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Did Manny Machado give a hint about where he's going to sign? | originally appeared on nbcsportsphiladelphia.com Happy New Year, Phillies fans. We have officially made it to the Instagram-watch portion of free agency. fwiw, Manny Machado has started following YES Network, the Yankees' station, on instagram. could be a sign. or could be nothing. Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 1, 2019 Well, would you look at that. Machado followed YES Network on Instagram. But wait, people found out and he reversed his course. Fwiw (maybe not much), Manny Machado has now unfollowed Yes Network on instagram. Machado has bad taste in Instagram accounts. Manny, I looked over the YES Network's account, and it's fine, they do a nice job posting about all things Yankees, but you should consider getting your news from another source. Story continues The NBC Sports Philadelphia Instagram is chock-full of awesome photos, funny memes and great highlights. So, if you're reading this, here's the link to follow us. As for what it means for free agency, either it's now assured he's going to be a Yankee, or it means absolutely nothing. That's for you to decide. Either way, we should have our answer soon. Click here to download the MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Flyers, Sixers and Phillies games easily on your device. More on the Phillies | Manny Machado followed YES Network, the Yankees' station, on Instagram. It could be a sign of where he's going to sign, or it could be nothing. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://sports.yahoo.com/did-manny-machado-hint-where-160111627.html?src=rss | 0.207815 |
Did Manny Machado give a hint about where he's going to sign? | originally appeared on nbcsportsphiladelphia.com Happy New Year, Phillies fans. We have officially made it to the Instagram-watch portion of free agency. fwiw, Manny Machado has started following YES Network, the Yankees' station, on instagram. could be a sign. or could be nothing. Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 1, 2019 Well, would you look at that. Machado followed YES Network on Instagram. But wait, people found out and he reversed his course. Fwiw (maybe not much), Manny Machado has now unfollowed Yes Network on instagram. Machado has bad taste in Instagram accounts. Manny, I looked over the YES Network's account, and it's fine, they do a nice job posting about all things Yankees, but you should consider getting your news from another source. Story continues The NBC Sports Philadelphia Instagram is chock-full of awesome photos, funny memes and great highlights. So, if you're reading this, here's the link to follow us. As for what it means for free agency, either it's now assured he's going to be a Yankee, or it means absolutely nothing. That's for you to decide. Either way, we should have our answer soon. Click here to download the MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Flyers, Sixers and Phillies games easily on your device. More on the Phillies | Manny Machado followed YES Network, the Yankees' station, on Instagram. It could be a sign of where he's going to sign, or it could be nothing. We'll have to wait and see what Machado decides to do with his free agency. The NBC Sports Philadelphia Instagram is chock-full of awesome photos and memes. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://sports.yahoo.com/did-manny-machado-hint-where-160111627.html?src=rss | 0.346971 |
Are Community-Based Shared Scooters The Next Decentralization Success Story? | The subtle power of decentralized transportation is on the verge of flooding the globe. Lets step back for a minute. Much has been written about the effect of social media on human loneliness. We have difficulties finding the connectedness that we yearn for even as we use digital technologies to cast wider nets for meaningful relationships, in a tragically Sisyphean manner. And yet we continue to push that boulder up the hill. Digital platforms do play an important role in community building. They provide channels that were not available before, and solid friendships have formed between people with a lot of geography between them. There is some degree of a sense of belonging in many online communities, but that sense is easily shattered by negative feedback and cyberbullying. What digital communities do undoubtedly well is share social information. But community is much more than just the sharing of information. Community is, in the incarnation best suited to this discussion, a sharing of values and well-being. That requires real-world interaction and for all of its members to have direct, unfettered access to one another. This is important: for a community to function in a manner that empowers everyone equally, there cant be any gatekeeping. This is, of course, diametrically opposed to the prevailing model, where online platforms are centralized with some authority (usually the business owners) dictating what can and cant be done by its members. The authority can exclude members at whim, or restrict them in specific ways. A decentralized model, which I argue is the far more natural, humanistic one, allows each member to embrace or reject other community members based on their own criteria, and in degrees that they choose. Decisions are made by each member for each case, and not by an authority outside of that relationship. Returning to the original topic: decentralized transport. Specifically lets look at the shared electric scooter sector that has been taking the world by storm, and how decentralization will play a role. Bird, Lime, Spin and others have dominated the early shared scooter landscape. There are familiar advantages that come with centralized organizations taking the lead and establishing a foothold in the markets with new technology: focused vision, reduced costs, system-wide decision making, and so forth. The disadvantages are just as familiar, although perhaps less talked about: delays due to remoteness, bureaucracy, lack of employee empowerment and therefore lack of initiative, etc. Decentralizing the shared scooter business presents us with a vast new space for opportunities. Like so many models, centralization and decentralization fall on a spectrum. Although its safe to say that complete decentralization isnt yet available, some powerful facets of decentralization, which represent the first steps, are. Now lets bring the tangent about the value of community into these thoughts and allow them to dovetail. Rather than leaving it to a micro mobility giant like Lime to deploy hundreds or thousands of scooters in your city, with the giant setting the price and terms of service, consider a decentralized version of this: shared scooters that are owned by your neighbours or fellow residents. They may only own one, or they might own a fleet of dozens. Your neighbours deploy the scooters. Your neighbours service them, charge them and redistribute them. Your neighbours hire other neighbours to help them manage the fleet. Your fellow residents are far better suited to choose where the scooters should be deployed in your city. Perhaps most importantly, a local business cares a lot more about your community then a distant corporate giant looking to blanket the world with its product. Electric scooters have come down in price significantly in the past year, which translates into small capital outlays for anyone who wants to own a shared scooter (or more than one) in their community, creating revenue for themselves. Individuals within the community are empowered with the choice to be a customer, an owner, or both. No central organization decides what markets to open--this is up to city residents. All that is required is an app and a network with which decentralized transport assets and customers may discover and transact with one another. The former is under rapid development and the latter already exists. Decentralization comes with a number of advantages, but the most important one for the purposes of this article is empowerment. You decide if you want to own a scooter. You decide where to deploy it. You decide how to address your communitys needs, and thats perfectly sensible as youre on the ground and you know what you and your neighbours need. The revenue that Lime or Bird would generate goes into their treasury. The revenue you or your neighbours generate from your own scooter fleet goes back into your local economy. | Decentralizing the shared scooter business presents us with a vast new space for opportunities. | pegasus | 0 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnfrazer1/2019/01/02/are-community-based-shared-scooters-the-next-decentralization-success-story/ | 0.112924 |
Are Community-Based Shared Scooters The Next Decentralization Success Story? | The subtle power of decentralized transportation is on the verge of flooding the globe. Lets step back for a minute. Much has been written about the effect of social media on human loneliness. We have difficulties finding the connectedness that we yearn for even as we use digital technologies to cast wider nets for meaningful relationships, in a tragically Sisyphean manner. And yet we continue to push that boulder up the hill. Digital platforms do play an important role in community building. They provide channels that were not available before, and solid friendships have formed between people with a lot of geography between them. There is some degree of a sense of belonging in many online communities, but that sense is easily shattered by negative feedback and cyberbullying. What digital communities do undoubtedly well is share social information. But community is much more than just the sharing of information. Community is, in the incarnation best suited to this discussion, a sharing of values and well-being. That requires real-world interaction and for all of its members to have direct, unfettered access to one another. This is important: for a community to function in a manner that empowers everyone equally, there cant be any gatekeeping. This is, of course, diametrically opposed to the prevailing model, where online platforms are centralized with some authority (usually the business owners) dictating what can and cant be done by its members. The authority can exclude members at whim, or restrict them in specific ways. A decentralized model, which I argue is the far more natural, humanistic one, allows each member to embrace or reject other community members based on their own criteria, and in degrees that they choose. Decisions are made by each member for each case, and not by an authority outside of that relationship. Returning to the original topic: decentralized transport. Specifically lets look at the shared electric scooter sector that has been taking the world by storm, and how decentralization will play a role. Bird, Lime, Spin and others have dominated the early shared scooter landscape. There are familiar advantages that come with centralized organizations taking the lead and establishing a foothold in the markets with new technology: focused vision, reduced costs, system-wide decision making, and so forth. The disadvantages are just as familiar, although perhaps less talked about: delays due to remoteness, bureaucracy, lack of employee empowerment and therefore lack of initiative, etc. Decentralizing the shared scooter business presents us with a vast new space for opportunities. Like so many models, centralization and decentralization fall on a spectrum. Although its safe to say that complete decentralization isnt yet available, some powerful facets of decentralization, which represent the first steps, are. Now lets bring the tangent about the value of community into these thoughts and allow them to dovetail. Rather than leaving it to a micro mobility giant like Lime to deploy hundreds or thousands of scooters in your city, with the giant setting the price and terms of service, consider a decentralized version of this: shared scooters that are owned by your neighbours or fellow residents. They may only own one, or they might own a fleet of dozens. Your neighbours deploy the scooters. Your neighbours service them, charge them and redistribute them. Your neighbours hire other neighbours to help them manage the fleet. Your fellow residents are far better suited to choose where the scooters should be deployed in your city. Perhaps most importantly, a local business cares a lot more about your community then a distant corporate giant looking to blanket the world with its product. Electric scooters have come down in price significantly in the past year, which translates into small capital outlays for anyone who wants to own a shared scooter (or more than one) in their community, creating revenue for themselves. Individuals within the community are empowered with the choice to be a customer, an owner, or both. No central organization decides what markets to open--this is up to city residents. All that is required is an app and a network with which decentralized transport assets and customers may discover and transact with one another. The former is under rapid development and the latter already exists. Decentralization comes with a number of advantages, but the most important one for the purposes of this article is empowerment. You decide if you want to own a scooter. You decide where to deploy it. You decide how to address your communitys needs, and thats perfectly sensible as youre on the ground and you know what you and your neighbours need. The revenue that Lime or Bird would generate goes into their treasury. The revenue you or your neighbours generate from your own scooter fleet goes back into your local economy. | Decentralizing the shared scooter business presents us with a vast new space for opportunities. Individuals within the community are empowered with the choice to be a customer, an owner, or both. | pegasus | 1 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnfrazer1/2019/01/02/are-community-based-shared-scooters-the-next-decentralization-success-story/ | 0.143941 |
Are Community-Based Shared Scooters The Next Decentralization Success Story? | The subtle power of decentralized transportation is on the verge of flooding the globe. Lets step back for a minute. Much has been written about the effect of social media on human loneliness. We have difficulties finding the connectedness that we yearn for even as we use digital technologies to cast wider nets for meaningful relationships, in a tragically Sisyphean manner. And yet we continue to push that boulder up the hill. Digital platforms do play an important role in community building. They provide channels that were not available before, and solid friendships have formed between people with a lot of geography between them. There is some degree of a sense of belonging in many online communities, but that sense is easily shattered by negative feedback and cyberbullying. What digital communities do undoubtedly well is share social information. But community is much more than just the sharing of information. Community is, in the incarnation best suited to this discussion, a sharing of values and well-being. That requires real-world interaction and for all of its members to have direct, unfettered access to one another. This is important: for a community to function in a manner that empowers everyone equally, there cant be any gatekeeping. This is, of course, diametrically opposed to the prevailing model, where online platforms are centralized with some authority (usually the business owners) dictating what can and cant be done by its members. The authority can exclude members at whim, or restrict them in specific ways. A decentralized model, which I argue is the far more natural, humanistic one, allows each member to embrace or reject other community members based on their own criteria, and in degrees that they choose. Decisions are made by each member for each case, and not by an authority outside of that relationship. Returning to the original topic: decentralized transport. Specifically lets look at the shared electric scooter sector that has been taking the world by storm, and how decentralization will play a role. Bird, Lime, Spin and others have dominated the early shared scooter landscape. There are familiar advantages that come with centralized organizations taking the lead and establishing a foothold in the markets with new technology: focused vision, reduced costs, system-wide decision making, and so forth. The disadvantages are just as familiar, although perhaps less talked about: delays due to remoteness, bureaucracy, lack of employee empowerment and therefore lack of initiative, etc. Decentralizing the shared scooter business presents us with a vast new space for opportunities. Like so many models, centralization and decentralization fall on a spectrum. Although its safe to say that complete decentralization isnt yet available, some powerful facets of decentralization, which represent the first steps, are. Now lets bring the tangent about the value of community into these thoughts and allow them to dovetail. Rather than leaving it to a micro mobility giant like Lime to deploy hundreds or thousands of scooters in your city, with the giant setting the price and terms of service, consider a decentralized version of this: shared scooters that are owned by your neighbours or fellow residents. They may only own one, or they might own a fleet of dozens. Your neighbours deploy the scooters. Your neighbours service them, charge them and redistribute them. Your neighbours hire other neighbours to help them manage the fleet. Your fellow residents are far better suited to choose where the scooters should be deployed in your city. Perhaps most importantly, a local business cares a lot more about your community then a distant corporate giant looking to blanket the world with its product. Electric scooters have come down in price significantly in the past year, which translates into small capital outlays for anyone who wants to own a shared scooter (or more than one) in their community, creating revenue for themselves. Individuals within the community are empowered with the choice to be a customer, an owner, or both. No central organization decides what markets to open--this is up to city residents. All that is required is an app and a network with which decentralized transport assets and customers may discover and transact with one another. The former is under rapid development and the latter already exists. Decentralization comes with a number of advantages, but the most important one for the purposes of this article is empowerment. You decide if you want to own a scooter. You decide where to deploy it. You decide how to address your communitys needs, and thats perfectly sensible as youre on the ground and you know what you and your neighbours need. The revenue that Lime or Bird would generate goes into their treasury. The revenue you or your neighbours generate from your own scooter fleet goes back into your local economy. | Decentralizing the shared scooter business presents us with a vast new space for opportunities. Individuals within the community are empowered with the choice to be a customer, an owner, or both. Rather than leaving it to a micro mobility giant like Lime to deploy hundreds or thousands of scooters in your city, consider a decentralized version of this. | pegasus | 2 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnfrazer1/2019/01/02/are-community-based-shared-scooters-the-next-decentralization-success-story/ | 0.211874 |
Is a High-Protein Diet Right for Me? | First it was the eccentric health nut in your circle who swore by the paleo diet. Then, your social media friends started to convert to diets rich in eggs, nuts, meat and cheese. Suddenly, news headlines declared bacon and burgers were way healthier than pizza and pasta, and even your dad began the Dukan plan, a diet that wraps burrito fillings in lettuce "tortillas." No question, high-protein diets are hot. That depends. Here's exactly what you need to know to determine whether a high-protein diet is right for you. [See: High-Protein Breakfast Ideas.] The U.S. government recommends 10 to 35 percent of your daily calories come from protein. Another way to think about it is that most people should eat about 1 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight, expains Jessica Crandall, a registered dietitian in Denver and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. "What we're looking at is usually 20 to 30 grams per meal at breakfast, lunch and dinner to support muscle mass and activity," she says. Broken down further, that means a container of nonfat Greek yogurt with breakfast, a half-cup of chickpeas on a salad at lunch and grilled chicken breast at dinner will do the trick. Any diet that demands a protein intake above the government's recommendations -- like the paleo diet, Dukan diet and Optavia (the newly branded line of products from the team behind Medifast) -- is considered a high-protein diet by U.S. News. (While Atkins and the ketogenic diet are often thought of as high-protein plans, technically they are low-carb diet and high-fat diets, respectively, although both could easily include higher-than-recommended levels of protein.) On a paleo plan, that may mean eating broiled salmon at breakfast, six shrimp at lunch, almonds and a pork chop for a snack (yes -- a snack! ), two more pork chops for dinner and more almonds for dessert. All in all, it adds up to more than 200 grams of protein a day. While that may be appropriate for some people, for most, it's overkill. It's possible to see health benefits from following a high-protein diet, especially if it means you're cutting out processed junk foods and sweets and focusing on lean meats, fruits and vegetables instead, Crandall finds. Plus, adds Jim White, a registered dietitian and fitness instructor with studios in Virginia, more and more research suggests that the government's recommended daily intake may be too low. "Increased intake in conjunction with exercise can boost metabolic rate as well as feelings of satiety, thus aiding in weight loss," he says. Some populations, too, can benefit from high-protein diets more than others, since how much any one person needs depends on factors like their muscle mass, gender, age and activity level, Crandall explains. Here are some of the people who may benefit from consuming more protein than the recommended allowance: -- Older Adults Adults over 50 have reason to add a handful of nuts to their salads, or wash their morning oatmeal down with a glass of protein-rich cow's milk. (News flash: Many alternative milks like almond milk are surprisingly low in protein.) One study of 50- to 75-year old adults found that those who ate double what federal guidelines recommend for daily protein intake helped protect against the muscle loss -- and accompanying health problems like falls and fractures -- that often comes with age. -- People Trying to Lose Weight Some research supports high-protein diets for weight loss. One small 2016 study in the journal Nutrients, for instance, found that women who followed a paleo diet lost over two-and-a-half times more weight in a month than those who stuck to a standard diet emphasizing fruits, veggies, whole grains and some low-fat dairy. In many cases, though, the weight loss associated with a high-protein diet may result from a calorie deficit, not the protein. Optavia, which U.S. News experts rank No. 2 for fast weight-loss, for example, typically doesn't provide more than 1,000 calories a day, so followers are bound to lose weight -- at least temporarily. Still, no matter how you do it, weight loss in itself can improve some health markers. "People can have metabolic improvements in cholesterol and blood sugars (on high-protein diets)," Crandall says. "The reason for that is that they're losing weight." | The U.S. government recommends 10 to 35 percent of your daily calories come from protein. Any diet that demands a protein intake above the government's recommendations is considered a high-protein diet. Some research supports high-protein diets for weight loss. | pegasus | 1 | https://news.yahoo.com/high-protein-diet-120000979.html | 0.176509 |
Did RuPaul's Drag Race Star Trinity "the Tuck" Taylor Sashay Away With New Lips on Botched ? | On Wednesday's all-new episode, the RuPaul's Drag Race veteran (AKA Ryan Taylor) sat down with Dr. Terry Dubrow and Dr. Paul Nassif to discuss his lumpy lips. According to the famed drag queen, he began doing "illegal injections" early in his career in order to keep up with his peers. After getting "injections pretty much everywhere," Trinity began winning countless pageants. Sadly, his lip injections resulted in long term consequences. "I started noticing a shift in my lips two years after I got them done," Trinity explained in a confessional. "That's when I started to notice the unevenness, the lumping and I was like, Oh god! What did I do?'" Although there was a solution to Trinity's problem, there was a chance that the silicone fillers could return even after extensive surgery. | Trinity "the Tuck" Taylor had silicone fillers injected into his lips. The fillers caused lumping and unevenness. He had surgery to remove the fillers, but there was a chance they could return. He also had lip fillers removed from his nose. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.eonline.com/uk/news/1000422/did-rupaul-s-drag-race-star-trinity-the-tuck-taylor-sashay-away-with-new-lips-on-botched?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories&utm_source=eonline&utm_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=rss_topstories | 0.118183 |
What Surprising Technology Has NASA Developed? | originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. Answer by C Stuart Hardwick, Award-Winning Scifi Author, on Quora: NASA did not give us Tang, Velcro, or the Fisher Space Pen, but they do a tremendous amount that most people never see. The grooves in newer highways used to control drainage and reduce noise were developed by NASA to prevent hydroplaning on runways. The main reason we no longer hear about crashes due to wind shear is the onboard predictive doppler radar developed by NASA to solve the problem. (The other is fixed-site doppler operated near large airports by NOAA and used in conjunction with ATC). The aerodynamic fairings that save long haul truckers 20% on fuel were developed by NASA. The supercritical airfoils developed by NASA improve the efficiency of modern airliners flying at high subsonic speeds. Aircraft winglets, which cut drag, improve lift, and permit larger aircraft on smaller runways, were developed by NASA. Computational Fluid Dynamicsas a practicewas founded and funded by NASA because they needed it for the shuttle. Most modern aircraft would be much more primitive and costly without it. The noise reducing chevrons on modern turbofan jet engines were developed by NASA. NASA found part of the cause of of the runaway engines involved in the Toyota Camry recall. NASA also developed the aircraft lightning protection standards in place today and small aircraft wing design changes that could cut fatalities in those craft by 30% if universally adopted. This question originally appeared on Quora - the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. You can follow Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. More questions: | NASA did not give us Tang, Velcro, or the Fisher Space Pen, but they do a tremendous amount that most people never see. The onboard predictive doppler radar developed by NASA to solve the problem of wind shear. | pegasus | 1 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2019/01/02/what-surprising-technology-has-nasa-developed/ | 0.323098 |
What Surprising Technology Has NASA Developed? | originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. Answer by C Stuart Hardwick, Award-Winning Scifi Author, on Quora: NASA did not give us Tang, Velcro, or the Fisher Space Pen, but they do a tremendous amount that most people never see. The grooves in newer highways used to control drainage and reduce noise were developed by NASA to prevent hydroplaning on runways. The main reason we no longer hear about crashes due to wind shear is the onboard predictive doppler radar developed by NASA to solve the problem. (The other is fixed-site doppler operated near large airports by NOAA and used in conjunction with ATC). The aerodynamic fairings that save long haul truckers 20% on fuel were developed by NASA. The supercritical airfoils developed by NASA improve the efficiency of modern airliners flying at high subsonic speeds. Aircraft winglets, which cut drag, improve lift, and permit larger aircraft on smaller runways, were developed by NASA. Computational Fluid Dynamicsas a practicewas founded and funded by NASA because they needed it for the shuttle. Most modern aircraft would be much more primitive and costly without it. The noise reducing chevrons on modern turbofan jet engines were developed by NASA. NASA found part of the cause of of the runaway engines involved in the Toyota Camry recall. NASA also developed the aircraft lightning protection standards in place today and small aircraft wing design changes that could cut fatalities in those craft by 30% if universally adopted. This question originally appeared on Quora - the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. You can follow Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. More questions: | NASA did not give us Tang, Velcro, or the Fisher Space Pen, but they do a tremendous amount that most people never see. The onboard predictive doppler radar developed by NASA to solve the problem of wind shear. The aerodynamic fairings that save long haul truckers 20% on fuel were developed by NASA. | pegasus | 2 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2019/01/02/what-surprising-technology-has-nasa-developed/ | 0.392 |
Is Warren Buffett Right to Be Holding UPS? | According to Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE: BRK-A) latest quarterly SEC filing, Warren Buffet's investment vehicle is holding nearly 60 thousand shares in United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS). While it's one of his smaller holdings, the investment guru is known for only taking positions in companies he's willing to hold for the long term because he believes in their core value. That said, let's take a look at the investment case for UPS and see whether it's a Buffet-like stock or not. Why UPS is a Buffett stock Given Buffett's preference for long-term investments with sustainable cash flow streams, UPS appears to immediately fit the bill. Alongside FedEx (NYSE: FDX) and Deutsche Post's DHL, UPS is one of the dominant forces in express and courier service. Throw in the long-term growth opportunity from burgeoning e-commerce demand and UPS looks well set to generate a steady flow of earnings and cash flow for years to come. A man carrying a large parcel More Not all e-commerce packages are easy to deliver. Image source: Getty Images. Moreover, a quick comparison of some its operational metrics with FedEx's shows that UPS tends to have a higher operating margin, earns higher returns on invested capital, and also generates more free cash flow from its assets than its key rival does. Unfortunately, it's not quite that simple. The case against UPS While a cursory look suggests UPS is a perfect fit, a closer look at the details of its performance in recent years suggests otherwise. In a nutshell, the company has faced three stumbling blocks that have forced the company to change its approach to business. Consequently, it's become harder to judge UPS's long-term cash flow. E-commerce growth has been positive for volume growth, but it's created margin challenges. The pressure of delivering a good service during peak demand days in the holiday season has led to profit shortfalls and the need to expand network capacity. UPS has been forced to increase its capital spending in order to modernize and expand its network in order to service e-commerce growth. The three bullet points above are all somewhat related and systemic in nature -- FedEx has also had similar issues. UPS e-commerce growth E-commerce shipment growth is good news from a revenue growth perspective. However, as you can see below, UPS and FedEx have seen margin pressure in recent years due to a combination of the difficulties of dealing with peak demand days and the fact that many large e-commerce deliveries -- mattresses and trampolines, for example -- can be bulky and/or inefficiently packed. | Warren Buffet's investment vehicle is holding nearly 60 thousand shares in United Parcel Service. | bart | 0 | https://news.yahoo.com/warren-buffett-holding-ups-031800992.html | 0.105184 |
Is Warren Buffett Right to Be Holding UPS? | According to Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE: BRK-A) latest quarterly SEC filing, Warren Buffet's investment vehicle is holding nearly 60 thousand shares in United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS). While it's one of his smaller holdings, the investment guru is known for only taking positions in companies he's willing to hold for the long term because he believes in their core value. That said, let's take a look at the investment case for UPS and see whether it's a Buffet-like stock or not. Why UPS is a Buffett stock Given Buffett's preference for long-term investments with sustainable cash flow streams, UPS appears to immediately fit the bill. Alongside FedEx (NYSE: FDX) and Deutsche Post's DHL, UPS is one of the dominant forces in express and courier service. Throw in the long-term growth opportunity from burgeoning e-commerce demand and UPS looks well set to generate a steady flow of earnings and cash flow for years to come. A man carrying a large parcel More Not all e-commerce packages are easy to deliver. Image source: Getty Images. Moreover, a quick comparison of some its operational metrics with FedEx's shows that UPS tends to have a higher operating margin, earns higher returns on invested capital, and also generates more free cash flow from its assets than its key rival does. Unfortunately, it's not quite that simple. The case against UPS While a cursory look suggests UPS is a perfect fit, a closer look at the details of its performance in recent years suggests otherwise. In a nutshell, the company has faced three stumbling blocks that have forced the company to change its approach to business. Consequently, it's become harder to judge UPS's long-term cash flow. E-commerce growth has been positive for volume growth, but it's created margin challenges. The pressure of delivering a good service during peak demand days in the holiday season has led to profit shortfalls and the need to expand network capacity. UPS has been forced to increase its capital spending in order to modernize and expand its network in order to service e-commerce growth. The three bullet points above are all somewhat related and systemic in nature -- FedEx has also had similar issues. UPS e-commerce growth E-commerce shipment growth is good news from a revenue growth perspective. However, as you can see below, UPS and FedEx have seen margin pressure in recent years due to a combination of the difficulties of dealing with peak demand days and the fact that many large e-commerce deliveries -- mattresses and trampolines, for example -- can be bulky and/or inefficiently packed. | Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) owns nearly 60,000 shares of United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) UPS is one of the dominant forces in express and courier service. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://news.yahoo.com/warren-buffett-holding-ups-031800992.html | 0.195651 |
Is Warren Buffett Right to Be Holding UPS? | According to Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE: BRK-A) latest quarterly SEC filing, Warren Buffet's investment vehicle is holding nearly 60 thousand shares in United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS). While it's one of his smaller holdings, the investment guru is known for only taking positions in companies he's willing to hold for the long term because he believes in their core value. That said, let's take a look at the investment case for UPS and see whether it's a Buffet-like stock or not. Why UPS is a Buffett stock Given Buffett's preference for long-term investments with sustainable cash flow streams, UPS appears to immediately fit the bill. Alongside FedEx (NYSE: FDX) and Deutsche Post's DHL, UPS is one of the dominant forces in express and courier service. Throw in the long-term growth opportunity from burgeoning e-commerce demand and UPS looks well set to generate a steady flow of earnings and cash flow for years to come. A man carrying a large parcel More Not all e-commerce packages are easy to deliver. Image source: Getty Images. Moreover, a quick comparison of some its operational metrics with FedEx's shows that UPS tends to have a higher operating margin, earns higher returns on invested capital, and also generates more free cash flow from its assets than its key rival does. Unfortunately, it's not quite that simple. The case against UPS While a cursory look suggests UPS is a perfect fit, a closer look at the details of its performance in recent years suggests otherwise. In a nutshell, the company has faced three stumbling blocks that have forced the company to change its approach to business. Consequently, it's become harder to judge UPS's long-term cash flow. E-commerce growth has been positive for volume growth, but it's created margin challenges. The pressure of delivering a good service during peak demand days in the holiday season has led to profit shortfalls and the need to expand network capacity. UPS has been forced to increase its capital spending in order to modernize and expand its network in order to service e-commerce growth. The three bullet points above are all somewhat related and systemic in nature -- FedEx has also had similar issues. UPS e-commerce growth E-commerce shipment growth is good news from a revenue growth perspective. However, as you can see below, UPS and FedEx have seen margin pressure in recent years due to a combination of the difficulties of dealing with peak demand days and the fact that many large e-commerce deliveries -- mattresses and trampolines, for example -- can be bulky and/or inefficiently packed. | Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) owns nearly 60,000 shares of United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) UPS is one of the dominant forces in express and courier service. However, the company has faced three stumbling blocks that have forced it to change its approach to business. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://news.yahoo.com/warren-buffett-holding-ups-031800992.html | 0.287023 |
Did California sanctuary law protect alleged cop killer? | Californias sanctuary state law does not appear to have helped the immigrant accused of killing a San Joaquin Valley police officer last week, despite a sheriffs claim that immigrant-friendly policies protected the suspected shooter. Paulo Virgen Mendoza, also known as Gustavo Perez Arriaga, has been charged with murder in connection with the fatal shooting of Newman Police Cpl. Ronil Singh. Virgen is an immigrant living in the country illegally. This is a criminal illegal alien with prior criminal activity that should have been reported to ICE, Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson said last week. Law enforcement was prohibited because of sanctuary laws and that led to the encounter with (Cpl.) Singh the outcome could have been different if law enforcement wasnt restricted. California has several laws that limit local law enforcement cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. $20 for 365 Days of Unlimited Digital Access Last chance to take advantage of our best offer of the year! Act now! Christianson has pointed to two SB 54 and the Trust Act as relevant in the case, but its not clear how they might have applied to Virgen. SB 54, Californias so-called sanctuary state law, prohibits police from targeting people based solely on their immigration status and limits what they can tell federal immigration authorities about people in their custody. It builds on the Trust Act of 2013, which prevents police from detaining people at ICEs request if they would otherwise be released. Both laws contain exemptions for people charged with or suspected of serious or violent crimes. Virgen had at least two prior arrests in the Madera area in 2011 and 2014 on suspicion of driving under the influence. Under a federal policy known as Secure Communities, local law enforcement would have shared Virgens fingerprints with the federal government. The federal government could have used the information to determine his immigration status, said UC Davis School of Law Dean Kevin Johnson, an immigration law expert. SHARE COPY LINK Paulo Virgen Mendoza, who is accused of killing Newman Police Cpl. Ronil Singh during a traffic stop last week, makes his first appearance in Stanislaus County Superior Court on Wednesday. Had ICE issued a a formal request that police keep Virgen in custody to give federal authorities time to arrest him, local officials may have been prohibited from complying in 2014 under the Trust Act. But theres no evidence ICE issued a detainer for Virgen then. I do not see how sanctuary laws can be blamed for this tragedy, Johnson said in an email. Johnson said ICE likely didnt try to arrest Virgen in 2014 because the crimes he was charged with werent serious enough. ICE placed a hold on Virgen following the shooting last week. An ICE spokeswoman said initial reviews show this is ICEs first encounter with him. SB 54 expanded the prohibitions on police cooperation with federal immigration authorities, including by limiting when local law enforcement can tell federal authorities when a person will be released from jail. But the policy didnt take effect until 2018 and so wouldnt have applied during Virgens previous arrests. Christianson didnt answer questions about what parts of the laws prevented law enforcement from turning Virgen over to ICE previously, as he had asserted. In an email, he simply pointed to the 2013 Trust Act as one of Californias sanctuary policies limiting police cooperation with ICE. President Donald Trump and ICE have joined Christianson in calling for tougher immigration laws in light of the shooting. There is right now a full scale manhunt going on in California for an illegal immigrant accused of shooting and killing a police officer during a traffic stop, Trump tweeted while police searched for Virgen last week. Time to get tough on Border Security. Build the Wall! In a statement, ICE criticized Californias sanctuary laws for restricting law enforcement cooperation and allowing public safety threats back into the community to reoffend. Jon Rodney, spokesman for the California Immigrant Policy Center, said the criticisms of Californias sanctuary policies are inappropriate. Its important that the awful acts that one person is accused of not be used to demonize whole communities, he said. The president along with ICE and the sheriff are using this terrible tragedy to scapegoat immigrants. | Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson said sanctuary laws protected the suspected shooter. Paulo Virgen Mendoza, also known as Gustavo Perez Arriaga, has been charged with murder in connection with the fatal shooting of Newman Police Cpl. | bart | 1 | https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article223850690.html | 0.145464 |
Did California sanctuary law protect alleged cop killer? | Californias sanctuary state law does not appear to have helped the immigrant accused of killing a San Joaquin Valley police officer last week, despite a sheriffs claim that immigrant-friendly policies protected the suspected shooter. Paulo Virgen Mendoza, also known as Gustavo Perez Arriaga, has been charged with murder in connection with the fatal shooting of Newman Police Cpl. Ronil Singh. Virgen is an immigrant living in the country illegally. This is a criminal illegal alien with prior criminal activity that should have been reported to ICE, Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson said last week. Law enforcement was prohibited because of sanctuary laws and that led to the encounter with (Cpl.) Singh the outcome could have been different if law enforcement wasnt restricted. California has several laws that limit local law enforcement cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. $20 for 365 Days of Unlimited Digital Access Last chance to take advantage of our best offer of the year! Act now! Christianson has pointed to two SB 54 and the Trust Act as relevant in the case, but its not clear how they might have applied to Virgen. SB 54, Californias so-called sanctuary state law, prohibits police from targeting people based solely on their immigration status and limits what they can tell federal immigration authorities about people in their custody. It builds on the Trust Act of 2013, which prevents police from detaining people at ICEs request if they would otherwise be released. Both laws contain exemptions for people charged with or suspected of serious or violent crimes. Virgen had at least two prior arrests in the Madera area in 2011 and 2014 on suspicion of driving under the influence. Under a federal policy known as Secure Communities, local law enforcement would have shared Virgens fingerprints with the federal government. The federal government could have used the information to determine his immigration status, said UC Davis School of Law Dean Kevin Johnson, an immigration law expert. SHARE COPY LINK Paulo Virgen Mendoza, who is accused of killing Newman Police Cpl. Ronil Singh during a traffic stop last week, makes his first appearance in Stanislaus County Superior Court on Wednesday. Had ICE issued a a formal request that police keep Virgen in custody to give federal authorities time to arrest him, local officials may have been prohibited from complying in 2014 under the Trust Act. But theres no evidence ICE issued a detainer for Virgen then. I do not see how sanctuary laws can be blamed for this tragedy, Johnson said in an email. Johnson said ICE likely didnt try to arrest Virgen in 2014 because the crimes he was charged with werent serious enough. ICE placed a hold on Virgen following the shooting last week. An ICE spokeswoman said initial reviews show this is ICEs first encounter with him. SB 54 expanded the prohibitions on police cooperation with federal immigration authorities, including by limiting when local law enforcement can tell federal authorities when a person will be released from jail. But the policy didnt take effect until 2018 and so wouldnt have applied during Virgens previous arrests. Christianson didnt answer questions about what parts of the laws prevented law enforcement from turning Virgen over to ICE previously, as he had asserted. In an email, he simply pointed to the 2013 Trust Act as one of Californias sanctuary policies limiting police cooperation with ICE. President Donald Trump and ICE have joined Christianson in calling for tougher immigration laws in light of the shooting. There is right now a full scale manhunt going on in California for an illegal immigrant accused of shooting and killing a police officer during a traffic stop, Trump tweeted while police searched for Virgen last week. Time to get tough on Border Security. Build the Wall! In a statement, ICE criticized Californias sanctuary laws for restricting law enforcement cooperation and allowing public safety threats back into the community to reoffend. Jon Rodney, spokesman for the California Immigrant Policy Center, said the criticisms of Californias sanctuary policies are inappropriate. Its important that the awful acts that one person is accused of not be used to demonize whole communities, he said. The president along with ICE and the sheriff are using this terrible tragedy to scapegoat immigrants. | Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson said sanctuary laws protected the suspected shooter. Paulo Virgen Mendoza, also known as Gustavo Perez Arriaga, has been charged with murder in connection with the fatal shooting of Newman Police Cpl. Ronil Singh. | bart | 2 | https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article223850690.html | 0.170693 |
Is Roe v. Wade at stake as 116th Congress convenes? | When Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was first nominated, an alarm was sounded that grew louder and louder over the four months leading up to the midterm elections. The warnings came from abortion rights groups, who saw the longstanding Supreme Court ruling that ensures a womans right to an abortion at risk of being overturned, or, what some saw as worse, quietly gutted. Theres no way to sugarcoat it, Dawn Laguens, the former executive vice president of Planned Parenthood who stepped down in November, said when Kavanaugh was nominated by the president in July. The constitutional right to access safe, legal abortion in this country is on the line. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images, FILE And what abortion rights groups saw as a threat, anti-abortion groups saw as an opportunity -- the best judicial climate in years. Indeed, this administration is not only shifting the Supreme Court, but the lower courts as well, said former Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, R-Colorado, who currently works with the Susan B. Anthony List, a nationwide anti-abortion group that focuses on elections and policy, as the vice president of government affairs. As Congress reconvenes for the 116th session, half-a-year after Kavanaughs nomination and two months after the 2018 midterms, the nation has seen political shake-ups across branches of government that are likely to bring changes to abortion legislation and, potentially, the look of Roe v. Wade. Jose Luis Magana/AFP/Getty Images, FILE "That is a very serious concern not just for Planned Parenthood, but for anyone in this country who cares about safe, legal access to abortion," Dana Singiser, vice president for public policy and government affairs for the nationwide abortion rights organization, said in an interview with ABC News in December. At the Supreme Court level, the next few years are expected to bring cases that will present the opportunity to overturn or gut abortion law, as its currently known, said Elizabeth Nash, who tracks legislation for the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion advocacy group. It is a very real threat that the court will be revisiting abortion rights in the next few years and that because of the makeup of the court, abortion rights are in jeopardy, Nash said, referring to the addition of Trumps nominees, Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch and Kavanaugh. Legal experts say the effects of the new justices on the court remain to be seen. Whether the confirmation of Kavanaugh to replace [Justice Anthony] Kennedy was the final nail in the coffin is something well only actually be able to answer once the Supreme Court decides the matter, said Stephen Vladeck, a professor at the University of Texas School of Law who follows abortion legislation. That answer could come from any one of the 15 cases related to reproductive health currently working through the U.S. Courts of Appeals. The five cases closest to reaching the Supreme Court, according to Nash, are in Louisiana, Missouri, Alabama, Arkansas and Texas. The court cases often begin in state legislatures in conservative states, said Nash, where restrictive abortion laws have frequently been approved as direct challenges to the Supreme Court's 1973 ruling on Roe v. Wade. Ohio State Rep. Christina Hagan, a Republican and sponsor of a bill in her own state that would ban abortions after six weeks, said in a separate interview there is indeed a consensus among conservative state lawmakers to take advantage of the moment. We are better seated than weve ever been to present our case for life to the courts, and every state legislature in the nation recognizes that, Hagan said. The Washington Post/Getty Images But its not about the number of restrictive abortion bills out of state legislatures intended to pose a challenge to Roe v. Wade, according to Vladeck, and he doesnt predict a huge influx of such legislation, either. To me, its not the volume. Its the substance, Vladeck said. Once the courts have upheld a law in one state that prohibits abortions after you can detect a fetal heartbeat, other states will follow, he said. Hagan, the mother to 9-week-old twin boys and a three-year-old girl, had her children with her on the floor of the Ohio House of Representatives when her bill, also known as the Heartbeat Bill, passed in the state legislature in November. Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich vetoed the bill in December and said it was contrary to the Supreme Courts decision on Roe v. Wade. Hagan said that was exactly the point. Newly-elected Gov. Mike DeWine, also a Republican, has said he would sign it if its revived. Hagan, who is term-limited but whose co-sponsor on the bill continues to serve in the Ohio Statehouse, predicted it would be. I believe that the legislation we have developed in Ohio is going to be the arrow that goes into the heart of Roe v. Wade, she said. According to a preliminary analysis by Guttmacher Institute, there were 13 states that adopted 26 new restrictions on abortion and family planning in 2018. The way I envision it is the conservative states are kind of jockeying for position of who can pass the most extreme abortion ban first, Nash said. J. David Ake/AP, FILE Yet the institute also found 2018 was the first year in which more legislation was adopted to protect abortion rights than to dismantle them, with 80 new measures enacted across 29 states and Washington. Additionally, some state policy trackers point to the six state legislatures that flipped to Democratic control in the midterms and said these states are gearing up to protect against abortion restrictions in the same way conservative states are looking to enact them. In the states where we saw dramatic shifts in power, we see a lot of opportunity for states to not just protect but expand in legislative sessions, said Singiser of Planned Parenthood. Still, the robust position Republicans hold in state legislatures across the country is one reason Singiser, like Nash, predicts dramatic change. If Roe v. Wade were overturned, Singiser said, there are 20 states she predicted would quickly ban abortion or make it functionally inaccessible. For example, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Dakota and South Dakota all have laws to ban abortions that would immediately go into effect were the case overturned. Still, beyond the courts and state legislatures, Singiser highlighted the new majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, where the Democrats will hold 235 seats to the Republicans 199, as a victory for abortion rights. Oversight and investigation arms interested in holding the Trump-Pence administration accountable, now hold subpoena power, Singiser said. One such move already came from Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland, who is set to become the chairman on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. In July, Cummings set his sights on a proposed rule from the Department of Health and Human Services that would affect womens access to contraceptive care. A record-breaking 102 women were also elected, Singiser pointed out. Particularly women, and women of color, made it clear they do not want elected officials controlling healthcare -- particularly reproductive healthcare, Singiser said. Alex Wong/Getty Images. FILE The Pro-Choice Caucus in the House, co-chaired by Democratic Reps. Barbara Lee and Diana DeGette, also called attention to the new makeup of their chamber. "In our historic new Democratic majority, with a record number of women and members of color, we are ready to hit the ground running to protect every womans constitutional right to reproductive health care," Lee and DeGette said in a statement. The new majority also puts Democrats in a position to block Republican efforts to deny Planned Parenthood federal funding, a longstanding threat when the GOP led the chamber. In a separate interview, former Rep. Musgrave, too, viewed the change of control in the House as a significant shift for abortion legislation and said Washington will be a different world in the new year. This is a new day and quite frankly, the abortion lobby spent tens of millions of dollars flipping the House and theyre going to want a return on their money, Musgrave said. Theyre going to expect Democrats to go after the pro-life legislation. But the Senate, which confirms judges to the federal courts, bolstered its Republican majority -- and saw a net gain of two anti-abortion senators, according to Musgrave -- putting more weight behind the presidents campaign promise to confirm more pro-life judges to the court. The good news is, we feel like the president and the pro-life Senate will stand for life, but yet we know we have to be very vigilant, Musgrave said. State houses around the country largely begin their new sessions in January and the U.S. House and the Senate open the 116th Congress Thursday. The Supreme Court began its new term in October and usually runs into the summer months. | Abortion rights groups and anti-abortion groups see the best judicial climate in years. Legal experts say the effects of the new justices on the court remain to be seen. As Congress reconvenes for the 116th session, the nation has seen political shake-ups across branches of government that are likely to bring changes to abortion legislation. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/roe-wade-stake-116th-congress-convenes/story?id=60033788 | 0.129684 |
Where do all of Quebec's forlorn Christmas trees go? | O Christmas tree, how lovely are thy branches. But how sad you look stuck out on the curb come January. There are few things more forlorn than discarded balsam firs littering the snowbanks of the city post-New Years Day. They signal the end of a happy holiday season, the death of a short but productive arboreal life and, for some, an environmental waste. The good news is that in Montreal they find a second useful existence, albeit one that involves incineration. Compared to sending them to the garbage dump, where they rot and create planet-warming methane gas, their end is at least somewhat beneficial. Every year, firms contracted by the city collect roughly 25,000 trees. The 350 tonnes of holiday refuse are trucked to locations in Laval and Chteauguay, where theyre converted into wood chips that are then sold to firms often pulp and paper mills that burn and use them as energy sources instead of oil. Montreal pays $43 a tonne, or $15,000, every year for the trees to be picked up. We are doing it for the environment even if we have to pay for the service, it allows the city to divert them from garbage dumps, so its a small price to turn a biomass into a product that can be of use, city spokesman Philippe Sabourin said. Other municipalities turn them into mulch to be spread on gardens as a soil conditioner or as a weed suppressant. Others use it to cover hiking paths. Quebec is a major player in the Christmas tree market, accounting for 1.3 million of the nearly two million trees exported from Canada in 2016, according to Statistics Canada. (Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were the next highest sellers.) International sales of Canadas trees raked in $43 million in 2016, with 93 per cent of those sales going to the U.S. Some trees make it as far as France, the Philippines and Australia. Local sellers and many in the United States suffered from a lack of trees this season. Early snowfalls meant producers had trouble getting them to market, said Jimmy Downey, president of the Quebec Association of Christmas Tree Growers, most of whom are located in the Eastern Townships. While production has dropped in other provinces, it has been growing by nearly 20 per cent a year in Quebec, with estimates that growers here produced 1.9 million trees for export in 2018, Downey said. Local sales are not tracked, and thus are hard to estimate. There were a few years, from 2004 to 2014, where it was very difficult for us we were selling trees below the cost of production, because we had a surplus, he said. But lately we are finally at a point where we are evening out. Balsam firs, which are native to Quebec, remain the most popular product, but Fraser firs, which feature more compact bodies and needles that dont drop off as easily, are becoming more popular and boosting sales. Most Quebec municipalities have programs to pick up trees and turn them into compost or into wood pellets to be burned as a heating source, Downey said. Not all regions do. In the United Kingdom, the governments waste agency Wrap estimated 160,000 tonnes of the nations Christmas trees ended up in landfills in 2014. In addition to the environmental cost, there are financial ones: local government estimated it costs $4 in fees and landfill taxes for each tree dumped. Artificial trees have also been making a dent in the sales of natural trees. Statistics Canada found $61 million in artificial trees were imported into the country in 2016, mainly from China. A concerted effort to promote natural trees through the Keep It Real publicity campaign, funded by 10 cents off the sale of every tree in Canada, has borne fruit. Downey said figures show the sales of artificial trees dropped by one per cent this year after a long period of growth. The argument regarding which are more ecologically friendly comes down to a function of time. A comparative life-cycle assessment of artificial versus natural Christmas trees was conducted by the Montreal-based Ellipsos consulting firm, which specializes in sustainable development. If kept for only six years, which is the North American average, artificial trees have three times more impact on climate change and resource depletion than natural trees, whose main environmental harm is caused by consumers driving an average of five kilometres from home every year to pick them up. If artificial trees are kept for 20 years, the environmental impacts even out, Ellipsos found. There were nearly 1,900 tree farms in Canada in 2016, down from 2,381 in 2011. Growers say their trees represent an annual crop that sequesters carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and emits oxygen and serves as a habitat for birds and insects. Once theyve outlived their holiday-time usefulness, the important thing is to keep them out of landfills. In the U.S., they are often spread in parks and community gardens as mulch, or dumped whole onto coastlines to deter coastal erosion. In Kentucky, trees were sunk to the bottom of lakes to serve as a habitat for fish, the New York Times reported. In Montreal, residents can call the city information phone line at 311 to find out when Christmas tree pickup takes place in their borough, or look online at bit.ly/2F0zpPD. Residents are asked to take off all decorations and any plastic wrap. Trees should be put out the night before pickup, or the same day before 7 a.m. They cant go out with recycling bins, but if you miss the pickup dates, they can be brought to eco-centres to be recycled. [email protected] | Montreal picks up 25,000 Christmas trees a year and turns them into wood chips. The trees are then sold to pulp and paper mills that burn and use them as energy sources. Quebec is a major player in the Christmas tree market, accounting for 1.3 million of the nearly two million trees exported from Canada in 2016. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/where-do-all-of-quebecs-forlorn-christmas-trees-go | 0.333142 |
