal license to open before the shutdown. But Brooks said one of the beers he hoped to have on tap probably wont be available right away, since its a specialty brew with ingredients that require federal approval. The impact is pretty minimal for us now, said Brooks, who hopes to offer several creative beers in his lineup, like an Italian Grape Ale and an IPA made with rye and pineapple. But if it goes on for too long, it will be a problem getting new beers out there. At the Empire Farm Brewery in Cazenovia, plans for a seasonal beer called Subterraean were scrapped, said owner David Katleski. We decided to not brew our seasonal Subterranean because we wouldnt get approval in time for distribution, Katleski said in an email. Label manufacturers will not even produce a label without (the government) registrations. Katleski, founder and past president of the New York State Brewers Association, said the impact on breweries that are ready to open but dont yet have a license is a more serious problem. For them, he said, This shutdown is a real big issue. But for the many new small breweries operating across Upstate New York, there may be little impact. TTB brand approval is only needed for beers that are sold through distributors, especially across state lines. A small brewery that wants to introduce a new beer for sale only in its tap room does not need federal approvals (unless its a new formula, as in the case with Talking Cursive). Its also probably going to have less impact, for now at least, on the states wineries and distilleries. Thats because they typically introduce new products less frequently than breweries. My guess is that the longer this goes on the bigger the buildup of labels needing to be approved, said Scott Osborn, owner of Fox Run Vineyards on Seneca Lake, via email. I am guessing once the shutdown is over there will be a long wait to get a label approved. On the other hand, those of us who are not making any significant changes like vintage date and alcohol percentage dont have to get label approvals. Just people with a new wine or major changes to the back label. It is the beer guys who make a different product every few weeks who are going to feel the pressure. At Old Home Distillers in Lebanon, Madison County, co-owner Adam Carvell said the big issue for spirits makers may be formula approval, which is needed for some products before the TTB will consider the label application. Many common products require this approval, particularly liqueurs, some gins, non-traditional spirits, or or anything "flavored,".Carvell said in an email. Don Cazentre writes about craft beer, wine, spirits and beverages for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him [email protected], or follow him at NYup.com, on TwitterorFacebook. | https://www.syracuse.com/news/2019/01/will-the-government-shutdown-slow-the-flow-of-beer.html |
Whats Worse? Double-dipping or the 5-second Rule? | If you double dip a chip, you contaminate the bowl of dip with bacteria. If you drop food on the ground, pick it up, and eat it thanks to the five-second rule, its also got bacteria on it. According to a new study by a food scientist . . . a bowl of dip where someones double dipped is filled with MORE bacteria than the average floor. He found that when you dip a chip into a double dipped bowl, it picks up WAY more bacteria than you would if someone hadnt double dipped. And since those are germs that go from person to person, were talking things like the cold, flu, coughs, and more. But when you drop something on the floor and quickly pick it up, its actually transferring less bacteria than you think . . . because, quote, most surfaces are not going to have any kind of dangerous bacteria there. One more thing: Surprisingly enough, he found that when you drop food on CARPET, it picks up fewer germs than on tile or wood floors. And he says its because the carpet actually ABSORBS a lot of bacteria. (ABC News Australia) | https://www.whbc.com/whats-worse-double-dipping-or-the-5-second-rule/ |
Is There an Upside Surprise Coming for Facebook Stock? | I have gained a small reputation here as a Facebook (NASDAQ: FB ) opponent. My March story saying Facebook faced an unexpected battlefield over privacy, my warnings that the attention economy was peaking and that Facebook was facing a perfect storm of criticism were followed by a rally that took the shares as high as $217 in July. By Christmas, of course, Mark Zuckerberg fans had coal in their stockings, as the shares fell to a low of $124. Theyve since been on the rise, opening for trade at about $144 on Jan. 10. Theres a story behind that. Elites Dont Matter I followed up my own stories by retreating from Facebook. Elite opinion followed, and users were offered detailed instructions about how to leave the service, even how to permanently delete Facebook data. But its not that easy as I learned at my neighborhood Christmas party. I made cookies. I went to the church we usually meet at for the party, but it was closed. I was eventually directed to a nearby storefront and told the group hadnt updated its own Web site in years everyone knew the group was only communicating by Facebook. Its a lot easier to set up your group to communicate on Facebook than to build even a simple Web site. Even though they know Facebook is scraping and re-selling their data, the editor of my favorite local news site still does his personal updates on Facebook. The same with the guy who fixes my computers. Numbers Matter The point is that elite opinion is one thing and mass markets are something else. Analysts are expecting Facebook to report $16.4 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter, about $48 billion for the year, against $35 billion in 2017. Last quarter, Facebook brought 40% of its revenue to the net income line. Facebook shares are now selling for about 22 times earnings, but, if analysts are right, FB will earn $7.36 per share for all of 2018, giving it a price to earnings multiple of about 19.5. Facebook invested early in cloud and is now one of the worlds five Cloud Czars, dominating the field, and it still had about $40 billion in cash and securities on the books at the end of September up from $11 billion the previous December. At its Jan. 10 market cap of $414 billion, Facebook is worth almost twice as much as AT&T (NYSE: T ), two and a half times as much as Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS ) or Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA ), and 10 times more than CBS (NYSE: CBS ) and Viacom (NASDAQ: VIAB ) combined. If filling its clouds with data and traffic were really a problem its a problem Facebook could easily buy its way out of and its financial heft is such that some big acquisition, in some direction, should be expected. Either that or a fat dividend check. The Bottom Line on FB Stock The bad news is in Facebook stock. People know the risks of leaving data with Facebook or its Instagram and Whatsapp units. They leave data there anyway. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT ) hopes to disrupt Facebook, on behalf of its own LinkedIn network, with a program called Bali, which would give users control over their data. If successful, this wouldnt break the internet, but it would certainly upset Facebooks business model. While elites may consider this a threat, recent history shows its not. Ordinary people like getting stuff for free elites be damned and theyre willing to pay for it by looking at ads that are based on their data. I was recently named secretary for another community group, one that has never had a Web site, and if I propose we open on Facebook I doubt there will be any objection. Dana Blankenhorn is a financial and technology journalist. He is the author of a new mystery thriller, The Reluctant Detective Finds Her Family, available now at the Amazon Kindle store. Write him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter at @danablankenhorn. As of this writing he owned shares in MSFT. | https://investorplace.com/2019/01/is-there-an-upside-surprise-coming-for-facebook-stock/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+InvestorPlace+%28InvestorPlace%29 |
Is Delta Air Lines Stock a Buy Now? | Investors didnt like Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL ) cutting its Q4 2018 unit revenue growth to 3% from 3.5%, a number it provided investors only four weeks earlier. The news sent DAL stock down 8.9% Jan. 3, closing at $45.61 its fourth time under $50 in the past year. Since then, DAL hasnt managed to make a strong recovery. Ill take a look at both sides of the argument. DAL Stock Is a Buy While airline stocks as a whole have been weaker over the past year compared to previous years, companies like Delta are still making decent profits. Delta will deliver its ninth consecutive year of profitability and expects the fourth quarter to bring as much as $1.30 per share to the bottom line, suggesting that the latest forecast cut could be a blip rather than a sign of impending doom. In hindsight, youd have made a lot of money over the past 52 weeks by buying DAL stock below $50 and selling it above $60. DAL stock traded above $60 over the past year on three occasions: January, September and November. It has traded below $50 on four occasions: February, June, October and January 2019. Buy/Sell Date Price/Share Cost/Proceeds Buy Feb. 9/18 $48.52 ($4,852) Buy June 27/18 $49.70 ($4,970) Sell Sept. 21/18 $60.23 $12,046 Buy Oct. 10/18 $49.78 ($4,978) Sell Nov. 30/18 $61.32 $6,132 Buy Jan. 2/19 $48.88 ($4,888) Net Gain $3,378 Source: Yahoo Finance Putting reality aside trading like this would cause the gains to be taxed as regular income rather than capital gains an investor would have made 35% on an annualized basis on the first two buys and 138% on the last buy and sell in October and November with the gains on the final buy to be determined. Uncertainty in the airline industry mixed in with the return of volatility in the markets has made Delta stock a winning trade over the past year. What a buy-and-hold investor can do with the past years trading information is use it to figure out an entry point that will make you money over the long haul. With oil prices appearing mellowed in recent months and the economy relatively healthy, if youre a fan of Delta, I dont see why you wouldnt consider buying its stock under $50. Delta Stock Is a Sell There are two reasons why investors should be cautious of holding DAL stock at this point in the cycle. The first is that 2019 does not look like its going to be a good one for the markets. The New York Times spoke to James Stack recently, the man who predicted in January 2018 that the markets would crank up the volatility over the next year and it wouldnt end well. It didnt. Now Stack believes that more pain is in store. He believes that the worst isnt over and that the Dow and S&P 500 will soon be down 20 percent from their peaks, retreating into a bear market. (The Nasdaq Composite and the Wilshire 2000 index of small-cap stocks are already there. ), James Stewart wrote Jan. 4. And that was before a revenue warning from Apple sent markets into another steep fall on Thursday. The second reason is that airline stocks continue to be in the jaws of a bear market airline stocks have a total return over the past year of negative 19.5%, more than double the losses for the S&P 500 suggesting now is not the time to fight the trend. The Bottom Line on DAL Stock Im leaning toward 2019 being a bad year on the markets because were going to learn by the end of the second quarter that a recession is coming at some point in 2020, putting a severe damper on investor enthusiasm. That said, its hard to imagine Delta stock trading below $40 in 2019, making anything below $45 reasonably attractive to those willing to accept the risk. Only aggressive investors need apply. As of this writing, Will Ashworth did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. | https://investorplace.com/2019/01/delta-air-lines-stock-buy-now/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+InvestorPlace+%28InvestorPlace%29 |
Will Tilrays Dealmaking Lift Tilray Stock in 2019? | Tilray (NASDAQ: TLRY ) announced on December 18 that it was expanding its partnership with Sandoz, part of drug giant Novartis (NYSE: NVS ). Under the deal, which caused Tilray stock to rally, Sandozs global-sales team will market Tilrays medical-cannabis products. Four days later, Tilray announced that it was partnering with Anheuser-Busch (NYSE: BUD ) to research cannabis-infused drinks. That news also created a buzz around Tilray stock. Inevitably, as cannabis companies in Canada and elsewhere stake their claims to different parts of the cannabis industry, comparisons will be made to the Gold Rush of the 1800s. And as in the days of the Gold Rush, there will be winners, losers, and posers. Unlike Cronos Group (NASDAQ: CRON ) and Canopy Growth (NYSE: CGC ), Tilray isnt interested in getting investments from large companies, as TLRY prefers to remain completely independent. We obviously want to partner with other global pioneers and other leaders in their respective sectors, Tilray CEO Brendan Kennedy said about the partnerships. We think its too early to give up control of our own destiny. Those appear to be the words of someone whos going to remain CEO of an independent TLRY for a long time. Of course, it could also be PR speak for We havent gotten the right offer just yet. Whatever the true motivations of Tilrays CEO and board, its partnerships could prove to be very beneficial for Tilray stock over the long-term. However, its not uncommon for big, multinational companies to blow hot and cold. Either of Tilrays partners could lose interest, pay a breakup fee, and end the partnership. Getting a big investment like the one that Canopys gotten from Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) is far more permanent; its also a sign that Canopy is serious about being a smaller piece of a much bigger pie. Tilray might believe that its in control of its destiny at the moment, but it can lose that control very quickly. TLRY had operating losses of $34 million on $27.6 million in sales through the first nine months of its fiscal year. To win the cannabis wars, companies need deep pockets and experience. Canopy has both. Tilray doesnt. Its Not a Poser I dont think theres any way you can consider Tilray a poser. Anheuser-Busch and Sandoz wouldnt have signed on to these deals if they had a sniff of doubt about Tilrays bona fides. However, as InvestorPlaces Luke Lango pointed out in late December, the BUD partnership is not a huge catalyst that can move TLRY stock back into triple digits. A $50 million commitment from AB InBev (a $130 billion company) is a drop in the ocean, Lango stated in an article published on December 28. The language in the press release also doesnt imply that AB InBev and Tilray will be lifetime partners, and that stands in stark contrast to the bullish language in the Cronos and Canopy deal press releases. Tilrays CEO, Brendan Kennedy, believes that there will be three cannabis companies with $100 billion valuations, and he hopes that Tilray stock will be one of them. He also thinks that Tilray will be one of three companies in the sector with annual sales of $50 billion. That seems brash for a company thats projected to generate just $140 million of sales in 2019. Kennedy might want to tone down the rhetoric because it likely will come back to bite him in the rear end. The Bottom Line on Tilray Stock While Tilray has been in the news a lot in recent weeks, the companys dealmaking has done little to move TLRY stock. Tilray stock can only rise meaningfully if the company delivers better results in the fourth quarter or if it changes its philosophy and sells a chunk of its business to a company like Diageo (NYSE: DEO ). Investors want results now. Thats a terrible situation for companies like Tilray that have long-range plans. As of this writing Will Ashworth did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. | https://investorplace.com/2019/01/will-tilrays-dealmaking-lift-tilray-stock-in-2019/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+InvestorPlace+%28InvestorPlace%29 |
Will there be justice for Jamal Khashoggi? | Questions surrounding the murder of the Saudi journalist remain unanswered. On Thursday, friends, politicians and human-rights activists gathered to remember Jamal Khashoggi, 100 days after the Saudi journalist was killed. A vigil was organised at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, where Khashoggi was murdered on October 2, and a memorial service was held in the US Congress in Washington, DC. Some members of the Congress are pressuring President Donald Trump to re-evaluate relations with Saudi Arabia and its Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is widely suspected of ordering the killing. Presenter: Folly Bah Thibault Guests: Rami Khoury - Professor of journalism, American University of Beirut and non-resident senior fellow, Harvard Kennedy School Matthew Bryza - Former US ambassador to Azerbaijan and former White House diplomat David Haigh - Human rights lawyer and cofounder, Stirling Haigh and Detained International Source: Al Jazeera News | https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2019/01/justice-jamal-khashoggi-190111172719690.html |
Is Steve Harvey's Daytime Talk Show Leaving NBC? | Steve Harvey might be looking for a new home network this year. The veteran TV host/producer/comedian is concerned over his show Steve's time slot at NBCUniversal because of Kelly Clarkson's upcoming show, he revealed during an interview at Variety's Entertainment Summit at CES in Las Vegas. I thought I was until they made an announcement a couple weeks ago that they wanted to give Kelly Clarkson the owned and operated NBC Networks, and thats my slot. I dont know if it sold its not selling like they thought, he said. In September, it was announced that Clarkson was working with the peacock network to create her own daytime talk show, which will premiere in fall 2019. The Grammy winner confirmed the news on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that her show would be syndicated show, titled The Kelly Clarkson Show, and premiere before Ellen DeGeneres' long running daytime series. Harvey admitted he was surprised NBCU didn't come to him directly. I thought it wouldve been nice of them to come to me as being the only dude thats survived [in daytime TV] for them for seven years and say, Steve, were thinking about doing this. But no, they just made an announcement. So when you do that, I gotta make announcements, too, he said. Im an honorable guy and Im just an old school guy and I just thought that youre supposed to talk to people and go, Look, youve been good business for us. This is what were thinking of doing. Are you okay with that?,'" he continued. "No, you dont just put something in the paper and say, Im gonna make this move right here because its crazy. You look at the numbers on my show and its No. 4 in daytime television its holding right there. I got a hit, so somebodys gonna recognize that." Harvey also hosts the children's talent show, Little Big Shots, which finished its third season in 2018. | https://www.tvinsider.com/744046/steve-harvey-leaving-nbc/ |
Is Nvidia Stock Making a Comeback? | Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA ) stock has had quite tough go in 2018. By the end of the year it was off more than 40%. But dont shed too many tears for long-term investors in the leading graphics chipmaker in the past three years, the stock has managed to eke out a mere 340%. This is one thing you need to bear in mind with the markets perspective. What may have been a horrible year (relatively speaking) is the exception to the rule. Usually, NVDA stock is knocking it out of the park. Yes, if you got into the stock last year you may not be too happy right now. But theres little to worry about when it comes to NVDA. It is a company that is riding so many long-term trends and continues to be at the forefront of the industry, that even when setbacks occur, theyll surrounded by years of significant success. NVDA Stock Still Stands Strong And what happened in 2018 wasnt all about NVDA. It was the entire tech sector and most chipmakers in particular. Most of the issues were about trade wars and tariffs, especially for goods that had chips in them. And in todays world, most products have chips in them of one sort or another. Yet Nvidia doesnt sell low-end mass market components. It rules the high end of the graphics processing unit (GPU) market. Its GeForce GPU is for gamers. Its Quadro GPU is for designers. Its Tesla and DGX units are for AI data scientists and big data developers. And its GRID is for cloud-based visual computing customers. In its Tegra processor division, it fits an entire computer on one chip and powers sectors like computing for robots, drones, self-driving cars as well as gaming. The GeForce was also in high demand in 2017 as the hot GPU for bitcoin miners. This powered sales into 2018, until the bottom fell out of cryptocurrencies. NVDA stock, while benefiting mightily for the unplanned demand, also got punished far more than it deserved when cryptocurrencies tanked. It was a windfall when it happened, but it was a significant part of Nvidias future. However once that sector cooled, analysts, already freaking out over the anticipated swoon of other chipmakers and tech stocks, just lumped NVDA in with the rest. But if you go back to the descriptions of the sectors that Nvidia is a leader in gaming, cloud computing, big data, AI, robots, smart vehicles and buildings it is well placed for the future. And this doesnt even touch NVDAs potential growth in virtual reality and augmented reality markets, which will benefit mightily from its GPUs. Now, thats not to say the road is clear. There are plenty of bumps and hairpin turns to navigate between now and the end of 2019. But the fact is, NVDA is a long-term winner and now its on sale. Patient long-term investors will be very well rewarded. Louis Navellier is a renowned growth investor. He is the editor of four investing newsletters: Growth Investor, Breakthrough Stocks, Accelerated Profits and Platinum Growth. His most popular service, Growth Investor, has a track record of beating the market 3:1 over the last 14 years. He uses a combination of quantitative and fundamental analysis to identify market-beating stocks. Mr. Navellier has made his proven formula accessible to investors via his free, online stock rating tool, PortfolioGrader.com. Louis Navellier may hold some of the aforementioned securities in one or more of his newsletters. | https://investorplace.com/2019/01/is-nvidia-stock-making-a-comeback/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+InvestorPlace+%28InvestorPlace%29 |
Is Apple's Gatekeeper a positive or a sinister move for computing? | Make no mistake, Apple's upcoming Gatekeeper technology is a game-changer. It's part of OS X Mountain Lion, the next iteration of OS X, and never mind whether you use that or Windows in your daily life. The success of the App Store on both that platform and iOS is already having a major impact on the wider software world, proving that people will in fact embrace a channel completely controlled by an operating system creator, freedom be at least darned, if not entirely damned. Microsoft has its own one in the works for Windows 8, replacing failed attempts like Windows Marketplace. Gatekeeper is the next step - an OS-level block on Mac applications not downloaded from the official App Store. It's due to be shipped switched on, with three levels of security: allow anything, only allow approved apps, or pop up a scary looking message if you try to run something you've downloaded from somewhere other than Apple's walled garden. The latter is the default setting, and while it's no great hardship to click an 'I Foolishly Accept These Risks, O Wise Guardian' button, you can be sure it'll frighten off many less experienced users. If it works, you can expect it to come to Windows too, along with all the obvious implications. In my heart, I know I should be. Over the last decade or so, we've fought this kind of battle again and again - that an OS provider's job is to make the software that lets our computers do cool things, not to install itself as some kind of all-seeing overlord or stick its tendrils into our business. Microsoft Passport, for example, was burned to a cinder for trying to be a single sign-on tool for web commerce. Ten years ago, the mere thought of allowing a vendor to be the gatekeeper of 'their' OS software would have been thinkable. It gives them incredible power to both squash competitors, and to screw up. As just one example of many, Apple once infamously rejected a Project Gutenberg app on the grounds that kids might use it to read the Kama Sutra. They've also squashed things like Phone Story - a satirical iPhone game about its manufacturing process - while allowing stupid fart apps to roam free and flatulent across the plains. Changing times But things change. Priorities shift. Much as single sign-ins aren't controversial any more - indeed, many services like Netflix and Spotify prefer you to just authenticate with Facebook, while others out there use Twitter - people have largely come to crave different things into their software. Choice is important. However, so are stability, reliability and security, and these can only be reliably enforced at OS level. As of now for instance, it's not only incredibly unlikely that a download from the App Store will be dodgy, all apps downloaded from it have to be sandboxed to prevent them causing trouble. Not being able to run weird and wonderful stuff from the internet is worrying for us as high-level users, but on the flip-side, imagine never again having to spend your Christmas holiday painstakingly decrapifying yet another slow-loading machine full of pop-ups and toolbars and spyware. Take a moment. It's a thought to savour. Even an ideal implementation has many implications though. You can see a preview of that now on games consoles, where no thought is typically given to letting you play your purchases on future equipment. Even with its problems, Gatekeeper is a good idea. It gives Apple more control over your Mac, and yes, a PC equivalent would do the same for Microsoft. At the same time though, it gives you a fair chunk extra as well - most importantly, control over exactly what gets installed onto it. That's never been more important than in the current online security climate, and less authoritarian tools like UAC simply aren't up to the job - and not just because they're too annoying to be left on if you have the computer savvy to find the off switch. The catch, which would ideally be backed up by law, but obviously won't, is that this type of protection is only a good idea when it's an option you want to leave on. Mandatory, it would be dreadful beyond words - which is all the more important as the power to not only control a platform, but take a cut of every application sold for it, is the kind of thing that makes shareholders salivate. Coupled with laws like the DMCA, we could well end up with a world where people are sued for jailbreaking their own PC - and nobody at all wants that. Maybe Gatekeeper needs a Warden. Hackers, consider yourselves challenged... | https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/computing/apple/is-apple-s-gatekeeper-a-positive-or-a-sinister-move-for-computing-1079705 |
Is Airbnb exacerbating Torontos housing crisis? | The number of Airbnbs in Toronto that could be used as long-term rentals and help alleviate the city's housing crisis has doubled since 2016. According to a new report released this week by Fairbnb, a national coalition of hotel union workers, affordable housing advocates and condo residents, there are currently 6,500 entire homes in Toronto listed on Airbnb. That's a 25 per cent increase in the last year alone and double the number of listings in 2016. Thorben Wieditz, a researcher for Fairbnb, says many of those 6,500 listings are considered ghost hotels, which are defined as Airbnbs run by a host with two or more listings online. There are people who are buying or renting dozens of condo units and then renting them out on platforms like Airbnb, Wieditz says in an interview with NOW. In December 2017, city council approved new Airbnb regulations to prevent the proliferation of ghost hotels. Under the new regs, short-term rentals would only be allowed if they were in the hosts principal residence. You can also only rent out up to three bedrooms or your entire home for up to 180 days. But last January, the rules were appealed and now await a hearing at the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (formerly the Ontario Municipal Board) this August. In the meantime, the city is not enforcing the new rules. Although Airbnb claims the platform is mostly made up of people who only rent out their homes from time to time, Wieditz says the majority of Airbnb revenue comes from hosts who essentially act as commercial operators. According to Fairbnb's report, ghost hotels account for 72 per cent of Airbnb's revenues in Toronto. The report also found that in Toronto, the highest concentration of listings are in the downtown waterfront communities, where owners "can make more money on the short-term rental market than the long-term rental market," says Wieditz. Some 88 per cent of all listings in these areas are for entire condo units. The data in the report came from New York-based analyst Murray Cox, who runs the Inside Airbnb project, which posts Airbnb listings information for cities across the world. We have been seeing Torontos housing supply being gobbled up by Airbnb for a number of years, says Geordie Dent of the Federation of Metro Tenants Associations in a statement in response to Fairbnb's study. Airbnb is consuming our housing supply faster than I can say 'mortgage debt. ' But in an emailed statement to NOW, Airbnb public policy manager Alex Dagg said, "This report is based on faulty assumptions and poor research, and is yet another example of the well-resourced and clearly biased hotel lobby seeking to villainize families who are making a little extra income by sharing their homes." Dagg added that Airbnb wants to be regulated in Toronto and "looks forward to continuing our collaborative relationship with City of Toronto." Fairbnb is calling on the province to examine the impact of short-term rentals as part of its Housing Supply Action Plan. The group's report concludes that the province should establish the regulations approved by Toronto council in December 2017. The situation is getting worse for people to find homes and its being made worse by the fact that Airbnb bleeds our housing stock by thousands of units," says Wieditz. "It's a problem the province needs to recognize." @SamEdwardsTO | https://nowtoronto.com/news/airbnb-housing-crisis-fairbnb/ |
Could fibre be the new fountain of youth? | Sandra Hermiston and Ross McLaughlin, CTV Vancouver Most of us know that getting plenty of fibre can help keep our digestive system in good working order. But fibre has many more health benefits and could be key to staying youthful longer. In a recent study, older people who ate fibre-rich diets were 80 per cent more likely to live longer and stay healthier than those who didnt. You need to get 25 to 30 grams of dietary fibre a day, and most people dont get that much, said Patricia Calvo, Consumer Reports health editor. By eating foods like beans, vegetables, fruit, nuts, and whole grains, fibre can work its anti-aging magic. Fibre helps your health in so many ways. It can protect against type-2 diabetes. It helps to lower cholesterol levels. It helps in weight control because it makes you feel full. And, of course, it helps your digestive system run smoothly, explained Calvo. And if youre worried about gas or bloating from eating more fibre, be sure to take it easy at first. You shouldnt go from very little fibre to a lot all at once. Instead, take small steps, eating just a couple of things a day. For example, you can combine regular cereal and high-fibre cereal. Or have an apple or a handful of nuts instead of chips as a snack. Or you can add oatmeal to your smoothie. There are a lot of small ways to increase your fibre intake. So up your fibre intake gradually, spread it across meals, and be sure to drink more water simultaneously. Without enough water, fibre can actually be constipating. | https://bc.ctvnews.ca/could-fibre-be-the-new-fountain-of-youth-1.4245584 |
What is AES? | AES is the Advanced Encryption Standard, a standard for cryptography that is used to encrypt data to keep it private. It is a popular cypher, used for many purposes, including the US Government to keep classified data secure. AES is a symmetric, block cipher which means that blocks of text of a certain size (128 bits) are encrypted, as opposed to a stream cipher where each character is encrypted one at a time. The symmetric part refers to that the identical key is used for the encryption process, as well as to decrypt the message. We've also highlighted the best encryption software tools The quest for better AES was developed in the late 1990s to replace the prior encryption standard for the US Government, known as Data Encryption Standard (DES) which was created by IBM in the early 1970s. It was adopted for US Government use in 1977, but was subsequently demonstrated to be vulnerable to a variety of attacks, including brute force, differential cryptanalysis and linear cryptanalysis, due to the weakness that DES is based on a 56-bit algorithm- considered no longer secure as computer processing power increased. As an interim measure, in 1998, DES evolved into 3DES, also known as the Triple DES, which applied the DES algorithm to the message three consecutive times, with three different encryption keys, to better encrypt the message. The 3DES modification of DES made the message more secure from brute force attacks of contemporary computers. Fifteen different cryptographic algorithms were proposed to replace DES, in what began a five year process by the US Government. AES was submitted from a pair of Belgian cryptographers, Vincent Rijmen and Joan Daemen, and it became known as the Rijndael proposal, from a mash of the two developers names. The AES is an open standard, and the standard itself is not classified. This was done to facilitate public comment to aid in development through transparency, while it was still in the design stage. It was developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), with a goal of ease of use for both the hardware and software. Through this process, some refinements to the original Rijndael were done, including changes to the key and block length to further enhance the security. The Belgians rise to the top The NSA was also involved in looking at the fifteen original submissions, and by August of 1999, the field was narrowed to five algorithms, (Rijndael, Serpent, RC6, Twofish and MARS). These then received further analysis, including the strength of the security, ease of implementation, a royalty-free algorithm, and the speed and accuracy for both encryption and decryption. After the analysis ended, the Rijndael cipher emerged as the winner, and it was subsequently rolled out for use in the US Government in 2002, including the NSA and other agencies. To this day, AES continues to be used for classified documents, and is considered the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS). Subsequently it was adopted by the private sector as well, and AES is the most popular cipher for symmetric key cryptography. How AES works AES is based on a block cipher, with each having a size of 128 bits. The keys are symmetric, with three different sizes available: 128, 192 or 256 bits, with the latter two used for US government documents designated for their highest level of security, known as Top Secret. The original Rijndael cipher had options for both additional block sizes, and key lengths, but these were dropped in favor of standardization on the 128-bit block size, and key lengths of 128, 192 and 256 bits. AES remains the the only publicly available cipher that is approved by the NSA to protect government information at these highest levels of security clearance. AES uses a substitution permutation network (SPN) block cipher algorithm. The open message gets transformed to a secure message through several steps. It starts with each block of plain text as a standard size. The message is inserted into an array, and then a cipher transformation is done to encrypt the message. Each round of encryption applies substitutions, transpositions and mixing. Like in the 3DES code that had three rounds of encryption, with AES there are multiple rounds of encryption as well. However, with AES, this is done significantly more than in 3DES, which depends on the key length, with 10 rounds applied for a 128-bit key, 12 rounds for the 192-bit key, and 14 rounds when encrypting via the 256-bit key, accounting for the higher level of security. During this process, an encryption key gets created, which is required to decrypt the message by the intended recipient; without the encryption key, the message is quite scrambled and unintelligible. Therefore, both the sender, and the recipient must know the same key to be able to encrypt or decrypt the message. AES for everybody These days, via the web, AES cryptography can be easily accessed by any user, true to its open source roots. For example, via the website AES Encryption , the message is placed in the text box, a key is entered in the lower box, and the key length is selected; all three lengths are supported: 128, 192 and 256-bit. The button to encrypt or decrypt is selected, and the AES cipher is applied. While this makes AES accessible to public users, the lack of security via a web interface is hardly appropriate for government use. AES and the internet While AES was originally developed for US Government applications of classified data, it also gets used to keep file transfers private across the internet. For example, AES gets used when transferring files via an HTTPS connection, the more secure variant of an HTTP connection, which is designed to prevent a man-in-the-middle attack. Closer to home, AES is also used to encrypt the Wi-Fi on your router, when combined with the popular WPA2 protocol, that gets termed AES/WPA2. The alternate security protocol with WPA2 is TKIP, which is older than AES, and not considered as secure (although is sometimes used for backwards compatibility to older devices). Finally, AES is also used in support of SSL encryption. Final thoughts What began as a US Government project to keep their communiqu secure, did that, and so much more as much communication on the modern internet depends on AES, even if many users have not even heard of it. To this day, AES remains the gold standard of encryption techniques. | https://www.techradar.com/au/news/what-is-aes |
Is Steve Kings rhetoric empowered by Trump? Or is it simply born of a similar place? | Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) at a June 8 hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP) The pattern is so well-established for Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) by now that it barely necessitates articulation for anyone who has been paying attention to American politics in the past decade. Kings long-standing distrust of immigration has, in recent years, bled into an at-times-overt embrace of white supremacist ideas and rhetoric. For those interested in a refresher, heres an overview of Kings relevant comments and actions through last June, an overview thats nonetheless heavily outdated. It doesnt include, for example, a newspaper that had regularly endorsed Kings House candidacies determining last year that it could no longer give King a pass on its past concerns over his rhetoric. His endorsement of a white nationalist political candidate in Canada, citing her position as Pro Western Civilization, was not, the paper wrote, the first time King was tied, by his words or actions, to such intolerant ugliness. Thats an understatement. Nor was it the last. A bit over a week after the paper endorsed his opponent, King appeared to refer to migrants as dirt at a campaign event. Why did I sit in classes teaching me about the merits of our history and our civilization? It was not the first time that Kings reflexive insistence that he was only worried about Western culture as opposed to, say, the dilution of the white race became mixed up with a race-based defense. There was, for example, his appearance on MSNBC during the Republican convention when he chastised a panelist for disparaging old white people, asking, Where did any other subgroup of people contribute more to civilization? Several Republican leaders, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), subsequently condemned Kings comments to the Times. Steves language is reckless, wrong, and has no place in our society, he said in a statement. The Declaration of Independence states that all men are created equal. That is a fact. It is self-evident. Such criticism from party leadership is unusual. After the article was published, King hurriedly walked away from the implications of his question, as he has so often before. I reject the labels of white nationalism and white supremacy, he wrote in a statement, and the evil ideology that they define. He isnt a racist, he insisted for the who-knows-how-manyth time, but simply a Nationalist. His concern wasnt white people, its just that hes an advocate for Western Civilizations values. And that advocacy just happens to manifest itself in tacit endorsement of maintaining white racial purity and repeatedly disparaging immigrants to the United States in terms that frequently suggests they are inherently dangerous. If that latter point sounds particularly familiar, it should. President Trumps rhetoric on immigration has often overlapped with Kings, to the point that the president has on occasion cited an imaginary figure for deaths caused by undocumented immigrants that originated with bad analysis publicized by King a decade ago. During an Oval Office meeting in 2017, King told the Times, the congressman responded to Trumps bravado about having raised huge sums for King by saying he had market-tested your immigration policy for 14 years, and that ought to be worth something. Trumps rhetoric about the danger of people crossing the border with Mexico illegally, his comments about drugs flowing into the United States are indeed the sorts of things that King has argued since well before Trump was a candidate for office. Trump launched his campaign with that rhetoric and the loyal constituency that embraced him once those comments went national helped power his nomination. Its interesting that in recent years during a period when Trumps remarks have been in the international spotlight King has so often found himself the focus of attention for his closeness to white supremacists and white nationalist rhetoric. Most Americans, in a poll conducted last July, said they believed Trump had emboldened racists to voice their opinions. Theres another nonexclusive possibility: Both Trump and King are powered by a strain of nativist or racist thought that had been mostly quashed in national politics. Weve seen repeatedly that race was a significant factor in Trumps victory, including as an explanation for the wide gulf in 2016 vote choice by education. Thats not surprising, given the frequent appeals to race that Trumps campaign included. As president, he has been criticized for his treatment of the subject, including, most infamously, his response to the murder of an anti-racism protester in Virginia in 2017. In polls, many or most Americans see him as racist. Trump didnt create the view of immigration that hes consistently presented; he corralled it. His political views generally reflect the conservative media which he consumes. As Trump prepared for his presidential run in 2014 and 2015, race and immigration were the focus of sites like Breitbart, with both the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement and the surge in unaccompanied minors seeking refuge in the United States from Central America. Trumps political success is largely derived from his willingness to say the things that were being said on Fox News, instead of the things that were being said among members of the Republican House caucus. King did, indeed, market-test Trumps immigration rhetoric but only in the microcosm. It was already market tested by the media that Trump consumed, and it was (at least in retrospect) obvious that an audience existed as a result. The elevation of race and immigration to the national level, including Kings views, is in large part a function of the occupant of the White House being someone whose views on the subjects are far more in line with Kings, immigration skeptics and in at least some instances white nationalists than even with more traditional Republican politicians. For what its worth, prominent white nationalists on Twitter like Richard Spencer have not rallied to his cause. Because he backtracked from the implications of the question he posed in the Times interview. King, for his part, recognizes that his rhetoric reflects some significant part of his partys base. In another of the incidents that occurred after our summary from June, King defended having participated in an interview with members of a hard-right Austrian political party with historic links to the Nazis an interview in which he questioned the value of diversity. The Freedom Party was not a big deal, he suggested. If they were in America pushing the platform that they push, they would be Republicans, he told The Post. | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/01/11/is-steve-kings-rhetoric-empowered-by-trump-or-is-it-simply-born-similar-place/ |
