Received MO from Walmart in the amount of $2500.
MO number: 54211944286, this was posted from Republic of Benin in Africa. This was a forgery but the actual MO is real, seems walmart employees may be involved.
i recieved a mo from a gril from roomates.com wanting to move into my vavcant room. she keept saying the mo was on the way. i did recieve them from walmart financial services. there was much more money then i was asking for. so i looked up wf national bank and found this site and called the 800 number. she stated that money orders do not come from walmart in this amount. be careful they looked real.
I recieved several MO from a guy who got my contact information from Monter.com (very scarey). Saying that he needed accountants to handle payments for a company called M & J Textiles in the UK. He claimed that he needed me to recieve payments from clients that were paying for textiles recieved and was not able to recieve payments in the UK. These were Walmart money orders @ $1000. I was to cash the MO orders keep 10% and the fees for western union and send him the rest to, guess where? NIGERIA. I did cash the first 3 of them at my bank and sent a western union to 3 different names. This is when I became suspicious and starting asking more questions. As the second set of money orders came FED-X. I started examining the MO a little closer. They came form Huntsville, TX from someone name Roger Fountain. These look really good. I emailed the guy markjohn@yahoo.com asking questions as to why the person couldn't send him the money if he lived right here in the states as well. He never emailed me back, but has sent another package, which I wont except. I told him that I will not except anymore packages from him until he can tell me why? Someone please email me @ littlesw@yahoo.com and let me know who I can contact to turn over these MO and give all the other information that I have.
I received two money oders in the amount of 2500.00.
Just came across this site during a search. So far from what I have read here you are all in ggod company. I work for a distribution center in California and found that the company has been being taken for years until I did some investigating. So far I can tell you this.
1. Most fraud cases originate from Nigeria because there is basically no government AND NO AGENCY in Nigeria to stop this from happening. Our Local FBI can do nothing about it because of this.
2. Any type of internet marketplace is targeted, I.E Craigslist, Ebay, etc..
3. I personnaly was targeted at one time, selling a set of couches on Craigslist for $300, I was sent $3500 in Cashiers checks to pay for the couches and then send was asked to send $3200 to a third party for shipping costs to UK. Ok, who pays $3500 for $300 used furniture for one! When I told them I could not ship it, they asked that i send them back the money in cash, because they were on vacation in (guess where) Nigeria and his wife had become ill!
3. Most of the time they want something sent to Laos, which is the capitol of Nigeria.
4. Right now the name Princess Jones is being used and they also will take account numbers from places like UPS and use them.
5. If you have been a victim or targeted for any thing like this, please e-mail me with the details as now it looks like there is a contact for these criminals in Georgia and I will be contacting the FBI with all my information soon.
Just goes to show you never know whos on the other end.
I was contacted for a job offer doing books for a companies clients here in the usa. I was to receive payments have them cashed at my bank and wire the money to the company in London. I was to keep 10% for myself it did not sound like a bad offer. I checked and there is a Company with that name in London. I did ask some questions on how he found me he said it was through my resume that I had put on monsters. kinda scary huh. So I decided to play it out and see what would happen not giving any information except my address. I received an e-mail telling me the client called and will fedx a payment to make sure I was home to receive it. What really red flagged it more was the money orders were sent from france from a client in TX from walmart on a bank in MN. He told me because of the terrorist bombings in London wireing it there would have a hold put on it so I was to western union the money to Nigrea ASAP so the funds could be picked up by a branch of his company there. The money orders looked good except the were dated a month eariler not consecutive numbers and the heat spot did not work. I was always told as a child that never give out any information to any one that calls on the phone you never know who your talkng.Now that applies to e-mails. Remember we hear this all the time If it sounds to good to be true it probably is.
Holy cow! There's six of 'em. $5400.00 "face value". Actual value $0.00. They could've at least left the backs blank so they'd be good for scratch paper. That ming be worth $.000001 for the lot.
If they are out of the courntry but will have third arange shipping.
Would you send some 2000 dollars for a 200 dollar item and hope they are honest?
I tell them to send me the checks or money orders then I hang them on my wall. Make sure you reques they use fedex to send them so they get nailed a high fee for shipping. Maybe your getting them the loose some one elses money. The last on i got was from london without even a return address. These guys are really bad.
Just received four fake "Walmart Financial Services, Travelers Express co" each in the amount of $900.00. These are absolutely THE BEST fake financial documents I've ever seen. My bank will cash them. (If I were that stupid) The $3600. debit would come back like a yo yo plus $6.00 each penalty to my account, of course.
Be careful folks, these money orders look more genuine than the real McCoy!
She also told me that she had money orders from Wal Mart...but she only sent the ones from Security Pacific National Bank.
She also told me that she had money prders fropm Wal Mart...but she only sent the ones from Security Pacific National Bank.
I just received two international money orders (IMO) from Security Pacific National Bank in the amount of $2000 each. Concerned, I looked up the bank online and it was taken over by Bank of America (BoA) more than 10 years ago. So, I checked with BoA RE: IMO, and they informed me that no money orders from that originating bank were still valid. However, I had already put the IMO in my bank account (prior to actually learning they were fake) and my bank made the funds available, even though the IMO had not cleared yet! So, beware the fact that the funds may appear in your account right away despite there being about a 10 day cycle for the funds to be verified. The funds are made available on 'good faith'. DO NOT ACCEPT IMO FROM SECURITY PACIFIC NATIONAL BANK!! If someone knows how I should handle this matter properly so I do not get accused of fraud, please advise. Unfortunately, like I said, I already deposited the IMO and I informed my bank that these IMO will be bad. The perpetrator contacted me through an online dating service. She posed as a Dutch woman living in the WIlmington, DE, who dealt in "jewelries". I was suspicious from the get go, but I wanted to be helpful. After a few weeks of dialogue, she claimed that she was having difficulties while conducting business in Africa (Nigeria, to be more specific) and that she wanted me to cash some IMO for her through my bank and then transfer the funds via Western Union. I was a total dope for not saying "no" right away, but I thought I was being nice. DO NOT FALL FOR THIS IMO "I WONT BE ABLE TO GET BACK TO THE STATES IF YOU DONT HELP ME" SCAM! Again if anyone knows the proper authorities to contact, please let me know. Thanks!
I just recieved a money order for the amount of 2800.00 from walmart financial sevices. The envelope it was in was post-marked from Nigeria. I have an e-mail address of the man that has been mailing me, saying he wanted to buy one of my great dane puppies i have for sale. This is just to weird, and wanted to know if it was legit or not and what's going on. If someone could write me back asap i would appreciate it very much. He used a relay call for deaf people to call me on the phone a couple of times.Please contact me as soon as you can. Thank you!


Why Won’t Congress Reform the No Child Left Behind Act?
Congress has been unable to pass NCLB reform because the Tea Party has eroded the decade long bipartisan consensus on education policy.
When No Child Left Behind was signed into law 2001, lawmakers knew that mandating 100 percent student proficiency in math and reading by 2014 was unrealistic. But they assumed that by 2009, at the latest, Congress would reform and reauthorize the law and in the process adjust some of its unfeasible mandates.


A mental health support worker downed beer, sambuca and whiskey before she crashed a borrowed car in Sutton and tried to flee, a court has heard.
Shannon Bourne, 21, of Field Drive, Shirebrook, admitted driving with excess alcohol, without insurance and failing to stop after an accident, when she appeared before magistrates in Mansfield on Wednesday.
The court heard Bourne was driving her friend’s partner’s Vauxhall Corsa along Spring Road, in Sutton, at around 11pm on October 14, when a police officer spotted she had no lights on.
“He flashed a torch to warn her, but it continued straight down the road without changing,” said Neil Hollett, prosecuting.
The officer watched as the Corsa hit another car and then ran to the scene, where he overheard Bourne’s friend advising her not to leave.
She began running away, said Mr Hollett, but the officer gave chase and detained her.
A breath test revealed she had 83 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, when the legal limit is 35 microgrammes.
The court heard she had drunk three pints of beer, as well as sambuca and JD and coke, and decided to drive the car home after her friend’s partner was chased out of a pub in Sutton.
Justin Atkinson, mitigating, told the court Bourne worked in Matlock, but was likely to lose her job because of the inevitable ban.
“She is thoroughly ashamed and embarrassed,” he said, adding she had recently begun taking medication for depression.
He said Bourne thought she was insured by her own fully comprehensive policy. He said she was repaying the £2,200 costs of repairing the Corsa in monthly installments.
She was fined £346 and ordered to pay costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £34. She was banned from driving for 20 months.


Some of the most compelling photographs from RFE/RL's coverage area and beyond for the 34th week of 2018. For more photo galleries, see our Picture This archive.
8 Ukrainian servicewomen attend a rehearsal on August 22 for the a Ukrainian Independence Day military parade in central Kyiv on August 24.


Auntie Pam's celebrate five years.
Volunteers and clients past and present came together to mark the success of Auntie Pam’s in Dewsbury at an open day and birthday bake off. Over the last five years the award-winning volunteers have helped nearly 300 women and offered nearly 800 one-to-one support sessions. A second branch opened in Huddersfield last year.


ROOSEVELT, Utah – An armed man was shot and killed by a police officer in Roosevelt Sunday after police responded to a call about a man with a gun who was acting erratically.
According to a press release from the Duchesne County Sheriff’s Office, police responded to the area near the Uintah Basin Medical Center around 12:33 p.m. Sunday after someone reported a man with a handgun was acting erratically.
The man, identified as 36-year-old Kevin Vance Norton, was currently on felony probation and not allowed to possess a firearm. As officers approached, the man fled to a nearby wooded area with a creek.
Norton was taken to the Uintah Basin Medical Center within minutes of the shooting, where he died due to his injuries.
Local officials have requested an investigation from the Utah State Bureau of Investigation, which is standard procedure. According to the press release, The Uintah County Attorney has agreed to screen the case and determine if the use of deadly force was justified.


