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Can NBCU Crack the Economics of OTT? | Comcast has long held that the economics of an OTT-TV service don't add up. But its big programming and studio unit, NBCUniversal, is going to tackle the challenge in 2020 using a mix of free- and fee-based options that, it hopes, will appease cord-cutters as well as people who still get regular pay-TV services. (See NBCU Sets Plan for Standalone Streaming Service .) NBCUniversal LLC will attempt to crack that economic nut using a set of models: A free, ad-supported service for NBCU's pay-TV subs in the US (provided it can get all of those deals done with the MVPDs) and "major" international markets. Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) and newly acquired UK-based Sky are, naturally, already on board to deliver this to their combined 52 million subs. (See Will Comcast's Pricey Play for Sky Pay Off?) An advertising-free version for pay-TV subs that will be available for a fee that's yet to be announced. A subscription OTT service for non-pay TV consumers/cord-cutters. Again, no price point has been announced. More details will be announced later, but the general plan is to draw on NBCU's content library, which includes titles from Universal Studios and DreamWorks Animation, the broadcast network and its cable nets. Oh, and NBCU plans to continue licensing its content to other studios and platforms such as Netflix, which currently has rights to The Office and some other NBC shows. But NBCU also clearly understands the obvious need to set aside some exclusive fare to make its OTT services enticing, as it plans to retain rights to "certain titles" for its new service. Hedging its bets This multi-pronged, somewhat confusing approach indicates that NBCU is spreading its bets a bit using a blend of advertising and subscriptions to make a major OTT play work and not tick off its still-important pay-TV distributors. And that goes for other programmers after all, Sky still needs to be in position to secure sports rights and other programming to make its service go. It's a tricky balance. NBCU had already tried the subscription VoD route with Seeso, a comedy-focused streaming service. Seeso launched in January 2016 for $3.99 per month, and was shut down in late 2017. Sources told me at the time that NBCU thought the sub growth was fine, but that the return on investment on Seeso was happening at a pace slower than the company was willing to stomach. "Perhaps the biggest takeaway from Comcast's announcement of its OTT video plans is this is hard," Craig Moffett, analyst at MoffettNathanson LLC , noted in a blog post in response to NBCU's announcement. "There are no easy answers." He said NBCU's approach with "incrementalism" in the model is there because it really had no other choice. "Comcast, after all, has many masters to serve. They dont want to blow up their traditional Cable TV business by giving their customers one more reason to jump ship." Moffett surmises that NBCU's hedge-betting shows that they believe that OTT and direct-to-consumer are going to happen, only slowly, while he still wonders whetyher Comcast has the "stomach for the kind of investments that will be required" to build the enormous scale needed to survive in the D2C media business. Meanwhile, other broadcasters have been forcing NBCU's hand to at least explore the D2C model. CBS has CBS All Access, and Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) will no doubt figure out a way to weave some content from ABC and what it's acquiring from Fox to help fuel the Disney+ OTT service it will launch later this year. AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T)'s WarnerMedia, meanwhile, is also jumping into the D2C fray. (See Disney Dispenses Details About Its New Streaming Service and AT&T CEO: Our SVoD Service Won't Be 'Another Netflix' .) "The hope is that these new options will be the right recipe" for NBCU, Brett Sappington, senior director of research at Parks Associates , said. He said including a free, ad-based streaming option could help NBCU, given that there's a limit to how many Internet video services a customer is willing to pay for. Even among the pay-TV homes Parks Associates has studied, about one-third of them take three or more OTT services, while about half subscribe to two or more. According to Parks Associates research, consumers are spending, on average, $9 per month on OTT video services. "I don't think we've seen the top yet" with respect to the number of OTT services consumers will be willing to pay for, "but there's anxiety that the top is coming at some point," Sappington said. Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading | https://www.lightreading.com/video/ott/can-nbcu-crack-the-economics-of-ott/a/d-id/748833?_mc=RSS_LR_EDT |
Are Pelosi/Schumer Nebulous Namby Pambys? | They offer no meaningful alternatives to stemming the flow of illegal immigration over our porous southern border, the flow of murderous drugs that is killing many of our, mostly young, citizens, and the flow of human trafficking. The Merriam-Webster dictionary definition of the term Nebulous Namby Pambys is as follows: Nebulous - indistinct, vague, and hazy. Namby Pamby - pathetically weak and indecisive. President Trump has bent over backwards to offer the Democrats a chance to bargain over the issue of building the wall (barrier), but they stubbornly refuse to even make a meaningful counteroffer. Both Pelosi and Schumer are acting like petulant children who didnt get their way, all because they dont want to give the hated Donald Trump a win on one of his signature proposals. Just recently, notorious anti-Trump CNN journalist?, Jim Acosta, went down to the border near McAllen, Texas to check out the wall there. He reported that everything was calm and that no illegals were charging the wall, thinking that he was dissing President Trumps claim of a border crisis, but he actually proved Trumps point that a border wall (barrier) does exactly what Acosta reported. It actually stops illegal activity. Acostas anti-Trump venom came back to bite him and CNN in the butt big time. The Democrats, and their flunkies in the lame stream media, are putting their partisan political considerations ahead of the security of our country. Their attitude of resistance of Trump policy, at all costs, seems to have boxed them in to where it makes it difficult for them to save face by capitulating with President Trump. The big losers are the citizens of the United States. BUILD THAT DAMN WALL! | https://canadafreepress.com/article/are-pelosi-schumer-nebulous-namby-pambys |
How Many Homes Do Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Have? | Same! But you can always ask Prince Harry and Meghan Markle if you can borrow one of theirs real quick, because they have more than enough to go around. Turns out the Duke and Duchess of Sussex currently call three very fancy residences homeand those are just the confirmed properties. Here's a guide to their real estate portfolio, in case you're in the mood to feel extremely jealous while sitting in your studio apartment. Frogmore Cottage Things you need to know about about Frogmore Cottage: 1) Calling this place a "cottage" is like calling Buckingham Palace an itty bitty mansion. 2) It was literally named after a buncha frogs by someone who clearly had an amphibian fetish. 3) It's going to be Meghan and Harry's main residence. Frogmore is about 30 miles outside of London, and it's actually part of the Windsor Estate, which is where the Queen spends much of her time. Aside from the sentimental wedding vibes (and of course the abundance of frog friends), Meghan and Harry reportedly want increased security: "The Cambridges have their garden in the back [of Kensington Palace], which is nice, but there is no real other space for children to play in," a source tells The Daily Mail. "Frogmore, which is inside the Windsor security zone, is secluded, peaceful, tranquil and, most importantly, private. No one will see them coming or going." But FYI, They Don't Live There Yet Frogmore Cottage is currently undergoing major renovations so that it's fit for Meghan and Harry's growing family (plus their nanny, security, and Meghan's mom Doria). As of now, the cottage consists of five separate apartments that palace staff have been living in, which will be converted into one big home for the Sussexes. This reno is sliiiiightly controversial because it's likely being paid by taxpayer moneybut, like, who WOULDN'T want to give up a portion of their paycheck so Meghan and Harry can live their best frog-themed life?! Nottingham Cottage Meghan and Harry currently live in Nottingham Cottage, a small building inside the grounds of Kensington Palace that's super cute but has almost no privacy due to being right next to everything/everyoneincluding Kate Middleton and Prince William. Okay, But Is Nottingham a Cottage or a "Cottage?" It's a legit cottage! Harry and Meghan's current place has just two bedrooms, as well as "one bathroom, two reception rooms, a kitchen, living room and small garden out back." Getty Images FYI, Kate and William Used to Live There The Cambridges posted up at Notts Cott (yes, that's its official nickname) for a full two years before moving into "Apartment 1A," where the icon known as Princess Margaret used to live. Basically, staying there is a rite of passage for new royal couples. The Cotswold Cottage Barely anything is known about this place (which is probably good for privacy reasons! ), but news broke in early January that Meghan and Harry had been spending time at a country home in the Cotswolds, which sounds lovely. The renovated farmhouse is reportedly worth 2.5 million, and has four bedrooms, plus a two-bedroom "outhouse," which I'm going to hope assume is royal slang for "guesthouse" rather than a grungy toilet shack. The Sussexes have used their Cotswold home to entertain celeb guests like George and Amal Clooney, whoFYIare rumored to be named godparents to the royal baby. Giphy Their Other RUMORED Properties Meghan and Harry most likely don't live in or own any of the following places, but at one point or another, fans speculated that they might. So naturally I'm going to do my due diligence and begin with... Luckington Court Last year, there were a bunch of theories that Megs and Harry were moving into this multi-million dollar countryside manor after it mysteriously went off the market right after Harry and Meghan announced their engagement. It also happens to be near Highgrove House, where Harry spent much of his childhood, so it made some logical sense, too. But considering there was no follow-up confirmation, it's fair to assume that the Sussexes didn't actually buy Luckington. York Cottage Back in May 2018, a report surfaced that Queen Elizabeth II would be giving Meghan and Harry a country home called York Cottage on her Sandringham estate. William and Kate already have a home in the area (which is where the royals holiday), so the report made a lot of sense! It's unknown whether or not Her Majesty went through with the plan, but either way York Cottage is haunted so don't be too jealous: Getty Images Adelaide Cottage Oh look, another "cottage" that the Queen was rumored to have gifted Megs and Harry! The thing is, Adelaide is also in Windsor, and the happy couple is already renovating Frogmore. Soooo...chances are this place was rejected. Bye! | https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/a25902770/meghan-markle-prince-harry-homes/ |
Should California Lower the Bar? | Last year the pass rate for Californias bar exam, by some accounts the nations toughest, was 40.7 percent. Law school deans are now pressuring the state Supreme Court, which sets the standard for the exam, to lower the passing score. Current one may harm students of color, runs the headline on a January 7 Sacramento Bee piece by Sawsan Morrar. The current bar exam is too limiting for all applicants but especially harms minority graduates, argues Morrar, who is not a lawyer. She cites unidentified newly released data, that if California adopted the national average score, the number of African-American law graduates passing the exam would have doubled and nearly 24 percent more Latino law graduates would pass the exam. So whoever compiled this data knows the results beforehand. UCLA law school dean Jennifer Mnookin told Morrar, More clients insist on having diverse lawyering teams, so this is all about diversity. UC Davis law school dean Kevin Johnson worries that we may be screening out a disproportionate number of minorities. In diversity dogma, all groups are supposed to achieve in proportion to their percentage of the population, In reality, because of personal differences, effort, and choice, statistical disparities between people and groups are the rule, not the exception. Californias public universities once rejected highly qualified applicants, most notably Asians, in favor of other minorities with lower academic scores. In 1996, voters halted that discrimination with Proposition 209, the California Civil Rights Initiative, which forbids racial and ethnic preferences in state education, employment and contracting. In a state where that law prevails, it makes little sense to dumb down the bar exam on the grounds that it harms some groups. It doesnt, and the assumption that some groups need a weaker test in order to pass deserves a failing grade. So does the notion that the current exam is too limiting for all applicants. The 59.3 percent who pass might not think so. Instead of dumbing down the bar exam, state law schools might assess the way they ground students in the law and prepare them for the exam. And no law forbids strenuous study and preparation on the part of law school grads. Tags: Bar Exam, California State Supreme Court, Law School | http://blog.independent.org/2019/01/15/should-california-lower-the-bar/ |
Why is open source dominated by men? | Anyone can participate in FLOSS - it's an open meritocracy - and yet less than 3% of producers are women. A 2006 FLOSSPOLS study found it could be the highly social nature of FLOSS which leads to the under-representation. Cultural biases, stereotyping and a degree of insularity may not only put off potential female contributors, but also inhibit efforts to diversify the culture and communicate FLOSS agendas. FLOSS has a markedly individualistic culture so, if there are few females involved, men tend to assume that women have chosen not to get involved. The culture also tends to value coding rather than the many specialisms which go into the production of software. Women often work on user interfaces or documentation - less visible jobs with a lower status. There are plenty of female coders, but they tend to be even less visible and their work is often assumed to be that of a man. Kernel hacker Valerie Aurora even published a spoof 'admitting' to having been a man all along and complaining about how difficult it had been to keep up the pretence! There are also practical issues. Men usually have more free time outside of work while women, statistically speaking, shoulder the lion's share of domestic responsibilities. Women also tend to enter computing later in life and, in a traditionally self-taught culture, this steepens the learning curve significantly. Flaming is also disproportionately off-putting to women and likely to deter them from participating in support communities. These findings were not news to the women already participating but they did validate their concerns. It also confirmed that more women really did want to participate and that 66% of men also thought FLOSS would benefit from more female participation. Taking action In the wake of FLOSSPOLS, Melissa Draper wrote an open letter to the community calling for more care to be taken to avoid gender stereotyping, and women involved in various FLOSS projects started to gather their own statistics. In 2008, the GeekFeminism blog began recording incidents of sexist stereotyping at public events. The discussion on women and FLOSS culture had broken the surface. The following year, a number of women were invited to give keynotes at prestigious FLOSS conferences. In her 2009 OSCON keynote, Standing Out in the Crowd, Alex Bayley ('Skud') estimated that 5% of Perl developers and 10% of Drupal developers were women. She talked about how alienating it can feel to be "the only one" at FLOSS events and quoted Jono Bacon's quip about how a man would feel about being the only guy in a nail salon. This year, Wikipedia's Editor Survey threw up some equally stark statistics: only 13% of editors are female and of those, 7% had experienced 'inappropriate' comments and 4% even reported having been 'stalked' online. A blog by Wikipedia's executive director Sue Gardner garnered rather more candid comments, including complaints about widespread hostility and inappropriate behaviour. Harassment affects a very small proportion of women in FLOSS but, when it does happen, it can range from being extremely unpleasant to positively alarming. It can take the form of unwanted sexual attention and even go as far as online stalking or virulent trolling involving hostile, offensive language and outright bullying. Its few but grim examples are more than enough to discourage many women if they don't feel they have the support of the wider community. Whilst most men are apologetic and want to help, they may not know how to deal with the situation and may also find it hard to believe in the first place. Although Aurora points out that: "We're still having public arguments on Linux mailing lists about whether it's OK to grope a woman at a conference if she's flirting or wearing a short skirt or (heaven forbid) drinking the conference-provided free beer." In most cases, however, stereotyping and inappropriate sexualisation are mild, casual and inadvertent - leading to horrified apologies from guys who were just engaging in a bit of bonhomie and had no idea that a bit of fun could have created an uncomfortable environment for women. This became a particularly hot issue in 2009 when Matt Aimonetti used soft-porn images at the Ruby conference; his presentation was later removed from Slideshare and the chair apologised. Stallman, who has frequently spoken out against sexism, still managed to make a gaffe about 'Emacs virgins' and even Shuttleworth, known for championing courteousness, was pulled up for commenting that Linux was "hard to explain to girls". In response, there was a flurry of articles in the technical press raising awareness of gender stereotyping and inappropriately sexualised language. Making women welcome EARLY GENIUS: Ada Lovelace - considered by some to be the world's first computer programmer As Skud pointed out in her OSCON keynote, it feels uncomfortable to "be the only one". It's even worse to feel alone when dealing with harassment or the flaming which results from a competitive tendency to 'put down' less knowledgeable people. But women are not the only sufferers. Taking a little trouble to introduce and orientate new people can transform everyone's experience positively. Both women and men are engaged in many projects to diversify and humanise FLOSS culture. The first group of women coders, Systers, was founded by Anita Borg in 1987. Rosiex founded GeekGirls in 1993. Pioneering LinuxChix caused a stir when it was launched by Deb Richardson in 1998 - it grew to a substantial international organisation with chapters in many countries, and many of the most prominent women in FLOSS have been involved. Initially, its logo was an overly sexualised woman with huge breasts and the word 'Linux' stretched across them. 'Chix' was also a problematic term and a campaign was launched by Aurora to change the logo - Robotux was the result. The first LinuxChix and Women In Open Source miniconfs were held in 2007. In 2009 The Free Software Foundation (FSF) hosted a mini-summit out of which the FSF Women's Caucus was founded. 2009 also saw the first avowedly diverse FLOSS development project, when Denise Paolucci founded Dreamwidth, which forked from LiveJournal. Dreamwidth achieved 75% female participation and inspired Python's Diversity List. More recently, Gina Trapani's ThinkUp has also attracted a substantial code contribution from women. WoMoz was founded in 2009 to publicise and support other FLOSS women's projects but also to promote participation in Mozilla projects. It kicked off with a survey which showed that Mozilla is doing remarkably well, with 16.75% female participation - 13.24% of whom are developers. Gnome Women launched an outreach programme in 2010 and the Gnome Foundation sponsors three internships for female college students from the southern hemisphere. The students receive a bursary to work on various Gnome projects and participate in the community. PHP Women aims to bring together the scattered global community of PHP developers. DrupalChix estimates that women now make up 17% of Drupal developers, making it another of the more woman-friendly projects. Sue Gardiner at the Wikimedia Foundation is developing a campaign to make Wikipedia more friendly to female editors, with a discussion on developing a Women on Wikipedia Month. By now, many of the most important FLOSS organisations have women's groups - including FSF, Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Gnome, KDE, Python, Mozilla, Drupal, PHP and Rails. | https://www.techradar.com/sg/news/software/why-is-open-source-dominated-by-men-1047390 |
Who let the dogs out? | Millers Merry Manor, a long-term care facility, Activities Director Mary Wraight organized a Pet Parade for the residents on National Dress Up Your Pet Day Monday afternoon. Resident Milton Eyrich smiled as he pet Lucy (Richard John Wraights dog). When asked which pet was his favorite, he replied, I am not partial. I like them all! Arlene Leiter brought her beloved Maggie dressed in a dainty pink sweater, Mary Wraight brought her fathers dog Lucy dressed in a Valentines Day dress complete with bow, Glenda Anderson brought Chewy in a sweet winter sweater, Molly McGee brought Zen dressed in rainbow wings donning a unicorn horn, and Becky Hooley brought Daisy Mae dressed as a nurse. Volunteer Carol Buchanan carried a cup of bite-sized dog biscuits to treat and reward the pets with. Winners were chosen by popular vote taken as they took a tour around the facility. Residents reacted with delight as they interacted with the pets. Zen, a two year old Great Pyrenees was runner up. Daisy Mae a Yorkie and Papillon mix took first. Each pet was gifted with a pet-themed treat for their reward. Participants in the Millers Merry Manor Pet Parade all received a pet blanket for their fur baby as a thank you from Activities Director Mary Wraight for participating. Thank you everyone for coming and sharing your pets with our residents. Read more news from Marshall County in today's edition of the Pilot News. It is on sale now. Call 936-3101 to subscribe. | https://www.thepilotnews.com/content/who-let-dogs-out |
Did Saudi teen Rahaf Mohammed jump the queue with her speedy resettlement to Canada? | Not according to Canadian immigration officials and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Saudi teen Rahaf Mohammed was granted refuge in Canada after fleeing from her family she claimed were abusive. ( Andrew Francis Wallace / Toronto Star ) While Rahafs plea for help on social media got her international headlines and drew the attention of the UNHCR to her plight, the emergency rescue effort was by no means unique though the warm embrace by a foreign minister at the airport may be. According to immigration officials, some 200 people are processed under Canadas Urgent Protection Program each year, with about 50 resettled within the rapid timelines seen in Rahafs case. The 18-year-old arrived in Toronto Saturday accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland after a tumultuous week that began with Rahaf escaping from her family during a trip to Kuwait. Rahaf then flew to Bangkok, where she was detained by Thai authorities who prepared to deport her to Saudi Arabia, where she feared for her life. Canada has the flexibility to respond quickly to individual emergency situations for a small number of refugees, said immigration department spokesperson Beatrice Fenelon. These individuals are resettled on an expedited basis due to their particular circumstances. Article Continued Below I know that there are unlucky women who disappeared after trying to escape or who could not do anything to change their reality, she told reporters. People in need of protection cannot apply directly to the special Canadian program and requests must be made by referral organizations, such as the UNHCR. Article Continued Below Since Rahafs speedy resettlement to Canada less than a week after she started a Twitter campaign while barricaded inside her hotel room she has faced backlash not only from internet trolls criticizing her as a disgrace to her family and Islam but also from refugee supporters accusing her of being a queue jumper. A Syrian refugee from a war zone who lost everything is not welcome in the west. But a person from a golden palace in Saudi-Arabia who says I am not a Muslim anymore is a hero and very welcome. Can someone explain this to me? Arnoud van Doorn, a member of The Hague City Council in the Netherlands, asked on Twitter. In Rahafs case, the UNHCR dispatched a team to her hotel room in Bangkok for an emergency resettlement assessment after learning from media reports that the teenager was going to be handed over to her family, who were en route to Thailand and planned to take her back to Saudi Arabia. Among the 25.4 million refugees worldwide, less than 1 per cent end up being resettled, many of them after years in limbo. Emergency resettlement is extremely rare, noted Jean-Nicolas Beuze, the UNHCR representative to Canada. Based on agreed-upon criteria, we refer these cases to the 30 countries that offer resettlement programs. There are many situations. It could be for the lack of medical care or the fear of torture if someone is returned to the country of origin. At her hotel in Bangkok, Rahaf was given a formal interview where she was asked to provide the details and evidence to substantiate her claims of mental and physical abuse by her family. After she got her UNHCR refugee designation, she underwent a thorough security and criminal check, as well as a medical exam, before being admitted to Canada. Rahaf met those criteria and we referred her case to several countries. Canada was the fastest to respond. Rahaf cant choose her destination. She didnt jump any queue. Its a different process with different criteria, said Beuze. Its not a unique case, but its only unique because of all the media and social media attention. While some critics fear Rahafs case may set a precedent and open the floodgates for other Middle Eastern women to claim gender oppression, experts say resettlement is only available to those who make it outside their country of origin. The assumption is your country can protect you. You become a refugee because you dont get the protection and other countries need to step in, said Janet Dench of the Canadian Council for Refugees. Due to the notion of sovereignty, you cant be a refugee in your own country. While praising Canadas quick response to Rahafs situation, Dench said government officials must not politicize the refugee resettlement process by only prioritizing cases of those who have the ears of the Prime Minister or Immigration Minister and are the favourite of the month of the media. According to the UNHCR, 1.4 million refugees have been identified for resettlement in 2019, but only 80,000 spots are available, including 11,000 in Canada. Nicholas Keung is a Toronto-based reporter covering immigration. Follow him on Twitter: @nkeung | https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/01/15/did-saudi-teen-jump-the-queue-with-her-speedy-resettlement-to-canada.html |
Should William Barr recuse himself from the Mueller investigation? | William Barr has accepted President Trump's nomination to replace Jeff Sessions as Attorney General. Barr has decades of experience, previously serving as Attorney General under George H.W. Bush. Last year, Barr sent a memo to the Justice Department, claiming Robert Mueller was acting outside the law in investigating the president for obstruction of justice. Democrats feel the memo shows clear bias and he should recuse himself. Barr says he is not biased and will not recuse himself. PERSPECTIVES In his unsolicited memo, Barr claimed Mueller was acting outside the law in his investigation: Barr wrote that Mueller's apparent theory of obstruction "is premised on a novel and legally insupportable reading of the law. Moreover, in my view, if credited by the department, it would have grave consequences far beyond the immediate confines of this case and would do lasting damage to the presidency and to the administration of law within the executive branch." The Washington Post reports this has given many Democrats pause in confirming Barr, seeing this memo as an indication of bias against Mueller. Attorney general nominee wrote memo criticizing Mueller obstruction probe Republican lawmakers, on the other hand, felt the memo showed an appropriate amount of skepticism regarding the Mueller investigation, not clear-cut bias. Per the Washington Post: "He's got some concerns about turning the firing of a political appointee into an obstruction of justice case, and I share those concerns," [Lindsey] Graham said. "But that's his opinion as a private citizen. As attorney general, his job is to receive Mr. Mueller's report." William Barr's confirmation hearing expected to be a battle over Mueller's future In his opening statement, Barr himself commented on the memo. Barr claims he has nothing but respect for Robert Mueller and will protect the investigation as his job demands. I will follow the Special Counsel regulations scrupulously and in good faith, and on my watch, Bob will be allowed to complete his work. Second, I also believe it is very important that the public and Congress be informed of the results of the Special Counsel's work. For that reason, my goal will be to provide as much transparency as I can consistent with the law. I can assure you that, where judgments are to be made by me, I will make those judgments based solely on the law and will let no personal, political, or other improper interests influence my decision. READ: Attorney General nominee William Barr's prepared testimony Throughout his hearing, though, Barr has refused to agree to recuse himself, even if the Ethics Committee suggests he do so. Barr's insistence on remaining in control of the hearing, even if he is deemed to have a bias against Robert Mueller, has worried some Democrats. BARR: "Because the regulations ... vest that responsibility in the attorney general." Repeats that he won't surrender any responsibilities. -- Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) January 15, 2019 The Tylt is focused on debates and conversations around news, current events and pop culture. We provide our community with the opportunity to share their opinions and vote on topics that matter most to them. We actively engage the community and present meaningful data on the debates and conversations as they progress. The Tylt is a place where your opinion counts, literally. The Tylt is an Advance Local Media, LLC property. Join us on Twitter @TheTylt, on Instagram @TheTylt or on Facebook, we'd love to hear what you have to say. | https://www.nola.com/interact/2019/01/should_william_barr_recuse_him.html |
Does Vitamin D Help With Seasonal Affective Disorder? | The gloomy days of winter dont just yield to frigid temperatures. For some, its also the time of year where seasonal affective disorder or even just bouts of the winter blues can disrupt their daily lives, leaving them searching for a fix. One popular method for treating SAD is vitamin D, which most people naturally get from their diet and especially sunlight (something the wintertime very clearly lacks). Its believed that vitamin D can help manage the debilitating symptoms of the mental health condition, which include a lack of motivation, changes in sleep patterns, increased irritability and sadness. According to experts, we cant definitively proclaim that it does. Vitamin Ds possible role in mental health symptoms has been explored with mixed results, said Shari Harding, a professor of nursing at Regis College in Massachusetts and an expert on SAD. Vertigo3d via Getty Images There's debate on whether vitamin D alone truly helps with seasonal affective disorder. A very small study published in 1999 stated that SAD can occur when vitamin D storage in the body is low. It found that the vitamin could possibly be useful in treating symptoms of the disorder, but noted that more research was needed. A meta-analysis published in 2018 also found a correlation between lower vitamin D levels and depression, the BBC reported, but that doesnt necessarily mean its the cause of the illness. It just indicates that the two existed at the same time. (Since a symptom of depression is withdrawal, its possible that those living with the illness didnt go outside enough to get normal amounts of vitamin D, the BBC pointed out.) Given that SAD is a complex illness, experts cant solely pin its presence on a lack of vitamin D. Mental health disorders usually develop because of a persons environment, circumstances, physiology or a combination of these items. There is evidence that some people with depression may also have vitamin D deficiency, but it is not clear what role the deficiency plays in depressive symptoms. - Shari Harding, SAD expert There is evidence that some people with depression may also have vitamin D deficiency, but it is not clear what role the deficiency plays in depressive symptoms, Harding said. There are many factors that affect symptoms of depression, so the best evidence at this point supports having your vitamin D level checked by a health care provider. Youre typically able to get the recommended levels of vitamin D which is good for bone health by going about your everyday life, Harding said. This includes causal sun exposure and consuming foods and drinks that contain vitamin D, such as milk, cereal and salmon. People who live in climates where it gets darker earlier are at risk of not getting enough vitamin D without supplementing, but vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, so it is possible to supplement too much and reach toxic levels, Harding said. The best way to approach vitamin D is to have your level checked and then talk to a health care provider about the best plan for you. What experts do know about SAD is that it can be exacerbated by a lack of light, which is why its more prevalent in more northern parts of the U.S. where there isnt as much sun during the winter. Those who experience the winter blues or SAD have enjoyed some success in reducing its effects with light therapy exposure to artificial light through a device that mimics what youd receive outdoors. Light therapy is thought to affect brain chemicals linked to mood and sleep, easing SAD symptoms, according to the Mayo Clinic. The best way to approach vitamin D is to have your level checked and then talk to a health care provider about the best plan for you. - Harding Bottom line, if youre experiencing any problems with your mental health at any point during the year its important to acknowledge it and speak up. Some warning signs include a difficulty to complete normal tasks, withdrawal from social activities, changes in mood or behavior and disruptions in eating or sleep patterns. These are all particularly alarming if they interfere with your daily life. | https://www.huffpost.com/entry/vitamin-d-seasonal-affective-disorder_n_5c3e0200e4b0e0baf5416024 |
Is knee replacement surgery the only answer? | ORLANDO, Fla. - By 2023, total knee replacement surgeries are projected to grow to 3.5 million procedures per year. Some experts are now questioning if knee replacement surgery is being done too soon on patients, before they've had a chance to explore other options. "We're seeing arthritis at an earlier age. So, having alternatives and ways to treat arthritis is important," said Dr. Mathew Pombo, orthopedic surgeon at Emory Orthopaedics and Spine Center. One option is losing weight. Sometimes this can significantly decrease knee pain. Pain relievers, anti-inflammatory drugs or corticosteroids are all less invasive treatment options than surgery. If those options aren't giving you results, get gel injections directly into the knee joint to lubricate it. Exercise and physical therapy should also be tried if you want to exhaust all other options first. "I think people have to weigh every option and what's best for themselves," Pombo said. Up to 20 percent of patients end up dissatisfied with the outcome of their surgical procedure. This is why it's vital you understand the clear benefits and harms of knee replacement surgery. Patients who've had the surgery said the recovery is no walk in the park. Around 12 percent of adults in the United States have painful arthritic knees that limit mobility, and each year more than 640,000 people have them replaced at a cost of well over $10 billion a year. Knee replacements last between 10 and 20 years, so delaying your surgery is sometimes your best option, experts said. Copyright 2019 by Ivanhoe Newswire - All rights reserved. | https://www.ksat.com/health/is-replacement-knee-surgery-the-only-answer |
Will Anyone Vote for Health Policy? | THE HORIZON BY KAYODE KOMOLAFE [email protected] There is one huge deficit in the campaigns towards next months elections; political parties and their candidates are not definite enough about their plans to improve the condition of the Nigerian people. There are on display several manifestoes stating what politicians promise to do if given the mandate. However, there isnt much of how the missions would be accomplished. This trend is surprising given the large number of technocrats turned politicians who are energetically seeking votes. It may, of course, be idealistic to expect candidates to go into policy details in the brief opportunities they have while on the hustings. But it is, at least, expected that some specifics about how to execute a policy should be stated in policy documents. The websites of political parties should be replete with details of how policy objectives would be achieved. This is more so in respect of issues that directly affect the condition of the poor people. It is certainly not asking for too much to ask candidates with backgrounds as technocrats to enrich and elevate policy debates. Technocrats should go beyond the slogans of end of hunger, education for all or universal healthcare. One difference that technocrats could make in politics is to help build the culture debating policy details beyond a few minutes of appearance on television. The health sector is one of the policy areas that specifics are sorely needed for an informed choice by the electorate. Healthcare delivery is a crucial component of the social sector. And there is a seeming unanimity of opinions among experts across ideological divides that poverty is a central question of development. In fact, poverty defines the Nigerian society. The primacy of the social sector in the development is no more disputed in an age in which even the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are now the champions of anti-poverty programmes. Those enforcers of the ground rules of global capitalism are not just focussing on growth rates anymore. So to tackle poverty the specifics of health policy especially funding should be stated. In a commissioned report late last year, the Economist Intelligence Unit made a survey of 50 countries to find out what building inclusive societies means to citizens. Healthcare was rated top among the priorities of citizens in different parts of the world in the report entitled Priorities of Progress: Understanding Citizens Voices. This is followed by other priorities namely education, social protection, and public safety, research and development (R&D), environment and transport infrastructure. Perhaps the most instructive observation in the report is that despite the differences created by the factors of economy, culture, technology and geography, peoples hold common views across the boundaries about change and progress in the society. Nigeria is squarely within the global currents of peoples expectations from their governments. In a comment on the important report on this page on November 14, 2018, this reporter observed as follows: A theme that could be extrapolated from the foregoing (that is Economist Intelligence Unit report) is that it is not enough for a political party to blandly declare that it would provide free health services. It is equally socially insensitive for free market fundamentalists to glibly dismiss the idea of universal healthcare coverage and treat the health of the people as just another commodity. What this report by a unit of a consistently liberal newspaper has confirmed again is that health is a basic human need. In the Nigerian specific context, you cannot be talking seriously about poverty eradication without the access to primary healthcare by the poorest in the society. Implicit in the report is also the fact that the peoples perception about the funding of heath services could sometimes be at variance with the calculations of politicians and their experts of various ideological hues. That is really the issue. A mother clasping her baby dying of a preventable disease is not the right person to lecture on the economics of health. The fact of limited resources should compel those who think for governments to ponder how to make the social sector a priority in policy conception and articulation. To play anti-poverty politics, a greater attention should be given to the social sector than what is currently the case among politicians and political parties in the current campaigns. Last year, this newspaper in partnership with the federal ministry of health held a series of policy dialogues on healthcare. In one of the lively sessions, a passionate advocate of the synergy of purpose among stakeholders in shaping and driving health policies, Dr. Olumide Okunola, drew the attention of the audience to a development that should interest politicians, political parties and the electorate alike in this season. As the director of programme, Okunola, a gynaecologist, reminded Nigerians that in Ghana the articulation of health policy is a determinant in winning presidential elections. The example of Ghana should particularly be sobering to politicians here who merely sloganeer about health policies during elections. This is because cynics in some quarters might dismiss the examples of American and British elections as far to seek. In the last presidential election in the United States, what to do with the signature health policy of President Barack Obama called Obamacare was a major issue of the election. It is already projected by some pundits that health would be among the 10 defining issues of the 2020 American elections. The fate of the British National Health Service (NHS), as a cherished institution, is always an electoral issue in which political parties are definite on their policy options. Yet, most politicians and political parties taking part in next months elections are hardly spelling out the specifics of funding their health policies. This should ordinarily not be the case because implementation of health policies is gradually becoming a continuum in Nigeria. Like the British and American examples cited above, there is already a substratum of policy for those shaping party policies to work upon in the health sector. The National Health Act was signed into law in 2014 by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government of President Goodluck Jonathan, just a year before the expiration of his tenure. In fact, as a PDP senator, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State was the chairman of the senate committee on health when the law was passed. At the second THISDAY Health Policy Dialogue, the PDP governor called on all his fellow-governors to obey the law by implementing the provisions of the law. Again, the continuum demonstrated in the health policy is another reason why strategies of development should be owned by political parties and should be embraced by candidates contesting elections at all levels on their respective platforms. Although healthcare was hardly a prominent issue in the 2015 elections, yet it is a good thing that President Muhammadu Buhari, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has given life to the 2014 Act by taking concrete steps to implement its provisions. Only last Tuesday, Buhari rolled out the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) already appropriated in six states and Abuja. Funds to implement the provisions of the National Health Act were appropriated for the first time in 2018. The current provision is the N55 billion from Consolidated Revenue Fund to the basket fund of BHCPF. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has also contributed $1.5 million of the pledged $2 million into the basket. It is clear that the specifics needed are mostly in terms of funding. In an apparently institutionalised manner, the National Health Act makes it mandatory that 1% of the Consolidated Revenues Fund in the annual budget should be allocated to fund basic healthcare. In April last year, a new logo for BHCPF was unveiled under the name, Huwe, an Ebira word meaning life. The occasion was the second THISDAY Policy Dialogue on Universal Health Coverage. This electoral season, in which the limitation of resources comes into the fore as politicians set priorities, is therefore appropriate to state the specifics of health policy. Reflecting on the discussions at that forum this reporter wrote on this page on April 25, 2018 inter alia: In fact, it was pointed out that some countries began to increase their budgetary allocations to the health sector during recessions. Thailand was cited as an example. So the perennial excuse of economic downturn for the poor funding of the health sector by successive governments in Nigeria is no longer tenable. It is simply a policy choice not to care about the peoples healthcare in so far as the elite can seek quality care any where on the globe. That is precisely why the nitty gritty of funding healthcare should be an issue in the next years election. With a target of reaching 100 million poor people and about N60 billion budgeted in 2018, the take-off of Huwe looks promising. What is required now is for political parties and their candidates to state their positions on this policy step and others in the health sector. If any party or candidate plans to repeal the law backing it, it would be good for such political party and its candidates to spell out the alternative clearly. Those who are persuaded by the logic of Huwe and other initiatives should also concretely state how to improve on the implementation. Despite the credible steps taken by the Buhari administration in giving effect to the National Health Act, it is not yet universal health coverage in Nigeria. In fact, the nation is still very far from that destination of healthcare as a socio-economic right in the light of the slow journey in that direction. There is nothing in the Buharis next level manifesto to that a significantly different approach would be adopted in the health sector if the president is re-elected. The other parties should, therefore, come up with specifics of changing the health policy if they have what they consider superior or improving on the implementation of the existing policy, which is certainly not satisfactory. For instance, it is remarkable that unlike most of the other presidential candidates, Atiku acknowledges the reality of the National Health Act. In fact, in his plan to make Nigeria work again, Atiku plans to establish a commission to ensure quality and standards in the implementation of the provisions of the law. Atiku also plans to reduce by 40% in 2024 the percentage of those impoverished by health expenses. Expectedly, the liberal tone and tenor of the details of the Atiku plan in the health sector is manifest. In a review of the unsatisfactory condition in the sector, Atiku refers to the World Health Organisation (WHO)s recommendation of allocating 17% of annual budget to healthcare. However, it is not stated specifically in the Atiku plan what percentage of the budget would be allocated to health in Nigeria. Instead, the specifics of the role that the private sector would be expected to play are spelt out in the plan. Now, the private sector is evidently playing a significant role in healthcare delivery. Yet, quality healthcare is beyond the reach of the poor. What the electorate should be told is the definition of the role of state in the organisation of the sector and how much of public resources would be devoted to healthcare in the interest of the poor majority. To make health policy a determinant of peoples votes, candidates and their parties should go beyond the slogan of free health service and state the specifics of how to fund universal healthcare. QUOTE To make health policy a determinant of peoples votes, candidates and their parties should go beyond the slogan of free health service and state the specifics of how to fund universal healthcare | https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2019/01/16/will-anyone-vote-for-health-policy/ |
Who fancies a cream and pilchards smoothie? | On Monday our Letters page included a food review from the Falkland Islands. Apparently omelettes made with penguin eggs taste disgustingly fishy. Hilary Bradt (she of the Bradt guides) described the island childrens former practice of hooking eggs out of Magellanic penguins burrows. Ms Bradt was unable to disguise the omelettes taste of fish. I can add that once sniffed, the smell of the pink guano (eau de poisson) that paves penguin colonies can never be forgotten. If only David Attenboroughs documentaries conveyed smells, too, such as I endured in 2000 on my overwinter sojourn in the French sub-Antarctic on Desolation Island. A friend there, a French scientist, could have trumped Bradts tale. He was collecting milk from a (tranquillised) nursing mother fur seal for | https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/who-fancies-a-cream-and-pilchards-smoothie-sc97t8s9n |