What Are The Environmental Impacts of the Shutdown? | Peter Nicholson, via e-mail No one is happy about the recent partial shutdown of the federal government in the U.S. as President Trump plays hardball with Congress on allocating funds for his border wall. While essential government services typically remain open in any government shutdown, its up to individual agencies and their administrators to decide how much of a presence to maintain during a shutdown and whether or not to furlough some or all staff. For its part, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) curtailed the vast majority of its work once federal funding dried up on December 28, with only national security and emergency staff staying on. Some 13,000+ EPA employees have been furloughed with more than 100 agency offices across the country now closed until further notice. Until the border wall impasse is broken, the EPA has no staff to continue hazardous waste clean-up work at Superfund sites, inspect power plants to ensure compliance with air quality standards, review toxic substances and pesticides nor respond to Freedom of Information requests. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), the environmental protections we otherwise take for granted grind to a halt during a shutdown: Chemical facilities are not inspected. Agricultural technical assistance projects are shut down. The protection of species stops. Research is also disrupted, which can lead to gaps in data or entire lost field seasons (and huge wastes of taxpayer dollars). As for national parks, about two-thirds remain open but have limited services, so visitors shouldnt expect the same level of sanitation or monitoring that is customary. While there is no one to collect entrance fees, likewise there is no one to pump out toilets, empty trash or intervene in case of interpersonal disputes or wildlife encounters. All National Parks Service (NPS) personnel (except firefighters monitoring active burns or watch areas and essential leadership at headquarters) have been furloughed. The Department of Interior has authorized individual parks to dip into their entrance and recreation fees to help pay for essential/emergency services during the shutdown, although the use of these funds will likely slow down maintenance projects by months or years as a result. While this closure of national parks is an annoyance to Americans planning a visit, its also an economic problem. The non-profit National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) reports that NPS has lost upwards of $5 million in entrance fee revenue since the shutdown began, while local businesses and concession operators dependent upon servicing park visitors are also losing out on much-needed income. Despite closures at the EPA, the NPS and other agencies related to the environment, the federal push to open up more land and offshore waters to fossil fuel extraction continues unabated. According to The Guardian, the Interior Department hasnt slowed down efforts to issue permits for oil drilling on federal land and in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaskas Arctic. While hes closed the government to the American people, Trump has hung up an open for business sign for corporate polluters, reports Melinda Pierce, legislative director at the non-profit Sierra Club. CONTACTS: EPA, www.epa.gov; UCS, www.ucsusa.org; NPS, www.nps.gov; NPCA, www.npca.org; Sierra Club, www.sierraclub.org. EarthTalk is produced by Roddy Scheer & Doug Moss for the 501(c)3 nonprofit EarthTalk. To donate, visit www.earthtalk.org. Send questions to: [email protected]. | https://emagazine.com/environmental-impact-of-the-shutdown/ |
When is MotherFatherSon on TV? Whos in the cast? Whats it about? | A remarkable cast has been assembled for MotherFatherSon, a new BBC2 drama charting one of the most powerful families in the world with a son with destructive tendencies. Richard Gere (yes Richard Gere!) has been booked to star, alongside Sarah Lancashire, Helen McCrory and Billy Howle in the new Tom Rob Smith (London Spy, The Assassination of Gianni Versace) series. MotherFatherSon began filming in Spain and London in June 2018 with the drama expected to hit small screens at the beginning of 2019. Few dramas have been quite so eagerly anticipated as Tom Rob Smiths star-filled drama. The author-come-screenwriter is set to deliver once more with a new politically-fuelled psychological thriller delicately balancing a complex climate of a powerful family and how their failures go on to effect them, the empire theyve built and the country itself. The eight-part drama is centred around family members Max (Richard Gere) a self-made American whose business reach extends worldwide Kathryn (Helen McCrory), the heiress and estranged wife of Max, and their son Caden (Billy Howle) who runs his fathers UK newspaper and is set to follow in his footsteps and become one of the most powerful people in the world. But having been entrusted with responsibility by his father, Caden is unable to repay his trust and his selfish and destructive lifestyle eventually catches up on him causing widespread devastation. Richard Gere (Pretty Woman), Helen McCrory (Peaky Blinders) and Billy Howle (Witness for the Prosecution) are just some of the star-studded cast. Heres a sneak peek of the central trio in character. The drama also boasts Sarah Lancashire (Happy Valley) as Angela Howard, MP and Leader of the opposition, Pippa Bennett-Warner who plays Lauren senior executive and advisor to Max and Black Panther star Danny Sapani as Jahan Zakari, the first Muslim Prime Minister of the UK. Sinad Cusack (Call the Midwife), Paul Ready (Motherland) and Joseph Mawle (Game of Thrones) also star. MotherFatherSon will consist of eight hour-long episodes. Not at the moment but you can get a first glimpse of the drama in these pictures Advertisement and the odd glimpse of the drama in BBCs 2019 trailer: | https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2019-01-11/motherfatherson-cast-air-date-plot-bbc2-richard-gere-sarah-lancashire-drama/ |
Where will E-Retail be after 2020? | April 27, 2017 4 min read Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. Driven by urbanization, attitudinal shifts and income growth, Indias retail market is expected to double from $600 billion in 2015 to US$ 1 trillion by 2020 as per IBEF. The tremendous growth of e-commerce market also plays an integral role in the high scale development of the retail sector; by 2020, ecommerce will be a $700 billion market (B2B) with 530 million shoppers by 2025, coming at par with offline stores within a span of five years. Against the backdrop of robust investment in the sector and proliferation of internet users, India is now expected to become the worlds fastest growing e-commerce market. e-Retail growing at a breakneck speed The past decade witnessed an increase in consumer spending, entry of key e-retail players, faster internet speeds on reliable telecom networks, expanded reach and increased adoption of online services as well as a greater need for convenience. As a result, traditional brick and mortar models today are witnessing a decline in sales, whereas ecommerce is booming with sales expected to reach US$ 120 billion by 2020 from US$ 30 billion in 2016. Clearly, the industry has become a veritable behemoth. Online customers are attracted to superior value propositions such as broader assortment, greater discounts and increased convenience. Hence, the future of e-retail will be ruled by instant gratification and path breaking innovations. Best of both worlds Omni-channel retailing is a very strong value proposition and gradually, all e-retail players and brands will swiftly adopt multiple channels to provide a suave and seamless consumer experience. Omni-channel retailing will enhance sales and amplify reach among target audience. Additionally, this will enable shoppers to procure things online and exchange them at the offline and vice versa, leading to an augmented customer experience. Revolution in logistics Logistics has always been one of the most challenging aspects of online retailing and with multi-fold rise in online business and logistics is expected to evolve and become the most sought after services in the years to come. Constant innovation The forthcoming years will witness newer technologies and innovations continuing to revolutionize the consumer shopping experience and churn more online sales. To survive in the hyper-competitive marketplace, technological innovations will be crucial. Brands and retailers are striving to go beyond the norms and create a distinct identity for themselves, by constantly deploying newer ideas and innovations to amplify user interface and experience. Powered by technological innovations listed below, E-Retail is already on the brink of a major transformation: Artificial Intelligence is currently the buzzword, empowering brands and marketers with valuable customer intelligence. These insights not only improve, but also help anticipate futuristic consumer needs and make decisions for them. is currently the buzzword, empowering brands and marketers with valuable customer intelligence. These insights not only improve, but also help anticipate futuristic consumer needs and make decisions for them. e-Retailers can leverage Virtual Reality to provide a transformational, virtual shopping experience, with a touch and feel concept, while doing away with the brick and motor concept. Brands can create personalized customer experiences; bolster customer experience and eliminate the pain points effectively. to provide a transformational, virtual shopping experience, with a touch and feel concept, while doing away with the brick and motor concept. Brands can create personalized customer experiences; bolster customer experience and eliminate the pain points effectively. Chatbots have been touted as the future of customer service; these next gen platforms can serve e-retailers with cost-effective benefits and aid in tasks automations. Chatbots powered by artificial intelligence, are designed to perform specific tasks, where users can interact with via a chat interface. Mobile wallets As the reach of internet continues to grow with brands and consumers gaining digital prominence in the dynamic space, 55 per cent of online sales will be driven by cashless transaction by 2020. Mobile wallet share will double to reach 15 per cent from current 8 per cent. E-commerce is expanding steadily in the country and empowering various e-Retailers to adopt innovative models to cater to the modern age consumer. In a nutshell, backed by favourable demographics, rising incomes, entry of foreign players and the unprecedented rise of smartphones, the long term outlook of the industry looks promising with players constantly innovating to augment a consumers journey. | https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/293462 |
How Will A Complete Shift To Digital New Video Game Software Impact GameStop's Earnings? | GameStop Inc (NYSE:GME) has been facing a decline in sales of late, given the rise of digital downloads. In fact, the company might soon be sold, as some of the private equity companies are willing to buy GameStop, according to a media report. The growth in digital downloads has impacted the companys business model of physical sales. In this note we discuss the impact on GameStops earnings, if all of new video game software sales were to be digital. We have created an interactive dashboard analysis ~ What Will Be The Impact of All New Video Game Software Sales Going Digital On GameStops Earnings. You can adjust several drivers to see the impact on the companys earnings. We assume the physical sales to be 60% of GameStops overall new video game software sales, which translates into $1.4 billion in physical sales. Note that the company also sells digital downloadable content mostly on the day of launch. We analyze a scenario if there is a shift for these physical sales to digital downloads directly from the game publishers, thereby eliminating GameStop as an intermediary. The complete shift to digital is very much a possibility. In fact, some of the analysts have predicted this to happen as early as 2022. To understand the impact of this scenario on earnings, we use the companys overall adjusted net income margin of 6% and 98 million share count to arrive at $0.86 earnings per share that can be attributed to physical sales of new video game software. This is roughly 30% of the companys overall estimated earnings of $2.96 per share for 2019, according to our estimates. Note that GameStop also sells physical pre-owned video game software, which is not accounted for in this calculation. We forecast new video game software sales to decline in mid-high single digits in fiscal 2018, and in low single digits in fiscal 2019. The decline in revenues, and the companys charge related to impairment have impacted the bottom line in the recent quarters. The company also decided to sell its Spring Mobile business in 2018, and reduce its debt, along with focusing on the core video game business. Separately, there have been changes in the companys top management in the recent past. Longtime CEO Paul Raines died in March 2018. He was replaced by Michael Mauler, who left after just three months, and currently Shane Kim is GameStops current CEO. The companys stock price has declined more than 35% in 2018, owing to these factors. However, the share price jumped up over 20% over the last week or so, given the news of interested buyers for GameStop. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2019/01/11/how-will-a-complete-shift-to-digital-new-video-game-software-impact-gamestops-earnings/ |
How Does Trevor James Travel The World Eating For A Living? | As I finished interviewing The Food Ranger, I mentioned that a friend of mine was a massive fan who had done impressions of him in the past. To say that Trevor Jamess entire mood changed is to understate it. He was practically euphoric. The next thing I knew, James, his manager Josh Zimmerman, and I were on the phone with my utterly blindsided friend, who could barely speak from surprise, let alone grace us with his hilarious version of Trevors Canadian drawl. By the end of the phone call, The Food Ranger had invited him to hang out if he ever found himself in Chengdu. That fearless enthusiasm is exactly what has made Trevor James so successful. The Food Ranger, his YouTube channel, is a food and travel show that brings viewers a window into the street food of the world, food that James describes as, "where the soul of authentic and local flavor comes from." His devoted fan base tunes in to watch him eat machete-sized quesadillas in Mexico City, bowls of hand-pulled noodles straight from the pot in Xi'An - even Bedouin-style camel in Dubai. James is just as hyped about an exclusive sushi bar in Tokyo as he is about a fresh loaf of peinirli bread in Greece, and if you offer him a plate of unidentified organ meats with a big enough smile, hes sure to at least take a quick bite. When James was in college he and some friends traveled, "from Hong Kong to Beijing overland, I tasted new food in every city... At that time I couldn't speak any Mandarin, so I ended up just pointing at menus and hoping the food was good, and it was!" It was a transformative experience. He knew he had to come back. Fast forward to 2015. Trevor is living in China, eating as much street food as he can find, he's building a following, visits Istanbul and meets a girl. Everything changed. That girl was Ting Ting, a Guangzhou native with an equal passion for food. They traveled the city together and since she had just quit her job, she went to visit him in Chengdu. Before long, she was his videographer. In the first 6 months of their partnership, James and Ting took the channel, from 10,000 subscribers to almost 100,000. After 3 years we have almost 2.5 million subscribers! Now, they're engaged, and they even made a recent video with both families. The purity of Trevor's enthusiasm is almost jarring. He's excited about being on the road all the time. He's excited about the long lines that develop at businesses he's featured. He's excited about how supportive his fans are, and he shows no signs of slowing down: "It's like every day you can have a new adventure and try new foods, new things, meet new people. Everywhere you go, if you drive, say, 50 kilometers almost across the entire continent of Asia, there will be a new specialty for you to try." Earlier this year, he was humbled by a visit to Hyderabad, where he visited a restaurant making a stew called haleem, "We got into [this] kitchen, you could call it more of a factory, and there were hundreds of these big pots full of pounded wheat and goat meat and spices... It was so hot in there, everyone was working so hard...It was amazing to see and to taste it as well." His channel has allowed him a similar window into the daily lives of food entrepreneurs the world over. Unfortunately, some of his favorite spots are being threatened: "A lot of places that we visit, we see a trend where street food is disappearing. It's seen as something unhygienic, people don't look up to it." But countries like Malaysia and Singapore have established hawker centers, markets that James says feel the same as the stalls he loves, but that are more modern and regulated. He hopes to see more of them so these hyper-regional delicacies he loves can stay intact in the 21st century. Regardless, he's going to keep traveling, keep trying new foods, and keep making videos. And hey, if you find yourself in Chengdu, send him a quick message. You might end up in one of them. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/lizzysaxe/2019/01/11/how-does-trevor-james-travel-the-world-eating-for-a-living/ |
Could a workers rights amendment win Labour backing for Mays deal? | Sign up to LabourLists morning email for everything Labour, every weekday morning. Today is the tenth birthday of LabourList, which launched on 10th January 2009. First edited by Derek Draper, whose dramatic entry and exit from the project remains unrivalled (so far), the site was then under the helm of Alex Smith, Mark Ferguson and Peter Edwards, all of whom contributed brilliant reporting and helped grow this mailing list, which now has over 37,000 subscribers. Ive only been in post less than a year, but hope I have provided some clarity and useful analysis in these interesting times. To mark the occasion, Ive rounded up the most-read comment pieces of the last ten years and made an anniversary survey, where you can quickly offer your views on the last decade of Labour leaders, events and campaigns. Also in celebration of our birthday Im sure, Jeremy Corbyn will make a speech on Brexit in Wakefield, Yorkshire, this morning. The Labour leader is expected to argue that a general election is the best way to break the Brexit deadlock, insisting that a government with a fresh mandate would be able to negotiate a better deal for Britain and secure support for it in parliament and in the country. Corbyn will pair this demand with his take on what really divides the UK: whether youre living in Tottenham or Mansfield (marginal seat klaxon), he will say, youre up against it. The split is not between Leavers and Remains, according to Corbyn, but between the many, who do the work, create the wealth and pay taxes, and the few, who set the rules, reap the rewards and so often dodge taxes. This speech normalises the idea of a general election and effectively communicates it as Labours top priority to the public. It also establishes a narrative that our two irreconcilable electoral camps pro-EU metropolitan seats and Leave-voting marginals that need to be won back have more in common than often assumed during this all-consuming Brexit crisis. More generally, it shifts the focus from Brexit, i.e. tricky ground for the party, to Corbyns comfort zone, which is talking about the need to oppose the entrenched power of a privileged elite. In sum, it works on many levels but Labour still needs to work out a way to actually force that election. The government was defeated for a second time in 24 hours yesterday: the (latest) Grieve amendment forces the Prime Minister, after losing her meaningful vote on Tuesday, to return with a Plan B within three sitting days. (This involved dramatic scenes in the Commons if you missed the afternoons events, read my explainer.) This is crunch time. Most likely to happen over the next week: the deal is voted down; Theresa May secures some assurances from the EU on the backstop; she returns with a slightly modified plan. Unless the backstop is scrapped, the DUP wont be having it. But the government could win support from opposition MPs. Such efforts have already begun: although Gareth Snell wrote a piece for LabourList in November pledging to vote against Mays deal, he has now proposed an amendment with Caroline Flint, Lisa Nandy and John Mann that would guarantee workers rights and environmental protections. It is expected that the government will back this helpful move. And the talk is now of May ultimately conceding on customs union membership. Remember that the only way to get the DUP to vote with Labour in a vote of no confidence is for Mays deal to pass. If a general election is Corbyns first preference, letting a Plan B gain Commons approval could be the next step. Sienna @siennamarla Update, 11am: LabourList has been told by Snells office that the MP still intends to vote against Mays deal, and the amendment relates to the conversation about future domestic legislation not getting her deal passed. Sign up to LabourLists morning email for everything Labour, every weekday morning. | https://labourlist.org/2019/01/could-a-workers-rights-amendment-win-labour-backing-for-mays-deal/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LabourListLatestPosts+%28LabourList%29 |
How enforceable are non-competition clauses? | More and more these days, employees are being asked to sign non-competition and non-solicitation clauses when they get a promotion, a new job or a raise. Employment lawyers like me get consulted often by people who are concerned about the effect that signing these provisions will have on their future if they ever leave the company. Non-competition provisions are clauses that say for a certain period of time you will not work for a competitor in the same market. The Ontario Court of Appeal said a long time ago that for mere employees these provisions are rarely enforceable. The courts will only prohibit you from working for a competitor in exceptional circumstances. I tell most employees that I give non-competition provisions only a five per cent chance of being enforceable. One exception would be if you sold a business and continue working for it and received money for that sale or own a significant amount of shares in the company and are truly a key player. In those cases, a court will not assume that they are unenforceable and the entire situation will be considered by a judge. Non-solicitation provisions are very different. A perfectly written one would prohibit you from contacting clients or potential clients with whom you dealt in the last 12 months of your employment for the purposes of selling a competitive product or service. Those would usually be enforceable and on their face, they are reasonable. An employer who pays you to establish relationships with existing and new clients does not want to see you exploiting those relationships for the benefit of somebody else. The maximum a non-solicitation clause should run for is a year. If it is longer the employer runs the risk of a judge striking the whole provision down for being too long and broad. The idea is that the employer is given a breathing period in which they can have someone else establish new relationships with their clients and potential clients before you start knocking on the door. If you have been in a particular industry for a number of years before getting a job offer with one of these non-solicitation clauses, you should think about negotiating exceptions. If the reality is that you have been selling widgets to Acme Tool Company for 12 years through two other engagements, you already had that relationship before you started the new job. If you get fired three years from now you don't want to have to stay away from a client with whom you have been dealing with for 15 years. You would simply have a sentence added that says, "This non-solicitation clause does not apply to Acme Tool Company." Many employers, notwithstanding that they are hiring you because they know you will bring Acme Tool Company with you, would love to have you sign a contract that if they fire you two weeks after you start they own the client. | https://www.thespec.com/news-story/9121466-how-enforceable-are-non-competition-clauses-/ |
Whats wrong Boogie? | It looks like a little fame can go straight to some peoples head! A good example of that is Sidney Nzala, better known by his stage name, DJ Boogie Sid. Shaya has been following his rants on social media where he takes jabs at local journalists. He is forgetting that the same journalists he is belittling are the ones who made him what he is today. The media gave him mileage even before winning the Sprite Disc jockey national completion in 2005. But today he has changed his tune. Shaya is warning you, dont start a war you cannot finish with the media if you need a professional help just say it. Last year he was complaining of his old picture being used in a story and now this. O kare otla re tlwaela blind. | https://thevoicebw.com/whats-wrong-boogie/ |
How is the Shutdown Going ? | We are now in week three of the partial government shutdown over the refusal of Democrats to fund any of Trumps wall. They see this as another Read My Lips situation which, if they can make Trump back down, it will kill his re-election campaign just as it did to Bush in 1992. But Trumps base takes the wall itself seriously, and, like George H.W. Bushs 1988 campaign pledge on taxes, the wall has become the presidents read my lips albatross. His supporters may not abandon him over it, but Trumps re-election hinges entirely on their enthusiasm. Even Texas Monthly, no friend of Republicans agrees. Jet skis dropping off pregnant women. Chinese border crossers in fancy workout attire. A park full of could-be spies. These sights of the Rio Grande are almost hallucinatory, but they dont seem to alarm Spratte. They seem to fatigue him. Not long ago, he says, agents mouths would drop open when theyd hear about a group of fifty immigrants getting caught. Now, he says, if you tell me, Ive got a group of fifty, I need help, I would laugh at you. If you said, Ive got a group of three hundred, now that would be cool, because that would be a new record. And the records are only going to keep increasing. (According to Spratte, agents in the Valley have had a single pickup of around 280 immigrants.) Trump visited the wall yesterday and CNNs Jim Acosta gave Trump a hand at making his case. I know this might be hard for you to comprehend Jimbo, but the reason why all of Twitter has been mocking you today is because you were at a part of the border WITH A WALL. So yes, of course it was working. Replicate that across the border & well all be safer. #RealNews #ByeBye It did not look too good for Acosta to brag about how safe it was near a wall. OR fence, if you prefer. The Democrat strategy was also questioned by their own side. But that doesnt mean the Democrats wont blow it. The surest way for them to do so would be to keep on their present path of emphasizing that the government must be reopened because of how the shutdown is hurting federal workers. Government employees are not the most sympathetic figures in the present controversy. The shutdown has inconvenienced few citizens as the Obama tactic of trying to inflict as much pain as possible is not in use this time. Then, of course, anything that detracts from the narrative is excluded. KUSI anchors revealed on air that CNN requested, then declined, to use their border reporter after finding out his coverage of a broadly successful San Diego border barrier didnt match their preferred narrative. Whoops ! The final act is yet to open but probably is related to this. The Ninth Circuit once again ruled that the injunction against deporting DACA recipients should stand. This happened before and the Supreme Court had only 8 members at the time, who tied 4 to 4. Now there are 9 Supreme Court justices. In an opinion issued today, a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit upheld a federal district courts order requiring the government to keep the DACA program in place. Although the 9th Circuits ruling went against the government, the decision likely helped the governments cause at the Supreme Court, because the justices rarely grant petitions for review before the courts of appeals have ruled; the justices prefer to have the benefit of those courts opinions, even if they often do not follow them. The challengers response to the governments petition is currently due on December 5. Assuming that the court does not extend that deadline, the justices could announce as soon as mid-January whether they will take up the dispute. The last time this happened, the Democrats were negotiating with Trump. As soon as the ruling was upheld, they stopped. Remember, Obama himself said his DACA ruling was unconstitutional. | https://chicagoboyz.net/archives/58818.html |
Is The Weeknd Firing Shots At Drake In His New Song? | Text RICKEY to 71007 to join the Rickey Smiley Morning Show mobile club for exclusive news. (Terms and conditions). Fans are speculating if The Weeknd and Drake have beef. The singer recently released his new song Lost in the Fire and some of the lyrics might be talking about the rapper. Sign Up For Our Newsletter! Close Thank you for subscribing! Please be sure to open and click your first newsletter so we can confirm your subscription. On the song you can hear The Weeknd sing, I just want to have a baby with the right one. I could never be the one to hide one. This could be referring to Drake hiding his son from the world, but we hope to get more clarity on this situation soon. SEE ALSO: Garys Tea: Keyshia KaOir Spends Six Figures On Diamonds, The Weeknd Being Sued For Starboy & More In other hip hop news, Nick Cannon is getting into a social media battle with several people. He recently had Dame Dash on his podcast show and asked about Jay-Z dating 16-year-old, Foxy Brown back in the day. Dame had no answers to these questions and 50 Cent made fun of both Dame as well as Cannon. Headkrack talked about a movie called Death of a Dynasty, which was allegedly loosely based on stories about Dame and Jay-Z. See photos of The Weeknds hair below! ALSO TRENDING ON RICKEYSMILEYMORNINGSHOW.COM: 21 Pictures Of The Weeknds Hair (PHOTOS) 20 photos Launch gallery 21 Pictures Of The Weeknds Hair (PHOTOS) 1. Baby Weeknd With A Boosie Fade Source: 1 of 20 2. Middle Finger To The Law Source: 2 of 20 3. Throwback Tresses Source: 3 of 20 4. Hat Hair Source: 4 of 20 5. Stylin & Profilin Source: 5 of 20 6. One Pony Source: 6 of 20 7. Five Ponies Source: 7 of 20 8. Four Ponies Source: 8 of 20 9. High Top Source: 9 of 20 10. The Weeknd Ties His Own Shoes Source: 10 of 20 11. Bicken Back Source: 11 of 20 12. But First, Let Me Take A Selfie Source: 12 of 20 13. Hair & Hoodies Source: 13 of 20 14. Chillin. Source: 14 of 20 15. Diggin The Fade Source: 15 of 20 16. What A Creation Source: 16 of 20 17. Dreaded Silhouette Source: 17 of 20 18. Black & White Source: 18 of 20 19. Branch Off Source: 19 of 20 20. Hey Abel! was originally published on rickeysmileymorningshow.com | https://hotspotatl.com/3742419/is-the-weeknd-firing-shots-at-drake-in-his-new-song/ |
Did speaking Spanish get a cook fired from Davis restaurant? | Francisca Perez came to Osteria Fasulo, a high-end Italian restaurant in Davis Village Homes subdivision, searching for a job in 2007. She had years of kitchen experience in Mexico but minimal English skills, having crossed the United States southern border four years prior. Perez told The Bee in an interview that Leonardo Fasulo told her in Spanish not to worry. She could start cooking that day if she wanted. Perez worked at Osteria Fasulo for 11 years, making dishes such as braised rabbit stew with polenta for some of Davis wealthiest diners until May 31, 2018. During the dinner rush that night, Fasulo allegedly overheard her take an order from waitress Janet Ruelas-Nava in Spanish. Digital Access for only $0.99 For the most comprehensive local coverage, subscribe today. For that, Perez alleged, Fasulo screamed at her, pounded a table, mockingly asked if she wanted him to add burritos to the menu and told her she needed to learn English to keep her job all in front of her 11-year-old son, who had just walked in. She allegedly snapped back at him, saying he was discriminating against Mexicans despite them supporting his kitchen. Then, she said, Fasulo told her, You can get your ass out of my restaurant. The Center For Workers Rights, a Sacramento-based legal services nonprofit for low-wage workers, filed a complaint on Perezs behalf with the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing on Tuesday. Though the DFEH rejected a California Public Records Act request for a copy of the complaint, citing a policy against releasing active case details, the Center for Workers Rights provided The Bee with a copy of what it says was filed with the state agency. The complaint alleges Perez was unduly fired for speaking Spanish and is still owed her final paycheck. The complaint includes a signed statement from the waitress, Ruelas-Nava, backing Perezs recollection and explaining why she also quit that same day. When questioned outside his restaurant in December, Fasulo denied commanding Perez to speak English. He said Perez is not owed a final paycheck and said she quit of her own accord, then declined to comment further. His attorney, Matthew B. Smith, also declined to comment after multiple attempts to contact him through calls and emails. Perez worked sunup to sundown at restaurants in the Mexican state of Campeche, bringing home just 500 pesos (about $50 at the time) every two weeks, she said. She immigrated to Davis in 2003 with a 3-year-old, and had two more sons after she arrived. Her middle child, 11-year-old Kenneth Lucas Perez, was in the restaurant on her last day. I just saw him yell, at my mom, a bunch of stuff, and my mom was crying but also getting angry at the same time, Kenneth said in an interview. He was saying something about changing the menu to Mexican food, and then he stopped yelling and looked at me. Fasulo had already been arguing with other employees when Ruelas-Nava, a UC Davis student, started her shift around 4:30 p.m., according to the servers statement in the complaint. Ruelas-Navas former boss, whom she described as impulsive and aggressive, berated her after overhearing her conversation with Perez around 6:30, Ruela-Nava said. Fasulo commanded Ruelas-Nava to speak English in the restaurant, saying she didnt travel thousands of miles not to speak the language of her new nation, she said. She told him she was a U.S. citizen and had a right to speak Spanish, and he reportedly moved onto Perez. When Ruelas-Navas shift ended around 9:30 p.m., she walked into Fasulos office and quit. I told him that this was my last day and I was not going to come back, Ruelas-Nava said in her statement. Mr. Fasulo got angry again and we started arguing. After the argument, Mr. Fasulo came out of his office and gave me my final check. He knew that the reason I was quitting because of his behavior and his English only statements. Immigrants both legal and undocumented make up 31 percent of Americas cooks, per the Pew Research Center. The California Fair Employment and Housing Act prohibits workplace discrimination on the basis of native language or accent. Employers can institute language requirements on rare occasions for positions communicating with customers or workplaces with high risk of injury. Though Perez regularly responded to commands from chef Marcello Fasulo Leonardos son in English, three of the five kitchen employees spoke Spanish to each other, she said. She described her English comprehension as OK and chose to be interviewed for this story through an interpreter. Leonardo Fasulo was born in Argentina, per California voter records, but said he grew up in the Piedmont region of Northern Italy in a 2004 interview with The Sacramento Bee. He managed an upscale Italian restaurant in San Francisco before opening Osteria Fasulo, where the Plumshire Inn once stood, in 2003. Fasulo previously owned Il Posto in downtown Sacramento from 2005-06 with his then-wife, Mina. A registered Republican, he decorated Il Posto with portraits of government officials. According to a 2005 article in The Bee, Fasulo made small waves by sending back the drawing of Arnold Schwarzenegger, saying it needed to be bigger to fit with the second-floor Governors Dining Room. The Department of Fair Employment and Housing will interview Perez to corroborate her story before further investigating. Perez isnt in a rush to get back to a kitchen, she said. She has a custodial job in Sacramento, closer to her home. She also doesnt regret speaking out, despite the upheaval shes experienced as a result. Watching (Kenneth) cry was enough for (me) to say, My son doesnt need to experience this situation, Perez said. I was scared, but I believe we have rights and need to speak up against employers that are trying to humiliate us and treat us bad. | https://www.sacbee.com/food-drink/restaurants/article222580425.html |
What is the March Madness selection committee? | The NCAA Mens Division I Basketball Committee often known simply as the Selection Committee plays one of the most important rolls in the NCAA tournament. RELATED: What is March Madness: The NCAA tournament explained To understand exactly what the committee does, lets take a step back and look at how men's basketball teams are selected for the NCAA tournament. There are two ways that a team can earn a bid to the NCAA tournament. The 32 Division I conferences all receive an automatic bid, which they each award to the team that wins the postseason conference tournament. Regardless of how a team performed during the regular season, if they are eligible for postseason play and win their conference tournament's championship game, they receive a bid to the NCAA tournament. These teams are known as automatic qualifiers. The second avenue for an invitation is an at-large bid. The selection committee convenes on Selection Sunday, after every regular season and conference tournament game is played, and decides which 36 teams that are not automatic qualifiers have the pedigree to earn an invitation to the tournament. There are a multitude of stats and rankings that the selection committee takes into account from NET rankings (which replace the RPI this year) to strength of schedule but there is no set formula that determines whether a team receives an at-large bid or not. Selection Sunday is the day when the selection committee reveals the full NCAA tournament bracket, including all teams and all seeds. In 2019, Selection Sunday is on Sunday, March 17. The 10-member NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Committee is responsible for selecting, seeding and bracketing the field for the NCAA Tournament. School and conference administrators are nominated by their conference. Those who are selected serve five-year terms and represent a cross-section of the Division I membership. Currently, the chair of the committee is Bernard Muir, the director of athletics at Stanford. There are rules in place to avoid any conflict of interest in the selection process. Any committee member that represents a specific conference cannot be in the room when teams from that conference are being discussed, and they are not allowed to vote for teams from their conference. The same applies to school representatives, who cannot discuss or vote for their own schools. November The committee gathers and begins discussions for the upcoming basketball season. Conferences are divided among committee members so they can focus on monitoring assigned teams throughout the season. Committee members, with the exception of the chair, have approximately seven conferences each for which they serve as the primary or secondary monitor. RELATED: March Madness 2019 dates and schedule Mid-February The committee heads to Indianapolis a month before the real selection to go through a selection orientation process, which includes a scaled-down selection and seeding process, as well as a bracketing exercise. This helps new committee members get a feel for what will happen in March. 2019 is the third year for the March Madness Bracket Preview show. This preview will reveal the committees picks for the top 16 seeds, identifying the top four teams in each region as they stand before the February meeting. Tuesday Before Selection Sunday The committee arrives in New York City for the beginning of the selection process. For the next five days, the 10 committee members will cast hundreds of ballots and engage in debate over dozens of teams until the final bracket of 68 tournament teams is released on Selection Sunday. | https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2019-01-11/what-march-madness-selection-committee |
Who was Meera Sanyal? | Meera Sanyal, a noted banker-turned-politician, passed away at 57 on Friday after battling cancer for a brief period. Sanyal joined AAP in 2013. Before venturing into activism and politics, Sanyal had been at the helm of Royal Bank of Scotland serving as its CEO and chairperson. She was also a noted figure in the economic circles and was awarded as Philanthropist of the Year by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) in 2011. Advertising Prior to joining AAP, Sanyal contested as an independent candidate from Mumbai in the Lok Sabha elections of 2009. She also contested in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, representing AAP from Mumbai South constituency. Her 30-year-old banking career came to a halt after she chose to plunge into political activism. Sanyal frequently expressed her views about the inability of the established Indian political class in solving the countrys problems. Her stint as an activist was most pronounced during her legal battle against Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) in 2014. Sanyal, through her petition, shed light on the mishandling of coal imports by MbPT in Mumbais Haji Bunder port area. She pointed out that the area spread across 25 acres was facing environmental and health threats due to negligence on the part of MbPT. As a vocal critic of Modi governments demonetisation exercise, Sanyal also authored a book entitled The Big Reverse: How Demonetization Knocked India Out. | https://indianexpress.com/article/who-is/meera-sanyal-aap-leader-mumbai-port-trust-5534330/ |