Can Nuclear Power Plants Resist Attacks Of Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP)? | Yes. Specifically, the small modular nuclear reactor company, NuScale, out of Oregon, has made their reactor resistant to electromagnetic pulses (EMP) and most other reactor designs should follow. EMPs are one of those things that many people think is fake, or over-blown, or a conspiracy theorists dream. But they are real. EMPs can be either natural, from things like extreme solar geomagnetic disturbances, or man-made like a large thermonuclear detonation or a cyberattack. If they are coordinated with physical attacks then things can get real dicey real fast. As the U.S. Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from EMP Attack points out, the physical and social fabric of the United States is sustained by a system of systems - a complex and dynamic network of interlocking and interdependent infrastructures whose harmonious functioning enables the myriad actions, transactions, and information flow that undergird the orderly conduct of civil society. According to the Commission, EMP effects represent arguably the largest-scale common-cause failure events that could affect our electric power grid and undermine our society, leaving it vulnerable on many fronts. High-voltage control cables and large transformers that control the grid are particularly vulnerable. Transformers weigh 400 tons, take two years to build, and cost $7 million apiece. We are already way behind in having backup transformers ready, so if many go out at once, we have a big problem powering our country. The phenomenon of a large electromagnetic pulse is not new. The first human-caused EMP occurred in 1962 when the 1.4 megaton Starfish Prime thermonuclear weapon detonated 400 km above the Pacific Ocean. One hundred times bigger than what we dropped on Hiroshima, Starfish Prime resulted in an EMP which caused electrical damage nearly 900 miles away in Hawaii. It knocked out about 300 streetlights, set off numerous burglar alarms, and damaged a telephone company microwave link that shut down telephone calls from Kauai to the other Hawaiian islands. And that was from 900 miles away. On the natural side, in 1989, an unexpected geomagnetic storm triggered an event on the Hydro-Qubec power system that resulted in its complete collapse within 92 seconds, leaving six million customers without power. The storm resulted from the Sun ejecting a trillion-cubic-mile plume of superheated plasma, or ionized gas. It took two days for this cloud to smash into the Earths magnetosphere overwhelming its normal ability to throw off charged cosmic particles, triggering hundreds of incidents across the globe and causing undulating, multicolored auroras to spread as far south as Texas and Cuba. Such storms occur every 60 years or so, and in 1989, we weren't anywhere near as electrified and electronically interconnected as we are today, or as we will be in 30 years. This is the most likely EMP to occur. A new 2018 study by the U.S. Air Force Electromagnetic Defense Task Force addresses direct EMP threats to the United States and its allies. While some issues have existed for decades, the window of opportunity to mitigate some of these threats is closing. Meanwhile, many existing threats have gained prominence because of the almost universal integration of vulnerable silica-based technologies into all aspects of modern technology and society. In 2008, the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse Attack made a compelling case for protecting critical infrastructures against EMP and solar geomagnetic disturbances. To avert long term outages, the U.S. must assure the availability of survivable power sources with long-term, readily accessible and continuous fuel supplies to blackstart the grid, sustain emergency life-support services, and reconstitute local, state, and national infrastructures. Long term outages are defined as the interruption of electricity for months to years over large geographic regions. Protection of electric power plants, and upgrading our infrastructure, will be essential in preventing long term outages and in restarting portions of the grid that have failed in the face of wide-area threats. It would be good at this point to understand some of the technical steps to an EMP. The first pulse occurs when gamma rays emanating from the burst interact with the Earths atmosphere and eject electrons that stream down the Earths magnetic field to generate an incredibly fast electromagnetic pulse within about a billionth of a second after the burst. That pulse peaks around 50,000 V/m on the Earths surface. This first pulse is of the most concern because of its high amplitude and wide bandwidth, allowing it to inject significant energy into conductors as short as twelve inches. Fortunately, this pulse only lasts a millionth of a second, but still time to wreak havoc. Another pulse occurs just after this, resulting from a second set of gammas produced by energetic neutrons. The peak fields are much lower, about 100 V/m and last less than a second. The final pulse is a wave similar in nature to naturally-occurring geomagnetic storms associated with coronal mass ejections from the Suns surface. These are low frequency, low amplitude pulses that lasts from minutes to hours. Although this may appear to be less intense, these can cause direct damage to equipment connected to long electrical lines, and can damage transformers, uninterruptible power supplies and generators. Fortunately, the same protection devices we have developed to withstand natural solar events will work with this third pulse. So new protection strategies need to focus on the first two short pulses. Nuclear power plants have a special place in any strategy because of perceived threats of meltdowns of the core and of nuclear fuel pools, as well as from public concern over all things nuclear. But in addition, nuclear plants could be the most likely power generators to restart quickest after a pulse and would be the baseload power that could keep critical parts of society operating. At present, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has no regulatory framework to address the EMP risk to nuclear power stations, although NRC is currently working to create new fuel storage standards and most nuclear plants are EMP-hardening their back-up generators. So while there are differing opinions as to the direct threat of an EMP to a nuclear power plant, it is generally agreed that the threat should not be ignored. So NuScale didnt ignore it, and set about to actively deter EMP effects in the design of their new small modular nuclear reactor (SMR). NuScales SMR is already the most resilient, reliable and flexible of any energy source in history, with Black-Start Capability, Island Mode and First Responder Power, without needing external grid connections, capable of withstanding earthquakes, category 5 hurricanes and F5 tornados, planes crashing into it, floods, and cyberattacks. Now it has added EMP threats and geomagnetic disturbances. Fortunately, NuScale is the first SMR company to file a license and design certification application with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and it is the first one to have the NRC complete their Phase 1 review in record time. So the first unit should roll out in only a few years. NuScale evaluated support systems of their SMR as either likely vulnerable or inherently resilient to an EMP. The evaluation involved a qualitative vulnerability assessment of above and below ground subsystems, including communications, controls, switches, transformers and machinery within the SMR with special attention to the nuclear plants ability to safely shut down and the potential to provide continuous power during and after exposure to an EMP pulse. Several design features allow the SMR to withstand an EMP attack. There are no safety-related electrical loads, including pumps and electric motor-operated safety valves. Because natural convective core heat removal is used, electrically-operated pumps are not needed to circulate coolant. This means that, if necessary, the reactor can shut down and cool itself for indefinite periods without the need for human intervention, adding water, or external electrical power. So the inherent safety of the reactor is impervious to an EMP and cant melt-down due to an event. But just being safe isnt good enough. It would be great to be able to start up right away or, better yet, keep operating right through the event, so that power is available to mitigate, recover and respond to the worst of attack. The SMR can go into Island Mode operation, not requiring a connection to the grid to provide electrical power, and allowing for a rapid recovery to full power following the event. The reactor modules can keep safely running and go into stand-by mode such that they can be rapidly put back into service. Also, safety-related systems are electrically-isolated from the main plant electrical system, and all sensor cables penetrate the reactor containment vessel at a single location (containment vessel top plate), thereby reducing the EMP pathway. In addition, the reactor building provides effective electric shielding of EMPs by being several-foot thick concrete walls laced with steel rebar, effectively making it into a Faraday Cage, which is an enclosure or structure that can block an electromagnetic field. Electrical conducting lines are underground, which significantly attenuates the first burst effects. NuScale uses redundant fiber optic cable for communication links, which are immune to EMP effects. The NuScale plants feature multiple reactors, multiple turbine generators, an Auxiliary AC Power Source (AAPS), two 2MW backup diesel generators for blackstarting the plant, multiple main power transformers (MPTs) and unit auxiliary transformers (UATs), and redundant backup battery banks. Such redundancy is essential for addressing these complex threats. The design also provides good grounding practices, lightning protection systems, surge arrestors for connections to the switchyard, delta-wye transformers, and circumferentially-bonded stainless-steel piping. So new nuclear plants are able to be designed, and old ones upgraded, to withstand EMPs better than most energy systems. Their inherent isolation from the rest of the world is similar to why they can so effectively withstand cyberattacks. | NuScale, out of Oregon, has made their reactor resistant to electromagnetic pulses (EMP) and most other reactor designs should follow. EMPs can be either natural, from things like extreme solar geomagnetic disturbances, or man-made like a large thermonuclear detonation or a cyberattack. | bart | 2 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2019/01/03/can-nuclear-power-plants-resist-attacks-of-electromagnetic-pulse-emp/ | 0.100764 |
Will Tarrant Republicans remove Muslim from party post? | The countdown is on for the Tarrant County Republican Party to weigh in on whether a vice chairman of the party should be removed from his post because hes Muslim. This effort by a group of Republicans has drawn national attention as many wait to see what the Tarrant GOP will do about Shahid Shafi, a surgeon and Southlake City Council member. Its just outrageous that we are doing this, said Darl Easton, the GOP party chairman who appointed Shafi to the post six months ago. Its disgusting. A vote on the issue is scheduled for Jan. 10. $20 for 365 Days of Unlimited Digital Access Last chance to take advantage of our best offer of the year! Act now! But the question now is whether that vote will actually occur. Talk has bubbled on social media and among Republicans about compromises, a secret versus public vote and even potentially delaying the vote indefinitely. At issue is Eastons appointment last summer. He remembers one person speaking against the proposal before Republicans at an organizational meeting approved his slate of nominees, including Shafi. Before long, Dorrie OBrien a precinct chairwoman from Grand Prairie asked for the appointment to be reconsidered. She and others say this is not about religion but whether Shafi is loyal to Islam and Islamic law or connected to Islamic terror groups. We dont think hes suitable as a practicing Muslim to be vice chair because hed be the representative for ALL Republicans in Tarrant County, and not ALL Republicans in Tarrant County think Islam is safe or acceptable in the U.S., in Tarrant County, and in the TCGOP, OBrien recently posted on Facebook. Internal GOP emails about the issue delivered anonymously to the Star-Telegram, which has been covering this effort since August, show that the effort to remove Shafi has expanded. Others now targeted include Easton; a precinct chair and area leader, Kelly Canon; and a precinct chair who is married to a Muslim, Lisa Grimaldi Abdulkareem. Some top Texas Republicans including U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, Land Commissioner George P. Bush and House Speaker Joe Straus have condemned efforts to remove Shafi, as have Tarrant County Republicans including County Judge Glen Whitley, Sheriff Bill Waybourn and District Clerk Tom Wilder. OBrien recently posted on Facebook that a compromise she proposed regarding Shafi has fallen through. She said she believes her side has enough votes to recall Shafis appointment as vice chairman. Some fear the vote could prompt a civil war in the party. That not only would destroy a unified effort to re-elect President Donald Trump but would also likely hurt the Tarrant County Lincoln Day fundraiser, OBriens post read. In her post, she said her proposal calls for former Tarrant County Republican Party Chairman Steve Hollern to resign as the partys chairman of the Education and Training Committee and for Shafi to resign his post as vice chairman of the party. Then Shafi would be appointed chairman of the committee. She posted that the compromise was rejected and that Easton hadnt countered with another offer. Not only did he start this situation with his ill-advised appointment over some really good advice not to, but he continues to bungle and mishandle it after numerous opportunities to bring it to a close, OBrien wrote. His ego, pride, hubris, whatever, is blinding him to the reality of how close to the edge of disaster his decisions have led the TCGOP. Easton said the compromise as originally presented was rejected, but he wouldnt say a compromise has been totally ruled out. With a week to go before the scheduled vote, Easton said anything could happen. We are very optimistic that we have more votes than they do, he said. But its who shows up. Jan. 10 vote on removal The agenda for the Jan. 10 meeting notes that the first part of the meeting will be to continue the Nov. 10 behind-closed-doors discussion about whether to remove Shafi. Easton said he isnt sure what will happen. Among the possibilities: Those private discussions could continue. A proposal could be made for an immediate public vote on the issue. A proposal could be made to indefinitely postpone consideration of the proposal to remove Shafi. Members could approve a proposed rules change that would eliminate the two vice chairmen positions and replace them with just one vice chairman. And that person would be elected by the executive committee, which is made up of precinct chairmen. A vote on the proposal could occur. Sharia Shafi, an immigrant from Pakistan, has said he became a U.S. citizen in 2009 and soon joined the Republican Party. He said hes not associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, nor the Council on American-Islamic Relations, nor any terrorist organization. He also said he supports Second Amendment rights and American Laws for American Courts. And he said hes never promoted Shariah. Shariah is a set of core principles derived from the teachings of the Quran, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. If somebody is wondering if one can be a Muslim and a ... good American, I am a living example of that, Shafi last month told the Star-Telegram. Sharia Law I have no interest in living under Sharia Law. Shafi said he has been overwhelmed with support since OBrien and others began talking about removing him from his post. It has reaffirmed my faith in the party and reaffirmed my faith in the country, he said. Im very proud to be an American and very proud to be a Republican. Hollern recently sent a letter to precinct chairmen urging them to keep Shafi in his position as a vice chairman. The current efforts by a misguided few to remove Dr. Shafi from Party leadership runs contrary to all principles Republicans have stood for, he wrote. And it is detrimental to the image of the Republican Party. He said the effort by a few folks with retrograde paranoia who hope to remove Shafi from the party post because he is Muslim is wrong. Dont be mistaken, I am as concerned as anyone about radical Islam and jihadi terrorists as Im sure Dr. Shafi is, Hollern wrote. But Dr. Shafi is not one of them. Please join me in sustaining Dr. Shafis appointment at our January 10th EC meeting and redeeming the TCGOP in the eyes of the general public. After all, Dr. Shafi has been endorsed by Sen. Ted Cruz and many of the county elected officials. The TCGOP Executive Committee should not be out of step. | Tarrant County Republicans will vote on whether to remove a Muslim from his party post. A vote on the issue is scheduled for Jan. 10. | ctrlsum | 0 | https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article223820565.html | 0.220873 |
Will Tarrant Republicans remove Muslim from party post? | The countdown is on for the Tarrant County Republican Party to weigh in on whether a vice chairman of the party should be removed from his post because hes Muslim. This effort by a group of Republicans has drawn national attention as many wait to see what the Tarrant GOP will do about Shahid Shafi, a surgeon and Southlake City Council member. Its just outrageous that we are doing this, said Darl Easton, the GOP party chairman who appointed Shafi to the post six months ago. Its disgusting. A vote on the issue is scheduled for Jan. 10. $20 for 365 Days of Unlimited Digital Access Last chance to take advantage of our best offer of the year! Act now! But the question now is whether that vote will actually occur. Talk has bubbled on social media and among Republicans about compromises, a secret versus public vote and even potentially delaying the vote indefinitely. At issue is Eastons appointment last summer. He remembers one person speaking against the proposal before Republicans at an organizational meeting approved his slate of nominees, including Shafi. Before long, Dorrie OBrien a precinct chairwoman from Grand Prairie asked for the appointment to be reconsidered. She and others say this is not about religion but whether Shafi is loyal to Islam and Islamic law or connected to Islamic terror groups. We dont think hes suitable as a practicing Muslim to be vice chair because hed be the representative for ALL Republicans in Tarrant County, and not ALL Republicans in Tarrant County think Islam is safe or acceptable in the U.S., in Tarrant County, and in the TCGOP, OBrien recently posted on Facebook. Internal GOP emails about the issue delivered anonymously to the Star-Telegram, which has been covering this effort since August, show that the effort to remove Shafi has expanded. Others now targeted include Easton; a precinct chair and area leader, Kelly Canon; and a precinct chair who is married to a Muslim, Lisa Grimaldi Abdulkareem. Some top Texas Republicans including U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, Land Commissioner George P. Bush and House Speaker Joe Straus have condemned efforts to remove Shafi, as have Tarrant County Republicans including County Judge Glen Whitley, Sheriff Bill Waybourn and District Clerk Tom Wilder. OBrien recently posted on Facebook that a compromise she proposed regarding Shafi has fallen through. She said she believes her side has enough votes to recall Shafis appointment as vice chairman. Some fear the vote could prompt a civil war in the party. That not only would destroy a unified effort to re-elect President Donald Trump but would also likely hurt the Tarrant County Lincoln Day fundraiser, OBriens post read. In her post, she said her proposal calls for former Tarrant County Republican Party Chairman Steve Hollern to resign as the partys chairman of the Education and Training Committee and for Shafi to resign his post as vice chairman of the party. Then Shafi would be appointed chairman of the committee. She posted that the compromise was rejected and that Easton hadnt countered with another offer. Not only did he start this situation with his ill-advised appointment over some really good advice not to, but he continues to bungle and mishandle it after numerous opportunities to bring it to a close, OBrien wrote. His ego, pride, hubris, whatever, is blinding him to the reality of how close to the edge of disaster his decisions have led the TCGOP. Easton said the compromise as originally presented was rejected, but he wouldnt say a compromise has been totally ruled out. With a week to go before the scheduled vote, Easton said anything could happen. We are very optimistic that we have more votes than they do, he said. But its who shows up. Jan. 10 vote on removal The agenda for the Jan. 10 meeting notes that the first part of the meeting will be to continue the Nov. 10 behind-closed-doors discussion about whether to remove Shafi. Easton said he isnt sure what will happen. Among the possibilities: Those private discussions could continue. A proposal could be made for an immediate public vote on the issue. A proposal could be made to indefinitely postpone consideration of the proposal to remove Shafi. Members could approve a proposed rules change that would eliminate the two vice chairmen positions and replace them with just one vice chairman. And that person would be elected by the executive committee, which is made up of precinct chairmen. A vote on the proposal could occur. Sharia Shafi, an immigrant from Pakistan, has said he became a U.S. citizen in 2009 and soon joined the Republican Party. He said hes not associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, nor the Council on American-Islamic Relations, nor any terrorist organization. He also said he supports Second Amendment rights and American Laws for American Courts. And he said hes never promoted Shariah. Shariah is a set of core principles derived from the teachings of the Quran, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. If somebody is wondering if one can be a Muslim and a ... good American, I am a living example of that, Shafi last month told the Star-Telegram. Sharia Law I have no interest in living under Sharia Law. Shafi said he has been overwhelmed with support since OBrien and others began talking about removing him from his post. It has reaffirmed my faith in the party and reaffirmed my faith in the country, he said. Im very proud to be an American and very proud to be a Republican. Hollern recently sent a letter to precinct chairmen urging them to keep Shafi in his position as a vice chairman. The current efforts by a misguided few to remove Dr. Shafi from Party leadership runs contrary to all principles Republicans have stood for, he wrote. And it is detrimental to the image of the Republican Party. He said the effort by a few folks with retrograde paranoia who hope to remove Shafi from the party post because he is Muslim is wrong. Dont be mistaken, I am as concerned as anyone about radical Islam and jihadi terrorists as Im sure Dr. Shafi is, Hollern wrote. But Dr. Shafi is not one of them. Please join me in sustaining Dr. Shafis appointment at our January 10th EC meeting and redeeming the TCGOP in the eyes of the general public. After all, Dr. Shafi has been endorsed by Sen. Ted Cruz and many of the county elected officials. The TCGOP Executive Committee should not be out of step. | A group of Tarrant County Republicans want to remove a vice chairman because he's Muslim. A vote on the issue is scheduled for Jan. 10. Talk has bubbled on social media and among Republicans about compromises. | pegasus | 1 | https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article223820565.html | 0.302582 |
Will Tarrant Republicans remove Muslim from party post? | The countdown is on for the Tarrant County Republican Party to weigh in on whether a vice chairman of the party should be removed from his post because hes Muslim. This effort by a group of Republicans has drawn national attention as many wait to see what the Tarrant GOP will do about Shahid Shafi, a surgeon and Southlake City Council member. Its just outrageous that we are doing this, said Darl Easton, the GOP party chairman who appointed Shafi to the post six months ago. Its disgusting. A vote on the issue is scheduled for Jan. 10. $20 for 365 Days of Unlimited Digital Access Last chance to take advantage of our best offer of the year! Act now! But the question now is whether that vote will actually occur. Talk has bubbled on social media and among Republicans about compromises, a secret versus public vote and even potentially delaying the vote indefinitely. At issue is Eastons appointment last summer. He remembers one person speaking against the proposal before Republicans at an organizational meeting approved his slate of nominees, including Shafi. Before long, Dorrie OBrien a precinct chairwoman from Grand Prairie asked for the appointment to be reconsidered. She and others say this is not about religion but whether Shafi is loyal to Islam and Islamic law or connected to Islamic terror groups. We dont think hes suitable as a practicing Muslim to be vice chair because hed be the representative for ALL Republicans in Tarrant County, and not ALL Republicans in Tarrant County think Islam is safe or acceptable in the U.S., in Tarrant County, and in the TCGOP, OBrien recently posted on Facebook. Internal GOP emails about the issue delivered anonymously to the Star-Telegram, which has been covering this effort since August, show that the effort to remove Shafi has expanded. Others now targeted include Easton; a precinct chair and area leader, Kelly Canon; and a precinct chair who is married to a Muslim, Lisa Grimaldi Abdulkareem. Some top Texas Republicans including U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, Land Commissioner George P. Bush and House Speaker Joe Straus have condemned efforts to remove Shafi, as have Tarrant County Republicans including County Judge Glen Whitley, Sheriff Bill Waybourn and District Clerk Tom Wilder. OBrien recently posted on Facebook that a compromise she proposed regarding Shafi has fallen through. She said she believes her side has enough votes to recall Shafis appointment as vice chairman. Some fear the vote could prompt a civil war in the party. That not only would destroy a unified effort to re-elect President Donald Trump but would also likely hurt the Tarrant County Lincoln Day fundraiser, OBriens post read. In her post, she said her proposal calls for former Tarrant County Republican Party Chairman Steve Hollern to resign as the partys chairman of the Education and Training Committee and for Shafi to resign his post as vice chairman of the party. Then Shafi would be appointed chairman of the committee. She posted that the compromise was rejected and that Easton hadnt countered with another offer. Not only did he start this situation with his ill-advised appointment over some really good advice not to, but he continues to bungle and mishandle it after numerous opportunities to bring it to a close, OBrien wrote. His ego, pride, hubris, whatever, is blinding him to the reality of how close to the edge of disaster his decisions have led the TCGOP. Easton said the compromise as originally presented was rejected, but he wouldnt say a compromise has been totally ruled out. With a week to go before the scheduled vote, Easton said anything could happen. We are very optimistic that we have more votes than they do, he said. But its who shows up. Jan. 10 vote on removal The agenda for the Jan. 10 meeting notes that the first part of the meeting will be to continue the Nov. 10 behind-closed-doors discussion about whether to remove Shafi. Easton said he isnt sure what will happen. Among the possibilities: Those private discussions could continue. A proposal could be made for an immediate public vote on the issue. A proposal could be made to indefinitely postpone consideration of the proposal to remove Shafi. Members could approve a proposed rules change that would eliminate the two vice chairmen positions and replace them with just one vice chairman. And that person would be elected by the executive committee, which is made up of precinct chairmen. A vote on the proposal could occur. Sharia Shafi, an immigrant from Pakistan, has said he became a U.S. citizen in 2009 and soon joined the Republican Party. He said hes not associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, nor the Council on American-Islamic Relations, nor any terrorist organization. He also said he supports Second Amendment rights and American Laws for American Courts. And he said hes never promoted Shariah. Shariah is a set of core principles derived from the teachings of the Quran, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. If somebody is wondering if one can be a Muslim and a ... good American, I am a living example of that, Shafi last month told the Star-Telegram. Sharia Law I have no interest in living under Sharia Law. Shafi said he has been overwhelmed with support since OBrien and others began talking about removing him from his post. It has reaffirmed my faith in the party and reaffirmed my faith in the country, he said. Im very proud to be an American and very proud to be a Republican. Hollern recently sent a letter to precinct chairmen urging them to keep Shafi in his position as a vice chairman. The current efforts by a misguided few to remove Dr. Shafi from Party leadership runs contrary to all principles Republicans have stood for, he wrote. And it is detrimental to the image of the Republican Party. He said the effort by a few folks with retrograde paranoia who hope to remove Shafi from the party post because he is Muslim is wrong. Dont be mistaken, I am as concerned as anyone about radical Islam and jihadi terrorists as Im sure Dr. Shafi is, Hollern wrote. But Dr. Shafi is not one of them. Please join me in sustaining Dr. Shafis appointment at our January 10th EC meeting and redeeming the TCGOP in the eyes of the general public. After all, Dr. Shafi has been endorsed by Sen. Ted Cruz and many of the county elected officials. The TCGOP Executive Committee should not be out of step. | A group of Tarrant County Republicans want to remove a vice chairman because he's Muslim. A vote on the issue is scheduled for Jan. 10. Talk has bubbled on social media about compromises, a secret versus public vote and even delaying the vote indefinitely. | pegasus | 2 | https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article223820565.html | 0.332776 |
Should children as young as 12 be sent to juvenile detention? | (The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Natalia Orendain, University of California, Los Angeles (THE CONVERSATION) Children under 12 will no longer be treated as criminals in the state of California when they break the law, based on a new law that went into effect on Jan. 1. Before the law was passed, California had no minimum age for sending children to juvenile court and thats still true of most states. That means that in many places, children as young as six, for example, can be arrested and detained. In Texas, Mississippi, Kansas, Colorado and other states, the minimum age is 10. Many California state legislators believe that setting a higher standard, 12 years old, will protect younger children from the dangers that come with juvenile detention. And, given that Californias juvenile justice system houses the largest number of youth in the United States and even the world, their stance may influence how other states set their standards for criminal responsibility. I am a doctoral student studying neuroscience at UCLA. In my lab, we are examining how time spent confined in juvenile facilities affects brain development and behavior. To do so, we study a range of experiences kids encounter when confined, from the good increased daily structure to the terrible assault by other youth and staff. Our study is just beginning, but previous research has shown that the majority of youth experience abuse while confined and show structural brain changes similar to individuals who have experienced lifetime trauma exposure. Juvenile facilities function as prisons for youth. The key difference between adult prisons and juvenile facilities is that the latter advocate for rehabilitation. Thats because young people, usually until their mid- to late 20s, have brains that are still developing and so have the capacity for change what scientists often refer to as plasticity. Every year, over 1.3 million youth in the U.S. are arrested and 60 percent face confinement for offenses neither violent or sexual in nature, such as probation violation, status offense, drug offense or property crime. Rehabilitative efforts can include behavior management, writing classes, religious services and even training on how to manage finances. Despite these efforts, the experience of being detained appears to have overwhelmingly negative consequences for young people. Research shows that the more youth are involved with the juvenile justice system from arrest to detainment to transfer to an adult court the higher their chances are of early death, specifically a violent one. Going to juvenile detention also increases risk for poorer life outcomes in terms of educational attainment, relationships and gainful employment. At this point, these relationships are only correlational, but have been demonstrated across many large studies. The physical environment inside juvenile detention facilities has an industrial feel, with limited natural light. They are surrounded by chain-linked fences topped with barbed wire. Once inside, youth are rarely in contact with their support systems, whether that be family, friends or other individuals. While some youth may have been removed from abusive situations at home, the high-threat environment of secure juvenile facilities is far from a rehabilitation-oriented setting. Maltreatment has been documented in youth detention facilities in most states. According to one survey, about 42 percent of youth in detention are afraid of being physically attacked, 45 percent report unneeded use of force by staff and 30 percent state that staff use isolation as discipline. Isolation, particularly during development, comes with a range of negative physiological and psychological reactions and is associated with the development of mood disorders, like depression and anxiety, and psychosis. Under such stressful conditions, even young brains would have a difficult time learning or growing. To make matters worse, most youth in the juvenile justice system have experienced early life trauma like abuse and neglect, which can compound the negative effects of these already detrimental experiences. No magic number The clinicians and academics who wrote a policy brief on the California bill cite developmental research, court decisions on youth sentencing and international standards on juvenile justice as the reasons to adopt the age of 12 as the minimum age at which children can be sent to juvenile detention. However, there is no strong evidence that setting 12 as the lowest age for sending children to detention will provide major benefits. Among these sources cited by the clinicians and academics, the only specific reference to the age of 12 is from international standards set forth by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. In 2007, the committee announced 12 as the absolute minimum age of criminal responsibility, but at the same time strongly advocated for higher ages, like 14 or 16. At the time, research investigating brain development in youth was still emerging. Now, more than 10 years later, we know that experiences during all of adolescence tremendously impact brain development and behavior into adulthood. While a systemic overhaul would be needed to address the current conditions of juvenile confinement, existing diversion programs are an avenue to affect youth of all ages. One such program is the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative, founded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation more than 25 years ago. The initiative monitors the treatment of youth in secure detention facilities and diverts youth or limits time spent confined. The initiative is implemented in over 300 counties nationwide. Instead of placing young people in detention facilities, these initiatives promote confining them in their homes, in shelters and reporting centers. This approach has been shown to lower the number of times the youth commit crimes again a large feat given that 70 to 80 percent of youth involved in the juvenile justice system traditionally face rearrest within three years of their release. Rather than focusing on a specific age for juvenile detention, I believe a greater impact would come from ensuring that confinement is truly rehabilitative and developmentally appropriate for all youth. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: http://theconversation.com/should-children-as-young-as-12-be-sent-to-juvenile-detention-107848. | Children under 12 will no longer be treated as criminals in California when they break the law. Natalia Orendain: Many California state legislators believe that setting a higher standard, 12 years old, will protect younger children from the dangers that come with juvenile detention. | bart | 2 | https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Should-children-as-young-as-12-be-sent-to-13505334.php | 0.139591 |
Should Japan be forced to stop whaling? | In early 2019, Japan announced it would withdraw from the moratorium on commercial whaling set by the International Whaling Commission in 1986. Whaling is a long-standing tradition in countries like Japan, Norway and Iceland, and proponents of Japan's decision point out the country will now limit hunting to its own waters. Meanwhile, some countries and environmental groups mourn Japan's decision, maintaining that whale species still need protection. PERSPECTIVES The international ban on commercial whaling hasn't stopped Japan from hunting whales. The country participates in hunting season annually, claiming that the whales are used for scientific research. By now openly defying the international ban on commercial whaling, Japan will at least limit its hunting to its own waters. According to The Guardian's Justin McCurry and Matthew Weaver: [The Japanese government's chief spokesman, Yoshihide Suga] told reporters the country's fleet would confine its hunts to Japanese territorial waters and exclusive economic zone, adding that its controversial annual expeditions to the Southern Ocean-a major source of diplomatic friction between Tokyo and Canberra-would end. Plus, many people see the ban on commercial whaling as an implementation of Western values on an international level: Japan argues that the moratorium was supposed to be a temporary measure and has accused a 'dysfunctional' [International Whaling Commission] of abandoning its original purpose-managing the sustainable use of global whale stocks. Japan's decision comes as a disappointment to much of the international community. According to the New York Times' Daniel Victor, Australia's government is "extremely disappointed" with Japan's announcement. Victor reports: Australia maintains a sanctuary for whales, dolphins and porpoises that includes parts of the Antarctic, and it has clashed with Japan over its annual hunts there. 'Australia remains resolutely opposed to all forms of commercial and so-called "scientific" whaling,' the ministers said. 'We will continue to work within the commission to uphold the global moratorium on commercial whaling.' The U.K. environment secretary, Michael Gove, shares the sentiment: Extremely disappointed to hear that Japan has decided to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission to resume commercial whaling. The UK is strongly opposed to commercial whaling and will continue to fight for the protection and welfare of these majestic mammals. -- Michael Gove (@michaelgove) December 26, 2018 Victor continues by pointing out that, for Japan, commercial whaling is more than an economic stimulus, it's a long-standing tradition. 'In its long history, Japan has used whales not only as a source of protein but also for a variety of other purposes,' Mr. Suga said in a statement. 'Engagement in whaling has been supporting local communities, and thereby developed the life and culture of using whales.' Although demand for whale meat has declined sharply in Japan, the country maintains publicly that the tradition lives on. The BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes reports that according to the Japanese government: ...whaling is an ancient part of Japanese culture, that fishermen have caught whales for centuries, and that Japan will never allow foreigners to tell its people what they can and cannot eat. One Japanese official once said to me: 'Japanese people never eat rabbits, but we don't tell British people that they shouldn't.' But given the Japanese population's declining interest in whale meat, many are wondering why the country is pushing so hard to maintain a tradition that is no longer lucrative. The BBC's Wingfield-Hayes discovered that it might not be-at least not for long. During a private conversation with a high-ranking member of the Japanese government, Wingfield-Hayes explained why he believed resuming commercial whaling was illogical, the official replied: 'I agree with you,' he said. 'Antarctic whaling is not part of Japanese culture. It is terrible for our international image and there is no commercial demand for the meat. I think in another 10 years there will be no deep sea whaling in Japan.' 'There are some important political reasons why it is difficult to stop now.' he said. He would say no more. But [Greenpeace worker, Junko Sakuma] thinks the answer lies in the fact that Japan's whaling is government-run, a large bureaucracy with research budgets, annual plans, promotions and pensions. According to Sakuma, the pride of some government officials is more important to Japan than the survival of various whale species. The Tylt is focused on debates and conversations around news, current events and pop culture. We provide our community with the opportunity to share their opinions and vote on topics that matter most to them. We actively engage the community and present meaningful data on the debates and conversations as they progress. The Tylt is a place where your opinion counts, literally. The Tylt is an Advance Local Media, LLC property. Join us on Twitter @TheTylt, on Instagram @TheTylt or on Facebook, we'd love to hear what you have to say. | Japan announced it would resume commercial whaling in early 2019. The country will now limit its hunting to its own waters. | ctrlsum | 0 | https://www.oregonlive.com/tylt/2019/01/should_japan_be_forced_to_stop.html | 0.114336 |
Should Japan be forced to stop whaling? | In early 2019, Japan announced it would withdraw from the moratorium on commercial whaling set by the International Whaling Commission in 1986. Whaling is a long-standing tradition in countries like Japan, Norway and Iceland, and proponents of Japan's decision point out the country will now limit hunting to its own waters. Meanwhile, some countries and environmental groups mourn Japan's decision, maintaining that whale species still need protection. PERSPECTIVES The international ban on commercial whaling hasn't stopped Japan from hunting whales. The country participates in hunting season annually, claiming that the whales are used for scientific research. By now openly defying the international ban on commercial whaling, Japan will at least limit its hunting to its own waters. According to The Guardian's Justin McCurry and Matthew Weaver: [The Japanese government's chief spokesman, Yoshihide Suga] told reporters the country's fleet would confine its hunts to Japanese territorial waters and exclusive economic zone, adding that its controversial annual expeditions to the Southern Ocean-a major source of diplomatic friction between Tokyo and Canberra-would end. Plus, many people see the ban on commercial whaling as an implementation of Western values on an international level: Japan argues that the moratorium was supposed to be a temporary measure and has accused a 'dysfunctional' [International Whaling Commission] of abandoning its original purpose-managing the sustainable use of global whale stocks. Japan's decision comes as a disappointment to much of the international community. According to the New York Times' Daniel Victor, Australia's government is "extremely disappointed" with Japan's announcement. Victor reports: Australia maintains a sanctuary for whales, dolphins and porpoises that includes parts of the Antarctic, and it has clashed with Japan over its annual hunts there. 'Australia remains resolutely opposed to all forms of commercial and so-called "scientific" whaling,' the ministers said. 'We will continue to work within the commission to uphold the global moratorium on commercial whaling.' The U.K. environment secretary, Michael Gove, shares the sentiment: Extremely disappointed to hear that Japan has decided to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission to resume commercial whaling. The UK is strongly opposed to commercial whaling and will continue to fight for the protection and welfare of these majestic mammals. -- Michael Gove (@michaelgove) December 26, 2018 Victor continues by pointing out that, for Japan, commercial whaling is more than an economic stimulus, it's a long-standing tradition. 'In its long history, Japan has used whales not only as a source of protein but also for a variety of other purposes,' Mr. Suga said in a statement. 'Engagement in whaling has been supporting local communities, and thereby developed the life and culture of using whales.' Although demand for whale meat has declined sharply in Japan, the country maintains publicly that the tradition lives on. The BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes reports that according to the Japanese government: ...whaling is an ancient part of Japanese culture, that fishermen have caught whales for centuries, and that Japan will never allow foreigners to tell its people what they can and cannot eat. One Japanese official once said to me: 'Japanese people never eat rabbits, but we don't tell British people that they shouldn't.' But given the Japanese population's declining interest in whale meat, many are wondering why the country is pushing so hard to maintain a tradition that is no longer lucrative. The BBC's Wingfield-Hayes discovered that it might not be-at least not for long. During a private conversation with a high-ranking member of the Japanese government, Wingfield-Hayes explained why he believed resuming commercial whaling was illogical, the official replied: 'I agree with you,' he said. 'Antarctic whaling is not part of Japanese culture. It is terrible for our international image and there is no commercial demand for the meat. I think in another 10 years there will be no deep sea whaling in Japan.' 'There are some important political reasons why it is difficult to stop now.' he said. He would say no more. But [Greenpeace worker, Junko Sakuma] thinks the answer lies in the fact that Japan's whaling is government-run, a large bureaucracy with research budgets, annual plans, promotions and pensions. According to Sakuma, the pride of some government officials is more important to Japan than the survival of various whale species. The Tylt is focused on debates and conversations around news, current events and pop culture. We provide our community with the opportunity to share their opinions and vote on topics that matter most to them. We actively engage the community and present meaningful data on the debates and conversations as they progress. The Tylt is a place where your opinion counts, literally. The Tylt is an Advance Local Media, LLC property. Join us on Twitter @TheTylt, on Instagram @TheTylt or on Facebook, we'd love to hear what you have to say. | Japan announced it would withdraw from the moratorium on commercial whaling set by the International Whaling Commission in 1986. The country participates in hunting season annually, claiming that the whales are used for scientific research. | pegasus | 1 | https://www.oregonlive.com/tylt/2019/01/should_japan_be_forced_to_stop.html | 0.110768 |
Should Japan be forced to stop whaling? | In early 2019, Japan announced it would withdraw from the moratorium on commercial whaling set by the International Whaling Commission in 1986. Whaling is a long-standing tradition in countries like Japan, Norway and Iceland, and proponents of Japan's decision point out the country will now limit hunting to its own waters. Meanwhile, some countries and environmental groups mourn Japan's decision, maintaining that whale species still need protection. PERSPECTIVES The international ban on commercial whaling hasn't stopped Japan from hunting whales. The country participates in hunting season annually, claiming that the whales are used for scientific research. By now openly defying the international ban on commercial whaling, Japan will at least limit its hunting to its own waters. According to The Guardian's Justin McCurry and Matthew Weaver: [The Japanese government's chief spokesman, Yoshihide Suga] told reporters the country's fleet would confine its hunts to Japanese territorial waters and exclusive economic zone, adding that its controversial annual expeditions to the Southern Ocean-a major source of diplomatic friction between Tokyo and Canberra-would end. Plus, many people see the ban on commercial whaling as an implementation of Western values on an international level: Japan argues that the moratorium was supposed to be a temporary measure and has accused a 'dysfunctional' [International Whaling Commission] of abandoning its original purpose-managing the sustainable use of global whale stocks. Japan's decision comes as a disappointment to much of the international community. According to the New York Times' Daniel Victor, Australia's government is "extremely disappointed" with Japan's announcement. Victor reports: Australia maintains a sanctuary for whales, dolphins and porpoises that includes parts of the Antarctic, and it has clashed with Japan over its annual hunts there. 'Australia remains resolutely opposed to all forms of commercial and so-called "scientific" whaling,' the ministers said. 'We will continue to work within the commission to uphold the global moratorium on commercial whaling.' The U.K. environment secretary, Michael Gove, shares the sentiment: Extremely disappointed to hear that Japan has decided to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission to resume commercial whaling. The UK is strongly opposed to commercial whaling and will continue to fight for the protection and welfare of these majestic mammals. -- Michael Gove (@michaelgove) December 26, 2018 Victor continues by pointing out that, for Japan, commercial whaling is more than an economic stimulus, it's a long-standing tradition. 'In its long history, Japan has used whales not only as a source of protein but also for a variety of other purposes,' Mr. Suga said in a statement. 'Engagement in whaling has been supporting local communities, and thereby developed the life and culture of using whales.' Although demand for whale meat has declined sharply in Japan, the country maintains publicly that the tradition lives on. The BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes reports that according to the Japanese government: ...whaling is an ancient part of Japanese culture, that fishermen have caught whales for centuries, and that Japan will never allow foreigners to tell its people what they can and cannot eat. One Japanese official once said to me: 'Japanese people never eat rabbits, but we don't tell British people that they shouldn't.' But given the Japanese population's declining interest in whale meat, many are wondering why the country is pushing so hard to maintain a tradition that is no longer lucrative. The BBC's Wingfield-Hayes discovered that it might not be-at least not for long. During a private conversation with a high-ranking member of the Japanese government, Wingfield-Hayes explained why he believed resuming commercial whaling was illogical, the official replied: 'I agree with you,' he said. 'Antarctic whaling is not part of Japanese culture. It is terrible for our international image and there is no commercial demand for the meat. I think in another 10 years there will be no deep sea whaling in Japan.' 'There are some important political reasons why it is difficult to stop now.' he said. He would say no more. But [Greenpeace worker, Junko Sakuma] thinks the answer lies in the fact that Japan's whaling is government-run, a large bureaucracy with research budgets, annual plans, promotions and pensions. According to Sakuma, the pride of some government officials is more important to Japan than the survival of various whale species. The Tylt is focused on debates and conversations around news, current events and pop culture. We provide our community with the opportunity to share their opinions and vote on topics that matter most to them. We actively engage the community and present meaningful data on the debates and conversations as they progress. The Tylt is a place where your opinion counts, literally. The Tylt is an Advance Local Media, LLC property. Join us on Twitter @TheTylt, on Instagram @TheTylt or on Facebook, we'd love to hear what you have to say. | In early 2019, Japan announced it would withdraw from the moratorium on commercial whaling set by the International Whaling Commission in 1986. Whaling is a long-standing tradition in countries like Japan, Norway and Iceland, and proponents of Japan's decision point out the country will now limit hunting to its own waters. | pegasus | 2 | https://www.oregonlive.com/tylt/2019/01/should_japan_be_forced_to_stop.html | 0.159877 |
Is Competency The Hot New Education Thing For 2019? | Tom Vander Ark thinks that competency is the up and coming next big thing in education. He just said so a few weeks ago here at Forbes, but he's been saying so for several years now. Vander Ark has been at the education reform biz longer than most, but his career also includes the launch of K-Mart's competitor to Sam's Club, point man for the Gates small schools initiative, and an attempt to launch some charter schools in NYC that left a bad taste in many mouths. He's not always right. When we talk about competency (as in competency based education), we need to keep a couple of things in mind. First of all, it's not remotely new. For most of its history, it has been called "mastery" or "learning for mastery," and it crops up as far back as almost a century ago, when programs like the Winnetka Plan started playing with the idea that instead of focusing on the hours spent in a program, we could focus on whether or not the students had mastered a particular piece of skill or content. Mastery Learning began to catch fire again in the sixties. Most of us who went to teacher school in the seventies learned about it and were encouraged to make it a factor in our work, though nobody had yet solved one of the central problems with mastery learning. The premise was that every student could learn the material as long as she was given enough time--but there were still only 180 days in the school year. In the classroom, mastery learning often took the form of giving students multiple, even unlimited, attempts to show mastery of the material. On the ground this looked like, "Students, you can keep taking the unit test until you pass it." Students sometimes took advantage of the reduced sense of urgency, and parents were not always supportive--as one parent asked me, "Why should my kid try when he gets a dozen shots and everybody passes?" While mastery learning became central in very few classrooms, by the eighties, many teachers had incorporated elements of mastery learning into their practice. In the nineties, mastery learning made a comeback with the rise of Outcome Based Education. In OBE, each lesson would culminate in student demonstration of some particular outcome--new terminology for showing mastery (immortalized in a million million lesson plans as "The Student Will Be Able To" aka "TSWBAT"). We would have authentic assessments, where the students would demonstrate mastery in some "real" way; multiple choice tests and their ilk would be banished. Each student would have a portfolio that would show the complex web of her mastered skills, not just some simple letter grade. And finally, the motto, drilled into teachers at countless professional development sessions, was that "all can learn all." But OBE died a quick death. Part of the opposition came from conservative parents who resisted the "values" outcomes that required students to demonstrate mastery of the skill of being a good person. The other fatal attack on OBE came from the rising tide of accountability hawks, spurred to action by A Nation At Risk and demanding the kind of cold, hard numbers and measures that led us to No Child Left Behind, Common Core, and accountability based on a multiple-choice standardized tests. Competency is a new branding of a century-long thread in education. Now mastery can be marked with digital badges, the progression of skills maintained, measured and recorded by computers, the badges earned and issued in and out of school. If it's going to finally become the big thing in education, it will have to solve some of its old central problems. Vander Ark's evidence competency is really going to finally bust through this time is essentially a list of tech companies that are working on various parts of the problems. Some companies are working out how to issue a digital badge for a variety of mastered skills that will be assessed... somehow. Financiers like XQ and New Schools Venture Fund are throwing money at groups that want to work on these problems. | Tom Vander Ark thinks competency is the next big thing in education. But competency is not remotely new. | pegasus | 0 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/2019/01/03/is-competency-the-hot-new-education-thing-for-2019/ | 0.112148 |
Is Competency The Hot New Education Thing For 2019? | Tom Vander Ark thinks that competency is the up and coming next big thing in education. He just said so a few weeks ago here at Forbes, but he's been saying so for several years now. Vander Ark has been at the education reform biz longer than most, but his career also includes the launch of K-Mart's competitor to Sam's Club, point man for the Gates small schools initiative, and an attempt to launch some charter schools in NYC that left a bad taste in many mouths. He's not always right. When we talk about competency (as in competency based education), we need to keep a couple of things in mind. First of all, it's not remotely new. For most of its history, it has been called "mastery" or "learning for mastery," and it crops up as far back as almost a century ago, when programs like the Winnetka Plan started playing with the idea that instead of focusing on the hours spent in a program, we could focus on whether or not the students had mastered a particular piece of skill or content. Mastery Learning began to catch fire again in the sixties. Most of us who went to teacher school in the seventies learned about it and were encouraged to make it a factor in our work, though nobody had yet solved one of the central problems with mastery learning. The premise was that every student could learn the material as long as she was given enough time--but there were still only 180 days in the school year. In the classroom, mastery learning often took the form of giving students multiple, even unlimited, attempts to show mastery of the material. On the ground this looked like, "Students, you can keep taking the unit test until you pass it." Students sometimes took advantage of the reduced sense of urgency, and parents were not always supportive--as one parent asked me, "Why should my kid try when he gets a dozen shots and everybody passes?" While mastery learning became central in very few classrooms, by the eighties, many teachers had incorporated elements of mastery learning into their practice. In the nineties, mastery learning made a comeback with the rise of Outcome Based Education. In OBE, each lesson would culminate in student demonstration of some particular outcome--new terminology for showing mastery (immortalized in a million million lesson plans as "The Student Will Be Able To" aka "TSWBAT"). We would have authentic assessments, where the students would demonstrate mastery in some "real" way; multiple choice tests and their ilk would be banished. Each student would have a portfolio that would show the complex web of her mastered skills, not just some simple letter grade. And finally, the motto, drilled into teachers at countless professional development sessions, was that "all can learn all." But OBE died a quick death. Part of the opposition came from conservative parents who resisted the "values" outcomes that required students to demonstrate mastery of the skill of being a good person. The other fatal attack on OBE came from the rising tide of accountability hawks, spurred to action by A Nation At Risk and demanding the kind of cold, hard numbers and measures that led us to No Child Left Behind, Common Core, and accountability based on a multiple-choice standardized tests. Competency is a new branding of a century-long thread in education. Now mastery can be marked with digital badges, the progression of skills maintained, measured and recorded by computers, the badges earned and issued in and out of school. If it's going to finally become the big thing in education, it will have to solve some of its old central problems. Vander Ark's evidence competency is really going to finally bust through this time is essentially a list of tech companies that are working on various parts of the problems. Some companies are working out how to issue a digital badge for a variety of mastered skills that will be assessed... somehow. Financiers like XQ and New Schools Venture Fund are throwing money at groups that want to work on these problems. | Tom Vander Ark thinks that competency is the up and coming next big thing in education. Vander Ark has been at the education reform biz longer than most, but his career also includes the launch of K-Mart's competitor to Sam's Club. | bart | 1 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/2019/01/03/is-competency-the-hot-new-education-thing-for-2019/ | 0.167328 |
