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Will power improve if Atiku is elected president because he owns a generator importation business?
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The presidential candidate of the Opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar has said that he would improve the electricity situation of the country, if elected as President, because he doesnt enjoy the billions he spends generating power with diesel. The former vice president said this, during the #AskAtiku hash tag on Twitter on Wednesday, in which Nigerians engaged the presidential candidate in a question and answer session. A Twitter user with the handle @ofishea had sarcastically said that power will never improve, if Atiku is elected in the February 16th presidential election because he owns a business that imports generators. Atiku: Of course, Nigerians are more important to me than my company. Atiku: Ill make sure there are no power supply, so i can sell my generators. Atiku: Of course, Nigerians are more important to me than my company. Atiku: I'll make sure there are no power supply, so i can sell my generators. Ofishea MrFingle (@ofishea) January 22, 2019 Atikus response My friend, I know you meant this as a joke, but the power situation in Nigeria is not funny. As a businessman, I dont enjoy the billions I spend generating power with diesel. Power is a key focus area in #TheAtikuPlan. We will attract key investors to our power industry and ensure competitive pricing, especially for corporate and industrial end users.
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http://www.informationng.com/2019/01/will-power-improve-if-atiku-is-elected-president-because-he-owns-a-generator-importation-business-see-atikus-response.html
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What do I say to Jesus after I receive Him?
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An 83 year old Catholic grandfather offers his suggestions for consideration by school children, their parents and Catholic school teachers, as the minutes that follow Holy Communion are the most precious we have in our lives. Number One: Give thanks to God For the gift of life: God brought us into the world for a reason. To love and serve Him all the days of our life and to be with Him forever in Heaven. For the gift of our Faith: Not everyone has been given this precious gift. Always remember our Catholic Faith is a gift from God Himself. For the gift of our parents, family and friends: We give thanks to God for the family support we have been given, for taking every good care of us when we were very young, and for the friends we have around us. For the shelter we have been given: A roof over our heads the comfort of a bed at night food on the table every day. Many millions around the world do not have access to these basic needs. For good health in mind and body: For the ability to hear, to speak, to walk, to run, to be able to observe Gods creation on land, the sky and sea. To be able to play with friends, to engage in sporting activities. If the need arises, we have ready access to hospital and medical care. So many children in other countries are not so fortunate. For our homeland here in Australia: There are countries around the world which have been devastated by civil war, persistent fighting and violence, leading to families fleeing for their safety. Thousands of children do not survive due to lack of food, shelter and access to medical care. Some are kidnapped and sold into slavery. Many children today are barely alive in ghettos as displaced persons or refugees. Millions of children go hungry and then have to face up to the cheerless chill of homeless nights. One percent of the worlds population own half the worlds wealth. So many work for less than a dollar a day. We should stop and think how lucky we are to live in Australia! For our education: To be able to attend a very good school conducted by dedicated teachers. We can read and write, a skill denied to millions around the world as they have no school to go to. We have opportunities to increase our knowledge and so qualify to enter university and other places of advanced education, which in turn can lead to employment opportunities and so be able to support our own families when we are adults. In many places around the world, such opportunities are simply not available. Number two: Sorry for sin Ask Jesus for forgiveness, for the times we may have disappointed Him. Number three: Prayers for the deceased It is very important to remember our loved ones, family and friends who have died. And do not forget to pray for the holy souls in Purgatory. November is the month of holy souls. Prayer is the best way to assist those who have died, as the Church teaches us that it is a holy and wholesome time to pray for the dead. Every time you receive Holy Communion pray for those who have died. Number four: Seeking Gods help From time to time all of us have worries or concerns. Jesus always encourages us to seek His help. Tell Jesus that you love Him, that you need His helping hand with upsets, troubles or anxieties in your life. You may be worried about schoolwork, upcoming examinations, family or friends that are sick or facing surgery in hospital, or family and friends that cannot find employment. There can be many reasons why you need Gods help. Dont forget to pray for our Pope, our Archbishop and your parish priest as they need a lot of Gods help. All of us have a duty to pray for more priests, as without the priest, there can be no Mass, Eucharist, Sacrament of Reconciliation and Sacrament of the sick. Aim to develop a life-long friendship with Jesus because He will guide you and help you to make the right decisions and become better people. Ask God to teach you how to share what you have with those in need. Jesus hears all our prayers. He knows what is best for us. Children: Why you should love the Mass The Mass is Heaven on Earth. Because it is during the Mass that we receive the most wonderful gift of all Jesus Christ Himself. The same Jesus who was born in a stable in Bethlehem, died on the cross for all of us and rose from the dead. Children and prayer When you say your prayers, talk to God as you normally would to a friend. After all, he is your best friend for life! When you genuflect in Church, do it correctly. The knees should reach the ground unless prevented by injury. Making the Sign of the Cross is itself a prayer, so do it slowly and correctly, not just a waving of the arm. We all have a Guardian Angel to watch over us through life, however short or long that may be: Oh angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom Gods love commits me here. Ever this day, be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen Children do have a role in a Parish! Christ said Let the little children come to me The bond between what is happening in a Catholic school and what happens at the Sunday Eucharist should be as strong as possible. Some views have been expressed that you have to entertain children in order to engage them during Mass. I do not agree. The way to engage children when they attend Mass is to help them encounter Christ, by experiencing this work in the various ministries of the Parish. For example, invite the children to: Become altar servers, and thus experience: Preparing the Altar for the celebration of the Eucharist, and so learn liturgical colours and procedures Lighting the Altar candles and preparing the gifts for the offertory procession Assisting the priest at the most significant liturgical moments during the Mass: a) the offerings by the priest of the bread and wine, which are to be consecrated, b) the liturgical washing of the priests hands in anticipation of raising up the bread and wine, which is to become the Body and Blood of Christ, c) at that solemn moment the Consecration the Altar servers ring the bells, acknowledging the Holy Presence. Or, as a member of the congregation during Mass: Taking part in the Offertory procession with family members Assisting with the music Assisting with the Welcome Ministry. Everyone is able to say welcome with a smile Following first Communion, eligible to begin as readers of the Word of God and recital of the prayers of the faithful Upon reaching 16 years of age, invitation to become Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion and other duties such as assisting with the training of new Altar servers. A sense of belonging to a Catholic community is achieved. Further thoughts All of us, young and old, are called upon to be involved in the life and mission of the Church. Even children can be modern-day missionaries to each other and to their family. Children can respond much better if their presence is acknowledged during Mass. And the final word is from Pope Francis Children must be the heart of any Parish. To older children, parents and teachers Mass obligation God Himself said, Keep holy the Sabbath day. It is a commandment of the Church that we attend Mass on the Sunday (or on the evening of the preceding day) and on the other holy days of obligation. The Catechism of the Catholic Church has confirmed that to miss Mass through ones own fault is a serious sin. One of the reasons for this commandment was to remind us that every good thing comes from the Hand of God. There are 168 hours in every week. My parents and teachers encouraged me to never walk past an open church without making a visit to the Blessed Sacrament, be it ever so brief. The Lord is waiting for us! The real presence of Jesus in the tabernacle has always been the object of immense reverence and respect by the saints. Blessed Pope Paul VI (soon to be a Saint) wrote: Perhaps one of the reasons why we do not visit Our Lord more often is that we feel He is passive in the Blessed Sacrament. Nothing seems to happen! But we are mistaken. Christ is not inactive in the Blessed Sacrament. His presence is dynamic! He acts upon us, renewing our faith, enlightening our minds, giving us courage to carry out our daily tasks Parents should be encouraged to take their children into the Church, even for a brief visit. The significance of the Red Lamp on the Sanctuary should also be explained. Children will remember these visits, as I do from my earliest years. Other thoughts Science tries to find ways to add years to our life, but it is only through Jesus that we add life to our years. Bob Hope, a famous film star, wrote, My idea of Christmas is very simple loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas? Winston Churchill, famous allied war leader, said, We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. A dapper young man was telling his friends in the pub how financially well off he was. He had real estate, shares and money in the bank. His future was assured. An older man sitting nearby with a beer said, I have something you will never have. The young man said with a smirk, Whats that? to which the older man replied, Enough. A homeless persons heart beats just as ours. Appreciate everything especially your friends. There are many people who really are poor. There are others who only think they are. Millions are trapped in a terrible limbo unsafe at home and unwanted anywhere else. Nobody can do everything, but everyone can do something. Food is the most basic of human needs, yet despite the fact that the world produces enough food for every one of its people, still almost one billion people go to bed hungry every single night. Greg Glass is a parishioner at St Marthas Church in Strathfield.
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https://catholicoutlook.org/what-do-i-say-to-jesus-after-i-receive-him/
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Why Do Airplanes Make Me Gassy and Bloated?
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An acquaintance recently asked me if there is an explanation for his bloating and gas on airplanes. (It was no coincidence that he was fresh off a red-eye flight when he asked.) Was this actually An acquaintance recently asked me if there is an explanation for his bloating and gas on airplanes. (It was no coincidence that he was fresh off a red-eye flight when he asked.) I assured him that high-altitude bloating is very much a thing, and it even has a name: HAFE, which stands for high altitude flatus expulsion. There are a few explanations for it. Among them: 1. Low air pressure means expansion of gasses in the gut. Air pressure decreases at higher altitudes, and the basic laws of physics (Boyles law, to be precise) dictate that gasses expand as air pressure decreases. Whatever gas is in your gut as you board the plane or that is created in your bowel during your flight as the result of food choices or that enters into your bowel as the result of swallowed air or ingesting carbonated beverages is likely to put more pressure against the bowel walls as altitudes rise. Many of us experience this sensation as bloating, or an uncomfortable internal pressure. (Boyles law also explains why your in-flight water bottle shrivels up upon landing: The air pressure increases when you go quickly from high altitude to low altitude, meaning that the gasses in your water bottle contract, causing the plastic to collapse a bit on itself.) [See: Frequent Travelers Share 11 Secrets for Staying Regular on Vacation.] 2. A rapid increase in altitude may also draw more gas into the gut. Traditionally, researchers had assumed that the increased gas pressure in the bowel (described above) was the sole reason that may people experience more flatulence during air travel. But a 2013 study offered a new hypothesis: that quickly moving from a low altitude to a higher altitude may draw more gas into the bowel in the form of carbon dioxide, which results in a significant uptick in gas-passing. To test this idea, Australian researchers took a group of eight healthy volunteers on a 40-minute drive up to a ski mountain resort of intermediate altitude about 5,900 feet, similar to the altitude of Denver. Participants recorded a variety of data, including how many times they passed gas, every hour beginning 18 hours before departure and ending 18 hours after the ascent. Researchers found a near doubling of farts in the post-ascent period, which they believed was too great an increase to attribute solely to the expansion of existing bowel gasses. Rather, they conjectured, the rapid increase in altitude and the decrease in air pressure may have been causing some carbon dioxide thats normally dissolved in the bloodstream to exit the blood and diffuse into the bowel. The researchers found that peak flatulence occurred 8 to 11 hours after arrival at the higher altitude, if that has any implications for your planning purposes. 3. Cramped airplane quarters mean trapped gas. Gas pain and bloating can feel much more uncomfortable when gas gets trapped in the bowel, and prolonged sitting in a cramped position can contribute to this. What to Do to Minimize Gas and Bloating While Flying: While the likelihood of bloating is somewhat inevitable due to the basic physics involved, here are some measures you can take to minimize its severity: Eat lower FODMAP foods the day before air travel or a high-altitude trip. Certain healthy foods are known to create more intestinal gas than others. These include beans and chickpeas, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, cashews, onions, garlic, fiber bars, high-lactose dairy foods and healthy ice creams that contain inulin fiber or sugar alcohols like mannitol. Collectively, these foods are known as high FODMAP. Avoiding them for a full day before flying may reduce the load of intestinal gas prone to expansion. [See: Foods That Cause Bloating.] Avoid carbonated beverages in flight. The bubbles in your club soda are carbon dioxide gas. This too may expand in the digestive tract during flight, causing more discomfort and distension than usual. Stick to flat drinks if in-flight bloating is an issue for you. Take over-the-counter simethicone (Gas-X or Phazyme) before boarding your flight, and periodically over the course of a longer flight. This medication helps break up larger gas bubbles into smaller, less distending gas bubbles, and can reduce the feeling of gas pressure within the gut. Using it before a flight and periodically during the flight can help reduce feelings of bloating. Its exceptionally safe, so dont be afraid to use it. Get up to walk around a few times during a longer flight. Sitting still in a crunched-up position for hours on end is likely to impede the flow of bowel gasses, causing a bottle-necked pooling effect in certain segments of the intestines. This can be painful. Standing up and walking around a few times during a flight can prevent this buildup of trapped gas, especially if you are willing to pass gas in flight. Holding in a fart can make bloating and gas pain way worse, so if the thought of letting it rip causes panic, read on. [See: 5 Wacky Ways Real People Have Stayed Active While Traveling.] Wear charcoal-lined undergarments to mask odors. Charcoal filters make excellent odor neutralizers, and thats why theyre widely used in things like cat litter boxes, kitchen compost buckets and air-purifier machines. Charcoal liners are also available for underwear, which can help protect your neighbors from the smell of your gas. From disposable charcoal liners you can slip into your undergarments to washable charcoal-lined undergarments (the British company Shreddies makes one of the more fashion-forward assortments), there are many products available to help reduce anxiety about farting on a plane. originally appeared on usnews.com
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https://wtop.com/news/2019/01/why-do-airplanes-make-me-gassy-and-bloated/
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What Is Dollar-Cost Averaging?
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Dollar-cost averaging is a disciplined way for investors to build wealth in their portfolio over time while helping them avoid emotional-driven decisions. Many people mistakenly believe that they need thousands of dollars to start investing Dollar-cost averaging is a disciplined way for investors to build wealth in their portfolio over time while helping them avoid emotional-driven decisions. Many people mistakenly believe that they need thousands of dollars to start investing for their retirement, causing them to be risk-adverse in opening a traditional investment retirement account or Roth IRA. But nearly anyone can get started with the strategy. For instance, this style of investing can help novice investors who have recently opened a retirement portfolio, and dont have a large sum of money for an initial investment. Dollar-cost averaging is a simple investment strategy that calls for investing the same amount of money on a consistent basis, says Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com, a New York-based financial data and content company. One of the benefits is buying more shares when prices are low and fewer shares when prices are high over a period of time, he says. [See: 10 Long-Term Investing Strategies That Work.] Another advantage of this strategy is a small amount of money can be invested until income levels increase, or until a novice investor can understand more complex investments, such as exchange-traded funds, which typically focus on a specific sector. Investors who follow this strategy will invest either once or twice a month into a particular investment, such as mutual funds or ETFs. The best way to build long-term wealth is to simply buy shares in a broadly diversified income fund on a regular basis whether the market has recently gone up, down or sideways, financial advisors say. One of the advantages of this technique is it allows people, particularly novice investors, to start investing with relatively small amounts of money. When a fixed amount of money, such as $300, is invested every month into a fund, such as a mutual fund or ETF, or an account like a 401(k) or a Roth IRA, thats dollar-cost averaging. This is a better strategy than investing a lump sum of money whenever you think the market conditions are good. Dollar-cost averaging allows investors to put their investment strategy on autopilot, experts say. As an example, investors can sock away $300 into a mutual fund at $20 a share and add 15 shares to their portfolio. With dollar-cost averaging, investors can set aside $100 per month, and during the first month its invested, they will net five shares if the price is $20 per share, McBride says. [Read: These Mistakes Can Blow an Index Investing Strategy.] In the second month, if the price has fallen to $10, they now acquire 10 shares. By the third month, if the price has climbed to $25, then a $100 investment buys four shares. An investor now has a total of 19 shares at an average cost of $15.79 per share instead of 15 shares at an average cost of $20 per share. Investors can also use online dollar-cost averaging calculators, which can be found on many personal finance and investment websites. These calculators allow an investor to put in the different share prices of a stock and determine what the dollar-cost average would be over time. The opportunity to buy stocks when prices are lower is one advantage of this method. Dollar-cost averaging does not guarantee a profit or guarantee that the strategy is better than buying in a lump sum, he says. But it enforces a discipline of buying more when prices are low and buying less when prices are high. Left to their own devices, investors too often buy high, but sell low. Dollar-cost averaging helps take the emotion out of investing. This strategy is a useful technique to purchase individual stocks if it is applied correctly, says Ron McCoy, CEO of Freedom Capital Advisors in Clermont, Florida. This strategy requires planning before any positions are initiated, since position sizing comes into play. If there is a particular company of interest and an investor wants to purchase shares, experts recommend initiating a small position to begin with to give the stock several weeks or months to play out. For instance, investors can allocate one-third or a quarter of the money toward the total amount of what they ultimately want to own, especially in a down market where the stock appears to be cheap, but is trending lower, McCoy says. [Read: Why Value Investing is Making a Comeback.] An investor who chooses to use dollar-cost averaging should ensure that subsequent purchases lower the cost significantly. Buying 100 shares at $20 and then buying another 100 at $18 may not make sense, since it only lowers your cost from $20 to $19, McCoy says. However, adding 100 shares at $14 would lower your cost to $17. You can always add to your position if the trend changes and moves higher. In order for the strategy to work, you must have strong conviction and knowledge of the company you are buying. This strategy is a mechanical approach to investing, says C.J. Brott, founder of Capital Ideas, a registered investment advisor in Dallas. By keeping the dollar amount of your purchases constant, you will always buy more shares at a lower price and fewer at a higher price, he says. The average cost per unit is lower than the average price. Investors are often concerned that prices will decline or that they are not purchasing an ETF or stock at a low price. This strategy is very important because it forces you to buy more when prices are low, overcoming fear, he says. It also keeps you from hocking the house to buy large amounts on price highs, thus overcoming greed. Both actions go totally against human nature and provide that level of boredom that usually accompanies successful investing strategies. The key to successful long-term investing is overcoming emotions, such as fear or greed. It is more difficult than most understand to know yourself and anticipate how you will react given certain market conditions, Brott says. Invest in a Roth IRA Now. originally appeared on usnews.com
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https://wtop.com/news/2019/01/what-is-dollar-cost-averaging/
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Are Trump's Make America Great Again hats patriotic or racist?
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The White House Gift Shop sells this red Make America Great Again baseball cap for $37.95. (Photo: White House Gift Shop) They're red and white and debated all over. The baseball caps embroidered with the campaign slogan "Make America Great Again" are synonymous with President Donald Trump's administration, and have become a hot-button topic, especially in the wake of a racially charged confrontation last week near Washington, D.C.'s Lincoln Memorial. Many, including actress and activist Alyssa Milano, now are calling the baseball caps the modern-day white hoods of the Ku Klux Klan, representing a white nationalist ideology pushed by the president. The standoff involved a group of students from Covington Catholic School, an all-boys high school in Kentucky, who were wearing MAGA hats when they got into a confrontation with a Native American man from Michigan. The Native American elder, Nathan Phillips of Ypsilanti, said he was trying to defuse the tension between the mostly white students and four members of the fringe religious group the Black Hebrew Israelites, who hurled insults at the students. Videos of the incident posted to social media whipped up fierce debate about who was right and who was wrong and the role the MAGA hats may have played in the whole ordeal. John Pavlovitz, an author, pastor, and activist from North Carolina, said the boys might not have fully understood the loaded meaning those hats carry for some people. "To be present at that gathering is one thing, but to be present in those hats is a completely different statement," Pavlovitz said. "Theres no sense of compassion in those hats to most people, so that hat becomes a threat. "They are no longer a neutral symbol. Whenever those hats are worn, theyre going to make a statement that brings with it many assumptions a resistance to diversity, a resistance to equality. Theres homophobia in the image of those hats that comes automatically when we see them. John Pavlovitz, an author, progressive church pastor and blogger from North Carolina. (Photo: Helen Hill Photography) "What we see is that all the presidents ideals are now sort of wrapped up in that one wearable symbol. No matter what one does, they have to understand that to historically repressed communities or vulnerable communities who now feel more under duress when they see those images," said Pavlovitz, who has drawn millions of readers to his blog, "Stuff that Needs to be Said." His latest book, "Hope and Other Superpowers" ($20, Simon & Schuster), was published in November. Rise of the red cap The hats became a staple at Trump rallies and events during his 2016 presidential campaign; they're still sold online through the White House Gift Shop and on donaldjtrump.com, where the slogan "Make America Great Again" is printed on everything from baseball caps to swimsuits, banners, playing cards, megaphones and even beer can koozies. Proceeds benefit his campaign. The MAGA cap became so well known and synonymous with Trump's 2016 campaign that it was dubbed Symbol of the Year by affiliates of the Stanford Symbolic Systems Program, which according to its website, focuses on systems and symbols in communication. FILE - In this May 7, 2016 file photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Lynden, Wash. (Photo: Elaine Thompson, AP) A Stanford News Service story about the MAGA hat said it "defined a positional narrative: America was great, is not any more, but could be again," and noted Ronald Reagan first used the "Make America Great Again" slogan during his 1980 campaign for president. Bill Clinton also used the phrase in 1991 in announcing his campaign for president. Todd Davies, program associate director, told the Stanford News Service, Lots of things can be symbols but relatively few things actually are. Being a symbol is an acquired status that gets established through use. Symbols can obviously become notable because the things they represent are notable. Davies told the Free Press that what the MAGA hats represent has changed in the last three years. "I do think the cultural meaning of MAGA hats has evolved since 2016, and that many people (though not all) see the hat at least partly as a symbol of white nationalism in the U.S.," he said in an email. Related content at Freep.com: Catholic student: Our group was not hateful in Washington D.C. incident Native activist offers to meet Covington Catholic students Native American leader of Michigan: 'Mob mentality' in students was 'scary' The Rev. Wendell Anthony, who is pastor of Detroits Fellowship Chapel, a trustee on the national NAACP Board of Directors, and president of the Detroit Branch of the NAACP, said the MAGA hats send a message that is unquestionably divisive for people of color. Buy Photo The Rev. Wendell Anthony, president of the Detroit Branch of the NAACP. (Photo: Detroit Free Press file photo) "The caps that the young men were wearing, it is their right of course, to wear them, but when one says make America great again, what are you talking about?" he said. "Because in order to make America great again, one has to go backwards. You have to go back to a time period in which America as viewed through the prism of many people was not so great. Its confusing, and we dont understand that." The people who wear those hats, Anthony said, are suggesting knowingly or unknowingly that they support all of Trump's policies and his behaviors. "Do you embrace division?" Anthony asked, adding in part, "... in order to wear that hat, you cant just select a part of the man that hat has come to embody. You cannot compartmentalize yourself and say, 'Im going to embrace the part of him that appears to be strong and tells people where to get off,' without embracing all the other hate and racism and division and derision, and the government shutdown that he proudly owns. "When you wear that, youre saying thats what you support. So when I see that hat, thats what I see. I see America at its worst, I do not see America at its best." The conservative view Buy Photo Crowd cheer for President Donald J. Trump during Make America Great Again rally at Total Sports Park in Washington Township, Saturday, April 28, 2018. (Photo: Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press) Laura Ingraham called Milano "a dope" on her podcast Tuesday for characterizing the MAGA hat as the modern-day white KKK hood. Oh, OK sweetheart. That would actually be closer to the truth, right? said Ingraham, who also is a Fox News host. Planned Parenthood is boasting that they had 11,000 more abortions last year and, disproportionately, abortions affect the lives of minorities around the United States, who are, frankly, treated woefully by the Planned Parenthood machine." ... "That actually would be more accurate that the Planned Parenthood cap might as well be the KKK, but not a kid whos wearing a Make America Great Again hat. Former secret service agent Dan Boningo, an author and frequent Fox News commentator, agreed with Ingraham. Are you serious?" he said. Political commentator Laura Ingraham, speaks during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland (Photo: Robert Deutsch/USA TODAY) "So Donald Trump who gives you back more of your money, fought for school choice, has black unemployment at the lowest in modern American history if hes a racist, then hes the worst racist in American history. Eric Castiglia, 49, a Republican from Sterling Heights, said Milano's comments were terrible and that in no way should the MAGA hats ever be compared to KKK hoods. "Absolutely not," said Castiglia, who is Catholic. "There are so many people in this country that wear that hat, that look to it for inspiration for a fixing a broken system. "It's not a white hat or a hood over somebody's face.That was the Democratic Party that had a historical connection to the KKK, never the Republican Party affiliated with that group. We are the party of Lincoln." Many on the left have become so vicious, so vocal when it comes to the conservative viewpoint, Castiglia said, that it's stifled the voices of Trump supporters and Christians. "You can't support our president in public," Castiglia said. "People will chastise you, ridicule you and lump you into something that you're not just because you believe in some of his policy issues." As the parent of children who attend Catholic schools, Castiglia explained that Catholic schoolchildren are taught not to talk back to adults, not to cause a scene or be aggressive. "So they stood there smiling because what else were they supposed to do?" Castiglio said. "They stood calm. They didn't do anything wrong. ... If that was my son, I would have been proud of him that he didn't push the drum away, that he didn't say a nasty thing, that he just stood there, smiling. I would have been proud of him. They stood strong, peacefully, and they shouldn't' have had to back down." Buy Photo Crowd cheer for President Donald J. Trump during Make America Great Again rally at Total Sports Park in Washington Township, Saturday, April 28, 2018. (Photo: Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press) StilPavlovitz said it is possible the Covington boys didn't fully understand how politically charged the hats have become. "Young people when they wear those hats, they might not be aware of how weighted they are," he said. "So for instance, these high school students might see it as an expression of solidarity with the president or some statement of pride in their country and be unaware of the legacy of hatred in our country, the legacy of white supremacy. "And really, I think that is a product of their privilege in this case. These are young men who might be largely unaware of the countrys past and even of the presidents policies, quite honestly." A youth pastor for 23 years, Pavlovitz said what was most unsettling for him was seeing in the videos how poorly the chaperones handled the situation. CLOSE View the tense situation through multiple lenses and perspectives, as Christian students, Black Hebrew Israelites and Native Americans get entangled on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. USA TODAY "Students must understand the context of the world in which they're growing up in, and I think thats where you see a failure in this situation," he said. "These adults understand exactly what that symbolism is and therefore, in a way, they are almost weaponizing the young people in their care, theyre almost using them to take a brunt of the message that they want to perpetuate." Native American advocate Nathan Phillips, of Ypsilanti, Mich., sits for a portrait in Ypsilanti on May 2, 2015. Phillips gained national attention following a standoff between Phillips and a group of Catholic high school students went viral on Friday, January 18, 2019 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Chris Stranad, Chris Stranad) Trump weighs in on Covington Although Trump hasn't commented on the shifting perceptions of what his red MAGA hats have come to mean for many Americans, he said in a tweet that he supports the Covington Catholic School boys, and the 16-year-old junior at the forefront of the controversy, Nicholas Sandmann. He tweeted: "Looking like Nick Sandman (sic) & Covington Catholic students were treated unfairly with early judgements (sic) proving out to be false - smeared by media. Not good, but making big comeback! 'New footage shows that media was wrong about teens encounter with Native American' @TuckerCarlson" Covington Catholic High School was closed Tuesday, the first school day scheduled after an incident in Washington D.C. when students were filmed in an altercation with a Native American man. (Photo: Albert Cesare / The Enquirer) White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders condemned the press for its coverage of the confrontation, telling Fox News host Sean Hannity: "I've never seen people so happy to destroy a kid's life when that becomes the norm in the media in America simply because they're associated with this president. That is disgraceful and that should never have happened. Let's hope that this is a lesson to all of the media, to everyone. Let's focus on getting things right not getting them first." CLOSE Citing the "rude" media coverage, President Trump tweets that he instructed White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders to stop holding press briefings. Veuer's Justin Kircher has the details. Buzz60 For his part in the standoff, Sandmann told NBC's Today Show Wednesday that he did nothing wrong. As far as standing there, I had every right to do so. My position is that I was not disrespectful to Mr. Philips," Sandmann told NBC's Savannah Guthrie." I respect him. Id like to talk to him. I mean in hindsight, I wish we could have walked away and avoided the whole thing, but I cant say that Im sorry for listening to him and standing there. Sandmann said he felt threatened during the confrontation, and said none of the students shouted "build the wall," threats or racial slurs. In hindsight, I wish we had just found another spot to wait for our buses, but at the time being positive seemed better than letting them slander us with all of these things. So, I wish we could have walked away. Phillips said he heard the students shouting "build the wall" as they chanted their school spirit songs. Video shows many of them waving their arms as if using tomahawks, which is considered derogatory. He also told the Free Press he would like to travel to northern Kentucky to talk to the students about cultural appropriation, racism and respecting diverse cultures. The Rev. Anthony said if anything positive comes from this, it's that it's driving a national conversation about an uncomfortable issue. "People of good will black, white, red, yellow have to take the bull by the horns. We have to seize upon the moment. We have to preach from our churches, our synagogues, our mosques, our temples. "We have to say to each other that we all have a significant purpose here and that we must respect our brothers and sisters for our differences because diversity is a good thing. Our nations strength is in its diversity, not in its uniformity." Anthony commended Phillips for offering to meet with students from Covington Catholic. "I think thats powerful," he said. When asked whether the MAGA hats have a role in America in 2019, Anthony said, simply: "I think the hat has a place. The place for it is in a museum." Contact Kristen Jordan Shamus: 313-222-5997 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @kristenshamus. CLOSE azcentral media critic tries to make sense of the social media outrage over Savannah Guthrie's interview on NBC with student Nick Sandmann. Post your thoughts below and we will include a few reader comments in the Sunday Free Press. Read or Share this story: https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/01/24/maga-hats-racism-donald-trump/2659479002/
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/01/24/maga-hats-racism-donald-trump/2659479002/
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Is the BBC misleading DAB consumers?
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The BBC has been accused of misleading consumers about DAB, DAB+ and internet radio technology by Steve Green of digitalradiotech.co.uk. In a recent TechRadar interview, digital radio expert Steve Green argues that DAB supporters such as Pure Digital and the BBC face a conundrum, "because, for the last few years, they've mainly been promoting DAB on the basis that it provides greater choice. "But a typical DAB listener can only receive around 35 stations (people in London receive more stations, people out in the sticks usually receive less), whereas there are 10,000 plus internet radio stations, and thousands of on-demand streams, such as the radio programmes on the BBC iPlayer and podcasts. There's no contest: internet radio wins hands down on choice." "It's all down to protectionism," Green argues, " the broadcasters would like everyone to listen to digital radio via DAB, because DAB offers the least amount of choice, so their stations will face the least amount of competition, and they think this will lead to them losing fewer listeners than if a lot of people begin listening via the internet. "And the big receiver manufacturers have the UK DAB market all sewn up, so they'd very much like the status quo to continue as well." Internet radio: the losers "The losers, as ever, will be the consumers. In my opinion, if the BBC provided the public with impartial advice about what both DAB and internet radio have to offer, I think internet radio would end up becoming the biggest digital radio platform by the time FM is switched off.. "Over the last year, people have shown that they love the BBC iPlayer, and I just think the internet is the way most people would go given all the facts." Green also thinks that it is 'scandalous' the BBC " has acted against the interests of the general public... purely to serve the BBC's own self-interests."
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https://www.techradar.com/au/news/audio/hi-fi-radio/is-the-bbc-misleading-dab-consumers-515425
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Can Allergan (AGN) Keep the Earnings Streak Alive in Q4?
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We expect Allergan plc AGN to beat expectations when it reports fourth-quarter and full-year 2018 results on Jan 29, before market open. In the last reported quarter, the company delivered a positive earnings surprise of 5.99%. Allergans share price has declined 13.8% in the past year compared with the industrys decline of 21.8%. Allergans earnings performance has been strong, with the company beating expectations in each of the past four quarters. The average positive earnings surprise over the last four quarters is 6.66%. Amgen Inc. Price and EPS Surprise Amgen Inc. Price and EPS Surprise | Amgen Inc. Quote Lets see how things are shaping up for this announcement. Factors to Consider We believe that Allergans key products like Botox, Juvderm collection of fillers, Vraylar, Alloderm, Linzess and Lo Loestrin are likely to support sales growth in the quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Botox is $937 million. On the third-quarter call, the company had said that Botox demand was strong despite the launch of Amgens CGRP antibody, Aimovig. However, the company did mention that it expects the growth rate for Botox Therapeutic to moderate due to competition from CGRPs. Other than Aimovig, Tevas and Lillys CGRPs were also approved in September. Botoxs sales growth rate is expected to be in mid- to high-single digits. At the same time, the company said that that the introduction of the CGRPs should expand the migraine market and that Botox and the CGRPs can coexist in the larger market. An update is expected on the fourth-quarter conference call. However, revenues in the fourth quarter are expected to be hurt by recall of Ozurdex in international markets in October, currency translation and lost revenues due to the sale of medical dermatology assets in September 2018. Meanwhile, lower sales of Namenda XR and Estrace cream due to generic competition are expected to continue to hurt Allergans revenues in the fourth quarter. While a generic version of Alzheimers treatment Namenda XR was launched by India based company, Lupin in February 2018 that of Estrace cream was launched by Mylan MYL in January 2018. A generic version of Delzicol is also expected to be launched soon. However, no generic version of Restasis, Allergans second best-selling drug, has been launched yet. On the third-quarter conference call, management had said that a generic version of Restasis is now expected to be launched between Nov 1, 2018 and Jan 1, 2019. The delay in launch of Restasis generics may add to the top line in the fourth quarter.
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https://news.yahoo.com/allergan-agn-keep-earnings-streak-002912112.html
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Can the Pentagon build a bridge to the tech community?
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Attendees win a gift after asking a question of Google Assistant, an artificial intelligence-powered virtual assistant that can engage in two-way conversations, at the Consumer Electronics Show on Jan. 8 in Las Vegas. The challenge is huge, given that Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple and other tech giants see themselves as global companies with workers drawn from many nations. But tapping this talent base is essential for U.S. security and fortunately, the Pentagon, after some false starts, is launching a creative effort to win the trust of suspicious software engineers who grew up in the shadow of Edward Snowdens revelations. The basic idea is to do AI the American way, as people used to say, by framing a set of clear, ethical rules through public debate. This AI Principles Project was launched in October by the Pentagons Defense Innovation Board. The first major public meeting took place on Tuesday at Harvard, where Pentagon officials met with about a dozen AI experts, some of them strong critics of U.S. military actions. The Harvard roundtable discussion was lively, and occasionally sharp, a participant said. The group debated privacy concerns, the trade-off between an algorithms power and its ability to explain its results, methods for establishing human accountability for AI actions, and other legal and moral issues. Similar expert gatherings are planned at Carnegie Mellon University in March and Stanford University in April, and then the board will release draft principles for public comment. The Pentagon outreach was deliberately aimed at engineers who dont like the idea of working with the U.S. military. As the innovation boards statement announcing the ethics dialogue put it, We are taking care to include not only experts who often work with the [Department of Defense], but also AI skeptics, department critics and leading AI engineers who have never worked with DoD before. If were going to be the arsenal of democracy in the 21st century, we have to show that we have ideals and are ready to stand up for them, said a Pentagon official involved in the program. It wasnt going to be enough to say, Hey, were the good guys, were Americans. We needed to be more introspective. This bridge-building to the tech community follows a potentially disastrous rupture last year, when Google employees rebelled at a Pentagon AI effort called Project Maven. It was a relatively small, $9 million contract to write algorithms for nonlethal monitoring of surveillance videos to detect threatening movement. Neither the company nor the Pentagon foresaw the controversy that erupted when thousands of Google employees signed a protest petition; the company had to retreat and declined to renew the contract. Behind the Maven flap lie some fascinating crosscurrents. Senior Google executives had wanted a larger piece of the governments national security business, which has been dominated by Amazon and Microsoft. But they were secretive with employees about the project. A tight-lipped Pentagon worsened the public-relations disaster. Google employees felt misled, and Pentagon officials were enraged that the tech engineers had scuttled a project aimed at detecting terrorist threats. (Pentagon anger deepened when Google announced last year that it would launch a Dragonfly search-engine project in China; the company has since retreated, again after employee protest.) Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichais withdrawal from Maven was driven, above all, by opposition from some of the top engineers on whom Googles future rests. A Pentagon official recalls trying to explain to one of these AI gurus that the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights would prevent excesses by the United States. The engineer replied that these safeguards meant little to him because he wasnt a U.S. citizen. The Google revolt hasnt yet spread across Silicon Valley, despite efforts by some engineers to organize such a boycott. Top executives at Microsoft and Amazon have resisted employee protest and reaffirmed their willingness to work on classified contracts for the military and the intelligence community, such as the huge JEDI cloud-computing project. (Amazons founder and chief executive, Jeffrey P. Bezos, owns The Post.) The engineers arent wrong in demanding that the Pentagon set rules for this new domain of warfare. There has been a lack of clarity from DoD about how it will use AI, said Paul Scharre of the Center for a New American Security. The Pentagon-Silicon Valley dialogue is wary and awkward, and it could collapse with dire consequences for the United States future military strength. The Pentagon official explained the one reason it might work: Weve created ways for people who hate us to express their views. Thats what makes us different from a closed society. Read more from David Ignatiuss archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/can-the-pentagon-build-a-bridge-to-the-tech-community/2019/01/24/39c0e3b2-2019-11e9-9145-3f74070bbdb9_story.html
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Is the end to Venezuelas nightmare in sight?
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FOR THE better part of two decades, Venezuelans have attempted through mass demonstrations, strikes, electoral mobilizations and negotiations to free themselves from the disastrous regime founded by Hugo Chvez. Nothing has worked, and the government has steadily grown more authoritarian and corrupt while subjecting the countrys 32 million people to a humanitarian castatrophe. As tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Caracas and other cities this week in yet one more rebellion, the great question was whether finally one could succeed. Though we dont know the answer, there are some encouraging signs. The latest unrest was triggered by President Nicols Maduros assumption of a new six-year term earlier this month on the basis of an election condemned in and outside Venezuela as fraudulent. Days earlier, the National Assembly, which the opposition controls, chose a young and dynamic new leader, Juan Guaid, who has moved quickly to challenge Mr. Maduro. Because the presidents reelection was found to be illegitimate, the assembly deemed the post vacant and Mr. Guaid declared himself interim president. Those steps were grounded in the Venezuelan constitution, but what gave them real import was the move by the United States on Wednesday to recognize Mr. Guaid as president. Importantly, the U.S. action was joined by Canada and numerous Latin American countries, including Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Chile and Peru; this made the claim by Russia and some U.S. leftists that the Trump administration was engaged in an imperialist intervention ridiculous on its face. Still, Mr. Maduro is doing his best to make it look that way: He theatrically broke relations with the United States and ordered that U.S. diplomats leave the country by Saturday. Following Mr. Guaids lead, the State Department said it would maintain a diplomatic presence. The National Assemblys assertion of itself as an alternative government and the multilateral support it has attracted have created at least the potential for the latest Venezuelan crisis to take a different course. But some skillful U.S. diplomacy is now needed. The Trump administration must avoid allowing itself to become isolated in a confrontation with the Maduro regime over evacuation of the embassy, for example while its regional allies and Mr. Guaid watch from the sidelines. Unless the lives of Americans are endangered and there is no other recourse, military intervention would be folly. A U.S. boycott of Venezuelan oil could endanger ordinary Venezuelans already coping with critical shortages of food, power and medicine. As it is, a mass exodus of desperate refugees threatens to destabilize several of Venezuelas neighbors. Calls by Mr. Maduros Latin American and European sympathizers for dialogue should be dismissed; the regime has demonstrated that it will use such talks only to buy time and divide the opposition. The administrations best approach would be to join with its allies in initiatives that would help Venezuelans while bolstering Mr. Guaid. A multilateral operation to deliver humanitarian supplies to Venezuela or to its borders, in cooperation with the National Assembly, is one possibility. In the end, if Venezuelas nightmare is to end, the change must come from inside. Mr. Guaid is appealing to the military to defy its commanders and support him. The United States and its allies must hope they listen.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/is-the-end-to-venezuelas-nightmare-in-sight/2019/01/24/f8526b66-1ff1-11e9-8e21-59a09ff1e2a1_story.html
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What are the concerns over CLTCC's downtown campus?
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CLOSE Downtown Alexandria is experiencing a resurgence Wochit Construction of Central Louisiana Technical Community College's new campus in downtown Alexandria is moving faster than stakeholders hoped, underscoring the need to work on potential issues before they become problems. Construction for the Central Louisiana Technical and Community College main building located along Murray Street in downtown Alexandria continues and is expected to be open in the fall of this year. CLTCC along with the Central Louisiana Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Central Louisiana Economic Development Alliance (CLEDA) held a community-wide meeting Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2019 to provide information on construction, appearance, timeline, and what to expect once the two downtown CLTCC buildings are complete. (Photo: Melinda Martinez) Those questions and others were posed at a public planning meeting Thursday. "We're going to have 600 to 800 students enrolled there in the Fall," said CLTCC Chancellor Jimmy Sawtelle. "Our goal is to try to get out in front of any issues and begin building relationships in preparation of the opening, whether that's with the local restaurants and merchants, or cultural opportunities like the (Alexandria Museum of Art) and the library." "Obviously, the No. 1 reason for this new campus is workforce development making sure people have the skills they need to earn a living wage," said Jim Clinton, president and CEO of the Central Louisiana Economic Development Alliance. "But there's also an economic development and quality-of-life impact for people with investments downtown, or contemplating making investments downtown. All these new students and faculty members are coming downtown. What opportunities does that create for us?" The new campus will be in two locations. The "Downtown Campus" will sit on a block bordered by Murray, Desoto, Fifth and Sixth streets. The "Riverfront Campus" will be in the former McCormick Graphics building on Second Street and will house the college's technical and manufacturing programs. Both parts will be ready to open this Fall. "This isn't a project that's going to happen; it's a project that's happening right now," said Alexandria Mayor Jeff Hall. "We recognize there are some things that have to take place for it to be successful." A couple of the takeaways from Thursday's meeting were: Parking continues to be a big concern. In response to several questions, Sawtelle reiterated that he thinks there is ample parking within a five-minute walk of campus, including the "underutilized" public parking garage adjacent to the Holiday Inn Downtown. He said school officials are continuing to evaluate how to add parking opportunities to allow for growth in the future, when Clinton thinks enrollment "will be more like 1,500 within a few years." He also praised Hall's administration for being proactive in discussions on how the city can help find parking solutions. Safety was also a concern that several people cited. Jimmy Sawtelle, chancellor of Central Louisiana Technical and Community College, speaks about construction of two college buildings in downtown Alexandria and how it will affect downtown Alexandria as well as the students. CLTCC along with the Central Louisiana Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Central Louisiana Economic Development Alliance (CLEDA) held a community-wide meeting Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2019 to provide information on construction, appearance, timeline, and what to expect once the two downtown CLTCC buildings are complete. (Photo: Melinda Martinez) New businesses and expansion of current businesses are expected to serve CLTCC students and staff members. Sawtelle said the college "is not putting one square foot into retail or food service. .. We want our students to be consumers of the surrounding area." Affordability for students was a consistent talking point. The prospect of businesses offering discounts for CLTCC students was brought up several times. Clinton said the student population makes it likely that "lower market" food options, such as food trucks and fast food, will locate downtown. "You probably will see too many of one thing form," Clinton said. "That's OK. The market will shake that out." Read or Share this story: https://www.thetowntalk.com/story/news/local/2019/01/24/what-concerns-over-cltccs-downtown-campus/2668469002/
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https://www.thetowntalk.com/story/news/local/2019/01/24/what-concerns-over-cltccs-downtown-campus/2668469002/
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Who Is Jessica Szohr Dating? Is She Married?
