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Why do people in Eastbourne keep driving SUVs? | From: Jane Schulze Wilmington Square As a diversion from Brexit fever I write to you, the Herald, and residents of Eastbourne, in the hopes that I may receive an answer to a question that is puzzling me. Not so long ago we were all encouraged to own small eco-friendly cars . What has now become apparent for all who regularly drive around Eastbourne and other areas is that a large majority of cars are SUVs (sport utility vehicles). Most car manufacturers are now producing such vehicles i.e Mitsubishi, Citroen, KIA, Nissan, Mercedes, Volvo, BMW, Toyota to name a few. And as for the Jeep and Land Rover which we see round every bend surely these vehicles were designed for country folk to work on their farms and for rounding up the sheep and in the Australian Outback and as the only answer to driving through pot-holes in third world countries and travelling through other remote terrain. Apparently these SUVs keep the passengers safer but they also inflict greater damage to smaller cars cowering by the kerbside as the large SUV hurtles towards them. I no longer drive along Victoria Drive or Compton Place Road (to name a couple) because our smaller cars are dominated by the large high-powered Land Rovers etc. I would appreciate your reply because I really dont get it. | https://www.eastbourneherald.co.uk/news/your-say/why-do-people-in-eastbourne-keep-driving-suvs-1-8774707 |
Why no eclipse every full and new moon? | A lunar eclipse happens when the Earth, sun and moon align in space, with Earth between the sun and moon. At such times, Earths shadow falls on the full moon, darkening the moons face and at mid-eclipse usually turning it a coppery red. A solar eclipse happens at the opposite phase of the moon new moon when the moon passes between the sun and Earth. EarthSky lunar calendars are cool! They make great gifts. Order now. Going fast! The moon takes about a month to orbit around the Earth. If the moon orbited in the same plane as the ecliptic Earths orbital plane we would have a minimum of two eclipses every month. Thered be an eclipse of the moon at every full moon. And, one fortnight (approximately two weeks) later thered be an eclipse of the sun at new moon for a total of at least 24 eclipses every year. But the moons orbit is inclined to Earths orbit by about five degrees. Twice a month the moon intersects the ecliptic Earths orbital plane at points called nodes. If the moon is going from south to north in its orbit, its called an ascending node. If the moon is going from north to south, its a descending node. If the full moon or new moon is appreciably close to one of these nodes, then an eclipse is not only possible but inevitable. Solar and lunar eclipses always come in pairs, with one following the other in a period of one fortnight (approximately two weeks). For example, in 2019, the upcoming ascending node total lunar eclipse on January 20-21 follows the descending node partial solar eclipse on January 5-6. Then exactly six lunar months (six new moons) after the descending node partial solar eclipse on January 5-6, theres an ascending node total solar eclipse on July 2. One fortnight after this ascending node July 2 total solar eclipse, there will be a descending node partial lunar eclipse on July 16. Then exactly six lunar months (six new moons) after the ascending node partial solar eclipse of July 2, the final eclipse of 2019 will present a descending node annular solar eclipse on December 26. One fortnight later, the first eclipse of 2020 will fall on January 10, 2020, to feature an ascending node penumbral lunar eclipse. More often than not, two eclipses one solar and one lunar occur in one eclipse season, a period lasting approximately 34 to 35 days. Sometimes, though, when the initial eclipse happens sufficiently early in the eclipse season, there can be three eclipses in one eclipse season (two solar and one lunar, or two lunar and one solar). This year, in 2019, the middle of the eclipse season happens on January 17, July 10 and December 30. At the middle of an eclipse season, which recurs in periods of about 173 days, the lunar nodes are in exact alignment with the Earth and sun. The video below explains why a pair of eclipses happens when the new moon and full moon are closely aligned with the lunar nodes. There might be some unfamiliar words in this video, including ecliptic and node. The ecliptic is the plane of Earths orbit around the sun. The moons orbit is inclined to the plane of the ecliptic. The nodes are the two points where the moons orbit and the ecliptic intersect. Relative to the moons nodes, the moons phases recur about 30 degrees farther eastward (counterclockwise) along the zodiac each month. So the next pair of eclipses wont be forthcoming for nearly another six calendar months (6 x 30 degrees = 180 degrees), to fall on July 2 and 16, 2019. Node passages of the moon: 2001 to 2100 Phases of the moon: 2001 to 2100 The following new moon and full moon happen again nearly 30 degrees farther eastward as measured by the constellations of the zodiac in about 29.5 days. But the moon returns to its node a good two days earlier than that, or in about 27.2 days. After the eclipses of January 6 and January 21, 2019, itll be a waning crescent moon (not a new moon) that crosses the moons descending node on February 3, 2019, and a waxing gibbous moon (not a full moon) that crosses the moons ascending node on February 17, 2019. Even though the moons orbit is inclined to that of Earth and even though theres not an eclipse with every new and full moon there are more eclipses than you might think. There are from four to seven eclipses every year. Some are solar, some are lunar, some are total, and some are partial. All are marvelous to behold a reminder that we live on a planet a chance to experience falling in line with great worlds in space! Bottom line: Theres no eclipse at every full moon and new moon because the moons orbit is inclined to Earths orbit by about five degrees. Most of the time, the sun, Earth and moon dont line up precisely enough to cause an eclipse. But sometimes, more often than you might expect, they do! | https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/why-isnt-there-an-eclipse-every-full-moon |
Why does moon in total eclipse look red? | Best New Years gift ever! EarthSky moon calendar for 2019 During a lunar eclipse, youll see the Earths shadow creeping across the moons face. The shadow will appear dark, like a bite taken out of a cookie, until the shadow completely covers the moon. Then, during the breathtaking time of totality, the shadow on the moons face often suddenly changes. Instead of dark, it appears red. The reason stems from the air we breathe. During a total lunar eclipse, the Earth lies directly between the sun and the moon, causing the Earth to cast its shadow on the moon. If Earth didnt have an atmosphere, then, when the moon was entirely within Earths shadow, the moon would would appear black, perhaps even invisible. Thanks to Earths atmosphere, what actually happens is much more subtle and beautiful. Earths atmosphere extends about 50 miles (80 km) above Earths surface. During a total lunar eclipse, when the moon is submerged in Earths shadow, there is a circular ring around Earth the ring of our atmosphere through which the suns rays pass. Sunlight is composed of a range of frequencies. As sunlight passes through our atmosphere, the green to violet portion of the light spectrum is, essentially, filtered out. This same effect, by the way, is what makes our sky blue during the day. Meanwhile, the reddish portion of the spectrum is least affected. Whats more, when this reddish light first entered the atmosphere, it was bent (refracted) toward the Earths surface. Its bent again when it exits on the other side of Earth. This double bending sends the reddish light onto the moon during a total lunar eclipse. Depending on the conditions of our atmosphere at the time of the eclipse (dust, humidity, temperature and so on can all make a difference), the surviving light will illuminate the moon with a color that ranges from copper-colored to deep red. In December 1992, not long after the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, there was so much dust in Earths atmosphere that the totally eclipsed moon could barely be seen. Not precisely. Before an eclipse takes place, youll often hear people speculating about it. That uncertainty is part of the fun of eclipses, so enjoy! And watch for the red moon during a lunar eclipse. Bottom line: The moon can look red during a total lunar eclipse because of sunlight thats filtered and refracted by Earths atmosphere. | https://earthsky.org/space/why-does-the-moon-look-red-during-a-total-lunar-eclipse |
How Safe Is Abbott Laboratories' Dividend? | With that in mind, this article performs a deep dive into Abbott's dividend safety by looking at earnings, free cash flow, recession performance, and debt (including a stress test). While the company's dividend history is certainly impressive, we recommend that investors take a closer look at the dividend safety of their portfolio holdings. Abbott Laboratories has increased its dividend for 46 consecutive years, which qualifies the company to be a member of the Dividend Aristocrats Index. Abbott Laboratories (ABT) is a well-known stock among dividend growth investors because of its impressive dividend history (46 years of increases, qualifying it to be a Dividend Aristocrat). On the surface, Abbott's dividend history may suggest that the company pays a very safe dividend. With that said, we recommend that investors always look beyond dividend history to ensure - without question - that their holdings pay safe dividends. With that in mind, this article will examine Abbott Laboratories' dividend safety relative to earnings, free cash flow, recession performance, and debt. If you prefer learning through videos, you can watch a video analysis on the topic below: Business Overview To begin, lets talk about Abbott Laboratories' business model. Abbott Laboratories is one of the largest medical appliances & equipment manufacturers in the world. Only Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) (which also has other businesses such as pharmaceuticals) has a higher market capitalization. Abbott Laboratories was founded in 1888 and has grown into a company valued at $120 billion. It is a well-known dividend stock because of its compelling track record of dividend growth. With 46 years of consecutive dividend increases, Abbott Laboratories is a member of the Dividend Aristocrats Index, a group of elite dividend stocks with more than 25 years of consecutive dividend increases. Looking ahead, investors cannot rely on Abbott Laboratories dividend history alone to measure its dividend safety. For the remainder of this article, we will discuss the companys current dividend safety from four perspectives: its dividend safety in the context of its current earnings its dividend safety in the context of its current free cash flow its dividend safety in the context of its recession performance its dividend safety in the context of its current debt load Abbott Laboratories Dividend Safety Relative to Earnings First, lets discuss Abbott Laboratories dividend safety in the context of the companys current earnings. When Abbott Laboratories reported third quarter financial results on October 17th, the company announced that it generated adjusted earnings per share of $0.75 in the three-month reporting period. For context, Abbott Laboratories currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.28 for a payout ratio of 37% in the most recent quarter. Looking out over a longer time horizon, our conclusion is the same. Abbott Laboratories generated $2.07 of adjusted earnings per share through the first nine months of fiscal 2018 and paid $0.84 of common share dividends during the same time period for a dividend payout ratio of 41%. Using earnings, its dividend appears very safe for the foreseeable future. Abbott Laboratories Dividend Safety Relative to Free Cash Flow Many analysts believe that comparing a companys dividend payments to its free cash flow is a better method for assessing dividend safety. Accordingly, we will now compare Abbot Laboratories current dividend payment to its free cash flow. Through the first nine months of fiscal 2018, Abbott Laboratories generated $4.5 billion of cash from operating activities and spent $927 million on capital expenditures for free cash flow of $3.6 billion. The company distributed $1.5 billion of common share dividends during the same time period for a free cash flow dividend payout ratio of 42%. Using free cash flow, our conclusion is the same as when we used earnings to measure Abbot Laboratories dividend safety, although a second-level analysis was required. The companys dividend appears safe for the foreseeable future. Abbott Laboratories Dividend Safety Relative to Recession Performance Companies do not cut their dividends in the good times. Instead, dividends are reduced when companies experience financial difficulties. Accordingly, this section will analyze Abbot Laboratories current dividend safety in the context of the companys historical recession performance. We believe that the best way to measure a companys recession resiliency is by measuring its earnings per share performance during the financial crisis that occurred between 2007 and 2009. Abbott Laboratories performance during this time period is shown here: 2007 adjusted earnings per share: $2.84 2008 adjusted earnings per share: $3.03 2009 adjusted earnings per share: $3.72 2010 adjusted earnings per share: $4.17 2011 adjusted earnings per share: $4.66 2012 adjusted earnings per share: $4.99 Abbott Laboratories earnings per share continued their streak of uninterrupted increases during the 2007-2009 recession. Accordingly, we have no concerns about the companys ability to pay rising dividends during future economic downturns. Abbott Laboratories Dividend Safety Relative to Its Current Debt Load The last angle that we will use to assess Abbott Laboratories current dividend safety is by looking at the companys current debt level. More specifically, we will see how much the companys weighted average interest rate will need to increase before the companys free cash flow will no longer cover its dividend payment. Through the first nine months of fiscal 2018, Abbott Laboratories generated $640 million of interest expense and had $23.3 billion of debt outstanding for a weighted average interest rate of 3.7%. The following image shows how changes to Abbott Laboratories weighted average interest rate would impact the companys dividend safety as measured by free cash flow. Source: Sure Dividend Calculations As the image shows, Abbott Laboratories weighted average interest rate would need to rise to approximately the 16% level before its dividend would no longer be covered by free cash flow. Accordingly, we believe that the companys debt level is unlikely to impact the safety of its dividend moving forward. Final Thoughts Abbott Laboratories' dividend history shows that the company has historically had the ability and willingness to pay rising dividends through a variety of economic regimes. With that in mind, the conclusion of our dividend safety analysis should not be surprising. After examining Abbott Laboratories' dividend safety relative to its earnings, free cash flow, recession performance, and debt, we conclude that Abbott Laboratories' dividend appears very safe for the foreseeable future. Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. | https://seekingalpha.com/article/4234111-safe-abbott-laboratories-dividend |
Will the Green New Deal Suck (Carbon Out of the Air)? | Theres just one wrinkle: Theres not a single, official Green New Deal. Much like Medicare for All, a Green New Deal refers more to a few shared goals than to a completed legislative package. (The original New Deal basically worked the same way.) Now, a number of environmental groups are trying to make those goals more specific. But theyre running into a snag: The bogeymen that have haunted old progressive climate policies are suddenly back again. And the fights arent just about nuclear power. Late last week, more than 600 environmental groups published a letter laying out an environmental agenda for the new Congress. The groups did not explicitly describe a Green New Deal, but their sought-after legislative program looked and quacked a lot like one. They demanded an all-renewable power grid, an end to fossil-fuel exports, and a ban on gas-powered cars by 2040. If we are to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, we must act aggressively and quickly, the letter said. Of the hundreds of groups who issued the demands, one stood out: the Sunrise Movement, the new, youth-led activism corps that flung the Green New Deal into national prominence last year. More established organizationsincluding Friends of the Earth, 350.org, and the Center for Biological Diversityalso signed. The letter seemed like the standard collection of progressive climate goals, but upon closer inspection it veered into new and controversial territory, especially in the places where the groups said what they would not support. They promised to vigorously oppose any legislation that promoted nuclear power; hydroelectric power; and carbon capture and storage, a still-experimental technology that could remove carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere. They also forbade Congress from using any market-based mechanism to administer climate policy. The absolute nature of these demands reportedly kept a number of established green nonprofitsincluding the Sierra Club, the Audubon Society, and the Environmental Defense Fundfrom signing the letter. And the Sunrise Movement has backed off the letter somewhat. Stephen OHanlon, a spokesman for the group, told me that the letter to Congress is not the full vision of the Green New Deal. It is a set of climate priorities for the new Congress. But the demands point to a broader shift for Sunriseparticularly around the issue of carbon capture and storage. In November, when Sunrise first demanded Nancy Pelosi create a Green New Deal committee, it said that any potential plan must fund massive investment in the drawdown and capture of greenhouse gases. Sunrise seemed, in other words, to endorse carbon-capture research. But the final version of that same document omits capture at all: It calls only for investment in the drawdown of greenhouse gases. This change has not been previously reported, and it appears to have been made quietly. Greg Carlock, who developed a different Green New Deal plan for the left-wing think tank Data for Progress, told me he was not aware of the change. | https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/01/first-fight-about-democrats-climate-green-new-deal/580543/?utm_source=feed |
How can a humble backyard gardener counter the massive massacre of our wildlife? | In the 1970s Australians were thinner and poorer, believed Chiko rolls to be delicious and Countdown to be essential and they shared the planet with 60 per cent more animals than we do in 2019. The massive wildlife massacre of the past few decades, detailed in a major study produced by the World Wildlife Fund in late 2018, is largely a function of disappearing habitat as roads slice up wilderness and housing blocks follow. The scientists who tallied up the missing mammals, birds, fish and reptiles didn't get around to insects, but their population decline is evident in everything from lower pollination rates to cleaner windscreens on summer holiday drives. AB Bishop, horticulturist, landscape designer and garden writer, has an answer the habitat garden and her book, Habitat, is an impassioned, warm and witty how-to for bringing life back into the garden. Wildlife like the whole life cycle of plants, not just the pretty bits. Credit:Murdoch Books Bishop lives on a 1.2 hectare bush block and believes that protecting wildlife should be a fundamental drive of the gardens we create, wherever we live. Fortunately she doesn't have an evangelist's insistence and instead lures us to agree with tales of watching butterflies from the deck, and birds from the deck chair. A habitat garden, she writes, is less work than a manicured garden, because life likes the whole life cycle, not just the pretty bits. Untidy fallen twigs and leaves, dead branches, flowering weeds in the "lawn" and decaying stuff in the shrubbery all feed the soil micro-organisms and thousands of insect species that are at the bottom of the food chain. Bishop explains how gardeners can attract earthworms and insects, frogs and reptiles, birds and other animals by understanding the backyard ecosystem and choosing plants that provide food and habitat for a wide range of life. | https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/entertainment/how-can-a-humble-backyard-gardener-counter-the-massive-massacre-of-our-wildlife-20190110-h19x4v.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed |
Will Nargis Fakhri and Uday Chopra reconcile? | bollywood After Nargis Fakhri's break up with Matt Alonzo, the actress is nursing a broken heart and Uday Chopra is the shoulder to cry on Uday Chopra, Nargis Fakhri and Matt Alonzo B-Town is buzzing that Nargis Fakhri and ex-flame Uday Chopra are warming up to each other again. The hottie is back in town for the promotions of her film, Amavas. She recently broke up with American video editor boyfriend, Matt Alonzo. The parting wasn't a happy one as they have deleted their loved-up pictures from their respective social media accounts. She's nursing a broken heart and Uday is the shoulder to cry on. We will wait for him to drop a hint on Twitter. How he loved to flirt with her online! Nargis started her career in Bollywood with the film Rockstar in 2011. She has since been seen in movies like Madras Cafe, Main Tera Hero, Azhar and Housefull 3. Nargis will next be seen in Amavas which is a horror movie. The film also features Sachiin Joshi, Vivan Bhathena, Mona Singh and Ali Asgar. Directed by Bhushan Patel, Amavas will release on February 1. Talking about her film she said, "I like supernatural horror films because it scares you, it takes you into a world where the story unfolds and things come into action... it is engrossing. Watching a horror story gets our adrenaline going and that is addictive. This ('Amavas') is the only horror script that I have come across in the last six years so I was instantly excited," she added. Catch up on all the latest entertainment news and gossip here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates | https://www.mid-day.com/articles/will-nargis-fakhri-and-uday-chopra-reconcile/405373 |
Was NBA London 2019 The Final Curtain For UK Basketball Fans? | NBA fans in London were treated to a basketball rarity last night, as the Washington Wizards defeated the New York Knicks 101-100 at the O2 Arena on a goal-tending call. Even Scott Brooks, whose basketball career spans 30 years including a decade as an NBA player and another decade as an NBA head coach, admitted post-game Ive never seen that. It was the culmination of what NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said at his press conference was essentially a weeks worth of activities [including] clinics, junior NBA programmes, multiple partner events... it feels a little bit like our European All-Star game. Its all part of the NBAs mission to expand internationally and break into new markets. As Silver stated NBA London 2019 was the 91st game that the NBA has played in Europe, before adding to the amusement of the assembled European media that includes both friendlies and fixtures. The explosion of international talent That global expansion has been aided by an explosion in worldwide talent over the last couple of decades. Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, drafted 9th overall in 1998, was arguably the first European NBA superstar. The San Antonio Spurs were able to exploit a market inefficiency by being the first to embrace the potential of international players. They snagged Manu Ginobili with the 57th pick in 1999. Ginobili stayed in Europe until 2002, winning the Euroleague Championship and Euroleague MVP in 2001 with Virtus Bologna, but together with Tony Parker, was drafted 28th in 2001, was at the core of one of the NBAs most successful dynasties of the post-Michael Jordan NBA. But they were just the trailblazers. In his remarks Silver directly referenced the importance of the new generation of international talent coming through now, saying Whats exciting to see... is the development of the enormous talent thats coming out of Europe now into the NBA. And look no further than this years All-Star voting. Of course, Giannis Antetokuonmpo is the number one vote-getter in the East, and Luka Doncic is the number two [in the West]. The sentiment was echoed by Knicks guard, and French national, Frank Ntilikina ahead of the game, who spoke of the growing trend Giannis [Antetokounmpo] and Nikola [Jokic] in particular [are] representing Europe so well but it can only get better. One of the most eye-catching ideas floated by Silver at his press conference was the idea of tournaments around the globe to capitalize on and continue to grow, the NBAs global audience. One of the things Im sure well be talking to our players' association over time is should we take a fresh look at the way the season is structured? You could create more space in the season so that we could bring more teams over, maybe open up the possibility of having a tournament in Europe, a tournament in Asia, Latin America, other parts of the world. For now though, the London game has become a fixture for European fans. In every season since 2010/11, bar the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season, the NBA has come to O2 Arena. Its an interesting choice given that basketball culture is arguably much bigger in many other European countries from France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, and the Balkan states. Silver explained One of the reasons London is considered to be so important is that it appears to be, for us, a hub for us in Europe. Its easily accessible for people from throughout Europe. This particular facility, the O2 arena, last I looked is the highest grossing arena in the world and they do a fantastic job hosting major events and that has made it very easy for us. However, in comments that will concern NBA fans in the United Kingdom, Silver continued on to say that We are looking at other markets. We recognize that Europe is a huge market, theres enormous interest and that many of the other European markets have a stronger basketball affinity than they do even in England. Its been a marriage in part of convenience but its been very successful for both parties. Top of the list appears to be Paris, with Silver saying Its something were looking very closely at, that is playing a regular season game in Paris next season. It is very important. France has historically been a terrific market for the NBA. We have several players from France as well... we have played many exhibition games in Paris over the years and it will continue to be an important market. Were looking forward to coming back to Paris. Whats not so clear is whether that means a second game in Europe, or moving the NBA away from London for a time. Silver explained Its still a very labor-intensive undertaking to bring regular-season games over to Europe right now were still thinking the format would probably be to have one game next year but its something that our London office is continuing to explore. The concern of UK-based fans Last nights antics on the court may have delighted UK-based basketball fans, with a roaring crowd cheering every bucket down the stretch. But as much as traveling to new cities might help the NBA further grow their brand internationally, the prospect of losing the London game would be a blow to growing the fanbase in the UK. Luke Hatfield, editor of BouncyOrangeBall, a UK-based website focusing on the NBA said "Talk of a game in Paris is something British fans would have welcomed, but dropping the bombshell of claiming that only one game will take place in Europe next year will rightly have them worried. British fans have responded to the NBA well in recent years, and it looks as though its only going to improve with Sky Sports picking up the rights to cover games on British TV." "Paris is more than deserving of an NBA game, and many expected a game to head there in addition to the one played at the O2 Arena - it would make sense given the global focus from the NBA. But doing so by taking a game away from London doesnt seem like the best idea." So despite witnessing one of the more exciting NBA London games in recent years, UK-based basketball fans are left hoping that last nights game-winning goaltending call is the only once-in-a-lifetime basketball experience they will have and that the NBAs visit to London remains an annual tradition. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/patrickmurray/2019/01/18/was-nba-london-2019-the-final-curtain-for-british-basketball-fans/ |
Why Is Everyone I Know Bouldering All of a Sudden? | Photo: Tempura/Getty Images At some point in the last few months I put my head down, and when I lifted it, everyone I knew was bouldering. Zac Efron is doing it. Jared Leto is doing it. Jason Momoa does it. Brie Larson does it. And those are just my close friends. Last year, the Climbing Business Journal reported that 43 new commercial climbing gyms opened in the U.S. in 2017, a growth rate of 10 percent over 2016, compared to the 6 percent of the several years prior. That number brings the current U.S. climbing gym total to roughly 450. To be frank, I was bouldering with my friends in Central Park in 2003, says Andrew Fanelli, the regional marketing manager for Brooklyn Boulders, New York Citys first dedicated climbing gym, which was established in 2009. But I think because its a solo activity and easy to pick up, its having a moment. While Fanelli says its company policy not to disclose membership numbers, he will say theyre definitely increasing. While membership costs vary (Brooklyn Boulders charges $135 a month), the sport has a relatively low barrier to entry in other respects. Unlike top-roping (the other main form of rock climbing) bouldering requires very little equipment, and no partner. Typically, you just need the shoes and many gyms, including Brooklyn Boulders, rent them out, if youre so inclined. (Heh.) Though the Instagrams Ive seen suggest otherwise, Fanelli, along with several other climbers I talked to, insist climbing doesnt require immense, immediate physical strength, or a particular body frame. Bouldering isnt so dependent on strength or height, says the novelist R.O. Kwon, author of The Incendiaries, who started climbing a couple of years ago. Some of the best climbers are women. Theres something very fun about not feeling constrained, in any way that cant be overcome, by my size and height. Climbers I spoke to also emphasized how little bouldering feels like exercise, while providing a pretty decent workout, per Kwon. There is also something magnetic about how much focus it requires. I found that it was one of the only physical activities Ive come across that, while Im doing it, I cant think about my writing, says Kwon. I cant think about anything else. Thats what I love about it. Diana Tsui, the senior market editor at the Cut, echoes these sentiments. Bouldering isnt as punishing or miserable as other forms of exercise, she says, but it also provides a welcome source of total concentration. Its mentally challenging, but in a good way, she says. Its like problem solving literally, theyre called problems and you have to figure out what works for your height/skills. Im not the strongest climber but I do feel very accomplished when I send a problem. This specialized lingo problem for a particular route, send for complete, etc. is attractive in its own right, providing boulderers with a sense of belonging (and maybe a little superiority). A friend of mine, Jess Harrelson, has been bouldering for years, and theyve seen first hand how the bouldering lexicon has drawn people in. I think to some people the language is appealing, they say, comparing bouldering culture to surfing culture, in that respect. It makes it seem kind of magical. Harrelson adds that the prep involved with bouldering lends an aura of extreme athleticism to the sport. I think people LOVE the gear aspect of climbing, like the cute little climbing shoes and the chalk bags and the harness, they say. It makes you really feel like youre going on an expedition, even if its just a few feet up a sweaty wall. People who participate in extreme sports often describe the experience as spiritual, and life-enhancing, and especially in places where outdoor climbing (or other, riskier sports) arent easily accessible, bouldering might provide the average, secular urbanite with the next best thing. This, too, is where the 2018s Free Solo comes in. The documentary, which depicts Alex Honnolds attempt to complete the first free solo climb of El Capitan at Yosemite National Park, was wildly well-received, and earned the best screen average of the year, raking in $300,804 from just four theaters on its opening weekend. Its difficult to measure the exact impact of the movie on the indoor bouldering world, but Tsui says shes sure it played a role in propelling an interest in the sport. Free Solo really captured peoples attention, she says. That movie put the sport into mass pop culture. (Zac Efron, for instance, referenced the title directly in his Instagram post.) Harrelson, on the other hand, worries the movie might have scared some bouldering hopefuls off. Perhaps it inspired people to climb, but I feel it kind of made climbing seem too intimidating, they say. (For the unfamiliar, El Capitan is a 3,000-foot-tall granite wall, a climb that has killed more than 30 people, with equipment.) Obviously, the average bouldering experience is, well, a much simpler problem than El Capitan which is not to say its not scary, but that, too, is part of it. Im afraid of heights, but I think thats part of the fun and part of what keeps it so entertaining, are those giant rushes of adrenaline that come with the fear, says Kwon. Fanelli agrees. We do warn people that climbing is inherently dangerous. And people gravitate toward that, he says. Climbing has that risk factor that gives you that natural high, but its not an overt, intense competition. It doesnt hurt, either, that bouldering is very Instagrammable the 2.7 million Instagram posts currently tagged #bouldering depict walls covered in bright, rainbow-colored lumps, and bodies which look inherently athletic, even virtuous, for attempting to navigate them. Kwon points out, though, that the many people youll see taking photos at the gym arent doing it just for the gram. A lot of people do take pictures and videos of themselves climbing, and I sometimes do too, but more than anything, its really helpful to watch yourself, especially if theres a route you cant get, she says. Its helpful to watch and see what youre doing, and what you could be doing differently. Whether its Free Solo or Zac Efroninspired, or something else altogether, climbers agree that bouldering gym attendance is up. Climbing gyms have felt a little more crowded recently, says Kwon. Harrelson agrees, diplomatically. I think its cool seeing people get interested in the sport, even if it makes my current climbing gym too crowded, which is sad, they add. But the influx of new faces isnt all bad several sources tell me that bouldering gyms are where the hot people are. Its honestly the best place for a single woman, says Tsui. You can meet someone SO easily. Its a solitary sport thats really social Ive made new friends at the gym, and everyone talks to each other. You cheer each other on through problems. !! I might cry. I have to go boulder immediately. | https://www.thecut.com/2019/01/why-is-everyone-i-know-bouldering-all-of-a-sudden.html?utm_source=nym&utm_medium=f1&utm_campaign=feed-part |
Is the Boohoo share price a buy? | The fact that Boohoos margins are growing is highly impressive, especially when, only a few weeks ago, its peer Asos warned that its margins would decline in 2019 and investors rewarded the company by dragging its share price down 40%. As my Foolish colleague Paul Summers noted at the time , the company reported a year-on-year increase in revenues of 44%, and more importantly, a gross margin of 54.2% up 1.7%. Shares in fast fashion retailer Boohoo Group (LSE: BOO) took a step back when the company issued its trading statement for the vital Christmas period earlier this week. I would like to receive emails from you about product information and offers from The Fool and its business partners. Each of these emails will provide a link to unsubscribe from future emails. More information about how The Fool collects, stores, and handles personal data is available in its Privacy Statement. Register by giving us your email below to continue reading all of the content on the site. Soon you will also begin to receive our FREE email newsletter, The Motley Fool Collective. It features straightforward advice on whats really happening with the stock market, direct to your inbox. Its designed to help you protect and grow your portfolio. (You may unsubscribe any time.) Shares in fast fashion retailer Boohoo Group (LSE: BOO) took a step back when the company issued its trading statement for the vital Christmas period earlier this week. As my Foolish colleague Paul Summers noted at the time, the company reported a year-on-year increase in revenues of 44%, and more importantly, a gross margin of 54.2% up 1.7%. The fact that Boohoos margins are growing is highly impressive, especially when, only a few weeks ago, its peer Asos warned that its margins would decline in 2019 and investors rewarded the company by dragging its share price down 40%. Off the back of this robust Christmas trading, management now believes AIM-listed Boohoo will see revenue growth for the full year of 43% to 45%, higher than the previously expected 38% to 43%. These numbers are all impressive, but the market didnt reward the company for its growth. Instead, the stock was marked down by nearly 10% on the day of the release. The shares have since recovered some lost ground, although they are still off around 14 points from before the trading update. The market is not buying it Boohoos headline growth numbers might look impressive, but they dont tell the whole story. For example, sales at the Pretty Little Thing fashion brand roughly doubled year-on-year. However, sales at the groups largest division, Boohoo itself, only rose 15%, below the 18% analysts had been predicting. Boohoo has been investing heavily in promoting its Pretty Little Thing brand since it was acquired at the end of 2016, and the numbers seem to suggest that this heavy investment is having an impact on Boohoos flagship brand. That being said, margin expansion indicates management is investing in the right business, so Im not too worried about Boohoos slowing growth right now. What I am concerned about, however, is valuation. The stock is changing hands at a forward P/E of 47, which is easy to justify with earnings expected to expand by 43% for fiscal 2019. City analysts have not yet had a chance to update their forecasts following the upbeat trading update earlier this week, so I think these estimates understate Boohoos potential. But the valuation becomes harder to justify with growth slowing. Caught off-guard If it starts to suffer a decline in demand for its products, investors may start to panic and with such a high valuation currently placed on the stock, the resulting share price decline could be significant. Still, as of yet, it doesnt look as if there is any major slowdown on the horizon for the firm. The problem is, when slowdowns do emerge, they tend to catch investors by surprise (as investors in Asos know only too well). With this being the case, Im not a buyer of the Boohoo share price today, I think that there are plenty of other investments out there with the potential to generate returns without taking on excessive risk. | https://www.fool.co.uk/investing/2019/01/18/is-the-boohoo-share-price-a-buy/ |
Will Detroit auto show's move to June bring back the Germans? | CLOSE Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer talks about the freedom of the road during a tour of the 2019 North American International Auto Show. Eric D. Lawrence, Detroit Free Press When the Detroit auto show shifts to June next year, it will be A) A good thing B) bad thing C) an opportunity D) risk. Or a big unknown. Before the public has had a chance to descend on Cobo Center beginning Saturday for the final January staging of the North American International Auto Show, the fate of next years show has already been a hot topic among journalists, industry watchers, insiders and politicians, who have offered variations on the opinions above. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, after a tour of the show floor Tuesday, struck an optimistic tone: I think that June will offer us some more opportunities to showcase Michigan, to showcase this region, in, you know, some of our best months. I acknowledge that this has really been a great boost for our economy at this time of year and thats really important, but it is moving and so were going to make it the best auto show ever. Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel wondered how Cobo Center in January going forward would fare. How are they going to backfill it? Hackel said during a stop on his own trip to Cobo Tuesday, where he suggested that a June show will face lots of competition from other seasonal activities. On Tuesday, the second day of the press preview, Hackel noted a change in the vibe from his previous trips to the show dating back to his time as Macomb County's sheriff in 2000. The mood was kind of sad. It was weird, he said of the feeling he got walking in the door this year. Part of what stood out for many who visited this week was the array of vehicles parked on the show floor many of them exotic sports cars that were not tied to an automaker display. As eye candy goes, those vehicles are hard to beat, but the impression is of change afoot. To be fair, however, there were empty spaces on the show floor last year that were not necessarily occupied by Ferraris or Lamborghinis. Media preview days with fewer vehicle unveilings than previous years, a clear dip in media attendance and the shifting of a major industry announcement Tuesday to a conference call instead (that was the big Ford/VW collaboration news), did seem to set a tone of a show on the wane, or transition as some have called it. More: Automakers face a series of protests at the Detroit Auto Show More: Kia says 2020 Telluride is its largest SUV ever More: Shelby GT 500, Toyota Supra lead the parade of reveals at the Detroit auto show But a pop into Cobo the day after the Hackel and Whitmer visits, and the gleam of shiny sheet metal and chrome seemed to be pulling in the crowds for the Industry Preview. As visitors poured in on Wednesday, the pall seemed to lift. Whether this years public show helps organizers meet their 800,000-visitor expectation is unclear. Wintry weather is expected to hit metro Detroit ahead of the start of the public show, possibly affecting attendance. But a day off for many on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day could provide a boost. Important vehicles Stephanie Brinley, senior analyst with IHS Markit, said this years vehicle unveilings including those off site did highlight several important 2020 model year vehicles for their brands and segments, including the Ford Explorer, Kia Telluride and Toyota Supra, so the show has not been without news. She said that the industry has been churning out new technologies at a breakneck pace in recent years, and that perhaps, some of that simply needs to work its way through the development process. It doesnt mean nothings happening, Brinley said. Even CES in Las Vegas earlier this month the show that has been blamed fairly or unfairly to some degree for stealing Detroits thunder appeared to have less technology news than in previous years, she said in an echo of comments by other show veterans. Brinley said shes not sure how a June auto show will look. Because were making changes, well come up with challenges that havent been considered. It might come off a bit clumsy just because theyre making change, she said. Brinley noted that what happens in 2020 will not be determined by what is seen at this years show. Brinley said the decision by several German automakers not to attend this years Detroit show had been made before last year's show. Whether brands such as BMW, Audi and Mercedes return to Detroit will have more to do with how the people behind those brands feel they can best tell the stories of their new products, she said. I think its going to be really difficult to figure out whos going to be here next year, Brinley said. More driving, less sitting Sam Abuelsamid, an analyst with Navigant Research, noticed a change this week. Certainly, during the media days, Monday and Tuesday, the number of media in attendance seemed to be way, way down, Abuelsamid, said, noting that a lot of European journalists appeared to skip the show all together. He suspects, though, that attendance during the public show days will be fine. For Abuelsamid, what will be interesting to watch is whether the automakers who skipped this year choose to come back in 2020. He noted that some companies took advantage of empty show floor space at Cobo this year. Kia, for example, built an off-road course to showcase the Telluride SUV, which was one of the highlights of the show. That could provide a blueprint for 2020 and beyond, especially with new connections to outdoor locations. Auto show organizers in promoting their vision for 2020 have talked about 14 acres of auto-focused space from Cobo to Hart Plaza. If that does not convince automakers to return, Abuelsamid said, it could mean the decline of the Detroit auto show as a major news event. But its a problem not unique to Detroit or even to auto shows, he said. The problem with shows like auto shows is that we rely on relatively few large companies to come in and announce their products, he said. Those companies increasingly dont want to share the limelight. GAC Executive Design Director Pontus Fontaeus, speaks with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Liet. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist as they tour the GAC Motor exhibit during the 2019 North American International Auto Show held at Cobo Center in downtown Detroit on Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019 (Photo: Kimberly P. Mitchell) High costs for carmakers Paul Eisenstein, publisher of The Detroit Bureau, noted that a lot of manufacturers are rethinking their commitment to auto shows. Part of that is cost, he said, which can stretch into the millions for a 20- or 30-minute spotlight for a new vehicle. Moving to June could help reduce some of the cost involved in setting up an auto show over the holidays, Eisenstein said, noting also the benefits of a seasonal shift. People who come here can only do so much in the middle of winter, he said. But Eisenstein, who noted that the most recent Paris auto show was a disappointment, will be watching to see if brands such as Mercedes come back. Convincing the Germans, aside from Volkswagen, to return could require some effort, in part because of the market realities of Detroit and the Midwest, he said. Its a Big Three market. People buy Detroit iron (here), Eisenstein said, noting that the Germans ask why come to Detroit if theyre not going to sell product here. Tom Walsh, a former business columnist for the Free Press, noted that the momentum for many of the traditional big auto shows appears to be down right now. In some cases, companies are taking the automotive press to scenic locations to unveil their vehicles. Detroit has had a good, 30-year run as a big-time show, something that would have been hard to predict when it was a nothing burger, back before Lexus and Infiniti came to town and the Germans bought in, he said. This became a top world show. This one got more media than anyplace else. The question is, is all media good media? Walsh said. Where its going to go from here its hard for me to tell. The vision for 2020 is bold, Walsh said, but the organizers knew they had to do something. Theres always been grousing from international visitors about Detroits weather in January, but the impact of losing most of the German brands forced a change. Good for them for trying, Walsh said, noting that the personalities behind the show had looked to a range of other events for possible alternatives. Major festivals, such as South by Southwest in Texas or the Goodwood Festival of Speed in England, offer models for something different. Can we capture some of the good weather, really get some buzz turn it into something thats more than this static indoor (show)? Walsh said of the thinking. "Nobody else has tried to do it with an auto show. Contact Eric D. Lawrence: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @_ericdlawrence Read or Share this story: https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/detroit-auto-show/2019/01/18/detroit-auto-show-june-move-questions/2607660002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/detroit-auto-show/2019/01/18/detroit-auto-show-june-move-questions/2607660002/ |