Whats so scary about Huawei? | For many of us, the conflict over Huawei isnt easy to grasp. Weve never heard of the company before now, and were not sure what it does, or what the stakes are. Heres one place to start. Huawei is Chinas biggest private company. It now sells more phones than Apple, and is second only to Samsung. It is the largest manufacturer of telecommunications equipment in the world. It is the flagship for Chinas aspirations to global technology leadership. And its a company which employees described to the New York Times as having a wolf culture a place with aggressive tactics where workers were encouraged to bend certain rules. The trouble is that if you hang around with wolves you might get hurt. Story continues below advertisement This is the context for the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, at the request of the United States, for allegedly violating U.S. trade sanctions against Iran. The arrest is perfectly legal, but wretchedly timed. It is just the latest skirmish in a much bigger battle between China and the United States to determine technological dominance. To many Chinese, who regard Huawei as a national champion, the move is a terrible snub to their global aspirations. Its as if the Chinese were to detain Sheryl Sandberg. The new competition is not in trade but technology, said Janice Stein, the Belzberg Professor of Conflict Management at the University of Toronto in an interview. China is already a global competitor in 5G the next generation of technology that will increase operating speeds by a factor of a thousand, and enable the next great age of innovation. Tomorrows challenge is whos got access to the largest amount of data in the cheapest and fastest way. Access to big data at scale will be the most important driver of innovation, growth and wealth. Ottawa is in the midst of an anguished process to decide whether to bar Huawei from Canadas 5G networks. The pressure do to so comes from our intelligence agency and from our partners in the Five Eyes network Britain, Australia, New Zealand and the United States, where Huawei has been shut out everywhere but Britain on national security grounds. A victory here gives Huawei a valuable calling card elsewhere. On the other side are a range of commercial interests, including Telus and Bell, which have a billion dollars invested in Huawei equipment that they dont want to rip out. Canadian resource and manufacturing companies are increasingly dependent on Chinas growing number of middle-class consumers. Canadas universities have a lot at stake as well. Chinese students make up a third of their foreign enrolment, and contribute about $5-billion in total revenues to Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau once naively dreamed of a free-trade deal with China that would make us rich, advance the cause of human rights and reduce Canadas dependence on the U.S. economy. But now, he faces the prospect of painful trade retaliation from China if we kick Huawei out. And if we dont, he faces the wrath of his own spy chiefs and those of the United States. U.S. intelligence chiefs have already advised that people should not be buying Huawei phones. The last thing Mr. Trudeau wants to do is stir the wrath of China to the point where it damages our long-term economic interests. The government is looking to continue its commercial relationship with China even as it makes decisions on national security. The trouble is that Huawei is obligated under Chinas national intelligence law to take instructions from the government on issues of national security (although it denies vociferously that it is, in essence, an agent of the Chinese state). Its work is just as vital to Chinas national interest as the massive Belt and Road initiative thats designed to project Chinese power and influence around the world. And the potential risks it could pose to both business and security are not just spooky paranoia. Story continues below advertisement Story continues below advertisement Imagine that someone could gain access to your cellphone and suck up all your personal data in an instant. Its not so far-fetched. Plainly said: There is state-sponsored espionage in Canada, CSIS director David Vigneault warned in a speech last month. In the blink of an eye, the companys technology is accessed, its products are reverse engineered, and a foreign competitor starts selling the same technology worldwide at a much cheaper price, he went on. We have to be mindful that hostile states will use any means to recruit people, project their influence, and gain access to our proprietary information. Welcome to the new Cold War, where the weapons are technology and information instead of tanks. As Prof. Stein predicts, The United States and China are competing to reborder the world." Technology platforms will be drawing the borders. | https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-whats-so-scary-about-huawei/ |
Who is Hull City target Matthew Connolly and what could he offer the Tigers? | Get Hull City updates directly to your inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email It seems Hull City are on the verge of making their first signing of the January transfer window. Nigel Adkins confirmed that the Tigers were close to announcing a deal for a Premier League defender and hopes to have the paperwork completed by Monday. That defender is understood to be Cardiff City centre-back Matthew Connolly. Connolly is thought to be keen on a move to the KCOM Stadium this month and as the Tigers attempt to make a push towards the top six, Adkins is keen to ensure the defender will be the first of two or three more additions. Born in Barnet, Connolly was brought up through the prestigious Arsenal academy and showed early promise, captaining the young Gunners before making his senior debut in a League Cup win over West Bromwich Albion in 2006. Loan moves to Bournemouth and Colchester United materialised before he was sold to QPR after failing to make a league appearance for his boyhood club in 2008. Connolly spent four years at Loftus Road, playing regularly in the Championship but was loaned out to Reading before Cardiff City paid 500,000 in 2012 for the defender, where he remains to this day. (Image: Getty) The defender is predominantly a centre-back, but throughout his career he has been known to play in either full-back position and at 62 he is a towering figure at the back. With over 300 career appearance to his name, experience is not something the 31-year-old is short of and 272 of those have come in the second tier. Throughout his career Connolly has been known as a steady centre-back in the Championship and has been promoted to the Premier League on five occasions, twice with Cardiff City and at QPR, Reading and Watford, where he spent a brief loan spell in 2015. (Image: Getty) However, despite his success in the second tier, he has never quite cut it as a Premier League footballer and is yet to make an appearance in the league this season under Neil Warnock. The short answer would be for game time. As mentioned above, Connolly hasnt featured in the top flight this season for the Bluebirds and he made just four appearances in their promotion-winning campaign last time around. As such, with his contract expiring in the summer he has been told he can leave Cardiff this month by Warnock. Having seen Tommy Elphick recalled by Aston Villa at the end of December, Nigel Adkins is not only short on options at the back but also experience and Connolly ticks both those boxes. He would be expected to push Reece Burke and Jordy de Wijs, a partnership that has overseen two Championship clean sheets in a row, hard for a spot in the starting XI. Should the defender join the Tigers the head coach will undoubtedly be looking to utilise his vast experience in the clubs bid to claim a top six spot. | https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/football/who-hull-city-target-matthew-2420568 |
Will the Real Ted Voorhies Please Stand Up? | Obsessive FrontBurnians: this one is for you. At the end of June 2016, a little over a month after I started working at D Magazine, I received an email from an individual who self-identified as Ted Voorhies. (Despite my request, he has yet to confirm his identity.) Through a roundabout device that may or may not be true, he claimed to forward an email from a friend or acquaintance named Charles who, under the subject line Why lesbians provide D with efficient diversity, laid out the argument that my hire as a gay white woman made me the magazines diversity Triple Crown for the purpose of advertising dollars. [takes a swig of lukewarm coffee and starts sucking on a CBD gummy] There is more to the email, but for todays purposes I will quote Charles conclusion: Lesbians are in fact a threefer for D. A woman. LGBT (the leading L). And a direct appeal a central progressive minority community with high disposable income. And, finally, not only non-threatening in both functions as female and gay but also the stuff of subliminal sexual fantasies of no doubt a number of both female and male readers alike, from college women to bored, aging Park Cities house wives to most all but religiously conservative men. So a lesbian becomes the ideal face of superficial D diversity, one with an exceptionally high relative benefit to cost ratio. I would take issue with that bit about religiously conservative men, but whatevs. The email ended with a statement from Ted and what appeared to be a question to the cabal: Thats quite the fanciful hypothesis, Charles. Ted never forwarded any responses, and so I forgot about him until I received a second email more than two years later, just after Christmas. In this new email, Ted asks the cabal to submit the best FrontBurner post of 2018. Following that was what appeared to be a forwarded response from a guy named Jared (perhaps aka Charles aka Ted). And I quote: Ted, I believe this year we have what may be a transcendent FrontBurner post, one that now defines the New Dallas the way teased hair and fake breasts the size of cantaloupes once defined the Old. It comes to us from one Mrs. S. Holland Murphy, formerly some sort of back office functionary at one of the department store chains and noted to date only for writing about her own breasts and abandoning her child briefly at some entertainment venue. But this one, entitled Merry Christmas To Whoever Found My $400, becomes a leap far, far beyond, and not necessarily in the manner you might imagine. I submit that it represents no less than the quintessential Dallas we now inhabit and does so with a remarkable efficiency. [Note to Jared: it appears you are not aware that in addition to helping advise her former employer about how to provide much-needed breastfeeding spaces for nursing women, Holland has also recently written exceptional profiles of a mermaid and a cat, both of which provide insight into the current state of American politics. But back to you.] Jared then proceeds to provide an annotated paragraph-by-paragraph analysis of Hollands post, most of which is the equivalent of a grown man (which Im guessing Jared is) attempting to imitate the voice of a 12-year-old girl (which I know Holland is not). But the closing sentence is worth framing: So there you have it, Ted and friends, our New Dallas in a nutshell: passive-aggressive Millennial power plays swimming in nouveau riche arriviste telegraphy, all firmly packed into a twee Christmas shell with the liberal use of a 20 oz. storytelling hammer. I must applaud you, sir. Please submit your votes in the usual manner. Dont be such a tease, Ted! I replied twice to ask which FrontBurner post actually won. Tim Rogers Patented Season-Starting Super Awesome Good Mavericks Basketball Analysis?) But Ted never sent me a tally. So it is up to you, the unidentified cabal. Please submit your votes in the usual manner, and then repeat them in the comments below. Help us hone our storytelling hammers in the year to come. | https://www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/2019/01/will-the-real-ted-voorhies-please-stand-up/ |
Could Santa Monicas e-scooter mania take hold in Toronto? | When first arriving in Santa Monica, the city seems like a vision of the future depicted in Sci-Fi films, with people zipping about on electric scooters in the California sun. One of the companies behind the scooters, Bird, has recently begun lobbying Toronto city councillors and the mayors office, so this future may be on its way to Toronto and other Canadian cities. A sidewalk is dotted with e-Scooters in the Santa Monica and Venice Beach areas of Los Angeles County. ( Shawn Micallef / For the Toronto Star ) Recently I rode a scooter in Santa Monica, a city dubbed The E-Scooter Capital of the World as there are multiple start-up companies populating the oceanside citys sidewalks. City administrators there have been willing to pilot them while other jurisdictions have not. I downloaded the app for Lime, one brand of scooters, but I could have also used my Uber or Lyft apps as those ride-hailing companies have also started providing e-scooters. Once registered, the app provides a map showing the nearest scooters and how much farther they can go before running out of power. When first stepping on one it doesnt start by simply squeezing the throttle: it requires a little push with your leg before the motor starts. Its like a reminder that able-bodied people can get around on their own power, as weve done forever. When the motor does kick in it really zips. Article Continued Below Since riders stand upright on scooters the closest equivalent might be standing on an escalator or moving sidewalk, but those move much slower. With top speeds of around 23 kilometres per hour, the speed is substantial so theres volatility to riding them, though that feeling probably fades with more experience. The scooter wheels are quite small though and I felt all the bumps even though Santa Monica streets, free of salt and snowploughs, are quite smooth. As any cyclist knows, Toronto streets are often jarring, with potholes that can sprain wrists and streetcar tracks that can catch even a conscientious rider at the wrong angle, so the experience here will be quite different. Toronto skateboarders seem to manage all right but theyre a hearty bunch and, most importantly, self-propelled. With e-scooters a lot of casual riders will be on these motorized devices. Predictably, in some places scooters are being piloted, injuries are way up. As a mobility device, I cant envision many older folks using them, or anybody even a little nervous about moving around quickly while standing upright. Admittedly I did feel a little old riding one as theres something infantilizing about these scooters, perhaps because they look so much like the kind kids ride. This is a subjective feeling of course, perhaps as wrong as opponents of bicycles who say they are just for kids. Santa Monica has some rules for scooters that include no sidewalk riding and a requirement for helmets, though there was much flaunting of them. Even when theyre not moving, you see the scooters everywhere. Sometimes theyre lined up orderly on the sidewalk inside painted boxes the city has reserved for them. More often than not though theyre haphazardly parked on sidewalks, sometimes lying on their sides in a pile with others. Occasionally, theyre in bushes and on lawns. At one point I saw a man leave his battery-depleted scooter on the wheelchair ramp that led down to the beach in a place that would prove troublesome for anybody trying to use the ramp for its intended purpose. Any random person can also easily move a locked scooter, so keeping them corralled will be difficult. Article Continued Below This is where the futuristic feeling of the scooters gives way to annoyance at all the clutter. With a few exceptions, Toronto has notoriously narrow sidewalks so its easy to envision e-scooters immediately blocking them here. Theres also the unseen issue of how the scooters are charged up. Like with Uber or food delivery companies, theres an army of contract workers who collect depleted scooters in their car, take them home, charge them up and return them to designated spots. Though there are reports of it being a lucrative part-time job for high school students, its yet another aspect of the precarious gig economy that is marketed as urban infrastructure. Our streets and sidewalks here are already so crowded that another mode of transportation vying for the scarce real estate seems destined for problems. Walking is community and built-in exercise, but human nature will usually pick the easier way to get around. Those who do walk also face the prospect of people moving much faster than them sharing the same or nearby space. Finding a balance for e-scooters in the city will be a challenge. Shawn Micallef is a Toronto-based writer and a freelance contributor for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @shawnmicallef | https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/01/11/could-santa-monicas-e-scooter-mania-take-hold-in-toronto.html |
Why Did Cody Parkey Go on the Today Show? | Cody Parkey went on the Today Show this morning, and it feels a lot bit too soon when you consider how raw the feelings are still for Bears fans (which Im not, but whom I live amongst in Chicago). Here was the spot: Obviously, kicking is a lot harder than everyone thinks. Katie Nolan did a bit where people who crushed kickers on social media tried to make field goals, and it went as horribly as youd expect. Yes, the Bears offense shouldve gotten into the endzone, the defense didnt get a stop at the end, and the kick was tipped. Parkey was a pro in facing reporters after the game, and he laments in the Today Show video about how he let Bears fans and his teammates down, but its a disservice to Bears fans for him to go on national television this week. You can say that they dont have to watch it and this is true but if they went on social media yesterday when the appearance was announced and/or today when reaction was happening they were treated to a fresh round of having the double-doink shoved in their face. He should have the self-awareness to spare them of that. (This is where dissenters will say its only a game and point to how Parkey has the proper perspective that being a football player is what he does but not define him, to which I would say hes being paid millions of dollars because of those fans passions and the very least he could do in this situation is lay low and avoid any inference, fair or unfair, that hes capitalizing on their pain.) The Bears are stuck in an unenviable situation with Parkey. Its not like this was a trustworthy kicker who missed one late in the season. He struggled all year, and theyre on the hook for millions of dollars in guaranteed money for him. Nevertheless, from the outside looking in youd have to think they need to treat that as a sunk cost and not bring the bad juju back for another year. Its been nothing but trouble since the team parted with Robbie Gould. On Thursday, I discussed the topic with Jarrett Payton and Josh Frydman on CLTVs SportsFeed in Chicago: | https://thebiglead.com/2019/01/11/why-did-cody-parkey-go-on-the-today-show/ |
Whats The Risk Of Getting A Disease From A Used Needle? | ASSOCIATED PRESS More than 3,700 people signed a petition requesting safe syringe disposal boxes in Starbucks bathrooms, citing fears about contracting injecting diseases like HIV, hepatitis C and hepatitis B. Starbucks employees are worried about the danger of being stuck with used syringes discarded in store bathrooms. More than 3,700 people had signed a petition requesting safe syringe disposal in the stores bathrooms as of Friday. The petition cited fear of exposure to infectious diseases like HIV, hepatitis C and hepatitis B, should a Starbucks employee accidentally come in contact with a used needle while cleaning the bathroom or emptying the trash something multiple employees have reported happening. Starbucks installed safe syringe disposal boxes in all of its Seattle stores last year, and is now responding to employee concerns by exploring rolling them out to more locations. At the end of the day, we want to make sure that our partners are safe, Starbucks spokesperson Reggie Borges said. I dont think this is a problem unique to Starbucks, he added. I think a lot of retail business are dealing with this. Dr. Alysse Wurcel, an attending infectious disease physician at Tufts Medical Center, praised the needle-disposal box rollout, saying she absolutely thinks there should be needle boxes in the stores bathrooms. The people working at Starbucks didnt go into this job thinking of these health exposure risks, said Wurcel, whose job includes responding to alerts that a patient might have been exposed to an infectious disease from a discarded needle. While the boxes will undoubtedly help Starbucks employees to feel safer at work, health experts say the risk of contracting those diseases from an accidental needle poke is low. In medical school, we were taught that its the law of threes, said Dr. Joshua Barocas, an assistant professor at the Boston University School of Medicine. An unvaccinated person who is stuck with a contaminated syringe would have a 30 percent chance of contracting hepatitis B, a 3 percent chance of contracting hepatitis C and a 0.3 percent chance of contracting HIV, he explained. And even those figures come with caveats, Barocas noted. HIV notoriously does not survive outside of the body for very long, he said. It doesnt hang out on needles. Hepatitis C virus, which is about 10 times more infectious than HIV, survives longer outside of the body. In the case of either virus, however, immediate exposure to a contaminated syringe from sharing needles while injecting drugs, for example poses a greater risk than coming in contact with a needle thats been sitting in a trash can. The law of threes estimates are based on hospital needlestick data where the blood is fresh, said Robert Heimer, a professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health. Unlike when intravenous drug users share needles, the average person wont immediately come in contact with a discarded syringe. There is no measurable risk, Heimer concluded about encountering a used needle in a coffee shop bathroom long after it was discarded. While infectious HIV and [hepatitis C] can be recovered from inside the barrel of syringe, the amount on the outside is minuscule, he said. Even if there is any, the virus is likely to be quickly inactivated. Its sad that we have to have people injecting in bathrooms. Its a symptom of a larger problem. Dr. Alysse Wurcel, an attending infectious disease physician at Tufts Medical Center Minuscule or not, Dan Ciccarone, professor of family and community medicine at the University of California, San Francisco said he thinks the risk of accidental exposure is real. Ciccarone said he was concerned about both hepatitis C and HIV at a population level, noting that accidents happen along the way. The only argument against [sharps boxes] is that HIV and hepatitis C are under control, he said. Thats not necessarily the case. New hepatitis C cases more than tripled between 2010 and 2016, with an estimated 41,000 new cases occurring in 2016 alone. Most of those new infections were linked to injection drug use, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And HIV outbreaks linked to injection drug use in Massachusetts last year and in Scott County, Indiana, a few years prior, are signs that HIV still has the potential to return in places where risk factors like injection drug use, fentanyl prevalence and lack of health services align. Barocas stressed the value of sharps containers in making workers feel protected by their employers. If an employee feels like this is a safety issue, then there is no downside, he said. Beyond immediate concerns about employee safety, the wider public health context of used needles in retail bathrooms is that people who use drugs are turning to Starbucks because they dont have a safe place to inject or dispose of used needles. Its sad that we have to have people injecting in bathrooms, Wurcel said. Its a symptom of a larger problem. In general, if someone is accidentally pricked by a needle, they should go to the emergency department or call their doctor to assess their risk of infection. Depending on the situation, a health care professional can help determine whether further treatment, like testing or post-exposure medication, is needed. For used needles spotted on the ground, people should call public works or the police department about proper disposal, or the facility management of whatever space they are in. | https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/used-needle-disease-risk_us_5c376e3ce4b045f67689c2ae |
How does Felix Tshisekedi's poll victory in DR Congo add up? | Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Joy and dismay at DR Congo election results Felix Tshisekedi has been named as the provisional winner of presidential elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a historic victory for an opposition leader. But questions have been raised about the accuracy of the results amid accusations of a power-sharing deal with outgoing President Joseph Kabila. The electoral commission said Mr Tshisekedi had received 38.5% of the vote on 30 December, compared to 34.7% for Martin Fayulu, another opposition figure. Ruling coalition candidate Emmanuel Shadary took 23.8%. Those raising doubts about the results include the French and Belgian governments and country's influential Catholic Church. Image copyright Reuters Image caption Felix Tshisekedi leads DR Congo's largest opposition party, founded by his late father in 1982 The Catholic Church, through the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (Cenco), reported that the results, announced in the early hours of Thursday morning, did not match its findings. But Cenco, which said it had 40,000 election observers who had visited all 75,000 polling stations, has not released its data. Three diplomats speaking anonymously to the Reuters news agency said the Church's tallies showed that Mr Fayulu had won. Opinion polls always need to be treated with caution - even more so in a country where the political climate is volatile. But African politics expert Pierre Englebert says data from opinion polls conducted before the 30 December election show the official results were "highly implausible". "The probability Tshisekedi could have scored 38% in a free election is less than 0.0000," he wrote in an article for online magazine African Arguments, pointing to polling data by Berci and Ipsos for the Congo Research Group. He said the data predicted: A 95% chance that Mr Tshisekedi would get somewhere between 21.3% and 25% of the vote Mr Fayulu would have obtained between 39% and 43% of the vote Mr Shadary would get between 14% and 17.4%. Mr Englebert acknowledged that opinion polls could be wrong, saying the official results could be correct if turnout was as high as 90% in Mr Tshisekedi's strongholds and really low, around 30%, in Mr Fayulu's strongholds. But he argued that this was extremely unlikely. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Controversial e-voting machines were used for the first time There are many ways to rig an election. Academic Nic Cheeseman, who has written a book on how to do just this, told the BBC that if the election was rigged it probably happened during the collation of the results. He said very few people would have to be involved in this. "It's very easy. You can have a small number of people in a central office who release the result. "You can have one person just adding a 1,000 votes to one candidate and subtracting 1,000 from another on an Excel spreadsheet." He said the risk of fraud was normally avoided by observers tabulating the results in parallel. That did take place, but we do not have the data. Throughout the election campaign, the use of electronic voting machines was a major source of contention. Voters used the tablet-like devices to select candidates, and then it printed their ballot paper with their choices. The machines were also meant to keep an electronic tally to help verify the results. But Mr Englebert says that in the days following the vote, election observers reported that some of these machines went missing. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The Catholic Church organised one of the main election observer missions The observers were prohibited by law from releasing their findings before the electoral commission had announced the official results. It is not clear whether the law applies after the official announcement. But the Catholic Church knows from the experience of past crackdowns that leading people on to the streets can have tragic consequences - and the ruling coalition has warned against "preparing the population for insurrection". Sverine Autesserre, author of the book The Trouble with Congo, says the Congolese police have been brutal in their dealings with protesters in the past. She told the BBC that if the Church, whose followers make up about 40% of the country's 80 million population, were to announce that Mr Fayulu had won - the consequences could be dire. Image copyright AFP Image caption Riot police are out in force in some opposition strongholds of the capital, Kinshasa "You would have huge, violent protests. You would have riots," she told the BBC. "The police would crackdown on the protesters and that would result in a lot of deaths." On Friday, Catholic bishops urged the UN Security Council to put pressure on the Congolese electoral commission to publish the full results from each polling station. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Polling was postponed until March in three areas but these people in Beni queued for a symbolic vote Yes, according Mr Englebert. The election has been postponed until March in three areas: Beni and Butembo in eastern North Kivu province and Yumbi in the west of the country. An Ebola outbreak and insecurity were given as the reasons for the delay. That amounted to more than 1.7 million voters, more than the number of votes separating the leading candidates. Some of the those disenfranchised were in Mr Fayulu's strongholds, he says. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Martin Fayulu's supporters may still see his defeat overturned Mr Fayulu has vowed to challenge the result in the Constitutional Court. Candidates must file an appeal within 48 hours of the announcement of the provisional results. Judges then have seven days to deliberate. Constitutional expert Jacques Ndjoli told the BBC that there were three possible outcomes: The court could confirm Mr Tshisekedi's victory It could order a recount Or cancel the results altogether and call fresh elections. International pressure to resolve the dispute may play a role but members of the UN Security Council are split. Countries like Belgium and France believe there has been fraud but Chinese and Russian diplomats have stressed that DR Congo's sovereignty and the authority of the electoral commission must be respected. Corneille Nangaa, head of the electoral commission, has defended the results and accused Cenco of bias. He told the Security Council about the difficulties the commission had overcome to register 40 million voters for the vote that had taken place amid relative calm, and noted the huge achievement made by those resisting attempts to allow Mr Kabila to run for a third term. He urged the international community to support the new leader, reminding the Council that for first time in nearly 60 years there would now be a transfer of power at the highest level. A full breakdown of votes would be released if the Constitutional Court requested it, he said. The court has never overturned results before, and some think most of its judges are close to the ruling party. Mr Tshisekedi, the leader of largest opposition party which had faced repression at the hands of the Kabila regime, has denied the allegations of rigging. If he is confirmed as the winner, he can be expected to be inaugurated within 10 days. | https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-46839291 |
What influences Gladstone school leaver choices? | NEW data released by the Department of Education shows 84 per cent of Gladstone's high school graduates opted to seek further education or training. Out of those who decided to continue with study, 28 per cent of students have elected to study a Certificate III in TAFE, which is double the state average of 14 per cent. CQUniversity pro-vice-chancellor Peter Heilbuth said the nature of industry in the region was driving the demand for vocational education. "For example, as local and international demand for Australian oil and gas continues to strengthen, this drives local Gladstone employer demand for new apprentices in these and related industries, Mr Heilbuth said. "In many ways, demand for education and training is a 'weather-vane' for the wellbeing of our regional towns and communities. Fifty-three per cent of Gladstone's high school graduates opted to study a bachelor's degree at university, which is below the state average of 67 per cent. The most popular course was engineering - indicative of Gladstone's role as an industry hub. When broken down by gender, males are the largest group opting to study engineering, with most females choosing to study a health course. However, one Gladstone student has decided to go against the trend. Kailee Butcher received an OP 3 in the recent round of result releases. She told The Observer last month that she was hoping to study a dual degree in engineering and computer science at the University of Queensland in Brisbane. "It's something I've always been interested in, Ms Butcher said. "I think it's important that women are represented especially in (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) fields. Ms Butcher was a prefect for STEM in her final year at Rockhampton Girls Grammar. "It's something that's always been very important to me, she said. "I think engineering, especially computer-based engineering, is a real need in the future. Ms Butcher is one of six girls in the Gladstone Region who opted to study a STEM course. Across the state, 1357 girls elected to study courses in the field, which accounts for 5 per cent of total Year 12 graduates, and 11 per cent of female graduates. For other students who are not going to university or TAFE, 74 elected to take an apprenticeship and 26 took up traineeships. CQUniversity is holding a TAFE Careers Expo at the City Campus on January 23 from 2-5.30pm. | https://www.gladstoneobserver.com.au/news/what-influences-gladstone-school-leaver-choices/3620603/ |
Could Stephen Anderson Be Patriots Secret Weapon Vs. Chargers In Playoffs? | FOXBORO, Mass. The New England Patriots and Los Angeles Chargers both added tight ends to their respective 53-man rosters ahead of their divisional-round playoff matchup Sunday at Gillette Stadium. The Chargers activated Hunter Henry, whod spent the entire season on the physically unable to perform list after tearing his ACL in the preseason. The Patriots promoted Stephen Anderson, whod been languishing on the practice squad since before Week 1. Hunter, one of the NFLs better pass-catching tight ends, certainly was the more high-profile addition, but the 25-year-old Anderson could be an under-the-radar contributor for New England. Despite his lengthy stint on New Englands practice squad, Anderson has considerable NFL experience, playing in 28 games for the Houston Texans over the previous two seasons. He appeared in 15 games for Houston in 2017, catching 25 passes for 342 yards and a touchdown. It was tough, Anderson said Friday. It was tough playing for two years and starting my last five games in Houston and having a pretty decent season, I would say, and then coming here and, in a way, starting over and having to start from the bottom. But when I got cut and I was trying to figure out a place to go, I wanted to continue to get better and continue to compete and continue to work hard every single day, and this was the perfect place, because we work hard every single day, it has a history of great tight ends and its just an organization thats going to go far, and thats what I wanted to be a part of. So even though I had to take a step back, I dont think that my skills have diminished. I think Ive gotten better with the reps Ive been able to get on the practice squad. Though he naturally would have preferred to be playing in games for the Patriots, Anderson was able to add new wrinkles to his game as he portrayed opposing tight ends on the scout team each week. He also studied film of former Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, whose name, he said, often is mentioned on the practice field. The first person was Eric Ebron when we played Indy (in Week 5), Anderson said. The way they use him, hes a tight end, but they can use him as a receiver. I think (Chris) Herndon from the Jets, they use him in kind of that tight end/receiver role. And looking at old tape, I did go back and look at Aaron Hernandez. I hear great things about him, and I had to see it for myself, because not everyone gets to see him in practice, and I always hear about him in practice, so I definitely took a look at him. All of it, he explained. I could tell you that Ebron at the top of the route, hes something at the top of the route. Aaron Hernandez off the line. I think a lot of the great tight ends, like even Jordan Reed, he kind incorporates basketball with that. So Ive been trying to use that and just learning. Thats the whole thing Ive been gaining this season Ive been learning a lot. At 6-foot-2, 230 pounds, Anderson is a move tight end who could bring the Patriots the type of pass-catching ability they expected to get from Jacob Hollister this season. Hollister impressed in training camp but dealt with myriad injuries before finally being placed on injured reserve this week, with Anderson taking his spot on the 53-man roster. I think Im a true hybrid, Anderson said. Im probably not going to move a D-tackle, but Ill be able to get in there. I feel like blocking is just half attitude, and then the other half is technique, so being able to get in there and complete my blocking assignments. Then running routes, Im pretty confident against linebackers, and safeties and corners, I think I can get open against them, too. So just a true hybrid. My dad used to use the term when I was younger, Swiss army knife, so I can do a little bit of everything. Hollister and No. 2 tight end Dwayne Allen whos been used almost exclusively as a blocker since joining the Patriots in 2017 combined for just seven catches for 79 yards and no touchdowns during the regular season, giving New England little production behind starter Rob Gronkowski, whose numbers also diminished. Theres no guarantee Anderson even will be active against the Chargers, but if he is, hes confident he can make an impact. Absolutely, he said. Ive been learning throughout the season. Ive been gaining confidence. Ive been improving my technique, my skills, and I think if I get a shot, then Ill be ready. Thumbnail photo via Reinhold Matay/USA TODAY Sports Images | https://nesn.com/2019/01/could-stephen-anderson-be-patriots-secret-weapon-vs-chargers-in-playoffs/ |
What's on mobile TV today? | There are a number of mobile TV services available in the UK today - all you'll need is a 3G phone Mobile TV is still an emerging concept. But there are already a number of options if you're interested in watching video on your mobile. Here's our run-down of the best services. All you need to sign up is a 3G-equipped phone such as the Nokia N95, the Sony Ericsson K850i, or the Samsung SGH-U700V. Mobile operator 3 offers a mobile TV package with content split into 18 'channels', priced at 5 per month or 49p per day. The package includes free-to-air content from the BBC and ITV, plus programming from the more niche channels, including Paramount and National Geographic. There's an electronic programme guide (EPG) to guide you to the best stuff, and you can bookmark your favourite shows. There are also free, video clip-based products that are supported by advertising. Clips from shows such as the X Factor and The Apprentice are free, provided you enter your personal details and receive targeted adverts. This service has so far attracted some 1 million users, Lucy Goodman, head of television partnerships at 3, told us. "But as popular as the services are, mobile TV is not at the top of our agenda at the moment," Goodman added. "Until decisions have been made on standards and spectrums, our key focus at the moment is on mobile broadband and getting HSDPA access rolled out properly." Orange offers a range of content on its own mobile TV service. Available for 10 per month, you can keep up with streamed news from ITN, sport from British Eurosport, new music from the likes of Kiss and Kerrang, and general TV shows from Bravo, Channel 4 Mobile, FHM TV among others. There's also a video clip service with thousands of videos on offer. If you've signed up to the Mix 2, Family or Music packs, you'll receive free videos that update regularly as part of your subscription. Subscribing to Sky Sky offers a subscription service offering a mix of live and on-demand content. The works across all platforms, and offers a wide range of content - including sports - from around 30 of its channels. Around 200,000 people currently subscribe to Sky's mobile TV packages. "Mobile TV is a continuing part of our TV offering, and we'll commission content especially for mobile TV as well as for traditional broadcasts," said Sheila Cassells, head of economic policy at BSkyB. "The crucial thing is that the programming must look just like normal TV, otherwise people won't watch it. People have very high expectations in terms of quality when it comes to mobile TV." Switching over to T-Mobile T-Mobile offers a mobile TV service aimed primarily at sports fans. After signing up, you'll be able to watch footage from up to 92 live Barclays Premier league football matches whilst on the move. The services offer a range of news, music and entertainment channels included in four different packages. T-Mobile TV, featuring mainly news and entertainment content, is available for 1 per day or 3.50 per month. Sky Mobile TV News & Sports, Sky Mobile TV Entertainment, and Sky Mobile TV Music all cost 5 per month. T-Mobile's mobile TV channels include live and channels specifically made for mobile channels, which include a mix of short episode highlights, full episodes and pre-recorded shows. Turning on Vodafone Vodafone has teamed up with Sky to bring live TV direct to your 3G mobile, including programmes aired on Sky One, MTV and Cartoon Network. There's a live stream of Sky News but most channels have been designed specifically for this mobile service. The service doesn't feature any full-length movies but you'll get previews, movie news and top 10 listings. The service costs 5 per channel pack (three are available), or there's a value pack with all three for 10 per month. The first month is free of charge. One of the newest initiatives, 24/7 Football, is a cross-operator subscription service (costing 5 per month) backed by Sky Sports, The Sun and the News of the World. Your 5 buys you a service where you can often see the goals whilst the match is still underway (not for 3pm Saturday kick-offs though); get highlights from the game after the final whistle; plus previews, roundups and archive footage. | https://www.techradar.com/au/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/what-s-on-mobile-tv-today-155924 |