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Now that Jessica Szohr, 33, is joining The Orville as new character Talla, fans are undoubtedly wondering who shes dating in real life. Shes not married, but shes been connected to several different men romantically over the last couple of years. In April 2015, E! News reported that she was dating Scotty McKnight, and as of 2017 they were still reported to be together. Happy #ValentinesDay Jessica Szohr & Scotty McKnight! pic.twitter.com/koGgVZdY7i Portal Gossip Girl Brasil (@PortalGGBrasil) February 14, 2018 They met through friends, an insider told E! News at the time, and had been dating for a couple months. McKnight is a former New York Jets wide receiver, and the two shared photos on Instagram when they went public with their relationship. On her birthday, the actor had created a collage of photos of the two of them and wrote, Happy birthday to this girl @itsmejessicaszhor beautiful inside and out. (Szohr no longer uses that particular Instagram handle.) In 2017, sources indicated that Szohr and McKnight were still together. In fact, she and McKnight were photographed together with Nina Dobrev and Glen Powell in July 2017. Prior to dating McKnight, Szohr was romantically connected to Gossip Girl co-star Ed Westwick, Page Six reported. NEW Old Pics from 2008 Ed Westwick, Chace Crawford and Jessica Szohr with fans #GossipGirl pic.twitter.com/SThQMA74ub Chuck and Blair (@parisinthe1920s) December 18, 2013 A source close to Westwick told Page Six that her flirtations with another man eventually ended the relationship, but this was not confirmed by other sources. The source said, Jessica, who denied anything happened was so distraught that she flew to London last Friday with just the clothes on her back. Shes been begging Ed to take her back, but he is deeply hurt. A source close to Szohr, meanwhile, denied those claims and said she and Westwick were celebrating her birthday in London. The couple had been together from 2008 to 2010. At the time Szohr said, It can be a little awkward when all of a sudden [you have feelings for] someone youd call to talk about a different boyfriend In November 2017, Daily Mail reported that Westwick had been accused of sexual assault, which he denied. Szohr told Cosmopolitan about the accusations: I have known Ed for years and know how lovely he is, and dont think he would ever put someone in a position like that. Its just, its a touchy, tough thing that you pray its not true and that with, outside of even him, all these different topics coming up, Im glad that theres notice being put on it for women that are going through it. In July 2018, it was announced that Westwick would not face charges due to insufficient evidence, The Guardian reported. Los Angeles prosecution said in a memo: Those witnesses were not able to provide information that would enable the prosecution to prove either incident beyond a reasonable doubt. Prosecution on those two incidents is declined due to insufficient evidence. A third accusers case was not pursued because she was unavailable, the prosecution said. Back in 2014, Szohr was also possibly briefly involved with Seth McFarlane, according to Refinery 29. Reports indicated that MacFarlane and Szohr stopped by a piano bar in Milwaukee. He played a rendition of Luck Be a Lady, which he said Szohr asked him to do for her moms birthday. The piano bar Lucilles Live shared the fun video of Seth singing, which you can watch above. There was no other indication that the two were a couple, however, and they simply might have just been there as friends.
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https://heavy.com/entertainment/2019/01/jessica-szohr-dating-married/
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Has Science Found a Way to Keep Pasta from Sticking Together?
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Pasta can be a really easy dish to cook often times to its own detriment. The problem, of course, is that, left unattended, cooked pasta typically sticks together. A little olive oil can usually stave off that unappealing mess, but a German company apparently has developed an even simpler solution: an enzyme that when added to flour will keep pasta from sticking. The flour innovators at Mhlenchemie have created a new enzyme they call Pastazy PD, and mixing it in with pasta flour reportedly offers some crazy results. For consumers, the resulting anti-stick effect might be the most mind-blowing. Customers keep the pasta warm for a long time and want the pasta to be stable, the company told FoodNavigator-USA. Pastazy PD supposedly assures that stability by extending the cooking time of pasta by 20 minutes, ostensibly meaning that even as your noodles sit around, theyre not overcooking themselves. However, though home cooks might see some benefits, the new enzymes real selling point appears to be as a cost-saver for pasta producers. Mhlenchemie suggests that the effects of overcooking are exacerbated when less expensive types of flours are used. But with Pastazy PD, the negative attributes of these inexpensive flours are themselves negated. As a result, pasta makers could switch to cheaper wheat varieties and considerably reduce the cost of raw material, the company was quoted as saying. Needless to say, when put in those terms, Pastazy PD sounds a bit devious. Meanwhile, youre just going to cover up the flavor with way too much Parmesan cheese anyway!
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https://www.foodandwine.com/news/pasta-overcooked-solution-enzyme
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Where did Vikings' special teams unit rank in 2018?
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When most think of special teams, especially with the Vikings, the first thing that comes to mind is the kicking game. Of course, theres much more to it. In Rick Gosselins special teams rankings, the Vikings ranked 13th overall. Their claim to fame was punt coverage. They ranked fifth in that category. But field goals bit them. They ranked last in field goal percentage and extra point percentage. The Vikings will have the challenge of improving with a cast of new characters in 2019. Mike Priefer is gone. Hell be the special teams coordinator in Cleveland. Replacing him will be Marwan Maalouf, a former assistant special teams coach with the Dolphins. Punt returner Marcus Sherels, kicker Dan Bailey and punter Matt Wile have expiring contracts. Out of the three, I think the most-likely player to not return is Sherels. Kicking is the biggest question mark. Bailey was just 21-for-28 on field goals with the Vikings, but was solid in his last three weeks, going 5-for-5.
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https://vikingswire.usatoday.com/2019/01/24/where-did-vikings-special-teams-unit-rank-in-2018/
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Why was Victor Pena on the street?
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Victor Pena is accused of kidnapping Olivia Ambrose from a public street and holding her captive for three days. Starting in 2004, public records show numerous women reporting Pena for physical and sexual abuse. One said Pena hit her and forced her to have sex. Another said he hit her repeatedly in the head and covered her mouth and nose so she couldnt breathe. At least five restraining orders were issued on behalf of women who feared for their safety. Pena has been a menace to women for a very long time, but the guy, incredibly, has no criminal record related to those incidents because charges werent filed, or were dismissed. Not prosecuting guys like Pena always leads to an escalation of violence. They learn quickly that they can do what they want and get away with it. The revolving door at the courthouse is a disturbing commentary on the value of womens lives, and a reminder to abusers that they can do it again and again, without repercussion. In a civilized legal system, a first-time offender would at least be ordered into batterers treatment. If he did it again, he would go to jail. If he didnt get the message after that, he would be labeled a high-risk offender and incarcerated for the longest period of time possible, whenever the opportunity presented itself. Had Pena been handled that way, he would have been behind bars, rather than hunting for women leaving bars. This is what criminal justice reform should look like. Not refusing to prosecute shoplifters, but aggressively prosecuting high-risk offenders. Lots of people do and they dont hurt anyone. Pena sucked his thumb, cried and talked to himself after he was arrested, but his ex-girlfriends didnt say he was mentally ill, and the court psychologist suggested he might be exaggerating. He wouldnt be the first criminal to conveniently develop a psychiatric condition on arraignment day. The police report indicates Pena managed to transport an incapacitated Ambrose across town on the MBTA, and through the streets of Charlestown to his apartment. There, he had installed a special inside lock he previously had used to entrap another woman. These tactics require mental competence and planning thumb-sucking notwithstanding. It feels better to think guys like Pena are sick, but the reality is, most men hurt women because they dont fear the consequences. Thats not a mental illness problem thats a gender discrimination problem.
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https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/01/24/wendy-murphy-why-was-pena-on-the-street/
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Why Do Budget Hotels Offer Free Internet and Luxury Hotels Do Not?
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LIN, Song Marketing Science, Articles in Advance, pp1-16, 2017 Hotels, like any businesses, are motivated by profit. But a strange pattern has emerged when it comes to low-cost amenities such as Internet services. One survey found only 54 per cent of luxury hotels offered free Internet compared to 91 per cent of budget hotels. As Song Lin points out, this phenomenon seems counterintuitive and has not been explained satisfactorily by standard economic theory. There are two seemingly inconsistent explanations. On the one hand, many embrace the view that luxury hotels charge for Internet because they can, meaning either because the consumers do not know about the charge before they book the room or because there is heterogeneity in consumers sensitivity to price. On the other hand, there is the argument that lower-end hotels offer the service for free to differentiate themselves. Neither of the arguments alone can consistently explain the disparate behaviour by the high-end and low-end hotels. I argue that these views can be unified through the idea of vertical differentiation between competitors, he said. By this, Lin means that hotels not only compete with other hotels of the same quality but also of different quality, such as a four-star hotel versus a three-star hotel. There will be cross-over customers over whom they will compete. With competitive pressure from a lower-quality rival, a higher-quality hotel faces a more elastic demand downward and thus tends to lower its room rate to attract more price-sensitive consumers. Since these consumers are less interested in paying extra for Internet service, the higher-quality hotel can charge a high Internet price to the other customers who are less price-sensitive. However, the consumers who do not pay that extra price are more valuable to the lower-quality hotel, which offers a low Internet price to appeal to them as low as free of charge, he said. Lin develops these ideas into a theoretical model that suggests higher-quality firms will want to sell an optional add-on, such as Internet service and local calls, to practice price discrimination under the presence of a lower-quality rival. But lower-quality firms have to trade-off discrimination and differentiation, resulting in an add-on policy more sensitive to the cost-to-value ratio. When the cost-to-value ratio is sufficiently low, the low-quality firms will prefer to not sell the add-on as optional in other words, to offer it for free. This model was tested and confirmed using survey data from 25,179 American hotels from 2006 to 2013. Lower-end hotels were more likely to offer free Internet and local call services than higher-end ones. Moreover, the results were likely conservative because some higher-end hotels offered free Internet for basic services such as email, but charged for high-speed Internet. Optional add-ons can intensify price competition over consumers who trade off a higher-quality base product versus a lower-quality base including an add-on. Hence, higher-quality firms are incentivised to commit to bundling, while lower-quality firms prefer to commit to not selling the add-on. Add-ons can further reduce lower-quality firms profits if consumers cannot observe the prices because this hold-up encourages consumers to switch to higher-quality rivals. This gives the lower-quality firms an incentive to advertise add-on prices, but not higher-quality firms to do so, he said. The findings have broad implications for other industries that also offer add-ons and face vertical competition, such as cruise, airline, apartment rental, car rental, consumer electronics, and so on. Marketing managers should evaluate add-on policies based on the positioning of the base good in the market and the cost and value nature of the add-on. They should be cautious regarding the negative impact of an optional add-on policy on long-term profitability under competition, Lin concluded.
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https://www.scmp.com/presented/business/topics/hkust-biz-school-magazine/article/2182525/why-do-budget-hotels-offer-free
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Has the Queen sent a coded Brexit message as she appeals for unity?
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Get Royal Family updates directly to your inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email The Queen has urged people to seek common ground in what could be seen as a coded message as MPs tackle the chaos of Brexit . Her Majesty insisted her subjects should be "never losing sight of the bigger picture", in a speech to mark the centenary of the Sandringham Women's Institute. Echoing the message of her Christmas Day address, the monarch also trumpeted the virtues of "respecting" other people's point of view. The Queen , who is president of the Sandringham WI, said: "Reflecting on a century of change, it is clear that the qualities of the WI endure. "The continued emphasis on patience, friendship, a strong community-focus, and considering the needs of others, are as important today as they were when the group was founded all those years ago. "Of course, every generation faces fresh challenges and opportunities. "As we look for new answers in the modern age, I for one prefer the tried and tested recipes, like speaking well of each other and respecting different points of view; coming together to seek out the common ground; and never losing sight of the bigger picture. "To me, these approaches are timeless, and I commend them to everyone." As Head of State, the Queen remains politically neutral and keeps her views on such issues private. But her intervention is likely to be seen as a veiled reference to the febrile, toxic mood of the public debate around Britain leaving the EU. Parliament remains deeply divided over the way forward, with politicians on all sides locked in a bitter civil war as the March 29 deadline for Britain quitting the EU looms nearer. (Image: AFP/Getty Images) In her Christmas Day address to the nation, the Queen touched on the same theme, telling the country: "Even with the most deeply held differences, treating the other person with respect and as a fellow human being is always a good first step towards greater understanding." The Queen attends a meeting of the her local WI once a year at West Newton village hall as part of her winter stay on her Norfolk estate. A Palace source said the monarch's words speak for themselves, adding: The Queen's words are consistent with the words of her Christmas broadcast message.
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https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/queen-sent-coded-brexit-message-13904623
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Is the development academy killing Arizona high school girls soccer?
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CLOSE U.S. Soccer is not allowing academy players to play for their high school. Now-former Xavier standout Kyla Ferry talks about it. Richard Obert, azcentral sports Kyla Ferry led Phoenix Xavier Prep to a 6A soccer championship the last two years. Last season, she was named the azcentral Sports Awards Girls Soccer Player of the Year. She was also the state Player of the Year by Gatorade. She committed to the University of Colorado. "It was always fun to go down the hallway, and people would say, 'Good game, I heard you on the announcements, scoring,' '' Ferry said. Kyle Ferry exercises before practice with the SC del Sol girls soccer club at the Rose Mofford Sports Complex on Jan. 22, 2019 in Phoenix. (Photo: Thomas Hawthorne/azcentral sports) But now, when she walks down the school's hallways, she sees former teammates chatting up their last game. When she helps Xavier coach Barb Chura as her teacher's assistant, she can only hear what happened in their games. "Those are the things she looks back on," said J-Michael Ferry, Kyla's father and still an avid Xavier soccer supporter. "It validates why you play, being recognized. She spent a good part of her life playing this sport." Choosing academy over high school team Tuesday night, when Xavier has Senior Night, Ferry won't be able to take part in it. "Its tough," J-Michael said. "You want your kids to do it all. But the DA rules are set. It's this way. I think she's happy with her choices." In the second year of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy for girls, this year the national federation made a rule that girls who choose to play on their high school teams can't play for the development academy team. Ferry chose to ramp her game up another notch and get the year-round training to get herself ready to make an instant impact in her first college season next fall at Colorado. She practices most nights at Rose Mofford Sports Complex in Phoenix, wearing the orange-jersey girls meet up for training under Les Armstrong, who leads the SC del Sol U-18/19 team that is 13-1-1 and ranked No. 1 in the Southwest Division. Ferry has had a big impact on the team. At the biggest showcase of the year in Florida in December, she scored four goals, including three game winners in front of more than 100 college coaches, including her future Colorado coach. "Playing here at del Sol, the competition is at a much higher level than high school," Ferry said. "Everybody is going to top D. I schools around the country. We play against almost all California schools, which a higher-intensity level for us, which is the best competition to get us ready for our colleges. Which is the most important thing for thing for now, getting prepared, especially for me. I want to be prepared when I get to the University of Colorado." 'This is a HUGE issue' This is great for Ferry and other girls who have chosen the development academy route. "This is a HUGE issue," Chura wrote in an email. "The Development Academy has kill HS Soccer. Especially at my school. So many good soccer players no longer playing. Really sad." Kyle Ferry exercises before practice with the SC del Sol girls soccer club at the Rose Mofford Sports Complex on Jan. 22, 2019 in Phoenix. (Photo: Thomas Hawthorne/azcentral sports) Chura didn't just lose the state's best player, but five potential starters on this year's team that is hoping to capture a third consecutive state title. Injuries have taken a toll on Xavier's depth. But the Gators are hanging in. They are 7-3-2 and have outscored their opponents 39-8. Academy has 197 total clubs, comprised of teams across six age groups in the boys program and U-18/19 and four age groups in the girls program. In the fall of 2017 the academy expanded to include a girls development academy. Last year, girls could take a break from the academy to spend the three or four months with their high school teams. But in 2018, the national federation made a rule that girls who leave the academy to play high school can't return to the academy once their high school season is over. The academy program advertises on its Web site that the club "environments assist in maximizing youth player development across the country." "The Academy values individual development of elite players over winning trophies and titles," it says. "The Academy sets the standard for elite environments for youth soccer clubs nationwide and is a part of U.S. Soccer's global leadership position in youth soccer that will impact thousands of players." So every grade in high school is impacted by the academy, which is pulling some of the most elite players from the high school game. "If we could have done both, we would have loved to do both," Ferry said. "But we couldn't and it's best for us to play for the DA. People were saying, 'Please play, you're really big for the team.' I was like, 'I just can't. It's not what's best for me.' "It's really hard for me, because I'm a TA for Barb. Having to see her every day and her just being, 'I know I'm going to see you on the sideline and we're going to be accepting.' But she understands that's what's best." Kyla Ferry exercises before practice with the SC del Sol girls soccer club at the Rose Mofford Sports Complex on Jan. 22, 2019 in Phoenix. (Photo: Thomas Hawthorne/azcentral sports) In an October story by SoccerNation, Mirelle van Rijbroek, director of talent indentification for US Soccer, was asked why the federation does not allow DA players to play for their high school teams. Imagine you get into Harvard," van Rijbroek told SoccerNation. "You go to Harvard, and youre in a very high-level environment. There are big group projects to work on that are crucial to your education. Those projects are going to help you learn how to handle huge stressful situations later in life. But then you want to take a few months off to go to a different school for a while. Furthermore, youll be leaving the members of your group without an important member of the team, while you take a few months to go do something else. Its not fair to the group left behind. Additionally, its not going to be good for your own education. You cant just leave for a few months. Ferry was stuck in tough spot. The high school soccer season ends in mid-February. Had she committed to high school soccer her senior year, she'd be out, as far as playing in weekend tournaments in California with the top development academy team in the Southwest. "She wants to be here," Chura said. She's with one of the top-ranked teams in the country. She's a premier player, an elite player. "That's where we have no leverage as high schools, because these colleges are going to showcase tournaments and mobbing the sidelines to watch these kids play. They don't go to high schools." More high school blowouts High school scores have been predictably lopsided this season. Gilbert Perry, which arguably has the best team in the state at 17-0-2, outscoring opponents 86-1, won back-to-back games in January by scores of 10-0 and 21-0. "I am sure that a lot of schools have several kids that have opted to play with their club teams," Perry coach John Roberts said. "As coaches, we need to focus on the kids that we do have. Club soccer is a grind. "High school soccer is fun for the kids and keeps their passion for the sport with the few months off of club that they do get while still competing in the sport. It is our job to make their experiences fun, while still learning and progressing in the sport. Kids get to represent their schools and play with their friends and create lifelong memories. That is what we are about at Perry." Armstrong said his team is just following U.S. Soccer guidelines, and he gives the girls the option. "You can play the first half of the season, but you can't come back after that (if they choose to join their high school teams)," Armstrong said. "If you play high school, you're ineligible. "Generally, the most competitive players continue to play in the academy. My personal thought is, you get better by good competition and good coaching. That's not to say you don't have good high school coaching. But the level of play is inferior compared to the level of club. Kids make the choice. I feel bad for it. "The other disheartening thing for high school kids, they play during the time when major tournaments are going on with the academy. In December, we had one game with 145 college coaches around the field. That doesn't happen at a high school soccer match." Still cheering for Xavier Ferry was going to commit to being one of Chura's team managers at Xavier Prep this year. But it's been tough to get out to the high school matches, because they conflict with her academy practices and games. J-Michael said he left the decision to his daughter this year. "At the time, Kyla said, 'I'm not sure,' '' he said. "In the end, she felt what's important is Colorado and being ready to play. She had to look at the next level for this." "I went to Brophy," he said. "I graduated from Brophy. I support both. I love going to Brophy games, too. They have a lot of girls still there at Xavier. I think it's about supporting the school. It's a cool environment. It's fun." Kyla still is Xavier's No. 1 fan. But she knows her game is that much farther advanced since committing to the development academy. "(My dad) loved watching me play high school but he also loves watching me play club," she said. "He just wants me to be playing when I go to Colorado, because he's going to be go up every single weekend, even when we're traveling." READ MORE: To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at [email protected] or 602-316-8827. Follow him at twitter.com/azc_obert.
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https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/high-school/2019/01/24/development-soccer-hurt-arizona-high-school-girls-soccer/2671102002/
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Where Will Apple Stock Be Trading in a Year?
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Investors who started watching Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL ) stock in the last two years will think that the stock corrected so sharply lower that its future is questionable. But for long-time Apple investors, the meteoric rise to $233 in 2018 and its return to the $150 level is mostly noise. From 2012 to 2017, shares traded in the $50-$110 range. Apple Stock Is Range-Bound Apples bullish upside story will tug against the bearishness in its iPhone business. AAPL is clearly enjoying healthy profit margins and cash flow from its services business. The Services unit was Apples best quarter ever with revenue coming in at $10 billion. This is up 27% from last year. The App Store is a resounding success story. iTunes is still making money, although Apple Music and monthly service subscription revenue is a bigger cash flow driver. Arguing that iPhone sales are independent of the huge services business is wrong. In the near-term, existing iPhone users who delay upgrading to the next iPhone will hurt Apples device sales growth. This group will continue to enjoy Apples iCloud and Apple Music services. In the longer run, if the same user base opts for a cheaper premium Samsung (NASDAQ: SSNLF ) Galaxy S10 or S11 (years later), they will leave the Apple ecosystem. This will hurt service revenue. iPhone Sales Might Drag for a While Longer Apple did not foresee that U.S.-China trade relations would hurt the economy for both nations. If it did, it would not have released iPhone XS, a refresh to the iPhone X, at the $999 price point. Consumers could get an Android with better specifications and double the storage at a lower price. Apple bet that its iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 would cover the mid-range market. The problem is that a 32GB iPhone 7 for $449 is not a good enough device for iPhone 6 users. The company is nudging these users to upgrade through a trade-in program that could cut the price of an iPhone XR to $449 or an iPhone XS to $699. Unfortunately, getting the device at that low a price requires the consumer to trade in a perfect condition iPhone X. iPad Pro and MacBook Facing Competition Microsofts (NASDAQ: MSFT ) wildly successful Surface Pro tablet-laptop product is giving Apples iPad and iPad Pro plenty of competition. Even though Apples iPad Pro refresh is great in its hardware specifications, the operating system is still hobbled as a mobile OS. Apple may need to consider the positive ramifications of powering the iPad with MacOS instead of iOS. That Microsoft overtook Apple by market capitalization in recent weeks is indicative of what happens when software drives sales. Microsoft took the bold step of dumping Windows Phone. Instead, it sold millions of Office 365 subscriptions. The app is agnostic to the phones operating system. And when subscriptions grow, so do Microsofts revenue and profit margins. Related Investments Investors who have doubts about Apple could invest in BlackBerry (NYSE: BB ) instead. No, BlackBerry is no longer in the smartphone business. It is pivoting the business towards software for autonomous vehicles. That market is very hot. Nokia (NYSE: NOK ) is another alternative. Again, this company is out of the smartphone business but is winning 5G network orders. As the world shuns Huawei 5G hardware, Nokia gets to pick up the business deals. AAPL Stock Price Target for Next Year Per Tipranks, 36 analysts covering AAPL stock have an average price target of $184, representing 21% upside. I am not so sure Apple will trade that high a year from now. Nor can it be said that the stock will fall back to its 5-year trading range, either. Chances are high that the stock wont move either way in the next year. If in six months, Apple manages to convince its users to trade in their old devices for the top-end model, then the stock could trade to a 1517 times P/E, compared to 12.62 times today. In that scenario, Apple stock will close at that $184 level and above. As of this writing, Chris Lau holds a position in Nokia stock.
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https://investorplace.com/2019/01/where-will-apple-stock-be-trading-in-a-year/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+InvestorPlace+%28InvestorPlace%29
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Has The State Come To Full Settlement Regarding The Case For The Teachers?
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4 SHARES Share Tweet QUESTION OF THE DAY Many people were surprised when students of Tallinding Upper Basic School took to the street to march to Region One Office when 17 of the teachers were arrested by the police. The claim is that the teachers are ostracised for taking part in the sit down protest of the group referred to as Teachers for Change. A statement needs to be issued by the education department to clear the air so that the past would be put behind the teachers and earnest efforts made to address their legitimate grievances. Failure to do so is to inject uncertainty in the school system which could flare up as it did yesterday.
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https://foroyaa.gm/has-the-state-come-to-full-settlement-regarding-the-case-for-the-teachers/
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Do Uber and Lyft Really Drive Down Transit Ridership?
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The "I'll just take an Uber" moment is a problem for transit agencies. Mary Altaffer/AP Ride-hailing services drive down bus and rail ridership in urban markets, a new University of Kentucky paper claims. When Uber and Lyft arrived on the urban scene a decade ago, they claimed to pair well with buses and trains. By shuttling riders to train stations, guaranteeing late-night returns, and plugging in as paratransit, on-demand transportation could encourage travelers to abandon private cars and use public modes, they said. A lot of people believed them. But now, transit systems are in crisis. Some 31 of 35 major metropolitan areas in the United States lost passengers in 2017, including the cities with largest ridership bases. There are numerous factors at play, but a small mountain of research singles out the rise of Uber and Lyft. A new paper by University of Kentucky scholars piles on: For every year after ride-hailing companies enter an urban market, rail ridership can be expected to fall by 1.3 percent, and bus ridership by 1.7 percent, it shows. We are starting to piece together multiple parts to the story, said Gregory Erhardt, a University of Kentucky civil engineering professor and the lead author of the study. For a long time its been about ride-hailing complementing transit in different ways. That is true to a degree. But its a question of whether its happening enough. This research picks up where some other recent attempts to uncover the cause of transit declines have left off. Last year, a study from McGill University pointed to service cuts across North American transit agencies as the primary driver for ridership downturns between 2000 and 2015. The methodology was sound, Erhardt believed, but the data it relied on didnt capture the most recent trends. Similarly, another 2018 paper from UCLA pointed to an uptick in car ownership by lower-income immigrants as the explanation in Los Angeles. But again, as Erhardt points out in the paper, it only looked as far as 2015. That year was important: It marks the take-off point for ride-hailings most dramatic growth and transits biggest stumble in many cities. Between 2015 and 2018, Uber and Lyft trips ballooned from 60,000 to nearly 600,000 in New York City, the largest U.S. ride-hailing market and one of the few that requires for-hire transportation services to report trip data. Meanwhile, subway and bus ridership there fell by about 580,000 boardings per day. Such a magnitude of change also indicated to Erdhardt that the effects of ride-hailing might accelerate the more the services grew. The question of causality is perplexing and hard, and its not necessarily one thing. With two graduate students, Erdhardt pulled publicly available ridership and system data for 22 U.S. metropolitan areas from 2002 to April 2018 (the freshest information available) from the National Transit Database. They then conducted a regression analysis to determine which of a list of possible variables could best explain the declines. Alongside the boom in ride-hailing (from the start of market entry), they studied the effects of other likely culprits, such as fare changes, population, employment rates, the share of car-free households, the presence of bikesharing, and gas prices. All of these datapoints came from open, public sources, including the Census Bureau. Many of these factors had some relationship to ridership trendssome positive, some negative. The introduction of Uber and Lyft fell in the latter category, Erdhardt found. In the 22 markets served by ride-hailing, ride-hailing companies were shown to further drag down boardings as they grew over time. That effect looks slight from year to year. But added it up, its substantial. After 8 years, [ride-hailing services] would be associated with a 12.7 percent decrease in bus ridership, the study states. The working paper was presented at the Transportation Research Board annual meeting in Washington, D.C. last week and is still under review for publication. But it captured a lot of attention at the conference and on Twitter. In case you are still under the illusion that ride-hailing is somehow beneficial for transit ridership, heres additional evidence to the contrary, tweeted Yonah Freemark, a transportation analyst and consultant. Streetsblog reporter Angie Schmitt declared: Two companies single handedly wiped out transit ridership gains across the U.S. over the past 3+ years. The environmental and social effects of this are just staggering. Cities are changing fast. Keep up with the CityLab Daily newsletter. The best way to follow issues you care about. Subscribe Loading... Single-handedly may not be quite right, since the paper also finds that cheap gas prices and higher fares have a negative effect on ridership. And this analysis does not include other, more local factors that could be pushing riders off of buses and trains, such as the maintenance and reliability issues plaguing New York City and Washington, D.C. in particular. Nor does it look at safety perceptions among riders, a growing concern on Bay Area transit. Perhaps the presence of innovative modes makes it a more compelling or sexier question to ask, but I think there are lots of reasons people arent taking these modes as much as before, said Susan Shaheen, the co-director of the Transportation Sustainability Research Center at UC Berkeley and an expert in shared mobility. The question of causality is perplexing and hard, and its not necessarily one thing. Plus, the study is highly aggregatedit lumps together trend-lines of 22 cities with very different shapes and compositions. Whats hurting bus ridership in Houston may be quite different from the factors in Portland, and ride-hailing may not be equally responsible from place to place. Still, Shaheen and other researchers praised the studys straightforward and unbiased methodology. It adds good-faith, empirical support to the narrative that ride-hailing and transit are competing for the same pie in many cities, said Joseph Schwieterman, the director of the Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development at DePaul University. And the analysis uses publicly available information that any other researcher can use to replicate it. Ride-hailing companies are famously protective of their trip data, which presents a challenge to researchers trying to untangle how new and old modes are interactingand to reporters trying to decipher science from spin. The data is transparent and methods themselves are very transparent, said Joe Castiglione, the deputy director for technology, data, and analysis at the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, which recently found that Uber and Lyft have significantly worsened congestion in San Francisco. I think one of the things that is important is that we provide decision-makers with the most empirically based information we can." Those decision-makers need to pay attention: Cities are facing worsening congestion and CO2 emissions as more private cars fill the roads and vehicle-miles rise. That doesnt mean Uber and Lyft arent fulfilling their promise of complementing public transit in certain cases: Riders who do not own vehicles, for example, and who werent previously served by taxis have been shown to benefit from these services. But overall, the relationship seems to be more competitive than collaborative. Its becoming clearer that one side is losing.
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https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2019/01/uber-lyft-ride-hailing-impact-public-transit-ridership/581062/
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Why is Alliston Historically Important?
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come visit historic downtown *insert town name here*. We all have! But something separates Alliston from the rest. As much as I love the city, the hustle and bustle of life, I also really enjoy just relaxing in the countryside. But also knowing that if my house were to explode, a rural community is right next door to hopefully save me. Alliston is that. But that doesnt explain its historical significance. For that we go WAY back to the 1800s. The majority of the land now known as alliston was purchased by William, John, and Dickson Fletcher. The three Fletcher brothers were dissatisfied with their life in England. They came to Toronto and later began scouting locations to build a mill. Finally, in 1853, a grist mill was built by the Fletchers near the Boyne River. Three years later, Orange Lodge was built, and the members decided to name the village Alliston. Though some may disagree on the origin of the name, it is widely believed that Alliston was James Bantings birthplace in Yorkshire. But that doesnt REALLY help our question. Sir Frederick Banting. Probably quite a few of you.. Keep that in mind reading the next little bit. For starters lets get some background. Frederick Banting was a medical scientist, physician, painter, and also a holds a Nobel Prize for the discovery of Insulin. He was born in Alliston in 1891, and later in life attended the University of Toronto. Upon the discovery of insulin at the university, this happened. In 1922, at the University of Toronto, the scientists went to a hospital ward with diabetic children, most of them comatose and dying from diabetic keto-acidosis. This is known as one of medicines most incredible moments. Imagine a room full of parents sitting at the bedside waiting for the inevitable death of their child. The scientists went from bed-to-bed and injected the children with the new purified extract insulin. As they began to inject the last comatose child, the first child injected began to awaken. Then one by one, all the children awoke from their diabetic comas. A room of death and gloom, became a place of joy and hope. Credits- Library and Archives Canada This is why. This moment in history changed the course of life for people suffering around the world. After this, he was given the Nobel Prize, and was Knighted by King George V. This is why Alliston should be known, around the globe. Some text taken from Previn Court http://www.previncourt.com/blog/history-alliston-ontario/
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https://rock95.com/why-is-alliston-historically-important/
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Is there life elsewhere?
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This content was published on January 14, 2019 11:00 AM Twenty-five years ago, two Swiss astronomers made the first discovery of an extrasolar planet in the Pegasus constellation a milestone in astronomical research. Swiss scientists Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz were the first to discover a planet outside our solar system back in 1995, establishing the University of Geneva as a global centre for exoplanet research. The giant planet they found was in a four-day orbit around the nearby star 51 Pegasi. Since then, astronomers around the world have discovered thousands of exoplanets. Today's telescopes are capable of detecting different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, cosmic rays, neutrinos or gravitational waves. And Queloz has continued his involvement, searching and finding extrasolar planets as part of the Astrophysics Group of the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, and at the University of Geneva. In this video he tells swissinfo.ch what we've discovered so far, and how future telescopes will one day reveal the existence of extraterrestrial life. Neuer Inhalt Horizontal Line WEF 2018 WEF Teaser 2018
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https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/found-in-space_is-there-life-elsewhere-/44619120?utm_source=multiple&utm_campaign=swi-rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_content=o
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What does the future hold for electric vehicles?
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China Is leading the world towards an electric car future (Robyn Beck / AFP) Switzerland has a new strategy to promote greater use of electric vehicles, but the Alpine nation remains far behind leading electric mobility pioneers such as Norway. The Swiss plan comes amid questions about how environmentally friendly electric cars really are. Sales of electric cars in Switzerland increased by 40% in 2017, compared to the previous year. But the 4,929 electric vehicles sold only represented 1.6% of total vehicle sales, according to the Federal Statistical Officeexternal link. (swissinfo.ch) This compared to Norway, where 20.8% of cars sold that year were electric. By 2025, only electric or hybrid vehicles will be allowed on Norwegian roads. But Switzerland has new ambitions when it comes to electric vehicles. Last December, the Swiss Federal Energy Office published its Roadmap for electric mobility 2022external link, a strategy document which contains plans to increase the share of rechargeable tourism vehicles (electric and hybrid) on Swiss roads to 15%. Electric vehicles will thus become an integral part of road traffic in Switzerland by 2022, the document says. The roadmap was drawn up by over 50 organisations and firms from different sectors, as well as federal, cantonal and communal officials. Scarce service stations One of the main challenges for the expansion of e-mobility in Switzerland is the limited network of electric service stations, whose scarcity prevents such vehicles from travelling long distances. The federal authorities therefore want to build 160 high-speed recharging points along main roads. They also say electric cars should no longer be classed as higher-weight vehicles due to their heavy batteries. In general, the authorities say they want to change peoples view on electric cars and create positive feelings about e-mobility. Behind China Other countries, such as China, are already much further down this road. In view of the serious pollution problems in Chinese towns and cities, the country wants to discourage new car purchases; new vehicle number plates are only distributed in a lottery system. In 2013, the German newspaper Sddeutsche Zeitung reported that a Beijing driver had to wait 72 months to get vehicle plates. The situation is much worse today, according to swissinfo.chs Chinese journalists. But China wants to spur demand for alternative-energy cars. This year it plans to further reduce electric-vehicle subsidies on electric cars and push automakers to innovate rather than rely on fiscal policy, Bloomberg reports. Electric cars developments are moving ahead at speed. From 2019, Volvo owned by the Chinese group Geely plans to produce only electric or hybrid vehicles. And this week, the American electric car manufacturer Tesla opened a huge factory in China. Europe is losing pace. Several electric car models are in the pipeline, but it wont be before 2021, when Volkswagen makes its big offensive into e-mobility, that the German group manages to dethrone Tesla in Europe, Ferdinand Dudenhffer, a German economist and transport expert at Duisburg-Essen University told the Handelszeitung newspaper. Environmental impact Meanwhile, a growing number of specialists are casting doubt on the environmental benefits of battery-powered vehicles. The NZZ am Sonntag newspaper recently wrote that making new batteries causes more environmental damage than the manufacture of combustion engine cars. It said a study commissioned by the Swedish Energy Agency showed that a small electric car becomes more energy efficient than a regular petrol or diesel car after 30,000 kilometres (18,641 miles), while a bigger electric car only does so only after 100,000 kilometres. The ecological impact of manufacturing car batteries is also overlooked, argue some experts. Battery production requires rare minerals and damages the environment. The NZZ said plans to dispose of millions of used electric car batteries were as vague as the questions surrounding nuclear waste when the first nuclear power stations were built. Electric cars Switzerland aims to scale up e-mobility Switzerland aims to have one in seven new cars running on electric power in 2022, according to a roadmap unveiled on Tuesday. Transport Minister ... This content was published on December 18, 2018 1:59 PM See in other languages: 2 See in other languages: 2 Languages: 2 Portuguese (pt) Sua pretende ampliar a mobilidade eltrica Chinese (zh) Translated from German by Simon Bradley, swissinfo.ch Neuer Inhalt Horizontal Line WEF 2018 WEF Teaser 2018
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https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-strategy_what-does-the-future-hold-for-electric-vehicles-/44667842?utm_source=multiple&utm_campaign=swi-rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_content=o
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Will forgotten man Moses regain prominence at struggling Fenerbahce?
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The wideman will seek a new lease of life in Turkey having endured a torrid six months under Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea COMMENT By Seye Omidiora Follow on Twitter By After becoming persona non grata for six months, Victor Moses has finally reached the end of the line at Chelsea, albeit until the season's end. A change of the manager at the helm always brings about a degree of alterations in tactics and personnel, and that was expected when Maurizio Sarri replaced the departing Antonio Conte in West London. Roman Abramovich was ditching the Blues de facto defensive, counter-attacking blueprint thatd existed for years by jettisoning the firebrand Conte for the straight-talking Sarri, whose aesthetic football in a three-year stint with Napoli caught the eye. A culling of the herd was expected at Stamford Bridge, with the new man in charge predicted to tweak the approach and playing personnel from what fans at the club had got used to over the last couple of years. Moses was one of those whose direct style was clearly unsuited to the new head coachs famed Sarri-ball, which was more possession-oriented than the Nigerian had been used to throughout his career. It was no surprise seeing the wideman frozen out in the first-half of the campaign, in which he made a meager five appearances in all competitions. Victor Moses | 2018-19 Premier League stats An indictment of his appropriateness for Sarris way of football came in early November in the build-up to Chelsea hosting Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge wherein the Italian gave his honest opinion about the wideman being suited to a wing-back role rather than at right-back in a back four or as a right winger. It was a somewhat odd statement, given the player had played as a winger for the larger part of his career at Palace, Wigan, in West London and at loan at Liverpool and West Ham United. Barring another upheaval in the hot seat at the Bridge, it is likely Moses has played his final game in Chelsea blue. While his time at the club didnt end in a way hed have liked, nonetheless, it should not taint the players fleeting period of success under Conte. In that time, he proved he could be more than just a blue-collar mid-table winger, by playing a major role in securing the club a fifth Premier League title in 2016/17 as well as an eighth FA Cup win at the end of last season. Admittedly, he was only centerpiece for two years, which wont see him go down as a Stamford Bridge legend; however, his impact over the Conte-led revolution in England (which saw teams adopt more formations accommodating wing-backs) won't be forgotten in a hurry. Leaving the comfort of England for the uncertainty of Turkey for a temporary spell at Fenerbahce is as much of a risk as it is a fascinating challenge. Traditionally one of the illustrious sides in the Super Lig, the Yellow Canaries have struggled badly in the top flight this season and find themselves languishing in 15th place in the table with only 17 points, having won just three league games this season. Ersun Yanals side only avoid being in the dropzone by virtue of their slightly superior goal difference to Akhisarspor (-8 to -9) but know full well results must change and fast. The precarious situation last years runner-up finds itself in puts Moses in a pressure situation where he needs to settle right in and hit the ground running from the outset. For someone without a club appearance since Chelseas win over BATE Borisov in October, Yanal is not only getting a player lacking a fair bit of physical fitness at the moment, but probably in mental sharpness. These fans have never seen their side suffer the ignominy of playing in the second division, but are facing uncharted waters if things dont improve. Theres also been lots of fan discontent regarding the average quality of the squad which they feel has been caused by mediocre foreign signings. They already have reservations about Roberto Soldado, Islam Slimani, Andre Ayew and, to a lesser extent, Mathieu Valbuena following their failure to deliver consistent performances in their time at the club. This is the situation the Nigerian is moving into, where things are on a knife-edge. On the other hand, if Moses does thrive, have an amazing time in Istanbul and help Fener survive relegation by churning out awesome performances once hes up and running, he could achieve cult-hero status. The 19-time Turkish champions have been criticized for their recruitment, but Moses can help change the narrative. Article continues below For the wideman, having never played outside the UK, there are doubts about his timing as well as the club hes chosen. He reportedly rejected a move to China to test himself at the illustrious Fener and join their fight to beat the drop. Nothing is set in stone yet, and everyone is none the wiser about how this deal will pan out in unfavorable conditions, but Moses certainly has a fine opportunity to write another chapter in his illustrious career.
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https://www.goal.com/en-ke/news/will-forgotten-man-moses-regain-prominence-at-struggling/136x4ocl74erh15c5qw2cpa5yb
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Why did somebody send Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg a blue king cake?
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Its a story of rejection, reversal and reconciliation. The folks at a king cake-focused website called King Cake Snob have sent a king cake to Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook. Zuckerbergs king cake which is decorated in Facebook blue - includes an especially large, custom-made king cake baby clothed in a Facebook T-shirt and what appear to be tiny black athletic shorts. Heres the backstory. On Jan. 7 the King Cake Snob management attempted to pay Facebook to increase the distribution of a post on the King Cake Snob Facebook page that called attention to the start of the Mardi Gras season. Boosting a post, as its called, is routine. The trouble was, the post in question included a photo of king cake babies. Facebook declined to boost the King Cake Snob post because the photo of the tiny plastic babies included excessive skin or nudity. KCS appealed to Facebook to reconsider, but the social media Goliath refused. Facebook censors king cake babies for nudity. No kidding. Word of Facebooks prudishness leapfrogged from one media outlet to another until Jan. 18 when Facebook relented and allowed KCS to boost the previously banned post. UPDATE: Your voices have been heard! Facebook has reversed its decision to deny our King Cake baby ads, allowing the... Posted by King Cake Snob on Friday, January 18, 2019 King Cake Snob spokesman Andrew Alexander said that the whole problem underlying Facebooks erstwhile censorship may have been the California companys lack of king cake awareness. So KCS enlisted Caluda King Cake bakery to produce a custom cake for Mr. Zuckerbergs enjoyment and edification. Members of the KCS website design team created the huge, clothed king cake baby with a 3-D digital printer. Alexander said he is sure the cake has reached its destination, though Facebook has not responded. Alexander said the gesture is meant to tie a ribbon on the whole censorship incident. It is not, he avows, an effort to tease Mr. Zuckerberg or the management of his mega-company. King Cake Snob is published by the Innovative Advertising agency. The website management uses its Facebook account to draw attention to king cake reviews and news. King Cake Festival 2019: Taste Mardi Gras confections from 27 vendors Doug MacCash has the best job in the world, covering art, music and culture in New Orleans. Contact him via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at Doug MacCash and on Facebook at Douglas James MacCash. As always, please add your point of view to the comment stream.
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https://www.nola.com/entertainment/2019/01/why-did-somebody-send-facebooks-mark-zuckerberg-a-blue-king-cake.html
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What Is the Relationship Between Learning Design and Student Well-Being?