The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral institution with the mandate to foster sustainable economic growth in Asia by investing in infrastructure and other productive areas and promoting regional cooperation and partnerships.
The HR Analyst will report to the Senior HR Officer, Employee Relations within the Human Resources (HR) Department and assist to contribute to the development and implementation of a broad range of HR functions in the evolving Employee Relations Unit. Under the supervision of the Senior HR Officer, the analyst will work on the development of AIIB’s corporate culture, work on administering the Bank’s Administrative Review Procedure and Informal Dispute Prevention and Resolution Processes and work on activities related to on- and off-boarding and other related areas.
Culture building and engagement: With the launch of the AIIB corporate culture program, the selected candidate will assist in support of the implementation of the work of culture working groups and assist in implementing programs in this respect by conducting best practice research, development of concepts and implementation of tools to further refine programs.
Grievance and Appeals mechanism: With the launch of the AIIB grievance mechanism and the relevant Administrative Guidance, the successful candidate will assist to develop and maintain a case registry. The analyst will assist in initial screening of requests and whether all documents have been provided correctly. The successful candidate will also carry out basic research functions with regard to AIIB Rules and Regulations and the area of Informal Dispute Prevention and Resolution.
Staff Communications: The analyst will assist in developing and launching a Staff Communications channel on the AIIB intranet portal and assist in maintaining, regularly updating and suggesting revisions to the information provided.
On - and off-boarding: Assist the pre-onboarding and onboarding function by coordinating and liaising with relevant departments to ensure smooth processes, in coordination with the officer, to maintain and regularly update relevant materials. Providing support in off-boarding matters by coordinating and liaising with relevant departments to ensure smooth processes, coordinating exit interviews and other relevant tasks. The analyst will also contribute to the development and refinement of these processes by assisting in research on good practices, developing flowcharts and revising and suggesting additions to welcome materials. The analyst will also assist with confidential matters in relation to end-of-employment.
Minimum 2-3 years of relevant HR support experience in an international/financial institution.
Some initial expertise in HR.
Strong written and verbal English communication skills are essential.
Familiarity with the employment terms and practices of international organizations would be an advantage.
Excellent interpersonal, communication and organizational skills as well as ability to juggle multiple priorities.
Energetic and enthusiastic with a can-do attitude; independent, able to work under pressure and meet deadlines; service orientation.
Ability to work as a member of a team and build relationships to ensure excellent service provision; high level of integrity; trustworthy and keen attention to details.
Bachelor’s degree or above in human resources, economics, business administration, international relations, communications and other related fields from a reputable university.


Linda: In the field of couples counseling, a great deal is explored about the together aspect of relationships with attention placed on the critical importance of commitment, open communication, caring, and emotional and sexual intimacy. There is also a strong emphasis placed on learning to handle against well, with guidelines designed to enhance managing conflict. All the books, blogs, and workshops surrounding these two essential ingredients of successful partnership are a great contribution to couples’ well-being.
The area that is not sufficiently thoroughly addressed is apart. To individuate is “to form into a separate and distinct entity, the process by which social individuals become differentiated from the other.” In our culture this critical individuation stage is often neglected. Obtaining a sense of identity does not happen just once in adolescence. It is a process that we go through time and time again, if we heed the call of the wanderer. Individuation is an essential stage for each individual to achieve mastery if the partnership is to reach the highest levels of well-being. For it is the process of individuation where self-discovery takes place.
The archetypal name for individuation is Wanderer. In the old fairy tales, the hero leaves the comfort of family and community to strike out alone to find his destiny. He or she experiences loneliness, and may become lost during the journey. In the Wanderer stage we separate from the symbiotic form that our relationship may have grown into, to be a unique separate individual again. Togetherness serves a significant purpose when two people are establishing their couple-ness, joining their interests and mutual life-styles. But high functioning relationships maintain a way for each of the pair to be an individual, with a clear and separate identity.
One day we can wake up and feel like something is not quite right. It may happen after we have played out a lot of the other myths in our lives, about finding happiness from the external world by becoming successful, making money, having a family, or doing what it is that we were programmed by the culture to do. At some point, we find ourselves looking at our life and saying, “Is this it? Is this all there is? Is this what I get for being a hard worker, or for being a good girl, or for being productive or for doing what I am supposed to do? Something is missing!” It can be a profound opening to make a very powerful shift in our lives.
In the archetypal stories the heroes leave the security of home and community because they feel called to wander. They slay dragons and meet up with strangers on their journeys. The modern day wanderer is much more apt to take an inner journey as what Sam Keen calls a “psychonaut”, to make a journey into the psyche to discover their identity. This can be a difficult stage in a relationship because the wanderer tends to be extremely absorbed in the process and not thinking about meeting the other person’s needs. A wanderer cannot be taking care of many of the practical things in life. Trust and good communication help us negotiate this stage.
Time Alone: Individuation sometimes requires us to physically go somewhere, or we may go inside ourselves where we spend time meditating, writing in our journal, or in therapy, looking at ourselves in a different way. During this time of introspection, we are definitely going to be much less available to our partner. Time apart to reflect allows for self-discovery Although we can discover a great deal about ourselves within the interactions of the partnership, there is a truth that can only be discovered when we are alone and undistracted by our partner. At times we need to let go of the relationship temporarily, for a few hours, days, weeks, or even months, to go exploring deep inside ourselves for a period of self-discovery. Our sense of autonomy comes from experiencing that we are a separate individual with a unique history, personality, thoughts interests, values and a style of being in the world.
Time with Family and Friends: To have an active social network of friends is a mark of psychological and emotional well-being. Time spent with other important people in our life, especially when the interactions and conversations are meaningful, enhances our process of self-discovery. An added advantage from having strong ties with family and friends outside the partnership is that they enlarge our world, which takes pressure off of the partnership. Our interactions with others expand us and assist with discovering more of who we are and can become.
If we don’t heed the call of the wanderer, vitality starts to slip away and we are left with the empty form. We live out the days playing the roles politely but the juiciness of life is missing in the relationship because we are not honoring who we truly are. In the individuation stage we become an expanded version of who we can be rather than merely fulfilling the role of husband or wife.
Individuation is critical in developing a sense of self as a fully functioning individual. By honoring the urge to explore and discover more truth about what we really are, we are free to bring more of ourselves to our partner. The task of this stage is to master autonomy and learn to be apart, with love. Knowing ourselves deeply both our signature strengths and weaknesses, positions us well to bring our whole full self to our partner. When our partner is doing the same, we are two fully functioning people that have the greatest chance at happiness.
Check out our new book!
That Which Doesn’t Kill Us: How One Couple Got Stronger at the Broken Places is newly published and has been met with rave reviews. The book is a very personal joint memoir written in alternating chapters describing their experiences during a ten-year period of their marriage in which they endured a series of challenges and ordeals that brought them to the brink of divorce. The book details the process of their descent into relationship hell as well as the process that enabled them to re-establish a connection that was stronger and more mutually fulfilling than what they had ever previously experienced.
The book is currently available for purchase through their office (lcbloom@bloomwork.com) and will also be available for purchase from Amazon after April 9, 2018. The cost is $16.95.


NEWARK, N.J. (AP)  A man who authorities say was angry about a Facebook post pleaded not guilty Thursday to stabbing three people to death and knifing three others in New Jersey’s largest city.
Jeremy Arrington, 26, appeared in court in Newark, where he faced three counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder, among other charges, stemming from an attack Saturday.
Arrington might have been angry that one of the victims had reposted a Facebook alert from police naming him as a suspect in a shooting and sexual assault last month, authorities said.
Killed in the attacks Saturday were 8-year-old Aerial Little Whitehurst and 11-year-old Al-Jahon Whitehurst, both of Newark, and 23-year-old college student Syasia McBurroughs, of Hanover Township. The children were sister and brother; McBurroughs was not related to them and was visiting the family, authorities said.
Arrington went to the home, which is owned by the grandmother of the children, and apparently encountered nine people, authorities said. He stabbed six over the course of about an hour, but two other children and an adult escaped without injury, authorities said.


A new algorithm is being rolled out by Facebook to help tackle a sensitive concern for users: receiving notifications from the profiles of dead friends and relatives. A report from The Guardian says that the social media giant is altering its AI system and will be treating such accounts differently by preventing the site from automatically suggesting people invite people to events who have already passed away.
Currently, accounts are kept on Facebook in memory of those who have died. These “memorialized” accounts display such things as photos, posts and other treasured memories for other users to see. However, as the site’s algorithm treats these the same way as any other profile, the site can suggest they be invited to parties or it can recommend users wish them a happy birthday, which can be upsetting to others.
Facebook has said that such notifications should be a thing of the past.
According to Wired, users who have been assigned as a “legacy contact” – an option which gives people permission to be in control of a user’s profile if they pass away – will have even more control than before. One such feature is the ability to manage “tributes” where loved ones can be remembered and users can reminisce about them.
Some of these changes are a response to users abusing the system by falsely claiming that someone has died, thus locking that user out of their Facebook account.
In 2014, the company had to issue an apology after a “Year in Review” – a feature which shows a user’s highlighted moments of that year – showed several pictures and clips of friends and relatives who had already died.
However, there may be some complications that come with these algorithmic updates, such as if the legacy contact also dies. Sandberg has said that the company will look into a solution for this.


