Mitch McConnell bought Susan Collins’ vote on tax cuts by promising a vote on an Obamacare fix before year’s end. Facing a government shutdown, they caved to House conservatives.
The writing was on the wall for weeks, but Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) on Wednesday backed off of her push for a bipartisan Obamacare stabilization package that was threatening a government shutdown.
The legislation, crafted by Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Patty Murray (D-WA), has broad bipartisan support in the Senate, but House Republicans have said the measure is dead on arrival there. Keeping the government open is a two-way street—and, for that reason, Collins announced that she was asking Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to punt on Alexander-Murray until next year.
“Rather than considering a broad year-end funding agreement as we expected, it has become clear that Congress will only be able to pass another short-term extension to prevent a government shutdown and to continue a few essential programs,” Collins and Alexander said in a joint statement.
Collins secured a commitment from McConnell that the Senate would vote on the Alexander-Murray bill before year’s end, either as a standalone or attached to the government funding bill that must clear both the House and Senate before Friday at 11:59 p.m. in order to avoid a shutdown.
McConnell guaranteed Collins a vote on Alexander-Murray in exchange for her “yes” vote on the sweeping tax overhaul package that the House and Senate approved this week. Collins, a centrist Republican, believed that the Alexander-Murray bill, which restores Obamacare subsidies that Trump had cut off earlier this year, was necessary in order to mitigate the impacts of a provision in the tax bill which essentially repeals the Obamacare individual mandate.
But Alexander-Murray must clear a key hurdle before it could ever become law: the House. Republicans, particularly the more conservative members, have decried the legislation as a “bailout” for insurance companies. To Collins’ dismay, the individual mandate is being scrapped without any sort of contingency plan to stabilize the health insurance markets in the interim.
At the same time, they’ve taken issue with the Senate’s—particularly McConnell’s—strategy of buying out certain lawmakers in order to ensure passage of key legislation. Some of McConnell’s loudest critics on Wednesday took a victory lap.
Even Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), a top dealmaker in the House who has been among the loudest opponents of shutting down the government over disagreements with the Senate, batted down the suggestion that Alexander-Murray could be part of a year-end deal. That would be akin to blackmail, according to Cole.
On Tuesday, some House Republicans were floating the possibility of adding abortion restrictions along with the Alexander-Murray bill, but that would kill any chance to win over the Democratic votes that are necessary to pass a final product.
Republican and Democratic congressional aides told The Daily Beast on Wednesday that the most likely path for avoiding a government shutdown later this week was for both the House and Senate to pass a clean continuing resolution (CR), which maintains current spending levels, through mid-January. The package would also include provisions that would allow for spending hikes for the military and defense.
Congressional leaders had hoped to agree on a bargain before Friday that would include a reauthorization of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and protections for children of undocumented immigrants under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, among other priorities. But with Republicans spending most of their time pushing through a tax overhaul bill, those will all have to wait until January.
Collins wasn’t the only senator to win concessions in return for her vote on the tax bill. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) announced on Wednesday that McConnell had guaranteed him a vote on DACA protections in January. Republican leaders had previously said DACA would not be dealt with before the end of 2017—to the ire of some Senate Democrats, who are pledging to vote against any spending bill this week that does not address the so-called DREAMers. With only a handful of Democrats willing to threaten a government shutdown over the issue, it became increasingly unlikely this week that they would be able to force Republicans’ hands.
The immigration fight, which has always been a thorny issue in Congress, will require broad agreement between the House and Senate on a compromise involving additional border security measures sought by Republicans. On Wednesday, Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL), who has joined some Senate Democrats in vowing to vote against any spending bill that doesn’t address DACA, told The Daily Beast that he was not consulted on McConnell’s offer to Flake. Curbelo is holding out hope that Congress will act before week’s end.
Congress has until March to codify the protections for DREAMers that the Trump administration rescinded in September, and lawmakers advocating for the DREAM Act have argued that the issue shouldn’t wait until next year because some protectees are already losing their status.


A daughter, Isabella Grace Bishop, was born to Joseph and Erin Bishop of East Jordan on Oct. 19, 2007, at Charlevoix Area Hospital. Isabella weighed 7 pounds, 12 ounces at birth. Her sibling is Madison Bishop.
A son, Jonah Paul Denherder, was born to Jesse and Tara Denherder of Central Lake on Oct. 23, 2007, at Charlevoix Area Hospital. Jonah weighed 8 pounds, 2 ounce at birth. Grandparents are Alan and Kathy Dewey of Central Lake, Charles and Mary LaPointe of Central Lake, and Paul and Ann Denherder of Haslett.
A daughter, Gracie Luella Gasco, was born to Darin Gasco and Jamie Hingston of Petoskey at 12:58 p.m. on Oct. 26, 2007, at Northern Michigan Hospital. Gracie weighed 8 pounds, 4 ounce and was 19 1/2 inches long at birth. Her siblings are Alexis and Acacia. Grandparents are the late Danny Gasco of Cross Vilalge, L'Vonna Gasco of Cheboygan, Jeff Hingston of Mackinaw City, and Al and Joanie Rose of Mackinaw City.
A daughter, Josie Paige Wilson, was born to Michael and Kelly Wilson of Petoskey at 3:42 a.m. on Oct. 27, 2007, at Northern Michigan Hospital. Josie weighed 7 pounds, 9 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long. Her siblings are Rachel and Hannah. Grandparents are Jim and Christine Wilson of Harbor Springs, Jim and Linda Doherty of Cadillac, and Larry Schultz of Big Rapids. Great-grandparents are Ellis Howard of Harbor Springs, and Lydia Schultz of Ossineke.
A daughter, Arianna Mae Binoir, was born to Anna Spencer and Werner Binoir of Petoskey at 4:20 p.m. on Oct. 26, 2007, at Northern Michigan Hospital. Arianna weighed 8 pounds, .03 ounce and was 19 inches long at birth. Grandparents are Eddie and Sherri Spencer of Petoskey, and the late Frans and Anna Binoir of Cape Town, South Africa.
A son, Owyne Mitchell, was born to Samantha Ladd and Darcy Greenier of Alanson at 2:21 p.m. on Oct. 27, 2007, at Northern Michigan Hospital. Owyne weighed 7 pounds, 13.4 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long at birth. Grandparents are Matt and Tammy Ladd of Alanson.
A daugther, Grace Elizabeth Longden, was born to Daniel and Kimberly Longden of Petoskey at 6:49 a.m. on Oct. 27, 2007, at Northern Michigan Hospital. Grace weighed 7 pounds, 9 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long at birth. Her sibling is Micah Daniel Longden. Grandparents are Rich and Joyce Rudowske of Benton Harbor, and Steve and Cherie Longden of Dowagiac.
Boyne Valley Lions Club meets at noon every Wednesday at District Library in Boyne City. Call Sherry Gillett at 347-5559 or 582-6421, to make reservations.
"Finding Vital Records" geneology class 10-11 a.m. and 7-8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 31, at the Petoskey Family History Library, located at the corner of Alcan and Country Club roads, Petoksey. Phone Amy Christensen, 348-7611.
Petoskey Friendship Center activities Wednesday, Oct. 31: exercise 9 a.m., journey into nature 10 a.m., pinochle 10 a.m.-4 p.m., lunch at noon: meatloaf, Halloween party, bowling 1 p.m. at Northern Lights Recreation Center.
Alanson Friendship Center activities Wednesday, Oct. 31: painting 10 a.m., shuffleboard 10 a.m., water fitness 10:45 a.m., lunch at noon: meatloaf.
Boyne Area Senior Center activities Wednesday, Oct. 31: Halloween progressive lunch at noon: crunchy drumsticks.
Charlevoix Senior Center activities Wednesday, Oct. 31: lunch 11:30 a.m.: cabbage rolls.
East Jordan Senior Center activities Wednesday, Oct. 31: exercise 10 a.m., lunch at noon: progressive lunch, Roger Hartson performs.