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I put this question to my colleagues Erin DeSilva , Assistant Director of Learning Design and Technology, Prudence Merton , Associate Director of Dartmouth Center for the Advancement of Learning, Caitlin Barthelmes , Director of the Student Wellness Center and Todd Gibbs , Assistant Director for Health Improvement at Dartmouth. Each of my colleagues took the lead in answering my specific questions (see their names in parentheses after each question), although this was a collaborative effort. As you read the questions and answers, please think what you might want to ask Erin, Prudence, Caitlin, and Todd. (Caitlin) Student well-being is critical for engaged learning. When students feel their best, they can live up to their fullest potential in and out of the classroom. Consider a student who is struggling with stress, anxiety, sleep difficulties, or depression; they are less able to retain new information, participate fully in class, or contribute positively in a group project. A student who is thriving, or functioning well psychologically, socially, and physically, is more able to engage with the material, professors, and classmates. The reverse is also true. Academic experiences can have a profound impact on student wellness. Well-being is influenced by the environments in which we live, work, and play. The classroom environment and related coursework dominate student life, making faculty choices powerful mechanisms to enhance or undermine well-being. Faculty can leverage the bidirectional relationship of learning and wellness in exciting ways. Many of the practices and approaches that are most effective for teaching and learning are also techniques that support the well-being and health of students, such as creating a supportive classroom environment, implementing meaningful assessment, and utilizing a flexible course design. (Erin) A supportive classroom environment has much in common with a well-designed course. Setting a tone of open communication starts with a syllabus, which allows students to clearly see not only the instructors expectations, but also their values and priorities. It is the instructors responsibility to communicate learning objectives, and to work with students to connect these learning outcomes to previous knowledge and life experience. These connections can sometimes be made in isolation, but when an instructor creates an environment where students are expected to share and grow together, a community of support can form. When I work with faculty members, I try to encourage them to really consider not only the scope and sequence of their content, but also the places and spaces in which students will interact with them, and with each othe r. Finally, it is a worthwhile exercise to consider your implicit learning objectives and decide how critical they are to your course. This distinction between required and optional tasks can be helpful in flexible course design conversations. Another course design trick that is great for learning in general, but can be especially useful when trying to mitigate unnecessary stress, is the use of frequent, low-stakes assessment. Giving students a chance to practice skills and automate the learning processes that are necessary for your course will increase the opportunity for learning. (Todd) Its important to recognize that academics are one of the most salient domains of a students life, so students academic experiences have an influential impact on their overall well-being. Recognition of this inherent connection between well-being and students course experiences can guide instructors to be more responsive to student needs for effective learning. Effective faculty responses include an intentional scaffolding of learning throughout the course, helping students to identify and transfer previously acquired skills to the current course, and helping them consider how their learning experiences in the current course might also transfer to future course applications or other domains of their lives. It may be worthwhile to consider the numerous changes that students are experiencing at any point in time. Regardless of age or academic rank, transitions are a universal characteristic for people enrolled in educational programs, and changes (positive or negative) produce stress. First-year students may be adapting to profound changes in their social support, a need for new life skills, and potential leaps in academic expectations. As enrollment progresses, students continue to refine relationships and make choices related to course of study and career, ultimately preparing for graduation and the shift from a structured educational environment to the more autonomous context of life after college. Acknowledgment of student transitions by faculty might result in some reflection about how students academic experiences can facilitate or inhibit their ability to successfully navigate normative transitional challenges. For instance, in a first year course students may benefit from grading policies that permit the resubmission of assignments based on initial feedback as they adjust to increased expectations regarding their academic performance. Encouraging students to receive feedback and build upon it through further work could help them establish a growth mindset for learning that has the potential to enhance student engagement throughout their academic careers. Academic policies and flexible course design can help students feel valued and understood, building their capacities for effectively managing these stressors in a manner that produces better outcomes for both well-being and academic success. (Erin) Flexible course design has a wide range of possibilities! As you get to know your students, understanding how best to help them learn is a natural outcome. For example, if you realize halfway through a group project that your students are fixating on one objective (e.g. creating a final product) at the expense of the other (e.g. learning about the process of design and iteration), you may pause the assignment and create an opportunity for reflection. This will help students refocus on the purpose of the assignment, and can especially help students who are struggling to communicate their fears and needs and time management problems to their group mates because it brings the guidepost into focus once more. The trick to flexible course design is to create opportunities for your students to give you feedback on how the course is working for them. This can be done through a midterm evaluation , an exam wrapper , or even an open-ended question in a minute paper or during office hours. As you review your students thoughts, consider what you can change immediately, what you might change next time you teach, and what you cant change because it would be in conflict with your teaching philosophy or methodology. Then, most importantly, share these thoughts with your students, letting them know that you value their voices and perspective. Flexible course design is an important part universal design ; creating a learning experience that is accessible to the broadest range of learners. There are many tools available to assist in considering who your students are, how they access information, and how they can demonstrate this knowledge to you. Q5: Many professors struggle with how to meaningfully assess student learning. (Prudence) Research has shown (Macfarlane-Dick, 2006) that the most powerful influence on student achievement is feedback, e.g., formative assessment. This is particularly true for feedback given without a grade. Formative assessment can communicate to the student that faculty care about the students learning. We also know that frequent, low-stakes testing (as mentioned above) provides students with opportunities to practice and consolidate new knowledge, enables them to self-monitor their progress and gain control of their learning. Most student stress related to assessment comes from summative assessment, especially infrequent high-stakes testing. So for faculty, if they want their assessment plan to be meaningful, they should design it to align with learning outcomes, focus on student performance, contain frequent, timely and a variety of opportunities for students to demonstrate their learning.
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https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/what-relationship-between-learning-design-and-student-well-being
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Has R. Kelly Taught Us Nothing About Chris Brown?
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So far this month, Chris Brown has released a new single and sat front row at Paris Fashion Week, where he attended Yohji Yamamoto's fall 2019 menswear show. He's also been accused of rape. Following a complaint filed by a 24-year-old woman who alleged that Brown raped her just over a week ago, after she met him and his friends at a club near the Champs-Elyses, Brown was detained in Paris on Monday. And then, without bail or charges, he was released and granted permission to leave France the very next day. The Paris prosecutor's office has made it clear that investigations remain underway, and the internet has made it clear that it's not going to let this go. Brown himself refuted the charges to his 50 million followers upon his release: "I WANNA MAKE IT PERFECTLY CLEAR...... THIS IS FALSE," he captioned an image of a post that read "THIS B!TCH LYIN'," which has since been deleted. "NNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEEVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEERRRRRR!!!!!! FOR MY DAUGHTER AND MY FAMILY THIS IS SO DISPRESPECTFUL AND IS AGAINST MY CHARACTER AND MORALS!!!!!" (After his Parisian lawyer announced that Brown "vigorously challenges the charges" and intends to sue the woman who accused him for defamation, which he proceeded to do on Thursday, the singer headed out for another night of clubbing in Paris. He's also now filming a music video there, while staying at the same hotel where the alleged incident took place.) This is not, of course, the first incident in Brown's history of legal troubles, or in his history of violence against women. In 2009, he pleaded guilty to felony assault against his then-girlfriend, Rihanna, admitting to the gruesome events described in a warrant that's since been made public, along with the infamous photo of Rihanna's bruised face. In 2013, Brown was charged with misdemeanor assault. In 2017, the death threats he allegedly made against his ex Karreuche Tran led a court to grant her a five-year restraining order . In 2018, he was arrested on another charge of felony battery. And those are just some examples. Pinterest Chris Brown in Paris for Paris Fashion Week Men's, January 17, 2019. Marc Piasecki/Getty Images This is , however, the first such incident to follow the fallout from Surviving R. Kelly , the new Lifetime documentary that covers decades' worth of allegations of Kelly's sexual abuse of young womena significant moment during which Kelly was held publicly accountable after decades of an existing whisper network about his reportedly predatory behavior. (Beyonce's father and mother took extra steps to make sure she was never left alone with the singer when she was a young member of Destiny's Child.) And, seeing as celebrities suddenly can't seem to stop coming out against Kelly and his alleged actions, the similarities between Kelly's and Brown's cases have not gone unnoticedby either side of the campaign to cancel Brown. As one commenter on Brown's Instagram put it: "WE GAVE YALL #Rkelly YALL NOT GETTING #ChrisBROWN." For years, it was possible to publicly love R. Kelly and to have it go unchallenged because no one with power, celebrity, and influence had spoken out to denounce him. And while publicly loving Chris Brown in the age of social media and MeToo is significantly more fraught, it does feel like we're repeating the sins of our past when celebrities are actively showing support Brown for their tens of millions of followers to seeand, by the dictates of influencerdom, giving them reason to do the same. It's apparently not Justin Bieber. On Wednesday, he left a comment on a video that Brown posted of himself, expressing his unequivocal support for the singer: "No one can touch you ur the GOAT." In less than 24 hours, the comment racked up nearly 15,000 likes and 2,000 replies, ranging from quick comments like "AMEN to that" to lengthy responses like "the fact that you're supporting a racist, a know [sic] abuser, makes me sick to my stomach. i looked up to you, this is honestly so disappointing ... please educate yourself on the topic." (At some point within those 24 hours, the hashtag "#JustinIsOVERParty" was also apparently trending in Brazil.) Then again, Bieber's support for Brown isn't that surprising, given that he and his fianc Hailey Baldwin have reportedly already invited him to their wedding. The 22-year-old singer Austin Mahone followed suit, commenting on the same post with two winged wads of cash emojis. Nick Cannon opted for prayer hands and a raised fist to accompany his message: "Stay Focused King!" His comment comes less than two weeks after Cannon joined the many celebrities who issued an apology for working with R. Kelly, and even went a step further by calling out misogyny and "male chauvinistic behavior" in the music industry in general, which he said he's "DEFINITELY turned a blind eye to." Meek Mill, meanwhile, took the matter to his main feed: he posted the same screenshot that Brown did to announce that he'd been released without charge, but his caption focused on the repercussions of false allegations and how Brown's life "could of easily been ruined." T.I. weighed in by sharing not one , but two posts addressing the matter with his nearly 10 million Instagram followers, which have since racked up a combined total of around 450,000 likes. Aside from expressing support for Brown, T.I. also made his stance on the woman who made the allegations known, referring to her as "the FALSE accuser" while stating that "she should face the same scrutiny and punishment as [Brown] would have if he did it." It's here that we should inform everyone: statistics show that only an estimated 0.5 percent of rape allegations are false . They also show that only one in four cases of sexual assault in the U.S. are ever even reported in the first place, with the no. 1 reason being survivors' fear of retaliation. Celebrities could simply choose to not say anything at all. And yet, even someone like Bieberwho doesn't tend to speak up on these things and should know the impact of a seemingly innocuous comment on Instagram (he got himself into a week's worth of drama last month after commenting on a photo that a 15-year-old posted of her car, demanding that she burn it )jumped into the fray. Then there are the stealth Brown supporters. They're intentionally trying to straddle the social media fence because they know all too well what they're doingwhich makes what they're doing even worse. Drake, for example, has not deleted a carousel of photos of himself and Brown that he posted on Instagram more than a week before the alleged assaultbut he has disabled the comments section. (He also made headlines for inviting Brown to join him onstage at a concert last year in L.A., especially notable given his very public history of fawning over Rihanna.) Drake may not have explicitly cried Brown's innocence, but by promoting and endorsing him, Drakelike DJ Khaled, who commented with a prayer hands emoji on Brown's Instagram and posted his own photo of them together on his Storiesis sending a loud message to his tens of millions of fans.
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https://www.wmagazine.com/story/chris-brown-rape-charges-arrest-paris-r-kelly
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Has the reunion dinner lost its meaning?
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Tossing 'yee sang' for good fortune. Pictures by CK Lim COMMENTARY, Jan 25 For kids, the most exciting part about Chinese New Year may well be receiving ang pows, making a game to see who can collect the most red packets. (For the married adults obliged to give these away, its probably less exciting!) The one aspect of the festive season everyone can agree on is that Chinese New Year isnt Chinese New Year without the reunion dinner. Held on the eve of a brand new lunar year, this meal is more than just an excuse to feast on delicacies or to toss yee sang for good fortune. Its a rare opportunity for everyone, each busy with their own lives, to come together and be a family. Reunion dinner means preparations may start days or even weeks earlier, from baking cookies to scouring the wet markets for the freshest seafood. (Relationships matter; knowing the butcher and fishmonger at your local pasar well will avail you of choice cuts youd be hard pressed to find at the supermarket.) For one thing, cooking the dishes together is part of the fun and helps bring everyone closer. While arguing over how long the fish ought to be steamed (a perennial topic in my parents home), you could also catch up on the latest news which cousin just got married, whose daughter just got a scholarship to further her studies and each others lives. When we debate about which celebrity astrologist has interpreted the Chinese Zodiac better this year and binge on kuih ros, shattering each honeycomb crisp into tiny shards as we munch, we are also tightening our familial bonds. Folks who gossip and snack together, stay together (or so the theory goes). 'Lap mei fan', rich with fragrant waxed meats. More and more, we no longer cook reunion dinner at home and reserve a table outside at a proper Chinese restaurant, at a corner-lot daichow, at some popular chain outlet nestled inside a shopping mall so we save the trouble of planning ahead, of preparing more dishes than we can finish, of the actual exhausting task of cooking. And then we can all return to our own worlds, as swiftly as the waiters rush over to serve dishes (all with prosperity-symbolic names, all the same as the other tables as there is only a set menu during this busy period, naturally). Its easy to be cynical, to demand that we stick to our roots. Traditions must remain or they will fade away. The implicit fear here is that families will fade away too if our rituals disappear. Sometimes there is more tears than laughter. I have acquaintances who are estranged from their families. They have abusive parents, siblings who are self-destructive, toxic relatives who really dont mean the best. This doesnt mean they cant or dont experience the joys of a reunion dinner though. Some are invited to reunion dinners at the homes of good friends. Their friends parents are almost adoptive parents, closer to them than their own. They are part of the family. No reunion dinner is complete without steamed fish, a symbol of abundance in the coming year. Others make new traditions, gathering other friends some similarly alienated from their kin, some forced to be separate by distance and personal finances to have their own reunion dinner. A potluck, maybe; or someone whos gifted in all things culinary hosts; or dinner at a restaurant so everyone can spend more time in conversation and camaraderie what works, works. They are part of the family. I remember when I was studying in Munich many, many years ago. A student allowance meant I could barely make ends meet, much less buy a ticket to fly home to celebrate Chinese New Year. That year I would just have to miss my mothers lap mei fan, rich with fragrant waxed meats, and have dinner on my own, perhaps a cheesy Ksesptzle instead of unctuous strands of longevity noodles. Or that was what could have happened if I chose to stick to a rigid definition of reunion dinner, of family. Instead my group of friends among them Americans, Italians and Germans and I went out to a Hong Kong restaurant along Blutenburgstrae and had Cantonese food. We had not seen each other in ages, all of us busy with our semester exams, that it was a reunion of sorts. They were part of my family then and I was part of theirs. See, the reunion dinner hasnt lost its meaning; it has merely expanded its definition. If anything, the reunion dinner is more meaningful than ever in this times of discord and despair. If anything, the reunion dinner is more necessary than ever, and whats necessary is that it be empathetic, non-judgemental and inclusive. Last year, I had a surprise when I reached my parents home after braving the usual balik kampung jam on the North-South Highway. My hands full with bags of bakkwa and mandarin oranges, I called out to someone to open the door for me. My nephew, maybe, or my father. Instead a complete stranger opened the door. Hi, Uncle Kenny, he said and then introduced himself. My eldest nieces boyfriend whom I had not known existed before this. Now thats something to get caught up on. We tossed yee sang together, hollering auspicious sayings, then tucked into steamed fish, longevity noodles and my mothers splendid lap mei fan. Unctuous strands of longevity noodles, denoting a long life. As it turned out, my nieces boyfriend was a complete charmer and our family welcomed him with open arms. Its the start of a new tradition, and spoiler alert hell be back for reunion lunch this year. (My niece joins his family for reunion dinner.) Families grow and we happily adjust: Hes a part of our family now, and my niece a part of his. The reunion dinner isnt dying out, no matter what the cynics may tell you. It is changing with the times, opening its arms wide to embrace more than what was traditional, so that we may all belong. So that we may all be family.
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https://www.malaymail.com/news/eat-drink/2019/01/25/has-the-reunion-dinner-lost-its-meaning/1716274
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How about that entrance by Richmond figure skater?
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America, a star was born Thursday night in Detroit. Richmond teen Alysa Liu, the countrys most talked about skater in years, landed a difficult triple axel jump while warming up just before making her senior-level debut at the U.S. championships. Then the girl did it for real in the womens short program to become the youngest American in history to hit the 3 -rotation jump at the championships, joining Tonya Harding and Kimmie Meissner. Liu, 13, also breathlessly landed a triple flip and then a triple lutz-triple toe combination for bonus points at the end of the 2 -minute program performed to Barbra Streisands Dont Rain on My Parade. It added up to a dominating performance that judges rewarded with 73.89 points the best score of any American this season. You did it, Oakland Ice Center coach Laura Lipetsky told her protege as Liu exited the rink overcome with tears. Mariah Bell, who finished 12th in the last two World Championships, underrotated the second of her triple-combination jump but still scored a season-best 70.30 points to move into second place with some of the countrys other top skaters still waiting to perform. But its difficult to imagine any of them catching Liu with the triple axel, which is a forward starting jump that adds the half rotation. Only four American women have landed it throughout history. For comparisons, reigning Olympic champion Alina Zagitova of Russia scored 75.00 points Wednesday in the short program at the European Championships. Liu will return to the rink Friday with plans to do two triple axels and become the youngest woman in history to win a U.S. title. That distinction currently belongs to 1998 Olympic champion Tara Lipinski, who was 14 when she won the U.S. title. Its not only Lius extraordinary ice skills that distinguish her from everyone else in American skating. She has an unconventional backstory as one of five children conceived through anonymous egg donors and two surrogate mothers. I like how I am different from other kids, the outgoing Alysa told this news organization in 2017. The girl asked questions about her background at an early age, her father once recalled. Daddy, why do I look different? she would ask. I dont look Chinese. Arthur Liu finally explained it to her at age 10: You have a biological mother, you have a surrogate mother, he said. Liu, 54, is an Oakland lawyer also rearing a 10-year-old girl and 9-year-old triplets (two boys and a girl) with the help of his partner and a community of friends. A year ago, Liu moved the family into a three-bedroom, two bathroom home in Richmond. Liu left China after the unrest highlighted by the Tiananmen Square standoff in the spring of 1989. Liu had studied and taught English in college in southwestern China where he grew up. His family has remained in the metropolis of Chongqing in Sichuan province. He earned a masters of business administration at Cal State East Bay before getting a degree at UC Hastings College of Law in San Francisco. Alysa is on a different path than her brothers and sisters who didnt take to skating the way she did. Alysa spends as much as 8 hours a day at the Oakland Ice Center training under Laura Lipetsky, a former national-level skater who graduated from Cal. The two have been skating together since Alysa was 5. The youngster stays at the rink to train as much as three times a day with coaches. In between, she does schoolwork with California Connections Academy, an online program that has been used by many elite skaters such as Palo Altos Vincent Zhou and Fremonts Karen Chen. Alysa attended Chinese school for about three years before her father enrolled her in the Oakland School for the Arts, which has a figure skating emphasis. But she missed too much time because of traveling to competitions to stay in a regulated setting. Alysa needs the flexibility because of figure skatings travel demands. Although she is too young to compete in major international competitions she missed the July 1 age cutoff by five weeks Alysa has visited prominent coaches in Canada and Japan in the past year. She also was taken in December to the Grand Prix final in Vancouver, Canada, by U.S. skating officials. Lipetsky has sent her protege to Los Angeles to work with famed choreographer Cindy Stuart, who has done the Disney on Ice shows. I care about her so much, I give everything that I can to her because she only gets one shot, Lipetsky once told this news organization. She reminds me of someone that I was growing up. Twenty-five years ago, 13-year-old Michelle Kwan finished second at the U.S. championships in Detroit, a stunning result that was overshadowed by the attack on Nancy Kerrigan in the hallway behind the rink. The Tonya Harding-Kerrigan saga dominated worldwide attention through the 1994 Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway. But Kwans rise is what captured the imagination of Arthur Liu. He used to pass the Oakland rink on the way to his legal office a few blocks away and thought about Kwan. The man brought his oldest child to a Saturday public session seven years ago. She was walking on the ice right away, Arthur Liu recalled. Even in the first session, she was chasing adults, talking to them, making friends. He immediately enrolled Alysa in a learn-to-skate program. Lipetsky saw potential and encouraged Liu to begin private lessons. Lipetsky, as the daughter of Russian immigrants who had to scrape by to pay for a career that included coaching from the renowned Frank Carroll and 1976 Olympian Wendy Burge Dickinson, felt a strong connection to Alysa. She has put in extra time to develop the girls promise. The dedication has produced welcomed results. Three years ago, 10-year-old Alysa became the youngest ever to win an intermediate-level national title. In 2017, she placed fourth in the novice division while attempting seven triple jumps. Last year, she won the junior title at age 12 the youngest in the competition. She will be 16 by the time the 2022 Olympics in Beijing are held. It will be Alysas first season in which she is eligible to compete on the senior international circuit. Tarah Kayne and Danny OShea, who were second in San Jose last year, won the pairs short program Thursday with 71.83 points. Ashley Cain and Timothy LeDuc were second with 70.47 points. In Bay Area results this week, Dinh Tran, a skater from San Franciscos Tenderloin, won the silver medal in the mens junior event for the second consecutive year. Madeleine Phan of Menlo Park and Laz Lune of Oakland were third in juvenile pairs, whereas Allison Zheng of Fremont was sixth and Kate Wang of San Francisco 10th in the womens novice category. Alexandra Ortiz of Hollister and Clayton Ramsey of Portola Valley were last in intermediate ice dance while Oaklands Mark Sadusky and partner Taylor Nordquist of Florida finished seventh in novice pairs. Sierra Venetta of Danville scored 47.77 points skating after Liu in the short program.
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https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2019/01/24/how-about-that-entrance-by-richmond-figure-skater/
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Did CBI Raid The Wrong Office of Videocon Group in Case Related to Mrs and Mr Chanda Kochhar?
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The CBI, which on Thursday registered a criminal case against Videocon group along with ICICI Bank's ex-chief Chanda Kochhar and her husband for alleged irregularities in sanctioning Rs 1,875 crore loans to the now crippled group, may have raided the wrong premises.Going by the address of Videocon Industries as given in the FIR, the actual CBI raid should have taken place in the 17th floor office on the B-Wing of the sprawling Mittal Court complex in the tony Nariman Point area of the city.But CBI sleuths have carried out the day-long raids in the 17th floor office in the C-Wing of the same complex where other Videocon Group industries are housed! To be fair, it has been found that both the wings are inter-connected.What is more puzzling is that the nameplate of Videocon Industries, the prime accused in the FIR, is written in Marathi with a sketch pen, while the other group companies have proper nameplates in metal frames.The name Videocon Industries is pasted with a packaging tape from inside the door, which can be seen only if the door is opened!The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has booked the Dhoots of the Videocon group along with Chanda Kochhar, the former CEO and MD of ICICI Bank and her husband Deepak, for alleged irregularities in sanctioning six loans worth Rs 1,875 crore to the now crippled Videocon Group and other group entities.In the FIR, Videocon Industries is mentioned as located on the 17th floor of the B-Wing of the Mittal Court complex, while group entities like Videocon Industries, Videocon International Electronics and four other entities are located on the 17th floor of the C-Wing of the same building.The other companies on the 17th floor of the C-Wing include Videocon Games, Chhattisgarh Power Ventures, Prosperous Energy, and VOVL. Interestingly all these companies are not mentioned in the FIR filed by the CBI. It could also not be established immediately whether these companies are indeed Videocon group entities.The FIR names VN Dhoot, the group managing director; Chanda Kochhar, Deepak Kochhar, the head of Nupower Renewables and the company Nupower Renewables, Supreme Energy, other unknown private persons and unknown public servants.When PTI visited the premises in the evening, we could see CBI sleuths who flew down from New Delhi for the raid, busying themselves in searching the offices located in the C- Wing. Since most reporters were not aware of the exit from other C-Wing, all waited for CBI officials at B-Wing only.When some journalists tried to enter the office from the B-Wing, they found it locked from inside, even though all the action was going on in the C-Wing.A few staffers of the group were also present inside the office. When asked one of them told PTI that he is an employee but has not been paid for the past four months. Another man said he works in the pantry and claimed to know nothing about the raids.Yet another person, found seated at the reception in the C-Wing office along with a few others, said the raid is on across the Mumbai and Aurangabad offices of the group. *Rental / capacity fee of Rs.130/- as charged by cable / DTH operator may apply. **GST extra.
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https://www.news18.com/news/india/did-cbi-raid-the-wrong-office-of-videocon-group-in-case-related-to-mrs-and-mr-chanda-kochhar-2012949.html
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Can stars ever shake off their famous TV characters?
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Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Emilia Clarke and Kit Harington are famous for their roles in GOT while Kaley Cuoco and Jim Parsons are stars of The Big Bang Theory Game of Thrones, The Big Bang Theory, Orange is the New Black and Homeland are just some of the huge TV hits that are coming to an end in 2019. On screen, they don't have much in common but off screen many of the actors will be leaving behind the role that's made them famous. Kit Harington, who plays Jon Snow in GOT, says he will never try to distance himself from his much-loved character. But he's "looking forward to whatever the next thing is". "I think it's best not to try and plan or predict, just see what comes around the corner," he says. We've taken a look at previous big TV hits to find out: Friends Image copyright Getty Images Image caption David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow and Matt LeBlanc were the stars of Friends Back in the early 90s we were introduced to a group of friends - Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Chandler, Ross and Joey - whose lives we followed for 10 years. It was a massive series which saw more than a third of UK viewers (8.6 million people) tune in for the last episode in May 2004. Reruns on Comedy Central, Netflix and Channel 5 have meant the characters have remained in our lives ever since. Jennifer Aniston, who played Rachel, is probably the one who's gone on to have the biggest on-screen career - starring in films such as Horrible Bosses and Marley and Me. Image copyright Jeff Kravitz Image caption Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox have remained firm friends But arguably none of the stars have done much to make you forget they were in Friends. Scott Bryan, TV editor of BuzzFeed, says how much you've seen an actor in a role can play a part in whether they'll find it hard to move on in their career. "If your show is not repeated that much then it allows you to move on from the role in a big way. "Friends is repeated a huge amount, so are shows like The Big Bang Theory and will be for years after they end. "So those actors can't really escape from those roles as easily." Downton Abbey Image copyright FILM COMPANY ITV Image caption Dame Maggie Smith, left, and Hugh Bonneville were already big names before Downton Abbey Downton Abbey was a smash hit for ITV during its run from 2010 to 2015 and propelled most of the cast into global superstardom. A lot of the cast were already well-known so there was no fear of the likes of Dame Maggie Smith or Hugh Bonneville being typecast. But for the younger stars like Dan Stevens, who played Matthew Crawley, and Michelle Dockery, who starred as Lady Mary Crawley, it's opened the doors to Hollywood. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Dan Stevens appeared alongside Emma Watson in Beauty and the Beast Dan went on to star as the Beast in Disney's recent adaptation of Beauty and the Beast and bagged the lead role in US TV series Legion. While Michelle Dockery has starred in US dramas Godless and Good Behaviour. Scott points out that the reason they've been able to carve a path in Hollywood is because the show is treated "differently here than in the US". "People here think of it as a Sunday night teatime show while internationally it's so highly regarded that they can go and have a very different career abroad." The Inbetweeners Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The Inbetweeners ran for three series on E4 and also was made into two feature-length films A decade ago, The Inbetweeners took four relatively unknown young actors - Simon Bird, James Buckley, Blake Harrison and Joe Thomas - and made them famous. Simon Bird has previously said he's so closely associated with his character Will McKenzie, people still shout affectionate obscenities at him. But he's managed to find other roles in everything from West End plays to the Channel 4 sitcom Friday Night Dinner. All of the actors have kept working but you could argue their roles since have been pretty similar to their characters in The Inbetweeners. Image copyright Kevin Winter Image caption David Tennant was able to shake off only being known as The Doctor The quickest and easiest way to be typecast is to take on the same type of role. But you can break out of it. "Doctor Who is quite a poisoned chalice because it sticks around that you were one of the doctors for the rest of your career," Scott explains. "But then David Tennant was in Broadchurch for so long and that was a completely different character. "So choosing a role that is so far removed from the one he had before, you kind of forget that he was in Doctor Who." Breaking Bad Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Aaron Paul, left, and Bryan Cranston have moved on with their careers but are still embracing their Breaking Bad roles The show was on between 2008-2013 but if you're like me, you'll have binged watched the lot on Netflix. Bryan Cranston was already a household name for his role in Malcolm in the Middle. So although he will be remembered as crystal meth producer Walter White for all time, he hasn't struggled to move on with his career. As for Aaron Paul, he wasn't as famous beforehand so probably had a bigger challenge. He's been a voice in the animated show Bojack Horseman since 2014 but hasn't been in many other big hitters. Bob Odenkirk, who played Saul Goodman, was a comedian and writer before Breaking Bad - but he's made the most of the popularity of his character with the spin-off series Better Call Saul. Giancarlo Esposito was nominated and won awards for playing Gus Fring, he has been in the business since 1979 and has continued to do well with roles in the Maze Runner films and Westworld. Skins Image copyright Todd Williamson Image caption Dev Patel, right, won the Bafta for best supporting actor for Lion Nicholas Hoult was already known as the adorable star of About A Boy, but he was all grown up when he starred in Skins as Tony Stonem. But the rest of the young cast were all found through open casting calls. And from that, the show has produced some of the best British young talent. Dev Patel was nominated for an Oscar for his role in the film Lion while Jack O'Connell was picked to star in Angelina Jolie's epic war film Unbroken. Joe Dempsie and Hannah Murray have both had big roles in Game of Thrones while Nicholas has starred in the X-Men film franchise. Then there's Daniel Kaluuya, another Oscar nominee for his role in Get Out. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Daniel Kaluuya, centre, is now a Hollywood star Jack O'Connell has previously credited the whole Skins team for the actors' future successes. "I think they knew if they were going to identify that genre, that era, that generation, they needed people on the ground level," he said. "A writing team that understood, they got that right first and then I guess they chose to cast exciting people. "I feel very fortunate to be involved in the show but I don't think it was a coincidence that we all came through there." Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Jim Parsons, who plays Sheldon in The Big Bang Theory, is the highest paid TV actor in the US Now if you are starting to worry about your favourite actors from Game of Thrones or The Big Bang Theory and what they can do next, please don't. According to Forbes magazine, The Big Bang Theory cast are among the highest paid actors in the US - and the GOT cast aren't doing too badly either. So if you don't see them acting anymore, maybe they've taken early retirement. Follow Newsbeat on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 every weekday on BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra - if you miss us you can listen back here.
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https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-46866154
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Could aviation strike end government shutdown?
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With 800,000 federal workers in lines at food banks, calling in sick and looking for other jobs during the longest government shutdown in history, some labor leaders are calling for a bold measure to end the impasse: a mass strike by aviation workers, crippling the movement of travelers and goods, that would force the warring sides to sit down and reopen the government. Couple senior Republican lawmakers tell me the only way this breaks open is if TSA employees stay home and Americans get furious about their flights. Thats the only out, they say. And theyre close to the WH. Robert Costa (@costareports) January 15, 2019 Unions representing air traffic controllers, pilots and flight attendants this week released a grim assessment of the air travel situation. In our risk-averse industry, we cannot even calculate the level of risk currently at play, nor predict the point at which the entire system will break. It is unprecedented, wrote the unions. - Advertisement - Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, has explicitly called for a general strike to end the shutdown. If there were a time for the labor movement to speak up, the time is now. The time for action is now, Nelson told CBS News. One major reason there hasnt been a strike during the shutdown is that the law clearly forbids federal workers from strikingunlike their private-sector counterparts. They cannot legally strike. Thats a firm position in federal law and I think all the union leaders understand that, Joseph McCartin, a professor at Georgetown University specializing in U.S. labor relations, told CBS News of the air traffic controllers. That law has been on the books since the 1970s The last time federal workers struck was in 1981, when 11,000 air traffic controllers walked off the job to demand better pay and working conditions. The backlash was severe; then-President Ronald Reagan fired the controllers and their union, Patco, was dissolved. Unlike in 1981, when most of the public supported Reagans action, public opinion this time is much more divided. A majority of Americans say they have been personally affected by the shutdown, and 70 percent say the issue of a border wall is not worth a shutdown. The circumstances are different enough this time around that todays workers whove not been paid can expect more public sympathy than striking workers in 1981, some labor advocates say. Even more than the law, what allowed Reagan to fire the controllers successfully was that the public backed him, McCartin said. If President Trump tried to do the same thing today, with circumstances that are really radically different . Im not sure the public would want to back the type of action that Ronald Reagan took. Short of a strike, there are other actions workers can take that would send a message and affect how government works. Federal employees work within the rules, but when they want to protest, they all of a sudden stop doing things efficiently, said Dan Meyer, a partner at law firm Tully Rinckey and a former federal investigator. Law enforcement is notorious for this. They can also sueas a number of federal workers unions are currently doing. Lawyers representing workers in one case note that, while the law prevents essential workers from walking off the job, it also prevents the government from forcing them to work without pay. CBS Interactive Inc.
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https://wdef.com/2019/01/24/could-aviation-strike-end-government-shutdown/
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Can July star Do It Again at Sun Met?
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The hot favourite, Do It Again, ticks all the boxes as the likely winner of Saturdays R5m Sun Met at Kenilworth except one. His rider, Richard Fourie, will not hear of the four-year-old being beaten, but punters know jockeys are bad tipsters. Nevertheless, it is hard not to share Fouries enthusiasm. The Justin Snaith inmate won last seasons Vodacom Durban July and, if anything, has looked even better this term with a decisive victory in the Queens Plate. That race was run over 1,600m and the son of Twice Over will appreciate stepping up to the 2,000m of Saturdays grade1 contest. However, Rainbow Bridge, to be partnered by Anton Marcus, is being tipped to halt Do It Again from establishing himself as the best horse in the country. Eric Sandss charge looks to be maturing into a top-class performer, though his temperament is akin to tennis star John McEnroe in his prime. Bernard FaydHerbe flies back from Dubai to partner another Snaith runner, Oh Susanna, and this talented filly has a favourable draw. Whether her sex allowance will be enough to see her beat either Do It Again or Rainbow Bridge remains to be seen. Brett Crawford has established himself in the premier league of SA trainers, yet there is a suspicion that both his runner, Undercover Agent, and Sean Tarrys champion, Legal Eagle, are better suited to a shorter trip. With Marcus switching to Rainbow Bridge, jockey Lyle Hewitson teams up with Legal Eagle for the first time. Trainer Andr Nel saddles a useful duo in Head Honcho and Kampala Campari and this correspondent prefers the latter, who has pole position. Unfortunately, with only 13 runners, the tote and bookmakers will not be paying four places, which dampens the enthusiasm for backing one of the long shots. In the final analysis, the vote goes to Do It Again with Rainbow Bridge, Oh Susanna and Kampala Campari to follow the favourite home. There are some competitive supporting races, including the grade 2 Stayers the 10th race on the card in which Candice Bass-Robinson has a strong hand with four runners. Though he is about 20-1 in the ante-post market, Ballad Of The Sea, a son of Teofilio, appeals as a runner who could belie his odds, though it looks significant that jockey Aldo Domeyer has opted for Benjan. The sixth race, the Betting World Cape Flying Championship, sets a poser for jackpot and Pick 6 punters with half of the 16 runners with winning claims. Dutch Philip, Search Party and Gauteng raider Rebels Champ have their supporters, but Gavin Lerena could pose a threat on Pleasedtomeetyou. Tarrys Cirillo looks the likely winner of the CTS 1,200 and Vardy is just preferred to One World and Chimichuri Run in the CTS 1,600. Adam Marcuss runner is improving and jockey Craig Zackey should have his mount handy from a favourable draw. If punters are out of pocket by the last race, Bass-Robinsons runner Russet Air might get them out of jail. Met selections: 1 Do It Again 2 Rainbow Bridge 3 Oh Susanna 4 Kampala Campari Cape Flying Championship 1 Pleasedtomeetyou 2 Rebels Champ 3 Dutch Philip 4 Search Party Majorca Stakes 1 Lady In Black 2 Snowdance 3 Front And Centre 4 Clouds Unfold Cape Derby 1 Charles 2 Bunker Hunt 3 Thanksgiving 4 Second Request Stayers Handicap 1 Ballad Of The Sea 2 Strathdon 3 Benjan 4 Gimme One Night CTS 1,200 1 Cirillo 2 Palace Chapel 3 Van Halen 4 Temple Grafin CTS 1,600 1 Vardy 2 One World 3 Twist Of Fate 4 Silvanos Pride Met betting 13-10 Do It Again 9-2 Rainbow Bridge 11-2 Oh Susanna 9-1 Head Honcho 12-1 Legal Eagle 15-1 Made To Conquer 16-1 Undercover Agent 18-1 Eyes Wide Open 20-1 Others Source: bookmaker Lance Michael
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https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/sport/other-sport/2019-01-25-can-july-star-do-it-again-at-sun-met/
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Is Talla (Jessica Szohr) Replacing Alara (Halston Sage)?
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You may notice that a new Xelayan is possibly joining the crew of The Orville in tonights episode, which seems a little fast since Alara (portrayed by Halston Sage) just left a couple weeks ago. This post has minor spoilers for tonights episode. So far, signs are pointing to yes on that one, although Fox hasnt addressed this question directly. Fox did confirm with ComicBook.com that Home was Sages last episode as a series regular. However, thats a rather specific way to word the response, which makes me wonder if we may see Alara again as a special guest on The Orville at some point in the future. On IMDB, Jessica Szohr is listed as portraying Talla on The Orville for the rest of the season, so it looks like shes going to be a series regular. And since shes playing a Xelayan, the same species as Alara, its a safe bet to see her as a replacement of sorts for Alaras character. Heres Szohr during a table read in March: Szohr has already made a name for herself outside of the show. At 10, she was in a national ad campaign for Quaker Oats and was also in print ads for Kohls. Shes also been featured in ads for Crate & Barrel, Mountain Dew, Sears, Jockey, and JanSport. Her many TV credits include Shameless (Nessa), Twin Peaks Season 3 (Renee), Kingdom (Laura), Complications (Gretchen), Gossip Girl (Vanessa Abrams), CSI Miami, What About Brian (Laura), and more. On Instagram and Twitter, Szohr hasnt revealed much of anything about her role on The Orville, so its supposed to be a surprise for fans. (At least until Tom Costantino, editor for The Orville, dropped the news on Twitter yesterday.) Some fans may be disappointed about seeing a new Xelayan joining the ranks so quickly, with Alara just leaving last week. At the end of Season 2 Episode 3, we learned that Alara had decided to leave The Orville and go back to her homeworld to live with her family. She and her father reconciled after being at odds nearly her entire life because she was viewed as intellectually disabled and he disapproved of her decision to join the Orville. But now that he finally sees her for her true worth, she wants to go back to her homeworld and build a strong foundation with her family. It was rumored for months before last weeks episode that Sage/Alara might be leaving The Orville. Exactly why isnt known, but it appears there may have been scheduling conflicts for Sage that prevented her from continuing the show. According to TrekMovie.com, Sage was filming The Last Summer for Netflix, where she stars alongside K.J. Apa (Archie from Riverdale), at the same time that The Orville was filming. This might have been part of the reason we likely wont see Sage any more this season. David A. Goodman, Brannon Braga, and Jon Cassar were asked point blank in Comic Con 2018 if Halston Sage was still on the show and if Szohr was possibly taking her place. See their reaction below, starting at 8:39: Their answers werent conclusive. I think thats really a question for Seth I think youre going to be interested in seeing what we do for both of those characters. And I dont want to spoil it. Its unexpected. What happens with those two characters is unexpected and I dont want to ruin it. This is a very important piece of our storytelling If you tell too much, the audience experience can really be ruined. Theres a big surprise this season. But dont worry about Halston Sage, who plays Alara. Shes posting happily from the beach while everyones worried about her characters future. So Fox has been pretty tight-lipped about Alaras future, but its safe to say that Talla is indeed replacing Alara, at least for the time being. Not only is she Xelayan, but shes also the new Chief of Security. What happens after that remains to be seen. Tweet to the author of this article. You can also join her email list for updates on new TV stories or share your questions or comments on a Reddit discussion here.
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https://heavy.com/entertainment/2019/01/talla-jessica-szohr-replacing-alara-halston-sage-the-orville/
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Is Mark Anthony Attempting to Reconcile with Jennifer Lopez?
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That seems to be the case as reports have surfaced claiming Marc is seeking to make amends with his former flame. US Weekly reports that the Latin singer is hoping to reconcile with the actress/singer, with a source close to Lopez saying, "his mood shifts from blaming her to begging her to take him back." It's at the point where Marc is reportedly "being difficult on every point" in regards to details in their impending divorce in hopes that she would reconsider, according to an insider. However, while Marc's been scrambling for borrowed time, Lopez is reveling in her newfound single lifestyle, with a friend telling Us, "She is very happy. She is surrounded by love." Related stories on ETonline.com:Arnold Schwarzenegger's Former Flight Attendant Files Defamation Suit
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https://www.wonderwall.com/entertainment/is-mark-anthony-attempting-to-reconcile-with-jennifer-lopez-1634200.article
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Should mortgage companies push staffers to leave higher ratings on Glassdoor?