How did Replicas end up in theaters instead of on VOD? | This weekend, a new science fiction thriller starring Keanu Reeves opens on more than 2,000 movie screens nationwide. This wont seem unusual to moviegoers old enough to remember the 1990s and the 2000s, when science fiction thrillers starring Keanu Reeves regularly showed up in wide release. But it will seem unusual to anyone who sees Replicas, and wonders how a D-grade picture scored both Reeves and a broad theatrical distribution deal, even in the cinematic dead zone of January. These days, plenty of D-grade pictures featuring big-name actors of the 90s and 00s are produced quickly and cheaply for the streaming market. Just ask Bruce Willis, Nicolas Cage, or John Cusack. With so many avenues of distribution, it can be tricky to determine what merits a wide release, what gets a limited run in a few regional bookings, and what goes straight to the rental market. Reeves is now at the center of a mystery: last summer, he starred in Destination Wedding, a moderately charming small-scale romantic comedy with Winona Ryder. It received an extremely limited token theatrical release, simultaneous with a VOD debut, and just a few weeks after an even more obscure Reeves-starring romance called Siberia. Neither Reeves nor Ryder are the draws they once were, but Reeves has a successful film franchise with the John Wick series, Ryder has a successful TV franchise with Stranger Things, and there arent very many romantic comedies for adults in theaters these days. Destination Wedding wasnt a hit in wide release its trailers hid the fact that its a real two-hander, in that no one else in the movie speaks besides Reeves and Ryder but it deserved better than an obscure late-summer burial. Replicas is getting a quiet burial, too, as a January release that wasnt shown to the press before it arrived in theaters on Thursday night. But its still a 2,000-screen launch, and my Thursday-night showing was reasonably well-attended. The small crowd was presumably drawn in by Reeves name and a pretty neat, creepy science fiction premise: a lead researcher at a biotech firm suffers a tragedy when his wife and three children are killed in a car accident, and he impulsively decides to try cloning them. Though hes been attempting to map neural data from recently deceased donor bodies onto a synthetic brain in a robotic shell, he convinces his right-hand man (Silicon Valleys Thomas Middleditch) to help him map his familys data into new, organically cloned bodies. The surprising, sometimes fascinating, and often frustrating thing about Replicas is how fast this all happens, and yet how methodical the process is. The family is dead and gone within 15 minutes of screen time, but the actual clones dont wake up for around an hour. Director Jeffrey Nachmanoff (Traitor, Hollywood Palms) and writers Chad St. John and Stephen Hamel imagine many complications that would ensue from an impulsive decision to secretly clone someones entire deceased family including a heartbreaking decision when the scientists realize they only have enough resources for three out of four family members. Then they imagine haphazard, often stupid ways to solve these problems. Sometimes this has interesting, disturbing parallels to the process of covering up a murder, at least how that process appears in the movies. Sometimes and as the movie goes on, more often it feels as if the filmmakers are making it all up as they go along, just as the Reeves character is, trying to write themselves out of a corner in a screenplay that turns out to be all corners. The result is a movie that, as many will doubtlessly point out, feels like a clone itself. It physically resembles a science fiction thriller from a movie studio (albeit a cheap one), and it has a star and character actors in the right places. Yet something is eerily off, especially with the performances and screenplay. Alice Eve has been fine in past projects, including as Carol Marcus in Star Trek Into Darkness, and the enviably perfect social-media star Naomi in Black Mirrors Nosedive episode. But here, she plays Reeves wife with such a clumsy approximation of normal human behavior that every line she speaks sounds hastily redubbed, and her re-emergence as a clone betrays no additional unease. It was all there from the start. You cant keep bringing people back from the dead until you work this stuff out, she tells her husband early on, as if chiding him for leaving dishes in the sink. The utter stupidity of Replicas sometimes makes it feel almost daring. It goes to some dark, counterintuitive places out of a seeming obliviousness to both what science fiction audiences might want to see, and how actual people might behave. Most movies, even bad ones, are improved by a theatrical viewing. But while the movie-length simulation that is Replicas is more convincing at a multiplex, preceded by trailers for real movies and accompanied by the smell of popcorn, it would probably benefit from the lack of scrutiny afforded certain streaming titles. Watched with one eye on a device or household chores, Replicas might come across more like the second-tier Twilight Zone episode it is at heart. Replicas was acquired at the Toronto Film Festival back in 2017, with a trailer finally appearing this past fall. Its distributor is Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures, which sounds like a fake studio name made up by a particularly musty 1980s comedy. But parent company Entertainment Studios is actually about 25 years old, founded by comedian Byron Allen as a distributor of syndicated TV shows. It only recently made its way into theatrical distribution. The companys movie strategy seems similar to that of the upstart studio STX: it acquires the kind of low-to-mid-budget genre exercises that their bigger counterparts have de-emphasized in favor of massive tentpoles. So far, some of its releases resemble mockbusters, direct-to-streaming titles designed to cash in on popular theatrical releases from bigger studios. Entertainment Studios shark thriller 47 Meters Down came out a year after The Shallows, on virtually the same release date, and was almost presented as a de facto sequel. (A trailer for a 47 Meters sequel accompanies some prints of Replicas.) The companys Friend Request came out in between Unfriended movies. Even in this realm, Replicas has more of a throwback feel, like a mockbuster recently exhumed from a 20-year time capsule. Also in the movies corner: producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura, who can boast a long working relationship with Reeves. As a Warner Bros. executive, he helped get The Matrix off the ground, and later produced Constantine. If he was nostalgic for a time when Reeves vehicles commanded lower budgets and worse scripts, Replicas should give him a fix. Poor audience members may only feel disoriented, as the line between A-movie, B-movie, and D-list embarrassment continues to futuristically blur. | https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/11/18178716/replicas-review-keanu-reeves-alice-eve-cloning-science-fiction-film |
How will Android support work in Windows 10 for Phones? | When Windows 10 for Phones launches later in the year, you'll be able to run Android apps on phones and small tablets (but not on a Surface, notebook or desktop PC). They'll run on an Android subsystem that's likely to be based on KitKat (using the same hooks once used to put a POSIX subsystem in Windows NT). "We believe we'll have decent compatibility because this is AOSP," Microsoft's Kevin Gallo told TechRadar Pro. But this doesn't mean any Android app will run and there are things they won't be able to do. "We replace the Android services with our own," said Gallo. "We are running them in our own container conceptually we are running them as a universal app so we use a middleware layer for translating APIs across but they still run in the Windows app security model." That will improve performance and battery life over Android, he suggests. "Apps are not running in the background and there are some changes made so they behave like a well-behaved app." Standard platform capabilities will be redirected to the Windows equivalents that's the file system, contact and photo integration, camera, sensors and network connections. Microsoft not Google services You'll get apps from the Windows Store rather than from Google Play, and they won't use Google services instead developers will be able to switch to using Microsoft Ads and App Insights instead of Google Ads and Google Analytics, the Windows notification service instead of Android push notifications, Bing Maps and the Windows location services instead of Google Maps, Xbox Live services instead of Google Play services (and any other services Microsoft is able to add to Project Astoria before launch), with "zero or very little modification" by developers. If they want to add features like live tiles, they'll need to do more work though. Not all Android apps will work well this way. "Messaging apps and those that have deep integration into background tasks will probably have issues running," Gallo told us, "and it also comes down to [where they have good] performance". But then, he pointed out, "not every app works in every Android distribution." Gallo and other Microsoft executives are keen to emphasise that bringing Android apps to Windows 10 for Phones isn't the only way they're trying to bring developers and their apps to Windows 10. There's also the ability to wrap Win32 and Silverlight apps in the App-V container or to bundle up a website as an app (complete with API calls to add Windows 10 features) and distribute those through the Windows Store and iOS developers can bring an Xcode project into Visual Studio and share source code between an iOS and Windows app. With the Project Astoria SDK Microsoft ported this sample Timber app from Android to Windows 10 for Phones, complete with map and sharing integration Power of Project Islandwood The Project Islandwood SDK for iOS developers is actually more powerful than the Project Astoria option for Android developers (even though Microsoft says Android developers get to reuse more of their code than iOS developers), since they get full access to the Windows 10 APIs, and what developers will be creating are universal Windows apps that can run on phones, tablets, desktops and potentially Xbox and HoloLens. Apps that start out as Android code run in the universal app container for security but they stay as Android APK packages and will only run on phones and small tablets, because it's only Windows 10 for Phones that has the Android subsystem (at least this year). When we asked why Microsoft hadn't taken the same approach for both projects, we were told that the iOS approach would have had technical challenges for Android, and that this avoided potential legal concerns about the runtime. (As to why Microsoft is targeting Objective-C rather than Swift, "there's a whole lot of code written in Objective-C," Gallo told us, "but we'll look at Swift.") And of course there are the billion Windows 10 users Microsoft is hoping to get. "Reach is a fundamental piece," Gallo told us. "Then we've got to make sure we have a rich customer target for developers. We think we are on target to have a rich ecosystem where developers will have their apps used and monetised, and that we will have experiences that are unique to Windows. We think we will have engaged customers, which is something they can't get elsewhere an engaged customer you can market to and you can reason over is the customer everyone wants." | https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/software/applications/how-will-android-support-work-in-windows-10-mobile-1293295 |
Is Nike de zondebok? | Effectief is de Deense Eurocommissaris Margrethe Vestager zeker, met haar aanpak van belastingontwijkende multinationals. Hoewel het aantal onderzoeken van de Europese Commissie op dit terrein nog op de vingers van twee handen zijn te tellen, zal niemand ontgaan zijn dat Starbucks, Amazon en Apple miljoenen en soms zelfs miljarden aan oneigenlijk verkregen belastingvoordeel moeten terugbetalen. Het debat over belastingontwijking door multinationals wordt in alle lidstaten van de Europese Unie volop gevoerd. Lees verder na de advertentie In Nederland niet in het minst. Nu Vestager ook een onderzoek begint naar de belastingafspraken met sportfabrikant Nike, en met een lopend onderzoek naar woonwinkelgigant Ikea, hebben Nederland en Luxemburg de twijfelachtige eer de meeste staatssteunzaken aan hun broek te hebben. Het publiek ziet het eventueel terug te vorderen belastingvoordeel als een boete, een straf voor belastingontwijking, maar dat is het niet Anna Gunn, Universiteit Leiden Selectieve handhaving Toch wringt de aanpak van Vestager enigszins, omdat zij selectief te werk lijkt te gaan. Zoals Nike via Nederland de belasting ontwijkt, zijn er waarschijnlijk tientallen anderen die exact hetzelfde doen. Kun je er dan n uitpikken en die als zondebok presenteren, om als voorbeeld te dienen voor al die anderen?, vraagt Anna Gunn zich af. Gunn promoveert aan de Universiteit Leiden op de Europese staatssteunregels en volgt de zaken die de Commissie uitkiest op de voet. Begrijp me niet verkeerd, als ik Vestager was zou ik precies hetzelfde doen. Het werkt immers, het is heel effectief, zegt Gunn. Maar de selectieve handhaving van de staatssteunregels roept ook vragen op. Het maakt het systeem ongeloofwaardig, want de handhaving is inconsistent. Daar staat tegenover dat de Commissie natuurlijk niet alle bedrijven kan onderzoeken, daarvoor is volstrekt onvoldoende capaciteit. Paradise Papers Die beperkte slagkracht zorgt ervoor dat de Commissie afhankelijk is van wat er onder haar aandacht wordt gebracht, denkt Jan Vleggeert, universitair hoofddocent belastingrecht aan de Universiteit Leiden. Starbucks kwam onder vuur in het Britse parlement, Ikea werd door zowel onderzoeksjournalisten als de Europese Groenen onderzocht op zijn fiscale structuren. De Commissie bevestigde gisteren dat de keuze om Nike te gaan onderzoeken is gemaakt naar aanleiding van publicaties van de onderzoeksjournalisten van ICIJ, waaronder Trouw, in het kader van de Paradise Papers. Vanuit de Commissie gezien kan de aanpak begrijpelijk zijn, maar de betrokken bedrijven zullen dat anders ervaren, denkt Gunn. Het publiek ziet het eventueel terug te vorderen belastingvoordeel als een boete, een straf voor belastingontwijking. Maar dat is het niet, het gaat erom dat alle bedrijven gelijk behandeld worden. De reputatieschade is dan groot voor n bedrijf, en het is niet eens gezegd dat er nadien wel sprake is van een gelijk speelveld, waar het allemaal om te doen is. De andere bedrijven zijn immers niet onderzocht. Hoge royaltys In het geval van Nike vermoedt de Commissie dat Nederland de winst te laag heeft vastgesteld, door hoge royaltybetalingen aan andere Nike-bedrijven toe te staan. Bijna ondoenlijk, concludeert Vleggeert. Het gaat om verrekenprijzen die voor ieder bedrijf weer anders zijn. Je kunt bijna niet anders dan die op bedrijfsniveau onderzoeken als daar aanleiding toe is. Dan loop je al snel tegen capaciteitsproblemen aan als Commissie. Volgens Gunn is het tijd voor een meer fundamentele aanpak van staatssteun. Door in te zetten op zaken met een hoge attentiewaarde en veel publieke ophef haalt de Commissie de krenten uit de pap, maar ondergraaft daarmee op lange termijn het vertrouwen in de staatssteunregels als zodanig. De Europese Commissie is een onderzoek gestart naar belastingafspraken tussen Nederland en Nike. | https://www.trouw.nl/home/is-nike-de-zondebok-~a95a4f3e/ |
Which Liverpool stars are unavailable for Jurgen Klopp for Brighton match? | Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp denies their FA Cup exit has given them an advantage over Premier League title rivals Manchester City and Tottenham. Defeat to Wolves on Monday left the league leaders with a run of five matches - against Brighton, Crystal Palace, Leicester, West Ham and Bournemouth - before the Champions League last-16 encounter with Bayern Munich in February. By comparison, City and Spurs are both still in four competitions and have Carabao Cup semi-final second legs and FA Cup fourth-round ties to play within that time. But Klopp said: "There's no advantage, we will see it. It's not even a month and then we talk again completely differently. It's just the situation. "Other teams played more games, they are still in competitions, but they can deal with it, you can see it. "We could deal with it as well with the right number of players, that's how it is, but that's all. There's no advantage, we have to use the time. "I would love to still be in these competitions but we are not in. I know Pep (Guardiola) said already that he prefers to be in four competitions." Liverpool team news vs Brighton Virgil van Dijk will return for Liverpool after missing Monday's FA Cup defeat at Wolves, but the Reds remain short of centre-back options. Dejan Lovren is out with a hamstring injury and Joe Gomez is still unavailable, so Fabinho could again play in central defence. Joel Matip has returned to training following a fractured collarbone and will be monitored, as will midfielder Jordan Henderson, who has been nursing a calf issue. A host of key players rested against Wolves are expected to be recalled to the starting line-up. | https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1070884/Liverpool-team-news-vs-Brighton-Jurgen-Klopp-Virgil-van-Dijk?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+daily-express-sport-news+%28Daily+Express+%3A%3A+Sport+Feed%29 |
Why Does My Fiance See Ads for Things I've Shopped For? | Photo: StockSnap (Pixabay) In this weeks tech-advice column at Lifehacker, Im tackling the internets greatest annoyance. Not screaming YouTube influencers or people who are better than you at FortniteIm talking about targeted ads. A Lifehacker reader wonders if everything he does is tracked and advertised back to himor to his loved ones. Ill let John explain: Lately Ive been noticing that my fianc is getting targeted ads on her phone that are based on my browsing habits. For example, when I was looking at wedding rings a couple months ago on my laptop, she started seeing ads for the sites I visited on her Facebook and Instagram. Lately Ive been researching cars because Im going to need a new one of those soon, and sure enough she has started seeing car ads on her social media now. I deleted my Facebook and Instagram accounts a couple years ago, and Ive tried to turn off every form of targeted advertising through Google. This feels like a big invasion of my privacy and really bothers me. Further, Im worried at some point I might be shopping for a present for her and Facebook will start showing her ads for my gift and ruin the surprise. If Im going to get targeted ads, at least I want them to be directed to my laptop and phone, and not to every device using our wifi router. Ive considered starting to just permanently browse in incognito mode, but that seems like an extreme solution. Advertisement This is a fun onethe question, that is. The issue isnt fun for you, John, nor anyone who has to deal with the ever-present problem of advertising and tracking around the web. First, to answer your question, Im going to start with the obvious comment. If youve used your fiances phone or computer to do any browsing for anything, then theres a chance that will show up in her advertising around the web. It doesnt take very much, I feel; I often notice that a site or series of products I looked at a day before suddenly appear all over the damn place when Im on Lifehacker. (And Im on Lifehacker a lot.) Assuming youve kept your devices separate from one another, its also possible that various advertising trackers (or the services you use) are taking note of your location and/or IP address. For example, any other devices that use the same external IP address (like everything on your routers wifi connection, for example) will all appear to come from the same household, and its that household that an advertiser will targetunder the false assumption that its you with a bunch of devices, rather than a bunch of people using different devices. Advertisement You probably care less about why this tracking is happening to you and more about how you might be able to stop it. First, Id incorporate some browser extensions that will automatically disable most advertising tracking (via annoying cookies) while you browse the web. UBlock Origin comes to mind, as does Privacy Badger. Use those two, and you should be pretty well-protected. Second, you could try turning on any Do Not Track settings your browser might have. Websites and advertisers dont have to obey this, but it doesnt hurt. You can also visit the Digital Advertising Alliance and Network Advertising Initiative and opt out of a bunch of trackers. Again, Im not sure how comprehensive this will beI cant promise that which you browse for will never be accidentally advertised to those in your housebut every little bit helps. Advertisement Screenshot: David Murphy If youre determined to not have your secrets spilled to others, you can always try browsing in incognito mode, as you note. Or you could use a separate browser that has all cookies turned off (or deletes them every time you close the browser), or a more privacy-centric browser like Firefox Focus or Epic Browser. You could also try going into various servicesGoogle, Facebook, etc.and turning off any settings for personalized, interest-based, or location-based advertising. And dont forget to reset your advertising IDan option buried within the Ads section of Androids Google settings menu, or the Privacy section of iOSs Settings app. Perform these same steps on your fiances devices, toowith her permission, of course. Or you could just have her read this article. Together, you two will hopefully get advertising and tracking under control as best you can, but as youve seen, theres a lot you have to do to keep on top of these annoyances. Let me know in the comments. | https://lifehacker.com/why-does-my-fiance-see-ads-for-things-ive-shopped-for-1831647090 |
Was denkt das Wahlvolk? | Politik hat ganz viel mit unserem Leben zu tun, findet Carolina Plescia. Doch es habe eine Weile gedauert, bis sie das erkannt habe. Wie viele andere Menschen auch habe ich mich lange Zeit nicht besonders dafr interessiert, sagt sie. Dann wurde mir klar, dass wir alle tagtglich von politischen Entscheidungen betroffen sind, wenn wir nicht gerade auf einer einsamen Insel wohnen. Die Politikwissenschaft wurde ihr Beruf und ihre Leidenschaft. 2013 hat die Sditalienerin am Trinity College in Dublin zum Wahlverhalten in Mischwahlsystemen dissertiert, anschlieend kam sie als Postdoc an die Fakultt fr Sozialwissenschaften der Uni Wien. Aktuell forscht sie dort am Institut fr Staatswissenschaft. Wechselwhler im Visier Die Regierungsform und das Wahlsystem prgen die Regeln einer Gesellschaft, erklrt die 34-Jhrige. Und wie Menschen in einem liberalen demokratischen Land ihre parlamentarischen Vertreter whlen, kann sehr unterschiedlich sein. Plescia untersucht die Verbindung zwischen den politischen Institutionen und den Einstellungen der Brger. Deren Meinungen und Prferenzen, speziell in Bezug auf Wahlen, sind der Fokus ihrer Arbeit. Meine Arbeitsgrundlage sind Daten aus Meinungsumfragen, kombiniert mit detaillierten Interviews von Whlern. Wie wichtig empirische Daten wie etwa Wahlumfragen fr die Politikwissenschaft und das Verstndnis gesellschaftlicher Zusammenhnge sind, habe sie an der Universitt Essex gelernt. Dort, in England, hat sie nach dem Bachelorstudium in Bologna einen Teil ihrer Masterarbeit verfasst. Schon in Bologna haben mich einige Professoren inspiriert, erinnert sich Plescia. Die Initialzndung fr eine wissenschaftliche Karriere hat dann aber mein Doktorvater am Trinity College in Dublin gegeben. Er habe ihr bewusst gemacht, wie erfllend die Forschung sein knne, wenn man hart genug arbeite und den ntigen Wissensdurst mitbringe. Wenn Politiker nachgeben Seit Oktober arbeitet Plescia an einem durch das Hertha-Firnberg-Programm des Wissenschaftsfonds FWF gefrderten Projekt zu den Folgen von Koalitionskompromissen fr die ffentliche Meinung. Obwohl es fr parlamentarische Demokratien mageblich ist, dass gewhlte Parteien in der Lage sind, Koalitionsregierungen zu bilden, lehnen immer mehr Menschen die notwendigerweise damit verbundenen Kompromisse ab, so Plescia. Ein sterreichisches Beispiel sei das Rauchverbot. Mit dem Nachgeben der VP gegenber der FP in dieser Sache waren viele Menschen unzufrieden. Derartige Regierungsprogramme wolle sie nun hinsichtlich der Whlerzustimmung zu den Verhandlungsergebnissen unter die Lupe nehmen. Die Erkenntnisse des auf drei Jahre angelegten Projekts sollen zur Debatte um die Schwierigkeiten heutiger reprsentativer Demokratien beitragen. Als Forscherin und Lehrende ist es Plescia wichtig, auch eigene Vorstellungen von Politik und Gesellschaftsnormen immer wieder zu hinterfragen. Dazu rege ich meine Studierenden grundstzlich an. Das Institut fr Staatswissenschaft sei in seiner kulturellen Vielfalt ein guter Ort fr den Blick ber den Tellerrand. Auch das Leben in Wien liebt die Forscherin, die selbst aus einem wunderschnen Stdtchen zwischen Adria und Apennin stammt, wo sie immer wieder gern auftankt. Zum Glck ist mein damaliger Freund und heutiger Mann mitgekommen und konnte hier seine Doktorandenerfahrung als Softwareingenieur einbringen. Wien ist unsere zweite Heimat geworden. ZUR PERSON Carolina Plescia (34) hat in Bologna (Italien) und Essex (Grobritannien) Politikwissenschaft studiert. 2013 promovierte sie am Trinity College in Dublin (Irland), ihre Doktorarbeit wurde 2014 mit dem Jean-Blondel-Preis des ECPR ausgezeichnet. Sie forscht u. a. zu vergleichendem Wahlverhalten. Seit 2013 ist sie Postdoc an der Fakultt fr Sozialwissenschaften der Uni Wien, seit 2016 am dortigen Institut fr Staatswissenschaft. Alle Beitrge unter: www.diepresse.com/jungeforschung ("Die Presse", Print-Ausgabe, 12.01.2019) | https://diepresse.com/home/science/dissertation/5559532/Was-denkt-das-Wahlvolk?from=rss |
What Are The Pros And Cons Of Heating With Wood? | In the winter, Coco and Emmet Moseley keep their farmhouse cozy and warm with an antique wood stove and Coco is wondering about the benefits and drawbacks of their heat source. Editor's note: As always, we recommend listening to the audio! The Moseleys live at the end of a dead-end road in Lincoln, surrounded by the Green Mountain National Forest. They have a horse, a rooster, a 5-week-old baby, and 135 acres of woods. They spend the year managing and logging their property, and in the winter, they burn the fruits of their labor: six cords. Coco brought her curiosity to Brave Little State, VPRs people-powered journalism project. Every month we answer a question about Vermont thats been submitted and voted on by you, our audience. And then what are the costs to that?" Coco continues: I assume that theres of course some positives to not relying on fossil fuels. But what else is part of the story here? Its a brave question for someone so enamored of her wood stove. And Coco isnt alone: According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Vermont has the highest percentage of primary residences that heat with wood. And for wood heat aficionados, many benefits of the heat source are self-evident: The toastiness of the fire, the glow of the flame. The romance of stacking wood, and the good old Yankee pleasure of working with a fuel that heats you twice. (Or three times, or however many times you have to schlep it around.) Youve got free heat. But there are cons, too. Well get to those. Subscribe to Brave Little State for free, and never miss an episode: Loading... Economic & environmental benefits As far as the benefits of wood heat go, you couldnt find a more enthusiastic proponent than Emma Hanson. We can feel great about heating with wood, says Emma, who works as the wood energy coordinator at the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. Wood fuel is great, because in Vermont where we're blessed with 78 percent forested landscape it is our local, renewable, sustainable resource, she adds. Emma can tick off sparkly statistics about heating with wood like its her job because it is. My favorite thing to point out when I'm talking about wood heat in Vermont is that when Vermonters heat with fossil fuel, 78 cents of every dollar leaves the state, she says. Whereas when we heat with locally sourced wood, the inverse of that is true. So all that money stays right here in our communities, creating jobs for our neighbors, retaining local wealth. It's all those fuzzy, feel-good things you get when you buy produce from the farmers market, same idea. Emma has stickers on her laptop that say Local Wood, Local Good and Buy Local, Burn Local. She says in addition to keeping money in the Vermont economy, heating with wood is almost always cheaper. While the price of fossil fuels go up and down, you see wood fuels just sort of happily chugging along with the price of inflation, really predictably and really affordably, she says. So those are two big economic benefits. As for the environmental benefits, obviously, when you burn wood youre not burning fossil fuel. Unfortunately it does have some environmental drawbacks, which well get to later on. But as far as the state of Vermont is concerned, wood heat is one of the keys to meeting our goals around renewable energy. The states Comprehensive Energy Plan has an overall goal of reaching 90 percent renewable energy by 2050; within that is a goal to obtain 35 percent of our thermal energy needs from wood heat by 2030. (According to Emma Hanson, were currently at about 21 percent.) This brings us to another environmental benefit that Emma talked about. Pretty much every presentation I give, I point out that I work for the Department of Forest Parks and Recreation, Emma says. And the reason the Department of Forest Parks and Recreation has a vested interest in burning more trees which can kind of catch people by surprise. Why would you be interested in that? And it's because of forest health. _ It might seem counter-intuitive, but Emma says that the best way to take care of Vermonts forests is to log them. Sustainably. Because if you dont if theres not a strong logging industry the forests might not always be forests. Vermonters love our landscape and love it looking the way it looks, Emma says. And most of the forest here is privately owned, and so in order for that to work, those landowners need to be able to make that small amount of income, to have those healthy markets for both the high- and low-grade wood from their land. High- and low-grade wood. These are important categories in forestry. High-grade wood is what carpenters use for two-by-fours, flooring and the like. Low-grade is is for cordwood or wood chips. Or, in our area, traditionally [low-grade wood] would go to the paper mills, and the paper mills have really struggled in recent years, which has been really hard, Emma says. Thats because without a demand for both types of wood high-grade and low-grade people who own forest land cant get as much value out of it. Which means theyre more likely to develop it. And it might just be 5 acres here and 5 acres there. But that's when you start to see the smaller parcels, Emma says, referencing forest fragmentation. And according to a Harvard study that came out almost two years ago now, Vermont is losing 15,00 acres of forest a year to rural and suburban development. And that's what we're concerned about. Talkin' loggin' To get a better sense of what sustainable forestry looks like, we head to a logging job. On a snowy morning in the Mount Mansfield State Forest, in a valley behind Smugglers Notch ski area, we met up with Jordan Pratt and his father Don, a veteran logger. Jordans business, Pratts Forest Management, has a contract with the state to log here. Unfortunately the men arent logging on the day of our visit, because theres rain in the forecast, and their skid tracks arent frozen in. But Jordan explains the basic concept of selective timber management: If you go into a section like this, and youve got a lot of old-growth timber, take some of it out, leave some of it to grow. Take some of your younger generation thats not growing into good stuff, use that mainly for your firewood or chipwood, and try and use every bit of it you can. Paul Frederick, who also joined the conversation, compares the practice to weeding a garden. Paul works with Emma Hanson, as the states wood utilization & wood energy program leader. You want to harvest some of your vegetables, but you want to make sure that youre pulling the weeds as well, Paul says. [So] that low-grade material is sort of the weeds, and theres only just so much sunlight to go around in a forested stand, and letting the better quality wood have that sunlight helps it grow a little faster and a little better. The state sets conditions that loggers have to agree to if they want to log on state lands; if you dont follow best practices, you can get shut down. Pratts Forest Management has a good relationship with the state and thanks to growing demand for firewood, Jordan Pratt says the business is in good shape, too. Nowadays we pull a lot more low-grade [wood] than we do high-grade wood, he says. And as far as forest management and local jobs go, thats a good thing. I think this market, the firewood market, has helped a lot of loggers survive, Don Pratt says. It got to the point to where, [loggers would ask] Do we go to work today? Your older generation pretty well creamed most of the high-grade logs, as far as I was concerned. There was no market for firewood. They couldnt make a living off it, Jordan adds. Nowadays, its, for us, our firewood is more what we make most our money on. Don hypothesizes that the younger generation is having an impact, too, with their energy choices. They just dont want to see coal being burned, oil being burned. If its not renewable, dont do it, he says. Its just like watching all these solar panels going up. Its no different. I think this is just the beginning of it. Inside an automated woodchip boiler plant Its not just individuals who have grown more interested in wood heat. Institutions have too, including Goddard College in Plainfield. The college was built on a 200-year-old farm, and most of the buildings here are antique. But up one snowy gravel road is a big, brand new building. The siding looks fresh from a lumber yard, and smoke billows out of the chimney. Inside is a large, state-of-the-art woodchip boiler plant. It opened at the end of the year. Its single furnace heats 21 of Goddards 23 heated buildings. Until recently, Scott Blanchard was Goddard Colleges facilities director. He recently took a job with Messersmith, the Michigan company that manufactured this boiler. Scott spent the last decade at Goddard, making this plant a reality. Scott beams behind his beard and baseball cap. He points to two sensors, which face each other through a transparent bin of woodchips. This is what tells the machine to go, this sensor, he says. Everything is automated, in a beautiful kind of industrial choreography. Sensors tell a motor to move an auger. The auger pulls woodchips onto a conveyor belt, which travel up into the bin, and then into the furnace. Next to the furnace, Scott points out a big metal tank. This is what keeps it clean burning, he says. The tank, Scott says, captures tiny particles of tar, soot and chemicals that would otherwise go up the chimney. The idea is to reduce air pollution. This so-called electrostatic precipitator was not required, and made up a third of the projects $2.5 million cost. A fuel stove like you have at your house probably burns at 40 percent efficient. This burns at, like, 93 percent efficient, Scott says with pride. Before there was the boiler plant, every building at Goddard had an oil furnace. We were burning 62,000 to 65,000 gallons of fuel oil a year, Scott says. It was expensive. Especially during the early 2000s. Then, in 2007, Goddard College signed on to the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment. Scott says it was basically a commitment to reduce our carbon footprint, our carbon usage. Goddards goal was to be carbon neutral by 2020. Thus the college started down the path toward a wood heat. Scott says it was premised on the theory that any carbon that you do release is re-sequestered. You know, if you cut a tree down, another tree is gonna grow. So theoretically its carbon neutral. But not everyone thinks wood heat even high-tech boilers like this are a good idea. A neighbor's concern You see these two big trees going up in the field? asks Rhea Wilson, motioning through some sliding glass doors and across her backyard to the boiler plant, some 300 yards away. Thats the building." Rhea was briefly vice president of Goddard College, back in the 1970s. But she and her husband first learned about the project at a community meeting for Goddards neighbors. This was roughly a decade ago. And actually my first thought, like everybody in Vermont, was, Oh what a nice idea, Rhea recalls. Everybody was saying that it was renewable, and green, and much better than oil, and why not? Then, Rhea says, she started doing research, and the first thing I think that we came into were the health worries, because of the particulates and all that sort of stuff. Rick, Rheas husband, has lung disease. And as Rhea researched wood boilers, she started reading about what happens in the body when you breath the tiny particles in wood smoke. She read that even operations like Goddards might not be capturing the tiniest and possibly most dangerous particles. But it wasnt just air quality Rhea and Rick were concerned about. As were learning about that were learning that on the CO2 stuff, on the global warming stuff on the carbon its awful, said Rhea. In fact in the middle of all that research, we took out the wood stove that we had in the house, because we got so worried about the health issues and the environmental issues. The Wilsons replaced their wood-burning stove with liquid gas propane. And they joined with neighbors to try to get Goddard to move the plant further from their neighborhood. The efforts delayed the project, but ultimately failed. 