Convicted drug users in California are more likely to be arrested on new drug charges since Proposition 36 took effect than before voters approved the landmark law mandating drug treatment rather than incarceration, according a long-awaited study released Friday.
The state-funded study, conducted by UCLA researchers who have pored over four years of drug-related court cases, raises new questions about the effectiveness of Proposition 36 at a time when lawmakers and courts are discussing stricter requirements for defendants.
UCLA researchers tracking drug offenders found high levels of new drug arrests among those eligible in the first year of Proposition 36, which took effect in 2001. About 50% of those offenders were picked up by police within 30 months, compared with 38% of similar offenders convicted before Proposition 36.
The report notes that some increases in arrests were expected because Proposition 36 left offenders on the street who would have previously served time.
But the research also underscores the difficulty the state has experienced in getting drug offenders into treatment and out of trouble.
Only about 25% of the defendants who are sentenced to drug treatment complete the programs. And data released Friday show that even among those who complete drug treatment, more than four in 10 had new drug arrests within 30 months of their Proposition 36 convictions.
The numbers are worse for those who don't finish drug treatment. Researchers were surprised to find that those who failed to show up for rehab were less likely to be rearrested than those who went to some treatment but dropped out: 55% compared with 60%.
Supporters of Proposition 36 said the report shows how hard it is to treat a chronic disease like drug addiction but argue that the obvious conclusion is that more intensive treatment services are needed.
But critics, including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, believe that the initiative needs to be overhauled and have advocated adding jail sanctions for participants who relapse.
UCLA researchers said their study shows the measure has helped tens of thousands of drug users complete treatment but needs more money to improve supervision and intensify treatment.
"We have a lot of serious addicts in Proposition 36, and a lot of them are warehoused in treatment that's not appropriate for their needs," said Angela Hawken, a UCLA researcher who worked on the study.
"It needs tightening up, even though it really has been a major improvement over what was done before. We face a major prison crisis in this state, and if we're going to get this law to help us, we need to improve it."
The UCLA researchers have spent the last four years examining about 200,000 Proposition 36 cases, providing the first long-range look at how defendants fared after their initial sentences. The review released Friday tracked 44,000 defendants sentenced from July 2001 through June 2002.
The data showed lower rates of new arrests for property crimes among those who finished treatment, nearly 10% compared with about 17% of defendants who dropped out of the program. Arrests for violent crimes were low for all groups. Overall, the report found Proposition 36 had no direct effect on crime trends.
The report will probably be a factor in budget talks in Sacramento, where Schwarzenegger has proposed a $25-million cut to the program. The researchers instead called for at least $79 million more in funds to increase supervision of defendants and address treatment shortages.
The report also highlighted disparities, with young Latino males far less likely than other groups to enter long-term residential treatment. In addition, few Proposition 36 defendants received narcotic-replacement therapy, such as methadone, despite widespread evidence that it is effective in helping addicts.
The findings come as Schwarzenegger and other critics are seeking to add sanctions to the program in an effort to encourage more offenders to complete their treatment.
Repeated studies, including the most recent, show that of the nearly 50,000 people sentenced under the proposition each year, nearly a third do not report for treatment. Of those who do enter rehab, about two-thirds fail to complete it.
Last year, Schwarzenegger signed a law that made it easier for judges to exclude some offenders while adding jail sanctions for those who relapse.
But supporters of Proposition 36 warn that adding jail stints would signal a shift away from treating drug addiction as a health problem, arguing that voters in 2000 backed treatment, not jail. They sued the governor and won an injunction temporarily blocking last year's reforms from being implemented.
Margaret Dooley, Proposition 36 coordinator for the Drug Policy Alliance, said the latest assessment shows that any cuts to funding by Schwarzenegger are "absolutely the wrong way to go."
"If he had any doubt about that," said Dooley, whose group has been a principal backer of the law, "I hope this clears that up."
She said the new drug arrests, including those by defendants who completed Proposition 36 treatment, reflect the chronic nature of drug addiction and are unsurprising. The failure rate the state has seen, she added, is in line with other treatment programs.
"If a person relapses, the response is treatment, same as when you have a relapse of cancer or if your diabetes becomes unmanageable and you have to go back and get it under control again," she said.
"If we kept more people in treatment longer, if they got the minimal dose of 90 days that we know is needed, if we didn't stick long-term opiate users in outpatient care, the results would be better. When we talk about drug crimes, we're talking about the effectiveness of our treatment and how people are faring afterward."
* Place more drug defendants in long-term treatment programs, including inpatient care, at an estimated cost of $19 million a year.
* Provide at least 90 days of treatment to all offenders, at a cost of $18 million a year. The length of treatment now varies widely, with many receiving far less than 90 days.
* Provide higher levels of narcotic replacement therapy for opiate users, at an annual cost of at least $3.7 million.
* Significantly increase community supervision -- particularly for offenders who enter Proposition 36 probation with multiple previous convictions -- at an annual cost of about $25 million.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Ana Maria Luna, who chairs a county Proposition 36 committee, said better supervision of offenders is vital to helping more of them get through treatment.
Most participants in Los Angeles are required to check in at kiosks run by the county's probation department.
A better system, Luna said, would use probation officers to go to the homes of participants who have long histories of drug use.
Such visits, though they would increase costs, would better determine whether offenders were using drugs and encourage more to take the program seriously, she said.
"Right now we just don't have the money to supervise them the way we'd like to," she said. "The only real supervision that we have in L.A. County is having the folks come back to court on a regular basis."
Drug offenders who were eligible for sentencing under Proposition 36 in its first year were more likely to be arrested again than similar offenders before the Proposition 36 rules took effect.


There is no finality in Clayton Kershaw’s future. There is uncertainty, which is why he took the mound at Dodger Stadium last Tuesday with thoughts beyond that night’s game.
Not too many thoughts, for Kershaw is an extraordinarily focused performer. The Colorado Rockies were in town, and the winner of that night’s game would leave the ballpark atop the National League West.
But there was that extra glance, that extra breath, that extra thought. Kershaw pitched his first home game for the Dodgers 10 years ago. He might have pitched his 164th and last regular-season home game for the Dodgers last Tuesday.
“I would be lying if I said it didn’t cross my mind,” Kershaw said.
David Price, like Kershaw, can opt out of his contract at the end of the season. Price said this month he would not opt out. Kershaw hasn’t said.
“No one’s ever asked me,” Kershaw said Friday.
We’ll ask. Have you decided whether to opt out?
In spring training, Dodgers chairman Mark Walter said he hoped to make Kershaw a Dodger for life. Is that still the game plan?
Kershaw almost certainly has clinched a spot in the Hall of Fame, with a plaque on which he would be sporting a Dodgers cap.
His decade of dominance speaks for itself: the only National League pitcher to win the league’s most valuable player award in the past half-century, three Cy Young awards, seven consecutive top-five Cy Young finishes, the lowest career earned-run average of any pitcher with at least 1,500 innings in the live-ball era. That dates back to 1920.
Opt out? That would have been a foregone conclusion a decade ago, when paying for past performance still was in vogue.
But, with the advent of analytics, a team might well project Kershaw’s value based on these numbers: 30 years old, a 3 mph drop in his fastball velocity, two trips to the disabled list this year, three consecutive years in which a back injury has put him on the disabled list.
If Kershaw does not opt out, the Dodgers owe him another two years and $65 million. Could he double that in free agency?
Of the 12 pitchers to sign contracts of at least $130 million, only one had thrown 2,000 innings when he signed: Zack Greinke, at 2,153, including the postseason.
Kershaw is at 2,207, with the last week of September and perhaps all of October to go.
The Times spoke with seven baseball insiders, on the agent side and on the team side, none working for Kershaw or the Dodgers, to get a sense of what might happen. The uneasy consensus: Kershaw stays with the Dodgers, but he has dropped so few clues that no one really knows.
Kershaw has reinvented himself as a pitcher, with less fastball and more slider, and without any significant decline in results. That is incredibly impressive, all the more so when he did not need a year or two for his new self to become effective.
A team could count on Kershaw for 150 innings per season, which counts as perfectly satisfactory in this era. And, according to one of the insiders, Kershaw is so driven that he might yet find a way to alter his mechanics and recover some velocity.
That might not be enough. Of the seven insiders, none thought Kershaw could match the seven years of his current contract, and only one thought Kershaw might get even five years.
One of the insiders wondered how many teams would be willing to offer $30 million per year to a starting pitcher. The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, sure, but would Kershaw want to play in either city? The San Francisco Giants and Washington Nationals? Maybe, but both of those teams are in flux. The Chicago Cubs?
“Clayton doesn’t strike me as the type of guy that wants to play wherever,” an insider said.
There could be a wild card as high bidder, like when the Arizona Diamondbacks struck for Greinke, or the Seattle Mariners for Robinson Cano.
One insider suggested the Angels, where they could risk a declining third or fourth year of Kershaw if the first two years were so good that they propelled the team toward the playoffs and persuaded Mike Trout to forego free agency.
The most logical suitor remains Kershaw’s hometown team, the Texas Rangers, with big oil money in ownership and a new ballpark to sell for 2020.
“The concept of layering in a quality free-agent addition, that’s appealing,” Rangers general manager Jon Daniels told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
With the Dodgers, Kershaw has a good chance to get to the playoffs every year, and a decent chance to get to the World Series.
The Rangers, after a run of five postseason appearances in seven years, finished 23 games out of first place last year, and they will finish in last place in the American League West this year. They fired their manager on Friday, they gave 24 starts to the ancient Bartolo Colon this season, and they are embarking on a rebuild.
Winning there might not happen soon enough for Kershaw.
Kershaw has started 314 games for the Dodgers, the exact number Sandy Koufax did. What might be more important to Kershaw, his legacy with the Dodgers or the comfort of family back home?
On a pure analytics play, the Dodgers could justify letting Kershaw walk away if he opts out of his contract. But, on a pure analytics play, the Dodgers would not have awarded closer Kenley Jansen the fifth year of his contract and would have lost him to the Washington Nationals.
The Dodgers’ ownership can extend Kershaw for another two years, committing him to four more years in Los Angeles, perhaps with an opt-out clause after 2020 so Kershaw can test the market if he has two healthy years.
Another $65 million is not cheap, but it is cheaper than signing Manny Machado or Bryce Harper. After the Dodgers spent $2 million in free agency last winter (hello, Tom Koehler) and dodged the luxury tax this summer, some fan-friendly spending would be welcome.
For all the storied history of the franchise, it has been 20 years since the Hall of Fame inducted a Dodger: Don Sutton, whose plaque listed five teams.