How did Stefan Lfven secure a second term as PM against all odds? | Keeping one of Europe's last centre-left governments in power is seen as a major victory for the 61-year-old Lfven, a former welder and union leader. And the feat is even more exceptional given Sweden's splintered political landscape after the September 9th legislative elections, when the left wing scored just one more seat in parliament than the right and the anti-immigration far-right came in third, looking set to be kingmakers. Going into the election, Lfven appeared more isolated than ever, roasted on the right for leaving the country's door open to asylum seekers and lambasted by the left for later slamming it shut. But the rightwing opposition failed in repeated efforts to form a government that didn't rely on the support of the far-right nationalist Sweden Democrats. Lfven, with a reputation as a talented tactician and negotiator, emerged the winner after he cemented a deal with two centre-right parties, the Centre and the Liberals, to support his minority coalition government comprising of the Social Democrats and the Greens in parliament. READ ALSO: Stefan Lfven voted back in as prime minister Stefan Lfven was head of the IF Metall trade union before he became a politician. Photo: Jonas Ekstrmer/TT The Centre and the Liberals had until now been part of the four-party, centre-right Alliance that challenged Lfven in the election. "Lfven has reached his strategic goals: to remain in power and to split up the non-socialist Alliance opposition," political scientist Olof Petersson told AFP. Liberal reforms But that victory may come at a price, namely, the risk of a backlash in the next election in 2022, analysts said. To secure his collaboration with the centre-right, Lfven signed a 16-page policy document that reflects large parts of the rightwing's election platform and which will undoubtedly alienate part of his party base. "In exchange for the position of prime minister, the Social Democrats are paying the price with liberal reforms," Sweden's paper of reference, the liberal Dagens Nyheter, wrote. Stefan Lfven after being reelected as Swedish prime minister on January 18th. Photo: Jessica Gow/TT Sometimes called a "rightwing socialist", Lfven will now have a hard time improving his image among his old socialist friends. Lfven has already lost points in his own camp by shutting Sweden's borders to immigrants at the end of 2015, after welcoming more than 240,000 asylum seekers since 2014. On November 24th, 2015, he announced Sweden was aligning its asylum policy with the European Union's minimal levels and cracking down on family reunifications. "It pains me to say that Sweden can no longer take in asylum-seekers at the same high level Sweden needs some breathing room," Lfven told a news conference, his Green Party deputy prime minister sa Romson at his side, with tears in her eyes. Just two months earlier he had said: "My Europe doesn't build walls, my Europe takes in refugees." TIMELINE: Everything that's happened in Swedish politics since the election "Even Angela Merkel in Germany had to do a U-turn on immigration. But no leader in Europe did as brutal an about-face as Stefan Lfven," wrote Dagens Nyheter in May. Lfven's detractors had said his stance on immigration and integration was "naive" and "irresponsible". To counter that image, he took a hard line during the election campaign last autumn, repeatedly stressing that new arrivals in Sweden have both "rights and responsibilities". 'Genuine' Born in Stockholm in 1957, poverty forced his mother to give him up when he was ten months old to a foster family in Sollefte, 500 kilometres north of the capital, where his foster father was a factory worker. He became a welder and spent 15 years working in a defence factory, joining the union in the early 1980s and ending up as head of the metal workers' union IF Metall from 2006 to 2012. IN PICTURES: 15 times Stefan Lfven looked incredibly Swedish Stefan Lfven is seen by many Swedes as down to earth. Photo: Susanne Lindholm/TT Seen by some as a poor orator who lacks charisma, he is nevertheless popular with many Swedes who see him as genuine. A Skop poll last year showed a majority of Swedes would rather break bread with him than with the leader of the opposition, conservative Moderate Party leader Ulf Kristersson. After governing Sweden through a long period of growth and favourable economic conditions from 2014 to 2018, Lfven is now likely to have to contend with a downturn in the domestic and international economy, as forecast by experts. Article by AFP's Gal Branchereau, edited by The Local | https://www.thelocal.se/20190118/how-did-stefan-lfven-secure-a-second-term-as-prime-minister-against-all-odds |
Are books clutter? | Organizing consultant Marie Kondo is under fire for suggesting people throw away their books. Kondo is the star of Netflix's "Tidying Up with Marie Kondo." The show follows Kondo as she helps tidy up messy homes and preaches the "KonMari method," a style of cleaning that involves eliminating items that no longer bring you joy. Kondo suggests you keep no more than 30 books and Twitter went wild. PERSPECTIVES Some argue that books are important to have because they serve you at different points in your life. Twitter users say they are suspicious of anyone who suggests they throw knowledge out of the window. I just don't trust someone who doesn't understand the magic of books. (This is a Marie Kondo subtweet) Books come to us when they are supposed to and we read them when we are meant to. They are not interchangeable, indistinguishable blocks of text. pic.twitter.com/sW4rEUeute -- Kelli G (@glazebrookgirl) January 4, 2019 But on the other hand, books literally, collect dust. If you are trying to live minimally, books can clutter up your living space. Today, we have e-books and Kindles, so it isn't really necessary to hold onto too many books. "The point of this process isn't to force yourself to eliminate things. It's really to confirm how you feel about each and every item that you possess"-Marie Kondo From now on, this is the only convo that I'll pay attention to when it comes to Marie Kondo https://t.co/g6fUtFGzi4 -- Kat Cho [?] [?] [?] (@KatCho) January 15, 2019 via GIPHY people getting mad at Marie Kondo for suggesting people should get rid of some books are imagining people having a collection of Penguin first editions and T S Eliot not The Dummies Guide to Computers and Dan Brown's Digital Fortress -- florence (@FloPlatford) January 15, 2019 via GIPHY 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.cleveland.com/books/index.ssf/2019/01/are_books_clutter.html |
Is term life insurance worth paying for at age 70? | Dear Pete, I have always been good with money, and my wife of 50 years and I have zero debt. Taxes on our home are about $8,000 a year. We have about $700,000 in savings, and are both 70 years old. Our home is worth about $450,000. I am 10 years into a 20-year term policy of $300,000 which costs us $3,600/year. Our pensions and Social Security are about $66,000 annually. Thanks much! Kenny Answer: The day after the factor warranty on my car expired, I opened my car door only to see the rearview mirror had fallen off, hit the gear shifter, and shattered all over the drivers seat. It would be mine. You have paid $36,000 for your policy so far, and in order to secure a chance at a payout of $300,000 over the next 10 years, youd need to part with up to another $36,000. But if you're still alive 120 months from now, youre out $72,000, with only peace of mind and an unknown number of sunrises as your consolation prize. This is a classic case of escalation of commitment. The question youve undoubtedly already asked yourself is, "Does your wife actually even need the $300,000 when you die?" That answer depends on what survivor option you chose for your pension. If the pension payments die when you die, then Mrs. Kenny will likely need your parting gift of life insurance. If the pension payment doesnt change much, or at all, when you die, then you might not need to continue the policy. This is the primary means of making this decision, given that you are currently renting your insurance. More Money: Hyundai, Kia recall 168,000 vehicles due to increased fire risk More Money: These are the best places to retire in every state More Money: 7 tips to make your small business an Instagram star Your life insurance is not guaranteed to pay off. Thats because it will eventually expire or will become too expensive to handle. That means theres a pretty good chance you die without coverage. If your life insurance was some form of a permanent policy, then youd be virtually guaranteed a payout as long as the premiums are paid. Im not suggesting you should have permanent coverage, but if you do have permanent need for life insurance, permanent life insurance is the way to go. Its also important to note that a change is upon you. The year you reach 70 1/2 years old, you'll be introduced to the world of Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs). Whatever portion of your $700,000 nest egg is tied-up in qualified retirement accounts, youll be required to make withdrawals and pay taxes on that money. Because your uncle, Uncle Sam, has not gotten his piece of the pie yet. You contributed money to your qualified plans pre-tax, they grew tax-deferred, and now your not-so-silent partner is coming to collect. For instance, if $600,000 of your $700,000 is in a traditional IRA, 401k, or other like vehicle, you will be forced to withdrawal roughly $22,000 in the year in which you turn 70 1/2. You'll have to pay taxes on that money, but you can do whatever you like with the rest. That means you can easily afford the $300/month your life insurance premium costs you. In fact, your RMD will likely increase every year until you reach your nineties. This is all to say that affording the premium isnt the issue. However, if your $700,000 isnt in qualified retirement accounts, you wont have the sudden influx of income I just described. If youre concerned about any potential medical expenses or other final expenses associated with your passing, then life insurance can certainly help defray those costs. And if you want to pass wealth on to someone or some other entity upon both of your deaths, then life insurance is an effective way to accomplish that. You should strongly consider converting your term life insurance into permanent coverage, especially if your insurance provider has extended you a conversion provision. If you do in fact have a need for life insurance at this point in your life, your need is permanent, not temporary. Nothing is going to be different ten years from now that would affect your current decision. You dont necessarily need $300,000 of life insurance, if you need any coverage at all. You may be able to convert a portion of the term coverage to a permanent policy, say $50,000 or so. This would certainly make the new permanent policy more affordable. Peter Dunn is an author, speaker and radio host, and he has a free podcast: "Million Dollar Plan." Email him at [email protected]. The views and opinions expressed in this column are the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of USA TODAY. | https://news.yahoo.com/term-life-insurance-worth-paying-120105930.html |
Is FIHBX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now? | High Yield - Bonds fund seekers should consider taking a look at Federated Institutional High Yield Bond (FIHBX). FIHBX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance. Objective We note that FIHBX is a High Yield - Bonds option, which is an area loaded with different investment choices. High Yield - Bonds funds are often known as " junk " bonds since they are below investment grade. This means they are at an elevated risk of default, at least when compared to their investment grade peers. On the plus side, junk bonds generally pay out higher yields, all while posing similar interest rate risks as we see with their investment grade counterparts. History of Fund/Manager Federated is responsible for FIHBX, and the company is based out of Pittsburgh, PA. Federated Institutional High Yield Bond made its debut in November of 2002, and since then, FIHBX has accumulated about $4.74 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by Mark E. Durbiano who has been in charge of the fund since November of 2002. Performance Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 3.74%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 6.22%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame. When looking at a fund's performance, it is also important to note the standard deviation of the returns. The lower the standard deviation, the less volatility the fund experiences. Compared to the category average of -20.52%, the standard deviation of FIHBX over the past three years is 4.38%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 4.81% compared to the category average of -25.69%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade. Bond Duration Modified duration is a measure of a specific bond's interest rate sensitivity, and is an excellent way to judge how fixed income securities will respond to a shifting rate environment. For investors who think interest rates will rise, this is an important factor to consider. FIHBX has a modified duration of 4.1, which suggests that the fund will decline 4.1% for every hundred-basis-point increase in interest rates. Income It is important to consider the fund's average coupon because income is often a big reason for purchasing a fixed income security. Average coupon is a look at the average payout by the fund in a given year. For example, this fund's average coupon of 6.27% means that a $10,000 investment should result in a yearly payout of $627. If you are looking for a strong level of current income, a higher coupon is a good choice, though it could pose a reinvestment risk; these risks can occur if rates are lower in the future when compared to the initial purchase date of the bond. Because income is only one part of the bond picture, investors should also consider risk relative to broad benchmarks. FIHBX carries a beta of 0.34, meaning that the fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. With this in mind, it has a positive alpha of 2.5, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis. Expenses As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, FIHBX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.49% compared to the category average of 0.26%. FIHBX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost. Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $1 million and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount. Bottom Line Overall, Federated Institutional High Yield Bond ( FIHBX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now. | https://news.yahoo.com/fihbx-strong-bond-fund-now-120012984.html |
Whats an index fund? | The creation of the index fund in 1975 revolutionized investing, lowering costs for millions of ordinary investors. Their inventor John Bogle died on Jan. 16 at the age of 89. Bogle took a complex universe of thousands of stocks and reduced it to a simple, singular entity, the index fund. Through index funds, investing in the stock market became easy, and one could do so at low cost while minimizing risk. Practitioners and academics have researched the drivers and consequences of index fund investing myself included. Here is some of what we know. Investing before index funds In the 1970s, academics and others began finding that many highly paid stock pickers do not outperform broad market indices. That is, investors could earn higher returns by simply holding a diversified portfolio of stocks and avoiding speculation altogether. But at the time, the average investor didnt have an easy way to this because an investment vehicle for such diversification did not yet exist. So Bogle stepped in and created the index fund. An easy way to diversify In a nutshell, index funds are designed to give investors exposure to a diversified set of stocks at a very low cost. The name index reflects the idea that by buying the fund an investor in effect immediately owns a broad index of the underlying stocks. All you must do is pay an intermediary like Vanguard, the investment company Bogle founded, which now manages US$5.1 trillion in assets a small, built-in fee in exchange for spreading your money out across the market. In part, thats because index funds are bought and sold just like individual stocks and many even have their own stock symbols. For example, if you want exposure to a mix of all the companies in the S&P 500 index, you can buy the stock VOO, and your money will automatically be invested in a value-weighted portfolio of the S&P 500 companies. If you want to divest, simply sell your shares of VOO. Why theyre so popular The underlying logic of index funds still prevails today. Academics regularly find that stock pickers who continue to be highly paid do not outperform the market, on average. It should thus not be surprising that, according to Moodys, nearly one-third of all investments in the U.S., or almost $6 trillion, are now in index funds or other passive investments. Analysts expect this amount to increase further over the next decade. Economies of scale resulting from their popularity have caused the fees for some index funds to hit zero. And by one estimate, Bogles creation is saving investors $100 billion every year. Bogles innovative investment philosophy overturned an industry, which in my view makes him one of Wall Streets superstar investors. | http://theconversation.com/whats-an-index-fund-110092 |
Can genetic engineering save disappearing forests? | Compared to gene-edited babies in China and ambitious projects to rescue woolly mammoths from extinction, biotech trees might sound pretty tame. But releasing genetically engineered trees into forests to counter threats to forest health represents a new frontier in biotechnology. Even as the techniques of molecular biology have advanced, humans have not yet released a genetically engineered plant that is intended to spread and persist in an unmanaged environment. Biotech trees genetically engineered or gene-edited offer just that possibility. One thing is clear: The threats facing our forests are many, and the health of these ecosystems is getting worse. A 2012 assessment by the U.S. Forest Service estimated that nearly 7 percent of forests nationwide are in danger of losing at least a quarter of their tree vegetation by 2027. This estimate may not sound too worrisome, but it is 40 percent higher than the previous estimate made just six years earlier. In 2018, at the request of several U.S. federal agencies and the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine formed a committee to examine the potential use of biotechnology to mitigate threats to forest tree health. Experts, including me, a social scientist focused on emerging biotechnologies, were asked to identify the ecological, ethical, and social implications of deploying biotechnology in forests, and develop a research agenda to address knowledge gaps. Our committee members came from universities, federal agencies and NGOs and represented a range of disciplines: molecular biology, economics, forest ecology, law, tree breeding, ethics, population genetics and sociology. All of these perspectives were important for considering the many aspects and challenges of using biotechnology to improve forest health. A crisis in US forests Climate change is just the tip of the iceberg. Forests face higher temperatures and droughts and more pests. As goods and people move around the globe, even more insects and pathogens hitchhike into our forests. We focused on four case studies to illustrate the breadth of forest threats. The emerald ash borer arrived from Asia and causes severe mortality in five species of ash trees. First detected on U.S. soil in 2002, it had spread to 31 states as of May 2018. Whitebark pine, a keystone and foundational species in high elevations of the U.S. and Canada, is under attack by the native mountain pine beetle and an introduced fungus. Over half of whitebark pine in the northern U.S. and Canada have died. Poplar trees are important to riparian ecosystems as well as for the forest products industry. A native fungal pathogen, Septoria musiva, has begun moving west, attacking natural populations of black cottonwood in Pacific Northwest forests and intensively cultivated hybrid poplar in Ontario. And the infamous chestnut blight, a fungus accidentally introduced from Asia to North America in the late 1800s, wiped out billions of American chestnut trees. Its complicated Although there are many potential applications of biotechnology in forests, such as genetically engineering insect pests to suppress their populations, we focused specifically on biotech trees that could resist pests and pathogens. Through genetic engineering, for example, researchers could insert genes, from a similar or unrelated species, that help a tree tolerate or fight an insect or fungus. Its tempting to assume that the buzz and enthusiasm for gene editing will guarantee quick, easy and cheap solutions to these problems. But making a biotech tree will not be easy. Trees are large and long-lived, which means that research to test the durability and stability of an introduced trait will be expensive and take decades or longer. We also dont know nearly as much about the complex and enormous genomes of trees, compared to lab favorites such as fruit flies and the mustard plant, Arabidopsis. In addition, because trees need to survive over time and adapt to changing environments, it is essential to preserve and incorporate their existing genetic diversity into any new tree. Through evolutionary processes, tree populations already have many important adaptations to varied threats, and losing those could be disastrous. So even the fanciest biotech tree will ultimately depend on a thoughtful and deliberate breeding program to ensure long-term survival. For these reasons, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee recommends increasing investment not just in biotechnology research, but also in tree breeding, forest ecology and population genetics. Oversight challenges The committee found that the U.S. Coordinated Framework for the Regulation of Biotechnology, which distributes federal oversight of biotechnology products among agencies such as EPA, USDA and FDA, is not fully prepared to consider the introduction of a biotech tree to improve forest health. Most obviously, regulators have always required containment of pollen and seeds during biotech field trials to avoid the escape of genetic material. For example, the biotech chestnut was not allowed to flower to ensure that transgenic pollen wouldnt blow across the landscape during field trials. But if biotech trees are intended to spread their new traits, via seeds and pollen, to introduce pest resistance across landscapes, then studies of wild reproduction will be necessary. These are not currently allowed until a biotech tree is fully deregulated. Another shortcoming of the current framework is that some biotech trees may not require any special review at all. The USDA, for example, was asked to consider a loblolly pine that was genetically engineered for greater wood density. But because USDAs regulatory authority stems from its oversight of plant pest risks, it decided that it did not have any regulatory authority over that biotech tree. Similar questions remain regarding organisms whose genes are edited using new tools such as CRISPR. The committee noted that U.S. regulations fail to promote a comprehensive consideration of forest health. Although the National Environmental Policy Act sometimes helps, some risks and many potential benefits are unlikely to be evaluated. This is the case for biotech trees as well as other tools to counter pests and pathogens, such as tree breeding, pesticides and site management practices. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report suggests an ecosystem services framework for considering the various ways that trees and forests provide value to humans. These range from extraction of forest products to the use of forests for recreation to the ecological services a forest provides water purification, species protection and carbon storage. The committee also acknowledged that some ways of valuing the forest do not fit into the ecosystem services framework. For example, if forests are seen by some to have intrinsic value, then they have value in and of themselves, apart from the way humans value them and perhaps implying a kind of moral obligation to protect and respect them. Issues of wildness and naturalness also surface. Paradoxically, a biotech tree could increase and decrease wildness. If wildness depends upon a lack of human intervention, then a biotech tree will reduce the wildness of a forest. But perhaps so would a conventionally bred, hybrid tree that was deliberately introduced into an ecosystem. There are no right or wrong answers to these questions, but they remind us of the complexity of decisions to use technology to enhance nature. This complexity points to a key recommendation of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report: dialogue among experts, stakeholders and communities about how to value forests, assess the risks and potential benefits of biotech, and understand complex public responses to any potential interventions, including those involving biotechnology. These processes need to be respectful, deliberative, transparent and inclusive. Such processes, such as a 2018 stakeholder workshop on the biotech chestnut, will not erase conflict or even guarantee consensus, but they have the potential to create insight and understanding that can feed into democratic decisions that are informed by expert knowledge and public values. | http://theconversation.com/can-genetic-engineering-save-disappearing-forests-109793 |
Is winter miserable for wildlife? | While the weather outside may indeed get frightful this winter, a parka, knit hat, wool socks, insulated boots and maybe a roaring fire make things bearable for people who live in cold climates. Anyone whos walked their dog when temperatures are frigid knows that canines will shiver and favor a cold paw which partly explains the boom in the pet clothing industry. But chipmunks and cardinals dont get fashionable coats or booties. In fact, wildlife can succumb to frostbite and hypothermia, just like people and pets. In the northern United States, the unfurred tails of opossums are a common casualty of cold exposure. Every so often an unusual cold snap in Florida results in iguanas falling from trees and manatees dying from cold stress. Avoiding the cold is important for preserving life or limb (or, in the opossums case, tail) and the opportunity to reproduce. These biological imperatives mean that wildlife must be able to feel cold, in order to try to avoid the damaging effects of its extremes. Animal species have their own equivalent to what human beings experience as that unpleasant biting mixed with pins-and-needles sensation that urges us to warm up soon or suffer the consequences. In fact, the nervous system mechanisms for sensing a range of temperatures are pretty much the same among all vertebrates. One winter challenge for warm-blooded animals, or endotherms, as theyre scientifically known, is to maintain their internal body temperature in cold conditions. Interestingly though, temperature-sensing thresholds can vary depending on physiology. For instance, a cold-blooded that is, ectothermic frog will sense cold starting at a lower temperature compared to a mouse. Recent research shows that hibernating mammals, like the thirteen-lined ground squirrel, dont sense the cold until lower temperatures than endotherms that dont hibernate. So animals know when its cold, just at varying temperatures. One solution: Slow down and check out Many cold-climate endotherms exhibit torpor: a state of decreased activity. They look like they are sleeping. Because animals capable of torpor alternate between internally regulating their body temperature and allowing the environment to influence it, scientists consider them heterotherms. During harsh conditions, this flexibility offers the advantage of a lower body temperature remarkably in some species, even below the 32 degrees Fahrenheit freezing point that is not compatible with many physiologic functions. The result is a lower metabolic rate, and thus lower energy and food demand. Hibernation is a prolonged version of torpor. Torpor has energy conservation benefits for smaller-bodied wildlife in particular think bats, songbirds and rodents. They naturally lose heat faster because the surface area of their body is large compared to their overall size. To maintain their body temperature within normal range, they must expend more energy compared to a larger-bodied animal. This is especially true for birds who maintain higher average body temperatures compared to mammals. Unfortunately, torpor is not a perfect solution to surviving frigid conditions since it comes with trade-offs, such as a higher risk of becoming another animals lunch. Adaptations that help Unsurprisingly, animals have evolved other adaptations for weathering the winter months. Wildlife species at northern latitudes tend be larger-bodied with smaller appendages than their close relatives closer to the tropics. Many animals have evolved behaviors to help them beat the cold: herding, denning, burrowing and roosting in cavities are all good defenses. And some animals experience physiological changes as winter approaches, building fat reserves, growing thicker fur, and trapping an insulating layer of air against the skin beneath the fur or feathers. Nature has devised other neat tricks to help various animals deal with conditions that people, for instance, would be unable to endure. The secret is the close proximity of the arteries and veins in their extremities that creates a gradient of warming and cooling. As blood from the heart travels to the toes, the warmth from the artery transfers to the vein carrying cold blood from the toes back to the heart. This countercurrent heat exchange allows the core of the body to remain warm while limiting heat loss when the extremities are cold, but not so cold that tissue damage occurs. This efficient system is used by many terrestrial and aquatic birds and mammals, and even explains how oxygen exchange occurs in the gills of fish. Luckily, ice floats because water is most dense as a liquid, allowing fish to swim freely in not-quite-freezing temperatures below the solidified surface. Additionally, fish may lack the cold-sensing receptor shared by other vertebrates. They do, however, have unique enzymes that allow physiologic functions to continue at colder temperatures. In polar regions, fish even have special antifreeze proteins that bind to ice crystals in their blood to prevent widespread crystallization. Another secret weapon in mammals and birds during long periods of cold exposure is brown adipose tissue or brown fat, which is rich in mitochondria. Even in people, these cellular structures can release energy as heat, generating warmth without the muscle contractions and energy inefficiency involved in shivering, another way the body tries to heat up. This non-shivering heat production probably explains why people in Anchorage can contentedly wear shorts and t-shirts on a 40 degrees Fahrenheit spring day. Of course, migration can be an option though its expensive in terms of energetic costs for wildlife, and financially for people who want to head closer to the equator. As a species, human beings have the ability to acclimate to an extent some of us more than others but were not particularly cold-adapted. Maybe thats why its hard to look out the window on a frigid day and not feel bad for a squirrel hunkered down as the winter wind whips through its fur. We may never know if animals dread winter its difficult to gauge their subjective experience. But wildlife do have a variety of strategies that improve their ability to withstand the cold, making sure they live to see another spring. | http://theconversation.com/is-winter-miserable-for-wildlife-108734 |
Will Internet User Growth Aid Comcast (CMCSA) Q4 Earnings? | Comcast Corp CMCSA is set to report fourth-quarter 2018 results on Jan 23. In the trailing four quarters, the company delivered average positive earnings surprise of 5.6%, beating estimates in each. In the last reported quarter, the companys adjusted earnings of 65 cents per share outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate by four cents. Moreover, Comcasts top line has beaten the consensus mark in two of the trailing four quarters. In second-quarter 2018, revenues increased 5% year over year to $22.14 billion and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $21.75 billion. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter revenues is $25.74 billion, which reflects year-over-year growth of almost 17.5%. Moreover, the consensus mark for earnings has been steady at 62 cents over the past seven days. Comcast Corporation Price and EPS Surprise Comcast Corporation Price and EPS Surprise | Comcast Corporation Quote Lets see how things are shaping up prior to this announcement. Factors to Watch Out Comcast is expected to benefit from an increasing number of high-speed internet subscribers. The company has completed rollout of its high-speed gigabit internet service to nearly all 58 million homes and businesses it serves. Notably, total high-speed Internet customer net additions were 334K in third-quarter 2018. Additionally, high-speed Internet revenues increased 9.6% year over year to $4.32 billion. Comcasts strategy to market broadband-only packages to customers is likely to drive top-line growth. Further, expanding Wi-Fi coverage along with innovative xFi control features is improving customer experience. Moreover, the companys Xfinity Mobile is now used by more than one million customers. Per Comcast, addition of mobile service improves broadband retention rate, which is a key catalyst. At the end of the third quarter, 68% of Comcasts residential customers received at least two Xfinity products. Further, growing subscriber base for the X1 platform, addition of new features like the voice remote and Fandango voice activated movie ticketing service, and integration of YouTube, Pandora and Netflix are positives. Moreover, NBC Universals strong content portfolio is likely to drive growth. Additionally, strong political advertising sales are expected to drive advertising revenues. Nevertheless, Comcast continues to lose video subscribers due to cord-cutting and stiff competition from virtual MVPDs. Weakness in the Theme Park business is a headwind. What Our Model Says According to the Zacks model, a company with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) along with a positive Earnings ESP has a good chance of beating estimates. The Sell-rated stocks (Zacks Rank #4 or 5) are best avoided. Comcast has a Zacks Rank #3 and an Earnings ESP of -1.08%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before theyre reported with our Earnings ESP Filter. Stocks to Consider Here are a few companies you may want to consider as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to post earnings beat in their upcoming releases: Electronic Arts EA has an Earnings ESP of +3.64% and a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Rogers Communications RCI has a Zacks Rank #3 and an Earnings ESP of +0.75%. Roku ROKU has an Earnings ESP of +16.67% and a Zacks Rank #3. Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana. Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look. Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Comcast Corporation (CMCSA) : Free Stock Analysis Report Rogers Communication, Inc. (RCI) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research | https://news.yahoo.com/internet-user-growth-aid-comcast-122112867.html |
Is Templeton Developing Markets A (TEDMX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now? | Any investors hoping to find a Non US - Equity fund could think about starting with Templeton Developing Markets A (TEDMX). TEDMX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance. Objective TEDMX is classified in the Non US - Equity area by Zacks, and this segment is full of potential. Non US - Equity funds focus their investments on companies outside of the United States, which is an important distinction since global mutual funds tend to keep a sizable portion of their portfolio based in the United States. Most of these funds will allocate across emerging and developed markets, and can often extend across cap levels too. History of Fund/Manager TEDMX finds itself in the Franklin Templeton family, based out of San Mateo, CA. The Templeton Developing Markets A made its debut in October of 1991 and TEDMX has managed to accumulate roughly $925.64 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Chetan Sehgal, has been in charge of the fund since April of 2017. Performance Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 0.44%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 11.46%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame. When looking at a fund's performance, it is also important to note the standard deviation of the returns. The lower the standard deviation, the less volatility the fund experiences. The standard deviation of TEDMX over the past three years is 14.32% compared to the category average of 9.89%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 14.79% compared to the category average of 9.82%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade. Risk Factors Investors should always remember the downsides to a potential investment, and this segment carries some risks one should be aware of. In TEDMX's case, the fund lost 63.04% in the most recent bear market and underperformed comparable funds by 4.59%. This might suggest that the fund is a worse choice than its peers during a bear market. Even still, the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.92, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. TEDMX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -6.39, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns. Expenses As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, TEDMX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.35% compared to the category average of 1.21%. From a cost perspective, TEDMX is actually more expensive than its peers. Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $1,000; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount. Bottom Line Overall, Templeton Developing Markets A ( TEDMX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now. Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place. Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. | https://news.yahoo.com/templeton-developing-markets-tedmx-strong-120012422.html |
Is Prudential Jennison Mid-Cap Growth A (PEEAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now? | Prudential Jennison Mid-Cap Growth A (PEEAX) is a potential starting point. PEEAX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance. Objective We note that PEEAX is a Mid Cap Growth fund, and this area is also loaded with many different options. Companies are usually considered growth stocks when they consistently report notable sales and/or earnings growth. Thus, Mid Cap Growth funds pick stocks--usually companies with a market cap between $2 billion and $10 billion--that demonstrate extensive growth opportunities for investors compared to their peers. History of Fund/Manager Prudential is based in Providence, RI, and is the manager of PEEAX. Since Prudential Jennison Mid-Cap Growth A made its debut in December of 1996, PEEAX has garnered more than $963.44 million in assets. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager. Performance Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 4.3%, and is in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 5.14%, which places it in the bottom third during this time-frame. When looking at a fund's performance, it is also important to note the standard deviation of the returns. The lower the standard deviation, the less volatility the fund experiences. Compared to the category average of 9.86%, the standard deviation of PEEAX over the past three years is 11.95%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 11.76% compared to the category average of 9.72%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade. Risk Factors Investors cannot discount the risks to this segment though, as it is always important to remember the downside for any potential investment. In PEEAX's case, the fund lost 43.85% in the most recent bear market and outperformed its peer group by 7.81%. These results could imply that the fund is a better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment. Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.99, so it is likely going to be as volatile as the market at large. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. PEEAX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -3.7, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns. Holdings Exploring the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is primarily on equities that are traded in the United States. This fund is currently holding about 81.13% stock in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $19.06 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors: Technology Other Industrial Cyclical Turnover is 36%, which means, on average, the fund makes fewer trades than the average comparable fund. Expenses For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, PEEAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.06% compared to the category average of 1.18%. So, PEEAX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective. Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $100. Bottom Line Overall, Prudential Jennison Mid-Cap Growth A ( PEEAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a great potential choice for investors right now. For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Mid Cap Growth, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place. Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. | https://news.yahoo.com/prudential-jennison-mid-cap-growth-120012532.html |
What Premier League matches are live on TV this weekend? | The Premier League action returns this weekend following a break for the FA Cup. Advertisement With live TV fixtures confirmed all the way through to February 2019, the English domestic league is hitting its stride. Check below for details on all the matches taking place this weekend, and click here to see the full guide to every Premier League match live on TV this season. Premier League live on TV this weekend Saturday 19 January 2019 Wolves v Leicester City 12.30pm, live on Sky Sports & NOW TV Arsenal v Chelsea 5.30pm, live on BT Sport AFC Bournemouth v West Ham Liverpool v Crystal Palace Man Utd v Brighton Newcastle United v Cardiff City Southampton v Everton Watford v Burnley Advertisement Sunday 20 January 2019 Huddersfield Town v Man City 1.30pm, live on Sky Sports & NOW TV Fulham v Spurs 4pm, live on Sky Sports & NOW TV | https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2019-01-18/premier-league-live-tv-fixtures-this-weekend-sky-sports-bt-sport/ |
Is Fidelity Select Defense & Aerospace (FSDAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now? | Sector - Other fund seekers should consider taking a look at Fidelity Select Defense & Aerospace (FSDAX). FSDAX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance. History of Fund/Manager FSDAX finds itself in the Fidelity family, based out of Boston, MA. The Fidelity Select Defense & Aerospace made its debut in May of 1984 and FSDAX has managed to accumulate roughly $2.26 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. Jonathan Siegmann is the fund's current manager and has held that role since October of 2015. Performance Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 9.48%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 13.84%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame. When looking at a fund's performance, it is also important to note the standard deviation of the returns. The lower the standard deviation, the less volatility the fund experiences. Compared to the category average of 13.78%, the standard deviation of FSDAX over the past three years is 15.87%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 14.59% compared to the category average of 14.04%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade. Risk Factors Investors cannot discount the risks to this segment though, as it is always important to remember the downside for any potential investment. FSDAX lost 55.25% in the most recent bear market and underperformed comparable funds by 6.84%. This might suggest that the fund is a worse choice than its peers during a bear market. Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.08, so it is likely going to be more volatile than the market at large. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. The fund has produced a positive alpha over the past 5 years of 0.71, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns. Expenses As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, FSDAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.75% compared to the category average of 1.15%. So, FSDAX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective. Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount. Bottom Line Overall, Fidelity Select Defense & Aerospace ( FSDAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now. For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Sector - Other, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are. Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research | https://news.yahoo.com/fidelity-select-defense-aerospace-fsdax-120012371.html |
Is Vanguard FTSE Social Index Investor (VFTSX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now? | If you've been stuck searching for Index funds, consider Vanguard FTSE Social Index Investor (VFTSX) as a possibility. VFTSX has no Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, but we have been able to look into other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost. History of Fund/Manager Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VFTSX. Vanguard FTSE Social Index Investor made its debut in May of 2000, and since then, VFTSX has accumulated about $2.63 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by William A. Coleman who has been in charge of the fund since December of 2015. Performance Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 9.12%, and is in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 9.72%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame. When looking at a fund's performance, it is also important to note the standard deviation of the returns. The lower the standard deviation, the less volatility the fund experiences. The standard deviation of VFTSX over the past three years is 11.28% compared to the category average of 8.51%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 11.26% compared to the category average of 8.93%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade. Risk Factors Investors cannot discount the risks to this segment though, as it is always important to remember the downside for any potential investment. In VFTSX's case, the fund lost 56.56% in the most recent bear market and underperformed its peer group by 11.02%. This makes the fund a possibly worse choice than its peers during a sliding market environment. Nevertheless, investors should also note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.01, which means it is hypothetically as volatile as the market at large. Because alpha represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which is the S&P 500 in this case, one should pay attention to this metric as well. VFTSX has generated a positive alpha over the past five years of 0.51, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns. Holdings Examining the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is principally on equities that are traded in the United States. Right now, 87.22% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, and these companies have an average market capitalization of $244.99 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors: Technology Finance This fund's turnover is about 8%, so the fund managers are making fewer trades than the average comparable fund. Expenses For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, VFTSX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.18% compared to the category average of 0.74%. So, VFTSX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective. Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $3,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $1. Bottom Line This could just be the start of your research on VFTSXin the Index category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible. Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research | https://news.yahoo.com/vanguard-ftse-social-index-investor-120012167.html |