Fast-moving slaughter lines are cruelly killing foul, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture records. Nearly one million chickens and turkeys are unintentionally boiled alive every year in U.S. slaughterhouses. Often, the accidental deaths occur because fast-moving lines fail to kill birds before they are dropped into scalding water.
In slaughterhouses across the country, live birds are shackled by the legs and hung upside down before they are electrically stunned and automated blades slice off their necks, allowing the blood to drain from their bodies. If the birds’ necks miss the blade, they are boiled alive and cannot be sold because the blood remaining in the corpse can breed bacteria and turns the skin bright red. Animal welfare groups have lobbied slaughterhouses to switch to a more humane killing process, commonly used in the European Union, which knocks birds unconscious using carbon dioxide or other gases.
With Thanksgiving approaching, more pain-filled poultry deaths are sure to come. The USDA is finalizing a proposal that will allow companies to accelerate their lines even more in order to remove pathogens from the food supply and increase efficiency. Rather than having a maximum line speed of 140 chickens per minute and 45 turkeys per minute, the line would move at a pace of 175 chickens per minute and 55 turkeys per minute.
A Washington Post article reports that government inspectors and experts say that the changes will only lead to further inhumane treatment.


The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), along with a coalition of other medical groups, have submitted new recommended guidelines focused on young children’s consumption of sugary drinks.
The groups are calling on lawmakers to find ways to reduce the amount of exposure children have to sugary beverages. Within its list of suggestions, the groups are proposing that regulators increase the price of certain drinks by imposing an excise tax. While costs would likely be passed on to consumers, the groups say that the problem of overconsuming sugary drinks is a public health issue.
“Excess consumption of added sugars, especially from sugary drinks, contributes to the high prevalence of childhood and adolescent obesity, especially among children and adolescents who are socioeconomically vulnerable,” the authors said.
The groups cite research which shows that children and adolescents consume 17 percent of their calories from added sugars, with sugary drinks representing the number one source. Those numbers fall well above recommended guidelines and have virtually no health benefit.
Sugary drinks “provide little to no nutritional value, are high in energy density, and do little to increase feelings of satiety,” the groups charge.
Within the scope of sugary drinks, the authors take aim at several sugar-sweetened beverages, such as regular soda, fruit drinks, sports and energy drinks, and sweetened coffees and teas.
The groups provide several recommendations for reducing the overall consumption of sugary drinks by children and teens. However, perhaps one of the most divisive may be the implementation of an excise tax that increases the prices of these products.
An excise tax would predominantly target distributors and manufacturers of these drinks, but the authors admit that these costs would likely be passed onto consumers.
While studies have shown that a tax on sugary drinks can lower overall consumption, regulators and consumer advocates have decried these taxes in the past. Following passage of a soda tax in Philadelphia, consumers and beverage industry interests filed a lawsuit saying that consumers were being unfairly burdened by the new law. However, the authors of the current report state that steps can be taken to mitigate these problems.
“Such taxes should be accompanied by education of all stakeholders on the rationale and benefits of the tax before implementation. Tax revenues should be allocated, at least in part, to reducing health and socioeconomic disparities,” they said.


The AV system comes into effect when no candidate receives fifty per cent of the vote.
The last place candidate is eliminated and their ballots are redistributed, with second preferences added to the count.
If a fifty per cent majority is then reached, it ends there, otherwise the process is repeated until one candidate is declared the victor.