Is Competency The Hot New Education Thing For 2019? | Tom Vander Ark thinks that competency is the up and coming next big thing in education. He just said so a few weeks ago here at Forbes, but he's been saying so for several years now. Vander Ark has been at the education reform biz longer than most, but his career also includes the launch of K-Mart's competitor to Sam's Club, point man for the Gates small schools initiative, and an attempt to launch some charter schools in NYC that left a bad taste in many mouths. He's not always right. When we talk about competency (as in competency based education), we need to keep a couple of things in mind. First of all, it's not remotely new. For most of its history, it has been called "mastery" or "learning for mastery," and it crops up as far back as almost a century ago, when programs like the Winnetka Plan started playing with the idea that instead of focusing on the hours spent in a program, we could focus on whether or not the students had mastered a particular piece of skill or content. Mastery Learning began to catch fire again in the sixties. Most of us who went to teacher school in the seventies learned about it and were encouraged to make it a factor in our work, though nobody had yet solved one of the central problems with mastery learning. The premise was that every student could learn the material as long as she was given enough time--but there were still only 180 days in the school year. In the classroom, mastery learning often took the form of giving students multiple, even unlimited, attempts to show mastery of the material. On the ground this looked like, "Students, you can keep taking the unit test until you pass it." Students sometimes took advantage of the reduced sense of urgency, and parents were not always supportive--as one parent asked me, "Why should my kid try when he gets a dozen shots and everybody passes?" While mastery learning became central in very few classrooms, by the eighties, many teachers had incorporated elements of mastery learning into their practice. In the nineties, mastery learning made a comeback with the rise of Outcome Based Education. In OBE, each lesson would culminate in student demonstration of some particular outcome--new terminology for showing mastery (immortalized in a million million lesson plans as "The Student Will Be Able To" aka "TSWBAT"). We would have authentic assessments, where the students would demonstrate mastery in some "real" way; multiple choice tests and their ilk would be banished. Each student would have a portfolio that would show the complex web of her mastered skills, not just some simple letter grade. And finally, the motto, drilled into teachers at countless professional development sessions, was that "all can learn all." But OBE died a quick death. Part of the opposition came from conservative parents who resisted the "values" outcomes that required students to demonstrate mastery of the skill of being a good person. The other fatal attack on OBE came from the rising tide of accountability hawks, spurred to action by A Nation At Risk and demanding the kind of cold, hard numbers and measures that led us to No Child Left Behind, Common Core, and accountability based on a multiple-choice standardized tests. Competency is a new branding of a century-long thread in education. Now mastery can be marked with digital badges, the progression of skills maintained, measured and recorded by computers, the badges earned and issued in and out of school. If it's going to finally become the big thing in education, it will have to solve some of its old central problems. Vander Ark's evidence competency is really going to finally bust through this time is essentially a list of tech companies that are working on various parts of the problems. Some companies are working out how to issue a digital badge for a variety of mastered skills that will be assessed... somehow. Financiers like XQ and New Schools Venture Fund are throwing money at groups that want to work on these problems. | Tom Vander Ark thinks that competency is the up and coming next big thing in education. Vander Ark has been at the education reform biz longer than most, but his career also includes the launch of K-Mart's competitor to Sam's Club. If it's going to become the big thing, it will have to solve some of its old central problems. | bart | 2 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/2019/01/03/is-competency-the-hot-new-education-thing-for-2019/ | 0.168374 |
Are Phoenix employees really trying to thwart an initiative to stop light rail? | Opinion: Councilman Sal DiCiccio accuses city staff of 'slow-rolling' the initiative, but that's not exactly true. A light rail train pulls into the light rail staton on 19th Avenue and Dunlap Avenue in Phoenix, on Thursday, December 6, 2018. (Photo: David Wallace/The Republic) Backers of an initiative to stop light-rail expansion figured there would be forces that seek to thwart their effort which is precisely what some train supporters did Wednesday in suing over the validity of the signature-gathering process. Those forces, however, do not include Phoenix city staff a narrative that is sinister and, more importantly, unfounded. The narrative comes from an expected place, Councilman Sal DiCiccio, who days after Christmas griped that the Phoenix city clerks office was slow-rolling the initiative after the petitions were turned in the implication being staffers are sympathetic, or are in cahoots, with train supporters looking to derail a public vote. He pointed to conversations that initiative leader Susan Gudino had in late November with the clerk's office, including assurances that the petitions would be processed as quickly as a week. Initiative leader gets a suspicious call The week dragged into several, after which the clerk's office produced a letter that stated only phase one (of two) in the process had been completed. When Gudino inquired further, she got a call back not from the clerk's office, she learned from DiCiccio and his office, but from a staffer of former Mayor Greg Stanton, a light-rail supporter. Gudino described the caller as "very by the book" and rather unhelpful. "It's all very unusual," DiCiccio said. "The initiative is getting extra scrutiny. It seems to be undergoing a very different process than other initiatives." Except that it isn't. Train foes expect efforts to derail initiative DiCiccio's narrative is certainly compelling. Appealing, too especially for foes of expensive, heavily subsidized projects, in general. And foes of light rail, in particular. Gathering more than 20,500 signatures of voters to qualify the initiative for the ballot is no small order. And backers, many of them small-business owners and residents in south-central Phoenix, expect to be greatly outspent and outshouted in the campaign if and when the measure qualifies for the ballot. They're likely right. The lawsuit over petition signatures, filed by a general contractors group, portends a protracted, possibly expensive, fight. And light rail has advocates that include a majority of the elected council members. No evidence of shenanigans by city staff But to say nonpartisan city staff is attempting to "thwart the will of our citizens in favor of special interests" exaggerates to the point of maligning. Phoenix statute mirrors Arizona law, which calls for a two-step verification process the first to vet requirements of circulators, such as getting each sheet of signatures properly marked, notarized and the like. The city clerk's office did so within the required period of 20 business days. The second step, to verify that the signatures are legible, belonging to valid voters and matching signatories on file, must be completed within 15 business days following that. For the light rail initiative, that is Jan. 18. What room there is to stall is for the city council to take. It has roughly five weeks to set an election date after the signatures are certified but only a couple of options for this year by law either in May or in August. As for the phone call initiative leader Gudino got from a staffer associated with former Mayor Stanton, that turned out to be a case of mistaken identity. A Seth Scott did indeed return Gudino's call, Deputy City Clerk Ben Lane said. But that Seth Scott is of the city clerk's office, not the Seth Scott who served as Stanton's chief of staff. DiCiccio is right about this on light rail Critics of DiCiccio don't even bother to shrug at his latest accusations. After he helped to defeat a proposed water-rate increase late last year, the councilman mocked city management for bringing forward nothing but a host of blunders even though his no vote puts at risk the water departments bond rating. His missive prompted interim mayor Thelda Williams and two council members to issue a rebuke that his attacks on city staff represent scorched-earth tactics and bullying (that) have become a cancer at City Hall. Regardless, DiCiccio is right about one lament: Phoenix voters deserve better. Should the Building a Better Phoenix initiative make it on the ballot, it would be in a special election, which will draw a fraction of the turnout for a regular election. The fate of light rail demands and deserves greater voter participation. Reach Kwok at [email protected]. Click here to subscribe to azcentral.com. Read or Share this story: https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/abekwok/2019/01/03/phoenix-light-rail-initiative-stalling-sal-diciccio/2470540002/ | Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio accuses city staff of "slow-rolling" light rail initiative. | ctrlsum | 0 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/abekwok/2019/01/03/phoenix-light-rail-initiative-stalling-sal-diciccio/2470540002/ | 0.253312 |
Are Phoenix employees really trying to thwart an initiative to stop light rail? | Opinion: Councilman Sal DiCiccio accuses city staff of 'slow-rolling' the initiative, but that's not exactly true. A light rail train pulls into the light rail staton on 19th Avenue and Dunlap Avenue in Phoenix, on Thursday, December 6, 2018. (Photo: David Wallace/The Republic) Backers of an initiative to stop light-rail expansion figured there would be forces that seek to thwart their effort which is precisely what some train supporters did Wednesday in suing over the validity of the signature-gathering process. Those forces, however, do not include Phoenix city staff a narrative that is sinister and, more importantly, unfounded. The narrative comes from an expected place, Councilman Sal DiCiccio, who days after Christmas griped that the Phoenix city clerks office was slow-rolling the initiative after the petitions were turned in the implication being staffers are sympathetic, or are in cahoots, with train supporters looking to derail a public vote. He pointed to conversations that initiative leader Susan Gudino had in late November with the clerk's office, including assurances that the petitions would be processed as quickly as a week. Initiative leader gets a suspicious call The week dragged into several, after which the clerk's office produced a letter that stated only phase one (of two) in the process had been completed. When Gudino inquired further, she got a call back not from the clerk's office, she learned from DiCiccio and his office, but from a staffer of former Mayor Greg Stanton, a light-rail supporter. Gudino described the caller as "very by the book" and rather unhelpful. "It's all very unusual," DiCiccio said. "The initiative is getting extra scrutiny. It seems to be undergoing a very different process than other initiatives." Except that it isn't. Train foes expect efforts to derail initiative DiCiccio's narrative is certainly compelling. Appealing, too especially for foes of expensive, heavily subsidized projects, in general. And foes of light rail, in particular. Gathering more than 20,500 signatures of voters to qualify the initiative for the ballot is no small order. And backers, many of them small-business owners and residents in south-central Phoenix, expect to be greatly outspent and outshouted in the campaign if and when the measure qualifies for the ballot. They're likely right. The lawsuit over petition signatures, filed by a general contractors group, portends a protracted, possibly expensive, fight. And light rail has advocates that include a majority of the elected council members. No evidence of shenanigans by city staff But to say nonpartisan city staff is attempting to "thwart the will of our citizens in favor of special interests" exaggerates to the point of maligning. Phoenix statute mirrors Arizona law, which calls for a two-step verification process the first to vet requirements of circulators, such as getting each sheet of signatures properly marked, notarized and the like. The city clerk's office did so within the required period of 20 business days. The second step, to verify that the signatures are legible, belonging to valid voters and matching signatories on file, must be completed within 15 business days following that. For the light rail initiative, that is Jan. 18. What room there is to stall is for the city council to take. It has roughly five weeks to set an election date after the signatures are certified but only a couple of options for this year by law either in May or in August. As for the phone call initiative leader Gudino got from a staffer associated with former Mayor Stanton, that turned out to be a case of mistaken identity. A Seth Scott did indeed return Gudino's call, Deputy City Clerk Ben Lane said. But that Seth Scott is of the city clerk's office, not the Seth Scott who served as Stanton's chief of staff. DiCiccio is right about this on light rail Critics of DiCiccio don't even bother to shrug at his latest accusations. After he helped to defeat a proposed water-rate increase late last year, the councilman mocked city management for bringing forward nothing but a host of blunders even though his no vote puts at risk the water departments bond rating. His missive prompted interim mayor Thelda Williams and two council members to issue a rebuke that his attacks on city staff represent scorched-earth tactics and bullying (that) have become a cancer at City Hall. Regardless, DiCiccio is right about one lament: Phoenix voters deserve better. Should the Building a Better Phoenix initiative make it on the ballot, it would be in a special election, which will draw a fraction of the turnout for a regular election. The fate of light rail demands and deserves greater voter participation. Reach Kwok at [email protected]. Click here to subscribe to azcentral.com. Read or Share this story: https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/abekwok/2019/01/03/phoenix-light-rail-initiative-stalling-sal-diciccio/2470540002/ | Councilman Sal DiCiccio says Phoenix city staff is "slow-rolling" light-rail initiative. But that's not exactly true, and there's no evidence of shenanigans by city staff. | bart | 1 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/abekwok/2019/01/03/phoenix-light-rail-initiative-stalling-sal-diciccio/2470540002/ | 0.316619 |
Are Phoenix employees really trying to thwart an initiative to stop light rail? | Opinion: Councilman Sal DiCiccio accuses city staff of 'slow-rolling' the initiative, but that's not exactly true. A light rail train pulls into the light rail staton on 19th Avenue and Dunlap Avenue in Phoenix, on Thursday, December 6, 2018. (Photo: David Wallace/The Republic) Backers of an initiative to stop light-rail expansion figured there would be forces that seek to thwart their effort which is precisely what some train supporters did Wednesday in suing over the validity of the signature-gathering process. Those forces, however, do not include Phoenix city staff a narrative that is sinister and, more importantly, unfounded. The narrative comes from an expected place, Councilman Sal DiCiccio, who days after Christmas griped that the Phoenix city clerks office was slow-rolling the initiative after the petitions were turned in the implication being staffers are sympathetic, or are in cahoots, with train supporters looking to derail a public vote. He pointed to conversations that initiative leader Susan Gudino had in late November with the clerk's office, including assurances that the petitions would be processed as quickly as a week. Initiative leader gets a suspicious call The week dragged into several, after which the clerk's office produced a letter that stated only phase one (of two) in the process had been completed. When Gudino inquired further, she got a call back not from the clerk's office, she learned from DiCiccio and his office, but from a staffer of former Mayor Greg Stanton, a light-rail supporter. Gudino described the caller as "very by the book" and rather unhelpful. "It's all very unusual," DiCiccio said. "The initiative is getting extra scrutiny. It seems to be undergoing a very different process than other initiatives." Except that it isn't. Train foes expect efforts to derail initiative DiCiccio's narrative is certainly compelling. Appealing, too especially for foes of expensive, heavily subsidized projects, in general. And foes of light rail, in particular. Gathering more than 20,500 signatures of voters to qualify the initiative for the ballot is no small order. And backers, many of them small-business owners and residents in south-central Phoenix, expect to be greatly outspent and outshouted in the campaign if and when the measure qualifies for the ballot. They're likely right. The lawsuit over petition signatures, filed by a general contractors group, portends a protracted, possibly expensive, fight. And light rail has advocates that include a majority of the elected council members. No evidence of shenanigans by city staff But to say nonpartisan city staff is attempting to "thwart the will of our citizens in favor of special interests" exaggerates to the point of maligning. Phoenix statute mirrors Arizona law, which calls for a two-step verification process the first to vet requirements of circulators, such as getting each sheet of signatures properly marked, notarized and the like. The city clerk's office did so within the required period of 20 business days. The second step, to verify that the signatures are legible, belonging to valid voters and matching signatories on file, must be completed within 15 business days following that. For the light rail initiative, that is Jan. 18. What room there is to stall is for the city council to take. It has roughly five weeks to set an election date after the signatures are certified but only a couple of options for this year by law either in May or in August. As for the phone call initiative leader Gudino got from a staffer associated with former Mayor Stanton, that turned out to be a case of mistaken identity. A Seth Scott did indeed return Gudino's call, Deputy City Clerk Ben Lane said. But that Seth Scott is of the city clerk's office, not the Seth Scott who served as Stanton's chief of staff. DiCiccio is right about this on light rail Critics of DiCiccio don't even bother to shrug at his latest accusations. After he helped to defeat a proposed water-rate increase late last year, the councilman mocked city management for bringing forward nothing but a host of blunders even though his no vote puts at risk the water departments bond rating. His missive prompted interim mayor Thelda Williams and two council members to issue a rebuke that his attacks on city staff represent scorched-earth tactics and bullying (that) have become a cancer at City Hall. Regardless, DiCiccio is right about one lament: Phoenix voters deserve better. Should the Building a Better Phoenix initiative make it on the ballot, it would be in a special election, which will draw a fraction of the turnout for a regular election. The fate of light rail demands and deserves greater voter participation. Reach Kwok at [email protected]. Click here to subscribe to azcentral.com. Read or Share this story: https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/abekwok/2019/01/03/phoenix-light-rail-initiative-stalling-sal-diciccio/2470540002/ | Councilman Sal DiCiccio says Phoenix city staff is "slow-rolling" light-rail initiative. But that's not exactly true, and there's no evidence of shenanigans by city staff. The initiative is undergoing a very different process than other initiatives, he says. The lawsuit over petition signatures portends a protracted, possibly expensive fight. | bart | 2 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/abekwok/2019/01/03/phoenix-light-rail-initiative-stalling-sal-diciccio/2470540002/ | 0.500534 |
Did a Team MVP Snub Set Off Antonio Brown? And How Should the Steelers Handle Him? | Its always been the little things that gnaw at Antonio Brown. It might be the ball not going his way. It might be something or someone rubbing him the wrong way. It might just be the wrong day. Or it could be something as arbitrary as not being named team MVP. Last week, Steelers players voted JuJu Smith-Schuster as the 2018 recipient of that award. This was in the aftermath of the Steelers Week 16 loss to the Saints, their fourth in five games and a defeat that took their playoff fate out of their own hands. Brown loaded the team on his back in that game, ringing up 14 catches for 185 yards and two scores, many of them spectacular and in critical situations, in the 31-28 loss in New Orleans. Sure he was. Or, at least, thats what those in the organization believethat he took the MVP snub personally, and that he carried that saltiness into work last Wednesday. It was there from the moment he walked in the building, and it boiled over in the much-discussed confrontation with Ben Roethlisberger at the morning walkthrough. He was just frustrated, said one source. The MVP voteits those things that set him off. He was unreal in New Orleans, we still lost, and the vote comes out and its JuJu. So he shows up for work, hes not voted MVP, hes in a bad way, and that carried over into the walkthrough. Eight days later, the talk on Brown is starting to shift from what happened to how the team might manage the cap ramifications of trading him, all while Brown seems to be putting a social-media heel turn into motion. Its actually not that complicated. In this weeks Game Plan, were going to give you a player to watchand some you may not be thinking ofin each of the four wild-card round games, get you ready for college footballs national title game with a couple prospects to keep an eye on, and answer your questions on the coaching searches, one offensive coordinators candidacy in the race for those jobs, and the offensive rookie of the year debate. But were starting with the Brown story, and where the relationship between one of the NFLs flagship franchises and perhaps the greatest receiver in its history went sour. That starts with the background on who the Steelers have always been, and who Brown is. Pittsburghs model for its coachesone Tomlin fits into, as Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher did before himcalls for, first and foremost, a battleship commander, the type who can manage big personalities and big problems. Thats always allowed the Steelers to cast a wide net in talent acquisition, which routinely has added up to wildly gifted rosters. Building that way, of course, comes with risk. Then you have Brown, who brings with him some of the standard diva receiver characteristics. Hes tough, and competitive, and as one staffer said, Hands down, hes the hardest worker on the team. I couldnt even tell you who number two is, thats how easy it is to say that. The flip side of that is, he wants that work to equal results, and getting results means getting the ball. And when he doesnt, it can be a problem. There are examples, those there explain, in every game, where Brown will run a flawless route, be impossibly open, and Roethlisberger will just miss him. That eats at Brown. His work ethic and his me-against-the-world attitude is what makes him great, one coach says, but it also creates some issues. And to put one element together with the other, for certain players, theres whats been referred to internally in the Steelers building as necessary tolerance. LeVeon Bell was afforded it. Martavis Bryant got it. Roethlisberger has it too. As does Brown. Brown has explained to those close to him that he didnt feel some of his teammates were as invested in 2018 as he was, and it was showing up in their work, and he was fed up with it. The standard, as he saw it, was slipping. And his side of the story holds that his handling of last weekfrom the Wednesday outburst to the Saturday no-showwas a manifestation of how he felt about the state of the team. Of course, that reaction put Tomlinas good at managing conflict as any coach in the NFLin a thorny spot. In taking the former path, Tomlin, and the Steelers, finally drew a line in the sand with Brown. It was, essentially, showing him the point where his problems outweighed his production, and that there was a point where football could be taken away. Maybe the Steelers hoped itd be a wake-up call. Instead, Brown added another chapter to his recent list of erratic behavior. Earlier this year, he reportedly called a Steeler beat reporter a racist and threatened an ESPN writer in response to the story that made the claim. This time around he didnt like how ex-Steeler Ryan Clark critiqued his behavior on ESPN and called him an Uncle Tom on Instagram. So if Pittsburgh was going to have Brown back after this latest blow-up, theres that background to deal with, and also the matter of how Browns current teammates would welcome him back after he abandoned them during what was, in effect, a playoff week. Yes, the Steelers would have to carry $21.12 million in dead money if they moved Brown. But hes already on the books for $22.165 million, and the money left on his deal (three non-guaranteed years, $38.925 million) is reasonable enough to be attractive to another team. At this point, it would probably be hard to get proper value for a player who is clearly carrying baggage (and will be 31 next season). But if the Steelers are motivated to find a buyer, theyll find one. Or its at least not crazy to think thered be enough interest to drum up a market. And if you consider all of the above, maybe its not that crazy that were here after all. Maybe this was always the way it was going to end. On to the weekend WEEKEND WATCH LIST A player in the spotlight in each wild-card game: Colts WR TY Hilton: The Texans have issues in two spots that will be addressed in the offseason. One issue, the offensive line, I believe theyll be able to manage on Saturday. The other, the problem at cornerback, is another story. The Texans have been able to mitigate their corner deficiencies somewhat with their pass rush, but Indys improved offensive line is equipped to deal with that, which should put the Colts in a good position to attack the Houston secondary. And going to Hilton, who had 13 catches for 314 yards in two games against the Texans this year, will be one way to do it. Seahawks S Tedric Thompson: Amari Cooper has cooled off down the stretch (last three weeks: 13 catches for 83 yards, no TDs, no gains of more than 11 yards), and the Cowboys have had to adjust. The last two weeks, thats manifested in big plays for Michael Gallup, Blake Jarwin, Cole Beasley and Allen Hurns. This approach should highlight the importance of the centerfielder in Seattles Dthe promising Thompson, whos returning after missing the last two weeks. Maybe. But it was Smiths work on Chargers G Mike Schofield that caused all kinds of problems for the Los Angeles offense two weeks agogetting consistent inside pressure to take Philip Rivers out of his comfort zone. Smith finished with 1.5 sacks, four hits on Rivers, and a whole lot of havoc caused. And thats not the only line-of-scrimmage matchup Im going to give you to nerd out on this weekend Eagles RT Lane Johnson: Phillys 2017 first-team All-Pro had a very up-and-down 2018. And just as hes getting right, his biggest test of the year comes on a playoff stagehis assignment for much of Sunday afternoon will be to stop Bears banshee Khalil Mack from getting to Nick Foles. Phillys invested a ton in its O-line. This will be one of those days it has to pay off. TWO FOR SATURDAY Or in this case, Monday. Alabama RB Josh Jacobs (vs. Clemson, CFP Championship, ESPN, 8 p.m. ET): Hes been overshadowed by star senior Damien Harris and super-talented sophomore Najee Harris, but to those in the program, and those evaluating its players, Jacobs is a real one. He set the tone in the Tides semifinal win over his home state Oklahoma Sooners, with 158 scrimmage yards on 19 touches. And one coach I talked to this week compared his style to that of Frank Gore. Theres also a benefit to the rotation hes been a part ofhes logged just 241 carries and 47 catches at Bama, so theres a lot of tread left on his tires. Hes a tough runner who doesnt have notoriety for various reasons, one AFC college scouting director said. Wasnt highly recruited, played mainly special teams early in his career, backed up Damien, there was Najee Harriss fanfare coming into Alabama. But you turn on the tape and hes hard not to notice. He should join Damien Harris in going somewhere in the first three rounds of the draft in April, and he could have a shot at being the first back taken. Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence (vs. Alabama, CFP Championship, ESPN, 8 p.m. ET): Among the insane numbers for a true freshman: 65.5% completion rate, 27-4 TD/INT differential, 8.4 yards per attempt, 155.2 passer rating. Yes, Lawrence is throwing to future NFL receivers like true sophomore Tee Higgins and true freshman Justyn Ross. But theres no denying his talent, which comes up in discussions with scouts who havent even begun to look at him in depth. Young, big, athletic, big arm, said one AFC exec. I havent studied him at all, but that jumps off the tape. Of course, all of this should come with a warning labelweve said these things about freshmen quarterbacks in the past, and in some cases you wind up with a Christian Hackenberg. But Lawrences ability, at this early stage, looks like its on another level. And given the way Clemson has recruited around him, its fair to forecast that the trajectory hes on will remain steady. MAIL TIME! Didnt see any improvement for Dolphins while he was there. I think a big part of this, Chief, is how he would mesh with the people in the building. And I think the fit is there from that perspective. The other piece, of course, is how hed work with the quarterback. Thats where I think you can take this one over the topRyan Tannehill and Jay Cutler posted career-high passer ratings under Gase, Peyton Manning tells anyone wholl listen how good Gase (who was his offensive coordinator in Denver) is, and he was even integral to making Tebowmania work, from a scheme standpoint, in Denver in 2011. As for the Miami question, Id say his biggest issue there was probably the way things worked structurally in the building. But the results were hardly a disaster. Gase went to the playoffs in his first season in Miami. His second year was marred by Tannehills ACL tear, his offensive line coachs escapades and a hurricane. And his third year was about cleaning up the roster to fix what prevented the team from the weathering the storm of 17. No. No. And theres enough good there to see why teams would think hed be worth taking a second swing at it. I said this on Colin Cowherds show, and I wanted to make sure people knowColin asked me to predict the futures of Bell and Josh McDaniels. So I made educated guesses and put Bell in Tampa and McDaniels in Green Bay. Since those things got attention, I should probably explain. On Bell, Im going on what I heard pre-trade deadline. The market for Bell wasnt strong, and Tampa was a team connected to him. Based on what the Bucs have offensively (Mike Evans, O.J. Howard, Chris Godwin, Donovan Smith, Ali Marpet, Ryan Jensen), and how second-round pick Ronald Jones failed to deliver on his draft standing, Bell makes sense in Tampa, pending the Bucs coach hire. On McDaniels, its simple. Ive heard him connected to the Packers for a while, and Green Bay needs a coach who can challenge Aaron Rodgers, push him, and give him new information. With a lot of candidates, the Packers would be projecting how a coach would handle that. With McDaniels, they wouldnt be. Hes faced that situation every day, coaching Tom Brady. Gase, by the way, did too, in coaching Manning in Denver. Sorry, James. This ones not that hard for me, and its not Saquon. I love him, by the way. Transcendent talent. But Mayfield is without question the offensive rookie of the year. The sort of change hes effected on the fly in Cleveland is rare, and his numbers arent too shabby eitherhe rang up an NFL rookie-record 27 touchdown passes. Add that to the degree of difficulty assimilating to pro football at quarterback, and this was a slam-dunk. The same boom-or-bust dynamic we saw at Penn State. He had six 100-yard games in 2018 and seven games where he failed to hit 50 yards rushing. Similarly, in his final college season, he had five 100-yard rushing games, and six in which he was held under 75 yard rushing. Some of that isnt on him, of course. Some of it is. I applaud them for looking at Iowa State coach Matt Campbell. I cant even begin to explain how many positive things Ive heard regarding him over the last four months. Lots of NFL peopleand specifically guys in the scouting community, whove been through Amesbelieve hes eventually going to be a huge success in pro football. Assuming that ship has sailed, I like Gases fit there, and also wouldnt mind a motivated Mike McCarthy. I think both those guys, and ex-Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury, have a pretty legit shot at the job. Itll be an interesting one to keep tabs on, because this could be owner Christopher Johnsons one and only opportunity to hire a coach, and I know hes not taking the responsibility lightly. Cant be AFCN... too much animosity. Leaning towards Colts for proximity. Stew, this is pretty harsh. Things ended about as badly as possible for Jackson in Cleveland, but I think a lot of the positives hes brought to the table when he was hired in 2016 are still there. Things got so sideways with the Browns over the last three years that it would have been tough for any coach to make it work. And to be clear, Jackson absolutely has to shoulder some of the responsibility for that. Anyway, I happen to think Vance Joseph is the likeliest candidate to land the Bengals job, given how the Brown family prizes familiarity (Joseph was Cincys DBs coach in 2014 and 15). And it can be a good job, for the right person. The Bengals are a mom-and-pop operation, in both a good way and a bad way. In a bad way, because they lack some of the infrastructure and resources (example: a small scouting staff) that are standard across the league. In a good way, because its a healthy building to work in, where your bosses will be patient and understanding, and have a ton of experience in pro football. Also, a big plus to working therethe presence of well-respected personnel chief Duke Tobin. Product of K.C. Im not surprised, Nathan. People respect Andy Reids word, and Reid has been aggressive in recommending Bieniemy, the Chiefs offensive coordinator, to other clubs. And remember, Doug Pederson and Matt Nagy werent play-callers either. What Bieniemy does have is experience playing in the league, and leadership qualities that have been abundantly apparent to those whove been around him. I dont know. But Id bet he interviews well, and thatll position him to get one. Email us at [email protected]. | Antonio Brown was upset after JuJu Smith-Schuster was named team MVP. Brown has a reputation for taking things personally. | ctrlsum | 0 | https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/01/03/antonio-brown-steelers-juju-smith-schuster-trade-possibility | 0.192208 |
Did a Team MVP Snub Set Off Antonio Brown? And How Should the Steelers Handle Him? | Its always been the little things that gnaw at Antonio Brown. It might be the ball not going his way. It might be something or someone rubbing him the wrong way. It might just be the wrong day. Or it could be something as arbitrary as not being named team MVP. Last week, Steelers players voted JuJu Smith-Schuster as the 2018 recipient of that award. This was in the aftermath of the Steelers Week 16 loss to the Saints, their fourth in five games and a defeat that took their playoff fate out of their own hands. Brown loaded the team on his back in that game, ringing up 14 catches for 185 yards and two scores, many of them spectacular and in critical situations, in the 31-28 loss in New Orleans. Sure he was. Or, at least, thats what those in the organization believethat he took the MVP snub personally, and that he carried that saltiness into work last Wednesday. It was there from the moment he walked in the building, and it boiled over in the much-discussed confrontation with Ben Roethlisberger at the morning walkthrough. He was just frustrated, said one source. The MVP voteits those things that set him off. He was unreal in New Orleans, we still lost, and the vote comes out and its JuJu. So he shows up for work, hes not voted MVP, hes in a bad way, and that carried over into the walkthrough. Eight days later, the talk on Brown is starting to shift from what happened to how the team might manage the cap ramifications of trading him, all while Brown seems to be putting a social-media heel turn into motion. Its actually not that complicated. In this weeks Game Plan, were going to give you a player to watchand some you may not be thinking ofin each of the four wild-card round games, get you ready for college footballs national title game with a couple prospects to keep an eye on, and answer your questions on the coaching searches, one offensive coordinators candidacy in the race for those jobs, and the offensive rookie of the year debate. But were starting with the Brown story, and where the relationship between one of the NFLs flagship franchises and perhaps the greatest receiver in its history went sour. That starts with the background on who the Steelers have always been, and who Brown is. Pittsburghs model for its coachesone Tomlin fits into, as Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher did before himcalls for, first and foremost, a battleship commander, the type who can manage big personalities and big problems. Thats always allowed the Steelers to cast a wide net in talent acquisition, which routinely has added up to wildly gifted rosters. Building that way, of course, comes with risk. Then you have Brown, who brings with him some of the standard diva receiver characteristics. Hes tough, and competitive, and as one staffer said, Hands down, hes the hardest worker on the team. I couldnt even tell you who number two is, thats how easy it is to say that. The flip side of that is, he wants that work to equal results, and getting results means getting the ball. And when he doesnt, it can be a problem. There are examples, those there explain, in every game, where Brown will run a flawless route, be impossibly open, and Roethlisberger will just miss him. That eats at Brown. His work ethic and his me-against-the-world attitude is what makes him great, one coach says, but it also creates some issues. And to put one element together with the other, for certain players, theres whats been referred to internally in the Steelers building as necessary tolerance. LeVeon Bell was afforded it. Martavis Bryant got it. Roethlisberger has it too. As does Brown. Brown has explained to those close to him that he didnt feel some of his teammates were as invested in 2018 as he was, and it was showing up in their work, and he was fed up with it. The standard, as he saw it, was slipping. And his side of the story holds that his handling of last weekfrom the Wednesday outburst to the Saturday no-showwas a manifestation of how he felt about the state of the team. Of course, that reaction put Tomlinas good at managing conflict as any coach in the NFLin a thorny spot. In taking the former path, Tomlin, and the Steelers, finally drew a line in the sand with Brown. It was, essentially, showing him the point where his problems outweighed his production, and that there was a point where football could be taken away. Maybe the Steelers hoped itd be a wake-up call. Instead, Brown added another chapter to his recent list of erratic behavior. Earlier this year, he reportedly called a Steeler beat reporter a racist and threatened an ESPN writer in response to the story that made the claim. This time around he didnt like how ex-Steeler Ryan Clark critiqued his behavior on ESPN and called him an Uncle Tom on Instagram. So if Pittsburgh was going to have Brown back after this latest blow-up, theres that background to deal with, and also the matter of how Browns current teammates would welcome him back after he abandoned them during what was, in effect, a playoff week. Yes, the Steelers would have to carry $21.12 million in dead money if they moved Brown. But hes already on the books for $22.165 million, and the money left on his deal (three non-guaranteed years, $38.925 million) is reasonable enough to be attractive to another team. At this point, it would probably be hard to get proper value for a player who is clearly carrying baggage (and will be 31 next season). But if the Steelers are motivated to find a buyer, theyll find one. Or its at least not crazy to think thered be enough interest to drum up a market. And if you consider all of the above, maybe its not that crazy that were here after all. Maybe this was always the way it was going to end. On to the weekend WEEKEND WATCH LIST A player in the spotlight in each wild-card game: Colts WR TY Hilton: The Texans have issues in two spots that will be addressed in the offseason. One issue, the offensive line, I believe theyll be able to manage on Saturday. The other, the problem at cornerback, is another story. The Texans have been able to mitigate their corner deficiencies somewhat with their pass rush, but Indys improved offensive line is equipped to deal with that, which should put the Colts in a good position to attack the Houston secondary. And going to Hilton, who had 13 catches for 314 yards in two games against the Texans this year, will be one way to do it. Seahawks S Tedric Thompson: Amari Cooper has cooled off down the stretch (last three weeks: 13 catches for 83 yards, no TDs, no gains of more than 11 yards), and the Cowboys have had to adjust. The last two weeks, thats manifested in big plays for Michael Gallup, Blake Jarwin, Cole Beasley and Allen Hurns. This approach should highlight the importance of the centerfielder in Seattles Dthe promising Thompson, whos returning after missing the last two weeks. Maybe. But it was Smiths work on Chargers G Mike Schofield that caused all kinds of problems for the Los Angeles offense two weeks agogetting consistent inside pressure to take Philip Rivers out of his comfort zone. Smith finished with 1.5 sacks, four hits on Rivers, and a whole lot of havoc caused. And thats not the only line-of-scrimmage matchup Im going to give you to nerd out on this weekend Eagles RT Lane Johnson: Phillys 2017 first-team All-Pro had a very up-and-down 2018. And just as hes getting right, his biggest test of the year comes on a playoff stagehis assignment for much of Sunday afternoon will be to stop Bears banshee Khalil Mack from getting to Nick Foles. Phillys invested a ton in its O-line. This will be one of those days it has to pay off. TWO FOR SATURDAY Or in this case, Monday. Alabama RB Josh Jacobs (vs. Clemson, CFP Championship, ESPN, 8 p.m. ET): Hes been overshadowed by star senior Damien Harris and super-talented sophomore Najee Harris, but to those in the program, and those evaluating its players, Jacobs is a real one. He set the tone in the Tides semifinal win over his home state Oklahoma Sooners, with 158 scrimmage yards on 19 touches. And one coach I talked to this week compared his style to that of Frank Gore. Theres also a benefit to the rotation hes been a part ofhes logged just 241 carries and 47 catches at Bama, so theres a lot of tread left on his tires. Hes a tough runner who doesnt have notoriety for various reasons, one AFC college scouting director said. Wasnt highly recruited, played mainly special teams early in his career, backed up Damien, there was Najee Harriss fanfare coming into Alabama. But you turn on the tape and hes hard not to notice. He should join Damien Harris in going somewhere in the first three rounds of the draft in April, and he could have a shot at being the first back taken. Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence (vs. Alabama, CFP Championship, ESPN, 8 p.m. ET): Among the insane numbers for a true freshman: 65.5% completion rate, 27-4 TD/INT differential, 8.4 yards per attempt, 155.2 passer rating. Yes, Lawrence is throwing to future NFL receivers like true sophomore Tee Higgins and true freshman Justyn Ross. But theres no denying his talent, which comes up in discussions with scouts who havent even begun to look at him in depth. Young, big, athletic, big arm, said one AFC exec. I havent studied him at all, but that jumps off the tape. Of course, all of this should come with a warning labelweve said these things about freshmen quarterbacks in the past, and in some cases you wind up with a Christian Hackenberg. But Lawrences ability, at this early stage, looks like its on another level. And given the way Clemson has recruited around him, its fair to forecast that the trajectory hes on will remain steady. MAIL TIME! Didnt see any improvement for Dolphins while he was there. I think a big part of this, Chief, is how he would mesh with the people in the building. And I think the fit is there from that perspective. The other piece, of course, is how hed work with the quarterback. Thats where I think you can take this one over the topRyan Tannehill and Jay Cutler posted career-high passer ratings under Gase, Peyton Manning tells anyone wholl listen how good Gase (who was his offensive coordinator in Denver) is, and he was even integral to making Tebowmania work, from a scheme standpoint, in Denver in 2011. As for the Miami question, Id say his biggest issue there was probably the way things worked structurally in the building. But the results were hardly a disaster. Gase went to the playoffs in his first season in Miami. His second year was marred by Tannehills ACL tear, his offensive line coachs escapades and a hurricane. And his third year was about cleaning up the roster to fix what prevented the team from the weathering the storm of 17. No. No. And theres enough good there to see why teams would think hed be worth taking a second swing at it. I said this on Colin Cowherds show, and I wanted to make sure people knowColin asked me to predict the futures of Bell and Josh McDaniels. So I made educated guesses and put Bell in Tampa and McDaniels in Green Bay. Since those things got attention, I should probably explain. On Bell, Im going on what I heard pre-trade deadline. The market for Bell wasnt strong, and Tampa was a team connected to him. Based on what the Bucs have offensively (Mike Evans, O.J. Howard, Chris Godwin, Donovan Smith, Ali Marpet, Ryan Jensen), and how second-round pick Ronald Jones failed to deliver on his draft standing, Bell makes sense in Tampa, pending the Bucs coach hire. On McDaniels, its simple. Ive heard him connected to the Packers for a while, and Green Bay needs a coach who can challenge Aaron Rodgers, push him, and give him new information. With a lot of candidates, the Packers would be projecting how a coach would handle that. With McDaniels, they wouldnt be. Hes faced that situation every day, coaching Tom Brady. Gase, by the way, did too, in coaching Manning in Denver. Sorry, James. This ones not that hard for me, and its not Saquon. I love him, by the way. Transcendent talent. But Mayfield is without question the offensive rookie of the year. The sort of change hes effected on the fly in Cleveland is rare, and his numbers arent too shabby eitherhe rang up an NFL rookie-record 27 touchdown passes. Add that to the degree of difficulty assimilating to pro football at quarterback, and this was a slam-dunk. The same boom-or-bust dynamic we saw at Penn State. He had six 100-yard games in 2018 and seven games where he failed to hit 50 yards rushing. Similarly, in his final college season, he had five 100-yard rushing games, and six in which he was held under 75 yard rushing. Some of that isnt on him, of course. Some of it is. I applaud them for looking at Iowa State coach Matt Campbell. I cant even begin to explain how many positive things Ive heard regarding him over the last four months. Lots of NFL peopleand specifically guys in the scouting community, whove been through Amesbelieve hes eventually going to be a huge success in pro football. Assuming that ship has sailed, I like Gases fit there, and also wouldnt mind a motivated Mike McCarthy. I think both those guys, and ex-Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury, have a pretty legit shot at the job. Itll be an interesting one to keep tabs on, because this could be owner Christopher Johnsons one and only opportunity to hire a coach, and I know hes not taking the responsibility lightly. Cant be AFCN... too much animosity. Leaning towards Colts for proximity. Stew, this is pretty harsh. Things ended about as badly as possible for Jackson in Cleveland, but I think a lot of the positives hes brought to the table when he was hired in 2016 are still there. Things got so sideways with the Browns over the last three years that it would have been tough for any coach to make it work. And to be clear, Jackson absolutely has to shoulder some of the responsibility for that. Anyway, I happen to think Vance Joseph is the likeliest candidate to land the Bengals job, given how the Brown family prizes familiarity (Joseph was Cincys DBs coach in 2014 and 15). And it can be a good job, for the right person. The Bengals are a mom-and-pop operation, in both a good way and a bad way. In a bad way, because they lack some of the infrastructure and resources (example: a small scouting staff) that are standard across the league. In a good way, because its a healthy building to work in, where your bosses will be patient and understanding, and have a ton of experience in pro football. Also, a big plus to working therethe presence of well-respected personnel chief Duke Tobin. Product of K.C. Im not surprised, Nathan. People respect Andy Reids word, and Reid has been aggressive in recommending Bieniemy, the Chiefs offensive coordinator, to other clubs. And remember, Doug Pederson and Matt Nagy werent play-callers either. What Bieniemy does have is experience playing in the league, and leadership qualities that have been abundantly apparent to those whove been around him. I dont know. But Id bet he interviews well, and thatll position him to get one. Email us at [email protected]. | Antonio Brown took the MVP snub personally, and that he carried that saltiness into work last Wednesday. Brown loaded the team on his back in that game, ringing up 14 catches for 185 yards and two scores. | bart | 1 | https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/01/03/antonio-brown-steelers-juju-smith-schuster-trade-possibility | 0.212484 |
Did a Team MVP Snub Set Off Antonio Brown? And How Should the Steelers Handle Him? | Its always been the little things that gnaw at Antonio Brown. It might be the ball not going his way. It might be something or someone rubbing him the wrong way. It might just be the wrong day. Or it could be something as arbitrary as not being named team MVP. Last week, Steelers players voted JuJu Smith-Schuster as the 2018 recipient of that award. This was in the aftermath of the Steelers Week 16 loss to the Saints, their fourth in five games and a defeat that took their playoff fate out of their own hands. Brown loaded the team on his back in that game, ringing up 14 catches for 185 yards and two scores, many of them spectacular and in critical situations, in the 31-28 loss in New Orleans. Sure he was. Or, at least, thats what those in the organization believethat he took the MVP snub personally, and that he carried that saltiness into work last Wednesday. It was there from the moment he walked in the building, and it boiled over in the much-discussed confrontation with Ben Roethlisberger at the morning walkthrough. He was just frustrated, said one source. The MVP voteits those things that set him off. He was unreal in New Orleans, we still lost, and the vote comes out and its JuJu. So he shows up for work, hes not voted MVP, hes in a bad way, and that carried over into the walkthrough. Eight days later, the talk on Brown is starting to shift from what happened to how the team might manage the cap ramifications of trading him, all while Brown seems to be putting a social-media heel turn into motion. Its actually not that complicated. In this weeks Game Plan, were going to give you a player to watchand some you may not be thinking ofin each of the four wild-card round games, get you ready for college footballs national title game with a couple prospects to keep an eye on, and answer your questions on the coaching searches, one offensive coordinators candidacy in the race for those jobs, and the offensive rookie of the year debate. But were starting with the Brown story, and where the relationship between one of the NFLs flagship franchises and perhaps the greatest receiver in its history went sour. That starts with the background on who the Steelers have always been, and who Brown is. Pittsburghs model for its coachesone Tomlin fits into, as Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher did before himcalls for, first and foremost, a battleship commander, the type who can manage big personalities and big problems. Thats always allowed the Steelers to cast a wide net in talent acquisition, which routinely has added up to wildly gifted rosters. Building that way, of course, comes with risk. Then you have Brown, who brings with him some of the standard diva receiver characteristics. Hes tough, and competitive, and as one staffer said, Hands down, hes the hardest worker on the team. I couldnt even tell you who number two is, thats how easy it is to say that. The flip side of that is, he wants that work to equal results, and getting results means getting the ball. And when he doesnt, it can be a problem. There are examples, those there explain, in every game, where Brown will run a flawless route, be impossibly open, and Roethlisberger will just miss him. That eats at Brown. His work ethic and his me-against-the-world attitude is what makes him great, one coach says, but it also creates some issues. And to put one element together with the other, for certain players, theres whats been referred to internally in the Steelers building as necessary tolerance. LeVeon Bell was afforded it. Martavis Bryant got it. Roethlisberger has it too. As does Brown. Brown has explained to those close to him that he didnt feel some of his teammates were as invested in 2018 as he was, and it was showing up in their work, and he was fed up with it. The standard, as he saw it, was slipping. And his side of the story holds that his handling of last weekfrom the Wednesday outburst to the Saturday no-showwas a manifestation of how he felt about the state of the team. Of course, that reaction put Tomlinas good at managing conflict as any coach in the NFLin a thorny spot. In taking the former path, Tomlin, and the Steelers, finally drew a line in the sand with Brown. It was, essentially, showing him the point where his problems outweighed his production, and that there was a point where football could be taken away. Maybe the Steelers hoped itd be a wake-up call. Instead, Brown added another chapter to his recent list of erratic behavior. Earlier this year, he reportedly called a Steeler beat reporter a racist and threatened an ESPN writer in response to the story that made the claim. This time around he didnt like how ex-Steeler Ryan Clark critiqued his behavior on ESPN and called him an Uncle Tom on Instagram. So if Pittsburgh was going to have Brown back after this latest blow-up, theres that background to deal with, and also the matter of how Browns current teammates would welcome him back after he abandoned them during what was, in effect, a playoff week. Yes, the Steelers would have to carry $21.12 million in dead money if they moved Brown. But hes already on the books for $22.165 million, and the money left on his deal (three non-guaranteed years, $38.925 million) is reasonable enough to be attractive to another team. At this point, it would probably be hard to get proper value for a player who is clearly carrying baggage (and will be 31 next season). But if the Steelers are motivated to find a buyer, theyll find one. Or its at least not crazy to think thered be enough interest to drum up a market. And if you consider all of the above, maybe its not that crazy that were here after all. Maybe this was always the way it was going to end. On to the weekend WEEKEND WATCH LIST A player in the spotlight in each wild-card game: Colts WR TY Hilton: The Texans have issues in two spots that will be addressed in the offseason. One issue, the offensive line, I believe theyll be able to manage on Saturday. The other, the problem at cornerback, is another story. The Texans have been able to mitigate their corner deficiencies somewhat with their pass rush, but Indys improved offensive line is equipped to deal with that, which should put the Colts in a good position to attack the Houston secondary. And going to Hilton, who had 13 catches for 314 yards in two games against the Texans this year, will be one way to do it. Seahawks S Tedric Thompson: Amari Cooper has cooled off down the stretch (last three weeks: 13 catches for 83 yards, no TDs, no gains of more than 11 yards), and the Cowboys have had to adjust. The last two weeks, thats manifested in big plays for Michael Gallup, Blake Jarwin, Cole Beasley and Allen Hurns. This approach should highlight the importance of the centerfielder in Seattles Dthe promising Thompson, whos returning after missing the last two weeks. Maybe. But it was Smiths work on Chargers G Mike Schofield that caused all kinds of problems for the Los Angeles offense two weeks agogetting consistent inside pressure to take Philip Rivers out of his comfort zone. Smith finished with 1.5 sacks, four hits on Rivers, and a whole lot of havoc caused. And thats not the only line-of-scrimmage matchup Im going to give you to nerd out on this weekend Eagles RT Lane Johnson: Phillys 2017 first-team All-Pro had a very up-and-down 2018. And just as hes getting right, his biggest test of the year comes on a playoff stagehis assignment for much of Sunday afternoon will be to stop Bears banshee Khalil Mack from getting to Nick Foles. Phillys invested a ton in its O-line. This will be one of those days it has to pay off. TWO FOR SATURDAY Or in this case, Monday. Alabama RB Josh Jacobs (vs. Clemson, CFP Championship, ESPN, 8 p.m. ET): Hes been overshadowed by star senior Damien Harris and super-talented sophomore Najee Harris, but to those in the program, and those evaluating its players, Jacobs is a real one. He set the tone in the Tides semifinal win over his home state Oklahoma Sooners, with 158 scrimmage yards on 19 touches. And one coach I talked to this week compared his style to that of Frank Gore. Theres also a benefit to the rotation hes been a part ofhes logged just 241 carries and 47 catches at Bama, so theres a lot of tread left on his tires. Hes a tough runner who doesnt have notoriety for various reasons, one AFC college scouting director said. Wasnt highly recruited, played mainly special teams early in his career, backed up Damien, there was Najee Harriss fanfare coming into Alabama. But you turn on the tape and hes hard not to notice. He should join Damien Harris in going somewhere in the first three rounds of the draft in April, and he could have a shot at being the first back taken. Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence (vs. Alabama, CFP Championship, ESPN, 8 p.m. ET): Among the insane numbers for a true freshman: 65.5% completion rate, 27-4 TD/INT differential, 8.4 yards per attempt, 155.2 passer rating. Yes, Lawrence is throwing to future NFL receivers like true sophomore Tee Higgins and true freshman Justyn Ross. But theres no denying his talent, which comes up in discussions with scouts who havent even begun to look at him in depth. Young, big, athletic, big arm, said one AFC exec. I havent studied him at all, but that jumps off the tape. Of course, all of this should come with a warning labelweve said these things about freshmen quarterbacks in the past, and in some cases you wind up with a Christian Hackenberg. But Lawrences ability, at this early stage, looks like its on another level. And given the way Clemson has recruited around him, its fair to forecast that the trajectory hes on will remain steady. MAIL TIME! Didnt see any improvement for Dolphins while he was there. I think a big part of this, Chief, is how he would mesh with the people in the building. And I think the fit is there from that perspective. The other piece, of course, is how hed work with the quarterback. Thats where I think you can take this one over the topRyan Tannehill and Jay Cutler posted career-high passer ratings under Gase, Peyton Manning tells anyone wholl listen how good Gase (who was his offensive coordinator in Denver) is, and he was even integral to making Tebowmania work, from a scheme standpoint, in Denver in 2011. As for the Miami question, Id say his biggest issue there was probably the way things worked structurally in the building. But the results were hardly a disaster. Gase went to the playoffs in his first season in Miami. His second year was marred by Tannehills ACL tear, his offensive line coachs escapades and a hurricane. And his third year was about cleaning up the roster to fix what prevented the team from the weathering the storm of 17. No. No. And theres enough good there to see why teams would think hed be worth taking a second swing at it. I said this on Colin Cowherds show, and I wanted to make sure people knowColin asked me to predict the futures of Bell and Josh McDaniels. So I made educated guesses and put Bell in Tampa and McDaniels in Green Bay. Since those things got attention, I should probably explain. On Bell, Im going on what I heard pre-trade deadline. The market for Bell wasnt strong, and Tampa was a team connected to him. Based on what the Bucs have offensively (Mike Evans, O.J. Howard, Chris Godwin, Donovan Smith, Ali Marpet, Ryan Jensen), and how second-round pick Ronald Jones failed to deliver on his draft standing, Bell makes sense in Tampa, pending the Bucs coach hire. On McDaniels, its simple. Ive heard him connected to the Packers for a while, and Green Bay needs a coach who can challenge Aaron Rodgers, push him, and give him new information. With a lot of candidates, the Packers would be projecting how a coach would handle that. With McDaniels, they wouldnt be. Hes faced that situation every day, coaching Tom Brady. Gase, by the way, did too, in coaching Manning in Denver. Sorry, James. This ones not that hard for me, and its not Saquon. I love him, by the way. Transcendent talent. But Mayfield is without question the offensive rookie of the year. The sort of change hes effected on the fly in Cleveland is rare, and his numbers arent too shabby eitherhe rang up an NFL rookie-record 27 touchdown passes. Add that to the degree of difficulty assimilating to pro football at quarterback, and this was a slam-dunk. The same boom-or-bust dynamic we saw at Penn State. He had six 100-yard games in 2018 and seven games where he failed to hit 50 yards rushing. Similarly, in his final college season, he had five 100-yard rushing games, and six in which he was held under 75 yard rushing. Some of that isnt on him, of course. Some of it is. I applaud them for looking at Iowa State coach Matt Campbell. I cant even begin to explain how many positive things Ive heard regarding him over the last four months. Lots of NFL peopleand specifically guys in the scouting community, whove been through Amesbelieve hes eventually going to be a huge success in pro football. Assuming that ship has sailed, I like Gases fit there, and also wouldnt mind a motivated Mike McCarthy. I think both those guys, and ex-Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury, have a pretty legit shot at the job. Itll be an interesting one to keep tabs on, because this could be owner Christopher Johnsons one and only opportunity to hire a coach, and I know hes not taking the responsibility lightly. Cant be AFCN... too much animosity. Leaning towards Colts for proximity. Stew, this is pretty harsh. Things ended about as badly as possible for Jackson in Cleveland, but I think a lot of the positives hes brought to the table when he was hired in 2016 are still there. Things got so sideways with the Browns over the last three years that it would have been tough for any coach to make it work. And to be clear, Jackson absolutely has to shoulder some of the responsibility for that. Anyway, I happen to think Vance Joseph is the likeliest candidate to land the Bengals job, given how the Brown family prizes familiarity (Joseph was Cincys DBs coach in 2014 and 15). And it can be a good job, for the right person. The Bengals are a mom-and-pop operation, in both a good way and a bad way. In a bad way, because they lack some of the infrastructure and resources (example: a small scouting staff) that are standard across the league. In a good way, because its a healthy building to work in, where your bosses will be patient and understanding, and have a ton of experience in pro football. Also, a big plus to working therethe presence of well-respected personnel chief Duke Tobin. Product of K.C. Im not surprised, Nathan. People respect Andy Reids word, and Reid has been aggressive in recommending Bieniemy, the Chiefs offensive coordinator, to other clubs. And remember, Doug Pederson and Matt Nagy werent play-callers either. What Bieniemy does have is experience playing in the league, and leadership qualities that have been abundantly apparent to those whove been around him. I dont know. But Id bet he interviews well, and thatll position him to get one. Email us at [email protected]. | Antonio Brown was upset after JuJu Smith-Schuster was named team MVP. Brown has a reputation for being a diva, but he's also a hard worker. The Steelers have a history of dealing with personalities, and this could be a test for Mike Tomlin. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/01/03/antonio-brown-steelers-juju-smith-schuster-trade-possibility | 0.337877 |