'Where it hurts': Air pollution and health effects The pushback to wood heat isnt limited neighbors and their NIMBY concerns. Its actually something our question-asker Coco is also wondering about. Coco says last winter she got a job working for a guy who has a blog promoting wood heat, including automated pellet boilers. I started sort of helping him do a little outreach to other environmental organizations, and started to become really aware that not everybodys on board, Coco says, so I think that its not entirely clear where its helpful and where it hurts. To find out where wood heat hurts, and if Rhea Wilson is right to call it awful, we call up Zoe Chafe, a postdoctoral associate and researcher at Cornell University. Zoe has a Ph.D. in energy and resources and a masters degree in public health. She was the lead author on a World Health Organization report about the health impacts of wood heat, and she was a chapter scientist for the International Panel on Climate Changes 2014 Fifth Assessment Report. Her chapter was on climate change and health. In other words, this is her bailiwick. Were most worried about the tiny, tiny little particles, she says the bits of matter in smoke that are smaller than 2.5 microns wide. These are called PM2.5. Becoming a sustaining member to show your support. What happens is that the particles can go deep into our bodies. And they can travel so deep into our lungs that they actually cross over into our blood and the smallest ones can even go into our brain, Zoe says. Studies show these compounds can be carcinogenic, and they can lead to and exacerbate heart disease, lung disease and asthma. In the health community we are certain at this point, I mean all evidence points to the fact that there is no safe level of exposure to particulate matter, to PM2.5. And so even down to the very lowest levels that we can measure, its better to be exposed to less PM2.5 rather than more PM2.5. Zoe says breathing wood smoke is worse for kids, elderly people, and anyone with heart or lung problems, like Rhea Wilsons husband Rick. We asked Zoe if she ever felt like a grinch, telling the world that wood smoke is actually bad for them. Absolutely, all the time, she said, laughing. Its a hard topic to work on because its not a fun thing to communicate. I really do enjoy having wood fires. There are some moderating factors, however. For one thing, if you live on a hillside like Coco and Emmet Moseley do, the smoke may blow away from your house pretty quickly. And if it doesnt, its not a permanent air pollution. Eventually, the particles will fall to the ground. But the particles dont stop doing harm when they fall to the ground. They can be bad for the earth, too. Particularly (no pun intended) the particulate known as black carbon. That stuff is pretty worrisome, especially in areas like Vermont where theres a lot of snow on the ground for part of the year, Zoe says. Were worried about the black carbon falling on the snow and reducing the reflectivity of that surface. Usually snow reflects heat back into the atmosphere. But when black carbon lands on it, the carbon absorbs the heat, melts snow and contributes to climate change. On top of that, wood smoke contains other things that are bad for the environment, like methane. Of course, no matter what you burn, youre going to emit smoke. But as far as pollution is concerned, wood is nearly as dirty as coal. Which is weird, because incentives for modern wood heat projects, including the Goddard plant, come from the states so-called Clean Energy Development Fund. But thats a story for another day. Superior wood heating All the drawbacks aside, there is some good news: Not all wood heat pollutes equally. So if you heat with wood, how you do it can make a big difference in air quality. Explore EPAs tips for best wood-burning practices here. I always like to point out this one statistic, which is that residential wood-fuel users use 53 percent of the wood thats burned in the state. But they create 94 percent of the particulate matter emissions, says Wood Energy Coordinator Emma Hanson, citing numbers from the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation Air Quality Division. Emma says the statistic means two things. One, the big installations, like Goddard Colleges, actually burn quite cleanly. And the other takeaway is that residential users really need to up their game, she says. As in, most of us are burning super outdated stoves. Or green, moldy, treated or painted wood that smokes and smolders instead of burning hot. Or some/all of the above. As you're driving down the road and you see smoke coming out of chimneys, that's a sign that something isn't going perfectly right in that stove, Emma says. It looks so homey, and like its out of a Norman Rockwell painting, but it's not good for air quality. But there is hope! Because burning wood in 2019 doesnt have to be this way. Emma talks through three categories of superior wood heat: The modern wood stove: Newer stoves are much better than old stoves. Many of are certified by the Environmental Protection Agency for how cleanly and efficiently they burn. If you're not sure [if your stove is EPA-certified], if your stove was before 1990, it's not ... Unfortunately that is a huge guzzler of wood, and actually pulls more hot air out of your chimney than it puts in to your living space. A fireplace is the antithesis of a heating appliance, Emma says.) The wood pellet stove: Instead of burning cordwood, the pellet stove runs on little pellets of processed wood. You buy them in big bags, and they kind of look like rabbit food. And so that's a little bit more user-friendly than a cordwood stove, because you can just load it ... and it might run for as long as three days depending on how large your hopper is. The wood pellet boiler or furnace: Whats cool about this technology is that if you have a conventional boiler or furnace, you can actually switch to wood pellets without having to replace all your pipes, baseboard, etc. It works exactly the same as your propane or oil system does now. Meaning that a truck pulls up to your house, a guy or a girl gets out and hooks up to your house, delivers fuel once or twice a year. Then with a touch of a thermostat you heat your home with said fuel, and that's it. Residential pellet boilers do have slightly higher particulate emissions than oil or propane boilers. But the pellet boilers are a big leap ahead of the old wood stoves. According to Emma, one non-EPA certified wood stove creates as much particulate matter emissions as 200 pellet boilers. And its not just about emissions. Say you get a new wood stove. You might be burning half as much wood, which saves you time and money. Now, upgrading to a new wood stove or a pellet stove or a pellet boiler isnt cheap. So to encourage Vermonters to make the switch, and help meet our renewable energy goals, Efficiency Vermont and the Clean Energy Development Fund are offering financial incentives right now. You can save anywhere from $800 on a wood stove to $6,000 on a pellet boiler $7,000 if youre a Washington Electric Co-op member. Learn more about current incentives & rebates here. The carbon question A brief recap: Wood heat is local and affordable. And using wood for heat creates demand for wood, which can keep loggers employed and developers away from forests. But wood smoke does pollute, and that affects the environment and human health. However, if you burn the right wood the right way, you can reduce the amount of pollution. And, if youre like the Moseleys and you live far away from any neighbors who may suffer from asthma or lung disease, air pollution may not be a major factor for you. Maybe this is a good time [to ask]: What is our ultimate goal, or what are we measuring? says Andy Friedland, a forest ecosystem scientist at Dartmouth College. I argue that what we ultimately care about is carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide. Andy says because forests grow back in New England when they are managed well, its fair to say wood heat is generally renewable. But, he says, whether wood heat is carbon neutral is a different question. And, just a warning, were gonna specific with the science. Stay with us! First of all, coal and wood are about the same in terms of their carbon, Andy says, if youre strictly talking about how much CO2 is released per unit of energy. Most people dont realize that. _ Much of the carbon will be reabsorbed if a new tree is allowed to grow in its place. But that takes roughly 60 to 100 years. And, Andy says, we may not have that much time. In October, the U.N.s panel on climate change released their latest report on climate change. It suggested we humans need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions dramatically over the coming decade. If we dont, well face higher sea levels, more drought and more days of extreme heat. The trouble is, Andy says, it might take 60, 80, 100 years for that tree you cut down to be replaced by a tree of equivalent size. And what about today, when, if you agree with me that climate change is an extremely important issue, if not the most important issue, facing humanity. What do we do in that intervening time? On top of that, Andy says cutting wood speeds up the emission of CO2 in a way that growing a new tree wont help. First, he explains, cutting trees lets more sunlight into the forest, which speeds up decomposition, releasing more carbon into the atmosphere. Next, Andy says, scientists are increasingly realizing that cutting trees also affects the carbon stored deep in the soil. It turns out cutting trees releases that carbon into the atmosphere as well. So, Andy says, burning wood for heat is not carbon neutral. Though if you have 60 to 100 years to wait, its a lot closer to carbon neutral than burning fossil fuel. But wait a minute! Andy interrupts. Hes not saying you should stop burning wood. We live in Vermont, we need heat, and as he puts it, no energy source is clean. In fact, this is one of Andys favorite mantras: All energy choices are lousy. So don't tell me about that clean solar energy that's coming from your backyard. (Andy discloses that he has a solar tracker in his backyard, but points out that there was energy needed to make it.) Like a lot of people we talked to for this episode, Andy is fond of diversification. He has solar energy, wood heat and an oil furnace at his house. But he says the most important thing you can do to reduce your carbon emissions is be efficient. Turn down the thermostat, insulate your home, and if you can, upgrade your technology for efficiency, whatever your fuel. It could well be in certain circumstances, he says, using wood might be the best of a lot of lousy alternatives. On coziness and our elemental existence After reporting this episode out, we give Coco Moseley a call back to tell her what weve found. After hearing us through, Coco says this: Theres no way that we would change and not burn wood. You know, she goes on, I probably would be criticized in terms of the environmental lens that were talking about, but I feel like with the wood stove, I just feel warmer. Coco says she and her husband Emmet have been talking about getting a new, more modern wood stove. And, theyre insulating their basement, too. But the more she thinks about it, the more she feels this way: It makes winter in the Northeast kind of tolerable. Because you have this central hearth. Which, I think, kind of gets at some sort of elemental existence, for us, and for humans in general. Fire equals warmth. Whereas just turning on a thermostat, I dont know if it has the same kind of heart. We can quantify carbon and efficiency and air quality until the flames die down. Subscribe to Brave Little State for free, and never miss an episode: Loading... Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public Radio. We have support from the VPR Innovation Fund, and from VPR sustaining members. If you like this show, consider becoming one. Special thanks this month to Jake Marin, Diana Frederick and Amy Noyes. Our editor is Lynne McCrea and our theme music is by Ty Gibbons. Other music in this episode was used under a Creative Commons license: | http://digital.vpr.net/post/what-are-pros-and-cons-heating-wood |
What is 'it' and does Kamala Harris have it? | Modern presidential campaign season often begins with the political chattering class -- voters, reporters, pundits, activists, strategists -- asking this hard to quantify, yet somehow answerable, question. Granted, some voters see the focus on personality rather than policy as exactly what's wrong with political journalism, but personality and identity certainly matter to voters, even if they don't want to admit it. Kamala Harris Political Figures - US African Americans Demographic groups Minority and ethnic groups Population and demographics Society Obama had "it." George W. Bush had "it," too. Reagan really had "it"... the Hollywood thing helped. In some ways, Kamala Harris' "it-ness" precedes her. As a woman of African-American and Indian descent, she has already made all sorts of history in California as the first this and the first that during her career as San Francisco district attorney, California attorney general and US senator. This 2020 race will mark a new chapter when for the first time a broad field of women candidates (none named Clinton) will compete for the White House. Harris proved her ability to go viral, via her role on the Senate Judiciary Committee, questioning Gina Haspel over torture and taking on Brett Kavanaugh over accusations of sexual misconduct. This week, with the launch of her book, "The Truths We Hold," Harris begins to answer that question, just as Democratic voters are beginning to explore what their choices will be. According to CNN's Maeve Reston, Harris is likely to announce her bid for the White House this month, nearly 50 years after Shirley Chisholm made the same kind of history. The broad outlines of her bio -- biracial, daughter of academics with immigrant roots -- will draw fair comparisons to President Barack Obama. Among the known-knowns: Harris can draw a crowd, at least in DC -- about 1,500 people packed an auditorium at George Washington University to hear her interviewed on Wednesday night. Tickets ran as much as $40 a pop and included her new book. As one would expect, the crowd was packed with super fans, among them were members of Harris' sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, and Howard University students and graduates. "She gave us hope, especially being young and black," said Jendaya Bell, 22. In her interview with Jonathan Capehart of The Washington Post, you could easily hear the kinds of stories that will make up her stump speech ... should she run. (She will run.) There's the story about her deep civil rights roots. As a toddler, she had a front row seat from her stroller to civil rights marches and when she was fussy, her mom would try to figure out what was wrong. "She would look down at me and she'd say 'Kamala, what do you want?' " the senator recalled. "And I'd look back up at her and I'd say, 'Fweedom!' " There's the story about her fight with Jamie Dimon over billions of dollars in settlements over mortgage malfeasance. "The lawyers are sitting in my office looking at me like, 'you can't call him,' " she recalled. "He is represented by a lawyer. 'You can't do this.' And I was like, 'yes I can.' " Her vision for the country grows out of her own story. "We need to paint a picture of the future in the which everyone sees themselves and everyone is seen," she writes in her book. "A vibrant portrait of a vibrant United States where everyone is treated with equal dignity and each of us has the opportunities to make the most of our lives. That is the vision worth fighting for." (On Stephen Colbert, she offered a version of this, which wasn't delivered in the most compelling way.) Squaring her career with progressive values One issue that Harris will have to address with progressives is her record as a prosecutor -- she has said she was a progressive prosecutor -- clearly anticipating some scrutiny. "I'm still undecided. I came here to check her out and I wanted to see how she was on the issues. I'm glad she brought up criminal justice," said Zach Savarese, 23. "She has more work to do on those issues." What's unclear at this stage, is who this will be a problem for -- white "woke" progressives or black voters more generally. (Notably, none of the black people I talked to at her book event brought it up on their own). "People would like her race and gender to be a hindrance," said Amanda Moore, 30. "But, in the present and in the future, if we don't want it to be an obstacle, we have to push against it." | https://www.kq2.com/content/national/504229682.html?ref=682 |
Can Trump really declare emergency at border? | President Donald Trump said Friday he is still open to declaring a national emergency over immigration at the southern border, but made clear he would "rather not," calling it an "easy way out." "It's the easy way out," Trump said of the national emergency route. "Congress should do this. This is too simple. It's too basic. And Congress should do this." "If they can't do it, I will declare a national emergency. I have the absolute right to do it," Trump said. One of the reasons Trump is reluctant to declare a national emergency: He believes his administration will be sued and that his actions will be blocked by the 9th Circuit. "I'll be sued. It'll be brought to the 9th Circuit and maybe even though the wording is unambiguous ... we'll probably lose there, too," Trump said, adding he would "hopefully win" at the Supreme Court. Earlier in the week, White House lawyers began laying the groundwork for the legal defense of a national emergency declaration on the southern border, officials familiar with the matter said. Preparations for the legal challenges has included advising the President's aides on ramping up talk of a humanitarian and security "crisis" at the border, a characterization administration lawyers could use later in court to defend a national emergency. Trump and others in the White House began using that term more frequently over the past week. The lawyers have suggested the more times the term is used, the more citations they will have in filing a legal defense. Earlier Friday, Trump continued to bolster his case about the need to build a wall. "I just got back and it is a far worse situation than almost anyone would understand, an invasion!" Trump tweeted following his Thursday trip to McAllen, Texas. "I have been there numerous times - The Democrats, Cryin' Chuck and Nancy don't know how bad and dangerous it is for our ENTIRE COUNTRY." He added: "The Steel Barrier, or Wall, should have been built by previous administrations long ago. They never got it done - I will. Without it, our Country cannot be safe. Criminals, Gangs, Human Traffickers, Drugs & so much other big trouble can easily pour in. It can be stopped cold!" Later during his roundtable, Trump reiterated his belief that the country is "under siege." "We have a country that is being invaded by criminals and by drugs and we're going to stop it," Trump said, offering no evidence to back up his claims. Trump's comments come despite illegal immigration being among the lowest levels historically. | https://www.kq2.com/content/national/504228332.html?ref=332 |
How can App Developers Maximize their Revenue? | Here are some monetization strategies that you can employ to improve your revenues significantly January 11, 2019 3 min read Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. There has been a fundamental shift in the way users consume content today. Mobile users have gradually moved away from using their mobile browsers to focus on a wide range of apps across various verticals. This affinity toward in-app has changed app developers perception toward different monetization strategies. App developers who keep up with the evolution of the best practices will definitely tap into a fast-growing revenue stream in the future. A report by Mobile video advertising platform Chocolate named App Monetization Secrets To Help App Developers Stay Ahead Of The Curve in association with Apptopia analyzes top 1000+ publishers and 1700+ free apps across Google Play and iOS store covering the Americas, Europe and the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. The report addresses this question by looking at the following aspects: Current State of App Monetization Advertising is the most effective monetization method among App developers. By end of this year, it is predicted that mobile games will generate $39.8 billion in ad revenue globally. App developers are starting to rely on in-app ads to generate higher revenues. 24 percent prefer Advertising as compared to 13 percent who prefer Consumable in-app purchases and 9 percent who prefer non-consumable in-app purchases. More and more app developers will move away from traditional ad units to new and more lucrative ad formats like native, rewarded ads and interstitials. Primary Concerns of App Developers App Developers end up spending a lot of time on monetization related procedures like integrating & managing multiple ad network SDKs, managing billings & payout from different partners and optimizing waterfalls. Thus, leaving them with less time to focus on creating better app features and improving app experience. Though Ad mediation is a great step to achieving ad revenue nirvana and maximizing app profitability, less than 20% of top free apps use an Ad Mediation SDK (74% top free apps have more than 20 SDKs integrated). Key Revenue Generating Secrets In this report, we delve deeper into finding out what factors are causing a drop in revenues and how app developers can maximize it using the right ad monetization solution. Latency, render rate and real-time yield optimization are three major factors that impact ad decisioning the better it is, the higher is the revenue and fill rate. There are methods by which latency can be reduced, render rates and yield optimization can be maximized, which are explained in detail in the report. Here are some interesting highlights from the report rationalizing the fact that a smarter approach is needed in mobile ad monetization: | https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/326139 |
Is Steve King Too Racist for the G.O.P.? | After years of tolerating Iowa Congressman Steve Kings increasingly explicit flirtations with white nationalism, Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise, the two most powerful Republican congressmen in the House, were force to condemn King after he pithily described his racial worldview in an on-the-record quote to The New York Times. White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilizationhow did that language become offensive? wondered King. Why did I sit in classes teaching me about the merits of our history and our civilization? For years, Kings coded praise for the accomplishments of European civilization and Christendom either flew under the radar or was ignored by his colleagues. Others, such as a 2013 remark about migrant kids with calves the size of cantaloupes because theyre hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert, were roasted on late-night TV, but didnt hurt his standing in Congress. But in the years since Donald Trump came onto the political scene, raising hell about illegal immigration and giving voice to the basest right-wing racial resentments, King has become more vocaland has begun to make fellow Republicans visibly uncomfortable. Where did any other subgroup of people [than Europeans] contribute more to civilization? he asked, live on MSNBC, in July 2016. This past August, he met with far-right Austrians in Europe and gave an interview to a Web site associated with Austrias Freedom Party, which has historical Nazi ties. In October, he endorsed white nationalist Faith Goldy for mayor of Toronto. Steve King is basically an open white nationalist at this point, gushed Andrew Anglin, the founder of the neo-Nazi site the Daily Stormer, after King tweeted that we cant restore our civilization with somebody elses babies. On Thursday, McCarthy put his foot downrhetorically, if not literally. Everything about white supremacy and white nationalism goes against who we are as a nation, the House minority leader said in a statement. Steves language is reckless, wrong, and has no place in our society. The Declaration of Independence states that all men are created equal. That is a fact. It is self-evident. Scalise, who previously found himself in hot water for giving a speech to a white-supremacist group, told reporters that he believed it was offensive to try to legitimize those terms, which he described as part of an evil ideology. Other House Republicans piled on: Liz Cheney called Kings comments abhorrent and racist; Doug Collins, the ranking member on the Judiciary Committee, called his language wicked; Justin Amash decried it as an embrace of racism; and Paul Mitchell condemned white-nationalist ideas as [having] no place in Congress, our nation, or anywhere. Democrats, who recently retook majority control in the House, have discussed censuring Kinga move that influential conservative pundit Ben Shapiro endorsed on Thursday. (King, in a subsequent statement, said he rejected the evil ideology of white supremacism and white nationalism, and asserted that he is simply a Nationalist.) Until recently, King has been among the fringier G.O.P. figures to enjoy renewed relevancy under Trump. As the Times notes, Trump claimed to be Kings top donor during a White House meeting earlier this year. King, for his part, boasted of having market-tested [Trumps] immigration policy for 14 years, and that ought to be worth something. But Kings recent rise and fall highlights a paradox of the Trump era. While Trumps election was seen by some white nationalists as a vindication of their worldview, and inspired a racist coming-out movement in Charlottesville, efforts to mainstream so-called race realism have been overwhelmingly rejected by party leadership. Trumps own repellent commentary about immigrants, women, shithole countries, and the Obamas inspired the knuckle-draggers to emerge from the G.O.P. basement, certain their moment had arrived, but it also forced G.O.P. leadership to condemn racism in ways it was unaccustomed to doing. When you say the quiet part out loud, even your staunchest allies have to speak out, if only to save face. At least one Republican senator, Tim Scott, is making the connection between the G.O.P.s historical reluctance to condemn bad behavior and critics who view the entire party as casually racist. Some in our party wonder why Republicans are constantly accused of racismit is because of our silence when things like this are said, wrote Scott, who is African-American, in an op-ed for The Washington Post. Kings comments are not conservative views, but separate views that should be ridiculed at every turn possible. It could be a clarifying moment for the Republican Party, or an invitation for some soul-searching, if not more substantive change. King, who nearly lost his House seat in the last election, will be primaried by Iowa state Senator Randy Feenstra in 2020, and the National Republican Congressional Committee has hinted that it will not be coming to Kings aid. Iowas Republican governor, Kim Reynolds, said she would not endorse him in 2020, citing his too-narrow victory over a Democrat in the 2018 cycle. The last election was a wake-up call for it to be that close, she told a local TV station. Neither referenced Kings controversies explicitly, however. Feenstra didnt even mention King by name. Today, Iowas 4th District doesnt have a voice in Washington, because our current representatives caustic nature has left us without a seat at the table, he said in a statement Wednesday. We dont need any more sideshows or distractions. Sign up for our daily Hive newsletter and never miss a story. | https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/01/steve-king-white-nationalist-supremacist-statement |
Will no-deal Brexit mean chaos on the Kent coast? | Politicians, bosses and the press are panicking about the prospect of a no-deal Brexit. Its driven by fears that leaving the European Union (EU) will hit firms profits. If there is no deal reached by 11pm on 29 March, when Britain is due to formally leave the EU, existing agreements will cease to apply. These govern customs, trade, travel and citizens rights. Because the debate over Brexit is dominated by whats good for bosses, the major panic is over trade. Currently firms in Britain can move goods freely between EU member states. They dont have to make any customs import or export declarations, or pay import duty. Leaving the EU with no deal would change this. Bosses fear that their profits will be hit. Alex Veitch from the Freight Transport Association said, The EU has erected around itself a border for the number of trucks that are allowed to enter the EU every year from non-EU countries. There is a huge risk that if there isnt a deal on this permits system there may not be enough individual truck passports for British companies to use to take goods across the border. EU rules impose health and safety inspections on food and animal products. These must take place at designated border inspection posts. There are none of these currently at Calais. Firms may have to pay customs duty on imports from the EU. Customs declarations would be needed when goods enter or leave Britain. Safety and security declarations would need to be made. Bosses fear that the extra checks will hold up imports of goods into Britain, particularly at the port of Dover. Around 120 billion worth of goods come through Dover each yearor 17 percent of the total coming into Britain. Dover handles up to 10,000 trucks a day. Much of the cargo coming into Dover comes via roll-on roll-off ferries, known as Ro-Ro. Dover handled 2.9 million units of Ro-Ro freight last year, most of which was lorries with drivers. University College London research from 2017 detailed the possible impact of extra checks after Brexit. It said that extra customs checks of up to 40 seconds per vehicle would have no impact on queuing time for outward journeys through Dover. But delays of 70 seconds per truck would lead to a six-day tailback. Delays of 80 seconds per truck would lead to no recovery where the whole country is in a traffic jam. There are lots of dire warnings about what will happen in the event of a no-deal Brexit. For instance, one report claimed that flights between Britain and the EU could be grounded because airlines would need permission from EU countries to fly to them. Others predict food and medicine shortages, or price hikes. But just because something is possible, doesnt mean it is going to happen. Its in the Theresa Mays and the bosses interests to paint no-deal as a disaster because they want to push through her deal. At the same time, its true that the EU protects the ruling classes of its member statesin competition with those outside it. It wants to punish states that leave to deter others from doing the same. So it will try and ensure that bosses are better off in it rather than out. The EU is a bosses club designed to protect business and aid the smooth flow of profit. Extra regulation governs trade between EU and non-EU countries. But laws and rules arent natural, permanent things. They can be changedor defied. Its understandable that people are worried about a no-deal Brexitthey are being encouraged to worry. Those Tories who back no-deal think it can be a way of letting the right do what it has always wanted, to fully regulated the economy and slash health and safety and workers rights. The talk of the possibility of food shortages in the fifth richest country in the world exposes the failings of the system. It cant guarantee that peoples most basic needs are metin or out of the EU. A no-deal Brexit will mean extra costs for firms. The question is who pays. Logistics expert Andrew Potter said, Extra costs have to be paid somewhere. They either get passed on to consumers or they hit the profit margins of the companies involved. Attacks There must be a fight to stop our rulers using Brexit as an excuse to drive through attacks on ordinary people. Unions can demand that workers dont lose pay or jobs as a result of changes to trade agreements. And we can protest if bosses try to raise prices to protect their profits. Ruling classes always try to make us pay when they are in trouble. They use bullying and blackmail to try and protect their position. In Greece, the EU and its institutions imposed waves of harsh cuts despite voters electing in a radical government opposed to austerity. If Jeremy Corbyn was elected prime minister, those at the top would do all they could to undermine him. In times of greater turmoil, such as a revolutionary situation, ruling classes dont flinch at sending in armies to crush revolts. We shouldnt give into ruling class blackmailwe should take them on. Today, the ruling class in Britain wants a return to relative stability because stability is good for profits. But capitalist stability isnt good for ordinary people. It means ordinary people getting less while the rich get richer. Stability means a better environment for our rulers to get away with their attacks on us. Its good that the Tories and the bosses are in crisis. And its not our job as socialists to try and solve it. We need to fight to deepen their crisis, drive out the Tories and end their rotten system. | https://socialistworker.co.uk/art/47724/Will+no+deal+Brexit+mean+chaos+on+the+Kent+coast |
Why are people throwing electric scooters in the water? | If you've been to a major U.S. or European city recently, you've likely seen commuters zooming around on small electric scooters. Hired by the hour, they would seem to reflect the future in urban transport: you unlock them with an app, and, when you arrive at your destination, you just leave them there for the next person who needs one. However, a large number of the scooters are ending up in lakes, canals, rivers, and even the ocean. "Part of the promise of these scooters is that they're dockless, so you don't have to drop them into a centralized hub; you can basically leave them anywhere. But that seems like it's also causing part of the problem," said , a journalist who wrote about the issue for April Glaser (LinkedIn) April Glaser , a journalist who wrote about the issue for Slate The scooters, most of which are owned by the companies Bird and Lime, have become a contentious issue in many of the cities they've been deployed, she told Spark host Nora Young. Part of the issue seems to be that, in many cities, there are few regulations to govern how or where the scooters are used, Glaser said. "People are parking these scooters on handicap ramps, blocking accessibility. They're often littered in big piles, causing people to have to walk over them, or stuck in bike lanes. "They have become just kind of litter around the city and aren't really integrated thoughtfully at the moment." As a result, people have been taking their frustrations out on the scooters themselves, vandalizing them andsomewhat inexplicablydumping them in bodies of water. "In San Francisco, more than 200 of the 650 scooters that they introduced recently were stolen or irreparably destroyed within two weeks," Glaser said. In Portland, Oregon, residents have created a website to track the number of scooters that have been dumped in the Willamette River, which runs through the city. As a result, the companies that operate the scooters have, in some cities, banned their use near water. The problem continues, however, as scooters continue to arrive in cities without adequate regulation, Glaser said. "There's a real question of design here." In Canada, only Waterloo, Ontario, has allowed dockless e-scooters so far, and those are only allowed around the University of Waterloo campus. | https://www.cbc.ca/radio/spark/spark-421-1.4973383/why-are-people-throwing-electric-scooters-in-the-water-1.4973388?cmp=rss |
Is the PC market finally starting to turn a corner? | Its been a depressing picture of doom and gloom when it comes to predictions of PC sales for a long time now, but things are starting to turn around, with more positive estimations beginning to creep out in this case, from Compal Electronics. Yes, perhaps thats a name you havent heard before, but Compal is a major ODM (original design manufacturer). That means it makes notebooks (as well as other hardware like displays) for a number of leading PC vendors including the likes of Lenovo, HP and Dell, so it's a firm at the very heart of the industry. And according to Ray Chen, president of Compal, notebook and desktop PC shipments are expected to reach 40 million units this year. That represents a growth of 10% compared to 2016, which is a major uptick that flies in the face of the sort of figures were used to seeing. Although he clarified that there will be a dip in the numbers for the first quarter, before momentum and growth gathers throughout the rest of 2017. As DigiTimes spotted, this positive prediction was aired at an investors conference earlier this week, where Chen also noted that the DRAM and SSD shortage would remain a bugbear throughout this year. These are the best free games you can play on your PC now Capacity conundrum The SSD supply problem is something weve been hearing a lot about recently, and while there could be more notebooks shipped in 2017, its unlikely that manufacturers will be switching to larger solid-state drives with these devices. Most laptops are likely to continue to run with 128GB or 256GB SSDs. Earlier this month, analyst firm IDC predicted that the overall PC market would remain roughly stable through to 2021, dropping by just under a single percentage point. Again, thats a welcome improvement on the big slumps forecast repeatedly in recent times, and a lot of growth is expected to come from 2-in-1 detachables. These hybrids have long been held up as a bright spot in the PC industry, with hybrid 2-in-1s (like Microsofts Surface devices) not just proving popular with consumers, but also with manufacturers as they can command a greater premium and increased profit levels compared to a traditional notebook. Via: MS Power User | https://www.techradar.com/au/news/is-the-pc-market-finally-starting-to-turn-a-corner |
How DID they let legal aid lawyer con us all out of 22million? | John Blavo, 57, lawyer whose law firm Blavo & Co made fraudulent claims on legal aid, amassing a staggering 22 million which Blavo must now pay back One thing was clearly visible through the smoked glass window of the sleek Mercedes coupe that glided out from behind the electronic gates of John Blavos Hertfordshire mansion this week: the drivers middle finger. Admittedly, the finger in question, pointed defiantly in our direction, did not actually belong to Blavo the disgraced lawyer at the centre of what is thought to be the biggest legal aid scam in UK history. It was brightly painted with silver nail varnish the kind of garish accessory that is a trademark of his 26-year-old daughter Stephanie, who lives at the palatial family home with her parents and younger brother. Miss Blavo used to drive a Barbie-pink Mercedes, and once turned up at Ascot in a lacy pink number with pom-poms and peroxide blonde hair. It certainly looked like her. Either way, the hostile reaction was not entirely unexpected, given that her father metaphorically speaking, at least has been sticking a finger (indeed, two fingers) up at taxpayers for a very long time. His firm, Blavo & Co Solicitors, amassed a staggering 22 million from bogus legal aid claims, as we now know from a damning High Court judgment. The proceeds subsidised the Blavos extravagant lifestyle, which included the grand period house in St Albans, with indoor cinema and covered swimming pool in the grounds, a string of properties around the world, meals at Mayfair restaurants, lavish parties (at the Tower of London, City Hall and top hotels) and supercars on the drive: Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches, Maseratis, and, of course, the aforementioned Mercedes coupe. Now Blavo, 57, has been ordered to pay back the millions his company milked from the system. He was the director and only shareholder, so was held solely accountable. Because there was evidence, the judge said, of an attempt improperly to put property beyond the reach of the authorities by transferring it to his wife all Blavos assets in this country (exceeding 1,000 in value) have been frozen. He is also facing a criminal investigation. Scotland Yards fraud team is investigating, but declined to comment. Still, he will hardly be left penniless. Our own inquiries have established that among the familys foreign portfolio is a luxury apartment in Puerto Banus near Marbella, the playground of the rich and famous, on Spains Costa del Sol. For the moment, the flat is not believed to be covered by the freezing order. The property in Marbella linked to the Ghanian 22 Million legal aid fraudster John Blavo, who is facing a criminal investigation Neighbours said the family also have homes in Cyprus and Blavos native Ghana. But this is not just a tale of greed and dishonesty. Perhaps the bigger scandal is the bureaucratic shambles which allowed Blavo to line his pockets so easily, at a time when the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) has been subject to stringent budgetary cutbacks. It begs the question of whether this is just an isolated case. One statistic, in particular, sums up the almost farcical lack of scrutiny: of the 9,000-odd cases a year that Blavo & Co claimed it was handling, only 1,000 turned out to be genuine. It was not as if the scam was clever or sophisticated, either. Dates of court hearings were crudely invented, along with the names of judges and clients and other details. Yet payment after payment was authorised, month after month, between April 2012 and March 2015 even when the LAA had no record of proceedings taking place. Blavo & Co was ranked by the Ministry of Justice as the second highest-earning civil legal practice in England and Wales, before being dramatically shut down by the Solicitors Regulation Authority a little over three years ago. Only now, though in light of a ruling by Mr Justice Pepperall, hearing an application by the Lord Chancellor for the recovery of the public money is the full story emerging. Few in his profession could have ever suspected that, with more than 200 staff and 18 branches, and feted for excellence in the industry bible Legal 500, John Blavos legal empire was, in fact, a house of cards. His fall has been spectacular. Blavo, impeccably dressed in a pinstripe suit, epitomised the wealthy boss of a leading law firm. He arrived each morning at the companys head office, a handsome five-storey Georgian terrace in Central London, in a Bentley convertible. Dressed to impress: John Blavo's daughter Stephanie, 26, at Ascot His firm contributed generously to good causes. Ghanaian-born Holby City star Hugh Quarshie, who has also appeared in Star Wars, was one of hundreds of guests at a glittering black-tie charity Christmas ball at the Tower of London a few years ago. Blavo climbed up on stage to thunderous applause. We want to do as much as we can by raising as much money as we can for people who are less fortunate than ourselves, he declared earnestly. Great Ormond Street Hospital, the mental health charity Mind and an orphanage in Ghana all benefited from the largesse of Blavo & Co. But its not hard to be philanthropic when the taxpayer is effectively writing the cheques. Blavo & Co practised in clinical negligence, housing, immigration, family and criminal law, but it specialised in mental health law. Both Blavo, who qualified as a solicitor in 1997, and his wife Lynne, 60, are former psychiatric nurses. Little is known about his background before he arrived in Britain around 30 years ago. On his marriage certificate, he is described as the son of a civil servant from Ghana. His time as a nurse must surely have given him an inkling that mental health work was a potential gravy train. Typically, lawyers in this field attend tribunals, conducted in private hospital rooms, to decide if patients should be discharged or continue treatment in the community rather than in a mental health unit. All solicitors on the Legal Aid Agencys approved list have to do to get paid is make a monthly online claim. They do not have to produce any evidence that they did the work. The risk of fraud is supposedly controlled because the fees in mental health cases are fixed with a cap of 744 whether hearings last an hour or a day. There are also contractual limits set on the number of new cases a firm can open each month, to keep costs down. Thats the theory, anyway. Answer: 24,658. When questioned by LAA staff, the firm said it had acquired other practices and taken on their allocations of work. But, with one exception, no evidence was provided as to the identity of these other firms, the High Court heard. One thing was clearly visible through the smoked glass window of the sleek Mercedes coupe that glided out from behind the electronic gates of John Blavos Hertfordshire mansion this week: the drivers middle finger However, nothing was done to begin with, so the money kept rolling in. Blavo & Co had a turnover of more than 11 million a year 8 million of which came from public funds. Before moving to their 3 million St Albans home, the family had lived in another large detached property in the area, where neighbours remember them as friendly and polite. Neighbours at the new property, however, looked on in bewilderment as deliveries of luxury fixtures and fittings, such as Italian Murano glass chandeliers, arrived. We saw evidence of enormous expenditure next door, said one resident. Pressure of other work at the Legal Aid Agency meant a full compliance audit of Blavo & Co did not start until 2015, long after the company had aroused suspicion over the sheer volume of claims. The fiasco was encapsulated by one patient the firm claimed to have represented in particular. She was a woman whose life was said to have fallen apart when she started to go bald and fell ill with diabetes. There then followed a heartbreaking decline into mental illness which, according to her file, ended in an attempted suicide. It was a tragic story so tragic that staff at the LAA could not believe their eyes when they opened another file, this time for a male patient, and found the female patients life story repeated nearly word for word. Both were married in 1977, divorced in 1980, remarried in 1991, then separated in 1995. Both had gone bald at the same time, both took overdoses of the same three drugs on April 13, a year apart. Both had worked for the same number of years in the same job, and were seen by the same mental health professional. Indeed, there were more than 20 identical entries. Endemic is how the judge described the culture of lies at Blavo & Co. Then there was the client said to have been treated at Edgware Community Hospital in London by a nurse called Akpabio Uwa and social worker Volker Hagedorn. The client did not exist and the NHS trust had no record of a nurse or social worker by those names, although internet searches reveal a Volker Hagedorn who is a German musician, writer and Bach expert. Only 1,000 of 9,000 cases per year Blavo & Co claimed it was handling were real In all, 101 NHS trusts were contacted to confirm records. Only two could. One trust said that, at the relevant time, it had no mental health facilities. In another ludicrous example, investigators found that the mental health facility in question had closed (in 2008) and burnt down (in 2010), so was not operational at the time the tribunal supposedly took place. The officials who checked this nonsense must have wondered if the person who put it on paper was a solicitor or a comedian. The punchline was in the revelation that one of Blavo & Cos clients moved to St Albans in 1965, despite his date of birth being given as November 1967. There is still the apartment in Spain, after all. It is situated on the top floor of a block in a swish gated residential complex, set in landscaped gardens with a swimming pool. Records state the auction price of the flat the value if there was a mortgage default was 908,455 (812,000). The name on the deeds is Shipley Properties, set up on October 6, 2015, two months before Blavos assets in Britain were frozen. The sole shareholder and director is Blavos wife Lynne. The freezing order, made in a judgment running to 6,000 words, said Blavo had failed to disclose his ownership of a Gateshead address in a list of 11 properties he had an interest in within the UK. Again, the property, in a row of Georgian townhouses near the Tyne Bridge, had been transferred to his wife. In the words of the judge, this is suggestive of an attempt to put the property beyond the reach of the applicant [the Lord Chancellor]. The Gateshead property was sold in 2017 for 54,000. Until last year, Blavos daughter Stephanie was living in a mansion block with 24-hour porterage in Londons Baker Street, presumably purchased by her father. John Blavo's home on Cunningham Hill Road in St Albans. The grand period house has an indoor cinema and covered swimming pool in the grounds Miss Blavo, who was educated at the 17,000-a-year Royal Masonic School for Girls in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, is the director of the company Kurangina Ltd, an agent involved in the sale of a variety of goods, which was only set up in February 2018. Another company she was a director of was voluntarily dissolved a few months later. Predictably, perhaps, the Baker Street flat was sold earlier this month for 840,000. During his once stellar career, John Blavo had another string to his bow. He represented footballers, including the former Arsenal star Lauren, and the retired Ghana international player John Paintsil. Blavo was registered with the Football Association and blogged as The Football Lawyer for The Independent newspaper. One of the most important things any footballer should learn, he wrote, was The Law Of One that you should only have one of every major possession, one big house, one big boat, one big car. Some might think that is a little too frugal, but it can be a good rule of thumb to rein you back in at times of excess. Few other careers, if any, end so abruptly with such a colossal drop-off in earnings. John Blavo should have taken his own advice. Even so, this scandal probably tells us more about the chaotic legal aid system than it does about him. Additional reporting: Mark Branigan | https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6583079/How-DID-let-legal-aid-lawyer-22million.html |