Netflix vs HBO: Is the Rivalry as Intense as it Seems?
Netflix has long identified HBO as one of its biggest competitors for content, and "Netflix vs. HBO" comparisons are fairly common. Is the rivalry between the two companies as big as it's made out to be, though?
When you think of competitors to Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), the first things that might come to mind are Amazon.com's (NASDAQ:AMZN) Instant Video service and other video streaming services like Hulu. If you were to ask Netflix CEO Reed Hastings about the company's competition, however, he might give you a different answer. Last June, Time Warner's (NYSE:TWX.DL) HBO was singled out as Netflix's "biggest, long-term competitor for content" in an investor relations document on the company's long-term view of its business.
What this means is that HBO presents a threat not only to Netflix in regard to where viewers are getting their entertainment, but also to the content that Netflix is able to offer. The cable network can secure exclusive contracts that limit the content that Netflix can stream, it can develop shows such as "Game of Thrones" that draw in viewers, and it can even bid against Netflix for original content. At one point, there was a chance that Netflix's Emmy and Golden Globe-winning "House of Cards" could have aired on HBO instead.
In the ongoing battle between Netflix and HBO, HBO has the advantage of having a brand with a 40-year history and being one of the biggest draws in premium cable. While Netflix has definite momentum behind it and has garnered acclaim for exclusives such as "House of Cards" and the Oscar-nominated documentary The Square, HBO has been producing high-quality originals for decades. Despite Netflix's advances, it still has a way to go if it plans to overtake HBO.
While there have been a few reports in the last year of Netflix making significant headway, these have come with caveats or were soon subject to corrections. A claim that Netflix had surpassed HBO in subscribers was eventually clarified to point out that it only covered subscribers in the United States; worldwide, HBO still has a solid lead on Netflix. Likewise, a recent claim that Netflix was gaining subscribers while HBO was losing them was corrected to show that the actual loss was occurring with the number of households subscribing to premium channels, but that those who subscribe are subscribing to more channels than before.
There is definitely competition between the two in regard to original content, but that competition might not be as heated as it's sometimes made out to be. Furthermore, Netflix seems much more interested in touting the intensity of the competition than HBO is.
It's important to remember that even Netflix identifies HBO as a "competitor for content," which is a bit different than being a competitor for subscribers. While some viewers may choose HBO and HBO Go as an entertainment option instead of Netflix, the differences between the cable channel and the streaming service are significant enough that many would opt to simply have both. When it comes to competition for subscribers, Amazon is a much bigger competitor than HBO.
Amazon competes with Netflix for content as well, though this is more for third-party content than original series. Examples of this would be Amazon signing a contract with Viacom (NASDAQ:VIA) for its shows when the Viacom/Netflix contract expired, or Amazon's recent acquisition of all three seasons of "Veronica Mars" in advance of the launch of the Veronica Mars feature film. Given how important original content is to the identity that Netflix is building for itself, though, it's easy to understand why it plays up its rivalry with HBO more than the competition it receives from Amazon Instant Video.
If there isn't a huge heated back-and-forth competition between HBO and Netflix, why does the streaming service act like there is? The answer is likely that it is trying to keep pressure on HBO because the cable channel serves as the best example of what Netflix wants to become. With plans to spend over $3 billion on content this year and over $6.2 billion in the next 36 months, the company wants to cement itself as the streaming destination for HBO-like high-quality originals and third-party content that viewers want to see.
The pressure that Netflix puts on HBO not only serves to remind viewers that the company holds itself up to HBO standards, but also to keep Netflix itself on track. Even if the rivalry between Netflix and HBO is a little one-sided at the moment, the drive for greater quality and increased acquisitions that it creates will only serve to improve the service in the long run.


Tributes have been paid to a former teacher and railway campaigner who died after being hit by a car in South Yorkshire.
Robin Sisson, 51, of Saltaire, used to teach at Bradford Grammar School before pursuing a career in his greatest passion, the railway industry.
Mr Sisson was instrumental in the re-opening of Frizinghall railway station and has campaigned for rail users’ interests both in Yorkshire and the North West.
At the time of his death he was working as assistant editor for Today’s Rail UK magazine, based in Sheffield, where he commuted to from his home in Helen Street.
Tim Calor, chairman of the Aire Valley Rail Users’ Group, said: “He was a lovely person – a gentleman who was concerned for people using the train and did a great deal of work, both voluntarily and professionally, representing them.
“He was involved in representing rail passenger interests for a number of years.
The incident which led to Mr Sisson’s death occurred in Sheffield at about 7pm last Tuesday.
He had worked in the city at Today’s Rail UK magazine for two years. Editor-in-chief Peter Fox said: “We are all devastated by what has happened. We are just stunned.
“Our sympathies go to his elderly mother in Lincoln.
“The magazine will be doing an obituary for him – he will be sorely missed.
Mr Sisson’s neighbour and friend James Margerrison, of Ada Street, Saltaire, said he was a well-known face in pubs around the village.
He said: “He would sometimes give impromptu Handel performances in the pubs.
“He would suddenly break into song sometimes which some people would find quite startling.
“He was a pleasant and cheerful man – he would talk a lot about the railway stuff.
It has been reported that a 20-year-old man driving the Toyota involved in the collision was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and later bailed until early August.
Anyone with any information has been asked to contact South Yorkshire Police on 0114 220 2970.


Phoenix, AZ (SportsNetwork.com) - Isaiah Thomas finally got the Phoenix Suns over the hump.
Thomas had 23 points off the bench and the Suns defeated the San Antonio Spurs 94-89 on Friday night.
After the Suns came close many times throughout the game to take a lead over the defending champs, Thomas blew past Boris Diaw in the open floor to finally put the hosts in front 88-87 with 3:34 left.
San Antonio trailed 92-89 with 6.5 seconds remaining following a timeout, but Diaw was whistled for a five-second violation just before he signaled for a 20-second timeout. Eric Bledsoe sunk two game-clinching free throws at the other end.
Markieff Morris posted 20 points and 11 rebounds, Eric Bledsoe tallied 12 points and nine boards and Alex Len provided his first career double-double, 10 points and 11 rebounds, off the pine for Phoenix, which beat the Los Angeles Lakers in its season opener Wednesday.
"The way he was playing with his length had a real effect on the game," Suns head coach Jeff Hornacek said of Len.
Tony Parker supplied 19 points and six assists, while Tim Duncan added 16 points and nine rebounds for the Spurs, who edged Dallas in their first game of the year on Tuesday.
"It just didn't go our way. We didn't get baskets and we didn't get the stops that we needed to win the game," said Parker. "It just happens, it's basketball, it just didn't go our way."
Parker and Marco Belinelli sandwiched 3-pointers around a Gerald Green triple to stake the Spurs to a 77-70 cushion early in the fourth before three consecutive Thomas buckets trimmed the gap to 77-76.
San Antonio, though, responded with an 8-1 spurt, with a Cory Joseph turnaround jumper providing it an 84-78 spread with 6:53 to play.
Phoenix answered back with a 12-3 surge and Hornacek used a three point guard lineup in the final 4:35.
After Thomas' layup, Morris sunk two free throws and then put down a dunk off a Len interior pass to make it 92-87 in favor of Phoenix with 1:09 left on the clock.
Manu Ginobili was fouled on a three and made 2-of-3 foul shots at the other end. Bledsoe was off on a jumper, Len backtapped the ball back to Thomas to retain possession, but Thomas misfired to give San Antonio possession with 16.9 ticks left.
Earlier, a 15-3 Spurs first-quarter swing gave them an early 24-9 margin and they led 24-11 after the frame.
The Suns began the second with a 13-2 run and later tied the game at 30-30 midway through the stanza after Len threw down an alley-oop pass from Bledsoe.
San Antonio responded by putting in eight straight points and took a 45-36 lead into the break.
The Spurs took a 71-67 edge into the fourth.
Thomas became the fourth Sun, joining Tom Chambers, Tom Gugliotta and A.C. Green, to scored at least 23 points in his first two games with the team ... Phoenix shot just 2-of-18 (11.1 percent) from beyond the arc, but made 22-of-26 (84.6 percent) from the foul line.