Which star NFL player will take over in conference title game to power team to Super Bowl? | CLOSE Chad Millman of The Action Network stops by to help you place your bets heading into the NFL's Conference Championship games. USA TODAY The NFL's conference championship games couldn't have provided much of a better platform for the league's stars. All four of the teams remaining boast a Pro Bowl passer, as the Patriots' Tom Brady, Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes, Saints' Drew Brees and Rams' Jared Goff will all be in action on Sunday. And yet there's plenty of other skill-position talent that will be on display, including running backs Todd Gurley and Alvin Kamara as well as wide receivers Michael Thomas and Tyreek Hill, among others. And there's no shortage of notable names on the other side of ball, led by expected repeat defensive player of the year Aaron Donald. Here are their answers: Justin Houston. Maligned all season and, lets be honest, rightly so Kansas Citys defense was a wrecking crew against the Indianapolis Colts, deserving equal billing with Patrick Mahomes for getting the Chiefs their first-ever AFC Championship Game at home. And no one came up bigger than Houston, who sacked Andrew Luck twice, deflected a pass and had a fumble recovery. Its no secret that pressuring Tom Brady will be the key Sunday, which means the Chiefs are going to need another star effort from their defense. But if Houston can duplicate last weekends performance, especially early in the game to set the tone, itll be a long day for Brady and the New England Patriots. Drew Brees. It's been a long time coming -- and three consecutive 7-9 finishes in the middle of the journey -- for the Saints icon to get another shot at Super Bowl glory. And the support system is set up perfectly: Home Dome advantage. Go-to receiver. Double-barreled running back combo. Big-play defense. Brees will do his part. Knowing how tough it is to get here, he won't blow it. Instead, he'll bring his A-game. Im gonna head off the reservation for a bit its often where Im most comfortable and say Bill Belichick will be the star of the championship round. If I knew, Id probably be comfortably retired or a member of New Englands staff. But Im fascinated to see what BB dreams up to slow down Patrick Mahomes and Co. The Patriots are renowned for their ability to negate an opponents top weapon, but that wont be easy to do as it pertains to Mahomes, the NFLs presumed MVP. I suspect Belichick will search for a way to make the forecasted frigid weather an equalizer. Maybe that means packing in against the run and taking away intermediate seam throws to Travis Kelce, potentially forcing Mahomes to try and throw a potentially slick ball deep and/or make Kansas Citys players run longer routes that might break down amid poor traction. Whatever it is, Belichick is sure to have something unexpected up his (cut off) sleeve. Chris Jones. No team generated more pressures at home this season than the Chiefs 118. To beat Tom Brady and the Patriots, Kansas City will need that. The Chiefs havent shown consistent ability to defend the run (27th) so limiting Brady and returning the ball to their high-flying offense in what could be another shootout will be key. Enter Chris Jones, who led Kansas City with 15.5 sacks and 29 quarterback hits. He also beat his block within 2.5 seconds on 35 percent of rushes this season per ESPN, second best pass-rush win rate in the league (the Rams Aaron Donald was first). Jones and fellow defensive linemen will make the difference in a game that, historically, seems to favor the postseason-proficient Patriots. Theyll limit Brady just enough to send the Chiefs back to the Super Bowl for the first time in 49 years. But sorry, Tom: Still no one will think yall suck. After last week, Im not going to doubt Tom Brady ever again. This is his time of year. This is why hes the G.O.A.T. All season long, weve wondered if he and the Patriots were faltering, but whenever it mattered most, they came through. Now, with Bill Belichick having designed a game plan to slow the Chiefs offense, Brady is going to deliver once again and put his team in its ninth Super Bowl since 2000. I'm a little stunned that no one else has gone with Michael Thomas. Yes, the all-pro wide receiver's production is inextricably tied to that of Drew Brees, and Alvin Kamara also could play a pivotal role against a Rams defense that allowed a league-worst 5.1 yards per carry on the season. But the return of Aqib Talib alone won't erase memories of what Thomas did to Los Angeles' defense in Week 9, when he posted 12 catches for 211 yards and a touchdown. Fresh off a franchise-record 171 receiving yards in the divisional-round win over the Eagles, the second-year receiver might operate frequently out of the slot, forcing Talib and fellow cornerback Marcus Peters out of their element, or in tandem with Kamara to stretch the Rams' defense to its limit. It has to be Todd Gurley. The Saints excel at stopping the run, but Gurley is a gifted running back, so the test will be tougher. Not only that, but he also thrives at catching the ball out of the backfield on dump offs or on designed passing plays like screens. But theres one reason why Gurleys rushing production is so essential. It opens up the passing game, and specifically freezes defenders when the Rams dial up play-action passes. Quarterback Jared Goff, according to Pro Football Reference, had 34.6 % of its passes this season come out of play action, the highest rate for any passer in the NFL. That split-second hesitation from defenders offers L.A.s speedy targets just enough time to get open. But if Gurley is bottled up, the efficacy of the play action declines. And it may end the season for the Rams, too. | https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2019/01/18/nfl-playoffs-tom-brady-patrick-mahomes-drew-brees/2612367002/ |
Is Liberty Media About to Become the Most Powerful Company in Music? | I think theres zero chance Apple buys this. Liberty Media chief executive Greg Maffei knows a thing or two about negotiating in public. According to the New York Post, Denver-based Liberty Media Corp. is seeking to acquire a 35 percent stake in iHeartMedia, owner of radio giant iHeartRadio. This would be seismic news for the music industry: iHeart, which owns more than 850 U.S. broadcast brands, claims to have the largest reach of any radio or television outlet in America. The firm, which fell into bankruptcy last year (mainly due to a problematic, now severed, tie with an outdoor-media division), reaches a quarter of a billion Americans every single month. Libertys potential rival in its bid to snaffle a minority chunk of iHeart is, supposedly, Apple, which could prospectively use iHeart to drive the popularity of its own Music streaming app. Maffeis zero chance insistence, then, delivered to Liberty Media investors on a public-earnings call in mid-November, was a clear assertion that his Tim Cook-led competitor wasnt at the races. You can see why Maffei might be feeling possessive: Liberty already owns $660 million of iHeart debt, and will automatically end up with around five percent of the company if, as expected, iHeart shakes off the shackles of bankruptcy next month. Meanwhile, an initial $1.16 billion approach from Liberty for 40 percent of iHeart last summer was rebuffed by the latters debt holders. iHeart, meanwhile, has a gigantic and visible influence on U.S. consumers it reaches nine out of ten Americans every month so its understandable why the acquisitive sharks are circling. In contrast, Liberty Media Corp.s public profile remains conspicuously mute. Yet its certainly a brand worth remembering: Its no exaggeration to say that, over the next 12 months, Liberty could turn the global modern music business on its head, while shifting the entertainment industrys power base right off its axis. Liberty might just end up owning a stake in no less than seven (seven!) billion-dollar, or, indeed, multi-billion dollar music companies by the time 2019 is through. Libertys existing portfolio includes its majority holding (71 percent) in satellite radio giant SiriusXM, in addition to Sirius soon-to-be ownership of streaming-music platform Pandora. (Sirius is set to officially close an agreed $3.5 billion all-stock buyout of Pandora in the coming weeks.) Sirius and Pandora jointly reach a monthly U.S.-based audience of more than 100 million people via 34 million subscribers to Sirius and 69 million active listeners on Pandora. Sirius expects to have generated $5.73 billion in revenues last year; at Pandora, that number should top $1.5 billion. When these two brands are under one roof, says Sirius, they will form the worlds largest audio entertainment company. Swallow that, Spotify. In addition, Liberty owns a 34 percent stake in Live Nation, the globes biggest concert promoter and venue owner, which also happens to be the parent of the worlds largest ticketing company, Ticketmaster. And to cap things off, Liberty is also a small investor in Saavn the Indian Spotify rival that recently merged with local rival JioMusic to form $1 billion-valued platform JioSaavn and that, in addition to offering a vast catalog of music, also signs and develops artists, just like a record label. Some have suggested that, by meaningfully combining the strategy of these businesses, Liberty could form the music industrys first true full stack organization, one able to promote and break major artists to mainstream U.S. audiences, before seamlessly up-selling fans into buying tickets, merch and more at live experiences. We continue to believe Sirius controlling shareholder, Liberty Media Corporation, wishes to eventually control a combined SiriusXM, Pandora and Live Nation, and that this will become reality with a Sirius acquisition of Live Nation and a cleanup of Sirius share structure, wrote BTIG analyst Brandon Ross in Q3 last year. Others go even further, suggesting that, with iHeartMedia added to this mix, Liberty Media would be able to service the promotional, distribution and touring requirements of independent artists to a truly blockbuster degree threatening some of the core reasons why new acts currently sign to major record companies. Allen Kovac is owner of New York-based indie label Eleven Seven Music Group, home to Mtley Cre and Papa Roach, among others, while he also manages the likes of Blondie and Five Finger Death Punch. Liberty Media is setting the stage for a vertically integrated platform of ticketing, venues, streaming, broadcast and satellite radio, for consumers with credit cards, he says. Kovac notes that, with iHeart on board, a strategic consolidation of artist services at Liberty/Sirius could create a commercial imperative for long-term investment in a new wave of acts who can sell tickets and stream music to fans for decades to come. This, he believes, would fit nicely with the typical philosophy of independent labels. Conversely, he suggests, ephemeral pop streaming sensations would instantly become a less interesting proposition for musics money-makers. This could eventually transform the business away from music with narrow demographics, back to broad-based artists, and songwriters who are performers, he says. Liberty Media isnt stopping there, either. Adding to its potential involvement in the five aforementioned billion-plus entertainment companies (SiriusXM, Live Nation, Pandora, iHeart and JioSaavn), Liberty is also potentially on the hunt for some truly industry-shaking new assets. The first is the most talked-about deal in the global music business this year: Up to 50 percent of the biggest recorded-music company on Earth, Universal Music Group (which also owns giant music publisher UMPG), will be sold by the end of 2019. We know this because UMG parent Vivendi has confirmed as much to its shareholders, and has deployed investment banks to headhunt suitable buyers. Liberty Media has been mooted as one of the early front-runners for UMG, alongside Chinese media giant Tencent. Liberty, which has interesting legislative history with Vivendi, has already expressed to its own stockholders that it would absolutely be interested in taking a look at UMGs potential sale at the right time. To recap: Libertys existing radio and streaming portfolio (Sirius, Pandora and JioSaavn) already reaches more than 100 million people each month; iHeartRadio, meanwhile, is listened to by more than 250 million Americans. Imagine adding into this mix the demi-ownership of Universal Music Group, a $33 billion-valued company that is home to the likes of Lady Gaga, Kanye West, Taylor Swift, Post Malone, Drake, Kendrick Lamar and Ariana Grande and which rakes in more than a third of all streaming money paid to labels and artists around the world. It doesnt take a razor-sharp analytical mind to see how a radio and streaming portfolio that reaches almost the entirety of the USA, combined with part-ownership of Universal, could push a game-changing amount of music industry leverage Libertys way. Liberty can also superserve artists at Live Nation, of course, which welcomed 86 million fans to its concerts in 2017 while Ticketmaster (get this) delivered 500 million tickets to shows in the same year. And then theres CAA perhaps the final piece of Libertys puzzle. As one of the worlds biggest superstar talent agencies, CAA finds opportunities, and maximizes the resultant deals, that artists can get from venues, promoters, brand partners and more besides. Liberty is now reportedly holding discussions to buy its way into CAA, which represents the likes of Ed Sheeran, Kanye West, Bob Dylan and Carrie Underwood. CAA was valued at more than $1 billion in 2014, when serial investor TPG increased its stake in a $225 million deal. If Liberty snares only one or two minority stakes in iHeart, Universal and/or CAA this year, it could potentially cover most steps of musics modern value chain recording, publishing, broadcast, streaming, ticketing, merchandise, touring and brand partnerships under one roof. Liberty is, perhaps sensibly, seemingly restricting itself to minority stakes in these companies, potentially in a bid to ward off competition concerns; U.S. regulators are particularly hot on broadcasters who also outright own copyrighted content, for obvious reasons. In that call with investors in November, Libertys Maffei bashfully described his companys current portfolio as an embarrassment of riches. He was right. But perhaps we aint seen nothing yet. Tim Ingham is the founder and publisher of Music Business Worldwide, which has serviced the global industry with news, analysis and jobs since 2015. He writes a weekly column for Rolling Stone. | https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/liberty-media-about-to-become-the-most-powerful-company-in-music-780411/ |
Was geht am Wochenende in Luxemburg ab? | Mit einem Fu bereits im Urlaub Am kommenden Wochenende findet die 27. Auflage der Tourismusmesse Vakanz in der Luxexpo The Box statt. Ob Aktivurlaub oder Entspannung auf die ber 20.000 zu erwartenden Besucher warten wahre Schtze. Insgesamt 200 Aussteller haben hunderte von Reisezielen und Offroad-Trips anzubieten. Unter den Top-Reisezielen zhlen dieses Jahr Finland, Namibien und Indonesien. Ratelach Open Stage in der Kulturfabrik Im Rahmen des Ratelach Open Stage stehen einmal pro Monat verschiedene Snger, Musiker, Dichter, Schrifsteller und weitere Knstler auf der kleinen Bhne im Bistro der Escher Kulturfabrik. Am kommenden Freitag geht es mit einer neuen Runde weiter. Das Ratelacher Publikum hat erneut die Gelegenheit, neue Talente zu entdecken. Ausstellung in der Abtei Neumnster Im Rahmen des Tanzstcks Warrior von Anne-Mareike Hess wurden etwa vierzig Schlerinnen und Schler der knstlerischen Klasse dazu aufgefordert ber den Krieger in der gegenwrtigen Gesellschaft eine visuelle Reflexion durchzufhren. Die daraus entstehenden Werke werden ab dem 20. Februar in der Kapelle der Abtei Neumnster ausgestellt sein. Improvisierte Kindergeschichten Am Sonntag, um 16 Uhr, gibt es im Theater Le 10 die Impro Kinder Show. Eine ganze Stunde lang knnen Kinder beim Geschichtenerzhlen ihrer Fantasie und ihrer Kreativitt freien Lauf lassen. 2ManyDJs kommen nach Luxemburg Am Samstag ist es auf den Tag genau ein Jahr her, dass das belgische DJ-Duo zum letzten Mal in Luxemburg auftrat. Am 19. Januar werden Stephen & David auf der Bhne des Atelier stehen. Bekannt wurden die beiden Anfang der 2000er. Hier ein kurzer berblick des Auftritts der 2ManyDJs: (L'essentiel) | http://www.lessentiel.lu/de/entertainment/ausgehen/story/22408999 |
Does a San Diego convention center expansion on the waterfront still have a chance? | On-again, off-again plans for a bayfront expansion of San Diegos convention center face still more delays and uncertainty now that a public vote on a hotel tax hike to finance the project will be deferred until sometime next year. Mayor Kevin Faulconer, who had hoped to win political support for a special election this year to finally advance the long debated civic project, has decided to now wait until 2020. At stake are billions of dollars in tax revenues that would be generated over four decades to not only pay for an enlarged center, but also finance homeless services and road repairs. A 2020 election, though, now begs the question of whether momentum behind the initiative effort will fade, making it that much harder to secure two-thirds majority support from voters, the normal threshold for a special tax hike. While backers of the measure are hoping that in the interim they will get legal clarity on a California Supreme Court ruling suggesting that citizens initiatives only need a simple majority to pass, the issue will likely be litigated for years. On the upside, voter turnout will be higher in 2020 than in a special election, but the initiative will likely be on a crowded ballot, competing for attention with other spending measures. Also a huge question mark is whether a development team, which currently has control of the 5-acre leased site where the convention center expansion would be built, will defer much longer its plans to build a $300 million hotel complex there. Developers of the Fifth Avenue Landing project, as it is known, recently said in an interview they have no interest in holding off until 2020 to see if the initiative passes. Aimee Faucett, the mayors chief of staff, acknowledges the high hurdles ahead. Faulconer, who has made the expansion project a civic priority since he took office five years ago, wont commit yet to a March or November date for the hotel tax measure. He will leave that decision to the coalition of business leaders, organized labor and homeless advocates who are leading the initiative campaign, according to Faucett. But he believes the sooner the better, she said. Yes, of course, theres a concern about loss of momentum, Faucett said. Theres always a concern when the time to move forward on something is longer than what youd like. But were partnering with the coalition to ensure that the time is used wisely to make sure the coalition grows in support and that we educate the public on the importance of this subject. The coalition, which launched its petition drive a year ago, had expected to be on last Novembers ballot, but failed to qualify the measure in time. The mayor then began testing the waters for a public vote this year, but the plan ultimately had little political traction, especially as three new council members, all Democrats, recently took office. Tourism and business leaders have long argued that San Diego is losing out on millions of dollars in convention and hotel business because many lucrative meetings and shows cannot fit in the center or, like Comic-Con, have outgrown the center and could leave. We would have preferred this on the ballot this last election cycle, said Keith Maddox, executive secretary treasurer of the San Diego & Imperial Counties Labor Council. Its always a challenge to sustain your momentum but things will level off for awhile and well have to fire back up again. When you think about the economic engine that this (center expansion) is and the jobs it will create and also the money for the homeless, that is really important. You see everyday the struggles of the homeless on the streets. Our polling shows these things poll really well. Some analysts, though, suggest that trumpeting the promise of more funding for the homeless to boost the prospects for a convention center expansion could backfire, especially given the vast unmet needs for housing the unsheltered and poor. Homelessness will be the big issue. It will be hard to sell a new convention center when you havent solved the homeless problem first, said Mesa College political science professor Carl Luna. You link up a convention center that will be for affluent conventioneers and big events and it seems like youre appeasing the business leaders rather than taking care of the homeless directly. Given all the puzzle pieces that have to come together to ensure a successful outcome for an enlarged convention center, Luna calls it a Rube Goldberg contraption of a project. One of those puzzle pieces is the convention center site itself. Fifth Avenue Landing, led by longtime port tenants Ray Carpenter and Art Engel, have already received $5 million from the Port of San Diego under a settlement deal that would enable the city to regain control of the expansion site. In all, Fifth Avenue Landing would receive about $33 million, but only if the initiative succeeds at the ballot. If it fails, they would continue processing their project. That deal, though, was tied to an anticipated November 2018 vote. The timeline of the subsequent payments hasnt been renegotiated, and the deadline for the next payment due $9.4 million is April 1. When San Diego Port Commissioners last November cleared the way for the $5 million payment, then Port Chairman Rafael Castellanos made it clear that waiting for a 2020 election was not an option. "We own this land, and the port is in the business of building things, so I urge the council if they schedule the election they should do so as soon as possible," he said at the time. Faucett, of the mayors office, acknowledged that the three parties still need to meet to hammer out some kind of updated agreement. Faulconer, she said, met with Carpenter and Engel this week just to keep an open line of communication. Carpenter and hotel development partner Robert Green both say theyre ready to go before the port commissioners with their project and completed environmental impact report, although port officials said Thursday theyre waiting for the parties to reach out to them about the next steps. | https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/tourism/sd-fi-convention-center-expansion-2020-vote-20190118-story.html |
Can Winthrop and USC Upstate manufacture a sports rivalry? | The public feels the same thing that Winthrop athletic administrators feel right now. The school doesnt have a sports rival. Roughly 200 people responded to non-scientific polls on Twitter and Facebook asking if Winthrop has a rival, a simple yes or no question. On Twitter, 76 percent of the 126 respondents said no. On Facebook, 87 percent also said no. And Winthrop athletic director Ken Halpin and the rest of his athletic department agree. If you have it, its everything. And if you dont have it, you downplay it, said Halpin. But it hurts not to have it. Digital Access for only $0.99 For the most comprehensive local coverage, subscribe today. Winthrop did have rivalry once. But that was before Coastal Carolina left the Big South Conference for the Sun Belt in 2016. In most good rivalries, those involved dont even know why they hate the other side. They just do. Winthrop students didnt know what compelled them to show up when Winthrop played Coastal in various sports, to wear t-shirts that clearly expressed their hatred for the Chanticleers. It just felt like the natural thing to do. But that ephemeral feeling is mostly absent at Winthrop right now. Winthrop has only played Coastal in womens lacrosse, womens soccer and softball since the Chanticleers left the Big South behind. Non-conference games between the schools baseball, womens basketball and mens soccer and basketball teams, matchups that helped generate the rivalry initially, havent transpired. Its weird not to have a rival, said Matt Martin, Winthrops associate athletic director for external operations who came to Rock Hill from South Dakota in 2016. There, Martin was immersed in a local but fierce rivalry between the University of South Dakota, where he worked, and South Dakota State. The Winthrop-Coastal Carolina rivalry heated up in the early 2000s for several reasons. The schools shared the same state, though not exactly proximity. And they were two of the best sports schools in the Big South for at least a decade. They competed for league titles in mens basketball, mens soccer, baseball, and even at the end of Coastals tenure, womens lacrosse. I hated to see them leave. Its a different league without those teams, said former Winthrop mens soccer coach Rich Posipanko, who coached at the school for 27 years. From 2002 to 2015, Winthrop or Coastal each won the Big South Conference mens soccer championship six times. The rivalry was heated, including a scrap among the two schools soccer players at basketball game that involved a Chick-fil A cow mascot. Their games always meant something. I dont know if youll ever have that again, Posipanko said. A real rivalry Daniel Feig had been athletic director at USC Upstate for 12 days when his school left the Atlantic Sun Conference last summer and joined the Big South. I chuckle with people that I had the shortest tenure ever as an AD in a conference, he said. USC Upstate has never really had a Division I rival. The school joined the D-I ranks in 2007, but entered an Atlantic Sun Conference that didnt lend itself to many geographic rivalries. The New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), an A-Sun member, is located about 700 miles north of Spartanburg. We were in a conference that spanned from New Jersey, to Nashville, to south Florida, Feig said. We made the transition for a number of reasons but one of the biggest ones was to reestablish and rekindle old rivalries that we had with schools in our locale, that our alumni, students and people in the region are familiar with. The constant quaking of college sports conference realignment means there isnt always time for new rivalries to fully germinate. But where conference realignment has created numerous leagues with far-flung, ill-matched geography (West Virginia in the Big 12 or Maryland in the Big Ten, for example), Upstate has done the opposite. In the Big South, it has conference opponents as close as 30 miles away (Presbyterian), and several within 60 miles (Winthrop, Gardner-Webb and UNC Asheville). Feig said 80 percent of Upstates 30,000 living alumni live within a two and a half hour radius around Spartanburg. And he thinks that rivalries will sprout naturally within the Big South, simply because Upstate fans will recognize the schools on the new conference schedule. The Spartans host Winthrop in mens basketball Saturday. Winthrop and Upstate occupy a similar geographic region within the same state. They have similarly-sized enrollments, between 5,000 and 6,000. And Feig suspects that the two public schools get enrollment applications from some of the same prospective students. I hope that well be in this conference a long time and establish a real rivalry with Winthrop, said Feig. Absolutely, said Halpin. But in order to have a rivalry there has to be multiple competitions with significant stakes involved. Both programs at the point in which they collide, have to be battling it out at the top. Cant force it Tradition takes time to bud, then bloom. Its part of what creates the depth of feeling that accompanies college sports. Rivalry is very similar. A true rivalry cant be manufactured, said Halpin. And he would know. When he worked at Eastern Washington, the school attempted to manufacture a rivalry with Portland State. They called it the Dam Cup, in honor of the seven dams on the Columbia River between the two schools. The name was kind of funny, and Halpin helped create a web site that measured fan support from the two schools and thought it was the niftiest idea. It bombed. And the rivalry never took off. It almost takes circumstances beyond your control. Halpin said. And you can fuel it but you have to be competing for championships for one to develop. Martin was a football player at Eastern Washington and remembers wondering why the school was so gung-ho about the game against Portland State. Eastern Washington beat Portland State almost every year in football at the time. It wasnt a rivalry. Everyone knew that. Thats the trick as administrators, said Martin. We all want rivalries so that our fans get engaged. Ideally, all of the sudden starting this year would be a nasty, fun rivalry between Upstate and us. But the worst thing you can do is if you try to manufacture a rivalry and the fans dont buy in, then it lacks authenticity. Thats almost the worst thing you can do. Rivalry has to be competitive, which helped the Winthrop-Asheville basketball competition smolder the last 10, 11 years. But it hasnt really carried over to other sports. Thats what made the rivalry with Coastal special and real. The schools sports teams were competitive with each other and within the league, and it just happened. Nobody forced Coastal, said Posipanko. There was respect but there was a lot of hate. The decision-makers in Winthrops athletic department know that a rivalry with Upstate, or any other school, cant be forced. Halpin unabashedly points to his ill-fated attempt to help foster rivalry between his former school and Portland State. But at least people recognized the attempt, even if it failed. Another Winthrop athletics admin, Brittany Lane, could point to an even flatter attempt at sparking rivalry by her former employer, the University of South Carolina, and its cross-division SEC partner, Texas A&M. The winner of the South Carolina and Texas A&M football game gets the Bonham Trophy, an idea cooked up by former governors Rick Perry and Nikki Haley. Nobody really knows why, or cares. The trophy, which is really a piece of art, is a beautiful symbol of an attempted manufactured rivalry that lacks, A) authenticity and fan support, and B) a competitive series. Texas A&M has won all five games since the trophy was created. When asked about the Bonham Trophy this past season, Gamecocks coach Will Muschamp had no idea it even existed, or where it was kept. Well, hell, we aint won, so we dont have it over here, I can tell you that, he said. | https://www.heraldonline.com/sports/college/big-south/winthrop-university/article224514065.html |
Where do Nottingham Forest rank in Championship Fair Play table? | Get Weekday Nottingham Forest 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 Nottingham Forest currently sit bottom of the Championship Fair Play table. The FA ranks all 24 sides by a unique scoring system to list the division's cleanest and dirtiest teams. And with more than half the season played, the Reds have the most 'disciplinary points' - a huge 54 points more than closest rival Wigan. Swansea City currently sit top of the Fair Play table. Disciplinary points are calculated with four points being awarded to each team per caution, and 10 points for denying a goalscoring opportunity or a dismissal for two cautions. Players guilty of violent conduct, serious foul play, spitting or offensive and abusive language, cost their team 12 points. (Image: Dan Westwell) Here's how the Championship Fair Play table looks after 27 matches: | https://www.nottinghampost.com/sport/football/football-news/nottingham-forest-rank-championship-fair-2443454 |
What are our kids missing out on growing up in a curated world? | By Mary Janevic For a period of time in the late 70s and early 80s, I watched I Dream of Jeannie reruns every afternoon in the empty time between school and supper. It was 24 minutes of zany fun, as ancient Middle Eastern lore met the U.S. space program. But I always felt a little deflated when the closing theme came on, since it meant that I had to wait an entire day for the next episode. Impatient, I fantasized about lounging on silky pillows, like the ones in Jeannies bottle-home, in front of a television that magically played one episode after another of my favorite shows. Decades later, my wish came true, thanks to the modern sorcery of technology. On-demand viewing and an endless supply of content now allow us to summon exactly the entertainment we want, when we want it. My own kids happily binge-watch Fresh Off The Boat, just as I dreamt of doing with Jeannie. Alas, technologies designed to make our lives more fun have a darker side, and no one knows this better than parents. The more kids can access precisely what they want on a screen, the more they stay tethered to their devices instead of doing something active or creative. And lately Ive been thinking about a subtler drawback of our just-for-you world. My kids miss out on all the things that are not just for them. Let me explain by going back to tweenage me after a Jeannie episode ended. Dinner wasnt yet ready. I was comfortably sprawled in front of the TV, but all the shows I liked had ended. So I was stuck watching the 5 oclock news. I learned about the Soviets in Afghanistan, whether the employment rate was up or down, and how our Detroit Tigers were doing. Looking back, some of my more memorable discoveries as a child came about only because I didnt have access to entertainment that I would have preferred. Each summer we would spend a month with my grandparents on their Missouri farm. In those days, nobody toted their own music around with them, so my siblings and I blew the dust off my uncles teenage collection of 45s in the attic. We whiled away long afternoons listening to A and B sides of oldies that we eventually grew to love: the Beach Boys, Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, The Royal Guardsman. It was the same with reading material. When we would visit our great-aunts and uncles, my siblings and I didnt have tablets to keep ourselves occupied while the adults chatted. So we would read whatever we could find. At Auntie Anns house, it was Catholic Digest (I always turned to the jokes first) and U.S. News & World Report. I looked forward to Sunday afternoons at Aunt Roses so that I could catch up on aliens, Hollywood stars, and their occasional intersection in the National Enquirer and Weekly World News. And at home, I read Time magazine. The church bulletin. The Detroit News. For the same reason I watched the news after Jeannie. Because these thingsnone of which were aimed at my demographic or tasteswere all that was on offer. That is a situation my kids rarely find themselves in. No matter where they are, they can find what they want on YouTube, Apple Music, Netflix. They seldom watch, listen to, or read anything they didnt select themselvesor that wasnt suggested by an anxious-to-please algorithm. Our cultural lives have become increasingly bespoke. Tech companies and content purveyors are finding ways to optimize our experiences (and their sales) through customization. Recommended for you. People also bought. People like you read. You might like. Often we do like. But these clever algorithms move us only incrementally from where we started. As a child I discovered the odd and charming Bogwoppit by Ursula Moray Williams because it was next to Wilder on the library shelf, as in Laura Ingalls. Amazon would have recommended other old-fashioned, prairie-kid books, but Deweys content-blind system gave me British fantasy instead. I was hooked. Electronic searching now takes us directly to what we seek, often with similar, AI-generated options appearing on the periphery. We are less likely to stumble across things that have nothing to do with what we are looking for. But randomness is powerful in its purposelessness. Its nature throwing things up against a wall to see what sticks. Its the force that propels evolution. The trade-off of having what we want at our fingertips means less opportunity for serendipity, for necessity to give birth to invention. I work at a university, and we like to throw around words like interdisciplinary and cross-pollination, recognizing that something uniquely valuable comes from being exposed to unfamiliar perspectives. We might like being in our comfort zones, but we dont learn much there. Now our comfort zones follow us around everywhere. This is true for all of us, of course, but Gen Z kids are the first to grow up in such a highly curated world. It could be that the sheer volume of what kids can access these days more than makes up for this fact. My seventh-grader watched a North African rap video the other day for his French class. His older brother and I recently kept our eye on a grizzly cam in Alaska. And its also possible that this lament is straight-up nostalgia on my part: a desire for my kids to experience the same flavor of discovery that I did as a child, anachronistic though it may be. Perhaps it is a longing for a world with fewer shiny things being waved at me; things I cant turn away from because they are designed to appeal to me. Yet there is something about constantly being surrounded by our preferences that makes me uneasy, as a parent and as a person. Getting exactly what you want all the time sounds great. But as anyone who is familiar with genie stories knows, theres always a catch. Mary Janevic is a health researcher in Michigan. She loves to snuggle up with her three kids to binge-watch baking shows. Please consider supporting us here. Keep up with Motherwell on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and via our newsletter. | https://motherwellmag.com/2019/01/17/what-are-our-kids-missing-out-on-growing-up-in-a-curated-world/ |
What should my golf club sign before entering into a contract? | Entering into a contract with a third party is a regular necessity for all golf clubs, but often something goes wrong and the club wishes the contract had been worded differently. Here, the NGCAA presents the questions that should be asked before signing. Our golf clubs very often take advice from us about contracts when they are unhappy with the performance or delivery of the other party. Sometimes the club is simply looking for a way out, because they find that the contract has become too expensive. Our advice is frequently given at a point in time well after the negotiations and signatures took place, when the club will often remark what if? when it looks at the agreement that it has. It is useful for the club to think about contractual detail before it signs on the dotted line. Whilst this article highlights the key issues that a golf club should consider during contract negotiations, a club should always take legal advice from a lawyer when negotiating a contract, especially when it comes to reducing the agreement to writing. Consider doing a credit check if the other party is an unknown. If so, consider whether they should be made a party to the contract as well, so they are also bound. If not, this must be made clear in the contract. The majority of contractual disputes relate to what services are to be performed or goods delivered. Describe the goods and services as clearly and accurately as possible to avoid risk of disputes. Any important issues and assumptions should be confirmed in the contract. Do not rely on verbal assurances or points agreed during negotiations. List what the other party should and should not be doing regarding the services or goods being sold under the contract. Take tax advice if goods or services are being delivered or performed in another country to ensure there is no unexpected tax liability. If so, any preconditions to payment should be clearly set out. Consider all possible consequences. If the club is buying goods and services under the contract, try to ensure that the seller is responsible for all possible losses and that liability is not limited in any way. If the club is selling goods and services, try to limit liability to a fixed sum. Damages for breach of contract may be far greater than the price and hard to quantify. Check that liability is covered by insurance. A clear timetable is essential, especially if price is tied to delivery or performance dates. Deliverables, and pre-conditions to performance, should be clearly specified. If so, clear, comprehensive and strictly monitored contract provisions governing such use will be needed to avoid possible brand damage. Remember that if anything goes wrong, the protections in a contract are only as good as the person giving them. If they have no money it will be very difficult to get any compensation. Consider requiring security (for example, a guarantee or retention). Most companies have standard terms of business drafted in their favour. If a business terms conflict with the other partys, it will be difficult to decide which terms will apply. Be wary of purchase orders or delivery notes. These can have a partys standard terms of business included on them. By signing a delivery note, the club may inadvertently commit itself to the sellers terms. Always be clear about the terms on which the club is dealing. If in doubt, take legal advice. Finally, there are also points to consider in international situations. If the currency is volatile, consider hedging against any exchange rate exposure. Payment: Consider using a letter of credit or payment guarantee. Conduct credit searches on payers and guarantors and obtain bank and commercial references where possible. Ensure compliance with applicable laws both in the UK and the country where the contract will be performed, including anti-corruption measures and laws specific to the subject-matter of the contract. Consider which mechanism is most appropriate for resolving disputes. Consider specifying arbitration (private, neutral, internationally enforceable) rather than immediate recourse to the courts of another country. For more advice on recruitment, employment or other matters of law affecting golf clubs, please contact NGCAA chief executive Alistair Smith. The National Golf Clubs Advisory Association (NGCAA) The Threshing Barn, Homme Castle Barns, Shelsley Walsh, Worcestershire, WR6 6RR Tel: 01886 812943 email [email protected] www.ngcaa.co.uk | http://www.thegolfbusiness.co.uk/2019/01/what-should-my-golf-club-sign-before-entering-into-a-contract/ |
How have Unai Emery and Maurizio Sarri fared in English football so far? | Arsenal and Chelsea meet at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday evening in a London derby that could prove pivotal to the outcome of both club's seasons. Six points currently separate fourth-placed Chelsea from fifth-placed Arsenal but both will be acutely aware of the colossal difference - both financially and in terms of prestige - between those two positions come May. With both forced to watch their rivals jealously from the backwater of the UEFA Europa League this season, they certainly don't want to make a habit of playing in the continent's secondary competition. Unai Emery (left) and Maurizio Sarri (right) will go head-to-head when Arsenal play Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday evening With Chelsea six points ahead of Arsenal in fourth place, Saturday's game will be crucial In many ways, Chelsea and Arsenal are on parallel tracks this season having appointed new managers - Maurizio Sarri and Unai Emery respectively - back in the summer. Both bosses brought fresh approaches to doing things as they embarked upon their first seasons in English football. But the results have been mixed. Sportsmail analyses how the two coaches have fared this season so far in different departments. RESULTS AND FORM Unai Emery: In terms of endearing yourself to the fans of a new club, embarking on a 22-match unbeaten run, including 17 wins, isn't a bad way to go about it. That's precisely what Emery's Arsenal did after defeats to Manchester City and Chelsea in two fiendish opening fixtures in English football for the Spaniard. The highlight of the sequence was a thriling 4-2 home win over bitter rivals Tottenham, while there was evidence of a new-found resolve when they came from behind to hold title-chasing Liverpool. There were also a number of free-scoring displays that had the fans chanting 'We've got our Arsenal back' following the inertia of the last few years under Arsene Wenger. Arsenal's 4-2 win over Tottenham in the north London derby in December was a highlight so far But if it all seemed too good to be true, it was. Things very quickly unravelled for Arsenal over the festive period as their unbeaten streak was snapped at Southampton. That was swiftly followed by a Carabao Cup exit as Spurs exacted revenge and then a 5-1 drubbing at Liverpool in which their creaking defence was torn apart time after time. Last weekend's 1-0 loss at West Ham, where Arsenal were out-muscled and out-worked, left them trailing Chelsea by six points in the race for the Champions League. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (right) and Mateo Guendouzi react during the loss to West Ham Maurizio Sarri: The Italian was new to English football but you wouldn't have known it by the storming start Chelsea made to the season. Wasting little time in introducing his attack-minded and attractive brand of football, Sarri's side remained unbeaten in 18 matches from the opening day of the league season until a 3-1 loss at Tottenham on November 24. There were some highly promising performances in there, such as the early season 3-2 win over Arsenal, the 2-1 win at Liverpool in the Carabao Cup and the home draw against Jurgen Klopp's team where they led until the final minute. Chelsea celebrations after Alvaro Morata scores in their 3-2 win over Arsenal in August But Spurs were the first opponent to really figure Sarri out and since then it's been something of a mixed bag as Chelsea dropped out of title contention. While there have been highs, such as a 2-0 home win over reigning champions Manchester City, there have also been demoralising losses to Wolves and Leicester City, plus a drab goalless draw at home to Southampton. Few of Chelsea's victories have been achieved in swashbuckling style, often coming by virtue of a single goal, and plenty of questions remain about their goal shortage. David Luiz ends up in the net after missing a great chance in Chelsea's defeat to Leicester STYLE OF PLAY Unai Emery: One of the major gripes about the decaying Arsenal team under Arsene Wenger was a lack of resilience and leadership that often caused them to lose matches they shouldn't be losing. Another was a lack of finishing following their often elaborate build-up in and around opposition penalty areas. With the signing of Uruguayan hardman Lucas Torreira and, to a lesser extent, the young and hard-working Matteo Guendouzi, Arsenal certainly look liable to capitulate in midfield. And with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette both enjoying prolific seasons, scoring 25 times between them, there has been a better end product as well. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is enjoying a fine season, scoring 16 times so far for Arsenal But then everything tends to look good during a long unbeaten run. Recent results and performances have exposed new and worrying deficiencies. The defensive line looks ageing and brittle, even when three centre-backs are deployed in Emery's 3-4-3, with none of them capable of bringing the ball out. Some recent games have seen a shortage of creativity as well, leading to questions over Emery's decision to allow Aaron Ramsey to leave and sideline Mesut Ozil. Though two of Arsenal's best advanced midfielders, neither seems to be in Emery's favour and that creates a flaw in the 4-2-3-1 system he is likely to revert to against Chelsea. Emery has decided to omit star man Mesut Ozil from a number of recent matches Maurizio Sarri: We awaited the arrival of 'Sarri-ball' into the Premier League with relish back in the summer, it was a cool experiment like a chemistry teacher demonstrating how the Bunsen burners worked for the first time. And initially it was a whole lot of fun - witness the reverse fixture between these two teams in August: Chelsea won 3-2 but Arsenal had enough chances to win 6-3 themselves. 'Sarri-ball' was a notion known to Italian football aficionados from Sarri's time with Napoli but relatively unknown to most in the Premier League. The metronomic passing and diagonal balls went predominantly through Jorginho, the 50million summer arrival who understood 'Sarri-ball' so well it was like he'd been brainwashed by a cult. Maurizio Sarri was insistent Chelsea sign Jorginho from his former club Napoli But while Jorginho set all kinds of new passing stat records - he needs three more to surpass 2,000 in the Premier League this season - opponents worked out you just needed to mark him to stop 'Sarri-ball' in its tracks. Everton and Tottenham were among the first to do this in November, setting a man-marking trap for Jorginho, and the template was set for the rest of the division's managers. The number of passes per game dropped once this happened and the goals dried up in a worrying manner. Sarri isn't too keen on strikers Alvaro Morata or Olivier Giroud, often preferring to play Eden Haxard as a false nine, and their urgent need for a new striker is very much apparent. The Italian needs to prove there is a 'Sarri-ball 2.0' if Chelsea are to make any strides under his leadership. With Sarri not really trusting his strikers, Eden Hazard has been playing the false nine role TRANSFER BUSINESS Unai Emery: After the incoming Emery identified his summer targets nice and early, Arsenal's transfer business was conducted smoothly and with the minimum of fuss. Torreira, who cost 26.4m from Sampdoria, has quickly become a fan favourite while 19-year-old Guendouzi, signed for 7m from French club Lorient, has hit the ground running impressively quickly. Sokratis, 17.7m from Borussia Dortmund, has added steel to the back line, performing well on the whole while veteran right-back Stephan Lichtsteiner has been used more sparingly. While the summer was relatively busy and Emery's additions generally positive, the manager is downbeat about Arsenal's chances of signing anyone this month. Lucas Torreira, who signed from Sampdoria for 26.4m, has added steel to the midfield He wants to secure Barcelona midfielder Denis Suarez on loan but the uncertainty over the future of the club's head of recruitment Sven Mislintat isn't helping matters. It is believed Mislintat feels too many of his grand plans to transform the behind-the-scenes workings at Arsenal have been blocked. With Arsenal's squad clearly nowhere near strong enough to challenge for the title at the moment, it will be intriguing to see how this internal power struggle plays out. Until it does, there doesn't appear much prospect of new signings coming in. Perhaps Wenger, in seeking to wield absolute authority over all facets of the club, was on to something after all. Another complication to come is over Ozil, who clearly isn't trusted by Emery yet whose wage demands put him beyond the reach of any suitors. Barcelona midfielder Denis Suarez is Arsenal's No 1 transfer target for the January window Maurizio Sarri: As previously mentioned, Jorginho was the one man Sarri pretty much insisted on when he rocked up at Stamford Bridge back in the summer. Chelsea also needed a new top-class goalkeeper with Thibaut Courtois forcing his way out of the club to join Real Madrid. They willingly broke the transfer record for a keeper to sign Kepa for 72m from Athletic Bilbao and the Spaniard has performed well enough so far. With one eye on the future, Chelsea have already sealed the signing of exciting American international Christian Pulisic from Borussia Dortmund, paying 58m for the exciting playmaker. Kepa, signed for a record 72m fee from Athletic Bilbao, has made a good start to Chelsea life But he will have to wait until next season because right now Chelsea are in desperate need of goals and a world class striker who can provide them. That's why Sarri has moved for Gonzalo Higuain, with whom he worked in his first season in charge of Napoli. The deal is on the verge of being completed. The Argentine has reliably scored goals throughout his career and enjoyed the best season of his career when he scored 38 goals in Sarri's system at Napoli. It remains to be seen whether he can power Chelsea to a strong finish to the season as they continue to compete on four fronts. Gonzalo Higuain looks to be Chelsea bound following a loan spell at AC Milan from Juventus POPULARITY AND PERSONALITY Unai Emery: Arsenal's new manager insisted on holding his first press conference in fractured English endeared him to a fair few people as he slowly tried to explain his philosophy in a new language. He later admitted to watching Peaky Blinders to help him perfect his English skills, which may not be the best idea! Emery cuts a highly animated figure on the touchline, rarely sitting down during games and making all manner of gestures to encourage his players. There has been one brush with the authorities after he accidentally booted a water bottle into the stands at Brighton last month. He apologised to all concerned immediately but was still fined 8,000 by the FA. Emery shows no shortage of emotion on the touchline, often gesticulating wildly His insistence on putting his players through hours of video analysis hasn't grated too much so far and he takes a proactive approach on the training ground. For Arsenal fans, Emery was always going to be given patience and time after so many years of stagnation under Wenger. And there have been clear signs of improvement, especially in big games. Emery may need to be diplomatic in the months to come to ensure the Ozil situation doesn't lead to friction within the dressing room, especially if he continues not to play him. This season can still be a successful one if they push Chelsea hard in pursuit of fourth place and last the distance in the Europa League. Maurizio Sarri: Chelsea chop and change managers constantly so it can be hard for those in charge to gradually implement their philosophy while still getting results. Sarri's approach and way of doing things has certainly made things interesting for the fans this season, but the jury remains out. There's a nice charm about the workaholic Italian, who abides by old superstitions and spends each 90 minutes craving nicotine. He has his moments of annoyance on the touchline but so far hasn't stepped over the mark. Sarri very diplomatically defused the tension when his coach, Marco Ianni, taunted Man United boss Jose Mourinho after a late equaliser in October. Sarri pictured on the sidelines - the Italian knows he is under pressure to deliver at Chelsea One thing he is clearly not a fan of is the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), making his feelings plain after the defeat to Spurs in the Carabao Cup semi-final. Whether he remains in the Premier League to see VAR in operation week-in, week-out remains to be seen but this season can still be an encouraging one. If Higuain solves their goal drought, there's no reason why Chelsea can't finish in the top four and win one of the cup competitions. Getting back into the Champions League is going to be the main objective though. | https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-6606629/How-Unai-Emery-Maurizio-Sarri-fared-English-football-far.html |