Does the Ring Doorbell work with Siri? | Best answer: Currently, the Ring doorbell does not support Homekit or Siri. Integration between the two has been expected for quite some time, however, there is no current compatibility. While it's been in the works for quite some time, there is still no sign of Homekit support for the Ring line of products. The company has stated that support has been in the works as far back as 2017, but nothing has yet come to fruition. Using the Ring app, you'll still be able to have total control over your entryway. You'll get love 1080HD video, motion-activated alerts, two-way talk, custom sensors, and even Alexa integration just don't go asking Siri who's at your door anytime in the near future. Netatmo's Smart Video Doorbell, announced at CES 2019, would be the first official Homekit-enabled doorbell. | https://www.imore.com/does-ring-doorbell-work-siri?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheIphoneBlog+%28iMore%29 |
Should Canadian consumers boycott GM cars? | Bryan Bicknell, CTV London As members of Unifor got rallied in protest of GMs decision to close its Oshawa plant, the question of whether to boycott GM products again reared its head. Bryan Cooper, the Unifor plant chair at Penske Logistics in Ingersoll, asked not that consumers stop buying GM products, but that they do not buy cars that werent made in Canada. "We're asking the general public to try and make that conscious decision and to look at buying Canadian-made products and support our workers and not the imports that are coming in or out of Mexico." Still, Fanshawe College Economics Professor Darren Chapman says calls by Unifor for a GM boycott are a gamble that could potentially pay off in the long run if GM sees a negative impact on sales. He says Unifor is right to insist that GM supply jobs to Canadian workers if it expects Canadians to buy its products. "It will make a difference to GM. They will see and their dealers will see some reduction of sales...and remember every car that doesn't get sold doesn't get serviced, and etcetera, etcetera. So it will certainly hurt at the micro level. And at that point they have to make a decision whether or not, you know, they have to find other ways to employ Canadians." Two London GM dealers approached by CTV News declined to comment on the prospect of a GM boycott or whether the call was already having an impact. | https://london.ctvnews.ca/should-canadian-consumers-boycott-gm-cars-1.4250170 |
Are these lifelong renters ready for retirement? | Open this photo in gallery At the rate they are going, Keith and Karen will have about $2.2-million in savings and investments by the time he retires in 2025. Glenn Lowson/Globe and Mail At the age of 58, Keith is preparing for the day when he will retire from his $140,000-a-year job as a health-care professional a few years hence. His wife, Karen, also 58, is unemployed and has no plans to return to work. They have no children. Their circumstances are unusual in that they have substantial assets but no house. We have been renters for all of our lives, Keith writes in an e-mail. This proves that people do not need to own a home in order to succeed financially. He estimates their net worth at $1.6-million, with about 40 per cent in stocks and 60 per cent in fixed income. Story continues below advertisement Their main question is what is the most tax-efficient strategy for drawing down their savings once Keith is no longer working. They wonder, too, whether they should buy an annuity or two at some point to guard against outliving their savings. Their retirement spending goal is $72,000 a year after tax. We asked Ian Calvert, a portfolio manager at Highview Financial Group in Toronto, to look at Keith and Karens situation. What the expert says At the rate they are going, Keith and Karen will have about $2.2-million in savings and investments by the time he retires in 2025, Mr. Calvert says. This is assuming they both continue to make their maximum tax-free savings account contributions and Keith continues to contribute to his pension, which is matched by his employer, the planner says. While they have done a great job of saving their surplus income, proving that financial success can be achieved without owning real estate, not having a diversified balance sheet a house to fall back on does present a concentrated set of retirement challenges and risks, Mr. Calvert says. Without the prospect of downsizing, which typically results in an injection of capital to the family, the management of their investment portfolio should be done with extreme care, he says. Managing their market risk should be a top priority. By the time Keith retires, their $72,000 a year spending goal will have risen with inflation to about $84,000. If they can earn an average annualized rate of return after fees on their portfolio of 3.5 per cent, they will be terrific shape and should have no concern of outliving their money, Mr. Calvert says. They have no need to reach for additional risk, he adds. Story continues below advertisement Story continues below advertisement While their asset mix is appropriate, its important that they keep an eye on it, rebalancing when warranted, the planner says. If left unwatched, their retirement portfolio could drift away from the target asset mix of 40 per cent equities, leaving them with more risk than they desire or are aware of. They should ensure, too, that they have a strong yield or cash flow from the portfolio in the form of dividends and interest, Mr. Calvert says. For instance, if they could construct portfolio to have a 2.5-per-cent to 3.5-per-cent return through interest and dividend income alone, there would be less dependence on market growth and a higher level of certainty to their financial plan. When Keith retires, they should give careful consideration to how they withdraw from the portfolio and build a tax-efficient income plan. Their pillars of income will consist of government benefits (Canadian Pension Plan and Old Age Security), retirement savings (registered retirement savings plans and defined contribution pension) and their joint taxable portfolio. Because neither of them has a defined benefit pension, it makes sense for them to draw from their RRSPs and locked-in retirement account (from the DC pension) early in retirement because they will both be in a very low marginal tax bracket, Mr. Calvert says. If they converted their RRSP to a registered retirement income fund (RRIF) and their LIRA to a life income fund (LIF), their combined minimum withdrawal would be about $41,000 a year, which could be split for tax purposes. This income, combined with their government benefits, would leave a shortfall of about $17,500 a year to be taken from the non-registered portfolio. Even with no further contributions to their non-registered portfolio, this would be a very healthy withdrawal rate, Mr. Calvert says. They could maintain their capital and still have a healthy amount of investable assets at the age of 90. This assumes no change to their spending other than inflation. If one or both had to move to a long-term care home, this could be quite expensive, the planner notes. They have no real estate to sell to help fund the cost. Not overspending in the early years so they have enough capital to fund this potential transition should not be overlooked. Story continues below advertisement As for annuities, they could be a valuable component of their retirement plan (using a portion but not all of their investable assets), Mr. Calvert says. Annuities, sold by life insurance companies, pay a guaranteed regular income for life. The optimal age to start an annuity is influenced by a number of factors, but mainly by a persons longevity and income requirements. If Keith and Karen have a family history of longevity and a healthy lifestyle, they could use a portion of their capital to buy an annuity at age 70 or so. A good starting point would be to consider what their fixed expenses are. Then, consider an annuity payment that, when combined with CPP and OAS, covers all or most of their fixed expenses, the planner says. Client situation The people: Keith and Karen, both 58 The problem: How to draw down their savings in retirement in a tax-efficient way. The plan: Draw on registered savings first to take advantage of low tax bracket before mandatory minimum withdrawals kick in at age 72. Story continues below advertisement The payoff: The likelihood of having all the savings theyll need to last a lifetime. Monthly net income: $8,365 Assets: Bank accounts $50,000; joint investment portfolio $713,620; her portfolio $64,790; his TFSA $63,000; her TFSA $63,000; his RRSP $139,300; her RRSP $207,400; his DC pension plan $382,760. Total: $1.68-million. Monthly outlays: Rent $1,475; transportation $490; groceries $500; clothing $100; gifts $50; vacation, travel $500; dining, drinks, entertainment $60; personal care $75; club memberships $200; subscriptions $30; doctors, dentists $300; prescriptions $25; phones, TV, internet $205; RRSPs $1,000; TFSAs $915; pension plan contributions $600. Total: $6,525. Surplus of $1,840 goes to savings and investments. E-mail [email protected]. Some details may be changed to protect the privacy of the persons profiled. | https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/personal-finance/retirement/article-life-long-renters-prepare-for-retirement/ |
What clues do the costumes in The Masked Singer hold? | The Masked Singer, a zany new reality show on Fox, is throwing viewers into a frenzy with its over-the-top costumes and mysterious plot. The premise, based on that of a South Korean series, is this: Celebrities dress up in elaborate, identity-concealing outfits, then perform songs in front of a panel of judges (Jenny McCarthy, Ken Jeong, Robin Thicke and Nicole Scherzinger), who attempt to figure out their identities while a studio audience votes for their top choices. A whopping 9.2 million people watched the premiere episode, in which football player Antonio Brown was revealed to be inside the hippo costume. Tommy Chong was later unmasked as well, but the remaining 10 contestants are still a mystery. The internet is alight with guesses about the identities of the other characters, which include a peacock, an alien and a glamorous gold lion. While there are clues the contestants read a few facts about themselves through a voice-altering filter that suggest Rumer Willis, Donny Osmond and Tori Spelling might be among the participants, small details of the costumes themselves could also hint at their identities. The Masked Singer costume designer Marina Toybina told Page Six Style that the shows wacky outfits are based on whos wearing them. Based on casting, we were able to collaborate with the talent they booked for the show to either have them choose what character makes more sense to them, or there were little things here and there that related the most to some of the cast over others, so the character was kind of chosen for them, she said. It became a fun little collaboration trying to figure out who was the perfect fit for each of the costumes. She added that little clues were sometimes woven into the costumes after the cast was set. Starting from sketches of more than 20 characters that ran the gamut from animals to monsters, Toybina whittled it down to 12 looks that needed to both cover each celebrity from head to toe and also allow for breath control and movement. Everyones eyesight and oxygen intake is different, so we kind of had to work together and collaborate with the talent to figure out what works for them and what doesnt, she explained. Through years of experience, I think its just knowing the right placement and the science of design, rather than just the art of it, to create costumes that were movable and wearable on stage. Though it looks as if the 12 final costumes took forever to construct, the process was very time-sensitive. Usually, you know, in a perfect dream world it would take about six months to a year to build all those costumes, she said. We had a little over a month. A team of 20 to 30 people worked around the clock for three weeks to create the perfect colors, textures and fit. In fact, Toybina even molded one mask directly on the cast members head. Theyre all pretty delicate and intricate in their own way, the designer, who has also created costumes for The X Factor and So You Think You Can Dance as well as for Katy Perrys Super Bowl halftime performance, explained. Id probably say one of the most challenging masks was the lion just because that mask was not built on foam; we actually had to mold and cast it and then from there it was coated in gold, so a lot of detail work went into that particular mask. Fans have speculated that Rumer Willis could be behind the gilded lion; the masked singe said that she comes from Hollywood royalty and that there are a lot of women in my pride. The daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore also stars on Foxs Empire and was on Dancing With the Stars, making her a likely candidate. Aubrey ODay was another guess. Whatever the identities of the remaining singers, the show is a hit. As for where the costumes might go in the future, should the show be renewed for a second season, Toybina is excited about the possibilities. Theres such a big entertainment factor that theres really no rules as to what these characters should be or how theyre supposed to look, so I think the world is at our hands and it would be great to explore more possibilities and go bigger and better. But first, the current cast has to be revealed. | https://pagesix.com/2019/01/11/what-clues-do-the-costumes-in-the-masked-singer-hold/ |
Will Laloo Prasad Yadav Be Absentee Kingmaker Of 2019? | Time is a great leveller, they say, and a peep into a secluded ward of the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi could give you a startling snapshot of how unpredictably harsh it can be at times. Lonely, forlorn and worn down by ailments creeping up on him like a pack of hyenas, there lies a man who once strode the land like an insouciant emperor. Charismatic, burlesque, irreverent of old gracesand the unmoving feudal power they rested onhe came like a messiah of seemingly apocalyptic change, almost a force of nature. Today, the once-mighty Laloo Prasad Yadav is reduced to a mere prisoner-patient, being treated for a kidney beginning to give way, the fruit of long and acute diabetes, while doing time after his conviction in the infamous Rs 950-crore fodder scam cases. Barring once-a-week interactions with visitors, he spends most of his time in solitude. But even in this state, you cant take Laloo out of Biharas his own jokey proverbial coinage wentor indeed out of politics. India is beginning to simmer with pre-electoral heat, and the busy chatter of coalition match-making fills the news pages. As does the latest, stunning googly from the government that has set the whole field aflutter: a 10 per cent quota for the economically poor among privileged castes. Amid all this renewed focus on reservations, a vital part of the jigsaw rests here in this ward. Laloo Yadav, the old Mandal messiah, may strike you at this point as the Man Who Isnt There, but in reality he isthe Mandal logic has structured Indian politics in such a way that a counter-mobilisation is almost inevitable. And it may well be strong enough to turn Laloo into the absentee kingmaker of 2019. And not absent either, if he can help it. Laloo is hoping to get bail from the Jharkhand High Court so he can lead his alliance yet again from the front. Last week, the court had reserved its order on his petition. He has formally cited his age (71), his failing health as also the coming elections as the reason for seeking bail, contending that, as the national president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), he was the only person authorised to select candidates and the Election Commission would not allocate symbols to any party candidate without his signature. His followers now await the court verdict, a big imponderable in front of them. On the answers will hinge his own political future, also that of Biharone of the biggest colour patches in the political vibgyor that is India. Even after Jharkhand was hived off, Bihar remains the fourth highest contributor to the Lok Sabha, with 40 seats. Laloos political USP has been that his voteshare has never dipped below 18 per cent since 2005 when his RJD was voted out of power in Bihar. At first glance, no trace of this air of potential power hangs over him. Ever since he surrendered in a CBI court and shifted to the Birsa Munda Central Jail on August 30 last year, and soon thereafter to RIMS, his retinue of attendants has disappearedso have all the followers who once milled around him. Shorn of all the adulation he enjoyed in his heyday, he looks a pale shadow of the bustling mass leader of old, a man who got invited to both IIM talks and film shoots. Only a faint Ozymandian pathos lurks as he now convalesces in a pay ward whose foundation stone was laid during the RJDs long tenure, whose plaque carries the name of Congressman Shakeel Ahmad, then Bihars medical education minister under Rabri Devi. That old friendship with the Congress endures still. There are new friends, though, and some renewed friendships. That air of pathos is partly misleading then. Check the trickle of arrivals in the recent past. According to the prison manual (which applies in RIMS too), Laloo can meet a maximum of three people once a week. Saturday is his day. One Saturday, Shatrughan Sinha dropped in with Subodh Kant Sahayand Hemant Soren landed up independently. On January 5, Jitan Ram Manjhi and Sharad Yadav turned up and, on December 29, it was Upendra Kushwaha with Laloos younger son and heir apparent Tejashwi Prasad Yadavthe sight of recent partners taking turns for courtesy calls is a truer index of his centrality. The odds are, of course, stacked against the cowherd boy who rose from the dusty lanes of Phulwaria village of Gopalganj district to become CM. Already, a special CBI court has convicted him in four separate cases, awarding him 14 years in one. The verdict is awaited in two more. Worse still, his health: a chronic kidney ailment, a heart valve replaced in 2014, a fistula surgery last year. Having bagged 31 of the 40 seats in Bihar last time, its one of NDAs key states like UP in its bid to retain power in Delhi. This time PM Narendra Modi and CM Nitish Kumar are ranged against Laloo together, and the 10 per cent quota gambit may also come into play. Counter-Soiree Laoo meeting his supporters at his residence, 1995 Photograph by Getty Images Laloo was not a man in the shadows even three years ago. He was instrumental in pulling off a casting coup against the Modi-led NDA by stitching up the mahagathbandhan with his long-time bte noire Nitish and the Congress to return to power after a gap of 10 years in Bihar. It was the first such. So, in a sense, its he who inaugurated the current phase of Opposition strategy where entities whose joining hands would have been thought unthinkable even a day before decide to pool their strengths to form a new phalanx to breach the formidable NDA fortress. The logic has now famously been extended to Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere. Laloo had campaigned extensively too for his alliance. He had twin reasons to rejoice in the end: both his sons, Tej Pratap Yadav and Tejashwi, became MLAs and also the most powerful ministers in the Nitish cabinet. But things fell apart soon. A wrathful BJP unleashed salvos of corruption charges against Laloo and his kin, while Nitish opted out of the grand alliance and re-embraced the BJP. And then the fodder scam ghosts caught up too. Laloo has been no stranger to court cases. Ever since the fodder scam came to light in 1996 and forced him to quit as the CM of undivided Bihar, he has been in and out of jail. But at no time in the past has it so bogged him down, almost disabling him politically. Even after his first conviction back in September 2013, which debarred him from contesting any pollsRahul Gandhis dramatic ordinance-tearing dates from that timethe talismanic leader had come out on bail to lead his alliance in 2014. The situation, however, changed dramatically following convictions one after another in less than a year, in various fodder scam cases. The dip in health coincided with that. Some believe Laloos absence in the battleground would be conspicuous and significant, leaving the Opposition campaign floundering, as no other state leader in its ranks possesses either his stature or that uncanny ability to connect with the crowds so effortlessly. That it may finally signal the beginning of the end of the Laloo era in Bihar and India (the nth obituary, in fact). The RJD thinks none of it. Laloos supporters believe he shall remain a key factor even without directly participating, like a battle-scarred general who guides young troopers from the war room. The maturing leadership of Tejashwi will then face its first solo challenge. The young Yadav looks up to his father as a personification of his ideology. Lalooji has become a veritable vichaardhara (ideology) now is his favourite refrain. Tejashwi speaks in a more measured, urbane style, but sounds confident. The RJD, he feels, retains its traditional vote by dint of the sheer faith the poor repose in his fatherhe was, after all, the first to bring power closer to them. Shivanand Tiwari, RJD vice-president and long-time Laloo associate, says: Even in his absence, our alliance recently won the Lok Sabha and assembly bypolls, including one in Jehanabad (a stronghold of Bhumihars, a powerful caste)all under Tejashwis leadership. The veteran leader believes Laloos biggest strength is how he enabled (and patented) a democratic expression of social justice politics. Prior to his advent, the poor and oppressed used to take up arms as part of the Naxal movement to fight against injustices in a feudal society. Laloo taught them how to usher in big changenot with goli (bullets) but with boli (opinion), Tiwari says. Even Laloos worst critics today acknowledge he gave the poor a voice to take on their oppressors. Laloo, Tiwari believes, will continue to reap the electoral benefits of that rupture he had caused in Bihars old power matrix long years agocorruption allegations or not. Dalits and other underprivileged still look up to Laloo as one of their own, someone who fights for their honour on their behalf. They think hes being framed in court because of that. The ongoing war within the CBI has further lent credence to their belief. Their unstinting support explains why Laloo endures in election after election. Indeed, even after it lost power after its 15-year reign in 2005, often called jungle raj by detractors, the RJD retaINS a sizeable percentage of votes. As Election Commission statistics attest, its voteshare is steady around 18-20 per cent even if the conversion rate into seats is patchier (see graphics). Analysts attribute this to the solidification of the Muslim-Yadav (M-Y) vote bloc (about 30 per cent of Bihars electorate) under his leadership over the years. But his opponents are no pushovers. Post-2005 poll results show Nitish-BJP has been an unbeatable combination against Laloo. With Bihar aligned with the Centre, NDA leaders claim to have heralded a new era of inclusive growth. A slew of minority welfare schemes launched by Nitish weaned away Muslim voters from the RJD, they say. Plus, theres his slicing up of backward segments with an EBC/Mahadalit focus. The RJD, however, believes all that is pass. It says Nitish undid all his good work for Muslims when he joined forces with Modi. In June 2013, when Nitish severed his 17-year-old alliance with the BJP over the projection of Modi as PM candidate, it had endeared him to Muslim votersand critics say the way he disregarded the nature of the 2015 mandate has antagonised them. Theres no question of Muslims voting NDA this time, says Tiwari. The situation has changed. Nitishs credibility is zilch. Plus, the exit of Kushwaha and former CM Manjhi has hit his EBC/Mahadalit outreach. Laloos supporters believe he shall be a key factor in the polls even without campaigning, like a battle-scarred general guiding young troopers. JD(U) spokesman Neeraj Kumar makes light of this, seeing only growth potential. Minorities realise Nitish has never compromised on their issues despite change in his allies, Neeraj says. Whether you adore him or abhor him, you cannot ignore this fact. Furthermore, while the M-Y bloc has been the RJDs only political capital, Nitish has sought to deepen empowerment, he states. We believe in the social uplift of A-Z sections of society, not merely M and Y, he says. Moreover, nothing has changed with Tejashwi; he talks about an ideology called Laloovad, not Lohias samajwad, and like his father, hobnobs with criminal politicians. Yet, the NDA is taking no chances. The JD(U) has launched a district-wise minority conference. Besides apprising them of our welfare schemes, we tell them how the Prophet of Islam was in favour of prohibition, says a JD(U) leader. The BJP, for its part, is zeroing in unremittingly on what it sees as Laloos Achilles heel: his tainted record. Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi had even penned a Hindi book, Laloo Leela, detailing all ongoing corruption cases against the RJD chief and members of his clan, including Tejashwi. The 200-page book comes months after Sushil held 40 press conferences in 2017, hurling allegations at the Laloo clan. That blitz is said to have hastened Nitishs exit from the mahagathbandhan. Sanjay Mayukh, BJPs national media cell co-incharge, insists they dont need to rely on a negative campaign. Our government has connected directly with the common man. People are very happy to get a bichaulia-mukt sarkar (a government sans middlemen), he says. Neither Laloo nor Congress has anything to do with development. Instead, he adds, they are perennially afflicted with the bane of casteism. The mahagathbandhan is on a ventilator. Pressing Times Grand alliance leaders at AICC office, Delhi Photograph by Getty Images Political analysts caution against too much bluster, though. Says Patna-based economist N.K. Choudhary: Nitishs popularity has diminished because of his flip-flop and peoples disenchantment with Modi has increased by leaps and bounds. And theres no receptacle, other than Laloos alliance, for anti-NDA sentiments. He sees an unprecedented polarisation of Muslim votes and cementing of Yadav votes in favour of the RJDand says corruption has never been a poll issue. There may be some Hindutva tinkering for votes, but once again caste will play a bigger role than religion in Bihar, he believes. Laloo will, therefore, make an impact even if he does not get bail. Going to jail has not finished him at all. The 2015 mandate was for all three parties of the mahagathbandhan, but Nitish walked out of it midway, says senior Congress leader Prem Chandra Mishra. Theres deep resentment against him. People look down upon him as a rank opportunist who embraced the same man who had once questioned his DNA. He was earlier seen as a man of his words, but has squandered his credibility. Modis unmet promises, Mishra says, add to the sense that the NDAs claim of sushashan (good governance) is hollow, and also cites the rising cases of crime, especially against women, mob lynching and a series of scams that have rocked the state. Moreover, Union minister Kushwahas exit will set off an exodus of MPs from NDA, Mishra says. Many of them are already lined for a Congress ticket. The BJP has seen the writing on the wall, he claims. It has already accepted defeat by giving up nearly half its seats to accommodate Nitishs party candidates. Not everybody concurs. Veteran political commentator Surendra Kishore agrees Laloos M-Y base will strengthen and the RJDs tally grow a bit. Still, it wont be decisive enough, he says. After Laloos first conviction in 2013, RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh had claimed they would win all 40 seats because of a sympathy wave, Kishore recalls. Nothing of that sort happened, RJD ended up winning only four seats in 2014. Even in 2010, when Laloo contested in alliance with Ram Vilas Paswan, the RJD could win only 22 seats in the 243-member House. Its core votes will remain with Tejashwi, the way it had once remained with his mother Rabri Devi, but it will not enable Laloos heirs to grab power, he concludes. The RJD has pinned a lot of hopes on Tejashwi. Noon-roti khayenge, Tejashwi ko CM banayenge (We will survive on salt with chapatis, but make Tejashwi CM), goes an earthy slogan coined by Rabri to energise RJD cadres long before the 2020 assembly elections. She knows where the future lies. So did Laloo, hence his early choice of heir. But that choice has brought about its own set of headaches for the Yadav patriarch: brooding and petulant behaviour from elder son, Tej Pratap. Besides a divorce petition he refuses to withdraw, and semi-mystical trips to Vrindavan, Tej Pratap is creating a bit of nuisance by unilaterally announcing sister Misa as a candidate from Pataliputra . The relatively inexperienced Tejashwi, still in his late 20s, will thus be also battling sibling rivalry besides the redoubtable duo of Modi-Nitish all alone. Unless, of course, the old cowherd is out playing his flute again to Bihar. By Giridhar Jha in Patna and Ranchi | https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/will-laloo-prasad-yadav-be-absentee-kingmaker-of-2019/301063 |
Will the Seattle Squeeze suffocate local film production? | The point of the disaster-movie style warnings, Swenson says, is to get ahead of the problem. Filmmaking is a high stakes, quick turnaround business with many moving parts and unusual requirements namely, doing things that arent generally allowed on streets and in parks. The ability to transport equipment, cast and crew between shooting locations quickly is crucial to the bottom line. For filmmakers, the issue is really as much about moving through the city as it is about losing access to the places that scream Seattle. You probably cant physically do that, Swenson says. A nervous murmur runs through the congregation. A fresh round of placating deep-dish pizzas is set on a long table in front of the stage: pepperoni, veggie and something called Bluto. The thick scent of baked cheese descends on the room as Swenson runs through impressive stats: Seattle issues more than 500 film permits annually for streets and parks. About 60 percent of those shoots are commercial and corporate (ads for cars and local companies), and 20 percent are feature films or episodic shows (such as Greys Anatomy and its spin-off, Station 19). Each year, about 5,000 local cast and crew members are hired for these gigs well-paying jobs that Swenson says place film production at the center of Seattles creative economy. But as part of the Seattle Squeeze, there will be no street permits issued for downtown and arterials during the initial closure of the viaduct, from Jan. 11 to Feb. 4. Swensons next presentation slide reveals the biggest spoiler: From February through 2024, there will be limited permits available for popular locations (such as Pike Place Market, the Seattle waterfront and Pioneer Square), limited Seattle Police Department officer availability for traffic control, and more competition for street use (such as from construction crews). Swenson looks around at the room full of widened eyes, and says, Things will start to slow down around 2022. The crowd laughs tensely. The pizzas grow cold. Im not trying to sugarcoat it, he says from the stage. This will impact the jobs youll be able to get. Thats why his office, alongside Washington Filmworks (the state film office), is working to streamline the permitting process, inform out-of-state clients that Seattle film shoots will require more advance notice, and develop creative workarounds. Body doubles. Of a geographic sort. The city and state film agencies are working with several local scouts to come up with locations in Shoreline, Renton, Everett and Tacoma that could stand in for Seattle. Were kind of hosed on the Space Needle, says location manager Dave Drummond. Tacomas theater district is a prime candidate. Old-town Ballard, he suggests, might also be far enough outside the Viadoom zone to be a reasonable replacement. Drummond says once you remove the locations that everyone wants to point a camera at (such as Pike Place Market), there are solid options for capturing a Seattle vibe. Filmmakers seeking a sci-fi setting could swap the Tacoma Museum of Glass (at right) for MoPOP in Seattle. (MOG: Greg Vaughn / VWPics via AP Images; MoPOP photo by Josh Grenier via Flickr). Filmmakers seeking a sleek building that looks like its from the future, Drummond said in a follow-up interview, might consider replacing MoPOP with the Museum of Glass in Tacoma. Up north, Everetts mossy neighborhoods could serve as stand-ins for Seattles residential areas. And to replicate the many shoots that take place in Gas Works and other waterfront parks, he said, Shoreline has great options that show Northwest beaches, waterfront views and ferries. As for whether production companies will look to Vancouver, B.C. with its unbeatable tax incentives for filmmakers as a Seattle replica (see: Fifty Shades of Grey and AMCs The Killing), Drummond isnt too concerned. [Vancouver] made a decision 20 to 25 years ago to invest in movies. Now B.C. caters to marquee Hollywood productions. Our niche is smaller movies and commercial work, so we dont really compete with them. Cut to: Q and A at the Clock-Out. Woman 1: Right now I schedule production meetings between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. to avoid downtown traffic. Will that work? Swenson: That window will absolutely shrink. Woman 2: What about filming at odd hours? Swenson (encouragingly): Yes, the more you can film on the margins, the easier it will be. Woman 3: Have you considered selling stock footage of iconic locations during this time? Swenson (with hesitance): Yeah, but that would kill jobs. Then Amy Lillard, from Washington Filmworks, chimes in, The city is going to change so much that the stock footage will have to be reshot. So the good news is that will mean more work, when this is over. Shes not the only one hoping for a Hollywood ending to Viadoom (a literal block buster). By the end of 2024 well be a golden city, Swenson says, with a beautiful new waterfront and even more enticing locations to draw productions here. Once the adjusted traffic patterns are the new normal, he says, I think itll actually be pretty awesome. The final slide remains projected on screen. Its a photo of a nighttime shoot on the eastern shore of West Seattle. Across the Puget Sound, the downtown skyline shines. Questions? the slide reads. Swenson smiles and starts to leave the stage, stopping to announce that there are six whole pizzas left. Eight! someone yells from near the bar. There is so much pizza. But never enough to fill the hole left by the Viaduct. Crosscut arts coverage is made possible with support from Shari D. Behnke. | https://crosscut.com/2019/01/will-seattle-squeeze-suffocate-local-film-production |
Are these panda-themed referee jerseys cute or vile? | I have no idea how to feel about these panda-themed referee jerseys out of Germany. (Getty) Listen, I have a confession to make: Im, straight up, not really a panda guy. I dont dislike pandas, per se Im no monster. I just have no particular affinity towards a creature that Ive never seen in real life and have no real attachment too. Im neither here nor there on these things to be honest. kind of, I guess. Scroll to continue with content Ad Anyways, ill get into the details of my traumatic panda-impacted childhood another time. Apparently I am in the minority here and there are a lot of you who do indeed fawn over these averagely-cute animals, so this is something you may enjoy. I am of course talking about these german hockey referees sporting giant panda-themed jerseys. I cant decide. German referees now wear a panda on their jersey to emphasize WWF partnership pic.twitter.com/VuWuMKkdKl Heart of NHL (@HeartofNHL) January 10, 2019 From a sketchy Google translation of this article on German website hockeyweb.de: Since the 2018/19 season, the German Ice Hockey League and WWF Germany have been working together to protect endangered species. Motto of the campaign: The DEL mascots: stars on the ice hunted in nature. All referees of the DEL now start in the newly designed jersey, which features the WWF Panda prominently on the front. Gernot Tripcke, Managing Director of the German Ice Hockey League, had this to say about the partnership between Germanys top professional hockey league and the animal conservation fund. Story continues Almost all clubs in the league have an animal reference in their club name or at least in their logo. We want to use the big fan base of the clubs to raise awareness of species conservation. The panda is already known to many as a figurehead of the WWF and fits in well with the club mascots. Im certainly all for conservation and completely for this particular initiative between the DEL and the World Wildlife Fund its great. But we have to discuss the elephant (which wouldve looked pretty slick on these ref unis) in the room here, which is that these jerseys are just ugly. Couldve picked a way slicker-looking animal in my humble opinion. Other candidates that wouldve done the trick include: Rhinos. And theyre also pretty endangered, so having referees wheel around the rink with some snarling rhino-themed tarps would be an absolute delight. Siberian Tiger. I dont have to tell you how majestic these cats are, and they often get overshadowed in the endangered species spotlight by pandas because people have this misconception that a panda wouldnt maul your face off if it felt it had the chance. Polar bears. Bornean orangutan. The black-footed ferret. Amur leopard. All worthy of rocking the real estate upon these German referees chests. Sorry, pandas, Im just not feeling your vibe and find you pretty creepy. ** Prepares for the pro-panda crowd to flood my email inbox and Twitter DMs with vile hatred ** More hockey coverage on Yahoo Sports: | https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/panda-themed-referee-jerseys-cute-vile-012617149.html?src=rss |
Which Baseball Team Should Manny Machado and Bryce Harper Sign With If They Care About Taxes? | Getty Images We're still in the middle of baseball's hot stove season - the sport's offseason, when franchises juggle their rosters via trades and free-agent signings. There are dozens of free agents looking for contracts with new teams, but let's face it: All eyes are on superstars Manny Machado and Bryce Harper. Machado and Harper are asking for contracts worth more than $300 million and, who knows, they just might get them. If so, they'll be hit with some pretty big tax bills to go with the huge salaries. Their federal tax totals won't be affected by which team signs them, but their state taxes certainly will. That's because the bulk of what they earn will be taxed at the highest income tax rate in the state where the team is located, and state income tax rates vary widely. State sales tax and property tax rates differ even more. (Note: Athletes also pay state income taxes in most states to which they travel for road games throughout the season.) By most reports, there are seven teams still in the running for one (or both?) of these two superstars: the New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals and Washington Nationals. Machado and Harper will have to consider many different factors before signing with any team, but how much money they can make--and keep--will most certainly be a key factor in their decisions. Signing with a team in a low-tax city could save Machado and Harper millions of dollars each year. We've ranked the teams likely to sign Machado or Harper according to the estimated state tax burden where each team is located (highest tax to lowest). Take a look. Los Angeles Dodgers California top income tax rate: 13.3% Estimated annual state/local income tax bill: $4 million See California's full state tax profile After trading Yasiel Puig, Matt Kemp and Alex Wood to the Cincinnati Reds, it sure looks like the Dodgers will push hard to lure Harper to L.A. (They're not wooing Machado.) But to sign him, the team might have to pay a little more to offset the big state income tax bill the slugger would face in California. At 13.3%, the Golden State has the highest marginal tax rate in the country. This includes the additional 1% levy on taxable income over $1 million. So, a player making $30 million per year for the Dodgers would pay around $3,949,359 per year in California income taxes. That's the largest potential state tax bill Harper is likely to see. California also has a relatively high sales tax rate (and superstar baseball players tend to buy a lot of stuff!). The state rate is 7.25%, but local governments can tack on additional taxes. In Los Angeles County, the base sales tax rate is 9.5% (and up to 10.25% in certain cities). This is the third-highest rate among the six cities Harper is rumored to be considering. Harper will want to look at real property tax rates in the L.A. area, too. In Los Angeles County, the median property tax paid in 2017 was $4,044. That also ranks as the third-highest among the possible landing spots for Harper. New York Yankees New York top income tax rate: 8.82% (plus city tax) Estimated annual state/local income tax bill: $3.8 million (living in NYC) Go to New York's full state tax profile The Bronx Bombers have a long history of bringing in high-priced free agents. New York's relatively high income tax rate (8.82%) might not be enough to keep Machado or Harper out of pinstripes, but if they live in New York City, they'll have to pay an additional 3.876% income tax on top of the state tax. With a $30 million-per-year contract, that comes to roughly $3,807,160 if they live in the Big Apple ($2,644,584 living in most other areas of the state). Sales taxes are not that high in the Big Apple--at least when compared with other cities on the list of contenders. The base state rate is only 4%, but cities can levy additional taxes. Plus, there's a special 0.375% commuter tax in the New York City metropolitan area. For anyone living in New York City, the combined state, city and commuter sales tax rate is 8.875%. That rate is the third-lowest on this list. However, property tax bills for anyone living in and around the Big Apple can be eye-popping. Those drawn to the bright lights of the big city should know that average real estate taxes in Manhattan, for example, were $8,769 in 2017. That's by far the highest among the cities on our list--almost 75% higher than the runner-up (Chicago). | https://news.yahoo.com/baseball-team-manny-machado-bryce-210055607.html |