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Anyone whos looked for a new job in the last five years has probably done some research on any potential new employer. And more often than not, that search leads to Glassdoor, the company ratings site where employees and former employees can write reviews about what it was like to work for said company. In many ways, a companys rating on Glassdoor can impact its ability to hire quality employees. So these days, a companys Glassdoor rating carries a lot of weight. Sponsor Content Yes, they are, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal. In a wide-ranging investigation, the Wall Street Journal found that a number of companies have seen unusual spikes in high ratings and positive reviews that seem to all happen around the same time. In some of those cases, the companies themselves have encouraged their employees to leave those positive reviews. And one company that appears to be the poster child of this is Guaranteed Rate, the growing nonbank mortgage lender. In fact, Guaranteed Rate is basically the featured company in the WSJ article, with events that allegedly took place at the lender serving as the jumping off point for the entire article. This is how the WSJ report begins: Last summer, employees of Guaranteed Rate Inc. posted a stream of negative reviews about the mortgage broker on Glassdoor, a company-ratings website. An American sweatshop, read a one-star review in June. Worst company I ever worked for, read another in July. The companys rating on Glassdoor, which is determined by employee feedback, fell to 2.6 stars out of 5. Concerned that negative reviews could hurt recruiting, Guaranteed Rate CEO Victor Ciardelli instructed his team to enlist employees likely to post positive reviews, said a person familiar with his instructions. In September and October these employees flooded Glassdoor with hundreds of five-star ratings. The company rating now sits at 4.1. Glassdoor has become an important arbiter of employee sentiment in todays highly competitive job market. A Wall Street Journal investigation shows it can be manipulated by employers trying to sway opinion in their favor. Those are literally the first four paragraphs of the WSJ report. According to the WSJ article, Ciardelli felt that Guaranteed Rates ratings did not truthfully reflect what it like to work at the lender and sought to improve the companys ratings. When asked about the supposed push to boost its Glassdoor rating, Guaranteed Rate told HousingWire that it was simply adhering to Glassdoors policy of encouraging employees to rate the company on the site. We followed Glassdoors policy, reaching out to employees to encourage participation with honest feedback about how they viewed working for Guaranteed Rate, a spokesperson for the company told HousingWire. Guaranteed Rate's supposed push for positive reviews came at a time when the company was in the midst of a hiring spree. In March of last year, the company laid off 180 employees but claimed that it planned to hire 1,500 more by the end of 2018. When asked about the company's efforts to hire new employees, the company told HousingWire: "We are on course with our hiring goals." The article also notes that ratings spikes were seen at SpaceX, Elon Musks space exploration company, SAP, the software giant, LinkedIn, and other companies. According to the article, in some cases, companies solicit their employees to leave positive reviews in order to earn a place on Glassdoors coveted Best Places to Work list. The annual report provides a look at the companies that are supposedly the best ones to work at, as determined by their Glassdoor ratings. From the WSJ report: In some cases, companies have encouraged loyal employees to post reviews as part of a publicity campaign. SpaceX and SAP, for example, galvanized employees to leave reviews to make Glassdoors annual ranking of the Best Places to Work. Other companies, including Guaranteed Rate, have pressured employees to write positive reviews in order to raise poor ratings, according to interviews with current and former employees. Another company in the mortgage business is also mentioned in the article, mortgage tech provider Roostify, which supposedly asked Glassdoor to remove negative reviews left by disgruntled former employees. But Glassdoor denied that request, according to the article. It likely depends on just how strenuously the employees are encouraged to leave those reviews, and what parameters they are given when doing so. According to the article, Guaranteed Rate told employees of their collective responsibility to provide positive feedback, and asked them to leave a 5-star rating for the company. Whether the company deserved those ratings or not is an entirely different question. Only the companys employees know for sure. Click here to read the full article from the Wall Street Journal.
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https://www.housingwire.com/articles/47998-are-companies-cooking-the-books-to-get-higher-ratings-on-glassdoor
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Can Digital Afterlife Technology Help Us Grieve?
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In 2016, Disney released Rogue One, a Star Wars prequel set shortly before the events of Star Wars: A New Hope. The film was well-received, praised by critics and fans for its tense depiction of what it takes to be a hero and the concept of martyrdom. The subject of death came up in a different way, however, and the film was the source of controversy. The source of this was Lucasfilms use of an actor who passed away decades ago. With the permission of his estate, the film used the voice and image of Peter Cushing, a veteran British actor who died in 1994. Rogue Ones CGI, closely captured the actors likeness, but it remarkable for what Japanese roboticist Mashahiro Mori called The Uncanny valley, where a piece of artificial intelligence looks close to the real thing, but is unsettling. Even though Lucasfilm had the permission of Cushings estate, critics also questioned whether or not it was ethical to use his likeness when he could never give consent for himself. As Kristy Puchko writes, the fact remains Cushing couldnt say no. As much as the public prefers to think of actors as personas not people, we and the studios do not own them, she argues. The idea of bringing back the dead (or at least, making a digital surrogate of them) has a wider cache in the popular imagination. Bioshock 2: Minervas Den and an episode of Black Mirror called Be Right Back are two examples of it in entertainment. Both feature the stories of people who try to resurrect their loved ones by way of recordings of their voices and memories, drawing on these to have conversations with them as though they were still around and able to answer questions. Both stories end with the protagonist regretting their decision to try to resurrect their loved one. Other stories feature this concept but dont overtly problematise it, including Minority Report. As technology continues to progress, these kinds of fictional examples seem closer to reality, and there have been some early experiments into making digital surrogates of the dead. Hossein Rahnama of Ryerson University and the MIT Media Lab is currently working on making chatbots crafted from personal data, including emails, texts, tweets, and snapchats. The idea here is that, much like in the Black Mirror episode, someone could type messages to the deceased person and receive a reply from an AI that had been programmed to mimic that person. Fifty or sixty years from now, [people] will have reached a point in their lives where they each will have collected zettabytes [1 trillion gigabytes] of data, which is just what is needed to create a digital version of yourself, Rahnama said. While this might allow people to grieve and process the loss of a loved one, Rahmana argues that an individuals privacy must be paramount when it comes to passing on virtual profiles. You should be able to own your data and only pass it along to people you trust, so allowing people to engage with their own ancestors would be likely. Slightly different to Rahnamas experiment is another project, launched by Russian AI company Luka. Eugenia Kuyda, the companys co-founder, aimed to make a chatbot that would resemble her late best friend, Roman Mazurenko, who was killed in a car accident in 2015. Users of the Luka app can chat to the Roman chatbot. While Kuyda is happy that the chatbot captures much of her friends wit, it is not a substitute. Its more like a shadow of a person, she said. It should also be noted that seeing and hearing a deceased loved one is nothing altogether new, and that these illusory experiences are relatively common among widowed people and are often considered to be a healthy coping mechanism. One Welsh study found that 13 percent of elderly widows and widowers had heard their dead loved ones voice and 14 percent had seen them. As Dr Simon McCarthy-Jones writes, people should think twice about judging these experiences harshlywe should perhaps simply be marveling at the power of love. Holding the ability to converse with someone who is gone, then, might help the grieving process. In an a Quartz article, Toronto-based grief counsellor Andrea Warnick is quoted as saying that she sees potential value in digital afterlife technology, in that it may facilitate conversations among family and friendship networks, about the person who has died. In modern society, many people are hesitant to talk about someone who has died for fear of upsetting those who are grievingso perhaps the importance of continuing to share stories and advice from someone who has died is something that we humans can learn from chatbot, she said. Of course, the Bible says nothing about this subject directly. Like many things, this is a new problem that the biblical writers could not have foreseen in their immediate context. And yet, as Douglas John Hall writes, the church must deal with issues that are not directly addressed in scripture all of the time (Hall cites same-sex marriage as an issue that is not explicitly dealt with in scripture, but is nonetheless the subject of debate that draws on broader scriptural principles). As services that record the deads voice and likeness become available, this issue may be one the church finds itself wrestling with in the future. Jonathan Foye is Insights Editor
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https://www.insights.uca.org.au/features/can-digital-afterlife-technology-help-us-grieve
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Who made Hearsts decision to kill Bryan Singer story?
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The story was written by Maximillian Potter and Alex French, both contract writers for Esquire who had reportedly been working on the story for a year. But instead of appearing in Esquire, the story went up on The Atlantic website Wednesday, in advance of its publication in the March issue. Singer angrily denied the claims. Its sad that The Atlantic would stoop to this low standard of journalistic integrity, said Singer. Again, I am forced to reiterate that this story rehashes claims from bogus lawsuits filed by a disreputable cast of individuals willing to lie for money or attention. Potter and French said the story had been approved by Esquire editor Jay Fielden and fact-checked and vetted by Hearst lawyers. It was set to go in the December issue when it was killed at the last minute. Some fingers point to Hearst Magazines President Troy Young and Chief Content Officer Kate Lewis. Others speculate it could have gone as high as the parent companys CEO, Steve Swartz. Singer had gone on the offensive in October, when it was believed that the story was going through final editing before going to press in Esquire. In an Instagram post on Oct. 16, Singer said he knows friends and colleagues and even people he had never met who were being contacted. He had faced several lawsuits in the past, and he said the story was fictional and irresponsible and will rehash false accusations and baseless lawsuits. Several previous lawsuits against Singer had been withdrawn over the years. Hearst had not responded by press time.
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https://nypost.com/2019/01/24/who-made-hearsts-decision-to-kill-bryan-singer-story/
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Will Abyss and Sonjay Dutt Wrestle For WWE?
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Both Abyss and Sonjay Dutt have parted with IMPACT Wrestling and are expected to join WWE. According to a report on Wednesday by Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com, the belief among multiple sources is that both Abyss and Dutt will be working for WWE soon. IMPACT notified the roster of their departures via email and wished each of them well. Dave Meltzer confirmed the report in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and noted that neither is expected to wrestle for WWE. While its unclear what their roles will be, he noted that WWE is looking to expand backstage people for NXT. Meltzer speculates that Jeremy Borash helped get them hired since they were friends in IMPACT (Borash has various behind-the-scenes roles with NXT). Sources within IMPACT have described the departures amicable, categorizing the company as not wanting to hold back either of them from great opportunities that they were each offered. It was pointed out that Dutt was under contract to IMPACT until September, but they decided to let him out early. Abyss is the longest-tenured performer in company history, having started there in 2002. While he would come and go, he has worked at least one match every year since 2002. His most recent match with IMPACT took place on January 6 at the Homecoming pay-per-view event in Nashville, Tennessee, where he lost to Eli Drake in a Monsters Balls Match. His wrestling appearances, however, have been rare since 2017. He mostly did office work over the past year but without a contract. He also worked in creative but hadnt in recent months. Dutt was involved in the creative side of IMPACT, working alongside Don Callis, Scott DAmore and Jimmy Jacobs as a writer for the IMPACT Wrestling TV show. He regularly worked for the company as a wrestler in the X Division from 2003 through 2009, and then off and on from 2012 through 2015. He returned to the company in April 2017 for a behind-the-scenes role and to wrestle as well. He captured the X Division Championship for the first and only time in May 2017 in Mumbai, India, beating Low Ki. He dropped the title to Trevor Lee in August 2017 and continued to wrestle through November of that year. He tore his right Achilles tendon, which he underwent surgery for last January. He hasnt wrestled since. With Dutts departure, Konnan and Tommy Dreamer have been added to the IMPACT creative team.
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http://www.pwmania.com/will-abyss-and-sonjay-dutt-wrestle-for-wwe
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Can Singapore help keep the peace in Chinas faltering Belt & Road?
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China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks during the opening session of the Belt and Road Forum on Legal Cooperation at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on July 2, 2018. Source: Greg Baker/AFP CHINAS Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has gained huge momentum, with governments, companies and lawyers keen to maximise the many opportunities it presents. But it has also come with more than its fair share of push-backs, disputes and accusations of debt-diplomacy landing developing nations into a pit of financial strife from which they are unable to dig themselves out. To combat the inevitable clashes that occur on the multi-billion-dollar worldwide project, Singapore and China this week established an international panel of mediators. Dispute resolution professionals from both countries, along with representatives from the country in question, will work together to resolve any issues before they escalate. SEE ALSO: Belt and Nope: Southeast Asia doesnt trust China BRI projects tend to be high-value, multi-party and multi-jurisdictional, George Lim, chairman of Singapore International Mediation Centre (SIMC), said in a statement. These factors raise the chances of a dispute occurring during the course of project delivery and also complicate the dispute resolution process Adversarial processes will inevitably be costly and time-consuming and cause significant delay to project delivery. A Memorandum of Understanding to set up a BRI mediator panel was signed between the SIMC and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) in Beijing on Thursday. The BRI is President Xi Jinpings flagship project to boost global trade and further Chinese diplomacy. It stretches across Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe, connecting regions with a serious of major infrastructure projects, including railways and major ports. Despite, or maybe because of, Beijings aggressive attempts to further the initiative, they have run into a number of disagreements with other governments. SEE ALSO: Indonesia seeks $60b in Belt and Road projects The nature and funding of the China-led projects has raised concerns across Asia. Malaysias new prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, has scrapped US$22 billion-worth of Belt and Road projects in the country, including the 688-kilometre East Coast Rail link, and two natural gas pipelines. The financial burden was given as the reason behind the cancellation, Mahathir said in August Malaysia could not repay the money and accused China of a new version of colonialism. Burma (Myanmar) also sought to scale back a US$7 billion port project in troubled Rakhine state, again out of fears it involves too much debt for the country to repay. Reaching a compromise, the two signed an agreement in November to go ahead with the project at a reduced cost of US$1.3 billion in the initial phase. Sri Lanka was forced to cede control of a strategic port to Beijing because it was unable to repay massive debts to China. Its a similar story in Africa where Beijing has pumped in nearly US$150 billion in loans since the turn of the millennium. SEE ALSO: The costs and benefits of Chinas Belt and Road Initiative Despite hitting several roadblocks, China is continuing to bullishly forge ahead with the initiative. The hope is that the panel will be able to weather some of the storms that arise along the way. Under the new agreement, both parties will jointly develop the rules, case management protocol and enforcement procedures for BRI dispute cases submitted for mediation. Those on the panel will also undergo a skills exchange programme to familiarise themselves with the business and dispute resolution culture of the BRI jurisdictions.
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https://asiancorrespondent.com/2019/01/can-singapore-help-keep-the-peace-in-chinas-faltering-belt-road/
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Is er ruimte voor loonstijging bovenop een foute indexkoppeling?
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De inkomens van de werknemers zijn sterker gestegen dan goed is voor onze economie en de concurrentiepositie van de bedrijven. Een indexsprong kan zoals enkele jaren geleden een sociaal verantwoorde correctie zijn op de indexkoppeling. Door Stefan Kesenne, emeritus professor UA De vakbonden hebben de loononderhandelingen met patronaat en overheid verlaten en dreigen met een nationale staking omdat de bestaande loonwet slechts een loonstijging van 0,8 % zou toestaan om de concurrentiepositie van de Belgische bedrijven ten opzichte van hun voornaamste handelspartners veilig te stellen. Schermvullende weergave Het behoud van de koopkracht van de bevolking is uiteraard belangrijk voor de tewerkstelling en gezondheid van de economie, maar even belangrijk is de beperking van de loonkosten van de bedrijven in een internationale concurrentile omgeving. Het is bijgevolg aangewezen dat de indexkoppeling de koopkracht beschermt zonder de loonkost van de bedrijven te verhogen. Er is niets mis met de automatische koppeling van de lonen aan de index, maar de Belgische indexkoppeling zit fundamenteel fout. Ze overcompenseert de koopkracht van de werknemers en verhoogt zo de arbeidskost van de bedrijven en tast hun concurrentiepositie aan. De foute indexkoppeling veroorzaakt een ongewenste inkomensherverdeling tussen loontrekkenden en kleine zelfstandigen en vrije beroepen, want hun inkomens zijn niet aan de prijsindex gekoppeld De lonen zijn immers gekoppeld aan de index van de kleinhandelsprijzen (of de consumptieprijsindex). Deze prijsindex wordt in de zeer open Belgische economie in hoge mate benvloed door importprijzen of buitenlandse prijsstijgingen. Een buitenlandse prijsstijging, zoals van olie of grondstoffen, betekent een globale verarming van de Belgische bevolking. Indien deze buitenlandse prijsstijgingen correct worden doorgerekend in de Belgische consumptieprijzen, wordt daar niet n Belgisch consument of bedrijf beter van. Integendeel, de Belgische bevolking levert globaal in. Solidaire inkomensverdeling Niettemin worden de inkomens van de loontrekkenden, en dus ook deze van royaal betaalde ambtenaren, via de bestaande indexkoppeling verhoogd, zodat alle niet-gendexeerde inkomens noodzakelijkerwijs inleveren. Deze foute indexkoppeling veroorzaakt bijgevolg een ongewenste inkomensherverdeling tussen loontrekkenden en kleine zelfstandigen en vrije beroepen, want hun inkomens zijn niet aan de prijsindex gekoppeld. Voor een betere en meer solidaire inkomensverdeling tussen lage en hoge inkomens is de progressiviteit van de inkomensbelasting het gepaste instrument, en niet de indexkoppeling. Het protest van de vakbonden tegen een indexsprong is grotesk Een noodzakelijke correctie op deze foute indexkoppeling is om de stijging van de importprijzen weg te halen uit de consumptieprijsindex. Dit is echter een vrij complexe oefening. Een eenvoudiger maar verantwoord alternatief zou kunnen zijn om de lonen jaarlijks aan te passen aan de bbp-deflator (de prijsindex van het bruto binnenlands product), waarin de buitenlandse prijsstijgingen zijn weggecijferd. Een eerder beperkt nadeel is wel dat de bbp-deflator naast de consumptieprijzen ook de prijzen van investeringen omvat. Deze bbp-deflator is de voorbije vijf jaar gestegen met ongeveer 2,7%, terwijl de consumptieprijsindex met 8,2% omhoog ging. Het verschil is vooral te wijten aan gestegen importprijzen. De inkomens van de werknemers zijn bijgevolg, via de koppeling aan de consumptieprijsindex, sterker gestegen dan goed is voor de Belgische economie en de concurrentiepositie van de Belgische bedrijven. Bovenop een correcte indexering genoten de werknemers dus al een loonstijging van ongeveer 5%. Ook via een indexsprong, zoals enkele jaren geleden, kan een sociaal verantwoorde correctie op de indexkoppeling worden toegepast, ondanks het groteske protest hiertegen vanwege de vakbonden.
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https://www.tijd.be/opinie/algemeen/Is-er-ruimte-voor-loonstijging-bovenop-een-foute-indexkoppeling/10090805
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Will Noidas Aqua Metro Line boost property prices in its periphery?
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Operationalisation of the much-awaited Noidas Aqua Line, or the Noida-Greater Noida metro connector, will to a large extent address the challenge of connectivity being faced by sectors located along the expressway and some new affordable sectors. But while it may connect Noida to its sister city Greater Noida and lessen the travel time for homeowners who reside along the route, what it will not do is join the vital dots connect Noida to either the city centre or for that matter provide the much needed link all the way up to Delhi or Gurugram. In short, it is caters to the needs of an island city. The line opens for the public on January 26. The biggest impediment in case of this Metro connector is that it does not provide a direct connector between the Blue Line of the Delhi Metro or for that matter the Magenta Line that goes right up to the domestic airport. In short, get ready to disembark at Sector 51 station and walk for about 8 minutes all the way to Sector 52 station to take the Blue Line extension that is still not operational. The two stations are almost 300 meters apart. For now, commuters would have to get off at Sector 51 station and hop on to another public mode of transport to take them to Sector 32 Metro station. Sources say it may take a while, perhaps months, before the two are connected through a sky walk. The Blue Line extension up to Sector 62, Noida is expected to be opened by March. The Magenta Line's Okhla Bird Sanctuary station is over 10 km away from Aqua Line's Sector 137 station. Well, not really. Any appreciation in property prices takes place at the time of announcement of the project. But in this case, the construction phase of the metro project coincided with the slowdown cycle. It was also around this time when demonetisation was announced, followed by the enactment of the Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Act (RERA) and the Goods & Services Tax. However, what this new infrastructure upgrade will do is to improve absorption of residential units. Homebuyers sitting on the fence may consider ready-to-move-in units located along the Aqua Line, or those who had bought houses earlier may decide to finally shift. Overall, it may help improve absorption of residential units along the stretch, boost population density in the area and also rentals. Lets take a look at the Aqua Line's 21 stations: 15 in Noida and six in Greater Noida. These are: Sector 51, Sector 50, Sector 76, Sector 101, Sector 81, NSEZ, Sector 83, Sector 137, Sector 142, Sector 143, Sector 144, Sector 145, Sector 146, Sector 147, Sector 148, Knowledge Park 2, Pari Chowk, Alpha 1, Delta 1, GNIDA office and Depot Station. The current price of residential units in some of these sectors range from Rs 3,400 per sq ft to Rs 10,500 per sq ft. Recent reports by Knight Frank and JLL show improvement in absorption and even new launches in some of these markets. As per the JLL report, titled 'India Resurgent Residential Sector', launched earlier this week, Noida-Greater Noida continued to constitute majority (around 40 percent) of overall launches. Ghaziabad and Noida-Greater Noida contributed more than 95 percent of new launches in the up to Rs 50 lakh category, with the latter constituting 62 percent of sales. A Knight Frank report earlier this month said that new launched in NCR registered a 35 percent growth in the number of units launched in 2018, with about 75 percent of these units falling in Gurugram and Greater Noida. Also view: First look at Noida Metro Aqua Line: 10 things you should know New launches in Noida and Greater Noida have also registered a slight revival in 2018, with developers launching new projects in Noida's Sector 150 and Sectors 1, 10, Pari Chowk and Zeta 1 in Greater Noida. In case of sales too, Greater Noida yet again hogged most of the demand in 2018, with 50 percent of overall sales accruing from this affordable micro-market. Due to affordable pricing, the micro-market is not only attractive to buyers of Noida and Greater Noida but also adjacent tier II cities of Uttar Pradesh such as Mathura, Agra and Aligarh. The report noted that the unsold inventory stood around 142,007 units as of December 2018. Greater Noida and Gurugram account for about 65 percent of the unsold inventory in NCR, followed by Ghaziabad and Noida. The unsold inventory along the Noida-Greater Noida belt and located in Sectors 70 to 78, say experts, is likely to come down with the improvement in Metro connectivity within some sectors. "Price appreciation owing to any upcoming infrastructure is seen from the date of announcement. A direct correlation of the metro line with prices cannot be ascertained as the announcement of the corridor and the development phase in this case has coincided with one of the lull phases in real estate activity in NCR," Ashutosh Kashyap, General Manager- Consulting (NCR) at Colliers International India, said. However, the impact of infrastructure upgrade finds its manifestation in terms of both price and absorption. "For micro markets closer to the heart of the city, such as residential sectors 74, 75, 76, 78 and 79, the emergence as one of the major residential hubs has been quick. For emerging peripheral sectors, there is an evident upswing in buyer interest in upcoming residential projects, (specifically Sector 150 Noida)," he added. With improved connectivity via the Aqua Line and impending operationalisation of the feeder network, the stretch of the expressway, including residential sectors such as 137, 143, 143B, 162, 158, 151, 150 are expected to go a notch above on the livability quotient, he said, adding that this would prompt developers to evaluate project launches along the corridor. "However, the quantum of new launches would be a function of many other macro variables, the major factor being fund crunch, which most of the developers are grappling with." While commercial real estate rentals in Gurugram commanded over Rs 75 per sq ft in the metro connected corridor, top-of-the-line A grade spaces in Noida with Metro connectivity may still be available in the sub-dollar range (Rs 40 per sq ft to Rs 60 per sq ft). So, despite improved connectivity, companies looking for affordable commercial spaces may prefer Noida over Gurugram. The first stage in price improvement is to do with absorption picking up. Getting anchor occupiers is important for any new corridor to gain traction. Prices in Gurugrams Golf Course Road improved after GE set up its corporate office there. The same trend was seen in Bengalurus Whitefield corridor. In Noida, prices may not rise immediately because there is no dearth of land. A shortage of ready A grade supply may help bump up rent for the short term, but not for the long term because of excess availability of land, Srivasttava said. Noida's commercial space absorption for 2018 was upwards of 3.5 million square feet in all, Anckur Srivasttava of GenReal Advisers said. What may go in Noidas favour compared to Gurugram is the sub-dollar rentals and affordable commercial supply along the Metro. The sub-dollar rentals is a sweet spot for most KPO and BPO commercial space occupiers and thats the reason why a few of them are now expanding to Noida. The latter is just about beginning to be seen as an alternative to Gurugram for 'value for money' conscious IT/ITES occupiers, he said. The SEZ story continues to find favour with tenants. All of this is adding to Noida's appeal as a potential institutional capital destination, Srivasttava added. Real estate experts also point out that with few developers now doing A grade commercial spaces in Noida, rentals may rise by about 5-7 percent in the short term as there is no paucity of land in the area. Developers such as Unitech, 3Cs (Lotus), which were earlier active in the commercial space, have now been taken over. The biggest challenge in case of commercial space absorption may also have to do with limited connectivity being provided by the Aqua Line. Had it connected these sectors to at least the Centre and further to Delhi or Gurugram, the impact may have been much more, experts added. [email protected]
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https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/real-estate/will-noidas-aqua-metro-line-boost-property-prices-in-its-periphery-3433231.html
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How to register to vote in India?
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With the 2019 Lok Sabha elections around the corner the schedule is yet to be announced by the Election Commission (EC) citizens are gearing up to vote. If you are above the age of 18 as of January 1, 2019, you are eligible to exercise your franchise. Advertising To vote, you need to fill an application, called Form 6, and submit it to the Electoral Registration Officer in your constituency. After verification, the Officer will order the inclusion of the voter in the electoral lists. There are three types of voters: general electors, overseas electors (NRI) and service electors. Form 6 is required to enroll a new voter and get a voter ID. Any person who has attained the age 18 on the first day of January of the year with reference to which the Electoral Roll is being revised can fill the form. Form 6 can be submitted to the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) of the Assembly Constituency, after which the person will be included in the electoral roll as a voter. Along with Form 6, one has to submit a passport size photograph and copies of proof of age and residence. You can also apply for a voters ID on the Election Commissions website (https://www.nvsp.in/). You will have to upload Form 6 while applying for a voters ID. This page is available in Hindi, English and Malayalam. How to confirm voter registration You can confirm if you are on the electoral roles and seek details on your registration status by logging into the Election Commissions website (https://www.nvsp.in/Forms/Forms/trackstatus). You will need to provide your reference ID for the same. Advertising Similarly, the EC website also allows you to make a deletion or objection in the electoral roll, correction of an entry in the electoral roll and transposition within Assembly.
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https://indianexpress.com/elections/how-to-register-to-vote-in-india-what-is-form-6-5554714/
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When does the January transfer window close for EFL clubs?
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Get Daily updates directly to your inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email January brings with it a new year and a final opportunity for teams to add depth to their squads ahead of the an end of season push. The winter edition may not be the most popular of the two transfer windows but, if used correctly, it can be a useful tool for teams looking to make that last surge as we head into the business end of things. Just one point is all there needs to be to separate teams from the title, a play-off spot or - in the worst case scenario - a place in the relegation zone. So getting in that extra striker to bag you some goals or wily defensive veteran to shore things up at the back can make all the difference. With all of that in mind, lets take a look at some of the pressing questions fans are asking about the 2019 January transfer window. The January transfer window opened on January 1 and will close at 11pm GMT on Thursday, January 31. There are different deadlines around the world, with the most significant windows to English fans - Scotland, Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Netherlands and Turkey - all closing on January 31. But there are still some countries where the window will remain open. Russias window only opened on January 23 and will close February 22, while the Chinese window is open until February 28. Portugal, meanwhile, will see its window close on February 2. The days of the emergency loan deal are over after the emergency loan system was scrapped in 2016, so teams will just have to deal with whatever they have left once the window closes on January 31. But teams are still free to organise loans before the deadline, providing they conform to league rules. EFL clubs are allowed to have eight players on loan, but can only pick a maximum of five loanees in their match day squad. They can only sign a maximum of four players from a specific club, of which only two can be over the age of 23. Free agents are free to sign for a new club even after the deadline has passed, so there is still hope for any unattached players even after January 31.
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https://www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/january-transfer-window-close-efl-2467665
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Did CBI raid wrong Videocon group office in Mr and Mrs Kochhar case?
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India oi-Oneindia Staff By Smriti Pathak Mumbai, Jan 25: The CBI, which on Thursday registered a criminal case against Videocon group along with ICICI Bank's ex-chief Chanda Kochhar and her husband for alleged irregularities in sanctioning Rs 1,875 crore loans to the now crippled group, may have raided the wrong premises. Going by the address of Videocon Industries as given in the FIR, the actual CBI raid should have taken place in the 17th floor office on the B-Wing of the sprawling Mittal Court complex in the tony Nariman Point area of the city. But CBI sleuths have carried out the day-long raids in the 17th-floor office in the C-Wing of the same complex where other Videocon Group industries are housed! To be fair, it has been found that both the wings are inter-connected. What is more puzzling is that the nameplate of Videocon Industries, the prime accused in the FIR, is written in Marathi with a sketch pen, while the other group companies have proper nameplates in metal frames. Also Read | Case registered against Chanda Kochhar, others for allegedly cheating ICICI Bank The name Videocon Industries is pasted with a packaging tape from inside the door, which can be seen only if the door is opened! The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has booked the Dhoots of the Videocon group along with Chanda Kochhar, the former CEO and MD of ICICI Bank and her husband Deepak, for alleged irregularities in sanctioning six loans worth Rs 1,875 crore to the now crippled Videocon Group and other group entities. In the FIR, Videocon Industries is mentioned as located on the 17th floor of the B-Wing of the Mittal Court complex, while group entities like Videocon Industries, Videocon International Electronics and four other entities are located on the 17th floor of the C-Wing of the same building. The other companies on the 17th floor of the C-Wing include Videocon Games, Chhattisgarh Power Ventures, Prosperous Energy, and VOVL. Interestingly all these companies are not mentioned in the FIR filed by the CBI. It could also not be established immediately whether these companies are indeed Videocon group entities. The FIR names VN Dhoot, the group managing director; Chanda Kochhar, Deepak Kochhar, the head of Nupower Renewables and the company Nupower Renewables, Supreme Energy, other unknown private persons and unknown public servants. When PTI visited the premises in the evening, we could see CBI sleuths who flew down from New Delhi for the raid, busying themselves in searching the offices located in the C- Wing. Since most reporters were not aware of the exit from other C-Wing, all waited for CBI officials at B-Wing only. When some journalists tried to enter the office from the B-Wing, they found it locked from inside, even though all the action was going on in the C-Wing. A few staffers of the group were also present inside the office. When asked one of them told PTI that he is an employee but has not been paid for the past four months. Another man said he works in the pantry and claimed to know nothing about the raids. Yet another person, found seated at the reception in the C-Wing office along with a few others, said the raid is on across the Mumbai and Aurangabad offices of the group.
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https://www.oneindia.com/india/did-cbi-raid-wrong-videocon-group-office-in-mr-and-mrs-kochhar-case-2841784.html?utm_source=/rss/news-india-fb.xml&utm_medium=23.50.225.237&utm_campaign=client-rss
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Can Lidars Zap Camera Chips?
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Illustration: iStockphoto Laser safety rules designed to protect human eyes have shaped the design of automotive lidars. Safety rules limit the current generation of lidarsthose emitting invisible infrared light near 900 nanometersto pulse powers so low they limit their measurement range to 60 or 100 meters, too short a distance for cars moving at highway speed to stop in time to avoid a collision. Moving to a longer wavelength that does not penetrate the human eye allows new lidars to fire more powerful pulses and stretch their range beyond 200 meters, far enough for stopping faster cars. Now a claim of lidar damage to the charge-coupled-device (CCD) sensor on a photographer's electronic camera has raised concern that new eye-safe long-wavelength lidars might endanger electronic eyes. I had never thought of that, says Dennis Killinger, a veteran lidar developer and professor emeritus at the University of South Florida who consults for lidar companies. He says that he had not heard anyone in the industry talk about the possibility until an incident at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show was reported. The biggest concern is not photographic cameras but rather the video cameras mounted on autonomous cars to gather crucial information the cars need to drive themselves. Self-driving cars use artificial intelligence to generate a real-time three-dimensional map of the local environment from digitized maps of fixed objects and data collected by video cameras, lidars, microwave radars, and other sensors. Video cameras record images that can be used to locate and recognize objects, but they don't directly measure distance. That is done by lidars, which scan the local environment, firing about a million pulses per second to create a three-dimensional point cloud of distances. Radar measures velocity and distance, but at low resolution. Artificial intelligence combines these sensor inputs into a three-dimensional map it uses to steer the car. Most current car lidars are built around semiconductor diode lasers that emit a series of nanosecond pulses near 900 nanometers, which is not visible but does penetrate to the light-sensing retina at the back of the eye. What makes laser light particularly dangerous to the eye is that the light rays are parallel, so the eye focuses all the incoming laser pulses onto a tiny spot where intensity can be very high. Safety rules from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration limit the peak power of the laser pulse, which in turn limits lidar operating range. To extend lidar range beyond the 60- to 100-meter limit for 900-nanometer lidars, some companies are turning to longer wavelengths, which the eye absorbs before they can reach the retina. So far the favorite eye-safe wavelength is 1,550 nanometers, where lasers originally developed for fiber-optic communication systems are readily available, and looser safety rules allow pulse powers a hundred times as bright. Luminar has used semiconductor lasers emitting at 1,550 nm to reach ranges of 300 meters, which give adequate warning for cars at highway speed to stop safely. Their lidars can measure the posture of a pedestrian up to 250 meters away, giving the car an advance warning of someone poised to walk across the street. Producers of laser light shows are well aware that laser beams can damage electronic eyes. Camera sensors are, in general, more susceptible to damage than the human eye, warns the International Laser Display Association on a Web page showing examples of laser damage and alerting photographers to avoid laser beams. The extent of damage can vary widely, depending on the distance from the source, beam direction, and power. However, serious questions have emerged about the CES incident. The photographer blamed the damage on a 1,550-nanometer lidar with an unusually long range of 1,000 meters from AEye, a Pleasanton, Calif., startup. The company asked to examine the $2,000 camera to assess what damage it had suffered and what might have caused it, but the photographer replied in writing that he could not find the camera. Although published photos show flaws that may have been caused by damage to pixels, without the camera it remains unknown what the nature of the damage was, when it occurred, and what caused it. Digital cameras intended for visual photography normally include filters that block infrared light from reaching CMOS or CCD sensors that would otherwise respond to those wavelengths. Sensor vulnerability to infrared damage would depend on the design of the infrared filters. Cameras used in autonomous cars use similar sensors, and presumably use filters built right onto the chips to block the widely used 900-nanometer lidar wavelength, but their vulnerability to longer-wavelength lidars is unknown. Regardless of what actually happened in the CES incident, the claim points out the need to assess potential lidar damage to cameras, especially those used along with lidars in autonomous cars. Now is the time for people to look at this in depth, says Killinger. Most lidar companies have not released detailed power specifications. Killinger says pulse duration also is important. Most current automotive lidars use nanosecond (10-9 second) pulses. However, lasers also can generate picosecond (10-12 second) or femtosecond (10-15 second) pulses to measure distances more precisely, and concentrating pulse energy into such short time spans might raise their peak power to levels that could ablate material from the sensor surface. Designers have focused on eye safety, but Killinger says that car cameras may need electronic eye protection.
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https://spectrum.ieee.org/cars-that-think/transportation/sensors/keeping-lidars-from-zapping-camera-chips?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IeeeSpectrumFullText+%28IEEE+Spectrum+Full+Text%29
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Is Sharon Osbourne Leaving America's Got Talent?
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As NBC's America's Got Talent inches closer to naming its seventh season champ, judge Osbourne is hinting that the upcoming batch of episodes may be her last. NEWS: This season's most memorable AGT moments In a Twitter message directed to "my darling" fellow judge Howard Stern Tuesday, Osbourne, 59, argued that "money is not the reason I'm not returning." Trailing off with "it's because . . .," Osbourne did not elaborate, and efforts by The Associated Press to clarify the judge's comments with her representative were unsuccessful. VIDEO: Nick Cannon works a stripper pole on AGT The AP says that NBC has not yet been informed of Osbourne's intention to leave the series, which she joined in 2007. VIDEO: Behind the scenes of AGT Also a cohost on CBS' The Talk, Osbourne stuck with the series when it moved production from Los Angeles to New York City to accommodate new judge Stern, who began his tenure on AGT in May.
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https://www.wonderwall.com/entertainment/is-sharon-osbourne-leaving-americas-got-talent-1695151.article
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When Do Employers Have to File the EEO-1 Form?
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The answer is: Maybe. Attorney James A. Patton of the law firm of Ogletree Deakins says the EEOC originally had planned to open the 2018 EEO-1 filing website during the second or third week of January 2019, with a planned filing deadline of March 31, 2019. But more recent information suggests that the EEOC had more recently planned to open the EEO-1 filing website at the end of this month. The EEO-1 filing cycle for 2017 had begun Jan. 24, 2018, with a filing deadline set for March 31, 2018. In April 2018, the deadline was extended to June 1, 2018. No explanation was given for extending this deadline. However, there were changes to the filing website, including the implementation of extra security measures, as well as delays in responses to mergers and acquisitions and spin-off requests. The 2017 EEO-1 filing website closed on Oct. 1, 2018. As the government shutdown grinds on, the opening date for the EEO-1 filing website remains in doubt. Even after the shutdown ends, it is unknown how long it will take to bring the 2018 EEO-1 filing website online. Presumably there is background work that would normally have been done during the time that EEOC employees are furloughed. If so, the commission will need to do additional work after the shutdown ends before the filing website can open. At this point, Patton says it seems likely that the expected March 31, 2019, deadline for 2018 EEO-1 filings will be extended, providing affected private employers and government contractors and subcontractors more time to complete their 2018 EEO-1 filings. As employers await the filing websites opening, they may want to gather employment data from the fourth quarter of 2018 to be used to complete their 2018 filings, he suggests. Agreeing with Patton is Arthur Tacchino, an attorney and chief innovation officer at SyncStream Solutions, a vendor of federal compliance reporting solutions for employers. Due to the shutdown, much of the work that needs to be done for the portal to be brought online cannot get done and will need to be completed once a resolution is reached that fully or partially funds the government. Its anyones guess, says Tacchino, At this point in time we dont know; however, last years deadline was extended by the EEOC to June 1, 2018. This could be the new deadline for the 2018 EEO-1 filings, but its contingent on when the government shutdown ends. Required for more than a half century, the EEO-1 report is not intended to be used to target individual employers. Instead, the data gathered is supposed to help EEOC form new policies and regulations. Required to file are employers with more than 100 employees, and all federal contractors or subcontractors with more than 50 employees. The Trump administration version of the EEOC dialed back a vast extension of the reporting requirements. Under those requirements adopted by the Obama EEOC but later withdrawn, employers were expected to supply W-2 income data for the number of employees in each of 10 different job categories. They then had to categorize their compensation in 12 different annual pay bands ranging from about $19,000 to more than $208,000.
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https://www.mhlnews.com/labor-management/when-do-employers-have-file-eeo-1-form
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Is New Jersey group protesting haredi growth anti-Semitic?
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NJ group warns that expansion of haredi population in Lakewood could lead to 'utter destruction' of Ocean County, New Jersey. The video, with suspenseful music playing in the background, opens with footage of a crowd of Orthodox Jews. Then it paraphrases a classic poem about the Holocaust. First they came for my house, but I did not speak up, the narrator says. I said I am not willing to sell, and closed my door. Then they came for my forests, but I did not speak up, because I thought I had no vested interests in the forests. The script is a riff on the Martin Niemoller work lamenting the perils of inaction in the face of Nazi atrocities. But the video, which was posted this month, isnt meant to denounce Nazis. Instead its purported villains are Orthodox Jews looking to move to the Central New Jersey suburbs. The process by which Lakewood was lost was a simple one and has been seen in other parts of the Northeast over the last few years, the description below the video says, referring to a nearby city with a large haredi Orthodox community and rapid population growth. Offer generous amounts of money to acquire existing homes through pressure sales, build new homes at the expense of the environment, elect a majority to governing bodies and sieze [sic] control. The group behind the video is Rise Up Ocean County, which aims to galvanize residents of Central Jersey to stop haredi families from buying real estate in the towns surrounding Lakewood. It says it is producing a documentary and mobilizes locals to attend town meetings. Rise Up Ocean County, whose leaders are anonymous, wrote in an October statement that it does not want the quiet, comfortable suburbs to go the way of Lakewood. Lakewood, which is known as a center of haredi life in the United States, has seen its population boom in recent decades, from around 60,000 in 2000 to more than 100,000 as of 2017. Local officials have predicted that by 2030, the number would more than double, according to the Asbury Park Press. As the city has grown, Orthodox families seeking more space have moved to neighboring towns like Toms River or Jackson. The expansion has created a backlash from some non-Orthodox neighbors, who often say their objections are about zoning, housing density and local support for public schools. But the Orthodox residents and others see some of the criticism as anti-Semitic. A similar dynamic is being seen by towns near Monsey, a largely haredi Orthodox town in New York state near its border with New Jersey. Those towns repeatedly attempted to stop the construction of an eruv, a symbolic ritual boundary that residents said would invite more Orthodox Jews to move in. Rise Up Ocean County insists its objections are only about quality of life, not religion. We also acknowledge that corruption of our political system has allowed development in Lakewood at an unprecedented rate and frankly in an unsafe manner, the groups statement said. What has occurred is tragic, we exist to insure that what has happened there cannot happen elsewhere in Ocean County. We already see signs in the northern part of Toms River, southern part of Howell, eastern part of Jackson and western part of Brick and beyond. IT MUST STOP! Local Jewish leaders in and around Lakewood acknowledge that the population spike has posed challenges, like clogged streets and scarce parking. In addition, the local school district runs large deficits because it receives funding only for the 6,000 kids who attend public school, but must provide buses for the additional 30,000 who attend private schools. Nevertheless, the Jewish leaders call Rise Up Ocean Countys rhetoric anti-Semitic. Its a vicious group thats trying very hard to put a genteel veneer on their deeply anti-Semitic agenda, said Rabbi Moshe Zev Weisberg, a spokesman for the Lakewood Vaad, a local Jewish communal organization. Using the most vile anti-Semitic methods reminds us of a very dark period of Jewish history. In anonymous emails, Rise Up Ocean County agreed to answer written questions from JTA but later reneged, pointing to statements written on its Facebook page. On that page, the group repeatedly denies that it is anti-Semitic (We are NOT anti-Semitic, the October statement reads). And in a post written following the video paraphrasing the Holocaust poem, the group wrote that We certainly did not intend to draw a moral equivalency between the holocaust and current events in Ocean County. What took place under Nazi rule will forever be known as the greatest human tragedy in the history of mankind The video, however, is still up. Instead, the organization claims that it is concerned about what happens when any one ethnic group exercises too much power. Whenever a particular group, whether they are orthodox Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Atheist, black, hispanic, or white exercises complete control over any one element of government it is a danger, the group wrote in a post Wednesday. Human nature is for that group to advance their own agenda, often times at the expense of the populace. Weisberg and others have said that the way the group singles out haredi Jews and generalizes about them is hateful. Another video, posted to Rise Up Ocean Countys YouTube channel, shows a photo of an unidentified group of Orthodox Jewish men with the subtitle Its not about religion. The video then shows an extended shot of unidentified Orthodox children before warning that population trends could destroy the areas quality of life. That growth will not be in the black or Hispanic communities, it will be almost exclusively in the Orthodox Jewish community, the narrator says, later adding that Lakewood will be at the epicenter of the continued wonderful quality of life that we currently enjoy in Ocean County, or it will lead to its utter destruction. Comments on the groups Facebook page are cruder. On one post showing a photo of a local Orthodox real estate agent, one commenter wrote, They already own so much property over there! I dont understand where the money comes from if more than half are on welfare?!!! (I do understand, believe me). Another wrote build the wall around Lakewood, which garnered 11 likes. A third wrote Unbelievable. These animals. Drew Staffenberg, the executive director of the local Jewish federation, said that communal leaders have been in touch with law enforcement regarding the group. The Rise Up Ocean County group has more than 4,000 likes, and Staffenberg says it represents a fringe of the local population, which is generally open and accepting. I think his rhetoric spews hate, Staffenberg said, referring to the anonymous administrator of the Facebook group. Its anti-Semitic. I dont think theres a question about that. The law enforcement are monitoring this. Its really one guy and a few other people trying to stir up trouble. The real estate agent criticized in the Facebook group, Abba Deutsch, said the Facebook page does not reflect his day-to-day interactions with residents of Toms River, where he lives and works. He said he never hears anti-Semitic comments while soliciting properties and has good relations with his neighbors regardless of religion. Deutsch said that he, like other haredi residents of the city, was drawn by its quiet streets and relatively spacious homes, compared to Lakewood. The majority of the people in Toms River are very welcoming and very nice, he said. Its just a couple of clowns who go on Facebook and make noise. Deutsch said that most people moving to Toms River dont want to live in Brooklyn, in high-density housing or in Lakewood. They want nice, proper houses, he said. They want to live the American dream like the rest of Americans.