Does Martin ONeill still have the goods? | Martin ONeill was pictured yesterday staring at an image of his younger self, the 66-year-old looking back to a time when both his hair and Nottingham Forests ambitions were so much bigger than they are now. Its easy to see what both the clubs owners and its official photographer were seeking to capture, ONeill the bridge between the most glorious era in Forests history and this one. It means Uncle Albert (ONeills nickname among a section of the Irish press corps) has a captive audience to regale with his war stories. Those quirky tales about Brian Cloughs genius and daredevil escapades will never grow old in Nottingham. Nevertheless it wont stop Forest fans tiring of ONeill if he starts his City Ground reign with just | https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/does-martin-oneill-still-have-the-goods-mm9d0n29g |
Are Lancashire's age-old footpaths running out of road? | Applications to have historic rights of way recognised in Lancashire are being dismissed on the whim of government-appointed planning inspectors. That was the message from a Lancashire county councillor and member of the regions Public Rights of Way Forum, which was discussing the latest proposed modifications to the so-called definitive map. The document demarcates all public footpaths, bridleways and byways in the area. But it is an ever-evolving piece of work - with claims regularly made for forgotten routes to be added to it. County Coun Cosima Towneley, who represents the Burnley rural division, condemned the wasted effort which can be put in by those researching the routes - only for some applications to be rejected. People work very hard, often over many years, to gather the necessary evidence and then it gets chucked out by the Planning Inspectorate. When we have the evidence...it shouldnt be able to be thrown out on the whim of an inspector, County Coun Townley said. She won support for a call to write to the Inspectorate outlining the forums concerns. Chris Peat, a committee member representing horse riders, added that she would question the training of the people making the decisions. People have no idea how much work is involved for the applicant - it is a stupid and laborious system even before it gets to the Inspectorate, she added. It involves legal people coming out and taking statements. A recent application took [the equivalent of] six working days [to submit]. Local authorities can make orders to update the definitive map, but only if no objections are raised to an individual proposal. Otherwise, the decision rests with an inspector who will decide whether, on the balance of probabilities, the existence of a right of way has been demonstrated. There are currently 101 applications for modification orders lodged with Lancashire County Council - almost half of which have been the subject of objections. The forum also heard concern that time was running out for the map to be updated with historical routes - because of plans to freeze it in 2026. Committee chair Richard Toon said that a sword of Damocles was hanging over those with an interest in the issue. It worries me that we have this deadline rapidly approaching - particularly with the speed of the [process], he said. We cant then come back and look at things that were wrong fifty or a hundred years ago. Rights of Way officer Steve Williams told the meeting that the 2026 cut-off date - which will extinguish any undocumented rights of way which existed prior to 1949 - had been expected to prompt a flurry of applications for map modifications, but that they hadnt materialised. He added that Lancashire had learned nothing from the Lost Ways project, launched by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) back in the 2000s. DEFRA realised, to their horror, that this all takes a lot of time - and you are reliant on volunteers, Mr Williams said. A spokesperson for the Planning Inspectorate said: Inspectors are appointed by the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to make decisions on public rights of way casework in line with the principles of openness, fairness and impartiality. Inspectors make their decisions strictly on the evidence before them, taking account of legislation, case law and Government policy and guidance. Inspectors are appointed for their professional knowledge, experience and skills. They undergo rigorous and on-going training to ensure that their knowledge of public rights of way casework, and their decision-writing skills are comprehensive and up to date. | https://www.thevisitor.co.uk/news/are-lancashire-s-age-old-footpaths-running-out-of-road-1-9539314 |
What is the role of free speech in a Democratic society? | Free speech has been an experiment from the startor at least thats what Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes suggested nearly a century ago in his dissent in Abrams v. United States, one of the first decisions to interpret and shape the doctrine that would come to occupy a nearly sacred place in Americas national identity. Since then, First Amendment jurisprudence has stirred America in novel ways, forcing deep introspection about democracy, society and human nature and sometimes straddling the political divide in unexpected fashion. In the past 100 years, free speech protections have ebbed and flowed alongside Americas fears and progress, adapting to changing norms but ultimately growing in reach. And now, this piece of the American experiment faces a new set of challenges presented by the ever-expanding influence of technology as well as sharp debates over the governments role in shaping the public forum. Thats why Geoffrey R. Stone, the Edward Levi Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago Law School, and Lee Bollinger, the president of Columbia University, two of the countrys leading First Amendment scholars, brought together some of the nations most influential legal scholars in a new book to explore the evolutionand the futureof First Amendment doctrine in America. The Free Speech Century (Oxford University Press) is a collection of 16 essays by Floyd Abrams, the legendary First Amendment lawyer; David Strauss, the University of Chicagos Gerald Ratner Distinguished Service Professor of Law; Albie Sachs, former justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa; Tom Ginsburg, the University of Chicagos Leo Spitz Professor of International Law; Laura Weinrib, a University of Chicago Professor of Law; Cass Sunstein, a professor at Harvard Law School; and others. Lee and I were law clerks together at the Supreme Court during the 1972 term, Stone said. I was with Justice Brennan and Lee was with Chief Justice Burger. We have both been writing, speaking and teaching about the First Amendment now for 45 years. This was a good time, we decided, to mark the 100th anniversary of the Supreme Courts first decision on the First Amendment with a volume that examines four basic themes: The Nature of First Amendment Jurisprudence, Major Critiques and Controversies over Current Doctrine, The International Impact of our First Amendment Jurisprudence, and the Future of Free Speech in a World of Ever-Changing Technology. Our hope is that this volume will enlighten, inspire and challenge readers to think about the role of free speech in a free and democratic society. Stone, JD71, has spent much of his career examining free speecha topic he first became passionate about as a University of Law School student. The University has a long tradition of upholding freedom of expression. UChicagos influential 2015 report by the Committee on Freedom of Expression, which Stone chaired, became a model for colleges and universities across the country. The collection takes on pressing issues, such as free expression on university campuses, hate speech, the regulation of political speech and the boundaries of free speech on social media, unpacking the ways in which these issues are shaping the norms of free expression. One essay, for instance, explores how digital behemoths like Facebook, Twitter and Google became gatekeepers of free expressiona shift that contributor Emily Bell, a Columbia University journalism professor, writes leaves us at a dangerous point in democracy and freedom of the press. Her article examines foreign interference in the 2016 election and explores some of the questions that have emerged since, such as how to balance traditional ideas of a free press with the rights of citizens to hear accurate information in an information landscape that is now dominated by social media. Technology, the editors write, has presented some of the most significant questions that courts, legal scholars, and the American public will face in the coming decades. While vastly expanding the opportunities to participate in public discourse, contemporary means of communication have also arguably contributed to political polarization, foreign influence in our democracy, and the proliferation of fake news, Stone writes in the introduction. To what extent do they call for serious reconsideration of some central doctrines and principles on which our current First Amendment jurisprudence is based? In another essay, Strauss, an expert in constitutional law, examines the principles established in the 1971 Pentagon Papers case, New York Times Co. v. United States. The landmark ruling blocked an attempt at prior restraint by the Nixon administration, allowing the New York Times and Washington Post to publish a classified report that reporters had obtained about Americas role in Vietnam. The threat to national security wasnt sufficiently immediate or specific to warrant infringing on the papers right to publish, the Court said at the time. But todays world is different, Strauss argues. It is easier to leak large amounts of sensitive informationand publication is no longer limited to a handful of media companies with strict ethical guidelines. Whats more, the ease with which information can be shareddigitally as opposed to carefully sneaking papers in batches from locked cabinets to a photocopier, as military analyst Daniel Ellsberg did when leaking the Pentagon Papersmeans that a larger number of people can act as leakers. That can include those who dont fully understand the information they are sharing, which many have argued was the case when former IT contractor Edward Snowden allegedly leaked millions of documents from the National Security Agency in 2013. [T]he stakes are great on both sides, Strauss writes, and the world has changed in ways that make it important to rethink the way we deal with the problem. Ultimately, the health of the First Amendment will depend on two things, Bollinger writes: a continued understanding that free speech plays a critical role in democratic societyand a recognition that the judicial branch doesnt claim sole responsibility for achieving that vision. The legislative and executive branches can support free speech as well. Whats more, modern-day challenges do not have to result in an erosion of protections, Bollinger argues. [O]ur most memorable and consequential decisions under the First Amendment have emerged in times of national crises, when passions are at their peak and when human behavior is on full display at its worst and at its best, in times of war and when momentous social movements are on the rise, he writes. Freedom of speech and the press taps into the most essential elements of lifehow we think, speak, communicate, and live within the polity. It is no wonder that we are drawn again and again into its world. Adapted from an article that first appeared on the University of Chicago Law School website. | https://news.uchicago.edu/story/what-role-free-speech-democratic-society?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+UChicago+%28The+University+of+Chicago+News+Office%29 |
Who are the SCV home buyers in 2019? | 0 SHARES Share Tweet By Ray the Realtor Kutylo Signal Contributing Writer What was a sellers market in the spring decidedly changed to a more balanced market in the last half of 2018. We expect that to continue, barring any sudden large macro-economic event. The recent gyrations of the stock market have likely cooled any inclination of the Fed towards interest rate increases, at least for now. Increased job creation and employment opportunities, both nationally and locally, show a solid economic foundation that bolsters consumer confidence. What Im trying to say is that this is a buying opportunity for those who are on the cusp of a decision, otherwise known as sitting on the fence. When housing inventory is low, buying can present some challenges. The perfect home might not show up for you, but frankly speaking, among the home buyers Ive worked with starting in 1986, only a handful found their perfect home. There is nearly always some compromise, whether it is the price, condition, location, interest rate, amenities, upgrades, schools, family approval or any one of a 100 things buyers condition their purchase on. Right now, we are in a Goldilocks period of the housing market, that is neither too hot nor too cold its time to buy. After years of tepid action, this year, the millennials will be buying homes. Trulia commissioned a recent survey that showed more millennials will become homebuyers in 2019, and will drive purchases in the starter home and condo/townhome market. The largest gains in homeownership rates in recent years were among those under 35 years old, with more of these younger Americans saying they intend to buy a home soon. Of Americans aged 18 to 34, 21 percent say they plan to buy within the next 12 months, up from 14 percent last year. Another significant group of homebuyers this year will be home sellers. Once an acceptable offer comes in on a home listed for sale, these home sellers will be looking for their next home as home buyers. The majority will likely be looking locally for a better home for them, however they define what is better. It could be a larger home, a smaller home, a newly-built home, another neighborhood, or any number of motivators. Sometimes changes in the family drive the decision, which could be newly-blended families, divorce or an empty-nester decision. These contingent buyers are motivated, and their purchase is subject to a successful and often a concurrent close of escrow. Home sellers would be wise to seriously consider the purchase offers from these buyers. Changing demographics will also be a driver of home-buying activity. The Santa Clarita Valley is a diverse community, and many home buyers of varied ages and backgrounds will continue to come to the SCV for all of the reasons we love to live here: friendly people, relatively good schools, suburban safety, good local government, parks and recreational activities, and increasingly, more entertainment and leisure venues. Ray the Realtor Kutylo is the team leader of the SCV Home Team at Keller Williams VIP Properties. The Team brings experienced and professional service, commitment and value to every transaction, whether you are a home buyer or seller. Ray can be reached at (661) 312-9461 or by email at [email protected]. The views expressed are his own and not necessarily those of The Signal. CA DRE 00918855 | https://signalscv.com/2019/01/who-are-the-scv-home-buyers-in-2019/ |
Can we really ignore allegations against R. Kelly anymore? | Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Image Demonstrators gather Jan. 9, 2019, in Chicago near the studio of singer R. Kelly to call for a boycott of his music after allegations of sexual abuse against young girls were raised on the Lifetime miniseries Surviving R. Kelly. Prosecutors in Illinois and Georgia have opened investigations into allegations made against the singer, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly. SCOTT OLSON / GETTY IMAGES By Gracie Bonds Staples The Atlanta Journal-Constitution The alarms about whether Grammy winner R. Kelly has been sexually abusing young women, even holding them hostage in a home here in Johns Creek, have been shrieking at high C for nearly two decades. According to news reports, the singers sexual misconduct dates back to 1994, when he married R&B singer Aaliyah at age 15. In 1996, Tiffany Hawkins sued Kelly, claiming they had sex when she was 15. In 2001, there was another suit. Tracy Sampson accused him of having sex with her when she was 17. Another more recent account even had him holding them hostage in a home here in Johns Creek. Two years ago, Deborah Richardson, executive director of the International Human Trafficking Institute in Atlanta, was among a small group that spoke out in protest of Kellys appearance at the Wolf Creek Amphitheater. RELATED: Atlanta founders of #MuteRKelly say the tide is turning Now comes Surviving R. Kelly, the six-part documentary that chronicles decades of R. Kellys alleged sexual misconduct and abuse, and suddenly people are listening. Kelly, by the way, continues to deny all allegations against him, but when 50 victims, former employees, family members and #MeToo activists and celebrities speak out, well, the rest of us cant help but take notice. It might not have happened had it not been for Surviving R. Kelly. To everyone telling me how courageous I am for appearing in the doc, it didnt feel risky at all, tweeted John Legend after the premiere. I believe these women and dont give a (expletive) about protecting a serial child rapist. Easy decision. RELATED: Let these girls go: Georgia family begs R. Kelly to stop alleged abuse against women Richardson found it just as easy to stand with former Fulton County Chairman John Eaves and Tim and Jonjelyn Savage, the parents of the 22-year-old Atlanta woman featured in the first BuzzFeed story about Kellys dalliances. The Savages have claimed their daughter is being held against her will, and that they hadnt seen her since December. Joycelyn Savage has since said in interviews with TMZ that The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Each week, Gracie Bonds Staples will bring you a perspective on life in the Atlanta area. Life with Gracie runs online Tuesday, Thursday and alternating Fridays. shes fine and in a happy place. Please. Heres the really happy news: The Fulton County District Attorneys Office has opened an investigation into the allegations. Finally. If youre wondering how this could be, how Kelly, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, could carry on like this for so long, heres one explanation: social media. We tend to read only that which confirms our biases. But theres a second, more fundamental reason. Black women are seen as sexual objects. While high-powered men like Les Moonves, Harvey Weinstein and Matt Lauer have seen their careers swiftly crumble in the face of the Me Too and Times Up movements, Kelly has been allowed to maintain his star power. Not even Me Too, the brainchild of black activist Tarana Burke, got the attention it deserved until actress Alyssa Milano used the hashtag #MeToo on social media to draw attention to widespread sexual harassment. Burke founded the movement in 2006. It became a global sensation, thanks to Milano, in 2017. Think about that. There are professional categories where men are glorified entertainment, athletics, media, to name a few, Richardson said. Women are also socially constructed to view attention by men laced with sexuality as desirable. In addition, she said, there are numerous examples of both infamous and everyday men charged with sexual assault, and the blame is shifted to the women. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Singer, songwriter and producer R. Kelly, whose full name is Robert Kelly, has faced and denied allegations for years regarding relationships with underage females. WIREIMAGE R. Kelly is particularly egregious because he preyed on underage girls whose vulnerability is increased by their immaturity and star-struckness, Richardson said. Richardson believes men need to talk. If they are fathers of sons, share their own evolution from viewing women as sexual objects. If they are employers, ask themselves if their human resources policies have clauses that address sanctions, including dismissal, for purchasing sexual services. And if they are fathers of daughters, consider whether you extend to all women the protection and concern you have for your own daughters. R. Kellys behavior is beyond egregious, Richardson said. Those who knew and didnt speak up, those who wouldnt believe the women and their families, those who bought his music and viewed his videos, as well as those who will soon forget, are all complicit. In other words, all that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. Find Gracie on Facebook (www.facebook.com/graciestaplesajc/) and Twitter (@GStaples_AJC) or email her at [email protected]. | https://www.kiss104fm.com/lifestyles/will-surviving-kelly-finally-enough/Zoh0fdxR0Cy7FQkg73vUpI/ |
How will PG&E bankruptcy impact San Luis Obispo County? | Now that it looks certain PG&E will declare bankruptcy, you might be wondering what that means for San Luis Obispo County. After all, the utility is the biggest private local employer, and operates Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, which is currently in the early stages of an intensive, decades-long shutdown. So here are the answers to key questions that arose soon after PG&Es announcement Monday. If you have more questions youd like answered, send them to Tribune reporter Kaytlyn Leslie at [email protected] and they could be featured in a follow-up. Digital Access for only $0.99 For the most comprehensive local coverage, subscribe today. On or about Jan. 29. The utility was required, under a state law signed in September by former Gov. Jerry Brown, to give 15 days notice before filing. Thats what it did Monday. The notice came out about 12 hours after CEO Geisha Williams resigned. In a press statement, the utility company said it does not expect any impact to electric or natural gas service for its customers. It also said it is committed to continuing to make investments in system safety as it works with regulators, policymakers and other key stakeholders to consider a range of alternatives to provide for the safe delivery of natural gas and electric service for the long-term in an environment that continues to be challenged by climate change. It also said its employees are expected to continue to receive their pay and benefits. Business as usual, according to PG&E. Normal operations at the nuclear power plant are not expected to be impacted by the bankruptcy, and the decommissioning process is expected to move forward as anticipated, PG&E spokesman Blair Jones told The Tribune on Monday. No layoffs of workers are anticipated, and the company does not have plans to sell or close Diablo Canyon prematurely. PG&E is the largest taxpayer in San Luis Obispo County, representing about 5.88 percent of the countys total budget, according to documents filed with the California Public Utilities Commission during the Diablo Canyon closure consideration. When PG&E last went bankrupt in 2001, the company at first paid less than half of its property tax due that year, according to previous Tribune reports. (PG&E paid the rest at a later date.) That isnt expected to happen this time. Jones said on Tuesday that the company still intends to honor and pay franchise taxes as normal, following the Chapter 11 filing. This means the county, local school districts, flood control zones and cemetery districts that receive revenue from PG&Es property taxes will likely still get that money this year. This is one area that will definitely be impacted by the bankruptcy. According to the companys Reorganization Information FAQ on its website, its charitable giving program for 2019 has been put on hold and will be subject to review under the bankruptcy proceedings. We regret we cannot make any financial commitments toward events, programs or partnerships at this time, reads the website. The PG&E Corp. Foundations charitable giving program separate from the above program is also being re-evaluated. So dont expect any of those big checks from the company this year. Jones on Tuesday said PG&E doesnt expect any changes to its tax-qualified pension plan. The company currently intends to continue to make regular pension contributions to that plan as normal, he said. Tom Danzell, business manager for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Chapter 1245, said on Tuesday that though he thinks the likelihood of the proceedings impacting local pensions is extremely low, it is one of the unions most pressing concerns. Its a high damage if it were to. Its something of great concern to employees and retirees, he said. The union, which Danzel said represents 500 Diablo Canyon workers and a couple hundred other electrical workers between Buellton and Templeton, is committed to protecting its workers through the proceedings, he added. The Legislature, in passing SB 901 last fall, gave PG&E and other utilities limited protection against wildfire claims. Among other things, the law says the Public Utilities Commission could allow utilities to pass some wildfire claim expenses onto ratepayers if the utilities arent strong enough financially to shoulder the costs themselves. The protection, however, only includes the 2017 fires, not the massive Camp Fire last year. Assemblyman Chris Holden, D-Pasadena, earlier vowed to would introduce legislation to extend the protections to include the Camp Fire, but said Monday he wont. The playing field of solutions, quite frankly, has shifted from the Legislature to the courts, he said. Fire officials have not determined a cause for that fire, but many residents already have sued PG&E, which had a power-line malfunction near the fire ignition point. No, and no. PG&E would file for protection under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy code. Chapter 11 allows the company to stay in business while it sorts out its ever-growing debt load. PG&E kept the lights on during the three years it spent in Chapter 11 between 2001 and 2004, when it was clobbered by rising power costs during the energy crisis. The state suffered several days of rolling blackouts in 2001, but they were spread beyond PG&Es territory and werent caused by the bankruptcy. Rates could go up, but not necessarily because of a bankruptcy filing. Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has already asked the Public Utilities Commission for authority to raise rates by 6.4 percent in 2020. If the rate hike is granted in full, monthly gas bills would increase $1.84 and electric bills would rise $8.73, on average. The higher rates would generate about $1.1 billion in additional annual revenue. PG&E says about half would be spent on wildfire prevention initiatives, such as installing high-definition cameras in remote areas and trimming trees more aggressively. But bankruptcies can add enormous legal costs, and PG&E could seek to have ratepayers absorb those expenses. Bankruptcy is never a clean, easy process, and theres a lot of costs involved just in terms of lawyers and accountants, said James Bushnell, a UC Davis energy economist. Some of that is going to be passed onto ratepayers. Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network in San Francisco, said ratepayer interests would be neglected. It puts the decision in the hands of a bankruptcy judge whose first priority is paying creditors off. Chapter 11 gives companies breathing room of sorts, the chance to sort out their debts while they keep operating. One possible outcome is that PG&E would use a court-supervised auction to sell its natural-gas division to raise money to pay wildfire claims. Williams, the former CEO, will get her severance payments, according to a statement filed by PG&E on Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That will total nearly $2.4 million, according to an earlier filing. Bankruptcy could reduce the amount of money available for paying survivors whove sued PG&E over the Camp Fire and the 2017 fires. Survivors would be declared unsecured creditors and would be lumped in with other such creditors namely the investors who hold roughly $18 billion in long-term debt owed by the utility and its corporate parent, PG&E Corp. Wildfire victims seeking recovery could be in deep trouble, said Jared Ellias, a bankruptcy-law expert at UC Hastings College of Law in San Francisco. Ellias did say, however, that bankruptcy could speed the processing of damage claims. A bankruptcy trustee could require that survivors get some funds long before the courts could resolve the mountain of lawsuits. Bankruptcy is often much faster than state court, he said. Its too early to tell. But its worth noting that PG&Es bonds have been trading at about 78 cents on the dollar, said Carol Levenson of Gimme Credit LLC, a debt-analysis firm. That suggests bondholders arent counting on getting paid in full, she said. The same could apply to fire survivors. Survivors lawyers say they believe they can recover damages for their clients regardless. PG&E has a lot of assets, said Dario de Ghetaldi, a Bay Area lawyer whos suing PG&E on survivors behalf. For many California ratepayers, it would mean writing two utility checks each month instead of one. Sacramento residents do that already, paying PG&E for gas and SMUD for electricity. A sale would be overseen by the PUC. We really have to make sure that who they sell it to is experienced (and) has a good track record in operating gas pipeline systems in a safe manner, Toney said. Yes. The company already suspended quarterly dividend payments in late 2017, and its stock price has been crushed since it disclosed that it experienced trouble on a transmission tower near the spot where the Camp Fire ignited Nov. 8. PG&E shares fell to $8.17 on Monday and have lost 80 percent of their value since the Camp Fire started. Aside from bankruptcy, plenty. A federal judge has told PG&E to appear in court Jan. 30 to respond to his plan to require the company to fix transmission lines and take other safety steps. In February, PG&E will release its latest financial results, which will provide more detailed analysis on the potential liabilities from the Camp Fire. For more information on the reorganization efforts, visit PG&Es Reorganization Information page on its website, www.pge.com. | https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/article224581620.html |
Why are Republicans responding now when Rep. Steve King has long made racist comments? | Despite his seemingly endless string of racist comments and insults about immigrants, Iowa Rep. Steve King had the Republican Partys backing through nine elections, and Republican presidential contenders often lined up for his endorsement in the states lead-off caucuses. U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, has a history of making offensive statements, often in reference to immigrants and racial minorities. Associated Press/J. Scott Applewhite Now many of those same Republicans are turning their backs on King, stripping him of his committee assignments on Capitol Hill and even calling for him to leave office. A prospective 2020 Republican challenger already has emerged in his district. The shift comes at a moment when the party is grappling with its stance on racial issues, in part because of President Trumps own inflammatory racial rhetoric and hardline views on immigration. Republican leaders also have conceded that the party must do better with minority voters and bring more diversity to their own ranks, currently dominated by white men. There are also signs that Kings track record is wearing on voters in his overwhelmingly Republican district, which he carried by just 3 points in November. He barely won in a very, very conservative district and that signaled people are growing fatigued, getting tired of having to put up with some of the unnecessary heartburn, said Bob Vander Plaats, a Republican who ran for Iowa governor in 2006 and leads the conservative group The Family Leader. They dont want to put up with it anymore. Kings insensitive remarks have included arguing we cant restore our civilization with somebody elses babies and predicting chaos if whites are replaced as the nations majority. Yet Republican leaders still expressed shock following a recent New York Times story in which King expressed puzzlement about why terms like white nationalist are offensive, Republican leaders have expressed shock at his words, stripped him of his committee assignments and even questioned whether he belonged in Congress. The House voted 424-1 on Tuesday for a resolution repudiating Kings words. Don Kass, a former Republican chairman in largely rural Plymouth County, argued that while comments by conservatives often are subjected to the worst-possible interpretation, King never should have discussed such terms as white supremacy. He said party officials might be turning against King because of his narrow win last November, coupled with that fact that his national notoriety translates into fundraising success for his Democratic opponents. He had a 3 percent victory that should have been 30 percent, and thats not going to go away, said Kass, a county supervisor. If he seeks re-election, King will face at least one opponent for the Republican nomination, as state Sen. Randy Feenstra announced last week hes seeking the seat. Congressional leaders acknowledge King has a history of offensive statements, often in reference to immigrants and racial minorities. Most Iowa Republicans backed King before the 2018 election, despite his praise of a nationalist party in Austria with Nazi ties and a tweet endorsing a white nationalist candidate for Toronto mayor. Among those who didnt, though, was Rep. Steve Stivers, the chairman of the House Republicans campaign committee. We must stand up against white supremacy and hate in all forms, and I strongly condemn this behavior, Stivers said then. The timing was remarkable, as the Republican Partys campaign chief seemed to be encouraging Iowa voters to oust one of their sitting incumbents. Effectively, Republicans were putting the seat at risk at a time when they were already facing the loss of House. The uproar over Kings comments comes against the backdrop of Trumps election and presidency, which has placed the debate over inflammatory racial discourse and white nationalism at the center of American politics in a manner not seen in decades. The president stoked it in his campaigns first moments, suggesting when he announced his candidacy that Mexicans crossing the border could be rapists or murderers. Since taking office, hes defended white nationalists in Charlottesville, deemed some African nations as shole countries, described immigration as an infestation all while expressing a preference for immigrants from places likes Norway. Trump did not condemn Kings most recent comments, dodging the question on Monday by saying, I dont I havent been following it. I really havent been following it. When asked why he was rebuking King but not Trump, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California stuck to his role leading fellow congressional Republicans. All I know is Steve King is a member of the conference, he said. I am the leader of the Republican conference. When I see someone use the terms that Steve King used theres no place in this country for it. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, when asked Tuesday why he hadnt spoken out about King until now, said, I havent been following every utterance of Congressman King, but I certainly followed this one. And I think the House Republican Conference did the right thing. Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, who has supported King for years, noted she had pushed back on some of his earlier comments. She called Kings comments to the New York Times just absolutely disgusting. Karen Kedrowski, a political science professor at Iowa State University, said she thinks Republican politicians grew tired of King long ago, but given the nations growing diversity that is reflected among the House Democratic majority, they feel they can no longer tolerate his comments. This should be a safe district and theyre faced with someone who is always embarrassing them, she said. Part of it is theyre fed up and part of it is fear he could lose. Associated Press writers Dustin Weaver, Laurie Kellman, Andrew Taylor and Jonathan Lemire in Washington contributed to this report. Share < Previous Next > | https://www.pressherald.com/2019/01/15/why-are-republicans-responding-now-when-rep-steve-king-has-long-made-racist-comments/ |
Does the Queen Eat Pizza? | Today, Kate Middleton was doing her Kate Middleton thing in a community garden, wearing a country-chic outfit, flipping her shiny hair, and charming some kids. She was, as she always is, her cheerful, unflappable self. That is, until she was asked . . . the question. Has the Queen ever eaten pizza? It came straight from the mouth of a naive child who could never know the Pandoras box she just opened. Kate Middleton didnt flinch. She didnt freeze. But she was . . . stumped. I dont know, she replied. Thats like the posh version of Ill get back to you or Hey casual acquaintance, lets get lunch sometime! Meaning, its never going to happen, and the world will never know the answer. But, dear reader, that doesnt mean that we shouldnt try. After all, much is knownor has been debunkedabout the diet of the worlds longest-ruling monarch. We know her favorite drink is gin and Dubonnet, and she loves dark chocolate. Perhaps through diligent research, I could find the answer to this childs intriguing question. My journey began by ruling out the obvious: visual evidence. I searched all the main image wire sites for Queen Elizabeth pizza. Everett had no results. Getty showed me a man from New Delhi with a Queen Elizabeth tattoo on his back. Alamy showed me a pineapple pizza made in her likeness. But I concluded that the Queen has never been photographed eating pizza in public. I logged onto Lexis Nexis, the high-powered database used by lawyers, researchers, reporters (and, erm, me). I searched for the joint terms of Queen Elizabeth and pizza. I got 5,684 results. I learned theres a pizza joint with a mural of Queen Elizabeth in Greenville, Delaware, that cash-back website Quidco offered free pizza takeout during the Queens official birthday week, and once a British reality TV star pulled another womans hair at a slice shop, mere days after the Diamond Jubilee. I did not learn if Queen Elizabeth has ever eaten pizza. Next step: deductive reasoning. If the Queen likes bread, and she likes cheese, it could be reasonably concluded that shed like pizza, and therefore, had tried it some time. In 2016, she visited a British grocery store, where she was captivated by the cheese aisle. Which could mean a marvelous mozzarella caught her eye! Or that shed never been to a modern market before. The carbs front, at first, seemed more promising: The Queen does appreciate a good tea sandwich, after all. But, former royal chef Darren McGrady told The Telegraph: When she dines on her own . . . shes very disciplined. No starch is the rule. No potatoes, rice, or pasta for dinner. We may never know for sure, but for now, unless Kate Middleton actually confirms, the investigation must rest with a tentative no. | https://www.vogue.com/article/does-the-queen-eat-pizza |
How Can the G.O.P. Condemn Congressman Steve King but Not Donald Trump? | The New York Times gets action! Its been just five days since the paper published a piece about the race-baiting G.O.P. Why did I sit in classes teaching me about the merits of our history and our civilization? Amid the resultant outcry, Kevin McCarthy, the new House Minority Leader, promised over the weekend that King would be punished for what he had said. On Monday night, McCarthy and the G.O.P. leadership in the House stripped King of his positions on the Agriculture, Judiciary, and Small Business committees. Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, said that if King didnt understand the meaning of his words then he should find another line of work. Things didn't end there. On Tuesday morning, Liz Cheney, a representative from Wyoming and the highest-ranking woman in the House G.O.P. conference, echoed McConnells statement and explicitly called on King to resign. His language questioning whether or not the notion of white supremacy is offensive is absolutely abhorrent. Its racist, Cheney said. We do not support it or agree with it. On Tuesday afternoon, the full House passed a resolution, 4211 that was intended as a rebuke to King. To begin with, it is worth listening to the sole member of the House who voted against Tuesdays resolution: the Chicago Democrat Bobby Rush. As Rush pointed out before the vote, King has made a career of making racist statements. In 2012, he compared immigrants to dogs, saying that America should take only the pick of the litter, and in 2013 he said that immigrants have calves the size of cantaloupes from hauling marijuana across the desert. More recently, he has fraternized with far-right groups in Europe and expounded the theory that Western civilization, which to him and his followers connotes white civilization, was about to be swamped by hordes of nonwhite immigrants and babiesa theory known on the far-right as the Great Replacement. (In an interview with a far-right party in Austria last year, he expostulated at length on this subject.) In view of these precedents, which were well known in Republican circles, Rush argued that the House resolution, which didnt even mention Kings name, should have been replaced by a formal motion of censure. Lending support to this argument was the fact that King himself was one of the representatives who voted for it. Ive carefully studied every word in this resolution and even though Id add some more that are stronger language, I agree with the language in it, King said. After the vote was taken, Rush remained unimpressed: It is not strong enough, he said. We need to censure Steve King. Another point of note is that Donald Trump, who comments on virtually everything, still hasnt availed us of his opinions on the King controversy. When reporters asked him about it on Monday, Trump said, I havent been following it. I really havent been following it. Thats hard to believe. The original Times article, which was written by Trip Gabriel, demonstrates that, in demonizing immigrants and promoting race-based conspiracy theories, King helped pave the way for the nativist campaign that Trump ran in 2016, the hateful language that Trump used about undocumented migrants, and the sorts of immigration policies that he has enacted since entering the Oval Office. Trump appeared with King during the Presidential campaign and invited him to the Oval Office, where, King told Gabriel, the President boasted to the congressman about how much money he had raised for him. Yes, Mr. President, King replied. But I market-tested your immigration policy for fourteen years, and that ought to be worth something. Perhaps Trump still thinks that he owes King something. Perhaps he doesnt want to sound hypocritical. Just last year, he warned that immigration was changing the culture of Europe. Before that, he hired Steve Bannon, another recent champion of white nationalism, as his campaign manager and senior political adviser at the White House. If Trump were to try and repudiate King and his beliefs at this point, it simply wouldnt be credible, and it might well alienate some of his more rabid supporters. On top of that, Trump may well be sympathetic with Kings current predicament, which is one that he has some familiarity with. In August, 2017, after he said that there were very fine people on both sides of the violence in Charlottesville, he came under enormous pressure to correct himself. Reluctantly, he delivered a public statement in which he called evil and white suprematists repugnant, but he looked mightily uncomfortable doing it. According to Bob Woodward, Trump later told associates that delivering the speech was the biggest fucking mistake Ive made. Trump hasnt made the same mistake again, and hes highly unlikely to do it now. The great irony, of course, is that, unlike King, he can be as offensive as he likes about Latino migrants, black celebrities and politicians, and other minorities, without having to worry about senior Republicans on Capitol Hill supporting motions of repudiation or censure, let alone threatening his job. Just a couple of days ago, he once again referred to Elizabeth Warren as Pocahantas and made a joke about the Wounded Knee massacre, of 1890, when members of the Seventh Cavalry killed hundreds of Sioux Indians, including defenseless mothers and children. (In 1990, a century on, Congress formally apologized to the descendants of the victims but did not grant reparations or declare the site a memorial.) On Tuesday, a reporter asked Mitch McConnell about why he had criticized Kings comments to the Times but had kept silent about the Presidents expressions of racism. Look, its been my practice for the last couple of years not to make sort of random observations of the President tweeting and other stuff, McConnell replied. Congressman King clearly uttered words that are unacceptable in America. That was a double standard, or course. About the only currency that McConnell recognizes is power, and Trump has a lot more of it than King does, including the power to target anyone in the Republican Party who criticizes him. So the Iowa congressman gets sanctioned, and his soul mate in the White House gets a free pass. | https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/how-can-the-gop-condemn-congressman-steve-king-but-not-donald-trump |
Where does Gov.-elect Bill Lee stand on Memphis issues? | Tennessee Gov.-elect Bill Lee is bullish on growth in Memphis, and he wants his administration to help speed up that growth, he said Tuesday. The Williamson County Republican will be sworn into office on Saturday, succeeding outgoing Gov. Bill Haslam. "I am very bullish on the prospect of real growth activity in Memphis. And the reason is it matters to every single Tennessean," Lee said. "The ripple effects of an increased transformation in Memphis are significant. So Im excited about whats happening there and Im most excited about accelerating that." In a Tuesday interview with The Commercial Appeal, Lee weighed in on a number of issues affecting Memphis and Shelby County. Sports betting Lee has reservations about allowing sports betting in Tennessee. Sen. Raumesh Akbari, a Memphis Democrat, is co-sponsoring a bill that would allow sports betting in Tennessee cities where it's approved through a local election, and would set up a state gaming commission. "Ive stated and I would continue to say that I have some real concerns about the negative implications of gambling in the state," Lee said. "I think it has some negative impacts and Im going to look at both the positives and the negatives and consider what comes out." Buy Photo Bill Lee speaks to a few dozen people during at Collierville Town Hall on Dec. 26. Lee will be inaugurated as Tennessee's new governor on Saturday. (Photo: Joe Rondone/The Commercial Appeal) The Memphis City Council and the Shelby County Commission recently legislation that would pave the way for sports betting on Beale Street. Some Memphis council members last week voiced concerns about the effect sports betting would have on crime, poverty and whether enough of a share of the revenue would directly benefit Memphis, before ultimately throwing support behind state legislation allowing it. "People are doing it daily, right now, right here in Memphis," City Councilman Berlin Boyd said last week. "We are bordered by so many states that allow legal gaming, but were not doing anything to help or increase to make up for the revenue we lose to these bordering states. CLOSE The closing statement from Bill Lee at the governor debate in Memphis Memphis Commercial Appeal New state immigration law Shelby County officials have contended that a new state law on jailed immigrants is unconstitutional and overly vague. The new law, which went into effect Jan. 1, doesn't put a time limit on how long unauthorized immigrants arrested on local criminal charges can be held, Shelby County Attorney Marlinee Iverson said earlier this month. Iverson called the law "void for vagueness." Lee said he will look at that law, but he believes that "sanctuary cities are a bad idea." "They are, by definition, lawlessness, and that is not something we want to encourage in our state," Lee said. "So the particulars around the individual laws Ill look at, but Im opposed to the idea of sanctuary cities in Tennessee." Confederate statues The monuments of Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest and Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Memphis parks were brought down Dec. 20, 2017, after the city sold the parks to nonprofit Memphis Greenspace. In the following 2018 Tennessee General Assembly session, some related bills were floated that were seen by many in Memphis and Shelby County as retribution for the statue removal. Related: Memphis among cities where future of Confederate statues remains unclear "I dont think the right approach was to punish Memphis for those decisions. I think theres certainly a lot of debate around whether that was handled the appropriate way, the decision itself," Lee said. "I want to have honest conversations about experiences of every citizen, from every background, from every race. And to move toward that substantive conversation around this issue." Criminal justice The Shelby County Commission passed a resolution last year asking for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to expand its involvement in police shooting investigations, to include those that result in "critical injuries." TBI officials have said the agency's current level of resources are stretched too thin. "My initial reaction is the process we have in place is appropriate," Lee said. Buy Photo Bill Lee speaks to the media following the gubernatorial debate at the University of Memphis' Michael D. Rose Theater on Oct. 2, 2018. (Photo: Joe Rondone/The Commercial Appeal) Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland is also asking the state legislature for a law that would require jail time in road-rage shootings. Lee said he wasn't familiar with that specific proposal, but said he plans to prioritize broad criminal justice reform with a focus on reducing recidivism and strengthening the intake process. "I want to look at a comprehensive criminal justice approach to reducing crime both in our big cities and all across the state," Lee said. West Tennessee appointments Lee has named Memphis attorney Lang Wiseman as deputy to the governor and chief counsel. David Salyers, of Madison County, is another west Tennessee appointment in Lee's cabinet. Salyers was named Tuesday as commissioner of the Department of Environment and Conservation. "I do believe its important we put the right focus in that significant city," Lee said. "Its one of the reasons our deputy governor is from Memphis, to make sure that we have at the highest level of government representation from that part of the state, who understands the unique environment Memphis is, the assets that it has, the best way to leverage those assets." The best Memphis news coverage is available on The Commercial Appeal app Jamie Munks covers Memphis city government and politics for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @journo_jamie_. Read or Share this story: https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/2019/01/15/bill-lee-memphis-gambling-confederate-statues-immigration/2584652002/ | https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/2019/01/15/bill-lee-memphis-gambling-confederate-statues-immigration/2584652002/ |