It’s time for the pay TV industry’s annual slap in the face from the American Customer Satisfaction Index, which surveys 70,000 people about the products and services they use most. Cable and satellite distributors always fare badly in these polls — but this year’s results are especially disturbing after a slight uptick last year. The companies’ pay TV services collectively scored 65 out of 100, down 4.4% from last year, making subscription TV the second-least liked of the 43 industries ACSI tracks. What’s worse? Internet service providers, with a score of 63, down 3.1% — and which mostly consists of the same companies. People “question the value proposition as both, as consumers pay for more than they need in terms of subscription TV and get less than they want in terms of Internet speeds and reliability,” ACSI Chairman Claes Fornell says.
Time Warner Cable‘s at the bottom of both the pay TV and ISP lists (pay TV: 56, -7%, and ISP: 54, -14%). Second to last is its potential acquirer, Comcast (pay TV: 60, -5%, and ISP 57, -8%). That could hurt: ACSI data show that “mergers in service industries usually result in lower customer satisfaction, at least in the short term,” Director David VanAmburg says. “It’s hard to see how combining two negatives will be a positive for consumers.” At the top of the pay TV list are the industry’s two other major deal partners: DirecTV (with 69, -4%) and AT&T’s U-verse (69, -3%).
The rest of the pay TV lists includes Verizon’s FiOS (68, -7%), Dish Network (67, -4%), Cox (63, -3%), and Charter (60, -6%). The ISP one is topped by Verizon FiOS (71, flat) followed by AT&T U-verse (65, flat), CenturyLink (65, +2%), Cox (64, -6%), and Charter (61, -6%).


Thought-forms are energetic beings created for the purpose of performing a task. Some practitioners of the Craft, including myself, use Thought-forms for a variety of intents and purposes.
They have been called by various name throughout history. The Tulpa, a type of Thought-form, dates back to ancient Tibetan Buddhism. There are also certain instances where the term “Fetch” is used as a name for them. I tend to avoid using the word Fetch because, in Irish folklore, the appearance of a Fetch–or double of a person–has ominous tones and generally portends the death of the person it’s mimicking. I use the word “Seeker” for Thought-forms, as this was the term used in one of the magical traditions I studied.
Thought-forms are created by the practitioner energetically by raising and concentrating energy. The exact purpose or intent of it is up to the practitioner and their own Craft practices and guidelines. Once created, Thought-forms can work independently from their creator. A common practice is the use of them for assistance on the Astral Plane or protection.
The creation of Thought-forms is not to be taken lightly. If left with no task to perform, it can wander off and cause mischief, or worse. In most cases a practitioner will create a Thought-form for a specific task to be completed within a specific period of time. Once the task is completed the practitioner energetically disperses the Thought-form. This eliminates the chance of the Thought-form acting and its own and doing something the practitioner did not intend for it to do.
Techniques for the creation of them vary according to Tradition. There are a variety of methods that consist of visualization of a specific form or appearance and energy raising and direction. Energetically sensitive people, such as clairvoyants, can sense Thought-forms if they come into proximity with one.
I find the use of Thought-forms to be an essential part of my Craft. Learning to create and work with Thought-forms does require time and effort, however. I would suggest finding a qualified teacher who is experienced in energy work and Thought-forms if you are interested in learning about them.


KIM Kardashian is among a host of celebrities calling for tighter gun controls after a gunman went on a rampage at a school in Florida on Valentine's Day.
Expelled student Nikolas Cruz, 19, returned to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School armed with an assault rifle and opened fire at students and teachers.
Chilling images posted on Instagram show the shooter, who remains in police custody, posing with guns and knives as fellow pupils admit they "knew he would shoot up the school".
His actions prompted the likes of singer Nancy Sinatra, talk show host Ellen DeGeneres and actress Reese Witherspoon to call for stronger gun restrictions in the wake of the atrocity on Wednesday.
The Keeping Up With The Kardashian's star called on the US government to do more to protect children and teachers.
Writing on Twitter, she said: "We owe it to our children and our teachers to keep them safe while at school. Prayers won't do this: action will.
"Congress, please do your job and protect Americans from senseless gun violence."
Actress Julianne Moore tweeted: "The 18th school shooting in the US since January. It is heartbreaking. What will it take to change our nation's gun laws ???"
Nancy Sinatra called on the Republican Party to pass "sensible" gun laws immediately.
She added: "Seventeen more of our young people dead, killed by a shooter with an automatic weapon he had no business having."
Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres said: "No words, no actions, no laws are enough until we end this epidemic of school shootings in our country."
Actress Reese Witherspoon said she was "heartbroken" by the attack, adding "enough is enough".
Florida Governor Rick Scott, a Republican, said it was an act of "pure evil" but refused to discuss gun controls in a press conference on Wednesday night.
Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel earlier said that the suspect had at least one AR-15 rifle and multiple magazines.
While some fatalities were found outside the building, most were inside, he added.
The school had been placed on lockdown before the suspect was apprehended.
US President Donald Trump sent his "prayers and condolences" to the families of those who died in the "terrible" shooting.