What kind of welcome will Kawhi Leonard get in San Antonio when Raptors visit tonight? | This is going to be interesting, I think. As much as we and thats us beat grunts as much as you Irregulars are eager to see just how weird it is to see DeMar in another uniform tonight, the other side of the story is fascinating. Whats it going to be like for Kawhi Leonard, and to a lesser extent simply because of circumstances, Danny Green. Im not sure theres ever been a situation like this with the Spurs in the 24 years or so that Ive been coming here and covering the team. Leonard is really the first star of the team to leave under rather hostile circumstances that really pitted player against the organization. All the rest have either retired as Spurs or moved on for different reasons than an open conflict with the team. I fully expect a less than glittering response to him, my interpretation of his departure was that he was seen as the villain in it; that might be wrong but I dont think so. Article Continued Below Itll be too bad if its hostile, at any substantial level. Have your say I watched a whole bunch of what Leonard did for the organization over the years, the two NBA Finals against Miami were epic, even if he did miss a free throw or two one year. No, he wasnt Timmy or Tony or Manu but, man, the Spurs dont win without him and, sadly, I bet a lot of fans will let that slide by and remember only last year. Too bad. As DeMar pointed out yesterday. At the end of the day, he won a championship here, was Finals MVP, some things that go on forever. You can't ever take that away from him. For me, any organization would be appreciative of a player bringing them a championship. Of course, they never want to see their star player leave, but things happen. For me, you can't take that away from the things that happened here. Fans are going to be fans and they can and will do whatever they want. I go for the totality of a players career and all the good that Leonard did here far out-weighs whatever went on last season. And, frankly, no one knows for sure what happened. Article Continued Below I would suggest there are three sides to that tale of a woeful season: Kawhis side. The Spurs side. The absolute truth side, which will be somewhere in the middle and the most realistic. This whole week has been weird, though. I always thought, naively I guess, that this week would be more about Kawhi than DeMar and that Februarys return game in Toronto would be more about DeMar than Kawhi. Hasnt turned out that way it really was nice to see DeMar yesterday and chat with him and catch up privately on a few matters and now I see it from a truly Toronto perspective, that it is about him. Today I think is going to be about Kawhi. He is not going to be as open and forthright as DeMar was, its not in his nature and I dont hold that against him in the least. Its the way he, private and a bit stoic and not given to showing his emotions openly and thats not going to change. But I would hope that the fans tonight give him the respect hes due for what he did. He played and won and fit in and was instrumental in some glorious franchise triumphs. Perhaps his most fatal flaw is that he wasnt Timmy or Tony or Manu; he was Kawhi. And thats not a bad thing to be. Maybe the people here will understand that and show respect tonight rather than vitriol. Last word to Patty Mills: I hope they react just as well and the same as with any other ex-teammate that comes back. Hes been a great teammate and a great friend to me and he deserves that, so hoping it will be a warm welcome back to San Antonio where hes won a championship and grew up here. It goes with saying that the kind of people that the community of San Antonio are and the class and how family oriented the city is. Thats what I hope and what I expect and I hope it goes that way. So do I. - Totally got the days of the week messed up this week. I forgot today was Thursday and its going to be busy, which means were gonna hold back Nothing But Net until tomorrow. I need to not do too much. We can still start compiling the mail today, though, so drop me a line at [email protected] and well eventually get around to it. Thats horrible. Times two. I wasnt a really, really big wrestling buff back in the day but I did know my way around the personalities of the squared circle and, let me tell you, Id howl at Okerlund and Bobby The Brain Heenan. They were classic. That was a greatly under-rated show and while I did know this, the fact hes the brother of Albert Brooks was nice to be reminded of yesterday. Sad day with those two leaving us too early. - | Kawhi Leonard is expected to get a less than glittering welcome when he returns to San Antonio. The Raptors face the Spurs at the AT&T Center on Tuesday night. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.thestar.com/sports/doug_smiths_sports_blog/2019/01/03/wondering-what-kind-of-welcome-leonard-will-get-tonight.html | 0.16052 |
What kind of welcome will Kawhi Leonard get in San Antonio when Raptors visit tonight? | This is going to be interesting, I think. As much as we and thats us beat grunts as much as you Irregulars are eager to see just how weird it is to see DeMar in another uniform tonight, the other side of the story is fascinating. Whats it going to be like for Kawhi Leonard, and to a lesser extent simply because of circumstances, Danny Green. Im not sure theres ever been a situation like this with the Spurs in the 24 years or so that Ive been coming here and covering the team. Leonard is really the first star of the team to leave under rather hostile circumstances that really pitted player against the organization. All the rest have either retired as Spurs or moved on for different reasons than an open conflict with the team. I fully expect a less than glittering response to him, my interpretation of his departure was that he was seen as the villain in it; that might be wrong but I dont think so. Article Continued Below Itll be too bad if its hostile, at any substantial level. Have your say I watched a whole bunch of what Leonard did for the organization over the years, the two NBA Finals against Miami were epic, even if he did miss a free throw or two one year. No, he wasnt Timmy or Tony or Manu but, man, the Spurs dont win without him and, sadly, I bet a lot of fans will let that slide by and remember only last year. Too bad. As DeMar pointed out yesterday. At the end of the day, he won a championship here, was Finals MVP, some things that go on forever. You can't ever take that away from him. For me, any organization would be appreciative of a player bringing them a championship. Of course, they never want to see their star player leave, but things happen. For me, you can't take that away from the things that happened here. Fans are going to be fans and they can and will do whatever they want. I go for the totality of a players career and all the good that Leonard did here far out-weighs whatever went on last season. And, frankly, no one knows for sure what happened. Article Continued Below I would suggest there are three sides to that tale of a woeful season: Kawhis side. The Spurs side. The absolute truth side, which will be somewhere in the middle and the most realistic. This whole week has been weird, though. I always thought, naively I guess, that this week would be more about Kawhi than DeMar and that Februarys return game in Toronto would be more about DeMar than Kawhi. Hasnt turned out that way it really was nice to see DeMar yesterday and chat with him and catch up privately on a few matters and now I see it from a truly Toronto perspective, that it is about him. Today I think is going to be about Kawhi. He is not going to be as open and forthright as DeMar was, its not in his nature and I dont hold that against him in the least. Its the way he, private and a bit stoic and not given to showing his emotions openly and thats not going to change. But I would hope that the fans tonight give him the respect hes due for what he did. He played and won and fit in and was instrumental in some glorious franchise triumphs. Perhaps his most fatal flaw is that he wasnt Timmy or Tony or Manu; he was Kawhi. And thats not a bad thing to be. Maybe the people here will understand that and show respect tonight rather than vitriol. Last word to Patty Mills: I hope they react just as well and the same as with any other ex-teammate that comes back. Hes been a great teammate and a great friend to me and he deserves that, so hoping it will be a warm welcome back to San Antonio where hes won a championship and grew up here. It goes with saying that the kind of people that the community of San Antonio are and the class and how family oriented the city is. Thats what I hope and what I expect and I hope it goes that way. So do I. - Totally got the days of the week messed up this week. I forgot today was Thursday and its going to be busy, which means were gonna hold back Nothing But Net until tomorrow. I need to not do too much. We can still start compiling the mail today, though, so drop me a line at [email protected] and well eventually get around to it. Thats horrible. Times two. I wasnt a really, really big wrestling buff back in the day but I did know my way around the personalities of the squared circle and, let me tell you, Id howl at Okerlund and Bobby The Brain Heenan. They were classic. That was a greatly under-rated show and while I did know this, the fact hes the brother of Albert Brooks was nice to be reminded of yesterday. Sad day with those two leaving us too early. - | Kawhi Leonard is expected to get a less than glittering welcome when he returns to San Antonio. The Raptors face the Spurs at the AT&T Center on Tuesday night. Leonard won the NBA Finals with the Spurs and was Finals MVP in 2012. The Spurs have had a disappointing season and Leonard's departure will be felt. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.thestar.com/sports/doug_smiths_sports_blog/2019/01/03/wondering-what-kind-of-welcome-leonard-will-get-tonight.html | 0.342121 |
Are University Presidents Paid Too Little or Too Much? | Higher education recently has been confronted with falling enrollments, increasing financial uncertainty (as evidenced by recent credit downgrades by Moody's and Fitch) and falling public support. When those type of results occur in private markets, CEOs often lose their jobs or face pay cuts. It has risen --substantially. In 2008, only nine private university presidents made one million dollars annually. Eight years later, 61 did. A look at university president compensation reveals a number of oddities. For example, compare the 2016 compensation of the president of Harvard with that of a school located 2.2 miles away, Simmons University. Harvard is vastly larger, with huge endowment resources not available to Simmons. Moreover, Harvard is arguably the most famous and prestigious American university, while Simmons has a much more modest reputation. In the 2018 Forbes Best College rankings, Harvard ranks first; Simmons ranks 381. However, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education's annual survey of private college presidential pay, the Simmons president's salary of $1,657,000 in 2016 (last year available) exceeded that of Harvard's president by more than 50 percent. Indeed, the correlation between university reputation and presidential compensation seems almost nil. Of 10 elite private schools comprising the Ivy League plus M.I.T. and Stanford, only two (Columbia and Penn) made the top 25 list in terms of presidential pay (Harvard came in 48th). Nido Qubein, president of High Point University, came in sixth in the presidential pay sweepstakes, making over $2.3 million. High Point has a so-so reputation (474 on the Forbes list). According to the Department of Education's College Scorecard, the average High Point student makes $39,000 annually after attending, a rather modest amount. Its six year graduation rate of 65%, while not bad, is fairly typical, indicating more than one of three attendees do not get degrees. To be sure, President Qubein appears to be highly competent, and High Point has expanded enormously in his long tenure as president. Trustees of High Point have argued high pay for Qubein is necessary because otherwise he might jump to a high paying corporate job. The big problem with determining presidential compensation is that there is rarely a well defined, easy to measure "bottom line," unlike with private corporations, whose profits and stock prices provide excellent performance measures. We easily measure the success of football coaches --and pay them accordingly, with failure often followed by firings. University presidents are rarely fired for poor performance ---however measured. The near randomness of presidential salaries reminds me of insights of the late lawyer-economist Henry Manne. Manne thought of universities of having "profits" (regardless of their formal non-profit status) distributed to the academic equivalent of stockholders, namely powerful people in the university community who determine the allocation of resources. In some universities, the president amasses large "ownership" --equivalent to share ownership in corporations--leading to big "dividends" conferred by the governing board. Often the president's clout and thus implicit "ownership" is much less. A second insight comes from the literature on "regulatory capture." The group being regulated, say an electric company, gains influence over the regulator (the public utility commission). Similarly, some university presidents are masters in turning themselves into bosses of subservient governing boards rather than their employee. University presidents have tough jobs: they need to be prodigious fund-raisers, inspire high levels of research and teaching performance, understand intricate finances, be shrewd diplomats who can navigate alternative viewpoints. They deserve pretty good pay. But they also mostly work for non-profit organizations given generous tax privileges because they serve the broader public good. Soaring pay for presidents of obscure schools does not help the already tattered image of America's universities. | Pay for university presidents has risen dramatically in recent years, says Julian Zelizer. Zelizer: Compensation is often based on a "bottom line" rather than a "top line" He says there is little correlation between university reputation and presidential pay. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardvedder/2019/01/03/are-university-presidents-paid-too-little-or-too-much-how-would-one-know/ | 0.111689 |
What could Chang'e 4 discover on far side of the moon? | When we look up at the full moon, we only ever see one face: the man in the moon is always gazing back at us. Scientists believe that the far side, eternally hidden from view, may hold the key to fundamental mysteries about the moons formation and its earliest history. Chinas Change 4 mission could reveal new clues to the cataclysmic collision that created the moon and uncover the origins of the water that is unexpectedly abundant in lunar soil. The moons far side is sometimes known as the dark side, although it is not darker than the near side in any literal sense. It undergoes the same phases of illumination by the Sun as the side facing Earth. But because the moon spins on its axis at exactly the same rate as it orbits Earth, one side remains permanently out of view. | Mary Dejevsky Read more It was only in 1959, when the first images of the far side were beamed back by the Soviet Unions Luna 3, that intriguing differences were revealed. The far side is pockmarked by more craters and appears almost devoid of the seas of solidified lava, known as maria, that form the shadowy shape of a face that we see from Earth. Scientists believe that as asteroids pummelled the lunar surface during the solar systems early history, giant lava flows on the moons near side filled impact craters, obscuring them from view. On the far side, fewer lava flows occurred, leaving intact a pristine record of ancient impacts. The oldest, largest and deepest of these is the Aitken Basin, where Change 4 is now poised for exploration. Testing the composition of the soil could help narrow down theories about how the moon formed and the beginnings of the solar system. The mission will also conduct the first astronomy observations from the moons far side, which is seen as a uniquely attractive site for monitoring radio waves coming from deep space. Astronomers operating Earth-bound radio telescopes have to constantly grapple with electromagnetic interference from human activity: shortwave broadcasting, maritime communication, telephone and television signals. The far side of the moon is shielded from such signals, making it far easier to pick up faint fingerprints left by the Big Bang. These traces left across the cosmos could help tell us how the universe inflated at unimaginable speed in the first trillionth of a second after the Big Bang. Play Video 1:20 'Dark side' of the moon: China's Chang'e 4 probe makes historic landing video explainer Change 4 could also help pave the way for Chinas human spaceflight ambitions. One theory for the abundance of water in lunar soil is that it is produced by reactions between the solar wind (a flow of charged particles including hydrogen) and minerals in the soil (containing oxygen). People are trying to reproduce this process in the lab, but its really difficult to do correctly, said Martin Wieser, a researcher at the Swedish Institute of Space Physics and the principal investigator on an instrument onboard Change designed to measure how the solar wind interacts with the lunar surface. The only way, really, is to go to the lunar surface and look at it there. Change 4 is in the ideal place to study this process. Understanding how water is produced and distributed in the lunar soil could be crucial for establishing a more permanent human lunar outpost. The amount in the soil is not large an area of 10 sq metres might contain only enough water to fill a glass but harvesting it could eventually be cheaper than bringing water from Earth. The craft is also carrying a mini-greenhouse, which will test how well plants, specifically potatoes and small flowering Arabidopsis plants, related to cabbage, grow on the moon. | Change 4 mission could reveal new clues to the cataclysmic collision that created the moon. | bart | 0 | https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/jan/03/what-could-change-4-discover-on-far-side-of-the-moon | 0.212601 |
What could Chang'e 4 discover on far side of the moon? | When we look up at the full moon, we only ever see one face: the man in the moon is always gazing back at us. Scientists believe that the far side, eternally hidden from view, may hold the key to fundamental mysteries about the moons formation and its earliest history. Chinas Change 4 mission could reveal new clues to the cataclysmic collision that created the moon and uncover the origins of the water that is unexpectedly abundant in lunar soil. The moons far side is sometimes known as the dark side, although it is not darker than the near side in any literal sense. It undergoes the same phases of illumination by the Sun as the side facing Earth. But because the moon spins on its axis at exactly the same rate as it orbits Earth, one side remains permanently out of view. | Mary Dejevsky Read more It was only in 1959, when the first images of the far side were beamed back by the Soviet Unions Luna 3, that intriguing differences were revealed. The far side is pockmarked by more craters and appears almost devoid of the seas of solidified lava, known as maria, that form the shadowy shape of a face that we see from Earth. Scientists believe that as asteroids pummelled the lunar surface during the solar systems early history, giant lava flows on the moons near side filled impact craters, obscuring them from view. On the far side, fewer lava flows occurred, leaving intact a pristine record of ancient impacts. The oldest, largest and deepest of these is the Aitken Basin, where Change 4 is now poised for exploration. Testing the composition of the soil could help narrow down theories about how the moon formed and the beginnings of the solar system. The mission will also conduct the first astronomy observations from the moons far side, which is seen as a uniquely attractive site for monitoring radio waves coming from deep space. Astronomers operating Earth-bound radio telescopes have to constantly grapple with electromagnetic interference from human activity: shortwave broadcasting, maritime communication, telephone and television signals. The far side of the moon is shielded from such signals, making it far easier to pick up faint fingerprints left by the Big Bang. These traces left across the cosmos could help tell us how the universe inflated at unimaginable speed in the first trillionth of a second after the Big Bang. Play Video 1:20 'Dark side' of the moon: China's Chang'e 4 probe makes historic landing video explainer Change 4 could also help pave the way for Chinas human spaceflight ambitions. One theory for the abundance of water in lunar soil is that it is produced by reactions between the solar wind (a flow of charged particles including hydrogen) and minerals in the soil (containing oxygen). People are trying to reproduce this process in the lab, but its really difficult to do correctly, said Martin Wieser, a researcher at the Swedish Institute of Space Physics and the principal investigator on an instrument onboard Change designed to measure how the solar wind interacts with the lunar surface. The only way, really, is to go to the lunar surface and look at it there. Change 4 is in the ideal place to study this process. Understanding how water is produced and distributed in the lunar soil could be crucial for establishing a more permanent human lunar outpost. The amount in the soil is not large an area of 10 sq metres might contain only enough water to fill a glass but harvesting it could eventually be cheaper than bringing water from Earth. The craft is also carrying a mini-greenhouse, which will test how well plants, specifically potatoes and small flowering Arabidopsis plants, related to cabbage, grow on the moon. | Chang'e 4 mission could reveal new clues to the cataclysmic collision that created the moon and uncover the origins of the water that is unexpectedly abundant in lunar soil. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/jan/03/what-could-change-4-discover-on-far-side-of-the-moon | 0.291176 |
What could Chang'e 4 discover on far side of the moon? | When we look up at the full moon, we only ever see one face: the man in the moon is always gazing back at us. Scientists believe that the far side, eternally hidden from view, may hold the key to fundamental mysteries about the moons formation and its earliest history. Chinas Change 4 mission could reveal new clues to the cataclysmic collision that created the moon and uncover the origins of the water that is unexpectedly abundant in lunar soil. The moons far side is sometimes known as the dark side, although it is not darker than the near side in any literal sense. It undergoes the same phases of illumination by the Sun as the side facing Earth. But because the moon spins on its axis at exactly the same rate as it orbits Earth, one side remains permanently out of view. | Mary Dejevsky Read more It was only in 1959, when the first images of the far side were beamed back by the Soviet Unions Luna 3, that intriguing differences were revealed. The far side is pockmarked by more craters and appears almost devoid of the seas of solidified lava, known as maria, that form the shadowy shape of a face that we see from Earth. Scientists believe that as asteroids pummelled the lunar surface during the solar systems early history, giant lava flows on the moons near side filled impact craters, obscuring them from view. On the far side, fewer lava flows occurred, leaving intact a pristine record of ancient impacts. The oldest, largest and deepest of these is the Aitken Basin, where Change 4 is now poised for exploration. Testing the composition of the soil could help narrow down theories about how the moon formed and the beginnings of the solar system. The mission will also conduct the first astronomy observations from the moons far side, which is seen as a uniquely attractive site for monitoring radio waves coming from deep space. Astronomers operating Earth-bound radio telescopes have to constantly grapple with electromagnetic interference from human activity: shortwave broadcasting, maritime communication, telephone and television signals. The far side of the moon is shielded from such signals, making it far easier to pick up faint fingerprints left by the Big Bang. These traces left across the cosmos could help tell us how the universe inflated at unimaginable speed in the first trillionth of a second after the Big Bang. Play Video 1:20 'Dark side' of the moon: China's Chang'e 4 probe makes historic landing video explainer Change 4 could also help pave the way for Chinas human spaceflight ambitions. One theory for the abundance of water in lunar soil is that it is produced by reactions between the solar wind (a flow of charged particles including hydrogen) and minerals in the soil (containing oxygen). People are trying to reproduce this process in the lab, but its really difficult to do correctly, said Martin Wieser, a researcher at the Swedish Institute of Space Physics and the principal investigator on an instrument onboard Change designed to measure how the solar wind interacts with the lunar surface. The only way, really, is to go to the lunar surface and look at it there. Change 4 is in the ideal place to study this process. Understanding how water is produced and distributed in the lunar soil could be crucial for establishing a more permanent human lunar outpost. The amount in the soil is not large an area of 10 sq metres might contain only enough water to fill a glass but harvesting it could eventually be cheaper than bringing water from Earth. The craft is also carrying a mini-greenhouse, which will test how well plants, specifically potatoes and small flowering Arabidopsis plants, related to cabbage, grow on the moon. | China's Change 4 mission could reveal new clues to the cataclysmic collision that created the moon. It could also uncover the origins of the water that is unexpectedly abundant in lunar soil. The mission will also conduct the first astronomy observations from the moons far side, which is seen as a uniquely attractive site. | bart | 2 | https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/jan/03/what-could-change-4-discover-on-far-side-of-the-moon | 0.544643 |
Are John McCain's gurus the miracle workers Daniel Valenzuela needs to be Phoenix's mayor? | Opinion: The Democrat clearly wants to reinvent himself to appeal to Republicans. But he might need more than that to defeat Kate Gallego. Former Phoenix council members Kate Gallego and Daniel Valenzuela. (Photo: City of Phoenix) It's hard to believe in miracles when it comes to politics. But you cant blame Daniel Valenzuela for trying to pull one off by hiring the late Republican Sen. John McCain's campaign gurus. Valenzuela is attempting to reinvent himself after finishing 19 points behind Kate Gallego in the Phoenix mayoral race. And, apparently, the progressive Democrat believes three McCain campaign alums will produce the miracle he needs to defeat former fellow council member Gallego in the March 12 runoff. Finishing a distant second is embarrassing for the Glendale firefighter with the backing of public-safety union bosses and the business elite. He needs to convince powerful and well-heeled folks that he still is a viable candidate. The question is whether turning to McCains strategists might do the trick. We have two and a half months to prove to voters that Daniel Valenzuela is the right leader to be the next mayor of Phoenix, Ryan ODaniel, Valenzuelas new campaign leader, said in a statement Wednesday. ODaniel has his job cut out for him. He has two months to do the job that the candidate himself wasnt able to do in the past year. And get this, the McCain affiliation didnt appear to serve ODaniel that well with his Republican mayoral candidate Moses Sanchez. ODaniel was a top strategist for Sanchez, who came in third in the four-way August mayoral race. Gallego got 45 percent of the vote, Valenzuela received 26 percent, Sanchez received 19 percent and Nicholas Sarwark got 10 percent. Sanchez tweeted Wednesday that ODaniel is a great person. Trustworthy, honest, humble. Literally #GameChanger. There is no reason to doubt Sanchez's assertion other than the fact that he lost. But lets assume ODaniel is the game changer that Valenzuela needs. Mathematically speaking, yes, if we assume most who voted for Sanchez are Republicans. Gallego and Valenzuela are both Democrats with similar progressive voting record on the City Council. They both need to convince Phoenicians to vote again and both need to broaden their appeal to conservatives. Valenzuela already made his case CLOSE Phoenix mayoral candidate Daniel Valenzuela on why he will give up his job as a firefighter if he is elected. Carly Henry, The Republic | azcentral.com To accomplish that objective, Valenzuela also hired two other McCain alums: Michelle Kauk as communications director and Crystal Bradley as the new finance director. Valenzuela might also be counting on lower voter turnout in the March election when fewer residents are expected go to the polls. I see this campaign for the runoff as a new election, said Valenzuela in the statement announcing his new campaign team. Yes, Valenzuela gets another chance at explaining why hes the best person to lead the city of 1.6 million residents. Unfortunately for him, Phoenicians already got a pretty good idea of his experience, his qualifications and his struggle to communicate his vision. Elvia Daz is an editorial columnist for The Republic and azcentral. Reach her at 602-444-8606 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter, @elviadiaz1. Click here to subscribe to azcentral.com. Read or Share this story: https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/elviadiaz/2019/01/03/john-mccain-staff-save-daniel-valenzuela-phoenix-mayor/2469901002/ | Daniel Valenzuela finished 19 points behind Kate Gallego in the Phoenix mayoral race. The progressive Democrat believes three McCain campaign alums will produce a miracle he needs to defeat Gallego. | pegasus | 1 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/elviadiaz/2019/01/03/john-mccain-staff-save-daniel-valenzuela-phoenix-mayor/2469901002/ | 0.311219 |
Are John McCain's gurus the miracle workers Daniel Valenzuela needs to be Phoenix's mayor? | Opinion: The Democrat clearly wants to reinvent himself to appeal to Republicans. But he might need more than that to defeat Kate Gallego. Former Phoenix council members Kate Gallego and Daniel Valenzuela. (Photo: City of Phoenix) It's hard to believe in miracles when it comes to politics. But you cant blame Daniel Valenzuela for trying to pull one off by hiring the late Republican Sen. John McCain's campaign gurus. Valenzuela is attempting to reinvent himself after finishing 19 points behind Kate Gallego in the Phoenix mayoral race. And, apparently, the progressive Democrat believes three McCain campaign alums will produce the miracle he needs to defeat former fellow council member Gallego in the March 12 runoff. Finishing a distant second is embarrassing for the Glendale firefighter with the backing of public-safety union bosses and the business elite. He needs to convince powerful and well-heeled folks that he still is a viable candidate. The question is whether turning to McCains strategists might do the trick. We have two and a half months to prove to voters that Daniel Valenzuela is the right leader to be the next mayor of Phoenix, Ryan ODaniel, Valenzuelas new campaign leader, said in a statement Wednesday. ODaniel has his job cut out for him. He has two months to do the job that the candidate himself wasnt able to do in the past year. And get this, the McCain affiliation didnt appear to serve ODaniel that well with his Republican mayoral candidate Moses Sanchez. ODaniel was a top strategist for Sanchez, who came in third in the four-way August mayoral race. Gallego got 45 percent of the vote, Valenzuela received 26 percent, Sanchez received 19 percent and Nicholas Sarwark got 10 percent. Sanchez tweeted Wednesday that ODaniel is a great person. Trustworthy, honest, humble. Literally #GameChanger. There is no reason to doubt Sanchez's assertion other than the fact that he lost. But lets assume ODaniel is the game changer that Valenzuela needs. Mathematically speaking, yes, if we assume most who voted for Sanchez are Republicans. Gallego and Valenzuela are both Democrats with similar progressive voting record on the City Council. They both need to convince Phoenicians to vote again and both need to broaden their appeal to conservatives. Valenzuela already made his case CLOSE Phoenix mayoral candidate Daniel Valenzuela on why he will give up his job as a firefighter if he is elected. Carly Henry, The Republic | azcentral.com To accomplish that objective, Valenzuela also hired two other McCain alums: Michelle Kauk as communications director and Crystal Bradley as the new finance director. Valenzuela might also be counting on lower voter turnout in the March election when fewer residents are expected go to the polls. I see this campaign for the runoff as a new election, said Valenzuela in the statement announcing his new campaign team. Yes, Valenzuela gets another chance at explaining why hes the best person to lead the city of 1.6 million residents. Unfortunately for him, Phoenicians already got a pretty good idea of his experience, his qualifications and his struggle to communicate his vision. Elvia Daz is an editorial columnist for The Republic and azcentral. Reach her at 602-444-8606 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter, @elviadiaz1. Click here to subscribe to azcentral.com. Read or Share this story: https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/elviadiaz/2019/01/03/john-mccain-staff-save-daniel-valenzuela-phoenix-mayor/2469901002/ | Daniel Valenzuela finished 19 points behind Kate Gallego in the Phoenix mayoral race. The progressive Democrat believes three McCain campaign alums will produce a miracle he needs to defeat Gallego in the March 12 runoff. Valenzuela needs to convince powerful and well-heeled folks that he still is a viable candidate. | pegasus | 2 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/elviadiaz/2019/01/03/john-mccain-staff-save-daniel-valenzuela-phoenix-mayor/2469901002/ | 0.445598 |
Where do the Kurds fit into Syria's war? | BEIRUT (Reuters) - The future of Kurdish-led areas of northern and eastern Syria has been thrown into doubt by President Donald Trumps decision to withdraw U.S. troops who have helped to secure the region. FILE PHOTO: Kurdish-led militiamen ride atop military vehicles as they celebrate victory over Islamic State in Raqqa, Syria, October 17, 2017. REUTERS/Erik De Castro/File Photo Amounting to about one quarter of Syria, the area is the largest chunk of territory still outside the control of President Bashar al-Assad, who is backed by Russia and Iran. Trump said on Wednesday the United States would withdraw slowly over a period of time and would protect the U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters as Washington withdraws troops, but without giving a timetable. Syrian Kurdish leaders fear Turkey will use the withdrawal as an opportunity to launch an assault. As a result, they are in contact with Moscow and Damascus in the hope of agreeing arrangements to protect the region from Turkey while also aiming to safeguard their political gains. The main Syrian Kurdish faction, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), began to establish a foothold in the north early in the war as government forces withdrew to put down the anti-Assad uprising elsewhere. An affiliated militia, the Peoples Protection Units (YPG), secured the region. Early in the conflict, their control was concentrated in three predominantly Kurdish regions home to roughly 2 million Kurds. Kurdish-led governing bodies were set up. The area of YPG influence expanded as the YPG allied with the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State (IS), becoming the spearhead of a multi-ethnic militia, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). SDF influence widened to Manbij and Raqqa as IS was defeated in both. It has also reached deep into Deir al-Zor, where the SDF is still fighting IS. Kurdish leaders say their aim is regional autonomy within a decentralized Syria, not independence. The PYD is heavily influenced by the ideas of Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan, a founding member of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a 34-year insurgency in Turkey for Kurdish political and cultural rights. Ocalan has been in jail since 1999 in Turkey. He is convicted of treason. The PKK is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. Turkey says the PKK is indistinguishable from the PYD and YPG. Turkey has a Kurdish minority equal to 15 to 20 percent of its population, mostly living in eastern and southeastern areas bordering Syria. Wary of separatistism, Turkey views the PYDs Syrian foothold as a national security threat. Syrias main Kurdish groups do not hide Ocalans influence: they organized elections towards establishing a political system based on his ideas. Turkey has already mounted two cross-border offensives in northern Syria as part of its efforts to counter the YPG. Syrias Baathist state systematically persecuted the Kurds before the war. Yet the YPG and Damascus have broadly stayed out of each others way during the conflict, despite occasional clashes. They also have been seen to cooperate against shared foes, notably in and around Aleppo. [IDnL8N1Q213V] The YPG has allowed the Syrian state to keep a foothold in its areas. The YPG commander told Reuters in 2017 it would have no problem with the Assad government if Kurdish rights are guaranteed in Syria. But Damascus opposes Kurdish autonomy demands: the Syrian foreign minister last month said nobody in Syria accepts talk about independent entities or federalism. Talks between the sides last year made no progress. The Kurdish-led authorities are launching a new initiative aiming to put pressure on the government to reach a political settlement within the framework of a decentralized Syria, leading Kurdish politician Ilham Ahmed said last week. Analysts say the Kurds negotiating position has been weakened by Trumps announcement. The territory held by Damascus and the Kurdish-led authorities accounts for most of Syria. A political settlement - if one could be reached, perhaps with Russian help - could go a long way to stitching the map back together. But it would not mark the end of the war. Anti-Assad insurgents, though defeated across much of Syria by the government and its allies, still have a foothold in the northwest stretching from Idlib through Afrin to Jarablus. Turkey has troops on the ground in this area. The rebels include Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army groups and jihadists. Enmity runs deep between the YPG and these groups. For the YPG, one priority is recovering Afrin from the rebels who seized it in a Turkey-backed offensive last year. Assad also wants Turkey out as he vows to recover every inch of Syria. (GRAPHIC: Syria control map - tmsnrt.rs/2RgCxxb) | The future of Kurdish-led areas of northern and eastern Syria has been thrown into doubt. Amounting to about one quarter of Syria, the area is the largest chunk of territory still outside the control of President Bashar al-Assad. | bart | 1 | https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-kurds-explainer/where-do-the-kurds-fit-into-syrias-war-idUSKCN1OX16L?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Reuters%2FworldNews+%28Reuters+World+News%29 | 0.124033 |
Where do the Kurds fit into Syria's war? | BEIRUT (Reuters) - The future of Kurdish-led areas of northern and eastern Syria has been thrown into doubt by President Donald Trumps decision to withdraw U.S. troops who have helped to secure the region. FILE PHOTO: Kurdish-led militiamen ride atop military vehicles as they celebrate victory over Islamic State in Raqqa, Syria, October 17, 2017. REUTERS/Erik De Castro/File Photo Amounting to about one quarter of Syria, the area is the largest chunk of territory still outside the control of President Bashar al-Assad, who is backed by Russia and Iran. Trump said on Wednesday the United States would withdraw slowly over a period of time and would protect the U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters as Washington withdraws troops, but without giving a timetable. Syrian Kurdish leaders fear Turkey will use the withdrawal as an opportunity to launch an assault. As a result, they are in contact with Moscow and Damascus in the hope of agreeing arrangements to protect the region from Turkey while also aiming to safeguard their political gains. The main Syrian Kurdish faction, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), began to establish a foothold in the north early in the war as government forces withdrew to put down the anti-Assad uprising elsewhere. An affiliated militia, the Peoples Protection Units (YPG), secured the region. Early in the conflict, their control was concentrated in three predominantly Kurdish regions home to roughly 2 million Kurds. Kurdish-led governing bodies were set up. The area of YPG influence expanded as the YPG allied with the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State (IS), becoming the spearhead of a multi-ethnic militia, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). SDF influence widened to Manbij and Raqqa as IS was defeated in both. It has also reached deep into Deir al-Zor, where the SDF is still fighting IS. Kurdish leaders say their aim is regional autonomy within a decentralized Syria, not independence. The PYD is heavily influenced by the ideas of Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan, a founding member of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a 34-year insurgency in Turkey for Kurdish political and cultural rights. Ocalan has been in jail since 1999 in Turkey. He is convicted of treason. The PKK is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. Turkey says the PKK is indistinguishable from the PYD and YPG. Turkey has a Kurdish minority equal to 15 to 20 percent of its population, mostly living in eastern and southeastern areas bordering Syria. Wary of separatistism, Turkey views the PYDs Syrian foothold as a national security threat. Syrias main Kurdish groups do not hide Ocalans influence: they organized elections towards establishing a political system based on his ideas. Turkey has already mounted two cross-border offensives in northern Syria as part of its efforts to counter the YPG. Syrias Baathist state systematically persecuted the Kurds before the war. Yet the YPG and Damascus have broadly stayed out of each others way during the conflict, despite occasional clashes. They also have been seen to cooperate against shared foes, notably in and around Aleppo. [IDnL8N1Q213V] The YPG has allowed the Syrian state to keep a foothold in its areas. The YPG commander told Reuters in 2017 it would have no problem with the Assad government if Kurdish rights are guaranteed in Syria. But Damascus opposes Kurdish autonomy demands: the Syrian foreign minister last month said nobody in Syria accepts talk about independent entities or federalism. Talks between the sides last year made no progress. The Kurdish-led authorities are launching a new initiative aiming to put pressure on the government to reach a political settlement within the framework of a decentralized Syria, leading Kurdish politician Ilham Ahmed said last week. Analysts say the Kurds negotiating position has been weakened by Trumps announcement. The territory held by Damascus and the Kurdish-led authorities accounts for most of Syria. A political settlement - if one could be reached, perhaps with Russian help - could go a long way to stitching the map back together. But it would not mark the end of the war. Anti-Assad insurgents, though defeated across much of Syria by the government and its allies, still have a foothold in the northwest stretching from Idlib through Afrin to Jarablus. Turkey has troops on the ground in this area. The rebels include Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army groups and jihadists. Enmity runs deep between the YPG and these groups. For the YPG, one priority is recovering Afrin from the rebels who seized it in a Turkey-backed offensive last year. Assad also wants Turkey out as he vows to recover every inch of Syria. (GRAPHIC: Syria control map - tmsnrt.rs/2RgCxxb) | The future of Kurdish-led areas of northern and eastern Syria has been thrown into doubt. Amounting to about one quarter of Syria, the area is the largest chunk of territory still outside the control of President Bashar al-Assad. Syrian Kurdish leaders fear Turkey will use the withdrawal as an opportunity to launch an assault. | bart | 2 | https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-kurds-explainer/where-do-the-kurds-fit-into-syrias-war-idUSKCN1OX16L?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Reuters%2FworldNews+%28Reuters+World+News%29 | 0.183799 |
Can Kulicke and Soffa (KLIC) Keep the Earnings Surprise Streak Alive? | If you are looking for a stock that has a solid history of beating earnings estimates and is in a good position to maintain the trend in its next quarterly report, you should consider Kulicke and Soffa (KLIC). This company, which is in the Zacks Electronics - Manufacturing Machinery industry, shows potential for another earnings beat. When looking at the last two reports, this semiconductor equipment maker has recorded a strong streak of surpassing earnings estimates. The company has topped estimates by 33.60%, on average, in the last two quarters. For the most recent quarter, Kulicke and Soffa was expected to post earnings of $0.34 per share, but it reported $0.45 per share instead, representing a surprise of 32.35%. For the previous quarter, the consensus estimate was $0.66 per share, while it actually produced $0.89 per share, a surprise of 34.85%. Price and EPS Surprise For Kulicke and Soffa, estimates have been trending higher, thanks in part to this earnings surprise history. And when you look at the stock's positive Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction), it's a great indicator of a future earnings beat, especially when combined with its solid Zacks Rank. Our research shows that stocks with the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time. In other words, if you have 10 stocks with this combination, the number of stocks that beat the consensus estimate could be as high as seven. The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a version of the Zacks Consensus whose definition is related to change. The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier. Kulicke and Soffa has an Earnings ESP of +6.78% at the moment, suggesting that analysts have grown bullish on its near-term earnings potential. When you combine this positive Earnings ESP with the stock's Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), it shows that another beat is possibly around the corner. The company's next earnings report is expected to be released on January 30, 2019. Investors should note, however, that a negative Earnings ESP reading is not indicative of an earnings miss, but a negative value does reduce the predictive power of this metric. Many companies end up beating the consensus EPS estimate, though this is not the only reason why their shares gain. Additionally, some stocks may remain stable even if they end up missing the consensus estimate. Because of this, it's really important to check a company's Earnings ESP ahead of its quarterly release to increase the odds of success. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported. Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (KLIC) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. | Kulicke and Soffa (KLIC) has recorded a strong streak of surpassing earnings estimates. | bart | 0 | https://news.yahoo.com/kulicke-soffa-klic-keep-earnings-151003190.html | 0.118282 |
Can Kulicke and Soffa (KLIC) Keep the Earnings Surprise Streak Alive? | If you are looking for a stock that has a solid history of beating earnings estimates and is in a good position to maintain the trend in its next quarterly report, you should consider Kulicke and Soffa (KLIC). This company, which is in the Zacks Electronics - Manufacturing Machinery industry, shows potential for another earnings beat. When looking at the last two reports, this semiconductor equipment maker has recorded a strong streak of surpassing earnings estimates. The company has topped estimates by 33.60%, on average, in the last two quarters. For the most recent quarter, Kulicke and Soffa was expected to post earnings of $0.34 per share, but it reported $0.45 per share instead, representing a surprise of 32.35%. For the previous quarter, the consensus estimate was $0.66 per share, while it actually produced $0.89 per share, a surprise of 34.85%. Price and EPS Surprise For Kulicke and Soffa, estimates have been trending higher, thanks in part to this earnings surprise history. And when you look at the stock's positive Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction), it's a great indicator of a future earnings beat, especially when combined with its solid Zacks Rank. Our research shows that stocks with the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time. In other words, if you have 10 stocks with this combination, the number of stocks that beat the consensus estimate could be as high as seven. The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a version of the Zacks Consensus whose definition is related to change. The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier. Kulicke and Soffa has an Earnings ESP of +6.78% at the moment, suggesting that analysts have grown bullish on its near-term earnings potential. When you combine this positive Earnings ESP with the stock's Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), it shows that another beat is possibly around the corner. The company's next earnings report is expected to be released on January 30, 2019. Investors should note, however, that a negative Earnings ESP reading is not indicative of an earnings miss, but a negative value does reduce the predictive power of this metric. Many companies end up beating the consensus EPS estimate, though this is not the only reason why their shares gain. Additionally, some stocks may remain stable even if they end up missing the consensus estimate. Because of this, it's really important to check a company's Earnings ESP ahead of its quarterly release to increase the odds of success. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported. Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (KLIC) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. | Kulicke and Soffa (KLIC) has a good history of beating earnings estimates. The company has recorded a strong streak of beating earnings estimates. | pegasus | 1 | https://news.yahoo.com/kulicke-soffa-klic-keep-earnings-151003190.html | 0.260901 |
Can Kulicke and Soffa (KLIC) Keep the Earnings Surprise Streak Alive? | If you are looking for a stock that has a solid history of beating earnings estimates and is in a good position to maintain the trend in its next quarterly report, you should consider Kulicke and Soffa (KLIC). This company, which is in the Zacks Electronics - Manufacturing Machinery industry, shows potential for another earnings beat. When looking at the last two reports, this semiconductor equipment maker has recorded a strong streak of surpassing earnings estimates. The company has topped estimates by 33.60%, on average, in the last two quarters. For the most recent quarter, Kulicke and Soffa was expected to post earnings of $0.34 per share, but it reported $0.45 per share instead, representing a surprise of 32.35%. For the previous quarter, the consensus estimate was $0.66 per share, while it actually produced $0.89 per share, a surprise of 34.85%. Price and EPS Surprise For Kulicke and Soffa, estimates have been trending higher, thanks in part to this earnings surprise history. And when you look at the stock's positive Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction), it's a great indicator of a future earnings beat, especially when combined with its solid Zacks Rank. Our research shows that stocks with the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time. In other words, if you have 10 stocks with this combination, the number of stocks that beat the consensus estimate could be as high as seven. The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a version of the Zacks Consensus whose definition is related to change. The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier. Kulicke and Soffa has an Earnings ESP of +6.78% at the moment, suggesting that analysts have grown bullish on its near-term earnings potential. When you combine this positive Earnings ESP with the stock's Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), it shows that another beat is possibly around the corner. The company's next earnings report is expected to be released on January 30, 2019. Investors should note, however, that a negative Earnings ESP reading is not indicative of an earnings miss, but a negative value does reduce the predictive power of this metric. Many companies end up beating the consensus EPS estimate, though this is not the only reason why their shares gain. Additionally, some stocks may remain stable even if they end up missing the consensus estimate. Because of this, it's really important to check a company's Earnings ESP ahead of its quarterly release to increase the odds of success. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported. Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (KLIC) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. | Kulicke and Soffa (KLIC) shows potential for another earnings beat. The semiconductor equipment maker has recorded a strong streak of surpassing earnings estimates. The company has topped estimates by 33.60%, on average, in the last two quarters. | bart | 2 | https://news.yahoo.com/kulicke-soffa-klic-keep-earnings-151003190.html | 0.265504 |
Can Baxter (BAX) Keep the Earnings Surprise Streak Alive? | If you are looking for a stock that has a solid history of beating earnings estimates and is in a good position to maintain the trend in its next quarterly report, you should consider Baxter International (BAX). This company, which is in the Zacks Medical - Products industry, shows potential for another earnings beat. This drug and medical device maker has an established record of topping earnings estimates, especially when looking at the previous two reports. The company boasts an average surprise for the past two quarters of 8.28%. For the last reported quarter, Baxter came out with earnings of $0.80 per share versus the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.74 per share, representing a surprise of 8.11%. For the previous quarter, the company was expected to post earnings of $0.71 per share and it actually produced earnings of $0.77 per share, delivering a surprise of 8.45%. Price and EPS Surprise Thanks in part to this history, there has been a favorable change in earnings estimates for Baxter lately. In fact, the Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) for the stock is positive, which is a great indicator of an earnings beat, particularly when combined with its solid Zacks Rank. Our research shows that stocks with the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time. In other words, if you have 10 stocks with this combination, the number of stocks that beat the consensus estimate could be as high as seven. The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a version of the Zacks Consensus whose definition is related to change. The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier. Baxter currently has an Earnings ESP of +0.77%, which suggests that analysts have recently become bullish on the company's earnings prospects. This positive Earnings ESP when combined with the stock's Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) indicates that another beat is possibly around the corner. We expect the company's next earnings report to be released on January 31, 2019. When the Earnings ESP comes up negative, investors should note that this will reduce the predictive power of the metric. But, a negative value is not indicative of a stock's earnings miss. Many companies end up beating the consensus EPS estimate, but that may not be the sole basis for their stocks moving higher. On the other hand, some stocks may hold their ground even if they end up missing the consensus estimate. Because of this, it's really important to check a company's Earnings ESP ahead of its quarterly release to increase the odds of success. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported. Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Baxter International Inc. (BAX) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. | Baxter International (BAX) has an average surprise for the past two quarters of 8.28%. | ctrlsum | 0 | https://news.yahoo.com/baxter-bax-keep-earnings-surprise-151003690.html | 0.191827 |