How will the no-confidence vote in British PM Theresa May's government work? | LONDON (REUTERS) - British lawmakers will on Wednesday (Jan 16) vote on whether they have confidence in the government, after Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal suffered a heavy defeat in Parliament. The opposition Labour Party, backed by other smaller opposition parties, has put forward a motion which states "that this House has no confidence in Her Majesty's government". Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will open the debate on the motion at around 1300 GMT (9pm Singapore time). Mrs May will also speak in the debate and it will last until 1900 GMT. Lawmakers will then vote on the motion at 1900 GMT, with the result due at around 1915 GMT. There are 650 lawmakers in the House of Commons. Mrs May's government needs 318 votes to win, as seven members of the Irish nationalist Sinn Fein party do not sit, four speakers do not vote and four lawmakers who help count votes, known as tellers, are not counted. The government continues in office. However, there are no restrictions on how soon another confidence vote can be called, so Labour could put forward another no confidence motion at any point. Mrs May does not have to resign. A 14-day period is triggered in which any party, including Mrs May's Conservatives, can seek to form a government. To do this, they would have to win a confidence vote in the House of Commons. Here are 3 main scenarios If a new government cannot be formed within 14 days, an election is triggered. Mrs May does not have an outright majority in Parliament but the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), the small Northern Irish party that props up her government, has said it will support the government. So, Mrs May would lose only if enough of her own Conservative members vote against the government. Mr Corbyn: "The most important issue facing us is that government has lost the confidence of this house and this country... this House can give its verdict on the sheer incompetence of this government and pass that motion of no confidence." Pro-EU Conservative lawmaker Justine Greening, who favours holding a second referendum: "We don't want a general election, this is not about party politics." Conservative health minister Matt Hancock: "My party is no mood to hand over the reins to Jeremy Corbyn." DUP lawmaker Sammy Wilson: "We'll vote with the government. We'll vote against the Labour party's confidence motion. We want to see the Conservative government continuing to deliver on Brexit... We never wanted a change of government, we wanted a change of policy." Conservative lawmaker Jacob Rees-Mogg, who leads an influential pro-Brexit group of Conservatives: "I will be supporting the prime minister." | https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/how-will-the-no-confidence-vote-in-british-pm-theresa-mays-government-work |
Can immigration save the U.S. from its birthrate crisis? | A Guatemalan migrant feeds her toddler son at Holy Cross Retreat Center, which has become a makeshift shelter for migrants released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in Las Cruces, N.M., on Dec. 27, 2018. (Paul Ratje/AFP/Getty Images) Columnist The primary asset of any society is its people. Thats true in the lofty spiritual sense and in the crass financial one: Other people produce both the economic goods and the tax revenue that sustain the nation. Like any other asset, this one needs to be replenished by continual reinvestment. A society that stops replacing itself is like a trust-fund kid dipping into the capital. The accounts empty at an accelerating pace, and a bill eventually comes due that cannot be paid. Virtually the entire rich world is now in varying stages of that cycle. In 2000, only three rich-world countries the United States, New Zealand and Iceland averaged two or more children per woman. Today, only New Zealand is still replacing itself. The average for American women has dropped to 1.76 children, according to a new report from the National Vital Statistics System. Good! a certain type of environmentalist might say. But other people may notice that the countrys whole political economy assumes population growth. Whether retirements are funded through government or private accounts, the United States still needs enough productive workers to support retirees without impoverishing themselves; no matter how the health-care system is structured, it still must be funded and staffed by the able-bodied. With a shrinking population, even seemingly unrelated areas, such as debt finance, will need rethinking. Debt implicitly assumes growing incomes, growing gross domestic product. But GDP growth is a direct function of the labor forces size. Without that growth, debts bite harder with every passing year. Societies preparing for an aging population ought to be running surpluses to pay down debt and planning for much longer working lives. But almost no one seems ready to do that. Instead, three alternatives are generally proposed: raising birthrates through family subsidies; boosting innovation to offset workforce decline with higher productivity; and replenishing the population through immigration. Unfortunately, theres little evidence that family policy has more than a marginal impact on total lifetime fertility. Sociologist Brad Wilcox, who oversees the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, notes that even krybbe-to-grav Nordic welfare states have failed to keep birthrates above replacement. And while technological innovation can certainly make the most of existing workers, its unlikely to fully offset workforce decline. After a certain point, aging populations tend to innovate less, because older people are generally more risk-averse and less creative than younger ones. That leaves immigration. Even the hardiest of immigration hard-liners might reconsider their position if the alternative were working to age 90. But the exigencies of an aging population are likely to force immigration advocates to do some rethinking, too. The idea that Social Security and Medicare can be saved by importing younger workers turns out to have some complications. First-generation migrants typically cost the government somewhat more than they pay in taxes. That doesnt mean that migration is a bad deal for the United States, despite what restrictionists claim. By providing low-skill, labor-intensive services, migrants let native-born Americans spend more time on more productive work, boosting everyones incomes. But when native-born, higher-skill workers become scarcer, the equation changes. To put it another way: You cant save Social Securitys finances by replacing an engineer who makes $100,000 a year with someone who had to drop out of school in eighth grade and is struggling to learn English. The way that system is structured, the math doesnt work. This limits our ability to close budget gaps through immigration. An immigration solution to the United States demographic challenge would probably mean a very different immigration policy, something like the points system used by countries such as Canada and Australia, which selects for migrants reasonably fluent in English and likely to be net tax contributors. Family reunification, which reinforces the United States historical bias in favor of low-skill migration, might well have to be curtailed. That change would be politically fraught, to say the least. And given that the United States, unlike Canada and Australia, has a long border with a significantly poorer country, it may not even be possible. Moreover, most of the countries that send migrants to the rest of the world themselves have declining birthrates; Eastern Europe and parts of Asia are already below replacement level. Scouring countries in demographic decline clean of their working-age populations to feed rich-world economies seems both unethical and impractical. The good news is that demographic crises move at a glacial pace; we have years to weigh these unpalatable options. But, like glaciers, demographic crises are nearly impossible to stop once they really get going. So unless births bounce back soon, well probably have to choose. Read more from Megan McArdles archive, follow her on Twitter or subscribe to her updates on Facebook. | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/can-immigration-save-the-us-from-its-birthrate-crisis/2019/01/15/2c546262-1907-11e9-8813-cb9dec761e73_story.html |
What did they do with Lindsey Graham? | Columnist If loyalty goes only so far, Sen. Lindsey O. Grahams goes every which way depending on the day, week, month or proximity to Election Day. One day, the South Carolina Republican may think Donald Trump is a kook. That was Grahams description of then-candidate Trump in 2016, shortly after hed ended his own campaign for president. Or, he may think Trump is presidential, as he said recently in appraising President Trumps speech from the Oval Office on border security. If you posed this question to random people on Capitol Hill, you might hear them say, Aw, thats just Lindsey. Hes in cycle. If this sounds vaguely endocrinal, well, suit yourself. What it means, of course, is that Graham is up for reelection in 2020. When youre in one of the redder states in the union, youd best cheer for the Man from MAGA or risk fading into local history. It isnt unusual for politicians to tweak their language or style, to soften or toughen rhetoric as ones audience pleases. Still, theres something almost comical about Grahams toughening stances and head-snapping reversals. Its as though his body has been occupied by someone else, his inner Terminator liberated at last in part, perhaps, because hes no longer John McCains wingman. Hes Maverick now. Whatever else he intends, Graham has always known how to play the media and keep himself in the headlines. This may explain his and Trumps recent comity, which can be traced to a lunch in March 2017 when the two found common ground in, among other things, an affection for playing golf. They are also both showmen and may share some mutual respect. Both love to be center stage, and both seem to have a similar knack for giving people what they want. The president and the apprentice. Confession: I love Graham for all the right reasons. Hes a mensch whod give you the shirt off his back, whether you needed it or not. Hes a good guy, brought up hard, who transcended tragedy (both parents died while he was in college, leaving him to care for his then-13-year-old sister). Hes a true patriot who served in the Air Force judge advocate generals corps and then the Air Force Reserve as he was rising from lawyer to congressman to the U.S. Senate. He is also very funny, as debate viewers will recall from his 2015 performances. His best lines from those debates were spontaneous, quick-witted and true. Tell Donald Trump to go to hell. Or, if Trump were to win, the Islamic State would be dancing in the streets; they just dont believe in dancing. Funny then, but no more. Graham has become a lead gladiator for a wall along the southern border, even recently advising Trump to invoke national-emergency powers to fund it. From Little Jerk, McCains affectionate nickname for Graham, to Maximus in a few short months. No longer is Trump a kook. In 2017, Graham repeated the word but that time in taking issue with the media for this endless attempt to label the guy as some kind of kook not fit to be president. But then Monday happened. The president turned on Maximus, rejecting Grahams suggestion to temporarily reopen the government while the wall debate continues. The mind meld lost its connection. Instantly, Graham became a meme sensation on the right. On the left, youd have thought he had called Kavanaughs accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, bat---- crazy, a term he previously had used to describe the GOP for its support of Trump. As we enter 2019, the Grahamster is full of brio and bluster, ready to rush Texas with his own posthole digger. His speechwriter must surely be busy preparing text for the senators remarks upon the groundbreaking, perchance to include: President Trump, build this wall! In the meantime, as Judiciary Committee chairman, Graham has vowed that the next Supreme Court justice will be a conservative, as though anyone doubted it. One can hardly wait, but not for long. The night is young, the news breaks 24/7, and weve nearly two more years to wonder what Graham will say, growl, hiss, spit, growl, whisper or sing, hallelujah! May his cycle be unbroken. Read more from Kathleen Parkers archive, follow her on Twitter or find her on Facebook. | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/what-did-they-do-with-lindsey-graham/2019/01/15/c9909e62-1914-11e9-88fe-f9f77a3bcb6c_story.html |
Who Will Replace Adam Moss at New York Magazine? | After 15 years at the helm of New York Magazine, 61-year-old Adam Moss is stepping down. His departurewhich both Moss and chief executive of New York Media Pamela Wasserstein told The New York Times was his decision came as a "shock" to the staff. Moss was the longest serving editor-in-chief of the publication, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, and he earned 40 National Magazine Awards during his time there. He was also responsible for the development of digital verticals like Vulture, the Cut, Intelligencer, the Strategist, and Grub Street, which reach around 47 million readers a month. A press release said a "successor will be announced shortly." In the meantime, Town & Country compiled a list of frontrunners, with exclusive intel from several current and former magazine staffers (who all requested anonymity). Here they are, in order of probability. One media insider names Haskell, former deputy editor at New York, as a top contender. In 2016, he became the editor for business and strategy at the mag, where he's worked closely with Moss on "editorial-based growth initiatives and new business opportunities including e-commerce and book/TV deals," according to a press release. At the time, Moss released a statement calling Haskell "an invaluable editorial partner." David is steeped in the journalistic and creative values of the company, Moss added. Hes also an entrepreneurial editor at heart, and that combination makes him the ideal person to work with Pam and me to expand our editorial operations. "He's worked alongside Adam, closely, for a number of years," one former New York staffer told us. "It would make sense." David Wallace-Wells Getty Images Brad Barket The current deputy editor at New York and the former deputy editor of The Paris Review would be a logical choice. He's worked closely with Moss since joining the staff in 2011, both editing and writing about the very timely topics of climate and technology, including his widely read 2017 cover story on worst-case scenarios for global warming. Several inside sources tell us he's a top pick. One former New York staffer says: "When I was there, it always seemed like David Wallace-Wells would be the next EIC [after Moss]." But, as a different New York staffer puts it: "Fingers crossed it's not another white dude." Before she left to become Apple News's first-ever editor-in-chief in 2017, Kern was one of New Yorks most high-ranking editors. Before that, she was a deputy editor at The New York Times Magazine. In a 2016 statement announcing Kern's promotion to executive editor at New York Media, Moss called her an extraordinary editor with uncanny story sense, taste, and feel for the moment." Despite being based in San Francisco, we hear Kern has recently been spotted in Manhattan. According to The New York Times, going into tech came with a raise, which Kern would not disclose. A current staffer at New York says Kern is a definite "possibility, especially since she's in town," but, "it's hard to imagine she would give up the gobs of money she's making at Apple for a magazine that'll likely be sold by end of 2019." Stella Bugbee Getty Images Craig Barritt Bugbee has transformed New York's the Cut from a fashion blog into a must-read stand-alone site covering politics, gender issues, the workplace, entertainment, along with fashion. Her name is often batted around when big jobs open up: Women's Wear Daily gave her 40 to 1 odds of replacing Anna Wintour at Vogue; The Awl listed her as one of "10 Women Who Should Edit Vanity Fair" when Graydon Carter left; and in 2017 WWD reported she'd been in the running to lead InStyle and The New York Times Styles section. Plus, it was reported last year that New York is looking at potential buyers so someone with strong business acumen in addition to digital chops would be appealing. "Stella has made one arm of the online properties very profitable and I think that in the environment that they are exploring a sale, they would want somebody at the top who would reassure the new owner that the mag continue to be profitable," says one former New York staffer. But, surprisingly, others tell us she's unlikely to succeed Moss. "Stella is amazing, but really doubt it's her," a current New York staffer tells us. A former writer for the magazine echoes that sentiment. "Lauren [Kern] and Stella are the names being batted about," the writer says, adding about Bugbee: "She knows how to find and nurture great talent, she knows big ideas, but I don't think she's a hard-core longform editor." Getty Images Brad Barket Williams has been with New York since 2004, first as a senior editor and now in his current capacity as the online editorial director. He's got a good grasp on the shifting digital landscapeand has been instrumental in turning the magazine's website into a true destination for original content defined by its verticals-turned-brands the Cut, Vulture, Grub Hub, Intelligencer, and the Strategist. He wouldn't be the first EIC picked for digital experience. Former CNN Head of Social Media and Emerging Media Samantha Barry recently took over the top job at Glamour. Getty Images Joe Scarnici Silverstein oversees rival The New York Times Magazine and was previously the editor-in-chief of Texas Monthly for six years. One New York staffer says it's the only realistic way to replace Moss. "General consensus around water cooler is they probably go outside," the staffer tells us. "There's nobody inside that realistically could move up ladder and satisfy all the separate fiefdoms." But, as a former writer for New York points out, "there's such a strong sensibility within the magazine that if anyone were to come from the outside, they would have to prove they are very much fluent in that." Another outside pick who could fit the bill is Stewart. Like Moss, she's a New York nativeand a trailblazer in local and digital media. She was a founding editor of Jezebel and spent seven years there before moving to Fusion as the director of culture coverage, and, later, to Splinter as editor-in-chief. When she was named deputy editor in Metro at The New York Times last year, the announcement referred to Stewart as "the ultimate New Yorker," who shows "enthusiasm for all manner of stories about our city and her commitment to dynamic local journalism." | https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/money-and-power/a25904667/who-will-replace-adam-moss-at-new-york-magazine/ |
Can Nigeria work again? | Promise Adiele The two fiercest opposites in contemporary Nigeria are the APC and PDP, two political parties described by many as one and the same but differentiated by nomenclature. It reminds one of the contrarieties between Esu and Orunmila, two gods of contrasting qualities that are inevitably intertwined on the Opon Ifa prognostic divination tray in the Yoruba spiritual system. It is rare to see two opposites find a common ground. But like the opposites we have highlighted above, the APC and PDP in a seldom moment of epiphany, through their different representatives agreed on a fact which every concerned citizen of this country will also agree with. Let us now scrutinize their point of agreement. Nigeria was not working says APC, and PDP agrees totally that Nigeria is not working. Based on the submission of the two parties, the PDP, led by Atiku Abubakar has promised to get Nigeria working again. To some extent, the PDP campaign slogan of getting Nigeria working again is a germane corollary of a mutual agreement by the two contending parties that Nigeria is not and has not worked. It is only sensible for Nigerians to get together and ensure that their country works again. In this, the PDP campaign slogan finds much relevance. But how to get the country working again is the big question. That is the question that agitates the mind of those who agree that Nigeria is not working and needs to work again. From the above analogy, the two political parties agree that we have always lived under a failed system in Nigeria, a system that never worked and as a result, we have inevitably found ourselves in a morass. It will be a herculean task to outline the failings of this country as a result of the systemic failure we have witnessed over the years. That the two contending political parties will agree that our country has never worked is a testimony to the poverty accolade deridingly attributed to Nigeria. Although Nigeria has forged ahead in the midst of serial plundering of her economy, in the continual laceration of her potential, in the domination and production of more poor people over the years, the present condition calls for concern and in this we must think of Nigeria working again. However, if the two leading political parties, by their admission agree that Nigeria is not working, it does give credence to the campaign slogan of the PDP to get Nigeria working again. For Nigeria to work again, there must a total restructuring of the entire country to revive confidence in the minds of those who have lost fate in the country. Restructuring will, to a large extent bring an end to incessant agitations from aggrieved regions of the country for sundry pacifications. When I say this, I have the South East in mind whose continued agitations for the actualization of Biafra have cost the country enormous material loss and embarrassment in the international community. I also have the restive Niger Delta youths in mind who believe that they have been shortchanged in the Nigerian project given that their region is the countrys cash cow. For Nigeria to work again, federal appointments must not be skewed in favour of a section of the country in total exclusion of other sections. Public officers should not spend taxpayers money to embark on medical tourism and all forms of jamboree abroad. Politicians who are indicted in public office should not be allowed to shamelessly cross over to another political party to perpetuate their unconscionable attitude. Going forward, any indicted politician should be barred from participating in the political process. For Nigeria to work again quota system should be totally abolished. The existing lopsided revenue formula where the hen that lays the golden egg is cheated in favour of the cock that wallows in daily frolicking should be obliterated from our national calendar. For Nigeria to work again, the monster of corruption must be dealt with. It is clear to mortar and pestle that Nigerias biggest challenge over the years is dilapidating corruption, public officers abusing their offices by stealing or diverting public funds for their own use. Corruption has become the biggest economic sabotage in Nigeria and many believe that once the monster is tamed, Nigeria will be on the part of recovery. For Nigeria to work again, no former governor should be allowed to contest for the Senate or House of Representatives. It simply does not make sense that after a governor has served his state for eight years, he will aspire to go to the senate. It is either to continue to live under immunity to evade corruption probe or to just acquire more wealth seeing that Nigeria is one of the countries with the highest earning legislators in the world. For Nigeria to work again, the educational sector must be revisited and thoroughly overhauled. This should be one of the biggest concerns of the new administration. The Nigerian educational system is in dire comatose, from poor funding, poor remuneration of lecturers, poor infrastructure in the universities and other tertiary institutions. Any country that wants to make progress must invest heavily in the educational sector. The Nigerian educational sector is in grave danger and by implications, the future of all young people is also in grave danger. Therefore, to get Nigeria working again, the educational sector will have to be re-aligned in a positive direction so that youths can attain quality education and desist from certificate forgery which has been a major concern in public service recently. If Nigeria must work again, it goes without saying that the confidence of millions of youths in Nigeria must be revalidated because the Nigerian youth has completely lost hope in the Nigerian project. The new leadership must develop a program to care for its youths, create employment opportunities and avenues for entrepreneurship to thrive. Employment must be seen to be created and not imagined to be created. For Nigeria to work again, the youths of the land must have direction, hope and confidence in the government of the day. Although there is no perfect country anywhere in the world, Nigeria will be on the part of recovery if the new leadership shows commitment to the issues highlighted above. Dr. Adiele writes from Lagos via [email protected] | https://www.sunnewsonline.com/can-nigeria-work-again/ |
Will 49ers make a play for Antonio Brown? | Getty Images 49ers players are flirting openly with Antonio Brown. One of the best players in franchise (and league) history has said that Brown wants to play for the 49ers. Theres a belief in league circles that the 49ers have real interest in Brown. With Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. apparently not available this year (he was kind of possibly maybe available in March 2018), the 49ers will be inclined to explore whether they can get Brown. The contract remains a desirable one, at just under $39 million over the next three years, assuming Brown doesnt want to go back to the trough after making $33 million over the past two years. And the 49ers seem to be desperate to load up the cannon and compete with the Rams and Seahawks. With a healthy Jimmy Garoppolo and Jerick McKinnon and an emerging star in George Kittle, the 49ers could become immediate contenders if they have Brown on board. Of course, hed have to be fully and truly on board, committed to avoiding whatever behaviors created problems for him in Pittsburgh, whether real, imagined, or some combination of the two. Of course, the 49ers may have competition for Browns services. The Steelers surely hope thats the case, since holding an auction for Brown will be the best way for the Steelers to get the most for his contract. | https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/01/15/will-49ers-make-a-play-for-antonio-brown/ |
What comes next after drama-filled 2018 season for Chargers? | Keenan Allen stalled as he slowly put on his Slayer merchandise. The Chargers wide receiver began to promote his clothing line by showing a gray beanie to the horde of media surrounding his locker. Allen was selling, but maybe he was buying time. Allen was still in shock and not prepared to provide answers for an embarrassing 41-28 loss to the New England Patriots Sunday that ended the Chargers season with a thud. Time was up. Allen put on the beanie and faced the music. Allen tilted his body to the right, rolled his eyes to the left, and made an oof-like sound after receiving the first question. Umm, I dont know, he said. Allen and many of his teammates praised the Patriots for their dominant performance. But the Chargers couldnt explain their lackluster outing. It wasnt the first time the Chargers were down big against an offensive juggernaut. They couldnt keep up against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 1 and the Rams in Week 3, but the Chargers at least scored enough to have a chance in the second half. In the biggest game of the season, the Chargers were out of it by halftime, trailing the Patriots 35-7. An anticlimactic ending for a drama-filled 2018 season. One game definitely doesnt define us as a team, Chargers tight end Antonio Gates said about the postseason exit. The fight wasnt there versus the Patriots, but the Chargers had been fighting since May, overcoming injuries, playing home games in a soccer stadium with a small fan base, and logging the most miles in the NFL for road games. The Chargers responded by finishing with 13 wins, a 12-4 regular-season record, tied for best in the AFC, and posted a 9-1 record in games away from Los Angeles. Chargers coach Anthony Lynn wondered what would have happened in New England if Corey Liuget, Denzel Perryman, Kyzir White and Jatavis Brown were available to play. All vital defensive players who sustained season-ending injuries throughout the year. That doesnt include tight end Hunter Henrys torn ACL in May and cornerback Jason Verretts torn Achilles tendon in July, or Joey Bosas foot injury that caused him to miss the first nine games of the season. Many of the aforementioned injured players visited the team often because they wanted to be around the winning culture Lynn built. Henry sped up his recovery because he desperately wanted to play in a postseason game. Playoff games were rare before Lynn arrived in 2017. The Chargers were 5-11 during Henrys rookie season in 2016. He returned to play 14 snaps versus the Patriots last week. It was an ugly finish, but the Chargers improved from missing the playoffs by a win in 2017 to winning a playoff game in 2018. The Chargers defeated the Baltimore Ravens 23-17 in the wild-card round on Jan. 6 for the teams first playoff game in five years. Lynn might not win Coach of the Year because hes not a playcaller like the other front-runners, but his leadership earned the respect from Patriots coach Bill Belichick. The five-time Super Bowl winning coach understands the extra obstacles Lynn had to face because of relocation. The Chargers started 0-4 last season in their first year away from San Diego. Lynn and the Chargers have gone 22-8 since the winless start. Relocating a franchise is not an easy thing to do, Belichick said last week. Dealing with all of that, all of the other challenges that normal teams have in the National Football League are difficult, but when you throw relocation and international games and some other things that have come up along the way on top of that, I think that that organization has shown a lot of resiliency, mental toughness and certainly a very high level of performance over a sustained period of time. The Chargers started 1-2 with the losses to the Chiefs and Rams, and recovered by winning six straight games, including victories against the Seattle Seahawks and Tennessee Titans. Both wins werent considered signature victories until the end of the season when the Seahawks clinched the fifth seed in the NFC and the Titans fell a game short of an AFC wild-card spot. Those two wins came in the midst of a lengthy fall road trip across many time zones. The Chargers went 4-0 on the trip starting with a victory against the Cleveland Browns on Oct. 14. The team stayed in Cleveland before traveling to London to face the Titans at Wembley Stadium. After the bye week, the Chargers went to Seattle and ended in Oakland on Nov. 11. The Chargers were 7-2, but hardly anyone noticed and werent taken seriously. The streak ended against the lowly Denver Broncos at home on Nov. 18. Same old Chargers, many pundits said after the setback. The Chargers commanded respect in December with two memorable comeback road wins in prime time. They erased a 16-point deficit against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Dec. 2 thanks to a 73-yard punt return from Desmond King and a last-second game-winning field goal from rookie kicker Michael Badgley. Thats when the nation learned these Chargers werent the same old Chargers. They were finally winning because of their special teams, an area that had haunted them for years. They flirted with the No. 1 seed after a gusty 2-point conversion gave the Chargers a win over the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium after trailing by 14 points with eight minutes left on Dec. 13. The Chargers home field advantage hopes ended with a loss to the Ravens at StubHub Center on Dec. 22. They returned the favor two weeks later. The Chargers avenged three of their five losses this season. They only faced the Rams and Patriots once. With a productive rookie class led by All-Pro safety Derwin James, the Chargers laid the foundation to contend again next season. But changes will come as they always do every offseason. Key players such as defensive tackle Brandon Mebane, wide receiver Tyrell Williams, safety Adrian Phillips, Verrett, Perryman and Gates will all be free agents in March. Related Articles Chargers QB Philip Rivers to miss Pro Bowl with ankle injury Injuries, travel fatigue catch up to Chargers in flat defeat to Patriots Alexander: Still an uphill battle for Chargers in L.A. Antonio Gates doesnt want his Chargers career to end with loss to Patriots Patriots QB Tom Brady had no trouble against Chargers defensive scheme Gates said his goodbyes a year go, but returned after the Henry injury. Hes hoping to get invited back for another opportunity to win a Super Bowl title with longtime teammate Philip Rivers, who delivered an MVP-like season in his 15th year in the NFL. Lynn expects the 37-year-old quarterback to continue playing at a high level next season. After what he showed this year, I really think he can play for a couple more years, Lynn said of Rivers. Maybe even more. I dont know what these guys take these days, they play forever. Rivers could play into his 40s, but Super Bowl windows dont last long. The 2019 season could be now or never for Rivers quest for a Super Bowl trophy. | https://www.whittierdailynews.com/2019/01/15/what-comes-next-after-drama-filled-2018-season-for-chargers/ |
Is Bolton Steering Trump Into War With Iran? | "Stop the ENDLESS WARS!" implored President Donald Trump in a Sunday night tweet. Well, if he is serious, Trump had best keep an eye on his national security adviser, for a U.S. war on Iran would be a dream come true for John Bolton. Last September, when Shiite militants launched three mortar shells into the Green Zone in Baghdad, which exploded harmlessly in a vacant lot, Bolton called a series of emergency meetings and directed the Pentagon to prepare a menu of targets, inside Iran, for U.S. air and missile strikes in retaliation. The Wall Street Journal quoted one U.S. official as saying Bolton's behavior "rattled people.... People were shocked. It was mind-boggling how cavalier they were about hitting Iran." Bolton's former deputy, Mira Ricardel, reportedly told a gathering the shelling into the Green Zone was "an act of war" to which the U.S. must respond decisively. Bolton has long believed a U.S. confrontation with Iran is both inevitable and desirable. In 2015, he authored a New York Times op-ed whose title, "To Stop Iran's Bomb, Bomb Iran," said it all. He has urged that "regime change" in Iran be made a declared goal of U.S. foreign policy. When Trump announced his decision to withdraw the 2,000 U.S. troops now in Syria, Bolton swiftly imposed conditions: ISIS must first be eliminated, Iranian forces and allied militias must leave, and the Kurds must be protected. Yet enforcing such red lines would require a permanent presence of American troops. Bolton has an ally in Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. In Cairo last week, Pompeo declared it U.S. policy "to expel every last Iranian boot" from Syria. And though Hezbollah has been a "major presence" in Lebanon for several decades, "we won't accept this as the status quo," said Pompeo, for Hezbollah is a "wholly owned subsidiary of the Iranian regime." Build a new Middle East Strategic Alliance, a MESA, an Arab NATO, whose members are to be Egypt, Jordan and the nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council. There are other signs a confrontation is coming soon. The U.S. has objected to Iran's pending launch of two space satellites, saying these look like tests of missiles designed to deliver nuclear warheads. Yet Iran has never produced weapons-grade uranium or plutonium and never tested an ICBM. Pompeo has also called for a conclave in Poland in February to bring together an anti-Iran alliance to discuss what is to be done about what he calls "our common enemy." Over the weekend, Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu boasted of Israel's latest strike in Syria: "Just in the last 36 hours, the air force attacked Iranian warehouses with Iranian weapons at the international airport in Damascus. The accumulation of recent attacks proves that we are determined more than ever to take action against Iran in Syria, just as we promised." Israel brags that it has hit 200 targets inside Syria in recent years. The boasting may be connected to Bibi's desire to strengthen his credentials as a security hawk for the coming Israeli election. But it is also a provocation to the Iranians and Syrians to retaliate, which could ignite a wider war between Israel and Syrian and Iranian forces. Said Pompeo: "We strongly support Israel's efforts to stop Iran from turning Syria into the next Lebanon." In short, forces are moving in this country and in Israel to bring about a U.S. confrontation with Iran before our troops leave Syria. But the real questions here are not about Bolton or Pompeo. They are about Trump. While Trump has urged that the U.S. pull out of these Mideast wars, Pompeo has corrected him, "When America retreats, chaos often follows." One thing may confidently be said of the rhetoric and actions of Bolton and Pompeo: This is not what brought out the new populists who made Donald Trump president, the people who still share his desire to "stop the endless wars." Patrick J. Buchanan is the author of Nixon's White House Wars: The Battles That Made and Broke a President and Divided America Forever. To find out more about Patrick Buchanan and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators website at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2019 CREATORS.COM | https://www.thenewamerican.com/reviews/opinion/item/31200-is-bolton-steering-trump-into-war-with-iran |
How important is truth in democratic politics? | One of the great paradoxes of our time is that politicians who are serially, sometimes spectacularly loose with facts are most often praised by their supporters as being 'authentic', 'straight-talking', even 'truthful'. What is clear is that, for such people, 'truth' cannot be reduced to mere facts. This may seem like a particularly modern problem ("alternative facts") but the problem of the relationship between truth and politics is as old as philosophy itself. As Plato and Aristotle both recognised, politics is the realm of opinion which is to say, of relative or perspectival truth. And any attempt to impose an absolutist conception of truth can be devastating to a democratic political community just to the extent that it locates that 'truth' in one or another side of the political spectrum. But the denial of certain facts that can be held in common, as Hannah Arendt insisted, is no less absolutist because it denies the possibility of a shared, comprehensible world within which we can deliberate together. Original broadcast on 15 August 2018. | https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/theminefield/how-important-is-truth-in-democratic-politics/10608402 |
Should TransLink make public transit free for minors? | CTV Vancouver A Vancouver city councillor is pushing a proposal aimed at letting those under the age of 18 take public transit for free. Jean Swanson says the move would help make sure "kids are safe and can ride the bus when they don't have money." The COPE councillor's four-part motion is aimed at garnering city council support for All on Board, a campaign that advocates for free transit for minors and a sliding scale monthly pass system for low-income adults. "Metro Vancouver has zero affordability measures based on income to ensure equitable access to our public transit system," the campaign's website says. "We lag far behind many cities and municipalities across Canada, the U.S. and beyond that offer affordability measures to ensure low-income folks can access the essential service of public transit." According to the motion, "lack of transportation is one of the most common reasons for missing medical appointments and a significant barrier to social inclusion and labour market inclusion for low-income adults and youth." The final say about any changes to the fare system rests with TransLink. That's why Swanson is proposing the city send a letter encouraging the transportation authority and the province to work together to develop of a plan that would make All on Board's goals a reality. The motion also suggests that, in a separate letter, the city ask the Metro Vancouver Mayors' Council on Regional Transportation to require TransLink to adopt a poverty reduction mandate. That document would also ask the council to amend bylaws so that minors are no longer ticketed for fare evasion. TransLink already offers discounts for young people and seniors using its services, but advocates say transit is still too expensive for some. "They're put into a position where they have to steal rides to get to work to get to the food bank, to get to the basketball team tryout, and then they're getting ticketed," said Vivica Ellis of All on Board. A campaign to push TransLink to lower its fares has already been backed by councillors in New Westminster and Port Moody. The transportation authority said it's already looking into the idea, but would have to find millions of dollars to make it happen. And the option of increasing fares for some so that they can be lowered for others is not on the table. "Fares represent half of our operating budget annually," said spokesperson Jill Drews. "We would need to recover the cost. We're exploring what that cost might be. It will likely be in the tens of millions of dollars each year." TransLink said it has already had conversations with the NDP about funding, but the province would not confirm those talks had happened Tuesday. Vancouver councillors did not hold a final vote on Swanson's motion Tuesday, but agreed to refer her proposal to the Standing Committee on City Finance and Service so that it can hear from speakers on Wednesday. With files from CTV Vancouver's Emad Agahi | https://bc.ctvnews.ca/should-translink-make-public-transit-free-for-minors-1.4255313 |
How to Retain Company Culture when Remote Position Employees are on Board? | The company has to work to build a cohesive, well-articulated culture and framework within which all can work without restricting their creativity January 15, 2019 4 min read Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. With the advent of globalization, the work culture is experiencing a paradigm shift. Research says that with the work-from-home options being so lucrative, full-time employees are also quitting their jobs to opt for work from remote positions, even though that might tantamount to pay them relatively lesser. Workforce employed in remote positions signifies lesser turnover rates, stability and the engagement of highly productive and talented manpower. Hiring employees from across the globe means hiring the best of talents with minimum time wasted in commutation and meetings and working past the diverse time zones as well. The employees work with full dedication and endeavour never to miss a deadline. The next question that arises is how does a company retain its long term goal and how does it spread a uniform message to all the customers around the globe. To answer this predicament the company has to follow a uniform code of conduct across all sections. A list of various to-dos has been curated which is sure to keep the remote staff well engaged and committed to the corporate culture and end-goals. 1. Emphasize on the Broader Corporate Goals The wider corporate goals should be uniformly prioritized and highlighted while recruiting any staff, be it full-time office staff or remote position employees. All should be welloriented and acquainted with the corporate culture and policies so that they act and work within the broader corporate objectives. Making employees aware of the company policies and work culture is the key to success. Each employee should be well apprised of what the company wants and the policies must be indoctrinated across all communication platforms that the company uses, says Sakun Aggarwal, CEO of Jungle Hut Resorts. 2. Two-way Communication and Feedback The company should adopt an open, two-way communication where the newly anointed employee can seek or give suggestions and can be comfortable to render the best of results and productivity. The employee working from a remote position must have access to all information required and must not be alienated from broader corporate policy changes if any. The more accessible and transparent the company policies, the more would be the efficiency of employees. Ayush Jain, founder of MyStudyDestination.com suggests, The company should have casual communication channels, more like Skype and Slack, so that the employees working from far and wide can easily connect and engage. The company has to be open to any kind of feedback from all employees so that the whole staff can work in unison with each other. Sakun also endorses open communication lines and easy accessibility of the management. 3. Amicable Employee Induction Any new employee being induced in the company should be inducted with a proper introduction to the company communication channels. The employee should be introduced with his strengths and qualifications mentioned along with the designation allotted. This will help other employees work in sync with the newly appointed person in a congenial manner. The new employee should be made familiar with company goals and be introduced to the company workers, both working from the office as well as remote positions. The employee should be introduced to all so that the working of the company is smoother and frictionless, harps Anoop Kumar, founder of Yorker Travels. 4. Time-Off from Work Consolidating the team building exercise goes a long way in building stable and healthy relationships in the company. Having an all-employees coffee meet once in a while where all the employees can get together and celebrate the company culture and discuss ideas helps in building the company ideals and setting targets. A bi-annual gala employees-meet or taking all the employees for a weekend holiday can be beneficial for the company relationships and communicating the company culture to all the employees. It builds company-patriotism in all the employees, adds Sachin Aggarwal, MD of Share India Pvt. Ltd. The Bottom Line: The technological advancements have removed the barriers between the office employees and those working from far away. The company has to work to build a cohesive, well-articulated culture and framework within which all can work without restricting their creativity. The company has to specify well-established communication channels so that employees can work and support each other to build a harmonious work culture. | https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/326333 |
Is athlete doping forgivable? | Seoul secrets, Jan. 14 The article about Ben Johnson being the single athlete disqualified for doping in the 1980s Olympics is meant to evoke sympathy for Johnson and outrage that he was singled out. However, the key fact is that Johnson admitted to using a banned substance. Every cheater should know that they not only run the risk of getting caught and penalized, but also run the risk of being the only one who gets called out. An appeal for empathy for an athlete who got caught enhancing his performance with a forbidden drug is misguided. Energy and press coverage should be spent on bolstering athletes who play by the rules, not one who made an unsuccessful conscious effort to disadvantage others. Miriam Snowbell, Thornhill In early 1989, I was teaching in Toronto when my school welcomed back a top Olympic athlete whom it had been supporting. I asked him about the Ben Johnson situation, and he said what Mary Ormsby states in her article: Many of the athletes, particularly Carl Lewis, were doped up. We hear about athletes being charged with or cleared of doping allegations from long ago. Maybe it is time for one of our more thrilling sporting moments to be restored, and that same moment removed from disgrace. Michael Kaczer, Newmarket | https://www.thestar.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editors/2019/01/15/is-athlete-doping-forgivable.html |