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http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/258136
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Does the Media Deserve to Be Respected and Believed?
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Sure looks like it. Last week, large parts of the press -- we're looking at you, CNN and MSNBC -- were gleefully reporting and commenting on the BuzzFeed story about President Trump having allegedly ordered his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen to lie to members of special prosecutor Robert Mueller's staff. There were lots of smiles and (if we can use the word to describe liberals) smirks on their faces as they contemplated the ramifications. Some did note perfunctorily that the story was only noteworthy "if true." Others pointed out, accurately, that several conservative commentators opined that the charge would justify Trump's impeachment and removal from office. The fun stopped suddenly last Friday night when a spokesman for Mueller's office said in a statement, "BuzzFeed's description of specific statements to the Special Counsel's Office, and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen's Congressional testimony are not accurate." Time to reprise all those 40-year-old Emily Litella riffs from "Saturday Night Live." In this case, the "never mind" moment came from CNN chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin. "The larger message that a lot of people are going to take from this story," he said to four glum panel members, "is that the news media are a bunch of leftist liars who are dying to get the president, and they're willing to lie to do it." "I don't think that's true," he added, "but ... I just think this is a bad day for us. ... It reinforces every bad stereotype about the news media." Yup. So does the media reaction the next day to a snippet of video, taken near the Lincoln Memorial after the March for Life, that shows Kentucky school students from Covington Catholic High School wearing red MAGA (Make America Great Again) hats and facing Omaha Indian elder Nathan Phillips. Multiple members of the media, including some notable conservatives, accused the students of behaving in a bigoted, disrespectful and threatening manner. There were calls for them to be expelled from school and doxxing attacks launched against their families. Student Nick Sandmann was mocked for the nervous smile ("smirk") he gave as Phillips banged his drum just short of his face. More extensive video footage, covering nearly two hours at the memorial, told a different and opposite story. (The best accounts to date are two articles by Robby Soave in Reason magazine.) They made it clear that the Covington Catholic students were pummeled for an hour by vicious and racist comments ("crackers," "faggots," "pedophiles") from four or five black men calling themselves the Black Hebrew Israelites. And they made it clear that amid the hubbub of the students singing school chants, it was Phillips who, rather than being surrounded by the students, approached them, banging loudly on a drum while making chants of his own. No one listening to the tape has publicly supported Phillips' claim that the students chanted, "Build the wall!" Apologies came in from many, including conservatives but also some liberals who had contributed to the tweetstorm castigating the students. Many deleted their negative tweets. Others continued to insist that the students are bigoted oppressors. The media responded, too, whether out of a desire to report accurately or to avoid a libel action. "Fuller Picture Emerges of Viral Video of Native American Man and Catholic Students," read the headline on a Sunday New York Times story. American libel law requires actual malice, or reckless disregard of facts, by the media before a public figure can collect. But the students were not public figures as they gathered at the Lincoln Memorial to meet their bus, and the ready availability of exonerating videotape suggests that the first accusatory stories were rushed into print with reckless disregard of available facts. I sure wouldn't want to defend them before a Kentucky jury. Anyone reading through the tweetstorms, especially of those who continue to vilify the Covington Catholic students, cannot help but be struck by the visceral and seething hatred of so many in the press for adolescents whose behavior was, at worst, a bit discourteous, but who are guilty of the offenses of being white, male, Catholic, pro-life and supportive of the current president. COPYRIGHT 2019 CREATORS.COM
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https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/01/25/does_the_media_deserve_to_be_respected_and_believed__139274.html
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Can the Pentagon Build a Bridge to the Tech Community?
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The challenge is huge, given that Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple and other tech giants see themselves as global companies with workers drawn from many nations. But tapping this talent base is essential for future U.S. security -- and fortunately the Pentagon, after some false starts, is now launching a creative effort to win the trust of suspicious software engineers who grew up in the shadow of Edward Snowden's revelations. The basic idea is to do AI "the American way," as people used to say, by framing a set of clear ethical rules through public debate. This "AI Principles Project" was launched last October by the Pentagon's Defense Innovation Board. The first major public meeting took place on Tuesday at Harvard, where Pentagon officials met with about a dozen AI experts, some of them strong critics of U.S. military actions. The Harvard roundtable discussion was lively, and occasionally sharp, says a participant. The group debated privacy concerns, the trade-off between an algorithm's power and its ability to explain its results, methods for establishing human accountability for AI actions, and other legal and moral issues. Similar expert gatherings are planned at Carnegie Mellon in March and Stanford in April, and then the board will release draft principles for public comment. The Pentagon outreach was deliberately aimed at engineers who don't like the idea of working with the U.S. military. As the innovation board's statement announcing the ethics dialogue put it, "We are taking care to include not only experts who often work with the [Department of Defense], but also AI skeptics, DoD critics and leading AI engineers who have never worked with DoD before." "If we're going to be the arsenal of democracy in the 21st century, we have to show that we have ideals and are ready to stand up for them," says one senior Pentagon official involved in the program. "It wasn't going to be enough to say, 'Hey, we're the good guys, we're Americans.' We needed to be more introspective." This bridge-building to the tech community follows a potentially disastrous rupture last year, when Google employees rebelled at a Pentagon AI effort called "Project Maven." It was a relatively small, $9 million contract to write algorithms for nonlethal monitoring of surveillance videos to detect threatening movement. Neither the company nor the Pentagon foresaw the controversy that erupted when thousands of Google employees signed a protest petition; the company had to retreat and declined to renew the contract. Behind the Maven flap lie some fascinating cross currents. Senior Google executives had wanted a larger piece of the government's national-security business, which has been dominated by Amazon and Microsoft. But they were secretive with employees about the project. A tight-lipped Pentagon worsened the public-relations disaster. Google employees felt misled, and Pentagon officials were enraged that the tech engineers had scuttled a project aimed at detecting terrorist threats. (Pentagon anger deepened when Google announced last year it would launch a "Dragonfly" search-engine project in China; the company has since retreated, again after employee protest.) Google's chief executive Sundar Pichai's withdrawal from Maven was driven, above all, by opposition from some of the top engineers on whom Google's future rests. A Pentagon official recalls trying to explain to one of these AI gurus that the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights would prevent excesses by America. The engineer replied that these safeguards meant little to him because he wasn't a U.S. citizen. The Google revolt hasn't yet spread across Silicon Valley, despite efforts by some engineers to organize such a boycott. Top executives at Microsoft and Amazon have resisted employee protest and reaffirmed their willingness to work on classified contracts for the military and the intelligence community, such as the huge JEDI cloud-computing project. (Amazon's CEO, Jeff Bezos, owns The Washington Post). The engineers aren't wrong in demanding that the Pentagon set rules for this new domain of warfare. "There has been a lack of clarity from DOD about how it will use AI," argued Paul Scharre of the Center for a New American Security. The Pentagon-Silicon Valley dialogue is wary and awkward, and it could collapse -- with dire consequences for America's future military strength. The senior Pentagon official explains the one reason it might work: "We've created ways for people who hate us to express their views. That's what makes us different from a closed society." (c) 2019, Washington Post Writers Group
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https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/01/25/can_the_pentagon_build_a_bridge_to_the_tech_community_139276.html
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Will movie about India's Joan of Arc do well at box office?
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MUMBAI (AFP) - The last anti-colonial epic - the Pirates Of The Caribbean- style Thugs Of Hindostan - sank at the Indian box office in November, despite starring big names such as Aamir Khan and Amitabh Bachchan. Now, another Brit-bashing offering from Bollywood has hit cinemas, a patriotic epic heavy on martial arts and about a warrior queen dubbed India's Joan of Arc. The Hindi-language Manikarnika: The Queen Of Jhansi has got off to a fiery start, with its star Kangana Ranaut threatening to "destroy" protesters who said the film alluded to an affair with a British officer. Rani Laxmibai was a leading figure in a failed 1857 uprising against Britain's East India Company, which led London to impose direct control. Killed in the Battle of Gwalior in June 1858 that ended the rebellion, she has lived on as an independence icon and is usually depicted brandishing a sword while leading her troops to war on a horse. The film debuted over India's Republic Day weekend, one of two annual holidays that celebrate independence. Industry watchers expect audiences to flock to a flick that will be full of nationalistic fervour, featuring elaborate costumes and grand battle scenes. Indian media reports said fanatical groups belonging to India's Rajput caste had held protests against what they believed would be a scene alluding to a relationship between Laxmibai and a British officer.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/entertainment/will-movie-about-indias-joan-of-arc-do-well-at-box-office
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Who Needs To Beef Up Their Permian Portfolio?
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The challenge is always to present a complex story simply. Every once in a while, a visual aid nails it and the reader frankly doesnt need much more. In this particular case, its about what will drive tight oil consolidation in 2019 and beyond. More on this shortly. US tight oil has been the biggest theme in the upstream M&A market over the last three years. A total of U.S.$60 billion was spent acquiring tight oil assets in 2018, of which almost 50% was in the Permian. A clear pattern has emerged since 2015 its the big players dominating the tight oil deal making. Smaller independents valued at under U.S.$5 billion are still active, but there is a changing of the guard. The big money is coming from Big Oil Majors and large independents. Over two-thirds of the capital spent buying tight oil assets in 2018 was from companies with a market value of more than U.S.$5 billion. Nearly half was companies of U.S.$10 billion or more, including BP, which acquired BHPs assets. This reflects the industrialization of development in the Permian. ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell and now BP are among the biggest investors shaping the way the basin is being exploited. Scale is a means of creating value access to a bigger inventory of pre-drill wells, especially in contiguous acreage. High grading inventory and selecting well sites are key to the logic of doing deals. There are those who dont have exposure but who want to get it. There are plenty of these have-nots many of them sizeable players, including Asian national oil companies, Asian independents and, perhaps, even majors like Total. Not all may want to buy big, but some want in on the action as a platform to build an understanding of whats going on, how it all works, and as a spring board for future expansion. Then theres a bigger group of Permian haves, some of whom may not have enough. That brings us back to our visual, shown below, which ranks existing positions in the Permian who needs to buy and who may consider selling out. Ryan Duman, principal analyst, and team mined our U.S. Lower 48 database of companies exposure to the basin, making a judgment on the depth and quality of portfolios by ranking metrics such as production growth, experience, productivity, variability, capital efficiency, asset size and location. By combining historical actuals and forward-looking metrics were able to take a more holistic review of how each operator stacks up. Three things stuck out. First, few Permian operators have enough high-quality inventory to support growth much beyond five years (and many production profiles start plateauing sooner than that). We found that approximately 60% of Permian operators could be considered as either future buyers or sellers. Second, some candidates stand out as the potential buyers that might lead another wave of acquisitions. These may be operators looking to the Permian for significant growth and more productive inventory, among them Anadarko and Devon. Soaring Permian acreage costs means the likely buyers club will be a tight-ish group, including the larger independents and majors. Capital discipline will be a limiting factor industry-wide. Third, companies with less certain longevity might choose to sell while the going's good. An example of this visual in action is Resolute's sale to Cimarex late last year. Others might opt to improve their position if they have organic upside potential from exploration and appraisal or shift to industrialized development. Operators like QEP and Encana are actively testing cube- or tank-style development, which could help them exploit Permian resource more efficiently and effectively. We may be in for a fresh bout of consolidation. The recent sharp sell-off in shares has opened up steep discounts to our valuation for some independents, an opportunity for the big to get bigger.
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/woodmackenzie/2019/01/25/who-needs-to-beef-up-their-permian-portfolio/
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How do we grieve?
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By Bex Peterson, Editor-in-Chief I have this recurring dream thats been plaguing me since 2013. Im usually in a caf, or a pubsome kind of public meeting placeand I see an old friend of mine. I havent seen his face since graduation. I rush over, my heart pounding in my chest, and I pull him into a tight hug. We all thought you were dead, I tell him. Every time, my throat is incredibly tight when I say this. I remember your funeral. Its usually around this point that I wake up, feeling momentarily relieved that my friend is still alive. And then, slowly, I remember. It will be six years this March since my friend died suddenly; no warning, no previous illness that we knew of, just a heart attack that seemed to strike out of the blue. Two weeks ago, was six years since another friend of mine passed; in February itll be seven years for someone else. The years of 2012 and 2013 felt cursed to me. I kept losing people, one after another, with no time to recover between each blow. Every time these macabre anniversaries roll around, I cant help but wonder at how much time has passed. Individual grief operates on its own calendar, with its own sense of the minutes and hours, the days and the years. No one gets to tell you that youre taking too long to process; no one other than you can decide what time you need to come to terms with the loss. And even then, its hardly a matter of choice. Its been six years, and I still have vivid dreams that my friends are alive. I still wake up with that awful momentary relief. Ive wanted to punch every person whos trotted out this line to me in my own times of grieving, but it is a terrible fact that loss is a part of life. I dont want to use that fact to dismiss the experience; rather, I take it to mean that many of us are grieving at any given time. You wont always see it, you wont always hear it, and you wont always know how deeply someone is hurting. Be kind to each other. There are so many of us wandering around with holes in our hearts; some that are bigger than others. Love doesnt fix it, but it can help, sometimes, to lessen the burden. Until next issue, Bex Peterson
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http://theotherpress.ca/how-do-we-grieve/
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Can fashion subscription service Lookiero revive my tired midlife wardrobe?
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But these days, for most of us, a combination of age, size, finances, energy and distance has conspired to make it far too much of a palaver. So maybe, like me, you dash into Primark for basics, or take an occasional foray into Phase Eight or John Lewis for smart. The rest is usually found in the back of the wardrobe. Latest figures show retails sales are in decline, with M&S announcing last week it is to shut another 11 stores across the UK, while this week, John Lewis announced that Knight & Lee in Southsea, one of its two outposts to retain the original name, will close in July. Part of the challenge for retailers, of course, is...
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https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/can-fashion-subscription-service-lookiero-revive-tired-midlife/
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Why won't MPs take Remain off the table?
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Its now 946 days since the UK voted to leave the EU in the referendum, 722 days since Parliament overwhelmingly voted to trigger Article 50, and 596 days since both Labour and the Conservatives pledged to honour the referendum outcome at the general election. You would think all those decisions meant no MP could countenance Remain as a viable option. How wrong you would be. The rearguard action to delay, then kill, Brexit is in full force. We hear a lot from MPs about taking no-deal off the table. For some, this is code for extending Article 50, delaying Brexit, allowing time to hold a second referendum before we leave. I cannot agree. The public simply dont trust the MPs who are asking...
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https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/01/25/wont-mps-take-remain-table/
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Should there be a compulsory register of homeschooled children?
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'My mother had a real thing about the soles of the feet. Walking with damaged feet is agony, says Christopher Spry. I should know. It was one of the places she liked to beat us. Now 29, he calmly lists instances of torture at the hands of his foster mother, Eunice Spry. He went to live with her when he was three years old and was raised as her child for the next 13 years, with four siblings. From the age of five, they were all home-educated, isolated from the outside world. Spry was removed from his foster mothers care at 16 when his oldest sister managed to contact the police. Eunice was convicted in 2007 and sentenced to 14 years in prison. The presiding judge said it was the worst case...
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https://www.telegraph.co.uk/family/schooling/should-compulsory-register-homeschooled-children/
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When is the Boots 70% sale 2019 finally going to launch?
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Get Great Deals 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 It's the sale everyone has desperately been waiting for but Boots is still yet to launch its 70% off sale. There have been ongoing reports about what will be included in the sale and when it is expected to launch, but no details have been confirmed by Boots as yet. The 70% off sale sees big branded items reduced and some huge deals available across departments. Brands including Soap and Glory, Champneys and No7 are usually included. The sale, which has run for the past couple of years, usually launches on a Friday in January, meaning many shoppers thought it would begin today - given it is the last Friday of the month. Here's what we know so far. Boots is always tight-lipped when it comes to revealing the date the 70% off sale will launch. However, they have confirmed when it won't be happening. Boots confirmed to us that it will "definitely not" boost to 70% this week. According to moneysavingexpert.com this could imply it may still happen at some point, but Boots won't confirm when. Staff at Boots stores have also confirmed the boost will take place, but even they have not been given the official date from its head office. Clues... On Twitter, user @PrawnCufflinks shared store signs waiting to be put out across one of Boots' Liverpool stores indicating it will be happening soon. In the tweet he said: "Disappointing that the 70% off sale hasn't started in #Boots today as many predicted, but the clues are there. Hopefully not long to wait! #Liverpool." Despite confusion, the 70% sale definitely has not started yet, although its 'Mini Club' range has up to 70% off at the moment. Shoppers can also currently get up to 50% off some products in store and online, which is causing some shoppers to think the main sale has began. We will bring you the latest updates regarding this 70% off sale as soon as we have them.
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https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/whats-on/shopping/boots-70-sale-2019-finally-15720318
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Is there an optimal diet for humans?
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Nutrition experts have long debated whether there is an optimal diet that humans evolved to eat. January is Health Month in The Irish Times. You can find articles, columns, advice and tips at irishtimes.com/health, as well as in print every Tuesday in the Health & Family Supplement. However, a study published recently found there is most likely no one natural diet that is best for human health. The research, published in the journal Obesity Reviews, viewed the diets, habits and physical activities of modern hunter-gatherer groups and small societies such as a community in northern Tanzania whose lifestyles are similar to those of ancient populations. They found that they all exhibit generally excellent metabolic health while consuming a wide range of diets. Some get up to 80 per cent of their calories from carbohydrates. Others eat mostly meat. But there were some broad strokes: almost all of them eat a mix of meat, fish and plants, consuming foods that are generally packed with nutrients. In general, they eat a lot more fibre than the average person. Most of their carbohydrates come from vegetables and starchy plants with a low glycemic index. But it is also not uncommon for hunter-gatherers to eat sugar, consumed primarily in the form of honey. Physical activity The findings suggest that there is no one true diet for humans, who can be very healthy on a wide range of diets, said the lead author of the study, Herman Pontzer, an associate professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke University. We know that because we see a wide range of diets in these very healthy populations. One thing hunter-gatherer populations have in common is a very high level of physical activity. Many walk between 5 and 10 miles (8 and 16km) a day. Yet, paradoxically they do not have higher energy expenditure levels than the average office worker. That suggests that health authorities should consider recommending exercise primarily as a way to improve metabolic health, but not necessarily as a calorie-burning antidote to obesity, the authors said. From a public health perspective, modern hunter-gatherers may be most remarkable for their relative lack of chronic diseases such as heart disease, hypertension and cancer. Obesity rates are low. They have very high levels of cardiorespiratory fitness, even in old age. And type 2 diabetes and metabolic dysfunction are hardly ever seen. But life in hunter-gatherer societies is not easy. Infant mortality rates are high because of infectious disease. Deaths from accidents, gastrointestinal illness and acute infections are common. Those who survive to adulthood often reach old age relatively free from degenerative diseases that are the norm in industrialised nations. They are typically fit and active until the end, suggesting that there is something about their way of life that allows them to age healthfully. Few of us would want to trade places with them. Their lives are still tough, Pontzer said. But the things they get sick from are things we know how to deal with, and the things they dont get sick from are the things we struggle to deal with. It is possible that genetics and other factors unrelated to lifestyle protect them from chronic disease. But studies show that when people born into hunter-gatherer societies move to large cities and adopt western lifestyles, they develop high rates of obesity and metabolic disease just like everyone else. Michael Gurven, an anthropologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has done extensive research on the Tsiman, a Bolivian population that lives a subsistence lifestyle of hunting, gathering, fishing and farming. The Tsiman get most of their calories from complex carbohydrates high in fibre like plantain, corn, cassava, rice and bananas, supplemented with wild game and fish. Gurven has published detailed studies showing that they have exceptional cardiovascular health and almost no diabetes. Yet, Gurven has seen several cases of Tsiman people developing and dying from type 2 diabetes after leaving their villages and moving to the nearby town of San Borja, where they took sedentary office jobs and gave up their traditional diet. Rapid change They changed from their traditional diet to eating in town where everything is fried, he said. They started eating fried chicken and rice and drinking Coca-Cola. Some of these folks can see a pretty rapid change in health. For the new study, Pontzer and his colleagues analysed data on hunter-gatherers and other small-scale societies across the globe, from South America to Africa and Australia. They looked at detailed dietary assessments of fossil and archaeological records to get a sense of what early humans ate. And they included new data collected from the Hadza, a community of people who spend their days hunting and foraging in northern Tanzania, much as their ancestors have for tens of thousands of years. The Hadza consume what some call the oldest diet. Pontzer has spent time with them and long studied their health. In a typical day, the Hadza set out in groups early in the morning to hunt and forage in the savanna. The women traverse hilly terrain to collect wild berries and dig up tubers resembling fibrous sweet potatoes. Getting them is not easy, Pontzer said. The women use sticks to dig up the tubers, in some cases while carrying infants on their backs. The men head out to hunt animals, often killing small ones but, about once a month, something big like a zebra, warthog or gazelle. On days when their hunts come up short, they head over to beehives and collect honey, which is one of their favourite foods, accounting for at least 15 per cent of the calories in their diet. On any given day in a Hadza camp, there is almost always honey, a little meat and tubers, Pontzer said. The number of daily calories the Hadza consume is similar to that of the average westerner. But they rely on a fairly small number of foods. And notably they do not have potato chips, ice cream and other processed foods that combine large amounts of fat and simple carbs foods that are engineered to be irresistible even when we are not hungry. The lack of novelty and variety in hunter-gatherer diets may be part of the reason they do not overeat and become obese. Studies show, for example, that the greater the variety of food choices in front of us, the longer it takes to feel full, a phenomenon known as sensory specific satiety. Its the reason you always have room for dessert at a restaurant even when youre full, Pontzer said. Even though youve had a savoury meal and you cant eat one more bite of steak, youre still interested in the cheesecake because its sweet and that button hasnt been worn out in your brain yet. New York Times
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https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/health-family/is-there-an-optimal-diet-for-humans-1.3758923?localLinksEnabled=false
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What is National Voters Day?
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India is celebrating its 9th National Voters Day on Friday. It is celebrated every year on January 25, the day the Election Commission of India was founded, to promote peoples participation in elections by encouraging and felicitating young voters and to increase voter enrollment. It is organised to spread awareness among voters for promoting informed participation in the electoral process. Advertising Keeping in mind the upcoming Lok Sabha elections this year, the theme of the NVD has been selected as no voter to be left behind. It will be celebrated at more than six lakh locations covering around ten lakh polling stations across the country. The first-time voters of the respective areas will be invited to collect their Elector Photo Identity Cards (EPIC). President Ram Nath Kovind will be the chief guest at the event being organised by the EC at Manekshaw Centre in Delhi, Several other leaders including Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad are also scheduled to be present there. The first National Voters Day was celebrated in 2011 under the leadership of the then Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) S Y Quraishi. Speaking to The Indian Express in 2017, Quraishi had said, When I took over (as the CEC), my biggest concern was voters apathy. At that time only 12 per cent of youngsters in the 18-19 years age group were registered as voters. The indifference among the youths was rooted in lack of awareness about eligibility and enrollment process. Although voter education was not the Election Commissions mandate then, I decided that an extensive awareness drive was the only way to end voters apathy. Advertising Emulating Indias example, six countries, including Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal and Bhutan, have started celebrating the National Voters Day.
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https://indianexpress.com/article/what-is/what-is-national-voters-day-5554743/
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When was the last time Chicagos daily high temperature didnt go above zero?
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Lou Avenatti, Hammond Dear Lou, Frigid indeed. In 149 years of official Chicago temperature records (beginning with Nov. 1, 1870), Chicagos high temperature has remained at zero degrees or lower on 64 days. That is about one day out of every 854 days, or once every 21/3 years. The most recent occurrence of a high temperature of zero degrees or lower was five years ago: Jan. 6, 2014, with a high of minus 2 degrees. Before that, Jan. 15, 2009, had a high of minus 1 degree. Chicagos lowest maximum temperature was a bone-chilling minus 11 degrees on Jan. 18, 1994, and also minus 11 degrees on Dec. 24, 1983. In addition, a high of minus 10 degrees was recorded on Jan. 25, 1899. Chicagos high temperature has remained at zero degrees or lower on only 64 days in 149 years of official records.
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https://wgntv.com/2019/01/24/when-was-the-last-time-chicagos-daily-high-temperature-didnt-go-above-zero/
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Are We Asking Too Much Of Young Celebs Like Millie Bobby Brown?
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We all said problematic things as teenagersat least, I know I did. When I was 13, I used the word gay as a derogatory term for the first time (super ironic now, by the way). My mother, who was within earshot, stopped me in my tracks and explained why using the word in that context was *not* okay. She didnt yell at me, she didnt get mad, but she made it very clear that it was a serious issue, and that it would not be tolerated. Thats a conversation Stranger Thingss Millie Bobby Brown has been having recently, too. On January 15th, Brown posted an Instagram story about the popular Netflix drama You, which follows Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley), a bookstore owner and legit sociopath who becomes obsessed with Beck (Elizabeth Lail), a woman he first spots at his store. After their meet cute, he stalks her on- and offline, going to extreme measures to protect her from the people in her life that he views as toxic. I dont think I need to tell you how incredibly problematic Joe is, but Brown seemed to disagree. In her (now-deleted) story, she defended him, saying, Hes not creepy, hes in love with her. Joe literally hit a man over the head with a mallet because he was casually sleeping with Beck and therefore an obstacle to their relationship, so Brown is objectively wrong about the creepiness. But, its easy to see how she could think possessiveness is the same as love. The writers of the show deliberately interspersed murder scenes with annoyingly cute scenes of Joe and Beck. And the story is told from Joes perspective, which makes it much easier to justify his actions. For an impressionable young person like Brown, the exciting newness of romance can be enough to overlook anythingeven murder, apparently. But Brown wasnt the only one that felt this way. Lots of grown adults were also fooled by the cute montages and intimate scenes on the show, taking to Twitter to show their support of their murderous man-crush. just finished watching YOU on Netflix. am I crazy for being on Joes side Lauren Bradley (@lolitzlauren) January 23, 2019 Luckily, Badgely soon swooped in to politely, yet hilariously, set people straight. A: He is a murderer https://t.co/g2g4f3JvaF Penn Badgley (@PennBadgley) January 9, 2019 But youre supposed to see past my face TO the crazy shit! Its the other way! The other wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyhhyyyyggg Penn Badgley (@PennBadgley) January 9, 2019 Even before Badgely went on his Twitter crusade to set the stans straight, most of the people who were thirsting after his character at least felt guilty about it, though. Or they recognized that they shouldnt crush on the murderous stalker, at leastsomething that was distinctly lacking in MBBs Instagram story. Young women like Emma Gonzales and Malala are increasingly at the forefront of social activism, so its easy to have high expectations. And teenage girls have more of a voice than ever, which means theyre finally being given the opportunity to make a difference. But, it seems as though were forgetting that while young women are becoming leaders/running the world, theyre also still learning how to operate within it. And its important to let these teens *be* teensthey have to make mistakes, so that they can learn from them and become better people. And publicly shaming them isnt exactly conducive to this goal. there's nothing wrong w her she's literally just a 14 year old girl and that's it like, she's been raised in a society that romanticises toxic behaviour from men and y'all expect her to be "woke" like she's an adult https://t.co/JVTDc9zNKA indie (@INDIEWASHERE) January 16, 2019 she's a 14 year old girl who has been raised in the industry surrounded by creepy men, if anything, you should be concerned about her, not calling her stupid and trying to drag her like you weren't 14 year old girls yourselves reading abusive boyfriend stories on wattpad https://t.co/1tjRJcc1Td ramona (@gothforbid) January 15, 2019 I dont think shes stupid, but this is why its so important to always be a proactive parent. She is the definition of a pre-teen. And may seem mature and dress well, but this goes to show that 14-year olds romanticize literally everything and need guidance lol https://t.co/VOsfa0eJ8y Mariah Leonard (@mariahlleonard) January 16, 2019 This isnt the first time Brown has been critiqued. Something doesnt quite add up there. Sure, Browns comments were shortsighted. And of course its important for her to be a positive role model for her younger fans. However, its not fair to expect her to have the maturityor contextthat an adult would have. Show biz may have allowed her to see more of the world than your typical 14-year-old, but at the end of the day, shes still a 14-year-old. There is an increasing amount of pressure on celebrities, and specifically women, to wear a million different hats. Its not enough that at fourteen, MBB has already made a name for herself in the acting industry. She is unfairly positioned as a role model, without actually having signed up to be one. For better or for worse, weve become increasingly quick to cancel celebs, and I think that makes it even more important to question who were criticizing and for what reason. Millie Bobby Brown already faces a lot more scrutiny than the average teenager. Instead of shaming her for her actions, we should be encouraging her to grow, and celebrating her once she does so. Because as I learned from my mom, its often more impactful to educate a person about how they can be better than to yell at them about what they did wrong. Related: From Matilda to Eleven, These Actors Found Fame But Risk Losing Their Childhood Why 2019 Is the Year Im Over Drake Reconsidering Shes the Man in Light of Amanda Byness Recent Comments
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https://www.flare.com/celebrity/millie-bobbie-brown-you-netflix/
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What nurtures a kids entrepreneurial spirit?
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When Campbell Baron was 9 years old, he had a lemonade stand. But unlike other young lemonade proprietors, who hang out their shingle for one day and scamper off to the candy store with their revenues, Campbell reviewed his numbers. Campbell Baron, a 15-year-old Toronto entrepreneur, right, interviews Michael Dubin, the founder and CEO of Dollar Shave Club, for Barons new podcast and video series, The Ones Who Succeed. ( Campbell Baron ) Earnings were $15, but since his parents had insisted he pay for the lemonade ingredients and cups himself, profits were around $5. He took that $5 and went to the store to buy smaller cups. Then I remember the second or third day profiting around $100, Campbell said. He paid his little brother, Nicholas, about $30 for being an employee his advertising person who helped bring the clients to the table. Article Continued Below Campbell also gathered his clients email addresses and created a frequent customer reward system with cards that hed stamp so thirsty repeat patrons could earn a free glass. Soon he had the cash to get a Playmobil yacht hed had his eye on at a store down the street from their home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, where his family lived at the time. He was sold on the entrepreneurial life. Ever since that lemonade stand, I always knew I was going to be an entrepreneur for the rest of my life. There was something that clicked there. Now 15 and living in Toronto, Campbell has since launched several ventures, the latest of which is his new podcast and video series The Ones Who Succeed, featuring his interviews with A-list entrepreneurs. Campbells story offers some key lessons on what drives a young business mind and what parenting practices help nurture that entrepreneurial spirit. His guest on Episode 1 is Michael Dubin, the founder and CEO of Dollar Shave Club, which was purchased by Unilever for a reported $1 billion (U.S.) in 2016. But this is no vanity project funded by Campbells mom and dad. In keeping with their stand on making him pay for his own lemonade supplies, Campbell raised the funds for a full season of his show which involves flying to various locations to interview his guests by hustling up a sponsor for the project before it got off the ground. With skills his parents taught him through his earlier ventures, including a successful video production company that he launched at age 13. Campbell J. Baron Videos shot and edited social media commercials for a wide range of brands, including SleepCountry Canada and Pinkberry, a frozen yogurt company. I was very lucky, Campbell says. My parents both came from a service business background, so they taught me skills such as cold emailing, and being persistent and following up. Article Continued Below Through those cold emails, Campbell managed to convince online learning platform Skillshare that by featuring a teenage host, The Ones Who Succeed could offer a unique take on the usual entrepreneurial interview show. The California-based company funded the full first season. In another point of differentiation, Campbell is producing a short video version of each interview and running a longer audio interview on the podcast. This allows him to play in the YouTube space, where he cut his teeth as an entrepreneur once hed matured past his lemonade stand years. I wanted to know what Campbells parents, Robert and Lilli Baron, thought about all of this. They first realized the eldest of their two sons was business minded when he overcame their lukewarm response to the idea of his Manhattan lemonade stand, which for starters required a permit from building management to set up out front. Then he accepted their reality check about revenue and expenses. You need investment money and thats your father and I, his mom explained. Well go buy your supplies with you, but then whatever profit you make youll have to pay your investors back first. Once he demonstrated his ability to improve margins by reducing cup size, it was clear hed be sticking with his first business for a while. The approximately six-month venture was such a reliable source of cash for Campbell that he could almost use it like an ATM machine, Robert says. Wed be over at a friends on a Sunday and hed say, Im losing daylight here. Ive got to get back and sell lemonade. Asked what aspects of their parenting they believe have helped nurture his business mind, his mom and dad point to their free-range parenting style and honest feedback. We dont coddle them, Robert says. They both rode the subway when Campbell was in Grade 6 and Nick in Grade 4. Some people were aghast, but they had a cellphone and they were in touch. The Barons encourage their kids in their respective interests (Nicholas loves athletics), but we also dont believe that the sun shines out of the top of their heads. That means they dont let fear of hurt feelings dissuade them from giving constructive feedback, Robert says. When Campbell was running his video production company, hed get the straight goods when hed show his parents his latest client videos. I can remember one occasion when I said, Im not that impressed. I dont think its that interesting. Its not your best work. The feedback wasnt easy for Campbell to hear, but it did give him information he needed to refine his skills. Campbell attends Grade 10 at a Toronto alternative school and has some flexibility to be on the road to produce the show, as well as academic credit for some of his work on the business side. But juggling everything hasnt been easy, he says. I dont take any days off maybe a Saturday once in a while if I want to ski. Its required making some sacrifices, but its definitely well worth it. Asked what he hopes other kids will take away from watching and listening to The Ones Who Succeed, and from his entrepreneurial journey, Campbell has a humble response. Im not gifted. Im not a genius or anything. But I do think Im a really hard worker and I think that can be taught. And hard work was definitely what got me to this spot and helped me manage school and my business. Brandie Weikle writes about parenting issues and is the host of The New Family Podcast and editor of thenewfamily.com. Follow her on Twitter: @bweikle
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https://www.thestar.com/life/opinion/2019/01/23/what-nurtures-a-kids-entrepreneurial-spirit.html
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Are these the future leaders of South Africa?
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EFF MP's Floyd Shivambu, Julius Malema and Mbuyiseni Ndlozi at Thursday's meeting of the Joint Constitutional Review Committee where a recommendation was adopted to allow expropriation without compensation. (Jan Gerber/ News24) They say great leaders are born. Whether icons like Chris Hani, Bram Fischer, Steve Biko, Robert Sobukwe, and even Nelson Mandela, looked like leaders to everyone around them at the time, grew into those roles, or became exceptional leaders with the passing of time and as new generations fell in love with their legacy, is an open debate. A basic understanding of what makes a leader is simply someone who is able to guide a group of people, a concept synonymous with control, supervision, command and power. A quick internet search tells you what characteristics good leaders have: they communicate effectively, are honest, have integrity, are innovative, etc. In the world of politics though, such a manual seldom does the trick. Many believe great leaders are people who see beyond themselves, who understand that their actions contribute to a bigger vision and who always act with this in mind. Leaders like Mandela were often not questioned by the majority, because it was understood that he had a vision for South Africa that they agreed with. Fast forward to the 2000s and many of the values associated with great leadership seem to have been lost and, with it, respect for our leaders. South Africans had no problem questioning the leadership of former president Thabo Mbeki and this was nothing compared to the ire Jacob Zuma would attract, almost at every turn, as head of state. Today, more and more South Africans struggle to identify with the glory and trust once shared in our national leaders. The young leaders who will pick up the baton from the current generation will therefore have to earn the trust of the people again in a legitimate and credible way. It remains uncertain who will step into the void. In the ANC, it has often been said that, due to its leaders only getting an opportunity to govern late in life, that they should be allowed to continue because they earned it. But the party's insistence on deploying cadres to senior government positions has stymied its ability to organically grow and promote young leaders through the ranks. This has resulted in the loss of young, quality leaders in the party, perhaps best personified by the departure of Ronald Lamola from ANC Youth League structures in 2015. Lamola lost the race for president of the ANCYL to Collen Maine in an election mired in controversy. He vowed then to remain loyal to the ANC and did not take up any leadership positions until recently, when he was elected to the ANC NEC. He was also included in its national working committee, and is part of Ramaphosas panel on land, charting a way towards the expropriation of land without compensation. He is now touted to be one of the party's rising stars. Lamola, 36, went against the grain, demanding Zuma step down after his dealings with the Guptas became public knowledge. After then-deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas made allegations that the Guptas had offered him the position of finance minister, Lamola and some of his comrades held demonstrations outside ANC NEC meetings, again calling for the ANC president to go. As for the ANCYL, Collen Maine and his leadership collective have presided over a league that is still trying to recover after it was disbanded in 2013. Their own politics and inability to connect with young people have forced the ANC to rely on older former members like Fikile Mbalula, Zizi Kodwa, Pule Mabe and Dakota Lekgoete to help keep the party relevant in young peoples minds, defining these middle-aged men as youthful while fluttering and failing to speak the language of an ever youthful country. Previously a leadership incubator for the ANC, the Youth League has been reduced to an embarrassment to the party. But there might still be hope for the ANC. Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams appointment at age 39 as Minister of Communications was lauded by many and, although her politics are not widely known, those whove seen her in action during the Eastern Cape ANC's much talked about festival of chairs 2016 provincial conference have described her as savvy and having shown that she knows how the politics game is played. She has already been seen by Ramaphosa's side as part of Team South Africa, as he tries to woo more investors to venture into business with the country. Her rise has been seen by some as a reward for her commitment to the campaign to get Ramaphosa elected ANC president at Nasrec. Ndabeni-Abrahams' rise has also put the spotlight on women in the ANC, even more so as those seen rising to the top in the party often do so on the ticket of their male counterparts. This is in spite of the ANCs attempt to rectify the phenomenon with their 50/50 gender parity principle. Opposition leaders Across the isle another enigmatic star is rising. Whether its his dazzling smile, beautiful singing voice or brains, Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, 33, has charmed many since taking up the role of EFF national spokesperson and Member of Parliament. It is fair to say that hes had a meteoric rise in national politics, in part due to his quick wit, often displayed in Parliament. Ndlozi, much like the DAs Phumzile Van Damme, 35, is a gift introduced to South Africans via the opposition parties. Van Damme's dynamic Im never scared attitude in Parliament has caught the eye of many young women who marvel at seeing such a young politician go toe to toe with some of the most experienced parliamentarians in the National Assembly. Van Damme, who has also been a spokesperson for the DA, is stamping her role in the SABC sub-committee, aimed at stabilising the countrys struggling public broadcaster. But it is the EFF that has reminded South Africa of what young passion looks like, how impatience and frustration can find spaces in society to articulate itself. Most of its young leaders are focused on the ground, bringing a red tide to numerous universities across the country. The rise of the Fees Must Fall leaders The story of the future leaders of South Africa cant be told without mentioning the Fallists. The Fees Must Fall movement, which swept across institutions of higher learning gave rise to new, bolder and determined voices, with some of those young leaders moving beyond university gates and lending their voices and leadership skills to greater causes in society. It is through the student struggles that perceptions around people like Mcebo Dlamini, 32, shifted - from being seen as a rogue, untrustworthy SRC president who seemed to admire Adolf Hitler, to someone capable of commanding student forces, providing guidance and, constantly articulating his views on society and attempting to lead the Youth League structure in the ANC. Other 'fallist' leaders such as EFF activist Naledi Chirwa, 24, and former Wits SRC president Nompendulo Mkhatshwa, 25, who is reported to be high up on the ANC's party list are also making their mark. Of course, there are many young people working in political parties who have yet to put up their hands to fill leadership positions, but already play central roles in the machinations of their parties. Names like the DA's Hlomela Bucwa, 25, and the IFP's national spokesperson and MP Mkhuleko Hlengwa come to mind. And let's not forget that the leaders of the two main opposition parties, Mmusi Maimane, 38, and Julius Malema, 37, are yet to hit their political prime.
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https://www.news24.com/Analysis/are-these-the-future-leaders-of-south-africa-20190124
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Could we resolve state water grab by selling some water?
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Whether a majority of Modesto Irrigation District leaders are angling to part with some river water seems to be at the core of an increasingly bitter power struggle on the board. We do have a fractured board at this time, very fractured. We have a division here, said board member Larry Byrd in the middle of a this weeks fireworks lasting about an hour. Everyone in the room is wondering what the hell is going on. A few audience members joined the fray and accused the newly formed board majority of plotting to sell or transfer MID water from the Tuolumne River to other users, perhaps as part of the districts crucial negotiations with state water officials. The state water board recently approved a proposal that would swell Central Valley rivers in the spring, leaving less in reservoirs for thirsty farmers in the summer and fall. MID and other water agencies have sued to block whats locally called the state water grab, but negotiations could offset the decision or the lawsuits. Speaking from the audience, Todd Sill, Ryan Honnette and Emerson Drake suggested that the new board majority had fired MIDs former lawyer, Ronda Lucas, to make it easier to transfer water elsewhere. Digital Access for only $0.99 For the most comprehensive local coverage, subscribe today. Drake suggested that certain board members are dismissive of women and said Lucas would not allow a water sale to San Francisco. A 2011 proposal for such a sale brought heated objections from crowds of people, effectively forcing then-board members to abandon the idea in 2012. On Tuesday, Byrd strenuously objected to being removed as MIDs envoy to a committee of the San Joaquin Tributaries Authority charged with negotiating on behalf of various water agencies. Byrd had served seven years in that capacity and was not consulted before MID board chairman Paul Campbell appointed board member John Mensinger to replace Byrd. Byrd and Nick Blom, both growers representing mostly rural areas, previously controlled board decisions, joined by Campbell. That changed when Campbell began siding with the boards John Mensinger and Stu Gilman, who represent mostly urban areas. A rift had formed in October, when Byrd and Blom launched an investigation of suspected illegal activity by board members, General Manager Scott Furgerson and other unidentified agents. Mensinger called the move outrageous and a declaration of war, and by November, the investigation had been called off. At that time, a letter from the investigating law firm to Mensinger, Campbell and Gilman indicated that Lucas advice about another probe involving former employee Gary Soiseth was at the root of Lucas termination. Soiseth was then running for re-election as mayor of Turlock; he lost the race to Amy Bublak. Shifting balance of power The shifting alliance on the MID board became apparent in early December, when the urban representatives elevated Campbell to board chairman, with Mensinger as vice chairman; Byrd and Blom dissented. Either Byrd or Blom had presided as chairman since Mensinger was elected five years ago, he noted. Now you object to the fact that youre no longer controlling everything and making every decision, Mensinger said. To make this (committee appointment) into some kind of massive issue is going a little bit crazy. ... The majority of the board will make decisions and run the agency the way we think it should be run. Campbell said Mensinger had asked for the appointment and Campbell agreed. To confer with Byrd would have violated the Brown Act, Californias open meetings law which prevents discussion among more than two members of a five-member panel outside of public meetings, on a given issue. Byrd and Mensinger jousted Tuesday over Lucas termination, announced in November. Byrd said he and Blom had no idea why she was let go. When you say you had no idea, thats simply not true. Thats an absolutely false statement, Mensinger said. Byrd retorted, Thats a blatant lie, what you just said, and audience members soon joined the bickering. If you want a war, fine You think were just dumb farmers and ranchers? said Sill, a Waterford-area man identified by the district as Byrds ranch manager. It looks like youre dividing this board and getting rid of legal so you can do some type of water sales. If you want a war, fine, well have a war. Mensinger responded, Im not going to be bullied by you or anyone in this room. Les Johnson, who has attended board meetings off and on over many years and once ran for the board, said, We dont want to lose our water. Weve got to get this board going again in the right direction. After Mensingers committee appointment was affirmed on a 3-2 vote, with Byrd and Blom again dissenting, grower Robert Frobose said the new majority had spit on all of us. We own this district, not you. ... Were going to play hardball and protect our water rights, whats rightfully ours. Later, the board split again in a discussion about hiring an outside law firm instead of another attorney to replace Lucas as general counsel. The district spent about $3.5 million on legal matters in the past year, not counting money used to settle claims. Staff will gather information for a later vote.