Can Baxter (BAX) Keep the Earnings Surprise Streak Alive? | If you are looking for a stock that has a solid history of beating earnings estimates and is in a good position to maintain the trend in its next quarterly report, you should consider Baxter International (BAX). This company, which is in the Zacks Medical - Products industry, shows potential for another earnings beat. This drug and medical device maker has an established record of topping earnings estimates, especially when looking at the previous two reports. The company boasts an average surprise for the past two quarters of 8.28%. For the last reported quarter, Baxter came out with earnings of $0.80 per share versus the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.74 per share, representing a surprise of 8.11%. For the previous quarter, the company was expected to post earnings of $0.71 per share and it actually produced earnings of $0.77 per share, delivering a surprise of 8.45%. Price and EPS Surprise Thanks in part to this history, there has been a favorable change in earnings estimates for Baxter lately. In fact, the Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) for the stock is positive, which is a great indicator of an earnings beat, particularly when combined with its solid Zacks Rank. Our research shows that stocks with the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time. In other words, if you have 10 stocks with this combination, the number of stocks that beat the consensus estimate could be as high as seven. The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a version of the Zacks Consensus whose definition is related to change. The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier. Baxter currently has an Earnings ESP of +0.77%, which suggests that analysts have recently become bullish on the company's earnings prospects. This positive Earnings ESP when combined with the stock's Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) indicates that another beat is possibly around the corner. We expect the company's next earnings report to be released on January 31, 2019. When the Earnings ESP comes up negative, investors should note that this will reduce the predictive power of the metric. But, a negative value is not indicative of a stock's earnings miss. Many companies end up beating the consensus EPS estimate, but that may not be the sole basis for their stocks moving higher. On the other hand, some stocks may hold their ground even if they end up missing the consensus estimate. Because of this, it's really important to check a company's Earnings ESP ahead of its quarterly release to increase the odds of success. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported. Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Baxter International Inc. (BAX) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. | Baxter International (BAX) is a stock with a solid history of beating earnings estimates. This drug and medical device maker has an average EPS surprise of 8.28% over the past two quarters. | pegasus | 1 | https://news.yahoo.com/baxter-bax-keep-earnings-surprise-151003690.html | 0.295053 |
Can Baxter (BAX) Keep the Earnings Surprise Streak Alive? | If you are looking for a stock that has a solid history of beating earnings estimates and is in a good position to maintain the trend in its next quarterly report, you should consider Baxter International (BAX). This company, which is in the Zacks Medical - Products industry, shows potential for another earnings beat. This drug and medical device maker has an established record of topping earnings estimates, especially when looking at the previous two reports. The company boasts an average surprise for the past two quarters of 8.28%. For the last reported quarter, Baxter came out with earnings of $0.80 per share versus the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.74 per share, representing a surprise of 8.11%. For the previous quarter, the company was expected to post earnings of $0.71 per share and it actually produced earnings of $0.77 per share, delivering a surprise of 8.45%. Price and EPS Surprise Thanks in part to this history, there has been a favorable change in earnings estimates for Baxter lately. In fact, the Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) for the stock is positive, which is a great indicator of an earnings beat, particularly when combined with its solid Zacks Rank. Our research shows that stocks with the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time. In other words, if you have 10 stocks with this combination, the number of stocks that beat the consensus estimate could be as high as seven. The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a version of the Zacks Consensus whose definition is related to change. The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier. Baxter currently has an Earnings ESP of +0.77%, which suggests that analysts have recently become bullish on the company's earnings prospects. This positive Earnings ESP when combined with the stock's Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) indicates that another beat is possibly around the corner. We expect the company's next earnings report to be released on January 31, 2019. When the Earnings ESP comes up negative, investors should note that this will reduce the predictive power of the metric. But, a negative value is not indicative of a stock's earnings miss. Many companies end up beating the consensus EPS estimate, but that may not be the sole basis for their stocks moving higher. On the other hand, some stocks may hold their ground even if they end up missing the consensus estimate. Because of this, it's really important to check a company's Earnings ESP ahead of its quarterly release to increase the odds of success. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported. Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Baxter International Inc. (BAX) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. | Baxter International (BAX) is a stock with a solid history of beating earnings estimates. This drug and medical device maker has an average EPS surprise of 8.28% over the past two quarters. The Zacks Earnings ESP (ExpectedExpected Surprise Prediction) is a great indicator of an earnings beat. | pegasus | 2 | https://news.yahoo.com/baxter-bax-keep-earnings-surprise-151003690.html | 0.341638 |
Who Will Be The Next American Soccer Player To Command A Massive Transfer Fee? | After years of speculation, its finally happened Christian Pulisic made a big-money move. On Wednesday, the young, American star finalized a deal to move from Borussia Dortmund in Germany to Chelsea of the English Premier League, one of the biggest clubs on the planet, at the end of the season for a cool $71.3 million, the largest fee ever paid for an American. The fee Chelsea paid for Pulisic's services didn't just break the record for largest amount ever paid for an American player, it shattered it. Before Tuesday, the most expensive American players was John Brooks, who moved from Hertha Berlin to Wolfsburg for $22.4 million in 2017. After that, the next nine highest fees combined ($82.3 million) barely eclipse the sum paid for Pulisic. Suffice to say, this is new territory for American soccer. While Pulisic is clearly an exception among American soccer players both in terms of skill and transfer fee his massive fee does offer a glimpse of what the future could hold for American players at the club level and the fees they command. Transfer prices have undergone enormous inflation in recent years, so any American player signed in the future will likely garner a more exorbitant fee that a player of a similar skill set would have garnered even four or five years ago. On top of that, there are more talented, young American stars strewn across the world than ever before who could be transferred for mega-bucks in the not-so-distant future. It's unlikely that any American player will touch Pulisic's record fee for many years. (There's a strong argument to be made that Chelsea vastly overpaid for his services.) But the days of $10 million being a big fee for an American player are clearly over. While it will take a special player to touch the fee Pulisic brought in, fees that fall between his $71.3 million and Brooks' $22.4 million should become much more common as the current crop of young American stars matures over the next half-decade or so. With that in mind, let's look at a couple American players who could draw massive transfer fees in the next five or so years and jump behind Pulisic on the list of most expensive American players. Tim Weah Like Pulisic, Weah has been touted as the next big thing in American soccer for many of his teenage years, and, like Pulisic, Weah will likely help a club collect an enormous transfer fee one day. The 18-year-old attacker and son of soccer legend/Liberian president George Weah already plays for one of the biggest clubs in Europe, Paris Saint-Germain, and is on the cusp of a loan move to another major club, Scottish giants Celtic, where he could see his stock rise significantly with more playing time. His famous name alone should garner a few extra bucks in any future fee because of the marketability. And at a club the size of PSG, if he ever does become a legitimate star (a big if), his future fee could even eclipse Pulisic's. Weston McKennie Along with Pulisic, McKennie is the American playing at the highest level of club competition. The 20-year-old midfielder made a name for himself outside of American soccer circles this fall thanks to his performances for Schalke 04. After making 25 appearances in all competitions for Schalke during the 2017-18 season, McKennie has taken on a more important role this season, making 13 Bundesliga appearances (eight starts) so far, as well as four appearances in the UEFA Champions League. He even scored a match-winner against Lokomotiv Moscow that helped Schalke advance to the knockout stage of the Champions League. As long as he continues to develop and grow as an influential player in his squad, a big-money move will be waiting on him if/when he decides to leave Schalke. | Christian Pulisic's transfer from Borussia Dortmund to Chelsea is the largest transfer fee ever paid for an American player. | bart | 0 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/cybrown/2019/01/03/who-will-be-the-next-american-soccer-player-to-command-a-massive-transfer-fee/ | 0.211546 |
Who Will Be The Next American Soccer Player To Command A Massive Transfer Fee? | After years of speculation, its finally happened Christian Pulisic made a big-money move. On Wednesday, the young, American star finalized a deal to move from Borussia Dortmund in Germany to Chelsea of the English Premier League, one of the biggest clubs on the planet, at the end of the season for a cool $71.3 million, the largest fee ever paid for an American. The fee Chelsea paid for Pulisic's services didn't just break the record for largest amount ever paid for an American player, it shattered it. Before Tuesday, the most expensive American players was John Brooks, who moved from Hertha Berlin to Wolfsburg for $22.4 million in 2017. After that, the next nine highest fees combined ($82.3 million) barely eclipse the sum paid for Pulisic. Suffice to say, this is new territory for American soccer. While Pulisic is clearly an exception among American soccer players both in terms of skill and transfer fee his massive fee does offer a glimpse of what the future could hold for American players at the club level and the fees they command. Transfer prices have undergone enormous inflation in recent years, so any American player signed in the future will likely garner a more exorbitant fee that a player of a similar skill set would have garnered even four or five years ago. On top of that, there are more talented, young American stars strewn across the world than ever before who could be transferred for mega-bucks in the not-so-distant future. It's unlikely that any American player will touch Pulisic's record fee for many years. (There's a strong argument to be made that Chelsea vastly overpaid for his services.) But the days of $10 million being a big fee for an American player are clearly over. While it will take a special player to touch the fee Pulisic brought in, fees that fall between his $71.3 million and Brooks' $22.4 million should become much more common as the current crop of young American stars matures over the next half-decade or so. With that in mind, let's look at a couple American players who could draw massive transfer fees in the next five or so years and jump behind Pulisic on the list of most expensive American players. Tim Weah Like Pulisic, Weah has been touted as the next big thing in American soccer for many of his teenage years, and, like Pulisic, Weah will likely help a club collect an enormous transfer fee one day. The 18-year-old attacker and son of soccer legend/Liberian president George Weah already plays for one of the biggest clubs in Europe, Paris Saint-Germain, and is on the cusp of a loan move to another major club, Scottish giants Celtic, where he could see his stock rise significantly with more playing time. His famous name alone should garner a few extra bucks in any future fee because of the marketability. And at a club the size of PSG, if he ever does become a legitimate star (a big if), his future fee could even eclipse Pulisic's. Weston McKennie Along with Pulisic, McKennie is the American playing at the highest level of club competition. The 20-year-old midfielder made a name for himself outside of American soccer circles this fall thanks to his performances for Schalke 04. After making 25 appearances in all competitions for Schalke during the 2017-18 season, McKennie has taken on a more important role this season, making 13 Bundesliga appearances (eight starts) so far, as well as four appearances in the UEFA Champions League. He even scored a match-winner against Lokomotiv Moscow that helped Schalke advance to the knockout stage of the Champions League. As long as he continues to develop and grow as an influential player in his squad, a big-money move will be waiting on him if/when he decides to leave Schalke. | After years of speculation, Christian Pulisic made a big-money move. Pulisic finalized a deal to move from Borussia Dortmund to Chelsea for $71.3 million. It's the largest fee ever paid for an American player. Pulisic is clearly an exception among American soccer players. | pegasus | 2 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/cybrown/2019/01/03/who-will-be-the-next-american-soccer-player-to-command-a-massive-transfer-fee/ | 0.23333 |
Can Kyrsten Sinema and Martha McSally make real history? | Opinion: Arizona's first female senators, Kyrsten Sinema and Martha McSally, could make real history, the sort of history that would matter. U.S. Senate Candidates Martha McSally and Kyrsten Sinema (Photo: The Republic) Arizona made history on Thursday as its two new U.S. senators were sworn into office. They are the 12th and 13th senators to represent the state, both of them women. Both are smart, savvy politicians. Both claim to want to do right by the state. Now well see if they really mean it. Outgoing Sen. Jon Kyl, in his departing press conference on Wednesday, lamented the sorry state of those who claim to represent us in Washington, D.C. "The chasm between Democrats and Republicans is wider than ever," Kyl said. "There's an estrangement that exists between the two 'teams' now. Yes, there are always differences. We've had two political parties and there are going to be differences. But today there seems to be an estrangement, an inability to work with each other and almost an unwillingness to even try that wasn't that evident when I left five years ago." The next year will be a high-wire act for McSally. Everything she does will be with an eye toward getting elected in 2020. Everything. Certainly, she can continue to lead the chorus of amens every time President Donald Trump opens his mouth or his Twitter account and delight her hard-right followers. But to get elected, she has to move to the center toward Sinema, in fact. Tomorrow at noon, Ill take the Oath of Office as a United States Senator, McSally tweeted on Wednesday. I look forward to advocating for our great state and all Arizonans. Well be watching, Sen. McSally, to see if you really mean that. Still, it seems to me that Sinemas got the tougher hill to climb in 2019. Arizonas only elected senator won because she long ago moved from her partys fringe to that increasingly rarified earth called middle ground. In her victory speech in November, Sinema addressed the poisonous political environment that has turned Americans into enemy combatants. Our challenge today is to heal the rent in our countrys fabric, to come together as a people and as a nation, to set aside our minor differences and unite around our love of country and its fundamental freedoms guaranteed by our great constitution, she said. Of course, that was before Gov. Doug Ducey appointed McSally to be the other part of Team Arizona in the Senate. Galling doesnt even begin to cover it, Im sure. I dont imagine Sinema relishes the idea of holding hands and skipping into the future with someone who not even three months ago called her a traitor to her country. I dont imagine shes much interested in doing anything that might boost McSallys election chances. Sinema is pals, after all, with Republican-turned-Democrat Grant Woods, who is contemplating a 2020 run for the seat now held by McSally. "The chasm between Democrats and Republicans is wider than ever," Kyl lamented on Wednday. Arizonas first female senators, one a Republican, one a Democrat, have a chance to make history now -- not by virtue of their gender but by virtue of their ability, should they possess it, to lead the way and bridge that gaping chasm. Arizona is watching, senators ... and hoping ... Reach Roberts at [email protected]. Read or Share this story: https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/laurieroberts/2019/01/03/can-kyrsten-sinema-and-martha-mcsally-make-real-history/2472827002/ | Rep. Martha McSally and Rep. Kyrsten Sinema are Arizona's first female senators. | ctrlsum | 0 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/laurieroberts/2019/01/03/can-kyrsten-sinema-and-martha-mcsally-make-real-history/2472827002/ | 0.24401 |
Can Kyrsten Sinema and Martha McSally make real history? | Opinion: Arizona's first female senators, Kyrsten Sinema and Martha McSally, could make real history, the sort of history that would matter. U.S. Senate Candidates Martha McSally and Kyrsten Sinema (Photo: The Republic) Arizona made history on Thursday as its two new U.S. senators were sworn into office. They are the 12th and 13th senators to represent the state, both of them women. Both are smart, savvy politicians. Both claim to want to do right by the state. Now well see if they really mean it. Outgoing Sen. Jon Kyl, in his departing press conference on Wednesday, lamented the sorry state of those who claim to represent us in Washington, D.C. "The chasm between Democrats and Republicans is wider than ever," Kyl said. "There's an estrangement that exists between the two 'teams' now. Yes, there are always differences. We've had two political parties and there are going to be differences. But today there seems to be an estrangement, an inability to work with each other and almost an unwillingness to even try that wasn't that evident when I left five years ago." The next year will be a high-wire act for McSally. Everything she does will be with an eye toward getting elected in 2020. Everything. Certainly, she can continue to lead the chorus of amens every time President Donald Trump opens his mouth or his Twitter account and delight her hard-right followers. But to get elected, she has to move to the center toward Sinema, in fact. Tomorrow at noon, Ill take the Oath of Office as a United States Senator, McSally tweeted on Wednesday. I look forward to advocating for our great state and all Arizonans. Well be watching, Sen. McSally, to see if you really mean that. Still, it seems to me that Sinemas got the tougher hill to climb in 2019. Arizonas only elected senator won because she long ago moved from her partys fringe to that increasingly rarified earth called middle ground. In her victory speech in November, Sinema addressed the poisonous political environment that has turned Americans into enemy combatants. Our challenge today is to heal the rent in our countrys fabric, to come together as a people and as a nation, to set aside our minor differences and unite around our love of country and its fundamental freedoms guaranteed by our great constitution, she said. Of course, that was before Gov. Doug Ducey appointed McSally to be the other part of Team Arizona in the Senate. Galling doesnt even begin to cover it, Im sure. I dont imagine Sinema relishes the idea of holding hands and skipping into the future with someone who not even three months ago called her a traitor to her country. I dont imagine shes much interested in doing anything that might boost McSallys election chances. Sinema is pals, after all, with Republican-turned-Democrat Grant Woods, who is contemplating a 2020 run for the seat now held by McSally. "The chasm between Democrats and Republicans is wider than ever," Kyl lamented on Wednday. Arizonas first female senators, one a Republican, one a Democrat, have a chance to make history now -- not by virtue of their gender but by virtue of their ability, should they possess it, to lead the way and bridge that gaping chasm. Arizona is watching, senators ... and hoping ... Reach Roberts at [email protected]. Read or Share this story: https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/laurieroberts/2019/01/03/can-kyrsten-sinema-and-martha-mcsally-make-real-history/2472827002/ | Rep. Martha McSally and Rep. Kyrsten Sinema are Arizona's first female senators. Rep. Ruben Navarrette: Both are smart, savvy politicians. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/laurieroberts/2019/01/03/can-kyrsten-sinema-and-martha-mcsally-make-real-history/2472827002/ | 0.237522 |
Can Kyrsten Sinema and Martha McSally make real history? | Opinion: Arizona's first female senators, Kyrsten Sinema and Martha McSally, could make real history, the sort of history that would matter. U.S. Senate Candidates Martha McSally and Kyrsten Sinema (Photo: The Republic) Arizona made history on Thursday as its two new U.S. senators were sworn into office. They are the 12th and 13th senators to represent the state, both of them women. Both are smart, savvy politicians. Both claim to want to do right by the state. Now well see if they really mean it. Outgoing Sen. Jon Kyl, in his departing press conference on Wednesday, lamented the sorry state of those who claim to represent us in Washington, D.C. "The chasm between Democrats and Republicans is wider than ever," Kyl said. "There's an estrangement that exists between the two 'teams' now. Yes, there are always differences. We've had two political parties and there are going to be differences. But today there seems to be an estrangement, an inability to work with each other and almost an unwillingness to even try that wasn't that evident when I left five years ago." The next year will be a high-wire act for McSally. Everything she does will be with an eye toward getting elected in 2020. Everything. Certainly, she can continue to lead the chorus of amens every time President Donald Trump opens his mouth or his Twitter account and delight her hard-right followers. But to get elected, she has to move to the center toward Sinema, in fact. Tomorrow at noon, Ill take the Oath of Office as a United States Senator, McSally tweeted on Wednesday. I look forward to advocating for our great state and all Arizonans. Well be watching, Sen. McSally, to see if you really mean that. Still, it seems to me that Sinemas got the tougher hill to climb in 2019. Arizonas only elected senator won because she long ago moved from her partys fringe to that increasingly rarified earth called middle ground. In her victory speech in November, Sinema addressed the poisonous political environment that has turned Americans into enemy combatants. Our challenge today is to heal the rent in our countrys fabric, to come together as a people and as a nation, to set aside our minor differences and unite around our love of country and its fundamental freedoms guaranteed by our great constitution, she said. Of course, that was before Gov. Doug Ducey appointed McSally to be the other part of Team Arizona in the Senate. Galling doesnt even begin to cover it, Im sure. I dont imagine Sinema relishes the idea of holding hands and skipping into the future with someone who not even three months ago called her a traitor to her country. I dont imagine shes much interested in doing anything that might boost McSallys election chances. Sinema is pals, after all, with Republican-turned-Democrat Grant Woods, who is contemplating a 2020 run for the seat now held by McSally. "The chasm between Democrats and Republicans is wider than ever," Kyl lamented on Wednday. Arizonas first female senators, one a Republican, one a Democrat, have a chance to make history now -- not by virtue of their gender but by virtue of their ability, should they possess it, to lead the way and bridge that gaping chasm. Arizona is watching, senators ... and hoping ... Reach Roberts at [email protected]. Read or Share this story: https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/laurieroberts/2019/01/03/can-kyrsten-sinema-and-martha-mcsally-make-real-history/2472827002/ | Rep. Martha McSally and Rep. Kyrsten Sinema are Arizona's first female senators. Rep. Ruben Navarrette: Both are smart, savvy politicians who will have to show they really mean it. Navarette: McS Sally has to move to the center, SinemA to the right, to make history. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/laurieroberts/2019/01/03/can-kyrsten-sinema-and-martha-mcsally-make-real-history/2472827002/ | 0.19762 |
Does Arizonas proposed teacher-ethics code have a racist origin? | State Rep. Mark Finchem, R-Oro Valley. Phoenix New Times pointed out that Republican Rep. Mark Finchems proposed code of ethics for Arizona teachers was copied almost verbatim from a project sponsored by the David Horowitz Freedom Center. And that the Southern Poverty Law Center calls Horowitz a driving force of the anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant, and anti-black movements. If the accusation fits... This is not left-wing inflammatory rhetoric. It is not difficult to figure out where Horwitz is coming from. For example he tweeted: Black Africans enslaved black Africans. America freed them sacrificing 350k mainly white Union lives. American blacks are richer, more privileged, freer than blacks anywhere in the world, including all black run countries: https://t.co/qLburbJFoi David Horowitz (@horowitz39) August 16, 2018 And: Meanwhile, the country's only serious race war - against whites - continues. https://t.co/7K0ohS5gDp David Horowitz (@horowitz39) November 7, 2017 Of former President Barack Obama he said, Im actually sure hes a Muslim, he certainly isnt a Christian. Hes a pretend Christian in the same way hes a pretend American. It really is disgraceful. Hes inviting the terrorists to behead more Americans when he should be attacking them with our military. His whole agenda in office has been to defeat America, he lost the war in Iraq deliberately, he created a vacuum which ISIS has filled. In his own words He also wrote: Unfortunately, as a nation we have become so trapped in the melodrama of black victimization and white oppression that we are in danger of losing all sense of proportion. If blacks are oppressed in America, why isn't there a black exodus? It goes on, but you get the idea. MORE BY MONTINI: Read or Share this story: https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/ej-montini/2019/01/03/david-horowitz-arizona-legislature-redfored-teachers/2473879002/ | State Rep. Mark Finchems proposed code of ethics for Arizona teachers was copied almost verbatim from a project sponsored by the David Horowitz Freedom Center. The Southern Poverty Law Center calls Horowitz a driving force of the anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant, and anti-black movements. | pegasus | 2 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/ej-montini/2019/01/03/david-horowitz-arizona-legislature-redfored-teachers/2473879002/ | 0.283038 |
Who replaces Jalen Jelks, Justin Hollins as Oregons edge rushers in 2019? | EUGENE Oregon has a lot to replace on defense this offseason, starting first and foremost with identifying its new lead edge rushers. Jalen Jelks and Justin Hollins were Oregons leading defensive lineman and linebacker in terms of pass rush, with 3.5 and 6.5 sacks and 7.5 and 14.5 tackles for loss, respectively. The leader in sacks among returning Oregon players is Gus Cumberlander, a situational pass rusher who had two sacks in non-conference play and two more against Arizona State. Defensive ends Drayton Carlberg and Austin Faoliu and linebackers Troy Dye and LaMar Winston Jr. were the only other returning players with more than one sack this season and Dye has to announce his plans for 2019. I think Im going to have to step up and play a huge role," said Winston Jr., who had 40 tackles with 4.5 for loss including two sacks with a forced fumble and fumble recovery this season. I think Gus Cumberlander is going to have to step up and play a huge role. I think the young guys coming in are going to have to step up, DJ Johnson. We got a lot of guys who really didnt even participate as much as they couldve this year but theyre going to have a whole offseason of development. Johnson, who redshirted this season after transferring from Miami, will be a factor. At 6-foot-5 and 255 pounds, Johnson will likely play on the line, as he did during the Redbox Bowl, but could be upright like Jelks was on occasion this season. Andrew Faoliu and Popo Aumavae also return at end and will have a chance to see more significant reps during spring practice. On paper, Adrian Jackson was behind Hollins as an outside linebacker. He had 11 of his 13 tackles in the second half of the season when Jelks and Kaulana Apelu were dealing with injuries and recorded just one tackle for loss. The Ducks also adds some bona fide pass rushers via its recruiting class, headlined by Kayvon Thibodeaux. There is no question Thibodeaux will get a chance to contribute immediately give Oregons lack of proven edge players and his physical attributes, but relying on a true freshman to provide instant results would be foolish, particularly when the Ducks open the season with Auburn. Defensive line signee Isaac Townsend and incoming linebacker Gemon Eaford were also capable rushers at the high school level. Junior college transfer Dru Mathis might be more of an interior linebacker and the same goes for signee Mase Funa. | Oregon's edge rushers were Jalen Jelks and Justin Hollins. The Ducks have a lot to replace on defense in 2019. DJ Johnson, who redshirted this season, will be a factor. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/2019/01/who-replaces-jalen-jelks-justin-hollins-as-oregons-edge-rushers-in-2019.html | 0.256875 |
Who replaces Jalen Jelks, Justin Hollins as Oregons edge rushers in 2019? | EUGENE Oregon has a lot to replace on defense this offseason, starting first and foremost with identifying its new lead edge rushers. Jalen Jelks and Justin Hollins were Oregons leading defensive lineman and linebacker in terms of pass rush, with 3.5 and 6.5 sacks and 7.5 and 14.5 tackles for loss, respectively. The leader in sacks among returning Oregon players is Gus Cumberlander, a situational pass rusher who had two sacks in non-conference play and two more against Arizona State. Defensive ends Drayton Carlberg and Austin Faoliu and linebackers Troy Dye and LaMar Winston Jr. were the only other returning players with more than one sack this season and Dye has to announce his plans for 2019. I think Im going to have to step up and play a huge role," said Winston Jr., who had 40 tackles with 4.5 for loss including two sacks with a forced fumble and fumble recovery this season. I think Gus Cumberlander is going to have to step up and play a huge role. I think the young guys coming in are going to have to step up, DJ Johnson. We got a lot of guys who really didnt even participate as much as they couldve this year but theyre going to have a whole offseason of development. Johnson, who redshirted this season after transferring from Miami, will be a factor. At 6-foot-5 and 255 pounds, Johnson will likely play on the line, as he did during the Redbox Bowl, but could be upright like Jelks was on occasion this season. Andrew Faoliu and Popo Aumavae also return at end and will have a chance to see more significant reps during spring practice. On paper, Adrian Jackson was behind Hollins as an outside linebacker. He had 11 of his 13 tackles in the second half of the season when Jelks and Kaulana Apelu were dealing with injuries and recorded just one tackle for loss. The Ducks also adds some bona fide pass rushers via its recruiting class, headlined by Kayvon Thibodeaux. There is no question Thibodeaux will get a chance to contribute immediately give Oregons lack of proven edge players and his physical attributes, but relying on a true freshman to provide instant results would be foolish, particularly when the Ducks open the season with Auburn. Defensive line signee Isaac Townsend and incoming linebacker Gemon Eaford were also capable rushers at the high school level. Junior college transfer Dru Mathis might be more of an interior linebacker and the same goes for signee Mase Funa. | Oregon's edge rushers were Jalen Jelks and Justin Hollins. The Ducks have a lot to replace on defense in 2019. DJ Johnson, who redshirted this season after transferring from Miami, will be a factor. The recruiting class is headlined by Kayvon Thibodeaux and Gemon Eaford. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/2019/01/who-replaces-jalen-jelks-justin-hollins-as-oregons-edge-rushers-in-2019.html | 0.382602 |
What's Next For Apple (AAPL) After It Slashed Its Q1 Sales Forecast? | Shares of Apple AAPL plummeted over 9% Thursday morning after the firm lowered its quarterly sales guidance for the first time in more than a decade Wednesday. Apples announcement during the vital holiday shopping period is hardly a good sign for investors already worried about slowing iPhone sales. So, lets see whats next for Apple. Holiday Quarter Guidance Apple CEO Tim Cook in a letter to investors late Wednesday afternoon revised the firms fiscal first quarter 2019ended on December 29revenue guidance to roughly $84 billion. This marked an approximately 6%, or $5 billion downturn from the low-end of Apples previous quarterly outlook that called for revenues between $89 billion and $93 billion. The move marked the first time in over 15 years that Apple lowered its quarterly guidance. The iPhone giants chief executive pointed to a difference in iPhone launch timing, as well as a strong U.S. dollar and supply constraints, due to a massive number of new products, as some of the reasons for its lowered guidance. Yet, Cook said slower sales in emerging markets, such as Greater China, as well as fewer iPhone upgrades, were the two main reasons for Apples newly dimmed quarterly sales outlook. Shares of Apple opened down 8.7% at $144.29 on Thursday, which marked their lowest level since April 2017. Meanwhile, Apple suppliers Micron MU, Lumentum Holdings LITE, and others saw their stock prices fall. Other tech giants, including Facebook FB, Alphabet GOOGL, and Microsoft MSFT also dipped in morning trading. Chinese Worries Cook said that the slowing Chinese economy and the impact of the continuous trade war between the worlds two largest economies led to poor sales. While we anticipated some challenges in key emerging markets, we did not foresee the magnitude of the economic deceleration, particularly in Greater China, Cook wrote. In fact, most of our revenue shortfall to our guidance, and over 100 percent of our year-over-year worldwide revenue decline, occurred in Greater China across iPhone, Mac and iPad. Apples CEO tried to put a positive long-term spin on the companys prospects in China. Still, it is tough for investors to hear since the region accounted for roughly 18% of overall revenues in each of the last two quarters. The announcement also highlights how Apples high prices have held the company back in markets where a plethora of much cheaper smartphones are available. Overall iPhone Sales Lower than expected iPhone revenue, mostly in Greater China, accounts for for all of our revenue shortfall to our guidance and for much more than our entire year-over-year revenue decline, according to Cook. On top of that, iPhone upgrades were weaker than Apple anticipated in developed markets. The company pointed to macroeconomic challenges in some markets, along with strong U.S. dollar-related price increases, and some customers taking advantage of lower iPhone battery replacement costs as the main factors for fewer upgrades. | Shares of Apple (AAPL) plummeted over 9% Thursday morning after the firm lowered its quarterly sales guidance for the first time in more than a decade. Apple CEO Tim Cook said slower sales in emerging markets, such as Greater China, as well as fewer iPhone upgrades, were the two main reasons for Apples newly dimmed quarterly sales outlook. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://news.yahoo.com/whats-next-apple-aapl-slashed-183606894.html | 0.105182 |
Will 2019 Fulfill The Promises Of 3-D Printing? | If 2018 was a big year of promises for 3-D printing (and it was), perhaps 2019 will be the year we start to see those promises fulfilled. The technology, developing since the 1980s, is now leaning toward manufacturing applications. These days, youre more likely to hear those in the industry discussing facets of additive manufacturing, of which 3-D printing is one part of a larger process. Design and pre-processing precede the 3-D printing of a part, which must then be post-processed and finished. This end-to-end workflow comprises additive manufacturing, though the terms are used relatively interchangeably in casual conversation. These conversations are changing, though, as the technology matures. The Promise: On-site 3-D printing. The Reality: In development. Digital manufacturing solutions including additive manufacturing foresee workflows where a design created in one location can be zapped over for manufacturing in one or more different locations. Useful for remote operations (e.g., mining in the Australian outback, onboard ships, in-the-field with deployed troops, oilfield) and particularly for spare and replacement parts as well as maintenance and repair, 3-D printing enables agility in getting the parts needed where they need to be -- by producing them there. Digital inventory is developing as a strong concept, and one we can expect to hear much more about in 2019. R&D is ongoing, with field tests increasingly examining the technology to validate processes and materials for use. Meeting or exceeding existing standards at a lower cost, and in a shorter time frame, is a tall order. The Promise: Standardized best practices. The Reality: In progress. Because 3-D printing is still a nascent technology, it has a long way to go to catch up to conventional manufacturing processes. With seven ASTM-recognized 3-D printing processes to date (and several others arising recently with claims for new categories), regulation is a big need. Each process needs to be thoroughly vetted and understood to establish best practices. Reliability and repeatability are necessities for production processes, and industrial 3-D printing has, in most cases, a ways to go yet. Standards organizations like ASTM International are working with industry partners to further develop procedural, materials and safety standards. Investments into such efforts showcase industry willingness and readiness to close these gaps, and 2019 should see more headway made in standards development. The Promise: Complexity is free. The Reality: Nothing is free. 3-D printing enables more geometric freedom of design than do conventional manufacturing processes. Lattice structures, generative design, complex internal structures, part consolidation, lightweighting, mass customization: the benefits of building up rather than removing material abound. So much so that youll often hear sales pitches that with additive manufacturing, complexity is free. Yes, more is possible, but that 'more' comes with several asterisks. Design for additive manufacturing (DfAM) is an area requiring significant upskilling and training before full advantage of the capabilities of this equipment can be leveraged. There are also ripples from design overhauls that may create new complexities in the supply chain by removing now-superfluous parts and workflows. On the 3-D printer itself, all parameters must be calculated and calibrated precisely as certain design elements -- like high aspect ratios, thin walls and overhangs -- may pose in-build problems. Failed prints add to costs and time, and until these can be minimized to acceptable levels, especially for longer builds (which can last for weeks), complexity is certainly not free. The Promise: Serial manufacturing. The Reality: Its already there (and it will never be there). Volume manufacturing via 3-D printing is already a reality -- and has been for a number of years. Most hearing aids on the market today are made with 3-D printing technologies; adoption in this application was famously quick, with more than 90% of the US hearing aid industry moving to 3-D printing in just 500 days. Orthodontic aligners are another major use case. Shoes and insoles are also on the market today, both mass manufactured and mass customized. Consumer products are also hitting shelves with 3-D printed components, including frames for eyewear and handles on razor blades. But. Most volume production is the domain of conventional technologies: injection molding, milling, casting. Additive manufacturing still has a long road ahead in meeting necessary milestones. Speed, price and quality all need to see improvements for 3-D printing to compete with traditional processes. For now, this relegates most applications to those that require the specific qualities 3-D printing delivers. In many cases, of course, traditional technologies will maintain their dominance. 3-D printing is a new set of tools, but thats just expanding the available toolbox. 3-D printing is a complex technology suite, and the promises are many. These four barely scratch the surface of some of the issues the industry faces today -- and also provide a glimpse at some of the progress already being made. Theres a lot we hope to see this year, and trade press is awash with predictions and expectations as 3-D printing continues to mature and evolve. The industry is young, and the road to mainstream manufacturing remains a long one; advances made in 2018 are paving a strong foundation for major strides forward in the year ahead. | 2019 will be the year we start to see the promises of 3-D printing fulfilled. | ctrlsum | 0 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahgoehrke/2019/01/03/will-2019-fulfill-the-promises-of-3-d-printing/ | 0.626561 |
Will 2019 Fulfill The Promises Of 3-D Printing? | If 2018 was a big year of promises for 3-D printing (and it was), perhaps 2019 will be the year we start to see those promises fulfilled. The technology, developing since the 1980s, is now leaning toward manufacturing applications. These days, youre more likely to hear those in the industry discussing facets of additive manufacturing, of which 3-D printing is one part of a larger process. Design and pre-processing precede the 3-D printing of a part, which must then be post-processed and finished. This end-to-end workflow comprises additive manufacturing, though the terms are used relatively interchangeably in casual conversation. These conversations are changing, though, as the technology matures. The Promise: On-site 3-D printing. The Reality: In development. Digital manufacturing solutions including additive manufacturing foresee workflows where a design created in one location can be zapped over for manufacturing in one or more different locations. Useful for remote operations (e.g., mining in the Australian outback, onboard ships, in-the-field with deployed troops, oilfield) and particularly for spare and replacement parts as well as maintenance and repair, 3-D printing enables agility in getting the parts needed where they need to be -- by producing them there. Digital inventory is developing as a strong concept, and one we can expect to hear much more about in 2019. R&D is ongoing, with field tests increasingly examining the technology to validate processes and materials for use. Meeting or exceeding existing standards at a lower cost, and in a shorter time frame, is a tall order. The Promise: Standardized best practices. The Reality: In progress. Because 3-D printing is still a nascent technology, it has a long way to go to catch up to conventional manufacturing processes. With seven ASTM-recognized 3-D printing processes to date (and several others arising recently with claims for new categories), regulation is a big need. Each process needs to be thoroughly vetted and understood to establish best practices. Reliability and repeatability are necessities for production processes, and industrial 3-D printing has, in most cases, a ways to go yet. Standards organizations like ASTM International are working with industry partners to further develop procedural, materials and safety standards. Investments into such efforts showcase industry willingness and readiness to close these gaps, and 2019 should see more headway made in standards development. The Promise: Complexity is free. The Reality: Nothing is free. 3-D printing enables more geometric freedom of design than do conventional manufacturing processes. Lattice structures, generative design, complex internal structures, part consolidation, lightweighting, mass customization: the benefits of building up rather than removing material abound. So much so that youll often hear sales pitches that with additive manufacturing, complexity is free. Yes, more is possible, but that 'more' comes with several asterisks. Design for additive manufacturing (DfAM) is an area requiring significant upskilling and training before full advantage of the capabilities of this equipment can be leveraged. There are also ripples from design overhauls that may create new complexities in the supply chain by removing now-superfluous parts and workflows. On the 3-D printer itself, all parameters must be calculated and calibrated precisely as certain design elements -- like high aspect ratios, thin walls and overhangs -- may pose in-build problems. Failed prints add to costs and time, and until these can be minimized to acceptable levels, especially for longer builds (which can last for weeks), complexity is certainly not free. The Promise: Serial manufacturing. The Reality: Its already there (and it will never be there). Volume manufacturing via 3-D printing is already a reality -- and has been for a number of years. Most hearing aids on the market today are made with 3-D printing technologies; adoption in this application was famously quick, with more than 90% of the US hearing aid industry moving to 3-D printing in just 500 days. Orthodontic aligners are another major use case. Shoes and insoles are also on the market today, both mass manufactured and mass customized. Consumer products are also hitting shelves with 3-D printed components, including frames for eyewear and handles on razor blades. But. Most volume production is the domain of conventional technologies: injection molding, milling, casting. Additive manufacturing still has a long road ahead in meeting necessary milestones. Speed, price and quality all need to see improvements for 3-D printing to compete with traditional processes. For now, this relegates most applications to those that require the specific qualities 3-D printing delivers. In many cases, of course, traditional technologies will maintain their dominance. 3-D printing is a new set of tools, but thats just expanding the available toolbox. 3-D printing is a complex technology suite, and the promises are many. These four barely scratch the surface of some of the issues the industry faces today -- and also provide a glimpse at some of the progress already being made. Theres a lot we hope to see this year, and trade press is awash with predictions and expectations as 3-D printing continues to mature and evolve. The industry is young, and the road to mainstream manufacturing remains a long one; advances made in 2018 are paving a strong foundation for major strides forward in the year ahead. | 2019 will be the year we start to see the promises of 3-D printing fulfilled. The technology, developing since the 1980s, is now leaning toward manufacturing applications. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahgoehrke/2019/01/03/will-2019-fulfill-the-promises-of-3-d-printing/ | 0.66822 |
Will 2019 Fulfill The Promises Of 3-D Printing? | If 2018 was a big year of promises for 3-D printing (and it was), perhaps 2019 will be the year we start to see those promises fulfilled. The technology, developing since the 1980s, is now leaning toward manufacturing applications. These days, youre more likely to hear those in the industry discussing facets of additive manufacturing, of which 3-D printing is one part of a larger process. Design and pre-processing precede the 3-D printing of a part, which must then be post-processed and finished. This end-to-end workflow comprises additive manufacturing, though the terms are used relatively interchangeably in casual conversation. These conversations are changing, though, as the technology matures. The Promise: On-site 3-D printing. The Reality: In development. Digital manufacturing solutions including additive manufacturing foresee workflows where a design created in one location can be zapped over for manufacturing in one or more different locations. Useful for remote operations (e.g., mining in the Australian outback, onboard ships, in-the-field with deployed troops, oilfield) and particularly for spare and replacement parts as well as maintenance and repair, 3-D printing enables agility in getting the parts needed where they need to be -- by producing them there. Digital inventory is developing as a strong concept, and one we can expect to hear much more about in 2019. R&D is ongoing, with field tests increasingly examining the technology to validate processes and materials for use. Meeting or exceeding existing standards at a lower cost, and in a shorter time frame, is a tall order. The Promise: Standardized best practices. The Reality: In progress. Because 3-D printing is still a nascent technology, it has a long way to go to catch up to conventional manufacturing processes. With seven ASTM-recognized 3-D printing processes to date (and several others arising recently with claims for new categories), regulation is a big need. Each process needs to be thoroughly vetted and understood to establish best practices. Reliability and repeatability are necessities for production processes, and industrial 3-D printing has, in most cases, a ways to go yet. Standards organizations like ASTM International are working with industry partners to further develop procedural, materials and safety standards. Investments into such efforts showcase industry willingness and readiness to close these gaps, and 2019 should see more headway made in standards development. The Promise: Complexity is free. The Reality: Nothing is free. 3-D printing enables more geometric freedom of design than do conventional manufacturing processes. Lattice structures, generative design, complex internal structures, part consolidation, lightweighting, mass customization: the benefits of building up rather than removing material abound. So much so that youll often hear sales pitches that with additive manufacturing, complexity is free. Yes, more is possible, but that 'more' comes with several asterisks. Design for additive manufacturing (DfAM) is an area requiring significant upskilling and training before full advantage of the capabilities of this equipment can be leveraged. There are also ripples from design overhauls that may create new complexities in the supply chain by removing now-superfluous parts and workflows. On the 3-D printer itself, all parameters must be calculated and calibrated precisely as certain design elements -- like high aspect ratios, thin walls and overhangs -- may pose in-build problems. Failed prints add to costs and time, and until these can be minimized to acceptable levels, especially for longer builds (which can last for weeks), complexity is certainly not free. The Promise: Serial manufacturing. The Reality: Its already there (and it will never be there). Volume manufacturing via 3-D printing is already a reality -- and has been for a number of years. Most hearing aids on the market today are made with 3-D printing technologies; adoption in this application was famously quick, with more than 90% of the US hearing aid industry moving to 3-D printing in just 500 days. Orthodontic aligners are another major use case. Shoes and insoles are also on the market today, both mass manufactured and mass customized. Consumer products are also hitting shelves with 3-D printed components, including frames for eyewear and handles on razor blades. But. Most volume production is the domain of conventional technologies: injection molding, milling, casting. Additive manufacturing still has a long road ahead in meeting necessary milestones. Speed, price and quality all need to see improvements for 3-D printing to compete with traditional processes. For now, this relegates most applications to those that require the specific qualities 3-D printing delivers. In many cases, of course, traditional technologies will maintain their dominance. 3-D printing is a new set of tools, but thats just expanding the available toolbox. 3-D printing is a complex technology suite, and the promises are many. These four barely scratch the surface of some of the issues the industry faces today -- and also provide a glimpse at some of the progress already being made. Theres a lot we hope to see this year, and trade press is awash with predictions and expectations as 3-D printing continues to mature and evolve. The industry is young, and the road to mainstream manufacturing remains a long one; advances made in 2018 are paving a strong foundation for major strides forward in the year ahead. | 2019 will be the year we start to see the promises of 3-D printing fulfilled. The technology, developing since the 1980s, is now leaning toward manufacturing applications. The promise of 'complexity is free' comes with several asterisks, however, as the technology matures. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahgoehrke/2019/01/03/will-2019-fulfill-the-promises-of-3-d-printing/ | 0.718957 |
Are Home Health Aids The New Turing Test For AI? | For decades, the common answer that question has been to pass the Turing test. This test, named after famed mathematician Alan Turing, says that if a machine can carry on a conversation with a human via a textual interface such that the human can not tell the difference between a human and machine, then the machine is intelligent. But theres a problem: we were able to create chatbots that could pass the Turing test a long time ago. We know that the intelligence they display is narrow and limited. Today AI is making great strides in any number of applications, chiefly through data-based approaches labeled machine learning. These approaches are successful and productive and display aspects of intelligence. We have come to realize that we can create many kinds of intelligence and that intelligent does not necessarily mean human. Today, AI is no one thing, but a variety of machine intelligences. Still, researchers remain interested in the larger problem of human-like intelligence, or Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) which also seems to be the source of much of the cultural fascination and anxiety surrounding AI. In a series of provocative blog posts , my MIT colleague Rodney Brooks proposes new ways of thinking about AGI that go way beyond the Turing test. Brooks has long been a leader in robotics, and as a founder of iRobot and inventor of the Roomba vacuum cleaner, rightly claims to have made millions of robots that actually operate in the world (maybe more than anyone). He is also a member of the Research Advisory Board for a Task Force that I co-chair (along with economist David Actor) at MIT on the Work of the Future, which is seeking new approaches to AI, work and the social sciences. Brooks proposes a new goal for AGI not the simple, textual Turing test, but rather the home health aid or elder care worker, what he calls ECW. By this he does not mean a friendly companion robot, but rather something that offers cognitive and "physical assistance that will enable someone to live with dignity and independence as they age in place in their own home. Think about what this entails, and the test an AI would have to pass. To begin with, an ECW requires an intelligence that is physically embodied (a theme long running through Brookss work). The disembodied software agent of the Turing test is no longer adequate. Moreover, this robot must do tasks that are currently beyond the reach of robotics, but simple for humans with relatively little training, like safely assisting a human being to emerge from a bathtub. The ECW robot will need to negotiate a physical environment, the home, which could be changing in subtle ways on a daily basis. It will also need to negotiate a social environment, beginning with its relationship to the person under its care (who Brooks refers to as Rodney). "ECW will need to use all sorts of context and something akin to reasoning, Brooks writes, "in order to make sense of what Rodney is trying to convey. The ECW will need to correlate the observed behaviors and conversation with medical records and other data, and possibly alert humans or other machines to unusual changes. The social environment ECW will need to negotiate involves the persons children, other human caregivers, or others who enter the home. ECW will need a model of family and social dynamics. Much of what he describes as the requirements for ECW intelligence are well beyond the reach of todays AI systems, cognitively, physically, and especially socially. Brooks is not trying to naysay, but rather to point out a newly rich set of problems for AGI researchers to attack, problems whose solutions could make a positive impact on the world. (Whether a fully automated home health aid is the right solution to eldercare is another question altogether). Brooks is also clear that the choice of ECW is but one of a host of possible models for AGI in another posting he also uses a Services Logistics Planner (a more software oriented solution) as an example. While we could think of other tasks, the two Brooks chooses are indeed highly relevant for making an impact on the future of work in todays economy. Beyond his selection of these two tasks, however, Brookss point is that he is redefining the quest for intelligence around the idea of work . Work is a rich, multidimensional human activity, embedding cognition and skills within webs of social and economic relationships. Its also something that humanists and social scientists know a great deal about, knowledge that is rarely built into robotic or AI systems. Work as a model for AI is a provocative idea, perhaps the ultimate goal, of an Artificial General Intelligence for the twenty-first century. In this era of anxiety about AI technologies changing the nature of work, Brooks proposes us that everything we know about work should also change the nature of AI. | David Weinberger: Home Health Aids are the New Turing Test For AI. | ctrlsum | 0 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidmindell/2019/01/03/are-home-health-aids-the-new-turing-test-for-ai/ | 0.288819 |
Are Home Health Aids The New Turing Test For AI? | For decades, the common answer that question has been to pass the Turing test. This test, named after famed mathematician Alan Turing, says that if a machine can carry on a conversation with a human via a textual interface such that the human can not tell the difference between a human and machine, then the machine is intelligent. But theres a problem: we were able to create chatbots that could pass the Turing test a long time ago. We know that the intelligence they display is narrow and limited. Today AI is making great strides in any number of applications, chiefly through data-based approaches labeled machine learning. These approaches are successful and productive and display aspects of intelligence. We have come to realize that we can create many kinds of intelligence and that intelligent does not necessarily mean human. Today, AI is no one thing, but a variety of machine intelligences. Still, researchers remain interested in the larger problem of human-like intelligence, or Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) which also seems to be the source of much of the cultural fascination and anxiety surrounding AI. In a series of provocative blog posts , my MIT colleague Rodney Brooks proposes new ways of thinking about AGI that go way beyond the Turing test. Brooks has long been a leader in robotics, and as a founder of iRobot and inventor of the Roomba vacuum cleaner, rightly claims to have made millions of robots that actually operate in the world (maybe more than anyone). He is also a member of the Research Advisory Board for a Task Force that I co-chair (along with economist David Actor) at MIT on the Work of the Future, which is seeking new approaches to AI, work and the social sciences. Brooks proposes a new goal for AGI not the simple, textual Turing test, but rather the home health aid or elder care worker, what he calls ECW. By this he does not mean a friendly companion robot, but rather something that offers cognitive and "physical assistance that will enable someone to live with dignity and independence as they age in place in their own home. Think about what this entails, and the test an AI would have to pass. To begin with, an ECW requires an intelligence that is physically embodied (a theme long running through Brookss work). The disembodied software agent of the Turing test is no longer adequate. Moreover, this robot must do tasks that are currently beyond the reach of robotics, but simple for humans with relatively little training, like safely assisting a human being to emerge from a bathtub. The ECW robot will need to negotiate a physical environment, the home, which could be changing in subtle ways on a daily basis. It will also need to negotiate a social environment, beginning with its relationship to the person under its care (who Brooks refers to as Rodney). "ECW will need to use all sorts of context and something akin to reasoning, Brooks writes, "in order to make sense of what Rodney is trying to convey. The ECW will need to correlate the observed behaviors and conversation with medical records and other data, and possibly alert humans or other machines to unusual changes. The social environment ECW will need to negotiate involves the persons children, other human caregivers, or others who enter the home. ECW will need a model of family and social dynamics. Much of what he describes as the requirements for ECW intelligence are well beyond the reach of todays AI systems, cognitively, physically, and especially socially. Brooks is not trying to naysay, but rather to point out a newly rich set of problems for AGI researchers to attack, problems whose solutions could make a positive impact on the world. (Whether a fully automated home health aid is the right solution to eldercare is another question altogether). Brooks is also clear that the choice of ECW is but one of a host of possible models for AGI in another posting he also uses a Services Logistics Planner (a more software oriented solution) as an example. While we could think of other tasks, the two Brooks chooses are indeed highly relevant for making an impact on the future of work in todays economy. Beyond his selection of these two tasks, however, Brookss point is that he is redefining the quest for intelligence around the idea of work . Work is a rich, multidimensional human activity, embedding cognition and skills within webs of social and economic relationships. Its also something that humanists and social scientists know a great deal about, knowledge that is rarely built into robotic or AI systems. Work as a model for AI is a provocative idea, perhaps the ultimate goal, of an Artificial General Intelligence for the twenty-first century. In this era of anxiety about AI technologies changing the nature of work, Brooks proposes us that everything we know about work should also change the nature of AI. | David Weinberger: Home Health Aids are the New Turing Test For AI. He says the new goal for AGI is not the simple, textual Turing test, but rather the home health aid. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidmindell/2019/01/03/are-home-health-aids-the-new-turing-test-for-ai/ | 0.615093 |