Are eSports really sports? | eSports generated 655 million globally in 2017. By 2020, eSports are expected to generate almost 1.5 billion, quadrupling its present value. Surging interest has led to sponsored tournaments, arenas and opportunities to compete on a grand stage. Some universities across the United States are trying out giving eSports scholarships, amounting to $9 million. A few Canadian institutions have followed in suit. Emerging leagues, competitions and awards encourage video games in the mainstream and in our institutions. eSports are video games. This includes sport-based games like the FIFA franchise and multiplayer online battle arena games (MOBA) like League of Legends, and first-person shooters (FPS) like Overwatch and Counter-Strike. They all involve strategy, team play and mechanics such as aim, accuracy and reaction time. eSports have their own rules, opportunities, limitations and methods that lead to victory as with physical sports. To succeed in any game, you need to have a unique strategy that suits your game and derails your opponents game. You also need an intuitive understanding of how the game works, along with an ability to optimize your psychological performance. This involves managing high stress, being adaptive, patient and consistent. Take physical basketball: there are specific game traits. You may need to be a good shooter, tall, physically fit and an understanding of the specific traits required from a player in your position. For the eSports version of basketball, the NBA 2K series, you need to understand all the different features of the game: types of shots, the various positions you can choose to play and all the functions of a controller. In video games, you work within the programmed rules of the game, explicit rules as well as the mechanics and probabilities involved. For example, Rocket League is a game where rocket cars play soccer. Each player controls a car and tries to use the car to score in the opposing goal. Turbo boosts are available throughout the arena that allow for jumps, as well as more powerful shots. To win the game you need to score more goals than your opponent. Your overall success depends on your ability to control your own car maneuvering for shots and boosts as well as coordinate your positioning relative to other cars. Much of this is also applicable to physical sports. There are rules, conditions for fouls, certain positions and mechanics that are advantageous. A primary difference with real sports is: unlike video games, you control your own performance as opposed to controlling a tool or character. In eSports your character has limited abilities. No matter how hard you try, the character cannot change; you can only work with the tools and limits provided within the games programming to control your character to the best of your ability. In real-life sports, your character is you. You control yourself and can push yourself beyond what is expected or normal. Rocket Leagues turbo boosts are pre-programmed, equal for all players and cant be changed within the game. If you crash into an opponents car at full-boost, the car disappears and restarts at a different point after a few seconds. Theres no way you can get past the fact that your car disappears once its crashed. You can strategize and avoid such instances, but the focus remains on the abilities of the tool you are using to attain victory. In Basketball you can endure more than necessary pain, push your limits just as Lebron James did when he played three games of NBA final with a broken hand. eSports are comparable to real sports in many ways. Theyre competitive, theyre fun, and it isnt easy to master them. But when it comes down to it, your performance in physical sports depends on your human ability and will. In eSports, your performance is ultimately dictated by programming that you cant change no matter how hard you try. | http://dalgazette.com/opinions/are-esports-really-sports/ |
Is Gillibrand the Democrats Best Faux-Moderate Woman? | Paul wrote earlier today about Kirsten Gillibrands candidacy for the Democratic Partys presidential nomination. He wondered, reasonably, what Gillibrands market niche might be, and concluded that she is a long-shot candidate. There is another contender for Gillibrands place in the market: Minnesotas Amy Klobuchar. Klobuchar has all but declared for the 2020 nomination, and in some respects, she is a formidable candidate. She has been elected by wide marginsmost recently, in November, by 60%-36% against a sacrificial Republican nominee. And she is a prolific fundraiser. As the 2018 election drew near, she had outraised her Republican opponent by $7.4 million to $200,000. Well, Democrats are generally awash in cash. Beyond that, though, she is good at constituent service and knows how to come across as a moderate. Thus, she raises a lot of money from businesspeople who should know better. Last year, millions that she didnt need were laundered and returned to Minnesota to support less popular, more obviously leftist candidates like Keith Ellison. Klobuchar is, I think, smarter than Gillibrand. She hasnt left behind a paper trail of flip-flops, and she maintains cordial relationships with peopleme, for examplewith whom she disagrees. Meanwhile, as a senator, she has voted consistently with the left. Her lifetime American Conservative Union rating is 4.71, indistinguishable from Gillibrands 3.99, and almost identical to Chuck Schumers 4.70. Klobuchars moderate reputation stems from the fact that in the Senate, she has played small-ball, focusing on minor product safety issues and the like. She has avoided wading into the rhetorical swamps of the far left, even as she has voted for the most leftward viable alternative on pretty much every occasion. As with many candidates, Klobuchars strength is also her weakness. The rhetorical caution that has made her acceptable to big business may doom her with the far-left Democratic Party primary electorate. Then again, the day may come when Democrats scurry for cover, appalled by the excesses of Beto ORourke, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Elizabeth Warren and the like. If that happensas, for example, the flight of Democratic voters to John Kerry after Howard Deans famous screamKlobuchar could be waiting in the wings. | https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/01/is-gillibrand-the-democrats-best-faux-moderate-woman.php |
Could Wagyu beef protect against heart disease? | Good news for beef lovers! A new study suggests grass-fed beef could help protect against heart disease. Researchers at the Liggins Institute at Auckland University are looking into whether grass-fed Wagyu beef can protect against the disease. Study lead, David Cameron-Smith told Tim Dower processed red meat has been linked to colon cancer but that's not the case for grass-fed beef. "Processed red meat clearly does carry a degree of risk so there's been all that research looking at colon cancer and processed red meat." Advertisement "But here in New Zealand, we are extremely lucky to have grass-fed beef. In fact, we have the best beef and that's this Wagyu beef and unlike anywhere else in the world, the Wagyu that we eat, or the Wagyu that's available to us in the supermarkets, is a cross with dairy...and it's grass fed, so it makes it completely unique." "It's the champagne of beef when you compare it on an international scale." He said the high-fat quantity in grass-fed beef shouldn't be a concern either because it contains Omega 3. Wagyu cattle. Photo / Michael Cunningham "Here in New Zealand, the only way you can get marbled fatty meat is for that animal to be crossed with a breed like Wagyu [and] the unique thing about that meat is that it's really high in Omega 3." "Grass-fed animals have much higher, double the concentration, of Omega 3 fatty acids and for people who don't eat fish that's their predominant source of those healthy Omega 3 fats." The fat could also be key to protecting against heart disease. "In our research with AgResearch, the government agency that's involved in agricultural research around New Zealand, we have identified other forms of fat that are in that marbled meat that may be beneficial to heart disease," Cameron-Smith said. However, he said that doesn't mean you can start eating steak for every meal. "It's not true that you can eat meat willy-nilly. Of course, the dietary requirements remain the same, you should eat red meat three times a week and supplement it with other forms of protein." "But if are going to eat meat, eat the best, it's the stuff that we export, it's the study that's amazing and we are sop fortunte...that we have this healthy red meat." While processed meat is linked with cancer, he said having bacon once a week shouldn't be of concern. | https://www.nzherald.co.nz/the-country/news/article.cfm?c_id=16&objectid=12191378 |
Will May Survive Her Brexit Defeat? | The only meaningful unity that the United Kingdom has seen in the past two years has been opposition to the Brexit deal Prime Minister Theresa May negotiated with the European Union. That agreement, as predicted, suffered a crushing blow in the House of Commons today, voted down by a 432-to-202 margin in what was instantly the worst parliamentary defeat in history. The defeat, as predicted, has prompted Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to propose a vote, expected to be held on Wednesday, of no confidence in the government. When future historians consider Brexit, they will surely marvel at Mays obstinate capacity for survival in the face of unending political humiliation. Though her authority is all but nil at this point, if she hangs on tomorrow, her leadership will be further cemented. What doesnt kill me makes me stronger, though it still doesnt bring me Brexit . . . Mays final plea before the defeat was that a vote against this deal is a vote for nothing more than uncertainty, division, and the very real risk of no deal, or worse, no Brexit at all. Which is true. Labour is just as split as the Tories on the question of how to proceed. Corbyn now faces enormous pressure from his own back-benchers to back a second referendum, and has shown no sign at any point of having an alternative to Mays deal in mind. That is because there were only ever two alternatives to Mays deal, as the EU saw it: no-deal Brexit (which they deem disastrous) or no Brexit at all (which theyd quite like). For the British people, the choice was simpler still faith in Brexit or no faith in Brexit. Now it seems that Britain faces two distinct but inexorably linked crises: a crisis of government and a crisis of legitimacy. Should both crises collide, it is hard to imagine the havoc that would ensue. Indeed, while it was one thing for Conservative MPs to vote against the prime minister in a Tory-party confidence vote (which May narrowly won), it would be quite another for Conservative MPs to vote with Corbyn in order to bring down a Tory government. Doing so, even as an attempt to prevent a no-deal Brexit, would be political suicide. Yet it is this desperation that Corbyn is banking on. It appears that there is a majority in the Commons set on blocking a no-deal Brexit. That much became clear when the speaker of the House tabled an amendment last week that will force May to return to the Commons within three days of her defeat and present an alternative plan. Of course, that doesnt necessarily translate into opposition to the government. Meanwhile, the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist party, on whom the Conservative government relies for its majority, has already promised to back the government in tomorrows vote. The DUP would be content with no-deal Brexit, as it would mean the end of the proposed arrangement whereby the U.K. would remain in the European customs union indefinitely in order to prevent a hard border with Ireland. Clearly the only way to stop a no-deal Brexit is to put something or someone else in its place. Though the EU has said previously that it will not budge on the terms of the deal negotiated by May, its bluff is about to be called. No-deal Brexit is not in Europes interests, and so the EU may push for a softer Brexit by permitting the extension or revocation of Article 50, which currently mandates that Britain leave the EU on March 29. At any rate, the question of who governs Britain does not resolve any of the uncertainty or division surrounding Brexits implementation. Britons voted to leave the European Union, but two years later none of their representatives in Parliament is any closer to knowing what that would look like. Corbyn argued today that May had reached the end of the line after two years of failure. More from National Review | https://news.yahoo.com/may-survive-her-brexit-defeat-224810031.html |
What makes Andrew Scheer tick? | Stephen Harper, together with his cabinet, thought they knew everything about anything related to science and, as it turned out, knew nothing. Those of us who have decent memories will remember Harpers Conservative governments attacks on science. The years from 2006 to 2014 were a catalogue of disastrous decisions regarding the environment, scientific research, health sciences and repositories of data. Research stations and science libraries were closed, boxes of data went to the dump, scientists were muzzled, policy changes to enable industrial development were made, lay-offs and budget cuts followed. In 2013, John Dupuis, a science librarian, posted a 13-page, event-by-event indictment of Harpers environmental rampage. The following year, Michael Harris published Party of One about Harper. It is all there for the reading. He wasnt as smart as he thought and lost the next election. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. That should include finding out what makes Andrew Scheer tick. Tony Broscomb Brantford Former doctor wonderful Re: Disgraced doctor hopes to return to practice (Jan. 11) I was shocked and saddened to see the front page story about Sarah McArthur, who was my doctor in the early 2000s. I never saw any details about why she stopped practising. This was all news to me, and terrible to read. A kinder, gentler, sweeter soul, Ive never met. She was patient, listened and definitely did not recommend drugs. Within three years, I lost my partner, my parents, my sister and my job. I was not in a good place. She recommended therapy, yoga, meditation and exercise not drugs. I dont know what took her down the destructive path she followed. Obviously, I cannot condone the mistakes she made, although she has paid her debt to society and seems to be working hard on her recovery. But I would like her to know that at least one of her patients in Brantford remembers her as a wonderful doctor, and wishes her a good recovery and peace of mind. Zoe Burgess Brantford | https://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/opinion/letters/what-makes-andrew-scheer-tick |
What could happen next to Rep. Steve King after backlash to white supremacy comments? | Alex Wong/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) As Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King faces fierce backlash for questioning why white supremacy is considered offensive, for now hes showing no signs of stepping down amid mounting pressure to resign. In an interview with the New York Times published Thursday, King asked, White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization how did that language become offensive? Those comments set off a series of rebukes from both sides of the aisle and ultimately resulted in the eight-term congressman being stripped of his committee assignments by GOP leadership Monday. Steves remarks are beneath the dignity of the Party of Lincoln and the United States of America, House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy said in a statement, adding, His comments call into question whether he will treat all Americans equally, without regard for race and ethnicity. Meanwhile, Democrats have scheduled a House vote on a resolution Tuesday that disapproves of Kings statements. The resolution was introduced by House Democratic Whip Jim Clyburn, the highest-ranking African-American member of Congress, and two other Democrats, Rep. Bobby Rush and Rep. Tim Ryan, have also introduced censure resolutions, which serve as more forceful reprimands. The harshest form of punishment King could face is expulsion from the House, but the bar for that is high. There have only been five members expelled from the House in history. All of those members were charged with crimes the first three were expelled for joining the Confederacy. The most recent example of a member facing expulsion was in 2002 when Ohio Democrat-turned-Independent Rep. James Traficant was convicted of conspiracy to commit bribery, filing false tax returns, and obstruction of justice, among other crimes. Prior to that, Pennsylvania Democrat Rep. Michael Myers was ousted in 1980 after he was convicted of bribery. In Kings case, the terms of how the rules of expulsion would apply are murky. The Constitution requires a two-thirds majority vote to expel a member, but according to the Congressional Research Service, there are no specific grounds for an expulsion expressed in the Constitution, expulsion actions in both the House and the Senate have generally concerned cases of perceived disloyalty to the United States, or the conviction of a criminal statutory offense which involved abuse of ones official position. Meanwhile, Kings loss of committee assignments on the Judiciary and Agriculture Committees already renders him virtually powerless in terms of legislating, which would be problematic if he chooses to pursue a 2020 reelection bid. King is now one of three GOP House members with no committee assignments the others include Rep. Chris Collins and Rep. Duncan Hunter, both of whom are, respectively, under indictment for insider trading and misusing campaign funds. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. | https://www.kxl.com/what-could-happen-next-to-rep-steve-king-after-backlash-to-white-supremacy-comments/ |
Will Intel Raise Its Dividend in 2019? | 2018 was a strong year for semiconductor giant Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), even if you wouldn't necessarily know it from its share price. The stock rose just 2% in 2018, but that was enough to outperform in a down year for the market as a whole. Even with the tepid share-price move, Intel had a lot to celebrate from a business perspective during the year, and investors came into 2019 with high hopes for the chipmaker. Dividend investors don't necessarily look to tech stocks as great sources of income, but Intel was among the first tech companies to pay a dividend regularly. After going a long time paying just a token dividend, Intel has embraced dividend growth recently. Although it hasn't been consistent about the timing of its payout increases, Intel's dividend policies have been a key component of the stock's total return. Below, we'll look closely at Intel to see if it's likely to deliver another dividend increase in 2019. Dividend stats on Intel Metric Current Stat Quarterly dividend per share $0.30 Yield 2.5% Streak of dividend increases 4 years Payout ratio 38% Last increase February 2018 Source: Yahoo! Finance. Last increase refers to ex-dividend date. The big boom in Intel's dividend payouts Intel has paid a dividend since the 1990s, but it hasn't always been nearly as big a deal for shareholders as the current payout is. For a long time, the company delivered only minimal increases, and even as recently as the early 2000s, Intel kept its payout stable at $0.02 per share over a span of several years. Even as the tech sector rebounded from tough industry conditions, Intel didn't initially see the need to share its success with shareholders through dividend payments. Yet Intel changed its stance by the mid-2000s. The tech giant doubled its dividend twice in a short span, and it proceeded to make multiple dividend boosts at irregular intervals from 2005 through the early 2010s. INTC Dividend Chart More INTC Dividend data by YCharts. That's not to say that Intel hasn't gone through some tough times. During 2013 and 2014, it chose not to offer a dividend increase as it struggled through the painful process of trying to catch up with its rivals. Having stuck to its guns as the leader in the PC chip sector, Intel largely missed out on using its development expertise to come up with chips for the rapidly growing mobile device market. Rather than making a token payment increase that would have extended a streak of nearly a decade of consecutive annual dividend hikes, Intel let it lapse by keeping its payout flat. Moreover, the size of Intel's dividend increases has varied considerably over the years. The boost in 2018 amounted to 10%, which was double the rate of Intel's 2017 dividend hike. Even though the stock has held on to its increases from late 2017, the yield still comes in above average for the tech sector. | https://news.yahoo.com/intel-raise-dividend-2019-023200396.html |
Why is tooth decay in children on a rise? | By Dr Reshma Shah Advertising With changing food habits and lifestyle patterns, toothaches, tooth cavities and decay of teeth are on a rise. At a very young age, children are complaining of toothaches, which could often be because of excessive sweet intake or even junk food. Tooth decay is largely preventable, even though it remains one of the most common diseases of childhood five times as common as asthma. As per research, 42 per cent of children between two and 11 years have had cavities in baby teeth while 21 per cent of those between six to 11 years have had cavities in permanent teeth. Whenever we eat or drink something that contains sugar or starch, the bacteria uses them to produce acids. These acids begin to eat away at the tooths hard outer surface (enamel). When a tooth is exposed to such acid frequently, the repeated cycles of acid attacks cause the enamel to lose minerals. A white spot may appear where minerals have been lost. This is a sign of early decay. Studies prove that moms (rather than dads) typically infect their children before age. However, it happens when you transfer your saliva into your childs mouth. For instance, repeatedly eating from the same spoon as your baby or letting your toddler brush his teeth with your toothbrush. And if youve frequently had cavities yourself, youre particularly likely to pass the germs along. Its an old wives tale that soft teeth run in families, but whats really passed along in families are high levels of decay-causing bacteria. Oral hygiene is a must! Limit your childs between-meal snacks and if need be, provide healthier options. This reduces the number of acid attacks on teeth and gives teeth a chance to repair themselves. Make sure your child doesnt eat or drink anything with sugar in it after bedtime tooth brushing. Saliva flow decreases during sleep. Without enough saliva, the teeths ability to repair themselves reduces. Adequate dietary calcium, phosphorous, vitamins A, D, and C help in healthy and strong enamel formation. Advertising Its better to avoid any sugary candies and sweets. Whenever you eat sweets in any meal or snack, brush your teeth well with fluoride toothpaste afterward. (The writer is a paediatric dentist at 32 Reasons.) | https://indianexpress.com/article/parenting/health-fitness/reasons-tooth-decay-children-5539009/ |
What are the most popular traditional games and toys in China? | From 2012 to 2017 the top five most popular traditional toys in China were mainly hands-on like construction and remote control toys, as well as more creative categories like arts and crafts. Each category saw more than 50 per cent growth in sales, according to data from Euromonitor. Construction toys topped the charts, with sales growing 205 per cent from 2.8 billion yuan (US$414 million) to 8.6 billion yuan in the five-year period, while model vehicles, the fifth top category gained 57 per cent, from 3.2 billion yuan to 5 billion yuan. Construction toys are predicted to remain Chinas top growth category from 2018 by 2022, followed by remote control toys and ride-on vehicles, according to data from Euromonitor. Sales of construction toys are set to reach over 15 billion in 2022, from over 10 billion in 2018, while remote control toys are expected to see nearly 9 billion in sales by 2022, up from 6.6 billion in 2018. Plush toys, and games and puzzles are the only two categories forecast to decline in sales by 2022, by 20 per cent and 3 per cent respectively. | https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2182237/what-are-most-popular-traditional-games-and-toys-china |
Was steckt hinter der rtselhaften Krankheit Fibromyalgie? | Direkt aus dem dpa-Newskanal Saarbrcken (dpa/tmn) - Starke Schmerzen, Schlafstrungen, krperliche und geistige Erschpfung. Die Symptome des Fibromyalgie-Syndroms (FMS) sind vielfltig. Und die Krankheit zu erkennen ist alles andere als einfach. Es gibt keinen spezifischen Bluttest und keine Rntgenuntersuchungen fr die Diagnose FMS, erklrt Prof. Winfried Huser von der Klinik fr Innere Medizin 1 am Klinikum Saarbrcken. Um Fibromyalgie festzustellen, mssen sich Mediziner die Vorgeschichte des Patienten grndlich ansehen und eine komplette krperliche Untersuchung sowie mehrere Labortests machen. Wrtlich bersetzt bedeutet Fibromyalgie "Faser-Muskel-Schmerz". Die Patienten leiden zum Beispiel unter langandauernden Schmerzen, Ein- und Durchschlafstrungen und Erschpfung. Hinzu kommen psychische Probleme: "So erfllen etwa 60 bis 80 Prozent von ihnen die Kriterien einer depressiven oder Angststrung", sagt Huser. Viele Ursachen mglich Die Ursachen fr die Erkrankung knnen vielfltig sein. Experten gehen davon aus, dass eine genetische Veranlagung sowie verschiedene biologische und psychische Faktoren fr das Fibromyalgie-Syndrom verantwortlich sind. Auffllig ist zudem, dass viele Betroffene hnliche Persnlichkeitsmerkmale haben: "Die meisten Fibromyalgie-Patienten sind sehr sensibel, leistungsbereit und ehrgeizig", erklrt Thomas Weiss aus Mannheim, Facharzt fr Allgemeinmedizin, Psychiatrie sowie Psychotherapie und psychosomatische Medizin. "Hufig kommt im Laufe des Lebens eine berforderung dazu, die Personen geraten an ihre Grenzen - und dann geschieht etwas, das fr sie schwer verstndlich ist." Pltzlich schlafen die Betroffenen nicht mehr gut, sie reagieren empfindlicher auf Reize und haben vegetative Beschwerden - Nervositt etwa. "Wir gehen davon aus, dass die Krper der Patienten die Reizschwelle herunterfahren, was in stressigen Situationen evolutionsbedingt ein sinnvolles Verhalten ist", sagt Weiss. Nachts nicht mehr zu schlafen war frher zum Beispiel mal notwendig - als Schutz vor Gefahren. Was die Symptome lindert Den Patienten kann diese Erklrung vielleicht helfen, die Erkrankung zu verstehen. Die Symptome beseitigt sie jedoch nicht. "Wir geben zur Behandlung hufig sehr niedrig dosierte Antidepressiva", sagt Weiss. "Das soll nicht bedeuten, dass es sich bei Fibromyalgie um eine verkappte Depression handelt, aber die Mittel haben eine leicht schmerzstillende Wirkung." Und so schwer es Patienten bei starken Schmerzen und permanenter Erschpfung oft fllt: Bewegung kann helfen, die Symptome zu lindern. Diese Erfahrung hat auch Ulrike Eidmann aus Wuppertal gemacht. 1990 wurde bei ihr Fibromyalgie festgestellt. "Ich war vorher fr lngere Zeit wegen Rcken- und Muskelschmerzen krankgeschrieben, aber kein Arzt hatte eine Erklrung", erzhlt sie. "Erst ein dreiwchiger Klinikaufenthalt brachte mir eine Diagnose." In einer Reha begann sie dann, sich wieder viel zu bewegen. "Ich habe mit Nordic Walken und Fahrradfahren begonnen, auerdem bin ich viel geschwommen." Die Symptome wurden besser und verschwanden schlielich weitgehend. Phasenweise ist sie inzwischen komplett schmerzfrei. Heute sagt sie: Jeder Patient msse fr sich selbst herausfinden, was ihm hilft. "Fr mich war es sehr wichtig, auf mich zu hren und so zu erkennen, was mir gut tut." Wichtig ist es nach Ansicht von Huser aber, es bei der Bewegung nicht zu bertreiben. "Training mit mittlerer und hoher Belastung fhrt bei vielen Patienten zur Schmerzzunahme", sagt er. Ausnahmen gebe es nur bei Personen, die bereits vor Beginn der Erkrankung sehr gut im Ausdauertraining waren. | https://www.sueddeutsche.de/news/gesundheit/gesundheit-was-steckt-hinter-der-raetselhaften-krankheit-fibromyalgie-dpa.urn-newsml-dpa-com-20090101-190115-99-574074 |
Can a Great Bloody Mary Cure a Bar's Financial Hangover? | An annual festival aims to raise a glass -- and the profits -- of independent bars and taverns. May 2, 2017 5 min read Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Golden Tomato Productions describes its annual Bloody Mary Festival as both a celebration of this beloved brunch beverage and the largest event of its kind. We noticed there were curated experiences for so many foods and beverages -- craft beer, wine, cheese, chocolate, oysters -- but nothing for bloodies so we organized the first one in 2014 in Brooklyn, and it was a resounding success, said Evan Weiss, who runs the enterprise with his wife, Yunna. The participating bars/restaurants, attendees and sponsors all loved it. Related: How to Start a Business With (Almost) No Money From there they took the event (and, eventually their 1-year-old toddler) to Philadelphia, Denver, D.C. and San Francisco (where one competing bars staff dressed up as Furries). This year theyre expanding to nine cities -- adding Portland, San Diego, Dallas, and Nashville -- and their continued success has allowed the couple to leave their corporate jobs to focus on the business of this weird, wonderful libation. The most recent NYC adventure of their coast-to-coast cocktail carnival was held on April 9th, in South Slopes Grand Prospect Hall. Here's what I learned -- and tasted -- on the floor of the Bloody Mary festival. Thinking outside the glass We use the juice from Brooklyn Brine, a local pickle company, and another borough addition, garnishes from Ends Meat, said Surene Anderson, bar manager of Cobble Hills Skylark Bar. They were two great tastes that did not taste great together. But I was in the vast minority on that, as most people who stopped by for a taste loved it. Related: This Founder Ditched His Career at 40 and Turned a Hunch Into a $100 Million Whiskey Business I dont know if you can, answered Anderson. If its good enough hopefully theyll call it Skylarks Bloody Mary mix when they steal it. Anderson wasn't the only one trying to stir up the classic recipe. In fact, almost all of the contestants were trying to reinvent the wheel. We came up with something totally different, said Alex Haskell, owner of South Slopes meat happy Iron Station. We went with vinegar instead of pickle juice and we infuse our vodka with bacon -- which in and of itself is a crazy process. Elsewhere, other contestants added beef jerky and one even added fried crickets. In short, yes. After hours of sampling, two things happened: the sodium intake made me look like some type of water-retaining Michelin Man and while the "wacky" versions were fun to try, my taste-testing companions and I gravitated to the more traditional ones that had subtle, but delicious twists. Related: Here's What Happens When You Open a $3,000 Bottle of Scotch The best recipes we drank were the simplest with the least amount of ingredients, said former Fox Business Network correspondent and CrowdVest CEO Matthew McCall. And the winner is... My vote went to the Korean KAPOW that Insa was pouring, which kind of goes against my "simple is better" philosophy. The Gowanus-based hotspots recipe was super busy to the tune of wasabi powder, celery salt, soy and fish sauce, Kiamichi brine plus candied anchovies (and thats the Cliffs Notes version) -- but I totally dug it. There were a lot of amazing recipes, but in both the world of Highlander and the Bloody Mary Festivalthere can be only one. (Okay there were six actual winners, but heres the MAIN one) On this given Sunday it was The Lobster Joint which won both the "Peoples Choice" and "Best Traditional Recipe" awards with their attention-to-the-details offering that included Paradiso tomato juice, a secret spice mix, garnishes of lobster, lemons, limes, pickles, olives and celery. "The other options from competitors had a lot of garnish to get through -- you feel like you have to have a meal before you get to the actual drink -- but we kept it simple and I guess it worked. Related: 11 Ways to Make Money While You Sleep | https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/293451 |
Should I pay off investment property before I retire? | Question: I am hoping to retire in a year at age 63 my wife is retired now. We have about $1.6 million in a Self Managed Super Fund and $1 million in cash and shares. We have three investment properties worth around $1.6 million in total and own our home. There is an outstanding mortgage on the investment properties of $277,000. We dont know whether we should pay off the mortgage before I retire or just keep paying off the loan into retirement. Answer: You appear to be a good money manager, so I assume the investment loan is at a rate of no more than 5 per cent. If this is the case you could almost certainly get better than 5 per cent long term by investing the money in good growth assets such as shares. Therefore, I suggest you leave the loan as it is and let it be gradually eroded by inflation. Credit:Rob Homer Furthermore, I see no need to pay off the loan when you retire the properties are obviously positively geared so you would appear to be in a perfect position as the properties will keep themselves, and hopefully grow in value. I assume your wife is under 65, so you appear to be well placed to contribute more money to superannuation to boost the assets you already have in this concessionally taxed environment. | https://www.smh.com.au/money/super-and-retirement/should-i-pay-off-investment-property-before-i-retire-20190114-p50r9o.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed |
Whos Afraid of Gillette? | Subscribe to our free newsletters. Today Gillette pre-released their Super Bowl ad in hopes that it would go viral and get everyone talking. Fine. They win. Here it is. Its better to just watch it than it is for me to try to describe it: Its a minute and a half long, so its hardly going to be a nuanced recap of thousands of years of patriarchal subjugation of women. Well, plenty of men arent happy with it. No surprise there. But apparently some women arent happy about it either, even though it conveys an explicitly feminist message. Well, at the risk of pissing off some friends, I have to make a confession here: The ism writers at Vox (sexism, racism, ageism, etc.) are always on hand to describe and explain these things. And they always defend the most extreme woke view. Nevertheless, I read most of their wokeness articles anyway, sometimes because theyre good but other times because Im curious to find out what excuse theyll use this time to defend the most extravagantly excessive view out there. For the Gillette ad, here it is: Men who are angry about a commercial and calling for a boycott of a razor company in the comments of a YouTube post are also writing things like, Gillette is desperately deleting critical comments for fear that people will know about what men are saying about this radical feminist advert. These arguments make no sense whatsoever. Still, this ad is a misfire, in that it is a blatant attempt to make money off a painful and ongoing collective action that has not even an indirect relationship to face razors. Absolutely! However, it is inherently nonsensical to use feminism to sell mens grooming products, or any products, as feminism is a political movement bent on dismantling current structures of power, which likely includes multibillion-dollar corporations like Procter & Gamble. This wouldnt pass muster in a freshman womens studies course. This kind of stuff persuades no one except those who are already part of the drum circle. Everyone else either skips it entirely or just guffaws when they read it. Im not just nitpicking a single piece, either. It doesnt matter if the subject is liberalism, conservatism, guns, abortion, feminism, racism, climate change, or anything else. We all have to be willing to call out the nonsense on our own side when we hear it. We cant just automatically go along with the most extreme voices out of fear that well no longer be considered part of the movement if we suggest that maybe someone has gone a wee bit too far. Anyway: this is just a commercial. Sure, it uses consciousness raising in service of making money. If corporate chieftans are willing to bet that promoting feminism is good for the bottom line, all the better for feminism. And at the risk of mansplaining something that not all women might get, these ads can serve a valuable purpose by showing off role models that can be copied. There are lots of men who dont want to stand by when their friends do something obnoxious, but they arent sure how to intervene. You dont want to be a scold or a prig, after all. But a commercial like this provides opportunities to subtly show off ways to intervene without endangering friendships or making a bigger deal out of something than it deserves. If its done welland you can decide for yourself if Gillette does it wellits a genuinely worthwhile exercise. I imagine much of the response to this will be the usual tedious twaddle about trying to erase someone, or shut someone up, or whatever. We should ignore that stuff too. Its just the usual Twitter cretinism, and nobody with a working mind should pay any attention to follow-the-leader tsunamis of insults on Twitter. What I wrote here is just a point of view, and anyone who disagrees can say so. | https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2019/01/whos-afraid-of-gillette/ |
Could Raiders go across the pond to London? | After years of staging games in London, the NFL would love a test of that markets readiness to host a team full-time. Meanwhile, the Raiders remain unsure where they will play in 2019. Well, according to Jay Glazer of Fox Sports, that possibility is indeed on the table, even if it is, as he put it Sunday, Completely out of left field actually, I should say across the pond. London is now an option for the Raiders; its being discussed for them to play next year, Glazer said. Theyre still trying to figure it out. Other owners have brought it up to the Raiders, the Raiders are discussing it. There would be, of course, major logistical challenges, particularly because the Raiders are in the AFC West and thus would be forcing some of their opponents to make exceptionally long road trips. Travel would be a huge issue for the team itself, as well. One scenario for the Raiders, according to Glazer, would be to have them play two cycles of four London home games in a row and four straight in the U.S. We already know that the Raiders $100 million coach, Jon Gruden, would not be a fan of this plan, because he squawked about having to fly to London for a game against the Seahawks in October. I hope I can make it, honestly. Im not great [traveling], he said at the time. I get claustrophobic, Gruden continued. My son was a weightlifter, and he won a powerlifting competition in Belarus. I had to fly 14 hours. I had to fly home 14 hours. I had vertigo for a month. I couldnt even lay down, the house was spinning. I am hoping I dont get vertigo. Im not a great traveler. Ill be honest with you. I hate it. Im not good. Im concerned. Im more worried about that than our goal-line offense right now. As it turned out, the Raiders offense never got closer to the end zone than Seattles 24-yard line in a 27-3 drubbing that gave them one of their 11 losses against just three wins. They hosted the Broncos on Monday night in what could be their final game in Oakland, given tensions between municipal officials there and team owner Mark Davis. Oakland sued the Raiders earlier this month over their planned move to Las Vegas, which wont happen until 2020 because thats the scheduled opening of a stadium being built in that city. In the meantime, Davis had hoped to spend one last season in Oakland but said he wouldnt do so if the lawsuit was filed, so he is now casting an eye elsewhere. Glazer also mentioned the possibilities of the Raiders playing at the 49ers stadium in nearby Santa Clara, or in San Diego, which lost the Chargers last year to Los Angeles. Other potential options include San Franciscos AT&T Park (home of the Giants), Seattle, Phoenix, St. Louis or even a return to Oakland, if things can be smoothed out. I am really sensitive about hearing that, Gruden said recently of the possibility that his Raiders were about to bid farewell to the city where they were born in 1960 and won two of their three Super Bowl titles (the other came while they were based in Los Angeles from 1982 through 1994). | https://www.pressdemocrat.com/sports/9106044-181/could-raiders-go-across-the |
Why frustrated Keralites are trolling Priya Prakash Varrier before the release of her first movie? | Priya Prakash Varrier, the young starlet from Kerala, became an overnight sensation on the internet after her iconic wink in a song from the upcoming film 'Oru Adaar Love' went viral. Even though the actress racked up a huge fan following in the initial days, she became the hottest target of social media trolls later, and many people started calling her an overrated actress. A section of social media users, especially from Kerala, is known for breaking all kinds of etiquettes a person should follow on platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Fondly called 'Pongala', these people target celebrities in the most awkward manner, and they used to hurl abuses without considering the quality of the product offered. A few weeks back, a song beginning with the lyric 'Freak Penne' was released by the makers of 'Oru Adaar Love'. Even though the video garnered more than 2 million views on YouTube, negative criticisms started pouring on both the like and comment sections. The video has been liked by more than 2,17,000 people, while the dislikes have already mounted to a whopping 8,83,000. In the comment section, we can see social media users sarcastically calling Priya Prakash Varrier 'Kuttose', and some of the comments even go a step ahead, and explores the sleaze element to the fullest. The fate faced by the recently released trailer of the Bollywood movie 'Sridevi Bungalow' was also no different. Within two days of its release, the trailer has received more than 34,000 dislikes, while the likes are just over 8,600. Adding salt to the wound, Boney Kapoor, husband of Sridevi has apparently filed a legal notice against the makers of 'Sridevi Bungalow' for misappropriating the facts regarding the death of the legendary actress. A section of social media users, especially the members of explicit groups like Fan Fight Club, are the victims of a peculiar mindset, and they have made it a habit of trolling and humiliating people for unknown reasons. It should be noted that Priya Prakash Varrier is a debutante, and her first movie is yet to hit the theatres. Without seeing her performance on the big screen, these social media users are abusing the starlet for sinister intentions. Priya's mettle is yet to be proven, and criticisms can be showered after we see her performance on the big screen. But what happens now is totally unacceptable, and such practices against a particular celebrity will actually tarnish the image of Keralites in front of the remaining country. Interestingly, the same people from the state had started fans association for Pranav Mohanlal, even before the release of his debut movie 'Aadhi'. But in the case of Priya Prakash Varrier, they took a U-turn, and they started attacking the actress mercilessly even before seeing her acting on the big screen. | https://www.ibtimes.co.in/why-frustrated-keralites-are-trolling-priya-prakash-varrier-before-release-her-first-movie-790099 |
Why fans are enjoying Glass movie more than critics? | M Night Shyamalan's most anticipated project till date did not go down well with the critics. The recently debuted Glass was criticized by several critics but the film is getting some amazing reviews from fans. There are several fans who are even stating that the recently released Glass movie is one of the finest superhero films of all time and is meant to entertain everyone. Earlier this week, it was reported that M. Night Shyamalan's Glass movie failed to impress the critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the films hold only a 38 per cent approval rating. The website's consensus reads that Glass movie "displays a few glimmers of M. Night Shyamalan at his twisty world-building best, but ultimately disappoints as the conclusion to the writer-director's long-gestating trilogy." At the same time, the film is heavily penned by several other movie experts who have called it Glass the least satisfying chapter in an intriguing trilogy. However, M Night Shyamalan's fans have something different to say about the film. After watching this superhero movie, fans took to their respective social media handles and stated that Glass is one of the best movies ever written and directed by the acclaimed director, who is famous for giving us The Sixth Sense. "The only way people can appreciate @MNightShyamalan 's #Glass is if you watch Unbreakable, Split, and then Glass. Everything comes together and the emotional impact really hits home. And I got to break my Shyamalan cherry at #SHYAMALANaTHON," wrote one fan on Twitter. Check out what other fans have to say about this interesting film: This seriously has to be the greatest ending in cinema history (it wont make sense if you havent seen the movie). https://t.co/Wd5LPO6HKs@Blockbustedpod, dude you need to review the Glass movie when it comes out, M. Night Shyamalan is an awesome director. Phantom Films (@phantomfilmsyt_) January 8, 2019 Okay, so #Glass is pretty rad. I have some nitpicking but overall it was fun, and really cool to see all those characters interact. And Mr. Glass is still my favorite @SamuelLJackson character. @alamodrafthouse #Shyamalanathon Larry (@TheDS) January 13, 2019 Really enjoyed the #Shyamalanathon today. Especially seeing #Unbreakable again which is such an emotional, incredible film. & #Glass is great - def not what I expected though! Lauren Cox (@Iaurencox) January 13, 2019 The film is an extraordinary story of David Dunn (Bruce Willis) first featured in Unbreakable along with Mr. Glass (Samuel L. Jackson), who both are now in a psychiatric hospital along with Kevin Crumb aka The Beast (James McAvoy). The film follows the story of these three and how David must stop Mr. Glass who can unleash The Beast just to prove everyone that superheroes and supervillains exist in reality. Apart from Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, and James McAvoy, this physiological superhero movie features Anya Taylor-Joy, Spencer Treat Clark, and Charlayne Woodard, who reprise their respective roles from the previous two films in this trilogy. | https://www.ibtimes.co.in/why-fans-are-enjoying-glass-movie-more-critics-790086 |
Was taugen Zyklus-Apps? | Der Markt fr mobile Applikationen, sogenannte Apps, wchst rasant und ist ein riesiger Marktanteil der Softwareindustrie geworden. Von daher erstaunt es nicht, dass diese Industrie den weiblichen Zyklus und die Vorhersagbarkeit respektive Bestimmung des fruchtbaren Fensters entdeckt hat. Sei dies wie bislang fr die Verhtung, aber auch immer hufiger auch zur Untersttzung eines Kinderwunsches. Das Prinzip dabei ist nicht neu, nmlich die Bestimmung des fertilen Fensters durch Beobachtung oder Messung verschiedener Zyklusparameter. Neu ist die bertragung der Zyklusbeobachtungen an eine App, welche die Auswertung bernimmt. Diese Apps sollten also relativ przise in der Vorhersage sein, da eine Abweichung von nur wenigen Tagen eine grosse Auswirkung haben kann: Bei Kinderwunsch fhrt das schlimmstenfalls zur Enttuschung, bei Verhtung jedoch zu einer ungeplanten und ungewnschten Schwangerschaft. Anhand von Daten aus vergangenen Zyklen wie Zykluslngen oder frheren Temperaturanstiegen wird die fruchtbare Phase prognostiziert. Nun muss man wissen, dass der normale Zyklus eine relativ grosse Schwankungsbreite aufweist. Der Eisprung und damit das fruchtbare Fenster verschieben sich ebenfalls von Zyklus zu Zyklus und knnen so nicht vorhergesagt werden. Ein Vergleichstest verschiedener Zyklus-Apps gegenber ultraschallkontrolliertem und nachgewiesenem Ovulationstag zeigte in vier Zyklen keine exakten Vorhersagewerte, smtlich getestete Zyklus-Apps lagen falsch, dies um mehrere Tage! Aufgrund der physiologischen Schwankungen der Zykluslnge und des Eisprungs lsst sich das fruchtbare Fenster nicht einfach anhand von vorhergehenden Zyklen vorhersagen und muss im aktuellen Zyklus bestimmt werden. Mein Fazit: Reine Zyklus-Apps sind nicht zu empfehlen, da das effektive fruchtbare Fenster oft verpasst wird. Sie knnen aber einen berblick des Zyklusverlaufes geben und helfen, sich mit dem eigenen Zyklus vertraut zu machen. Ein neuer Parameter, der einfach und przise das fruchtbare Fenster zuverlssig vorhersagt, ist derzeit noch nicht in Sicht. Es gibt auch keine adquate, obligatorische Prfung, die Genauigkeit der Apps basiert nur auf den Angaben der Hersteller. Dennoch vertrauen immer mehr technikaffine Frauen diesen Apps: So erleben meine Kolleginnen und ich immer fters, dass die Patientin im Rahmen eines Kontrolluntersuchs zur Feststellung, ob es zu einer ausreichenden Eizellreifung gekommen ist und wann mit dem Eisprung zu rechnen ist, findet, das Untersuchungsergebnis knne nicht stimmen, denn ihre App sage etwas anderes. Da bin ich manchmal schon etwas perplex. | https://blog.tagesanzeiger.ch/vonkopfbisfuss/index.php/75048/was-taugen-zyklus-apps |