Will Shopko's community support continue as the company struggles with bankruptcy? | GREEN BAY - Look around and you will find Shopko across the Green Bay area. It's not just stores located from Ledgeview to Suamico, though; Shopko has long had a soft spot for its hometown community organizations and improvement projects. For example, last summer, the Shopko Foundation donated $250,000 to the HSHS St. Vincent Children's Hospital. HSHS St. Vincent Childrens Hospital is immensely grateful to the Shopko Foundation for its generous support of the work we do every single day to help children in northeast Wisconsin who are sick and in need of expert medical care that is close to home," Heidi Warpinski, the hospital's executive director, said in a statement. "We applaud their philanthropic efforts that have so positively impacted our organization, and so many others across the region. The company's history of support to area organizations stretches back 39 years. In that time, it has given more than $34.6 million. RELATED: Shopko files for bankruptcy, will close 105 stores, including 16 in Wisconsin RELATED: Shopko timeline of events, 1962-2019 The company's decision to file for bankruptcy protection from creditors on Wednesday has left local residents wondering what will become of the company's high-visibility sponsorships and support for nonprofits. The Ashwaubenon-based company hopes its plan will enable it to emerge from bankruptcy court with a healthy balance sheet. Here's a look at the venues and organizations Shopko has contributed to in recent years. Shopko Foundation What: The Shopko Foundation was established in 2004. It awarded more than $350,000 in grants to Green Bay and Fox Valley area organizations. Outlook: Going nowhere. "The Shopko Foundation is a separate entity and will continue to support healthy lifestyles and educational opportunities within our communities," spokeswoman Michelle Hansen said in an email. The Shopko Foundation Golf Classic remains its most-successful event each year and has helped the foundation generate the money it has used over the years to support scholarships for employees. The funds also support an extensive list of regional events and groups that include The Bellin Run, HSHS St. Vincent Children's Hospital, the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon, MyTeam Triumph, Big Brothers Big Sisters chapters in northeastern Wisconsin, Shop with a Cop, Boys and Girls Clubs in northeastern Wisconsin, Curative Connections, local schools and more. Hansen said it is "uncertain" what, if any, impact the restructuring effort will have on the golf tournament, but added that "Shopko and the Shopko Foundation remain committed to investing in important causes in our communities." Buy Photo Shopko Landing is part of CityDeck Landing on downtown Green Bay's riverfront. (Photo: Jeff Bollier/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin) Shopko Landing What: The northernmost portion of the CityDeck boardwalk that juts out over the Fox River, Shopko Landing was named after CityDeck's first corporate sponsor. Outlook: Shopko contributed $250,000 toward CityDeck's $12 million price tag and the recognition for its support will not be going anywhere. It is literally carved into the wood in Shopko Landing. RELATED: CityDeck gets nod from scenic group Shopko Hall Buy Photo Shopko Hall in the Brown County Veterans Memorial Complex in Ashwaubenon (Photo: Peter Frank/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin) What: Shopko Hall is part of the Brown County Veterans Memorial Complex. The company purchased the naming rights to the 43,000-square-foot exhibition hall from Brown County in 1999 for $1.4 million, a deal good for the rest of the building's life. Outlook: The "rest of the building's life" has turned out to be 20 years. PMI and Brown County officials said the Shopko Hall name stays in place until it the buildiing is demolished later this year to make way for a new $93 million Brown County Expo Center. RELATED: With OK from Brown County Board, $93M expo center project clears final hurdle Shopko Gate Buy Photo The Shopko Gate has been a fixture at Lambeau Field since the south end zone entrance opened in 2013. (Photo: USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin) What: The Green Bay Packers added an entrance gate to Lambeau Field as part of the south end zone expansion in 2013. Shopko became the sponsor and Shopko Gate has welcomed scores of Packers fans. Outlook: Unclear. The Packers usually sign gate sponsors to multi-year agreements, but Green Bay Packers Director of Public Affairs Aaron Popkey declined to provide more details on the terms. Popkey would only say that the team supports its sponsor. "We are very supportive of Shopko. Were pulling for them," Popkey said. "Theyre a great partner for the Packers." USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin reporter Rich Ryman contributed to this report. Read or Share this story: https://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/money/2019/01/18/shopko-bankruptcy-financial-woes-end-companys-support-its-home-town/2602443002/ | https://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/money/2019/01/18/shopko-bankruptcy-financial-woes-end-companys-support-its-home-town/2602443002/ |
Does booty sculpting machine praised by Khlo Kardashian work? | ABC News(NEW YORK) The Kardashian family is known for their famous curves and there are plenty of fans who want to achieve similar looks. So when Khlo Kardashian shared some booty secrets on her former blog crediting kettlebell weights, a boss balance trainer and The DB Method Machine for her figure ABC News had to investigate. Yassss, please! she wrote enthusiastically to her followers. The DB Method is a machine that sets the body in the correct form to do the perfect modified squat, according to the companys website. Squats are a standard workout move that targets the glutes. The company says the devices patented design is revolutionary because it shifts your bodys center of gravity, setting your body in the correct position to activate and effectively target the primary muscle of the glutes the gluteus maximus, the muscle responsible for a toned, tight and lifted butt. Founder Erika Rayman told ABC News Good Morning America that she came up with the idea for The DB Method after working with a trainer to target her glutes. Realizing there wasnt an at-home machine for it, she said she decided to invent it herself. Rayman said she designed it to build toned legs, a lifted rounder booty and a flatter stomach. The DB Method can also give you a full body workout, she explained: Not only is it a squat machine to get your dream butt, but you can use the machine to work your arms, your abs, your obliques, your chest, its a full body workout machine in your living room. With just 10 minutes a day for 30 days, Rayman said you should be able to see noticeable results. GMA Day producer Dani Kipp tried out the DB Method for 30 days. She said she definitely noticed a difference and she plans to keep using the machine. Despite Danis results, personal trainer Mark Langowski, CEO of Body by Mark Wellness, told GMA that you can achieve similar results without buying a machine like this, which costs $299. It is absolutely 100 percent possible to get a great booty without the use of machines like this one, Langowski told GMA. Langowski said squats, lunges and deadlifts will also build the muscles in your lower body. And if you want to imitate the position that the machine puts your body in, hold onto something thats fixed into place. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. | https://wfin.com/abc-health/does-booty-sculpting-machine-praised-by-khloe-kardashian-work/ |
Was ist dran an der Datenauswertung der Smart TVs? | Peter Mller Eigene Daten sind wertvoll, das ist seit sptestens 2018 bekannt. Nein! Doch! Ohh! Bill Baxter, CTO des Samrt-TV-Herstellers Vizio hat letztens genau erklrt, warum sein Unternehmen das macht: Um nach dem Verkauf des TV-Gertes noch Umstze damit zu generieren. Wrde man auf diese Art der Monetarisierung verzichten, kme die Anschaffung der Gerte weit teurer. Derartige Anstze verfolgen aber auch andere Hersteller, auch solche von Streamingboxen wie Roku, und bedienen sich dabei einer Technik namens Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) oder automatisierte Bilderkennung: Aus Screenshots des Programms knnen die Algorithmen unter Abgleich mit einer Datenbank herausfinden, was die Leite anschauen. Das hat auch Vorteile, denn nur so knnen manche Anbieter ihren Kunden passende Programme vorschlagen. Wie Jared Newman auf Techhive aber weiter ausfhrt, lsst sich an praktisch allen Apparaten ACR auch ausschalten - und wer Sorgen um seine Privatsphre hat, schafft sich besser einen nicht so smarten Fernseher an, der dann teurer kommt. Immerhin steht Apples Videodienst am Horizont. Auch Cupertino sammelt Daten der Nutzer ein, verspricht aber den Schutz der Privatsphre durch einen hohen Grad der Anonymisierung und Randomisierung anders als andere Anbieter nutzt Apple die Daten nur zur Verbesserung der eigenen Service und nicht dazu, mit passender Werbung Geld zu machen. | https://www.macwelt.de/a/was-ist-dran-an-der-datenauswertung-der-smart-tvs,3440325 |
How Easy Is It to Get a Gun Versus an Abortion in All 50 States? | Abortion may be legal in the U.S., but for thousands of women all over the country, it has become almost impossible to access. Across the 40,408 square miles that make up Kentucky, there is exactly one abortion clinicone that was at risk of closing this year. In all 97,813 square miles of Wyoming, theres only one provider that acknowledges they do terminations. Just this November, during the midterm elections, West Virginians approved an amendment to their state's constitution that would say nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of abortion. When you contrast those kinds of restrictions with the stunning lack of regulation around guns in this country, the results are galling. In about 40 states, there is no wait time to buy a firearm. Washington mandates a wait period only when there is a warrant for the arrest of the prospective buyer. While pregnant women must wait 72 hours to have an abortion in Missouri, gun enthusiasts need only walk into one of more than 1,900 dealerships in the state to walk out with a handgun. Wisconsin repealed the 48-hour waiting period on handgun purchases in 2015. South Dakota did the same in 2009. You know this: We do not protect all bodies equally. This data proves it. This is how relatively easy it is to get a gun and how hard it is to get an abortion in all 50 states. Sources: For information about access to guns: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; for Kentucky, West Virginia, Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Mississippi abortion access information: Vice News; for Missouri abortion access information: NPR; for state-by-state abortion access information: Guttmacher Institute; and for more information about wait-time regulations: Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. | https://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/news/g27309/how-hard-it-is-to-get-a-gun-and-an-abortion-in-all-50-states/ |
Will Mayweather / Pacquiao II Be Announced Straight After Pac-Broner Fight (If Pacquiao wins)? | It has been confirmed that Money Mayweather will be in attendance for the fight (no real surprise seeing how Floyd lives in Vegas) and there is a ton of speculation over what Mayweathers next move will be inside the ring. One man who feels a May/Pac II will indeed be announced mid-ring on Saturday night is top British promoter Eddie Hearn. As quoted by talkSPORT, Hearn said that he feels Pacquiao WILL win the Broner fight on points, by wide decision and that the big one will then be announced right then and there with millions watching. Well soon find out, and of course Eddie isnt alone in thinking this is what will transpire in Vegas in a few days time; far from it. And while a Mayweather/Pacquiao return would not be half as big a deal as the so-called Fight Of The Century was in terms of fan interest and success at the pay-per-view box-office, it would still be BIG. Its easy to say, right now, with the fight not (yet) official, how you wouldnt watch a rematch if one did get made, but wait until you see Floyd and Manny going face-to-face this is when things will change. Hype is a strange thing, it sucks even the most hardened of fights fans in, and if Pacquiao looks a million bucks in beating Broner, by KO or stoppage especially, and if the Mayweather rematch is then announced, well, it might take a lot of resistance to stop you from at least feeling tempted. We should know better of course; Mayweather will be 42 by the time of the rematch, while Pac Man just turned 40. The media has, in the past, had a field day when putting together the two ages of older fighters for negative purposes, and at a combined 82 years, Floyd and Manny are nowhere near the fine and special fighters they once were. Add in Mannys (and Freddie Roachs) claims that with a fully functioning shoulder he can and will beat Floyd and you have a rematch that will attract enough interest and eventual pay-per-view buys to be able to guarantee Floyd another mega payday. The rematch will happen, and it is likely this will be confirmed on Saturday night in Vegas around 10PM local time. | https://www.boxing247.com/boxing-news/will-mayweather-pacquiao-ii-be-announced-straight-after-pac-broner-fight-if-pacquiao-wins/108149 |
Have we understimated the potential of fintech? | Financial technology, while a national strength, must be pushed higher up the UK business agenda with an expansionist mindset if we are to produce more truly global players The traditional London-based suited and booted banker may soon be squeezed out by Shoreditch hipsters. As the fintech revolution gains traction around the world, the UK is firmly established as a leading player. As a peerless financial powerhouse, London is the dominant fintech centre in Europe, playing host to high profile unicorns such as challenger bank Monzo, small and medium business lender OakNorth and international money transfer company Transferwise. We need to be more confident about our global skills, reach and investment Lawrence Wintermeyer, co-founder, Elipses Momentum behind the sector in the capital has been fuelled by tax break incentives, regulatory support, and world class education, together with a consumer appetite for mobile finance tools that let you trade, bank and process invoices from your smartphone. The UK has the best of both native and foreign STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) fintech talent in the world and a thriving fintech ecosystem, says Lawrence Wintermeyer, co-founder of digital finance specialist, Elipses. In fact, our global financial services hub is so dominant we need to be more confident about our global skills, reach and investment; you have to wonder why we have not created a global fintech like Alipay or Stripe. Overcoming inhibitions Wintermeyer is hardly alone in asking such questions. While the UK has outperformed Europe in terms of venture capital fintech investment, rumblings that the industry could be doing even better are gathering pace amongst commentators and industry insiders, who say faster growth and greater international ambition are critical amid Brexit uncertainty and rising competition from Germany and France. Emerging businesses need access to bigger, deeper pockets for funding, and to apply a very un-British level of unfettered ambition Steve Ellis, founder, Metia Group For Steve Ellis, fintech business advisor and founder of Metia Group, the UK has form when it comes to creating innovative finance products that just miss out on becoming a truly world-beating proposition. To ape the more aggressive expansion instincts of Californias tech scene. Theres a well cultivated playbook for growth that is schooled into every Silicon Valley start-up and it is to scale massively, he says. Emerging businesses need access to bigger, deeper pockets for funding, and to apply a very un-British level of unfettered ambition. Its not a natural fit to our personality, but hopefully this new generation of fintech entrepreneurs will take to it and well see global players emerge. Innovation mindset Such an expansion mindset will demand heavy investment in a talent pool that could be squeezed by Brexit, along with a razor-sharp focus on innovation. Accelerator programmes such as Accentures Fintech Innovation Lab in which established providers mentor start-ups as well as partnerships between fintechs, schools and universities are considered key routes to nurture talent to develop the game changing products that can transform payment landscape. We are hardly at Amazon-like levels of customer service yet. Even the early adopters of services like app-only banks are only using them in addition to the incumbent high street banks Dan Kiernan. Henley Business School Potential and longevity arent measured in funding rounds. What marks out true disruptors is their passion and desire to build businesses that solve problems in new exciting ways, says Dan Cobley, Fintech Partner at venture builder Blenheim Chalcot. Its important that it isnt just about the same solutions but with nicer interfaces and better-looking apps. If UK fintech is going to maintain and further its position on the world stage, then we need to increase our focus on solving genuine problems, such as helping small businesses which face hurdle after hurdle as they scale and alleviating the very real burden that is debt stress. Greater mindshare While challenger banks such as Monzo and Revolut are on the rise, there is still plenty of work for fintechs to do in order to really make a dent in the market share of their more traditional competitors. A study by mobile analytics firm, Ogury, laid bare the modest market penetration with the 10 most widely used banking apps in the UK belonging to traditional high street banks rather than challengers. Is your average man or women on the street even aware of fintech? questions Dan Kiernan of Henley Business School, which is launching a Masters degree course in the subject this year. Perhaps it is but we are hardly at Amazon-like levels of customer service yet. Even the early adopters of services like app-only banks are only using them in addition to the incumbent high street banks. His sentiments are echoed by Mike Teasdale, Founder of Harvest Digital, a digital marketing agency who describes the sale of products to a market that doesnt understand them as a gargantum task. For Mr Teasdale, a greater engagement with the advertising market may boost awareness of the UK fintech sector and enhance its standing internationally. The thin line between life and death success and failure is the number of users these businesses can get on board, he says. If the UK fintech scene harnesses the UKs third biggest export advertising this could also mean the difference between being a hub of innovation or a world leader that might just make good on its promise. | https://www.telegraph.co.uk/connect/better-business/business-solutions/fintech-innovation/ |
Is AI cybersecurity the next big tech leap? | Artificial intelligence has the potential to make the lives of security professionals a lot easier but its introduction should be approached with care Deep learning is a useful tool to optimise and validate security posture. But until we overcome some of its challenges, positive security models and behavioural algorithms that are deterministic and predictable are still more effective for defence and mitigation. Most successful deep-learning applications in use today are based on supervised learning neural nets. They take an input and produce an output where the output provides a confidence level across a fixed set of labels. Given lots of data, the neural net will usually make the right decision. Supervised nets are an advanced form of automation, where automation is coded through data and learnt by example. They are highly efficient and provide a solution for many domains where coding rules would be virtually impossible because of the complexity and our limitations to process vast amounts of data as humans. Deep learning is not without its challenges, though. It is hard to trust in adversarial contexts while requiring continuous maintenance, as the diversity and size of data changes. While attackers can exploit mistakes using artificial intelligence (AI) to generate new attacks, the defence system has zero margin for error otherwise you might be looking at what could be considered the next Equifax breach where the credit agency failed to protect the personal data of 15 million Britons in a cyberattack in 2017. A combination of traditional machine and deep-learning systems will help security operations improve their security posture and automate their defence capability Unsupervised machine learning provides another approach it does not require training sets. It is good at discovering the structure in unlabelled data and finding anomalies in large pools of unstructured data. Most unsupervised learning techniques are based on traditional machine learning and not deep learning. Statistical behavioural detection models have been used for a long time in the detection of anomalies in traffic patterns and behaviour. They are modelled closely to a problem, which makes them very specific, so they cannot be applied to a large set of problems. But they do not need to be trained using large sets of data but merely need a baseline. And while they can be complex, they are also deterministic, and humans can interpret and understand their decisions. The major difference between traditional machine learning and statistical behavioural solutions is that neural nets are a more general approach, and their output cannot be blindly trusted or used in a system for mitigation and enforcement. The case for deep learning is about complexity, in other words, where modelling is virtually impossible. Machine learning helps us to see more clearly as the number of events we encounter grows, helping security teams detect anomalies and potentially malicious traffic without further human effort. A combination of traditional machine and deep-learning systems will help security operations improve their security posture and automate their defence capability. AI should be considered an integral part of security strategies. It allows us to cover more ground and detect gaps in our current security posture. AI will enable security experts, make their jobs more interesting and help them focus on the right indicators. But it will never replace the experts. For more information about safeguarding applications and automating defences, download the PDF at www.radware.com This article was originally produced and published by Business Reporter. View the original article at business-reporter.co.uk | https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/business-reporter/ai-cybersecurity/ |
What is well-being? And how do I improve its key drivers? | Dr George Margrove, principal psychologist at 10x Psychology, outlines a new approach to understanding individual well-being, and how to help people improve their health and happiness Well-being is an incredibly topical issue, whether in the media, the workplace, healthcare or in peoples personal lives through lifestyle choices, hobbies, habits and health outcomes. Numerous articles are published that rightly highlight the huge costs to the economy, businesses and the NHS as a result of millions of lost working days, and potentially billions of pounds in costs, from lost productivity, sickness absence and employee turnover. But such articles often do not define what is meant by well-being (the term is so ubiquitous it is just assumed that people know) or elaborate on how events can impact individuals in different ways, and the circumstances that lead to positive or negative mental and physical health outcomes. While there is no universal definition of well-being, it is often seen as an individual state and by extension, a state of groups or organisations that is not just the absence of illness, but the presence of positive wellness. Positive coping behaviours lead to positive health outcomes, including mental and physical wellness, life and work satisfaction, happiness, and even employee engagement Further, well-being should not just be confined to experiences about health, but be a part of other key areas of life, such as work, relationships, financial security, emotions and even simple life satisfaction. 10x Psychology has developed a comprehensive biopsychosocial model of well-being, illustrating the key themes that are important, as well as a process by which individuals encounter and deal with events that can have an effect on their health outcomes and overall well-being. The model shows that an individual may encounter challenging events, at work or in life, that lead to emotional responses. Good lifestyle habits particularly sleeping, diet, exercise and hobbies along with personality type, positive relationships and life meaning, mean individuals are more likely to behave positively in response. As a result, they are also more likely to be able to cope with stressful events and are more resilient. Positive coping behaviours lead to positive health outcomes, including mental and physical wellness, life and work satisfaction, happiness, and even employee engagement. However, individuals that fail to cope can suffer from anxiety, depression, job burnout, low engagement and a range of physical health conditions, such as rashes, digestive problems, chronic pain, headaches and many others. Go with the flow: overall well-being is dependant on several interconnected factors Credit: 10x Psychology 2018 Crucially, the model shows that well-being is not just related to health outcomes, but is a holistic view of the entirety of an individuals experiences across all the areas mentioned above. It also shows that there is no one-size-fits-all approach: individuals will react to the same events differently, based on their personality, lifestyle, support systems and coping behaviours. 10x is committed to helping individuals (and where relevant, their employers) to make improvements across the key areas of this process. It does this through the following method: Collecting data from individuals or companies on the model through surveys and apps Analysing the data using our systems, which use machine learning to gain insight Providing recommendations, nudges and resources on how to improve individual and organisational resilience, lifestyle, coping, health and well-being While individuals are primarily responsible for their own well-being, employers can be crucial in providing positive work environments to support employees, along with learning and development opportunities and support for positive lifestyles and flexible working arrangements. Governments and healthcare providers would also be able to better support individuals by viewing well-being at an individual level in the way that is outlined above. To find out more about 10x Psychologys approach to individual and organisational well-being, register to receive information and to join its growing well-being network, visit www.10xpsychology.com Follow @10xPsychology This article was originally produced and published by Business Reporter. View the original article at business-reporter.co.uk | https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/business-reporter/what-is-wellbeing/ |
Why are Berliners so rude? | Its probably fair to say that Germany doesnt have a reputation for being the worlds friendliest or most joy-filled nation. According to the traditional stereotypes, Germans are known variously for their bluntness, which tips readily into arrogance; a tedious commitment to structure and indefatigably practical worldview; a distinct lack of humour; and an aggressive-sounding language that makes politely asking for a ham sandwich sound like a decisive order to attack. Having lived in the country for a decade, Ive had innumerable opportunities to road test these clichs, and can safely say that most Germans I have met and know are kind, fair, generous, and gently - or at least normally - spoken. Theyre even occasionally funny because its not that they lack humour, more that they dont always share ours, which, after all, can often be quite, well, niche. | https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/germany/articles/berliners-germans-grumpy/ |
Can Another Major Franchise Ever Steal Marvels Thunder? | Warner Bros. Aquaman is the first DC Comics film to cross $1 billion worldwide in seven yearsand the first movie in the shared DC Universe to do so, period. To some, it marks the righting of the ship for the oft-beleaguered franchise, which has previously failed to live up to critical and commercial industry expectations. But it isnt the only shared cinematic universe with a bright future. The Fast and the Furious franchise remains one of the biggest box office successes in film history. With a Dwayne The Rock Johnsonled spin-off arriving in August and a ninth F&F feature hitting theaters next year, its more than likely the series will end up releasing four films in a row that have grossed more than $1 billion (insert Larry David Pretttty Goood GIF). Subscribe to Observers Entertainment Newsletter Elsewhere, Legendarys MonsterVerse is primed to reach a fever pitch with the release of Mays Godzilla: King of the Monsters, while this weekends Glass will conclude the story arc of what is arguably cinemas first-ever original shared universe. And, of course, well always have Star Wars, which is going to be around until humanity can actually reach a galaxy far, far away. Over the course of 20 films in 11 years, the MCU has grossed nearly $18 billion worldwide to go along with the near-universal praise it has received for practically every one of its features. Aprils Avengers: Endgame will mark a climax to the universe, but not a finale; 11 more films are in some form of development, and Disneys purchase of Fox will grant the studio ownership of the beloved X-Men and Fantastic Four characters. The MCU isnt slowing down anytime soon. The Godzilla franchise may have the most potential [to compete with Marvel] because it doesnt feel quite as exhausted, Kendall Phillips, who teaches Rhetoric of Film: Marvel Cinematic Universe at Syracuse Universitys College of Visual and Performing Arts, told Observer. Phillips does think that DC stands a chance as wellitll just be a challenge. Streaming will help them build the core audience, he said. Wonder Woman and Aquamans success seems to have found the right tone for them. But DC will always be compared to the Marvel film-verse and might always, unfairly or not, be considered second-tier status. They cant reclaim the throne without going dark for a few years and then returning with a total reboot. The future of DC appears to rely more on stand-alone efforts than shared cinematic world-building, which will help the comic book movies separate themselves from Marvels prolific output. Legendary, meanwhile, has built its shared MonsterVerse from the ground up in a decidedly un-Marvel-like manner. Spoiler alert: Its working. Godzilla has the potential to build itself out with amazing spectacle while not feeling like a rehash of Marvel, Phillips said. Marvel is about heroes feeling bigger than lifethe Godzilla franchise is about monsters that actually are bigger than life. While the MonsterVerse may never be as purely profitable as the MCUover two films, MonsterVerse has grossed a little more than $1 billionit, too, is based on beloved source material that weaponizes nostalgia. 2014s Godzilla and 2016s Kong: Skull Island both made money as crowd-pleasing monster movies of epic proportions. And the excitement surrounding the series only seems to be growing; Godzilla: King of the Monsters boasted arguably the best trailers of 2018, and 2020s Godzilla vs Kong is just the icing on the cake. Now, if were ever lucky enough to witness Thanos fight the lizard and the ape, then well be set for life. | https://observer.com/2019/01/marvel-vs-star-wars-dc-universe-fast-and-furious-godzilla-king-kong-box-office/ |
Why do migrant caravans start in Honduras? | Twice in the past four months a migrant caravan bound for the United States has originated in Honduras. The latest caravan left San Pedro Sula on Jan. 15, the same city where a similar caravan set off in October, growing to more than 5,000 people as it traveled through Guatemala, then Mexico before reaching Tijuana on the U.S. border in November. Here are some of the main reasons migrants are fleeing Honduras. Crime has people fearing for safety Honduran migrants walk along the roadside through Esquipulas, Guatemala, as they make their way toward the U.S. border, early Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2019. The latest caravan of Honduran migrants hoping to reach the U.S. has crossed into Guatemala. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo) (Photo: Moises Castillo, Associated Press) Insight Crime, a website that tracks organized crime in Latin America, reported that the homicide rate in Honduras hit its peak in 2011, hitting 86.5 murders per 100,000 people. But in recent years, the homicide rate has fallen sharply, to 40 per 100,000 in 2018, Insight Crime reported. Nevertheless, a spate of recent massacres shows Honduras remains a dangerous country. MORE: Border sheriffs: Trump's border wall 'a soundbite, not a cogent public policy position' During this year's first two weeks, 30 people were killed in eight massacres, said Adriana Beltran, director of the citizen security program at the Washington Office on Latin America, which promotes human rights, and economic and social justice. Hondurans often cite homicide, gang violence and domestic violence as reasons for leaving, the Pew Research Center reports. "Many people have noted the overall decrease in the homicide rate in several years," Beltran said. "But the massacres and continued and ongoing violence demonstrates that in many communities people are still feeling insecure." Poverty causes economic misery Honduran migrants walk along the roadside through Esquipulas, Guatemala, as they make their way toward the U.S. border, early Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2019. The latest caravan of Honduran migrants hoping to reach the U.S. has crossed into Guatemala. (Photo: Moises Castillo, Associated Press) Many migrants fleeing Honduras also cite poverty as a main reason for leaving. They hope to find better economic opportunities in the United States. More than 66 percent of Hondurans live in poverty, according to the World Bank. In rural areas, where many migrants are from, one in five people lives in extreme poverty, or on less than $1.90 a day, according to the World Bank. Surveys of recently deported Central American migrants found that work was a top motivator for their journey, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of 2016 data. Among Hondurans, 96 percent cited work as the main reason for coming. Government corruption is rampant Honduran migrants walk at dawn along the roadside through Esquipulas, Guatemala, as they make their way toward the U.S. border, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2019. The latest caravan of Honduran migrants hoping to reach the U.S. has crossed into Guatemala. (Photo: Moises Castillo, Associated Press) Hondurans are leaving also because corruption is deeply embedded in Honduras, the Washington Office on Latin America's Beltran said. Following the November 2017 re-election of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, more than 30 people were killed in violence that erupted from protests accusing Hernandez of stealing the election through fraud. Migrants bound for the United States in caravans frequently carry signs or yell "Fuero JOH," a reference to the president's initials, meaning Out with Juan Orlando Hernandez. Most recently, dozens of politicians and officials in Honduras were charged with diverting millions of dollars in public money for political purposes, including to fund Hernandez's 2013 campaign, according to Insight Crime. "Corruption has extended to the highest levels of politics," Beltran said. One clear example: In November, Juan Antonio Hernandez, a lawyer and former congressman from Honduras, was arrested in Miami and charged "smuggling of tons of cocaine from the Central American country into the United States, weapons offenses involving the use of machine guns and false statements to federal agents," according to NPR. He is the brother of Juan Orlando Hernandez, the Honduran president. In a video that has gone viral on social media, a teen who joined the most recent caravan describes why people are fleeing Honduras in a rap. "Es lamentable lo que pasa en Honduras. Pero que vamos a hacer si vivimos una vida dura," the teen raps. Translation: It's a shame what is happening in Honduras. CLOSE Arizona Republic reporters explain the difference between seeking asylum at the border and attempting to immigrate illegally. Click here to subscribe to azcentral.com. Go to connect.azcentral.com for a staff list, for more information about the newsroom and for details about upcoming events. Read or Share this story: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/immigration/2019/01/18/why-do-migrant-caravans-start-honduras/2606383002/ | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/immigration/2019/01/18/why-do-migrant-caravans-start-honduras/2606383002/ |
Can remittance companies lend money? | Volunteer welfare organisation Blessed Grace Social Services has been helping distressed maids with loans to licensed moneylenders to negotiate repayment plans. In doing this, we noticed that many maids have loans with a particular remittance company. A check with the Monetary Authority of Singapore revealed that it is not their intent to allow companies issued a licence for remittance business to conduct consumer lending. Lending charges and late payments for moneylenders are clearly spelt out and governed by the Registry of Moneylenders under the Ministry of Law. But this remittance company is able to set its own charges and penalties without any regulatory governance. It is also still able to issue loans to maids, as the aggregate loan cap of $1,500 applies to licensed moneylenders but not remittance companies. Billy Lee | https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-on-the-web/can-remittance-companies-lend-money |
Will Trumps Arms Race Weaken Or Strengthen The Russian-Chinese Strategic Partnership? | As risky of a gambit as it is and contrary to conventional thinking on this topic, Trumps arms race aims to weaken the Russian-Chinese Strategic Partnership by putting President Putin in the position where he has to choose between competing with the American military together with China at the expense of his domestic economic plans or cutting a pragmatic deal with the US at Chinas perceived zero-sum expense in order to fulfill his campaign promise to revitalize the Russian economy. Trumps unveiling of the US new Missile Defense Review (MDR) amounted to the practical declaration of a New Arms Race to accompany the ongoing New Cold War after he declared the militarization of space as a new war-fighting domain and pledged to expand Americas missile defense infrastructure all across the world. This development poses a latent existential threat to both Russia and China because of the US obvious intent to preemptively neutralize their nuclear second-strike deterrents and indefinitely coerce them into strategic concessions through nuclear blackmail afterwards. Understandably, both Great Powers are now compelled to counter this development, and while they might be able to do so creatively and on the cheap to a certain extent (especially if they combine their efforts), its nevertheless unavoidable that theyll have to pour enormous financial resources into most of their responses. Russia is comparatively less capable of committing huge sums of money to this over the long term than China is, and therein lays the structural vulnerability that the US will seek to exploit in its risky gambit. President Putin promised in his reelection campaign nearly a year ago that the focus of his fourth and final term in office would be on revitalizing the Russian economy, having assured his compatriots that their nations defense is now secured after revealing their countrys hypersonic missile advancements at the end of a keynote speech. It was strongly implied that some of the billions of dollars that have been invested in the military over the past few years would be rerouted into public works projects and other socio-economic endeavors to retain Russias competitiveness in the emerging Multipolar World Order, but now Trump is threatening those plans by forcing Moscow to participate in the New Arms Race. The US ultimate strategic gambit can therefore go one of two ways in the worst-case scenario for America, Russia doubles down on its military-industrial commitments and the strategic partnership with China even if it cant afford the costs and ultimately ends up as a junior partner to the Peoples Republic by the time everything is over, while the best-case scenario sees Moscow compromising with Washington in some respect or another in order to relieve the US military pressure on Russia and allow the country to refocus on revitalizing its domestic economy in exchange for decelerating the pace of its strategic convergence with China. The latter scenario is actually What The US Really Wants From Russia, as the author wrote last spring, and its now clear that the New Arms Race is a risky means to that possible end. The decision was evidently made a year or two ago to go forward with this plan, and everything that the US has done since then has been an attempt to reverse-engineer the strategic situation in this direction. Trumps much-touted initiative to create a so-called Space Force which is the driving institutional force behind the New Arms Race is being justified by pulling out of the INF Treaty on the false pretext that Russia isnt respecting it, which enables the US to have a publicly plausible excuse for pressuring its allies across the world into accepting its missile defense infrastructure on their soils and seas despite the strategic risks that this entails to their security vis--vis Russia and China. It cant be overemphasized just how much of a threat this poses to both Eurasian Great Powers, but while reason suggests that theyd join forces to counter it, that eventuality cant be guaranteed. Like it was explained, President Putins lasting legacy in the eyes of his people will be judged more by what he does inside of Russia than abroad, even though the countrys international balancing act ensures the conditions by which domestic development is sustainable. The average person, like in any country, doesnt always understand that and is more influenced by visible accomplishments such as modernizing local infrastructure than intangible ones like conducting pragmatic diplomacy with former rivals. Bearing this important factor in mind as well as the vastly different scales of their economies, Russia is comparatively more likely to cut a deal with the US than China is throughout the course of the New Arms Race, though it could just as easily refuse to do so for whatever reason and therefore turn Trumps master plan into one of historys worst examples of blowback. DISCLAIMER: The author writes for this publication in a private capacity which is unrepresentative of anyone or any organization except for his own personal views. Nothing written by the author should ever be conflated with the editorial views or official positions of any other media outlet or institution. | https://eurasiafuture.com/2019/01/18/will-trumps-arms-race-weaken-or-strengthen-the-russian-chinese-strategic-partnership/ |
Will There Be Former WWE Stars In The Womens Royal Rumble Match? | Thirty female Superstars will fight for a title match opportunity when the 2019 Womens Royal Rumble Match takes place on Sunday, January 27. The winner of the massive melee will go on to challenge for either the Raw Womens Championship or the SmackDown Womens Championship at WrestleMania 35. After last years inaugural match featured a slew of former WWE stars including Trish Stratus, Lita, Torrie Wilson, and Beth Phoenix you may be wondering whether WWE will bring back some names from the past for this years contest. Julie Youngberg, a costume designer/seamstress for WWE, indicated in a tweet on Wednesday that shes creating Royal Rumble gear for some besties. Very excited for the Rumble gear Im doing this year! Got some Besties funsome sweet sparkling glow(havent done any in a while) and a little Wolverine inspired stuff! snikt snikt! Julie Youngberg (@AnJewelsBrand) January 16, 2019 The besties are of course Trish and Lita. Youngberg also confirmed that shes making ring gear for Lana who has yet to be announced for the match. Its for @LanaWWE ! Her red gear was Spider-Man inspiredso we r continuing the theme! We both love comics so it works! And is so fun for me https://t.co/Xtbjf8srhB Julie Youngberg (@AnJewelsBrand) January 16, 2019 The latest official entrant is Mickie James, who revealed in this promo at Raw she will compete in the 30-Woman Royal Rumble Match. There are now 12 entrants in the Womens Royal Rumble Match. Here is the updated list. Alicia Fox Bayley Carmella (earned the coveted No. 30 spot by winning WWE Mixed Match Challenge with R-Truth) Ember Moon Liv Morgan Mandy Rose Mickie James Natalya Ruby Riott Sarah Logan Sonya Deville Zelina Vega With Sasha Banks challenging Ronda Rousey for the Raw Womens Championship at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view, WWE.com no longer has her listed as competing the Womens Royal Rumble Match. Banks was listed as an entrant as recently as Tuesday. History was made last year when Asuka won the first-ever Womens Royal Rumble Match. It starts with two participants, and WWE Superstars enter the ring at equal intervals. This continues until all 30 Superstars have entered the bout. Elimination occurs when a Superstar is thrown over the top rope, and both feet hit the floor. The last Superstar in the ring will be declared the victor. | http://www.pwmania.com/will-there-be-former-wwe-stars-in-the-womens-royal-rumble-match |
Which is the Most Popular Car in South Dakota? | When it comes to vehicles, South Dakotans are apparently still living by that 1970's advertising jingle: 'Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie, and Chevrolet'. In a survey of the most popular cars in each state, conducted by online insurance company Insurify , the Mount Rushmore checked in as one of nine states to have a preference for the Chevrolet Impala. Getty Images The car, which has been around since 1958, was big among Midwest drivers, also finishing as the most popular car in Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin. The Impala is one of two Chevy entries on the overall list. Honda, Toyota, and Ford are also in the Top Ten twice. TOP TEN MOST POPULAR CARS IN AMERICA (#1 Car in State) Honda Accord (Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia) Honda Civic (Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, Massachusetts, North Dakota, New Hampshire, New York, Texas, Washington) Toyota Camry (Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Mexico, Nevada, Rhode Island) Chevrolet Impala (South Dakota, Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Wisconsin) Nissan Altima (Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee) Ford Explorer (Montana, Wyoming) Toyota Corolla (Maine) Chevrolet Malibu (Michigan) Subaru Legacy (Vermont) Ford Focus (West Virginia) | http://ksoo.com/which-is-the-most-popular-car-in-south-dakota/ |