Teaching assistants have voted by 93 percent to strike against huge pay cuts being pushed by County Durham Labour councillors.
The already low paid, largely female workforce could see pay slashed by up to 23 percent in a move that Labour councillors have absurdly claimed is all about “equality”.
Unison union rep and rank and file teaching assistants’ (TAs) committee member Megan spoke to Socialist Worker.
Unison represents the overwhelming majority of the 2,700 TAs in Durham. ATL union members also voted by 84 percent to strike.
The council claims its attack amounts to a 10 percent pay cut but this is only if TAs work an extra 4.5 hours a week. Those who cannot do that will lose thousands of pounds a year.
Many will be forced out of the job they love because they cannot afford to accept such drastic cuts to pay and Durham schools will lose very experienced staff.
Labour thought its cuts plan would pass without opposition. Rank and file resistance has scuppered this. It has also forced union officials to act after they initially looked to only be offering surrender.
A series of protests, rallies and constant campaigning pressurised officials into action and built a rank and file network across the county. The TAs’ campaign has also drawn in Labour Party members who are helping build wider public support.
Last week Durham Miners Hall was filled again with around 400 TAs, this time at a rally addressed by Unison leader Dave Prentis. He must ensure an urgent national appeal goes out to Unison branches for financial support and solidarity for the Durham TAs.
The teaching assistants will need the full backing of their union and the trade union movement against a council that has resorted to dirty tricks to ram through its attack.
TAs will maintain a protest outside Durham County Hall all this week with industrial action likely after October half term. Many TAs don’t just want token one-day action—they want the officials to lead and lay out a strategy to win.


Any terrorist entity trying to exploit the power vacuum in Syria would be considered a common threat, Turkey's foreign minister and Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) leader have said in a press statement yesterday.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu was in Arbil to discuss the recent developments in Syria with KRG President Massoud Barzani.
A press statement was released following the meeting between Davutoğlu and Barzani, saying any attempt to exploit the power vacuum in Syria by a terrorist organization would be considered a common threat for both Turkey and the KRG that would be "jointly addressed."
"The new Syria should be free of any terrorist and extremist groups or organization," the statement said.
Turkey has expressed concern over possible cooperation between the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Kurdish leadership in Syria's north, in which the latter has managed to take over the control of numerous Syrian cities without violence.
Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, and Mr. Masoud Barzani, the President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, had extensive, friendly and constructive discussions in Erbil today on bilateral relations and regional issues, particularly on the situation in Syria. They noted their satisfaction with the pace of their relations and agreed to expand them in all fields, particularly in the fields of economic development and energy.
They emphasized that the situation in Syria is grave. Syrian people continue to suffer. Loss of life and destruction is at unprecedented levels. They underlined that the actions of the Syrian regime and its policy to provoke sectarian and ethnic conflict within the country will further deteriorate the situation. The developments in Syria also pose a threat to regional security and stability. This situation is unacceptable by all standards.
They emphasized their commitment to a swift peaceful political transition in Syria. They reiterated that the future of Syria should only be determined by the free will of the Syrian people.
They agreed to cooperate and coordinate their efforts with a view to helping Syrian people to achieve their legitimate aspirations for a democratic, free and pluralistic Syria where all citizens will enjoy equal rights and freedoms. In the new Syria, all ethnic, religious or sectarian identities should be respected and their rights should be guaranteed and protected.
They expressed their deep concern regarding instability and chaos in Syria. They also emphasized that any attempt to exploit the power vacuum by any violent group or organization will be considered as a common threat, which should be jointly addressed. The new Syria should be free of any terrorist and extremist group or organization.
They agreed to continue their consultations and cooperation in the interests of peace and stability in the region.


This white paper examines the looming threat horizon that is forcing companies to reexamine their endpoint security functions and discusses ESET's solution for integrated security management that is built around its advanced heuristic technology. The threat landscape facing businesses has evolved significantly, and corporations are looking for security products that can protect against known threats and prepare for future attackers in a simple-to-use architecture.
This white paper examines the looming threat horizon that is forcing companies to reexamine their endpoint security functions and discusses ESET's solution for integrated security management that is built around its advanced heuristic technology.
This buyers guide is designed to help you choose the right solution for your organization. It looks at the factors you should consider when evaluating solutions to ensure you have the protection and functionality you need, both now and as your business evolves.
This whitepaper explains that USB drives have been used to transport viruses and malware, both on purpose and accidentally. The paper explains that no manually handling of files, such as with USB drives, is unnecessary when you set up a secure network architecture using five zones of protection. You can transfer files to and from your network around the globe, and know the data and the network are secure, automatically scanning files to block dangerous data while allowing "clean" data into the network. The paper notes several reasons why it matters that data is secure while remaining accessible.


What do Harry Potter, Katniss Everdeen and Bella Swan all have in common?
They owe at least a large chunk of their fame and profits to tweens. A recent article from Investopedia said that all three of those franchises were initially successful in large due to tweens, but more specifically, tweens AND their parents.
Tweens get their spending money from their parents, and presumably, their parents wield some amount of control or at least influence over what the tweens use that money to buy. J.K. Rowling, Suzanne Collins and Stephenie Meyer all spun tales that mesmerized readers, regardless of age group. In doing so, they harnessed the economic power of multiple demographics. Their books and movies generated the profits to prove it.
While not all parents agree that all are tween appropriate, a decent number of parents were in line with their tweens for the first midnight showing of a movie in one of those series. (Lame one that I am, I'm still trying to figure out how they stay up so late.) The sales figures for all three series for the books and the movies were astounding.
Marketers are certainly taking notice of tweens, but what is even more interesting is that they are focusing on what tweens and their parents enjoy together. The article focused on the dollars that tweens spend on books and movies, but what I think it is every bit as important to note is that a good story can be shared across generations. Parents and tweens are both willing to pay for a vicarious adventure.
A tale that can capture attention and imagination within a family is exceptionally valuable, and that value goes far beyond economics. Story telling is timeless, ageless, and priceless. It's also very profitable.
Which of those three series is your favorite? Which, if any, have you enjoyed with your kids?


Beginning Jan. 1, the Paid Family Leave Act (PFL) goes into effect for most employers in New York State, including the University of Rochester. PFL offers job-protected, paid leave to eligible employees for the purpose of caring for a close relative with a serious health condition; assisting a family member, due to another family member’s active military duty or impending active duty abroad; or bonding with a newborn or newly placed child.
Many University employees—about two-thirds of the employee base—will automatically receive PFL as a benefit starting in the new year. However, there is a group of University employees who, according to New York State’s Workers Compensation Board, will need to vote in order for this group to be PFL-eligible. Faculty and staff in this group, which is largely made up of employees with specific advanced academic degrees and/or licenses, will receive a direct email from the Office of Human Resources requesting their participation in the important online vote.
Human Resources has developed a full FAQ.
New York State has outlined a phased-in approach for employees taking advantage of this new benefit: in 2018, up to 8 weeks of paid leave is available at 50 percent of pay; beginning in 2021, the benefit goes up to 12 weeks of paid leave at 67 percent of pay.
PFL will be employee-funded through a payroll deduction determined annually by New York State. In 2018, the rate will be 0.126 percent of an eligible employee’s weekly wage, capped at $85.56 per year. Beginning Jan. 1, all eligible employees will see this deduction come out of their regular paycheck, regardless if they ever elect to use PFL.


The centre of the picturesque lakeside town was heavily damaged in a campaign of shelling and aerial bombing.
The Philippines has declared victory over supporters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group in the southern city of Marawi.
Five months of urban combat left 920 fighters dead and cost the lives of 165 government soldiers and at least 45 civilians.
The government had teamed up with its former enemies from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in its attempts to snuff out the fighters.
Fighting ended when troops finally overcame pro-ISIL fighters, including foreigners, who were holed up in several buildings in the heart of the city.
Officials say martial law will continue to be implemented in the wider Mindanao area.
The end of the clashes gave way to scenes of a historic city in ruins with soldiers patrolling the gutted out and pockmarked remains of apartment blocks and houses.
Pictures taken after the battle reveal it devastating impact; buildings turned to rubble, cars dotted with bullet holes, and personal belongings and furniture heaped beside the shell of a row of houses.
More than 600,000 locals were displaced by the fighting.
The siege of Marawi and the later battle started when officials tried to serve an arrest warrant in May to Isnilon Hapilon, a commander in the Abu Sayyaf group, and Omarkhayam Maute of the Maute group.
Instead of giving up their arms, Hapilon formed an alliance with the Maute Group and launched a bloody rampage in the city.
Hapilon then declared his allegiance to the ISIL group, drawing support from foreign fighters from nearby Malaysia and Indonesia.


Eleven people were arrested from the national capital in last two days for their involvement in various robbery cases, police said on Monday.
While six robbers were arrested from Malviya Nagar, five were nabbed from Rohini. The six robbers arrested on Sunday were identified as Rohit, 22, the kingpin, Sanjay Kumar, 20, Deepak Singh, 23, Virender, Rajesh, 26, and Narender, 28.
They were involved in around 10 robbery cases in Delhi and Gurgaon, deputy commissioner of police (south) Chhaya Sharma said.
Another five robbers arrested from Rohini in outer Delhi on Saturday were involved in five cases.
They were held after police got a tip-off that they were going to assemble near Rithala Metro station in Rohini. They are identified as Daulat Ram, 39, Joginder, 23, Hari Mohan, 28, Deepak Kumar, 21 and Pappu Kumar Mourya, 23.