Where is Dee Griffin? | Video Video AUGUSTA (WJBF) - "I'm good! I'm good. I'm getting better. I'm on the mend. I'm over the shock." NewsChannel 6 anchor Dee Griffin has been absent from the desk at 5:30, 7 and 10pm for the past month while she recovers from a freak accident she suffered on December 15th. "I'm thinking I'll run and get gas while we're running errands," she said. "And I put the nozzle, the gas nozzle, and I thought, 'Well, my son has a couple of plastic cups in the back seat so I'll grab those and put them in the garbage can'. Everybody does that! I stepped over the hose, something else a lot of people will do. I stepped over the hose and suddenly my foot slipped on some water because there was a small puddle there which I didn't know until afterward. But I slipped on some water and I was trying to catch my balance and my left leg got caught up in the hose and I went down." That night she posted her diagnosis on Facebook: Three breaks. Surgery within the week. "I just knew I couldn't get up," she said. "And when I saw my foot. When I was rolling and saw my foot was going the other way I knew something bad happened." Unable to drive or walk without the help of a scooter, the month since has largely been spent at home, though she has been able to venture out a few times recently with the the help of family and friends. "It's been hard. It's been painful especially because I'm up all hours of the middle of the night because of all the pain but I'm so appreciative of all the support. It's been really hard. I have a new appreciation for people with disablities. I always had empathy and sympathy, but now I have a new appreciation for not being able to get out." One thing that has kept her spirits up this past month, messages and well wishes. Many of them from people she's never even met. "They'll see me on Facebook and they'll inbox me when I've been in tears over this having a 'why me?' We miss seeing you but just wanted to check on you.' I don't know these people, but I'm so appreciative." Dee is still hoping to find and thank a mystery good samaritan named Brent who helped her out that day. She says he stayed with her the whole time until an ambulance arrived. All she knows about him is that he was driving a gray Dodge Charger with South Carolina plates and an Atlanta Falcons frame. If anyone knows who he might be, e-mail Dee at [email protected]. She hopes to return to WJBF next week. To watch our complete conversation with Dee about her accident, recovery and prognosis click on the video above. | https://www.wjbf.com/news/csra-news/where-is-dee-griffin-/1704770943 |
When is the best time to put a for sale sign in front of my home? | 1 / 1 Back to Gallery The short answer is now. There are always buyers in all price ranges house hunting, either online, visiting open houses or working with a Realtor, even now in the cold of winter. I went to an open house the day before Christmas Eve: a single-family with four bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, nearly 3,000 square feet in Mid-City Stamford with an asking price under $500,000. You could tell the seller of this home was motivated to sell since they had lowered the asking price nearly $30,000 just a week before Christmas. It went on the market in late October. The home is likely to sell soon because of the price cut. Traditionally, though, the most active time to sell a home is the spring but this means more homes will be up for sale and more buyers home hunting then because the weather is improving. Additionally, many families considering buying a new home will be eyeing the market, beginning their search well before the next school year begins in the fall. Also, many buyers are not fazed by inclement weather simply because they need a new home ASAP. It might be a job transfer or personal situation that leads them to need to move sooner rather than later. Many sellers want to take advantage of such motivated buyers and put their home on the market as soon as they can and not wait for the so-called Spring market. But you shouldnt decide on one day to put your home on the market and then start showing it to prospective buyers the next. Preparation is necessary and there are items that need attention first. These include: 1. De-cluttering. 2. Making necessary repairs and painting. 3. Staging. 4. Improving outside curb appeal and landscaping. 5. Selecting a Realtor. Roger Norum, Kinard Realty Group, (203) 921-6257, [email protected] | https://m.stamfordadvocate.com/realestate/article/When-is-the-best-time-to-put-a-for-sale-sign-in-13536833.php |
Does belonging to particular ethnic group make allowances for corruption? | Using the accuseds ethno-religious identity as a shield is a typical way, in Nigeria, of manipulating the public. Under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the EFCC was also accused of going after the Presidents enemies. Nigerians have a curious habit of defending the rights and freedoms of politically exposed persons (very often this amounts to the right to defraud the country and get away with it) while ignoring the facts pointing to their possible guilt. Then and now, the anti-corruption fight is always perceived as a personal attack on individuals while the question of whether the accused is guilty or not rarely features in conversations. Instead, they shouldnt be investigated because theyre Igbo, marginalised, Muslim, etc. According to reports, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Walter Onnoghen, didnt disclose his assets as required by the law. One would think there would be more than enough checks to ensure the supreme guardian of Nigerian law would himself be law-abiding. But that is the irony of Nigerian life where doctors practice for years without going to medical school and lawyers forge certificates for themselves and their clients. Lawyers protested, saying a complaint should first have been filed before the National Judicial Council, NJC. We confuse the occupant of an office with the institution itself. Trying a Senate President or a Chief Justice, with evidence supporting accusations, doesnt discredit the institutions they temporarily represent. Donald Trump is still being investigated in regards to his presidential campaign ties to Russia, and despite his protests, the investigation wasnt shelved because hes a good Christian or a white American. Despite some of his supporters calling it a witch-hunt, the investigation wasnt shelved: the evidence cant and wont be ignored. The American people want to know the truth, one way or the other: the Presidency as an institution doesnt start or end with Trump. Every time we confuse a search for truth and justice with intimidating individuals, we set Nigerias democracy back. Contrary to what Senator Ike Ekweremadu seems to assert by asking the government to apologise to the Judiciary (even before the trial begins, before it is concluded for that matter! ), such trials arent a danger to democracy. What is dangerous is ignoring allegations that our laws were broken: that is why Nigeria is where it is today. These calls on the government to apologise for doing what a majority of Nigerians voted it in for, which is, to lead the fight against corruption across industries and sectors, is doubly interesting, given the tendency to protect and excuse corruption in Nigeria based on ethno-religious allegiance. Niger Delta militants threatened the government following the CJNs harassment. No word from them on the allegations themselves. Public servant One would have to be as rich as Jeff Bezos or Bill Gates to forget the existence of such sums. But Nigerians are to ignore it all because Onnoghen is their brother. Others stated Justice Onnoghens trial is connected to the 2019 elections or that the petitioner knows Buhari. The petition could have been written by the devil himself but the questions raised must still be answered. This is an excerpt from the Code of Conduct for public officers: Any property or assets acquired by a public officer after any declaration required under this Constitution and which is not fairly attributable to income, gift or loan approved by this code shall be deemed to have been acquired in breach of this code unless the contrary is proved. Legally, onus is thus on the accused to prove his innocence given the alleged discovery of money and properties beyond the income of a Chief Justice. Dennis Aghanya, the Executive Director, Anti-Corruption and Research Based Data Initiative, ARDI, who wrote the petition against the CJN said: People are leaving the substance of the case to pursue shadows. People havent looked at the merit of the case. Before he was sworn in as the CJN, cases were established against him, but nobody had the courage to take them up. South-South governors asked Justice Onnoghen to ignore his summons by the Code of Conduct Bureau. Willie Obiano PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, asked the Governor of Anambra to stop supporting President Muhammadu Buhari. Atiku claims supporting Buhari is contrary to Igbo interest: tribal rhetoric should be left in the past, so should the narrative of Igbo marginalisation. So, we can focus on the real issue. Governor Obiano praised Buhari over the completion of the Zik Mausoleum abandoned by previous administrations, and the work done on the Second Niger Bridge. Under Jonathan, the financial and security apparatus was controlled by the South-East and the South-South. Igbo/Nigerian interest is to support who performs well based on evidence not ethnic sentiment. Dino Melaye SOCIAL media users declared him an Oscar winner following pictures of him sleeping on the floor in the Department of State Services, DSS, medical facility. The police say hes fit to stand trial (which he disputes) over allegations surrounding arms possessions and an altercation which led to the death of an officer last July. Ben Bruce attempted to support his colleague, stating Senator Melayes children dont have light following the raid on their fathers property to which Twitter users responded: Neither do we. E don tey! Ironically, the privatisation exercise has a lot to do with the current state of affairs. Politicians defence often opens them up to more scrutiny. Tabia Princewill is a strategic communications consultant and public policy analyst. She is also the co-host and executive producer of a talk show, WALK THE TALK which airs on Channels TV. | https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/01/does-belonging-to-particular-ethnic-group-make-allowances-for-corruption/ |
Can New Mobility Tech Disrupt Car Dependence? | Tech companies like Uber and Bird are disrupting transportation in cities with the promise of actually helping them become more sustainable and less over-reliant on cars. A new organization, New Urban Mobility, which goes by the acronym NUMO, wants to help city leaders make sure. Launching on Wednesday, the group aims to be gap fillers, says Executive Chairwoman Robin Chase, providing policy support, or leading engagement to advance 10 shared mobility principles aimed at promoting a more sustainable and people-oriented urban transportation systems. Robin Chase: All these new urban mobility options are causing a huge disruption in the sector. Everything is in flux. Its causing cities and the people who live in them to have to rethink what the status quo looks like. We havent felt such disruption in 100 years. We have this unique moment to rethink what our priorities are. Cars and parked cars and car taxation and car regulation all of that is so built into the status quo that people cant see it. They cant envision what an alternative world would look like. We as an urban mobility field, as an entire planet, need to get on the same page about where we are going. NUMO is an effort to convene those stakeholders that share that vision together to work at a much faster pace. At the core its about creating joyful, sustainable and just cities. Chase: Those organizations have produced some great blueprints or guidelines, for complete streets, or for micro-mobility. Some of that work we want to elevate. Those groups are mostly focused on policy push. But theres an inadequate demand pull. Theres inadequate work with people who live in cities, to make them see where theres a future that works better for them. In many cities, there are two very loud voices: Car owners and would-be cyclists, and more specifically cycling advocates, which is a very small number. There are many, many more stakeholders and interests involved whose voices are not heard. We are going to be more focused on convening and elevating of best practices. We are very focused on tech-driven disruptions, including on-demand delivery. Chase: Not right now. Were intending to be an independent voice. Chase: One of them, for example, is Focus on moving people not cars. Another is Making efficient use of our streets, curbs, vehicles, lanes. Choose more efficient means over inefficient means and Fair users fees across all modes. Cities have a lot of taxation that doesnt provide a level playing field. One of the reasons shared bikes have a hard time making money is were letting cars pollute for free. We have unequal fees for all modes. We have unequal distribution of space for all modes. Another principle is equitable access for all. These principles are aspirational for every city in the world. None of us is doing a good job. We want to be the gap filler. More information is available at NUMOs website, which launched today. | https://usa.streetsblog.org/2019/01/15/can-new-mobility-tech-disrupt-car-dependence/ |
What's in a place name? | CENTRAL Queensland is home to many of the sunshine state's 'wackiest town names'. A blog for Tourism and Events Queensland, the official Queensland Government tourism body responsible for promoting the state around the world, has listed the top 14 wacky Queensland town names. First cap off the rank is Biloela, pronounced Billow-wheel-ah, with most locals calling it Bilo. It is believed the name is derived from the Aboriginal word for black or white cockatoo. Located in Banana Shire, it is ironically not a region for growing bananas but cotton, sorghum and wheat, along with coal mining. The Banana Shire got its name from a prized local bullock called Banana. There is a large yellow statue of the bull in Banana itself. Out west, Barcaldine also got a mention - pronounced Bar-call-din. An hour east of Longreach, all highways lead to Barcy.The rural town, with a population of 1,300 residents, is known for The Tree of Knowledge where shearers took the first strike in 1891 and The Australian Labor Party was founded. The tree was poisoned in 2006 but a wooden timber structure has replaced it. Down the coast, 1770 is makes the list. It is pronounced Seventeen Seventy and breaks all the rules with a numerical name rather than an alphabetical name. It got the name because James Cook landed there for the second time in the year 1770. Other towns with number names are in America, including Fifty-Six, Eighty-Eighty and Hundred. In a honourable mention at the end of the article, Yeppoon and Ilfracombe are also given a mention. A neighbouring region in Mackay, Eungella (Young-ga-la) was also on the list and is said to leave Google Maps tongue-tied. | https://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/news/whats-in-a-place-name/3623784/ |
When Do Pitchers and Catchers Report for 2019 MLB Spring Training? | The MLB season is closer than you think and that means Spring Training is right around the corner. Just like every other season, pitchers and catchers will report before the rest of their teams to get a head start on the preseason training. The regular season gets started on March 20 and depending on the team, pitchers and catchers will be in camp either Feb. 12 or Feb. 13. Scroll to continue with content Ad Check out a list of when teams' pitchers and catchers will start reporting. Atlanta Braves: TBA Arizona Diamondbacks: TBA Baltimore Orioles: Wednesday, Feb. 13 Boston Red Sox: Tuesday, Feb. 12 Chicago Cubs: TBA Chicago White Sox: TBA Cincinnati Reds: TBA Cleveland Indiana: TBA Colorado Rockies: TBA Detroit Tigers: Tuesday, Feb. 12 Houston Astros: Wednesday, Feb. 13 Kansas City Royals: Tuesday, Feb. 12 Los Angeles Angels: TBA Los Angeles Dodgers: TBA Miami Marlins: TBA Milwaukee Brewers: Wednesday, Feb. 13 Minnesota Twins: TBA New York Mets: Tuesday, Feb. 12 New York Yankees: Wednesday, Feb. 13 Oakland A's: TBA Philadelphia Phillies: TBA Pittsburgh Pirates: TBA San Diego Padres: TBA San Francisco Giants: TBA Seattle Mariners: TBA St. Louis Cardinals: TBA Tampa Bay Rays: TBA Texas Rangers: Tuesday, Feb. 12 Toronto Blue Jays: TBA Washington Nationals: Wednesday, Feb. 13 Most full team workouts will begin either Feb. 18 or Feb. 19 | https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/pitchers-catchers-report-2019-mlb-191524764.html?src=rss |
Why Arent More Major Fights in Boxing Being Made? | Its 2019, which means another year of a timehonored boxing tradition: The blame game. Over the next few months, fights will crumble and fingers will be pointed. Network relationships will be cursed, promoters will be decried and social media timelines will be filled with more fans firing off criticisms of Al Haymon than there are fighters that thank him. The fighters. Its strange, isnt it, how when a fight fails to materialize a fighter is often deep on the list of those shouldering the blame. Oh sure, Anthony Joshua is taking some heat for his seeming indifference to a showdown with Deontay Wilder. And when talk turns to why Errol Spence and Terence Crawford are not barreling towards a welterweight clash, the nasty history between Haymon and Bob Arum gets top billing. Boxing is the rare sport where athletes control their own destiny. LeBron James cant pass on playing the Warriors when he sees Golden State on the schedule. Tom Brady cant skip out on Kansas City because he doesnt know if he can keep up with Patrick Mahomes. Fighters are their own bosses, yet too often they are allowed to be viewed as employees of the promoter. Story continues I thought of this in November, in a green room on the Fox lot in Los Angeles, where a collection of PBC fighters were on hand to roll out the first quarter of Foxs schedule. In one corner was Shawn Porter, a welterweight titleholder. A few feet away was Spence, who holds his own piece of the 147-pound crown. In September, Spence stepped into the ring after Porters win over Danny Garcia and challenged him to a unification fight. Porter looked at Spencewho, like Porter, is advised by Haymonand declared the fight to be the easiest to make in boxing. In March, Porter will defend his title against Yordenis Ugas, a skilled but unheralded opponent. A week later Spence will face Mikey Garcia, one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world but one that is jumping up two weight classes. Spence cited Garcias persistent efforts to make a fight with him; Porter said the mandatory challenger he had to face in Ugas got in the way. But, reallyneither were real obstacles. The real answer is Haymon decided making Porter-Spence now wasnt the right play. And Porter and Spence went along with it. You can make big fights happen, but when somebodys been doing the business side for you since your pro debut and they guide your career and they tell you, Were not going to do that fight right now or Youre not going to be the one doing that fight right nowwere going to take this fight and then were going to do that fight later, you tend to listen to them because theyve been working the business side and theyve been basically guiding your career and got you to the point you are now, Spence told SI.com. A lot of times you dont want to go against the grain on them because then if you mess up, theyre like, I told you so. You didnt listen, and then you feel bad. I think thats what a lot of fighters do. They listen to the person thats been guiding their career. Added Porter, I think boxers are starting to develop more independence than weve had in the past. In the past it was all about what the manager and the promoter wanted. A lot of times the boxers are like robots. Fighters have a lot of power in this market, a great deal of power, said Lou DiBella, a longtime boxing promoter. A lot of times they dont want to fight the toughest fight. Easy fights sound nice to them. Sometimes they are not adequately represented. There are a million reasons. If you think fighters instinctively want to take the most difficult fights, thats not all fighters. SI BOXING AWARDS: Fighter of the Year | Best Trainer | Top Prospect Miguel Cotto did. In 2012, Cottos contract expired with Top Rank, his longtime promoter. At 32, Cotto left Top Rank and aligned himself with Golden Boy, which positioned him to face Floyd Mayweatherand earn his first eight-figure payday. In 2013, Cotto returned to Top Rank, which guided him into a middleweight title fight against Sergio Martinez. In 2015, Roc Nation, eager to make a splash in boxing, signed Cotto to a three-fight, $50 million deal. Two years later Cotto moved back to Golden Boy, which agreed to not only promote Cotto but provide valuable television exposure for the young Puerto Rican fighters under the Miguel Cotto Promotions banner. Theres a level of star power needed to maneuver like Cotto. But Spence has been courted by every major promoter. Porter, Garcia and Keith Thurman would be, too. Maybe the answer to that, the short answer to that, could be loyalty, Porter said. I know right now, all of us guys here with PBC, were happy. Were fulfilling everything that we want to fulfill. Were doing everything that we want to do. And we also know that most fighters are trying to come our way. So, I think most of us understand that were in a good position. Perhaps. There are several top tier welterweights in PBC, if Haymon will ever match them up. But no welterweight can stake his claim to the top spot at 147-pounds until he faces Crawford, a Top Rank promoted fighter who fights exclusively on ESPN. For a fight like that to happen, fighters on both sides would have to exert significant influence. Put it this way, Thurman said. I would not let Al Haymon stop me if it was in my best interest to fight Terence Crawford. I would not hold back, and we would have to have a big sit-down with Fox and ESPN and let them figure out how does this fight happen, what network does it go on, this and that. But currently, right now, Terence Crawford is not necessarily in Keith Thurmans best interest. Its not a must-have fight. Its definitely a well-wanted, well-deserved fight for both of us, but honestly, he made his name in the lower weight classes. He hasnt done one thing to impress me at 147. Beating Jeff Horn is not impressive. I think Amir Kahn beats Jeff Horn and maybe even in a better fashion. The division of boxing, with deep-pocketed networks like ESPN, DAZN, Showtime and Fox in the mix, could be more maddening than ever. But before you blame Haymon and Arum, ESPN and DAZN, rememberfighters decide who they fight. If a major fight doesnt happen, dont get bogged down in the minutiaeverything starts at the top. | https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/why-aren-t-more-major-124245759.html?src=rss |
Should public transit be free for minors? | CTV Vancouver A Vancouver city councillor is pushing a proposal aimed at letting those under the age of 18 take public transit for free. Jean Swanson says the move would help make sure "kids are safe and can ride the bus when they don't have money." The COPE councillor's four-part motion is aimed at garnering city council support for All on Board, a campaign that advocates for free transit for minors and a sliding scale monthly pass system for low-income adults. "Metro Vancouver has zero affordability measures based on income to ensure equitable access to our public transit system," the campaign's website says. "We lag far behind many cities and municipalities across Canada, the U.S. and beyond that offer affordability measures to ensure low-income folks can access the essential service of public transit." According to the motion, "lack of transportation is one of the most common reasons for missing medical appointments and a significant barrier to social inclusion and labour market inclusion for low-income adults and youth." The final say about any changes to the fare system rests with TransLink. That's why Swanson is proposing the city send a letter encouraging the transportation authority and the province to work together to develop of a plan that would make All on Board's goals a reality. The motion also suggests that, in a separate letter, the city ask the Metro Vancouver Mayors' Council on Regional Transportation to require TransLink to adopt a poverty reduction mandate. That document would also ask the council to amend bylaws so that minors are no longer ticketed for fare evasion. TransLink already offers discounts for young people and seniors using its services, but advocates say transit is still too expensive for some. "They're put into a position where they have to steal rides to get to work to get to the food bank, to get to the basketball team tryout, and then they're getting ticketed," said Vivica Ellis of All on Board. A campaign to push TransLink to lower its fares has already been backed by councillors in New Westminster and Port Moody. The transportation authority said it's already looking into the idea, but would have to find millions of dollars to make it happen. And the option of increasing fares for some so that they can be lowered for others is not on the table. "Fares represent half of our operating budget annually," said spokesperson Jill Drews. "We would need to recover the cost. We're exploring what that cost might be. It will likely be in the tens of millions of dollars each year." TransLink said it has already had conversations with the NDP about funding. The province confirmed Tuesday it had "preliminary discussions" with TransLink. Vancouver councillors did not hold a final vote on Swanson's motion Tuesday, but agreed to refer her proposal to the Standing Committee on City Finance and Service so that it can hear from speakers on Wednesday. With files from CTV Vancouver's Emad Agahi | https://bc.ctvnews.ca/should-public-transit-be-free-for-minors-1.4255313 |
Why did Nargis Fakhri disappear from Bollywood? | January 16, 2019 11:02 IST 'I am not actively searching for a film; I leave it up to the universe.' "I am a lover of horror films since I was a kid!" exclaims Nargis Fakhri. The gorgeous actress is promoting her new film Amavas, a horror film with Sachiin Joshi, at a Mumbai venue, and she is in good spirits. "I get really excited when a new one comes out; I watch them as soon as they release," she tells Rediff.com's Ronjita Kulkarni. "For a long time, I was curious about how would it feel to work on a horror film set. Is it as scary and heart-pounding as when viewers watch it?" she asks as her eyes widen. Nargis laughs out loud, and answers her own question: "It can be." "It was heart-pounding at times. Like, when I am walking down a dark corridor, and it is lit in a certain way so it looks eerie, then the wind blows the curtain... All the people on the set just quietly disappear... The whole set up feels so real that your mind starts playing tricks on you and you start believing where you are," she says. Nargis picks The Conjuring and The Haunting in Connecticut as her favourite films in this genre. And then, there are the classics, The Omen and The Exorcist. "When I heard that there is a horror film and they are looking at having me in the cast, I got very excited!" she exclaims. "In all the years that I've been here, no one ever came to me with a horror film. So many different films, but never a horror film." Bhushan Patel, who directed 1920: Evil Returns, Ragini MMS 2 and Alone, helms this project. "The way he narrates a story, the passion he has for it, I thought wow, the script is amazing. I would love to be a part of it," she says. IMAGE: Sachiin Joshi and Nargis Fakhri in Amavas. Her last was 2016's Banjo, opposite Riteish Deshmukh. "Because I like other things," she says, and her smile is gone. "Films were not my choice. God blessed me and gave me an opportunity to try something. If films come to me, I'll take them, but I will not say yes to everything," she replies. Nargis has moved back to the US, and spends her time in Los Angeles and New York. "I am working with a foundation that gives grants to female entrepreneurs because I feel a lot of businesswomen are not getting the funding that they need," she says. "I divide my time into films, the passion that I have and my family and friends. I want to do what makes me happy, and if I do some films, some charity, take care of my family and have fun with my friends, I am the happiest person in the world," she adds. In between her interviews, Nargis likes to spend her time posing for pictures. She is wearing a lovely summer dress, which accentuates her slim figure, and turns the corridor into a photo studio. The pictures that she fusses about, strangely, do not turn up on her well-updated Instagram feed. "I just like to be at home and chill. And cook," she answers. "I like to go shopping for home decor. Go hiking. I don't travel so much anymore, but I like travelling." Nargis's father was a Pakistani while her mother is from the Czech republic, but the actress is "very American". She was born and raised in New York. "I didn't watch Hindi films growing up," she answers. "The only thing I remember of my childhood was that my mum and dad were two immigrants who didn't speak English well. I can't imagine how they communicated with each other. I remember my mum learning to cook Pakistani food. I remember eating it when I was small. But then they divorced when I was probably around 10," she says. "Then my knowledge of my father's culture disappeared. You grow up in a multicultural city and you just become what the city is like," she adds. IMAGE: Nargis and Ranbir Kapoor in Rockstar. Nargis landed her first film audition in "my mum's country": Prague in the Czech republic. She tells the story: "I got an e-mail to come audition for a film. I was very confused because I had never been to India. So they said, 'Oh, we thought you were a model in India'." "I was living in Denmark then. They asked if I could fly to Prague and meet up, so I said yes. Imtiaz (Ali, director, Rockstar) told me the story. Such a beautiful story! They asked me if I would come to India and learn the language. I didn't respond right away. After a couple of weeks, I said okay." Rockstar, which saw Nargis opposite Ranbir Kapoor, was a hit, and it gave her a career in Bollywood immediately. But eight years and quite a few hits later, Nargis admits she still has no friends in the film industry. "There is no one I can call and cry to," she says, adding that she is not in touch with Imtiaz Ali any more. IMAGE: Nargis with Sanjay Dutt in Torbaaz. Photograph: Kind courtesy Nargis Fakhri/Instagram Besides Amavas, Nargis is working on Girish Malik's Torbaaz, opposite Sanjay Dutt. "He (Sanjay Dutt) is super cool and chilled out, easy to work with. Laidback. I don't have the references that everyone else does. I only know him from the day I met him on set. I don't read backstories or anything about him. I only know that I have the same name as his mom. That's it," she says. "It's very nice when you meet a human being and you know nothing about them. There are no preconceived notions or judgement. So in that sense, people can be very comfortable around you. They can be normal, and you can talk about normal things," she adds. "I am not actively searching for a film; I leave it up to the universe." | https://www.rediff.com/movies/report/why-did-nargis-fakhri-disappear-from-bollywood/20190116.htm |
Is Design Thinking Actually Bullshit? | Businesses do. Healthcare too. Non-profits use it. Youngsters in elementary schools and middle schools use it. And those in higher education use it and teach it. Design thinking has become a buzzword, appearing in one case study after another, or peppered throughout a designers portfolio captions here and there. A Primer on Design Thinking Defining design thinking is a bit tricky depending on the context, especially since it does not always have to relate to graphic design. In 2008, IDEOs CEO and president Tim Brown argued that historically, design thinkers were not necessarily graphic designers. He put Edison, Charles and Ray Eames, Akio Morita, Steve Jobs, and Ferdinand Porsche on the list. Design thinkingfrom what it seemscould be used for anything, even to fix and revive that erstwhile place for finding books, the library. Use design thinking, says IDEO, to create solutions to everyday challenges within the library. Seems logical. Graphic designers can create solutions for a range of clients, a range of media. To IDEO, design thinking is a human-centered practice that starts with people, with methods used to envision new products, services, spaces, and experiences. In fact, design thinking is so useful that if youre in academia working as a teacher, it can help you too. At another IDEO site, Design Thinking for Educators, they talk about how discovery, interpretation, ideation, experimentation and evolution could solve problems for curriculum, space, processes, and systems. Some academics including Dr. Lee Vinsel have reservations, strong reservations as indicated by the subhead in his article at The Chronicle of Higher Education: Its adherents think it will save higher ed. Theyre delusional. Vinsel may not like to hear it but design thinking, in a nutshell, is a big, powerful system of methods and tools. It goes beyond design, capable of helping individuals or teams solve small problems, big problems, or perhaps even wicked problems. And if youre a graphic designeror any designer for that matterIDEOs Michael Hendrix suggests you think big, and of course, use design thinking while youre at it. Hendrix, partner and executive design director at IDEO, recalls the moment he became a design thinker. I graduated as a graphic designer from the University of Tennessee in 1994. At the time I couldnt imagine I would be able to help address the challenges I do today. I saw a future in advertising or corporate identity, which are interesting but constrained practices. A few years later I came across a diagram by Charles Eames that laid out his philosophy for design. It opened my eyes to grander possibilities and led me to stop identifying myself by my discipline (how) and, instead, start identifying with the outcome of my work (why). I went from thinking of myself as a graphic designer to a Designer with a capital D. CoLabs annual member event, Blueprint, showcases interactive prototypes that help evaluate future use cases for technology, photo and caption courtesy of IDEO. Initiatives such as these are where IDEOs Hendrix says design thinking can be put to work for innovating, as well as solving problems. To Infinity and Beyond, Maybe Like Buzz Lightyear, Hendrix thinks big, especially when it comes to design and design thinking and has some words of wisdom for students and those who are recent graduates. Graphic design was one of many strategies that I could bring to creative problem solving alongside other creative people. So many mental skills we learnlike the ability to produce clarity from disorder or to build a well-paced narrative for exampleare transferable to non-graphic challenges. Thats incredibly valuable. And today so many software tools have shared interfaces that its easy to jump across disciplines rather than be limited by them. So my advice to new grads is not to box yourself in just because you know how to use a certain set of tools or strategies. Dont let them define you as a designer. Youre capable of so much more than that. Go ahead and be a great graphic designer, and be more than that too. Recognize that you can design processes, systems and even organizations and culturessometimes without traditional tools at all. Go big, or go home, and do it with a big D for Design by way of design thinking. Learn about design thinking through college classes or certificate programs like this one at UNC Charlotte (which I coincidentally caught wind of through an Instagram sponsored advertisement around the same time I began research for this article). You can also learn about it from the comforts of your own home via the d.schools Virtual Crash Course at Stanfords website. CoLab hosts fellowships four times per year, bringing together academics, designers, professionals, and other stakeholders to build prototypes through collaborative design sprints, photo and caption courtesy of IDEO. Calling Bullshit Design thinking seems to be everywhere, and if youre like me and search for it on Google, Instagram, Facebook, and Amazon, youre likely to see it even more in sponsored posts and advertisements. Its a polarizing issue, with some in the For Design Thinking camp and others very, very Against Design Thinking. Designers should be the first to embrace design thinkingand many dobut skeptics are out there. Pentagram partner Natasha Jen, who lectured at 2017s HOW Design Live, called design thinking bullshit. She recently gave the talk for Adobe 99U and her lecture has made big waves through social media, perhaps a result of the word bullshit neatly nestled in its title. A Limited View During an interview with Jen, she talked about the problems as she sees them, calling design thinking quite homogenous since it takes the personalization out of solving problems. Its a way that can easily become the way, and if you use it you might suffer the consequences because it could limit you and your abilities, and limit the results you deliver your clients. People need to, first of all, have their own way of seeing things. Were in a world right now when we are not sure of our own way of seeing things. The media landscape is so complex, so much bombards us. I feel like thats a general condition. Design thinking eliminates your right as a human being to see things in your own way. That departure point is so flawed, and so problematic. Im not just talking about the whole snake oil business that spun out of control. Schools begin to use design thinking without any scholarly analysis, they just sell it. Boot campthen you get a certificate. Theres no scholarly study. Its just 100% optimism, confidence in the methodology itself, and I find that quite shameless. Jen looks at and analyzes design thinking as a designer and critic, and also as an educator. Shes not picking a fight for the sake of arguing. She cares about how design students, and those starting out in the world of design, look at the world, see the world, and solve problems. Impulses, I want to help them discover that. Help them nurture that, have their own voice develop its really about, for me, as an educator, how you promote and encourage that tendency they already have while keeping that tendency, keeping them somewhat disciplined. With that, I have a problem with design thinking, or any methodology that eliminates any possibilities that may come from unparticilars. Prescriptions eliminate all of that. According to Jen, after Vinsel saw her 99U talk he too was motivated to respond. Not only has Dr. Vinsel written about design thinking once, but hes written about it again and again and again, in a manner that some might call fierce: Design Thinking is Kind of Like Syphilis Its Contagious and Rots Your Brains, Design Thinking Is a Boondoggle, Theres So Little There There: A Response to the Stanford d.schools Defense of Design Thinking, The Design Thinking Movement is Absurd. Vinsel takes issue with the ways design thinking has been applied as a catch-all tool for solving problems. In a way, my main concern isnt whether design thinking is a helpful way to teach design, which is the concern of my friends who are designers. My issue is that it has this ethereal ambition to spread into all of these ways of culture and culture generally, or solving problems in the government. Theres not enough proof or evidence there that it can do everything. Vinsel, for the record, does not consider himself a designer, calling himself kind of a historian who works in an interdisciplinary field known as science and technology studies. The impetus for his controversial piece, Design Thinking is Kind of Like Syphilis Its Contagious and Rots Your Brains, was a series of Chronicle of Higher Education articles where he read about how design thinking could be used to revise, reinvigorate higher education. Process vs. Product Maybe design thinking could change higher education for the better, but Vinsel sincerely doubts it because when it comes to simple fixes for anything, hes not buying it. Moreover, he doesnt believe design thinking should be turned into a recipe thats sellable and marketable, pushed into this domain or that. But Ron Edelen, creative director, former agency owner, and assistant professor of graphic design at Jacksonville University, sees things differently, identifying the pros and cons. For some things, design thinking makes sense but for others, not so much. Like Jen, Edelen does sense trouble when it comes to using design thinking as a rigid methodology. The problem with creating a formula, or codifying the process its tied to the human side of things, and thats chaotic, and always changing. He sees design thinking as a good thing, unless youre a designer bound up in it and bound up by it, working rigidly time and time again. That would be a big mistake, a rookie mistake. Those starting out, who might be insecure about their abilities, could easily and mistakenly use design thinking as a crutch one too many times. And the more you think about design thinking, the more you might feel threatened. If others can do the things I do by using design thinking, perhaps I wont be needed anymore, is a dark way of thinking. If youre a designer and youre worried about others using design thinking to steal your clients, steal your work, Edelen has some thoughts. Personally, I have yet to see design thinking hurt designersspecifically those designers practicing good design. This is because well-trained and practiced graphic designers naturally involve design thinking in their everyday process. Designers are inherently experiential learners and makers. That said, I can see the danger in a new discipline of practitioners who attempts to codify and execute a design process in the absence of being the ones who also attempt to make their ideas. Less Thinking, More Making So maybe design thinking is not intended for designers or even design educators. Maybe its for those who need a boost, a starting point. At IDEO Us online design thinking portal, CEO Tim Brown stresses that everybodys creative. Design thinking does demystify the process, providing a foundation. Its a bird! Its a plane! ItsDesign thinking to the rescue!! Superman references aside, it is an issue Edelen often thinks about. The challenge is that its hard for me to accept that you can bottle up the creative process into a five-step approach, and claim a guarantee that its going to deliver amazing results every time. Really, a good approach is giving yourself a license, or a tolerance, for failure. Currently, design thinking is the business term for endorsing a tolerance for failure because design thinking encourages ideas that could ultimately fail. But design is about more than process, more than failure, and Edelen, wants to set the record straight. The best way to learn is to make. Making is a core part of the thinking process and is essential to a successful idea. Being a maker, this is where the designer comes in. They can think like a design thinker, and also make because theyre a designer. Choosing What Works (for You) Each individual is different, and each individual works differently. Anne Jordan, a graphic designer specializing in book covers, sees design thinkingor any process for that matteras less important than the final outcome, so much so that critiquing any creative process is a dead end. We can critique the actual work, but to critique the way somebody is thinking, I choose not to do that. If somebody came and called my process bullshit, I would have a real problem with that. I dont expect everyone to work the way I do, but just because you dont work the way I do, doesnt mean that my way is bullshit. For Jordan, form and concept both inform and enhance one another, and when it comes to her own work, form comes first, so design thinking is a foreign process in some ways but it has a place. Sketching is a tool. Mindmapping is a tool. Looking at books in the library is a tool. Design thinking is just one other way to develop ideas. Im not for or against it, and I would use it if I needed it. Design thinking can sometimes be needed to help sell an investment, or to help get business people on board, to help make the creative process something that non-creative people can understand. When the stakes are higher, the money is serious, and design thinking can be helpful to get everybody on board. Businesses do use it, but Dr. Vinsel believes the way design thinking is being picked up in the business world is weak tea, a stance that others in design and design education agree with. Darryl Clifton, illustration program director at Camberwell College of Arts, sees why businesses would want to use it, and is not surprised by that choice since it gives their methods what he calls a potent veracity, a quantifiable legitimacy. When digesting the arguments that both Vinsel and Jen have shared about design thinking, namely their critique of design thinking, he sees the arguments framed around professional practice. But he sees a much bigger elephant in the room, or a bigger turd, or a big elephant turd, it all depends on your perspective. The anxieties expressed and embodied in design thinking are actually symptomatic of a much more profound structural problem. On the one hand, Jen is clearly exorcised by the diminution of the so-called profession of design by the phenomenon of design thinking. The impression given is that her status as a designer is being challenged by the ubiquity and ease of use of design thinking. It is the off the peg-ness that she objects to. Jen wants to re-mystify the processhence the co-option of crit into a nascent lexicon of magical design thinking terminology. It suggests a desire to re-territorialize. Vinsels pro- intellectual stance is equally defensive. Both parties feel the threat of their expertise and specialism being eroded or stolen away. Whether its used by businesses, libraries, or schoolsor designersshunning design thinking appears to be just as en vogue as practicing it. But Clifton believes that dismissing design thinking because its wrong or bad or nonsense might be a mistake. For some, it might work. For others, it might not. And at the end of the day, so long as youre thinking, well, thats just fine. This may seem like a cop out but increasingly I am of the opinion that there is no such thing as design thinking or illustrative thinking, there is just thinking. Understanding the Appeal Clifton shared a wealth of feedback about design thinking in our email interview and was also recently interviewed by AIGA Eye on Design. He believes that those who practice design thinking just might find that the process works for themalbeit, in a rigid manner. It, the design thinking mechanism, is a thing in the world and there is a great deal of conviction (however misguided) that wraps around it. In a way the desire for simple, semi-computational models that address complex and messy human situations tells us something much more profound about the congested informational territories that we now inhabit. Being able to cut the bullshit and have a linear plan is very appealing. How design thinking shapes itself speaks volumes about our cognitive inadequacies. An inability to tolerate ambiguity and uncertainty may become our Achilles Heel. At Camberwell we are taking an educational approach that foregrounds uncertainty; we suggest that it is the only given in an increasingly precarious and unnecessarily transparent world. Creating space to think complex problems, without trying to know them fullysomething that is beautifully articulated in James Bridles New Dark Age: Technology, Knowledge and the End of the Future from Bloomsburyis a mode of engaging with the world that might prove fruitful. But it is important to remember that design thinking is a process not a discipline. Disciplines accommodate multiple methods and processes and have the capacity to mutate/evolve/grow. Design thinking (as it is defined in most cases) presents a rigid and inflexible narrative, simple but brittle! Students at Innova Schools benefit from a blended learning approach that combines self-directed and group time, photo and caption courtesy of IDEO. Although some wonder how exactly design thinking can solve the big, wicked problems facing educators or governments, IDEOs Hendrix admits that applying design thinking to some applications works, but others arent good matches. For example, cherry-picking a method like using sticky notes and markers for a brainstorm without structured facilitation and a review isnt going to result in much. Continuing to educate ourselves about the practice and outcomes will only make it more effective. For or Against, or Whatever When IDEOs Hendrix was asked about critiques put forth by Natasha Jen and Dr. Lee Vinsel, he said that declaring all design thinking to be bad was bad logic. We havent declared marketing dead because of poorly executed ad campaigns. We havent declared all graphic design useless because of font-happy strip mall signage or the illegible layouts of government forms. And if someone actually did, no one would pay attention because its such a well-understood field today. We need to continue developing this craft, celebrating its good outcomes and critiquing its poor applications just as we have done for other practices of design. Practically, in design education we need to continue introducing multi-disciplinary collaboration and broadening the perspective about who those collaborators can be. Some of our clients are amazing design thinkers which makes them exciting to work with. I remember early in my career when I thought clients were the enemy. But really they are the catalysts for your most innovative work. Introducing perspectives from outside the practice of design into your design process only makes it better. And recognizing clients as design thinkers can make the work stronger. Whether youre an illustrator or a designer, Hendrix is right: stronger work matters. For most of us that happens by way of making the work, putting the work up, talking about it, breaking it down, designing from scratch or redesigning what youve already made, and then going through that process againand again and again and again if needed. Anne Jordan, who believes that there is no one or right process when it comes to design, agrees with what Natasha Jen said about the design process, namely the need for critique in a group setting or on your own. Making the work and discussing the work matters most and the biggest problem that Jordan sees with design thinking is that form can be an afterthought. Having studied with Nancy Skolos and Thomas Wedell at RISD, Jordan said shes biased about these matters because RISD is a school focused on form. Design thinking is an extreme approach, and its really in the opposite direction: concept and form are secondary. Had I gone to a different school, I may have a totally different take on design thinking. Im definitely cut from the RISD cloth, in that form is important to me. I dont need to convince anybody that my process is valid. We need to critique the results. | https://www.howdesign.com/design-business/design-thinking/is-design-thinking-actually-bullshit/ |