Why do so many bishops support the One Church Plan? | At the 2016 United Methodist General Conference, delegates voted to accept a proposal by the Council of Bishops to set up the Commission on a Way Forward to study how to deal with the conflicts within the church related to homosexuality. The Council of Bishops set up the Commission on a Way Forward, which did its work responsibly, proposing three plans. The Council of Bishops received the report and voted for one of those options, The One Church Plan, based on the current majority group within the Council. The Council then tried to severely limit other legislative proposals at General Conference to that one option. The Judicial Council ruled that the Council could not limit the proposals sent to the called General Conference. All three plans are coming before a special session of general conference in February in St. Louis. Now we are witnessing a high level of activity designed to sway the General Conference decision toward the One Church Plan. Bishops, progressive groups, and individuals are campaigning based on the recommendation of the One Church Plan by the Council of Bishops, voted in by the Councils current controlling majority group. However, the representative make-up of the Council of Bishops makes their preference for the One Church Plan predictable. It is the preference of the majority group within the Council. The Council of Bishops has more bishops from liberal and declining areas than from traditionalist or growing areas, which shapes its decisions. To illustrate this point, for example, there are now more United Methodists in the Congo Central Conference (only one of three central conferences in Africa) than in the Western, North Central, and Northeastern jurisdictions combined. But these three liberal-leaning U.S. jurisdictions now have a total of 23 bishops, compared to four Congolese bishops. The combined membership of the Western, North Central, and Northeastern Jurisdictions is 2,615, 925. The membership of the Congo Central Conference is 2,999,242. There are 23 bishops on the Council representing the Western, North Central, and Northeastern jurisdiction. That is one bishop for every 113,735 members. There are four bishops representing the Congo Central Conference. That is one bishop for every 749,811 members. The number and distribution of bishops is the result of our historical pattern of church membership and the original establishment of Episcopal areas. Over time, as the northern and the western parts of the U.S. church declined, the Discipline slowed their losses of bishops. (The number of bishops has been reduced in recent years in these areas, but not by much as their membership decrease would have dictated.) At the same time, we were very slow in increasing bishops in rapidly growing areas. The growing areas of Africa are woefully understaffed with bishops and our church has been reluctant to spend the money to increase that number. (Africa is finally getting several new bishops in the coming years, but not as many as could be justified by membership.) Interestingly, when the Discipline was changed to establish the current formula for U.S. bishops (by a far more generous standard than that used for African bishops), the Southeastern Jurisdiction could have added another bishop but declined. The election of bishops is a very political process. The Northeastern, North Central, and Western Jurisdictions elect mostly liberal bishops, with a few exceptions. The Southeastern Jurisdiction and South Central Jurisdiction have elected an ideologically diverse group over the years. The result of all of this history of the deployment of bishops is that the Council of Bishops is an unrepresentative group dominated by older declining areas and therefore more liberal than the General Conference or the denomination as a whole. Presently this is the way U.S. bishops are assigned: each U.S. jurisdiction may elect five bishops for the first 300,000 members and another bishop for each 300,000 additional members. However, consider an alternative way of looking at the number of bishops. Each bishop in the U.S. represents an average of 153,789 church members. Delegates to General Conference 2019 should consider the recommendation of the One Church Plan by the Council of Bishops from the perspective of the unrepresentative make-up of the Council. We respect our bishops and the office of the Episcopacy. We listen to them and honor their crucial work within the church. However, in recommending the One Church Plan the Council of Bishops is presenting the ideological representation of a majority group in the Council, not a vision of a way forward for the whole church. Rev. Robert Sparkman is an ordained United Methodist clergyperson in the North Alabama Annual Conference and the Senior Pastor of Latham United Methodist Church in Huntsville, Alabama. He has been a delegate to three General Conferences and a reserve to three. He was active with the group of church leaders that studied, proposed, and passed legislation to provide fairer representation of growing areas to General Conference and on boards and agencies. He was the convener and moderator of that group for eight years. A version of this article originally ran in the Juicy Ecumenism blog UM Voices and is reprinted by permission. | https://goodnewsmag.org/2019/01/why-do-so-many-bishops-support-the-one-church-plan/ |
How is the government shutdown impacting Ridgecrest? | The United States government has been partially shut down since Dec. 22 as President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats continue to wrangle over the $5 billion-plus to fund a border wall. According to Richard Cracraft, Director of Human Resources at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, employment at NAWCWD is not affected. The Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division is open and conducting full operations, he said in a statement Thursday. All NAWCWD civilian and military members are working and being compensated. One office that is closed due to the government shutdown is the Bureau of Land Management Ridgecrest field office. Due to a lapse in funding of the federal government budget, we are out of the office, says a recorded message at the BLMs local office. The message adds that calls will be returned when the office reopens. Trump on Wednesday signed legislation promising government employees back pay after the government shutdown ends. Ridgecrest will also be feeling an economic impact due to a lack of travel to the area. According to SpringHill Suites by Marriott General Manager Dan Spurgeon, local hotel occupancy is down some 10 percent from the previous January. Spurgeon said that January is never the strongest month in hotel terms, but the government shutdown is definitely having an impact. Spurgeon said he is basing his data on the weekly Smith Travel Research Report, which is highly accurate and well-regarded in the industry. Spurgeon attributed the drop in hotel residency to multiple factors including the shutdown of the BLM and ancillary government agencies. My actual government business is off significantly, he said. This government shutdown is having a consequential effect. In an email to the DI, Spurgeon also noted that leisure travel is also slower because of the closure of national parks due to the shutdown. I hope it ends soon, Spurgeon said Thursday. A reduction in hotel revenue has a trickle-down impact on the rest of the Ridgecrest economy since hotels pay Transient Occupancy Tax to the city. The shutdown will not affect mail delivery because the U.S. Postal Service is self-funded. Social Security and SSI recipients will continue to receive benefits. Tax refund checks will also reportedly be issued if the shutdown extends into tax season. Meanwhile, banks and credit unions say they want to help. For more information, see the following: Alta One: https://altaone.org/our-story/what-s-new/government-shutdown Navy Federal Credit Union: https://www.navyfederal.org/about/government-shutdown.php Bank of America: https://message.bankofamerica.com/shutdown/ The Daily Independent wants to reflect the experience of our community during this time. If you have a personal story about how the government shutdown has impacted you or your family, contact Managing Editor Christopher Livingston at [email protected] or City Editor Jessica Weston at [email protected]. | https://www.ridgecrestca.com/news/20190118/how-is-government-shutdown-impacting-ridgecrest |
What do turkeys have to do with standout Washington linemen Kaleb McGary and Greg Gaines? | The seniors were celebrated for being awarded the Morris Trophy as the outstanding linemen in the Pac-12 and talked about the foundation they helped build for the Husky program as well as hunting trips to Idaho. On a day in which their virtues were extolled to great length, Husky linemen Kaleb McGary and Greg Gaines good-naturedly copped to a shortcoming in their sporting ledger. For the last two springs, theyve gone turkey hunting together on the property of Gaines parents in Coeur dAlene, Idaho. Asked who performed better, McGary replied, I cant say hes any worse than me, because we still havent gotten a frickin turkey yet. One of these days, well get one. Gaines confirmed the shutout. Its frustrating, he frowned, to say the least. But that was about the only down note on an uplifting afternoon in which McGary and Gaines were awarded the Morris Trophy at the Washington Athletic Club. The honor is emblematic of being voted the top offensive and defensive lineman in the Pac-12, with the voting done by the leagues linemen themselves. It means an incredible amount to me, and I know it does to Greg, too, because its a sign of respect and appreciation that other players who are supposed to hate you have for you, McGary said. It just means the world, man. Only four sets of teammates have shared the award in the same year. The only other Huskies to do so were Lincoln Kennedy and Steve Emtman back in 1990. Gaines is the second straight UW defensive tackle honored, following Vita Vea, while Gaines is the first Husky offensive lineman to receive the Morris since Chad Ward in 2000. Contrasting the 6-foot-8, 324-pound McGary with the 6-2, 316-pound Gaines during the ceremony, draft analyst Rob Rang referred to the former as this majestic oak on a mountainside somewhere. He blocks out the sunlight almost. He protects everything around him. Gaines, on the other hand, Rang likened to a stubborn stump in your yard. That may not sound complimentary, I understand that, he said. But from a football perspective, we love stumps. Thats good stuff. You can try to dig it out, try to rip it out, try to drive over it. But after a few hours, that stump is going to be sitting there kind of smiling at you. Rang said he expects both to have productive NFL careers. Accordingly, Gaines and McGary will be headed to Mobile, Ala., later this month for the Senior Bowl, followed by the NFL combine in early March, with the draft scheduled for April. Its a whirlwind, but for Gaines, a more important date looms March 28. Thats when his wife, Sheyeann, is due to deliver their first child, a boy. As they prepared to leave Washington, the two fifth-year seniors reflected on their journeys. Gaines was mostly ignored by Pac-12 schools out of La Habra, Calif., High School, opting to go to Boise State. But when Chris Petersen took the Husky job, Gaines went with him. That was one of things we were scratching our head when he was coming with us to Boise, said Petersen, who attended the ceremony. This guy should be recruited by the world. Hes going to be big-time, we knew. McGary, meanwhile, arrived at Washington as a defensive lineman, but went along with Petersen, a bit reluctantly at first, when he suggested that the O-line was a better fit. He was willing to let me stay at D-line, McGary recalled. He wasnt going to force me. I suck, and they move me back to defense. I think its turned out pretty well so far. It wasnt until his second year, though, that McGary truly felt at home on offense. That first year, it was very evident I was very raw at the position, he said. It was a miracle if I got out of my stance in time, as many of my friends teased me about incessantly. Affectionately, though. In a question-and-answer session with emcee Mike Gastineau, McGary said his greatest pride was his role in elevating the Husky program. We switched the culture, he said. For a lot of years, the culture wasnt right, within the team and in the locker room .We corrected that in the right way, and thats really what led us to be where we are. Earlier, McGary had just one lament about his tenure. I wish dearly that I was here for maybe the pinnacle like if we had won the Rose Bowl and stuff like that, he said. But youve got to start somewhere and I think as seniors, this class has given the guys coming up after us a good foundation to stand on. Gaines listed off the programs accomplishments under their watch two Pac-12 championships, three straight New Years Six bowls, and a berth in the national playoffs. Its cool to help establish it and be a part of it, I guess, he said. I didnt really think of it like that. I was just playing ball. Its been the best five years of my life so far. And Petersen was properly grateful for the five years they gave to him and the staff. I have the most unbelievable stories about those guys, and Im not even talking about as football players, he said. I think that speaks for itself. I remember like it was yesterday when I was recruiting those guys, and the things we went through, as young guys to where they are now, to be team leaders. This is why you coach to see these two guys up here. I think of their playing ability, sure. But I think of a lot of other things. They were two of our team leaders. And we did. Now about those turkeys | https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/uw-husky-football/stone-column-on-morris-trophy-winners/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all |
Has the Greenwich Board of Education stacked the deck for artificial turf? | To most the answer would be no. There is clearly a conflict of interest here, one that lacks the independent, unbiased scrutiny required to make an informed decision. Yet, the Greenwich Board of Education has hired Milone & MacBroom, Inc (MMI), an engineering firm specializing in the design of artificial turf fields, to undertake a feasibility study regarding the installation of artificial turf on Greenwichs Central Middle School field. The question is not if MMI is qualified. They are a well-known engineering firm with more than 30 years experience. However, based on their in-house 2008 study (a study that has been questioned about its design and conclusions by Environmental and Human Health, Inc., a science based 501(c)(3) organization composed of physicians, public health professionals and policy experts), MMI believes artificial turf poses no risk to public health. But the matter most troubling is the duplicity and disingenuous behavior of the Board of Education. First Selectman Peter Tesei supports the continued use of natural grass and has stated this position on record multiple times. In the Town of Greenwich Capital Improvement Plan (TOG CIP) dated Jan. 16, 2018, Mr. Tesei requested the planning and design of a natural grass field. In February 2018, the BoE changed Mr. Teseis capital request from grass to synthetic turf, and in March 2018, they selected Central Middle School to be the first middle school to be artificially turfed. Under questioning during an April 2018 District 8 RTM meeting, they said no school was selected. Following that, the BoE issued talking points claiming no decision had been made about grass or artificial turf. Based on the CIP, this is not true. While Mr. Teseis position is clear, the same cannot be said for the BoE. On Aug. 22, 2018, the BoEs instructions to MMI included in the Scope of Service is to convert the existing natural grass athletic fields into lighted synthetic turf fields at Central Middle School. This despite the fact that the BoE has continuously stated they are exploring all options. It would seem the BoE, along with Parks and Recreation, has already made a decision, and they are now pushing their agenda forward by hiring a company whose findings will inevitably and predictably support artificial turf. Should that in fact be their recommendation, we would have trouble accepting it, as Milone and MacBroom are known advocates for the very thing they have been hired to evaluate. We stand by this statement even more emphatically when considering their position against the independent findings by the Environmental Protection Agency,the Centers for Disease Control, and OSHA, all of whom have issued health warnings about artificial turf. Read Full Article | https://m.greenwichtime.com/opinion/article/Has-the-Greenwich-Board-of-Education-stacked-13542534.php |
Is it time to buy Apple shares again? | A little over a month ago, I sold half of my Apple shares, Michael Henage writes for Seeking Alpha. I started acquiring shares in 2013 at about $60 per share. In the spirit of full disclosure, I sold at about $155, which isnt far from where the stock trades today. With an annual return of nearly 17% not including dividends, Ive been pleased with Apples performance. I sold my shares because quite honestly, I couldnt get comfortable with the fact that Apple wouldnt be reporting unit sales figures going forward. When a company stops reporting a key metric that investors and analysts have come to rely on, its rarely a sign of positive future results, Henage writes. However, there are a few details that have come out over the last few weeks that are making me rethink my position. MacDailyNews Take: Thats how a normal company should be perceived. Apple is not a normal company. Apple is rare. When they do something like stopping the reporting of unit sales, its not to hide something, its to illuminate something else. With investors on edge, the shares may or may not have hit bottom, Henage writes. However, there are a few reasons to believe the long-term bull thesis behind the company is damaged yet not completely broken. MacDailyNews Take: When Apple warned they said revenue for the quarter would come in at $84 billion. There are 84 billion reasons why the company is nowhere near completely broken. Revenue of $84 billion in a single quarter! Apple is damaged only in the eyes of investors who cannot see the forest for the trees. Apple made it very clear that weakness in China was responsible for all of the slowdown in iPhone revenue and then some. Last quarter, sales in China represented over 18% of the companys overall revenue. Its a near certainty that the weakness in China is a short-term issue. I dont know of one credible source that would suggest that China will decline over the long-term, Henage writes. With shares selling at roughly 13 times 2019 estimates and paying a yield of just under 2%, investors dont need blind faith to see that it may be time to buy Apple shares again. Read more in the full article here. MacDailyNews Take: Someday, Apple investors will look back on this period that Apples stock price is currently enduring and laugh while they count their money! Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful. Warren Buffett | http://macdailynews.com/2019/01/18/is-it-time-to-buy-apple-shares-again/ |
Have Student Loans Caused A Drop In Home Ownership? | New research from the Federal Reserve suggests that student loan debt may have prevented some people from owning a home. Here's what the Fed found. Student Loan Debt Statistics In November, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos said student loan debt is now a 'crisis.' According to the most recent student loan debt statistics, there are more than 44 million borrowers who collectively owe $1.5 trillion in student loan debt. The average student in the Class of 2016 has $37,172 in student loan debt, and the average student in the Class of 2017 has almost $40,000 in student loan debt. Today, student loan debt is now the second highest consumer debt category - second only to mortgages and higher than credit card debt and auto loans. By 2023, 40% of student loan borrowers may default on their student loans. Student Loan Debt and Buying A Home The Fed found that 36% of adults age 24-32 owned a home in 2014, which is a 9 percentage point drop from 2005. This age group experienced a drop that was twice the rate of all other homeowners during the same period. During this time period, the level of outstanding student loan debt approximately doubled. While student loan debt was not the central reason reason for the decline, it did play a factor. According to the Fed, "a $1,000 increase in student loan debt causes a 1 to 2 percentage point drop in the homeownership rate for student loan borrowers during their late 20s and early 30s." The Fed estimates that about 20% of the drop in ownership is attributable to student loan debt. That means that about 400,000 young people could have owned a home in 2014 had it not been for the increase in student loan debt. "This finding has implications well beyond homeownership, as credit scores impact consumers' access to and cost of nearly all kinds of credit, including auto loans and credit cards," the paper's authors wrote. "While investing in postsecondary education continues to yield, on average, positive and substantial returns, burdensome student loan debt levels may be lessening these benefits." The Fed proposed several recommendations to address student loan debt, including: reduce the cost of tuition increase state government investment in public institutions ease the burden of student loan payments, such as through income-driven repayment. 5 Quick Tips To Buy A Home When You Have Student Loan Debt If you want to maximize your chances to buy a home while you have student loan debt, focus on improving your credit score and debt profile. In addition to saving for a down payment, here are 5 tips to focus your efforts to buy a home: | https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2019/01/18/student-loans-home-ownership/ |
Will It Take An AdTech Crash To End Digital Ad Fraud? | A Series of Q&A Interviews With Innovators Working at the Intersection of Consumer Behavior and Business Transformation: Dr. Augustine Fou, the noted and some would say controversial, Cybersecurity and Anti-Ad Fraud Consultant and Researcher. Dr. Augustine Fou: I don't necessarily say any dollar amount. I just use ratios: 90/10 and 99/1. So, out of $100 billion spent on digital in the U.S, $10 billion goes to Meredith, Hearst, Conde, and other reputable publishers. So, that's a 90/10 ratio in terms of dollars. Then, in terms of impressions, it's 99/1 because those mainstream publishers have finite human audiences. Out of all the billions of display ad impressions, the quality publishers only generate about one percent of the impressions. The rest, the 99 percent is everything else because there's way more of it and its way lower cost when you buy it on the exchanges. So, I typically use ratios, not any dollar amount, because I only get to see slices of the universe. So, anything that's extrapolated to the whole industry is going to be wrong, including my number. So, I never do that. Rogers: Much has been written about ad fraud over the past few years. Dr. Fou: It's because nobody wants to solve it. I'll lay it out there for you. The middle man: I'll start there. All the ad exchanges, all the agencies that buy media, they want to buy more. If we cut out fraud, there's going to be way less inventory for them to buy. So, they do not want that. So, they will do everything they can to suppress news of fraud. They're going to use all the fraud detection companies like IAS and DoubleVerify and they say, "Oh, well, IAS said it's 0.5% percent fraud. So, everything's fine. Please keep buying." Bad guys are laughing all the way to the bank, because the good guys think, "Oh, well, we use IAS and DV. Therefore, we're safe. Therefore, we're going to keep spending billions." The bad guys will say, "Just bring me the money." You might as well hand it over to them. So, it's a false sense of security. It's not just that it doesn't work. It tricks people into spending more and, therefore, they're getting ripped off more. So, it's doing a disservice and a harm to the entire industry, to the entire ecosystem. That's the middle man. The publishers are the ones who are getting less revenue. Because when the marketers spend the dollars and the dollars get highway-robbed out of the ecosystem into the bad guys' pockets, the good publishers have less revenue left that could go through to them. So, they're getting hurt. But they are powerless in the sense that the fraud is not happening on their sites. But when a bad guy pretends to be a Hearst website, the marketers think they're buying Hearst, but they're actually not. So, in that case, their reputation is getting harmed. Then, finally, the marketer, you would think, would want to stop the fraud because it's their money. They're losing their money and they're not getting the marketing impact that they want. But, again, they want to buy more, and they've been sold on this concept that there's all these tens of billions of impressions in the long tail that they can be buying cheaply through ad exchanges. It would be quite embarrassing for them if they admitted that there was fraud in their campaigns, because they kept telling their boss everything was fine. So, even when we show marketers incontrovertible evidence of ad fraud, they'd rather choose to suppress the researchers and other people trying to help them so that they can tell their boss, "Everything's fine. Let me keep spending my budget." So, none of them want to hear about fraud. That's including the marketers. Long story short, every party in the entire supply chain wants it to continue. Therefore, no one wants to solve it. Dr. Fou: Much of the performance metrics are based on incorrect data. Bots are faking all the clicks, all the impressions and even some conversions. I recently published an article that shows how bots are faking the conversions. So, even those you can't rely on. I'll use the P&G example. If digital were actually driving any business results, then P&G cutting $200 million from their digital budgets, you would have seen a decrease in business outcomes. But they saw no decrease. The only thing that a marketer can and should do to test whether digital is actually driving any business outcomes for them is to start cutting budget. I would recommend most marketers cut $100,000. They can't cut $100 million like P&G. Cut $100,000. Wait for a month. See if there's any change whatsoever. Guarantee you there's no change. That's because the digital didn't drive any of those business outcomes. Those business outcomes would have happened anyway. Dr. Fou: No, I am not. I'm just saying the way it's being used right now is not correct a lot of the big brands are spending in digital trying to achieve reach and frequency. So, they're taking a TV advertising mentality into digital. The key difference is that in TV there is actually limited supply. So, say, for example, Super Bowl ads. There are limited 30 second spots. Therefore, when there's more demand, prices go up. They've been going up for a decade. In digital, however, CPM prices have been going down for a decade. That's because even though a lot of dollars are shifting into digital from TV, increasing demand, the supply side has gone up by orders of magnitude more. So, the supply has just exploded because it's all fake. Therefore, CPM prices have consistently gone down for the last ten years. There aren't enough humans on earth to generate that many ad impressions across display ad impressions, video ad impressions, mobile ad impressions, and now, CTV and OTT impressions. Most of it is made up. I would say 99.999 whatever number of 9 you care to put behind it. Therefore, those brands who are treating digital as a reach in frequency medium are using it incorrectly. Long tail websites, by their nature, should have very few humans. If they're long tail, that means their content is niche. Therefore, few humans would go there. Because they bought all their traffic. So, there's a convenient ecosystem set up with lots of different cogs in the wheel helping support this. All those traffic sellers, all those fake websites. They now combine to generate billions upon billions of impressions you can buy off the exchanges. Theres even fraud in viewability. Starting viewability for a good publisher is 66% because they actually have to array ads on a real webpage when you have 2 ads above and 1 below, youre at 66% viewability. It doesn't mean that that's a bad thing. So, when you say, "Oh, I'm only going to buy 100 percent viewable," you're actually increasing your risk of buying from fraudulent websites that either stack all their ads above the fold to make it all read as viewable, or they use Java Script code to trick the measuring services, just like Newsweek did last year and got caught. There's all this open source code out there that you can just take off the internet and use it to trick the viewability measurement. Rogers: You consult with companies all the time. Dr. Fou: I teach them how to solve the fraud themselves and they can actually discontinue using all the fraud detection tech companies and just look at their own analytics and reduce the fraud in their own campaigns. They can keep doing that. They basically don't have to pay anybody else to do it for them, because it doesn't work anyway. Dr. Fou: Very simple. But it's going to be shocking. So, the number of impressions that they can actually buy goes way down. The click-through rates go way down, because, first of all, they don't have to buy as many impressions because most of it has been shown to be bots anyway. So, that's one thing. The second thing is humans are really not that interested in clicking on a banner ad. Just think about your own habits. I can't remember the last time. It's been years. I'm a researcher and I actually do click on stuff. For the most part, humans don't click on banner ads. So, in that case, it's going to get back into the realm of .1% click-through rates, which is what it's supposed to be for display ads. Not 5%, not 10%, not 80% click-through rates. So, it's really hard for someone who doesn't want to hear it to see that. Rogers: I remember talking to Dave Morgan (serial adtech entrepreneur and current founder and CEO of Simulmedia) several years back about the rebate issue at agencies. He talked about it, wrote about it, but nobody listened. Then, finally, the K2 report came out from the ANA (Association of National Advertisers). It changed the industry fairly quickly. Dr. Fou: People who are actually in the know see this stuff. It's like people don't want to hear it. So, it gets suppressed and covered up for years until it can't be covered up anymore. But then you have an explosive report that comes out. This is going to happen with digital, just like with the financial crisis we have already seen. Dr. Fou: It's a glass house that will come crashing down. I don't think it's going to be a slow-burn kind of resolution to it. Even the VCs (Venture Capitalists) have every incentive to keep this going because the whole concept of hyper scaling, there's not enough humans to spend time online to continue to hyper scale. So, the only way you're going to get hyper scaling is by using artificial means, bots. So, in that case, the VCs don't want this to stop because they need a way to cash out. Everybody wants this to continue. But we have built ourselves a glass house and the only way this is going to get solved is when we have a crash like we did in 2000. Dr. Fou: I sure hope so. Because we're not doing real digital marketing right now. Real digital marketing means you generate your awareness and demand through TV ads, because that's still a very good reach of frequency mediums and make people aware of your product. Digital should be the medium that you use to harvest the demand. So, when they're searching for something, that is the ideal time for you to put an ad in front of them, because not only do you know when they're looking, you also know what they're looking for because they typed it in the keyword. Dr. Fou: I've been a small business owner for most of 23 years. I also worked at American Express. I also worked at Omnicom and IPG. But, for the most part of that 23-year period, I have been a small business owner. So, if I spend $50.00 on digital marketing and it doesn't give me a return, I can't spend the next $50.00 because I have to get returns. I grew up looking at analytics. Then, in 2012, when I left Omnicom, I got back to my own consulting practice and then started asking for data. That was when programmatic was just taking off, 2012, 2013. When I saw something strange, I asked for supporting data. Either they wouldn't give me the data or they'll say, "Trust us; we're correct. You just use our data." I say, "I'm a scientist. That doesn't cut it for me." When I started asking, "How is it possible that we're getting 30% click-through rates on some of these client campaigns," the fraud detection companies will say, "Oh, well, everything looks fine. So, trust us. It's our secret sauce, so we can't tell you how we measured it. Just trust us. The number's got to be right. Because we're MRC accredited, by the way." I knew I had to build my own tech so that I can gather some data and see what the heck is going on. You'll see my slide shares go all the way back to 2012, 2013. We'll see bots are clicking on stuff or visiting sites 24/7, in the overnight hours at the same volume of traffic as in the waking hours. But you know humans go to sleep. So, there should be lower volume overnight. From that point forward, whether it was fake YouTube views done by bots or fake clicks, all that kind of stuff, that's when I started researching and publishing. Despite the rise of all these fraud detection technology companies, they don't solve the fraud. In fact, they rely on fraud to continue so that they can keep making revenue. So, that's why I'm not a fraud detection technology company. I don't make money off of the measurement of fraud. Therefore, I don't have that conflict of interest that all the fraud detection technology companies do. My motive is to show them all the data and, in fact, educate them. Rogers: Yeah, because I've done all this research and work around marketing effectiveness. At the end of the day, it really comes down to having the right data. Yes, you need systems and process and a rigor behind the framework that you use, but you need the right data or else the whole system falls apart. So, I think this is like the last mile of marketing. Dr. Fou: Let me reconcile that for you because I've come across this over and over again and students and clients have asked me about this. "So, are you saying digital doesn't work?" I'm not saying that digital doesn't work. I'm saying it could work orders of magnitude better than what you're seeing right now. So, the way I think about marketing effectiveness is that its relative effectiveness, not absolute effectiveness that we're currently measuring. If we start cutting out the fraud and stop wasting our money buying all these impressions not shown to humans in the first place, the marketing effectiveness could go way, way up. So, just imagine if a company like P&G cut out half of their digital ad spend and just saved that money, that goes straight to the bottom line, I would bet you every single marketer can keep doing that and reduce what they're spending in digital and still get better business outcomes. Rogers: You would think some activist investor would be all over this for companies like P&G. If they could pull hundreds of millions of dollars out of their advertising spend without impacting business results, that would be savings that would drop to the bottom line, improve margins and help with the stock price. Dr. Fou: Yes. So, I think interviews like this will start to put this on the radar of activist investors because most brand marketers within those companies are not really aware. Wait till the CFO and CEO start asking questions, because an activist investor started asking them questions. Hopefully the positive spiral will begin then. Rogers: Thank you. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucerogers/2019/01/18/will-it-take-an-adtech-crash-to-end-digital-ad-fraud/ |
When is Boots sale 2019? What date does Boots 70% off sale launch? | Shoppers are patiently waiting for news of when the much-anticipated Boots 70% sale starts. The annual sale is a favourite with shoppers who use the opportunity to bag amazing bargains. Pulses were racing when predictions pointed out today, January 18, as the potential launch date of the sale. This was because last year Boots launched its massive sale on the fourth Friday after Christmas, which would be today. However, Boots has confirmed to Daily Star Online the sale will not be starting today, despite predictions. Martin Lewis also confirmed the unconfirmed reports were wrong. He Tweeted: Important I tipped off unconfirmed reports this morning on @GMB that Boots may be starting a clearance tomorrow reducing sale items from 50% to 70%. It has now confirmed this is NOT happening. Meanwhile, Money Saving Expert predictions the wait is almost over, as there are signs it will happen soon. | https://www.dailystar.co.uk/real-life/754339/When-is-Boots-sale-2019-date-Boots-70-sale-launch |
Who Do They Think They Are? | H e l g a ( a b o v e ) GUESSES Shes someone who goes to flea markets and Dylan Thomas recitals of poetry in Greenwich Village. Her favorite restaurant is Wo Hop in Chinatown. Her dogs name is Jeff. Anonymous passerby Shes Supermans girlfriend, because of the hair. Renne, 59 Shes a textile designer. I think she made the outfit it looks very unique, not something you would see every day. For fun she goes to art museums. Shes a powerful woman. Alimama, 24 REALITY Artist. Im now making art with glass, so I have to be careful not to fall on it or in it. My age is not important. Im definitely Supermans girlfriend. I have an ideal husband, I think, and one that Im not afraid to say I adore. Weve been married 15 years or so. The thing that has amazed me is Ive been totally unafraid to keep falling in love with him, and he with me. That seems like an unusual position to be in, but admirable. Jessica Boddy, Emma Grillo, and Sarah Nechamkin contributed reporting. On set production by Jean Jarvis. | https://www.thecut.com/2019/01/judgments-helga.html?utm_source=nym&utm_medium=f1&utm_campaign=feed-part |
What's the best Core i7 laptop? | Here are a few Core i7 laptops to suit different budgets Intel's Core i3 and Core i5 processors provide ample power for the price. But when it comes to getting the most power for your money, nothing comes close to Intel's high-performance Core i7 processors, especially in the latest Sandy Bridge versions. The Core i7 has finally blurred the lines between laptop and desktop PCs and, in many cases, the prices are highly affordable. To help you choose the right machine for your needs, we've brought together four of the best Core i7-powered laptops, at prices to suit all budgets. Offering staggering performance and features ideal for the whole family, you won't fi nd a more powerful range of consumer laptops. | https://www.techradar.com/sg/news/mobile-computing/laptops/what-s-the-best-core-i7-laptop-721389 |
Could Buffalo Become the Next Gonzaga of Men's College Basketball? | Jeffrey T. Barnes/Associated Press Six years ago, Buffalo men's basketball wasn't even an afterthought at a national level. The Bulls had never been to the NCAA tournament and had only once earned a share of a regular-season conference title (2009). They finished a couple of seasons in the KenPom top 100, but never sniffed the AP Top 25 or an at-large bid. Sam Pellom is still the only player from the program to ever play in the NBA, and he went undrafted prior to brief stints with the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks almost 40 years ago. In a sport with more than 300 teams, Buffalo was just a nameless face in the crowd. But the Bulls are no longer anonymous. Far from it, actually. Since hiring Bobby Hurley as the head coach before the 2013-14 seasonthe team transitioned to Nate Oats two years later without missing a beatBuffalo has won three MAC regular-season titles and three conference tournaments. After close calls against No. 5 seed West Virginia in the 2015 NCAA tournament and No. 3 seed Miami the following year, the Bulls finally broke through and destroyed No. 4 seed Arizona 89-68 in the first round this past March, securing the first tournament win in school history. For most mid-major programs, that kind of five-year run would be the end of the storya once-in-a-lifetime stretch of success fueled by a kid the recruiting services whiffed on and a head coach bound for greatness elsewhere. For Buffalo, it was only the beginning, as this year's Bulls are arguably the best mid-major team not named Gonzaga. And, no, we're not forgetting about Nevada. That's just how good Buffalo is. Peter Morrison/Associated Press Forget about anonymous, Buffalo is a unanimous top-25 team in the latest AP poll, appearing on all 64 voters' ballots for the first time this season. The 16th-ranked Bulls are 16-1 overall with road wins over Syracuse and West Virginia. Thus far, they are breezing through league play with a 4-0 record and an average margin of victory of 19.8 points. Both on KenPom and in the NET rankings, this is a top-20 team. If they can keep that status for another two months, they won't be a plucky No. 12 or No. 13 seed but instead the fringe title contender that a No. 12 or No. 13 seed is hoping to upset in the first round. Turnovers. Or, rather, a lack of turnovers. From 2002-13, Buffalo turned the ball over on at least 20 percent of its offensive possessions in each season, according to KenPom. And unless you're incredible at something else, it's hard to win with any sort of regularity when you're giving the ball away that often. In each of the past six seasons, however, Buffalo's turnover rate has been below 20 percent, including a mark of 14.7 this year that ranks in the top 10 nationally. At Buffalo's pace of roughly 74 possessions per game, that's an improvement of four turnovers per game. And when the Bulls do cough it up, at least they aren't setting up their opponents with fast-break opportunities. According to KenPom, Buffalo's steal rate on offense is 5.8 percent, trailing only Michigan for the best rate in the nation. From 2002-14, Buffalo's best steal rate was 9.5 percent, and it was typically hovering closer to 11.0. Cutting live-ball turnovers in half is a phenomenal first step to getting better. Jeffrey T. Barnes/Associated Press It's more than just that, of course. This is Georgia Southern's sixth consecutive season ranking in the top 50 in offensive steal rate, but you don't see the Eagles in the AP Top 25or even in the KenPom top 100. In addition to limiting careless mistakes, Buffalo has also made strides on defense, has always done a good job of crashing the offensive glass and has mastered the art of getting old and staying old, consistently having a bunch of key upperclassmen in the fold. This year, that last bit is more pertinent than ever, as five of the Bulls' seven leading scorers are seniors. CJ Massinburg is the top scorer and the name that most college basketball fans probably knowhe put up 43 points in the early win over West Virginia. But he, Jeremy Harris and Nick Perkins are each averaging better than 13 points and six rebounds per game for a team loaded with experience and ways to beat you. No need to worry that the mid-major dynasty is going to disappear this offseason along with that quintet, though. There are several transfers sitting on the bench ready to make an impact next season, most notably among them Antwain Johnson from Middle Tennessee. And Oats and his staff are no strangers to building rosters from the transfer market. Three of this year's five top seniors began their careers at JUCO schools. That's why it feels like we're looking at more than just a flash in the pan. Buffalo will need to maintain this level of dominance for several more yearsand reach a Sweet 16 or twobefore people begin to seriously entertain the notion that this could be an East Coast Gonzaga. But the bones are there for the Bulls to become an annual staple atop the MAC, given their proven ability to find players with some college experience who fit their system like a glove. Advanced stats courtesy of KenPom.com. Kerry Miller covers men's college basketball and college football for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter: @kerrancejames. | https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2815904-could-buffalo-become-the-next-gonzaga-of-mens-college-basketball |
Did 500 LPRC Employees Know Managements Redundancy Plan? | -Supreme Court to provide answer soon Supreme Court justices are expected to provide an opinion to establish as to whether 500 employees of the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company (LPRC), who were asked by the management to sign their voluntary redundancy, were not knowledgeable about the consequences of their decision in 2006, as claimed by the leadership. The Supreme Courts involvement resulted from a request by the employees legal team, headed by Cllr. Laveli Supuwood, for Judicial Review against the May 6, 2014, judgment of the National Labor Court. In that judgment, the court said: The voluntary acceptance of the voluntary redundancy package by the redundant employees over retirement while on notice stopped them from repudiating their own act. On April 17, 2006, the Board of Directors and the Management of the LPRC claimed to have notified the Ministry of Labor (MoL) about its decision to carry on voluntary redundancy. The exercise was intended to reduce their workforce from 750 to 250, dropping 500 employees due to economic constraints. However, in counter argument on Tuesday, January 15, Cllr. Supuwood, who represented the employees, claimed that though they signed for their redundancy, there was no involvement of the MoL to explain about the consequences of doing so. Besides, Cllr. Supuwood said, there were others who signed the redundancy plan simply because they were compelled to do so as the management had planned to deny them benefits if they did not sign. The 500 redundant employees received voluntary redundancy packages. However, Cllr. Supuwood contended that they should have been retired with just benefits and not to be redundant, something he has considered as unfair labor practice. Again, Supuwood asked for the reinstatement of some of the redundant employees who had not reached the retirement age but received redundancy packages. Supuwood also argued that those employees that were denied the right to pension should be immediately pensioned with all of their just benefits in line with the labor law; and those security officers that did not sign the voluntary redundancy form and were declared redundant by the management should be immediately reinstated with all of their benefits or receive payment in keeping with the labor law. In a counter-argument, LPRCs lawyer, Cllr. Jonathan Massaquoi, said it would be unfair for the justices to compel the management to reinstate or retire those employees who had benefited from the companys redundancy package. They voluntarily signed releases, expressly discharging the management from any and all claims of whatsoever nature or kind, arising out of or related to the employment relationship and/or voluntary redundancy, Cllr. Massaquoi argued. Massaquoi also said the redundancy was part of the then managements 150 days deliverables plan, to ensure an effective and efficient generation of more revenue for the government. The plan was to cut down on too much spending on salaries by the company, Massaquoi argued. According to Massaquoi, there was a memorandum entered into between the management and the employees that provided detailed information about the package each of them would have received and subsequently requested employees opting for the voluntary redundancy to sign out a voluntary redundancy form on or before April 28, 2006. Though the managements memorandum was dated April 28, 2006, they wrote the Ministry of Labor (MOL) on May 1, 2006, informing them about the agreement, which request the ministry approved and said was consistent with the labor practices of the country. Not being enough, the ministry designated its Director for Workmans Compensation, Nathaniel Dickerson, to monitor the voluntary redundancy process and to attest to all releases issued in favor of the company. These are legal issues the justices are expected to answer in their judgment. | https://www.liberianobserver.com/news/did-500-lprc-employees-know-managements-redundancy-plan/ |
What are the plans for Birminghams Highland Plaza? | The anticipated closure of the Western Supermarket on Highland Avenue might have some asking whats next for its home at Highland Plaza. Earlier this month, Western Supermarkets announced it is disbanding the company, The Birmingham-area grocery chain, which has operated for 70 years, said it will sell its Lane Parke location in Mountain Brook, and its Rocky Ridge store in Vestavia Hills, to Publix. The Highland Avenue Western Market will close in weeks to come as it is slated for redevelopment, the company said. The Western Supermarket-owned East Lake Village Market is for sale. Highland Plaza is also home to other businesses, such as Hot and Hot Fish Club. Last February, 22nd Street Partners LLC, a Daniel Corp.-affiliated company, purchased Highland Plaza in January for $4.7 million. The same group also purchased a property behind Highland Plaza at 2174 11th Court S. for $520,000. Shortly after, a spokesperson for Daniel Corp. said the company had no plans to redevelop the property, seeing it as a great investment. Daniel Corp. did not respond to inquiries about Highland Plaza. But Hot and Hot Fish Club owner Chris Hastings told AL.com the restaurant will eventually be moving. However, there are no firm plans to announce yet and no expected moving date, Hastings said. Another tenant at Highland Plaza, Taj India, announced this month that it plans to eventually relocate. On the restaurants Facebook page, Taj India stated its future in Birmingham is as bright as ever! Yes, the Western Supermarket is closing and the entire shopping center will be repurposed in the coming years, read the statement. We will be at our current location for another year, with plans to relocate in Birmingham. We thank you for your support and are looking forward to celebrating 25 yrs this summer. Staff writer Bob Carlton contributed to this report. | https://www.al.com/business/2019/01/what-are-the-plans-for-highland-plaza.html |