What would have happened if all that rain were snow?
While western Massachusetts saw up to 12 inches of snow from the nor’easter, several inches of rain fell across most of the state.
The Massachusetts coast has been slammed with devastating flooding and brutal winds during the last 24 hours.
But the nor’easter that sent ocean water surging into roads and knocked out power for thousands of residents across eastern Massachusetts failed to bring one notable impact to most of the state: snow.
While parts of western Massachusetts got up to 12 inches of snow, most of the state saw driving rain. The Greater Boston area got between 2 and 3 inches of rain, and East Bridgewater got almost six.
If all that rain were snow, the storm could would’ve had a very different impact.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Lenore Correia told Boston.com that on average, one inch of rain can equal 10 inches of snow — meaning that parts of the state that saw 5 inches of rain could have gotten 50 inches of snow.
“[It] likely would have been considered a blizzard, given the winds we had,” Correia said of what would’ve happened if the rain had been snow instead.
According to meteorologist David Epstein, “too much” marine air within the storm was responsible for the lack of the white stuff in eastern and central Massachusetts.
“This would have been a 2-3+ foot storm if colder, and [it would’ve] crippled [the] area for many days,” Epstein said on Twitter.
Temperatures were lower in western New England and eastern New York, where the storm dropped 1 to 2 feet of snow.
According to the Albany Times Union, the surprise drop in temperature led to more snow than originally anticipated, resulting in thousands of power outages in the capital region of New York.


The main reason for this failure rate is an inability to access funding, but in the case of Adept Airmotive, a high-tech aircraft engine designer and manufacturer, the company’s directors blame a government agency tasked with developing innovative businesses and the strings attached to the money for the firm’s troubles.
Its executives are pointing fingers at the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), the department of science and technology’s agency meant to push innovation in South Africa, for making the company a casualty of the chaos that has afflicted the agency since its inception.
The agency, established in 2008, receives in the region of R400-million a year to facilitate innovation in the country. Technological innovation and spin-off technology companies are seen as a way to bolster economic growth and job creation.
The TIA was envisioned as a way to close the gap between innovation and marketable product, but has been fraught with controversy. Earlier this year, the agency’s former chief executive, Simphiwe Duma, and the chief financial officer, Barbara Kortjass, were fired for gross misconduct, and interim chief executive Dr Rivka Kfir was appointed last month.
According to Richard Schultz, a director at Adept, the TIA was a “handicap”.
“In retrospect, the internal problems with TIA – operational issues on their side – impacted so heavily on our operations, I would not have gone that route [if I had known],” he said, referring to the delayed funding disbursements – details of which had been sent to department of science and technology officials and former minister Derek Hanekom, as well as the TIA’s new board.
Most of the board was replaced last year.
The Mail & Guardian has seen this document, which shows that the TIA agreed to provide Adept with R24-million for the development and early stage commercialisation of its general aviation engine.
Although the first quarter payment was on time, the subsequent four payments were delayed, often by months, until they stopped entirely.
Schultz said that these funding delays impeded the company in meeting its objectives, among them the commercialisation of an aviation engine able to run on biofuels.
Adept executives said that there had been no correspondence from the agency to indicate that the agency was unhappy with the company’s progress, until it cancelled the funding.
In December last year, Tanglewood approached the courts to put the company into liquidation, saying the company was factually insolvent and would soon be commercially insolvent.
Consequently, the agency is pushing for an auction of the physical assets, which it argues would be the only fair way to deal with Adept’s creditors.
Schultz said this would ensure that public money was wasted, because the TIA would stand no chance of recouping its investment in Adept. “If the company folds, every single cent of investment is down the tubes. If we continue the project, and keep it going, we could [soon] be earning hundreds of millions for this country,” he said.
Whether the company would realise these returns is questionable, but the liquidators, Stowell & Co, told the M&G: “As the nature of the business is specialised, it is difficult to sell the assets by way of normal public auction and expect a maximum return for the sale of the assets.
Jean Simpson, representing Stowell, said “the sale of the company as a going concern … may seem to be the most beneficial manner in realising the assets and preserving the research project”.
In its financials for the year ended 2013, Adept had assets worth R3.8-million.
The M&G has seen emails confirming the existence of prospective investors, some of whom include the existing executives.
“An offer by a potential new investor to take over the funding of the Adept project, which would have resulted in TIA’s loan account being repaid, was rejected by TIA,” Schoeman said.
Kfir said that the agency would abide by the court’s decision, “ensuring that the liquidation is administered equitably and for the benefit of all creditors of Adept”.
Should the company fold, the line of unemployed technology specialists will be added to in a country that is desperate for innovation.


StarHub, one of Singapore’s largest mobile communications providers, has introduced a new eBookstore and eReader app called Booktique, which is powered by Copia.
The eBookstore features more than 400,000 English-language titles in all types of genres including: biographies, children, food, mystery, romance, science fiction, and self-help. The catalog includes works from Singapore-based publishers and authors including: Catherine Lim, Dave Chua, Edmund Chen and Josephine Chia.
To promote the launch, StarHub is giving away ten free eBooks including: Life of Pi by Yann Martel, The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick and 1356 by Bernard Cornwell, for a limited time.