Are we truly one paycheck from disaster? | The partial government shutdown has forced some federal workers to move money around to pay for food and rent. No surprise there. What's shocking is the many who don't have the money to move. They have no financial cushion to cover even one month's worth of ordinary expenses. Consider, a government job provides fairly secure employment. It comes with health coverage, paid vacations and sick days. And the pay, though not princely, is solid. But a loan processor at the Agriculture Department says that she'll be going to a church pantry for food. An aerospace engineer for NASA -- presumably well-paid -- reveals that she'll have to live off her credit cards. In this paycheck-to-paycheck society, 40 percent of adults told a Federal Reserve survey that they could not cough up $400 for an emergency without borrowing or selling something. During the recent holiday season, Americans on average put over $1,000 on their credit cards, according to MagnifyMoney's yearly debt survey. Only 42 percent said they'd pay it off in three months. And 22 percent said they'd be making minimum payments. That means it could take them more than five years to pay for one holiday blowout. The time-honored rule is to sock away three to nine months' worth of living expenses for a sudden setback. That could be loss of a job, a natural disaster or a medical crisis. The federal workers' despair at not getting a paycheck last week was especially remarkable in that they will receive their full back pay once the government is again funded. It's not like getting fired. Personal savings represent money set aside after spending and paying taxes. The personal savings rate in the U.S. is about 6 percent. It is over 14 percent in France, and in Germany, it's nearly 17 percent. And these are countries in which the citizens don't have to worry about medical bills. Chinese households save an astounding 29 percent of their personal income. That makes their savings rate nearly five times ours. One could ask whether people who can't summon up one month's mortgage payment from savings should even have a mortgage. A mortgage implies owning a house. Suppose the water heater goes out. Meanwhile, an employee for the Transportation Security Administration at O'Hare Airport tells a reporter, "It's difficult to budget things like food, or knowing which bills to pay, when you simply don't know when you'll have money again." That's not how it works. Budgeting for the basics is something one does before an emergency, not during one. There's no denying that suspended paychecks make life harder for many workers, but you've got to wonder. Follow Froma Harrop on Twitter @FromaHarrop. She can be reached at [email protected]. To find out more about Froma Harrop and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators webpage at www.creators.com. | http://www.salina.com/news/20190115/are-we-truly-one-paycheck-from-disaster |
Will an opt-out organ donation scheme impact our bodily autonomy? | Legislation governing consent for organ donation in Ireland will likely come before Cabinet for publication this year, but it has been in the ether for some time, having its origin in recommendations made in 2006. The Human Tissue Bill proposed a restructuring of the way that consent for organ donation is not just obtained, but considered. By introducing an opt-out approach to organ donation to replace the current opt-in approach whereby those who wish to donate carry a donor card the legislation seeks to change norms and attitudes around organ donation, so that consent is presumed rather than obtained from individuals. Among the arguments in favour of the proposed change is the fact that Ireland is one of just a few EU countries currently without an opt-out system Under the new system, those who, for whatever reason, choose not to donate their organs will have to opt out of the scheme. To try to mitigate the possibility of coercion, the scheme proposes to consult a deceased persons next of kin, and not to proceed with the donation if they object. Among the arguments in favour of the proposed change are the fact that Ireland is one of just a few EU countries currently without an opt-out system. This is essentially an all the other kids are doing it argument, which has no bearing on the ethical questions underlying the proposed change. The new scheme would presumably result in some very positive outcomes; more people in need of transplants would likely be able to receive them, and potentially with shorter wait times. Despite the sensitivity of the issue, there are ethical issues to consider. While the consultation of next of kin is a good and well-intended buffer against organ donation without consent, there are potential problems, and they are not necessarily minor. Before an action of this sort is taken, it is helpful not just for experts, but for the rest of us as well to discuss the ethical problems that might potentially arise, while of course acknowledging the imperfections of our current system. Since we can generally agree (with some exceptions) that what is right or wrong is not decided by numbers, more important than emulating other countries are the reasons for instituting the change, and whether they are consistent, well-reasoned, considerate of individuals and instantiated in reality. It would follow that an opt-out organ donation scheme is good because there are suffering individuals in Ireland in need of transplants, and this would help them There are three main branches of what philosophers call normative ethics, and consequently three general perspectives from which we might look at the ethics of an opt-out organ donation scheme deontology, consequentialism, and virtue ethics. Deontology, in the mould of philosophers like Kant, emphasises rules and duties in determining what action is ethical. Consequentialism is focused on outcomes, so an action might be determined a good or right one if it has good consequences; for example, increased numbers of organ donors. Virtue ethics, dissatisfied with both of the above approaches and stemming in the West from Plato and Aristotle, in the East from Confucius and Mencius, considers the centrality of virtues in undertaking moral action. There are a number of different areas of virtue ethics, and much written on the potential application of virtue ethics to organ donation generally and opt-out schemes specifically. This sort of material is well worth reading if you are interested. An opt-out organ donation scheme might be seen as creating a scenario in which individuals are obliged to assert their self-ownership to the State The majority of people within our culture are consequentialists, though some are not aware of it. We generally think that an action is good if its consequences are good. It would follow that an opt-out organ donation scheme is good because there are suffering individuals in Ireland in need of transplants, and this would help them. There is no doubt that increased transplant rates (or, rather, increased rates of successful transplants) would indeed be a very desirable outcome. The question is whether, by prioritising consequentialist ethics, we might inadvertently violate an important principle. The women of Ireland have only just achieved what we talk about as bodily autonomy, the idea that we own our own bodies. An opt-out organ donation scheme (even one which consults next of kin after a persons death) might be seen as creating a scenario in which individuals are obliged to assert their self-ownership to the State, which of course they can do under the scheme. However, the act of making that assertion is an admission that self-ownership is no longer our default. This potential change is very complex, and we should be talking about it. | https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/will-an-opt-out-organ-donation-scheme-impact-our-bodily-autonomy-1.3752327?localLinksEnabled=false |
Does Anybody Read All of Those Medical Forms? | While we are all burdened, I believe that the medical profession is uniquely deluged with an absurd volume of documentation requirements, most of which should be filed under "N" for nonsense. Ask any physician or nurse about this and have antacids on hand as you will soon see some sizzling smoke emerging from the medical professional's nostrils. Each hospitalized patient has a tremendous amount of recorded data which nurses painstakingly document. This requirement fails on two fronts. It takes nurses away from time at the bedside. Additionally, most of the stuff they document is not viewed by physicians or others on the care team. For example, I rarely read the nurses' notes. Hardly. Instead of perusing their written descriptions of my patients' progress, I use a sophisticated, high-tech technique to obtain their input. I will illustrate this below. "How is my patient doing?" Yes, I ask them directly. I've been doing it this way for 25 years, and I will continue to do so. Patients also are signing reams of mindless forms in physicians' offices and in hospitals at the time of admission. Hospitalized patients sign multiple forms before they are taken to their wards, and often must sign additional forms giving permission for blood transfusions and various diagnostic tests or surgeries. About as carefully as we read through a 10,000-word legal document when we are upgrading software on our phone or computer before clicking on "I Agree." I don't. A few days before writing this, a patient related an amusing prank she perpetrated on her physician. While in the waiting room, she was filling out a required form where she would list the presence or absence of various medical symptoms. She found it annoying that her physician requires that the same form be filled out before every visit. So, she wrote on the form that she had died last week. Curiously, neither the physician nor any of the staff asked the patient about this medical development. Perhaps, they didn't think it was significant. Michael Kirsch, MD, is a gastroenterologist who blogs at MD Whistleblower. This post originally appeared on KevinMD. 1969-12-31T19:00:00-0500 | https://www.medpagetoday.com/blogs/kevinmd/77439 |
How Chatbots Are Changing the Ways E-commerce Businesses Operate? | I imagine it be somewhat like a typical girlfriend: cute, innocent, an omnipresent teacher who is occasionally demanding sometimes annoying but loves his man and is proud when he does good. (jeez, am I sounding like a stalker?) There is no debate in saying that Siri is one of the marvels of Artificial Intelligence. The main reason of Siris popularity is its ability to provide support and assistance by establishing a personalized connection with the user. The biggest problem with us humans is that we crave for validation, attention and feel good when somebody values us. This is why customer experience is considered to be the core of a businesss success or failure. Especially when it comes to online stores or ecommerce, the customer expectations are infinite. Moreover, the industry is growing at an incredible pace, and it can be really hard for marketers to accentuate their brand among the increasing competition. Customer centricity is the only way to stay competitive, which is why; online retailer must focus on providing smooth, friendly and uninterrupted customer support. AI-powered chatbot solutions has emerged out as an interactive and resourceful means to provide seamless and fanatical customer support. Chatbots typically operate like the way Siri does, i.e. an ever-present personal assistant that guides customers through the process by establishing a personalized connection. The perks of chatbots are not just limited to customer support. There are so many tasks that can be performed by chatbots. Here are a few ways Chatbots is changing the ecommerce industry: Virtual assistance Sprout social study indicates that 89% of messages that require a real-time response mostly get ignored by brands and those who do get a reply the average wait time is around 10 hours. The A.I. powered chatbots act like your personal 247 customer assistant. They have the ability to identify customers problem and meet individuals query just like a salesman of any brick and mortar store. Custom developed chatbots can also help customers with some advanced level issues like payment dispute, product information, comparison, and even interaction. Custom chatbots can create a real-life conversation experience as they pick the typing pattern of every customer and make a conversation accordingly. Lets take an example of an ecommerce giant and see how they are capitalizing the chatbot technology, eBays ShopBot is the finest example of how a chatbot service can provide outstanding customer support and virtual shopping assistance that can result in an increased number of sales. eBay ShopBot servers as a personalized shopping assistant that helps customers find the best deals from eBays millions of listings. The communication is so natural as if you are talking to a friend, whether you are looking for something specific or just surfing around for inspiration, it helps you all the way. Capitalizing on predictive modeling, and machine learning abilities eBays Chabot creates a radically better and hyper-personalized personal shopping experience for virtually anyone and everyone. Generates leads Chatbots can be your silver bullet in terms of generating leads. Like I mentioned earlier, Chatbots act just like a sales executive of any brick and mortar shop. Hipmunk chatbots help its customers search, compare and reserve more easily. The bot asks visitors for its current location to determine where they are traveling from and then provides them with all the packages and deals from that location. By using casual informal language and mimicking a human experience, it makes you comfortable as if you are talking to a human travel agent or even a friend. Overall, this is a great example of a bot that successfully translates chats into engagement and sales funnels. Manage Your Online Store Hassle-freely The scope of Chatbots is far far beyond than just brand interacting with customers. Live and customized chatbots also have the ability to keep track of your stores inventory thus allowing you and your customers be fully aware if a specific product is running out of stock in your online store. Similarly, you can also programme them in a way that makes your customers notify about the products they were previously searching have now arrived back in stock. Thanks to the latest AI and ML technologies chatbots can now be developed and customized in a way that they can contribute to the workforce or human resources that you as a business owner need to keep the operations streamlined. For example, chatbots can easily keep a track on inventories, help in supply chain management and even promote products. They are helping a lot in ecommerce business operations. Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and Natural Language Understanding are used that enable in making chatbots smarter, brighter and understand command easily. Conclusion In short, chatbots are now the backbone of the industry. They can have a significant impact on your sales and also help in managing your online store. The reason why chatbots stand out of other Artificial technologies is because of the reason that they not only have the capability to learn and grow but also embrace the positivity of life at a bigger spectrum. They have this subtle ability to adapt to the ever-changing trends of the market easily. They also help in the improvement of performance of ecommerce website continuously by improvising according to the changing behavior and the casual norms of the industry. They can easily adapt to customer expectation and to the lifestyle of e Commerce helping retailers enhance their market sales. Sohaib Khalid is an SEO Expert from FME. FME is a leading web design Dubai company from UAE with over a decade of development and digital marketing experience. PitStopArabia is just one glaring example of their work. Chatbots stock photo by sdecoret/Shutterstock | https://www.smallbizdaily.com/how-chatbots-are-changing-the-ways-e-commerce-businesses-operate/ |
Is INEC really preparing for success or failure? | By Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa USUALLY, there are many parties to every contest. In a football contest you have the teams, the referee and his linesman, the spectators- supporters and opposers and then the managers of the stadium and finally those who control the crowd and provide safety for all. This is largely the same for all other sports. In educational pursuits which can some times turn into a contest when we want to determine winners and losers for prizes, honors or for access to limited space, you have the students, the teachers, the examiners and those who set standards. INEC deploys staff for distribution of PVCs in Enugu But in these situations there are always the most critical parties, those who really can make or unmake. Similarly, in Political contests, there are many parties- the political parties, the electorate (voters), the electoral umpire, the security agencies and the government in power. It depends. In normal circumstances, every party has significant impact. The political parties and their conduct may make or mar an election. In deed in our experience as a Nation, the political parties have largely determined the outcomes of many of the political contests. When they buy votes, snatch ballot boxes, steal or destroy ballot papers, instigate violence at pooling booths and collating centers including burning down electoral centers, they often determine the election. When the security agencies decide to jump into the fray, intimidating and rough handling opposition parties members or preventing voters from voting their choice, then they help to determine the outcome of the elections. When the electoral umpire decides to be partial, then they will naturally determine the outcomes of the elections. At every election when the government in power is determined to see free, fair and violence-free elections, they take actions to get every party in the contest to behave well and act according to the rules of engagement. That does not always guarantee that all parties will behave well, including the government itself. That was why despite all the advertised desire of President Babangidas Government to bequeath a good election, it went ahead to sabotage the same election which has been variously described as the best election in NIgeria. But if one particular party behaves well, it can check or dampen the impact of the misbehavior of other party or parties. But if that same party decides to misbehave, it is not certain that the other parties can sufficiently contain its impact. That party is the electoral umpire which in Nigeria is called the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. Indeed in many elections the electoral umpire holds the ace. Their ability to determine the election is influenced by the discretion they can exercise. In sophisticated and automated systems where voting and/or results collation are done electronically their ability to do harm is minimized. But in less developed and analogue systems where collation of results from the pooling booths to the national collation centre is done manually, the capacity of the umpire to do harm is grossly accentuated. And this is exactly where Nigeria is currently located. That this umpire has the capacity and perhaps the looming propensity to work along this dangerous path is indicated by a couple of baffling false steps. The primary dissonance is a tendency to work at cross purposes with its major parties in the contest the political parties. INEC is showing strong headedness, not willing to listen to the political parties except perhaps to only one- the one in power. If INEC desires to superintendent over a peaceful, free and fair election, it can not feel unconcerned with the concerns of the 91 parties that make up the CUPP. The first concern is Amina Zakari. Whether she has a blood or water relationship with Mr President should not be the only issue. What is important in a democracy is that if a significant segment of the electorate opposes any decision, then they must be listened to. This was what happened when she was made the acting Chairman, when Prof Attahiru Jega finished his term. Perhaps the President was minded to send her name for confirmation as substantive chairman but when he listened to the voice of a significant segment of the stakeholders, he decided against it, and rather appointed Prof Mahmoud Yakubu. I think, INEC if it is truly independent must listen to the stakeholders and avoid any thing that can tarnish the outcome of the elections. Already the leading opposition parties have drawn international attention to their objections and the stubbornness of INEC. The parties are not asking that she be removed as a national commissioner but just that she be reassigned. To me that is not too much sacrifice. It is essentially complying with good corporate governance practices because there is perceived conflict of interest. In many advanced Nations, she would naturally recuse herself even if no body raised any objection.That is where honour means much. The second concern is that INEC is re-writing the guidelines for conducting the elections without taking the parties into confidence. They have just been presented with a fait accompli. And now the parties are protesting. In 2015, accreditation was completed and the number of accredited voters announced before voting started. That way, voters and party agents watched out for over-voting and that helped in some way to deliver a good election. But now INEC says accreditation will go on simultaneously with voting. There are certainly pros and cons for either procedure. But why would INEC not sell these to the parties before firming up the guidelines. To me this is breeding unnecessary controversies and contradictions which are souring the relationship between the parties to the contest even before the contest begins. Thus from the look of things, INEC will determine the 2019 elections and must be prepared to bear the consequences. But with the most recent rumblings in the polity the Government in power may beat INEC to it!! ! | https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/01/is-inec-really-preparing-for-success-or-failure/ |
Can Philadelphia 'stop people from dying' as drug crisis and gun violence rage on? | The prevalence of drug overdoses and homicides is helping drive down life expectancy in the nations sixth largest city as premature deaths have been rising since 2015 Trina Singletons son died a day before his 25th birthday, gunned down on the same day 10 people were shot in Philadelphia. Elise Schillers daughter died of a heroin overdose at the treatment center where she had gone to seek help breaking her addiction. They were victims of two tragedies drug overdoses and homicides now so prevalent in Philadelphia that theyve helped drive down life expectancy in the nations sixth largest city. Premature deaths have been increasing since 2015, according to the report released this month by the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. Life expectancy began to fall after 2014, the city says. For men, it was 72.4 in 2017, down from 73.2 in 2013. Women had a longer life expectancy at 79.7, but that number has stopped improving. The city counts the years of its citizens lives lost to early death, before the age of 75. The number hit a low of 9,004 years in 2014 and then reversed course rising to 9,901 years in 2017. Life expectancy has also fallen across the nation as opioid overdoses claimed more and more lives, but the drug epidemic has hit Philadelphia harder than any other large city. In 2017, there were 1,217 overdose deaths in the city the third highest cause of death, trailing only heart disease and cancer. Its a huge crisis that has really affected the health of the entire city, Health Commissioner Tom Farley told the Guardian. The last time life expectancy dropped like this was during the AIDS epidemic. Elise Schillers daughter Giana became addicted to painkillers she was prescribed for injuries she suffered as an athlete and a veterinary nurse, before turning to heroin. I was so blindsided, said Schiller, 67, of Germantown. I became increasingly confused and disturbed by the way in which they were treating her. Schiller has become an advocate for better treatment, the kind her daughter did not get using medications like methadone and buprenorphine, which research shows are more likely to succeed in combating opioid addiction. Treatment programs also neglected her mental health problems. In her case, it was fatal, Schiller said. Philadelphias crisis is especially bad because it lies at the intersection of two trends, Farley said. The city has long been a hub for the distribution of heroin around the east coast, most of it now mixed with the more deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl. Add to that doctors over-prescribing opioids for pain. One in three Philadelphians report taking a prescription opioid in the last year. Facebook Twitter Pinterest The most notorious public face of Philadelphias overdose crisis is the Kensington neighborhood, where drugs are sold openly, and the city has cleared out encampments of homeless people addicted to heroin. Photograph: Matt Rourke/AP The most notorious public face of Philadelphias overdose crisis is the Kensington neighborhood, where drugs are sold openly, and the city has cleared out encampments of homeless people addicted to heroin. One still remains on Emerald Street entrenched enough that its nickname, Emerald City, pops up as a destination in Google Maps. People live in tents under a bridge, but orange notices warn residents that they must clear out or be cleared out by 31 January. Its an open air drug market. The city let that happen, said Carol Rostucher, who founded the group Angels in Motion to help people living on the street with addictions after seeing her son, who is now in recovery, go through the same experience. Highly-potent fentanyl factored in 84% of deaths in 2017, according to the citys report. Its effects wear off faster than heroin, which leads people to use more of it, which leads to more deaths. Youre using every couple hours so youre not sick, Rostucher said. Every single time, its a gamble. At a town hall meeting in the basement of Kensingtons Mother of Divine Grace Church, Farley told neighbors the city is laser focused on one goal: To keep people from dying. Philadelphia is looking to open a supervised injection site, where people addicted to heroin would inject the drug with medical help immediately on hand to prevent overdoses. But theres no timeline for it to open and the idea faces fierce opposition from the Trump administration. Over the last year and a half, the city has distributed 70,000 doses of naloxone, which can reverse an overdose. Destinie Campanella carries three of those doses with her at all times. Around her neck hangs a locket reminding her of the reason why: Her uncle Christian, who was her best friend, died of a heroin overdose six years ago. I give it out like water, said Campanella, 28. While the crisis may be most visible in Kensington, it is killing people in neighborhoods around the city. Most people who die of overdoses die in their homes. There were 8,065 visits to the emergency room for overdoses in 2017, according to the citys report. Theres no poster child for the opioid epidemic, said Dr Priya Mammen, an emergency room physician at Methodist Hospital-Jefferson Health. Her South Philadelphia hospital deals with the third highest number of overdoses in the city. Many of the overdose victims in South Philadelphia are construction workers or manual laborers. Theyre often reluctant to look for treatment because of the stigma. People who have homes, who have jobs, who have a family are like, Eh, Im not that bad, Mammen said. They feel like they have control over their use Except fentanyl is a game changer. None of us have control. As part of her job at Mental Health Partnerships, Campanella does homeless outreach on the streets of Kensington. On her own time, she does the same in South Philadelphia, where she has lived her whole life. In South Philly, its more hidden. People are using behind closed doors, she said, adding that people are reluctant to take the anti-overdose drug because they cant accept that their loved ones may need it. They live at home. They have jobs. Theyre working. A lot of people might go to the gym, go to the tanning salon, even do steroids to make their appearance look better. While overdoses remain at crisis levels, theres a hint of good news: deaths began to tick down for the first half of 2018. Im hopeful well be able to look back and say this is the year we turned the tide, Farley said. The murder rate, on the other hand, only got worse . Facebook Twitter Pinterest Homicide was the tenth leading cause of death in 2017, with 322 Philadelphians slain, according to the Health Department report. Photograph: Joseph Kaczmarek/AP Homicide was the tenth leading cause of death in 2017, with 322 Philadelphians slain, according to the Health Department report. The murder rate was nearly 10 times higher for black Philadelphians than whites. It helps explain why black men have the lowest life expectancy of any group in the city, at 69.1 years. A black boy is shot and killed, and thats that, said Singleton, whose son Darryl was shot and killed in 2016 near his childhood home. Its always the same story: no motive, no suspects. But Singleton, 47, remembers her son as an outgoing young man who was going to school to be an EMT, loved spending summers with his grandmothers in Georgia and South Carolina, and doted on his youngest brother, who was just five when Darryl was killed. The younger boy made a card that sits on a corner table in Singletons home next to a photo of Darryl: I hope you feel good in heaven. Love you. After Darryls murder, his mother discovered a poem he had written for her but never gave her, expressing appreciation for the way his parents raised him. I just wanted my sons to be better, said Singleton, a real estate agent. Darryl Singletons life is now remembered in an obituary written by the Philadelphia Obituary Project. So are murder victims like Paris Wright, 21, who died before he could meet his newborn daughter, and Dominique Oglesby, 23, a student at Penn State who had overcome a health condition to become a talented singer. Attorney Cletus Lyman started the project, distressed that victims lives were getting lost in the sheer number of murders, most of them by gun. I didnt think people should just become statistics, he said. Many of the murders are never solved. Thats true for Darryl Singleton, whose killer has not been arrested. These young people think they can get away with murder. They know they can get away with murder, Trina Singleton said. Philadelphias mayor has asked for a new plan to tackle gun violence, treating it as a public health problem. Law enforcement is important, but its not alone going to solve this problem, Farley said. Carmen Pagan, 41, became an advocate against gun violence after her brother was caught in the crossfire and shot to death three years ago. I could have chosen to stay in bed and be depressed and just let him be another number, said Pagan, who founded the group Somber (Sisters of Murdered Brothers Emerging and Revolutionizing). I wanted to take a stand. From her home in West Kensington, she sees the gun violence and drug crises collide. Her 13-year-old daughter designed a gun out of bullet casings on a canvas with the words: Our zip codes define our life expectancy. Theres truth to that: theres a gap of more than two decades between the part of the city with the lowest life expectancy, 64, and the highest, 87. Her seven-year-old daughter has already learned to look out for needles in the street. We have to help ourselves because nobodys going to come help us, Pagan said. | https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/16/can-philadelphia-stop-people-from-dying-as-drug-crisis-and-gun-violence-rage-on |
What are charter schools? | KCRW Features LAUSD teachers were on picket lines for a second day, Tuesday. And this morning the teachers union organized a march to the California Charter Schools Association office downtown to draw attention to their criticisms of local charter schools. Theyre free and public, and while traditional schools accept kids who live in their local neighborhood, charters are open to students from anywhere in the district. A handful of them opened in the early 1990s, but by now 20 percent o of LAUSD schools are charters. And most of their teachers are not in the union and not on strike right now. Thats one reason charter schools have become a political flashpoint in local eduction, with millions of dollars spent for or against school board candidates. KCRWs Saul Gonzalez sat down with USC education professor Julie Marsh to ask her about charter school tension in LAUSD. | https://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/kcrw-features/what-are-charter-schools |
Why is Netflix raising its prices? | By Edmund Lee Netflix is raising prices. Advertising Given how much it has been spending on content, the move isnt surprising, but the latest jump from 13 to 18 per cent depending on the subscription plan is the biggest increase since Netflix started its streaming service a dozen years ago. Thats going to hurt some consumers. Many of its users pay for the service even if they dont consistently watch its content, partly because of its attractive pricing. A bare-bones subscription, for instance, had cost $8 a month. But fee increases at Netflix are inevitable. One of the reasons: Netflix burns a lot of cash. The companys appetite for content means it has to spend big, resulting in whats known as negative free cash flow. More money is going out the door than coming in, a difference that Netflix covers by borrowing. We change pricing from time to time as we continue investing in great entertainment and improving the overall Netflix experience, the company said in a statement announcing the changes, which apply just to US customers. Netflixs most popular plan, which gives a customer two simultaneous streams, will get the largest increase, to $13 a month from $11. Still, its cheaper than HBO, whose streaming service costs about $15 a month. The $8 a month plan will now cost $9, and the high-end version, which allows for four simultaneous streams, jumps to $16 from $14. (The new prices took effect Tuesday for new subscribers. For existing customers, the increases will start in about three months.) Netflix, which will report quarterly earnings Thursday, has committed to spending more than $18.6 billion on content. Thats for shows and films that wont appear on the service for months, whether its the next season of Stranger Things or the forthcoming lineup from super producer Shonda Rhimes. Advertising It also includes content thats currently playing, like Friends, which ran on NBC from 1994 through 2004 and is owned by AT&Ts WarnerMedia. The show is wildly popular on the service. Worries that it would leave Netflix prompted an outcry on social media. The only reason I have an account with Netflix is to re-watch Friends, one customer said. | https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/tech-news-technology/why-is-netflix-raising-its-prices-5540875/ |
What do Lenders Look at on Self-Employed Income? | Its a common myth that the self-employed cannot secure a mortgage. Thats not true today. Many lenders and/or mortgage programs make it easy for the self-employed to get a mortgage. Click Here. It all comes down to reliability and consistency. These are the same two factors lenders look at when you are self-employed. They need to know that your income is consistent and will remain consistent for the foreseeable future. Keep reading to see what lenders look for if you are self-employed. Tax Returns are a Must First, you should know that lenders are going to look at your tax returns. Because you work for yourself, there isnt an independent third party creating your W-2s. The lender needs to see your tax returns to see what your true income is in order to decide how much you can afford. Lenders will usually ask for the last two years of tax returns. They will need all schedules so that they can see how much income you claimed, what expenses you wrote off, and your net income. Unlike when you work for someone else, your lender will need to use your net income rather than your gross income only because all of the expenses of owning a business are your responsibility. Using tax returns also allows lenders to take a 2-year average of your income. When you are self-employed, you likely deal with highs and lows when it comes to your income. During the busy months, things are great financially. During the slow months, though, things can get a little tough. Lenders dont want to qualify you on the high or the low income they want an average so that you can always comfortably afford your mortgage. Proof of Success Lenders also want to see that you have what it takes to succeed in the industry that youve opened a business. If you opened a business in the industry you already worked for many years, you have the knowledge that is necessary to succeed. If, however, you changed industries completely and have no experience in the new industry youve joined, you could be a higher risk for a lender. For example, lets say you were a teacher but you decided to quit and open your own real estate company. The two industries dont have anything to do with one another, so theres nothing saying that you will succeed in the real estate business. This isnt to say that you will fail, but it can be difficult for you to get started. Click to See the Latest Mortgage Rates. Enough of a History Typically, lenders want to see you have at least two years of experience in self-employment. If you apply for a mortgage too soon after starting your business, theres no history behind it to let the lender tell how you will do. Lets say you apply after starting your business six months ago. There hasnt even been a full year for the lender to see how your business does. If you have two years of experience behind you, lenders can look back to see how you did and again, take that average of your income. This ensures that they dont approve you during a time of high income or a period of low income. Youll get the average, which should suit you well. Some lenders do offer an exception to this rule, though. If you open a business in the same industry youve been in for many years, lenders often consider that your experience and allow you to apply for a mortgage sooner than 2 years of self-employment. Compensating Factors Its no secret that self-employed borrowers are riskier than other borrowers. If you can come to the table with compensating factors, youll have a better chance of getting the loan. Compensating factors can come in many forms, but the most common include: High credit score Low debt ratio Many months of reserves (assets on hand) A co-borrower that isnt self-employed Any of these factors can help offset the riskiness that self-employment brings for a lender. In other words, they can increase your chances of approval. Being self-employed doesnt mean you cant get a loan, but it might mean that its a little harder to get it. You may have to jump through a few more hoops, but as long as you are prepared, the process should go as smoothly as if you were employed by someone else. Click Here to Get Matched With a Lender. Click to See the Latest Mortgage Rates | https://www.blownmortgage.com/lenders-look-self-employed-income/ |
Could it snow in East Anglia this week? | We could see some wet snow and sleet tomorrow Picture: ANDY ABBOTT Weather experts have suggested that tomorrow could see some sleet and wet snow as temperatures plummet across the region. Share Email this article to a friend To send a link to this page you must be logged in. Experts at the weather station Weatherquest situated in the University of East Anglia in Ipswich stress that tomorrow could see much lower temperatures across Suffolk and North Essex, bringing with it sleet and wet snow. Today is a different story however, with a fairly mild and mostly cloudy start to the day. Light rain will also be a factor around mid-morning to the early afternoon before things give way to brighter spells. The brighter spells will then recede as a band of rain moves in from the west, bringing heavier showers for the middle to later part of the afternoon. The rain will eventually clear, giving us a solid spate of dry weather for the evening. It will remain pretty breezy throughout the day with temperatures sitting at 9-10C. Rain will come back to the region after midnight and into tomorrow with the first signs of sleet as temperatures drop below freezing. Expect ice on your cars as East Anglia sees highs of 4-5C in the morning and a dollop of wet snow and sleet until 10 oclock. From there we have more dry sunny spells until the rain returns for the afternoon. Make sure you come back to us for all your weather news. | https://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/snow-expected-for-tomorrow-in-east-anglia-1-5853325 |
What does the future hold for the Ipswich players left sat in the stands? | Gwion Edwards and Jon Nolan were both signed by Ipswich Town in the summer. Picture: ARCHANT Archant Andy Warren takes a look at what the future holds this January for the Ipswich Town players who missed out on Paul Lamberts matchday squads of late. Share Email this article to a friend To send a link to this page you must be logged in. Janoi Donacien hasn't featured in a match day squad since the start of December. Photo: Ross Halls Janoi Donacien hasn't featured in a match day squad since the start of December. Photo: Ross Halls Janoi Donacien The former Accrington Stanley defender has been a puzzle this season. He has shown glimpses of quality at right back but slipped out of the side prior to Paul Hursts departure and is now seen very much as a central defender by Paul Lambert. He sits behind Luke Chambers, James Collins, Matthew Pennington and Toto Nsiala in that pecking order. After finally receiving indefinite leave to remain from the Home Office, his loan move to Ipswich has been made permanent, but he is one you might expect to leave the club on a temporary deal this January given his potential for game time is so limited. Gwion Edwards made a promising start in Ipswich blue but has found the going tough of late. Picture: STEVE WALLER WWW.STEPHENWALLER.COM Gwion Edwards made a promising start in Ipswich blue but has found the going tough of late. Picture: STEVE WALLER WWW.STEPHENWALLER.COM Jonas Knudsen Its now a question of when rather than if Jonas Knudsen leaves Ipswich Town. The Dane is out of contract in the summer and is keen to explore his options following three-and-a-half years in Suffolk. He was joined in the Portman Road directors box by his parents for Saturdays game, with the Dane seemingly not in Paul Lamberts thinking given both Callum Elder and Myles Kenlock have played ahead of him in recent weeks. Clubs in England, Germany and his native Denmark have shown interest since his appearance at last summers World Cup. Kayden Jackson moved from Accrington Stanley to Ipswich Town for 1.6m back in the summer. Photo: Steve Waller Kayden Jackson moved from Accrington Stanley to Ipswich Town for 1.6m back in the summer. Photo: Steve Waller Gwion Edwards To suggest we would be discussing the Welshmans future at this point would have seemed unthinkable during the early weeks of this season. The winger put in a string of highly encouraging displays during the early weeks of his Ipswich career, including a debut goal and a strike against Norwich, but he has gone off the boil dramatically. He now finds himself out of the matchday 18, with Jack Lankester ahead of him in the pecking order and Simon Dawkins arriving on a free transfer this month. There would be a long queue of League One clubs ready to take him on loan if he was to become available on a temporary basis. Jon Nolan, pictured in action at Middlesbrough. Picture Pagepix Jon Nolan, pictured in action at Middlesbrough. Picture Pagepix Kayden Jackson The striker, signed from Accrington for 1.6million in the summer, has four goals to his name this season but has spent much of it playing in a lone striker role that doesnt suit his attributes. The signings of Will Keane and Collin Quaner have pushed him down the pecking order but he is set to remain with the Blues and fight for his place for the remainder of the season. The fact he appeared for Stanley on the opening day of the season means he cannot play for another club during this campaign, with players only eligible to be registered with two teams per season. Ipswich Town right-back Jordan Spence had been an ever-present under Lambert until the game with Rotherham. Photo: Steve Waller Ipswich Town right-back Jordan Spence had been an ever-present under Lambert until the game with Rotherham. Photo: Steve Waller Jon Nolan The midfielder arrived with great expectation on his shoulders, having been the creative force in Paul Hursts Shrewsbury side. Hes struggled to stamp his authority on the Championship but has shown flashes of his ability most notably a superb goal at Birmingham which saw him arrive late in the box and fire home. The 26-year-old has shown enough to suggest he can be an asset for Ipswich Town going forward, but the arrival of Alan Judge will push him even further down the pecking order. Clubs at the top end of League One are understood to have shown tentative loan interest in the midfielder, who was one of the third tiers leading lights last season. Tristan Nydam in action for Ipswich Town U23s against Bristol City Picture: ROSS HALLS Tristan Nydam in action for Ipswich Town U23s against Bristol City Picture: ROSS HALLS Jordan Spence The right-back had played every minute under Lambert prior to Saturdays defeat of Rotherham, for which he dropped out of the squad entirely. Costly mistakes at vital times have masked otherwise decent performances, with Pennington performing well in his place against Rotherham. Spence is out of contract in the summer and, given Lamberts lack of options at right-back, he is likely to remain at the club until the summer at least. Danny Rowe hasn't played for Ipswich since November. Picture: STEVE WALLER WWW.STEPHENWALLER.COM Danny Rowe hasn't played for Ipswich since November. Picture: STEVE WALLER WWW.STEPHENWALLER.COM Tristan Nydam The youngster spent the first half of the season on loan at St Johnstone in the Scottish Premiership, where he made just one start and four substitute appearances. With Lambert not keen to throw more youngsters into a relegation battle, a second loan of the campaign surely beckons. Grant Ward will miss the rest of the season with injury. Picture: PAGEPIX LTD Grant Ward will miss the rest of the season with injury. Picture: PAGEPIX LTD Danny Rowe The 26-year-old winger has been at Ipswich for two years now but has made just two league starts under three managers in that time. Injuries and the lingering effects of a virus have troubled him this season but he appears to be a significant distance from the first-team. Another loan, such as last seasons spell at Lincoln, could be on the cards while a permanent departure cant be discounted. Jordan Roberts is a target for a trio of lower league clubs. Picture: STEVE WALLER WWW.STEPHENWALLER.COM Jordan Roberts is a target for a trio of lower league clubs. Picture: STEVE WALLER WWW.STEPHENWALLER.COM Grant Ward The wide midfielders season is over due to the knee ligament injury he suffered on Boxing Day at Queens Park Rangers. Hes out of contract at the end of the campaign, meaning there is a chance he has played his last game for the club. Andre Dozzell is one of the most gifted members of the Ipswich Town squad. Picture: Steve Waller Andre Dozzell is one of the most gifted members of the Ipswich Town squad. Picture: Steve Waller Jordan Roberts The winger played such a vital role in Lamberts first two games in charge of the Blues, surprisingly coming in from the cold to play as a central striker. He was effective in those draws with Preston and Reading but is influence has since waned to the point where he is now not making matchday squads and behind Quaner, Keane and Ellis Harrison in the pecking order. A loan looks likely, with Bradford, Plymouth and MK Dons said to be interested. Tom Adeyemi has barely played for the Blues. Picture: STEVE WALLER Tom Adeyemi has barely played for the Blues. Picture: STEVE WALLER Andre Dozzell The teenager has now made 10 appearances since returning to action in October, following the knee ligament injury he suffered in August 2017. Only four have been starts, though, at a time when its vital he is playing football for his development. The youngster is understood to have been keen to explore a loan move in August before ultimately staying at Portman Road. Myles Kenlock has made 35 Ipswich Town starts. Picture Pagepix Myles Kenlock has made 35 Ipswich Town starts. Picture Pagepix Tom Adeyemi The former Cardiff midfielder has made just five appearances for the Blues since arriving in the summer of 2017, firstly due to an ongoing illness and latterly because of an Achilles issue. He went under the knife before Christmas and could potentially return to training soon, but its hard to imagine him being fit enough to return to the field before his contract expires in the summer. Myles Kenlock The homegrown defender is sandwiched between starter Elder and soon-to-depart Knudsen in the left-back pecking order. Hes now made 35 league starts in an Ipswich shirt but has struggled to string them together under any of Mick McCarthy, Hurst or Lambert. With Knudsen likely to leave, you would expect Kenlock to stay at Portman Road this season but, at some stage, a loan and regular football will do him good. Another out of contract in the summer. | https://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/sport/ipswich-town/ipswich-town-players-sat-in-the-stands-1-5851914 |