It is that time of year again: leggy models are running around New York City for casting calls and members of the fashion flock are hurrying to the Bryant Park Tents with show tickets in hand. While some attend Fashion Week shows purely for the clothes, bags, and baubles, others have another motive in mind—and no, we don't mean celebrity-spotting. Fashion Week is a great time to catch up on the music that you'll likely be hearing on heavy rotation in the near future. So, as VF Daily does every New York Fashion Week, we're compiling a running list of the shows with the best music. Check back often for updates.
Plastiscines, "From Friends to Lovers"
Jack Peñate, "Be The One"
Florence + The Machine, "Drumming Song"
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, "Home"
Bob Dylan, "Fourth Time Around"
Ennio Morricone, "Fuga a Cavallo"
Devendra Banhart, "Ticks Eat the Olives"
Brian Eno, "Burning Airlines Give You So Much More"
Devendra Banhart, "Make It Easier"
Led Zeppelin, "Ten Years Gone"
Dennis Wilson with Taylor Hawkins, "Holy Man"
Bob Dylan, "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue"
Ennio Morricone, "Il Buono, Il Cattivo, Il Brutto"
Wings, "Band on the Run"
Ed Askew, "Old Mother Moon"
Little Boots, "New In Town"
Lykke Li, "Dance Dance Dance"
Empire of the Sun, "Walking On A Dream"
Flamingos, "I Only Have Eyes For You"
Krikor and The Dead Hillbillies, "Krikor"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, "Head Will"
Noisettes, "Don't Upset The Rhythm"
Leonard Cohen, "First We Take Manhattan"
Charli XCX, "Lillac a Libertine"
Book of Love, "I Touch Roses"
Chic, "I Want Your Love"
Eileen Jewell, "Where They Never Say Your Name"
AM & Buddy, "Hear Me Sing"
Neil Young, "From Hank to Hendrix"
British Sea Power, "Man of Aran"
The Gaslamp Killer, "Weeping, Waiting, Gnashing of Teeth Forever"
David Holmes, "I Hear Wonders"
Jack Penate "Pull My Head Away"
Class Actress, "Someone Real to Love"
Electric Prunes, "Sold to the Highest Bidder"
Blonde Redhead, "Spring and By Summer Fall"
Nathan Fake, "You are Here"
Florence and the Machine, "Raise It Up"


Peace campaigners have responded to airstrikes conducted by the US, UK and France early this morning (14 April 2018).
Kate Hudson, CND General Secretary, said: "We strongly condemn these air strikes on Syria, which are in defiance of international law. They will only increase the likelihood of this terrible conflict spilling over into the wider Middle East and potentially beyond that.
"We also condemn Theresa May's decision to bypass parliament which demonstrates a contempt for the necessary democratic process. She has also disregarded public opinion in launching these strikes; polls indicate that only 22 per cent of the population support this bombing campaign.
"CND works for the prevention and cessation of wars in which nuclear weapons may be used and there can be no clearer example of such a situation than that which we are currently facing. Diplomatic and political solutions must be sought. Nuclear escalation poses consequences too terrible to contemplate."


Xander Schauffele finished Round 1 of the U.S. Open tied for second.
Erin Hills made sure to give players a warm Wisconsin welcome.
It did so with an abundance of low scores.
"I never really tried to make a birdie."
Says Tommy Fleetwood who made five birdies in Round 1 of the U.S. Open.
Welcome to day two at the #USOpen .
The par-72 Erin Hills measured 7,845 yards during the opening round, the longest course in tournament history.
44 players broke par in the first round, the most ever in any opening round of the U.S. Open.
Bogey-free rounds: Round 1 – Rickie Fowler (65), Xander Schauffele (66), Brian Harman (67), Tommy Fleetwood (67).
Thursday was an "we are sorry for all the screw ups" from the USGA, giving us low scores. Next 54 holes....watch out!!! No more nice USGA!
Round 2 of the U.S. Open is just 15 minutes away.
How fast can things change in a U.S. Open? Who would of predicted Jason Day would make two triple bogey's Thursday ?
"Look at how far this thing is!"
This is kinda amazing: There were as many amateurs who broke par on Day 1 of the #USOpen as top-10 players in the world. Two each.
.@JDayGolf is hoping to make a move in Round 2.
Here's how he gets ready for his day.
Will @Paul_Casey go low again today?
There are now 48 players under par at the U.S. Open.


The Arab Spring uprising and subsequent conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa have lowered life expectancy in countries such as Syria, Yemen, Tunisia and Egypt, jeopardizing two decades of health gains, experts said on Wednesday.
A UN mediator said on Monday there was no "Plan B" other than a resumption of conflict in the Syrian war if the first of three rounds of talks which aim to agree a "clear roadmap" for Syria fail to make progress.
Iran-allied Houthis and their Saudi foes have begun talks to try to end Yemen's war, two officials said, in what appears their most serious bid to close a theatre of Saudi-Iranian rivalry deepening political tumult across the Middle East.


Security at the Mumbai police commissionerate at Crawford Market has been beefed up following information that it could be a possible terror target.
A circular issued by the office of joint commissioner of police, law and order, on March 4, talks of a threat faced by the commissionerate from terrorists in the backdrop of the recent Hyderabad blasts. It says the compound of the office, being a vital installation in the city, could be a terror target. The circular has also been published prominently in the Police Pathak (police notice book).
Security measures suggested include all private and government vehicles entering the commissionerate compound be thoroughly scanned and checked by the staff present at the main gate. The officers and constables deployed at the gate have been asked to remain extra vigilant. Senior officials in the department have been urged to assist and cooperate in the security measures. They have been told to approach the gate slowly (in their vehicles) and stop as and when asked by the security personnel deployed there. They (including the wireless operators and other staff members) have been urged to lower the window glasses and flash their identity cards before seeking entry into the premises.
Joint commissioner of police, (law and order), Sadanand Date, tried to downplay the development by saying it was “routine security affairs”. “There is no specific threat to the commissionerate compound. We are just taking stock of the 24x7 vigil apparatus existing in the compound,” Date said.


Two bills that would have let local communities ban genetically modified crops are dead.
Two bills that would have let Oregon communities ban genetically modified or engineered crops have died in committee.
It’s the third time environmental and farm groups have tried and failed to pass the legislation, which they say is needed to prevent GE crops from contaminating organic and conventional crops.
The fight began in 2013, when the Legislature passed a bill banning local governments from regulating crops or seeds. It exempted Jackson County, which already had a bill to ban GE crops on the ballot.
At the time, then-Gov. John Kitzhaber promised a state-level solution to the problem of GE crops contaminating conventional and organic crops. And, he said the Oregon Department of Agriculture already had authority to take action on the issue.
But neither of those things has happened, said Ivan Maluski, policy director at Friends of Family Farmers.
Opponents say farmers should be able to voluntarily work together to time plantings and avoid conflicts. And they object to a patchwork of regulations that could affect one farmer growing in several counties.
“Currently, Oregon law ensures that all growers in Oregon operate on a level playing field, regardless of what county they live in,” Scott Dahlman, policy director for Oregonians for Food and Shelter, said Wednesday during a hearing on Senate Bill 1037.
That bill, as well as House Bill 2469, would have again allowed local jurisdictions to ban GE crops, and would have allowed a ban approved by Josephine County voters in 2014 to take effect.
Lawmakers still are considering another bill that would let farmers sue Monsanto, Scotts Miracle-Gro and other companies that hold patents on genetically engineered seeds if crops grown from those seeds contaminate traditional or organic crops.
House Bill 2739 would allow landowners to seek three times actual economic damages if GE organisms are present on their land without permission.
It is scheduled for a work session in the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.


Regular renewals for highly addictive painkilling drugs for patients never seen: that's been the practice of some doctors at the San Francisco VA Medical Center, the VA's Inspector General says in a new report, according to the Center for Investigative Reporting.
The San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center. // Department of Veterans Affairs photo.
The story follows a September CIR report that found a 270 percent surge in prescriptions for the opiates hydrocodone, oxycodone, methadone and morphine between 2001 and 2012. "That far outpaced the increase in patients and contributed to a fatal overdose rate among VA patients that the agency’s own researchers put at nearly double the national average," CIR wrote.
This latest story raises concerns about just how widespread is the practice of renewing prescriptions such powerful drugs without seeing patients - and, together with CIR's September report, the practice of over-prescribing them, period.
This entry was posted in Center for Investigative Reporting, Department of Veterans Affairs, opiate painkillers, Veteran services, veterans affairs medical centers. Bookmark the permalink.


SAO PAULO, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Brazilian caterer Sapore SA is discussing financing for a new takeover bid for Brazilian restaurant operator International Meal Company Alimentacao SA , known as IMC, a source with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.
Unlisted Sapore could raise up to 550 million reais ($146 million) to finance the bid for IMC, which owns fast-food brand Frango Assado and fast-casual restaurant chain Viena, the source added, asking for anonymity as the talks are private.
Sapore and IMC did not immediately comment.
A previous offer by Sapore was rejected by IMC’s board in September after disagreements in the auditing phase of the deal. At the time, Sapore proposed to buy 25 percent of IMC’s outstanding shares at 9.30 reais apiece.
The new offer would see Sapore buying up to 42 percent of IMC’s capital at a price of up to 8.50 reais per share, according to newspaper Valor Economico, who reported the talks earlier on Thursday. A second step would be a proposal to merge the two companies.
A second person with knowledge of the matter said the disagreements in the previous deal were over the amount of tax credits held by Sapore.
Sapore had been recently discussing a potential initial public offering with investment banks, the source added.