Open top double decker buses will be providing extensive tours around the island from Saturday. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi.
Eight open top double-decker buses will take to Malta's roads on Saturday - 14 years after their owner applied for a road licence.
Painted white, with Malta Sightseeing emblazoned on the side in red and orange letters, the open top buses will be taking sightseers on three-hour, hop-on, hop-off tours - one around the north and another to the south of the island.
Another two buses will be on the roads soon.
Nazzareno Abela, owner of Cancu Supreme Garage, said the problem with the licence was due to the fact that no new licences for route buses were being granted. However, the authorities had finally granted a new form of licence for sightseeing buses.
The south-bound tour will be the first to be wheeled out, with the other starting in about a month's time.
Leaving from the Sliema Ferries, the south-bound tour will take passengers to some of the island's most popular attractions, including the Upper Barrakka Gardens, Fort St Elmo, the Valletta Waterfront, Senglea Point and the Vittoriosa Waterfront, the Hypogeum and Tarxien Temples, Marsaxlokk, Ghar Dalam, the Blue Grotto, Hagar Qim and the Limestone Heritage, before returning to Sliema.
The north-bound tour will take in San Anton Gardens, Mosta, Ta' Qali - including the Crafts Village, Mdina Glass and the Aviation Museum - Mdina Gate, the Domus Romana, Buskett Gardens, Dingli Cliffs, Chadwick Lakes, Ta' Hagrat Roman Baths and Golden Bay.
Tourists - or Maltese who want to take in some of the island's most popular sites - can hop off the bus at any of the numerous stops and hop on the next one. Buses will leave from Sliema every 45 minutes.
Each bus is equipped with an audio system allowing passengers to listen to information in eight languages - English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Danish, Japanese and Maltese - through headphones which are included in the €13 (Lm5.57) ticket, and which passengers can keep.
The computerised audio is connected to a GPS system to ensure that the commentary on each attraction starts only when the bus reaches that particular spot. The system cost Lm12,000 for each bus. Mr Abela said he expected a strong take-up by tourists, adding that similar tours in other European countries were extremely popular.
The first bus will leave from Sliema at 9 a.m. and the last one at 3 p.m. between Monday and Saturday. Tours held next Saturday will be free of charge.


WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve said Friday it expects the U.S. economy will strengthen and warrant further gradual increases in its key interest rate.
That rate forecast was included in the Fed’s semi-annual monetary report to Congress, which Chair Janet Yellen will deliver to Congress next week. The Fed has raised interest rates three times since December, pushing its benchmark rate to a range of 1 per cent to 1.25 per cent. The Fed noted that policymakers still expect one more rate hike this year and another three hikes in 2018.
The Fed said this projected pace of hikes would still allow the labour market to keep strengthening and inflation to climb to the Fed’s 2 per cent target. The Fed also signalled that it expects to begin reducing its massive bond holdings this year.
The Fed’s “Monetary Policy Report,” presented twice a year, cited a number of reasons to be optimistic about the economy.
The report said while consumer spending, which accounts for 70 per cent of economic activity, was sluggish at the start of 2017, it “appears to have rebounded recently supported by job gains, rising household wealth and favourable consumer sentiment.” Likewise, business investment has accelerated, the Fed said after being weak for much of 2016, helped by a surge in spending on drilling and mining activity.
“The committee currently expects that the ongoing strength in the economy will warrant gradual increases in the federal funds rate,” the report said, referring to the Fed’s key policy rate.
The government reported Friday that employers added a bigger-than-expected 222,000 jobs in June, the most in four months. Analysts predicted the size of the June gain would keep the Fed on track to raise rates again. Many say the next rate hike will likely occur in September, after which the Fed will begin trimming its bond holdings.
The Fed’s $4.5 trillion balance sheet is five times the size of the holdings it had in the summer of 2008 before the worst financial crisis in seven decades. That pushed the country into a deep recession and forced the central bank to cut its federal funds rate to a record low near zero and use an array of policy tools to jump-start economic growth. The bonds were purchased in an effort to keep long-term interest rates low.
The monetary report is normally released on the first day of Yellen’s congressional testimony that accompanies the report. The Fed said it was releasing the report early in an effort to give lawmakers more time to study the contents before Yellen’s testimony.
The report said that even though inflation has slowed a bit since the beginning of the year, the central bank still expects price gains to resume rising toward the 2 per cent target, helped in part by stronger wage gains.
At the Fed’s meeting last month, it outlined a plan to begin selling an initial amount of maturing bonds of no more than $6 billion a month in Treasury securities and no more than $4 billion a month in mortgage bonds.


ANACOSTIA (WUSA) -- East of the river and a multi-million dollar construction project. But some parents and community leaders are upset that students at Anacostia High are still attending classes in the building during the renovation.
"They should be moved during the construction, anything can happen," said one parent.
"Kids should not be running around at a construction site, period," said another.
At issue?...students from Wilson High School in NW - which is also under construction - have been relocated to the University of the District of Columbia.
School Board member William Lockridge finds that suspicious. "It's because it's southeast and in southeast they think parents aren't going to stand up for the students, " he explained, "we need one school department regardless of socio-economics or race."


"We're not looking for Series A, we're looking for Series Awesome," OnSwipe cofounder Jason Baptiste announced at TechStars NYC in April.
Today OnSwipe announced that it has raised $5 million. Investors include Yuri Milner, Lerer Ventures, Betaworks, and SV Angel.
OnSwipe is a platform that makes it easy for publishers to create an app-like mobile and tablet experience in under three minutes.
Essentially, OnSwipe wants to kill apps. But Steve Jobs is a big fish to fry. We asked Baptiste how he thinks Jobs will feel about his ambition.
"I actually think Apple loves what we're up to since we provide a great experience for iPad users," says Baptiste. "Their goal isn't to sell apps, but to sell iPads. If the publications we power let that happen, then we're on the same page."
"People always say, 'Oh, Steve Jobs is gonna want to kill you.' I say, 'Actually, if anything he'll give me a hug or a fist pound. Steve and I are bros!"


Why rent when you can own? Don't just look at the pictures on this one...you must see it in person! This move-in ready 3 bedroom (two 1st floor bedrooms) offers a fenced-in yard for pets, is close to Lowe Park and playground! This home has been well-maintained by the owner and offers privacy behind the home. Recently refinished floors, newer laundry area, concrete driveway and sidewalks, roofing improvements, tuckpointing and flashing and a super dry basement! Just a few minutes north of 480 off State Road make this a great location to get to all sides of Cleveland! Call for a private showing today!