Can Jokowi bring the dynamism Indonesias economy so badly needs? | Indonesian President Joko Widodo waves to supporters after registering himself and his running mate Islamic cleric Ma'ruf Amin for the 2019 presidential election at the General Election Commission in Jakarta, Indonesia August 10, 2018. Source: Reuters INDONESIA has achieved almost 20 years of continuous economic growth. The country navigated the 2008 global financial crisis with little difficulty and effectively weathered the emerging market volatilities of 2018. It has adjusted to the end of the China-driven commodity boom more effectively than the commodity-exporting members of the now-forgotten BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) group. Despite this record, the economy isnt growing fast enough to meet the growing aspirations of its people or to make significant inroads into poverty a challenge compounded by the sizeable increase in inequality this century. The new normal is five percent growth. While thats faster than the global economy, its well behind contemporary Asian frontiers set by India, China, Vietnam, and even the Philippines. SEE ALSO: Indonesia: Why Jokowi and Prabowo wont be getting the indigenous vote Its also well short of President Jokowis 2014 election campaign pledge of seven percent growth. The difference matters: seven percent growth implies a quadrupling of real per capita incomes every 28 years, where five percent growth delivers just a doubling every 23 years. Jokowi had the misfortune of coming to office just as the commodity boom was ending. Government and businesses were being forced to adjust to the end of a decade of easy growth. Some slowing down in the economic momentum was inevitable. But four years on, economic growth has yet to accelerate despite a moderate increase in commodity prices and the ongoing income effects of the boom. The factors explaining this lack of economic dynamism are mainly domestic. There is more or less a consensus around the desirability of appointing highly competent technocratic professionals to run the two key macroeconomic agencies, the Ministry of Finance and Bank Indonesia. As a result, Indonesias macroeconomic policy framework is functioning effectively. There has been an impressive fiscal consolidation since the crisis, the flexible exchange rate regime is working well, and the financial sector is now much better supervised and regulated. But microeconomic reform trade and investment policy, the business environment, the sectors, and labour and social policy is basically in the hands of the political parties and subject to the rules of the political market place. SEE ALSO: Indonesia seeks $60b in Belt and Road projects Veto players proliferate in a system where the president governs by consensus in the legislature, manages a diverse rainbow cabinet, presides over more than 500 subnational leaders and occasionally is checked by an unpredictable judiciary. The result is that the sweeping economic policy reforms and institutional innovations needed for faster economic growth (and that were the governments response to the fading of the earlier boom in the 1980s) are more or less off the agenda. Jokowi came to office with a reputation as a can-do politician. There was optimism following his first major economic policy decision, which was to substantially reduce the petroleum subsidies that had been crippling the governments budget. This freed up fiscal space for desperately needed infrastructure investments, as well as an ambitious social policy agenda. Jokowis well-known impatience with bureaucracy is also facilitating ongoing regulatory simplifications. The country is ascending the World Banks Ease of Doing Business rankings, the most widely used business environment indicator. Among the 190 jurisdictions, Indonesia has risen from 114 when Jokowi took office to its current ranking of 73. The fact that Indonesia elected an outsider of modest means to the highest office reflects admirably on the countrys democratic progress. But one result of this background is that Jokowi has led from behind on the big issues of economic nationalism and reform. Take his trade ministers, for example. The three in his administration have ranged from an ultra-nationalist to a liberal reformer to something in-between. As a result, significant trade policy reform is on the backburner. SEE ALSO: Indonesia: How empowering the disabled drives economic growth The countrys large state-enterprise sector too remains basically unreformed and is seen as an agent of development despite its indifferent commercial record and (for some) compromised governance structure. Of course, there are small steps here and there. Elements of the 16 reform packages introduced by the Jokowi administration have been useful at the margins. Capable reforming cabinet members, such as the current head of the Investment Board, are able to take some small steps. But in the grand scheme of things, these are not enough to accelerate growth. There can also be no doubting the Presidents sincerity in social policy reform, including in the form of conditional cash transfers and improved access to education and health facilities. But the countrys fiscal policy space is severely limiting the scope for these much-needed services. The subsidies have crept back, the tax effort remains an anaemic 12 percent of GDP (despite the much-heralded 2016 tax amnesty) and there are large unfunded spending commitments in practically all areas of social policy. The 2019 election campaign is now under way, but the economic debates are mainly about symbols and slogans. A Jokowi victory would almost certainly usher in more of the same. It would not be a reformist administration, but it would be pragmatic, cautious and focussed on infrastructure. Perhaps Jokowi would be bolder in a second (and final) term. He might also follow the well-established political dictum of administering any tough medicine early in the term, as he did almost immediately after his 2014 election victory. Indonesia will be fully occupied by elections in 2019. Jokowi has also shown little interest in international affairs, except in cases where business deals are in prospect. Although Indonesia has had some of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) most creative thinkers on regional affairs, mainly associated with the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, the country is unlikely to adopt a leadership role in regional and international commercial diplomacy, from Asean and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to climate change and other pressing global challenges. Hal Hill is the HW Arndt Professor Emeritus of Southeast Asian Economies at The Australian National University. This article is republished from East Asia Forum under a Creative Commons license. | https://asiancorrespondent.com/2019/01/can-jokowi-bring-the-dynamism-indonesias-economy-so-badly-needs/ |
Who is running for president in 2020 so far? | There could be 20 Democrats or more running for their party's presidential nomination to take on President Donald Trump in 2020. But Trump may also face a challenge or two from within his own party, something which is not unprecedented for a sitting president but has succeeded only once. Here is a look at who has announced they are running, who is hinting at it, and who has already decided to take a pass. President Donald Trump, R The president launched his reelection campaign on the day of his inauguration. While Trump has high popularity among Republicans, he has yet to break an average 50 percent overall approval rating in most polls. Julin Castro, D The former San Antonio mayor and U.S. Housing and Urban Development secretary announced on Jan. 12, 2019. He was the first Latino to give the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention. John K. Delaney, D The former U.S. congressman from Maryland chose not to run for re-election in 2018 so that he could focus on running for The White House. He announced his candidacy in July 2018. Sign up for the 9NEWSLETTER Thank You for signing up for the 9NEWSLETTER Something went wrong. This email will be delivered to your inbox once a day in the morning. Please make sure to check your email inbox for an email to confirm the signup process. Please try again later. Submit Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii Gabbard's announcement came on CNN on Jan. 11, 2019. She is a major in the U.S. Army National Guard. She faces controversy over previously held anti-gay views but says she is now an LGBT supporter. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY Gillibrand announced on Jan. 15, 2019, that she was launching an exploratory committee. Over the past decade, some of her policy positions have shifted from conservative to more liberal. Richard Ojeda, D Ojeda announced in November 2018 right after an unsuccessful campaign for Congress. The West Virginia state senator is a retired Army major with roots in coal country. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. Warren announced on New Year's Eve 2018 that she was launching an exploratory committee. She's known for her advocacy of protections for consumers. Andrew Yang, D The entrepreneur launched his campaign in November 2017. His primary platform is a Universal Basic Income that would pay all American adults $12,000 per year from the government. Democrats Former Vice President Joe Biden, D Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, D Sen. Cory Booker, D-NJ Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio Gov. Steve Bullock, D-Mont. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, D Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif. Former Gov. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo. Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, D Gov. Jay Inslee, D-Wash. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. Former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, D-Md. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-Texas Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, D Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif. Republicans Former Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. (Said in December 2018 he had not ruled out a primary challenge against Trump) Former Gov. | https://www.9news.com/article/news/nation-world/who-is-running-for-president-in-2020-so-far/73-3d0408c4-75a9-4921-ac61-92c720519701 |
Why Finn Balor received title shot at WWE Royal Rumble? | Braun Strowman ejected himself from the title bout after destroying Mr. McMahon's limo. Finn Balor, on the other hand, won a fatal-4-way match in the main event to get a Universal Championship match at Royal Rumble. This may come as a shocker to most of the audience. But the sources suggest that it was the plan of the WWE all along. Rumors suggest that the destruction of the limo was a storyline perspective to keep an injured Braun Strowman out of the match. The Monster among Men might have not recovered from the elbow surgery to date. But that's not the reality. Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that Finn Balor vs. Brock Lesnar was the actual title match planned from the get-go. WWE was anyways going to change the title match lineup at Royal Rumble. This is the reason they started pushing Finn Balor very recetly on WWE Raw. He picked up a huge singles win at WWE TLC against Drew McIntyre and that was a big indication of things to come. Lesnar vs. Strowman was the plan since Crown Jewel, but Vince McMahon thought of changing it as he did not want the monster to lose against the champion again. There is a big reason why WWE kept promoting the Lesnar vs. Strowman bout as they had to sell approximately 40,000 tickets since the show is taking place at Chase Field Arena in Phoenix, Arizona. It is the same baseball stadium that is home for the Arizona Diamondbacks and has the ability to capacitate 50000 fans. Here is more on the situation via wrestlingnews.co, "Lesnar likes Balor because he feels like he can work better with smaller opponents like AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan. The original plan for last years Royal Rumble was for Lesnar to face Balor but, as is usually the case in WWE, plans changed. McMahon felt at the time that Balor was not over enough to warrant a match with Lesnar." We still don't know whether Braun Strowman is fully cleared to compete in a match, right now. But he should be partially able to compete after the Limo destruction. It is possible that WWE will use him in the Royal Rumble match in a minimum capacity. So that he will still be involved in the first PPV event of 2019. | https://www.mykhel.com/wwe/why-finn-balor-received-title-shot-at-wwe-royal-rumble-108166.html |
Why have we failed to use our military clout in the Brexit negotiations? | One of the more unforgivable features of Theresa Mays handling of the Brexit negotiations has been her failure to use the significant contribution Britains defence and security services make to protecting the EU as a major bargaining chip. The Government might be criticised rightly, in my view for not spending more on defence, but the fact remains that Britain is still a Tier One military power, one whose global standing is about to be enhanced by state-of-the-art equipment such as the two Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers and the new generation of F-35B stealth warplanes. In addition, Britain remains committed to maintaining its nuclear deterrent, a vital asset when it comes to defending... | https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/01/16/have-failed-use-military-clout-brexit-negotiations/ |
Can the UK cancel Brexit and stay in the EU? | It has been less than 24 hours since Theresa May suffered a historic defeat as 432 MPs voted against her Brexit deal. Just 196 Conservatives voted for the Prime Ministers deal to go ahead, adding to the uncertainty of the fate of the UK. In short, no. Just 196 Conservatives voted for the Prime Ministers deal to go ahead, adding to the uncertainty of the fate of the UK (Picture: EPA) The UK can still cancel Brexit and stay in the EU, however in order to do so a second referendum must be called or we must simply revoke the Article 50 notice of withdrawal. If we decide to abandon Brexit before March 29, we would retain membership of the EU under existing terms. Brexit 'must be delayed as matter of urgency to protect jobs' However if the UK applied to rejoin after the Article 50 deadline has passed, it would have to go through a lengthy accession process. Advertisement Advertisement This would almost certainly involve giving up the rebate negotiated by Margaret Thatcher, as well as opt-outs in areas such as justice and home affairs. It could be required to join the Schengen free movement area and the euro as part of the price of readmission. Over the last few months, some MPs have made numerous calls for a new referendum, and yesterday evening European Council President Donald Tusk suggested for the cancellation of Brexit. Posting online, he said: If a deal is impossible, and no one wants no deal, then who will finally have the courage to say what the only positive solution is? Speaking last year, former prime minister Gordon Brown also addressed the cancellation of Brexit stating that he believes Britain will have a second referendum on EU membership. In short, no (Picture: PA) An anti-Brexit demonstrator cries as he gathers in Parliament square (Picture: AP) People gather in Parliament Square for a Peoples Vote rally (Picture: REX) Following Mays defeat, Parliament remains fundamentally split over what form of Brexit would be best for Britain (Picture: AFP) The former prime minister also said it would be a travesty of democracy if there is not a proper debate and vote on any Brexit deal brought back to the Commons. And in December, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that the UK can unilaterally revoke its withdrawal from the EU. Pensioner returns from hospital to find door kicked in by police during drugs raid The court found that if the UK does decide to revoke Article 50 and stop the Brexit process it would remain in the EU as a member state and the revocation must be decided following democratic process. Advertisement Advertisement In a statement, the ECJ said: In todays judgment, the full court has ruled that, when a member state has notified the European Council of its intention to withdraw from the European Union, as the UK has done, that member state is free to revoke unilaterally that notification. Following Mays defeat, Parliament remains fundamentally split over what form of Brexit would be best for Britain. Here are the different options the UK can still take Over the last few months, some MPs have made numerous calls for a new referendum, and yesterday evening European Council President Donald Tusk suggested for the cancellation of Brexit (Picture: Reuters) Television broadcasters on Abingdon Green in Westminster, London, ahead of a motion of no confidence in the Government being debated in parliament (Picture: PA) From the start of the Brexit process, Mrs May had insisted that she wanted a bespoke deal tailored specifically for the UK (Picture: PA) Theresa Mays Withdrawal Agreement Despite the huge defeat the agreement may still be on the table in an amended form as Mrs May seeks cross-party talks for genuinely negotiable solutions she can take to Brussels. From the start of the Brexit process, Mrs May had insisted that she wanted a bespoke deal tailored specifically for the UK and not an off-the-shelf model shaped around arrangements offered to other trading partners. Full list of 118 Tory MPs who voted against May's Brexit deal The Withdrawal Agreement reached in November guarantees the rights of UK citizens currently living in the EU27 states and European nationals in Britain, settles the UKs outstanding liabilities to Brussels budgets for a payment of around 39 billion and takes Britain out of the EU single market and customs union, the common agriculture and fisheries policies and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice. Advertisement It offers a 21-month transition period after the official Brexit date of March 29, 2019, to prepare for the new arrangements. Alongside this is a Political Declaration agreed by the UK and EU27, setting out a common determination to forge a close future relationship in areas such as trade and security. If this cannot be secured by the end of the transition in December 2020, the period can be extended by a further two years. If the transition concludes without a deal, the so-called backstop must be triggered, keeping the whole UK in a customs union with the remaining EU to prevent a hard border in Ireland. The biggest government defeat in House of Commons (Picture: PA) Pro-Brexit supporters outside the Houses of Parliament (Picture: PA) A pro-Brexit suppporter clashes with police officers (Picture: PA) No deal If no alternative to Mrs Mays deal is agreed, the default option is for the UK to leave the EU without a deal on March 29. This would mean there would be no transition period, and individuals and businesses would have to adapt immediately to new arrangements. Juncker warns 'time is almost up' after May suffers humiliating defeat The UK would leave EU structures such as the single market and customs union and would fall back on World Trade Organisation rules, which require tariffs on many imports and exports. Experts and businesses have warned that an abrupt withdrawal could cause chaos, with speculation over gridlock at the Channel ports, empty supermarket shelves, a collapse in the value of the pound and even aeroplanes being stopped from flying. Advertisement But advocates of no deal say the warnings are exaggerated and the UK would benefit by being able immediately to strike new trade deals around the world. Brexiteers argue that the UK could save its 39 billion divorce bill by leaving without a deal, but this could be challenged by the EU in the courts. The Canada option The holy grail for some Eurosceptics is an ambitious Canada-style free trade agreement with the EU, removing tariffs from almost all imports and exports of goods, offering co-operation on standards and allowing mutual recognition of professional qualifications. A Canada-style agreement would allow the UK to leave the EU institutions, end freedom of movement and strike new trade deals elsewhere in the world. Critics say that the model would severely restrict access to European markets for the UKs vital service industries particularly the financial sector. But the options fans say services could be included in what they term a Canada-plus-plus-plus deal. Ministers warn that it would not resolve the backstop problem, as Brussels would still demand the North remains in the EU customs area to avoid a hard border. If no alternative to Mrs Mays deal is agreed, the default option is for the UK to leave the EU without a deal on March 29 (Picture: AFP) Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn addresses Parliament after the vote on Mays Brexit deal (Picture: Reuters) MPs announce the result of a vote on the Prime Ministers Brexit deal (Picture: PA) The Norway option Some supporters of a soft Brexit argue that the UK should take its lead from the members of the European Free Trade Association (Efta) Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland and seek a close relationship with the EU short of full membership. As a member of the European Economic Area (EEA), Norway enjoys full access to the internal market for most trade in goods, but must implement the bulk of Brussels regulations without having a say in its decisions. Swearing grannies, sarcastic songs and ham sandwiches sum up Brexit protests It also pays substantial sums into the EU budget. Remain Trade with EU neighbours would continue to be free of tariffs and non-tariff barriers under single market rules, and UK and EU nationals would retain the right to work and settle in one anothers countries. The UK would keep its seat in the EUs decision-making bodies and hasty arrangements would have to be made for the election of MEPs in May. The UK would be subject to ECJ rulings and would continue to make contributions to Brussels budgets, currently running at around 9 billion a year net, but the divorce bill would no longer be payable. Future trade deals would be made as part of the EU bloc and not bilaterally. | https://metro.co.uk/2019/01/16/can-uk-cancel-brexit-stay-eu-8349788/ |
Is iTunes 8 causing Blue Screen of Death? | A well-respected blogger for ZDNet has stated his belief that the mysterious spate of Windows crashes in the past few days is down to the latest Apple iTunes update. Ed Bott believes that he has managed to replicate the common Blue Screen of Death (BSoD) crash, and offers his evidence that it is a driver from the latest iteration of iTunes (8.0) that is causing the problem. Inevitably, with the driver not overtly mentioned in the software, Apple could find itself criticised for putting software on people's computers by stealth. Sneaking driver updates "Apple is also sneaking a couple of driver updates onto the system," says Blott. "One is a USB controller update, which is apparently used when connecting an iPod or iPhone to the system. "On my system, this driver file was copied to the system but was not installed until I connected an iPod Mini via a USB port. Most of the trouble reports on the Apple forum indicate that this driver is identifying itself in the text that appears on the STOP error page. "The only clue that this driver is being installed is in the System Restore dialogue box." Echoes of the past It certainly wouldn't be the first time that Apple has been criticised over its method of getting software onto people's PCs. The Cupertino company recently found itself under fire when it used an iTunes update to push its Safari browser as a critical software update, something it finally moved to remedy. Of course, with the prevalence of iPods on the market, iTunes is one of the most popular media softwares across the realm of personal computers. No consent "this isn't a simple software update," adds Bott, whose blog normally focuses on Microsoft. "Once again, Apple is using its automatic update process to deliver massive amounts of new software to users, including a device driver that has a long and checkered history of causing the Blue Screen Of Death to appear." "And it's delivering this massive payload without even a pretence of proper disclosure and without asking consent from its users." | https://www.techradar.com/au/news/apple/pc/computing/is-itunes-8-causing-blue-screen-of-death-464618 |
Are millennials turning away from remote working? | Much has already been made of the working habits of digital natives. An influx of young professionals joining the workforce who have grown up using the internet, mobile devices, social media and other modern technologies greatly affects the way businesses operate. By Dana Eitzen, corporate and marketing communications executive at Canon SA Not only do they expect their workplace to adopt the latest in technology, they have also been at the forefront of demands for more flexibility in the office. Given this, its interesting to consider why a recent look at the working preferences of office employees found that remote working seems less attractive to younger team members. Only one in 10 18-34 year olds said theyd want to work remotely, compared to nearly twice as many 45-54 year olds[1]. One reason that the office appears more attractive to younger generations, could be the tendency of younger people to be more social and collaborative in their work practices, having grown up with the technology and social apps that enable these behaviours. A longstanding LinkedIn study found that millennials overwhelmingly report that friendships in the workplace have a significant impact on boosting happiness (57 percent), motivation (50 percent) and productivity (39%) compared to a significant lower percentage for Generation X. Another reason could be that home office technology has yet to catch up with their perception of what good office technology should be. Significant improvements in mobile tech and internet speed over the past few decades have caused millennial expectations of the speed and agility of their own equipment to skyrocket. The demand for immediacy as well as functions such as scanning and printing to be simple and effective, has meant that home office technology increasingly has to match-up to what workers are used to in the office. Workers changing priorities and habits have already affected change in the workplace. The most forward-thinking offices are now less about desks and more about flexible breakout spaces, better quality of light and air, and central locations surrounded by amenities. Technology has already aided these advances, for example with the utilisation of digital archiving and the cloud removing the necessity for paper files and the space they take up. Environmental controls have become more streamlined and intuitive, able to react to both data from the atmosphere and human input. If these simple changes can affect the overall setup of the office in recent times, it is easy to assume that the technology of the office of the future could equally attract millennials to remain working in offices if their high expectations of technology can continue to be met. Despite the apparent reluctance currently, 38% of millennials believe that having the ability to work remotely would have an extremely positive impact. Both they and Generation X agree that its important that their organisation addresses remote working, with 79% of millennials and 73% of Gen X-ers indicating that view[2]. It cannot be denied that the future clearly points towards flexible and remote working; the issue is simply that the technology must be there to support it. Wherever youre working should not be a barrier to how effectively the work can be undertaken. Home office technology needs to steadily start meeting if not exceeding the requirements of the next generation. Aspects like connectivity, speed and performance will remain key alongside more specific features like affordability, economy and size particularly in the home office. Without the immediate support of IT departments for remote workers, professional-grade technology in the home must also offer hassle-free and streamlined production. Functions like the ability to print, copy, scan and fax from one machine will be a necessity, as well as easy connections to the internet, ethernet and Bluetooth, for example. Smart technology that can easily deal with the plethora of different types of files workers use, from PDFs to JPEGs to documents saved in the cloud, will also be a basic expectation. It is clear that technology has to develop in order to meet the demands of emerging work practices. But with each generation that joins the workforce, expectations will be higher. Consumer-grade technology evolves at a speed which outpaces organisations ability to update. However, gone are the days where updating technology means months of laborious installation. New technologies such as cloud and as-a-service solutions, are enabling businesses to remain more agile. Whilst nobody can predict the future, by investing in responsive technology businesses can not only aim to weather new trends, but stay one step ahead of them. | https://it-online.co.za/2019/01/16/are-millennials-turning-away-from-remote-working/ |
How long is Leeds United target Callum O'Dowda's Bristol City contract? | Get Weekday Bristol City FC updates directly to your inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email Championship leaders Leeds United are interested in signing Bristol City winger Callum O'Dowda in the January transfer window according to the latest reports but they are going to have to spend big to land their man. Back on December 20 Bristol City head coach Lee Johnson discussed when O'Dowda's contract with the Robins will end. The Robins boss explained that City fans need not fear as the Irishman is not available next summer (2019), with some supporters afraid that the former Oxford United man's deal may be coming to an end. The club announced him as signing a three year deal upon joining in 2016. (Image: Alex James/JMP) However Johnson explained that O'Dowda has a one year option on his contract as is standard in many of the deals handed out by City. That means that the attacker is tied down at Bristol City until summer 2020. Johnson admitted some weeks ago that the club are in talks with O'Dowda and are hopeful of agreeing a new longer-term contract. "Hes not out of contract next summer," explained Johnson. "Theres no need to worry. Yeah [he has a one year option deal]. Well either sell him for fortunes or give him a new contract. "In my eyes, hes a player that I really want to continue to work with. The potential is still untapped for various reasons such as the stop start nature of football and sometimes injuries and the concussions that happen. "Itll bear fruit for all of us if he stays here for the next three or four years of his career. My recommendation is for the club to keep Callum and everyone knows that. "But the contract negotiations arent part of my job - thats handled by Mark Ashton and the board," said Johnson. | https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/how-long-leeds-united-target-2433334 |
Why did Easter Islanders build statues where they did? | Share this Article Facebook Twitter Email You are free to share this article under the Attribution 4.0 International license. University University of Arizona The ancient people of Rapa Nui, Chile, better known as Easter Island, built their famous ahu monuments near coastal freshwater sources, according to new research. The island of Rapa Nui is well-known for its elaborate ritual architecture, particularly its numerous statues, or moai, and ahu, the monumental platforms that supported them. Researchers have long wondered why ancient people built these monuments in their respective locations around the island, considering the time and energy required to construct them. The researchers used quantitative spatial modeling to explore the potential relations between ahu construction locations and subsistence resources, namely, rock mulch agricultural gardens, marine resources, and freshwater sourcesthe three most critical resources on Rapa Nui. Their results suggest that proximity to the islands limited freshwater sources explains the locations of the ahu. Many researchers, ourselves included, have long speculated associations between ahu, moai, and different kinds of resourceswater, agricultural land, areas with good marine resources, etc., says Robert DiNapoli, a PhD student in the archaeology program at the University of Oregon. However, these associations had never been quantitatively tested or shown to be statistically significant. Our study presents quantitative spatial modeling clearly showing that ahu are associated with freshwater sources in a way that they arent associated with other resources. The proximity of the monuments to freshwater tells us a great deal about the ancient island society, says Terry Hunt, a professor of anthropology at the University of Arizona and dean of the Honors College. The monuments and statues are located in places with access to a resource critical to islanders on a daily basisfresh water, says Hunt, who has been researching the Pacific Islands for more than 30 years and has directed archaeological field research on Rapa Nui since 2001. In this way, the monuments and statues of the islanders deified ancestors reflect generations of sharing, perhaps on a daily basis, centered on water, but also food, family, and social ties, as well as cultural lore that reinforced knowledge of the islands precarious sustainability. The sharing points to a critical part of explaining the islands paradox: despite limited resources, the islanders succeeded by sharing in activities, knowledge, and resources for over 500 years until European contact disrupted life with foreign diseases, slave trading, and other misfortunes of colonial interests, Hunt adds. Watery pattern The researchers currently only have comprehensive freshwater data for the western portion of the island and plan to do a complete survey of the island in order to continue to test their hypothesis of the relation between ahu and freshwater. The issue of water availability, or the lack of it, has often been mentioned by researchers who work on Rapa Nui, says Carl Lipo, a professor of anthropology and director of environmental studies at Binghamton University. When we started to examine the details of the hydrology, we began to notice that freshwater access and statue location were tightly linked together. It wasnt obvious when walking aroundwith the water emerging at the coast during low tide, one doesnt necessarily see obvious indications of waterbut as we started to look at areas around ahu, we found that those locations were exactly tied to spots where the fresh groundwater emerges, largely as a diffuse layer that flows out at the waters edge. The more we looked, the more consistently we saw this pattern. This paper reflects our work to demonstrate that this pattern is statistically sound and not just our perception. The paper appears in PLOS ONE. Additional researchers contributing to this work are California State University, Long Beach; Penn State; and the University of Auckland. Source: University of Arizona | https://www.futurity.org/easter-island-statues-1957922/ |
What does it take to become the next Elon Musk? | Everybody wants to be the next Elon Musk (Source: Reuters) Tesla Inc. is now hiring in China, and China Inc. is hiring in Teslas backyard. A ground-breaking in Shanghai attended by Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk last week marked what will become the first factory in the nation entirely owned by a foreign automaker. In Teslas Silicon Valley neighbourhood, meanwhile, there are now about a dozen electric automakers with Chinese owners or backers setting up shop or recruiting Musks former co-workers. These well-funded startups, some of which havent sold a single car, are buying up factories, testing prototypes on public roads and kitting out lavish offices in the San Francisco Bay Area. Landing a former Tesla executive has become a top prize. Everybody wants to be the next Elon Musk the Chinese Elon Musk, said Martin Eberhard, a co-founder of Tesla back when it was called Tesla Motors. He served on the board of Chinese EV maker SF Motors Inc. after it bought his post-Tesla startup. Read | Heres how you can walk away with Tesla Model 3 car for free The king of touting ex-Tesla hires is Faraday Future, a startup founded by former Chinese billionaire Jia Yueting that began work last year in a refurbished tire factory in Hanford, California about 200 miles from Teslas Fremont plant. A search of LinkedIn shows more than 70 Faraday employees listing Tesla as past work experience though not all of them remain after recent departures and Faraday often boasts of top talent hires like Jeff Risher, the former head of Teslas intellectual property and litigation. Byton, a Tencent Holdings Ltd.-backed startup that recently raised $500 million, hired former Tesla executive Tom Wessner as senior vice president of global supply chain and, for extra Silicon Valley sheen, snapped up former Apple Inc. designer Jeff Chung. Byton, the brand of Future Mobility Corp., has an office in Santa Clara, California, and a new Artificial Intelligence lab in Los Angeles, where it employs engineers for research and development. The budding automaker regularly brings Chinese VIPs to tour its Silicon Valley offices. The talent is based here, said Andrew Hussey, a spokesman for Byton. The company plans to launch its first production model this year in China and targets US sales starting next year with an electric SUV. Venture-capital investment into Chinese EV makers nearly doubled last year to $6.4 billion, according to Pitchbook, even as China cracked down on aggressive mergers-and-acquisitions in sectors such as real estate and casinos. Many Tesla wannabes have taken to seeking alliances with Musks local rivals. Eberhard is the ultimate example of a prestige hire by a China-based EV startup, even if his former employer, SF Motors, doesnt sound much like a Chinese startup. Its office in Santa Clara has all the trappings of Silicon Valley: a pingpong table, catered lunches, a gym. Eberhard, forced out of Tesla by Musk in 2007, didnt realize he was being enlisted by a Chinese billionaire when he sold another startup, InEVit Inc., to SF Motors in 2017 for an undisclosed price. The parent company of SF Motors is Chongqing Sokon Industry Group Co., a China-based maker of cars and their parts. SF Motors is run by the millennial son of Sokon Chairman Zhang Xinghai. If you can sell a car in China with enough Western shine on it, you can get 30 per cent more for the exact same car, said Eberhard, who drove his Tesla Roadster to lunch at Bucks, a kitschy Silicon Valley diner known as a hangout for tech tycoons. Open a Silicon Valley company, hire Westerners. Poaching Tesla talent is getting easier since Musks company swelled he tweeted in October that the Tesla team included 45,000 people and tends to shed senior executives and other workers with regularity. Lucid Motors Inc., partly backed by Beijing-based Tsing Capital, hired Teslas former vice president of vehicle engineering, Peter Rawlinson, as chief technology officer; moved into bigger facilities just across the bay from Teslas factory; and raised $1 billion from Saudi Arabias Public Investment Fund. Teslas press offices for China and North America didnt respond to requests for comment. XPeng Motors Technology Ltd., a Guangzhou-based EV maker that received more than $900 million last year including from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., Foxconn Technology Group and IDG Capital, set up a Mountain View office in Googles neighbourhood. Chairman He Xiaopeng has four Teslas, and the ex-Tesla employees working there include Gu Junli, a machine-learning expert. Shanghai-based NIO Inc. doubled the size of its San Jose office after selling shares in a U.S. initial public offering last year. The company, which said it has delivered more than 11,000 cars to customers, has a market valuation of about $7 billion. LinkedIn shows more than 100 employees with Tesla experience. The company declined to comment on any Tesla connections. Most Chinese EV players are technology companies and have an edge not from experience making cars but from understanding Chinese consumer behaviour, said Nannan Kou, head of China research for BloombergNEF. Their competitive advantage is in China, he said. The U.S. market to them is icing on the cake. Yet that home-field advantage may take a hit in coming years. Teslas Shanghai factory could start Model 3 production by years end, Musk said. Volkswagen AG also is building a plant to make EVs with a local partner, and the Chinese government is starting to reduce the subsidies that long have supported consumer purchases of EVs. Silicon Valley offices and ex-Tesla hires are not as effective as they have been, Kou said. Popular models, cool features, effective production capacity and solid sales revenue are the keys now. Whether Chinas Musk wannabes can find a way to sell in the US is another open question. There will be regulatory, labour and supply-chain challenges, not to mention ongoing trade war tensions. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative cited the Chinese Communist Party connections of real-estate billionaire Hui Ka Yan in a November report on concerns about Chinas intellectual-property practices after one of his subsidiaries agreed to invest $2 billion in Faraday. Huis Evergrande didnt respond to requests for comment. Plus, Chinas EV makers have to fend off any reciprocal poaching of talent in China by foreign automakers seeking to sell there. At Teslas Shanghai ground-breaking, Musk said a Chinese engineer hired today eventually could become CEO. For now, though, the Chinese EV startups can stick with their strategy of importing a little Tesla shine, said Eberhard, whose Roadster sports a MRTESLA license plate. China is a big enough place and has enough cash that they can place a lot of bets. | https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/technology/what-does-it-take-to-become-the-next-elon-musk/1445379/ |
Will California Gavin Newsom drug pricing plan save money? | Gov. Gavin Newson wants to deliver lower drug prices by harnessing the full weight of the state against the pharmaceutical industry, but its unclear whether his team can get a better deal without giving up something Californians want. In his first act as governor, Newsom issued an executive order creating the largest single purchaser of prescription drugs in the country. It combines negotiations for some 13 million people in government-administered plans like Medi-Cal and eventually invites other organizations to join. His argument centers on the idea that a bigger organization can extract a better price from pharmaceutical companies. We believe this will significantly reduce costs, he said at a press conference last week, adding that hed ask other governors if they want to participate. Digital Access for only $0.99 For the most comprehensive local coverage, subscribe today. Health policy experts said theres no guarantee the ambitious plan will work. Size has its limits, experts said, and the downside could be Californians losing access to certain drugs. To some extent, scale counts. (But) I am skeptical that just aggregating by itself gives much more bargaining leverage, said James Robinson, who directs the UC Berkeley Center for Health Technology. At the end of the day, what gives bargaining leverage for a purchaser is you say if you dont give me a discount I will not buy your product, he said. That means getting better prices could put politicians in the position of denying certain pricey drugs to beneficiaries, Robinson said. Already a big player Jennifer Kent, director of the California Department of Health Care Services, says federal protections ensure that necessary drugs will be covered. Federal law requires that Medi-Cal cover drugs that a doctor says a patient needs, and that wont change under Newsoms executive order, she said. The state directly oversees the health plans for some 2 million Medi-Cal beneficiaries but the vast majority of Medi-Cal enrollees obtain coverage through insurers like Blue Cross and Blue Shield. Those companies, which provide coverage for thousands of other Californians in the private market, negotiate for themselves. Newsom wants to take that power away from them and give it to the state. The transition, according to the executive order, should be complete by January 2021. The lingering question, said Democratic Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula, is whether California will be able to make out better as one entity than commercial insurers who have more inside knowledge and incentives to get deeper discounts. Its unclear whether or not this will yield significant savings, said Arambula, a Fresno doctor. By harnessing all of those covered lives into one rebate (discount) negotiation, California may be able to extract additional rebates but also will not have the benefit of knowing what rebates are given to other insurance plans. A 2013 report by the California Health Foundation concluded the state already possesses considerable market power. Since 1995 at least 14 states, including Massachusetts, New York and Georgia have tried to coordinate drug purchasing through block negotiations, the report said. The Assembly recently commissioned a study on health care options from a group of University of California researchers. It concluded states have had trouble creating and sustaining such large negotiating agencies. The real flaw here I think is an understanding flaw that just bigger means being able to negotiate more, said Ian Spatz, a senior adviser with the law firm Manatt, Phelps and Phelps and an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California. In the drug world, the better prices have come from your ability to favor one drug over another by using formularies. $1,000 pills Health policy leaders in the California assembly say the current system, where numerous health plans negotiate separately, is the problem. The challenge around drug pricing is that we havent been able to understand why pills cost $1,000 a piece, why treatments are six figures or why there are widely different prices depending on what country youre in, said Democratic Assemblyman David Chiu. Chiu, who twice introduced legislation designed to combine pharmaceutical negotiations, said the result has been myriad agencies that are all purchasing the same drugs but at different prices. Chiu said his bill was largely non-controversial in the legislative process but did not have support from former Gov. Jerry Browns administration. There is potential for significant savings to the state in the hundreds of millions of dollars, potentially, said Democratic Assemblyman Jim Wood, who will chair the Assemblys health committee. The bigger the book of business, the more people are going to want it because if you dont get it you have a problem. The pharmaceutical industry, for its part, is keeping quiet until more specifics emerge. The states drug price transparency law SB 17 was challenged in court by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, although the organization did not prevail. We welcome the opportunity to work with the governor and his administration on comprehensive solutions to the problems patients are facing accessing and affording their medicines, Priscilla VanderVeer, a PhRMA spokesperson, said in an email. Sacramento Bee reporter Sophia Bollag contributed to this report. | https://www.fresnobee.com/news/state/california/article224538795.html |