Who should manage Sidewalk Labs digital data? | If Waterfront Toronto gives Sidewalk Labs the green light this year to proceed with its smart city project, the Alphabet/Google-subsidiary will eventually begin installing a network of sensors in the public spaces, private buildings and infrastructure that will be developed at Quayside and perhaps on the Port Lands. These devices will continuously gather and transmit a massive amount of raw data everything from pedestrian traffic at intersections to energy readings. Those countless shards of data will create an ever-shifting pointillist portrait of an emerging urban neighbourhood going about its business. Theres a broad consensus that smart city data gathered by Sidewalk Labs must be shorn of any kind of personal identifying information and must be regarded as a public asset a kind of urban version of a natural resource, like crown forests or mineral deposits, writes John Lorinc. Theres a consensus that such data must be shorn of identifying information. Its also become clear, after all the intensive scrutiny of Sidewalks pitch, that these data sets are public assets urban versions of natural resources, like crown forests or mineral deposits. As such, the data must be governed in the public interest, in this case by a civic digital trust. This institutions mandate: to provide storage, privacy and security while making subsets of the data available to individuals, companies or agencies. In all likelihood, some of those applications will be for commercial uses. Sidewalk officials and Waterfront Torontos Digital Strategy Advisory Panel (DSAP) have been hunkered down for months with the largely unprecedented problem of figuring out how this trust should work, to whom it will answer, and how far its authority extends. Article Continued Below Last fall, MARS prepared a primer on civic digital trusts for WT, Sidewalk and DSAP officials, the contents of which was discussed a series of closed workshops but has now been posted on Waterfront Torontos website in response to a request by the Toronto Star. Earlier this month, the Toronto Region Board of Trade jumped into the fray with a pitch entitled Bibliotech: that the Toronto Public Library should be tasked with storing, managing and making available Sidewalks data, with privacy overseen by the provincial information and privacy commission. The board of trades brief says the library is consumer-facing and has plenty of experience in data management. But the main motivation comes from the librarys reputation. By folding it into a respected agency, this new trust wins public trust from day one. Other jurisdictions testing smart city and digital public service applications, including Barcelona, London and Estonia, have taken very different approaches, situating their data trusts at the centre of government. I dont dispute the librarys capabilities, but if we want to create a trust with the chops to properly oversee the smart city ventures that seem to be coming our way, policy-makers should heed the old architects adage, that form follows function. Tasks like storage, privacy and security are only half the equation. As Sidewalk officials have said, the company sees the sensors to be deployed in Quayside and elsewhere as platforms. The value will come from making the sensor data available to groups and companies that come up with ideas for using it. One need only look how Uber has taken full advantage of free access to a public resource streets to understand the stakes. Article Continued Below Sidewalk, which has scoped out its own vision of what a trust should do, in December revealed various use cases for its urban technology, among them tracking street parking spots. That information, once accessible via mobile apps, will become crucial to ride-hailing companies operating autonomous vehicles. Absolutely. Waterfront Toronto officials say theyve not yet tackled this problem. There are other tough questions. The board of trade acknowledges that scalability is important. Amidst all the debate, one point seems clear: if we want to create a robust digital governance system, we need to dedicate the resources to build it properly. Its about far more than riding the coat tails of a well loved local agency. John Lorinc is a senior editor at Spacing. Read more about: | https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2019/01/18/who-should-manage-sidewalk-labs-digital-data.html |
Is a Beat in the Cards for Allegheny's (ATI) Q4 Earnings? | Allegheny Technologies Incorporated ATI is scheduled to release fourth-quarter 2018 results on Jan 22, before the opening bell. In the third quarter, the company reported net earnings of $50.5 million or 37 cents per share, improving from net loss of $121.2 million or $1.12 in the prior-year quarter. Earnings, however, missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 39 cents. The company reported revenues of $1,020.2 million in the quarter, up 17.4% year over year. Sales beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,001 million. Notably, Allegheny outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters, the average positive surprise being 41.4%. Allegheny has outperformed the industry in a years time. Shares of the company have lost around 11.3% compared with the industrys decline of around 15.7% over the same period. Lets see how things are shaping up for the forthcoming announcement. Allegheny Technologies Incorporated Price and EPS Surprise Allegheny Technologies Incorporated Price and EPS Surprise | Allegheny Technologies Incorporated Quote Earnings Whispers Our proven model shows that Allegheny is likely to beat estimates in the fourth quarter. That is because a stock needs to have a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) for this to happen. This is the case here as you will see below: Earnings ESP: Earnings ESP for Allegheny is +3.18%. This is because the Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate are currently pegged at 35 cents and 34 cents, respectively. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before theyre reported with our Earnings ESP Filter. Zacks Rank: Allegheny currently carries a Zacks Rank #3, which when combined with a positive ESP, makes us reasonably confident of an earnings beat. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Note that we caution against Sell-rated stocks (#4 or 5) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions. Factors at Play Allegheny, in its third-quarter earnings call, stated that it expects year-over-year growth in operating margin and revenues at the High Performance Materials & Components (HPMC) division in the fourth quarter owing to improved asset utilization and higher aerospace market demand. The company also expects a year-over-year improvement in operating margin of 150-300 basis points on strong end-market demand, benefits from Hot-Rolling and Processing Facility (HRPF) utilization and solid rise in differentiated product sales. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter consolidated revenues for Allegheny is $981.4 million, reflecting an expected increase of around 7.8% year over year. Alleghenys Flat-Rolled Products (FRP) division benefited from improved cost absorption through higher operating rates along with enhanced matching of raw material surcharges with changes in prices for ferrochrome, nickel and other metallics in the third quarter. However, the company expects a significant price fall in major raw materials and sequentially lower ferrochrome and nickel prices to lead to weaker fourth-quarter results due to mismatch between input costs and the surcharge index pricing mechanism. Allegheny continues to improve its cost structure with its gross cost reduction initiative. The company expects to generate free cash flow of more than $150 million for full-year 2018 from operational improvement, financial performance and disciplined spending. Alleghenys JV with Tsingshan Group Company will also offer cost competitive stainless sheet products, made for the North American market, through a unique combination of Alleghenys innovative, low-cost HRPF, and Tsingshans unparalleled Indonesian refining, mining and castings assets, along with the JVs unique Direct Roll Anneal and Pickle facility in Midland, PA. Moreover, the JV supports Alleghenys considerable investment in the U.S. manufacturing operations, especially in its HRPF facility, which will provide value addition to the processing services for the JVs finished products. Alleghenys agreement with NLMK USA will also open up an additional growth opportunity in HRPF utilization. Other Stocks Poised to Beat Estimates Here are some other companies in the basic materials space that you may also want to consider, as our model shows these also have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter: New Gold Inc. NGD has an Earnings ESP of +166.67% and carries a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Ryerson Holding Corporation RYI has an Earnings ESP of +48.34% and carries a Zacks Rank #3. LyondellBasell Industries N.V. LYB has an Earnings ESP of +2.37% and carries a Zacks Rank #3. Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana. Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look. Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (LYB) : Free Stock Analysis Report New Gold Inc. (NGD) : Free Stock Analysis Report Ryerson Holding Corporation (RYI) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. | https://news.yahoo.com/beat-cards-alleghenys-ati-q4-135901387.html |
Can Strong Memory Aid Lam Research (LRCX) in Q2 Earnings? | Lam Research Corporation LRCX is slated to report second-quarter fiscal 2019 results on Jan 23. In the last reported quarter, the company delivered a positive earnings surprise of 4.67%. Lam Researchs surprise history has been pretty impressive. The company surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average being 9.70%. Shares of Lam Research have lost 31% in the past year compared with its industrys decline of 28.5%. Lets see how things are shaping up for this announcement. Factors to Consider Lam Research has a high exposure in the memory segment, which is likely to witness notable growth in the coming quarters, driven by cloud computing, big data, mobile devices and IoT. The company is doing well of late and expects to flourish in areas such as device architecture, process flow and advanced packaging technology inflections. It continues to witness increased adoption rates for 3D NAND technology, FinFETs and multi-patterning. The company has undertaken cost-reduction activities as well as density scaling for 3D NAND, and new memory technologies. All these factors are likely to positively impact the top line of the company. For the quarter to be reported, the company expects revenues to be approximately $2.5 billion (+/- $150 million). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same is pegged at $2.50 billion. However, volatility in the PC market remains a major concern. Weakness in the PCs may offset the expansion in the 3D NAND, impacting its fiscal second-quarter results. Also, the company faces significant competition in all its product and service categories in the semiconductor capital equipment market. Lam Research Corporation Price and EPS Surprise Lam Research Corporation Price and EPS Surprise | Lam Research Corporation Quote Earnings Whispers Our proven model shows that Lam Research is unlikely to beat estimates in the to-be-reported quarter. This is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) for this to happen. That is not the case here as you will see below. Earnings ESP: The company has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before theyre reported with our Earnings ESP Filter. Zacks Rank: Currently, Lam Research has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). We caution against stocks with a Zacks Rank #4 or 5 (Strong Sell) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is witnessing negative estimate revisions. Stocks to Consider You may consider the following stocks with a positive Earnings ESP and a favorable Zacks Rank: Amazon.com Inc. AMZN has an Earnings ESP of +0.68% and carries a Zacks Rank #2. KeyCorp KEY has an Earnings ESP of +0.80% and a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Waters Corporation WAT has an Earnings ESP of +2.45% and holds a Zacks Rank #3. Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana. Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look. Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Waters Corporation (WAT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Lam Research Corporation (LRCX) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research | https://news.yahoo.com/strong-memory-aid-lam-research-135601173.html |
Can Medical Devices Strength Drive Abbott (ABT) Q4 Earnings? | Abbotts ABT Medical Devices business has been going strong of late on solid sub-segmental performance. We expect this strength to get reflected in fourth-quarter 2018 results, which are scheduled for release on Jan 23, before the market opens. Click here to know how the companys overall Q4 performance is expected to be. Medical Devices in Focus Abbotts Medical Devices segment presently comprises the new Cardiovascular and Neuromodulation, Heart Failure, Electrophysiology, Structural Heart, Rhythm Management, Vascular businesses along with the Diabetes Care business. Management expects high single-digit growth in Medical Devices fourth-quarter 2018 sales along with continued double-digit growth in certain sub-segments. Abbott Laboratories Price and EPS Surprise Abbott Laboratories Price and EPS Surprise | Abbott Laboratories Quote The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Medical Devices revenues in the United States of $1.29 billion indicates a rise of 6.6% from the year-ago quarter. Internationally, the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion shows growth of 6.5%. In the last quarter, sales improvement at the segment was driven by double-digit growth in Electrophysiology, Structural Heart and Diabetes Care. Moreover, the company received approvals for a few products alongside achieving clinical trial milestones. Let's see how things are shaping up within these sub-segments before the fourth-quarter results. Electrophysiology, which accounted for 14.4% of Medical Devices revenues in third-quarter 2018, has been gaining strongly from strength in cardiac mapping and ablation catheters. The trend is expected to continue in the fourth quarter. The company is expected to gain from continued solid demand for its Confirm Rx Insertable Cardiac Monitor this quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Electrophysiology revenues of $430 million indicates an increase of 12.9% from a year ago. The company is expected to keep gaining from this business. The Structural Heart business has maintained an impressive top-line performance. In the last reported quarter, this business accounted for 10.8% of total revenues under the broader Medical Devices segment. The upside was led by strong performances from MitraClip and AMPLATZER PFO Occluder. Last September, Abbott presented positive clinical results from its COAPT study supporting the efficacy of MitraClip for select patients with functional mitral regurgitation. This positive development is expected to boost the uptake of the product and top-line contributions from this sub-segment in the to-be-reported quarter. Our estimate for Structural Heart revenues of $345 million indicates a rise of 19% from the year-ago quarter. In Diabetes Care, international sales growth of 42% on a reported basis in the prior quarter was driven by Abbotts FreeStyle Libre. The company has initiated the launch of FreeStyleLibre in the United States as well. Proceeding with initiatives to boost this arm, the company received FDA approval for its FreeStyle Libre 14 day sensor in August 2018. In October, Abbott was granted CE Mark for its next-generation product with optional real-time alarms FreeStyle Libre 2 system. Following the developments, Abbott is expected to keep gaining from the continued uptake of the FreeStyle Libre in the to-be-reported quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Diabetes Care revenues of $544 million indicates a surge of 31.7% from the year-ago quarter. | https://news.yahoo.com/medical-devices-strength-drive-abbott-134401598.html |
When are the 2019 Bafta Television Awards on TV? How can I watch and when are the nominees announced? | After the film awards season reaches its climax at the Oscars, the TV industry turns its attention to Britains glitziest do the Bafta Television Awards. Advertisement The ceremony showcases some of the best in TV from the past year, and with shows like Killing Eve, Bodyguard and Derry Girls, 2019s ceremony isnt one to miss. The British Academy Television Awards will take place on Sunday 12th May. The ceremony for the British Academy Television Craft Awards is held earlier on Sunday 28th April. This has been a separate ceremony since 1998, and focuses on celebrating behind-the-scenes and technical talent. Categories for the Television Craft Awards include costume design, make-up and hair design, special effects, and production. The British Academy Television Awards will be broadcast on the night of the ceremony on BBC1. The ceremony is not broadcast live, but instead shown on a delay in an edited-down version. The Bafta Television Awards will also be available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Though the venue has not officially been confirmed yet, the British Academy Television Awards have taken place at the Royal Festival Hall since 2016, situated on Londons Southbank. The host of the 2019 Bafta Television Awards has not been revealed yet, but we will update this page when its announced. Sue Perkins helmed the Awards in 2018. The writer, presenter and comedian is best known as one half of the comedy double act Mel and Sue, who hosted the Great British Bake Off until 2016. In her Bafta opening monologue, Perkins cracked jokes about gender inequality in television, and began by describing the awards as the original home of the hostile environment. Nominations for the 2019 Bafta Television Awards will be announced on Thursday 28th March, but those who have been attentive to television over the past year should already have an idea of what to expect. Highlights likely to be celebrated are BBCs Killing Eve, the witty and thrilling drama about the cat-and-mouse chase between a spy and assassin. Another show likely to get recognition is gripping thriller Bodyguard starring Richard Madden and Keeley Hawes which focused on a protection officer assigned the Home Secretary and gripped viewers either side of the Atlantic. Be sure to check this space for future updates when the Bafta nominees are announced. Among 2018s winners, were Sean Bean who won a Bafta for Leading Actor for his role as troubled Roman Catholic priest Father Michael Kerrigan in BBC1s Broken and Daisy May Cooper, who won Best Female Performance in Comedy for This Country. Cooper accepted her Bafta in a Swindon Town FC-styled dress, a reference to her role as Kerry Mucklowe in the Cotswolds-based BBC3 mockumentary. The award for Drama Series went to Brummie gangster hit Peaky Blinders which aired its fourth series in 2017 and Graham Norton won the Bafta for Entertainment Performance for the Graham Norton Show. Advertisement See our video below for the complete list of Bafta TV winners: | https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2019-01-18/bafta-tv-awards-2019/ |
Whats next for the Blazers? | The Blazers find themselves in limbo following their Division II National Championship against Ferris State. Three of the coaches leading the team in VSUs first undefeated football season have pursued careers elsewhere. Head Coach Kerwin Bell took an offensive coordinator position at the University of South Florida. Offensive Line Coach Jeremy Darveau followed and will now coach the Bulls front line. Defensive Coordinator Danny Verpaele has moved to Kennesaw State to coach the defensive backs for the Owls. Now the search is on as the Blazers face uncertainty. Timing is everything. Losing these coaches could be pivotal to the recruiting class. With a shortage of coaches and signing day only three weeks away, players may back out of their verbal commitments. Luckily, the Blazers are young. Having a slight drop off in recruitment for a season may not hurt them as it would a top-heavier team. I could be wrong, but it isnt far-fetched to assume theres some type of turmoil in the football department. The way these three coaches took off in short order after winning a Natty in such a dynamic and dominating fashion wasnt expected. But then again, its a blessing and a curse when you win a Division II National Championship. Yes, you may get the exposure, but you must also acknowledge that Division I athletic departments will be chomping at the bit to prowl on the D2 coaches and players. They must hire from within or enter the coaching carousel to bring in a new head coach, defensive coordinator and offensive line coach. Players will then have to win over the new coaches. If some decide to transfer from VSU, it shouldnt come as a surprise. After all, positions will not be solidified with an overhaul and a probable new system. Next season will be a test for the Blazers. But it could also be one of the their most storied seasons yet. Even more than last season. Although it could come with a bit of growing pains as the coaching staff and players become familiar with one another, I feel that they still have a chance to repeat as national champions. Imagine taking two consecutive championships with two separate coaching staffs. For the good or the bad, it will be a hell of a season for the Blazers. Written by Gerald Thomas III., Staff Writer. Photo courtesy of VSU Athletics. | http://www.vsuspectator.com/2019/01/17/whats-next-for-the-blazers/ |
Was Prince Philip's life saved by a Coventry-made Jaguar Land Rover vehicle? | Get daily updates directly to your inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email The Land Rover driven by Prince Philip in yesterday afternoons collision in Norfolk could have been specially adapted in Coventry. As a vehicle in the royal households fleet, the car would almost certainly have been through one of Jaguar Land Rovers facilities which alters standard models in line with special requirements by its owners. The Coventry car maker would never discuss customers and vehicles it specially adapts for them but all royal cars will come specially equipped. Many will also have security adaptations such as special strengthening or armour plating. All will also have some kind of radio for contacting royal protection officers in the event of an emergency and they generally have police lights fitted. No one has speculated on whether adaptations to the Land Rover the Duke of Edinburgh was driving, which overturned, might have helped him escape uninjured but it remains a possibility. The car makers Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) centre is based on the Prologis Business Park in Ryton-on-Dunsmore and officially opened its doors in July 2016. (Image: PA) Prior to that the car maker carried out similar activities at another location in Coventry. Similar work has also been carried out at its engineering centre in Gaydon, Warwickshire. However, the vehicle driven by Prince Philip was an older vehicle and is believed to be a Land Rover Freelander 2. As such it is likely to have been in use by the royal household for some time, meaning adaptations to it could have been carried out in Coventry or Gaydon. The Freelander 2 was launched in 2006 and produced until 2014, when it was replaced by the Land Rover Discovery Sport. The Duke of Edinburgh was left shocked and shaken but unhurt following the collision, on the A149 near Sandringham. Motorist Roy Warne witnessed the crash and has told how he helped the 97-year-old get out of his wrecked Land Rover through the sunroof. He said the Range Rover collided with another vehicle before rolling all the way over and coming to a rest on its side. Mr Warne, 75, told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: I was driving home and I saw a car - a black Range Rover - come out from a side road and it rolled and ended up on the other side of the road and there was a huge collision with another car. I went to the other car. There was a baby in the back and, with another man, we got the baby out. Then I went to the black car to help and realised it was the Duke of Edinburgh. Asked if Philip was trapped, Mr Warne said: Yes, he was. I asked him to move his left leg and that freed his right leg and then I helped him get out. (Image: PA) Describing how he helped Prince Phillip from his car, Mr Warne told Today: The roof was where the window should have been, because it was on its side. I think I helped him out through either the sunroof or the front windscreen, but Im a bit blurred about that. There was a little bit of blood and one of the royal entourage gave me a wipe to wipe my hands. Mr Warne said the duke was able to stand and walk immediately after getting out of the car. When asked what the duke said, he replied: I cant remember, but it was nothing rude. He was obviously shaken, and then he went and asked if everyone else was all right. Describing how he assisted the occupants of the other car involved, he said: The person in the car behind me also stopped and a passenger from that car actually took the baby in his arms after we had freed it from the baby harness. One of them had a broken arm. They were very shaken. One of them was the mother of the child and she was quite upset. The footage below charts the growth of Jaguar Land Rover's Special Vehicle Operations division Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now A statement released by Buckingham Palace said the Duke was not injured and added: Norfolk Police is investigating the incident and a full investigation is taking place, it is understood. The Duke retired from royal duties in August 2017 and underwent a hip replacement in May last year. A report by the Mirror looked at the kind of features that might be found on specially adapted royal Land Rover. The royal familys association with Land Rover is a lengthy one and the Queen and the Duke have driven several Land Rover vehicles over the years. The Mirror report looked at one of Prince Philips Range Rovers, which was put on the market in November last year for 129,000. The report said the top-spec Autobiography Range Rover was specially kitted-out by Land Rover with several adjustments for its royal owner. Police lighting was installed as well as unique fixed side steps. Additional grab handles were also installed from new to help the Queen to access the Range Rover and the rear TV screens were removed - although they were subsequently reinstalled. The Range Rover was driven by the Duke of Edinburgh on a high-profile visit by Barack and Michelle Obama to the UK in April 2016. The Mirror report said the cars sale price was 24 per cent more than its list price when new of 105,080. It added that a spokesperson for Auto Trader told Car Dealer Magazine: In recent years weve seen a big influx of royal cars, many of which hold significant premiums due to the status of the previous owners. Low-mileage, expensive extras and expert maintenance are some of the reasons why royal cars are often more expensive than similar models on the market, but data from the Auto Trader marketplace also suggests that the monarchy premium with these cars increases the closer the royal is to the throne. Download the CoventryLive app Click here for iPhone and here for Android Visit our Facebook pages for Coventry and Nuneaton or visit our Twitter pages for Coventry and Nuneaton Watch our videos on YouTube and see our photos on Instagram Find old stories in our online Archives and search for jobs, motors and property, or place an advert or family notice here | https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/local-news/prince-philip-crash-land-rover-15697987 |
Why Is Greece Such a Hot Spot of Left-Wing Terrorism? | Unlike the groups of the 1980s, the new terror groups that emerged in the mid-aughts lack any ideological vision and are more careless, analysts say. On the bright side, the preference for low-intensity violence and IEDs anyone is capable of fabricating (as one SPF manifesto boasted) means fewer deaths. Its really easy to kill people if you want, so the good news is that they dont want tobecause they have no political message to convey by killing, says Kiesling. Unlike clear and accessible communiques by other far-leftist groups, like The Coming Insurrection by Frances Invisible Committee, available statements by todays Greek terrorist groups are deliberately open-ended, often rambling, pseudo-intellectual, and designed for a very small, like-minded audience. But while less lethal, the attacks are also less targeted. Many small bomb attacks are so-called initiation, or recruitment bombs, by new members eager to show off their revolutionary chops and bomb-making skills. The Kolonaki church bomb was a recruit bomb and was likely placed by an individual who had a personal vendetta against the church. Earlier this month, a bomb went off outside a butcher shop in the working-class neighborhood of Kypseli. It was apparently an animal rights statement, but it severely injured a passerby. Nor are the groups uniformly low-tech: They have years of training and a decentralized power structure, which has led to enhanced operational capacities as well as access to military-grade weapons, often bought through organized-crime ties forged partly through the prison system. In Greece, there isnt a separate prison facility for individuals charged with terrorist-related activity. Instead, members of N17, SPF, and other groups are housed in the countrys biggest maximum-security prison, Korydallos. Within EU countries, left-wing terrorist offences get an average of ten years jail timesignificantly more than the average five for jihadist offences, or four for right-wing terrorist offences. In Greece, its even higher. According to Europol, the average prison sentence for a left-wing terrorist is 17 years. Outside of prison, groups congregate in the anarchist-stronghold of Exarchia, a so-called no-go zone that serves as a recruitment ground, cache for weapons, bomb-building, and safe house location. The mystery of Greek left-wing terrorism, however, is that it persists at all. Fewer than 400 terrorists operate within the country, according to Michaletos, among a population of around eleven million that possesses the third-highest ratio of police officers to civilians worldwide. After the assassination of Welch, the CIA poured millions of dollars into counter-terrorism and training operations in Greece; U.S. financial support continues. Greece is a small country, says Bossis. Its not very difficult [for] the authorities...to know who these people are, to understand them in depth, and to solve the problem. Regardless of whether a left-leaning party, like the current ruling Syriza, or a center-right party, like the main opposition New Democracy, is in charge, left-wing political violence continues. What is lacking is political will, says Michaletos. The right accuses the left of inaction; the left accuses the right of political exploitation. Distorting the discussion of left-wing terror in Greece is an uncomfortable reality, as a much more immediate and tangible threat comes from right-wing violence. Racist hate crimes in Greece tripled in 2017, impacting more people than left-wing terrorism. The state has proved woefully slow to address this, too: A trial of 69 members of the far-right political party Golden Dawn, for various criminal activities including racial violence and murder, that began in 2015 drags on to this day, with lawyers in the trial having been attacked by right-wing gangs. Ultimately, Greece faces an issue in checking extremist political violence across the spectrum. A bloated, inefficient, and selectively violent police force hasnt responded effectively to extremism. 2019 is an election year for Greece, but its unlikely that attacks on either the left or the right will abate by the time Greeks head to the polls in the fall. | https://newrepublic.com/article/152918/greece-hot-spot-left-wing-terrorism |
Is the NHS's long-term plan workable? | There was a fanfare of a launch for the NHS's long-term plan for England earlier this month. The prime minister and the head of NHS England shared a platform at a hospital in Liverpool and toured children's wards. Promises to accelerate detection of cancers and invest more in GP, community care and mental health were made. But now the official financial watchdog, the National Audit Office (NAO), has thrown - if not a bucket then - at least a flask of cold water over the project. In its annual report on the financial sustainability of the NHS in England, the NAO argues there are many underlying problems which need to be addressed, never mind improving services in line with the ambitions of the plan. The stark conclusion is that the existence of "substantial deficits" at some trusts along with growing waiting lists "does not paint a picture that is sustainable". With regard to the long-term plan, the watchdog says there is a "prudent approach to achieving the priorities and tests" set by the government in return for the new funding settlement, which gives NHS England an extra 20.5bn annually in real terms by 2023. But the NAO then stresses that there are "a number of risks" to delivering the plan. The report highlights what many health lobby groups were arguing on the day the long-term plan was unveiled in early January, namely that workforce shortages would hold back attempts to reach the ambitious new targets. There are more than 100,000 unfilled NHS posts in England. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Workforce shortages could derail the long-term plan, the report says The NAO says that some of the new funding might be swallowed up by bills for expensive agency staff and trusts might not be able to recruit enough new clinicians to provide expanded services. It goes on to point out that the funding settlement for NHS England is all well and good, but it will be impossible to assess the long-term prospects for the nation's health until other information is available. It notes that "without a long-term funding settlement for social care" there are concerns that "it will be very difficult to make the NHS sustainable". Bleak picture Budgets for public health (including prevention) and training of nurses, doctors and other staff have not yet been set out and, if less generous than the NHS settlement, they could affect the ability of the service to deliver the long-term plan, in the view of the report authors. The watchdog paints a bleak picture. The financial health of some trusts, it says, is getting worse. The Department of Health and Social Care has had to bail out those in the most fragile state to the tune of 3.2bn in emergency loans over the latest year, up from 2.8bn in 2016-17. Patients will not need reminding that there are now 4.1 million people on waiting lists for non-urgent operations, up from 2.5 million in 2012-13. The NAO says getting the list even back to where it was as recently as March 2018 would cost 700m. 'Unfinished business' The Department of Health says that a detailed workforce plan will be set out later in the year, which will ensure the NHS has the staff it needs now and in the future. A spokesperson said the long-term plan did set out that "putting the NHS back on to a sustainable financial path was a key priority". So in effect the jury is still out. Anita Charlesworth, of the Health Foundation charity, concludes that "no-one can argue with the ambitions of the plan but this is unfinished business". She argues that the NAO report is a "clear articulation of the challenge facing the government" as it works out budgets for public health, staff training and social care. It is a coincidence that the NAO was finishing its review of NHS finances just as its long-term plan was published, and there was still time to assess it. And it is also a welcome coincidence for those interested in how the NHS in England will be shaped over the next decade. | https://www.bbc.com/news/health-46917614 |
Is David Bowie the greatest entertainer of the 20th Century? | David Bowie. Picture: Press The Heroes icon has beaten the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Marilyn Monroe to be given the prestigious title in a UK poll. David Bowie has been crowned the greatest entertainer of the 20th Century. The late Ziggy Stardust icon, who passed away on 10 January 2016, was voted top in a list which included the likes of Billie Holiday, Charlie Chaplin and Marilyn Monroe. The poll was part of BBC's Icon's series, which looked to celebrate the greatest figures from the 1900s. The series, which is available to watch on iPlayer, also crowns the best scientists, explorers and leaders. Vote in our poll below: Go inside David Bowie's new augmented reality app for the David Bowie Is exhibition: READ MORE: Bands that my not have existed without David Bowie Take our David Bowie quiz below: | https://www.radiox.co.uk/artists/david-bowie/named-greatest-entertainer-of-20th-century-uk-poll/ |
What time is kick off for Leinster v Wasps and what TV channel is it on? | Get daily updates directly to your inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email Leinster and Wasps will face off in their final group game in the Champions Cup this weekend. Champions Leinster head to England with their place in the knockout rounds almost guaranteed barring a heavy defeat and a string of unlikely results elsewhere. Here is everything you need to know ahead of the big game. Kick off for the big game is at 3:15pm in Coventry's Ricoh Arena. The match will be shown live on BT Sport but will not be broadcast on any free to air Irish TV. Eir Sport customers cam watch the footage on their app as well. Leinster: 1/12 Draw: 40/1 Wasps: 13/2 Team news Leinster 15. Jordan Larmour (32) 14. Adam Byrne (47) 13. Garry Ringrose (59) 12. Robbie Henshaw (31) 11. Dave Kearney (129) 10. Ross Byrne (61) 9. Jamison Gibson-Park (64) 1. Jack McGrath (138) 2. Sen Cronin (165) 3. Tadhg Furlong (95) 4. Devin Toner (226) 5. James Ryan (25) 6. Rhys Ruddock (154) CAPTAIN 7. Josh van der Flier (70) 8. Jack Conan (84) Wasps 15 Rob Miller (93) 14 Josh Bassett (93) 13 Michele Campagnaro (5) 12 Gaby Lovobalavu (23) 11 Elliot Daly (187) 10 Lima Sopoaga (16) 9 Dan Robson (94) 1 Zurabi Zhvania (15) 2 Tom Cruse (51) 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley (123) 4 Joe Launchbury (c) (134) 5 Will Rowlands (65) 6 Brad Shields (9) 7 Nizaam Carr (25) 8 Nathan Hughes (118) | https://www.dublinlive.ie/sport/rugby/what-time-kick-leinster-v-15698137 |
What is Article 50 and can it be extended or revoked? | It feels like forever ago that we invoked Article 50, seemingly cementing the fact we were leaving the EU for good. However, with a possible no deal situation still on the cards, and numerous calls for a Peoples Vote, the final outcome of Brexit is not quite clear. One thing many people might be wondering is whether theres any chance to go back to the halcyon days before all this, and pretend like wed never voted to leave in the first place. It turns out, that despite Article 50 appearing to be the final nail in the coffin, there might be a way to revoke it. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video For those not familiar with Article 50, its a 5-point plan that lays out the process for any countries who wish to leave the EU. Advertisement Advertisement It was introduced in 2009, as part of a plan to make the European Union more democratic, more transparent and more efficient. One of the main parts of this is that, from the point that we invoked Article 50, we had two years to negotiate our deal and leave. So, given that we did so on 29 March 2017, our goodbye date is 29 March this year. Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty 1. Any Member State may decide to withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements. 2. A Member State which decides to withdraw shall notify the European Council of its intention. In the light of the guidelines provided by the European Council, the Union shall negotiate and conclude an agreement with that State, setting out the arrangements for its withdrawal, taking account of the framework for its future relationship with the Union. That agreement shall be negotiated in accordance with Article 218(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. It shall be concluded on behalf of the Union by the Council, acting by a qualified majority, after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament. 3. The Treaties shall cease to apply to the State in question from the date of entry into force of the withdrawal agreement or, failing that, two years after the notification referred to in paragraph 2, unless the European Council, in agreement with the Member State concerned, unanimously decides to extend this period. 4. For the purposes of paragraphs 2 and 3, the member of the European Council or of the Council representing the withdrawing Member State shall not participate in the discussions of the European Council or Council or in decisions concerning it. A qualified majority shall be defined in accordance with Article 238(3)(b) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. 5. If a State which has withdrawn from the Union asks to rejoin, its request shall be subject to the procedure referred to in Article 49. The UK can still cancel Brexit and stay in the EU, however. Advertisement Advertisement 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 29 March, we would retain membership of the EU under existing terms. However if the UK applied to rejoin after the Article 50 deadline has passed, it would have to go through a lengthy accession process. 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. (Picture: Matt Cardy/Getty Images) 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. Prince Philip gets new Land Rover day after crash 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 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 in Parliament this weekm where her deal was ousted, MPs remain fundamentally split over what form of Brexit would be best for Britain. MORE: Police invite people to come and get drunk for free to help train new recruits MORE: Steelworker sells Banksy mural on his garage for six-figure sum | https://metro.co.uk/2019/01/18/article-50-can-extended-revoked-8359905/ |
What about TED Talks? | When coaching business school students on presentation technique, Im always asked for my opinion on three popular models for public speaking: Toastmasters, Shark Tank and TED Talks. (Because my name is Ted, I also suffer the usual Ted talks jokes.) I advise students to pay attention to all three. Apply a critical eye. Each of the three models/techniques named above has their place in public speaking. Each has virtues. Each has limitations. Each is better suited to some use cases than others. None of them is a comprehensive solution that fully addresses all of the requirements for content and performance in the standard business presentation. What we are interested in is the business presentation not an after-dinner speech. Take what you can use from each of these three and disregard the rest. Ive addressed Shark Tank in a previous column, What about Shark Tank? And I never discourage a student from investigating Toastmasters (most any experience in front of audiences can be beneficial,) but I ask them to remember that the purpose of a business presentation is not to entertain an audience with dramatic story-telling and its never about you as a master of mirth or ceremony. TED Talks are, first and foremost, entertaining. They are meant to be informative and inspiring, but they are more high priced entertainment than anything else. They often provoke interesting application-of-technology, ethics and business model questions, but the format and content have become as formulaic as television dramas. Its now easy to write an 18-minute presentation that sounds exactly like a TED TALK (uses all the imagine a world and by-golly-wow self-inflating words that TED Talks are littered with) and follows the standard format (insight, discovery, transformation and [lately] personal redemption) that says absolutely nothing about anything. But Im always hopeful and attracted to the science/technology and business model implications of many TED Talks. And there are a few aspects of the format that pertain directly to the successful business presentation (not the least of which is brevity.) There are useful take-aways for the discerning observer, so its worth taking a look at the article from Ms. Cooper. Evangelism is the new revivalism The author begins by pointing out that TED Talks are ultimately about a particular aesthetic in public speaking. In her words, a certain kind of hip, Silicon Valley-style wonkishness. I agree. They are often a triumph of style over substance. She then draws parallels between TED Talks, and 19th century Lyceum lecture tours and the kind of religious revivals of the same period that were often experienced under a big tent. She makes compelling arguments for these comparisons and a couple of things really jumped out at me that I think are directly relevant to the business presentations of today. The power of ideas Ms. Cooper notes that audiences went to Lyceum talks to enjoy a culture of ideas. Presumably, thats what TED audiences want. Thats what we want in a good business presentation too. What energizes a business audience most are good ideas. Ideas based on insight, and supported by relevant data, information, and clear objectives, can transform an audience. Science, technology, and progress were major topics of interest for Lyceum audiences. For TED audiences too. So, too for modern business audiences. Most business presentations begin with problem statements/challenges and progress to technology-based solutions. That plays directly on the redemptive power of ideas. Audiences flocked to lectures and revival meetings seeking redemption. A well-prepared and well-delivered business presentation can revive the sagging fortunes of a manager, a team, an organization, a brand or business model, and even an industry. It can not only be transformative, it can be redemptive. So, always begin your presentation with an idea and demonstrate how that idea can lead to positive change. Touching the third rails of religion and politics Businesses normally try to avoid religion and politics. The author notes that TED Talks also tend to avoid these third rails. But Lyceum talks and certainly religious revivals did not. They understood the importance of conviction, emotional engagement and ultimately faith in something larger than yourself to winning over an audience. The author suggests that they are in some sense unavoidable in TED Talks. She argues that TED Talks concern themselves with social betterment which can be seen as involving what are considered to be political issues: justice, power, and resource allocation. I agree. I spent almost 30 years as an executive at large Fortune 500 companies and tech start-ups. Its been my observation that organizational politics and religious issues in business are never far removed. Politics can be defined by the getting and exercising of power. And religious issues strongly held convictions, prejudices, and behaviors regarding products, consumers, partners, business models and processes, etc. -- can often crowd fresh information, data, and rational argument right out of the room. We ignore the influence of politics and religion on audiences in our business presentations at our peril. Moving an audience to action requires an understanding of the difference between power and presence and their effect on persuasion. Presentations that address major changes in strategy require a certain amount of faith, and an emotional appeal based on a compelling narrative. The power of narrative Ms. Cooper also describes a standard narrative arc in TED Talks that is similar to a religious sermon. The classic arc of a sermon, based on evangelical homiletics, has key elements and a familiar progression. (I have inserted the business presentation equivalent in parenthesis following each element below): A moment of fallenness in the world (we have a business problem) With an appeal to a text or idea (new data and intelligence) Which properly interpreted (we have a strategy) Can restore us to well-being (with a well-executed business plan) The business or organization faces a crisis and is restored. Experts quoted in the article characterizes this as a narrative of discovery. In business, we love narratives of discovery. We seek innovation (discovery) and disruption on an epic scale. The technology evangelist Its no surprise then that the term evangelism became inextricably linked to technology and its propagation. Everyone wants to be a technology evangelist. The same way that everyone has had the fantasy at one time or another of fronting a rock band, these days everyone wants to give a TED Talk. We imagine ourselves sounding and looking great in performance. But in everyday business we dont need rock stars. We just need to be able to develop and deliver compelling business presentations: good ideas, presented with energy and conviction. Lets revive that. This article is published as part of the IDG Contributor Network. | https://www.cio.com/article/3334765/it-skills-training/what-about-ted-talks.html |