The Conservative Political Action Conference is facing backlash from ... conservatives.
It began when it was reported that gay Republican groups like the Log Cabin Republicans and GOProud would not be in attendance at this year's conservative confab in Washington, D.C. GOProud, in fact, was banned before last year's event and was not welcomed back this year, either.
There was more trouble for CPAC when, this week, the chair of the American Conservative Union, which organizes the conference, explained that CPAC snubbed super-popular New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie because he opted in to the Medicaid expansion under Obamacare, and put too much pressure on congressional Republicans who were blocking Hurricane Sandy aid.
Since some Republicans have been trying to appeal to a broader swath of the electorate, these decisions were naturally going to irk a few people.
First, S.E. Cupp, a conservative pundit on MSNBC's "The Cycle," pulled out of the event in protest of the exclusion of GOProud. "I've been thinking about this a lot, and I know a lot of people on my side of the aisle have been struggling with this for some time now, too: I've been scheduled to speak at CPAC this year, and I just don't think I can until this issue is reconciled and figured out," she said Tuesday.
Jennifer Rubin, the Washington Post's favorite conservative (and frequent presence on Salon's Hack List), wrote that CPAC "damages itself" with a high-profile rejection of gay Republicans: "For casual political observers not inclined to attend or listen to speeches the only thing they will hear is that a bunch of conservatives wouldn’t allow in a gay group. In a nutshell, this is what is wrong with the GOP and why forward-looking conservatives shouldn’t encourage this nonsense."
Steve Schmidt, the Republican strategist, dismissed the conference entirely. "Look, this CPAC convention is increasingly the Star Wars bar scene of the conservative movement. I mean all that’s missing at that convention is a couple of Wookiees," he said on MSNBC.
Schmidt praised Christie, adding that "CPAC is not the Republican Party," and "their exclusionary policies that gay groups can’t come and participate – and you look at some of the lineup of speakers, these are people that are on the fringe, these are people that don’t attract a wider audience that we need to attract to win elections."
Conservative Charles Krauthammer said Tuesday that he too objected to Christie's "lap dance" for President Obama after Hurricane Sandy, but snubbing him from CPAC seems like a "vast overreaction" and a "mistake."
“He’s a leading Republican, obviously presidential timbre. He’s got the highest popularity of any governor and he’s in a blue state," Krauthammer said.
Christie, for his part, was unfazed by the exclusion. "Listen, I wish them all the best," he said at a town hall meeting in New Jersey, the Star-Ledger reports. "They're going to have their conference, they're going to have a bunch of people speaking there. That's their call ... It's not like I'm lacking for invitations to speak around the country."
"I can't sweat the small stuff," he added. "I've got a state to rebuild."


ARWA issued the call for voluntary water conservation on Thursday after the lake level fell to the equivalent of 300 days of supply at projected rates of water consumption. At the time, the lake was 12 inches below the top of the dam.
There is no assurance that the lake will remain full. Typically, summer is the driest season in this area and the Appomattox River's flow usually drops significantly from June through September. Under ARWA's Drought Response Plan, if the lake again drops to the 300-day supply level, another call for voluntary conservation could be issued.


LITTLE Mix are set to perform on the Strictly Come Dancing semi-final this weekend.
Little Mix are set to make history with their Strictly Come Dancing performance, it's been confirmed.
Jesy Nelson, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jade Thirlwall and Perrie Edwards are preparing to perform on the semi-finals of the BBC ballroom competition this weekend.
The foursome have now confirmed that they will be performing alongside an all-female band and all-female dancers, the first time in the show's 14-year history that a guest performer has done so.
Announcing the news on their official Twitter account, the girls told their 11.6 million followers: "We're so excited for this one!
Strictly Come Dancing final 2018: When is the series final? What time is it on?
"Your girls are gonna be performing on @bbcstrictly this Sunday and it's the first time all the dancers and band will be women. Make sure you tune in to @BBCOne at 7:15PM GMT."
Fans immediately reacted to the exciting news, with one enthusiastically replying: "YES FINALLY! BEEN WAITING FOR YOU GIRLS TO PERFORM ON STRICTLY FOR AGES."
"I can't wait! I love Strictly," added another Little Mix follower.
It was confirmed earlier this year that Little Mix would be making their Strictly debut, just days after their split from The X Factor boss Simon Cowell's label, Syco.
The news of their Strictly performance comes after Jesy left fans divided with a selection of new tattoos, including one of a gun.
The 27 year old shared pictures of her new inkings on the side of her face, arm and her ribcage to her 4.1 million followers.
Jesy's new additions have received a mixed reaction from her fans, however, as one person wrote of the gun tattoo: "Cute, but why would anyone want a gun tattoo in today’s world. Really?"
Strictly Come Dancing continues Saturdays and Sundays on BBC One.