Can Trump claim credit for $26 billion in savings on prescription drugs? | Drug prices declined in 2018, the first time in nearly half a century. During the first 19 months of my Administration, Americans saved $26 Billion on prescription drugs. Our policies to get cheaper generic drugs to market are working! President Trump, in a tweet, Jan. 11, 2019 This is an interesting tweet by the president because it can be read two ways either the sentences are distinct statements or they are intended to flow together to make one point. The consumer price index for prescription drugs fell by 0.6 percent in 2018, the first time in 46 years and only the second time since the government began keeping track in 1970. Prices had risen nearly 3 percent in 2017 and 6.2 percent in 2016. (We will lay aside an academic debate about whether the CPI for prescription drugs actually measures changes with enough accuracy.) The presidents second sentence has a big number in it $26 billion and appears related to the price decline mentioned in the first sentence. But its not related! We will explain below. The third sentence could be viewed as an opinion. But it also could be considered an explanation for the numbers that preceded it. We are going to focus on the $26 billion number and whether the presidents use of it is misleading. The Facts Trump wrote: During the first 19 months of my Administration, Americans saved $26 Billion on prescription drugs. He pulled this number from a report issued in October by his Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), which found that relative annual price growth for prescription drugs has slowed since January 2017. That means prices are still going up but at a lower rate than before. The report includes a chart with a trend line of expected prices, based on the second half of President Barack Obamas term. That happened to be a period with sharp spikes in prescription drug prices, especially because of new drugs to deal with hepatitis C. The $26 billion figure actually refers to the savings from the introduction of all new generic drugs in the first 19 months of the Trump administration (if you count all of January, though the president did not take office until the 20th). The analysis was based on an earlier report by the Food and Drug Administration that looked mainly at drug approvals in 2017. Contrary to the presidents tweet, it is not a figure for all prescription drugs; it just reflects the impact of generic-drug introductions. The Trump administration has made it less costly for companies to apply for generic approvals. The FDA says it set a record for generic approvals in fiscal year 2018 (September through October), 781, breaking the record of 763 set in the previous fiscal year. But generics largely come onto the markets when patents for popular drugs lapse. The Obama administration also made efforts to speed up approvals. So any number of these drugs would have come on the market no matter who was president. The CEA calculation assumes the savings relative to a world in which no generic drugs came onto the market. So its a valid number, but Trump cant claim all of the credit. As the CEA report makes clear, large numbers of generic drugs entered the market in every year leading up to 2017 and that surely would have continued no matter what the administration had done, said Matthew Fiedler of the Brookings Institution, the CEAs chief economist in the Obama administration. He said the methodology was reasonable, but it is not a remotely plausible estimate of the savings generated by the administrations policies. The $26 billion in savings is likely disproportionately accounted for by the initial round of generic entry that occurs when a high-revenue brand-name drug comes off patent, Fiedler said. These markets are so large and so lucrative to enter that incremental changes in the mechanics of the FDA approval process like those the administration has implemented so far, while potentially worthwhile, are unlikely to have a big effect on entry decisions. Meanwhile, an Associated Press investigation found that brand-name prescription prices keep going up, with 96 price hikes for every price cut. The White House did not offer an on-the-record comment. The Pinocchio Test As we noted, one could view the tweet as three distinct sentences two facts and an opinion. But we believe most people would read it as a continuum: Prescription drug prices have declined, heres how much money you saved, and thus our policies are working. But the $26 billion number refers to the savings from the introduction of all generic drugs, most of which would have happened no matter who was president. So the number, while apparently accurate, was incorrectly described and lacks context. The president earns Two Pinocchios. Two Pinocchios (About our rating scale) Send us facts to check by filling out this form Sign up for The Fact Checker weekly newsletter The Fact Checker is a verified signatory to the International Fact-Checking Network code of principles | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/01/16/can-trump-claim-credit-billion-savings-prescription-drugs/ |
How Will the Confidence Vote in UK PM Theresa May's Govt Work? | British lawmakers will on Wednesday vote on whether they have confidence in the government, after Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal suffered a heavy defeat in parliament.Here is how the process, which could ultimately trigger a general election, will work:The opposition Labour Party, backed by other smaller opposition parties, has put forward a motion which states "That this House has no confidence in Her Majesty's Government. "Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will open the debate on the motion at around 1300 GMT. May will also speak in the debate and it will last until 1900 GMT.Lawmakers will then vote on the motion at 1900 GMT, with the result due at around 1915 GMT.There are 650 lawmakers in the House of Commons. May's government needs 318 votes to win the vote, as seven members of the Irish nationalist Sinn Fein party do not sit, four speakers do not vote and four lawmakers who help count votes, known as tellers, are not counted.The government continues in office. However, there are no restrictions on how soon another confidence vote can be called, so Labour could put forward another no confidence motion at any point.May does not have to resign. A 14-day period is triggered in which any party, including May's Conservatives, can seek to form a government. To do this they would have to win a confidence vote in the House of Commons.If a new government cannot be formed within 14 days, an election is triggered.May does not have an outright majority in parliament but the DUP, the small Northern Irish party that props up her government, has said it will support the government. So May would only lose if enough of her own Conservative members voted against the government.Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn:"The most important issue facing us is that government has lost the confidence of this house and this country ... this house can give its verdict on the sheer incompetence of this government and pass that motion of no confidence". "Pro-EU Conservative lawmaker Justine Greening, who favours holding a second referendum:"We don't want a general election, this is not about party politics. "Conservative health minister Matt Hancock:"My party is no mood to hand over the reins to Jeremy Corbyn. "DUP lawmaker Sammy Wilson:"We'll vote with the government. We'll vote against the Labour party's confidence motion. We want to see the Conservative government continuing to deliver on Brexit ... We never wanted a change of government, we wanted a change of policy. "Conservative lawmaker Jacob Rees-Mogg, who leads an influential pro-Brexit group of Conservatives:"I will be supporting the prime minister." | https://www.news18.com/news/world/how-will-the-confidence-vote-in-uk-pm-theresa-mays-govt-work-2003677.html |
Are Nargis Fakhri and Uday Chopra back together? | Nargis Fakhri who returned to India, after three years, to act in the Sachin Joshi starrer Amavas has apparently broken up with her boyfriend, 33-year-old American director, video editor and filmmaker, Matt Alonzo. Matt has directed music videos for Pitbull, Justin Bieber and Ice Cube among others. Buzz is that Nargis and her ex-boyfriend Uday Chopra have re-connected after her visit to India and may patch up soon. A source says, Till August last year things were fine between Nargis and Alonzo as both seemed a much-in-love couple. One doesnt know much of what happened between them after that but after she returned to India during the end of last year, everything seemed to be over between them. One has heard that Nargis wanted a deeper commitment from Matt but he wasnt ready hence the couple decided to have a cooling period between them. The breakup apparently wasnt a happy one as both deleted all their mushy, cozy pics from social media except a brand-related shoot. Now, on social media, she refers to him as director and not any loving smileys or mushy messages as she would post earlier. Shes been in Mumbai promoting her new release Amavas and shooting for brands and magazine covers since then. While news of their breakup has been doing the rounds (without either confirming or denying it) another interesting development has taken place. The source adds, Apparently, Nargis and her ex Uday Chopra re-connected after her return to India last month. He has been unhappy since they broke up in 2017 and when he heard Nargis was in town, he contacted her. She was also moping around after a bitter breakup with Matt and she met Uday and both are said to have even spent New Years together in Mumbai. It seems a reconciliation is on the cards between the two as they have been bonding a lot. In November 2017 though, when she met former boyfriend Uday Chopra while on a work trip to India, there were reports of a reconciliation which Nargis denied. It remains to be seen whether Uday and Nargis eventually get back and have a more committed relationship from 2019 or whether Nargis goes back to Los Angeles and has another go at her relationship with Matt as the two were very much in love. Nargis Fakhri remained unavailable for a comment. Nargis and Matt met in October 2017, when he introduced her to singer Zora Randhawa, who was planning a single with rapper Snoop Dog. They started bonding and finally began living together in Los Angeles and she even got a tattoo with their initials. They brought in Christmas together and on April 17 last year, Nargis hosted a grand bash for Matt's 33rd birthday at a California night club with their close friends. The couple would often post loving pics on social media of their romance, making many speculate that they were planning to tie the know. "Now it remains to be seen whether Uday and Nargis eventually get back and have a more committed relationship from 2019 or whether Nargis goes back to Los Angeles and have another go at her relationship with Matt as the two were very much in love. Currently, Nargis is in London on some work and may fly off to the US after that," the source adds. | https://www.in.com/entertainment/bollywood/are-nargis-fakhri-and-uday-chopra-back-together-288889.htm |
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How Broken Is The Debate About Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez? | Welcome to FiveThirtyEights weekly politics chat. The transcript below has been lightly edited. sarahf (Sarah Frostenson, politics editor): Conservatives just cant stop talking about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. But neither can Democrats. She has captured headlines since her surprise primary victory in New Yorks 14th Congressional District over 10-term incumbent Joe Crowley. And her continued efforts to push the Democratic Party further to the left has also captured much of the national spotlight. julia_azari (Julia Azari, political science professor at Marquette University and FiveThirtyEight contributor): Im of like 47 different minds on this, because theres so much going on: media coverage, party politics, her race/ethnicity, gender and age. sarahf: Fair. Lets talk about her age first. At 29, she is the youngest congresswoman ever. So, criticisms from her colleagues have often focused on her lack of experience. meredithconroy (Meredith Conroy, political science professor at California State University and FiveThirtyEight contributor): That was an annoying ultimatum because as weve seen, just about every member of Congress uses Twitter as a platform and usually in an effort to go viral. perry (Perry Bacon Jr., senior writer): So, using data from December 2016 (Im sure this has shifted a bit), the average age of House members was 57. I just think that a lot of House veterans think your job as a new member is to be seen and not heard. And remember the way she got there knocking off a veteran House member who was well-liked within the caucus. Of course, they see her and her style as a threat it is. meredithconroy: And its not just members of the House, Perry! On The View last week, Whoopi Goldberg shared a similar sentiment, which led to lots of nodding from her co-hosts and applause from the audience. Goldberg said, So you just got in there and I know you got lots of good ideas, but I would encourage you to sit still for a minute and learn the job. sarahf: To Perrys point, Ocasio-Cortez was also denied a seat on the powerful Ways and Means Committee (although arguably that decision was expected given her lack of seniority). And the new climate committee she championed was created without the power to subpoena, which Ocasio-Cortez has argued leaves the committee in a weak position. So it does seem as if Democratic Party leaders are trying to signal on some level that she needs to put in the work before she can wield real power which is a very old-school way of thinking about how Congress works, of course. perry: I dont begrudge House Speaker Nancy Pelosi not giving Ocasio-Cortez power. Congress is run on seniority Pelosi has her job because longtime members stuck with her. julia_azari: Regarding the party leaders and this idea of putting in the work, I think theres a logic there that people find appealing especially in the Trump era, when the presidents critics have identified a lack of experience in government and politics among Trump himself and other executive branch officials as a big problem (Ill be here on understatement island). But Id argue that building up a following around your ideas qualifies as doing some kind of work. meredithconroy: But this idea that seniority rules has been breaking down in Congress for some time now. meredithconroy: Right. Political scientist Barbara Sinclair has called it unrestrained activist style. She found in the 1960s and 70s that there was less legislative restraint from new members, buoyed by a growth in social movements and diversifying interest groups. Sinclair also discussed the extension of national media attention to more and more members of Congress over time, which also flattened hierarchy in Congress. At the time she was writing, Sinclair was talking about national televised media, but the same principle applies to social media. perry: Ocasio-Cortez ran as an anti-establishment outsider. She is against the system. The system is pushing back. I think the more experienced members criticizing her is entirely logical. Bernie Sanderss colleagues dont like him a ton either. julia_azari: This idea of running against the system and then becoming part of the system has been a big tension in American politics since at least the 1970s. meredithconroy: The reality of running against the system but becoming a part of the system is something any activist-turned-elected-official has had to grapple with. That is probably one reason that Ocasio-Cortez is recording her new congressional experiences on social media shes pulling the curtain back by documenting the orientation for new House members, for example. By doing this, her status as an outsider remains intact with her millennial identity. sarahf: One thing that seems to be missing in this debate around Ocasio-Cortez is whether her challenge to the traditional rules and order is a good thing. perry: I think Democratic critics too often invoke her age to diminish her. That is not ideal. But older members of Congress saying, Im part of the system; I like the system; it has benefited me; and I support this person who wants to change it in a way that would not benefit me, would require a level of self-awareness that Im not sure some members have. julia_azari: Yeah. Its been a challenge for Republicans to strike that balance I explained a bit in this article how political figures like Ronald Reagan and Paul Ryan both came out of anti-establishment traditions to then join the ranks of the powerful. But its an entirely different problem for Democrats, who tend to value preserving and even expanding the role of government. Refusing to compromise, even if it meant that the government shut down or things werent funded, was consistent with the tea partys arguments that government was too big. But for a progressive Democrat trying to pass Medicare for All or a Green New Deal, thats a tougher mindset to reconcile. meredithconroy: Right, and Democrats tend to value experience more than Republicans, too. Ocasio-Cortez clearly thinks its not. This is kind of the Sanders critique too: The problem is insiders, not Democratic or Republican insiders, but insiders period. julia_azari: Perry, Im not sure I agree with that characterization of Ocasio-Cortezs position entirely. A lot of what she says has been sharply partisan. julia_azari: I think the Democrats are objecting to the primarying threats from some of her allies and the fact that she has become such a strong presence in the party so quickly. perry: So this is the place where Im most interested. Take Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri. He was among Ocasio-Cortezs critics in that Politico article, but hes not a centrist. He is fairly liberal. My instinct is (and I cant prove this) that even some of the liberal Democratic members in the House have now decided that big progressive goals are unrealistic, so they never talk about them. But then Ocasio-Cortez comes in talking about a Green New Deal and is busy protesting outside of Pelosis office. It kind of makes Democrats in Congress look like they havent been doing anything. meredithconroy: One could say its working perry: My guess is that it pisses Democrats off. Maybe in the same way that some black members of Congress were pissed off when Obama showed up in the Senate and didnt take them or their experience that seriously and then quickly ran for president. julia_azari: Its important to distinguish between process and coalition. Liberals who fall into a camp like Cleavers are not making a point about seniority or procedure for their own sake, but rather because putting together a big coalition to implement policy requires a lot of compromise. Occasionally, someone like Obama or Ocasio-Cortez pops up and makes it seem like a different kind of coalition can be built. But new coalitions that are further to the left on policy have yet to show that they are reliable from election to election. That said, its possible that Ocasio-Cortez and others like her have had an impact on the 2020 Democratic presidential agenda. I think theres a reason that politicians tend to embrace new communication technologies from radio to TV to Twitter. Reaching politically engaged citizens and shaping their priorities can matter. meredithconroy: Right it looks like 2020 hopefuls seem to be embracing a more liberal agenda, and Ocasio-Cortez is getting at least some of the credit. sarahf: She now has more Twitter followers than Pelosi does, and she, arguably, uses Twitter a lot like President Trump to communicate directly with her supporters. julia_azari: Im not sure I would use the word good, but it does seem to be effective. People clearly respond to good messaging, and I think there is some contingent of Democrats who respond to someone who speaks in a contemporary language via social media and who also offers a bold repudiation to Trump. I also just think people get very bent out of shape about evolving modes of communication. Twitter is the latest medium, but the overall dynamic is hardly new. Bill Clinton was the first baby-boomer president, fairly young (46) for that office in 1992, and did stuff like go on MTV and talk about his underwear. (See also my views on this when Obama went on Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis.) meredithconroy: Oh good, Im glad you brought up Between Two Ferns, because I was about to bring up the outrage that he dared to communicate with young people in an accessible way (which apparently was effective). Also, Obama appeared in a BuzzFeed video in which he takes playful selfies to promote the Affordable Care Act. So, yes, I would agree that as politicians adapt to new modes of communication, criticism is inevitable. perry: I do think Ocasio-Cortez is trying harder to get more Twitter followers than someone like Pelosi, who I dont think is, say, using social media on Sunday afternoons to engage with writers from the National Journal. And that makes sense if you think about the power dynamics. For example, I have more Twitter followers than New Yorker editor David Remnick does (he doesnt have a public Twitter account) because I need Twitter more than Remnick does. He has other power (editing one of the most-respected magazines in the world) that I dont have. Im not surprised that Ocasio-Cortezs Twitter following is big it is her main source of power right now, so she should cultivate it. Pelosi gets to determine what the House votes on. Thats a different kind of power. julia_azari: If I can go big-picture on the institutional dynamics for a minute This is why presidents 100 years ago pushed the idea of the bully pulpit. Members of Congress had access to the federal purse and actual patronage networks that the president did not have. But harnessing public opinion was a way the president could make the presidency more powerful. Presidents then had a monopoly on this for decades, but Twitter allows anyone who is funny or provocative or generally good at it to use that power, which allows members of Congress to get back in the public opinion game. perry: I think the always-excellent Adam Serwer of the Atlantic captured Ocasio-Cortezs appeal to liberals well in a recent article. He wrote, She is an effective avatar of the rising left: a young, working-class person of color who is fluent in the culture of the internet and, unusually for a Democrat with a national profile, not easily spooked by criticism from the right. Should note: Her media diversity comments on Twitter were, from my experience, very on point. sarahf: Something else that stood out to me in that Serwer article was this idea that when people of color enter elite institutions like Congress, there is an effort to try to discredit their right to be there. meredithconroy: Whats more, Ocasio-Cortez doesnt neatly fit into the accessible archetypes. Yet the attempt is still made to discuss her in familiar terms, which is why you have the comparison to Sarah Palin in the opinion section of the The Washington Post last week. The two couldnt be more different, but the comparison is still made because Palin is one of few political women with a national presence in American political culture. perry: That comparison is dumb, on so many levels. Ocasio-Cortez clearly reads newspapers and magazines, etc. And she is a House member, not the potential vice president for a 71-year-old presidential candidate. I feel like Ocasio-Cortezs rise is much more like Sanderss or Obamas than Palins, but I think this was an attempt to find a comparable woman. julia_azari: The fact that there arent many comparable women is not an accident, however. And I see why it seems to people whove been in the House for 40 years that Ocasio-Cortez is skipping her turn in important ways. But having a member of the House be associated with coolness and effective communication and policy leadership seems like a good thing for the institution. perry: The reason she is being covered so much overall is that she is just, well, an interesting politician. If I were running a network liberal, conservative or down-the-middle I would feature her more than most members of Congress. julia_azari: Totally. I find myself drawn to tweeting and blogging about her because she brings up interesting issues from a political science perspective. perry: She is young and dynamic, and she has policy ideas outside the mainstream, as well as a compelling personal story. Sort of like Obama when he first came along. Or Trump to some extent in 2015 you never knew what he was going to say. julia_azari: Ocasio Cortez has said that she isnt keen on bipartisanship in the age of Trump. I think this resonates with some Democrats in the electorate. But its a big country full of diverse opinions, and at some point, compromise will probably be necessary. perry: I think she faces two big obstacles: 1. Young members in the House dont have much influence because of seniority; 2. The old guard in the House is especially unlikely to pick her to play key roles because they are scared of her outside and outsized power. I dont think her role in governing will be to get on big committees or to have Pelosis ear. I think her influence will continue to be what we are seeing now: tweeting and pushing out ideas on TV and on social media and then watching as reporters and others ask the real powerbrokers (Trump, Pelosi, 2020 candidates) about her ideas. Power is in part about setting the agenda and she has that power. meredithconroy: I expect Ocasio-Cortez to continue to operate as an outsider because, from what I can tell, she sees herself as a proxy for a larger progressive movement and she was ushered into Congress by channeling that movement. I dont see her abandoning those principles anytime soon, which means that she may continue to upset her Democratic colleagues. | https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-broken-is-the-debate-about-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/ |
What happens next after the Brexit vote? Will Theresa May resign?A general election? A second referendum? | MPs have voted on Theresa May's Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, with the Commons rejecting the PM's deal. Here the Telegraph looks at the possible outcomes after Tuesday night - and explains what the likely outcomes are between a second referendum and General Election, and what May's own future will be. Good question. There are huge range of possible outcomes now MPs voted no to Mrs Mays Brexit deal these broadly include no deal, a "managed" no deal, a pivot to a Norway-style relationship, a second referendum, a General Election or a second vote of some kind, perhaps after a renegotiation phase with Europe. The problem is... | https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/01/16/happens-next-brexit-vote-will-theresa-may-resigna-general-election/ |
Will Tulsi Gabbard Shake Up the 2020 Democratic Primary? | On this episode of Fault Lines, hosts Garland Nixon and Lee Stranahan discuss Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard's announcement to run for President and how her decision is being received thus far. While the ongoing government shutdown remains the main focus of the American mainstream media, the Trump administration continues to have its hands full with foreign policy challenges. Geopolitical analyst Stephen Lendman returns to Fault Lines to discuss Venezuela, Iran, and Syria as well as to give his early thoughts on the current field of Democrats running for President in 2020. Tulsi Gabbard jeopardized her political future with the Democratic Party when she endorsed Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic Primary. Political activist & broadcast journalist Niko House joins Garland and Lee to talk about Gabbard's prospects as a Presidential candidate in 2020 and the treatment she can expect to receive from the DNC given their tense relationship. The American Psychological Association recently released a document entitled: GUIDELINES for Psychological Practice with Boys and Men. These standards are critical of certain masculine traits in boys suggesting that these traits are often harmful to society and should be dealt with clinically. Cultural commentator DC McAllister finds these standards to be both counterproductive and dangerous, and she will detail her views on this topic to the hosts on today's program. For the final segment, Garland and Lee are joined by US Army Officer Danny Sjursen to discuss the overall sustainability of America's current foreign policy and the Washington DC establishment's appetite for perpetual war. We'd love to get your feedback at [email protected] | https://sputniknews.com/radio_fault_lines/201901161071500680-tulsi-gabbard-democratic-primary/ |
Could Sheffield be the next vegan capital of the UK? | 2019 is set to be a big year for veganism. Almost half (42%) of the UKs vegans made the change in the past 12 months, and Veganuary has already reported a record number of sign-ups for this month. The Body Shop has researched far and wide, exploring foodie spots, beauty trends, those most vocal on social, search trends and more to uncover the top six UK cities for vegans. Edinburgh the hungriest city for vegan cuisine Edinburgh, the beautiful hilly capital of Scotland, has landed a spot in the top six for its residents and visitors appetite for vegan food. There were 22 times more searches from people in Edinburgh for 'vegan restaurants' in 2017 than in 2015. This impressive growth has continued to spiral, with a further 97% increase since. But its not just restaurants Edinburghs vegan foodies are after, they also appear to enjoy a cosy night in. Edinburgh is fast taking the top spot for appetite for vegan takeaways with an 88% increase in Google searches since November 2017. This growth topped that of any other city Glasgow only saw a 52% increase in searches, whilst London witnessed a 33% increase and Brighton only 23%. Glasgow the city with a lot of love for vegan beauty The port city of Glasgow has shown a big love for vegan beauty, which has grown rapidly over the past few years. Google searches for Vegan makeup from those in Glasgow have grown by a massive 77% since November 2014. This puts them just above London (72% increase) and Sheffield (65% increase) when it comes to surge in vegan beauty demand, but miles above Edinburgh and Brighton - 29% and 6% respectively. Not only is Glasgow also the biggest spender compared to any other city in the UK, but the people of this western lowlands cultural hub have purchased a huge 237% more vegan products per person than those in London. Manchester the most vocal city This much-loved industrial city is full of positive things to say about veganism. Theyre the most vocal and the most positive on social media with mentions of #vegan. However, Manchester doesnt just talk the talk. In 2018, people of Manchester purchased 171% more The Body Shop vegan products per person than the people of London, and 45% more than Sheffield. Sheffield the rising newcomer Famous across the country for being the greenest city in the UK, Sheffield is well on its way to overthrowing both London and Brighton as the top vegan city. Alongside the surge in vegan makeup Google searches, Sheffield now has over 800% more social media accounts since November 2017 talking about veganism. This huge increase illustrates just how quickly the vegan community in Sheffield is expanding. London the one for everything vegan Theres no surprise that our capital made the top six. Google searches for the word vegan have almost doubled by those in London (178%), compared to searches back in 20153. In fact, this puts London at the top when it comes to the biggest growth in vegan searches, which could be expected with its larger population and varied offering. However, searches for 'cruelty free beauty' have also increased by 100%, showing Londoners are really starting to mean business in the fight against animal testing. Not only this, but The Body Shop sold 250,000 vegan products in three months last year, with the most amount of vegan products flying out the door in Oxford Street, Regent Street and Westfield Stratford. Brighton the place for social vegans looking to connect in person The seaside city of Brighton is already a well-known vegan hotspot. The city offers the most events (per 100,000 people), plus 96 vegan friendly restaurants in this popular day-trip destination. Thats more places to dine per 100,000 residents than any other city in the list, so although Edinburgh has the demand, Brighton has the offering. Discover more on the best vegan cities in the UK, including the emojis each city is using with vegan mentions, and the most loved vegan product of each location, over on the The Body Shop Vegan Hub. | https://www.thestar.co.uk/business/could-sheffield-be-the-next-vegan-capital-of-the-uk-1-9539492 |
Is Sony considering 3D-slider tool for PS3? | Sony may be considering developing a 3D-slider tool for the PlayStation 3, very much like the 3D-slider option recently announced by Nintendo for its forthcoming 3DS glasses-free handheld console. After all, some people simply don't like 3D, so Nintendo's slider on the 3DS will help them minimise the effect or even turn it off entirely. Slide away A Sony games producer behind an upcoming Sly Cooper collection suggested that a slider function could be mapped to the analogue stick on the PS3 DualShock controller. The ability to adjust the depth of the stereoscopic 3D graphics coming from your 3D TV screen might help some people enjoy the game experience more, Sony's games producer explained. Without such a function, gamers may well be forced to (*gasp*) get up off the sofa and move around the lounge until they find the optimal position for enjoying a 3D game. Nintendo's 3DS' slider was heavily promoted by the firm at E3 last month, although we still await further news on a confirmed release date or price for the new Nintendo 3DS. The first 3D games are already starting to appear on Sony's PlayStation Network (PSN) for the PS3, although you will of course require one of those pesky new 3D TVs to enjoy them as the developers truly intended. Via Kotaku | https://www.techradar.com/sg/news/gaming/is-sony-considering-3d-slider-tool-for-ps3-705078 |
What is immigration services fraud? | IN this weeks column, we will address immigration services fraud that commonly targets vulnerable immigrants community by giving unauthorized and fraudulent immigration services. Immigration services fraud occurs when dishonest lawyers or non-lawyer immigration consultants charge fees for illegal or misleading services. Common examples of fraud include knowingly giving clients incorrect legal advice, claiming to have inside connections to the government that will help clients with their immigration cases, encouraging clients to lie on their applications, or filing forms for immigration benefits without the consent or knowledge of the client. In some cases, a dishonest lawyer may continue to practice law even after his or her license has been suspended or they have been disbarred. To check if someone is really a lawyer, you can ask the lawyer for his or her bar license number. Use the bar license number or the lawyers name to call the State Bar at 800-843-9053 or search the California State Bar directory here: http://members.calbar.ca.gov/fal/LicenseeSearch/. If you cant find someones name or bar license number on the website, then they are not a lawyer in California. If the lawyers license is suspended or the lawyer has been disbarred, then they are not allowed to practice law in California. Note that this website contains profiles only for lawyers who are licensed in California. If your lawyer is licensed in a different state, you have to use that states directory instead. An immigration consultant is a person authorized by California law to help clients translate answers for and fill out immigration forms. For example, an immigration consultant might help you to fill out a form to get a green card or to naturalize, and submit the form to the government. An immigration consultant is not a lawyer. An immigration consultant is not authorized to represent you in immigration court. An immigration consultant may not provide legal advice, which includes selecting what forms you should fill out or how to answer any questions on the form. If you have questions about your situation or need legal assistance, please contact Advancing Justice L.A.s Tagalog helpline at 855-300-2552. * * * Asian Americans Advancing Justice Los Angeles (Advancing Justice LA) is the nations largest legal and civil rights organization for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (NHPI). Founded in 1983 as the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, Advancing Justice LA serves more than 15,000 individuals and organizations every year. Through direct services, impact litigation, policy advocacy, leadership development, and capacity building, Advancing Justice LA focuses on the most vulnerable members of Asian American and NHPI communities while also building a strong voice for civil rights and social justice. For more information, please visit https://www.advancingjustice-la.org/. | http://www.asianjournal.com/immigration/immigration-columnists/what-is-immigration-services-fraud/ |
What time is The Undateables on tonight and who is in the cast? | Tom will be among those looking for love on The Undateables tonight (Picture: Channel 4) The Undateables is back on Channel 4 for its tenth series, with the ever popular show helping more people to find love. The series, which explores dating with disabilities, kicked off last week, following a Christmas special which featured a super-romantic proposal from Daniel Wakeford to his girlfriend Lily, whom he met on the show. And more people will be stepping up for dates tonight, following last weeks series opener. Esther is hoping her date will see beyond her birthmark (Picture: Channel 4) Well The Undateables is on Channel 4 on Wednesday night at 9pm the same time as it was on last week. This weeks show plays host to film fan Tom from Watford who is hoping his autism wont prove to be a barrier when it comes to finding romance. Advertisement Advertisement Well also meet Esther, 45, who has lived with a severe facial birthmark which she has had since she was born and shes hoping someone will love her for her inner beauty. Finally the show introduces deaf hopeful Thomas, 22 who is pretty nervous about the whole dating experience. If you've got a story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk Entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page - we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Teen insulted by The Undateables after producers ask him to appear on show MORE: The Undateables proposal has viewers in pieces as they beg to see Daniel Wakeford and Lily Taylors wedding | https://metro.co.uk/2019/01/16/time-undateables-tonight-cast-8350031/ |
Do School Report Cards Serve as a Precipitant to Child Physical Abuse? | This article originally appeared here. Share this content: linkedin google Email Print Releasing report cards on Fridays may increase the rate of child physical abuse on the following Saturday. Releasing report cards on Fridays may increase the rate of child physical abuse on the following Saturday, according to study results published in JAMA Pediatrics. A retrospective study conducted by Melissa A. Bright, PhD, of the Anita Zucker Center for Excellence in Early Childhood Studies at the University of Florida in Gainesville, and colleagues, included a review of calls to a state child abuse hotline and school report card release dates during 1 academic year in Florida, from September 8, 2015 to May 30, 2016. The study included 64 of 67 counties in the state, for a total of 16,960 study days. Participants included all children age 5 to 11 for whom calls were made. During the study period, the child abuse hotline received 167,906 calls for children age 5 to 11; 17.8% (n=29,887) were for suspected incidents of physical abuse. Of these, 6.7% (n=2017) were verified cases of physical abuse; the researchers then excluded cases from the 3 counties with no available release dates, for a total of 1943 cases. The results indicated that calls resulting in verified reports of child physical abuse occurred at an increased rate on Saturdays after a Friday report card release compared with Saturdays that did not follow a report card release (information ratio [IR], 3.75; 95% CI, 1.21-11.63; P =.02). The researchers did not find any significant associations between report card release and IRs for any other days of the week. To the extent that children who receive poor report cards are punished by their caregivers and that this punishment sometimes crosses the line to physical abuse, several school districtlevel or state-level policy changes could be made to reduce the likelihood of physical abuse, the researchers concluded. Reference Bright MA, Lynne SD, Masyn KE, et al. Association of Friday school report card release with Saturday incidence rates of agency-verified physical child abuse. [published online December 17, 2018]. JAMA Pediatr. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2018.4346 | https://www.clinicaladvisor.com/pediatrics-information-center/child-abuse-report-card-release-link/article/827195/ |
Has Gemma Collins quit Dancing On Ice? | Gemma Collins channelled her inner Beyonce in her debut routine (Picture: ITV) Gemma Collins has certainly been making her mark on Dancing On Ice since the series kicked off a couple of weeks ago. The GC not only made that memorable debut in the rink, in which she channelled her inner Beyonce, but has also been hitting the headlines with her behind the scenes antics. And she was reportedly left in tears after comments Holly Willoughby later made about her behaviour leading to reports that she was about to quit the show. Well the rumours were sparked after Kem Cetinay who is presenting the backstage gossip from the show this year told This Morning that the Towie stalwart left before the end of Sunday nights show because she got bored. It came following reports that she showed up late to group dance rehearsals during the week, leaving the others wondering where she was as well as reports claiming she had asked a camera crew to leave so she could rehearse. Advertisement Advertisement All of which prompted an outburst from Holly Willoughby as she said: I really love Gemma, Im a big fan of Gemmas and I think shes great on the show. Holly Willoughby made her feelings about Gemmas early departure known (Picture: Rex Shutterstock) But, I think there needs to be a little bit of professionalism that comes into any work you do. Just a little pride in your work. You just shouldnt do that. And after Kem explained she had left early on Sunday, adding but she does love skating, Holly snapped: Thats absolute rubbish. Thats just a really good excuse to get out of stuff you dont want to do. I love that side of her but I think professionalism will always outweigh that diva behaviour. Naughty Gemma. Cue the rumours that she had quit but dont worry Gemma fans, she will be back, with an ITV spokesperson saying there is no truth to the rumours and adding: Gemma is loving being on the show and we love having her. The reality star also told a fan on Twitter that she would be back next Sunday. Dont worry I will be skating next Sunday https://t.co/A1myItKDaU Gemma Collins (@missgemcollins) January 13, 2019 So we can all look forward to seeing what The GC pulls out of the bag next as she and skating partner Matt Evers take on musicals week. Advertisement Advertisement Thank goodness for that. Dancing On Ice continues on ITV on Sunday night at 6pm. If you've got a story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk Entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page - we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Dancing On Ices Mark Little mocks Gemma Collins weight as he tears into her scary behind-the-scenes behaviour MORE: Gemma Collins is all smiles ahead of Dancing On Ice training as she ignores Jason Gardiners ignorant comments | https://metro.co.uk/2019/01/16/gemma-collins-quit-dancing-ice-8349852/ |
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Which Life Science IPOs is the Government Shutdown Affecting? | Initial public offerings meant to take place are facing a huge barrier due to the ongoing US government shutdown. The US government shutdown is still on and is now the longest ever. As a result, initial public offerings (IPOs) meant to take place are facing a huge barrier. IPOs are tied to the shutdown because the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has limited staff on hand. The SEC is responsible for protecting investors while maintaining a fair and orderly market, among other responsibilities. Under its current operational status, the SEC only has enough staff to accommodate emergency situations, and respond to complaints and other unique situations. During the Biotech Showcase, which took place in San Francisco from January 7 to 10, the government shutdown was in stark focus at many panels in terms of financing and IPOs. Top 5 Biotech Stocks to Watch This Year Find out how other investors are profiting from biotech Give me my free report! At a lunch plenary on January 9 regarding the intersection of policy and sentiment for the biotech industry, Rachel King, CEO of GlycoMimetics (NASDAQ:GLYC), said the government shutdown is a disaster for the companies that intended to go public over the week. The week of the Biotech Showcase and the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference has long been a notable time for big IPOs in the healthcare sector. Timing is everything for IPOs, King said. She added that if the shutdown isnt resolved soon, startups, company valuations and other upcoming IPOs in 2019 could continue to be affected. Companies waiting to join the public market on the NASDAQ and New York Stock Exchange include: Poseida Therapeutics, Alector, Anchiano Therapeutics (TASE:ANCN), Kaleido, Cirius Therapeutics and BrainsWay (TASE:BRIN). All of these companies have filed their IPOs with the NASDAQ and SEC, but wont be approved until the latter is up and running again. Poseida and Alector have the highest IPO offerings compared to other upcoming life science companies at US$115 million and US$150 million, respectively. Kaleido sits further down on the list at US$100 million and Cirius is at US$86.25 million, all according to the NASDAQs list of recently filed IPOs. Starting off with Poseida, the company is a clinical-stage biotech stock that is using its proprietary next-generation gene-engineering technologies to develop life-saving therapies. Its initial focus is on CAR-T product candidates for hematological malignancies and solid tumors. This oncology company aims to address the current limitations of other CAR-T therapies, such as response duration, treating solid tumors and safety concerns. In 2019, on the public market or not, Poseida intends to pursue a registrational clinical trial for P-BCMA-101. This targets B cell maturation antigen expressed on multiple myeloma cells. The goal for this trial is to move towards a biologics license application filing by the end of 2020. Alector is on the path of pioneering immuno-neurology for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimers disease (AD). AL002 is the companys lead drug candidate and is currently in a Phase 1 trial. The drug targets a triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2, which was identified in a large-scale trial dedicated to human genomic studies of AD patients. Alector already has a Big Pharma partnership with AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) for AD and other neurodegenerative indications. Top 5 Biotech Stocks to Watch This Year Find out how other investors are profiting from biotech Give me my free report! Anchiano is working on its second IPO and a first-of-its-kind gene therapy in non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. This indication has a potential market value of US$1.5 billion. Other indications the company is working on are ovarian and pancreatic cancer. In total, the company has eight ongoing trials for three indications with a single drug candidate, inodiftagene. Working in a newer category of therapies, Kaleido has a pipeline of microbiome metabolic therapy candidates for an array of indications. The most advanced indication is ammonia, for which the company is finishing up non-investigational new drug (IND) human clinical studies for a potential IND filing. The company raised US$101 million in June 2018 in an oversubscribed Series C financing. Next up, Cirius is working on mitochondrial metabolism, which rebalances a metabolism at its roots, through a new class of drugs. A big focus for this technology is Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis, for which the company is currently enrolling patients with fibrosis in a Phase 2b trial. In animal studies this technology has shown to protect the liver against damage, including fibrosis. The last and most recent company to file its IPO is BrainsWay. The company is working on deep transcranial magnetic stimulation, which provides the brain with new depth and breadth to produce broad stimulation and functional modulation of targeted areas. The product has been approved for major depressive disorder since 2013 and has de-novo clearance for obsessive compulsive disorder. It also has a European Commission mark and is sold globally for multiple brain disorders. The ambitions of all these companies are on hold until the government can come to a budget agreement and settle the shutdown. Until then investors are encouraged to follow company news for updates. Dont forget to follow @INN_LifeScience for real-time updates! Securities Disclosure: I, Gabrielle Lakusta, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article. Editorial Disclosure: The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in the interviews it conducts. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence. | https://investingnews.com/daily/life-science-investing/biotech-investing/life-science-ipos-government-shutdown-affecting/ |
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