At first, technologists issued dystopian alarms about the power of automation and artificial intelligence (AI) to destroy jobs. Then came a correction, with a wave of reassurances. Now, the discourse appears to be arriving at a more complicated understanding, suggesting that automation will bring neither apocalypse nor utopia, but instead both benefits and stress alike. Such is the ambiguous and sometimes disembodied nature of the “future of work” discussion.
Hence the analysis presented here. Intended to bring often-inscrutable trends down to earth, the following report develops both backward and forward-looking analyses of the impacts of automation over the years 1980 to 2016 and 2016 to 2030 to assess past and upcoming trends as they affect both people and communities in the United States.
The report focuses on areas of potential occupational change rather than net employment losses or gains. Special attention is applied to digging beneath national top-line statistics to explore industry, geographical, and demographic variations. Finally, the report concludes by suggesting a comprehensive response framework for national and state-local policymakers.
Automation exists to substitute work undertaken by humans with work done by machines, with the aim of increasing the quality and quantity of output at a reduced cost.
How do humans and automation interact?
If a machine can do a task currently done by humans, it will do it with greater precision, speed, and at a lower cost—but there are limitations to such substitution.
A job is a collection of tasks, and even under the most aggressive scenarios, it is unlikely that machines will substitute for all tasks in any one occupation.
Workplace activity that isn’t taken over by automation is complemented by it—making the remaining human tasks more valuable.
Automation-driven cost and quality improvements can increase demand to a degree that offsets any would-be job losses.
When machines handle routine, time-consuming activities, human capacity is freed-up to create new products and new tasks.
There are many reasons why technological adoption falls short of potential, so it is a mistake to equate technological potential with likely projected outcomes.
Workers who supply tasks that are substituted by machines are more likely to benefit from automation than are workers who supply tasks that machines can complete.
Wage gains for the remaining tasks completed by humans will be larger when the barriers to entry (e.g. education, training, certification) are higher.
Automation drives cost and quality improvements for products, as well as productivity and wealth increases for workers, which can mitigate some labor displacement.
The report’s predictions assess the susceptibility of different jobs, places, and demographic groups to disruption by workplace automation and AI. Data produced by McKinsey Global Institute are employed to estimate the percentage of tasks in a given occupation that are potentially automatable given currently available technologies.
Almost no occupation will be unaffected by technological change in the AI era. Some of the most vulnerable jobs are those in office administration, production, transportation, and food preparation. Such jobs are deemed to face “high risk” with over 70 percent of their tasks potentially automatable. All of these either involve routine, physical labor or information collection and processing activities.
“High risk” jobs represent only one-quarter of all jobs, however. The remaining, more secure jobs include a broader array of occupations ranging from professional and technical roles with high educational requirements to low-paying personal care and domestic service work characterized by non-routine or abstract activities and social and emotional intelligence.
Automation will take place everywhere, but its inroads will be felt differently across places, varying with local industry, task, and skill mix. Overall, smaller, more rural communities seem significantly more exposed to the automation of current-task content than larger ones. This relationship holds when comparing metropolitan to rural areas as well as among metros of different sizes. Among the country’s 100 largest metros, workers’ education attainment will prove to be decisive.
The sharp segmentation of the labor market by educational attainment, gender, age, and racial-ethnic identity ensures that some demographic groups are likely to bear more of the burden of adjusting to the AI era than will others. The probable divides are clear: Men, youth, and less educated workers, along with underrepresented groups all appear likely to face significantly more acute challenges from automation in the coming years. Young workers and Hispanics will be especially exposed.
Federal, state, local, and civic leaders need to initiate sustained efforts to ensure the labor market works tolerably for people in the AI era of automation.
Five major agendas require attention to mitigate coming stresses as the nation moves into the AI period of automation.
Ian Hathaway provided significant contributions to the production of this report.


Two failed cancer studies this week provided a fresh reminder how little researchers and clinicians understand about immunotherapy’s vagaries: why it works for some people and not for others.
The results, in lung cancer and head-and neck cancer, add to recent failures in multiple myeloma and bladder cancer and splash cold water on a sector that, according to one measure, has been lukewarm for some time.
We’ve got the immunotherapy news, the latest on the GOP healthcare drama, and much more below. Let’s get right to it.
—The Senate reopened debate to replace Obamacare with…no one was quite sure at the beginning of the week, but by early Friday morning had rejected three different plans. After shooting down a straight repeal of Obamacare as well as a replacement plan called the Better Care Reconciliation Act, the Senate voted against a so-called “skinny repeal,” that seemed to get rid of the individual mandate, abolish a requirement for employers with more than 50 workers to provide healthcare for five years, defund Planned Parenthood for one year, and more.
—AstraZeneca reported disappointing results from a closely watched 1,100-patient clinical trial called MYSTIC, which tested a combination of two of its cancer immunotherapies in newly diagnosed lung cancer patients. The news affected the fortunes of several big immunotherapy players: shares of AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb both fell, while Merck shares climbed. Separately, AstraZeneca and Merck inked a multi-billion dollar pact to co-develop several of their cancer drugs.
—Merck had bad news of its own. A Phase 3 study of its pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in head-and-neck cancer failed to show a survival benefit over standard chemotherapy. The FDA approved pembrolizumab last year for head-and-neck cancer based on tumor shrinkage, but the approval required future evidence of patients living longer. Pembrolizumab is currently in two other head-and-neck cancer trials; it’s unclear if data from those studies could influence the FDA’s decision.
—Following the best quarterly results to date for its Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug eteplirsen (Exondys 51) and a roughly 20 percent rise in shares, Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SRPT) raised $325 million in a stock offering.
—Watertown, MA-based Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: TTPH) plans to seek FDA approval of its experimental antibiotic, eravacycline, after positive results from its latest Phase 3 study.
—Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) announced that a resubmitted FDA application for rheumatoid arthritis drug baricitinib would be delayed by at least 18 months. The FDA rejected the drug in April due to safety concerns, and the regulator now wants the company to run another trial.
—Eli Lilly is paying $150 million up front for rights to NKTR-358, an early-stage compound from with San Francisco-based Nektar Therapeutics being developed for autoimmune disorders.
—Tesaro (NASDAQ: TSRO) agreed to license partial rights to its ovarian cancer drug niraparib (Zejula) to Takeda, a deal that pays the Waltham, MA, biotech $100 million up front and potentially $340 million overall.
—Effector Therapeutics of San Diego raised a $38.6 million Series C round to develop an experimental cancer immunotherapy.
—South San Francisco, CA-based Kezar Life Sciences raised a $50 million Series B round to continue developing a potential drug for autoimmune disorders currently in Phase 1 testing.
—Seattle’s Cyrus Biotechnology, a spinout from David Baker’s protein design lab at the University of Washington, raised an $8 million Series A round led by Trinity Ventures. Cyrus makes modeling software that biopharmas and others use to design protein-based drugs from scratch.
—Rodeo Therapeutics, the latest Seattle-based Accelerator Corp. startup, raised a $5.9 million Series A round to develop regenerative medicine therapies.
—Summit, NJ-based Celgene (NASDAQ: CELG) paid $280 million to settle a fraud suit over tactics it allegedly used to promote two of its cancer drugs for unapproved uses. Here’s more in the New York Times.
–As part of a strategic restructuring, troubled Alexion Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: ALXN) ended partnerships with two Moderna Therapeutics, Blueprint Medicines (NASDAQ: BPMC), and Arbutus Biopharma (NASDAQ: ABUS).
—New GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) CEO Emma Walmsley outlined a vast revamp that will see the British pharma dump more than 30 drug programs and potentially shed its rare disease business.
—The University of California filed a court brief this week, the first detail from its appeal of a decision that in February gave the Broad Institute the upper hand in the long-running battle to determine who invented the breakthrough gene-editing technology CRISPR-Cas9.
—In other CRISPR news, MIT Technology Review reported a group of researchers in Oregon have become the first in the U.S. to try to use CRISPR-Cas9 to make genetically modified embryos.
Alex Lash and Frank Vinluan contributed to this report.
Photo courtesy of flickr user Gage Skidmore via a Creative Commons 2.0 license.


The Border Guard's special Mista'arvim Unit will join IDF forces patrolling the Israel- Egypt border in the next few weeks, as mean of addressing the border's "blind spots" problem, Ynet learned Wednesday.
Egyptian smugglers had recently managed to breach the new security fence for the first time. The border sees constant attempts by smugglers and terrorists alike to breach the fence.
Military sources told Ynet that 75% of the area's terror alerts emanate form the sector.
The Mista'arvim ("Arabized") is the nickname given to several counter-terrorism units across the Israel Defense Forces, whose members are specifically trained to assimilate among the Arab population.
The Border Guard's elite unit will deploy along the southern section of the border in an effort to thwart future infiltration attempts, in places where IDF surveillance is plagued by blind spots.
The IDF has also re-formed the Rimon Unit, which will patrol the northern part of the border.
Defense sources told Ynet that the IDF believes Gaza-based terror groups are constantly watching the IDF's operations in the area and have various "shelved" attacks, which they are waiting to execute.
Military sources added that Egyptian smuggling rings are also closely monitoring the progress of the new border fence project, as they fear the improved security measures will spell a financial blow for them.
"The new fence will dramatically decrease the scope of criminal activity in the area," a security source said.
So far, 143 kilometers out of the planned 220km of the new border have been completed. The project, dubbed "Hourglass," has been deemed the IDF's second most important priority.
See all talkbacks "Border Guard to join IDF forces on Israel-Egypt border "