How will the Texas Legislature address school shootings? | Following a deadly shooting at Santa Fe High School in May that left 10 dead and 13 others wounded, Gov. Greg Abbott released a 43-page school safety plan outlining suggestions for bills the Legislature could pass this session to reduce the threat of gun violence in Texas schools. The suggestions ranged from beefing up existing mental health screening programs to encouraging voluntary use of gun locks at home. Other proposals, like adopting a so-called red flag law which would allow courts to order the seizure or surrender of guns from people who are deemed an imminent threat by a judge have received immediate pushback. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has suggested such a measure would be dead on arrival in the Senate. Lawmakers returned to Austin this month for the first time since the Santa Fe shooting, and they have repeatedly assured their constituents that school safety along with reforming property tax collection, school finance and combating human trafficking will take center stage during the legislative session. State leaders seem inclined to spend significant money on their proposals. Abbotts plan outlined $70 million to help pay for some of his recommendations, and on Monday the Texas House released budget documents that include $109 million for school safety initiatives, including $54 million specifically for public schools. More than half of that money would come out of the Economic Stabilization Fund, the state savings account thats projected to reach a record high balance of $15 billion. The Senate's supplemental budget would spend $100 million for school safety. Here are three things to watch in the school safety debate during the session: Expanding a state program to arm teachers Abbott favors changing one of two programs that allow Texas school districts to arm their staffs. The marshal program, signed into law in 2013, allows school boards to authorize employees to carry a handgun on campus if theyre certified and trained by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. The governor has proposed changes to the program, including reducing the required 80 training hours which he called onerous and eliminating a requirement that teachers keep their firearms under lock and key. Craig Bessent, one of Texas' first school marshals and the assistant superintendent of Wylie ISD, said hes also working with lawmakers on a bill that would allow school districts to have more marshals currently they can only designate one for every 400 students. Texas currently doesnt help districts with the costs associated with training and arming marshals experts say the cost ranges between $900 to $1,200 per marshal. But at least for now, it seems like lawmakers are only eyeing small ways to help districts and school marshals offset some of the programs costs. [Marshals] shouldnt be expected to pay for a license thats beneficial to the public, said state Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, who filed a measure that would waive the $40 fee for marshals renewing their handgun licenses. If were serious about the program and school security, the state ought to help with those costs, and this is one small piece of the puzzle. Bessent said his district has been able to afford to train its marshals, but hes in favor of the state helping with those costs. Theres many school districts not as fortunate as ours, he said. We have budgeted funding for [the marshal program] and itd be nice to offset that cost. But there are smaller districts and its tougher for them. Theyre just trying to buy school buses. To be sure, not everyone in the Capitol is on board with expanding the marshal program. Many Democrats and some gun control advocates have already vowed to push back on bills that would increase the number of guns in schools. Guns in schools do not make schools safer. Our main focus is making sure the gun never gets inside the school in the first place, said Ed Scruggs, the vice chair of Texas Gun Sense. The marshal program, he added, just makes a firearm more accessible. Expanding mental health resources in schools State Rep. Shawn Thierry, D-Houston, already has filed two bills that would expand mental health initiatives in schools: one requiring that mental health be included in the curriculum at public schools and another allowing districts to appoint mental health service providers as advisers to help design on-campus mental health care programs. All of this would be a holistic approach to combating this crisis, she said. Were hoping these bills will give students in crisis the resources they need so they can get help. Abbott, meanwhile, has touted a mental health program utilized by Texas Tech University as a potential statewide model. The Lubbock-based program, developed in 2013, helps identify middle and high school students who have been disruptive in class, have high rates of truancy and who may have mental health issues, according to Billy Philips, the executive vice president and director for rural and community health at Techs Health Sciences Center. Once those kids have been identified, and their parents consent, theyre screened by a team composed of a certified clinician, their teachers and others. If warranted, they also meet with a board-certified psychiatrist. The program, nicknamed TWITR, which stands for the Telemedicine Wellness, Intervention, Triage, and Referral Project, connects at-risk kids with board certified child and adolescent psychiatrists through a combination of video conferencing and clinic visits, Philips said. Abbott has asked the Legislature to identify $20 million to begin expanding the program. Hes also pushing lawmakers to increase the number of mental health initiatives in schools such as hiring more behavior counselors and implementing trauma and grief programs for Texas students. But some advocates have concerns with the program. Tiffany Williams with the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities said she feared students with disabilities could be disproportionately targeted and said her group was pushing for at least one person involved on each TWITR threat assessment team to be educated on mental health and disability issues. We dont want [those students] unfairly perceived as threats, she said, when they might have an unidentified disability or already be identified as having a disability. State leaders are pushing to harden Texas schools Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has arguably been the loudest voice for hardening Texas schools. And his proposals have since gained the support of lawmakers of all political stripes. In July, he promised to donate up to 10 metal detectors to Santa Fe Independent School District and said the Senate this session would create a matching fund to help put metal detectors in other Texas schools and reimburse districts that have already installed them. The House and Senate budget proposals also include money to harden schools. Other proposals likely to come before lawmakers this session would reduce the number of entrances and exits in schools so teachers and administration better monitor who's coming in, and increase the number of security cameras districts are required to have. On Monday, Thierry filed a measure in the House that would require school districts and open-enrollment charter schools to put metal detectors or screening wands in each campus. While not explicitly outlined in her bill, Thierry tweeted that funding for the measure could come from the extra $9 billion mentioned in our state Comptrollers report. When I walk into the state Capitol, I have the comfort of knowing there are metal detectors and I believe our children our most treasured asset deserve that same protection, Thierry said. I cant accept that were leaving our most vulnerable population helpless. Gun control advocates say theyre on board with bills that would harden public schools, but are pushing lawmakers to seriously consider other proposals such as gun control laws, a proposal thats essentially a non-starter at the Capitol. We dont support one [hardening] idea over another, but there does need to be an investment in school safety, Scruggs said. | https://www.yourglenrosetx.com/news/20190118/how-will-texas-legislature-address-school-shootings/1 |
What is behind the success story of theatre-on-demand platform VKAAO in India? | A fresh, disruptive medium of movie-going, VKAAO is a platform which allows viewers to select their preferred movie along with the location, date, and time of the screening, at any theatre of their choice. VKAAO, which is an equal Join Venture (JV) between PVR and BookMyShow, recently completed two years. Kamal Gianchandani, CEO, PVR Pictures Ltd. speaks to Moneycontrol about the prospects of theatre-on-demand for the Indian audience. Excerpts: Q. A. As consumers are moving towards on-demand behaviour, they dont want an exception in films too. People prefer content on appointment. Tugg, Gather, and Fanfare are popular options for theatre-on-demand outside India. But in India, we are the only players and it has been a good journey in the last two years. In 2017, we had 1600 shows on VKAAO, and in the calendar year of 2018, we showed more than 3000 films on demand. Weve had people proposing to their partners in VKAAO theatres too. There was this one time when a person booked the entire theatre and screened Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone starrer Yeh Jawani Hai Diwani, which was his partners favourite film and proposed to her. So people like these book the space and its offerings and use it for occasions close to their heart. Q. Tell us about the whole concept. A. With a library of over 500 movies, offering an equal mix of Hollywood, Bollywood and regional content, theatre-on-demand enables patrons to enjoy complete control of the movie viewing experience. Functioning through PVR Cinemas theatrical circuit and BookMyShows online presence, VKAAO has enabled global content reach to the smaller towns of the country. All our 675 screens can be used for this and every year we keep adding 100 odd screens to our inventory. Thats the whole point of VKAAO, where our patrons can choose whatever screen they want to. That is why we keep all the screens open to the option. Q. A. One has to put in a request on VKAAOs website and then we share it on our platforms. Once we have a quorum of at least 25 percent occupancy we go ahead with the show. The minimum requirement is slightly higher for weekends. The price of the tickets is as much as any normal ticket would cost at that screen in that theatre. Q. A. In the last two years, VKAAO has released 210 films 38 percent Hollywood, 47 percent Bollywood and 15 percent of regional content across 2017 and 2018. Basis its analytics, the company has seen a rising demand for Hollywood content in Tier II and Tier III cities, where the metropolitan audiences have cherished the regional films more. Film being the oldest and the most popular source of entertainment in India, this crowdsourced platform has set a new trend of making diverse and quality content easily accessible to the audience across the country. Some of the exclusive releases by VKAAO in the last two years are An Insignificant Man, Village Rockstars, A Fantastic Woman, The Salesman, and Pahuna. In Hindi, people have repeatedly requested timeless films like Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and Chak De India. We will keep adding to PVR screens thereby making more screens available for VKAAO too. We are looking at aggressively scaling up the platform through promotions and all other initiatives taken. We are also looking at adding more films to our library. Thus, there would be growth in both content and the number of screens for VKAAO in 2019. | https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/trends/entertainment/kamal-gianchandani-ceo-pvr-pictures-ltd-second-successful-year-of-vkaao-indias-first-theatre-on-demand-platform-3408381.html |
Should Prince Phillip still be driving at 97? | Get Daily updates directly to your inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email Prince Phillip was well into his 90s when he was trusted to drive the worlds most powerful man. Yet since being involved in a car accident this week it has sparked a debate about elderly drivers. The Duke of Edinburghs Land Rover was involved in a collision with another car on Thursday , and overturned close to the Queens Sandringham Estate. The Royal walked away unharmed from the incident. But it has caused many to question whether he should still be behind the wheel despite now being less than three years shy of his 100th birthday and a congratulatory letter from his wife. In 2016 the elderly Dukes driving ability was complimented by President Barack Obama. Mr Obama, who received a lift from Prince Phillip to Windsor Castle, said then: I can report it was very smooth riding. There is no upper age limit on driving, which means Prince Phillip is free to take any of his many vehicles out for a spin. The UK driving licence expires once a motorist has hit 70, but filling in a form sent out by the DVLA will renew it, and then it must be renewed every three years. Elderly drivers must also inform the DVLA of any conditions or disability that could affect their ability to drive safely, or a condition that has worsened since the licence was obtained. These include epilepsy, strokes, mental health conditions, visual impairments and physical disabilities. Nationally, as of November 2018, there were 110,790 people aged 90 or over who still hold full driving licences, which is just 0.2 per cent of the overall number of drivers in the country. The oldest driver in the country is aged 107 and there are 314 drivers who have received a letter from the Queen after turning 100. The Duke of Edinburgh is one of 1,300 97-year-old drivers. There is currently no up-to-date information showing the number of elderly drivers in Staffordshire. But a Freedom of Information request made in 2010 revealed that there were then a total of 567 people in the ST postcode area who held a full driving licence, including four people over the age of 100, and three 101-year-old drivers. D-Day veteran Roy Vickerman has not driven in about five years due to problems with his vision. But the 92-year-old still misses his car and fully supports Prince Phillips determination to keep his licence. 0+ VOTES SO FAR Of course, if he's fit and able! No, he's too old and he has plenty of staff to drive him round. Roy, of Hartshill, said: I think the Duke of Edinburgh is a wonderful man. I respect him and Ive followed his career for many years. I think he is quite right to still be driving. I have still got my driving licence, but I dont drive anymore because I cant see very well. If it wasnt for that I would still be driving up and down the motorway. I love driving. When you cant do it anymore it feels like your legs have been cut off. I passed my advanced driving test when I was about 78-years-old, so I didnt do badly. A study carried out by the University of Swansea in 2016 showed that elderly drivers were less likely to be involved in accidents than young drivers. In fact, it found that drivers over the age of 70 were involved in three to four times fewer accidents than men aged between 17 and 21. Andy Day, convener of North Staffordshire Pensioners Convention, said: The judgement should not be made on age, but on fitness and ability to drive. Statistics show that the most dangerous drivers are people in their late teens and their 20s. If an elderly person is lucky enough to own a car, being able to get out and about is very important for peoples mental health and physical health. We fully support the idea that people should be independent for as long as possible, as long as its safe. GP Dr Paul Scott, chairman of North Staffs Medical Committee and senior partner at Silverdale Medical Centre, said: The law says that the responsibility to decide whether you are fit to drive relies on yourself, but there are some black and white rules, like if someone has epilepsy they cant drive, or after certain operations. Its not to do with age, it is to do with fitness to drive. There are some grey areas, like with memory loss or dementia, when someone is gradually losing function. If it is gradual, people can go for a disabled driving test run by the DVLA which works very well. When a tipping point has been reached, perhaps when someone is losing their memory, there is a point where as a doctor you have the power to say, you should not drive any more, that can be for physical or mental reasons. We then write to the DVLA and that will invalidate insurance. It is sometimes done by hospital doctors. Its a duty of care to the patient and to other road users and passengers. Let us know - Tweet us @SOTLive or message us on our Facebook page. And if you have pictures to share, tag us on Instagram at StokeonTrentLive. | https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-on-trent-news/should-prince-phillip-still-driving-2443946 |
What will the next big career move be for ABC 7's Mark Giangreco? | hello The contract of ABC 7 sports anchor Mark Giangreco expires in late summer. His next move is not known. That's a question that has been swirling through the back chatter of local TV news shops as the resilient sports anchor closes in on 25 years at ABC 7 later this year. Giangreco's not talking. Nor is ABC 7 management. And there is no "Chicago P.D." evidence that he's headed anywhere. But this much is known: The current contract cycle of the Jesuit-educated Buffalo native (University of Dayton, Class of '74) ends late this summer. With his golden log as a Chicago audience magnet, Giangreco doesn't come cheap. And the era of high-priced sportsmen peopling what now passes as local TV news shows has gone the way of legitimately entertaining Oscar hosts. The forever-young Giangreco, who has flashed a sardonic wit while almost always masking his eclectic intellect, has also periodically found the trouble bubbles over the years. He broke bad -- in the red electronica of some -- two years ago when he tweeted that the current POTUS left "America exposed as a country full of simpletons who allowed this cartoon lunatic to be 'elected.' " While even coltish Ann Coulter might hesitate to go up against the Harvard debate team on that one, management at Disney-owned Channel 7 responded in predictable Orange County fashion: They handed Giangreco a multiweek suspension. The autumn leaves will tell. IF THE NFL IS DOING its sly diligence -- as its officiating crew yellow-flagged so magnificently in holding the audience deep into New Orleans's 20-14 NFC semi over Philadelphia last Sunday -- there is simply no way young magic man Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs (-3) don't bounce New England in the AFC Championship game Sunday (CBS, 5:40 p.m.). Very simply, Mahomes is the "Now, Wow, Cash Cow" of a professional showbiz conglomerate always seeking even more cascading disposable dollars from new mills. "The Fluid Fantasy" in Super Bowl LIII would also allow the league space for most reasoned analysis of CTE, Kareem Hunt and kneeling anthem peers to take two more marquee weeks off. That L-Vegan -3 has been holding steady all week. It could prove nettlesome for KC backers in the money moments. But rooting for Mahomes is all about what's happening now, a changing of the guard, Timothy Leary's dead. Cheering for Grumpy Bill Belichick and his inflated Patriots is like hoping for another slight bump up in Apple stock. As for the Saints (-3, tiny push to 3) and the visiting L.A. Rams (Fox, 2:05 p.m.), if the NFL allows the game to be played organically the whole way through -- extremely unlikely -- New Orleans can name the final. Otherwise, it's called "gambling." THE LATE RED RUSH -- without question, one of the two or three most colorful play-by-play men in the history of Chicago sportscasting and the best pitchman that Gonnella Bread ever had -- will finally be appropriately honored by Loyola University. Members of his family will accept the 2019 Father William A. Finnegan, S.J., Award on his behalf at halftime of the LU-Bradley "Hall of Fame Game" at the Gentile Center on Saturday, March 2 for "outstanding humanitarianism and service to youth through athletics." Among previous Finnegan honorees are George Halas, Ernie Banks, Chick Evans, Bill Veeck and Mike Ditka. Porter Moser and pupils still use the crescendo of Rush's radio call of the Ramblers' mythic 60-58 overtime win against Cincinnati for the 1963 NCAA men's championship to open LU player introductions at home. STREET-BEATIN': Brian Hanley -- whose separation from WSCR-AM (670)'s buoyant morning franchise continues to baffle -- is campaigning a modest string of Thoroughbreds, almost all at Florida tracks. None are named "Entercom Evil. " NBC Sports Chicago will begin weekend-long fan-to-wall coverage of the Cubs Convention at 5 p.m. Friday. Parting will be such sweet sorrow as the Cubs depart the regional network for their own uber-optimistic startup, most likely with the Sinclair Broadcast Group, in October. Broadcast hop-in of the week was Snoop Dogg, who assisted in the call of the L.A. Kings win over Pittsburgh last Saturday. (YouTube "snoop dogg hockey.") The Doggfather might make the perfect color man alongside Brent Musburger if and when the NFL Raiders ever drop blade in Las Vegas. CBS's meteoric Tony Romo, asked by one national reporter to break down the top young QBs in the NFL, had Patrick Mahomes, Jared Goff, Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. Maybe Mitch Trubisky will be on the B-list. Sports Illustrated is moving its swimsuit issue to May. That means the magazine can shift its White Sox-Cubs World Series coverage to next February. When Dave Corzine (Hersey High, Class of '74) announced his retirement as assistant athletic director at DePaul last fall, he said, "Now, hopefully, I'll never have to show up on time anywhere ever again." Which is why he's back around the blue-blue Blue Demons as radio analyst. [email protected] | https://www.dailyherald.com/sports/20190117/what-will-the-next-big-career-move-be-for-abc-7s-mark-giangreco |
Is er een modelijn van Rihanna op komst? | De dagen dat Rihanna alleen bekendstond om haar muziek, zijn al lang voorbij. Alles wat de zangeres aanraakt, lijkt in goud te veranderen. Fenty Beauty, Savage x Fenty, Fenty x Puma Het lijstje is lang en doet dromen. Rihanna zou nu in gesprek zijn met luxeconglomeraat LVMH met als doel een eigen kledingmerk. Zonnebril De geruchtenmolen kwam in actie toen Rihanna eerder deze week met een reusachtige zonnebril werd gespot. Op zich niets abnormaal, ware het niet dat er in het groot Fenty op de zijkant stond. Mensen hoopten toen op een accessoirelijn, maar met wat geluk mogen we veel meer verwachten. In goed gezelschap LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy) is verantwoordelijk voor maar liefst 25 luxemerken. Namen als Fendi, Christian Dior, Givenchy en Marc Jacobs doen wellicht een belletje rinkelen. Als de onderhandelingen met Rihanna slagen, is het voor LVMH alleszins een opmerkelijke zet. Alle 25 modehuizen hebben immers een lange, rijke geschiedenis. Het jongste merk in het rijtje is Christian Lacroix, dat in 1987 het levenslicht zag. LVMH heeft de geruchten tot dusver niet bevestigd. Het nieuws is afkomstig van modemagazine WWD. | https://nl.metrotime.be/2019/01/18/must-read/is-er-een-modelijn-van-rihanna-op-komst/ |
Was kostet ein Kind? | Wer behauptet, dass Kinder kein Geld kosten, der hat keine. Im Babyalter fallen hohe Kosten im Bereich Babynahrung, Pampers, Feuchttcher und Kleidung an. Kleine Kinder wachsen schnell und bentigen viel Kleidung. Auch Kinderwagen, Autositze und Spielzeug mssen altersentsprechend eingekauft werden. Die Kosten bei Babys und Kleinkindern sind aber noch wesentlich geringer, als bei lteren Kindern. Laut Statistik kosten ein Baby und Kleinkind (0-6 Jahre) monatlich 468 Euro, Schulkinder (7-12 Jahre) 568 Euro und Teenager (13-18 Jahre) 655 Euro. Also kostet ein Kind bis zum 18. Lebensjahr im Durchschnitt 549 Euro pro Monat. In Zeiten, wo Kinderarmut in Deutschland lngst angekommen ist, fllt es vielen Eltern nicht leicht, diese Kosten jeden Monat zu decken. Lies dazu auch unseren Ratgeber: Familien-Finanzcheck. Was kostet ein Kind bis zum 18. Bis zur Volljhrigkeit kostet ein Kind rund 120.000 Euro laut einer Rechnung des statistischen Bundesamtes. Dabei sind jedoch noch keine Versicherungs- und Versorgungskosten mit ein eingerechnet. Auerdem fehlen in der Statistik die Kosten fr eine Ausbildung oder ein Studium. Kinder kosten also wesentlich mehr, als die meisten Modellrechnungen verraten. ltere Kinder bentigen mehr Geld Je lter das Kind wird, umso mehr werden die Kosten in andere Bereiche verlagert. Schulkinder bentigen auer ihrer Schultasche stndig neue Bcher, Stifte, Geld fr Ausflge und Klassenfahrten und ein hheres Taschengeld fr die eigenen Bedrfnisse. Natrlich bekommen sie auch einiges von der Familie oder Nachbarn geschenkt. Fr kleine Kinder ist es auch mglich, Kleidung oder Spielwaren vom Flohmarkt oder in Second Hand Shops zu kaufen. ltere Kinder legen mehr Wert auf Marken. Hier sollten Eltern mit ihren Sprsslingen Kompromisse schlieen, wenn das Geld knapp ist. Ein Markenteil aus dem Kaufhaus, dafr Schlafanzge oder Jogginghosen vom Flohmarkt. Geschwisterkinder bentigen weniger Geld, da viele Spielsachen und Kleidungsstcke bereits vorhanden sind. Eine Stdtereise ist hufig gnstiger, als ein lngerer Urlaub im Ausland und bei Vergngungsparks mssen es nicht immer die groen mit hohen Eintrittspreisen sein. Modellrechnung des statistischen Bundesamtes zeigt reale Zahlen Modellrechnungen und Statistiken stehen im Internet zur Verfgung, was ein Kind bis zum 18. Lebensjahr kostet. Diese basieren auf den unterschiedlichsten Berechnungsgrundlagen. Beispielsweise kommt das statistische Bundesamt auf einen Betrag von 550 Euro, die ein Kind pro Monat kostet. Hochgerechnet auf das Alter von 18 Jahren ergibt das eine Summe von 120.000 Euro. Das Modell umfasst nur die Ausgaben fr den Konsum, aber nicht die Versicherungs- und Vorsorgekosten und auch nicht die anstehenden Kosten fr ein spteres Studium. Insgesamt sind die Kosten so hoch wie ein kleines Eigenheim. Wenn ein Kind bis zur Volljhrigkeit solche Summen bentigt, wird recht schnell klar, dass viele Eltern dieses Geld nicht mehr aufbringen knnen. Das spiegelt sich letztendlich auch im Rckgang der Geburtenrate in Deutschland wider. Der Staat untersttzt die Eltern durch Kinder- und Elterngeld Das Kindergeld (1. und 2. Kind 184 Euro, 3. Kind 190 Euro und ab dem 4. Kind 215 Euro) reicht in vielen Familien nicht aus, um alle Bedrfnisse der Kinder decken zu knnen. Durch einen Bildungsgutschein knnen einkommensschwache Familien einiges an Kosten fr das Kind auffangen. Klassenfahrten, Tagesausflge, ein langer Schulweg (Bus, Bahn) und das Mittagessen in der Schule / Kindergarten werden bezahlt. Auch Sport- oder Musikeinrichtungen knnen die Kinder mit Hilfe eines Gutscheins besuchen, ohne das die Eltern auch nur einen Cent bezahlen mssen. Zustzlich knnen die Eltern fr die ersten 14 Monate nach der Geburt des Nachwuchses Elterngeld beziehen. Diese Leistung liegt bei 67% des letztjhrigen Nettogehaltes. Das macht im Monat 300 Euro bis hchstens 1.800 Euro aus. Allerdings kostet ein Kind, welches lter ist, mehr und Elterngeld wird dann nicht mehr bezogen. Dafr sieht der Staat weitere mgliche Leistungen zur Untersttzung vor. Kinderfreibetrge, Mutterschaftsgeld und Kinderzuschlge lohnen sich Je nach Einkommen kann ein Kinderfreibetrag und ein Freibetrag fr den Erziehungs- und Betreuungsbedarf (Erziehungsfreibetrag) beantragt werden. Das bedeutet 1.824 Euro Kinderfreibetrag plus einen Sonderbetrag von 1.080 Euro fr jeden Steuerpflichtigen. Bei Ehepaaren sind das 3.648 Euro und 2.160 Euro Abzug vom Einkommen (versteuert). Auch das Mutterschaftsgeld (6 Wochen vor und 8 Wochen nach der Geburt), das einkommensabhngige Wohngeld und der einkommensabhngige Kinderzuschlag knnen den Eltern helfen, in den ersten Lebensmonaten des Kindes finanziell besser klar zu kommen und die Kosten fr ein Kind zu decken. Schwieriger sieht es dagegen bei Kind und Studium aus. | https://www.socko.de/familie/was-kostet-ein-kind/ |
Was macht eine glckliche Familie aus? | Jeder Mensch ist anders und fhlt sich in verschiedenen Situationen geborgen und glcklich. Das ist auch gut so und belebt das Familienleben. In jedem Fall kann man versuchen eine gute Basis zu schaffen Wichtig ist, viel Zeit miteinander zu verbringen, ohne dem Partner die Luft zum Atmen zu nehmen. Lebenspartner und Kinder mssen an erster Stelle stehen und die Arbeit darf das Leben nicht bestimmen. Auch Freunde stehen, genauso wie die Karriere hinten an. Der Alltag sollte hin und wieder durchbrochen werden, um Neues zu erleben. Denn gerade die fehlende Abwechslung ist in vielen Beziehungen ein Problem. Neben dem normalen Alltagstrott knnen tolle Unternehmungen geplant werden, auch um das Wir-Gefhl zu strken. Rituale knnen fr eine glckliche Familie ebenfalls dienlich sein. Zum Beispiel das Abendessen immer gemeinsam zu sich nehmen oder gar gemeinsam zubereiten. Dabei knnen die Erlebnisse des Tages erzhlt und ausgetauscht werden. Auf jeden Fall sollte man den Familienmitgliedern, egal ob jung oder alt, zuhren. Streit ist in jeder Familie normal. Es sollte versucht werden, dabei fair mit den anderen Familienmitgliedern umzugehen. Ein Streit muss nicht immer ausarten und sollte schon gar nicht unter die Grtellinie gehen. Wenn sich Eltern streiten, dann sollten Sie das nicht unbedingt vor den Kindern tun, um keine unntigen ngste hervorzurufen. Auch darf man das Verzeihen nicht vergessen. Partnerschaft sollte als Bund fr das Leben betrachtet werden und nicht nur als Lebensteilabschnitt. Probleme sollten sofort besprochen werden. Verschwenden Sie Ihre Zeit nicht mit Schuldzuweisungen, sondern tragen Sie die Sorgen gemeinsam. Zeigen Sie dem Partner Respekt und akzeptieren Sie, dass es immer wieder auch Meinungsverschiedenheiten gibt das ist normal. Beleidigungen und Sarkasmus ist hier meistens wenig hilfreich. bertriebene Strenge ist fr Kinder und das glckliche Zusammenleben schdlich. Stellen Sie sinnvolle Regeln auf und lassen Sie dabei nicht alles durchgehen. Prinzipien und Traditionen sind eine gute Basis. Finden Sie die gemeinsamen Nenner und gehen Sie beispielsweise Sonntags zusammen in die Kirche oder machen Sie den Wocheneinkauf gemeinsam. Auch gemeinsames Frhstcken wenn auch nur Wochenende hufig mglich ist eine super Mglichkeit, eine Bindung aufzubauen und das Verhltnis zu den anderen Familienmitgliedern zu pflegen. Kleine Aufmerksamkeiten zeigen auch das Interesse an einer Partnerschaft und tragen zu einer glcklichen dauerhaften Beziehung bei. Familienkonferenzen knnen hilfreich sein wenn man grere Meinungsverschiedenheiten hat. Es ist ein tolles Mittel um sich auszutauschen. Diese kann man regelmig durchfhren und Dinge ansprechen, die im Alltag unterzugehen drohen. Feste Aufgabenverteilungen und Absprachen bedeuten fr alle Familienmitglieder weniger Stress, denn jeder wei, was er zu tun hat und die Kinder lernen Aufgaben zu bewltigen. Das waren nur ein paar Tipps vom Familienportal socko, die hoffentlich zu mehr Glck verhelfen, um eine glckliche Familie zu werden. Hier noch eine kleine Zusammenfassung der Tipps fr eine glckliche Familie und ein paar zustzliche Anregungen. Tipps fr eine glckliche Familie | https://www.socko.de/familie/macht-eine-glueckliche-familie-aus/ |
Could the Popes call to end the death penalty keep Catholics off juries? | Aliza Plener Cover is an associate professor at the University of Idaho College of Law. This article is adapted from an essay recently published n the the Yale Law Journal Forum. In August, Pope Francis declared the death penalty morally unacceptable in all circumstances and committed the church to its global abolition. This pronouncement broke from previous Catholic teaching, which permitted the death penalty in very rare cases of absolute necessity. Death penalty abolitionists hold out hope that the popes new call to action may eventually sway the American public: Catholic voters and politicians might become more inclined to repeal the death penalty, Catholic prosecutors might increasingly exercise their discretion not to pursue capital punishment, and Catholic judges (including the five Catholic justices on the Supreme Court) might grow more receptive to legal arguments that limit the practice. A change in public opinion could also influence the Supreme Court, which considers societys evolving standards of decency in evaluating whether a punishment is cruel and unusual under the Eighth Amendment. But because of the anomalous way we select juries in capital cases, greater opposition to the death penalty among Catholics could, counterintuitively, increase the number of death sentences imposed in this country. Such opposition could even solidify judicial support for capital punishment. This paradox is possible because of a process called death qualification, in which a judge can disqualify certain prospective jurors who are opposed to executions. The popes sharpening of the Catholic position on the death penalty helps reveal the problems with this system. Death qualification produces a smaller, more adamantly pro-execution pool of jurors. Studies show that death-qualified juries are more inclined not just to impose the death penalty (because, somewhat obviously, those with qualms are excluded) but to convict in the first place. One review of 14 studies found that a favorable attitude towards the death penalty translates into a 44% increase in the probability of a juror favoring conviction. Research suggests that death-qualified jurors are more persuaded by aggravating evidence at sentencing and less persuaded by mitigating evidence than those who are disqualified. Death qualification weakens the connection between capital trial outcomes and the views of the broader community. In a study of 11 capital trials in Louisiana from 2009 to 2013, I found that more than 22 percent of prospective jurors were removed because they opposed the death penalty. And death qualification can disproportionately affect certain minority groups. One 2010 study found that in a mock capital sentencing proceeding, Catholics were more than twice as likely as others to be excluded from juries considering a death sentence. (African Americans are also more likely to be removed.) After the popes pronouncement, judges may disqualify even more Catholics during jury selection. And prosecutors may begin to more aggressively bar Catholics from juries using another method peremptory strikes. Through peremptory strikes, prosecutors can exclude a limited number of prospective jurors for almost any reason. Of course, not every Catholic follows every papal declaration, and American Catholics who make up roughly a quarter of the U.S. population have never been uniformly against capital punishment. In June, the Pew Research Center reported that 53 percent of American Catholics supported the death penalty (compared with 54 percent of all Americans), and 42 percent of Catholics opposed it (compared with 39 percent of all Americans). That was more than two decades after Pope John Paul II said justified cases were so rare as to be practically nonexistent. Still, thats far less support than among other religious subgroups; 73 percent of white evangelicals, for instance, support capital punishment. And the poll figures possibly understate Catholic opposition, which may be more intense because its rooted in explicit teachings of the church. Nor do the statistics capture the crucial question of whether prosecutors view Catholics as a bloc that disproportionately opposes executions. Death qualification operates with the Supreme Courts blessing. In 1968, the court decided that a prospective juror cannot be excluded simply because she has general objections to the death penalty, but it authorized disqualification of those who would automatically vote against death, regardless of the evidence. (Judges had long been disqualifying jurors before the 1968 decision for anti-death-penalty views, but in an ad hoc way.) Later, in 1985, the court made it even easier to exclude death penalty opponents, permitting the removal of any prospective juror found to be substantially impaired in the ability to fairly consider capital punishment, where legally authorized. Since then, the court has become increasingly lax in allowing for-cause strikes, approving the exclusion of jurors who voiced concerns about the death penalty, even when they expressly claimed they could still consider it. To see the interplay between death qualification and the popes declaration, imagine jury selection in a death penalty case. One prospective juror is a devout Catholic, familiar with current doctrine. Could you consider imposing the death penalty? the prosecutor asks her. Before August, her response might have been, Yes, under rare circumstances. Now, she might respond, Well, I want to follow the law, but its against the teachings of my church. The judge would be more likely to find her substantially impaired and strike her for cause. The jury selected as a result would probably be less Catholic and more strongly pro-capital-punishment. Then peremptory strikes would come into play. Explicitly race- and gender-based strikes are impermissible, but the Supreme Court has not ruled on the constitutionality of strikes based on religion especially when faith maps fairly closely with strong views on punishment. And the peremptory-strike process is opaque enough to allow plenty of backdoor discrimination. Repeated often enough, the combination of death qualification and peremptory strikes could exacerbate the split between community sentiment and trial outcomes. Widespread and growing opposition to the death penalty may simply lead to the exclusion of a higher percentage of death-averse jurors, which may lead to a steady, or even increasing, number of death sentences. The Supreme Court has identified two supposedly objective data points of evolving standards of decency related to capital punishment: laws authorizing them and numbers of convictions. If increased juror disqualification paves the way for more death verdicts, the justices might conclude that support for the death penalty remains robust, despite a mounting societal movement against it. Over the past half-century, the Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed the practice of death qualification, without fully recognizing the mischief it has wrought. The popes recent pronouncements heighten the tensions caused by an unjust system that allows only the most punitive Americans to serve on death penalty juries. Its time for death qualification to go. Read more from Outlook: Five myths about conspiracy theories Moving is the worst. Its also transformative. Trump is ignoring the law to keep the shutdown from causing him political pain Follow our updates on Facebook and Twitter. | https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/could-the-popes-call-to-end-the-death-penalty-keep-catholics-off-juries/2019/01/18/81e96a0a-19cb-11e9-9ebf-c5fed1b7a081_story.html |
Will The IRS Be Able To Deliver On Its Promise Of A Normal Tax Season? | Tax filing season is due to begin in 10 days, and the Trump Administration says the IRS will be able to process returns as usual even though the service is subject to the partial government shutdown. It may depend on who you are. If you use a paid preparer or commercial tax software, have no reason to contact the IRS for assistance, and if your return raises no red flags, filing should be routine. By contrast, if you do try to get help directly from the agency, count on refundable tax credits to pay the bills, or if your return contains an error, filing season may get very frustrating, very fast. Many victims will be low-income tax filers who rely on free IRS assistance and whose claims for the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit may run into delays. Pretty normal Practitioners say that for manyperhaps mostfilers, tax season is likely to be manageable, though their refunds may take a bit longer than in the past. By deciding to bring back about 60 percent of IRS employees, the administration may have avoided some shutdown-related problems. The IRS should have sufficient staff to process routine returns, including refunds, relatively quickly. The agency has completed most testing of its systems, and its now-recalled IT teams should keep the computers running. Says one former senior IRS staffer, Filing season will be pretty much normal. But that doesnt mean everything will run smoothly. Filing seasons inevitably hit glitches even in the best of circumstances, and this years tax season is not that. Last year, the agency was unable to process returns at all during part of Tax Day. Limiting some services This year, taxpayers surely will run into problems. And the agencys cobbled-together shutdown plan hamstrings some key services that are important to many do-it-yourself taxpayers. The most obvious will be limited access to any human at the IRS who can answer questions. Last year, staffers at 371 IRS service centers helped 3.3 million taxpayers file their returns, though the centers often have been plagued by long lines and limited hours. But this year, those facilities will be shuttered-- at least until the agency gets funding. By contrast, IRS call centers will operate. However, there is a real question about how useful they will be. In a typical year, the IRS gets roughly 100 million phone calls and the centers are a critical source of help for those without computers or broadband service. Last year, according to the National Taxpayer Advocate,only about 40 percent of taxpayers who called actually got through to a live staffer and the average wait time was 23 minutes. It may be worse this season. Temporary workers In past tax seasons, the IRS hired more than 10,000 temporary workers to answer phones and process some returns. With a tight labor market, it would have been hard enough to hire these low-wage staffers. But this year it will be especially difficult because the IRS wont be able to pay them until the shutdown ends. The agency could fill the gap by reassigning permanent staff (who currently are not being paid) to respond to phone calls. The agency also must train these workers, a process that has been delayed, and one that is even more difficult because of the many changes made by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. IRS morale has been low for years. This is likely to make it worse. Adding to the challenge: Many taxpayers with very simple tax situations used to file Forms 1040 A or 1040 EZ. The IRS has dropped both, so that these filers will have to learn the Form 1040. Refundable credits Taxpayers who cant get answers from the IRS are more likely to make mistakes, and if their returns have errors, staff shortages may slow processing and delay refunds. Already, it appears that those claiming the EITC and CTC will have to wait longer than in the past to receive refunds. The law requires the IRS to hold their refunds until mid-February, but this year the delay may last at least a month. Volunteer income tax assistance (VITA) sites are another source of assistance for many low-income taxpayers. While those IRS-certified programs will be open for business, fewer than 5 percent of the IRS staffers the volunteers rely upon for support are being recalled to work. The IRS should be able to process uncomplicated e-filed returns with relatively few problems. But if your return includes data that does not match what is reported on information returns such a W2, if it is bounced due to errors, fraud, or because it is caught by an identity theft filter, the IRSs ability to process those returns may be delayed. By figuring out a way to get 60 percent of its staff back to work, despite the partial government shutdown, the IRS will process returns and deliver refunds this year, but dont be surprised if taxpayer services slow and filing is tougher, especially for those least able to rely on professional assistance. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/howardgleckman/2019/01/18/will-the-irs-be-able-to-deliver-on-its-promise-of-a-normal-tax-season/ |
Why # 10yearschallenge is Not a Harmless Fashion on Social Networks? | People do love a Facebook challenge, from posting random movie stills through to the albums that define your life, writes mirror.co.uk. But the latest trend could be used for far more sinister purposes argues one writer. Kate O'Neill tweeted about the tend suggesting that it would be a really great way for Facebook to train an artificial intelligence to understand the human aging process. Her comments went viral, probably with good reason. Her idea was simple. You take a load of posts tagged with #10yearchallenge or simply hunt for public posts that use the keywords and you ingest those photos into an artificial intelligence. From there the AI could develop an understanding of the aging process which could be used for either good, or evil. The police, for example, could use the resulting algorithm to age photos of people who have been missing for some time. Or they could catch criminals who have evaded arrest for years. And on the more shady end of the spectrum it could be used by cosmetic companies to target users who are visibly aging more quickly. For those who missed it, the 10 year challenge involves posting an image of yourself from, surprisingly, 10 years ago and one from today. | https://www.novinite.com/articles/194585/Why+%23+10yearschallenge+is+Not+a+Harmless+Fashion+on+Social+Networks |
Can MVP Favorite Patrick Mahomes Create Playoff Magic for Kansas City Chiefs? | Right Arrow Icon Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes looks to lead his team over the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game. He was in the top two in the NFL in passing yards and touchdowns in the regular season. Bleacher Report is the go-to destination for armchair quarterbacks everywhere. Connect to the NFL stories, teams, athletes and highlights that make the game more than a game. Youve never been so ready for some football. Download the free Bleacher Report app to catch all the moments that matter in one place. Get the app to get the game. | https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2816385-can-mvp-favorite-patrick-mahomes-create-playoff-magic-for-kansas-city-chiefs |
Is Healthy Snack Food Actually Healthyor Just Addictive? | I stumbled upon it last summer in what I think of as my home Whole Foods, in Gowanus, Brooklyn. I was navigating my toddlers stroller around all the other toddlers strollers when I encountered a bag of Hippeas Vegan White Cheddar Organic Chickpea Puffs. The label advertised three grams of fiber and four grams of protein and contents that were USDA organic, kosher, soy-free, dairy-free, nut-free, and non-GMO. I gathered a small collection in my basket and perused the rest of the aisle. The whole snacking landscape had changed! There were Beanitos (tortilla chips made of beans), pastured paleo pork rinds, green-pea snack crisps, and various chips, all of which seemed to be made of cassava. Back home, still abuzz with discovery, I went on a mail-order binge, clicking away on flax-and-almond cheddar crackers, einkorn cookies, quinoa puffs, bites and bars of fruit-juice pulp, chocolate wafers made from coconut flour and cage-free eggs, lentil chips, edamame puffs, chocolate-covered cracked quinoa, and the entire line of pea-and-lentil-based puffs called Peatos. I had filled our dining-room table with boxes and bags of snacks, and there was hardly a genetically modified ingredient in sight. A great number of the treats were free of the big eightthe eight ingredients responsible for 90 percent of the countrys food allergies: wheat, soy, milk, tree nuts, eggs, peanuts, shellfish, fish. None had artificial flavors. Many contained fiber, whose absence in most processed foods has been starving our microbiomes for decades. The packages almost universally advertised that they were plant-based. A cynic might quibble that potatoes, soy, and cornon which packaged snacks since the invention of the potato chip (by a devious genius in 1853, according to Saratoga Springs legend) have reliedare also plants. But there was no cynic present, only a former junk-food lover preparing to subject all of these healthy nibbles to a rigorous taste test. I first chose a most discriminating and candid groupmy two-year-old son and his friendsand served them Bohana puffed water-lily seeds in both pink-salt and cheddar flavors, beet vegan goat-cheese chips, Peatos, and cauliflower pretzels. I tiptoed away to observe the results from behind a door frame. The theory that all children are geniuses came from the marketing team at Baby Einstein or deluded parents. The toddlers rushed to the alternative-snacks bowls just as they would have to cookie dough or a singing dinosaur. I had expected at least one tear at the discovery of puffed pea protein instead of fried processed corn. But everyone munched happily away, stuffing down beet and cassava and then stealing one anothers water bottles. The Bohana puffs were a particular favoritethough all the parents, including me, found them to have a disconcerting, livery tang. Speaking of adults, when the older generation began showing signs of hunger, I added more substantial offerings to the table. There rang out, for a few moments, the sounds of snacking success. Im genuinely excited about the Core + Rind Cashew Cheesy Sauce, said one guest; I like this sea-salt cassava chip, said another. Lime-flavored Siete chips seemed a hit. Then, without warning, the mood turned. I dont like the grain-free fuego chip, someone mumbled. Cassava faux-cheese bread was scorned as sub-par. There was flat-out refusal to taste candidates from a new company called Peckish that packages boiled eggs with powdered dips like fried rice, rancheros, and maple waffles. (I tasted them. The eggs were high quality and perfectly cooked. The dips were ghoulish.) Final mutiny came in the form of a universal complaint that all the cassava was making everyones mouths feel coated and sticky. And yet there were undeniable successes. Everyone liked Peatos and Simple Mills cheddar and sea salt crackers. Whispslittle snaps made simply of Parmesan cheese in an imitation of Italian fricowere irreproachable. Urban Remedys kale chips and zucchini chips were light and crisp. Hippeas never made an appearance, because I had finished my whole supply mindlessly at my desk. A product called Undercover Quinoa was held back from consideration because it was so goodimagine a Nestls Crunch bar thats a tiny bit saltier and made with better chocolatethat neither my husband nor I wanted to share it. Its early yet for healthy snack foods. Some flops are to be expected. In time, the best products will rise to the top. I have reviewed the available medical and scientific literature. I have talked to snack-company executives, the nutritionists they employ, unaffiliated nutritionists, metabolic scientists, behavioral ecologists and one neuroendocrinologist. What I have learned is that there is no single answer. This is an area hazier than gray and more nebulous than fog. And the more research I did, the less I knew. To begin with, the elimination of grains and corn from snacks: Wheat is, as I mentioned, one of the eight big allergens. Corn is not, but most of the corn in the United States is genetically modifiedwhich may or may not prove to be of concern in the long run. If you want to avoid genetically modified corn and you want to avoid wheat, snacks made of cassava are an entirely reasonable substitute. (Though Kristin Lawless, nutritionist and author of a terrifying book called Formerly Known as Food, pointed out to me that if you dont have an allergy to one of the eight common allergens, avoiding them isnt necessarily a good idea. Early introduction of common allergens has been proven to lower allergies, she wrote me. Hence the new advice to try peanuts early.) If you avoid wheat and corn to avoid carbohydrates, cassava is probably a bad idea. Cassava flour contains many more carbohydratesover 20 grams more per servingthan whole-wheat flour. It is also far less nutrient dense. And then theres maltodextrin, which is on almost everything with a flavor and is a starch-derived carbohydrate with zero nutritional value. From here, the dangers multiply. A number of the healthier snacks suggest that you can eat them with impunity. Eat freely! declare Enjoy Lifes Lentil Chipseven though they contain potato starch, canola oil, cane sugar, and maltodextrin. I Heart Keenwah Puffs (of which I loved the chocolate-covered ones) call themselves the mindful munchie and bear the encouragement Go aheaddig in, lick your fingers, eat those crumbs off your shirt. You just opened a crunchy, munchy snack thats as good as it is good for you. For all history, processed snacks have encouraged binge-eatingBetcha Cant Eat Just One may be the catchiest slogan in advertising. But these new snacks use a health halo, says Matthew Dalby, Ph.D., who studies the microbiome at the Quadram Institute in the U.K. If you eat something that you think is healthy, it can actually change other things in your diet, he says. And worse: A 2016 study found that when chronic dieters were given the choice of a Fitness Trail Mix or Trail Mix (which were secretly identical), they ate more of the formerand were less inclined to exercise after. This is what health-halo research has shown, according to Rachel Herzs engaging recent book Why You Eat What You Eat: The Science Behind Our Relationship with Food: If you believe youve done something healthful in one aspect of your life, she writes, you give yourself a pass in others. Beanitos call themselves a lean, mean nutrition machine and a good source of fiber. This drove Robert Lustig, M.D., UCSF neuroendocrinologist and author of The Hacking of the American Mind, to start shouting over the phone. No processed food can ever be a good source of both kinds of fiber! He used an unseemly analogy having to do with hair in a shower drain to explain that unless a food has soluble and insoluble fiber, its not doing what its supposed to. I learned, via press release, that Peatos are sold in the produce section of grocery stores. Their bags announce, For the first time, you can get all the junk food taste you crave AND the nutrition you have been looking for. So I called Nick Desai, the founder and CEO of Peatoswhich do have more protein and fiber than Cheetosto ask him whether he thought this was actually true. He was steadfast. If you ate two pounds of Cheetos a day and you replaced it with two pounds of Peatos, you just put two times more protein in your body. He went on: We wanted to build in that salty, fatty cravability, but he insisted that his company hadnt engineered Peatos to short-circuit the satiety system and addict you the way snacks from the big food companies do. Peatos use real cheesenot chemical agentsfor flavoring. This put me in mind of Mark Schatzkers alarming 2015 book, The Dorito Effect, which argued that it isnt so much salty processed snacks as the ascent of fake flavorings thats responsible for obesity. A number of studies have since backed up this claim. As Schatzker himself put it to me: I dont really have a problem with sea-salt flavors or with potato chips or pork rinds. But when you get into spicy flavors that dont contribute the benefits of real chiles or cheese flavor that isnt cheese, I think youre just creating more people with messed-up feedback systems. Speaking of cheese, there are a number of questions about whether any product containing dried cheese can be good for you. First, The New York Times reported that a study testing 30 products with dried cheese found that all but one contained the dangerous chemical phthalate, used to soften cardboard and plastic. Second, research by the late biochemist Fred Kummerow, who called out the dangers of trans fats as early as the 1950s and was shunned for it, has shown that when fats like those in dairy or eggs are heated and dried, they have a high likelihood of oxidizing. And while dietary cholesterol like that in dairy and eggs has not been shown to cause clogged arteries or heart disease, oxidized fats have been. As of this writing, Uptons Naturals was within weeks of stocking Whole Foods shelves with 100% vegan Cheesy Mac and Cheesy Bacon Mac, a plant-based take on a classic comfort food that is shelf-stable and ready in one minute. I havent had a chance to taste it so can only confirm that it is, according to the company, completely free of nuts, dairy, oil, trans fat, cholesterol, GMOs, and artificial flavors. I cant help notice that it is also free of any residue of the last decades ample evidence that cooking ones food from scratch, buying from small, local producers, and eating in communal arrangements once called family meals is healthy for body and society. | https://www.vogue.com/article/is-healthy-snack-food-actually-healthy |