Are Home Health Aids The New Turing Test For AI? | For decades, the common answer that question has been to pass the Turing test. This test, named after famed mathematician Alan Turing, says that if a machine can carry on a conversation with a human via a textual interface such that the human can not tell the difference between a human and machine, then the machine is intelligent. But theres a problem: we were able to create chatbots that could pass the Turing test a long time ago. We know that the intelligence they display is narrow and limited. Today AI is making great strides in any number of applications, chiefly through data-based approaches labeled machine learning. These approaches are successful and productive and display aspects of intelligence. We have come to realize that we can create many kinds of intelligence and that intelligent does not necessarily mean human. Today, AI is no one thing, but a variety of machine intelligences. Still, researchers remain interested in the larger problem of human-like intelligence, or Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) which also seems to be the source of much of the cultural fascination and anxiety surrounding AI. In a series of provocative blog posts , my MIT colleague Rodney Brooks proposes new ways of thinking about AGI that go way beyond the Turing test. Brooks has long been a leader in robotics, and as a founder of iRobot and inventor of the Roomba vacuum cleaner, rightly claims to have made millions of robots that actually operate in the world (maybe more than anyone). He is also a member of the Research Advisory Board for a Task Force that I co-chair (along with economist David Actor) at MIT on the Work of the Future, which is seeking new approaches to AI, work and the social sciences. Brooks proposes a new goal for AGI not the simple, textual Turing test, but rather the home health aid or elder care worker, what he calls ECW. By this he does not mean a friendly companion robot, but rather something that offers cognitive and "physical assistance that will enable someone to live with dignity and independence as they age in place in their own home. Think about what this entails, and the test an AI would have to pass. To begin with, an ECW requires an intelligence that is physically embodied (a theme long running through Brookss work). The disembodied software agent of the Turing test is no longer adequate. Moreover, this robot must do tasks that are currently beyond the reach of robotics, but simple for humans with relatively little training, like safely assisting a human being to emerge from a bathtub. The ECW robot will need to negotiate a physical environment, the home, which could be changing in subtle ways on a daily basis. It will also need to negotiate a social environment, beginning with its relationship to the person under its care (who Brooks refers to as Rodney). "ECW will need to use all sorts of context and something akin to reasoning, Brooks writes, "in order to make sense of what Rodney is trying to convey. The ECW will need to correlate the observed behaviors and conversation with medical records and other data, and possibly alert humans or other machines to unusual changes. The social environment ECW will need to negotiate involves the persons children, other human caregivers, or others who enter the home. ECW will need a model of family and social dynamics. Much of what he describes as the requirements for ECW intelligence are well beyond the reach of todays AI systems, cognitively, physically, and especially socially. Brooks is not trying to naysay, but rather to point out a newly rich set of problems for AGI researchers to attack, problems whose solutions could make a positive impact on the world. (Whether a fully automated home health aid is the right solution to eldercare is another question altogether). Brooks is also clear that the choice of ECW is but one of a host of possible models for AGI in another posting he also uses a Services Logistics Planner (a more software oriented solution) as an example. While we could think of other tasks, the two Brooks chooses are indeed highly relevant for making an impact on the future of work in todays economy. Beyond his selection of these two tasks, however, Brookss point is that he is redefining the quest for intelligence around the idea of work . Work is a rich, multidimensional human activity, embedding cognition and skills within webs of social and economic relationships. Its also something that humanists and social scientists know a great deal about, knowledge that is rarely built into robotic or AI systems. Work as a model for AI is a provocative idea, perhaps the ultimate goal, of an Artificial General Intelligence for the twenty-first century. In this era of anxiety about AI technologies changing the nature of work, Brooks proposes us that everything we know about work should also change the nature of AI. | David Weinberger: Home Health Aids are the New Turing Test For AI. He says the new goal for AGI is not the simple, textual Turing test, but rather the home health aid or elder care worker. Weinberg: ECW will need to negotiate a physical environment, the home, and a social environment. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidmindell/2019/01/03/are-home-health-aids-the-new-turing-test-for-ai/ | 0.718119 |
What's new in king cakes for Mardi Gras 2019? | Bittersweet Confections chocolate king cake Bittersweet Confections, 725 Magazine St., New Orleans, is adding a satsuma bourbon pecan king cake to its lineup. Our braided brioche is filled with cinnamon butter, glazed with a satsuma icing and garnished with bourbon soaked pecans, the baker said. It's most popular cake is the chocolate one (pictured here). Breads on Oak, 8640 Oak St., New Orleans, teamed up with Louisiana Pepper Exchange on Tchoupitoulas Street for a VooDoo King Cake, which has a hint of ghost and cayenne peppers infused with the house-made vegan cream cheese. Also new will be a praline pecan king cake and a rum and coconut cream king cake with a citrus glaze. At this shop, the king cakes are vegan and made with organic ingredients, including the plant-based Mardi-Gras coloring made from natural fruits and vegetables. Bywater Bakery, 3623 Dauphine St., New Orleans, is adding savory king cakes for 2019, including crawfish, spinach and artichoke and one filled with boudin. The bakery also will introduce new sweet cakes to its eight standard flavors. These will be available on a rotating basis, so check with the bakery if there is a specific one you want to try. The flavors will be pineapple, passion fruit, butterscotch ripple, and lemon cream. | Bywater Bakery, 3623 Dauphine St., New Orleans, is adding savory king cakes for 2019. The bakery also will introduce new sweet cakes to its eight standard flavors. The flavors will be pineapple, passion fruit, butterscotch ripple, and lemon cream. | bart | 2 | https://www.nola.com/expo/life-and-culture/g66l-2019/01/ea5728c24a2973/whats-new-in-king-cakes-for-ma.html | 0.185967 |
What if the crisis is coming from inside China? | Winter is coming. That was the New Years message chief executive Robin Li delivered to the 42,000 employees of his search-engine company, Baidu, in a melodramatic letter to staff Wednesday. With the song of ice and fire" looming in 2019, Chinas economic rebalancing, he wrote, is as forceful and real as winter for any enterprise. He wasnt talking about the game of thrones between Beijing and Washington. Nor, primarily, was Apple CEO Tim Cook when he sent markets reeling the same day by slashing 2019 sales projections for iPhones, tablets and computers, a drop he attributed to a loss of Chinese consumer confidence. Over 100 per cent of our year-over-year worldwide revenue decline occurred in Greater China, he wrote, where the magnitude of the economic deceleration had taken the California company by surprise. At first, these corporate dramas might look like effects of international tensions. After all, 2019 began with China at odds with much of the world. U.S. President Donald Trump continued to hammer away at his very personal trade war. Canada was trapped in a de facto hostage crisis with Beijing over its response to a U.S. extradition warrant against a Chinese executive. If that werent enough, Taiwan received a direct order to reunite with communist China Wednesday from President Xi Jinping, who added ominously: We make no promise to give up the use of military force. Story continues below advertisement Those clashes have played no small part in the current worldwide collapse in market capitalization and economic growth. But it would be overly optimistic to think that international disputes were the cause of the global slowdown; it would be a simple matter of resolving them and, with the possible exception of Taiwan, the current clashes with China are temporary phenomena, unlikely to last beyond one aberrant presidential term. As both CEOs hinted in their warning letters, the problem with China is not being triggered from outside; theres a lot of evidence that the larger problem is coming from within China. When we hear that China is pulling the world economy on a downward trajectory, we tend to think of its exports. For the past two decades, thats all China was to the world: During the decade of globalization, from 1998 to 2008, the world economy ticked along to the value of the yuan, the trillions of dollars in Chinas trade surplus and the shiploads of running shoes and touchscreens pouring out of Guangzhou and Shenzhen. The past five years were supposed to change all that. China had found itself caught in a middle-income trap too prosperous to remain a low-cost export manufacturer, but lacking the consumer-centred economy it needed to become a self-sustaining middle-class country. Mr. Xi exhorted the country to turn inward, to become a higher-wage consumer economy fuelled by domestic real-estate and stock markets. In 2015, Premier Li Keqiang announced his Made in China 2025 policy, aimed at giving domestic production a 70-per-cent share of all goods within a decade. Long before Mr. Trump began to threaten the transpacific goods trade, it was apparent that this national rebalancing was getting wobbly. Chinese consumers except for the prosperous few in the top 1 per cent just werent spending. Sales of key commodities such as instant noodles and beer (except expensive brands) have actually declined over the past couple of years, and domestic consumption has remained stuck at little more than a third of the economy, a share that actually dropped in 2017. (By way of comparison, Canadas domestic consumption sits at 60 per cent.) Home sales in many cities went flat as overbuilding drove prices down, infuriating buyers. And consumers have stubbornly been saving and investing rather than spending in large part, presumably, because they sensibly want to hedge against the uncertain future under Mr. Xi, but also because Chinas social safety net and health-insurance systems remain very flimsy. Yet their household-debt levels have also soared as middle-class incomes have not kept pace with prices. In the past couple of months, these trends have become more acute. In December, Chinas manufacturing sector saw its first decline in almost two years, and analysts attributed it as much to weakening domestic demand as to a Trump-hit export sector. Story continues below advertisement Story continues below advertisement Chinas leaders have responded the only ways they know how: by exhorting regions and cities to pump up consumer demand, by removing barriers to home ownership, by dumping stimulus funds into the economy and by making aggressive gestures across the Pacific and the Taiwan Strait. The larger threat to the world economy is not global tensions but the force of a billion people frustrated with a regime that hasnt given them the lives they expected. We shouldnt be dragged into an international conflict merely to mask that reality. | Apple CEO Tim Cook slashed 2019 sales projections for iPhones, tablets and computers, a drop he attributed to a loss of Chinese consumer confidence. The problem with China is not being triggered from outside; theres a lot of evidence that the larger problem is coming from within China. | pegasus | 2 | https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-what-if-the-crisis-is-coming-from-inside-china/ | 0.123448 |
Is Elizabeth Warren the populist Democrats need to out-Trump Trump? | Elizabeth Warren had no sooner announced this week that she had formed a presidential exploratory committee, the first step toward launching her candidacy for the 2020 Democratic nomination, than some pundits began wondering whether she reminds voters too much of Hillary Clinton to win. That might seem ridiculous, considering that each woman has represented opposite wings of her party in recent years. Ms. Warren, the Massachusetts senator, is a no-holds-barred progressive whose strident critique of capitalism and free trade puts her on the far-left of the U.S. political spectrum. Ms. Clinton, the 2016 Democratic nominee, lost the last election in part because she was seen as too much of an establishment apologist for globalization and too hawkish on foreign policy. Yet, beyond their policy differences, Ms. Warren, 69, and Ms. Clinton, 71, do share certain characteristics that lead many voters to consider them alike. They suffer from perceptions, sexist to be sure, that they are cold and aloof women who have developed a likeability deficit. Story continues below advertisement In November, Ms. Warren won a second Senate term by beating her Republican opponent by 24 percentage points. Yet her margin of victory was considered underwhelming given her states strong Democratic orientation and an overall swing to Democrats in the 2018 midterm elections. Given those factors, Ms. Warren should have won by 39 points, a FiveThirtyEight analysis concluded. But the former Harvard law professor strikes a divisive pose even on her home turf. In aiming to get voters to warm up to her, Ms. Warren conducted a Q&A on Instagram from her Boston kitchen on Dec. 31, during which she declared: Hold on a second Im gonna get me a beer. Her attempt at relatability came off as cringeworthy and contrived. After her release of DNA test results confirming her native-American ancestry, which sparked criticism she had taken President Donald Trumps bait, the beer incident raised more questions about her political judgment. As unfair as it seemed, Ms. Clinton discovered that she could not compete in the likeability sweepstakes against Barack Obama (who beat her in the 2008 Democratic race) or Bernie Sanders, whom she bested in the 2016 primaries even though he captured the hearts of Democratic activists. Ms. Warren will have to accept that she cannot beat Mr. Sanders, former vice-president Joe Biden or Texas congressman Beto ORourke all of whom have acknowledged they are considering running for the nomination if the question comes down to with whom voters would most like to share a beer. She must instead persuade Democrats that she is the best candidate to win back working-class Americans who voted for Mr. Trump in 2016. Indeed, it is not enough for Ms. Warren to rely on her appeal among progressive Democrats, especially if Mr. Sanders decides to run again. A devastating New York Times piece this week on the alleged climate of sexism that prevailed inside the 2016 Sanders campaign was a gift to Ms. Warren as she attempts to establish an early advantage over the Vermont senator. Still, Ms. Warren needs to give Democrats a reason to get excited about her candidacy all on its own. She and Mr. Sanders are on the same page on many issues. Both favour a single-payer U.S. health-care system that would eliminate private insurance, and major campaign-finance reform. Both Ms. Warren and Mr. Sanders also suffer from weak appeal among African-American voters, a critical constituency that any Democratic nominee needs to mobilize to beat Mr. Trump. And with two African-American senators Kamala Harris of California and Corey Booker of New Jersey expected to run for the nomination, Ms. Warren may struggle to get traction among minority Democrats. Story continues below advertisement Story continues below advertisement Despite her disadvantages, Ms. Warren should not be underestimated. If Democrats decide they need a candidate who can take on Mr. Trump in industrial states without turning off female voters as he does, she may just be their woman. Like Mr. Trump, Ms. Warren is critical of trade deals that she says have lifted the boats of the wealthy while leaving millions of working Americans to drown. But unlike Mr. Trump, who has slashed regulations and cut taxes for the wealthy, Ms. Warren is no friend of big business. She would break up the big banks and corporations and raise taxes on the rich. The central conceit of her campaign that 21st-century capitalism is rigged against the working class provides her with a message tailor-made for Rust Belt states that voted for Mr. Trump in 2016. And Democrats likely cant win in 2020 without taking back states such as Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. | John Avlon: Elizabeth Warren is the populist Democrats need to out-Trump Trump. | ctrlsum | 0 | https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-is-elizabeth-warren-the-populist-democrats-need-to-out-trump-trump/ | 0.381211 |
Is Elizabeth Warren the populist Democrats need to out-Trump Trump? | Elizabeth Warren had no sooner announced this week that she had formed a presidential exploratory committee, the first step toward launching her candidacy for the 2020 Democratic nomination, than some pundits began wondering whether she reminds voters too much of Hillary Clinton to win. That might seem ridiculous, considering that each woman has represented opposite wings of her party in recent years. Ms. Warren, the Massachusetts senator, is a no-holds-barred progressive whose strident critique of capitalism and free trade puts her on the far-left of the U.S. political spectrum. Ms. Clinton, the 2016 Democratic nominee, lost the last election in part because she was seen as too much of an establishment apologist for globalization and too hawkish on foreign policy. Yet, beyond their policy differences, Ms. Warren, 69, and Ms. Clinton, 71, do share certain characteristics that lead many voters to consider them alike. They suffer from perceptions, sexist to be sure, that they are cold and aloof women who have developed a likeability deficit. Story continues below advertisement In November, Ms. Warren won a second Senate term by beating her Republican opponent by 24 percentage points. Yet her margin of victory was considered underwhelming given her states strong Democratic orientation and an overall swing to Democrats in the 2018 midterm elections. Given those factors, Ms. Warren should have won by 39 points, a FiveThirtyEight analysis concluded. But the former Harvard law professor strikes a divisive pose even on her home turf. In aiming to get voters to warm up to her, Ms. Warren conducted a Q&A on Instagram from her Boston kitchen on Dec. 31, during which she declared: Hold on a second Im gonna get me a beer. Her attempt at relatability came off as cringeworthy and contrived. After her release of DNA test results confirming her native-American ancestry, which sparked criticism she had taken President Donald Trumps bait, the beer incident raised more questions about her political judgment. As unfair as it seemed, Ms. Clinton discovered that she could not compete in the likeability sweepstakes against Barack Obama (who beat her in the 2008 Democratic race) or Bernie Sanders, whom she bested in the 2016 primaries even though he captured the hearts of Democratic activists. Ms. Warren will have to accept that she cannot beat Mr. Sanders, former vice-president Joe Biden or Texas congressman Beto ORourke all of whom have acknowledged they are considering running for the nomination if the question comes down to with whom voters would most like to share a beer. She must instead persuade Democrats that she is the best candidate to win back working-class Americans who voted for Mr. Trump in 2016. Indeed, it is not enough for Ms. Warren to rely on her appeal among progressive Democrats, especially if Mr. Sanders decides to run again. A devastating New York Times piece this week on the alleged climate of sexism that prevailed inside the 2016 Sanders campaign was a gift to Ms. Warren as she attempts to establish an early advantage over the Vermont senator. Still, Ms. Warren needs to give Democrats a reason to get excited about her candidacy all on its own. She and Mr. Sanders are on the same page on many issues. Both favour a single-payer U.S. health-care system that would eliminate private insurance, and major campaign-finance reform. Both Ms. Warren and Mr. Sanders also suffer from weak appeal among African-American voters, a critical constituency that any Democratic nominee needs to mobilize to beat Mr. Trump. And with two African-American senators Kamala Harris of California and Corey Booker of New Jersey expected to run for the nomination, Ms. Warren may struggle to get traction among minority Democrats. Story continues below advertisement Story continues below advertisement Despite her disadvantages, Ms. Warren should not be underestimated. If Democrats decide they need a candidate who can take on Mr. Trump in industrial states without turning off female voters as he does, she may just be their woman. Like Mr. Trump, Ms. Warren is critical of trade deals that she says have lifted the boats of the wealthy while leaving millions of working Americans to drown. But unlike Mr. Trump, who has slashed regulations and cut taxes for the wealthy, Ms. Warren is no friend of big business. She would break up the big banks and corporations and raise taxes on the rich. The central conceit of her campaign that 21st-century capitalism is rigged against the working class provides her with a message tailor-made for Rust Belt states that voted for Mr. Trump in 2016. And Democrats likely cant win in 2020 without taking back states such as Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. | John Avlon says Elizabeth Warren is the populist Democrats need to out-Trump Trump. Avlon: Warren and Hillary Clinton share some characteristics that lead many voters to consider them alike. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-is-elizabeth-warren-the-populist-democrats-need-to-out-trump-trump/ | 0.534641 |
Is Elizabeth Warren the populist Democrats need to out-Trump Trump? | Elizabeth Warren had no sooner announced this week that she had formed a presidential exploratory committee, the first step toward launching her candidacy for the 2020 Democratic nomination, than some pundits began wondering whether she reminds voters too much of Hillary Clinton to win. That might seem ridiculous, considering that each woman has represented opposite wings of her party in recent years. Ms. Warren, the Massachusetts senator, is a no-holds-barred progressive whose strident critique of capitalism and free trade puts her on the far-left of the U.S. political spectrum. Ms. Clinton, the 2016 Democratic nominee, lost the last election in part because she was seen as too much of an establishment apologist for globalization and too hawkish on foreign policy. Yet, beyond their policy differences, Ms. Warren, 69, and Ms. Clinton, 71, do share certain characteristics that lead many voters to consider them alike. They suffer from perceptions, sexist to be sure, that they are cold and aloof women who have developed a likeability deficit. Story continues below advertisement In November, Ms. Warren won a second Senate term by beating her Republican opponent by 24 percentage points. Yet her margin of victory was considered underwhelming given her states strong Democratic orientation and an overall swing to Democrats in the 2018 midterm elections. Given those factors, Ms. Warren should have won by 39 points, a FiveThirtyEight analysis concluded. But the former Harvard law professor strikes a divisive pose even on her home turf. In aiming to get voters to warm up to her, Ms. Warren conducted a Q&A on Instagram from her Boston kitchen on Dec. 31, during which she declared: Hold on a second Im gonna get me a beer. Her attempt at relatability came off as cringeworthy and contrived. After her release of DNA test results confirming her native-American ancestry, which sparked criticism she had taken President Donald Trumps bait, the beer incident raised more questions about her political judgment. As unfair as it seemed, Ms. Clinton discovered that she could not compete in the likeability sweepstakes against Barack Obama (who beat her in the 2008 Democratic race) or Bernie Sanders, whom she bested in the 2016 primaries even though he captured the hearts of Democratic activists. Ms. Warren will have to accept that she cannot beat Mr. Sanders, former vice-president Joe Biden or Texas congressman Beto ORourke all of whom have acknowledged they are considering running for the nomination if the question comes down to with whom voters would most like to share a beer. She must instead persuade Democrats that she is the best candidate to win back working-class Americans who voted for Mr. Trump in 2016. Indeed, it is not enough for Ms. Warren to rely on her appeal among progressive Democrats, especially if Mr. Sanders decides to run again. A devastating New York Times piece this week on the alleged climate of sexism that prevailed inside the 2016 Sanders campaign was a gift to Ms. Warren as she attempts to establish an early advantage over the Vermont senator. Still, Ms. Warren needs to give Democrats a reason to get excited about her candidacy all on its own. She and Mr. Sanders are on the same page on many issues. Both favour a single-payer U.S. health-care system that would eliminate private insurance, and major campaign-finance reform. Both Ms. Warren and Mr. Sanders also suffer from weak appeal among African-American voters, a critical constituency that any Democratic nominee needs to mobilize to beat Mr. Trump. And with two African-American senators Kamala Harris of California and Corey Booker of New Jersey expected to run for the nomination, Ms. Warren may struggle to get traction among minority Democrats. Story continues below advertisement Story continues below advertisement Despite her disadvantages, Ms. Warren should not be underestimated. If Democrats decide they need a candidate who can take on Mr. Trump in industrial states without turning off female voters as he does, she may just be their woman. Like Mr. Trump, Ms. Warren is critical of trade deals that she says have lifted the boats of the wealthy while leaving millions of working Americans to drown. But unlike Mr. Trump, who has slashed regulations and cut taxes for the wealthy, Ms. Warren is no friend of big business. She would break up the big banks and corporations and raise taxes on the rich. The central conceit of her campaign that 21st-century capitalism is rigged against the working class provides her with a message tailor-made for Rust Belt states that voted for Mr. Trump in 2016. And Democrats likely cant win in 2020 without taking back states such as Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. | John Avlon says Elizabeth Warren is the populist Democrats need to out-Trump Trump. Avlon: Warren and Hillary Clinton share some characteristics that lead many voters to consider them alike. He says Warren must convince Democrats that she is the best candidate to win back working-class Americans who voted for Trump in 2016. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-is-elizabeth-warren-the-populist-democrats-need-to-out-trump-trump/ | 0.616865 |
Could Nick Foles' magic convince Eagles to change long-term plans? | originally appeared on nbcsportsphiladelphia.com I'm going to be honest. I'm wavering. Just a bit. And I wonder if Howie Roseman and Doug Pederson are wavering, too. I wrote last week that the only clear path for the Eagles to take long-term was to ride Foles for the rest of this year and then wish him well and turn the team over to Wentz (see story). And I still think that's a really sound option. You have a 25-year-old MVP candidate who'll be healthy next year, and even this year, while held back by injuries, still had the seventh-highest passer rating in football. Wentz can play. And he's going to have success wherever he plays. And it'll probably be here. But I have to admit, watching Foles complete 25 straight passes Sunday in Washington and lead the Eagles to a commanding 24-0 win over the Redskins in a game the Eagles had to win, I found myself wondering, "Do I really want to get rid of this guy?" Foles has already had one of the greatest seasons in NFL history, back in 2013. He's thrown an NFL-record seven TDs in a game. He's led the Eagles on a wild playoff run and has been Super Bowl MVP. He has the highest passer rating in NFL postseason history. And the last three weeks, he's gone into L.A. and beaten the Rams, thrown a franchise-record 471 yards and beaten the Texans and tied an NFL-record with 25 straight passes to help clinch a playoff berth in Washington. He's revived a lifeless team. Story continues And we're no longer seeing the inconsistency we saw most of his career. He wasn't very good against the Falcons in the opener, but he won, which is what he always seems to do - 10-1 since returning to Philly last year and 24-6 in 30 meaningful games in an Eagles uniform since 2013. At some point, do they sit down together and say, "Hey, are we sure we're doing the right thing?" One thing we know about Roseman. He'll be creative and aggressive and think outside the box. If the Eagles, at some point, do decide organizationally that Foles gives this franchise the best long-term chance at sustained success, he will be just as aggressive moving Wentz as he was acquiring him. We all know how Roseman feels about draft picks. This is a crazy situation, an unprecedented situation. And we won't know for years whether the Eagles did the right thing. Pederson couldn't be clearer when he says: "Carson is our quarterback. He's our quarterback of the future." But as the weeks go by and the wins and records pile up, I think even the biggest Wentz supporter at some point would find themselves thinking, "Will Carson Wentz ever do what Nick is doing?" Personally, I think he can. Assuming he regains all his mobility and physically can once again be the guy he was last year. He really is a special talent. But I'd be lying - we'd all be lying - if I said there's no doubt in my mind. I've seen Foles win a Super Bowl. I've seen him standing at the 50-yard line at U.S. Bank Stadium holding the Super Bowl MVP trophy high in the air. It's happened. It's not a fluke. And nothing Foles does the rest of his career would surprise any of us. Get this call wrong and it could set the franchise back years. If you're the Eagles, you really have to be careful you don't cut ties with one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. The trick is, figuring out which guy that is. Click here to download the MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Flyers, Sixers and Phillies games easily on your device. More on the Eagles | Nick Foles has led the Eagles on a wild playoff run and has been Super Bowl MVP. Foles is having a great season and has revived a lifeless team. But the Eagles have to decide if they want to keep him or move on to Carson Wentz. It's a tough call and could set the franchise back years. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://sports.yahoo.com/could-nick-foles-magic-convince-154345881.html?src=rss | 0.128957 |
Is Pacquiao shading Mayweather in his New Years resolution tweet? | Many Filipinos are greeting the new year by making resolutions, and Manny Pacquiao is no exception. The boxer and senator even made it public by tweeting about it on Jan. 1. But instead of keeping it light, he also did not miss the chance to throw some shade. Scroll to continue with content Ad Heres what Pacquiao wrote: Some of his fans took this as a reference to Floyd Mayweather Jr., who won a decisive victory versus kickboxing champion Tenshin Nasukawa in an exhibition match on Dec. 31 in Tokyo. The match ended after only two minutes and 19 seconds after Mayweather floored Nasukawa three times on the ring. Mayweather was so confident about winning that he claimed that he barely even trained for it. @darebirthonline joked that by tweeting his resolution, Pacquiao finally landed a punch on Mayweather. Story continues Wow. Finally landed a jab on Floyd Jamie (@darebirthonline) December 31, 2018 @SpeedGonzales1 wrote that after Mayweathers exhibition bout versus Nasukawa, fans need to see a real fight, referring to Pacquiaos match in January versus American Adrian Broner. Coincidentally, Broner is a former protg of Mayweather. After the last Mayweather exhibition we need a to see a real fight!!! Waiting for The Manny Show in january!!! Do it mannnn SpeedGonzales (@SpeedGonzales1) January 1, 2019 Another netizen felt that Pacquiao was shading Mayweather and tweeted this gif that shows the latter pretending to be spooked. On the other hand, someone asked if Pacquiao was ready to fight Jeff Horn, the Australian boxer who defeated Pacquiao in 2017. Orlando Martinez (@elhocicon77) December 31, 2018 Pacquiao has been open to the possibility of a rematch versus Mayweather, who defeated him in Las Vegas in 2015. Pacquiao earlier said that a rematch was scheduled in early December last year after a video went viral showing him and Mayweather chatting at a concert in Japan. But alas, nothing came out of it, and instead Pacquiao will fight Broner in a match which will reunite him with his coach Freddie Roach, whom he reportedly had a falling out after he lost to Horn. But a Mayweather-Pacquiao rematch could still happen. Pacquiao told the BBC in November that a rematch was a big possibility and that he couldnt retire with peace of mind because of his 2015 defeat. Fight fans may have to wait, however, because Pacquiao hasnt given any specific dates as to when the much-anticipated fight is going to happen. This article, Is Pacquiao shading Mayweather in his New Years resolution tweet?, originally appeared on Coconuts, Asia's leading alternative media company. For more Coconuts stories, you can download our app, sign up for our newsletters, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. | Manny Pacquiao tweeted about his New Year's resolution on Jan. 1. The boxer and senator did not miss the chance to throw some shade at Floyd Mayweather Jr. Mayweather won a decisive victory versus kickboxing champion Tenshin Nasukawa in an exhibition match on Dec. 31. | bart | 2 | https://sports.yahoo.com/pacquiao-shading-mayweather-resolution-tweet-061244193.html?src=rss | 0.329203 |
Are the Bears Right About GNC Holdings? | GNC Holdings (NYSE: GNC) has lost over 90% of its market value over the past three years as competition from superstores, warehouse retailers, and e-tailers drained its sales and profits. Several lawsuits that questioned the safety and efficacy of its supplements tarnished the brand's reputation, and the suspension of its dividend in 2017 eliminated one of the last reasons to own the stock. GNC's steep sell-off reduced its price-to-sales ratio to just 0.08 and its EV-to-sales ratio to 0.6. Bottom-fishing investors might be drawn to those bargain bin valuations, but the bears are still betting heavily against the stock, as nearly 80% of GNC's float was being shorted as of Dec. 26. The shadow of a bear faces a man in a suit wearing a matador's hat and holding a red cape. More Image source: Getty Images. I've been bearish on GNC for a long time, but I still think it's important to evaluate the headwinds and potential tailwinds for this beaten-down retailer. After all, a single glimmer of hope at these levels might spark a big short-squeeze and a short-term rally. GNC sells its own vitamins and health supplements alongside third-party products at its retail stores, many of which are located in malls. This business model worked well when mall traffic was healthy and competitors like Walmart and Costco carried fewer supplements. But as mall visits declined and Walmart, Walmart's Sam's Club, and Costco offered more vitamins and supplements in cheaper bulk packages, GNC's business dried up. Here's how badly its same-store sales and top-line growth deteriorated over the past year. Metric Q4 2017 Q1 2018 Q2 2018 Q3 2018 Comps (Company-owned) 5.7% 0.5% (0.4%) (2.1%) Comps (Franchised) (2%) 1.9% (4%) (4.1%) Total revenue (2.1%) (7.2%)* (5%) (5.4%) YOY growth; comps exclude international sales. Source: GNC quarterly reports. *Caused by the sale of its Lucky Vitamin brand. A rare bright spot was GNC's smaller international business, which reported a 1.5% increase in franchised comps last quarter. However, GNC's international revenues accounted for only 9% of its top line. Its revenue declines in the second and third quarters were exacerbated by the Lucky Vitamin sale in the first quarter, but GNC's negative comps indicate that its core business is still struggling. GNC's declining domestic comps were also exacerbated by the redemption of loyalty points over the past few quarters. But even excluding that impact, GNC's company-owned comps slipped 1.3% during the third quarter. GNC expects the impact from loyalty programs to be "negligible" in the fourth quarter and beyond, but it didn't provide any clear comps guidance for that quarter or the full year. Analysts expect GNC's revenue to fall 5% this fiscal year (which ended on Dec. 31) and drop another 2% next year. GNC's main direct competitor, Vitamin Shoppe (NYSE: VSI), which faces many similar headwinds, is expected to post a 5% sales decline this fiscal year (which ended on Dec. 30) followed by flat growth next year. Contracting margins and widening losses To buoy its sales growth, GNC used big markdowns and loyalty program promotions to drive sales. This has caused its gross margin to contract over the past few years. | GNC Holdings has lost over 90% of its market value over the past three years. It sells its own vitamins and health supplements alongside third-party products at its retail stores. As mall visits declined, GNC's business dried up. | pegasus | 1 | https://news.yahoo.com/bears-gnc-holdings-003200003.html | 0.110728 |
Are the Bears Right About GNC Holdings? | GNC Holdings (NYSE: GNC) has lost over 90% of its market value over the past three years as competition from superstores, warehouse retailers, and e-tailers drained its sales and profits. Several lawsuits that questioned the safety and efficacy of its supplements tarnished the brand's reputation, and the suspension of its dividend in 2017 eliminated one of the last reasons to own the stock. GNC's steep sell-off reduced its price-to-sales ratio to just 0.08 and its EV-to-sales ratio to 0.6. Bottom-fishing investors might be drawn to those bargain bin valuations, but the bears are still betting heavily against the stock, as nearly 80% of GNC's float was being shorted as of Dec. 26. The shadow of a bear faces a man in a suit wearing a matador's hat and holding a red cape. More Image source: Getty Images. I've been bearish on GNC for a long time, but I still think it's important to evaluate the headwinds and potential tailwinds for this beaten-down retailer. After all, a single glimmer of hope at these levels might spark a big short-squeeze and a short-term rally. GNC sells its own vitamins and health supplements alongside third-party products at its retail stores, many of which are located in malls. This business model worked well when mall traffic was healthy and competitors like Walmart and Costco carried fewer supplements. But as mall visits declined and Walmart, Walmart's Sam's Club, and Costco offered more vitamins and supplements in cheaper bulk packages, GNC's business dried up. Here's how badly its same-store sales and top-line growth deteriorated over the past year. Metric Q4 2017 Q1 2018 Q2 2018 Q3 2018 Comps (Company-owned) 5.7% 0.5% (0.4%) (2.1%) Comps (Franchised) (2%) 1.9% (4%) (4.1%) Total revenue (2.1%) (7.2%)* (5%) (5.4%) YOY growth; comps exclude international sales. Source: GNC quarterly reports. *Caused by the sale of its Lucky Vitamin brand. A rare bright spot was GNC's smaller international business, which reported a 1.5% increase in franchised comps last quarter. However, GNC's international revenues accounted for only 9% of its top line. Its revenue declines in the second and third quarters were exacerbated by the Lucky Vitamin sale in the first quarter, but GNC's negative comps indicate that its core business is still struggling. GNC's declining domestic comps were also exacerbated by the redemption of loyalty points over the past few quarters. But even excluding that impact, GNC's company-owned comps slipped 1.3% during the third quarter. GNC expects the impact from loyalty programs to be "negligible" in the fourth quarter and beyond, but it didn't provide any clear comps guidance for that quarter or the full year. Analysts expect GNC's revenue to fall 5% this fiscal year (which ended on Dec. 31) and drop another 2% next year. GNC's main direct competitor, Vitamin Shoppe (NYSE: VSI), which faces many similar headwinds, is expected to post a 5% sales decline this fiscal year (which ended on Dec. 30) followed by flat growth next year. Contracting margins and widening losses To buoy its sales growth, GNC used big markdowns and loyalty program promotions to drive sales. This has caused its gross margin to contract over the past few years. | GNC Holdings (NYSE: GNC) has lost over 90% of its market value over the past three years. Several lawsuits that questioned the safety and efficacy of its supplements tarnished the brand's reputation. Analysts expect GNC's revenue to fall 5% this fiscal year and drop another 2% next year. | bart | 2 | https://news.yahoo.com/bears-gnc-holdings-003200003.html | 0.122948 |
What Is a Corporate Bond? | A diverse portfolio is one that contains a variety of assets, including stocks and bonds. While bonds aren't necessarily the most lucrative investment out there, what they lack in higher returns, they make up for in stability. The bond market is actually made up of different types of bonds. There are Treasury bonds issued by the U.S. government, municipal bonds issued by states, cities, and counties, and corporate bonds issued by -- you guessed it -- corporations looking to raise capital. Here, we'll take a deep dive into corporate bonds to help you determine whether they're right for you. We'll review key terms you need to know, like maturity dates, interest rates, and credit ratings, so that you understand how corporate bonds work. We'll also show you how to evaluate bonds on a case-by-case basis and develop an investment strategy around them. IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES. A bond is a debt instrument issued by an entity to raise money. In the case of a corporate bond, the entity in question is a corporation looking to raise capital for a host of reasons, whether to expand, upgrade equipment, or invest in research and development. The best way to think about corporate bonds from an investor standpoint is to liken them to an I.O.U. When you buy bonds, you're essentially lending money to a company for a predetermined period of time, known as a bond's term. That period might be two years, five years, or 10 years, depending on the company's needs. The company, in turn, agrees to pay you a specific amount of interest on that loan, and then repay your initial investment, or principal, once your bond matures, or comes due, at the end of its term. For example, you might buy a 10-year, $20,000 bond paying 3% interest. The company that issues that bond will, in turn, promise to pay you interest on that $20,000 every six months, and then return your $20,000 after 10 years. Back in the day, bondholders actually had to submit the physical coupons attached to their original bond certificates in order to collect the interest payments that were due to them. Going through that process on a monthly basis would be burdensome, but waiting a full year would result in a long lag between collecting interest payments. Hence, semiannual payments seemed to make sense then, and the tradition has since continued even though the payment of interest has since been digitized. However, this example is a basic representation of how corporate bonds work. Usually, when you buy corporate bonds, you'll lock in a fixed rate, and you'll collect the same interest payment annually (known as a coupon payment) until your bond matures. However, some bonds work differently. Floating-rate bonds are bonds with variable interest rates that change based on outside benchmarks like the U.S. Treasury bill rate or LIBOR (short for the London Inter-bank Offered Rate, it's the rate used by world banks when charging each other interest on short-term loans). Floating-rate bonds are usually issued by companies considered below investment grade, or "junk" status. This means their credit ratings are exceptionally low, and they're thus considered a higher-risk investment. There are also zero coupon bonds, which don't pay interest. Rather, you buy them below face value (meaning, the amount the issuer promises to ultimately repay) and receive their full value once they mature. For example, if you're looking at a zero coupon bond worth $5,000, you might pay just $4,000 for it, and then collect $5,000 once it comes due. Finally, there are convertible bonds. These work just like regular fixed-rate bonds in that they pay interest regularly, only they come with the option to be converted into shares of stock (hence the name). The benefit of buying convertible bonds is that if stock prices rise, so too do bond values. At the same time, if stock prices fall, there's the option to hold your bonds until maturity and recoup your principal. That said, convertible bonds can be difficult to come by, as not all companies issue them, and because they offer the flexibility of being converted to stock shares, their interest or coupon rates are generally lower than what you'd get with a fixed-rate corporate bond. How to buy corporate bonds Because stocks are traded on public exchanges, they're pretty easy to buy and sell. Corporate bonds, on the other hand, do not trade publicly. Rather, they trade in a manner known as over the counter, which means they're purchased through a third party, like a broker. As such, it can be challenging to determine whether you're getting a fair price for the bonds you're buying. It's not illegal for brokers to sell you a bond above its face value, or for a broker to sell you a bond at a price that's much higher than its going rate. The good news is that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) regulates the bond market so that transaction prices do become available to investors at some point. However, that information isn't always as up to date as it could be. None of this is a reason not to buy corporate bonds. However, it's something you, as an investor, should be aware of. It also speaks to the importance of working with a broker you can trust. Another thing to keep in mind is that you can buy corporate bonds individually, or in the form of shares of a bond fund. With the former, you choose a company and buy bonds it has issued. With the latter, you buy into a fund that invests in corporate bonds, thereby getting the benefit of instant diversification. Remember, if you buy bonds from a single company and it fails to meet its financial obligations under those bonds (which we'll get into in a bit), you stand to lose money. If you buy into a bond fund and one issuer of 30 runs into money problems, the bulk of your investment will remain unaffected. How to make money from corporate bonds For the most part, there are two ways to make money by investing in corporate bonds. The first is to hold your bonds until they mature, and collect interest payments on them along the way. The second is to sell your bonds for a price that's higher than what you bought them for. Going back to our example, say you buy a 10-year, $20,000 bond paying 3% interest for face value, or $20,000. In the first scenario, you'd hold that bond for 10 years, collect 3% interest a year, and get your $20,000 back after a decade. In the second scenario, you might have an opportunity to sell your bonds for $22,000, thereby banking the difference. As noted earlier, there are exceptions to this formula. If you buy zero coupon bonds, for example, you profit by paying less than face value for your bonds and getting their full face value once they mature. Similarly, if you buy shares of a bond fund that goes up in value, and you sell those shares for a price that's higher than what you paid for them, you can profit that way. Corporate bonds versus other bonds Corporate bonds aren't the only type of bond out there. Another popular investment choice is municipal bonds, which are those issued by cities, states, and other localities. Municipal bonds work just like corporate bonds, with one key difference: the tax treatment of the interest payments you collect. When you receive corporate bond interest, it's considered taxable income. But when you collect municipal bond interest, it's always tax-exempt at the federal level, and if you buy bonds issued by your home state, your interest payments are free of state and local taxes as well. That said, corporate bonds tend to offer higher interest rates than municipal bonds, which can, in many cases, more than compensate for that tax exemption. There are also Treasury bonds, which are bonds issued by the U.S. government. Also known as T-bonds, Treasury bonds have a maturity of 10 years or longer, and because they're backed by the credit of the U.S. government, they're considered virtually risk-free. T-bond interest is also tax-free at the state and local level, though you'll pay federal taxes on the interest you collect. And as is the case with municipal bonds, Treasury bonds tend to offer lower interest rates than corporate bonds. Corporate bonds versus stocks It's easy to lump stocks and bonds into the same category. After all, your goal in investing in either one is to make money. But in reality, the two are very different beasts. When you buy corporate bonds, you're making a loan to a company in exchange for interest payments or some other financial incentive. However, you receive no upside if the company performs exceptionally well. When you buy stocks, on the other hand, you actually own equity in the company in question, and in the case of common stock, you get voting rights on how that company operates. In some cases, you also get to collect dividends, which are essentially a share of a company's profits. But don't confuse interest payments and dividend payments -- with the former, you're getting a preset amount as per a contract, or bond agreement, and with the latter, you're benefiting when the company you've invested in does well. How to choose corporate bonds for your portfolio Once you make the decision to invest in corporate bonds, you'll need to make sure you're buying the right ones. You'll therefore need to look at the following factors: The term of your bonds The price of your bonds The credit rating of your bonds' issuer First, let's talk term. The longer you're willing to lock your money away, the higher an interest payment you'll generally receive. At the same time, longer bond terms come with more risk, so you'll need to weigh the upside of a higher interest rate against the possibility of not getting to use your money for however long it is until that bond comes due. If you're investing for a far-off goal, like retirement, then a bond with a 10-year term might be a good way to go, especially if its interest rate is higher than what you'd get with a five-year bond by the same issuer. But if you have reason to believe you'll need your money sooner, you're better off sticking to shorter-term bonds. Then there's the price of your bonds to consider. As stated above, it can be hard to know whether you're getting a fair price on your bonds, so as a general rule, be wary when you're being charged a price that's well above face value. At the same time, don't hesitate to ask your broker what his or her markup is on that bond. If you have a good relationship with your broker, that information should be easy enough to come by. At the same time, don't hesitate to comparison shop. If there's a specific bond you have in mind, get quotes from different brokers and see what's most competitive. Finally, there's the credit rating of a bond's issuer to consider. A credit rating is a measure of a company's ability to make good on its obligations. The higher the rating, the less likely the issuer is to default on its obligations and cause you to lose money. There are three well-known ratings agencies that rate bond issuers: Standard & Poor's (S&P) Moody's Fitch S&P and Fitch use a similar system that rates bond issuers from least to most risky as follows: AAA AA A BBB BB B CCC CC C D (refers to bonds that are already in default) The Moody's rating system differs slightly, as follows: Aaa Aa A Baa Ba B Caa Ca C From there, numbers or symbols are used to offer additional detail on an issuer's creditworthiness. S&P and Fitch use pluses and minuses for this purpose, while Moody's uses numbers. For example, a B+ rating from S&P is better than a B or B-, while a Ba1 from Moody's is a higher rating than Ba2 or Ba3. As a general rule, the lower a company's credit rating, the higher an interest rate you'll snag when buying its bonds. That's because investors need to be rewarded for taking on that risk. Therefore, if you're looking at two different bond issuers with the same credit rating and same bond term, but one is offering a higher interest rate than the other, it might pay to go with that higher rate, all other things being equal. Keep in mind that corporate bonds with a rating below BBB- by S&P and Fitch and Baa3 by Moody's are considered junk bonds. Also known as high-yield bonds, these bonds offer comparatively high interest rates, but with a substantially higher risk of default. While hedge funds are known to snatch up junk bonds, they're generally not an appropriate choice for the average investor, and they're certainly a dangerous move for newbies. Also, remember that bond ratings have the potential to change over time. A company might start out with a high credit rating but encounter financial difficulties that cause its rating to change. There's no need to panic if you buy bonds issued by a company that starts out with a Aaa Moody's rating but gets downgraded to Aa, as the latter is still a strong rating. Rather, be wary if the company issuing your bonds sees its rating drop to the point where it's hovering close to junk status. In some cases, it pays to sell bonds you own at a minimal loss rather than wait for an issuing company to completely default, thereby subjecting you to even greater losses. Benefits of corporate bonds One benefit of buying corporate bonds is that they're a relatively safe investment -- at least compared to stocks. Granted, the better job you do of researching the bonds you buy, the safer your investment will be, but know that on a general level, the bond market is far less volatile than the stock market. Another benefit of buying corporate bonds is that they give you a fairly reliable stream of income, at least in the case of fixed-rate bonds. For example, if you buy a 10-year, $20,000 bond paying 3% interest, you can look forward to $600 of income each year, assuming the bond issuer is able to meet all of its obligations. The dividends you might get from stocks, by contrast, are not guaranteed -- meaning, stock issuers aren't contractually obliged to pay dividends, even when they're doing well financially. Drawbacks of corporate bonds One major drawback of investing in corporate bonds is having to lock your money away for what could be a lengthy period of time. Stocks, by contrast, don't require you to commit to a specific timeframe. That said, you're always free to sell corporate bonds before they come due. If you're able to do so at a point when the market is strong, you might make money -- or at least avoid losing money. But if you sell at a bad time because you need to free up your cash, you could be forced to accept a price below face value, or below what you paid, thereby resulting in a loss. Another downside associated with corporate bonds is something called interest-rate risk. When you buy corporate bonds, you're agreeing to accept a certain interest rate for the entire term of that bond. But if the same company issues bonds later at a higher interest rate, your bonds automatically lose value because you're stuck with that lower, earlier rate, while new investors would rationally prefer to buy bonds from the same company (i.e., the same risk of default) that pay a higher interest rate. For example, you might buy a 10-year, $20,000 bond paying 3% interest. If the same company issues a 10-year, $20,000 bond paying 4% interest six months into your bond's term, your bond value starts to sink, and you're stuck in a scenario where you're collecting a lower rate for years. You generally won't see anywhere close to the same return you'd get with stocks. And over time, that could affect your ability to accumulate wealth. Between 1928 and 2010, stocks averaged an 11.3% return, while bonds averaged just 5.28%. That's quite the difference. Now let's say you invest $20,000 over a 10-year term at an average annual 5.28% return. After a decade, you'll have $33,457. But if you were to score an average annual 11.3% return instead, you'd be sitting on $58,342. Additionally, because bonds trade over the counter, it's hard to know whether you're buying them at a fair price, and overpaying for bonds can easily eat into your profits. Furthermore, bonds are generally sold in $1,000 denominations, which means if you're starting out with a limited amount of money to invest, you could get priced out of the market if your goal is to buy individual bonds (whereas you can easily find individual stocks for well less than $1,000 per share). Finally, although bonds are considered a safer investment than stocks, they're not without risk. If a company issues bonds, encounters financial difficulties, and doesn't have enough money to make its interest payments or repay your outstanding principal, you stand to lose money. Throw in the fact that you're losing a portion of your interest payments to taxes off the bat, and it's easy to see why some investors shy away from corporate bonds. Of course, there's no cookie-cutter answer here, because it will depend on your personal needs and goals. But know this: Bonds are a good way to diversify, whether you're first starting out in the world of investing or have been at it for years. Imagine you invest in stocks and bonds, and the stock market experiences an extended downturn. If, at that time, you continue to collect bond interest, that money could help offset some losses you might inevitably have to take on the stock side of your portfolio. That said, if you're relatively young, you might consider laddering your bonds so that you have different bonds coming due at different times. For example, rather than buy a 10-year, $20,000 bond, you might put $5,000 into a two-year bond, another $5,000 into a three-year bond, an additional $5,000 into a five-year bond, and your remaining $5,000 into a 10-year bond. This way, if interest rates go up during that 10-year window, or other investment opportunities arise, you'll have access to some of your money at various points throughout that decade. Furthermore, while younger investors are generally advised to put more of their money into stocks and less into bonds, the opposite holds true for near-retirees. If you're planning to cash out your investments in the near future to pay your living expenses once you stop working, you won't have a lot of time to ride out a stock market downturn. But since the bond market is relatively stable, you're less likely to face losses when you need to sell your corporate bonds to access cash. Along these lines, corporate bonds can be a smart investment for seniors during retirement. The regular interest payments you collect can serve as a welcome income stream at a time when you're no longer collecting a paycheck. Ultimately, there's a good chance corporate bonds have some place in your portfolio. Think about your tolerance for risk, as well as your immediate and long-term objectives, and you'll probably find that corporate bonds can benefit you in a number of ways. More From The Motley Fool The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. | A corporate bond is a debt instrument issued by an entity to raise money. The bond market is made up of different types of bonds, including Treasury bonds and convertible bonds. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://news.yahoo.com/corporate-bond-000900858.html | 0.629248 |