Should the Seahawks pursue defensive end Ezekiel Ansah? | Its no secret that the Seattle Seahawks need to improve their pass rush this offseason if they want to find themselves competing for a Super Bowl in 2019. Frank Clark will be the teams biggest priority after he recorded 13.0 sacks in his contract year. Assuming the team brings him back, theyll need to find another pass rusher to play across from him. While Rasheem Green and Jacob Martin showed some promise last season, adding a veteran pass rusher would go a long way toward helping Seattles defense in the short-term. One option is former Lions defensive end Ezekiel Ansah. Ansah was franchise tagged last season, but is expected to hit free agency this offseason. Ansah only played in seven games last season, starting two and recording four sacks and a 74.5 grade from Pro Football Focus. However, Ansah has 12.0 sacks in 2017 and 14.5 sacks back in 2015 proof that when hes healthy he is among the best in the league at getting to the quarterback. Ansah is 30 now and is coming off an injury-riddled season, which certainly makes him a risky signing. Still, if he proves he is healthy, he would make an excellent compliment to Clark and Jarran Reed in Seattles pass rushing attack. | https://seahawkswire.usatoday.com/2019/01/11/should-the-seahawks-pursue-defensive-end-ezekiel-ansah/ |
What will suspended Sheriff Scott Israel do next? | The real fight could be just beginning in the Sheriff Scott Israel saga. Under Florida law, Israel will have multiple avenues to salvage his political and law enforcement career. He is entitled to a hearing before the Republican-controlled Florida Senate to make his case. He also could try to get an order from federal or state court overturning the suspension. Then there is the option of taking the issue to voters and running for sheriff in 2020, despite having been suspended from the office. At a news conference on Friday, Israel ended his brief comments with this statement: For now, its on to court. Outside of a lawsuit, heres how the process could play under the Florida Constitution. The suspension order must be delivered to the Florida Department of State. The State Department must then provide copies of the order to Israel, the Secretary of the Senate and the state Attorney General. The order must specify facts sufficient to advise both the officer and the Senate as to the charges made or the basis of the suspension. The governor can suspend an officer on the following grounds: misfeasance, malfeasance, neglect of duty, drunkenness, incompetence, permanent inability to perform official duties or commission of a felony. The Florida Senates rules state it must institute action by transmitting a notice of hearing within three months of receiving the suspension order. The Senate can conduct a hearing on the suspension. Alternatively, it could appoint a special committee or special magistrate to hold a hearing and make a recommendation based on the evidence presented. The governor, his legal staff or his chosen lawyer is responsible for prosecuting the case. Israel will have an opportunity to present his side. The committee or special master has subpoena power, according to the Senates rules. The Senate could vote to reinstate Israel or remove him from office. If he is reinstated, he will be entitled to seek payment from the state for the legal fees for his defense, along with back pay for the period for which he was suspended. Local officials have sought to challenge suspensions with varying outcomes. Former Broward County elections supervisor Miriam Oliphant was suspended after polling stations failed to open on time and other problems that plagued the 2002 primary election. She fought her suspension, even running for election unsuccessfully in 2004 to reclaim her job. Ultimately, the Florida Senate voted in 2005 to uphold the suspension. Former Gov. Jeb Bush appointed Brenda Snipes to fill the post. She subsequently won election until being suspended herself by former Gov. Rick Scott after the contentious 2018 recount. Scott suspended the head of Broward Healths hospital board in March 2016. Scott accused David Di Pietro of interfering with a state investigation into the public hospital systems board. A Broward County judge ordered Di Pietro reinstated, saying she found no basis for the accusations of malfeasance that the governor leveled against him at the urging of the inspector general. The judge wrote that the inspector general could not show a single, specific act of wrongdoing. Just three days after prevailing in court, Di Pietro resigned, saying political interference by the governor had made it impossible for him to serve the hospital system. In November 2018, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle ruled that Scott and the Senate violated Jefferson County Clerk of Court Kirk Reams due process rights. Reams was suspended in October 2017 when the Florida Department of Law Enforcement found he allowed his girlfriend to use his county computer and took nude photos of her inside the courthouse. In January 2018, a jury acquitted him of a charge of petty theft connected to the case. U.S. District Judge Mark Walker blasted Scott over his suspension of Snipes in a ruling on Jan. 9. Scott accused Snipes of repeatedly failing to follow state election laws when he suspended her Nov. 30. Snipes had already announced that she would resign Jan. 4. The Florida Senate declined to hear her case, citing a legal opinion that she could not take back her resignation under Florida law. Walker wrote that while he could not reinstate Snipes, DeSantis must provide her with an opportunity to defend herself. He also said a governors suspension order must provide specific, detailed reasons for the action. To date, there has been no further action. [email protected], 561-243-6634 or @SkylerSwisher | https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-ne-israel-challenges-suspension-20190111-story.html |
How did they get so rich ? | Robert Waldmann | January 11, 2019 1:57 pm I hope and trust that this will be an amusing display of my ignorance. I dont hope to reach David Graebers level David Graeber: Apple Computers is a famous example: it was founded by (mostly Republican) computer engineers who broke from IBM in Silicon Valley in the 1980s, forming little democratic circles of twenty to forty people with their laptops in each others garages 1. His wasnt a subtle idea. The first point is that Amazon went for years without turning a profit. I think his strategy was partly based on new entrant predatory pricing. I would guess that are many B league Bezoses whose firms went bankrupt. In the field of innovative low margin retail, survivor bias is a bitch. But also, books were a good place to start. There are lots of different books. They are durable. They arent so heavy (even pre-kindle). Then there is big box one stop shopping. 2. At first (in the 80s I think) I was very puzzled to read the name Sam Walton on a list of the super rich, because I had never seen a Walmart. In fact, that was when I first read Walmart. Retail is a very competitive low margin sector. My guess is that he was the first to realize how much big cars had changed the game. The long cars of pre-1973 had big trunks, but I guess they just arent in the same league as pickups, SUVs and minivans. It is notable that Walmart started in the huge vehicle belt (which I think has a lot to do with belt size if you get my drift). 3. Brin, Page and Google. OK look the original product is actually excellent. Also giving stuff away (including 1 gigabyte e-mail boxes) was smart. 4. Gates. Here I think the key problem was software piracy. The solution was to pre-install everything so pirates would have to know how to handle a computer with an empty hard disk. Also ruthless anti-competitive practices. For years Microsoft wouldnt sell microsoftware to any firm which didnt pre-install it in all of their hardware (the Justice Department did win that one too late). The strategy was 100% explicit. I think it is legitimate except for 2 scams. One is to add bells and whistles so microsoftware run almost intollerably slowly on latest generation machines. I am sure that they did this so that it would run intollerably slowly on older machines if it were pirated. Still semi legit (but damn the paper clip was irritating) although redemption can be won by all who seak it, and there are worse things than clippy I think the bloat became criminal only when Microsoft decided to sell upgrade packages which fools used to cripple their computers with the latest microsoftware. Then they had to buy new computers with the microsoftware pre-installed and Microsoft got twice the profit. Buffett Action through inaction and the Zen of capitalism. It is key that the secret to Buffetts success is that he bought and held. He also let management manage. His immense wealth shows just how bad active management strategies are. It is also true that he got richer by being rich. If one has immense piles of cash under management, one can make money with reinsurance etc. Zuckerberg: Here I think the secret was being tough on porn and even nudity. Facebook was work safe and family friendly. I think that gave them the edge. The, obviously, network externalities. Like Microsoft, Amazon, and Google, Facebook became what everyone used because everyone used it. Larry Ellison: Damned if I know. I dont think I have ever encountered an Oracle product. I dont even really understand what the hell they sell. | https://angrybearblog.com/2019/01/how-did-they-get-so-rich.html |
Will freshmen Democrats make a mark on the Texas House? | With the start of this year's legislative session, the Capitol is teeming with 20-somethings who staff the offices of the 150 representatives and 31 senators, and, in the singular case of James Talarico, a 29-year-old who actually serves as an elected member of the 86th Texas Legislature. In defeating Republican Cynthia Flores for an open Williamson County seat formerly held by GOP Rep. Larry Gonzales, the Round Rock Democrat became one of 27 freshmen members of the House, 17 of them Democrats, and, most significantly, one of a dozen Democrats who flipped seats held by Republicans, a political upheaval that has already changed the tenor of the 140-day session that got underway this past week. Our message on the campaign trail was putting people over politics and it was about service and servant leadership and about bringing people together and doing whats best for Texas," said Talarico, who taught two years in a San Antonio middle school, received a master's in education policy from Harvard University and founded an education non-profit. All the freshmen talk about putting Texas first and serving the state and doing whats best for Texans and getting beyond ideology," Talarico said. "Its bringing us back to a more civil kind of politics. ... Our class shares very similar characteristics and I cant figure out, are we Trump babies, are we Beto babies? Youre forged in that fire and the message that comes out is ultimately more hopeful and more productive and more healing, and I really hope its going to have an impact on the chamber at large and I think youre seeing that it feels a little different, Talarico said. The bathroom bill doesnt have the same momentum it had, youre not hearing about immigration or guns. The fact that school finance is on everyones lips is I think a direct result of the election results. Individual freshman legislators do not generally determine the destiny of a session. But, whether it was the tea party surge just abated, or the blue wave of 2018, a cadre of new arrivals with common purpose can come to define the politics of the biennial gatherings. "With a class as large as this one, youre going to see a change in the complexion of the House," said former state Rep. Jason Villalba, R-Dallas. Villalba lost his bid for a fourth term to staunch conservative Lisa Luby Ryan in the March primary. She in turn lost in November to John Turner, the son of a former state legislator and Blue Dog Democratic member of Congress from East Texas, who describes himself as a "center Democrat," and who Villalba describes as "a very smart, knowledgeable, capable guy," who will ably represent the district. "Theres no way to change so many seats and not see a difference in the way the body as a whole operates," Villalba said. Couple that with the strong style of leadership you are going to see from (House Speaker Dennis) Bonnen (R-Angleton) and I think there is going to be a very different temperament to the body. It is going to be comprised of people from the center instead of from the far right which I think we were seeing in the last several sessions." How could it not be? said Terry Meza, a newly-elected member of a Dallas County delegation that went from seven Democrats and seven Republicans to 12 Democrats and two Republicans in November. In 2016, Meza lost by 64 votes to state Rep. Rodney Anderson, R-Grand Prairie, in the Irving-based district. Early last year, Meza said Anderson told her that, without Trump on the ballot, the rematch was not going to be so close this year. He was right. Meza won by 4,200 votes. 'A new ballgame' The week after the election, Bonnen met with the newly elected House freshmen in the Agriculture Museum at the Capitol for more than two hours, outlasting all but a couple of the incoming representatives. He made the comment that he doesnt want to be a one-term speaker, because 2020s coming up next, said Meza. She said Bonnen recounted that he had told his Republican colleagues "that they could not have another session like the last one," with the rancorous debates over transgender bathroom legislation and Senate Bill 4, signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott, that bans sanctuary cities. Meza said that law provoked a backlash that proved pivotal to her victory in the majority-minority district. Sheryl Cole, Austin's former mayor pro tem, who was elected to succeed longtime Democratic lawmaker Dawnna Dukes representing the northeastern Travis County district, said Bonnen promised her that any education plan would address the needs of Central Texas, and Austin specifically. Hes saying that not just out of the kindness of his heart, Cole said. Hes saying that because hes got 12 new Democrats. Hes saying that because of the other Republicans who won by such small margins. I call him a cool calculator. Cole said she is taking him at his word and that it is up to Democrats to stop playing defense and start playing offense. Weve got a new ballgame in a lot of ways," Cole said. "I want cocky Austin solutions." John Bucy, who defeated Republican state Rep. Tony Dale in Williamson County by 10 points a race he lost by 13 points in 2014 is likewise impressed by Bonnen. I am incredibly encouraged by how much he is working with the freshmen Democrats ... and how committed he has been, not just in the press but behind the scenes, for education finance reform," Bucy said. "I think he knows we are an important turning point in our state," he said. "I think he knows he stands in the shadow of history and that and he can be a great speaker." 'Change in direction' Julie Johnson, an attorney who is the first married lesbian to serve in the Legislature, defeated state Rep. Matt Rinaldi, a tea party hero, by nearly 14 points. On the last day of the last regular session, May 29, 2017, Rinaldi called immigration officials to investigate Hispanic activists in the House gallery protesting the sanctuary cities bill, leading to an ugly encounter on the floor with state Rep. Poncho Nevrez, D-Eagle Pass. Gina Calanni of Katy, like Bonnen, a political science graduate of St. Edward's University, defeated two-term state Rep. Mike Schofield, a former aide to Gov. Rick Perry who in his first term was named by his Republican colleagues the Freshman Legislator of the Year. Calanni, who was encouraged to run by her three sons, 16, 9 and 7, because they thought she was "someone that would get something done," won by 113 votes. Jon Rosenthal, a first-time candidate from Houston, defeated 12-term Republican Gary Elkins, a payday lender, by 3 points. Rosenthal, who got involved in politics through the anti-Trump Indivisible movement, had filed to run against state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, but when another Democrat entered that race, Rosenthal switched at the last minute to run against Elkins, who would have otherwise been reelected unopposed. Of his Democratic classmates, Rosenthal said, "While were not monolithic, were generally in agreement that having a large class, flipping a significant number of seats, we can use our voice and maybe theres a better possibility for us to be more influential than some of the previous Democratic freshman classes. Its not just that we took 12 seats but we gained ground in a number of districts and so, in strictly political terms, thats the way the wind is blowing, thats the voice of the people of Texas speaking, that they want a little change in tenor, they want a little change in direction after this last session was so contentious." We turned out in historic numbers and it calmed down the crazy and that means good things, said state Rep. Celia Israel, the Austin Democrat first elected in Jan. 2014, who was active in helping to elect some of the 10 new Democratic women to the House, which, in Central Texas, include Austin's Vikki Goodwin, who defeated Republican Rep. Paul Workman, and Erin Zwiener of Driftwood, who won an open seat vacated by state Rep. Jason Isaac, R-Dripping Springs. Im really excited to have these new people, and Ive met almost all of them and they are all of one voice and they want to go back to their districts and say we moved the needle on public education, but thats not as easy as it sounds, Israel said. That means new revenue, that means being truthful about our rainy day fund (she thinks it should be tapped). It means being truthful about property taxes. Doesnt mean these new people have to become the experts on public school finance. These sessions have their own life to them and what I dont want to happen is we get into the middle of session, the budget is done in one chamber and there is an opportunity to get a platinum package on public education and because were fractured or were not hanging together we end up settling for the silver package, Israel said. 'Far-left Democrats' The House session opened with 83 Republicans, 64 Democrats and three vacancies in Democratic districts. Just by definition, the more closely divided a chamber is, the more balance there is, said Rep. Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. A natural byproduct is going to be compromise, bipartisanship, cooperation and the House now with 83 Republicans, and, once these vacancies are filled, 67 Democrats, is the most evenly split since 2009. In the intervening years weve seen a nearly two-thirds/one-third split, a near super-majority, most of that time, and policies and politics reflected that. We need to be moderate, we need to get back to an equal House, where you can get better bills for the state," said Michelle Beckley, who used her perch as the owner of the Kookaburra Bird Shop in Carrolton to take out three-term state Rep. Ron Simmons, who had been in the thick of the bathroom bill as the sponsor of the privacy legislation in the House, intended to bar localities from making their own transgender-friendly bathroom policies. Beckley, whose front bangs are dyed blue, said, "I think people are shocked to see the blue hair and that Im actually pretty moderate. I'm a business owner. Im an Aggie." Her desk mate on the House floor is Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, an arch-conservative. Among the last to get to choose a seat, Beckley's options were the desk next to Cain or the desk in front of the press table, and both Beckley and Cain are good with her choice. "I like that there's 150 of us because I think you can get every little nuance of Texas and Texas is a large state," Beckley said. "We all have strong personalities and, at the end of the day, we all just want to make Texas better." Rinaldi said the common ground on school finance and property taxes will eventually quake. Theres a big chasm over what should be done so the question is who is going to show their hand first," Rinaldi said. "On one side you have conservatives who very much support the governors plan as it is now, very heavily focused on property tax reform, while putting more money into education, while making sure were not just throwing money into education without any accountability." Abbotts plan calls for capping revenue increases for local taxing entities at 2.5 percent a year. Democrats oppose that approach, preferring to dramatically increase the state role in paying for public education to reduce the burden on local property taxes without tying the hands of local governments to tax as they see fit. Of the new freshmen, Rinaldi said, "These are very far-left Democrats. These are not Joe Pickett (D-El Paso) Democrats; these are not Tracy King (D-Batesville) Democrats." "I dont see where, at the end of the session, Julie Johnson and Michelle Beckley end up on the same page as even a mainstream Republican like the speaker," Rinaldi said. But Johnson said, My sense right now is that the members of the House and Speaker Bonnen really want the House to be productive, fix this education system, get very positive results for Texans and not be as divisive and mean-spirited as it was last session." "I dont think anyone looks at last session with warm, heartfelt feelings," she said. "A lot of resentments were laid down. My experience with Bonnen so far have been exceedingly positive." And Nevrez, recalling the last day of the last session, said, "I really think what happened that day was the death knell for this Texas that I think in two more election cycles will not exist electorally. I really believe that." "The electorate told us that they want us to govern from the center, and if they do not heed that call, they are going to feel it," he said. | https://www.statesman.com/news/20190111/will-freshmen-democrats-make-mark-on-texas-house |
Why did a Spokane flight divert to Seattle after a bird strike? | SPOKANE, Wash. A United Airlines flight that left Spokane International on Friday morning on its way to Denver had to divert to Seattle after it struck a bird with its windshield. A spokesperson for United said all passengers aboard the flight are safe. Shortly after takeoff, United Airlines flight 812 from Spokane, WA to Denver experienced a bird strike and safely diverted to Seattle. Customers will continue their journey to Denver this morning, United said in a statement. RELATED: Flight from Spokane to Denver diverted after bird strike This raises questions about bird strikes and planes, such as why strikes are diverted to other airports, and just how many of these incidents happen each year. We set out to answer some of those question here. Glenn Farley, KING 5 Seattles aviation specialist, says that Sea-Tac is considered a significant diversionary airport and can accommodate all planes on its runways and ramps. The FAA says there were 194,000 reported wildlife strikes in the U.S. between 1990 and 2017. About 14,400 of these happened in 2017 at 700 airports in the country. In addition to domestic wildlife strikes, 4,000 more of these incidents were reported by U.S air carriers at foreign airports from 1990-2017. According to FAA statistics, 97 percent of wildlife strikes are birds. As for Spokane, The Flight Safety Foundation lists only two wildlife strikes in 2017, down from 19 in 2016. The year with the highest number of wildlife strikes in recent history at Spokane International was 2015, which saw 23 strikes. Glenn Farley says that getting to a crash level is extremely rare, but there have been close calls worldwide with geese crashing through windshields and other major stuff. The type of bird involved in todays incident has not been identified. The first bird strike in history was reported by Orville Wright over a corn field in Ohio in 1905. From 1988 to 2017, the FAA says there have been 287 deaths due to wildlife strikes globally. An additional 311 human injuries aboard U.S civilian flights from 1990 to 2017 have come due to wildlife strikes. Eastern Air Lines Flight 375 crashed into Boston Harbor after striking a flock of European starlings upon take-off on Oct. 4, 1960, leading to 62 fatalities and the largest loss of life due a bird strike in history. As for danger to aircraft, engines are the most commonly damaged part of an aircraft due to bird strikes. United Airlines flight 812, the one that struck a bird during takeoff today, is an Airbus A320. These planes do have windshield wipers, as most passenger jets do. | https://www.krem.com/article/news/why-did-a-spokane-flight-divert-to-seattle-after-a-bird-strike/293-8048c2fb-c41e-4d5b-a423-0d7711a7e5d7 |
Will Defense Doom the Chiefs in the Playoffs? | [Read our predictions for the divisional round.] The Chiefs defense finished last or second-to-last in passing yards (4,374), total yards (6,488) and yards per rush (5.0). The Chiefs gave up the most first downs ever, with 419. And though they ranked 24th in points ceded, with 421, only three other teams since 1990, when the playoffs expanded to include six teams from each conference, gave up that many and still advanced to the postseason. According to Pro Football Reference, only 13 of the other 173 teams to reach the playoffs since 1990 have fared worse than the Chiefs in at least one of those statistical categories, including Greens group from the 2003 season, which allowed 5.2 yards per carry. Aside from Kansas City, the only others to earn a No. 1 seed were Green Bay and New England in 2011, and neither won the Super Bowl. In fact, only one of the 13 excluding the 2018 Rams, who allowed the most yards per rush this season won a championship: the 2006 Colts, whose strong pass defense offset their generosity against the run. Plus, they had that Manning guy. The Chiefs have a guy, too Patrick Mahomes and thats a pretty strong counterargument. But its not an impenetrable one, as losses to the Chargers (Kansas City led by 14 with less than nine minutes left) and the Seahawks (Seattle ran for 210 yards) proved. Its difficult identifying a historical analogue to the 2018 Chiefs, a team of such extremes. The closest might be the 2011 Packers, whose leading receiver, Greg Jennings, recognized the similarities at once. Like the Chiefs, Green Bay created a load of turnovers a league-high 38 while also scoring the most points. The Packers also gave up more passing yards and total yards than Kansas City did this season. The defense recognized it more than even we did as an offense, Jennings, now an analyst for Fox, said of the imbalance. What needed to be done was what we did. We recognized it and we had to make up for it. | https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/11/sports/kansas-city-chiefs-nfl-playoffs.html |
Will New Migrant Caravan From Honduras Invite Emergency Declaration From Trump? | As if to give President Trump the excuse he needs to declare a national emergency to get the funds to built a border wall, a new caravan of migrants is organizing in Honduras. Trump says the border is in crisis, and that only a wall can stop the illegal-alien invasion of the United States. Open-borders Democrats say it isnt in crsis, and that a wall will be a waste and ineffective. Well, it appears another few thousand illiterate illegal aliens might just park in Tijuana and try to storm the border a couple times to help settle the debate. Forming in Honduras Again The bad news about a new caravan comes from the Washington Post, which reported that a social media flyer in Honduras is inviting potential recruits. Were looking for refuge, it says. In Honduras, we are being killed. The flyer says the caravan leaves at 5 a.m. on January 15 from San Pedro Sula, Honduras. But Mexico, the Post reported, is ready with hard-nosed guards at 370 illegal crossing points and the border who will prevent the entry of undocumented people. Another few thousand invaders would add to the illegal-immigration woes Mexico already has. Thousands of migrants who marched north with the last caravan are already squatting in Tijuana. They hope to file what will mostly be phony asylum claims and get into the United States. Why Theyre Coming Of course, organizers cant get their story straight in giving reasons for the dangerous trip north. The social-media account for the caravan says the illegal-alien invasion force fears violence and persecution. But the migrants will really be garden-variety illegal aliens looking for jobs, an organizer told the Post. We dont know how many people this will be, but its a lot, said a taxi driver who helped organize the last caravan and is at it again. With this caravan, he confessed, the goal is to give them a chance to work and have a better life, be it in Mexico or the United States. Illegals who marched with the last caravan admitted that truth, and illegal aliens who have been caught and deported from both Mexico and United States have admitted the truth to researchers. They do not migrate for asylum, but instead for work, welfare, and public schools. One soon-to-be illegal alien invader admitted that even work and welfare werent the reason for his trip north. Its not just employment or that Honduras is dangerous, 18-year-old Glen Muos told the Post. Im young, and I want to know another place. Muos older brother is living in the United States illegally, and apparently, hopes to sneak his little brother across the border. Honduras is dangerous and Im not having him stay there, big brother texted to the Post, which helpfully noted that he spoke on the condition of anonymity now that he is living illegally in the United States. The Post even found a lesbian who wants to leave home, and bring her partner, because shes afraid of two thugs in her family, and macho men who insult her because shes gay. If thats a reason for asylum, then the United States better be prepared for a bazillion more asylum claims from those who partake of the love that dare not speak its name. Most of the Third World is as unenlightened about womens and gay rights as Honduras apparently is. False Claims Before he left to visit the border on Thursday, President Trump took note of the new Camp-of-the-Saints-like invasion force. There is another major caravan forming right now in Honduras, he said. And so far were trying to break it up. But so far, its bigger than anything weve seen. And a drone isnt going to stop it. And a sensor isnt going to stop it. A nice, powerful wall. Government data show that the large majority of asylum claims are phony. Such claims have increased 2000 percent in the last five years, the White House reported early this week before Trumps national address on Tuesday, and 72 percent of illegals report making the journey for economic reasons and therefore would not typically qualify for asylum. And those data do not account for the never-ending stream of illegals, some of whom are dangerous criminals. October 2018 photo of Honduran migrant caravan: AP Images | https://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/immigration/item/31168-will-new-migrant-caravan-from-honduras-invite-emergency-declaration-from-trump |
Can Aryna Sabalenka Ride Her Hot Streak to the Australian Open Title? | After spending 2018 rapidly ascending the global tennis ranks, Aryna Sabalenka decided to spend some of her brief off-season in free fall. So during a winter visit to Dubai, Sabalenka said, she took the opportunity to bungee jump from 41 floors up. These three seconds before you jump, its like something unbelievable, the 20-year-old Belarusian said in a recent telephone interview. You want to cry, smile and laugh. The daring off-season activity underscored the intensity and cheerfulness that came to define Sabelenka as she burst into scene last year, winning her first two WTA titles. Shes always very friendly, said her coach, Dmitry Tursunov. She likes to be in a good mood. She also likes to win, and she has started where she left off after her breakthrough campaign, becoming the first WTA titlist of 2019 by defeating Alison Riske, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-3, in the final of the tournament in Shenzhen, China, last Saturday. | https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/11/sports/aryna-sabalenka-australian-open.html |
What is it about dogs? | In the wild they search for, stalk, chase, grab and kill their prey. This highly honed aspect of the pack instinct comes from one of the most organized and social animals of all time; the wolf. And yet, in partnership with man they will retrieve, guard, hunt, herd, seek, protect, and search. We can talk to them, confess to them, and blame them for our bad dayand still, under all circumstances, they great us daily as long-lost friends. We use them more for our own edification than for theirs. Too often, after the excitement of puppyhood has worn off, we leave them to fend for themselves. We dispatch them to the basement, garage, or backyard. Fortunately, we do not do this to our children! We leave them cooped up throughout the day until they are forced to relieve themselves, and then oftentimes we reprimand them for soiling the carpet. We reprimand them for the slightest wrongdoing because we are moody, irritable, or short-temperedwhich, by the way, is absolutely the worst time to correct a dog. In my training classes, I constantly reminded my students that the dog who piddled on the carpet because you left him in the house for ten hours is the same dog that anxiously awaits their return home every day with a wagging tail, bounding with excitement, and ready for a jaunt in the parkor a mere pat on the head if thats all you are willing to offer. And guess what, theyd be waiting with that same exuberance whether you were a banker or a bank robber. Speaking of dogs behavior leads to similar topics. I do not want to get in a battle with those not in agreement with my opinions. I am not a scientist, nor animal psychologist, not geneticist. My pedigree is simply more than 50 years of training dogs. Since dogs cant talk with us, the best we can do is assign the same words to them that we assign to ourselves. From the get-go, this is a mistake. Because most words we use with dogs are not absolutes, they are relatives. Example: the word happy. If you ask ten different people what makes them happy, you will get ten different answers based on what the word happy means to them. (Example of absolutes would be sit, stay, down, heal, and come.) How about other words we use referring to our dogs: boredom, loving, affectionate, sad, lonely. Ive heard people say, He licks my mouth because he loves me so much. Not true, all dogs lick their masters mouths hoping to find a morsel of food that has been left behind. Example: Through the years Ive seen thousands of dogs staked outside on a chain. By the end of the day many of those dogs are wound so tightly they can barely move. Ive yet to see a single dog smart enough to unwind himself. Absolutely not. On the other hand, he surely is not smart or intelligent based on our definition of those words. Animal psychologists use the word intelligence when speaking of wolves. But they use that word in the context of describing how a wolf might survive within his surroundings. In other words, they are not using that word within the confines of human description. Rather, it is used as a description pertaining to wolves dealings within their environment. Dogs are not rational thinking beings. They dont plan their day, hope to have steak for dinner, think about winter versus summer, or wonder if tonight is the night that you take them for a run in the park. And they certainly dont think about that sweet looking Poodle that just moved in down the street! Dogs live in the presentnot in the past, and not in the future. Eight hours locked in the basement or yard while you work is not eight hours that they wonder when you will return. If I were to assign a human word as to how dogs perceive time, I would say that they merely exist. I was once asked what I believe dogs represent. Here is my answer, as stated by The Representative of All Dogs, in my book, The Bog, The Legend of Mans Best Friend. We represent loyalty. We are our masters keeper. When you are given to us it is a pact for lifefor our life. There is no one in your life that you always think about. It is impossible for you. It is fully possible for us. Yours is a life of multiple purposes. You are to be both good and gentle. You are to love one another. And you are to aspire to the kingdom of God. Your time on earth is challenging and demandingfull of days of wonder and nights of dread. For some life is unbelievably short, for others it endures for many years. You may be prosperous, or you may be a pauper. Your fellow man may measure you as a success or judge you as a failure. You may have been granted the elixir of health or the poison of sickness, pain, and suffering. Yours is a life of the oxen: you are burdened with the gift of choice, you must carry the yoke of life-defining decisions, and you must control the beast of desire. Loyalty, however, is the defining trait of our kind. We are a pack of the pact. We have accepted the one thought, the single purpose, and the just cause. Because of this we think of you at all times. It is not our death that we fear, it is yours. We can deal with ours, we cannot live with yours. You have been granted multiple coping methods if your friend or family member passes. We have none. That is why we lay at the casket, at the grave, or beside your lifeless body. That is why The Almighty has granted us such a short lifebecause we cannot live if our best friend is lostthat is why our world is over so quickly. Thanks for reading, John https://www.mydailyregister.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2019/01/web1_9.27-Smith-John.jpg By John Preston Smith Contributing columnist John Preston Smith is the author of The Legend of the Last Dog. All of his books are listed at jprestonsmith.com. Questions or comments: facebook.com/johnprestonsmith. Proceeds support Hoops Family Childrens Hospital in Huntington, W.Va. John Preston Smith is the author of The Legend of the Last Dog. All of his books are listed at jprestonsmith.com. Questions or comments: facebook.com/johnprestonsmith. Proceeds support Hoops Family Childrens Hospital in Huntington, W.Va. | https://www.mydailyregister.com/opinion/36153/what-is-it-about-dogs |
Can an AI outperform the HSE in cervical screenings? | On the final day of judging at the BY Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition, students presented projects on a variety of subjects, from using eggshells to filter water to using an AI to conduct cervical screenings. The air crackles with excitement as the final day of judging dawns on the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition (BTYSTE) 2019. Students have gathered in Dublins RDS from more than 230 schools dotted around the island, all of whom are now waiting with anxious excitement as the prize-giving ceremony nears. Of course, everybody hopes to scoop a coveted award. Today (11 January) is their last opportunity to make their case. Yet as maudlin a sentiment as it may be, though not all projects will be rewarded, all should be celebrated. All of the 550 projects on display demonstrate an incredibly potent mix of enthusiasm, incisive intelligence and a desire to better our world. Seeing the offerings of the younger generation is the exact kind of life affirmation needed in these times in which geopolitical tension, impending climate disaster and more can easily inspire hopelessness. On day one, we learned about a broad swathe of fascinating topics such as antibiotic resistance in household pets, a hydroponic system for growing plants on the moon, the lions mane jellyfish invasion of Ireland and how to simulate quantum computing. Meanwhile, on day two, we got to hear more about greener jet fuel, new car safety sensors, the effect of social media on mental health and an alternative to rote learning. AIs could help cervical screenings The CervicalCheck scandal, which first broke in April 2018, captured the public imagination and inspired widespread outrage. For Laura OSullivan, a fifth-year student at Mount Mercy College in Cork, it inspired her entry to this years exhibition. I was looking at using artificial intelligence for cervical cancer screening. I applied a different combination of neural networks to my data set. It was a data set consisting of abnormal and normal cells from a hospital in Denmark, she said. Her endeavour was, by all accounts, a rousing success. Using computer vision algorithms, OSullivan was able to produce screening results that were more accurate than the ones produced by the current system in place. I had very good results. I was able to reduce the amount of false negatives outputted by my results. She added: This is only in the very early stages, but theres definitely potential for this to be used in the future. Walking (and filtering) on eggshells Sen Byrne, a sixth year from Avondale Community College in Wicklow, wouldnt be blamed for wanting to take the time to focus on his impending Leaving Certificate exam. Yet the Young Scientist veteran (this is Byrnes fourth time participating in the event) returned with a fascinating examination of how a common piece of household waste, the humble eggshell, could be used to filter heavy metals and microplastics from water. I was able to get up to 100pc reduction in lead, chromium, cadmium and copper With microplastics, I was able to get up to 33pc reduction from a sample of water. Byrne also noted that the device could be helpful in developing countries due to its low cost. The construction only set Byrne back 50, the most expensive component being the wood for the structure. Teeth grinding and other habits Liah Cremins father grinds his teeth at night and hes not alone. Cremin, a fourth-year student in Coliste Choilm in Cork, says that estimates indicate that as many as between 8pc and 31pc of the population have the condition known as bruxism. Cremin believes that one of the main issues, besides that there is no cure, is that there is a general lack of awareness among those living with bruxism. Often, a dentist will spot the condition before the individual themselves, and often only the most severe cases are spotted after a lot of damage has already been done. For this, she offers a solution. My device uses piezoelectric polymer When stress is applied, it releases an electrical cause [and] we are able to pick up a reading. It sends a response to a communication and you can actually see when you are grinding or clenching your teeth, she explained. If you actually understand when, you can take the action to control [bruxism] and help control [it] in future. Cremins work in this area wont stop after the exhibition ends this year. She has lofty ambitions for the project and hopes to eventually integrate her device with wearable tech such as the Fitbit range. The adolescent reaction to #MeToo The #MeToo movement has had, and continues to have, a massive global impact. It incited a seismic wave of social change and broadly increased awareness surrounding sexual harassment, consent and sexual assault. Yet three students from Ursuline Secondary School, Cork Kelli Oldham, Michelle Board and Eva Mc Donnell noticed that there was a dearth of research into how this movement had impacted adolescents. We thought it was important to do research in this area because the #MeToo movement is so topical, said Oldham. Their research revealed a gulf of understanding. Teenagers were inclined to underestimate the prevalence of sexual harassment and there were significant differences in what teenagers felt constituted harassment based on gender. Mc Donnell said: We also found that the genders dont have conversations about what constitutes sexual harassment. When we asked if they considered catcalling sexual harassment, about 70pc of females said yes but only 44pc of males. | https://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/bt-young-scientist-2019-day-3 |