When will it snow in Derbyshire next week? | Cold weather is now affecting most of the UK and there are strong signals this could last well into February bringing a range of winter hazards including widespread frosts, ice and snow. The weather over the coming weekend is looking cold and rather cloudy with outbreaks of rain or sleet in places and slight snow accumulations over higher ground on Saturday and Sunday. Some of the rain could be heavy at times in the south-west. As we go into next week, there is a continued risk of wintry weather, including snow in parts of the UK. Chief Meteorologist Andy Page said: On Monday and early Tuesday, a band of heavier rain, hill snow and strong winds will move quickly south across the UK, followed by wintry showers for the middle of the week. Buxton - Saturday - Snow from now till 10am - Tuesday - Snow from midnight till 9am Chesterfield - Snow from Friday night until Saturday morning There are then strong signals for a change to northeasterly winds towards the end of next week. As we go through the rest of the month and into February the longer-range outlook indicates it will remain cold and possibly very cold for a time. This will bring potentially widespread overnight frosts, which could be locally severe in any longer clear spells. With cold air across the UK there is a greater risk of snow at lower levels at times. However, some milder and wetter interludes may intersperse the generally cold conditions, these are most likely in the south. Public Health England (PHE), following advice from the Met Office on the cold weather, has issued several cold weather alerts. Dr Emer OConnell of PHE said: Experience shows us that every winter thousands of people are seriously affected and even die from illnesses linked to the cold. Protecting yourself from the cold may seem like common sense but many people do not manage to keep themselves warm If you know someone at risk, someone over 65, anyone with dementia or a heart and lung condition, or a young child, check up on them and see if theres anything you can do to help. All of us should be heating our homes to at least 18C, keeping up to date with weather forecasts and planning our days around them - simple steps can really help protect against the cold. As the Met Office reported a few weeks ago, a sudden stratospheric warming occurred at the end of December meaning the usual driver of our weather the jet stream is much weaker than usual for the time of year, which leaves the British Isles with an increased chance of settled weather and cold spells. | https://www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk/news/when-will-it-snow-in-derbyshire-next-week-1-9545833 |
When will it snow in Nottinghamshire next week? | Cold weather is now affecting most of the UK and there are strong signals this could last well into February bringing a range of winter hazards including widespread frosts, ice and snow. The weather over the coming weekend is looking cold and rather cloudy with outbreaks of rain or sleet in places and slight snow accumulations over higher ground on Saturday and Sunday. Some of the rain could be heavy at times in the south-west. As we go into next week, there is a continued risk of wintry weather, including snow in parts of the UK. Chief Meteorologist Andy Page said: On Monday and early Tuesday, a band of heavier rain, hill snow and strong winds will move quickly south across the UK, followed by wintry showers for the middle of the week. Mansfield - Snow from Friday night until Saturday morning Worksop - No snow predicted so far There are then strong signals for a change to northeasterly winds towards the end of next week. As we go through the rest of the month and into February the longer-range outlook indicates it will remain cold and possibly very cold for a time. This will bring potentially widespread overnight frosts, which could be locally severe in any longer clear spells. With cold air across the UK there is a greater risk of snow at lower levels at times. However, some milder and wetter interludes may intersperse the generally cold conditions, these are most likely in the south. Public Health England (PHE), following advice from the Met Office on the cold weather, has issued several cold weather alerts. Dr Emer OConnell of PHE said: Experience shows us that every winter thousands of people are seriously affected and even die from illnesses linked to the cold. Protecting yourself from the cold may seem like common sense but many people do not manage to keep themselves warm If you know someone at risk, someone over 65, anyone with dementia or a heart and lung condition, or a young child, check up on them and see if theres anything you can do to help. All of us should be heating our homes to at least 18C, keeping up to date with weather forecasts and planning our days around them - simple steps can really help protect against the cold. As the Met Office reported a few weeks ago, a sudden stratospheric warming occurred at the end of December meaning the usual driver of our weather the jet stream is much weaker than usual for the time of year, which leaves the British Isles with an increased chance of settled weather and cold spells. | https://www.retfordtoday.co.uk/news/when-will-it-snow-in-nottinghamshire-next-week-1-9545870 |
What is open and closed on Martin Luther King Jr. Day? | Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a federal holiday falling on the third Monday of every January. The day, also celebrating King's birthday, honors his legacy and shines a light on civil rights. King was assassinated in April 1968 on a motel balcony in Memphis. On Nov. 3, 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill marking the third Monday of every January as Martin Luther King Jr. Day. King was born on January 15, 1929. The holiday was approved as a federal holiday in 1983, becoming the first federal holiday honoring an African American. Since then, many individuals and businesses have used to day to give back through public service. The U.S. Postal Service is closed in observance of MLK Day. UPS will remain open. FedEx will be operational, with modified service to FedEx Express and FedEx SmartPost. Most likely not. Federal Reserve Banks, TD Bank and Wells Fargo are among many banks nationwide that will be closed. Most ATMs and customer support centers will still be operational. The New York Stock Exchange is closed and most U.S. exchanges will also close. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial on the National Mall. Most schools will be closed. Yes, most are open. Yes, most are open and some offer sales on the holiday. Most Department of Motor Vehicles offices across the U.S. will be closed. No. Check your local service. | https://news.yahoo.com/open-closed-martin-luther-king-160555606.html |
Is the worlds biggest great white shark Deep Blue as big as Jaws? | The world has been marvelling this week at the size and awesome beauty of a great white shark named Deep Blue. Advertisement Around 50 years old, and last seen in 2013 in Mexico, the shark resurfaced off the coast of the Hawaiian island of Oahu where a team of divers were able to swim with her and capture some of these stunning photographs. Thought to be the biggest great white on record, Deep Blue dwarfs marine biologist Ocean Ramsey (pictured alongside her), not just in length but also in her incredible girth, which experts think means the shark is pregnant. Ramsey describes the apparently docile Deep Blue as a big beautiful gentle giant and is keen to counter the malevolent image of great whites as portrayed in Steven Spielbergs 1975 movie classic Jaws. Nevertheless, anyone whos seen the film will at least be intrigued to know how the real-life and fictional behemoths compare in terms of size. Because no-one in either scenario is going to try to persuade these giant sharks to jump out of the water and on to a set of scales or get up close and personal with a tape measure the following calculations are based on estimates. But in both cases, they are at least estimates by experts, who were just a few feet from the sharks in question Deep Blue is estimated by those who dived with her to be almost six metres, or 20 feet, long about the same as the height of a giraffe or two-thirds the length of a double-decker bus. As the great white in Jaws glides past Captain Quints boat, marine biologist Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) exclaims thats a 20-footer!. But Quint (Robert Shaw) disagrees, upping the ante to 25! And three tons of him! If Quint is right, then the shark in Jaws is five feet say, one Danny DeVito longer than Deep Blue. No offence to Mr DeVito, but not a huge difference. Quint reckons his shark weighs three tons and in 1975 in the US a ton means 2,000 pounds (lbs). So his shark weighs 6,000 lbs, or around 2,700 kilograms. Deep Blue, meanwhile, is estimated to weigh 2.5 metric tonnes. A metric tonne is 1,000kg, so 2.5 metric tonnes is 2,500kg. Theres very little in it, especially when youre excited and probably rounding up like Quint was. Advertisement The bottom line is that Jaws was by no means over the top when it predicted how large a great white might get, and Deep Blue is pretty much as big as that famous movie shark and definitely a lot friendlier. | https://www.radiotimes.com/news/film/2019-01-18/great-white-shark-deep-blue-jaws/ |
What's wrong with the Italian property market? | Nothing new, you might say. But a snapshot of the market reveals some curious trends, which were attempting to make sense of. Overall, the latest data from Italian statistics agency Istat shows that property prices in Italy are stalling in contrast to most other member states. Italian house prices have fallen by 0.4 percent year on year. Not exactly a dramatic drop, and better than the -1.2 percent recorded this time last year. But this goes against the trend across Europe, where house prices are up by 4.3 percent on average; the figure identical in both the Eurozone and the whole of the EU. As the map below shows (click here for the interactive version) there are of course some pretty big price differences from region to region, as well as within regions. The map, using data from December 2018, shows the price per square metre of property posted on the popular home search website. It shows the highest prices by far were found not in Rome but in the Valle d'Aosta region, where the price per square metre was three times that of property in Molise, where prices were lowest. A map created by home search website Immobiliare.it shows how prices per square metre vary across Italy's regions. Screenshot: Immobiliare.it But most importantly, experts point out that there are very big market differences between different types of property, meaning its not entirely true that Italian real estate is depreciating. While short-term rental prices are soaring and new-build properties are recording rising prices, older houses are the ones losing value. In fact, in the third quarter of 2018 the value of new homes grew by 1.2% compared to the same period of the previous year. And in the second quarter the increase was 1.4%. There are apparently many factors, but the quality of the older properties on the market is a big problem. Firstly, in recent years the price of these properties had grown too much. And theres the fact that Italians do, on average, very little maintenance on their homes, Maurizio Sgroi, economic journalist and author of the blog The Walking Debt, told Repubblica. Even the briefest look at houses for sale in smaller Italian towns and cities reveals that the vast majority of houses available have not been renovated for decades, boasting appliances that belong in a museum, terrible energy efficiency ratings, and often, serious structural issues. READ ALSO: Why Italy is 'giving away' 100 historic buildings for free Houses in places like Rome will sell anyway, but in smaller provinces, the price of a house that has never been renovated just collapses," says Sgroi. The price and hassle of major renovation work is off-putting for many who, the figures appear to show, prefer paying more for a new property. Another problem for buyers is that nicer properties will often be turned into bed and breakfasts or rented out on Airbnb, Repubblica writes. Sadly ,not all houses for sale in Italy look like this one. Photo: depositphotos "In reality, in our country only those who can really afford it are buying property: those with stable jobs, those who are selling a property, or parents buying property for their children," says Sgroi. He also points out that interest rates on mortgages right now are at a all-time low and, despite improvements in the market since 2015, sales are still a long way from pre-crisis levels. The figures paint a picture of a depressed market, though in some ways it is more accessible to young first-time buyers than in many other European countries if they can find a house worth buying, that is. One first-time buyer, 30-year-old Emanuele Reale, tells The Local Italy how hes just bought his first home in a small town near Siena, Tuscany, for 123,000 Euros. The previous owner had paid 180,000 Euros for the house in 2011 and put it on the market last year for 155,000, but right now buyers like Emanuele are able to bargain hard. And experts aren't expecting the market to pick up any time soon. One estate agent in Arezzo, Tuscany, who didnt want to be named, says that he doesnt expect house prices locally to increase in the next two or three years, at least not for older properties, of which we have very many. Sgroi, too, is pessimistic: "In Italy most over-65s own one or more properties. When these people pass away, a generation of Italians will inherit." "But this stock of houses is destined to end up on the market anyway, because not everyone can afford to keep them, and because there will be more houses than there will be people who inherit them. Property prices will fall again." READ ALSO: | https://www.thelocal.it/20190118/whats-wrong-with-the-italian-property-market |
Have new appointment wait times improved at VA health care system? | Bottom Line: This study compared new appointment wait times in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system with wait times in the private sector. Wait time data were for primary care, dermatology, cardiology or orthopedics at VA medical centers in 15 major metropolitan areas and private sector comparison data came from a published survey. Authors: Madeline Penn, B.S., of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, D.C., and coauthors (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.7096) Editor's Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc. : This full-text link will be live at the embargo time https:/ / jamanetwork. com/ journals/ jamanetworkopen/ fullarticle/ 2720917?guestAccessKey= 05b5223a-1756-4852-bd4f-f66f53d44e77 About JAMA Network Open: JAMA Network Open is the new online-only open access general medical journal from the JAMA Network. Every Friday, the journal publishes peer-reviewed clinical research and commentary in more than 40 medical and health subject areas. Every article is free online from the day of publication. | https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-01/jn-hna011619.php |
Is marketing of opioids to physicians associated with overdose deaths? | Bottom Line: This study examined the association between pharmaceutical company marketing of opioids to physicians and subsequent death from prescription opioid overdoses across U.S. counties. The study, which analyzed industry marketing information data and national data on opioid prescribing and overdose deaths, reports almost $40 million in opioid marketing was targeted to more than 67,500 physicians across more than 2,200 counties from August 2013 to December 2015. Increases in opioid marketing to physicians were associated with higher prescribing rates and subsequently more death from prescription opioid overdoses a year later in this analysis. This observational study can show only associations, not causation. Findings suggest opioid marketing to physicians may counter national efforts to reduce the number of opioids prescribed and policymakers might consider limits on those activities. Authors: Scott E. Hadland, M.D., M.P.H., M.S., Boston Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, and coauthors (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.6007) Editor's Note: The article contains conflict of interest and funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc. : This full-text links will be live at the embargo time https:/ / jamanetwork. com/ journals/ jamanetworkopen/ fullarticle/ 2720914?guestAccessKey= 630f38c9-ac45-406f-8764-b04eef425ce7 About JAMA Network Open: JAMA Network Open is the new online-only open access general medical journal from the JAMA Network. Every Friday, the journal publishes peer-reviewed clinical research and commentary in more than 40 medical and health subject areas. Every article is free online from the day of publication. | https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-01/jn-imo011619.php |
Have autonomous vehicles been overhyped? | Welcome to Friday Tech Crawl, where we highlight some of this weeks biggest tech stories. The race for autonomous vehicles has slowed down A few years ago, when automotive and technology executives began boasting about a near future where driverless cars would flood streets, a large amount of hype began growing around the concept. Recently, that hype has slowed down, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. After saying autonomous cars would be market ready in coming years, the automotive and tech world has taken a more realistic approach, the Journal wrote. Experts now believe it will be decades before driverless cars significantly replace human drivers on roads. Developers of the technology are still struggling with basic scenarios such as making unprotected left-hand turns and car robot confusion. Most tests completed by autonomous vehicles have included safety operators in the cars, with companies taking more cautious approaches after a fatal crash last year involving an autonomous vehicle operated by ride-hailing firm Uber. More headlines: Netflix says it has 10% of all TV time in the US and discloses some colossal numbers for its shows Netflix reported fourth quarter earnings on Thursday. Tim Cook calls for data-broker clearinghouse in push for privacy rules The Apple CEO asked the Federal Trade Commission to track data brokers and monitor how they use peoples digital information. Facebook blocks accounts linked to Russian state-owned Sputnik Facebook said on Thursday it had deleted hundreds of Russia-affiliated accounts. Elon Musk says that Tesla will end its buyer referral program on Feb. 1 The Tesla chief announced the news on Twitter. | https://www.statesman.com/news/20190118/have-autonomous-vehicles-been-overhyped |
Why is winning different to a New Orleanian? | The last time the Saints made a deep run in the playoffs like this, my daughter was not yet born. She turns 8 next week. Its funny how a kid can change your perspective by asking a simple, yet thought-provoking question. Why is it so important? After attempting to parent on the run, I dropped her off at school and have been pondering this philosophical inquiry since. Like many New Orleanians, I grew up as a Saints fan. Fittingly, the first Saints game I can recall attending was with my dad and brother on Dec. 18, 1983, against the L.A. Rams. The Saints were 8-7 and needed to win to advance to the playoffs for the first time and achieve their first winning season ever. The Rams didnt score a single offensive point until there were six seconds left in the fourth quarter. It was then that I experienced the first of many sports-related heartbreaks, when Mike Lansford kicked a 42-yard field goal to beat the Saints 26-24. I was devastated as I walked down the ramps of the inner belly of the Dome. Decades later, in the post-Katrina fog, the Saints became an emblem of hope for New Orleans and our region. Saints football was for all of us, for each other we needed it. Now I realize those wins had less to do with Katrina, with tragedy and rebirth, and more to do with who we really are as a community. Winning is important to a New Orleanian not because we want to brag about having a great football team but because of something much bigger. Make no mistake. Eagles fans, Giants fans heck, even Falcon fans are just as passionate about their teams. Every NFL franchise has a loyal fan base. But to those fans, football starts and ends with winning or losing, and then its over. In New Orleans, however, everyone who makes up the fabric of our community embraces this experience year-round. The Saints touch everywhere, from schools and the clergy to workplaces and governmental bodies. The Saints, especially when they are winning, enrich our community and human experience. In New Orleans, it isnt uncommon for a total stranger who has season tickets in the row behind you to become a close family friend, attending family funerals, weddings and major life events. The Saints have a new anthem. For Choppa, it's a whole new world When opponents come to town, were known to welcome them to the Dome by buying them a beer and giving them friendly advice about where to eat. We almost always thank them for spending the weekend and their money in our charmed city. We dance together. We celebrate together. Saints fans caravan out to Airline Drive after road games to thank our players, even if its after midnight, even if its freezing and even if we lost. We get to know the players personally, and they get to know us. Saints fandom is a true family in every sense of the word. When I think about it, I cant name another NFL city in which the players are more a part of the everyday fabric of the community than the Saints are in New Orleans. Our team does New Orleans they ride in our parades, they frequent our local establishments, they hold up our culture and celebrate our musical legends, they go to church with us and they even participate in debates about how to make New Orleans better. Then they retire, and many continue to live here, invest here and grow their families here. The spirit of community around the Saints is infectious. Or consider recent Congressional Gold Medal honoree and New Orleans legend Steve Gleason, a man who embraced being a New Orleanian and its virtues by showing the world what that means through his transformative fight against ALS. Many professional athletes have done incredible things with their fame and fortune, dont get me wrong. The difference is that our gridiron heroes do so as New Orleanians first, and in such a way that brings fans and the entire community along for the experience. To be a New Orleanian and experience what she has to offer is not a birthright. We welcome non-natives; we have no walls, just levees. Some people, like my dad, come for a weekend and stay for a lifetime. Others, like my mom, have New Orleans roots spanning generations. There are no social or economic requirements to dance at an impromptu second line before, during or after a Saints game. We are capable of celebrating multiple genres, such as Jimmy Buffett and Choppa, in the same collective breath. That is what makes us who we are, and that is ultimately what makes us different. We dont want this experience to end. The togetherness with new and old friends. The dance-offs some good, some not so good, but we dont care. The random post-touchdown hugs with complete strangers. We want two more weeks of it. Then well find a way to celebrate for another 10 years. Because dat is who we are. Christopher J. Kane is an attorney in New Orleans. | https://www.nola.com/opinions/2019/01/why-is-winning-different-to-a-new-orleanian.html |
Did pregnant Jessica Simpson just win the #10yearchallenge with a foot photo? | An expecting Jessica Simpson in New York City on Oct. 11, 2018. (Photo: Brian Ach/Getty Images) No doubt your social feeds have been inundated with #10yearchallenge posts, where people post photos taken a decade apart, mostly, in our opinion, to show how they are immune to the ravages of time. I mean, just look at Reese Witherspoon. Its amazing. Time sure does fly when you are having fun!! #10YearChallengepic.twitter.com/gruONFaDDn Reese Witherspoon (@RWitherspoon) January 15, 2019 MORE: Mariah Carey, Ellie Kemper and more stars share shocking transformations with the #10YearChallenge We, however, are partial to those who are making us chuckle with this annoying viral challenge. And Jessica Simpson just made us laugh out loud. The celebrity used her #10yearchallenge post to poke fun at the unpleasant pregnancy symptoms shes been dealing with. A week ago, Simpson, who's pregnant with her third child, posted a photo of a severely swollen foot and asked her Instagram followers, Any remedies?! Help!!! ! (According to the Mayo Clinic's website, foot and ankle swelling is common for pregnant women and typically goes away after the woman gives birth.) MORE: Pregnant celebrities 2019: Who's due, baby bump pics and gender reveals Now, the singer posted the same photo next to an older one showing her wearing daisy dukes shorts with non-puffy feet daintily tucked into sky-high wedges. She captioned it simply, #tenyearchallenge. Well played, Mama. Well played. Connect with us on Facebook. MORE: Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/allthemoms/2019/01/18/pregnant-jessica-simpson-10-year-challenge-foot-photo/2613287002/ | https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/allthemoms/2019/01/18/pregnant-jessica-simpson-10-year-challenge-foot-photo/2613287002/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=usatoday-lifetopstories |
What does North Devons #10YearChallenge look like? | The trend has been shared across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, with the aim of showing people just how much or how little you have changed in 10 years. We decided to give some North Devon places the then-and-now treatment and found it surprising just how much has changed. Some of the forgotten gems in Barnstaple High Street at the time include Fiascos, Bradford and Bingley, Quiksilver, Somerfield, and D2. Green Lanes, which had its entrance revamped in 2017, housed the likes of Topshop, BHS and a recently-closed Woolworths. A boarded-up Woolworths was prominent on Bideford High Street as well, standing opposite department store Chopes. Weve also seen plenty of supermarkets pop up over the last decade. In 2009 there was no Tesco in Bideford and certainly not an Aldi or Lidl. Barnstaple, meanwhile, still had Brian Fords, with the likes of Tesco and Asda nowhere to be seen. A wealth of housing developments have sprung up in the last 10 years, with our slider showing the Old Bideford Road in Barnstaple before Glenwood Park. There has also been a notable addition to Ilfracombes quay, with Damien Hirsts Verity statue still three years away back in 2009. | https://www.northdevongazette.co.uk/news/north-devon-10-year-challenge-1-5857861 |
Is Russia-Ukraine war possible? | Mikhail Khodarenok, military commentator for RT.com. Mikhail Khodarenok is a retired colonel. He served as an officer at the main operational directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. Tensions between Russia and Ukraine will not escalate beyond minor skirmishes in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Lately, there has been an increasing number of voices suggesting the possibility of a large-scale armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Russian and Ukrainian media alike have published stories expressing this very idea. With that in mind, let us look at the likelihood of an actual war breaking out between Moscow and Kiev under present circumstances. When assessing the probability of a conflict between the two countries, both Russian and Ukrainian military officials and analysts usually start by breaking down the balance of forces, the capabilities of both sides, the proficiency of their respective troops, and the tactical and technical characteristics of their weapons. What they tend to overlook, however, is military-political aspects, as well as strategic and tactical components. Not to mention, some of the assessments and predictions are alarmist in nature, filled with blatant fear mongering. For example, you are sure to come across headlines such as 'The probability of full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine is estimated at 99%', 'Conflict is inevitable, as the West is preparing Ukraine for war with Russia', 'Ukraine is planning a large-scale invasion of Russia with the goal of seizing its southern regions and taking back Crimea', 'NATO troops will operate under the Ukrainian flag, posing as Ukraine's army', and similar kind of drivel and plain fabrication. Read more The authors of such publications never bother to point out the possible military and political goals of the two potential warring parties. Neither do they tell whether Russia or Ukraine are actually capable of achieving said goals. Moreover, hardly ever do you see them spending a line or two sketching out a possible post-war settlement or explaining what the new balance of power will be like once the hostilities are over. Yet this should be the foundation of your analysis: you start by formulating very clearly and in great detail the military and political goals of any potential war. In fact, this task is to be done by the political leaders and not so much by the top military officials. The resulting document should be a short (no more than a page long) text containing four to five items: for example, what military-political, territorial and economic demands are to be made against Moscow (Kiev), how they will be resolved in the course of the upcoming armed conflict and, finally, how the Ukrainian (Russian) politicians and military officials see the resulting post-war landscape. Without having first identified these goals, one would simply waste time trying to assess the ratio of troops or tactical and technical features of individual weapons or pieces of military equipment yet this is exactly what the military analysts on both sides have been doing lately. At times, they go so far as to analyze the combat capabilities of individual regiments and even squadrons: say, the 3rd Squadron of the 39th Aviation Regiment of the 27th Mixed Aviation Division of the 4th Air and Air Defence Forces Army of the Russian Armed Forces. In other words, they attempt to predict in detail the forthcoming hostilities between subunits or even individual units. It is worth noting that, in terms of delineating any specific military-political goals of the potential conflict, nothing has been done so far by the Ukrainian side. In fact, nothing of the sort has even been attempted. Nor is there any decently made military-political analysis of the components to a hypothetical armed conflict prepared by Kiev. The military and political leadership of Ukraine never actually went beyond continuous accusations about Russia's alleged aggression. Read more Apparently, there are reasons why it still has not crossed this line. First, precisely formulated and put on paper, any military-political goals involving a large-scale armed conflict with Russia would look like, to put it bluntly, delusional. Could you seriously say things it would have to contain, out loud: "As part of a short military campaign, defeat the main forces of the Russian Army deployed at the state border of Ukraine; assault and capture the city of Moscow and St. Petersburg; proceed to the Ural Mountains and the adjacent areas of Western Siberia and force the opposing side to sign a peace treaty on conditions favorable to Ukraine." This looks so unrealistic that it's hard to believe the Ukrainian military are even discussing it, let alone making some real plans on paper. Second, even if the Ukrainian military were to get such an order, they would have to face the fact that they have no resources or capabilities to implement it, and that's something they won't have for quite a while. As of today, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have very modest, to say the least, Navy and Air Force. Let's be honest, even the country's ground forces are not much of a force. To win a war against a supreme military power, one needs to deliver a preemptive decisive blow of the kind the enemy cannot recover from. With the military capacities Ukraine has now it's simply impossible. It's only fair to assume the Ukrainian military know this just as well, which is why it appears highly unlikely they would be considering starting a war against Russia. The idea of Russia invading Ukraine is just as unrealistic, first and foremost for one good reason, or rather the absence of any good reason, whether military or political, to do so. While Russia does have the military capabilities to crush the Ukrainian Army, it's completely unclear why that would be necessary or what the plan could be for post-war Ukraine in such a case. Read more The international community is also not very supportive of Russia, to say the least. Deemed by many world powers to be no less than 'a force of evil', Moscow would need to feel really politically suicidal to begin a military campaign against Ukraine. There's yet another important lesson history teaches us: states going through a serious economic crisis are very unlikely to engage in a war, let alone start it. It's no secret to anyone that neither of these two economies under discussion is exactly booming. A full-scale war would add such a financial burden to their budgets that might simply devastate them. Thus, the only place a war between Moscow and Kiev may exist is the narrative created by the relevant expert communities. Former Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army Lieutenant General Igor Romanenko's statements on the subject appear to be quite realistic. Among other things, he did say that the conflict in the Sea of Azov might lead Ukraine to a "big war" with Russia. He also gave a very sensible assessment of the scope of military help Ukraine would get from the West in such a case he said there would be none. Lieutenant General did not talk about what military or political objectives a full-scale war between Ukraine and Russia might actually pursue, though, so that remains a mystery. To sum it all up, it seems quite fair to say that a large-scale war between Russia and Ukraine is highly unlikely in the foreseeable future, and all we might continue to see is a series of small incidents in the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait, which will be most likely resolved peacefully by way of negotiation. Share this story! | https://www.rt.com/op-ed/449130-russia-ukraine-war-possible/ |
Why is Medicaid Reimbursement Below Sustainability? | Recently, a child was on a waitlist for 5 months to get into my practice. For this article, I will call him Tiny Tim. Tiny Tim, now 5 years old, has a skin condition known as eczema or atopic dermatitis. When we first met, virtuously every area of his body was covered with wounds from constant scratching. Skin that breaks easily and heals poorly can give bacteria access to other parts of the body. After our first visit, his mother complied with all the necessary care, and his condition was slowly improving. But on a weekend day in December, Tim was rushed to an urgent care center with a fever and pain in his ankle. He had no history of injury and the blood work, at first glance, indicated only mild infection. He was diagnosed with a virus and sent home. Two days later his fever spiked to 103, and he refused to walk, insisting on being carried everywhere, so his mother brought him to my office. He looked sick. Here was a usually defiant boy whose expression telegraphed fear and pain. On examination, his ankle was warm and swollen; he nearly jumped off the table when I flexed his joint. Having eczema increased his risk of developing a joint infection, and additional blood work supported the presence of a serious bacterial infection. Today, despite advances in antibiotics and surgical treatment, significant joint destruction can occur in children if an infection is not caught early. It can lead to life-threatening complications and even death. Within hours, he was admitted to Seattle Children's Hospital and operated on the following morning. By the end of the month, he was skipping into my office as if nothing ever happened, if not for the IV line in his arm delivering daily antibiotics at home. I remember wishing there had been space in my practice earlier than the 5-month mark. But Tiny Tim is on the state's Apple Health plan, which is Washington's Medicaid option for children, and providers can realistically only accept a certain number of those patients. He faced a delay that points to a serious flaw in the good intentions of the Medicaid expansion for children. For the first time in a decade, the number of uninsured children in the U.S. increased in 2018. Apple Health seemed like the quintessential success story because it expanded Medicaid coverage for children -- in Kitsap County alone, the number enrolled grew from 9,000 to over 21,000 in the last 10 years. However, Medicaid reimbursement also decreased by more than 35%, after a federal provision that kept Medicaid payments on par with Medicare expired in 2015. Some states set aside funding to maintain rates equal to those of Medicare, but Washington was not one of them. Medicaid reimbursement is set at 2/3 the rate of Medicare, forcing many physicians to limit the number of children they treat on Medicaid to keep their doors open. Physician costs amount to just 8% of all healthcare expenditures, a small slice of the healthcare pie. Every day, physicians are retiring early or closing their doors; those who remain on the front lines have more patients than the capacity to manage. Sarah Rafton, the executive director of the Washington Chapter-American Academy of Pediatrics (WCAAP), calls Medicaid expansion "a hollow promise." She told The Columbian newspaper of Vancouver, "This isn't about doctors who ... want to make a lot of money. If half of your potential patients are on Medicaid, it becomes difficult to sustain your practice." To my dismay, I have to limit the number of Medicaid patients in my own practice. Tiny Tim received timely, high quality pediatric primary and specialty care. He deserved nothing less. Children like him need health care funding parity so primary care physicians can afford to stay in business. But the Washington State Legislature has been loath to fund health care for children on Medicaid. Getting access to high-quality healthcare can seem akin to winning the lottery. Last year, state Rep. Monica Stonier (D-Vancouver) introduced a bill aimed at increasing reimbursement rates for treating children and pregnant women. Local Reps. Sherry Appleton (D) and Michelle Caldier (R) were co-sponsors. The bill got a hearing but died in committee. The "Medicaid parity bill" has been reintroduced for the session that opens this coming week, calling for $80 million in state funding to raise Medicaid reimbursement to that of Medicare, $30 million of which would be designated for pediatric primary care. As we open a new year, please think about children like Tiny Tim and the 840,000 other children also enrolled in Apple Health of Washington. And then contact your local representatives and encourage them to support legislation to bring reimbursement up to the Medicare equivalent. Niran S. Al-Agba, MD, is a pediatrician who blogs at MommyDoc. This post originally appeared on KevinMD. 1969-12-31T19:00:00-0500 | https://www.medpagetoday.com/blogs/kevinmd/77496 |
Is Beto O'Rourke dithering when he should be preparing for the 2020 presidential race? | CLOSE He's a twin. He's been a big-city Texas mayor and cabinet secretary. He was on Hillary Clinton's short list. And now he's running for president. John C Moritz, USA Today Network The one-time best hope of Texas Democrats admits to being "in and out of a funk" since losing to Ted Cruz, and that could imperil his chances for the White House in 2020. AUSTIN While former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro was preparing for his hometown celebration-style announcement that he'll be a candidate for president in 2020, an unshaven Beto O'Rourke was showing his social media followers a dental hygienist cleaning his teeth. While O'Rourke was writing a Jack Kerouac-style account of his solitary and unannounced life on the road along old Route 66 a few days later, Castro was doing his best to convince the people of New Hampshire that he should get their votes when the first-in-the-nation primary is held in about a year. FILE - In this Nov. 6, 2018, file photo, Rep. Beto O'Rourke, the 2018 Democratic Candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas, makes his concession speech at his election night party in El Paso, Texas. A year defined by the political power of women is ending with men enjoying much of the attention. Outgoing Texas Rep. Beto ORourke, former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders have emerged as early favorites in the opening phase of the 2020 campaign. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) (Photo: Eric Gay, AP) Two months after his oh-so-narrow loss to incumbent Republican Ted Cruz in Texas' U.S. Senate race, O'Rourke seems to have morphed from frontrunner-in-waiting for the Democratic presidential nomination to an out-of-work officeholder trying to shake a case of the post-election blues. More: Sign up to have news emailed to you daily "Have been stuck lately. In and out of a funk," O'Rourke wrote on a blog site about the no-frills, no-entourage trip that had him in Tucumcari, New Mexico, one day and in Liberal, Kansas, the next. "My last day of work was January 2nd. Its been more than twenty years since I was last not working. Maybe if I get moving, on the road, meet people, learn about whats going on where they live, have some adventure, go where I dont know and Im not known, itll clear my head, reset, Ill think new thoughts, break out of the loops Ive been stuck in." Castro laying the groundwork When Castro, who served as a cabinet secretary in the Obama administration and was on Hillary Clinton's vice presidential short list in 2016, began talking about his upcoming presidential run, a lot of Texas Democrats were skeptical. O'Rourke, with his fundraising prowess in the race against Cruz and his upbeat, aspirational message, appeared to have monopolized the Texas progressive playing field. Julian Castro greets supporters before making his formal announcement for president on Jan. 12, 2019, in San Antonio. (Photo: John C. Moritz/USA Today Network) Castro and his twin brother, U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, flirted with running for senator or governor in 2018 but instead opted to be cautious in a state that hasn't elected a Democrat since they were two years out of high school. But O'Rourke, then a largely unknown congressman from El Paso, filled the void and captured his party's heart. Now, it's O'Rourke who seems to be dithering as Democrats like U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York are off and running. And a dozen or so more, perhaps including former Vice President Joe Biden and 2016 also-ran Bernie Sanders, are set to join them. O'Rourke 'going through a withdrawal' A loss of purpose is not uncommon for candidate who lost an election, especially a close one, said one Texas Democratic campaign operative whose 2018 candidate came up short. "You're putting in 36-hour days and you're constantly on the go, and campaigning becomes kind of an adrenaline rush. It gives you a high," said Desi Canela, who handled media relations for Andrew White, the runner-up in the 2018 Democratic primary for Texas governor. "When all that's over, It's like, 'what am I supposed to do now?' He's (O'Rourke's) kind of going through a withdrawal." Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston, said even though New Hampshire is still a year away and the nomination convention will be at least six months after that, O'Rourke cannot afford to dawdle too long if he plans to make the 2020 race. Racing the 'ticking clock' "There's definitely a ticking clock in terms of the lifespan of a political moment," Rottinghaus said. "And O'Rourke may be approaching the end of that time." Two things are in play, both Canela and Rottinghaus said: The need to swiftly recruit and hire the best political talent for a national race, and the need to craft an image as someone fully capable of serving in the Oval Office. While Castro, along with the non-Texas candidates, are knee-deep in those efforts, O'Rourke recently gave what many political pundits called shallow and even naive answers to questions about basic issues in an interview with the Washington Post. Canela said there's plenty of time to remedy that, especially since the frame of reference will likely be President Donald Trump, who is often faulted for making up policy on the fly in the White House. Buy Photo John C. Moritz (Photo: Rachel Denny Clow/Caller-Times) Rottinhaus said that as challengers, everyone in the Democratic field will be held to a higher standard and will have only a brief window to make their cases. "The real crisis for Beto," he said, "is that there's too much media attention and he has too little organization." John C. Moritz covers Texas government and politics for the USA Today Network in Austin. Contact him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @JohnnieMo. Related Coverage More: Clash of the Texans: Beto O'Rourke, Julian Castro may be rivals in 2020 presidential race More: Julian Castro launches his presidential campaign More: Beto O'Rourke slams Trump on government shutdown as chatter about 2020 run intensifies Read or Share this story: https://www.caller.com/story/news/columnists/john-moritz/2019/01/18/funk-seems-stalling-beto-orourkes-political-progress/2606459002/ | https://www.caller.com/story/news/columnists/john-moritz/2019/01/18/funk-seems-stalling-beto-orourkes-political-progress/2606459002/ |
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