What Is a Corporate Bond? | A diverse portfolio is one that contains a variety of assets, including stocks and bonds. While bonds aren't necessarily the most lucrative investment out there, what they lack in higher returns, they make up for in stability. The bond market is actually made up of different types of bonds. There are Treasury bonds issued by the U.S. government, municipal bonds issued by states, cities, and counties, and corporate bonds issued by -- you guessed it -- corporations looking to raise capital. Here, we'll take a deep dive into corporate bonds to help you determine whether they're right for you. We'll review key terms you need to know, like maturity dates, interest rates, and credit ratings, so that you understand how corporate bonds work. We'll also show you how to evaluate bonds on a case-by-case basis and develop an investment strategy around them. IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES. A bond is a debt instrument issued by an entity to raise money. In the case of a corporate bond, the entity in question is a corporation looking to raise capital for a host of reasons, whether to expand, upgrade equipment, or invest in research and development. The best way to think about corporate bonds from an investor standpoint is to liken them to an I.O.U. When you buy bonds, you're essentially lending money to a company for a predetermined period of time, known as a bond's term. That period might be two years, five years, or 10 years, depending on the company's needs. The company, in turn, agrees to pay you a specific amount of interest on that loan, and then repay your initial investment, or principal, once your bond matures, or comes due, at the end of its term. For example, you might buy a 10-year, $20,000 bond paying 3% interest. The company that issues that bond will, in turn, promise to pay you interest on that $20,000 every six months, and then return your $20,000 after 10 years. Back in the day, bondholders actually had to submit the physical coupons attached to their original bond certificates in order to collect the interest payments that were due to them. Going through that process on a monthly basis would be burdensome, but waiting a full year would result in a long lag between collecting interest payments. Hence, semiannual payments seemed to make sense then, and the tradition has since continued even though the payment of interest has since been digitized. However, this example is a basic representation of how corporate bonds work. Usually, when you buy corporate bonds, you'll lock in a fixed rate, and you'll collect the same interest payment annually (known as a coupon payment) until your bond matures. However, some bonds work differently. Floating-rate bonds are bonds with variable interest rates that change based on outside benchmarks like the U.S. Treasury bill rate or LIBOR (short for the London Inter-bank Offered Rate, it's the rate used by world banks when charging each other interest on short-term loans). Floating-rate bonds are usually issued by companies considered below investment grade, or "junk" status. This means their credit ratings are exceptionally low, and they're thus considered a higher-risk investment. There are also zero coupon bonds, which don't pay interest. Rather, you buy them below face value (meaning, the amount the issuer promises to ultimately repay) and receive their full value once they mature. For example, if you're looking at a zero coupon bond worth $5,000, you might pay just $4,000 for it, and then collect $5,000 once it comes due. Finally, there are convertible bonds. These work just like regular fixed-rate bonds in that they pay interest regularly, only they come with the option to be converted into shares of stock (hence the name). The benefit of buying convertible bonds is that if stock prices rise, so too do bond values. At the same time, if stock prices fall, there's the option to hold your bonds until maturity and recoup your principal. That said, convertible bonds can be difficult to come by, as not all companies issue them, and because they offer the flexibility of being converted to stock shares, their interest or coupon rates are generally lower than what you'd get with a fixed-rate corporate bond. How to buy corporate bonds Because stocks are traded on public exchanges, they're pretty easy to buy and sell. Corporate bonds, on the other hand, do not trade publicly. Rather, they trade in a manner known as over the counter, which means they're purchased through a third party, like a broker. As such, it can be challenging to determine whether you're getting a fair price for the bonds you're buying. It's not illegal for brokers to sell you a bond above its face value, or for a broker to sell you a bond at a price that's much higher than its going rate. The good news is that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) regulates the bond market so that transaction prices do become available to investors at some point. However, that information isn't always as up to date as it could be. None of this is a reason not to buy corporate bonds. However, it's something you, as an investor, should be aware of. It also speaks to the importance of working with a broker you can trust. Another thing to keep in mind is that you can buy corporate bonds individually, or in the form of shares of a bond fund. With the former, you choose a company and buy bonds it has issued. With the latter, you buy into a fund that invests in corporate bonds, thereby getting the benefit of instant diversification. Remember, if you buy bonds from a single company and it fails to meet its financial obligations under those bonds (which we'll get into in a bit), you stand to lose money. If you buy into a bond fund and one issuer of 30 runs into money problems, the bulk of your investment will remain unaffected. How to make money from corporate bonds For the most part, there are two ways to make money by investing in corporate bonds. The first is to hold your bonds until they mature, and collect interest payments on them along the way. The second is to sell your bonds for a price that's higher than what you bought them for. Going back to our example, say you buy a 10-year, $20,000 bond paying 3% interest for face value, or $20,000. In the first scenario, you'd hold that bond for 10 years, collect 3% interest a year, and get your $20,000 back after a decade. In the second scenario, you might have an opportunity to sell your bonds for $22,000, thereby banking the difference. As noted earlier, there are exceptions to this formula. If you buy zero coupon bonds, for example, you profit by paying less than face value for your bonds and getting their full face value once they mature. Similarly, if you buy shares of a bond fund that goes up in value, and you sell those shares for a price that's higher than what you paid for them, you can profit that way. Corporate bonds versus other bonds Corporate bonds aren't the only type of bond out there. Another popular investment choice is municipal bonds, which are those issued by cities, states, and other localities. Municipal bonds work just like corporate bonds, with one key difference: the tax treatment of the interest payments you collect. When you receive corporate bond interest, it's considered taxable income. But when you collect municipal bond interest, it's always tax-exempt at the federal level, and if you buy bonds issued by your home state, your interest payments are free of state and local taxes as well. That said, corporate bonds tend to offer higher interest rates than municipal bonds, which can, in many cases, more than compensate for that tax exemption. There are also Treasury bonds, which are bonds issued by the U.S. government. Also known as T-bonds, Treasury bonds have a maturity of 10 years or longer, and because they're backed by the credit of the U.S. government, they're considered virtually risk-free. T-bond interest is also tax-free at the state and local level, though you'll pay federal taxes on the interest you collect. And as is the case with municipal bonds, Treasury bonds tend to offer lower interest rates than corporate bonds. Corporate bonds versus stocks It's easy to lump stocks and bonds into the same category. After all, your goal in investing in either one is to make money. But in reality, the two are very different beasts. When you buy corporate bonds, you're making a loan to a company in exchange for interest payments or some other financial incentive. However, you receive no upside if the company performs exceptionally well. When you buy stocks, on the other hand, you actually own equity in the company in question, and in the case of common stock, you get voting rights on how that company operates. In some cases, you also get to collect dividends, which are essentially a share of a company's profits. But don't confuse interest payments and dividend payments -- with the former, you're getting a preset amount as per a contract, or bond agreement, and with the latter, you're benefiting when the company you've invested in does well. How to choose corporate bonds for your portfolio Once you make the decision to invest in corporate bonds, you'll need to make sure you're buying the right ones. You'll therefore need to look at the following factors: The term of your bonds The price of your bonds The credit rating of your bonds' issuer First, let's talk term. The longer you're willing to lock your money away, the higher an interest payment you'll generally receive. At the same time, longer bond terms come with more risk, so you'll need to weigh the upside of a higher interest rate against the possibility of not getting to use your money for however long it is until that bond comes due. If you're investing for a far-off goal, like retirement, then a bond with a 10-year term might be a good way to go, especially if its interest rate is higher than what you'd get with a five-year bond by the same issuer. But if you have reason to believe you'll need your money sooner, you're better off sticking to shorter-term bonds. Then there's the price of your bonds to consider. As stated above, it can be hard to know whether you're getting a fair price on your bonds, so as a general rule, be wary when you're being charged a price that's well above face value. At the same time, don't hesitate to ask your broker what his or her markup is on that bond. If you have a good relationship with your broker, that information should be easy enough to come by. At the same time, don't hesitate to comparison shop. If there's a specific bond you have in mind, get quotes from different brokers and see what's most competitive. Finally, there's the credit rating of a bond's issuer to consider. A credit rating is a measure of a company's ability to make good on its obligations. The higher the rating, the less likely the issuer is to default on its obligations and cause you to lose money. There are three well-known ratings agencies that rate bond issuers: Standard & Poor's (S&P) Moody's Fitch S&P and Fitch use a similar system that rates bond issuers from least to most risky as follows: AAA AA A BBB BB B CCC CC C D (refers to bonds that are already in default) The Moody's rating system differs slightly, as follows: Aaa Aa A Baa Ba B Caa Ca C From there, numbers or symbols are used to offer additional detail on an issuer's creditworthiness. S&P and Fitch use pluses and minuses for this purpose, while Moody's uses numbers. For example, a B+ rating from S&P is better than a B or B-, while a Ba1 from Moody's is a higher rating than Ba2 or Ba3. As a general rule, the lower a company's credit rating, the higher an interest rate you'll snag when buying its bonds. That's because investors need to be rewarded for taking on that risk. Therefore, if you're looking at two different bond issuers with the same credit rating and same bond term, but one is offering a higher interest rate than the other, it might pay to go with that higher rate, all other things being equal. Keep in mind that corporate bonds with a rating below BBB- by S&P and Fitch and Baa3 by Moody's are considered junk bonds. Also known as high-yield bonds, these bonds offer comparatively high interest rates, but with a substantially higher risk of default. While hedge funds are known to snatch up junk bonds, they're generally not an appropriate choice for the average investor, and they're certainly a dangerous move for newbies. Also, remember that bond ratings have the potential to change over time. A company might start out with a high credit rating but encounter financial difficulties that cause its rating to change. There's no need to panic if you buy bonds issued by a company that starts out with a Aaa Moody's rating but gets downgraded to Aa, as the latter is still a strong rating. Rather, be wary if the company issuing your bonds sees its rating drop to the point where it's hovering close to junk status. In some cases, it pays to sell bonds you own at a minimal loss rather than wait for an issuing company to completely default, thereby subjecting you to even greater losses. Benefits of corporate bonds One benefit of buying corporate bonds is that they're a relatively safe investment -- at least compared to stocks. Granted, the better job you do of researching the bonds you buy, the safer your investment will be, but know that on a general level, the bond market is far less volatile than the stock market. Another benefit of buying corporate bonds is that they give you a fairly reliable stream of income, at least in the case of fixed-rate bonds. For example, if you buy a 10-year, $20,000 bond paying 3% interest, you can look forward to $600 of income each year, assuming the bond issuer is able to meet all of its obligations. The dividends you might get from stocks, by contrast, are not guaranteed -- meaning, stock issuers aren't contractually obliged to pay dividends, even when they're doing well financially. Drawbacks of corporate bonds One major drawback of investing in corporate bonds is having to lock your money away for what could be a lengthy period of time. Stocks, by contrast, don't require you to commit to a specific timeframe. That said, you're always free to sell corporate bonds before they come due. If you're able to do so at a point when the market is strong, you might make money -- or at least avoid losing money. But if you sell at a bad time because you need to free up your cash, you could be forced to accept a price below face value, or below what you paid, thereby resulting in a loss. Another downside associated with corporate bonds is something called interest-rate risk. When you buy corporate bonds, you're agreeing to accept a certain interest rate for the entire term of that bond. But if the same company issues bonds later at a higher interest rate, your bonds automatically lose value because you're stuck with that lower, earlier rate, while new investors would rationally prefer to buy bonds from the same company (i.e., the same risk of default) that pay a higher interest rate. For example, you might buy a 10-year, $20,000 bond paying 3% interest. If the same company issues a 10-year, $20,000 bond paying 4% interest six months into your bond's term, your bond value starts to sink, and you're stuck in a scenario where you're collecting a lower rate for years. You generally won't see anywhere close to the same return you'd get with stocks. And over time, that could affect your ability to accumulate wealth. Between 1928 and 2010, stocks averaged an 11.3% return, while bonds averaged just 5.28%. That's quite the difference. Now let's say you invest $20,000 over a 10-year term at an average annual 5.28% return. After a decade, you'll have $33,457. But if you were to score an average annual 11.3% return instead, you'd be sitting on $58,342. Additionally, because bonds trade over the counter, it's hard to know whether you're buying them at a fair price, and overpaying for bonds can easily eat into your profits. Furthermore, bonds are generally sold in $1,000 denominations, which means if you're starting out with a limited amount of money to invest, you could get priced out of the market if your goal is to buy individual bonds (whereas you can easily find individual stocks for well less than $1,000 per share). Finally, although bonds are considered a safer investment than stocks, they're not without risk. If a company issues bonds, encounters financial difficulties, and doesn't have enough money to make its interest payments or repay your outstanding principal, you stand to lose money. Throw in the fact that you're losing a portion of your interest payments to taxes off the bat, and it's easy to see why some investors shy away from corporate bonds. Of course, there's no cookie-cutter answer here, because it will depend on your personal needs and goals. But know this: Bonds are a good way to diversify, whether you're first starting out in the world of investing or have been at it for years. Imagine you invest in stocks and bonds, and the stock market experiences an extended downturn. If, at that time, you continue to collect bond interest, that money could help offset some losses you might inevitably have to take on the stock side of your portfolio. That said, if you're relatively young, you might consider laddering your bonds so that you have different bonds coming due at different times. For example, rather than buy a 10-year, $20,000 bond, you might put $5,000 into a two-year bond, another $5,000 into a three-year bond, an additional $5,000 into a five-year bond, and your remaining $5,000 into a 10-year bond. This way, if interest rates go up during that 10-year window, or other investment opportunities arise, you'll have access to some of your money at various points throughout that decade. Furthermore, while younger investors are generally advised to put more of their money into stocks and less into bonds, the opposite holds true for near-retirees. If you're planning to cash out your investments in the near future to pay your living expenses once you stop working, you won't have a lot of time to ride out a stock market downturn. But since the bond market is relatively stable, you're less likely to face losses when you need to sell your corporate bonds to access cash. Along these lines, corporate bonds can be a smart investment for seniors during retirement. The regular interest payments you collect can serve as a welcome income stream at a time when you're no longer collecting a paycheck. Ultimately, there's a good chance corporate bonds have some place in your portfolio. Think about your tolerance for risk, as well as your immediate and long-term objectives, and you'll probably find that corporate bonds can benefit you in a number of ways. More From The Motley Fool The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. | A corporate bond is a debt instrument issued by an entity to raise money. The bond market is made up of different types of bonds, including Treasury bonds and convertible bonds. There are also zero coupon bonds, which don't pay interest and receive their full value once they mature. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://news.yahoo.com/corporate-bond-000900858.html | 0.678023 |
Will James Webb Be the Next Secretary of Defense? | One of the odd-but-positive political rumors at the start of this odd year is that Donald Trump is considering former Senator James Webb as a successor to James Mattis as secretary of defense. Among the reasons why this would be odd: Webb last held office as a Democrat, and even ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in the 2016 race. Webb is a famously independent-minded character with no ability to suffer fools. (Knowing them both, I can say that Webb is much less willing to go with the organizational flow than Mattis has been.) In his early 40s, he was Ronald Reagans secretary of the Navy, but he resigned within less than a year because of disagreements with the defense secretary of that era, Frank Carlucci. Webb is a gifted novelist, essayist, and screenwriter, who has returned repeatedly to the self-directed literary life after his periods of public service. Reasons why it would be good news for the country, if it happened: | Former Sen. James Webb is being considered as the next secretary of defense. | ctrlsum | 0 | https://www.theatlantic.com/notes/2019/01/jim-webb-secdef/579442/?utm_source=feed | 0.31138 |
Will James Webb Be the Next Secretary of Defense? | One of the odd-but-positive political rumors at the start of this odd year is that Donald Trump is considering former Senator James Webb as a successor to James Mattis as secretary of defense. Among the reasons why this would be odd: Webb last held office as a Democrat, and even ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in the 2016 race. Webb is a famously independent-minded character with no ability to suffer fools. (Knowing them both, I can say that Webb is much less willing to go with the organizational flow than Mattis has been.) In his early 40s, he was Ronald Reagans secretary of the Navy, but he resigned within less than a year because of disagreements with the defense secretary of that era, Frank Carlucci. Webb is a gifted novelist, essayist, and screenwriter, who has returned repeatedly to the self-directed literary life after his periods of public service. Reasons why it would be good news for the country, if it happened: | Former Sen. James Webb is being considered as the next secretary of defense. Julian Zelizer says it would be an odd move, but would be good news for the country. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.theatlantic.com/notes/2019/01/jim-webb-secdef/579442/?utm_source=feed | 0.298363 |
Will James Webb Be the Next Secretary of Defense? | One of the odd-but-positive political rumors at the start of this odd year is that Donald Trump is considering former Senator James Webb as a successor to James Mattis as secretary of defense. Among the reasons why this would be odd: Webb last held office as a Democrat, and even ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in the 2016 race. Webb is a famously independent-minded character with no ability to suffer fools. (Knowing them both, I can say that Webb is much less willing to go with the organizational flow than Mattis has been.) In his early 40s, he was Ronald Reagans secretary of the Navy, but he resigned within less than a year because of disagreements with the defense secretary of that era, Frank Carlucci. Webb is a gifted novelist, essayist, and screenwriter, who has returned repeatedly to the self-directed literary life after his periods of public service. Reasons why it would be good news for the country, if it happened: | Former Sen. James Webb is being considered as the next secretary of defense. Julian Zelizer says it would be an odd move, but would be good news for the country. He says Webb is a gifted novelist, essayist, and screenwriter, who has returned to the self-directed literary life. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.theatlantic.com/notes/2019/01/jim-webb-secdef/579442/?utm_source=feed | 0.36223 |
Did North Korea's Top Diplomat in Italy Defect? | (ROME) North Koreas top diplomat in Italy has gone into hiding along with his wife, according to a South Korean lawmaker, raising the possibility of a defection of a senior North Korean official. The news came from South Koreas spy agency, which briefed lawmakers in Seoul on Thursday on the status of North Koreas acting ambassador to Italy, Jo Song Gil. It said he went into hiding with his wife in November before his posting to Italy ended late that month. A high-profile defection by one of North Koreas elite would be a huge embarrassment for leader Kim Jong Un as he pursues diplomacy with Seoul and Washington and seeks to portray himself as a geopolitical player. South Korean lawmaker Kim Min-ki said an official from Seouls National Intelligence Service shared the information during a closed-door briefing. Kim did not say whether the spy agency revealed anything about Jos current whereabouts or whether he had plans to defect to South Korea. The Brief Newsletter Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. View Sample Sign Up Now Kim said the NIS said it has not been contacted by Jo. According to Kim, the NIS official said Jo and his wife left the official residence in early November, weeks before his term was to end. Kim said he couldnt confirm if the NIS official revealed whether Jo and his wife were accompanied by any children. The NIS earlier said it couldnt confirm a South Korean media report that Jo was under Italian government protection as he seeks asylum in a Western nation. North Korea has not yet commented on Jos status. An official with the Italian Foreign Ministry said Thursday that Jo hadnt requested asylum from Italy. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with standard practice, also said Jo no longer held diplomatic status in Italy, presumably since his assignment had ended. Without citing any sources, Italian daily La Repubblica raised the possibility that while the Foreign Ministry was saying Jo hadnt sought asylum from Italy, that didnt rule out that the North Korean might have turned to other offices, such as Italian intelligence agencies for assistance from Italy in order not to return to his country. North Korea, which touts itself as a socialist paradise, is extremely sensitive about defections, especially among its elite diplomatic corps, and has previously insisted that they are South Korean or U.S. plots to undermine its government. About 30,000 North Koreans have defected to South Korea since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, according to South Korean government figures. Many defectors have said they wanted to leave North Koreas harsh political system and widespread poverty. North Korea often accuses the South of deceiving or paying people to defect, or claims that they have been kidnapped. North Korea may publicly ignore Jos possible defection or hold back harsh criticism to avoid highlighting the vulnerability of its government as it tries to engage Washington and Seoul in negotiations, said Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea expert at Seouls Dongguk University. Jo had been North Koreas acting ambassador to Rome after Italy expelled then-Ambassador Mun Jong Nam in October 2017 to protest a North Korean nuclear test and long-range missile launch. Jo seemed comfortable moving around Italy. In March 2018, accompanied by another embassy official, Pak Myong Gil, he visited two factories in Italys northeastern Veneto region with an eye on eventual trade, according to La Tribuna di Treviso, a local daily. One factory produced bathroom furnishings and another made accessories from marble. The newspaper quoted the local businessmen as assuming at first the delegation consisted of South Koreans, not North Koreans, given the economic sanctions against North Korea. Among the Italians accompanying the North Koreans was a former Italian senator for what is now the League party, which in general opposes economic embargoes as bad for business. The politician, Valentino Perin, told AP he had spoken with Jo many times, including about preparations for the visit to the Veneto region. Perin said he last met with Jo on Sept. 5, at an official reception organized by the North Korean embassy in Rome. Showing Jos business card, Perin said the North Korean was very proud of his people and of his country. The last senior North Korean diplomat known to have defected is Thae Yong Ho, a former minister at the North Korean Embassy in London, who fled to South Korea in 2016. In an interview on South Korean television, Thae said he worked with Jo for more than a decade in the North Korean Foreign Ministrys Europe bureau and that Jo had a child when Thae last saw him in 2013. Thae said Jo comes from a family of diplomats, with his father and father-in-law both serving as ambassadors. The embassy in Italy is critical for North Korea because it handles annual negotiations with the Rome-based World Food Program over aid to North Korea, Thae said. He also said Italy has been a hub for smuggling luxury items to the North Korean elite, and Jo would have been involved in those activities. Thae said Jo would have been North Koreas main diplomat for the Vatican and would have also handled discussions involving a possible visit to the North by Pope Francis if such talks had taken place. South Korea said in October that North Korean leader Kim mentioned during a summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in that he would welcome a papal visit. Thae said he believes Jo was to be replaced by incoming ambassador Kim Chon in November but did not reveal how he obtained such information. While not identifying him by name, North Koreas state media described Thae as human scum after his defection in London, and claimed he was trying to escape punishment for serious crimes. Thae, who has been an outspoken critic of Kim while living in South Korea, denied the accusation and said he defected because he didnt want his children to live miserable lives in the North. Its possible that Jo is trying to defect because of similar reasons, said Koh, a policy adviser for South Koreas president. It could be difficult for some diplomats to accept being called back to the North after enjoying years living in the free West. They could want their children to live in a different system and receive better education, he told The Associated Press. The highest-level North Korean to seek asylum in South Korea is Hwang Jang-yop, a senior ruling Workers Party official who once tutored Kim Jong Uns late father, dictator Kim Jong Il. Hwangs 1997 defection was hailed by many South Koreans as an intelligence bonanza. Hwang died in 2010. Also in 1997, the North Korean ambassador to Egypt fled and resettled in the United States. Contact us at [email protected]. | North Korea's top diplomat in Italy has gone into hiding along with his wife. | ctrlsum | 0 | http://time.com/5493797/north-korea-itlay-defection/ | 0.113294 |
Did North Korea's Top Diplomat in Italy Defect? | (ROME) North Koreas top diplomat in Italy has gone into hiding along with his wife, according to a South Korean lawmaker, raising the possibility of a defection of a senior North Korean official. The news came from South Koreas spy agency, which briefed lawmakers in Seoul on Thursday on the status of North Koreas acting ambassador to Italy, Jo Song Gil. It said he went into hiding with his wife in November before his posting to Italy ended late that month. A high-profile defection by one of North Koreas elite would be a huge embarrassment for leader Kim Jong Un as he pursues diplomacy with Seoul and Washington and seeks to portray himself as a geopolitical player. South Korean lawmaker Kim Min-ki said an official from Seouls National Intelligence Service shared the information during a closed-door briefing. Kim did not say whether the spy agency revealed anything about Jos current whereabouts or whether he had plans to defect to South Korea. The Brief Newsletter Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. View Sample Sign Up Now Kim said the NIS said it has not been contacted by Jo. According to Kim, the NIS official said Jo and his wife left the official residence in early November, weeks before his term was to end. Kim said he couldnt confirm if the NIS official revealed whether Jo and his wife were accompanied by any children. The NIS earlier said it couldnt confirm a South Korean media report that Jo was under Italian government protection as he seeks asylum in a Western nation. North Korea has not yet commented on Jos status. An official with the Italian Foreign Ministry said Thursday that Jo hadnt requested asylum from Italy. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with standard practice, also said Jo no longer held diplomatic status in Italy, presumably since his assignment had ended. Without citing any sources, Italian daily La Repubblica raised the possibility that while the Foreign Ministry was saying Jo hadnt sought asylum from Italy, that didnt rule out that the North Korean might have turned to other offices, such as Italian intelligence agencies for assistance from Italy in order not to return to his country. North Korea, which touts itself as a socialist paradise, is extremely sensitive about defections, especially among its elite diplomatic corps, and has previously insisted that they are South Korean or U.S. plots to undermine its government. About 30,000 North Koreans have defected to South Korea since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, according to South Korean government figures. Many defectors have said they wanted to leave North Koreas harsh political system and widespread poverty. North Korea often accuses the South of deceiving or paying people to defect, or claims that they have been kidnapped. North Korea may publicly ignore Jos possible defection or hold back harsh criticism to avoid highlighting the vulnerability of its government as it tries to engage Washington and Seoul in negotiations, said Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea expert at Seouls Dongguk University. Jo had been North Koreas acting ambassador to Rome after Italy expelled then-Ambassador Mun Jong Nam in October 2017 to protest a North Korean nuclear test and long-range missile launch. Jo seemed comfortable moving around Italy. In March 2018, accompanied by another embassy official, Pak Myong Gil, he visited two factories in Italys northeastern Veneto region with an eye on eventual trade, according to La Tribuna di Treviso, a local daily. One factory produced bathroom furnishings and another made accessories from marble. The newspaper quoted the local businessmen as assuming at first the delegation consisted of South Koreans, not North Koreans, given the economic sanctions against North Korea. Among the Italians accompanying the North Koreans was a former Italian senator for what is now the League party, which in general opposes economic embargoes as bad for business. The politician, Valentino Perin, told AP he had spoken with Jo many times, including about preparations for the visit to the Veneto region. Perin said he last met with Jo on Sept. 5, at an official reception organized by the North Korean embassy in Rome. Showing Jos business card, Perin said the North Korean was very proud of his people and of his country. The last senior North Korean diplomat known to have defected is Thae Yong Ho, a former minister at the North Korean Embassy in London, who fled to South Korea in 2016. In an interview on South Korean television, Thae said he worked with Jo for more than a decade in the North Korean Foreign Ministrys Europe bureau and that Jo had a child when Thae last saw him in 2013. Thae said Jo comes from a family of diplomats, with his father and father-in-law both serving as ambassadors. The embassy in Italy is critical for North Korea because it handles annual negotiations with the Rome-based World Food Program over aid to North Korea, Thae said. He also said Italy has been a hub for smuggling luxury items to the North Korean elite, and Jo would have been involved in those activities. Thae said Jo would have been North Koreas main diplomat for the Vatican and would have also handled discussions involving a possible visit to the North by Pope Francis if such talks had taken place. South Korea said in October that North Korean leader Kim mentioned during a summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in that he would welcome a papal visit. Thae said he believes Jo was to be replaced by incoming ambassador Kim Chon in November but did not reveal how he obtained such information. While not identifying him by name, North Koreas state media described Thae as human scum after his defection in London, and claimed he was trying to escape punishment for serious crimes. Thae, who has been an outspoken critic of Kim while living in South Korea, denied the accusation and said he defected because he didnt want his children to live miserable lives in the North. Its possible that Jo is trying to defect because of similar reasons, said Koh, a policy adviser for South Koreas president. It could be difficult for some diplomats to accept being called back to the North after enjoying years living in the free West. They could want their children to live in a different system and receive better education, he told The Associated Press. The highest-level North Korean to seek asylum in South Korea is Hwang Jang-yop, a senior ruling Workers Party official who once tutored Kim Jong Uns late father, dictator Kim Jong Il. Hwangs 1997 defection was hailed by many South Koreans as an intelligence bonanza. Hwang died in 2010. Also in 1997, the North Korean ambassador to Egypt fled and resettled in the United States. Contact us at [email protected]. | North Korea's top diplomat in Italy has gone into hiding along with his wife. A high-profile defection by one of North Koreas elite would be a huge embarrassment. | ctrlsum | 1 | http://time.com/5493797/north-korea-itlay-defection/ | 0.247601 |
Did North Korea's Top Diplomat in Italy Defect? | (ROME) North Koreas top diplomat in Italy has gone into hiding along with his wife, according to a South Korean lawmaker, raising the possibility of a defection of a senior North Korean official. The news came from South Koreas spy agency, which briefed lawmakers in Seoul on Thursday on the status of North Koreas acting ambassador to Italy, Jo Song Gil. It said he went into hiding with his wife in November before his posting to Italy ended late that month. A high-profile defection by one of North Koreas elite would be a huge embarrassment for leader Kim Jong Un as he pursues diplomacy with Seoul and Washington and seeks to portray himself as a geopolitical player. South Korean lawmaker Kim Min-ki said an official from Seouls National Intelligence Service shared the information during a closed-door briefing. Kim did not say whether the spy agency revealed anything about Jos current whereabouts or whether he had plans to defect to South Korea. The Brief Newsletter Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. View Sample Sign Up Now Kim said the NIS said it has not been contacted by Jo. According to Kim, the NIS official said Jo and his wife left the official residence in early November, weeks before his term was to end. Kim said he couldnt confirm if the NIS official revealed whether Jo and his wife were accompanied by any children. The NIS earlier said it couldnt confirm a South Korean media report that Jo was under Italian government protection as he seeks asylum in a Western nation. North Korea has not yet commented on Jos status. An official with the Italian Foreign Ministry said Thursday that Jo hadnt requested asylum from Italy. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with standard practice, also said Jo no longer held diplomatic status in Italy, presumably since his assignment had ended. Without citing any sources, Italian daily La Repubblica raised the possibility that while the Foreign Ministry was saying Jo hadnt sought asylum from Italy, that didnt rule out that the North Korean might have turned to other offices, such as Italian intelligence agencies for assistance from Italy in order not to return to his country. North Korea, which touts itself as a socialist paradise, is extremely sensitive about defections, especially among its elite diplomatic corps, and has previously insisted that they are South Korean or U.S. plots to undermine its government. About 30,000 North Koreans have defected to South Korea since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, according to South Korean government figures. Many defectors have said they wanted to leave North Koreas harsh political system and widespread poverty. North Korea often accuses the South of deceiving or paying people to defect, or claims that they have been kidnapped. North Korea may publicly ignore Jos possible defection or hold back harsh criticism to avoid highlighting the vulnerability of its government as it tries to engage Washington and Seoul in negotiations, said Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea expert at Seouls Dongguk University. Jo had been North Koreas acting ambassador to Rome after Italy expelled then-Ambassador Mun Jong Nam in October 2017 to protest a North Korean nuclear test and long-range missile launch. Jo seemed comfortable moving around Italy. In March 2018, accompanied by another embassy official, Pak Myong Gil, he visited two factories in Italys northeastern Veneto region with an eye on eventual trade, according to La Tribuna di Treviso, a local daily. One factory produced bathroom furnishings and another made accessories from marble. The newspaper quoted the local businessmen as assuming at first the delegation consisted of South Koreans, not North Koreans, given the economic sanctions against North Korea. Among the Italians accompanying the North Koreans was a former Italian senator for what is now the League party, which in general opposes economic embargoes as bad for business. The politician, Valentino Perin, told AP he had spoken with Jo many times, including about preparations for the visit to the Veneto region. Perin said he last met with Jo on Sept. 5, at an official reception organized by the North Korean embassy in Rome. Showing Jos business card, Perin said the North Korean was very proud of his people and of his country. The last senior North Korean diplomat known to have defected is Thae Yong Ho, a former minister at the North Korean Embassy in London, who fled to South Korea in 2016. In an interview on South Korean television, Thae said he worked with Jo for more than a decade in the North Korean Foreign Ministrys Europe bureau and that Jo had a child when Thae last saw him in 2013. Thae said Jo comes from a family of diplomats, with his father and father-in-law both serving as ambassadors. The embassy in Italy is critical for North Korea because it handles annual negotiations with the Rome-based World Food Program over aid to North Korea, Thae said. He also said Italy has been a hub for smuggling luxury items to the North Korean elite, and Jo would have been involved in those activities. Thae said Jo would have been North Koreas main diplomat for the Vatican and would have also handled discussions involving a possible visit to the North by Pope Francis if such talks had taken place. South Korea said in October that North Korean leader Kim mentioned during a summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in that he would welcome a papal visit. Thae said he believes Jo was to be replaced by incoming ambassador Kim Chon in November but did not reveal how he obtained such information. While not identifying him by name, North Koreas state media described Thae as human scum after his defection in London, and claimed he was trying to escape punishment for serious crimes. Thae, who has been an outspoken critic of Kim while living in South Korea, denied the accusation and said he defected because he didnt want his children to live miserable lives in the North. Its possible that Jo is trying to defect because of similar reasons, said Koh, a policy adviser for South Koreas president. It could be difficult for some diplomats to accept being called back to the North after enjoying years living in the free West. They could want their children to live in a different system and receive better education, he told The Associated Press. The highest-level North Korean to seek asylum in South Korea is Hwang Jang-yop, a senior ruling Workers Party official who once tutored Kim Jong Uns late father, dictator Kim Jong Il. Hwangs 1997 defection was hailed by many South Koreans as an intelligence bonanza. Hwang died in 2010. Also in 1997, the North Korean ambassador to Egypt fled and resettled in the United States. Contact us at [email protected]. | North Korea's top diplomat in Italy has gone into hiding along with his wife, lawmaker says. A high-profile defection by one of North Koreas elite would be a huge embarrassment for leader Kim Jong Un. North Korea is extremely sensitive about defections, especially among its elite diplomatic corps. | ctrlsum | 2 | http://time.com/5493797/north-korea-itlay-defection/ | 0.240263 |
What Was The Most Important Breakthrough In Nanotechnology In 2018? | originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. Answer by Nathan Donahue, Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering, on Quora: As a young field, one single research endeavor does not encompass the whole scientific corpus of nanotechnology. To that end (and in my opinion), nanotechnology can be divided into three sub-fields that directly impact: computer science, materials science, and the biological sciences. The following examples are among the biggest accomplishments in the respective nano-related fields in 2018. In the world of nanotechnology with computational applications, one of the biggest accomplishments was the study of plasmon dissipation across graphene[1] The greater significance of their work outlines specific parameters that are responsible for transmitting optical signals at the nano-scale. This is huge for scientists who are seeking to improve sensor technologies data transfer processes! In the realm of nanomaterials, a team of researchers harnessed sunlight to purify water [2]. By using a hierarchically nanostructured gel, they exploited solar energy to distill water at a record rate of 1823 liters per hour per square meter! As water becomes a coveted commodity with our growing global population, the importance of such advancements cannot be overstated. Last but certainly not least, this year in bio-nanotechnology, researchers were able to examine the efficacy of a nanoparticle vaccine for influenza [3][4]. The nanoparticle vaccine successfully elicited strong antibody responses against the virus in patients who received the formulation. In fact, such clinical success led to the efficacy trial of their trivalent nanoparticle influenza vaccine this flu season (20182019). Perhaps similar formulations with different antigens can be used to develop potent vaccines against other viruses. In conclusion, nanotechnology is a vast scientific discipline that spans many areas. There have been great strides and breakthroughs in all facets of nanotechnology this year. Heres to 2019! Footnotes [1] Fundamental limits to graphene plasmonics [2] Highly efficient solar vapour generation via hierarchically nanostructured gels [3] Improved Titers against Influenza Drift Variants with a Nanoparticle Vaccine | NEJM [4] Evaluation of the Safety and Immunogenicity of a Recombinant Trivalent Nanoparticle Influenza Vaccine With Matrix M-1 Adjuvant (NanoFlu) - Full Text View - ClinicalTrials.gov This question originally appeared on Quora - the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. You can follow Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. More questions: | Nathan Donahue: Nanotechnology can be divided into three sub-fields that directly impact: computer science, materials science, and the biological sciences. In the world of nanotechnology with computational applications, one of the biggest accomplishments was the study of plasmon dissipation across graphene. | bart | 2 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2019/01/03/what-was-the-most-important-breakthrough-in-nanotechnology-in-2018/ | 0.122352 |
Will $1 Million Tempt Disgraced Cricketer David Warner To Break His Silence? | The ugly ball-tampering scandal keeps lingering like a bad bruise that doesn't heal. The pain just doesnt go away for Australian cricket. Recently, suspended former captain Steve Smith and opener Cameron Bancroft reappeared in the Australian media after a lengthy time keeping a low profile. The pairs bid to start restoring their damaged reputation backfired through awkward interviews and the indulgence was widely panned. The supposed tell-all interviews did not shed light into the many unanswered questions from that infamous day three of the Newlands Test and perhaps it would have been wiser for Smith and Bancroft to continue staying out of the limelight. Interestingly, David Warner the instigator of the plot to use sandpaper to tamper with the ball has maintained his silence over the scandal ever since his initial tearful press conference after being sent home in disgrace from South Africa. Warner, the renowned firebrand, has the weight of the scandal now on his broad shoulders. Where the saga turns is dependent on the hard-bitten left-hander. Bancroft, his former opening partner, effectively threw Warner under the bus by outing him as the conspirator of the brainless scheme. It wasnt revelatory but instructive of Bancroft not shielding the former vice-captain. Warner, a long-time polarizing figure due to his on-field histrionics, has copped the brunt of the public's flak putting into question his future. Smith, in contrast, seems likely to walk back into the team once his ban ends in March and could even be reinstated into the captaincy one year after that. Due to Australias woes with the bat, Warner probably will be shoehorned in but it is unknown whether his teammates particularly those who played in Newlands believe he is toxic to the team and damaged goods. Warner has been painted as the villain of the debacle and it is unclear whether he is willing to accept that fate. The 32-year-old is a proud person, who had a tough childhood and has never been one to back down. Warner, however, has so far refused to spill the beans as it appears he is carefully navigating this turbulent period through the advice of his sports manager James Erskine, a leading figure in the industry. According to Fairfax, Warner could earn around (AUD) $1 million (USD $700,000) from an exclusive book deal. It is almost certain such an explosive book detailing the scandal from Warner's perspective would attract widespread interest. He reportedly has major television interview offers on the table too, but Warner has not budged yet and is letting his bat do the talking. The financial incentives must be enticing for Warner, who has suffered in the hip pocket after the humiliating fiasco. Warner, along with Smith, had his (USD) $1.69 million Indian Premier League contract torn up by the Board of Control for Cricket of India, after being banned from the lucrative tournament this year. Overall, he has lost an estimated $3.5 million in sponsorship and playing contracts. Since being banned from the national team and Australian domestic cricket, Warner has kept busy playing in Twenty20 tournaments around the world. As a beleaguered Australia inches towards a first ever home Test series loss to India, Warner arrived in Dhaka to play in the Bangladesh Premier League where he is set to lead the Sylhet Sixers. Life has been good for me. I have been spending time with the family. I wouldnt be able to do that if I wasnt sitting in the sidelines, Warner told reporters. It is about getting the best out of myself and growing as a human being. My most important thing was being a father and husband at home. It is up to the (Australian) selectors whether or not they want to pick me, he added. At the end of the day, all I can do is score runs in this tournament and the Indian Premier League, keep putting my hand up and making sure that I am the best person I can be. Right now, Warner doesnt seem vengeful and, rather surprisingly, has been refreshingly dignified compared to Smith and Bancrofts ham-fisted efforts at redemption. But the day will surely arrive when Warner speaks on the matter. Until then, the murky events of Newlands and the uncertainty around Australian cricket will remain unresolved. | David Warner could earn $1 million (USD $700,000) from an exclusive book deal. The former vice-captain has maintained his silence over the scandal ever since his initial tearful press conference after being sent home in disgrace from South Africa. Warner has lost an estimated $3.5 million in sponsorship and playing contracts since the humiliating fiasco. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/tristanlavalette/2019/01/04/will-1-million-tempt-disgraced-cricketer-david-warner-to-break-his-silence/ | 0.349596 |
Has the skin-care industry finally come around to embracing the skin were in? | In our wellness-centric society, one of the most visible ways to show off a healthy lifestyle is with a glowing complexion. Basically, and I dont think Im exaggerating, every patient who comes to my practice wants to have the healthiest-looking skin possible, says Dr. Shannon Humphrey, a Vancouver-based cosmetic dermatologist, adding that erasing things like wrinkles, lines and folds have become a secondary or even tertiary concern. Flip through a magazine and youll see unretouched signs of aging everywhere, including in high-profile celebrity photoshoots such as Michelle Obamas December cover for Elle. Skin care in 2019 is no longer focused on turning back the clock, but rather adopting an informed, customized, 360-degree approach to caring for your skin. Its about having a holistic approach to a dermatology or an aesthetic plan that is not at a single moment in time, Humphrey says. One component of that plan is using evidence-based skin care to maintain and maximize any professional intervention. At XO Treatment Room in Calgary, owner Annie Graham credits Canadian skin-care brand the Ordinary with generating client interest in product ingredients. People are so interested in the chemical names, ingredient names, and [the Ordinary] names their products after an ingredient rather than, like, luminescent moon dust or something like that, she says. Story continues below advertisement Its this consumer engagement Humphrey sees from patients in their 20s and 30s who are looking for prejuvenation, a strategy thats a cross between prevention and rejuvenation. Patients are coming in earlier, but not for Kylie Jenner lips. Theyre coming in earlier because theyre informed, theyre savvy and they know that if they start early, prevention is something that they can really capitalize on, she says, citing the application of Botox before lines and wrinkles set in as an example. In our practice, we refer to it as baby Botox, Humprey says. What it means is using smaller doses in many areas, not to completely relax muscles, to allow there to be movement, just less movement so wrinkles can be prevented. One prejuvenating treatment new to Canada that Humphrey predicts will be popular in 2019 is Juvderms Volite, an injection that enhances the smoothness, elasticity and internal hydration of the skin. Its kind of like an injectable smoothing moisturizer that last nine to 12 months, Humphrey says. At XO Treatment Room, Graham sees radiofrequency microneedling treatments, in which small needles deliver heat energy to the dermis, as the next big thing. It disperses that heat underneath, coagulating the collagen to give you that tightening effect. Although consumers may be more engaged with a time-consuming and pricey skin-upkeep schedule, the desired aesthetic is more about glow than show. Something that weve been hearing again and again that continues to gain traction and build momentum is this demand from patients and consumers for natural-looking results and a backlash away from dramatic, aggressive invasive treatments, Humphrey says. Start early, Graham says. Prevention is key. XO Facecare Heavy C, $89 through xofacecare.com. Vivier GrenzCine Eye, $191 through vivierskin.com. AlumierMD EverActive C & E Serum, $179 through alumier.com. Story continues below advertisement Story continues below advertisement Live with style. We have a weekly Style newsletter on fashion and design trends, plus shopping tips and inspiration. Sign up today. | Skin care in 2019 is no longer focused on turning back the clock, but rather adopting an informed, customized, 360-degree approach to caring for your skin. Prejuvenation is a cross between prevention and rejuvenation. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/style/article-has-the-skin-care-industry-finally-come-around-to-embracing-the-skin/ | 0.14833 |
Has the skin-care industry finally come around to embracing the skin were in? | In our wellness-centric society, one of the most visible ways to show off a healthy lifestyle is with a glowing complexion. Basically, and I dont think Im exaggerating, every patient who comes to my practice wants to have the healthiest-looking skin possible, says Dr. Shannon Humphrey, a Vancouver-based cosmetic dermatologist, adding that erasing things like wrinkles, lines and folds have become a secondary or even tertiary concern. Flip through a magazine and youll see unretouched signs of aging everywhere, including in high-profile celebrity photoshoots such as Michelle Obamas December cover for Elle. Skin care in 2019 is no longer focused on turning back the clock, but rather adopting an informed, customized, 360-degree approach to caring for your skin. Its about having a holistic approach to a dermatology or an aesthetic plan that is not at a single moment in time, Humphrey says. One component of that plan is using evidence-based skin care to maintain and maximize any professional intervention. At XO Treatment Room in Calgary, owner Annie Graham credits Canadian skin-care brand the Ordinary with generating client interest in product ingredients. People are so interested in the chemical names, ingredient names, and [the Ordinary] names their products after an ingredient rather than, like, luminescent moon dust or something like that, she says. Story continues below advertisement Its this consumer engagement Humphrey sees from patients in their 20s and 30s who are looking for prejuvenation, a strategy thats a cross between prevention and rejuvenation. Patients are coming in earlier, but not for Kylie Jenner lips. Theyre coming in earlier because theyre informed, theyre savvy and they know that if they start early, prevention is something that they can really capitalize on, she says, citing the application of Botox before lines and wrinkles set in as an example. In our practice, we refer to it as baby Botox, Humprey says. What it means is using smaller doses in many areas, not to completely relax muscles, to allow there to be movement, just less movement so wrinkles can be prevented. One prejuvenating treatment new to Canada that Humphrey predicts will be popular in 2019 is Juvderms Volite, an injection that enhances the smoothness, elasticity and internal hydration of the skin. Its kind of like an injectable smoothing moisturizer that last nine to 12 months, Humphrey says. At XO Treatment Room, Graham sees radiofrequency microneedling treatments, in which small needles deliver heat energy to the dermis, as the next big thing. It disperses that heat underneath, coagulating the collagen to give you that tightening effect. Although consumers may be more engaged with a time-consuming and pricey skin-upkeep schedule, the desired aesthetic is more about glow than show. Something that weve been hearing again and again that continues to gain traction and build momentum is this demand from patients and consumers for natural-looking results and a backlash away from dramatic, aggressive invasive treatments, Humphrey says. Start early, Graham says. Prevention is key. XO Facecare Heavy C, $89 through xofacecare.com. Vivier GrenzCine Eye, $191 through vivierskin.com. AlumierMD EverActive C & E Serum, $179 through alumier.com. Story continues below advertisement Story continues below advertisement Live with style. We have a weekly Style newsletter on fashion and design trends, plus shopping tips and inspiration. Sign up today. | Skin care in 2019 is no longer focused on turning back the clock, but rather adopting an informed, customized, 360-degree approach to caring for your skin. At XO Treatment Room, owner Annie Graham credits Canadian skin-care brand the Ordinary with generating client interest in product ingredients. | bart | 2 | https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/style/article-has-the-skin-care-industry-finally-come-around-to-embracing-the-skin/ | 0.172434 |
Can Eric Garcetti Run L.A. and Run for President at the Same Time? | The tension between his day job and his presidential ambitions may soon come to a head: Garcetti had said hed decide by the end of 2018, and make an announcement either way by the first quarter of 2019. But this month, right in the middle of whats expected to be a rush of candidate announcements, hes facing a potential teachers strike that could shut down city schools. The deadline for a new teachers contract is January 10. Michael Trujillo, an L.A.-based Democratic operative who worked for Garcettis predecessor and rival, Antonio Villaraigosa, said he sees this as a perfect example of how a 2020 campaign could leave the city with distracted leadership. I dont know how you roll out a presidential campaign when the federal government is shut down and every L.A. public school is shut down, too, Trujillo said. I dont think he can do both. Ed Rendell doubts it, too. Rendell, whose final months as mayor of Philadelphia, in 1999, overlapped with his two months as a co-chair of the Democratic National Committee, said he took the national political job on the condition that hed work only on nights and weekends until his tenure was up at City Hall. I could not imagine running for anything and doing my job as mayor, Rendell said. Rendell also said the kind of campaigning it would take to bring up Garcettis poll numbers, now in the low single digits because few people know him, is beyond what a full-time mayor can managethough he noted that there might be some wiggle room given the weak-mayor structure in L.A. Garcetti can try to do both mayor and candidate, but I dont think he can give the right amount of time for a candidate whos really not well-known, who has to get out there, Rendell said. Garcetti isnt the only sitting mayor likely to run in 2020: Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, seems close to announcing his bid. But Buttigiegs city is a fraction of the size of Los Angeles, and thus infinitely less complicated. He announced in December he wont be running for reelection once his term is up at the end of the year, though he didnt officially say his decision was linked to a presidential run. Mike Bloomberg of New York is also considering a presidential bid, though he hasnt run the city in five years. Mitch Landrieu, the former mayor of New Orleans who left office last year, hasnt ruled out a campaign yet. Garcettis advisers argue theyve had practice runs for what the next two years could be like, citing how, for example, he once helped set negotiations in motion over a labor dispute just before leaving on a long trade mission to Asia. Indeed, the mayor has been out of the city frequently over the last two years: pitching Los Angeles as a location for the 2028 Summer Olympics, taking on several roles within the U.S. Conference of Mayors, convening his Accelerator for America nonprofit group thats focused on infrastructure investments, and stumping for midterm candidates in Minnesota, Ohio, and Mississippiall while taking enough personal political trips to tease his presidential prospects and drum up donors. In this day and age, you can be mayor anywhere, Garcetti told me, arguing that much of his travel has been done on behalf of the cityto win the Olympics, to get funding from D.C., to get Sacramento to focus on homelessness. | L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti is expected to announce a presidential bid by the end of 2018. | ctrlsum | 0 | https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/01/la-mayor-eric-garcettis-plan-run-president/579301/?utm_source=feed | 0.201664 |