Will Raj Thackeray's Marriage Diplomacy Help MNS Tie Poll Knot With Congress? | Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) is aspiring to fight the Lok Sabha elections, sources told News18, adding that the invitation to Rahul Gandhi for the wedding of Raj Thackeray's son might be an attempt to break ice with the Congress party.Sources said that the MNS may seek one Lok Sabha seat from the kitty of Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party, a Congress ally. But the NCP is understood to have denied such a possibility. Congress leaders have also ruled out any such proposal as of now.We do want to fight Lok Sabha elections. We will demand four seats, but will be keen on fighting on one seat at least, an MNS leader told News18 on condition of anonymity.The leader added that the party will try for seats in Mumbai, Thane, Pune and Nashik regions. But we would want the Mumbai north-east seat. And what is wrong in having an aspiration to fight the Lok Sabha polls? he asked.Raj Thackeray did not respond to News18s queries. "The Congress and NCP have together decided that we will not share any seats with MNS. MNS will not be a part of the alliance," NCP leader Nawab Malik said. Congress too, has categorically denied any such proposal put forth for discussion.Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil said that no such proposal has come for discussion as of yet. There is no such proposal. It is difficult for Congress to accept this anyway, he said as the party is wary of MNSs anti-north Indian image.Recently, Raj Thackeray had sent two representatives to invite Rahul Gandhi for his son Amit's wedding on January 27 in Mumbai. Several senior politicians across party lines are expected to attend the wedding. Political circles in Maharashtra are rife with speculations about Raj Thackeray's marriage diplomacy.Questions are being raised on whether the wedding will be used for breaking ice with the Congress.Thackeray is keen to revive his political fortunes in the state. Like the 2009 polls when his party had substantially dented the votes of BJP and Shiv Sena, the MNS chief is eying a role in the coming Lok Sabha polls too. Thackeray, a politician and cartoonist like his late uncle Balasaheb Thackeray, counts personalities from the art and business world among his friends apart from politicians.Maharashtra has a total of 48 Lok Sabha seats, the highest after Uttar Pradesh. While there is no decision yet on the future of the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance, the Congress and NCP are inching towards a seat-sharing consensus in the state. | https://www.news18.com/news/politics/will-raj-thackerays-marriage-diplomacy-help-mns-tie-poll-knot-with-congress-1999577.html |
Is 2019 the year of the sizzling party dress? | words Alexa Wang A night out and a brand new outfit is just what you need to treat yourself, and with the whole year ahead theres never been a better time to pick up a brand new look. Whether youre looking for the very best of party dresses or the perfect new wardrobe addition for that important event you have coming up, weve put together a quick list of dresses that are sure to impress regardless of the occasion. Wrap Front Satin Maxi Dress Black If you are searching for an elegant look with a simple colour theme then this unique black maxi dress is the perfect choice for you. With a wrap around bodice and V-shape neckline that creates a flattering figure for all body types, this dress is the perfect combination of a modern take on a traditional style. Perfect for weddings, parties or the more formal nights out with friends, the fishtail hemline alludes to a traditional Victorian design that simply oozes class. This take on the classic black dress can be accompanied with a bold chunky heel and decorative hoops to add a little sparkle to any event. This is the dress that you can bet will make a statement at any event that you attend. With a plunging neckline perfect for an elegant piece of jewellery as well as an A-line shape, this dress is flattering on all body types. With a cinched waist to accentuate your curves, you can feel truly confident at any of your upcoming events. In addition, this 100% polyester Maxi Print dress is not only stylish but versatile. For those chilly winter nights, pair with a leather jacket and winter boots to shelter yourself from the cold. As we head towards summer evenings, push up the sleeves and pair with ankle-strap heels for the ultimate party look. Holly Halterneck Frill Cold Shoulder Midi Dress Red If there was ever a colour that made a bold statement, it would be red and this dress just happens to be one of the boldest shades around. This midi dress not only catches the eye but adds the perfect pop of colour regardless of the event youve been invited to. The pencil style is ideal for showing off your curves, while the frills frame your shoulders and add a touch of class to the overall look. The halterneck crafts the perfect silhouette, and allows room for a jacket for the colder winter months. This figure hugging dress is perfect for those of all sizes looking for a sophisticated design that really makes a statement. Red Leopard Print Wrap Frill Mini Dress This Leopard Wrap Mini Dress is the perfect flattering option for a night out. Not only will the material move as you do and allow for complete comfort, but this design looks amazing on all body types. Additionally the v-type neckline and covered shoulders shelter you from the cold, so you can bring a touch of summer into the winter months. The long elasticated sleeves can also be rolled up to provide you with a stunning summer outfit too, making this a versatile look and a worthy investment for any event. Whether you decide to pair with a shoulder bag or a chain necklace with gold hoop earrings, there are plenty of ways that you can make this outfit your own. Keisha Slip Midi Dress Gold This timeless classic is a must-have staple for every wardrobe during party season. This modern twist on the classic slip midi dress suits any event, whether formal or a casual night out. With the drooped neckline and low-cut back, it sits perfectly on any body type, providing you with an enviable shape. To continue the theme of this timeless classic, pair this dress with your favourite strap heels and a simple but elegant clutch. The unique light golden colour suits all skin tones and gives you the chance to wow your guests, friends and loved ones at every event that you go to. Whether youre looking for something long and elegant, or short and stylish, 2019 is the perfect time to show off your individuality. | http://www.fluxmagazine.com/2019-sizzling-party-dress/ |
Will an earlier 2020 primary make California matter? | In presidential politics, 4 million can be bigger than or at least more important than 39 million. Iowa and New Hampshire, with a combined population roughly equal to Los Angeles, traditionally exert more influence over who gets to run for the White House than do the voters in the nations most populous state. Thats because the primary and caucus schedule traditionally puts those two smaller states both more rural and whiter and older than most of the country at the front of the line of presidential primaries. California typically pulls up the rear. If Oval Office seekers do set foot in California during the primary season, its usually to woo wealthy donors at private fundraisers. Primary-wise, theyre an afterthought. California is tired of being the nations ATM, said 2018 Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Kevin de Leon in a recent article in POLITICO. To change that dynamic, and tradition, state lawmakers voted two years ago to move Californias 2020 primary vote from June (traditionally the end of the presidential vetting cycle) to March 3. Its not alone. Texas, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Alabama, and Vermont also plan to hold primaries that day. Itll create a Super Tuesday cluster of primary delegates that, on the Democrat side, could propel that days big winner to the front of a potentially crowded field of presidential nomination hopefuls. The people who might be running for the Democratic nomination at that point include Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, former Obama administration vice president Joe Biden and Beto ORourke, a Democrat who lost a close Senate race in Texas last year. Others include California U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, and Northern California congressman Eric Swalwell. Its not the first time Californias primary has been moved up in a bid for more clout, though recent past attempts in 2004 and 2008 arent viewed as templates for whats expected in 2020. In the 2004 California primary, held in March of that year, George W. Bush was running on the GOP side as an incumbent and John Kerry was already a heavy favorite on the Dem side. That made the timing of Californias primary something of a non-issue. Kerry was the overwhelming winner in California and was the perceived frontrunner for most of the campaign season, said Marcia Godwin, a professor of public administration at the University of La Verne. Kerry and other hopefuls, like John Edwards, spoke at the California Democratic Convention in 2002, Godwin added. However, the race was all but decided by the time of the actual primary in 2004. In 2008, the timing of Californias primary again failed to sway the nomination process, but for different reasons. The 08 primary was held in early February and, because of its huge delegate haul, was dubbed by national pundits as The Big Enchilada. The GOP winner was Arizona Sen. John McCain, who beat Mitt Romney by about 200,000 votes. But because of the way the GOP apportioned delegates, McCain took 155 national delegates vs. just 15 for Romney. McCain eventually became the partys nominee. On the Democrat side, the 08 primary winner in California was Hillary Clinton, who beat eventual nominee Barack Obama by more than 400,000 votes. But California wasnt, and isnt, a winner-take-all state for Democrats, so while Clintons win brought her 204 delegates Obamas second-place finish gave him 166 delegates. That delegate count turned out to be a harbinger of what was to come. During the rest of the 08 primary season Obama mixed a few big wins with several strong second-place showings to capture more delegates than Clinton before the partys convention. In the 2016 cycle, Californias primary was held in June its traditional month for most of the past half century and the stakes were less about delegate counts than momentum. On the GOP side, eventual candidate (and future President) Donald Trump had the nomination sewn up and he took all 172 delegates. On the Democrat side, Clintons goal that year was to avoid an embarrassing loss to Bernie Sanders, who was picking up support as the primary season wore on. Clinton and Sanders both paid attention to California voters, holding rallies statewide. Clinton won, this time by about 360,000 votes, taking 254 delegates to Sanders 221, and she went on to capture the nomination. In 2020, the dynamics could be different yet again. For now, Trump is viewed as a lock on the GOP side. But on the Democrat side, experts predict the size of the field could produce a vetting process that will play out long before California voters get their next primary ballots. Much of the winnowing down of the field will happen in 2019, well before a caucus or primary, and be based more on polling and donor activity than (on) campaigning, Godwin said. It isnt clear whether an earlier 2020 primary will give California more influence, said Jack Pitney, a professor of politics at Claremont McKenna College. If a Californian such as Kamala Harris has a strong lead in state polls, other candidates might decide to skip the state rather than spend the enormous sums that it would take to compete here, he said. Another possible scenario is a Garcetti candidacy, which would put Northern California against Southern California. In that case, other candidates might stay out and let the Californians fight each other. But they might also reckon that this internal conflict might give them some openings in parts of the state. On the Republican side, if there is a serious (primary challenge to Trump), the earlier primary could give California Republicans greater influence, Godwin said. Its not a given that a California candidate will win the state. In the 2016 primary, Sen. Marcio Rubio, R-Florida, lost his home state to Trump. The March primary in California, a deep-blue state and hotbed of liberal activism that hasnt given its electoral votes to a Republican since 1988, also could affect the questions asked of Democratic candidates. An early California primary on Super Tuesday will require people to not just take positions on issues like health care, climate change, student debt, and racial justice, but describe clearly our ability to lead on such progressive priorities, billionaire progressive activist Tom Steyer, who recently announced he would not run for president, told POLITICO. Early voting will let Californians cast ballots at about the same time as Iowa voters caucus in February. With 19 million registered voters, and rules designed to encourage voter participation, it might take weeks for a California primary winner to emerge in a close race. Even with the earlier primary in California, the national media still might pay more attention to Iowa and New Hampshire. If you spent a lot of money in California, and get a terrible showing in Iowa, odds are you arent going to do well on Super Tuesday, Michael Ceraso, the state director for the 2016 Sanders campaign in California, told Reuters. California awards its Democratic delegates proportionally, meaning a candidate doesnt have to come in first to reap benefits from the states primary. Almost 500 Democratic delegates were up for grabs in the states 2016 primary and 11 percent of delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention will come from California, according to Pacific Standard magazine. New reality A March primary would make more sense or at least make the state more important in terms of selecting a Democratic nominee for president if California was winner-take-all, said Los Angeles-area Democratic consultant Larry Levine. Its a very expensive place in which to campaign statewide, he said. With delegates awarded based on performance in congressional districts, there is a greater emphasis on field organizing and less on media. If a candidate invests in California to the level they did in the winner-take-all days, they would end up with only a share of the delegates and no money to move forward. The California clout argument is a wish for a time that is no more. California political pundits, academics and some politicians dont seem to get this new reality. Candidates with deep pockets have an edge here, Pitney said. You cannot win California on the cheap, he said. Whichever scenario comes to pass, do expect a great deal of TV advertising. The big winner of the 2020 campaign will be local California (TV) stations. Others disagree. Levine said the idea that California can be won on the airwaves is old thinking. The modern approach is to poll and research where you think you can get the best bang for the buck in individual congressional districts and then harvest votes by targeting spending in those areas, he said. Staff Writer Kevin Modesti contributed to this story. | https://www.ocregister.com/2019/01/11/will-an-earlier-2020-primary-make-california-matter/ |
Should Coon Meteorologist Have Been Fired For Blaspheming MLKs Name? | Tens of thousands of people have signed an online petition demanding that a TV meteorologist in upstate New York get his job back after he was fired for using a racial epithet while trying to say Martin Luther King, Jr.s name. Jeremy Kappell, who said Martin Luther Coon Park live on the air instead of using the iconic civil rights leaders actual name, was fired from Rochester TV station WHEC on Sunday. The entire episode harkened back to how other white TV broadcasters have been treated in the past following their own verbal blunders that fell along racial lines. Two of the leading voices supporting the reinstatement of Kappell just happen to be Black. Legendary meteorologist Al Roker and Kings own daughter, Bernice King, have both condemned Kappell losing his job. Roker called it an unfortunate flub and TMZ wrote that Bernice King thought the station should have cut him some slack. She agrees there needs to be repercussions along with an apology but suggests it doesnt do anyone any good to just fire the guy. I think @JeremyKappell made an unfortunate flub and should be given the chance to apologize on @news10nbc Anyone who has done live tv and screwed up (google any number of ones Ive done) understands. Al Roker (@alroker) January 9, 2019 However, others have suggested that the use of the word coon in this particular instance was egregiously irresponsible and unforgivable. Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren was among those voices and cited Martin Luther King in a video she posted to social media on Thursday. Yes, I demanded that our local media address a racial slur, Warren said in the video. I will always stand up for the dignity and the worth of everyone in our community. In the age of a president whose own racist rhetoric has propelled the resurgence of certain white nationalist hate groups and the requisite surge of hate crimes that have come with it, some have suggested that Kappell should have known better whether his words were intentional or not. The fact that the annual Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday was fewer than two weeks away certainly didnt help Kappell, who apologized if his words offended anyone. Just in: WHEC standing by decision to fire Jeremy Kappell. Heres a strongly-worded statement. pic.twitter.com/OnkpfXaLI3 Maureen McGuire (@MaureenMcGuire8) January 9, 2019 Sadly, and not surprisingly, the Martin Luther Coon flub wasnt a first for TV. An ESPN anchor said the same thing in 2010. Mike Greenberg shrugged it off as simply talking too fast and slurring my words. He ended up keeping his job despite the public outcry. As the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle reminded readers this week, the word coon has a deep-seated racist history in America. Almost as soon as Martin Luther King Jr. came to national prominence as a pastor and civil rights leader, bigots and provocateurs capitalized on the phonetic proximity between his last name and the racial slur coon, which itself derives from raccoon and dates to at least 1862, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, the news outlet wrote Tuesday. Even James Earl Ray, who assassinated Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, reportedly referred to the civil rights leader by that slur. Beyond that particular choice of word, retired sportscaster Billy Packer called Allen Iverson a tough monkey during a Georgetown basketball game in 1996. Packer, after being labeled a racist because of it, was not fired from CBS. Sports broadcaster Jimmy The Greek Snyder did get fired, however, after he said live on the air in 1988 that Black people were bred to be the better athlete because the slave owner would breed his big woman so that he would have a big black kid. Here is Kappells flub on live TV. Reactions across social media have been pointed and blunt, as shown below. Let us know what you think. was originally published on newsone.com | https://blackamericaweb.com/playlist/should-coon-meteorologist-have-been-fired-for-blaspheming-mlks-name/ |
Will UPs Bua-Bhatija Repeat Success of Mulayam and Kanshi Ram Alliance of 1993? | Given their bitter rivalry of the past, the new-found bonhomie between Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party has raised many an eyebrow. But this is not the first time the two parties have joined hands for an assembly election in Uttar Pradesh. Twenty five years ago, the then party chiefs Mulayam Singh Yadav and Kanshi Ram had contested the state assembly elections together and went on to form the government.In 1993, communal polarisation had gripped the state due to the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya the previous year. The issue of Ram Janmabhoomi was a hot topic and the BJP was quite confident of winning the UP assembly polls.To stop the BJP juggernaut when it was at the peak of Ayodhya movement, SP and BSP forged a pre-poll alliance under which SP won 109 seats and BSP won 67 seats out of 156 assembly seats they contested. While the BJP emerged as the single largest party with 177 seats, it could not form the government as SP-BSP managed to forge alliance with other small parties and formed the government.But the government could not last for long due to growing political differences between Mulayam and Mayawati, and both parties went their separate ways in 1995.Before the 2017 state assembly elections too, the BSP chief was not ready to forge an alliance with the SP as Mulayam and his brother Shivpal Yadav were actively involved in the party politics. But things started to change after Akhilesh Yadav took over as the party president.After Akhilesh took over, Mayawati buried the hatchet over the infamous guest house incident of 1995 when she was targeted by SP goons who had barged into a guest house and attacked BSP workers. But it was Akhilesh who first made the attempt to mend the fences by calling Mayawati his bua in public speeches and the two eventually made peace.After successfully testing the BSP-SP formula in the Gorakhpur and Kairana by-elections, the parties have now decided to come together and forge an alliance ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.The formal announcement of the alliance is expected on Saturday in joint press conference by the respective party chiefs and the seat-sharing will be discussed at a later stage, sources said.Whether the parties will manage to hold on to their caste-based vote banks in the general election remains to be seen but the alliance is geared to give the ruling government a touch fight. | https://www.news18.com/news/politics/will-the-ups-bua-bhatija-repeat-success-of-mulayam-and-kanshi-ram-alliance-of-1993-1998909.html |
Did Qualcomm Really Give Samsung The Generous Offer of Suing Them Last? | Qualcomm is pretty much a household name when it comes to chipsets and modems for mobile devices, including billions of smartphones worldwide. In fact, there is great expectation from the companys upcoming Snapdragon X50 modem for smartphones, which is expected to kickstart the 5G revolution globally. But as things are, Qualcomm is exhibiting rather shabby behavior, when it comes to dealing with other tech companies. The long drawn legal battles with Apple in courtrooms worldwide have been well documented, as is the ongoing US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) vs Qualcomm trial playing out in another set of courtrooms. It was at the latter that another potential bombshell has dropped. It seems Qualcomm refused to give patent licenses to Samsung, and instead tried to sweeten the conversation with a "covenant to sue last." Samsung's Andrew Hong has testified during the proceedings that Qualcomm refused to give patent licenses to his company.An email by a former Qualcomm president is a part of the trial, and it says, [W]e were also asked for licenses by Intel and TI at a minimum, probably others (e.g., Samsung, Mediatek) as well, and we refused to enter into anything other than a non-exhaustive covenant (or covenant to sue last in the case of SS and MT). This is confirmed by tech blog Foss Patents. It's not safe because Qualcomm could at some point decide to simply sue the whole world and then we'll be hit like anybody else, said Hong during the testimony.As it turns out, one of the possible reasons for not allowing Samsung access to patents was that Qualcomm had reasons to believe that Samsung could become a competitor in the modem chip space within a year. Samsung was part of a potential joint venture with companies including NTT DoCoMo, called DragonFly. NTT DoCoMo already had licenses for certain Qualcomm patents. The arguments are around the standard essential patents, which define the technical standards of a product, and manufacturers need to have these ready.Instead of giving them the patent, Qualcomm reportedly actually gave them a counter offer that itll not sue them for patent infringement until all of the other alleged infringers were dealt with first. The way things are progressing at the FTC vs Qualcomm trial, it could soon turn into Qualcomm against pretty much every other tech company out there. Qualcomm, over the years, has allowed brands such as Intel, Samsung and MediaTek to use its patents without a license feed. The smartphone makers in turn pay Qualcomm based on the sales of devices. The FTC alleges that this is how Qualcomm operates as a monopoly, and also accuses the chipmaker of charging Apple lower licensing fees so that the latter could exclusively use Qualcomm modem chips on iPhones launched between the years 2011-2016. | https://www.news18.com/news/tech/did-qualcomm-really-give-samsung-the-generous-offer-of-suing-them-last-1998755.html |
Is Declaring a National Emergency to Build an Unnecessary Wall an Impeachable Offense? | President Donald Trump speaks to the media after signing legislation in the Oval Office of the White House on Wednesday. Mark Wilson/Getty Images A version of this piece first appeared on the blog Impeachable Offenses. The looming question in the ongoing government shutdown is whether President Donald Trump will, as he repeatedly threatens, declare a national emergency to get funding for his border wall if Congress will not pass budgetary authorization for the edifice. Multiple excellent analyses of a presidents legal authority to declare such emergencies have appeared. The upshot of all of them is that the administration could make superficially plausible arguments for such authority but that all such arguments would trigger compelling legal challenges. Moreover, a use of emergency powers to circumvent congressional unwillingness to fund a long-wished-for presidential pet project would be both unprecedented and a serious challenge to constitutional separation of powers norms. What has not been fully addressed is the claim, floated by several commentators, that declaration of a national emergency under these circumstances would constitute an impeachable offense. As a constitutional matter, I believe such a declaration could constitute part of a larger pattern of impeachable conduct. However, three factors would make the political path to impeachment on that ground very tricky. The first is the promiscuity with which Congress has ceded emergency authority to the president. The second is the Supreme Courts overzealous limitations on the so-called congressional vetoa mechanism for constraining presidential misuse of Congress grants of discretion. The third is the distressing likelihood that Republican legislators, blinded by tribalism and cowed by Trumps enduring popularity with the Republican base, would not defend their own constitutional authority. Lets walk through the problem. First, as all but a few outliers concede, impeachable offenses need not be crimes. As George Mason, who introduced the phrase high Crimes and Misdemeanors into the constitutional text, observed, the primary objective of the impeachment mechanism is to forestall [a]ttempts to subvert the Constitution. Multiple British parliaments, from whose precedents Mason drew the phrase high Crimes and Misdemeanors, employed impeachment, not for punishment of statutory crime, but to remove executive officials who subvert[ed] the ancient and well-established form of government of Great Britain. One of the most fundamental precepts of American constitutional government is that Congress makes the laws and, in particular, maintains the power of the purse. Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution is unequivocal: No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law. The wall dispute is nothing more than an appropriations fight. The president wants Congress to appropriate money for a special purposebuilding a border walland Congress declines to do so. A president who claims the power to spend $5.7 billion dollars on a project Congress has expressly refused to authorize is therefore in undoubted violation of the most basic separation of powers principle unless he can claim that Congress has somehow already authorized him to act. Trump would have a fig leaf of legal justification, and resolving the matter would take months or years. Thats where the threatened declaration of national emergency comes in. One potentially salutary effect of Trumps threat is that it has awakened the public to the striking variety of laws permitting a president to claim emergency powers. On the one hand, the existence of such laws is unsurprising. In the modern interconnected world, real threats to the public welfarewar, terrorism, disease, or natural disastercan arise quickly. Sometimes the federal government is the only entity with the resources for adequate response, and sometimes action will be required before Congress can authorize it. On the other hand, Congress choice to delegate emergency power rests on the assumption, the norm if you will, that presidents will not misuse that power to circumvent ordinary constitutional arrangements. Trump is casting a bright and disconcerting light on that happy assumption. The most likely legal sources of emergency authority for wall building lie in statutes relating to military matters such as 10 U.S.C. Section 2808(a). That act provides that, upon presidential declaration of a national emergency that requires use of the armed forces, the government may undertake military construction projects that are necessary to support such use of the armed forces. Of course, whatever ones view of the current situation at the border, there is no serious case that it requires the use of the armed forces. Regulating commerce, immigration, and crime at the border are all traditional civilian functions, and there has been no recent change, no crisis, remotely justifying military intervention. Moreover, even if one believed that the Army had a useful role to play in border security, it cannot be plausibly argued that building several hundred miles of wall would be necessary to support military operations. Indeed, Trumps approach to the issue would turn the statute on its head. He has not claimed that there are required military operations for which a wall would be necessary support. Rather, he claims that the wall is necessary, and thus, in the absence of congressional authorization to build it, military funds should be diverted for its construction. But assume that whether under Section 2808(a) or some other statute Trump claims emergency power to build his wall. Opponents would have two possible avenues of response. First, subject to rules about standing, a variety of folks might sue (Congress itself, individual members of Congress, border landowners, conservation groups, etc.). Three lines of argument seem likely: (a) there is no emergency justifying a presidential declaration in the first place; (b) emergency or not, building a border wall doesnt fit within the parameters of whatever emergency statute Trump chose to rely on (e.g., building a wall is not necessary to support military operations); or (c) the broader contention that this particular declaration of emergency powers is a transparent nullification of the Constitutions allocation of powers among the branches of the federal government. Traditionally, courts try very hard to avoid second-guessing presidential decisions in areas where either the Constitution or statutes grant him wide discretionary authority. That said, using emergency powers to authorize a long-debated civilian construction project in the face of congressional refusal to appropriate seems such a flagrant abuse that I suspect the courts would ultimately rule against Trump. Nonetheless, he would have a fig leaf of legal justification, and resolving the matter would take months or years. Alternatively, Trumps congressional opponents could invoke the provisions of the National Emergencies Act. That law, passed in 1976, created a mechanism for congressional termination of presidentially declared emergencies. As originally written, such emergencies ended once the president said so or Congress passed a concurrent resolution (a resolution by both the House and Senate). In its original form, the law did not involve the president in the congressional termination process; once the concurrent resolution passed both houses, the emergency would be over, regardless of what the president had to say about it. However, in a 1983 case called INS v. Chadha, the U.S. Supreme Court seemingly voided all so-called legislative vetoes. Chadha involved a statute that allowed a vote by one house of Congress to reverse certain executive branch decisions about immigration cases. The court decided that this procedure violated the constitutional requirement that lawmaking be bicameral, i.e., involve votes by both the House and Senate, and the so-called presentment clauses that require presidential signature before a bill can become law. The primary focus of Chadha was the unicameral nature of the immigration procedure at issue, but Chadha at the least casts grave doubt on the validity of even bicameral congressional veto procedures. Therefore, in 1985, Congress amended the National Emergencies Act to specify that presidential emergencies terminate when there is enacted into law a joint resolution terminating the emergency. This language implies that, to become law, the joint resolution would have to be presented to the president for signature. Thus, the president could veto the resolution, leaving the emergency in place unless Congress could summon two-thirds majorities in both houses for an override. In any previous era of American history, securing a majority or even a supermajority of both the House and Senate to void a presidents blatant nullification of the constitutional appropriations authority of Congress would, I think, have been a cinch. Any rational legislator, even one of the same party as the president, would recognize that acquiescence would badly dilute his or her own institutional power. Not to speak of creating a precedent that would be employed by succeeding presidents of the opposite party. However, the standards and institutional self-respect of this Congress (particularly, if I may say, its Republican members) are so degraded that it seems entirely possible that all but a handful of Republicans would vote to uphold the emergency declarationthe Constitution and separation of powers be damned. Which brings us to impeachment. I have no doubt that the founders would have considered presidential abuse of emergency powers to nullify congressional appropriations authority to be impeachable conduct. Invocation of emergency authority in the wall dispute would be unprecedented. It would amount to presidential rule by decree and subversion of a bedrock of American constitutional design. That said, I suspect even the most doctrinaire constitutionalists might hesitate to impeach a president for a single instance of such abuse. One can fairly argue that Harry Trumans effort to seize the steel industry for national security reasons in the face of a nationwide strike was a more egregious overstep, and the remedy there was not impeachment but a judicial smackdown by the Supreme Court in the Steel Seizure Case. However, an unwarranted emergency declaration by Trump would not be an isolated misstep but merely a single item in the bill of particulars supporting impeachment for a pattern of conduct destructive of the constitutional order. The likelihood of a Trump wall emergency becoming part of articles of impeachment would be enhanced if one or both of two things occurred. First, before Congress could seriously contemplate impeaching Trump for abusing his emergency powers, it would have to have exerted its own authority by voting to terminate Trumps emergency declaration under the National Emergencies Act. If Congress made no effort to use this tool or failed to secure majority votes in both houses, it would be poorly placed to argue that Trump had committed a major constitutional sin against congressional prerogatives. Congressional termination of the emergency by majority votes including significant numbers of Republicans in both houses would be an especially persuasive indicator that this was a constitutional, and not a partisan, disagreement. Still better (though implausible) would be termination votes by veto-proof two-thirds majorities. Sadly, the events of the past two years give one little confidence that many Republican legislators retain sufficient awareness of constitutional principles or indeed sufficient institutional self-respect to resist their raging leader. Second, if the Supreme Court definitively rejected Trumps move as an unconstitutional breach of the separation of powers, the case for impeachment would be significantly strengthened. A ruling against Trump on the ground that he violated the terms of a particular emergency powers statute would also be helpful, though not as compelling. Mere misapplication of statutory languageeven if the misapplication is willful and flagranthas less resonance as a ground for removal than a constitutional infraction. In either case, Trump would surely bluster and denigrate the judges, but a well-reasoned judicial repudiation of Trumps overreach could stiffen the spines and harden the resolves of Republican legislators now too timorous to do what most know is right. | https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/01/national-emergency-wall-trump-impeachment.html |
Could Malcolm Jenkins keep Saints from another Super Bowl? | Of four of the players from that New Orleans Saints team that won a Super Bowl nine years ago set to be on the Superdome field Sunday (Jan. 13), one will be on the opposite sideline. Philadelphia Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins is 10 seasons into an NFL career that began with the Saints. After five seasons, the Saints let him leave as a free agent. In the five seasons since then, hes been with the Eagles as an anchor to their secondary. Letting him leave probably as big a mistake as weve made here in 13 years, Saints coach Sean Payton said when the teams met in November for a Week 11 game the Saints won 48-7. He repeated that statement to Philadelphia media during the week. Then Friday, he said hes definitely a guy that you see on tape, and you see his leadership jumps off the film. Hes just a real good football player, a guy that in hindsight we shouldnt have let out of the building. Of the Saints players still in the building, seven of them were around during the time Jenkins played. Sean has described him as the Swiss Army Knife, Drew Brees said. I think thats a good description. Just a guy that can do everything. We drafted him in the first round as a corner so he played corner here for the first two years and then ended up gravitating to free safety. His versatility, his ability to come down and cover a slot receiver, to cover a tight end, to cover a running back, to pressure. But more importantly hes just a smart, tough football player. Jenkins drew attention the last time the Eagles played in New Orleans for when he directed an obscene gesture toward Payton after Brees threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Alvin Kamara on fourth-and-6 in the fourth quarter of a game the Saints already led by more than four touchdowns. Jenkins downplayed the reaction immediately after the game when he told NBC Sports Philadelphia knew Payton was one of those people that theyre going to go for it, and I understood that. I was more upset that it was on me. We talked after the game, Jenkins said then. Its all good. The Eagles at that point held a 4-6 record and their chance to defend the Super Bowl title they won last season appeared dim. The Eagles have since won six of the next seven games, including the wild-card win at Chicago. Some of that turnaround can be traced to Jenkins, Eagles coach Doug Pederson said. When things looked a little bleak for us earlier in the season, (Jenkins) just really stood up and held himself, plus others, accountable, Pederson said. That is what you need from your top guys, and he has been that way for us. To the Saints players who know him, those types of actions sound familiar. He was the voice of the defense when he was here, said Saints left tackle Terron Armstead, whose time with the Saints overlapped Jenkins by one season. They ask him to do a lot of things in Philly, Armstead said. He makes plays. He gets it done. Hes a key part of their defense. Saints punter Thomas Morstead remembered the approach Jenkins brought to special teams when both arrived as rookies for that Super Bowl season. The Saints selected Jenkins at No. 14 overall out of Ohio State and Morstead in the fifth round out of SMU. Great leaders dont wait for someone else to step aside before you become a leader, Morstead said. He always led by example. Hes an alpha dog. Hes respected by all. I think he help people accountable. He cared about winning. He wasnt afraid to get after people if they werent up to the standard that people expected. He was a great leader for us. Other current Saints on the team at the same time is Jenkins are offensive lineman Jermon Bushrod, running back Mark Ingram, tight end Ben Watson and defensive end Cameron Jordan. Jenkins hasnt missed a start in five seasons with the Eagles. His 97 total tackles in the regular season were more than he had in any season with the Saints and are the second-most for his career. He had three forced fumbles and one interception during the regular season. For as much his former teammates respect him, when the game Sunday begins, hell be No. 27 in the green jersey, Watson said. After the game, the mood will change. In every game you always see guys come together and shake hands, Watson said. And theres a tremendous amount of respect that all of us have for each other." Unlike any handshakes that happened after the Saints' Week 11 throttling of the Eagles. these handshakes will come with one of the players having his season ended just moments earlier. Rookie of the Year: Saints owner Gayle Benson is on verge of history in Year 1 | https://www.nola.com/saints/2019/01/could-malcolm-jenkins-keep-saints-from-another-super-bowl.html |
Who is new Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony? | FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Gregory Tony was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to serve as Broward County sheriff after Scott Israel was suspended Friday. Tony, 40, of Boca Raton, spent almost a dozen years with the Coral Springs Police Department, rising to the rank of sergeant before resigning in 2016. The registered Democrat serves as president of Blue Spear Solutions, which specializes in active-shooter training, according to its website. His wife, Holly, a registered nurse for Broward Health North, serves as vice president. Prior to working for the Coral Springs Police Department, Tony was employed by the Florida Department of Corrections and Florida Highway Patrol. A native of Philadelphia, Tony came to the Sunshine State to attend Florida State University, where he played football under legendary head coach Bobby Bowden. He played in five games for the Seminoles during the 2000-01 seasons. Tony received his undergraduate degree in criminology from FSU and earned a master's degree in criminal justice from Nova Southeastern University. He becomes the first black sheriff in Broward County history. Copyright 2019 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved. | https://www.local10.com/news/florida/broward/who-is-new-broward-county-sheriff-gregory-tony- |
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