WASHINGTON--Rep. Roger Williams, R-Austin, will introduce this week the first part of a seven-bill tax reform plan meant to stimulate small business expansion, bolster economic growth and reduce unemployment--even if it means increasing the budget deficit.
Williams said Tuesday afternoon that the plan, called Jumpstart America, is based on years of input from business owners and his own four decades of experience running his family car dealership. The primary goal is to get more cash flowing away from the government and into small businesses, which Williams said will increase employment.
"Right now it's not the American Dream, it's the American scheme that we're all fighting," he said. "You have to release the pressure off small business to allow investment, and this will do that."
Jumpstart America consists of seven bills that cut personal and corporate income tax, payroll tax and capital gains tax. Others create incentives for corporations to repatriate money held in foreign accounts, and allow businesses to write off all of the money they spend on certain equipment immediately.
If enacted, Williams said he believes the plan can bring unemployment down to 5 percent, drive growth up to 4 percent of GDP per year and take millions of Americans off of entitlement programs.
"I'm convinced that the problems we've got today in America, all the way from the things we see on the streets of Baltimore, you name it: It can all be fixed by people having a job and getting a paycheck," said Williams, referring to the April protests and riots in response to the death of Freddie Grey, who died from injuries suffered after being arrested by Baltimore police.
The plan doesn't include spending cuts, and Williams said an analysis of Jumpstart found that it would increase the deficit for two years before the potential economic benefits kick into gear. He's also working with the conservative Americans for Tax Reform and the Tax Foundation to gather data about how Jumpstart would impact the economy.
Though Williams said reducing spending and the national debt are important, he called Jumpstart a crucial first step and rejected the idea of a revenue-neutral plan.
"We don't deal with that term, because that is not a private sector term, and if you deal with revenue-neutral, you're merely saying that this is as good as America's going to be," said Williams. "I don't believe that."
Williams also recognized how it will be near impossible to get the plan passed in this session of Congress. While both Democrats and Republicans have called for a simpler, fairer tax code, Jumpstart's conservative fiscal policy fundamentals are unlikely to earn President Barack Obama's approval.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell also said tax reform won't happen until a new president takes office in 2017.
But Williams said he wants to have a plan ready for when the time is right and send a message to business community that Congress is looking out for it.
'We're a consumption-driven nation, and right now everybody's playing defense. They're holding back because they don't know what's ahead," said Williams. "We've got to be able to get things going."


Miami Heat guard Mike Miller has a lot on his plate right now. He's in the middle of an epic Boston Celtics comeback, and on top of it, he can't sell his house.
Miler put his house up for sale in the fall for $8.995 million, but now, he's putting it up for auction on June 30th, according to Realtor.com.
The home, which is located in Palm Beach, is 9,000 square feet and has six bedrooms. It also features a cigar room, a wine room, an elevator, a 2.700 square foot outdoor porch, and a pool with a swim-up bar.
Here's the back of the house, pool, fire pit, not bad.


Feb 22, 2019 (WiredRelease via COMTEX) -- Market.us Explore recently announces that research report on “Global Airlines Market By Type (Domestic, and International), By Application (Passenger, and Freight), By Region and Key Companies – Industry Segment Outlook, Market Assessment, Competition Scenario, Trends and Forecast 2019-2028” analyses the essential factors of the airlines market based on present industry situations, market demands, business approach endorse by airlines market players and their growth scenario. This report isolates the airlines based on the key players, Type, Application and Regions.
The Main objective of the report titled Global Airlines Market 2019 is to give a complete idea of the airlines market for the duration of 2019-2028. The airlines report focuses on market overview, market growth factors, market segmentation, regional analysis and competitive players involved in airlines market.
The global airlines market covers product and scope summary to specify the product types and will be offering step by step information regarding market dynamics. That is followed closely investigates and with the perspective and the airlines report is composed of those truths and attributes of this market concerning revenue and volume, earnings and its growth speed.
By type, the market is segmented into Domestic, International. By application, the market is divided into Passenger, Freight. Based on geography, a market is analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Middle East and Africa. Major players profiled in the report include Air France KLM, American Airlines Group, ANA Holdings, British Airways, Delta Air Lines, Deutsche Lufthansa, Hainan Airlines, Japan Airlines, LATAM Airlines Group, Qantas Airways, Ryanair Holdings, Singapore Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Thai Airways Inte.
One of the many vital aspects in airlines report would be competitive analysis. The analysis covers market plans of the players and global airlines market share, sales development and research, all of the parameters like product creation, and promote expert perspectives.
The airlines market evaluating the industry status, highlighting changes, hazard analysis, and leveraged with all tactical decision service. The industry research is placing a great deal of focus on regulatory problems, macroeconomic impacting aspects, key airlines market size, and growth drivers which are altering the industry dynamics. In accession for the detailed quantitative analysis of economic growth elements and dangers, chances within airlines challenges and industry are covered at the outline section. As a way to find a deeper perspective of economy Size, the competitive landscape is given, i.e. revenue (Mn/Bn USD) by airlines players (2019-2028), revenue market share (percent) by participants (2019-2028) and a qualitative investigation is made towards economy immersion airlines growth, product/service differences, and new entrants along with the technical trends.


As it did in 2009, Princeton Public Affairs Group Inc. established itself as the top dog among state lobbyists this year, raking in more than $7.77 million in fees.
That number represents an $875,000 increase over 2009 for the Trenton-based lobbyist firm run by Dale Florio.
Public Strategies Impact LLC, run by longtime lobbyists Harold Hodes and Roger Bodman, took the second spot, drawing $5.8 million in fees, roughly the same as 2009.
Other prominent firms in the top 10 this year include MBI–GluckShaw, Kaufman Zita Group, Gibbons PC, Riker Danzig, Capital Public Affairs, ImpactNJ, Capital Impact Group and Porzio Governmental Affairs.
Two firms that dropped out of the top 10 in 2010 were Issues Management Inc., which came in at number 11 and Fox and Shffler, which landed at number 13.
Also missing from the ranks of top lobbyists are a pair of so-called 527 groups that last year spent millions to hammer then-gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie during his campaign. NJ Progress, which in 2009 brought in $2.7 million, and Mid-Atlantic Leadership fund, which raked in $2.3 million, disappeared from the ranks of lobbyists this year.


UB researcher Paras Prasad, an internationally recognized expert in optics and photonics, has been named a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).
NAI fellow is the highest professional distinction accorded by the organization to academic researchers who have demonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society.
Among other individuals, the list of NAI fellows includes presidents and senior leaders of research universities and nonprofit research institutes, Nobel laureates, and recipients of the U.S. National Medal of Technology and Innovation, and U.S. National Medal of Science.
New fellows will be inducted at a ceremony on April 6 at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston.
Prasad serves as the executive director of UB’s Institute for Lasers, Photonics and Biophotonics (ILPB). He is a SUNY Distinguished Professor in the departments of Chemistry, Physics, Medicine and Electrical Engineering.
Prasad was an early pioneer in nanomedicine, which uses super-small particles, materials and devices to treat and diagnose disease.
He specializes in the use of optics, photonics and nanotechnology in this field, and has worked with colleagues to study and develop a wide range of new materials that could ultimately improve lives around the world.
These novel materials include miniature luminescent crystals that could be used in image-guided surgery; light-activated nanoparticles that could enable the development of new bioimaging technologies for disease detection; new nanoneurotechnologies for monitoring and enhancing brain functions; and magnetic and laser-activated nanoparticles that could be used for cancer diagnosis and treatment. This latter technology was licensed to UB spinoff Nanobiotix, a publicly traded company and leader in nanomedicine that has maintained close contact with Prasad while working to develop these and other new nanomedicine products.
Prasad has published more than 750 scientific papers, eight edited books and four monographs, and has been named the inventor or co-inventor on numerous patents. In keeping with his emphasis on the translational impact of his research, Prasad has been extremely active in launching startup companies and partnering with industry for co-development of technologies to create new companies. His efforts have led to nine different companies worldwide.
He has received numerous regional, national and international recognitions for his lifetime achievements, including the Morley Medal, Jacob F. Schoellkopf Medal, Guggenheim Fellowship, Sloan Fellowship, Western New York Health Care Industries Technology/Discovery Award and the Excellence in Pursuit of Knowledge Award of the SUNY Research Foundation. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society, OSA (the Optical Society) and SPIE (the international society for optics and photonics).
This year, the SPIE awarded him its highest honor: the Gold Medal. UB awarded him the high honor of the UB President’s Medal in 2016 in recognition of extraordinary service to the university, and he also received the university’s inaugural Innovation Impact Award in 2015 for his contributions to the invention of the technologies licensed to Nanobiotix.
In 2005, he was named one of the “Scientific American 50,” the magazine’s list of “visionaries from the worlds of research, industry and politics whose recent accomplishments point toward a brighter technological future for everyone.” He was on the Thomson Reuters “Highly Cited Researchers” list for 2014 and 2016.
Prasad has received honorary doctorates from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, the Aix-Marseille University in France and the National Research Nuclear University (MEPhI) in Russia.
The National Academy of Inventors is a nonprofit member organization comprising U.S. and international universities, and governmental and nonprofit research institutes with more than 3,000 individual inventor members and fellows spanning more than 200 institutions. The academy was founded in 2010 to recognize and encourage inventors with patents issued from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; enhance the visibility of academic technology and innovation; encourage the disclosure of intellectual property; educate and mentor innovative students; and translate the inventions of its members to benefit society.