Can Eric Garcetti Run L.A. and Run for President at the Same Time? | The tension between his day job and his presidential ambitions may soon come to a head: Garcetti had said hed decide by the end of 2018, and make an announcement either way by the first quarter of 2019. But this month, right in the middle of whats expected to be a rush of candidate announcements, hes facing a potential teachers strike that could shut down city schools. The deadline for a new teachers contract is January 10. Michael Trujillo, an L.A.-based Democratic operative who worked for Garcettis predecessor and rival, Antonio Villaraigosa, said he sees this as a perfect example of how a 2020 campaign could leave the city with distracted leadership. I dont know how you roll out a presidential campaign when the federal government is shut down and every L.A. public school is shut down, too, Trujillo said. I dont think he can do both. Ed Rendell doubts it, too. Rendell, whose final months as mayor of Philadelphia, in 1999, overlapped with his two months as a co-chair of the Democratic National Committee, said he took the national political job on the condition that hed work only on nights and weekends until his tenure was up at City Hall. I could not imagine running for anything and doing my job as mayor, Rendell said. Rendell also said the kind of campaigning it would take to bring up Garcettis poll numbers, now in the low single digits because few people know him, is beyond what a full-time mayor can managethough he noted that there might be some wiggle room given the weak-mayor structure in L.A. Garcetti can try to do both mayor and candidate, but I dont think he can give the right amount of time for a candidate whos really not well-known, who has to get out there, Rendell said. Garcetti isnt the only sitting mayor likely to run in 2020: Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, seems close to announcing his bid. But Buttigiegs city is a fraction of the size of Los Angeles, and thus infinitely less complicated. He announced in December he wont be running for reelection once his term is up at the end of the year, though he didnt officially say his decision was linked to a presidential run. Mike Bloomberg of New York is also considering a presidential bid, though he hasnt run the city in five years. Mitch Landrieu, the former mayor of New Orleans who left office last year, hasnt ruled out a campaign yet. Garcettis advisers argue theyve had practice runs for what the next two years could be like, citing how, for example, he once helped set negotiations in motion over a labor dispute just before leaving on a long trade mission to Asia. Indeed, the mayor has been out of the city frequently over the last two years: pitching Los Angeles as a location for the 2028 Summer Olympics, taking on several roles within the U.S. Conference of Mayors, convening his Accelerator for America nonprofit group thats focused on infrastructure investments, and stumping for midterm candidates in Minnesota, Ohio, and Mississippiall while taking enough personal political trips to tease his presidential prospects and drum up donors. In this day and age, you can be mayor anywhere, Garcetti told me, arguing that much of his travel has been done on behalf of the cityto win the Olympics, to get funding from D.C., to get Sacramento to focus on homelessness. | L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti is expected to announce a presidential bid by the end of 2018. Some question whether he can do both as mayor and candidate at the same time. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/01/la-mayor-eric-garcettis-plan-run-president/579301/?utm_source=feed | 0.198938 |
Can Eric Garcetti Run L.A. and Run for President at the Same Time? | The tension between his day job and his presidential ambitions may soon come to a head: Garcetti had said hed decide by the end of 2018, and make an announcement either way by the first quarter of 2019. But this month, right in the middle of whats expected to be a rush of candidate announcements, hes facing a potential teachers strike that could shut down city schools. The deadline for a new teachers contract is January 10. Michael Trujillo, an L.A.-based Democratic operative who worked for Garcettis predecessor and rival, Antonio Villaraigosa, said he sees this as a perfect example of how a 2020 campaign could leave the city with distracted leadership. I dont know how you roll out a presidential campaign when the federal government is shut down and every L.A. public school is shut down, too, Trujillo said. I dont think he can do both. Ed Rendell doubts it, too. Rendell, whose final months as mayor of Philadelphia, in 1999, overlapped with his two months as a co-chair of the Democratic National Committee, said he took the national political job on the condition that hed work only on nights and weekends until his tenure was up at City Hall. I could not imagine running for anything and doing my job as mayor, Rendell said. Rendell also said the kind of campaigning it would take to bring up Garcettis poll numbers, now in the low single digits because few people know him, is beyond what a full-time mayor can managethough he noted that there might be some wiggle room given the weak-mayor structure in L.A. Garcetti can try to do both mayor and candidate, but I dont think he can give the right amount of time for a candidate whos really not well-known, who has to get out there, Rendell said. Garcetti isnt the only sitting mayor likely to run in 2020: Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, seems close to announcing his bid. But Buttigiegs city is a fraction of the size of Los Angeles, and thus infinitely less complicated. He announced in December he wont be running for reelection once his term is up at the end of the year, though he didnt officially say his decision was linked to a presidential run. Mike Bloomberg of New York is also considering a presidential bid, though he hasnt run the city in five years. Mitch Landrieu, the former mayor of New Orleans who left office last year, hasnt ruled out a campaign yet. Garcettis advisers argue theyve had practice runs for what the next two years could be like, citing how, for example, he once helped set negotiations in motion over a labor dispute just before leaving on a long trade mission to Asia. Indeed, the mayor has been out of the city frequently over the last two years: pitching Los Angeles as a location for the 2028 Summer Olympics, taking on several roles within the U.S. Conference of Mayors, convening his Accelerator for America nonprofit group thats focused on infrastructure investments, and stumping for midterm candidates in Minnesota, Ohio, and Mississippiall while taking enough personal political trips to tease his presidential prospects and drum up donors. In this day and age, you can be mayor anywhere, Garcetti told me, arguing that much of his travel has been done on behalf of the cityto win the Olympics, to get funding from D.C., to get Sacramento to focus on homelessness. | L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti is expected to announce a presidential bid by the end of 2018. Some question whether he can do both as mayor and candidate at the same time. Garcetti's advisers say he's had practice runs for what the next two years could be like. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/01/la-mayor-eric-garcettis-plan-run-president/579301/?utm_source=feed | 0.26823 |
What will new Dickson elementary school be named? | CLOSE A brief overview of the Dickson County Schools system. Wochit Dickson County Schools seal (Photo: File) A new elementary school in the City of Dickson is likely to be named in the coming weeks, according to the Dickson County Schools director. The board approved changing Dickson Intermediate School into the new elementary school in October. The City of Dickson will have five elementary schools. Dr. Danny Weeks said a school naming committee will be established when staff returns to school next week. The principal position for the new elementary school will be posted soon, Weeks said. Dickson Intermediate started three years ago as a school for sixth-graders only. At that time, Weeks said he anticipated that the school might eventually be an elementary school. The new school is projected to have just over 400 students. The preliminary plan is that students who would have attended DIS in the 2019-2020 school year, and in the years following, would attend either Burns Middle or Dickson Middle, based on zoning. Read or Share this story: https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/dickson/2019/01/04/what-new-dickson-elementary-school-named/2458830002/ | A new elementary school in the City of Dickson is likely to be named in the coming weeks. The board approved changing Dickson Intermediate School into the new Elementary School in October. The new school is projected to have just over 400 students, according to the Dickson County Schools director. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/dickson/2019/01/04/what-new-dickson-elementary-school-named/2458830002/ | 0.103805 |
Is Optimism Dead in the Trump Era? | In the stock market, its called the January Effect. Since this often-irrational condition of year-opening optimism was first given a name, in an academic paper published in 1942, economists have charted the phenomenon. The eternal hope for a fresh start is not confined to the financial markets, of course. Its also why gym memberships and fad diets soar in the first month of the year and why, in politics, the insoluble problems of the preceding twelve months sometimes seem a lot less intractable. This may be true even in the age of Donald Trump. At noon on January 3rd, as the Hundred and Sixteenth Congress convened, with the largest group of Democratic newcomers since the Watergate year of 1974, Nancy Pelosi, the new Speaker of the House, summoned the spirit of January in her speech accepting the job. When our new members take the oath, our Congress will be refreshed, and our democracy will be strengthened by their optimism, idealism, and patriotism of this transformative freshman class, she said. Working together, we will redeem the promise of the American dream for every family, advancing progress for every community. Big, sweeping deals, the kind that are often talked about but rarely happen, tend to sound much more appealing in January. For the left, theres been much discussion of a so-called Green New Deal, never mind its dim prospects with a climate-change skeptic in the White House. Other politicians came to Washington to be sworn in this week vowing to block special interests or save Obamacare. The Republican senator Lamar Alexander, meanwhile, is promoting the idea of a Trumpian about-face on immigration, in which the President, against all evidence, could make a wide-ranging agreement with the Democrats to fix the broken system once and for all. Going Really Big on immigration, Alexander wrote in a Washington Post op-ed this week, could be Trumps Nixon-to-China, Reagan-to-the-Berlin-Wall moment in history. Optimism of a different sort came from another Republican, Mitt Romney, who was the G.O.P. Presidential nominee four years before Trump, and who has just been elected to represent Utah in the Senate. In his own Post op-ed, on New Years Day, Romney promised to challenge Trump by speaking out against significant statements or actions that are divisive, racist, sexist, anti-immigrant, dishonest or destructive to democratic institutions. For the Never Trumpers remaining inside the Republican Party, Romneys statement was evidence that resistance to the President did not die entirely with the late Senator John McCain and the retirement of Jeff Flake and Bob Corker. For Democrats who want to constrain Trump or pursue his impeachment and removal from office, it was a glimmer of hopealbeit a very faint onethat such an outcome might actually be possible in 2019, even with a Republican-controlled Senate. But, in general, Washington these days is hardly a town for optimists, even of the January variety. As 2019 begins, the federal government is about to enter the third week of a partial shutdown, already one of the longest in history, caused by Trumps demand that any budget agreement include billions of dollars of funding for his border wall. Talks are at a standstill, and the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Richard Shelby, Republican of Alabama, said on Thursday that the shutdown could last for months and months. The stock market, rather than booming with New Years ebullience, is continuing to tank. A new poll shows that more than sixty per cent of Americans expect a recession soon. Trumps trade war with China is curtailing profits at Apple and other U.S. companies. In the capital, meanwhile, the divided government is expected to produce not landmark legislative deals but more gridlock. The 2020 Presidential race is getting an early start, with roughly two dozen possible Democratic candidates, and with Republicans such as Flake and the former Ohio governor John Kasich weighing challenges to Trump, meaning that both parties will soon be consumed by internal debates and political posturing. So much for the January Effect. At the White House, Trump sent out a New Years message on Tuesday that conveyed less year-opening enthusiasm than it did a warning about the crazy times to come. 2019 WILL BE A FANTASTIC YEAR FOR THOSE NOT SUFFERING FROM TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, he wrote at 8:08 A.M. on January 1st. JUST CALM DOWN AND ENJOY THE RIDE. On January 2nd, he convened a Cabinet meeting that seemed fully in keeping with his promise of a wild ride, offering an unscripted, extended look at a Presidency in meltdown mode. At the table surrounding Trump sat an acting Attorney General, acting Secretary of Defense, acting Interior Secretary, acting E.P.A. administrator, acting Ambassador to the U.N.,, and an acting White House chief of staff. The turnover among Trumps senior officials, according to the Brookings Institution, has hit sixty-five per cent in the course of two years. Stung by the negative headlines, and having cancelled his Christmas vacation because of the government shutdown, Trump called reporters into the room and kept them there as he rambled on and on. The session began just after noon and it ended, according to the transcript the White House later circulated, more than seventeen thousand words later, at 1:42 P.M. The Presidents long discourse was a grievance-filled litany that offered little in the way of comfort for optimists of any party, and its main news consisted of the Presidents bizarre endorsement of the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and his insistence, facts notwithstanding, that he essentially fired James Mattis, who in reality was the first Cabinet secretary to quit in protest since 1980. A day later, Pelosi took over the House of Representatives. Her caucus whooped and applauded as she listed the legislation that the House would now approve. The members cheered when she quoted a statement by President Ronald Reagan welcoming immigrants. They cheered when she promised transparency and facts. Only in the Trump era could an endorsement of the truth be seen as a partisan applause line, but we are where we are. A few hours later, a rank-and-file Democrat from Pelosis home state of California, Brad Sherman, was set to introduce the first articles of impeachment against Trump in the new Congress. A significant and growing part of the Democratic caucus is committed to pursuing impeachment, regardless of Pelosis caution and the still-uncertain results of Robert Muellers investigation. No one knows yet, of course, whether the effort to impeach Trump will end with the Presidents removal, or in political disaster for those who pursue it. But we do know this: despite all the tumult and political instability that Trumps unlikely ascendance has brought to the U.S. and the world, views of him have remained remarkably fixed. A Gallup poll from one year ago, at the start of 2018, found Trump with an approval rating of thirty-nine per cent among Americans. At the end of December, after he had fallen in love with Kim Jong Un and met with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, fired his Secretary of State and national-security adviser and Attorney General, lost the House of Representatives, watched his personal lawyer and campaign chairman turn states evidence against him, and feuded publicly with everyone from the chairman of the Federal Reserve and the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court to the Prime Minister of Canada, his approval rating was exactly the same: thirty-nine per cent. As President Trump often says, Well see. | Frida Ghitis: Optimism is alive and well in Washington, even in the age of Donald Trump. She says the January Effect makes big, sweeping deals seem more appealing in January. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-trumps-washington/is-optimism-dead-in-the-trump-era | 0.430847 |
Is Optimism Dead in the Trump Era? | In the stock market, its called the January Effect. Since this often-irrational condition of year-opening optimism was first given a name, in an academic paper published in 1942, economists have charted the phenomenon. The eternal hope for a fresh start is not confined to the financial markets, of course. Its also why gym memberships and fad diets soar in the first month of the year and why, in politics, the insoluble problems of the preceding twelve months sometimes seem a lot less intractable. This may be true even in the age of Donald Trump. At noon on January 3rd, as the Hundred and Sixteenth Congress convened, with the largest group of Democratic newcomers since the Watergate year of 1974, Nancy Pelosi, the new Speaker of the House, summoned the spirit of January in her speech accepting the job. When our new members take the oath, our Congress will be refreshed, and our democracy will be strengthened by their optimism, idealism, and patriotism of this transformative freshman class, she said. Working together, we will redeem the promise of the American dream for every family, advancing progress for every community. Big, sweeping deals, the kind that are often talked about but rarely happen, tend to sound much more appealing in January. For the left, theres been much discussion of a so-called Green New Deal, never mind its dim prospects with a climate-change skeptic in the White House. Other politicians came to Washington to be sworn in this week vowing to block special interests or save Obamacare. The Republican senator Lamar Alexander, meanwhile, is promoting the idea of a Trumpian about-face on immigration, in which the President, against all evidence, could make a wide-ranging agreement with the Democrats to fix the broken system once and for all. Going Really Big on immigration, Alexander wrote in a Washington Post op-ed this week, could be Trumps Nixon-to-China, Reagan-to-the-Berlin-Wall moment in history. Optimism of a different sort came from another Republican, Mitt Romney, who was the G.O.P. Presidential nominee four years before Trump, and who has just been elected to represent Utah in the Senate. In his own Post op-ed, on New Years Day, Romney promised to challenge Trump by speaking out against significant statements or actions that are divisive, racist, sexist, anti-immigrant, dishonest or destructive to democratic institutions. For the Never Trumpers remaining inside the Republican Party, Romneys statement was evidence that resistance to the President did not die entirely with the late Senator John McCain and the retirement of Jeff Flake and Bob Corker. For Democrats who want to constrain Trump or pursue his impeachment and removal from office, it was a glimmer of hopealbeit a very faint onethat such an outcome might actually be possible in 2019, even with a Republican-controlled Senate. But, in general, Washington these days is hardly a town for optimists, even of the January variety. As 2019 begins, the federal government is about to enter the third week of a partial shutdown, already one of the longest in history, caused by Trumps demand that any budget agreement include billions of dollars of funding for his border wall. Talks are at a standstill, and the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Richard Shelby, Republican of Alabama, said on Thursday that the shutdown could last for months and months. The stock market, rather than booming with New Years ebullience, is continuing to tank. A new poll shows that more than sixty per cent of Americans expect a recession soon. Trumps trade war with China is curtailing profits at Apple and other U.S. companies. In the capital, meanwhile, the divided government is expected to produce not landmark legislative deals but more gridlock. The 2020 Presidential race is getting an early start, with roughly two dozen possible Democratic candidates, and with Republicans such as Flake and the former Ohio governor John Kasich weighing challenges to Trump, meaning that both parties will soon be consumed by internal debates and political posturing. So much for the January Effect. At the White House, Trump sent out a New Years message on Tuesday that conveyed less year-opening enthusiasm than it did a warning about the crazy times to come. 2019 WILL BE A FANTASTIC YEAR FOR THOSE NOT SUFFERING FROM TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, he wrote at 8:08 A.M. on January 1st. JUST CALM DOWN AND ENJOY THE RIDE. On January 2nd, he convened a Cabinet meeting that seemed fully in keeping with his promise of a wild ride, offering an unscripted, extended look at a Presidency in meltdown mode. At the table surrounding Trump sat an acting Attorney General, acting Secretary of Defense, acting Interior Secretary, acting E.P.A. administrator, acting Ambassador to the U.N.,, and an acting White House chief of staff. The turnover among Trumps senior officials, according to the Brookings Institution, has hit sixty-five per cent in the course of two years. Stung by the negative headlines, and having cancelled his Christmas vacation because of the government shutdown, Trump called reporters into the room and kept them there as he rambled on and on. The session began just after noon and it ended, according to the transcript the White House later circulated, more than seventeen thousand words later, at 1:42 P.M. The Presidents long discourse was a grievance-filled litany that offered little in the way of comfort for optimists of any party, and its main news consisted of the Presidents bizarre endorsement of the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and his insistence, facts notwithstanding, that he essentially fired James Mattis, who in reality was the first Cabinet secretary to quit in protest since 1980. A day later, Pelosi took over the House of Representatives. Her caucus whooped and applauded as she listed the legislation that the House would now approve. The members cheered when she quoted a statement by President Ronald Reagan welcoming immigrants. They cheered when she promised transparency and facts. Only in the Trump era could an endorsement of the truth be seen as a partisan applause line, but we are where we are. A few hours later, a rank-and-file Democrat from Pelosis home state of California, Brad Sherman, was set to introduce the first articles of impeachment against Trump in the new Congress. A significant and growing part of the Democratic caucus is committed to pursuing impeachment, regardless of Pelosis caution and the still-uncertain results of Robert Muellers investigation. No one knows yet, of course, whether the effort to impeach Trump will end with the Presidents removal, or in political disaster for those who pursue it. But we do know this: despite all the tumult and political instability that Trumps unlikely ascendance has brought to the U.S. and the world, views of him have remained remarkably fixed. A Gallup poll from one year ago, at the start of 2018, found Trump with an approval rating of thirty-nine per cent among Americans. At the end of December, after he had fallen in love with Kim Jong Un and met with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, fired his Secretary of State and national-security adviser and Attorney General, lost the House of Representatives, watched his personal lawyer and campaign chairman turn states evidence against him, and feuded publicly with everyone from the chairman of the Federal Reserve and the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court to the Prime Minister of Canada, his approval rating was exactly the same: thirty-nine per cent. As President Trump often says, Well see. | Frida Ghitis: Optimism is alive and well in Washington, even in the age of Donald Trump. She says the January Effect makes big, sweeping deals seem more appealing in the new year. But she says Washington these days is hardly a town for optimists, even of the January variety. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-trumps-washington/is-optimism-dead-in-the-trump-era | 0.438768 |
Which NFL team playing in wild-card round of playoffs could make a Super Bowl run? | CLOSE SportsPulse: USA TODAY Sports' Lorenzo Reyes helps you pick some winners heading into NFL wild-card weekend. USA TODAY Sports Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) reacts in the fourth quarter against the Oakland Raiders at M&T Bank Stadium. (Photo: Evan Habeeb, USA TODAY Sports) Four more wins and a parade is what all of the teams playing in the NFL's wild-card round are targeting as the end to their seasons. But the fantasy has remained just that for all but a select few of those who have competed in the opening weekend of the playoffs. Not since the Baltimore Ravens' title run in the 2012 season has a team without a first-round bye advanced to the Super Bowl. Yet recent history isn't likely to deter any of the eight teams competing on Saturday and Sunday. Ravens. I love the versatility Lamar Jackson gives Baltimores offense. While his passing numbers arent great, he was impressive in the biggest games (the win over the Chargers and the loss in Kansas City). Besides, the Ravens defense is likely to keep games close enough that Jackson wont have to throw it a ton. The Ravens, in a close shave over the Chargers. Its weird to think that the first-round matchup at the Big ATM could be the de facto AFC title game, but Im sensing that whoever survives on Sunday will have a better-than-usual chance to run the AFC table and make it to Atlanta for LIII. I mean, L.A. won in Kansas City and Baltimore should have won in K.C. So going to Arrowhead (or The Razor in Foxborough, for that matter) wont faze either of these rugged, battle-tested teams. Ive picked Baltimore -- playing at home and on a tear (6-1) with Lamar Jackson at quarterback to ignite the unconventional, run-based offense -- to hand it to the Chargers again. But it would hardly be a shock if it went the other way, given L.A.s 7-1 road record, which tied New Orleans as best mark in the league. Then theres the other reason why Im bullish on Baltimore (and by extension, L.A.): Balance. The Ravens are the only team in the entire playoff field with an offense and defense both ranked in the top 10 in the NFL. And the Chargers nearly had a similar distinction, ranked 11th with Philip Rivers slinging it on offense and 9th on defense. Ill have my eyes firmly fixed to Sundays Chargers-Ravens rematch. I picked the Bolts to win the AFC back in July and still believe they have the talent to go all the way. But theyve unluckily drawn Lamar Jackson and Baltimores newly unorthodox offensive attack again one Los Angeles struggled to stop in Week 16 and while Philip Rivers and the offense barely put a dent into the leagues No. 1 defense. Hard to see the Chargers doing better while also trying to adjust to a 1:05 p.m. kickoff on the East Coast. That said, Im not sure anyone in the AFC is ready to cope with the Ravens. The best way to stem this physical, clock-grinding attack is to put them in a hole that forces Jackson to pass but good luck trying to torch that D. Only the Chiefs seem uniquely equipped to bolt out to a quick lead, yet they barely survived Jackson and Co. in the rookies fourth start, and that comeback required some ridiculous throws from Patrick Mahomes. So, yeah, Ill ride with the Ravens. Chicago. Once the Bears pass rush finds the chinks hiding in Eagles quarterback Nick Foles armor (or at least that of his supporting cast), Rams quarterback Jared Goff wont improve enough from the four-interception game he played vs. Chicago a month ago. Chicago has the balance to continue its improbable run. I want to say the Eagles, but although theyre experienced and confident, they arent as dangerous as some of the teams theyll face. So Im going to go with the Chargers. Theyve flown under the radar all season long, and I know they lost to Baltimore in Week 16, but theyre still very well-rounded and might be more stable than any other AFC team. Every other team has some questions or deficiencies about them, but Philip Rivers and Co. just might have it in them to make march to Atlanta. That the 12-4 Chargers are even playing in the wild-card round feels like an indictment of the NFL playoff system itself. But after losing out on a tiebreaker for the AFC West and top seed to the Chiefs, the Bolts finds themselves saddled with an opening-weekend showdown against a Ravens team that bested them just two weeks ago in Los Angeles. Yet Anthony Lynn's crew has gone 7-1 on the road this season, proving that it can beat the league's elite (including Kansas City) under even the most imposing circumstances. With an array of targets that can confound opposing secondaries and some of the league's most gifted defenders in Joey Bosa, Melvin Ingram and Derwin James, the Chargers are an elite team merely despite the lower number next to their name. Im going to go with Baltimore for two reasons. They can run the ball and control the clock, and they have an aggressive defense with a solid pass rush. Id feel more comfortable with this pick if they had forced more than 17 turnovers all season long, but I think the Ravens present tough matchup problems. Another thing that worries me is the youth and inexperience especially at quarterback but Jackson excelled on big stages while in college, so if he can limit turnovers and mental mistakes, I could see the Ravens making a run. Theyve already won six of their last seven, anyway. Follow USA TODAY Sports' NFL coverage on Twitter @usatodaynfl. | Four more wins and a parade is what all of the teams playing in the NFL's wild-card round are targeting as the end to their seasons. Not since the Baltimore Ravens' title run in the 2012 season has a team without a first-round bye advanced to the Super Bowl. | pegasus | 2 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2019/01/04/nfl-playoffs-wild-card-teams-super-bowl-ravens-chargers/2479796002/ | 0.113905 |
Does Washington's Reuben Foster deserve a 6-game suspension? | Washington linebacker Reuben Foster had his domestic violence charges dropped, clearing the way for his return to the playing field. Even though the charges were dropped, many feel he should be given the same punishment Ezekiel Elliott earned. Others feel his inclusion on the Commissioner's Exempt List shouldn't warrant that long of a suspension, especially if the charges were dropped. PERSPECTIVES After being charged with domestic violence, Foster was released on Nov. 25, claimed by Washington on Nov. 27, and placed on the Commissioner's Exempt List on the same day, effectively suspending him for the last five weeks of the season. While the domestic violence charge has been dropped, many people feel Foster should be officially suspended next season. Like the legal system, the NFL operates on precedent. Elliott was given a six-game ban for domestic abuse allegations a year before he was drafted in the league. Foster has had two domestic violence incidents while in the league. Being on the Commissioner's Exempt List shouldn't excuse him from deserved punishment. Foster should be suspended six games. Foster had the charges dropped and has never been proven guilty of anything. He shouldn't be punished further when he's already sat out games on the Commissioner's Exempt List. Suspending him for six games would be overkill. I don't think this is the same as Ezekiel Elliott. Elliott was not put on the commissioner's exempt list. I'd argue that Foster has already been suspended by not being allowed to play for 6 games in 2018. This personnel committee should argue that and it may end up in court. -- Shafiq Satterfield (@fiq_83) January 3, 2019 The Tylt is focused on debates and conversations around news, current events and pop culture. We provide our community with the opportunity to share their opinions and vote on topics that matter most to them. We actively engage the community and present meaningful data on the debates and conversations as they progress. The Tylt is a place where your opinion counts, literally. The Tylt is an Advance Local Media, LLC property. Join us on Twitter @TheTylt, on Instagram @TheTylt or on Facebook, we'd love to hear what you have to say. | Reuben Foster's domestic violence charges have been dropped. Some feel he should be suspended for six games. Others feel it would be overkill. | ctrlsum | 0 | https://www.oregonlive.com/tylt/2019/01/does_washingtons_reuben_foster.html | 0.201414 |
Does Washington's Reuben Foster deserve a 6-game suspension? | Washington linebacker Reuben Foster had his domestic violence charges dropped, clearing the way for his return to the playing field. Even though the charges were dropped, many feel he should be given the same punishment Ezekiel Elliott earned. Others feel his inclusion on the Commissioner's Exempt List shouldn't warrant that long of a suspension, especially if the charges were dropped. PERSPECTIVES After being charged with domestic violence, Foster was released on Nov. 25, claimed by Washington on Nov. 27, and placed on the Commissioner's Exempt List on the same day, effectively suspending him for the last five weeks of the season. While the domestic violence charge has been dropped, many people feel Foster should be officially suspended next season. Like the legal system, the NFL operates on precedent. Elliott was given a six-game ban for domestic abuse allegations a year before he was drafted in the league. Foster has had two domestic violence incidents while in the league. Being on the Commissioner's Exempt List shouldn't excuse him from deserved punishment. Foster should be suspended six games. Foster had the charges dropped and has never been proven guilty of anything. He shouldn't be punished further when he's already sat out games on the Commissioner's Exempt List. Suspending him for six games would be overkill. I don't think this is the same as Ezekiel Elliott. Elliott was not put on the commissioner's exempt list. I'd argue that Foster has already been suspended by not being allowed to play for 6 games in 2018. This personnel committee should argue that and it may end up in court. -- Shafiq Satterfield (@fiq_83) January 3, 2019 The Tylt is focused on debates and conversations around news, current events and pop culture. We provide our community with the opportunity to share their opinions and vote on topics that matter most to them. We actively engage the community and present meaningful data on the debates and conversations as they progress. The Tylt is a place where your opinion counts, literally. The Tylt is an Advance Local Media, LLC property. Join us on Twitter @TheTylt, on Instagram @TheTylt or on Facebook, we'd love to hear what you have to say. | Reuben Foster's domestic violence charges have been dropped. Some feel he should be suspended for six games. Others feel it would be overkill to suspend him for that long. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.oregonlive.com/tylt/2019/01/does_washingtons_reuben_foster.html | 0.220484 |
Does Washington's Reuben Foster deserve a 6-game suspension? | Washington linebacker Reuben Foster had his domestic violence charges dropped, clearing the way for his return to the playing field. Even though the charges were dropped, many feel he should be given the same punishment Ezekiel Elliott earned. Others feel his inclusion on the Commissioner's Exempt List shouldn't warrant that long of a suspension, especially if the charges were dropped. PERSPECTIVES After being charged with domestic violence, Foster was released on Nov. 25, claimed by Washington on Nov. 27, and placed on the Commissioner's Exempt List on the same day, effectively suspending him for the last five weeks of the season. While the domestic violence charge has been dropped, many people feel Foster should be officially suspended next season. Like the legal system, the NFL operates on precedent. Elliott was given a six-game ban for domestic abuse allegations a year before he was drafted in the league. Foster has had two domestic violence incidents while in the league. Being on the Commissioner's Exempt List shouldn't excuse him from deserved punishment. Foster should be suspended six games. Foster had the charges dropped and has never been proven guilty of anything. He shouldn't be punished further when he's already sat out games on the Commissioner's Exempt List. Suspending him for six games would be overkill. I don't think this is the same as Ezekiel Elliott. Elliott was not put on the commissioner's exempt list. I'd argue that Foster has already been suspended by not being allowed to play for 6 games in 2018. This personnel committee should argue that and it may end up in court. -- Shafiq Satterfield (@fiq_83) January 3, 2019 The Tylt is focused on debates and conversations around news, current events and pop culture. We provide our community with the opportunity to share their opinions and vote on topics that matter most to them. We actively engage the community and present meaningful data on the debates and conversations as they progress. The Tylt is a place where your opinion counts, literally. The Tylt is an Advance Local Media, LLC property. Join us on Twitter @TheTylt, on Instagram @TheTylt or on Facebook, we'd love to hear what you have to say. | Reuben Foster's domestic violence charges have been dropped. Some feel he should be suspended for six games. Others feel it would be overkill to suspend him for that long. The Tylt is a place where people gather to share their opinions and talk about topics of interest to them. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.oregonlive.com/tylt/2019/01/does_washingtons_reuben_foster.html | 0.276121 |
Is The World Really More VUCA Than Ever? | Wherever we look around us, we find claims and concerns that the world is increasingly getting out of control. Whether it is the business press, the media more generally, or our personal conversations, we are witnessing an increased feeling of uncertainty, turbulence, and change. This feeling has recently culminated in the notion of VUCA, the idea that the world has become unprecedentedly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (see here for a brief explanation). While a full assessment of whether this idea is correct is out of the scope this article, it is useful to briefly review it and not take it just for granted. On the one hand, it seems obvious. Through digitalization, big data, artificial intelligence, robotization, (de)globalization, terrorism, financial crises, climate change and global shifts in power, we feel an increased volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity in the world around us. On the other hand, though, such feelings are as old as mankind and we can question whether our situation today is more VUCA than during the Black Death, World Wars I and II or when we discovered that the earth was neither flat nor the center of the universe. It is informative in this respect to compare current claims and concerns to older ones. If we compare, for example, Peter Hinssens "New Normal" from 2010 to Manuel Castells "Rise Of The Network Society" from 1996, the observed effects of digitalization on our world increased complexity, dynamism, connectedness, and so on are strikingly similar, with nearly 25 years in between. We can also look at some of the early issues of strategic management's oldest scientific journal, Long Range Planning. There we find papers with titles such as "Strategic Management: A New Managerial Concept For An Era Of Rapid Change" (1971), "Defence Planning: The Uncertainty Factor" (1971), and "Planning In A State Of Turbulence" (1977). This is more than forty years ago and as these titles suggest, VUCA was experienced then as well. The fact that VUCA claims are of all ages doesnt automatically imply that they are false or irrelevant. It is quite likely that the speed of change in many industries is much faster now than ten or twenty years ago. Enabled by (digital) technology and driven by changing customer needs, this increased volatility is real for many organizations. And yes, due to greater variety in supply and demand, increased (online) connectedness between people and between organizations, and increased globalization, the complexity of doing business has probably increased too. However, due to technological enhancements, we have also become much more capable of dealing with this increased volatility and complexity. Computing power and speed, the omnipresence of information, the development of complex algorithms, artificial intelligence and the digital connectedness of the world, enable us to make dramatically more complex analyses and respond dramatically faster than even a decade ago. Thus, even though volatility and complexity probably have increased, our increased ability to deal with them does not directly mean that this has made doing business also more difficult. While volatility and complexity can be established and measured quite objectively, uncertainty and ambiguity are more of a perceptual nature. In various definitions, the latter two are even proposed to be a result of the former two: the more volatile and complex a situation, the more uncertain and ambiguous we perceive it. This means that whether we experience the world is more uncertain and ambiguous, depends to a large extent on our ability to deal with its volatility and complexity. My experiences in executive MBA teaching and consulting is that this perception is quite age-dependent and something particularly found at managers above fifty. This is supported by psychological research that shows, for example, that the older we get, the quicker time seems to pass by and the harder we find it to cope with the changes around us. Another important question is whether the four elements of VUCA reflect on-going, fluctuating, gradual developments or whether we now witness a dramatic increase in all four of them. The latter is often suggested. This is understandable. It is more dramatic and makes for better headlines. But the first seems much more likely: that VUCA represents four continuously varying factors that increase and decrease over time, dependent on which part of the world and which industry you are in. If we leave alone the question whether or not the world as a whole has become more VUCA than ever before, we can observe that most industries, at some point in time, do have VUCA characteristics. However, most industries are not VUCA all the time, and very often also not to an extreme degree. Rather, they typically go through disruptive phases alternating with more stable periods where even the disruptive periods are often spread over a couple of years. Furthermore, companies may have a diverse portfolio of products and services, some of which in markets that are VUCA and some in markets that are relatively stable, predictable, simple and clear. From this quick review of the VUCA idea, we can thus take that the world might indeed be VUCA. But at the same time, this was also the case ten, twenty, or even fifty years ago. Furthermore, many aspects of business might not be so sensitive to the VUCA-ness of the world and companies often have portfolios of products in markets with different degrees of VUCA. Finally, the same technological advancements that cause VUCA, also help us to deal with it better than ever before. It just depends on how, where and when you look and who is looking. | VUCA is the idea that the world has become unprecedentedly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. | ctrlsum | 0 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeroenkraaijenbrink/2019/01/04/is-the-world-really-more-vuca-than-ever/ | 0.303996 |
Is The World Really More VUCA Than Ever? | Wherever we look around us, we find claims and concerns that the world is increasingly getting out of control. Whether it is the business press, the media more generally, or our personal conversations, we are witnessing an increased feeling of uncertainty, turbulence, and change. This feeling has recently culminated in the notion of VUCA, the idea that the world has become unprecedentedly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (see here for a brief explanation). While a full assessment of whether this idea is correct is out of the scope this article, it is useful to briefly review it and not take it just for granted. On the one hand, it seems obvious. Through digitalization, big data, artificial intelligence, robotization, (de)globalization, terrorism, financial crises, climate change and global shifts in power, we feel an increased volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity in the world around us. On the other hand, though, such feelings are as old as mankind and we can question whether our situation today is more VUCA than during the Black Death, World Wars I and II or when we discovered that the earth was neither flat nor the center of the universe. It is informative in this respect to compare current claims and concerns to older ones. If we compare, for example, Peter Hinssens "New Normal" from 2010 to Manuel Castells "Rise Of The Network Society" from 1996, the observed effects of digitalization on our world increased complexity, dynamism, connectedness, and so on are strikingly similar, with nearly 25 years in between. We can also look at some of the early issues of strategic management's oldest scientific journal, Long Range Planning. There we find papers with titles such as "Strategic Management: A New Managerial Concept For An Era Of Rapid Change" (1971), "Defence Planning: The Uncertainty Factor" (1971), and "Planning In A State Of Turbulence" (1977). This is more than forty years ago and as these titles suggest, VUCA was experienced then as well. The fact that VUCA claims are of all ages doesnt automatically imply that they are false or irrelevant. It is quite likely that the speed of change in many industries is much faster now than ten or twenty years ago. Enabled by (digital) technology and driven by changing customer needs, this increased volatility is real for many organizations. And yes, due to greater variety in supply and demand, increased (online) connectedness between people and between organizations, and increased globalization, the complexity of doing business has probably increased too. However, due to technological enhancements, we have also become much more capable of dealing with this increased volatility and complexity. Computing power and speed, the omnipresence of information, the development of complex algorithms, artificial intelligence and the digital connectedness of the world, enable us to make dramatically more complex analyses and respond dramatically faster than even a decade ago. Thus, even though volatility and complexity probably have increased, our increased ability to deal with them does not directly mean that this has made doing business also more difficult. While volatility and complexity can be established and measured quite objectively, uncertainty and ambiguity are more of a perceptual nature. In various definitions, the latter two are even proposed to be a result of the former two: the more volatile and complex a situation, the more uncertain and ambiguous we perceive it. This means that whether we experience the world is more uncertain and ambiguous, depends to a large extent on our ability to deal with its volatility and complexity. My experiences in executive MBA teaching and consulting is that this perception is quite age-dependent and something particularly found at managers above fifty. This is supported by psychological research that shows, for example, that the older we get, the quicker time seems to pass by and the harder we find it to cope with the changes around us. Another important question is whether the four elements of VUCA reflect on-going, fluctuating, gradual developments or whether we now witness a dramatic increase in all four of them. The latter is often suggested. This is understandable. It is more dramatic and makes for better headlines. But the first seems much more likely: that VUCA represents four continuously varying factors that increase and decrease over time, dependent on which part of the world and which industry you are in. If we leave alone the question whether or not the world as a whole has become more VUCA than ever before, we can observe that most industries, at some point in time, do have VUCA characteristics. However, most industries are not VUCA all the time, and very often also not to an extreme degree. Rather, they typically go through disruptive phases alternating with more stable periods where even the disruptive periods are often spread over a couple of years. Furthermore, companies may have a diverse portfolio of products and services, some of which in markets that are VUCA and some in markets that are relatively stable, predictable, simple and clear. From this quick review of the VUCA idea, we can thus take that the world might indeed be VUCA. But at the same time, this was also the case ten, twenty, or even fifty years ago. Furthermore, many aspects of business might not be so sensitive to the VUCA-ness of the world and companies often have portfolios of products in markets with different degrees of VUCA. Finally, the same technological advancements that cause VUCA, also help us to deal with it better than ever before. It just depends on how, where and when you look and who is looking. | VUCA is the idea that the world has become unprecedentedly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. A full assessment of whether this idea is correct is out of the scope of this article. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeroenkraaijenbrink/2019/01/04/is-the-world-really-more-vuca-than-ever/ | 0.334372 |
Is The World Really More VUCA Than Ever? | Wherever we look around us, we find claims and concerns that the world is increasingly getting out of control. Whether it is the business press, the media more generally, or our personal conversations, we are witnessing an increased feeling of uncertainty, turbulence, and change. This feeling has recently culminated in the notion of VUCA, the idea that the world has become unprecedentedly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (see here for a brief explanation). While a full assessment of whether this idea is correct is out of the scope this article, it is useful to briefly review it and not take it just for granted. On the one hand, it seems obvious. Through digitalization, big data, artificial intelligence, robotization, (de)globalization, terrorism, financial crises, climate change and global shifts in power, we feel an increased volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity in the world around us. On the other hand, though, such feelings are as old as mankind and we can question whether our situation today is more VUCA than during the Black Death, World Wars I and II or when we discovered that the earth was neither flat nor the center of the universe. It is informative in this respect to compare current claims and concerns to older ones. If we compare, for example, Peter Hinssens "New Normal" from 2010 to Manuel Castells "Rise Of The Network Society" from 1996, the observed effects of digitalization on our world increased complexity, dynamism, connectedness, and so on are strikingly similar, with nearly 25 years in between. We can also look at some of the early issues of strategic management's oldest scientific journal, Long Range Planning. There we find papers with titles such as "Strategic Management: A New Managerial Concept For An Era Of Rapid Change" (1971), "Defence Planning: The Uncertainty Factor" (1971), and "Planning In A State Of Turbulence" (1977). This is more than forty years ago and as these titles suggest, VUCA was experienced then as well. The fact that VUCA claims are of all ages doesnt automatically imply that they are false or irrelevant. It is quite likely that the speed of change in many industries is much faster now than ten or twenty years ago. Enabled by (digital) technology and driven by changing customer needs, this increased volatility is real for many organizations. And yes, due to greater variety in supply and demand, increased (online) connectedness between people and between organizations, and increased globalization, the complexity of doing business has probably increased too. However, due to technological enhancements, we have also become much more capable of dealing with this increased volatility and complexity. Computing power and speed, the omnipresence of information, the development of complex algorithms, artificial intelligence and the digital connectedness of the world, enable us to make dramatically more complex analyses and respond dramatically faster than even a decade ago. Thus, even though volatility and complexity probably have increased, our increased ability to deal with them does not directly mean that this has made doing business also more difficult. While volatility and complexity can be established and measured quite objectively, uncertainty and ambiguity are more of a perceptual nature. In various definitions, the latter two are even proposed to be a result of the former two: the more volatile and complex a situation, the more uncertain and ambiguous we perceive it. This means that whether we experience the world is more uncertain and ambiguous, depends to a large extent on our ability to deal with its volatility and complexity. My experiences in executive MBA teaching and consulting is that this perception is quite age-dependent and something particularly found at managers above fifty. This is supported by psychological research that shows, for example, that the older we get, the quicker time seems to pass by and the harder we find it to cope with the changes around us. Another important question is whether the four elements of VUCA reflect on-going, fluctuating, gradual developments or whether we now witness a dramatic increase in all four of them. The latter is often suggested. This is understandable. It is more dramatic and makes for better headlines. But the first seems much more likely: that VUCA represents four continuously varying factors that increase and decrease over time, dependent on which part of the world and which industry you are in. If we leave alone the question whether or not the world as a whole has become more VUCA than ever before, we can observe that most industries, at some point in time, do have VUCA characteristics. However, most industries are not VUCA all the time, and very often also not to an extreme degree. Rather, they typically go through disruptive phases alternating with more stable periods where even the disruptive periods are often spread over a couple of years. Furthermore, companies may have a diverse portfolio of products and services, some of which in markets that are VUCA and some in markets that are relatively stable, predictable, simple and clear. From this quick review of the VUCA idea, we can thus take that the world might indeed be VUCA. But at the same time, this was also the case ten, twenty, or even fifty years ago. Furthermore, many aspects of business might not be so sensitive to the VUCA-ness of the world and companies often have portfolios of products in markets with different degrees of VUCA. Finally, the same technological advancements that cause VUCA, also help us to deal with it better than ever before. It just depends on how, where and when you look and who is looking. | VUCA is the idea that the world has become unprecedentedly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. A full assessment of whether this idea is correct is out of the scope this article, but it is useful to briefly review it and not take it just for granted. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeroenkraaijenbrink/2019/01/04/is-the-world-really-more-vuca-than-ever/ | 0.378451 |
Should Celgene Investors Take Bristol's Money and Run? | In 2018, Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) relied on just two products to drive growth, and the pharma giant's late-stage development pipeline looks like Old Mother Hubbard's cupboards. Investors know that Bristol-Myers needs to do something to continue pushing the needle forward, but a $74 billion offer for Celgene (NASDAQ: CELG) might not have been what they had in mind. Celgene shareholders will receive a combination of cash and Bristol-Myers Squibb stock. Frightened person running with a briefcase bursting with cash. More Image source: Getty Images. What Celgene shareholders get Assuming the deal completes as intended, Celgene investors have a few reasons to stick around. For each share of Celgene, they'll receive one share of Bristol-Myers Squibb, $50 upfront, and another $9 if three drugs in late-stage development earn FDA approval in a timely manner. Celgene shareholders who hang on will also begin receiving a quarterly dividend that offers a 3.6% yield at Bristol's recent stock price. Bristol has two key growth drivers pulling a train of established brands uphill. During the first nine months of 2018, Opdivo sales grew 35% to $4.9 billion, and Eliquis sales grew 35% to $4.7 billion. Generic competition for established brands pulled Bristol's top line in the opposite direction, which limited total year-to-year sales growth to just 8% during the period. Bristol-Myers expects to record adjusted earnings of at least $3.80 per share for all of 2018, and at least $4.10 per share in 2019, excluding any impact from the Celgene acquisition. Celgene shareholders eager to fire Mark Alles over the ozanimod debacle of 2018 will also get their wish: Bristol-Myers CEO Giovanni Caforio will continue to serve as chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the combined company. More reasons to hold on To get investors on board, Bristol-Myers pointed at six experimental new drugs in late-stage development that have $15 billion in total -- not annual -- revenue potential. That figure seems entirely reasonable considering EvaluatePharma recently estimated their combined net present value at $25.2 billion, a figure that accounts for positive and negative cash flows, plus how long it could take to achieve them. A lot of Celgene's top-line sales already flow to the bottom line. Over the past year, Celgene generated a whopping $4.2 billion in free cash flow, with just $15.2 billion in top-line sales, and the same operations are about to become a lot more profitable. Bristol-Myers Squibb already has around 22,000 employees who perform many of the same functions as counterparts at Celgene who racked up $3.2 billion in sales and administrative expenses over the past year. | Celgene shareholders will receive a combination of cash and Bristol-Myers Squibb stock. | bart | 0 | https://news.yahoo.com/celgene-investors-bristol-apos-money-130700633.html | 0.101029 |
Should Celgene Investors Take Bristol's Money and Run? | In 2018, Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) relied on just two products to drive growth, and the pharma giant's late-stage development pipeline looks like Old Mother Hubbard's cupboards. Investors know that Bristol-Myers needs to do something to continue pushing the needle forward, but a $74 billion offer for Celgene (NASDAQ: CELG) might not have been what they had in mind. Celgene shareholders will receive a combination of cash and Bristol-Myers Squibb stock. Frightened person running with a briefcase bursting with cash. More Image source: Getty Images. What Celgene shareholders get Assuming the deal completes as intended, Celgene investors have a few reasons to stick around. For each share of Celgene, they'll receive one share of Bristol-Myers Squibb, $50 upfront, and another $9 if three drugs in late-stage development earn FDA approval in a timely manner. Celgene shareholders who hang on will also begin receiving a quarterly dividend that offers a 3.6% yield at Bristol's recent stock price. Bristol has two key growth drivers pulling a train of established brands uphill. During the first nine months of 2018, Opdivo sales grew 35% to $4.9 billion, and Eliquis sales grew 35% to $4.7 billion. Generic competition for established brands pulled Bristol's top line in the opposite direction, which limited total year-to-year sales growth to just 8% during the period. Bristol-Myers expects to record adjusted earnings of at least $3.80 per share for all of 2018, and at least $4.10 per share in 2019, excluding any impact from the Celgene acquisition. Celgene shareholders eager to fire Mark Alles over the ozanimod debacle of 2018 will also get their wish: Bristol-Myers CEO Giovanni Caforio will continue to serve as chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the combined company. More reasons to hold on To get investors on board, Bristol-Myers pointed at six experimental new drugs in late-stage development that have $15 billion in total -- not annual -- revenue potential. That figure seems entirely reasonable considering EvaluatePharma recently estimated their combined net present value at $25.2 billion, a figure that accounts for positive and negative cash flows, plus how long it could take to achieve them. A lot of Celgene's top-line sales already flow to the bottom line. Over the past year, Celgene generated a whopping $4.2 billion in free cash flow, with just $15.2 billion in top-line sales, and the same operations are about to become a lot more profitable. Bristol-Myers Squibb already has around 22,000 employees who perform many of the same functions as counterparts at Celgene who racked up $3.2 billion in sales and administrative expenses over the past year. | Celgene shareholders will receive a combination of cash and Bristol-Myers Squibb stock. Opdivo sales grew 35% to $4.9 billion in the first nine months of 2018. | bart | 1 | https://news.yahoo.com/celgene-investors-bristol-apos-money-130700633.html | 0.130751 |
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