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https://www.modbee.com/latest-news/article224984710.html
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Is The National Assembly Empowered To Cause A Commission Of Enquiry To Be Established To Look Into Matters Of Public Interest?
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39 SHARES Share Tweet QUESTION OF THE DAY Under section 109 of the constitution, the National Assembly has power to set up a committee to inquire into any matter of public importance. It states: Committees may be appointed (a) to investigate or inquire into the activities or administration of ministries or departments of the Government, and such investigation or inquiry may extend to making proposals for legislation; or (b) to investigate any matter of public importance. Furthermore the National Assembly is empowered under section 200 subsection (2) to ask the President to set up a Commission of Inquiry. It states: The National Assembly may request the President to establish a Commission of Inquiry for any of the purposes set out in subsection (1).
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https://foroyaa.gm/is-the-national-assembly-empowered-to-cause-a-commission-of-enquiry-to-be-established-to-look-into-matters-of-public-interest/
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What Are the SAG Awards?
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Most people can rattle off the names of some of the top awards ceremonies whether its the Oscars, Grammys, Emmys or Tonys. But Hollywood has another big night that should definitely be on your radar: the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards. You may not hear as much about them, but as a matter of fact, plenty of celebrities have said they favor the night because the awards are solely dedicated to performers and their craft. And sometimes, if we're lucky, they render hilariously meme-able moments, like Winona Ryder at the 2017 SAG Awards. Image zoom Dan MacMedan/Getty Images For starters: This years event, hosted by Will and Graces Megan Mullally, will take place on Sunday, Jan. 27 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, and the red carpet fun starts at 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT. For more details about how the night will play out, read on. Theyre the new kids on the block. Unlike the Oscars or the Golden Globes which have been around since 1929 and 1944, respectively the SAG Awards didnt start until 1995, according to its website. The awards ceremony is presented by the Screen Actors GuildAmerican Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), two unions that represent 160,000 performers, ranging from actors to journalists to dancers. If youve ever watched the ceremony or scrolled through Instagram on the night of the awards, then chances are high youve seen your favorite actors and actresses thanking their peers. Thats because all SAG-AFTRA members who have paid their dues are the ones casting the votes, according to the SAG Awards website. From there, randomly selected special committees made up of active, paid-up members choose the final nominees. In a 2018 Instagram post about the SAG Awards, Mandy Moore wrote of the This Is Us win: Thank you, thank you to all @sagaftra members who voted and allowed us to celebrate this tremendous honor. We are blown away! Nominees for the 2019 SAG Awards were announced in December, with A Star Is Born leading the pack with four nominations in the film categories, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Other films recognized for their actors' prowess include BlacKkKlansman, The Favourite and Crazy Rich Asians. Believe it or not, last years 24th annual ceremony gave the first-ever hosting role to actress Kristen Bell. Mullally will helm the ship this year, making her the second host since the awards began. In addition to the 13 categories in television and film, like Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role and Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series, the SAG Awards also gives nods to stunt performers. This year, SAG Awards Ambassadors Harry Shum Jr. (Crazy Rich Asians) and Yvonne Strahovski (The Handmaids Tale) will announce the winners for Outstanding Action Performances by Film and Television Stunt Ensembles during the red carpet festivities, the SAG Awards website noted. Tom Hanks will also present actor Alan Alda with the SAG Life Achievement Award during the ceremony. Previous honorees have included Elizabeth Taylor, Dick Van Dyke, Sidney Poitier, Carol Burnett and Audrey Hepburn.
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https://www.instyle.com/awards-events/red-carpet/sag-awards/what-are-SAG-awards
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What Happens in Dunedin?
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I browsed the noticeboard in Dunedin Public Library when we visited the city on Thurs 17 January and found many interesting events. The posters were attractive and colourful and I had this idea of taking a photo of each one that I liked and then posting them on my blog as a snap-shot of Dunedin life. Shown in the order that I took the photos. I suggested to Nigel that we go and visit Macandrew Bay Library, which we did. Itll be the subject of a post some time Art Fibre Exhibition is the one we went to and I posted Food and Fibre, After Dinner and Fruit and Veg as a result. Text and Photos by Liz; Exploring Colour (2019) Advertisements
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https://exploringcolour.wordpress.com/2019/01/25/what-happens-in-dunedin/
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What's the best Packard Bell laptop?
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If you've settled on an Packard Bell, then you're probably wondering what the best Packard Bell laptop is for your budget. Here we've gathered together the best Packard Bell reviews for your delectation. But if you don't want to buy a Packard Bell, check our 20 best laptops in the world piece. If it's a netbook you want, look at our 15 best netbooks. 1. Packard Bell Dot U The Packard Bell Dot U is a well-designed ultra-portable that's well suited to life on the road thanks to a slim, light chassis and decent battery life. Office performance is strong considering the size, and only by spending considerably more will you find a similarly portable machine with more power. A worthy purchase for regular commuters. Read our full Packard Bell Dot U review 2. Packard Bell Dot VR46 While the Valentino Rossi branding won't suit all tastes, underneath it the Dot VR46 is a great little laptop and one that's very easy to recommend. As a slim and light CULV portable, this is one of the best. Read our full Packard Bell Dot VR46 review 3. Packard Bell EasyNote NM86 With excellent build quality and a sharp and vibrant screen, not to mention strong performance for the price, the EasyNote NM86-GN-010UK offers fantastic value for money. We wish it had more storage, but that's forgivable considering the many strengths on offer. Read our full Packard Bell EasyNote NM86 review 4. Packard Bell EasyNote TM98 This machine is one of of the best consumer laptops currently available, providing a great mix of power, thanks to its Intel Core i3 processor, and portability. Read our full Packard Bell EasyNote TM98 review 5. Packard Bell EasyNote TX86-JO-045UK Packard Bell has smashed the ball clean out of the proverbial park with the EasyNote TX86, an excellent all-round machine that pulls off power and style with panache. The solid yet portable chassis is merely surface material, because the Intel Core i5 CPU and Nvidia graphics card provide the impressive engine below. Read our full Packard Bell EasyNote TX86-JO-045UK review Don't forget to check out our 20 best laptops in the world piece. Or, if it's a netbook you want, our 15 best netbooks. The best Sony laptops The best Acer laptops The best HP laptops The best Dell laptops The best Asus laptops The best Advent laptops The best Samsung laptops The best MSI laptops The best Lenovo laptops The best Toshiba laptops
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https://www.techradar.com/sg/news/mobile-computing/laptops/what-s-the-best-packard-bell-laptop-905697
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Was Blac Chyna Drunk During Police's Visit to her Home?
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Blac Chyna. (AFP/File) Blac Chyna's lawyer has insisted her children are "both healthy and doing very well" after police were called to her house. The 31-year-old reality star was visited by police over the weekend after an anonymous call was placed alleging she was too drunk to look after her two children - son King Cairo, six, whom she has with ex-partner Tyga, and daughter Dream, two, whose father is Rob Kardashian. And now, Chyna's lawyer Lisa Bloom has spoken out on the situation, saying the children are doing fine and were "never in any danger". She told E! News: "Chyna's children, King Cairo and Dream Rene, are both healthy and doing very well. They were never in any danger and any reports to the contrary are entirely false. "I remind the public that anyone who submits a knowingly false report to Child Protective Services may be subject to criminal and civil liability. " It was previously revealed police had called to Chyna's home after receiving an anonymous call alleging the 'Rob + Chyna' star was intoxicated and neglecting her children. However, when cops got to the house, they found no one was drunk and not only were her children being properly looked after, there was also a nanny in attendance at the property. But just days after the incident, police were called to Chyna's house a second time to deal with a separate issue. Sources claimed that police had been asked to help defuse a potentially-difficult situation as Chyna and her make-up artist had had an explosive argument at the weekend, with the cosmetics expert leaving without her kit. Cops accompanied the unnamed woman to help her retrieve her cosmetics and tools and she left the abode without another argument breaking out.
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https://www.albawaba.com/entertainment/was-blac-chyna-drunk-during-polices-visit-her-home-1243566
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Can Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Substitute a PC?
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(TechRadar) Follow > Disable alert for Dell Follow > Smartphones are getting more powerful every year, and increasing numbers of people are now using them for many of the tasks we used to rely on our PCs for. Browsing the internet, checking emails and messaging friends and family around the world can now be done from those useful little rectangles we carry around in our pockets. Smartphone manufacturers have been claiming that their devices can replace laptops and PCs for a long time, but we're now at the stage where it finally seems like the hardware has caught up with those promises. As TechRadars computing editor, Ive been sceptical about those claims, but with the arrival of the Samsung Galaxy Note 9, which comes with some undeniably impressive specifications, and DeX functionality that allows the phone to be hooked up to a monitor (and mouse and keyboard) so that it can be used like a traditional desktop PC, I was intrigued. I decided to find out by going a whole week using just the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 as my main computer. Read on to find out... The specifications In my line of work Im lucky enough to get to use powerful PCs and laptops, and I have little patience for slow devices that take an age to boot up and load programs. With a desktop PC that boasts a 16-core processor, 32GB RAM and a plethora of NVMe SSDs (not to mention two Titan XP graphics cards), as well as a recent Dell XPS 13 and MacBook Pro as laptops, it would take a very powerful smartphone to get me to even consider moving over. This is where the Galaxy Note 9 comes in. With an octa-core processor, 6GB of RAM and 128GB storage, its a handset that rivals many budget and mid-range laptops in terms of specs, and theres also a version with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage space for even more power. What also attracted me to the phone was the large 6.4-inch screen, which makes web browsing, and composing emails, much easier. I hope not), after using the Nexus 6 a few years ago I just cant go back to a smaller handset, especially for productivity. The large size also allows for a 4,000mAh battery, enabling the Note 9 to go through a whole work day (and more) without needing a charge. The included S Pen stylus also intrigued me, as it meant I could take notes by hand and save them digitally. However, the Note 9 does come with a huge $1,000 (899/AU$1,499) price tag for the 6GB model. Thats a heck of a lot of money for a phone, and you can get some very good laptops for that kind of money. Read More Huawei Mate 20 X Review: All You Need to Know WhatsApp Launches New Feature to Limit the Gossip However and before I talk myself out of the idea if you consider the Note 9 as a phone and a laptop replacement, that cost isnt quite so daunting, as it means youre buying one device, not two. And because it's a phone you have the option of getting the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 on a contract, which means you dont have to part with quite so much money upfront make sure you check out our Samsung Galaxy Note 9 deals below for the best prices. Using the Note 9 in DeX mode gives you a Windows-like desktop The software What really made me take the Note 9 seriously as a laptop replacement is Samsung's DeX feature. This allows you to connect your Note 9 to a monitor and use a Windows-like desktop to work on apps. While Samsung has been toying around with DeX for a while, previous smartphones needed to use the DeX Station hub, which was an additional expense. While the Note 9 can use the DeX Station, you can now also use the DeX interface by using a USB-C to HDMI cable. With a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse you can then use the Note 9 for a PC-like experience. Its a much more affordable way to access the DeX functionality, which is just as well if youve spent all your cash on the Note 9. However, before I tried that method I decided to try plugging the Note 9 into a USB-C Dell hub that I use at work for my MacBook Pro. To my delight, it worked, with the Note 9s screen appearing on my monitor, and my wired mouse and keyboard, which are connected to the hub via USB, being recognized by the phone. One final note about the software. The Samsung Note 9 runs Android, and these days pretty much all applications I run on Windows have an Android app version, and if not, there will be an alternative. These might not be as fully-featured as their Windows versions, but for the tasks Ill be using them for mainly word processing, spreadsheets, instant messaging, emails and photo editing they should be fine. Also, while pretty much every Android app should work in DeX mode, there are a number of apps that are DeX optimized, including Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Adobe Photoshop Express, Gmail and Chrome. Software-wise, then, Im pretty sure I could rely on the Note 9 for productivity. You can browse files on the phone much like you would on a PC The DeX experience With the Samsung Note 9 connected to the USB-C hub, the DeX desktop appeared on my monitor. For anyone whos used a modern desktop operating system, such as Windows 10, the look of the DeX desktop will be familiar. A bright, attractive, desktop wallpaper is used as the background, and there are shortcut icons to My Files, Gallery and Settings. Clicking on My Files opens up a window similar to Windows Explorer, and from there I could see the files and documents saved on the Note 9; for people used to working on a Windows or Mac laptop, this is a nice way of locating your documents. You cant drag and drop files from one folder to another you need to right-click the file and select Move. Its a bit of a niggle that highlights the limited nature of the DeX experience compared to a full operating system such as Windows 10, but for the most part I was very impressed with how DeX looked, and how smoothly it ran. In the bottom-left corner of the desktop is a button that opens up your installed apps think of it like Windows 10s Start menu. Double-clicking an app opens it, with the app appearing in a window that can be resized and moved on the DeX desktop. Again, for Windows 10 users, this will feel very familiar. Using apps on the Samsung Note 9 in DeX mode The icons of open apps also appear along the bottom of the screen, enabling you to quickly switch between them. I should probably also mention here that my mouse and keyboard worked perfectly, with no hint of lag as I typed quickly or moved my cursor around the screen. Using the Dell hub seemed perfectly fine, although a pop-up on the Note 9 itself suggested using an official Samsung product. I can understand Samsungs reasoning (got to sell more stuff, after all), but in my time using the Note 9 I didnt see a need to purchase any additional kit, although occasionally the pop-up recommending Samsung kit would reappear on the phone. Working on the phone For my first day of work using solely the Samsung Note 9 I began writing this article. So, after loading up the Gmail app to check my emails, and the Slack app to keep in contact with my team, I opened the Word app to begin writing. Both Gmail and Slack worked well with DeX, and because they were already installed on my phone it meant I didnt have to install them or sign in. Despite Slack not being a DeX-optimized app it did the job well, letting me chat to colleagues much as the Windows 10 app does. Being able to have my mail and Slack open in the background while I work is vitally important so far so good. I wrote this article on the Note 9 Opening the Word app was when I became seriously impressed, however, as it looked and behaved almost exactly like the desktop Windows program. Over the years, Microsoft Offices Ribbon user interface has grown on me, so its presence is strangely comforting and reassuring. It meant I felt right at home, and could begin typing away happily, with shortcuts and tools all where they should be. Another nice feature is that as its essentially the Word Android app (but with DeX support), the file is synched to OneDrive, so I can carry on editing on another device if needed. Handy, but I honestly didnt feel the need to switch. Of course, as the Note 9 is an Android device Google Docs also works very well in DeX mode. So, as a desktop replacement, I was very impressed indeed. The overall DeX interface does a good job of mimicking a desktop operating system, and while it doesnt feel quite as smooth as Windows 10, for the most part it performed very well. There were a few funny turns, with the Slack app crashing once, but anyone whos ever used a PC will have experienced an unresponsive app or two. The Note 9 also threw a bit of a tantrum when someone phoned me while in DeX mode, and I removed the phone from the USB-C hub. Im guessing its a slightly more polished experience when using an official Samsung DeX hub, but generally I was very impressed with the performance, and I found it easy to use the Samsung Note 9 as a replacement for a desktop PC for the entire week. What struck me about using the Samsung Note 9 as a replacement for my PC was how well it emulated a desktop PC. By plugging it into a hub and monitor, I was able to use a mouse and keyboard on a big screen at my desk. The issue here is that when using the Note 9 when traveling Im not going to able to use a larger screen, or a mouse or keyboard, as I do at my desk. Here, the pressure is on the Note 9s hardware itself. As I mentioned earlier, the large screen of the Note 9 helps when it comes to browsing websites, tapping out emails and watching media, and for many people our smartphones have already replaced laptops for many of those tasks. The on-screen keyboard is large enough to type short articles and emails on easily enough, but it can't compete with a laptop keyboard for longer pieces. One option is to use a Bluetooth keyboard, which is something I may consider in the future. Its another thing to carry around (and keep charged) though, so I'm more interesting in how the included S Pen stylus performs. That fact that it's stored in the body of the phone (and can be ejected with a push), is a really nice feature, especially as I dont want to have to carry around more easily-lost items than I need to. With the pen ejected, a menu appears enabling me to scribble quick notes and save them to the device in my awfulhandwriting. Its handy, and it means I don't need to carry a notepad around with me, but its not quite what Im after I want something that can turn my scribbled notes into editable text that I can open in a word processor. Thankfully, with a bit of digging around and experimenting, I found that the Note 9 can do that as well. Opening up the Word app and making sure the Samsung Keyboard was selected (I cheekily made Googles Gboard keyboard the default initially, having come from a Pixel XL), I was able to write words with the stylus, and the Note 9 did a very good job of converting what I'd written into editable text and inserting it into the Word doc. Considering how awful my handwriting is, I was again impressed. Its not quite as quick as typing on a full-size keyboard, but it is faster than using the on-screen keyboard. Theres not a massive amount of space in which to write on the screen, but the Note 9 converts the text quickly, and gives you more room to write as you go. You may need to slow your pace of writing down a bit, but it worked fast and most importantly it was pretty accurate. I found that not writing joined-up helped, and that the app would occasionally mistake a full stop for a comma, but it proved to be a fast and effective way to take notes, which I could then edit when I returned to my desk. Unlike using the Note 9 as a desktop replacement, which emulated the experience of working on a desktop PC so well that I didn't have to change the way I worked, it takes more time to adjust to using the Note 9 as a laptop replacement. Crucially, though, with the included S Pen stylus and accurate handwriting recognition, I didnt mind adapting the way I worked. Not quite, especially when it comes to my desktop PC. Thats mainly because Im always going to want to have a PC to play games on and Im not talking about mobile games, although I am currently addicted to the Lemmings reboot. But for the day-to-day tasks of writing, editing and emailing, I could genuinely see myself happily using the Note 9 in DeX mode. I was seriously impressed. Im also going to try sticking with the Note 9 for writing notes when I go to meetings and events. Itll take a little while to adjust without my laptop and I certainly wont be getting rid of that trusty old workhorse just yet but the benefits of not having to lug around a laptop are very tempting. So far Im really impressed with my time using the Note 9 as a PC replacement. I didnt think that I would be seriously considering using the smartphone as my main work computer when I started this experiment but I am. By Matt Hanson
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https://www.albawaba.com/business/can-samsung-galaxy-note-9-substitute-pc-1243440
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Are Ishq Subhan Allah Actors & Crew Members Facing Payment Issues?
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Remunerations Delayed For More Than 3 Months An actor from the show, on the request on anonymity, was quoted by Tellychakkar as saying, "A lot of actors are facing payment issues. The remunerations are delayed for more than 3 months." An Actor Left The Show Because Of Payment Issue! The actor further added, "A particular actor left the show due to this problem. One of the actresses also contacted CINTA, but that too did not work." Its Difficult For Them To Manage The Situation When the entertainment portal talked to several people on the sets, they agreed to facing payment issues. One of the crew members told the entertainment portal, "It's very difficult for us to manage the situation, as there are a few middle-men asking us to give a hefty 50% of the income that is stuck with the production house." The Crew Member Added "Only then will they push the higher authorities to release our payments, which is totally wrong. I believe the production house is releasing the payments, but these middlemen are just behind making more money out of us. They are playing pretty smart with clearing the payments with the prominent cast and not paying others on a regular basis." Eisha & Monica Are Not Facing Monetary Issues! But Monica Khanna (who plays Zeenat on the show) and Eisha Singh (seen as Zara) said that they are not facing monetary issues. Well, it has to be seen what the makers have to say regarding the same.
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https://www.filmibeat.com/television/news/2019/are-ishq-subhan-allah-actors-crew-members-facing-payment-issues-281978.html?utm_source=/rss/filmibeat-fb.xml&utm_medium=23.50.225.204&utm_campaign=client-rss
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Are Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin planning a baby after their second wedding?
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Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin have reportedly postponed their wedding for the third time but it does not mean that they are not planning to start a family. As per an alleged report, Justin Bieber is fully committed to his marriage with Hailey and is all set to start a family with her. As recently reported, Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin are planning to get married a second time. They wanted to get married in front of their family and friends before Justin's upcoming birthday but due to the unavailability of a few of Justin's family members, they have postponed their second wedding. But the delay in the second time nuptials does not mean that Justin Bieber is not serious for Hailey Baldwin. As per an alleged report, the "Sorry" singer is enjoying his new married life with his model wife and since he always wanted to have kids of his own, he simply cannot wait to have a child with his new wife. Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin secretly got married in 2018. Everyone is now waiting to see the couple having a religious marriage. At the same time, a report by HollywoodLife revealed that Justin and Hailey talk about children the whole time. "They are enjoying all the things that married couples do together in private and are not actively trying to prevent a pregnancy, so big baby news could be on the way soon," the alleged report revealed. The alleged insider added that Justin Bieber loves children and even has "baby fever." On the other hand, the acclaimed model is more open to whatever "the universe may have in store for them as a young family." As per the report, before having kids, Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin plan to throw a party for their friends and family. "Everything with them is moving pretty fast at this point," the alleged insider added. As of now, it is not confirmed by Justin Bieber's reps whether the Canadian pop star is planning to have a child with his wife anytime soon. In the past, there were rumours that Hailey Baldwin is pregnant and when a paparazzi asked this to question, "Baby" singer gave him a fitting answer.
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https://www.ibtimes.co.in/are-justin-bieber-hailey-baldwin-planning-baby-after-their-second-wedding-790694
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Is China really using Huawei to hack the world's communications?
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Wired UK Huawei has ambitions of becoming the world's biggest smartphone manufacturer in 2019. Pretty much the entire world has it in for Huawei. In recent months, national security agencies around the world have raised concerns that the Chinese telecoms giant may have very close links to the Chinese government. So close, in fact, that they worry its technologies may contain backdoors to bolster the superpower's spying powers. Advertisement Huawei doesn't just make smartphones, laptops and tablets. Its biggest market is in telecoms infrastructure: the switches, routers and servers that keep the world online. An international backlash has been growing since August 2018. The Australian government announced Huawei and rival Chinese infrastructure firm ZTE would not be able to use its technology in upcoming 5G networks. New Zealand followed suit with a similar ban. Read next Collection #1 is the world's biggest data dump. Check your passwords Collection #1 is the world's biggest data dump. Check your passwords Around the same time, US president Donald Trump signed the Defense Authorization Act, which in part banned government use of ZTE and Huawei's tech. None of the legal texts explicitly mention Huawei, but it is clear the firm is the focus of concern from politicians and national security experts. The Wall Street Journal has reported Huawei is being investigated by US prosecutors for allegedly stealing technology used by T-Mobile to test smartphones. (A 2017 court case on the issue came down on the side of T-Mobile). Advertisement Canadas government should ignore the threats and ban Huawei from Canadas 5G networks to protect the security of Canadians, Richard Fadden, former national security advisor to the prime minister of Canada, wrote in The Globe and Mail. Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei, was arrested in Canada in December 2018 and is accused of selling telecoms equipment to Iran in contravention of US sanctions. She faces a court date in February when it will be decided if she should be extradited to the US to face chargers. To complicate things, Meng is also the daughter of Huawei founder and president Ren Zhengfei. Poland where a Huawei employee was arrested on spying charges (he has since been fired) has called for EU and Nato leaders to make a joint decision on whether Huawei's infrastructure equipment should be banned. It all comes down to alleged ties to the Chinese government. "Huawei is not really an exception," says Martin Thorley, a researcher at The University of Nottingham's China Policy Institute. "It is like any major company in China." Advertisement Thorley, who lived in China for seven years and started a business there, says all of the country's institutions and businesses are essentially reliant on the ruling Communist Party. "The Communist Party is not only the government, it is the judiciary, it is journalists, it is the police," Thorley says. "That doesn't mean the party is there making every decision, it isn't. But when the party needs to pull on that and leverage it, it does and will." It has been suggested the Chinese state could put pressure on Huawei to install backdoors into its products which would allow China to spy on network traffic, potentially on a global scale. Political leaders have also questioned Huawei founder Ren, who was an engineer in China's army and joined the ruling Communist Party in 1978. Similar concerns have previously been raised around Russian security firm Kaspersky, and its connections to intelligence services in the country. "The question is whether those relationships affect the way that Huawei builds its products," says Tim Stevens a lecturer in global security and cybersecurity at Kings College London. "The concern from the West is that Huawei may have built in certain vulnerabilities into products that they're selling in the West that can later be exploited by Chinese military and intelligence." Read next Your old router is an absolute goldmine for troublesome hackers Your old router is an absolute goldmine for troublesome hackers But there's a problem. For all the accusations, there's very little proof. "The evidence base for this is rather thin," Stevens says. "I'm not aware currently of any publicly declared vulnerabilities that have obviously been engineered by Huawei or any of the other technology companies operating in this space." It's possible that intelligence and security agencies may hold undisclosed information relating to security issues but, for now, they remain tight-lipped. The fears around Huawei aren't new. Back in 2012, the US congress warned that Huawei and ZTE could be a security threat. Since then, there have been repeated claims security warnings about the business. China's Belt and Road Initiative, where technology and IT systems are given to developing countries has also been viewed as one potential route to surveillance. In January 2018, Le Monde published a report claiming the Chinese government had been spying on the African Union's headquarters. The country, which denies the allegations, built the headquarters as a gift. "I think what the West wants is something that is not necessarily that easy to provide from the Chinese: some firm assurance that there's nothing untoward going on," Stevens adds. So far, the UK government hasn't made any moves to ban or block Huawei's tech from its systems. But as with a large number of countries in Europe, the UK uses Huawei's technology and has a long-standing, complex relationship with the firm. As part of the UK's trade packages with China, Huawei committed to investing 3 billion in the UK before 2023. It has worked with more than 20 universities in the country and has two research centres in the UK. It has also signed deals to help develop the UK's smart cities. Read next Smart cities are an absolute dream for infrastructure cyberattacks Smart cities are an absolute dream for infrastructure cyberattacks But all this hasn't stopped concerns being raised. Alex Younger, the head of MI6, has questioned whether the UK should use technology from China in its infrastructure. "We need to decide the extent to which we are going to be comfortable with Chinese ownership of these technologies and these platforms in an environment where some of our allies have taken quite a definite position," he said in December 2018. Similarly, Jeremy Wright, the UK's secretary of state for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, told The Telegraph, the country should be "cautious" about Huawei and it had not been decided yet whether future 5G contracts will be issued. To allay fears in the UK, there is the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre (HCSEC), which produces an annual report each year for the UK government and has existed since 2010. The 2018 report, which was published in July, found there were "shortcomings in Huaweis engineering processes" which "exposed new risks in the UK telecommunication networks and long-term challenges in mitigation and management". Specifically, it concluded that not all the components from third parties that go into Huawei products are vetted in the same way. "In particular, security critical third party software used in a variety of products was not subject to sufficient control," the report says. It adds that the National Cyber Security Centre, HCSEC and Huawei's R&D teams were discussing ways to tackle the concerns. "There's a supply chain, which there is in all infrastructure, and Huawei cannot adequately account for or vouch for some of the other partners on the other end of that supply chain," Stevens says. "The concern is that somehow those other third-party companies may at some level be introducing insecurities into software and hardware systems." Read next Wednesday briefing: EU diplomatic communications infiltrated by hackers Wednesday briefing: EU diplomatic communications infiltrated by hackers BT is planning to remove Huawei's equipment from its network but stated this is part of a longer-term plan after it purchased technology from EE. BT is still using Huawei technology in other parts of its network. Separately, the University of Oxford and Queen's University Belfast have both said they will stop taking new donations and research grants from Huawei. Huawei denies that its products could be used for spying. In December 2018 and throughout the early part of 2019 the company has made its senior executives more publicly visible in a bid to fight back against growing criticism and suspicion. On January 15, founder Ren gave a rare media interview. "I love my country, I support the Communist Party. But I will not do anything to harm the world, he told reporters. "I dont see a close connection between my personal political beliefs and the businesses of Huawei." He also said it would be possible to "scale down a bit" if Huawei wasn't welcome in some countries. "As long as we can survive and feed our employees, theres a future for us," Ren added. More great stories from WIRED The complicated truth about China's social credit system A Brexit war is raging in secret WhatsApp groups Advertisement Why the UK's porn block is one of the worst ideas ever Your old router is a goldmine for hackers Get the best of WIRED in your inbox every Saturday with the WIRED Weekender newsletter
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https://www.wired.co.uk/article/huawei-5g-uk-security
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Why is Trump Being Portrayed as Russias Stooge?
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There is an escalating mainstream media campaign, including The Washington Post and The New York Times, to depict President Trump as Russias puppet in the White House. One need not be a Trump enthusiast to call out these preposterous, fact-free allegations as reminiscent of McCarthyism. Efforts to portray Trump as a Manchurian Candidate from a classic Cold War book and film where a U.S.soldier is brainwashed into doing the Kremlins bidding endanger whatever remnants remain of American democracy. Its also disconcerting that Russia-baiting is on the increase, even some being directed at progressives from other progressives. I will not be surprised if Venezuela is soon coupled with the latter. McCarthyism, of course, refers to the use of government investigations to destroy ones enemies. Finally, on June 9, 1954, Joseph Welch, special counsel to the U.S. Army listened during a hearing in which McCarthy accused the Army of being soft on communism. In dramatic fashion, the usually mild-mannered Welch asked Have you no sense of shame sir, at long last? When combined with CBS News correspondent Edward R. Murrows reporting, this was McCarthys downfall from politics. He was officially censored by the U.S. Senate on December 2,1954. Of course, the Red Scares legacy wasnt over. The FBI secretly provided files to the infamous House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) which proceeded to destroy the careers of countless people. Another example was the National Defense Education Act of 1958 which required signing a loyalty oath to obtain a college loan. I could not have attended college if I hadnt signed one. In the past, the FBI has carried out countless, politically-motivated investigations. In the 1930s and later under President Truman, the liberal, pro-peace Vice President Henry Wallace was believed to have suspect loyalties for suggesting the government was exaggerating the Soviet threat. Wallaces mail was opened and photocopied, his phones were tapped and his movements constantly shadowed. A short list also includes: Democratic Presidential nominee George McGovern, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Paul Robeson, Pete Seeger, Woodie Guthrie, Albert Einstein, Gil Scott-Heron, the NAACP, opponents of South African apartheid, The Catholic Worker, Quaker activists, and even Duke Ellington and Nat King Cole. Later, Black Lives Matter, Occupy and hip-hop artists have joined the list and the FBI has set up a task force to monitor social media. The first McCarthy era used red-baiting to destroy the U.S. labor movement. This second one is different. Its an intra-elite effort to discredit a president whose erratic behavior has rattled the political/military/intelligence/corporate establishment who much preferred the dependable warmonger and compliant Hillary Clinton. By pledging to withdraw troops from Syria and Afghanistan, attempting to officially end the Korean War, raising questions about NATOs utility and so far refusing to rekindle the Cold War with Russia, Trump crossed a line. For many of Trumps enemies, this constitutes treasonable behavior, deserving of a soft coup or worse. In short, those with direct economic interests in the global status quo know their empire is in decline and desperately want to retain Americas 800 military bases. Theyre vexed that Trumps America First agenda may not fully embrace that objective. Finally, there are no good guys in this conflict as neither side gives a fig about ordinary citizens here or abroad. This struggle pits the interventionist, endless war, We rule the world capitalists against the xenophobic, ugly, racist nationalistic capitalists. But thats not to say there isnt something of critical importance at stake here. That is, fighting the good fight must include resisting what resembles an FBI/Police state operation no matter who is the target. I submit theres more than a whiff of neo-McCarthyism in the air and it will have a chilling effect on freedom of expression and speech. In sum, this isnt about Trumps fate but our own. I would submit that we need another Joseph Welch or Edward R. Murrow.
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https://dissidentvoice.org/2019/01/why-is-trump-being-portrayed-as-russias-stooge/
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Why was Jewish family kicked off American Airlines flight?
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Orthodox Jewish family forced off of flight home, left without their luggage after they were ordered off of American Airlines flight. An Orthodox Jewish family was ordered off of an American Airlines flight earlier this week, leaving them stranded without their luggage, baby stroller, or child car seat. Yossi Adler, 36, his wife Jennie, and their 19-month old daughter had been vacationing in Miami, Florida this past week, and were scheduled to fly back to Detroit Wednesday night on an American Airlines flight. After being seated on the plane, the family was suddenly ordered off and escorted back to the gate, with no explanation offered. Once they had been taken back to the gate, ABCs Local 10 News in Miami reports, American Airlines staff closed the gate and informed the Adlers that they would not be permitted back on the plane. At this point, the Adlers were finally given an explanation for their removal from the flight fellow passengers had apparently complained of a foul smell from the family. "All of a sudden, as soon as they took us off, they closed the gate and then they said, 'Sorry, sir, some people complained you had body odor and we're not letting you back on,'" Yossi Adler said. "There's no body odor that we have. There's nothing wrong with us." To add insult to injury, the family was left in Miami without their luggage, baby stroller, or child safety seat despite promises from the airline that their luggage and other items would be removed from the plane before takeoff. "They have our car seat, stroller, everything," Jennie Adler said. A spokesperson for American Airlines confirmed to Local 10 that the Adlers had been ejected from the flight over their body odor. Mr. Adler and his wife were removed from the flight when several passengers complained about their body odor. They have been booked into a hotel for the night and given meal vouchers. They have been rebooked on a flight Thursday." But the Adlers arent buying the airlines story. I want them to own up to what really happened and to tell me the truth, Yossi Adler said. What was it? On Thursday, the couple boarded a second flight, and returned to Detroit without incident. The Adlers say that after their arrival in Detroit, they were reunited with their luggage, stroller, and child safety seat which had been left on the first flight.
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http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/258138
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Why did Loyola keep students in the dark when their health care changed?
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Hang on for a minute...we're trying to find some more stories you might like. Close For many members of the Loyola community, the email sent out to the student body on Jan. 14 was one to skim and discard. Its message consisted of only four sentences and kept it simple: the Student Educational Benefit Trust, the program that had provided students university-sponsored health care, was filing for bankruptcy and had not been functional since the end of 2018. But for 64 students who were receiving health care from the universitys partnership with the Student Educational Benefit Trust, the news was startling. Loyola had been partnering with the Student Educational Benefit Trust to provide medical coverage to students through the Student Health & Wellness Benefit Program. Until this email and the following one sent from the office of student affairs, those enrolled had no knowledge that the status of their health care was up in the air. For those who rely on health care coverage to provide them routine medications and services, losing health care can be a difficult ordeal. Transitioning from one form of coverage to another takes research, time, and care. According to Alicia A. Bourque, the director of Student Affairs, Loyola had been aware of the trusts bankruptcy since late December. In response, Loyola transferred the students onto another insurance carrier soon after. When they realized the new carrier couldnt provide all of the services needed, they sent out the email explaining that the Student Educational Benefit Trust had gone bankrupt and students needed to apply for a new insurance policy. The steps taken were ideal: they maintained health care coverage for as long as they could before asking students to apply for a new policy. However, what was missing here was a communication to those affected. Members of The Maroon staff were affected by the loss of university-sponsored medical coverage. It comes as a shock to us to know that Loyola not only had knowledge that the trust was bankrupt, but that they transferred students to another insurance carrier without notification. If we had been notified, students may have chosen to continue receiving coverage through the Student Health & Wellness Benefit Program on the new carrier. Students also may have chosen to seek out a different health care provider from the countless that operate in New Orleans and the greater area. What is questionable here is not the bankruptcy of the Student Educational Benefit Trust. That was unavoidable on the part of Loyola. What is questionable is the fact that we were kept in the dark when our insurance carrier went bankrupt, and furthermore, we were not notified when we were switched over to a new one. We were robbed of a choice and the choice of medical coverage is an important one that deserves clarity. In the aftermath of the trusts bankruptcy, students have been provided the opportunity to apply in the public exchange and receive new insurance starting Feb. 1, regardless of pre-existing conditions. The time between the notification sent out by the university and this deadline gives students little more than two weeks to make decisions about their health care. It appears the 64 students who received university-sponsored health care will ultimately be provided the best possible service in this transition. Still, Loyola failed to disclose to those affected their knowledge of the Student Educational Benefit Trusts shortcomings, the transition of students to a new insurance carrier and the shortcomings of the second carrier. When it comes to health care, a deeply important matter for the livelihood of individuals, there is a necessity for transparency, communication and timely notification. Hopefully, Loyola can learn from this in the future and consider the needs of the students who had trusted the school with their medical coverage.
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https://www.loyolamaroon.com/10020889/showcase/why-did-loyola-keep-students-in-the-dark-when-their-health-care-changed/
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Can many languages make one Indian literature?
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stands at a junction of diverse cultures, languages and histories but their inter-connectedness is seldom seen. An aptly-titled session "One Indian Literature" at the Festival (JLF) featured literary stalwarts deliberating on the diversity within - and the connecting factors lying theirin. Harish Trivedi, of English at the University of Delhi, and author of "Colonial Transactions: English Literature and India", observed that there are certain advantages as far as writing in English in is concerned but, he said, "let the other languages also bloom and prosper". Priyamvada Natarajan, of Astronomy and Physics at Yale University, said: "We have the power as Indians to redefine what English is to us." Natarajan elaborated on the importance of translation in establishing greater social equality. "The more stories and narratives are written in different languages that get access either through English or through translation, the better the chances of enabling a shift in the power balance, because then, all people feel that they all have a voice," she said. She also emphasised the importance of writers knowing there will be a readership for one's writing whilst acknowledging that some write simply because they have a creative compulsion to express themselves. "Most of them are writers who want people to read what they are writing," she said. Naveen Kishore, the owner of Seagull Books, affirmed his willingness to create a "Library of Modern Literature" to further boost the recent upsurge in literary translations and support their passionate and growing readership. --IANS ss/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/can-many-languages-make-one-indian-literature-119012500387_1.html
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Will imposing alcohol ban affect tourism in Goa?
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The Goa government on Thursday approved a proposal to impose a strict rule banning the consumption of alcohol in public. Defying the rules can lead to a Rs 2,000 fine failing which, the accused will face three-month imprisonment. The proposal added that if a group of people are caught consuming alcohol in public, a fine of Rs 10,000 will be imposed on the group. Goa Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar said that one of the reasons for bringing about the rule is because of the multiple occasions of people breaking bottles, cook or consume alcohol in public places like the beach. According to a report by Indian Express, Manohar said, "Nobody can drink alcohol on our beaches and tourist places anymore. Bottles cannot be carried there. Food also cannot be cooked in the open. All these offences will attract a fine of Rs 2000. If the fine is not paid, an offence can be registered. The offender can be arrested and imprisoned for three months." Further, photographs of the accused will also be sent to the tourism department which is in charge of fining the perpetrators. The proposal is scheduled to be introduced during the Assembly session on January 29, 2018. The Tourist Trade Act will be amended to make room for the new rule. Goa has seen a steady decrease of footfall over the past year and many have also gone on to say that 2018-19 is probably one of the worst years for Goa, tourism-wise. The report suggests that there was been a fall in rentals as well as a 40 per cent decline in the influx of tourists. However, it is not known if the new amendment will be a boon or a bane for the small union territory since consuming alcohol on the beaches is one of the biggest attractions for the party capital of India. Earlier, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had repeatedly promised to impose the ban but it never happened. "It's not that we can stop low-end tourists from coming to Goa. But you have to control the behaviour of tourists. When Indians go overseas, they won't be spitting around the place or running around without proper clothes or drinking on the roads and what not," Savio Messias, the president of the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG), was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times. "Stop people drinking on the footpath, on the promenades, on the beaches, breaking bottles. The minute you stop this, you will see that this crowd will stop coming to Goa. They don't want to drink in a shack or a restaurant, because they know it is expensive. They just want to buy and come on the beach and get drunk and look at women," said Deputy Speaker Michael Lobo, who represents Calangute constituency. He added, "Our chief minister is responsible for this. He should have brought out an order banning the drinking of alcohol on beaches. The orders have not come, so nobody can act. We are all helpless. A tourist comes and does what he wants."
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https://www.ibtimes.co.in/will-imposing-alcohol-ban-affect-tourism-goa-790719
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Can the Google Pixel 3 XL outperform a compact camera... or even a DSLR?