Justin Timberlake needs a new brand manager.
All semiotic signifiers associated with the "SexyBack" singer's fifth album suggest the former N'Sync-er is eschewing slick R&B-infused pop and making a down-home family man record that embraces his Tennessee roots.
The album is called Man of the Woods (RCA ** 1/2). Its cover features the 37-year-old singer in a beard, jeans, and leather jacket, sitting on the bed of a pickup truck. The album features contributions from his burly country singing buddy Chris Stapleton. Song titles such as "Montana," "Breeze off the Pond" and "Livin' off the Land" sound like they're going to be the soundtrack to a Grizzly Adams adventure.
But never fear: The former Mouseketeer has not gone full-frontal Bon Iver. Timberlake — who will be the halftime entertainment at Super Bowl LII, as he was with Janet Jackson when the Panthers played the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVIII — is too cautious for that. And also too comfortable with — and adept at — the kind of twitchy dance music collaborations with beatmakers like the Neptunes and Timbaland to abandon that signature style.
And, really, there's no reason he should. As long as you don't listen to the lyrics closely, Man of the Woods is pretty much pleasurable all the way through. The confusion stems from the mixed signals. What seemed like it was going to be an Americana-ish collection of songs about maturity and fatherhood — Timberlake's wife, Jessical Biel, and son Silas are heard on the album — instead kicks off with the enticing robo-funk of "Filthy."
The video clip for "Supplies" begins with Timberlake gazing at a bank of TV screens bombarding him with the contentious signs of the times — protesters in the street, Harvey Weinstein — and then plays out in apocalyptic urban chase scenes. It's a long way from the rural route.
Musically, Timberlake moves in a hybrid middle ground that often pays dividends. When he's being a little bit country, he digs down into old-school R&B seasoned grooves. "Montana" turns out to be a supple jam that's more about sweaty nights under a disco ball than roaming free in Big Sky country.
Where Man of the Woods fails is in its ultra-banal lyrics. Timberlake hyped the album as being especially "personal," but his efforts to communicate something all grown up and mature results in cliches like "We're getting better, aging like your favorite wine" in "Wave" and the clumsy "I brag about you to anyone outside / I'm a man of the woods, it's my pride" in the title cut.
"Say Something" is an inviting duet with Stapleton, but it backs away from uttering anything of consequence, dubiously proposing that "the greatest way to say something is to say nothing at all."


We seem to have a new, all-consuming hobby these days – attending medical appointments. If it’s not me with some ailment then it’s She Who Knows. I won’t go into details, except to say we’ve had our share, thanks for nothing, of viruses plus unpleasant surprises.
For me the biggest shock was that, according to a nurse doing my annual check, I’d now lost two inches in height – or had I really been deluded for years before?
“Just part of ageing,” she counselled merrily.
There’s a gallows humour which triumphs, with occasional treats to keep up spirits – like bacon butties or oozing rounds of cheese on toast with creamy coffees in staff canteens – we know all the right places now.
The health service is our biggest employer and its diverse working staff deserve all our thanks and respect. They’re wonderful, despite unrelenting pressure, outrageously long hours and no staff parking. A book I read by a veteran NHS medic, while waiting in A&E, had the right prescription: get rid of management and return control to matrons and doctors.
There’s even one lot of pen-pushers now ‘dumbing down’ NHS leaflet information, as though we’re all children. There won’t be references to urine, for example, but ‘wee’ instead. It’s rather like those tiresome BBC attempts to be everybody’s cosy buddy – with news bulletins always referring to ‘Mums and Dads’, rather than parents, and needless from-the-scene reporting.
I’m all in favour of a friendly approach and cheerfulness, as well as not standing upon ceremony, but we deserve respect too. So, treat us like adults – those hard-pushed staff always do!
For Roy’s books visit royedmonds-blackpool.com, Kindle or stores like Waterstones.


On Sunday, a North Korean television broadcast revealed what could potentially be the first official portrait of Kim Jong-un, signifying a new phase in the young leader’s cult of personality.
The painting, which was aired during Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel’s visit to the country, depicts a smiling Kim dressed in a Western-style suit and tie. It was exhibited next to a portrait of the new Cuban leader.
Unlike his father Kim Jong-il and grandfather Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-un is not known to have previously been the subject of any official portrait.
Pyongyang’s Mansudae Arts Studio traditionally creates these according to strict regulations. Official portraits of North Korea’s leaders are frequently seen in its public spaces and represent the country’s reigning family.
While Kim has more often been embodied as a successor rather than commanding figure since he came to power in 2011, this latest portrait is significant, as it emblematically makes him equal to his father and grandfather, rather than just a “loyal follower of what has gone before,” according to NK News analyst Peter Ward.
UPDATE AT 2015 KST: This article has been amended to reflect North Korean state media's Monday afternoon coverage of the event.


AMD's Radeon RX 460 is the only video card a casual gamer needs.
At the PC Gaming Show in 2015, AMD rolled out the high-end Fury cards. Meant to compete with Nvidia’s 980 Ti, the card came up short. This time around, AMD is refocusing the Radeon line on a market the red team has won over before – builders on a budget.
The top-end RX 480 starts at just $200, and is well equipped for VR and 1440p gaming. The RX 470 starts at $179 and more than holds its own at 1080p. The RX 460, meanwhile, is marketed for “eSports gaming.” That’s may seem vague, but it’s a clear reference to titles like League of Legends and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. These games prioritize high framerates over brilliant graphics.
In any case, the wallet-friendly RX 460 is pushing the bottom end for modern GPUs. At just $109, the RX 460 is about as inexpensive as video cards get before they lose any gaming credibility. Our Sapphire model, with an extremely modest overclock and 4GB of memory, retails at $139.
Is this new card a legitimate choice for players lacking cash, or does is deliver too little even for its bottom-dollar pricing?
AMD’s new platform, Polaris, marks Radeon’s move to a smaller 14-nanometer manufacturing process, as well as the switch from flat transistors to FinFET 3D transistors. We’ll spare you the nitty-gritty, except to note the standout features are greatly improved power efficiency, which results in a 75-watt thermal design power, asynchronous compute support, and a high level of compatibility with both DirectX 12 and Vulkan games. If you’re interested in learning more about Polaris, our Radeon RX 480 review and introduction to the platform are a great place to start.
The RX 460’s particular flavor of the Polaris architecture sports 896 Stream Processors clocked at a 1,090MHz base clock, with a Boost Clock of up to 1,200MHz when thermals and power allows. Users will have a choice of either 2GB or 4GB of 128-bit GDDR5 memory, for a total of 112GBps of memory bandwidth.
Our review unit was a 4GB Sapphire Nitro with a slight overclock to 1,175MHz base and 1,250MHz boost. Despite the technically low-enough thermal design power, it also sports a six-pin PCIe power connection. Technically, the RX 460 can run without an external PCI power connection. That’s great for gamers who have an extremely basic rig, and can’t afford to upgrade the power supply.
The RX 470 and 480 boast at least 2,000 Stream Processors each, and 200 GBps of memory bandwidth, or higher. The RX 460 basically sits at less than half, although its clock speed is higher than the RX 470. On paper, then, its performance looks a lot different than its more expensive cousins.
Its feature set, however, matches the higher-end cards. That means EyeFinity, FreeSync, Crossfire, and DirectX 12.
We tested the Radeon RX 460 in our X99 test system. With an Intel Core i7-6950X, 8GB of RAM, and an Intel 750 Series SSD, our rig is clearly much more powerful than you’d usually expect to see alongside this budget GPU. The upshot to this is that the card will be able to hit its full potential without the CPU bottlenecking it.
So, how does it perform?
The RX 460 average about 46 percent of the RX 480’s performance in the synthetic 3DMark test. That score means it trades blows with the previous generation’s Radeon R7 370, a 2GB card that sits right around $140. That isn’t the most impressive score ever, but it certainly beats out integrated graphics options several times over. It’s also essentially tied with the GTX 960 in the Alienware Alpha R2, which is likely a underclocked version of the GPU, given the Alpha’s small size and power limitations.
We typically consider 60 frames per second to be the goal for most gaming machines, and the RX 460 certainly falls short of that in modern, demanding games, at least with the graphics turned up. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive runs quite well, though, and that’s certainly an eSports-focused game, even if it is a little on the old side.
On the other hand, the RX 460 performs much more admirably with the settings turned down a bit. It averages 62 FPS in Fallout 4, and 123 FPS in Battlefield 4, at medium settings. Most users don’t have the luxury of being able to crank the settings up in every game, and neither will RX 460 owners – but this video card can indeed play modern titles at respectable framerates.
Without hitting optimum performance at 1080p, it’s not worth covering all of the 1440p results. There were a few standouts, however, including 31 FPS average in Fallout 4 at Ultra detail. If you’re comparing console performance to gaming PC performance, even the modest RX 460 beats out the PS4 and Xbox One handily. Those systems usually render at 900p or 1080p resolution and just manage 30 FPS, with some drops in more demanding areas.
Warranty terms will vary depending on the company that makes the RX 460 you choose to buy. Most have a one-year warranty against manufacturer defects. Warranty terms regarding overclocking and third-party coolers can differ significantly from one company to the next, so check that information if you plan to push your RX 460 to the limit.
In our tests, the AMD Radeon RX 460 generally came in just a bit short of the Radeon R7 370. That may sound disappointing, given the R7 370 was already the star of AMD’s previous budget line – but the R7 370 is currently priced from $130 to $160. The RX 460, at $109, is significantly more affordable.
It should be noted, of course, that the RX 460 we reviewed is $140. We don’t think you should buy this particular Sapphire model. The extra video memory is unnecessary and contributes almost nothing to the performance. If you do have $140 to spend, it’s clear the R7 370 with 2GB of memory is where you should head.
Even the modest RX 460 beats out the PS4 and Xbox One.
There’s a definite spot for an ultra-budget card in the marketplace. If you’re looking to build a home system for less than $500, but you want to play the occasional round of Rocket League or Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the RX 460 will likely be your only option. Its small size and low power requirements are a boon for prebuilt and cobbled-together systems, as well.
Surprisingly, the RX 460 is a reasonable card for 1080p, if you’re willing to accept some restrictions. It can’t play the latest games at the highest detail while maintaining 60 FPS, but it can score above that goal at medium detail in popular games like Fallout 4 and Battlefield 4. Every PC gamer yearns for the best hardware, but if you can’t afford it, you might be surprised by what the RX 460 can do.
We also think the RX 460’s purpose is a lot clearer than the Radeon RX 470. That card is too close to the RX 480 to really define itself, but the RX 460 fits right into small machines, and with some models ditching external PCIe power, it can fit places other video cards can’t.
The RX 460 is the first budget card worth excitement since Nvidia’s 750 Ti, and there’s no shame in that. In fact, it’s exactly what we were hoping to see.