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We reckon Google's new Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL have the best cameras going on a smartphone right now and that's some serious bragging rights in phones world. But don't take our word for it the phones are already attracting a good deal of hyperbolic commentary, with influencers boasting that the camera on the Pixel 3 or Pixel 3 XL is so good that their DSLR will soon be gathering dust. Let's take a slightly more considered look to see where it excels and why you probably shouldn't be putting your DSLR on eBay just yet. Sensor size Even the best marketers at Google are going to struggle with this one. While smartphones may have bulked out in recent years, the actual physical size of their camera sensors is still pretty small compared to those used by most cameras and that's important, as you'll see below. In fact, the camera in the Pixel 3 and 3 XL uses a 1/2.55-inch sensor that measures just 5.76 x 4.29mm. That's smaller than the 1/2.3-inch sensors found in budget compacts like the Sony Cyber-shot WX220, which is about a fifth of the cost of the Pixel 3 XL. Simply put, it all comes down to image quality Now compare that to the 1-inch sensors found in a lot of premium compact cameras like the Sony Cyber-shot RX100 IV or Canon PowerShot G9 X Mark II. These measure 13.2 x 8.8mm, which starts to make Google's 1/2.55-inch sensor look pretty small. Then compare that to the APS-C sized sensors, measuring 23.6 x 15.6mm, that are found in a lot of DSLRs and mirrorless cameras, and it looks smaller still. Simply put, it all comes down to image quality. The bigger the sensor, the larger the photosites (or pixels) can be, which in turn means superior light-gathering capabilities. This means you get images with better detail, broader dynamic range and improved noise control in poor light (essentially, images have less fuzziness and retain more detail). Plenty of detail, while dynamic range is pretty good to, though there's a fair bit of fringing where the leaves meet the sky Google has, however, been clever with the camera in the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, and rather than cram 16 or 20 million pixels onto the small sensor, it's capped the resolution at 12.2MP. By opting for a relatively modest resolution compared to some smartphone rivals, Google can populate the sensor with larger photosites, improving its light-gathering capabilities as described above. This sees the Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL deliver the best images we've seen from a smartphone, with levels of sharpening optimized so that your photos look great look great when viewed on a the phone's display. Look at the images on a larger screen, though, and they don't have quite the same sparkle, so if ultimate image quality is your main concern, and/or you're planning to print your images, there's no substitute for the larger sensors offered by dedicated cameras. Lens and depth of field Image 1 of 5 The Google Pixel 3 XL has a wide-angle lens with a 27mm focal range... Click here to see the full-size image Image 2 of 5 ...though using Super Res Zoom means you can zoom further into the frame... Click here to see the full-size image Image 3 of 5 ...for tight framing... Click here to see the full-size image Image 4 of 5 ...though at the long end of the Super Res Zoom... Click here to see the full-size image Image 5 of 5 ...don't expect brilliant quality Click here to see the full-size image Rather than adorning its phones with multiple lenses hooked up to different sensors, like the Huawei Mate 20, Google has also played it pretty safe with the single rear-facing camera lens on the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL. The fixed lens has a focal length of about 27mm, which offers a wide-angle field of view so great for packing lots in the frame for group shots, landscapes and architecture, but not so good for flattering portraits, as it distorts facial features. To get around this, the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL feature a digital zoom, but unlike digital zooms on compact cameras, which simply sees the imaging area on the sensor cropped and image quality degrade, Google has equipped the camera with some clever tech called Super Res Zoom. This uses a dedicated Pixel Visual Core chip along with machine-learning software to enable the camera to deliver improved results when you zoom in This uses a dedicated Pixel Visual Core chip along with machine-learning software to enable the camera to deliver improved results when you zoom in far better than we were expecting. While there's no substitute for an optical zoom, it's nonetheless very impressive. The lens on the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL also has a 'fast' maximum aperture of f/1.8, which helps to channel more light onto the sensor, making it that bit easier to shoot in low light as it enables you to keep shutter speeds moderately fast (hence a 'fast' aperture); there's also a built-in optical image stabilization system to help out. As the sensor size decreases, the depth of field will increase for a given aperture. So while it's possible to shoot portraits and other images with beautifully smooth background blur, or bokeh, at f/1.8 on a DSLR or mirrorless camera, it's pretty much impossible to do this on a smartphone. The Google Pixel 3 XL's Portrait Mode does a decent job of blurring the background to make your subject more prominent in the frame To get around this problem, smartphone engineers have come up with some very clever software solutions, and on the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL this solution is called Portrait Mode. Not only does the lens zoom in automatically to help deliver a more flattering focal length for portraits, but when you take a photo the camera attempts to analyze the scene and blur the background appropriately. The Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL do a very solid job here, rendering some very smooth and natural-looking transitions between in-focus and out of focus areas. While certainly delivering the most aesthetically pleasing results among smartphones offering this feature, it's not foolproof, struggling with some scenes, but for quick snaps you'll be more than happy with the results. Focusing The Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL use a dual-pixel phase-detection focusing system, and we found focusing to be generally very good. Tap-to-focus anywhere on the screen and the camera will lock on to the subject. While not quite instant, focusing speeds are pretty quick, and even in poor light we found that the camera would lock on without 'hunting' for focus. Surprisingly, the system is also pretty handy when it comes to focus tracking. Tap on the subject you want to focus on, and providing they don't move too erratically or quickly, it'll maintain focus on them. More sophisticated compacts, like the Sony Cyber-shot RX100 VI, will do a better job, while the best DSLRs and mirrorless cameras are better still, but compared to some entry-level DSLRs and mirrorless cameras the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL won't embarrass themselves in this department. Handling The size and shape of the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL don't lend themselves to the phones being naturally used as a camera, but this isn't unique to Google's phones it's a result of the large and thin designs of most modern smartphones. With no dedicated handgrip and a super-smooth finish, it's tricky to get a decent grip when holding the phone to take a photo (especially with the larger Pixel 3 XL). It just feels a bit cumbersome and unnatural, while holding it with two hands can often see fingers creep into shot. With core shooting controls ring-fenced, it can be tricky to introduce slow shutter speeds for creative shooting. We had to rely on poor light to get this shot As on any smartphone you don't have dedicated buttons or other controls for adjusting settings (you can, though, press the volume rocker to take a shot); of course, this streamlined approach will be part of the attraction for users who simply want to press a button and walk away with a decent shot, but for those who want to flex their creative muscles it can be a bit limiting. Core camera settings are also ring-fenced, with just the option to tinker with the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL's white balance setting. It's not possible to dive into the settings and select a slow shutter speed for some creative blur for instance, leaving the outcome of the shot pretty much in the hands of the camera. Connectivity The ability to easily edit and share images is one of the appeals of smartphone photography This area is where the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, and smartphones in general, have really got the upper hand over traditional cameras. The ability to take a shot, edit it and then share it quickly is perhaps the key reason why smartphone photography has become so popular. Try doing that with a camera. Even when using some of the newer cameras, which offer a low-energy Bluetooth connection (which maintains a constant connection between the camera and your smart device), the process of transferring and sharing you pictures can still feel sluggish and laborious. And there's the added bonus that all the images you take with your Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL are uploaded to the cloud and synced to your Google Photos account, with unlimited online storage. Verdict The Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL do a lot of things very well. Connectivity is their obvious strong suit, but Google's clever approach to overcoming the physical constraints of smartphone cameras particularly the advances it's made in machine learning is impressive. Usability is another plus, with a clean, clutter-free design making the interfaces on many compact cameras look pretty dated. If you're already into photography, then you can be safe in the knowledge that the camera in the Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL will deliver best-in-class images when you want to leave your main camera at home. And if the camera on the Google Pixel 3 or Pixel 3 XL is likely to be your only camera, we reckon you'll be excited by some of the pictures you're able to take. You shouldn't expect the results to be comparable to those from premium compacts, DSLRs or mirrorless cameras but if your smartphone inspires you to get more creative with your photography, then that can only be a good thing.
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https://www.techradar.com/au/news/can-the-google-pixel-3-xl-outperform-a-compact-camera-or-even-a-dslr
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Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared?
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Around the time of their last album, 2015s Fading Frontier, something about Deerhunter changed. It might have had to do with the serious accident the bands enigmatic frontman and chief songwriter Bradford Cox suffered in the summer of 2014 he was hit by a car which left him feeling emotionally numb following the recuperative course of painkillers he was prescribed. You could reason, too, that after a decade of wilfully experimental and wildly indulgent art rock, which resulted in a couple of this decades outsider masterpieces in Halcyon Digest and Monomania, the group naturally mellowed and chose to focus their considerable abilities. Either way, Fading Frontier found them taking stock of their anxieties and reining in their flights of fantasy to compose a very human and heartfelt record, proving, not that it were needed, that Cox could engage in a kind of direct, emotional pop. At the time, he likened Fading Frontier to the first day of spring after a brutal winter. might be a glorious day in late summer, but on closer inspection things are slightly off: the fruit hanging from the trees is rotten and shrivelled, the animals are lame, and the water in the streams tastes bitter, metallic. The earth is toxic. Order the latest issue of Uncut online and have it sent to your home! Cox delivers a fairly stark status update for humanity Walk around and youll see whats fading, he warns on Death In Midsummer but sugars the pill by wrapping the message in some of Deerhunters prettiest songs to date; the dopamine hits we crave while scrolling through our feeds. Baroque harpsichord and mandolin melodies are sprinkled liberally across Death In Midsummer, What Happens To People and Element, which clip along jauntily as if the band were parading down Carnaby Street on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Tucked near the end of the album, the effortless Plains, where Cox muses on the actor James Deans time in Marfa, Texas, could become the radio hit theyve so far managed to avoid. Cox says he has never worked so hard on an album, the fully formed demos he made in the attic studio of his Atlanta home brought to various studios to record with the band and regular producer Ben Allen. Whats new about this record is the involvement of Welsh musician Cate Le Bon, known for her freewheeling lo-fi solo work and as part of Drinks. Cox recruited her as producer after the pair worked together during last years Marfa Myths series in the artist outpost of Marfa, where they returned to finish this album. He struggles to pin down her precise qualities, implying that her mere presence in the studio is inspiration enough, but theres a freshness and looseness to the material not heard before. Her layered vocals on the celestial Tarnung, a Visible Cloaks-style marimba shimmer written by Lockett Pundt, provide a moment of tranquillity. Like Sonic Youth before them, what makes Deerhunter one of todays great American bands is their ability to absorb their environment and channel this into music that always strives to be different to what theyve done before and which challenges preconceptions of who they are. In acknowledging that No Ones Sleeping is a response to the senseless murder of Labour MP Jo Cox in June 2016, her namesake, the archetypal wildcard dreamer, reveals that in fact hes very much engaged with reality, though he keeps politics out of this Lodger-period Bowie number, preferring his usual allegory: In the country theres much duress. Violence has taken hold. Follow me, the golden void. Not everything is a success: on an album that explores relatively formal and concise songwriting, the more abstract pieces fall flat, such as the Numan-ish synth exercise Greenpoint Gothic or Dtournements cybernetic drift. In staking out an oddly agreeable middle-ground for Deerhunter, Cox risks forfeiting that element of danger and weirdness that made his band so special. Having restrained himself in that regard, his questing spirit is manifested in other ways, not least, on this album, in his cautious sense of responsibility and his despair for the planet and society. Your cage is what you make it, he sings on Futurism. If you decorate it, it goes by faster. At the age of 36, Cox is facing the future, and hes not sure whether to laugh or cry. Subscribe to Uncut and make huge savings on the cover price find out by clicking here! Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to keep up to date with the latest news from Uncut. The March 2019 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK with Leonard Cohen on the cover. Inside, youll find David Bowie, Bob Marley, The Yardbirds, Lambchop, Jessica Pratt, Crass, Neu!, Sean Ono Lennon and much more. Our 15-track CD also showcases the best of the months new music, including Cass McCombs, Sleaford Mods, Julia Jacklin and Royal Trux. Uncut: the past, present and future of great music.
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https://www.uncut.co.uk/reviews/album/deerhunter-hasnt-everything-already-disappeared
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Who will be top of the garden pecking order?
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This month is the 40th birthday of the Big Garden Birdwatch, the largest garden wildlife citizen science project. Hundreds of thousands of people have volunteered their time over the last four decades, providing the RSPB with more than eight million hours of monitoring garden birds. This years Big Garden Birdwatch takes place on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, when people are asked to spend one hour watching and recording the birds in their garden or local green space, then send their results to the RSPB. More than 2,800 people across Northumberland took part last year. RSPB chief executive Mike Clarke said: The survey started as a winter activity for our youth members. Its now the largest garden wildlife survey in the world and appeals to both children and adults because its an enjoyable, easy, inclusive activity that anyone can do, and a great opportunity to connect with nature. To take part, watch the birds in your garden or local park for one hour at some point over the three days. Only count the birds that land, not those flying over. Send the RSPB the highest number of each bird species you see at any one time not the total you see in the hour. For a free 40th anniversary Big Garden Birdwatch pack, which includes a bird identification chart, plus RSPB shop voucher and advice to help attract wildlife to your garden, text BIRD to 70030 or visit rspb.org.uk/birdwatch The RSPB is also asking participants to log some of the other wildlife they have seen throughout the year. Look out for badgers, foxes, grey squirrels, red squirrels, muntjac deer, roe deer, frogs and toads.
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https://www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/news/who-will-be-top-of-the-garden-pecking-order-1-9554898
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Whats next for China in lunar exploration?
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With China's pioneering Chang'e-4 spacecraft settled in for a first lunar night on the far side of the Moon, the downtime gives us a chance to look at what plans China has for future lunar exploration. We might not be waiting long for another complex and exciting Moon mission, as the Chang'e-5 lunar sample returnthe first since the Soviet Luna 24 in 1976is currently slated for liftoff at the end of 2019. Consisting of a service module, lander, ascent vehicle and return capsule, the mission will attempt to land in Oceanus Procellarum on the near side of the Moon to drill down and collect up to 2 kilograms of samples and bring them to Earth following a lunar orbit rendezvous. The mission and its goals have been long known and it marks the final stage of the three-step lunar exploration program set out in the early 2000s to orbit, land on and then return from the Moon. China is however designing a new, fourth stage of missions, which will target the south pole, use new technologies and could involve cooperation with major space faring nations and agencies. CNSA / CLEP Chang'e-5 sample return mission Towards a robotic lunar research base The first open discussion of this new round of what could be 3 or 4 missions came at a Chang'e-4 mission news conference in Beijing last Monday. Despite the numbering, the first of these missions could be Chang'e-7, which will, in the words of Wu Yanhua, vice administrator of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), attempt comprehensive exploration of the lunar South Pole, including analysis of topography, composition and the space environment. Just as Chang'e-3 had a backup in Chang'e-4, a successful Chang'e-5 mission will mean Chang'e-6 would then be similarly repurposed for a more ambitious sample return mission, targeting either the lunar far side or south pole. Chang'e-8 would then carry on the work of Chang'e-7 and additionally seek to test key technologies, such as 3D printing, with a view to establishing a what is being loosely described as a 'robotic research base' at the south pole, involving other countrieslikely similar conceptually to ESA's 'Moon Village' concept. CNSA / CLEP Chinese robotic research base Chang'e-4 has played its part in these plans by proving out new and improved precision landing technology that facilitated a safe descent and landing in challenging lunar terrain (make sure you check out the footage if you haven't already). While this is all rather vague, further details of the new Chang'e mission concepts have been made available in conference papers from top lunar scientists. At a June conference in Macau, China last year, Zou Yongliao of the General Office of the Lunar and Deep Space Exploration under the Chinese Academy of Sciences gave a glimpse of the early plans for Chang'e-7. The mission is to consist of five spacecraft: an orbiter, relay satellite (whether this will be Qeqiao or a new spacecraft is not stated), lander, rover and 'fly-by robot.' The rover would analyze volatiles and the fly-by robot would be equipped with a water molecule and hydrogen isotope analyzer for in-situ detection of water ice in permanently shadowed areas. Another paper, presented at LPSC 2018 (PDF) by Zou and others, also states lunar in-situ resource utilization and bio-scientific experiments as main scientific goals for the extended missions, along with an Earth-Moon Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) experiment involving the relay satellite. Chang'e-8, it says, could focus on in-situ rare-gas extraction and 3D-printing tests. Ecosystem experiments could also be carried out with a view to providing insight into systems to assist potential human lunar missions in the 2030s and even crewed lunar base concepts. The press conference underlined that China is looking for partners for its lunar projects, and cited the coordination of images, data and landing information between teams involved in NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and China's Chang'e-4 mission. CNSA Secretary-General Li Guoping also stated that China would be cooperating with Russia in its Luna 26 (Luna-Resurs-Orbiter) mission and on a Chinese lunar south pole landing, as well as research on lunar water ice and ultrasonic drilling. Beyond this, Chang'e-8 could involve input from ESA and others. "We hope that Chang'e-8 will help test some technologies and do some exploring for the building of a joint lunar base shared by multiple countries," Wu Yanhua said, citing lunar 3D printing, which ESA is already researching. Various timelines for the missions have been offered, none of which are official. One of the latest has Chang'e-7 launching in 2023 (as early as 2021 in others), followed perhaps a touch confusingly by Chang'e-6 in 2024, and Chang'e-8 in 2027. Another, presented (PDF) at the Sixty-first session of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space in June last year, has Chang'e-6 launching as soon as 2020, and Chang'e-7 and 8 in 2023 and 2026 respectively. CNSA / CLEP China deep space exploration roadmap There are a few caveats to all of this. Chang'e-5 was intended to launch in late 2017, but the second Long March 5 rocket suffered a first stage engine issue and plummeted into the sea. It has not flown since but is expected to lift off from the coastal Wenchang launch center in Q2 this year. That will be a crucial launch for China for its major exploration and human spaceflight ambitions. Only after a successful return-to-flight can the next Long March 5 send Chang'e-5 on the way to the Moon late this year. The same launcher is required to launch the country's first independent shot at Mars (orbiter and rover), in summer 2020. The Chinese Space Station project also waits on this, as the variant for lofting the 20-metric-ton space station to low Earth orbit, the Long March 5B, won't have its maiden flight until the Long March 5 is flying again. In the longer term, it should also be noted that while China's space activities have enjoyed strong political and economic support since the late 1970s, a comprehensive and growing space program may still come under various pressures going forward, as with any program around the world.
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http://www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-blogs/2019/whats-next-for-china.html
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Can Mexico Stop Its Oil Production Decline?
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Five years after former president Enrique Pea Nieto ended Pemexs monopoly and opened Mexicos oil industry to private foreign investment, the new administration is betting again on the state oil firm to turn around the countrys production which has been declining each year since its 3.4-million-bpd peak in the early 2000s. Mexico holds a lot of recoverable resources, including in shallow waters and deepwater, shale resources, and conventional onshore resources. Theres a lot of potential, considering that 70 percent of Mexicos estimated recoverable resources are yet to be tapped and developed, some of them at favorable economics, Forbes contributor Michael Lynch says. Recent discoveries offshore Mexico are estimated to be much larger than recent finds in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico at comparable depths, according to Lynch. Yet, Mexicos oil production, exploration, and investment climate for the next few years depends on the new administrations policies in the energy sector. Mexicos new President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obradorin office since December 1has been opposing his predecessors energy reform. Lpez Obrador also wants a greater role for Pemex in reversing the downward trend in Mexican oil production. Just two weeks into his new job, Lpez Obrador suspended new oil auctions for three years, essentially shelving one auction that was slated to be held in February. To be sure, Mexico is not rescinding the contracts that have already been awarded, but Lpez Obrador wants foreign firms to invest and show they can start production from fields they have discovered. Related: Saudi Arabia: Well Pump The Worlds Very Last Barrel Of Oil Since the 2013 energy reform, Mexico has held several successful auctions attracting international majors to its oil industry. Some world-class oil discoveries in shallow waters stoked investor appetite, which Lpez Obrador is now cooling with the three-year auction halt and demands for swift start of production. Some foreign firms are making progress with their development plans at newly discovered oil fields, but drilling and developing offshore resources takes years to complete. Italys Eni had its phased development plan for Area 1 in the shallow waters of the Campeche Bay approved by Mexico in the summer of 2018, with an early production phase startup planned in mid-2019. Full field production will start in early 2021, operator Eni said last month when it announced that Qatar Petroleum would buy 35 percent in Area 1. Talos Energy, one of the companies in the consortium which discovered the huge Zama field, said this week that We are staying focused on working with urgency to meet the project timeline to achieve first oil by the second half of 2022. Meanwhile, Pemexs crude oil production continues to declinefrom 1.929 million bpd in January 2018 to 1.717 million bpd in November 2018, according to the state firms latest available production figures. To compare, Pemexs crude oil production averaged 2.522 million bpd in 2013, falling to 1.948 million bpd in 2017. Eleven months into 2018, crude production averaged 1.841 million bpd last year. Lpez Obrador and Pemex have grand plans for reversing the decline, with the government coming to the rescue of Pemex, as the oil firm itself said last month. A new strategic plan aims to guarantee the countrys energy security and sovereignty and targets to raise crude oil production to 2.48 million bpd by the end of this administrations term in officethe end of 2024. Related: Chaos Erupts In Venezuela As Trump Backs New President In 2019 we will stabilize production with a rebound at the end of the year, and continue increasing it in the subsequent ones, Pemexs new chief executive Octavio Romero Oropeza said in mid-December in the presence of Lpez Obrador. Pemex aims to boost exploration spending by some 10 percent annually in order to achieve its production goal, Romero Oropeza said, as quoted by the Financial Times. Commenting on investment plans, a chief executive of one energy company told FT: It wouldnt matter if they invested 10 trillion pesos in Pemex, its not going to happen. A month and a half before Lpez Obrador took office, Fitch Ratings had said in October that Pemex would need annual capex of US$15 billion-US$18 billion to replenish reserves. Fitch estimates production could decline 5% per year over the next two years and stabilize thereafter. Potential increases in production from farm-outs, joint ventures and lower taxes could partially offset the production decline in the medium to long term, the rating agency said. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
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https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Can-Mexico-Stop-Its-Oil-Production-Decline.html
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Who Looked More Bangin At The Golden Globes?
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Lady Gaga Wows The Golden Globes Red Carpet Considering she was up for several awards for A Star Is Born, we pretty much knew Lady Gaga would be bringing her A Game to the Golden Globes Sunday night. Representation and inclusivity were big at the Globes this year and Korean-American actress Sandra Oh made history as the first Asian woman to win the Golden Globe for Best TV Drama Actress in nearly 40 years, since Yoko Shimada won the award in 1981 for Shogun. Oh is only the second Asian woman to win in the category ever and the third Asian actress to win any acting Golden Globe. She also co-hosted the show with Andy Sanberg! These were just a few of the stunners to hit the GG carpet Sunday Keep flipping for more of our favorites and dont forget to weigh in about Who Looked More Bangin!
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https://bossip.com/1690037/who-looked-more-bangin-at-the-golden-globes-3/
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Does gum disease have a key role in Alzheimer's?
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Scientists believe this may be the case after their study found further evidence of the link between bacteria in a common type of gum disease and people with dementia. Researchers say their findings offer hope for a new way of tackling the illness, for which there is no cure and no effective treatments. Scientists analysed brain tissue, spinal fluid, and saliva from dead and living patients with diagnosed and suspected Alzheimer's. Their study, published in the journal Science Advances, found bacteria associated with chronic gum disease, Porphyromonas gingivalis, in the brains of people with Alzheimer's. Tests on mice confirmed the bacteria could travel from the mouth to the brain and showed the toxic protein they secrete, called gingipain, destroyed brain neurons. The bacteria also increased production of amyloid beta, a component of the amyloid plaques commonly associated with Alzheimer's. Following this, scientists tested drugs in mice aimed at blocking the toxic proteins and found they were able to halt degeneration in the brain. The authors of the study concluded: "The findings of this study offer evidence that Porphyromonas gingivalis and gingipains in the brain play a central role in the pathogenesis [development] of AD [Alzheimer's disease], providing a new conceptual framework for disease treatment." The team has now developed a new drug they hope could form the basis of a human treatment and plan to test it in people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's, in a clinical trial, later this year. Scientists not involved in the research said it added to the evidence of the link between gum disease and dementia, the umbrella term for brain conditions that include Alzheimer's. But they say it is still not clear what role gum disease bacteria has in the development of Alzheimer's. People with Alzheimer's are more susceptible to getting infections in their brains, so it may be that the gum disease bacteria and the toxic proteins they secrete are a by-product of Alzheimer's rather than a cause. There was also caution about the fact the drug tests had been in mice. Prof Tara Spires-Jones, from the UK Dementia Research Institute, at the University of Edinburgh, said it was "great news" that the study provided evidence these drugs may affect Alzheimer's-related proteins. "However, we will have to await the larger clinical trial to see if it will be beneficial to people living with Alzheimer's disease," she said. Studies have previously linked gum disease and dementia. Last year, a Taiwanese study found that people with a 10-year or longer history of chronic periodontitis (CP) were 70% more likely than people without the condition to develop Alzheimer's. Another study found people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's who had gum disease experienced a quicker rate of cognitive decline compared with those without. The researchers of this new study say one explanation for the link is that bacteria from gum disease may access the brain by infecting immune system cells or spreading through cranial nerves passing through the head and jaw. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption One expert says oral health should be more of a priority - particularly for older people But, alternatively, it may be that people with Alzheimer's have poorer oral hygiene, perhaps because the condition makes them less able to look after their teeth and gums. The charity Alzheimer's Society, responding to this study, said the research it had been involved in had not found gum disease to be a key risk factor for Alzheimer's. And Alzheimer's Research UK said the presence of a single type of bacteria was "extremely unlikely to be the only cause of the condition". But given that the condition of teeth and gums is important for overall health anyway, Prof Clive Ballard, from the University of Exeter, said the study suggested oral health should be a "much higher public health priority, especially in older people".
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-46986709
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Why is EastEnders on twice tonight as the drama with Alfie Moon is continues?
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(Picture: BBC) You lucky things are in for not one, but two episodes of EastEnders tonight as the Slaters get some shocking news regarding Alfie Moon. EastEnders boss reveals three big Slater family storylines with tragedy and Sean return Alfies been causing nothing but trouble for the last few weeks. What with kidnapping Cherry, scamming businesses, and very narrowly escaping death at Christmas after Hayley pushed him down a flight of stairs, it wouldnt be any wonder if his time on Albert Square was running short. There wont be an episode airing on Friday, because an FA Cup match between Manchester United and Arsenal will be taking the time-slot, so theres two episodes airing tonight to make up for it. In tonights double bill, the drama with Alfie Moon (played by Shane Richie) is coming to a head as his his lies finally catch up with him. Advertisement Advertisement Moons issues with money have gone from bad to worse, and his customers certainly arent happy. Meanwhile the Slaters are getting another visit from the bailiffs because of his dodgy dealings, as Moons house of cards continues to fall. Now Alfies disappeared, and his wife Kat (played by Jesse Wallace) is going to get a visit from the police tonight, as the Slaters keep trying to solve the riddle of his disappearance. EastEnders is on twice tonight, 24 January 2019, at 7:30pm and 8:30pm on BBC One. If you miss the episodes tonight, you can catch up on BBC iPlayer. MORE: Coronation Street star Daniel Brocklebank hits back at homophobic troll who called for warning before two men kiss on screen MORE: 10 EastEnders spoilers: Major return, gun shocker and very surprising romance for Shirley
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https://metro.co.uk/2019/01/24/why-is-eastenders-on-twice-tonight-as-the-drama-with-alfie-moon-is-continues-8386731/
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Can we talk about the 'kerbau pendek' in the room?
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Curious Kitchens Wagyu Strip Loin dish was mistaken for pork earlier this week after it was spotted in MAS Going Places magazine. Picture via Instagram/Curious Kitchen COMMENTARY, Jan 25 I feel like we in Malaysia have turned back the clock... to 1978! Our prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was the deputy prime minister then and I was in my first year in university. I was equal parts excited and bewildered in those early weeks at University of Malaya (UM). For some reason, the university mandated that some of the modules be taught in BM... even though I was doing English Literature! That first year, one of the books we were studying was George Orwell's Animal Farm. The lecturer was Mrs Jeannie Mok. She read off her lecture notes in BM and was talking about the characters Napoleon and Snowball, both pigs... when I heard her say kerbau pendek when referring to them. So apparently the word babi was just not acceptable, and we were to refer to Napoleon and Snowball as kerbau pendek. We laughed privately after the lecture at the stupidity of it all... then promptly forgot about this blip. We actually thought it was Mrs Mok being... silly. And never thought to ask if she was perhaps made to do this. Fast forward to 1994 and Huzir Sulaiman's Bendul character on TV. This Mr Bean-like character in one episode used the word kerbau pendek when referring to a babi. I thought, Oh, there it is again... that word. How silly. But then again, it was RTM and I chalked it down to bureaucracy and random censorship. The following year the movie Babe with its central character of a pig was banned from our local cinemas. Today in 2019 when information in the form of news and entertainment comes to and at us so freely, it seems unthinkable that there was a time where we tried to change the name of an animal the pig to something more palatable. I am referring to the latest babi kerfuffle involving Malaysia Airlines' inflight magazine Going Places. Some overzealous people protested over the use of a picture of an alleged pork dish in the magazine... Malaysia Airlines apologised and later it turned out not to be pork but actually beef. And in the latest turn of events, the word pork (and I assume pig) will be verboten in the magazine. Imagine that! Welcome to 1978.
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https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2019/01/25/can-we-talk-about-the-kerbau-pendek-in-the-room/1716438
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Does the new 60-second face washing technique actually get rid of spots and improve skin texture?
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Theres so much skincare advice on social media, its hard to know whats real and not. When Kim Kardashian shared that she had psoriasis on Twitter she was recommended to rub everything from coconut oil to yoghurt all over her body by wannabe dermatologists. Aesthetician Nayamka Roberts-Smith, however, cuts through all that crap, and tells us the things we really need to know. She goes by LABeautyologist on Twitter, and regular doles out stellar skincare advice on her timeline and YouTube. Theres one tip she has which has really gotten people talking, specifically because it is incredibly easy and it isnt just free, it saves you money in the long term. The tip is simple: When you wash your face, do so with your fingers and continue massaging the cleanser for 60 full seconds. Nayamka says that this helps your products do the job you bought them for, softens the skin, and dislodges sebum. The upshot of this should be improved skin texture and a reduction of spots. Advertisement Advertisement It almost seems too good to be true, but multiple dermatologists and beauticians we spoke to confirmed it works. Bav Shergill BSc, MBBS, MRCP, Consultant Dermatologist at The McIndoe Centre says: Cleansers use chemicals to break down substances on the surface of the skin so that they are easier to rinse off. So, the 60-second rule should allow products enough time to properly dissolve the makeup, oil and dirt on your face. Its not just the removal of dirt, either. Luisa Scott, clinical director at Newcastle Skin Clinic tells us: Washing your face for 60 seconds or longer has lots of advantages firstly, massaging is beneficial as it stimulates the lymphatic system, helping to reduce puffiness which can both strengthen muscle memory and encourage collagen production. The results of Nayamkas advice are clear: Was embarrassed to post the other side as you can see it was VERY bad thanks for being so kind everyone :) I also used Vit E oil on my scarring. pic.twitter.com/gzfj9VUxnr Phelisha (@pphelisha) January 20, 2019 Deborah Mitchell, owner of Heaven (who counts Duchess Camilla, Victoria Beckham, and Gwyneth Paltrow as fans) says: For a full cleanse, the one minute wash is perfect, because the skins pores need to be opened and the black heads and debris deep cleaned. Also when people cleanse, they tend to wash straight off, which is the wrong thing to do. They think its not as important as moisturiser, but its the first thing to touch your skin. Advertisement Advertisement The type of cleanser you use can be just as important as the way you use it though, with different textures and formulations built to do different jobs. Bav says: If you are going to try the 60-second rule, its important to make sure you are using a cleanser that is suitable for your skin type. If you have sensitive skin and you use a harsh cleanser for 60-seconds, its likely that you will aggravate your skin more. Ideally you want a solvent-based cleanser that dissolves the sebaceous oils without harming the lipids of the skins moisture barrier. He recommends something unfragranced, paraben and sulfate-free for sensitive faces. If you have oily skin, go for a non-comedogenic gel or cream cleanser. If you want to step it up with more advanced ingredients, Luisa recommends something with glycolic acid or other AHAs, and Deborah says that Abeetoxin products are her holy grail. Oh, and follow Nayamka on Twitter immediately. Shell get you to chuck your harsh peach scrubs in the bin and care for your face properly. MORE: 10 skincare products to help hydrate your dry winter skin Advertisement Advertisement
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https://metro.co.uk/2019/01/24/new-60-second-face-washing-technique-actually-get-rid-spots-improve-skin-texture-8375435/
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Is Samons the rising star of the French Alps with these luxury MGM homes for sale?
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The chances are that you've not heard of this ski resort in the French Alps, with most people being more familiar with the likes of Val-d'Isre, Morzine and Chourchevel. But Samons - pronounced 'Samwan' - is attracting huge investment, with a new Club Med having opened on its slopes a year ago and a development of luxury flats built by MGM currently for sale. For those who are already familiar with the area, it is not surprising that it has now on the radar of such established names. The ski resort has plenty to offer and is a favourite among French skiers and snowboarders. Luxury new apartments in the ski resort of Samons are available to buy from 215,000 Until now, it has avoided much of the commercialisation of some of other, better-known, resorts - and the higher house prices that tend to accompany them. A recent report by estate agent Savills revealed that the celebrated resort of Val d'Isre remains the most expensive place in the Alps with an average property price of 20,600 per square metre, the equivalent of 18,400. It is in sharp contrast to Samons, where the price per square metre at a new luxury development is 5,100 per square metre. At the same time, Samons has maintained the authentic feel of a working village, where 3,500 people live throughout the year. Developer MGM finished building these flats in Samons in December last year Chalet chic! The modern interiors are high spec with luxury fixtures and fittings The bathrooms are ready to be rented out, with towels and toiletries from the supplier Pure It is less than an hour from Geneva airport and is part of the Grand Massif ski area, which offers 265 kilometres of ski runs, including one that's an impressive 14 kilometres. The Grand Massif ski area also covers Flaine, Morillon, Les Carroz and Sixt Fer a Cheval. For those who don't ski or snowboard, there are a host of other activities, including snow-shoeing and dogsledding. And in the summer, the resort remains active with sports including golf and hiking. The glamorous communal areas includes a grand piano and top-end sofas from Poltrona Frau There is a spacious restaurant on site, serving a varied menu throughout the day Samons is part of the Grand Massif ski area, which offers 265 kilometres of ski runs The large swimming pool is part of the extensive leisure suite that includes a steam room, sauna and a sensory shower The sauna is perfect for your recovery following a energetic day on the slopes With so much to offer, it is hardly surprising that developers are moving in, with MGM opening the latest of its developments on 22 December. The development consists of 26 freehold flats - which have all been sold - and 31 so-called leaseback apartments, of which there are 14 left available to buy. Leaseback can be a popular option for those seeking to buy an apartment as it can make the process of buying in the French Alps relatively smooth, taking care of maintenance issues and renting it out for part of the year to help cover costs. Leaseback means purchasing a freehold property outright but leasing it back to the developer for a minimum period. It then rents it out and organises everything involved in the process, leaving those who own the property to enjoy it for two-to-six weeks a year and receive a small twice-yearly rental income. Prices on the remaining leaseback flats at the MGM development in Samoens range from 245,000, the equivalent of 215,000, for a one-bedroom flat to 625,000 - the equivalent of 567,000 - for the last remaining four-bedroom flat. Recovery-time! There is a spa area offering a variety of different body massages MailOnline Property's Myra Butterworth visits the French ski resort of Samoens and some of the properties it has to offer One of the attractions of buying through MGM is that it is possible to buy one of its leaseback flats in Samons and swap your rental weeks for one in a different - and more expensive - ski resort for no extra cost so long as it is available. This includes Chamonix, where equivalent properties tend to be more expensive due to the higher house prices there. It means you could buy a 215,000 flat, but end up using one that's much more expensive. Richard Deans, UK sales manager at MGM, said: 'This isn't timeshare. It is like a timeshare in the sense that you can use different developments, but it is different from timeshare because you own 100 per cent of the freehold.' Each of their developments have a different feel. The family-friendly ski resort of Samons is part of the Grand Massif ski area that also includes Flaine, Morillon, Les Carroz, and Sixt Fer a Cheval. It includes 265 kilometres of ski runs, including one called Cascades, which is an impressive 14 kilometres long. MailOnline Property visited a luxury development called Alexane, which has been built by MGM French Properties. It contains 26 freehold properties and 31 that are available on a leaseback basis. There are only 14 leaseback flats left, with all the other apartments having been bought before the building was completed at the end of last year. The flats can been found between the old village centre of Samons and the eight-person Grand Massif Express gondola at the foot of the slopes. The apartments are within walking distance of all parts of Samons village. The gondola is within a few minutes by transport with a minibus exclusively available to the owners of the flats. Samons is less than an hour by car from Geneva airport, meaning that is possible to leave the office at the end of the day, jump on a plane and be in a bar in the resort by 11pm. Buyers can expect to pay from 245,000, the equivalent of 215,000, for a one-bedroom flat to 625,000 - the equivalent of 567,000 - for the last remaining four-bedroom flat. This is a five-star residence with a luxury leisure complex that includes a swimming pool, jacuzzi, sauna, steam room, plunge pool and a sensory shower. There's also a spa offering a variety of treatments, including full body massages, along with a games room. There is a bar and a grand piano, which is perfect for jazz nights. While it is possible to walk to the gondola to access the slopes, it is probably too far to want to do it regularly with heavy equipment. However, there is a minibus provided by the residence and the payoff of the location of the flats is that it is possible to walk into the town. There are people who live in the freehold apartments permanently. However, the leaseback apartments are for renting out and to use only for a few weeks throughout the year. The apartments offer a one per cent 'guaranteed' rental income after charges, which can go towards mortgage payments. The guarantee is provided by MGM, which also manages the properties while they are let for the duration of the lease, which has an initial term of 11 years. Buyers have the option of changing the number of weeks they use the apartment every three years within the contract. It is important to weight up the strength of a company offering a guarantee and to work through the sums carefully before buying. Samons is a family-friendly ski resort with unique cafes and restaurants, favoured among the French, although you will find international visitors. The village is perhaps not on the radar in a way that higher profile resorts are, such as Val d'Isere and Morzine. If you're after a special treat - and your budget can afford it - try The Carroz d'Arches, where there's a kitchen that's in full view of the restaurant, which produces outstanding fine cusine. The restaurant is at the foot of the ski slopes of Les Carroz d'Arches, near Flaine. There are purchase charges of three per cent of the prices, which covers stamp duty, land registry fees, solicitors' fees and administration costs. Investors can reclaim the French equivalent of VAT (known as TVA and charged at 20 per cent). However, to do this, they must use the leaseback purchase option and let the apartment they are buying. That is already a requirement of the leaseback flats on this development and so the VAT rebate is already factored in - in other words, the price (in euros) is exclusive of VAT. Leaseback involves you buying the property freehold and then leasing it to the developer or their partner, who then lets it to holidaymakers. Owners can typically can use their property for between two to six weeks in season, high medium and low season, depending on the deal they opt for. The cost will depend on the size of the apartment. It works out at 27 per square metre a year. It means the service charge on a 60 sq m two-bedroom apartment would be 1,620 a year. There are also local taxes that need to be paid, which equate to around 12 per square metre a year of 2,500 per square metre a year on a two-bedroom flat. The freehold apartments are being sold fully furnished through MGM, with an allocated parking space, ski locker and a private storage cave for owners. Buyers must rent out their property when they are not using it. MGM will manage the rental, from handling bookings to the handover of keys to guests and cleaning before the new ones arrive. It leaves owners to use the apartments for between two-and-six weeks of the year. If buyers opt for the six week option, they can choose to use the apartment for three weeks during the winter (at certain times - for example, only once during the peak of the season, with one week in medium season and one week in low season) and for three weeks during the summer. The rental yield is based on an income generated of 5,000 a year before charges for a two-bedroom apartment on this option. Therefore, the income will be lower than on the three or four-week options, which generate a rental income of 6,000 a year.
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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/property/article-6619463/Is-Samo-ns-rising-star-French-Alps-luxury-MGM-homes-sale.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ito=1490&ns_campaign=1490
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Is Huawei een privaat bedrijf of een pion van de Chinese geheime dienst?
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Belangrijk om te weten, nu dit telecombedrijf de wereld verovert. Intussen reageerde China op de arrestatie van een manager met gijzelingen. Ruim honderd westerse academici en oud-diplomaten riepen de Chinese regering vorige week op te stoppen met haar gijzeldiplomatie. In hun brief aan president Xi Jinping hekelen de briefschrijvers de arrestatie van twee Canadezen, de onderzoeker Michael Kovrig en ondernemer Michael Spavor; ze zouden de nationale veiligheid in gevaar hebben gebracht. Dat moest verband houden met een andere arrestatie, die van Meng Wanzhou, topmanager van het Chinese telecombedrijf Huawei, vorige maand. Het had er alles van dat met de dubbele arrestatie China wraak nam voor het Canadese optreden tegen de Huawei-manager. Gijzeldiplomatie dus; niet door een obscure guerrillabeweging, maar door de Chinese overheid. Het werd nog zotter. Op 14 januari werd een andere Canadees slachtoffer van de Huawei-affaire. Robert Lloyd Schellenberg was vier jaar geleden veroordeeld tot vijftien jaar cel wegens drugssmokkel. Eind vorig jaar werd dat terzijde geschoven. Op 14 januari hoorde Schellenberg een nieuw vonnis: de doodstraf. Uit alles is duidelijk dat China de arrestatie van de Huawei-topvrouw hoog opneemt. Meng, de 46-jarige dochter van Huaweis oprichter en huidige topman Ren Zhengfei, werd op aandringen van buurland Amerika door Canada opgepakt. De Amerikanen verdenken Meng ervan het sanctiebeleid tegen Iran te hebben ontdoken en willen haar uitlevering. Ze staan op het punt daarvoor bij Canada een verzoek in te dienen. Tot die tijd heeft Meng huisarrest (die ze mag uitzitten in haar kapitale villa in Vancouver). De Chinezen reageerden woedend op de Canadees-Amerikaanse actie. Omdat Huawei door Peking wordt gezien als ht paradepaardje van de Chinese economie, werden de VS er al snel van verdacht de opmars van China als economische wereldmacht te willen dwarsbomen. Huawei geldt sinds 2010 als de grootste producent van telecommunicatietechnologie en is actief in 170 landen. In 2017 verdrong het Apple van plek twee op de lijst van grootste smartphonefabrikanten (het Zuid-Koreaanse Samsung staat nog altijd op nummer n). Er is ook een ander verhaal. In zijn boek Chinas Economy, what everyone needs to know, omschrijft Arthur Kroeber grote private bedrijven in China als pionnen van de staat. Ze zijn minder privaat dan naarbuiten toe lijkt. Dat hadden de Amerikanen ook al begrepen. Begin vorig jaar waarschuwden drie Amerikaanse veiligheidsdiensten burgers om af te zien van de aankoop van een Huawei-telefoon vanwege een veiligheidsrisico. Wie de Chinese wetgeving erop naslaat, wordt in dat wantrouwen versterkt. Zo staat in artikel 7 van de Wet op de Staatsveiligheid dat zowel burgers als bedrijven verplicht zijn om deel te nemen aan geheime dienst-activiteiten indien daartoe verzocht wordt. Plaats van handelen binnen- of buitenland maakt daarbij geen verschil. Tal van landen wachten het antwoord daarop niet af en sluiten Huawei uit als zakelijke partner, bijvoorbeeld om het voor veiligheid uiterst kwetsbare 5G-netwerk voor mobiele telefonie te realiseren. Diefstal De VS verdenken Huawei sowieso al van daadwerkelijke diefstal van intellectueel eigendom. Zo zou kennis over een nieuwe technologie van T-mobile (Tappy) zijn doorgesluisd naar China. Ook Polen kreeg ermee te maken: twee medewerkers zijn daar opgepakt op verdenking van het illegaal toe-eigenen van intellectueel eigendom. Intussen zorgt Chinas gijzeldiplomatie voor hoofdpijn bij de Canadezen; die wachten met spanning het Amerikaanse verzoek om uitlevering van Weng af. Dat moet vr 30 januari zijn ingediend. Dat is hard nodig nu de zich voortslepende handelsoorlog tussen de twee om een oplossing vraagt. Vrijlating van Meng door Canada zou die van de twee Canadezen aan Chinese kant tot gevolg kunnen hebben. En wellicht ook het terugdraaien van de doodstraf voor Schellenberg.
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https://www.rd.nl/vandaag/buitenland/is-huawei-een-privaat-bedrijf-of-een-pion-van-de-chinese-geheime-dienst-1.1543018
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Was darf ich im Download-Ordner lschen?
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Frage an die Redaktion: Ich wrde gerne meine Festplatte aufrumen und dazu auch den Download-Ordner leeren. Ich bin mir aber unsicher, ob ich dabei nicht eventuell wichtige Daten vernichte. Knnen Sie mir sagen, welche der dort gespeicherten Dateien ich gefahrlos lschen kann? Antwort: Im Download-Ordner Ihres PCs landen alle Installationsprogramme (und andere Dateien), die Sie mit Ihrem Browser aus dem Internet heruntergeladen haben. Wenn Sie die dazugehrigen Programme einmal installiert haben, sind die heruntergeladenen Dateien berflssig. Insofern drfen Sie die Inhalte des Download-Ordners ohne Gefahr fr Ihren PC lschen. Schlimmstenfalls mssten Sie eine spter erneut bentigte Datei ein zweites Mal herunterladen. Ausnahmen sind PDF-Dokumente, Bilder oder hnliches, die Sie wegen der enthaltenen Informationen heruntergeladen haben und aufbewahren mchten. Die sollten Sie natrlich nicht lschen.
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https://www.computerwissen.de/windows/windows-probleme-loesen/artikel/was-darf-ich-im-download-ordner-loeschen-1.html
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How Will Tech Nation's Upscale Programme Help 30 Startups To Scale Up?
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Founders of startups have opened up about the impact that whirlwind growth brings as they join Tech Nations Upscale 4.0 programme. Its like climbing Mount Everest, is how Tessa Clarke, cofounder of OLIO puts it. She is one of the 30 participants, see the full list below, on a programme kicking off today for rapidly growing startups run by the government-backed, U.K. network for entrepreneurs. As startups get traction and investment, it puts a lot of pressure on the founder and its executives, says Gerard Grech, CEO of Tech Nation. And the extent of that strain became yet more apparent to Grech while reading James Silvers Upscale, published by Tech Nation last November (see Forbes.com review here). Its a fascinating book because you would think it was about finance but a lot of it is about mental health and the pressure points. Crossing a chasm Of the 30 participating startups, a total of 188 million of investment has been raised averaging a not insignificant 6.2 million each. Investors might expect a handful of failures from a portfolio but founders dont want to be the one to fill that particular slot. Certainly not just as all the hard work theyve put into the early stages of their business' development is beginning to bear fruit. We want to make sure it is not Death Valley and that they all get to the other side, reassures Grech, recognising that it has always been a challenge to scale but its getting fiercer and fiercer. The very success of startups that scaled before them - alumni of earlier Upscale programmes include Monzo (see its CEO Tom Blomfield on scaling here), Blub, Bloom & Wild - has made it easier for those that come after. More and more founders have exited but then they stay and become investors and mentors leading to a stronger scaleup ecosystem, continues Wood, one of the non-executive directors of Tech Nation and cofounder of Unruly. Virtuous circle Its an evolution that Upscale 4.0 has plugged into. Our scaleup coaches tend to be founders who have scaled and exited, ready to give advice they have not yet shared, says Wood. This years six-month programme has been further reshaped following feedback and data from previous years. One of the biggest problems of scaling is loneliness - whom to talk to and from whom to get timely advice. So we reduced the number of participants from 37 to 30, says Wood. "By reducing the scale of the cohort, it will provide the environment to share. Inevitably the types and sectors from which the startups are drawn will shift and the make-up of the teams more diverse by ethnicity, gender, race and neural spectrum. There are stereotypes around a founder wearing a hoody, an extrovert and someone full of braggadocio. But not every founder needs to be able to stand up in front of a group and not just those with swagger become a founder, says Wood. Upscale itself is already changing with 27% of its founders now women, up from 24% last year, while 33% are from outside London, up from 26%. And the interests of founders will evolve, becoming keen to digest taboo subjects whereby diversity, mindfulness and mental health will be important, concludes Wood. After all, a diverse healthy workforce is a competitive advantage. The 30 startups in Upscale 4.0. 1. Put simply, the point at which the business becomes a rocket ship! To give great ideas a chance. Too many to mention. The most critical (and rewarding!) has been investing in 100 happy people to bring the Futrli vision to life. A ground-breaking shift in the success rate of small business - currently 50% fail by year five. The positive effect on families and global economies if we can help more small businesses succeed will be staggering. It's a daunting task, but we are enthused that what we are building is a world first. Funding Friends, family and bootstrapped to profitability (2014-2018), 4 million Series A (Sep 2018). Know your business, understand all of its moving parts and use the data to make sure that every small decision you make takes you to where you want to be. 2. Adam Hyslop, cofounder, OpenRent Finding, advertising and managing rental property for both landlords and tenants. Four and half million households rent. We want to reach every landlord and tenant with a better way to rent property and create new products to solve every problem they might face. The more users we have, the more functionality we can create to improve the lettings industry. Were already the UKs largest letting agent, the first to complete an entire rental transaction online and weve never charged tenants any admin/agency fees! Enact genuine change in the rental market, whether advocating for legislative reform (as we did for the Tenant Fees Bill), or by disrupting the businesses that make renting painful for landlords and tenants. After being cited by Lord Bourne, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government, as the future of the industry, were full of hope and excitement! Funding Media for Equity Deal Series A (2014), 4.4 million Series A (2017). Put the customer at the centre of everything you do. Many claim to do this, but the focus is so easy to lose as incentives change! 3. Our mission is to profoundly impact a million families in the next five years. It's so exhausting being a working parent. What gets me out of bed in the morning is making their lives easier by helping the whole family. Every family can access their perfect childcare. Exhilarating, exhausting, all-consuming! Funding: 600,000 Pre-seed (2017), 3.5 million Seed (2018). Be a sponge. Read, ask questions, listen. 4. Growth without falling into a trap of complexity and spiralling costs. To expand into new markets. We set up an office in New York last year. We aim to supercharge our growth! It's tough and exciting at the same time as we realise it's a break-out opportunity. Funding 1.2 million in revenue (2018). Hire great people and get the right partners on board early. 5. Having the operational layer in place to facilitate rapid, sustainable growth. When you dig deep into the unit economics of your business, you start to work on improving all metrics. We have overhauled our sales processes, worked on automating our sign-up and payment processes and upgraded internal operations. We are looking to build a trusted, global review platform for healthcare and to work with hospitals and clinics around the world by helping them collect and act on patient feedback data. My first business trip to a new market reminded me of the earliest days of the company; that amazing excitement that founders have in the first months of a business. Funding: 0.5 million Angel (2016), 1.2 million Seed (2017), Series A (2018). Cutting corners can feel like a necessity in the beginning but those savings will be lost very quickly as you scale. 6. Transitioning to a high-growth business where you can drive revenue growth and take advantage of the investment youve made. To create significant shareholder value and benefits to the broader stakeholder group, including aiding small businesses to grow. From inception, weve had robust and scalable infrastructure including tech, FS and regulatory experience. To become a significant player in the investment and funding landscapes in the UK and potentially international stage. Depends on the day! Funding: 1.5 million Founder Seed (2014), 1.5m Angel (2016), 2.2m Angel (2018). There will be a lot of knocks, a lot of meetings and youll never switch off. 7. Having product market fit while building the team and infrastructure to enable the business to grow to the next level. We want to make the legal industry clear, connected and collaborative. The bigger we are, and the bigger our reach, the more impact we will have. A strong focus on getting the foundational elements right, i.e. team, culture, values, and of course the product! To be the market leader in legal tech, in all of our markets. Exciting and exhausting! Funding: 1.8 million Seed (2016), 7.5m Series A (2018). Hire people smarter than you. 8. Scaling means taking OLIO mainstream so that it becomes inconceivable to chuck good food in the bin. Were solving one of the biggest problems facing humanity today food waste necessary if we are to stand any chance of mitigating climate change. From a pilot in five postcodes in North London to a global movement of 825,000 people who have together shared well over 1.2 million portions of food. From 1 million to 1 billion OLIOers in 10 years time. It's like climbing Mount Everest! Funding: $2.2 million Seed (2016); $6 million Series A (2018). Dream big but start very small. And make sure you have the right cofounder(s). 9. Being a truly global company, solving challenges for hundreds of millions of small-scale farmers and doing this sustainably. Getting our solution into the hands of over 1 billion globally. More than 1.3 million farmers use our service in East Africa. A global eco-system with the farmer at the centre through which to obtain information, products, services and trade their crops. A sense of responsibility to our users, team, investors and partners. Funding: $1.8 million Pre-seed (2016), $5 million Seed (2017). Dont be afraid to surround yourself with people who challenge you and are better than you at key things. The other 21: Airsorted, Automata (see Forbes.com), BookingLive Software Ltd, Cleo AI (see Forbes.com), Fertility Focus, Fluidly, Funding Options, Healthera Ltd, Hubble, Immersive Labs, MoveGB, Open Cosmos (see Forbes.com), Oxehealth, Patch Gardens Ltd, Previse, Shepper, Sweatcoin, Tessian, The Plum Guide, Voxpopme, Wazoku Ltd
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnwelsheurope/2019/01/25/how-will-tech-nations-upscale-programme-help-30-startups-to-scale-up/
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How critical is it to buy a critical illness insurance policy?
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Apart from his regular job, Chitaranjan Patra, now 65, used to help cancer patients through a non-government organisation which he had founded with about 20 other people in his township in Navi Mumbai. Founded in 1996 and called the Jagannath Cancer Foundation, the NGO still functioning and thriving provides lodging and boarding facilities to people visiting the Tata Memorial Hospital in central Mumbai for cancer treatment. But Patra didnt know that tragedy would strike closer home. In July 2011, he was detected with prostate cancer. Patra had a health insurance cover of Rs 3.30 lakh. But it turned out to be insufficient. His treatment by this time his cancer had entered stage 3 and he had a surgery followed by 48 rounds of radiations costed about Rs 6 lakh. Fortunately for him, his daughters company insurance came to his rescue, but Patra still had to shell out a little over Rs 1 lakh from his pocket. Patra got cured and it has been more than seven years, but today he has a health cover of Rs 15 lakh. My retirement corpus came to my rescue but the incident underscored the importance of a good health insurance policy, says Patra over phone. With the cost of medical treatment, especially major illnesses or health conditions, going up, a plain-vanilla health insurance is not enough in most cases. Besides, severe illnesses dont just entail hospitalisation. A sustained bed rest could lead to a sabbatical and loss of income. Heres where a critical illness policy helps. A critical illness policy is a defined benefit plan that gives you back your entire sum assured once you are detected with any of the critical illness that your policy covers. This is different from your usual mediclaim or health insurance policy. Your health insurance policy reimburses your hospitalisation expenses. Either you need to submit bills after discharge or if its a cashless policy, your insurer settles the bill with your hospital. A critical illness policy, on the other hand, just needs proof of diagnosis. You can choose your treatment and you dont need to be hospitalised. Once the policyholder is detected with a critical illness, the insurer pays the person the policy amount (sum assured) and the policy terminates. In a health insurance policy, the hospital and surgery bills are paid to the extent of sum insured and the policy is reinstated, provided of course the policyholder continues to pay the premium. When Jamila Shahpurwala, 54, a teacher by profession, was detected with breast cancer in 2016, her world came crashing down. Although Jamila comes from an upper middle class family, she was worried about the sudden loss of income, apart from the emotional trauma. Her treatment took her away from work and she took a sabbatical. To her fortune, she had bought a critical care insurance policy some months before. After her diagnosis, Jamila got the sum assured of her critical illness policy of Rs.10 lakh. The treatment itself was around Rs6 lakh, but we could use the amount to invest in mutual funds to help her sustain for the future and also to compensate for the lack of income in those days, says Jamilas financial planner, Nisreen Mamaji, certified financial planner and founder of MoneyWorks Financial Advisors. But before you rush to buy a critical illness policy, there are some important factors that you should keep an eye out. One critical illness can be very different from another. Check how many critical illnesses your policy covers. For instance, Apollo Munichs Optima Vital policy covers 37 illnesses, Bajaj Allianz Critical Illness plan covers 10 such illnesses, and so on. Most of the critical illness policies dont cover early stage cancer. Heart surgeries are covered but most polices do not cover angioplasty (a sort of non-invasive treatment to widen the arteries that supply blood to your heart). Some policies like ICICI Prudential iProtect Smart (a life term policy with a critical illness rider (more of that, later) cover angioplasty, up to a maximum of Rs 5 lakh. Congenital heat disorders, or conditions by birth, are also excluded. Most policies also exclude critical illnesses caused due to adventure sports and some policies also exclude such illnesses caused due to participation in armed forces. Almost all critical illness policies exclude any critical illness detected in presence of Human Immuno deficiency (HIV) virus and/or Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (Aids). Critical illness policies carry a survival period clause. Once the policyholder is detected with a critical illness, money doesnt come automatically. The policyholder has to survive for a certain number of days, typically 15-30 days after being detected. Just like any health policy, critical illness policies come with a waiting period. Generally, of around 90 days, within which if the policyholder gets diagnosed with a critical illness, he/she doesnt get any benefits. But pre-existing diseases are covered only 48 months after you buy the policy. SBI Critical Illness Policy does not cover any pre-existing illnesses, even after a gap. Your basic health insurance cover reimburses your hospitalisation expenses. But if you are struck with a critical illness, you could be sitting at home, away from work or business. A critical illness lump sum benefit replaces your regular income that takes a hit, says Chetan Joshi, chief executive officer, Mondial MMX Financial Consultants. Critical illness covers are available in two ways; either through a standalone critical illness policy or as a rider (a sort of additional feature at an additional price) over your base term life insurance policy. Experts are divided as to which one you should go for. While the premium usually goes up in standalone policy issued by general and health insurers, it remains the same in a term life policy. But the standalone critical illness policy issued by general and health insurers, is a lifelong policy - subject to you paying regular premiums- and the term life policy is there for a finite number of years till, typically, you turn 60 to 65 in age. By the time you turn 60 and realise you now dont have any financial dependents, you may feel the need to terminate your life policy. In which case, your critical illness rider also goes away. A few life insurers also issue stand-alone critical illness policies. Such policies are for a defined term, and premium remains fixed for that term. Mamaji says that typically our health covers are far lower than what they actually to be. If our base health plan covers us for Rs.5 lakh- that is typically the cover most people take- the critical illness benefit is also limited to Rs.5 lakh. Thats too little to make good of our income loss that could very well happen if we are struck with a severe illness, says Mamaji. These days, due to hectic lifestyle, more and more young people are prone to serious illnesses. Its a huge financial burden if our future income, cash flow and learning capability gets impacted, says Bhavesh Bhatt, advisor at Ghalla Bhansali Financial Advisory. Critical illness policies and riders, both, typically pay policyholders the sum assured once the illness is detected. If the policyholder survives the term of the policy, there is no maturity benefit. Also, the critical illness payoff is one time. In a standalone policy, once the sum insured is paid, the policy terminates. In a term insurance policy, if the rider is activated, the base term plan still continues. In products offered by some insurers, the sum assured of the base plan gets reduced to the extent of the critical illness payout. Bottom line: you need both covers; a base health plan as well as a critical illness cover. Abhishek Bondia, co-founder and principal officer, SecureNow.in, a Delhi-based insurance broking firm says that its better to buy, first, a pure health insurance policy and then buy a standalone critical care illness cover. Both policies are complimentary. While your health policy covers your hospitalisation, the critical illness cover gives you a lump sum that you can use in your treatment. Money, excess of treatment costs, helps cover loss of income, says Bondia. You can now invest in mutual funds with moneycontrol. Download moneycontrol transact app. A dedicated app to explore, research and buy mutual funds.
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https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/personal-finance/how-critical-is-it-to-buy-a-critical-illness-insurance-policy-3433811.html
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Could $15 minimum wage in NJ lead to higher property taxes?
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A plan to boost New Jerseys minimum wage by nearly 70 percent over the next five years cleared its first hurdle by a party-line vote Thursday. Its all but certain to reach a receptive Gov. Phil Murphy in less than a week. Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, said the $15 minimum wage plan is a compromise that balances the needs of workers and employers, such as through a new training wage for a workers first 120 hours of work. Well lift working families and individuals out of poverty with a more livable wage, Coughlin said. Fundamental reality is, as I suspect we all know intuitively, is that $8.85 an hour, which is the current minimum wage, is not sufficient in this terrific state of ours. Even with slower wage increases for seasonal workers, prices will rocket to unaffordable levels, said Patrick ONeill, owner of Colonial Bakery in Lavallette. Business co-owner Allison ONeill said that in five years, a dozen doughnuts would cost $21 if the minimum wage is $15. Youll see that a lot of families that used to come down for the summer will not be able to afford the prices at the Shore anymore and they will look to vacation elsewhere, further driving our business into the ground, Patrick ONeill said. Business groups warned that the minimum wage plan could lead to job cuts, benefit reductions and business closures. Anthony Russo, president of the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey, noted it follows last years hike in the business tax and the mandate for paid sick leave. A lot of our businesses are running scared now with the rhetoric coming out of Trenton. Theres really no confidence in investing or expanding in New Jersey. Theyre getting hit on all sides, Russo said. Over the course of more than three hours of testimony, the Assembly Labor Committee heard from more supporters than opponents of the plan, which would raise the minimum wage from $8.85 to $10 on July 1, then another $1 each Jan. 1 for five years. Fifteen is the difference, said Brian Kulas, who works in Atlantic City and with the Anti-Poverty Network of New Jersey, who said he qualifies for government assistance currently but still must choose between fruit and toothpaste at the supermarket. It gives me and other workers like me a chance to not just breathe in New Jersey but to be able to afford to live. Amendments made public Thursday add the state, county, municipalities and school districts to the list of types of employers that are covered. That could lead to higher property taxes. John Donnadio, executive director of the New Jersey Association of Counties, said governments are now researching how many employees are paid $15 or less to gauge the impact. Were either going to have to increase the cost of certain services provided by counties and municipalities were either going to have to reduce our staff, reduce services or increase property taxes, Donnadio said. Mike Cerra, assistant executive director of the New Jersey State League of Municipalities, said labor costs would be forced higher onto governments that must adhere to a 2 percent cap on spending increases. Those concerns about increasing fees, property tax impacts, reduction in services thats where that comes from because there really are no other alternatives, Cerra said. The Senate and Assembly appropriations committees are each scheduled to consider the bill at hearings Monday. The full Senate and Assembly are expected to vote to approve the bill next Thursday, Jan. 31. New Jersey: Decoded cuts through the cruft and gets to what matters in New Jersey news and politics. Follow on Facebook and Twitter . Michael Symons is State House bureau chief for New Jersey 101.5 and the editor of New Jersey: Decoded. Follow @NJDecoded on Twitter and Facebook . Contact him at [email protected]
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http://nj1015.com/could-15-minimum-wage-in-nj-lead-to-higher-property-taxes/
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When does the January transfer window close and what are the rules if Leeds United want to sign new players?
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Were entering the final stages of the January transfer window as clubs across the country try to add that extra special player that could make or break the second half of the season. Last summer the transfer window was brought forward, meaning most permanent deals had to be wrapped up in the early stages of the new season. Leeds have been linked with a number of potential signings before the transfer window closes A new loan window remained open until the end of August, to allow players arriving and departing clubs on a temporary basis to secure their moves once all the permanent business had been wrapped up. For the first time we also saw a high volume of loan to buy deals, which saw players loaned out to their new clubs at the start of the season in deals that would become permanent in January for a transfer fee. The January transfer window closes at 11pm on Thursday, January 31 2019. It has been open since midnight on New Years Day. Despite the changes to transfer window rules this season, free agents can still be signed at any time in the season. It definitely could for clubs competing in Europe as UEFA confirmed that players will no longer be cup-tied for their competitions. This means that players can move between teams playing in the Champions League and Europa League and play for their new teams in the same competition, even if they represented their old team in the same tournament earlier in the campaign. Emergency loans are no longer available for outfield players, but clubs are able to bring in goalkeepers on a temporary, emergency basis if all of their professional goalkeepers are either injured or suspended.
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https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport/football/leeds-united/when-does-the-january-transfer-window-close-and-what-are-the-rules-if-leeds-united-want-to-sign-new-players-1-9556854
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What makes an HDTV a 3D Ready TV?
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Just as new high definition TVs were marketed as 'HD ready', expect the first wave of 3D-capable sets to wear a '3D Ready' sticker. DisplaySearch forecasts that 3D TV shipments will balloon from 0.2 million units in 2009 to 64 million units by 2018, raking in $17 billion along the way. The revolution will be televised. And those with the biggest wallets will enjoy it in 3D. Samsung's 3D-capable 7000, 8000 and 9000 Series HDTVs, for example, will include a proprietary 3D processor and emitter. These are designed to be compatible with multiple 3D standards, including half/full HD resolution formats and the recently finalised Blu-ray 3D specification. All of which suggests that the term '3D Ready' is just a catch-all phrase for a less exciting (but more accurate) one 3D-capable. 3D TV size and refresh rate While there seems to be no restrictions in terms of TV size, a 3D TV needs a minimum refresh rate of 120Hz (a basic 60Hz displayed for each eye). The higher the refresh rate, the smoother the 3D effect. So a 240Hz set will be capable of outputting 120Hz to each eye. HDMI 1.4 will also be required for full HD per eye viewing. Until the broadcast industry settles on a standard, any '3D Ready' badge will need a graphic depicting some fingers firmly crossed. Blu-ray 3D is the closest that we currently have to an accepted 3D standard. The Blu-ray Disc Association has given the thumbs up to Multiview Video Coding, a variant of the existing high-def H.264/MPEG-4 AVC codec. The world's first 3D Blu-ray disc, Monsters Vs Aliens, was announced at CES 2010. Of course, how you view 3D content has also not been set in stone. Cinemas currently use three different types of 3D glasses passive polarized glasses, active LCS glasses, and Infitec (Dolby 3-D) glasses. At CES 2010, manufacturers such as Samsung, Sony and Panasonic all favoured active shutter technology, although these can be expensive and need a power source.
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https://www.techradar.com/sg/news/television/hdtv/what-makes-an-hdtv-a-3d-ready-tv-666341
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Which financial service institutions are helping workers affected by the shutdown?
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The partial U.S. government shutdown is on its 35th day, and with it, a looming second consecutive missed paycheck for hundreds of thousands of workers. Add Government Shutdown as an interest to stay up to date on the latest Government Shutdown news, video, and analysis from ABC News. Add Interest Some financial services institutions are offering relief by advances on direct deposit, no interest loans and waiving some fees for affected government workers. Here are some notables. Navy Federal Credit Union Credit union members can get an advance on direct deposit. This is a tiered program which is essentially a zero-interest loan covering paychecks ranging from $250 to $6,000 in each pay period. For members making up to $500, $250 is deposited. For those making $501 to $6,000, the amount deposited is rounded down to the nearest $500, and maxes out at $6,000. Customers must enroll and need an account that has already enabled direct deposit. "This is just a stopgap so members don't feel the full effects of the shutdown and we hope they use this loan to live with their day-to-day finances as intact as possible," a Navy Federal spokesman told ABC News. "We encourage everyone who is eligible to enroll," he said. Scott Mason/AP, FILE State Department Federal Credit Union Affected workers may be eligible for: an emergency Visa Platinum Credit Card furlough for a zero interest furlough loan for the first two months, delayed loan payments on a case-by-case basis, a refund on late fees on loan payments, a waived penalty for cashing in Share Certificates early and get refunds on cash advance fees for Visa Platinum or Premium Cash Back+ credit cards when using an ATM, according to the credit union's website. The credit union did not immediately respond to a request to clarify whether these programs apply to all impacted government workers or just those who are furloughed. Aflac An Aflac spokesperson told ABC News the company can't legally waive premium payments, but the insurance company is offering a grace period for impacted federal employees. Customers will not have to pay any premiums until the shutdown ends but will receive payouts from their plan as if its "business as usual." Aflac is only supplemental insurance, so this only affects federal employees who have opted to sign up for it in addition to the insurance offered through their job. Win McNamee/Getty Images American Express "American Express is ready to assist its Card Members who are facing financial difficulties as a result of the U.S. Government shutdown. We will work with consumer, small business and corporate Card Members who request assistance by ensuring we provide them with the best possible service and support, which can include financial relief by waiving late fees, return check fees, and future interest charges," spokeswoman Ashley Tufts wrote ABC News in an email. PayPal The original fintech company is offering "an interest-free one-time cash advance, up to your available credit line for a maximum of $500 (with a minimum amount of $250) to existing or new PayPal Credit customers who are U.S. federal government employees impacted by the shutdown," according to its website. ABC News' Stephanie Ebbs contributed to this report.
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https://abcnews.go.com/US/financial-service-institutions-helping-workers-affected-shutdown/story?id=60595406
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Why do the Oscars keep falling for racial reconciliation fantasies?
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Driving Miss Daisy is the sort of movie you know before you see it. The whole thing is right there in the poster. White Jessica Tandy is giving black Morgan Freeman a stern look, and he looks amused by her sternness. Theyre framed in a rearview mirror, which occupies only about 20 percent of the space. You can make out his chauffeurs cap and that shes in the back seat. The rest is three actors names, a tag line, a title, tiny credits and white space. Advertising That rearview-mirror image isnt a still from the movie but a warmly painted rendering of one, this vague nuzzling of Norman Rockwell Americana. And its warmth evokes a very particular past. If youve ever seen the packaging for Cream of Wheat or a certain brand of rice, if youve even seen some Shirley Temple movies, you knew how Miss Daisy would be driven: gladly. As movie posters go, its ingeniously concise. But whoever designed it knew the concision was possible because wed know the shorthand of an eternal racial dynamic. I got off the subway last month and saw a billboard of black Kevin Hart riding on the back of white Bryan Cranstons motorized wheelchair. Theyre both ecstatic. And maybe theyre obligated to be. Their movie is called The Upside. A few months before that, I was out getting a coffee when I saw a long, sexy billboard of white Viggo Mortensen driving black Mahershala Ali in a minty blue car for a movie called Green Book. Not knowing what these movies were about didnt mean it wasnt clear what they were about. They symbolize a style of American storytelling in which the wheels of interracial friendship are greased by employment, in which prolonged exposure to the black half of the duo enhances the humanity of his white, frequently racist counterpart. All the optimism of racial progress from desegregation to integration to equality to something like true companionship is stipulated by terms of service. The bond in all three is conditionally transactional, possible only if its mediated by money. The Upside has the rich, quadriplegic author Phillip Lacasse (Cranston) hire an ex-con named Dell Scott (Hart) to be his life auxiliary. Green Book reverses the races so that some white muscle (Mortensen) drives the black pianist Don Shirley (Ali) to gigs throughout the Deep South in the 1960s. Its The Upside Down. Advertising These pay-for-playmate transactions are a modern pastime, different from an entire history of popular culture that simply required black actors to serve white stars without even the illusion of friendship. It was really only possible in a post-integration America, possible after Sidney Poitier made black stardom loosely feasible for the white studios, possible after the moral and legal adjustments won during the civil rights movements, possible after the political recriminations of the black power and blaxploitation eras let black people regularly frolic among themselves for the first time since the invention of the Hollywood movie. Possible, basically, only in the 1980s, after the movements had more or less subsided and capitalism and jokey white paternalism ran wild. On television in this era, rich white sitcom families vacuumed up little black boys, on Diffrent Strokes, on Webster. On Diffrent Strokes, the adopted boys are the orphaned Harlem sons of Phillip Drummonds maid. Not only was money supposed to lubricate racial integration; it was perhaps supposed to mitigate a history of keeping black people apart and oppressed. The sitcoms werent officially social experiments, but they were light advertisements for the civilizing (and alienating) benefits of white wealth on black life. The plot of Trading Places, from 1983, actually was an experiment, a pungent, complicated one, in which conniving white moneybags install a broke and hustling Eddie Murphy in disgraced Dan Aykroyds banking job. The scheme creates an accidental friendship between the duped pair and they both wind up rich. But that Daddy Warbucks paternalism was how, in 1982, the owner of the countrys most ferocious comedic imagination Richard Pryor went from desperate janitor to live-in amusement for the bratty son of a rotten businessman (Jackie Gleason). You have to respect the bluntness of that one. The movie was called The Toy, and its simultaneously dumb, wild and appalling. I was younger than its little white protagonist (hes Master Eric Bates) when I saw it, but I can still remember the look of embarrassed panic on Pryors face while hes trapped in something called the Wonder Wheel. Its a look that never quite goes away as hes made to dress in drag, navigate the Ku Klux Klan and make Gleason feel good about his racism and terrible parenting. These were relationships that continued the rules of the past, one in which Poitier was frequently hired to turn bigots into buddies. The rules didnt need to be disguised by yesterday. These arrangements could flourish in the present. So maybe that was the alarming appeal of Driving Miss Daisy. It went there. It went back there. And people went for it. The movie came out at the end of 1989, won four Oscars (best picture, actress, adapted screenplay, makeup), got besotted reviews and made a pile of money. Why wasnt a mystery. Any time a white person comes anywhere close to the rescue of a black person, the academy is primed to say, Good for you!, whether its To Kill a Mockingbird, Mississippi Burning, The Blind Side or The Help. The year Driving Miss Daisy won those Oscars, Freeman also had a supporting role in a drama (Glory) that placed a white Union colonel at its center and was very much in the mix that night. (Denzel Washington won his first Oscar for playing a slave-turned-Union soldier in that movie.) And Spike Lee lost the original screenplay award for Do the Right Thing, his masterpiece about a boiled-over pot of racial animus in Brooklyn. I was 14 then, and the political incongruity that night was impossible not to feel. Driving Miss Daisy and Glory were set in the past and the people who loved them seemed stuck there. The giddy reception for Miss Daisy seemed earnest. But Lees movie dramatized a starker truth we couldnt all just get along. For what its worth, Lee is now up for more Oscars. His film BlacKkKlansman has six nominations. Given the five for Green Book, basically so is Driving Miss Daisy. Which is to say that 2019 might just be 1990 all over again. And yet viewed separately from the cold shower of Do the Right Thing, Driving Miss Daisy does operate with more finesse, elegance and awareness than my teenage self wanted to see. Its still not the best movie of 1989. But it does know the Southern caste system and the premium that system placed on propriety. The movie turns the 25-year relationship between Daisy, an elderly Jewish white widow from Atlanta, and Hoke, her elderly, widowed black driver, into both this delicate, modest, tasteful thing a love letter, a corsage and something amusingly perverse. Proud old prejudiced Daisy says she doesnt want to be driven anywhere. Hoke treats her pride like a costume. He stalks her with her own new car until she succumbs and lets him drive her to the market. What passes between them feels weirdly kinky: Southern-etiquette S&M. Bruce Beresford directed the movie and Alfred Uhry based it on his Pulitzer Prize-winning play, which he said was inspired by his grandmother and her chauffeur, and it does powder over the eras upheavals, uprisings and blowups. But it doesnt sugarcoat the history fueling the regional and national climes, either. Daisys fortune comes from cotton, and Hoke, with ruthless affability, keeps reminding her that shes rich. When she says things are a-changing, he tells her not that much. Platonic love blossoms, obviously. But the movies one emotional gaffe would seem to come near the end when Daisy grabs Hokes hand and tells him so. Youre my best friend, she creaks. But her admission arises not from one of their little S&M drives but after a bout of dementia. And in a wide shot, he stands above her, a little stooped, halfway in, halfway out, moved yet confused. And in his posture resides an entire history of national racial awkwardness: He has to mind his composure even as shes losing her mind. One headache with these movies, even one as well done as Driving Miss Daisy, is that they romanticize their workplaces and treat their black characters as the ideal crowbar for closed white minds and insulated lives. Who knows why, in The Upside, Phillip picks the uncouth, underqualified Dell to drive him around, change his catheter and share his palatial apartment. But by the time the movies over, theyre paragliding together to Aretha Franklin. Were told that this is based on a true story. Its not. Its a remake of a far more nauseating French megahit Les Intouchables and that claimed to be based on a true story. The Upside seems based on one of those paternalistic 80s movies, Disorderlies, the one where the Fat Boys wheel an ailing Ralph Bellamy around his mansion. Phillips largess and tolerance take Dell from opera-phobic to opera-curious to opera queen, leading to Dells being able to afford to transport his ex and their son out of the projects, and permitting Dell to take his boss luxury cars for a spin whether or not hes riding shotgun. And Dell provides entertainment (and drugs) that ease Phillips sense of isolation and self-consciousness. But this is also a movie that needs Dell to steal one of Phillips antique first-editions as a surprise gift to his estranged son, and not a copy of some Judith Krantz or Sidney Sheldon novel, either. He swipes Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (and to reach it, his hand has to skip past a few Horatio Alger books, too). Most of these black-white-friendship adventures were foretold by Mark Twain. Somebody is white Huck and somebody else is his amusingly dim black sidekick, Jim. This movie is just a little more flagrant about it. Theres a way of looking at the role reversal in Green Book as an upgrade. Through his record company, Don hires a white nightclub bouncer named Tony Vallelonga. (Most people call him Tony Lip.) We dont meet Don for about 15 minutes, because the movie needs us to know that Tony is a sweet, Eye-talian tough guy who also throws out perfectly good glassware because his wife let black repairmen drink from it. By this point, you might have heard about the fried chicken scene in Green Book. It comes early in their road trip. Tony is shocked to discover that Don has never had fried chicken. He also appears never to have seen anybody eat fried chicken, either. (What do we do about the bones?) So, with all the greasy alacrity and exuberant crassness that Mortensen can conjure, Tony demonstrates how to eat it while driving. As comedy, its masterful theres tension, irony and, when the car stops and reverses to retrieve some litter, a punch line that brings down the house. But the comedy works only if the black, classical-pop fusion pianist is from outer space (and not in a Sun Ra sort of way). The movie Peter Farrelly directed and wrote, with Brian Currie and Tonys son Nick, is suspiciously like Driving Miss Daisy, but same-sex, with Don as Daisy and Tony as Hoke. Indeed, Miss Daisy features a fried chicken scene, too, a delicate one, in which Hoke tells her the flame is too high on the skillet and she waves him off. Once hes left the kitchen, she furtively, begrudgingly adjusts the burner. Its like Farrelly watched that scene and thought it needed a stick of cartoon dynamite. Before they head out, a white character from Dons record company gives Tony a listing of black-friendly places to house Don: The Green Book. The idea for The Negro Motorist Green Book belongs to Victor Hugo Green, a postal worker, who introduced it in 1936. It guided black road trippers to stress-free gas, food and lodging in the segregated South. The story of its invention, distribution and updating is an amusing, invigorating, poignant and suspenseful story of an astonishing social network, and warrants a movie in itself. He is the Green Book. The movies tagline is based on a true friendship. But the transactional nature of it makes the friendship seem less true than sponsored. The white characters the biological ones and somebody supposedly not black enough, like fictional Don are lonely people in these pay-a-pal movies. The money is ostensibly for legitimate assistance, but it also seems to paper over all thats potentially fraught about race. The relationship is entirely conscripted as service and bound by capitalism and the fantastically presumptive leap is, The money doesnt matter because I like working for you. And if youre the racist in the relationship: I cant be horrible because were friends now. Thats why the hug Sandra Bullock gives Yomi Perry, the actor playing her maid, Maria, at the end of Crash, remains the single most disturbing gesture of its kind. Its not friendship. Friendship is mutual. That hug is cannibalism. Money buys Don a chauffeur and, apparently, an education in black folkways and culture. Hes never heard him play.) Shirleys real-life family has objected to the portrait. Their complaints include that he was estranged from neither black people nor blackness. Even without that thumbs-down, you can sense what a particularly perverse fantasy this is: that absolution resides in a neutered black man needing a white guy not only to protect and serve him, but to love him, too. Even if that guy and his Italian-American family and mob associates refer to Don and other black people as eggplant and coal. In the movies estimation, their racism is preferable to its nasty, blunter Southern cousin because their racism is often spoken in Italian. And, hey, at least Tony never asks Don to eat his fancy dinner in a supply closet. Mahershala Ali is acting Shirleys isolation and glumness, but the movie determines that dining with racists is better than dining alone. The money buys Don relative safety, friendship, transportation and a walking-talking black college. What the money cant buy him is more of the plot in his own movie. It cant allow him to bask in his own unique, uniquely dreamy artistry. It cant free him from a movie that sits him where Miss Daisy sat, yet treats him worse than Hoke. Hes a literal passenger on this white mans trip. Tony learns he really likes black people. And thanks to Tony, now so does Don. Lately, the black version of these interracial relationships tends to head in the opposite direction. In the black version, for one thing, theyre not about money or a job but about the actual emotional, psychological work of being black among white people. Here, the proximity to whiteness is toxic, a danger, a threat. Thats the thrust of Jeremy O. Harris stage drama Slave Play, in which the traumatic legacy of plantation life pollutes the black half of the shows interracial relationships. Thats a particularly explicit, ingenious example. But scarcely any of the work Ive seen in the last year by black artists not Jackie Sibblies Drurys equally audacious play Fairview, not Boots Rileys Sorry to Bother You, not Blindspotting, which Daveed Diggs co-wrote and stars in, not Barry Jenkins If Beale Street Could Talk or Ryan Cooglers Black Panther emphasizes the smoothness and joys of interracial friendship and certainly not through employment. The health of these connections is iffy, at best. In 1989, Lee was pretty much on his own as a voice of black racial reality. His rankled pragmatism now has company and, at the Academy Awards, its also got stiff competition. He helped plant the seeds for an environment in which black artists can look askance at race. But a lot of us still need the sense of fantastical racial contentment that movies like The Upside and Green Book are slinging. Ive seen Green Book with paying audiences, and it cracks people up the way any of Farrellys comedies do. The kind of closure it offers is like a drug that Lees never dealt. The Charlottesville-riot footage that he includes as an epilogue in BlacKkKlansman might bury the loose, essentially comedic movie its attached to in furious lava. Lee knows the past too well to ever let the present off the hook. The volcanoes in this country have never been dormant. The academys embrace of Lee at this stage of his career (this is his first best director nomination) suggests that its come around to what rankles him. Of course, BlacKkKlansman is taking on the unmistakable villainy of the KKK in the 1970s. But what put Lee on the map 30 years ago was his fearlessness about calling out the universal casual bigotry of the moment, like Daisys and Tonys. Its hot as hell in Do the Right Thing, and in the heat, almost everybody has a problem with who somebody is. The pizzeria owned by Sal (Danny Aiello) comes to resemble a house of hate. Eventually Sals delivery guy, Mookie (played by Lee), incites a melee by hurling a trash can through the store window. Hed already endured a conversation with Pino (John Turturro), Sals racist son, in which he tells Mookie that famous black people are more than black. Advertising Closure is impossible because the blood is too bad, too historically American. Lee had conjured a social environment thats the opposite of what The Upside, Green Book, and Driving Miss Daisy believe. In one of the very last scenes, after Sals place is destroyed, Mookie still demands to be paid. To this day, Sals tossing balled-up bills at Mookie, one by one, shocks me. Hes mortally offended. Mookies unmoved. Theyre at a harsh, anti-romantic impasse. Wed all been reared on racial-reconciliation fantasies. The answers too long and too raw. Sal can pay Mookie to deliver pizzas til kingdom come. But he could never pay him enough to be his friend.
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https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/hollywood/why-do-the-oscars-keep-falling-for-racial-reconciliation-fantasies-5554977/
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Can Napier thrashing shake New Zealand from the stupor?
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Big Picture Hyped as a contest between teams that were so closely matched that the friction was expected to cause a spark, maybe even an explosion, the irony wasn't lost when the first ODI turned out to be a damp squib. Much as New Zealand failed to show up after a 12-day break since the Sri Lanka series, India showcased how difficult they are to beat when they have three wicket-takers at their command. Imagine having four once Jasprit Bumrah returns. Although when that does happen in the home series against Australia, the team might have to choose between Mohammed Shami's strike-rate and Bhuvneshwar Kumar's control and batting ability. For now, on the day when India's constitution came into force in 1950, they may want to correct a small piece of cricket history: they have never won an ODI on January 26. If New Zealand were lured into a sense of complacency after a series whitewash, the eight-wicket defeat - first in a series opener at home since February 2017 - should shake them from the stupor. Their strength, the middle-order, came a cropper against India's wristspin, and even Kedar Jadhav had his moments, albeit not while fielding. Seven wickets were lost to the trio on a pitch that did not even offer too much turn. Most of them were soft dismissals, a sign of rustiness, but equally a muddled mindset, and in some cases a consequence of techniques being found out, like Mitchell Santner's dismissal after a short-ball barrage. It could also have been the pressure built by dot balls. There were 142 in 38 overs, which seemed to affect Ross Taylor, although he was cleverly deceived in the air as well. Or simply an aberration, like Kane Williamson holing out to long-on when he needed to bat through the innings. A fact that they could take refuge in is that India's wristspinners tend to get easier to negotiate as a series progresses. England handled them better after going one-nil down in Nottingham last year, eventually winning the series. Even the Australians, who had trouble picking Kuldeep Yadav in the Sydney Test milked him in the subsequent ODIs in Sydney and Adelaide. It might help if the openers got some runs. play 5:08 My technique suits all kinds of wickets - Dhawan Shikhar Dhawan talks about his partnerships with Virat Kohli, how he adjusts to pitches in New Zealand, and more Form guide New Zealand(last five completed games, most recent first) LWWWL India WWWLW In the spotlight Lockie Ferguson cranked it up with the ball, even though there were not too many tangible gains to be had in Napier. He ended up with the wicket of Virat Kohli, who was out hooking to a ball that hurried onto him. It had an immediate impact on the incoming batsman Ambati Rayudu, who was leaden footed in anticipation of another bouncer and unwilling to cover the line, as he nicked his first ball between keeper and slip. Going forward in the series, that short burst of hostile bowling is something the fast bowler could use to his advantage, knowing that he was able to rattle the Indian batsmen. Ambati Rayudu had no game time before arriving in Australia and it showed in the first two ODIs he played. Things have got progressively worse, as his bowling action came into question, his fielding was found out, he was omitted from the side that sealed the series in Melbourne and Ferguson gave him an intense working over in Napier. It's baffling that he should return to international cricket after a break looking so raw. But Rayudu has already retired from first-class cricket, the one place that could have enabled him battle-ready. While he has had the faith of the team management, there is a young man with a truckload of first-class runs waiting in the wings. Team news India might not want to make any changes yet. There's time for that later with Virat Kohli being rested from the last two ODIs and Hardik Pandya joining them soon. India (probable XI): 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Ambati Rayudu, 5 Kedar Jadhav, 6 MS Dhoni (wk), 7 Vijay Shankar, 8 Kuldeep Yadav, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal Yuzvendra Chahal brought out his full bag of tricks Getty Images One-nil down, New Zealand don't have the luxury of time. Any corrections would have to be made soon. As such, there wasn't much wrong with their team combination. They have depth in both departments, the only question, and that maybe determined by the nature of the pitch in Mount Maunganui, is whether they want to go in with their own wristspinner Ish Sodhi. He fared well at the venue, taking five wickets in the two matches against Sri Lanka recently. Tim Southee could be the one to make way, should New Zealand tinker with the XI. New Zealand (probable XI): 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Colin Munro, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Tom Latham (wk), 6 Henry Nicholls, 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Tim Southee/Ish Sodhi, 9 Lockie Ferguson, 10 Doug Bracewell, 11 Trent Boult Pitch and conditions The most recent matches against Sri Lanka were high-scoring affairs, with three 300-plus totals and a 298. Generally quicks have fared better at the venue than spinners as far as wickets go, but they have also been more expensive, conceding runs at 5.89 as opposed to 4.83 for spinners. Stats and trivia Kuldeep Yadav's 4 for 39 in his first match in the New Zealand were the second-best figures by an Indian spinner in the country, after Anil Kumble's 5 for 33. New Zealand have played six ODIs at the Bay Oval, losing three and winning three. Quotes "We have been playing for a long time, so it's a normal thing for us, it's pretty routine. We enjoy it, the good thing with Virat is that we rotate the strike well" Shikhar Dhawan on what makes his partnership with Virat Kohli tick "Ish [Sodhi] has done extremely well for us but where does he fit in in terms of who you don't play is one of those things. I'm pretty sure we didn't read the pitch to turn like it was going to and respond how it did in Napier. Here, it's generally a very good wicket." Trent Boult on whether they will play two spinners on Saturday
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http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/25846890/can-napier-thrashing-shake-new-zealand-stupor
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