Join us for Stanford’s largest entrepreneurship event of the year, as our finalists compete for their share of 150K! The Grand Finale of three BASES competitions: E-Challenge, Social E-Challenge, and Product Showcase.
For the first time in our history, we will have the finalists of E-Challenge and Social E-Challenge pitching to the public in the morning, beginning at 9:00 am, followed by a private judging session in the afternoon. Product Showcase will take place in McCaw Hall, beginning at 12:30 pm.
What is BASES? BASES is a student group dedicated to promoting entrepreneurship education and empowering the next generation of entrepreneurs at Stanford University. E-Challenge is our competition focused on ventures in healthcare, cleantech, mobile, and web ventures. Social E-Challenge is for ideas focused on creating social good. Product Showcaseis a hybrid demo day/science fair for teams to showcase their products.
Addy is changing how we share locations by enabling people to “create an address” in the form of a short, custom URL.
ALICE is an artificial intelligence construction scheduler that can reduce schedule durations by an average of 45% as compared to leading industrial solutions.
Alpha is a series of online lessons and projects dedicating to turning good developers into great ones.
AWAIR is a medical device company that develops patient-centered airway products for the intensive care unit.
ChemoFilter is a minimally invasive disposable catheter medical device that could be inserted into the veins of the body similar to a central IV line to directly filter drugs or therapeutic particles out of the blood stream.
CinderBio technologies have the potential to make cellulosic biomass a practical and profitable renewable energy source by significantly reducing biofuel production costs and fundamentally advancing enzymatic cellulosic degradation.
DermTap disrupts healthcare by putting a doctor in the palm of your hand. By simply launching the DermTap mobile application and snapping a photo, a patient is able to get a diagnosis and treatment from a dermatologist within minutes.
Resido Medical is developing Serenity, a medical device that reduces hand tremor in patients suffering from Essential Tremor.
Simple Emotion implements a patent-pending vocal emotion recognition system to provide solutions and products for the autism community.
Abeona is building an online platform connecting parents and childcare professionals with goal of improving the wellbeing of children aged zero to five.
AdaptAir is an innovative product for pediatric patients in the developing world who suffer from life-threatening respiratory illnesses.
Anjna Patient Education is a non–profit organization dedicated to empowering patients to take control of their own health through mobile (SMS and voice) technology.
FlameStower is an energy product design and manufacturing company that has developed a small, portable generator to capture heat energy from campfires, cookstoves, any open flame, and convert it direct into electricity.
Paystik replaces return payment envelopes with printable codes that link a consumer’s smartphone to a digital transaction.
Vynca is a comprehensive technology platform whose vision is to integrate healthcare information across inpatient (hospital) and outpatient (clinic) settings.


Mariners manager Scott Servais said he was happy with Kikuchi’s approach out of the gate, but Cleveland’s hitters jumped on Kikuchi early enough to gain a lead they never lost.
“His stuff wasn’t like he was trying to get it ramped up or whatever, it was right there from the get-go,” Servais said.
Following Jose Ramirez’s solo shot, Kikuchi retired 12 of the final 13 batters he faced, including collecting four of his five strikeouts in his final three innings. Through six innings pitched, he allowed the three earned runs on five hits, and walked three.
He said it’s difficult to pinpoint why he’s struggled in the early innings, but been able to throw so efficiently later on in starts.
Kikuchi exited the game trailing by three runs, and while the Mariners (13-6) did rally with four runs over the final four frames — including three on back-to-back home runs by Edwin Encarnacion and Omar Narvaez in the eighth — they couldn’t muster quite enough to avoid Kikuchi getting tagged with his first loss.
Cleveland starter Trevor Bauer (2-1, 2.05) frustrated the Mariners’ offense from the outset, allowing a single earned run on five hits in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out eight and walked three, and left with a 3-1 lead and two outs in the seventh, after throwing 112 pitches.
Seattle registered just two hits through the first five innings, and Bauer at one point retired 10 consecutive batters before the Mariners finally scratched across their only run in the sixth. Mitch Haniger hit a one-out double, and Domingo Santana — who leads the majors with 24 RBIs — drove him in on a single, cutting Cleveland’s lead to 3-1.
It wasn’t until the bottom of the eighth that the Mariners offense closed in. Santana hit a leadoff single, and Encarnacion, who spent the past two seasons with the Indians, extended Seattle’s record-breaking home run streak with a two-run shot to left. Narvaez followed with a high-flying solo homer to right that nearly hit the roof, to make it 5-4.
The Mariners now have 41 home runs through their first 19 games, an MLB record for consecutive games with a home run to start a season.
But, Seattle couldn’t break through on earlier scoring opportunities, and never led. In the bottom of the seventh, Narvaez hit a leadoff single, and Dee Gordon walked with two outs. Bauer was pulled, and reliever Tyler Olson walked Mallex Smith to load the bases.
Haniger, who hit home runs in back-to-back games Saturday and Sunday, faced Puyallup High School and University of Washington product Adam Cimber with the bases loaded. Haniger worked a full count and fouled off three pitches before Cimber, one of the rare MLB pitchers who throws from the submarine motion, struck him out on a perfectly placed sinker on the lower inside corner.
The Mariners also missed out in the fifth, after Encarnacion opened the inning with a double. Narvaez then walked, setting Seattle up with a pair of runners and no outs. Bauer — aided by some questionably called strikes — struck out the next three batters to retire the side.
The Indians plated two more peculiar runs in the eighth. Jose Ramirez drew a leadoff walk against Mariners reliever Zac Rosscup, and eventually scored on a pair of wild pitches by reliever Connor Sadzeck three batters later.
And, Cleveland made it 5-1 after reliever Shawn Armstrong loaded the bases and then apparently hit Greg Allen in the knee with a pitch, to score Carlos Santana. Though replay appeared to show that the ball’s trajectory did not change, the call was upheld.
Rosscup, Sadzeck and Armstrong combined walk four, and each also recorded a strikeout in the inning.
After the Mariners had closed the lead to one run, reliever Roenis Elias worked two quick outs in the top of the ninth before Carlos Gonzalez reached on a throwing error by shortstop Tim Beckham. Santana doubled, and another throwing error by Beckham allowed Gonzalez to score.
The Mariners continue their three-game series against the Indians at 7:10 p.m. Tuesday. Seattle right-hander Mike Leake (2-0, 4.15) is scheduled to meet Cleveland right-hander Shane Bieber (1-0, 1.80).


Qatar Foundation (QF) and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education have signed a memorandum of understanding to further enhance the calibre of pre-university education in Qatar.
More than 307,000 students will return to school on Wednesday, after the Ministry of Education and Higher Education completed its preparation for the new academic year 2018-2019.
The Department of Assessment of Schools at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education will start implementing the second phase of the comprehensive educational questionnaire, which includes parents, students and teachers.
The Ministry of Education and Higher Education, represented by the Department of Early Education, held the second annual forum for parents in "Maharati" (My Skills) project.
His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani's speech to citizens and residents on July 21 has inspired the Ministry of Education and Higher Education’s priorities for the new academic year, HE the Minister Dr Mohamed Abdul Wahed Ali al-Hammadi has said.
The Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC) has announced the launch of an initiative that provides the private sector with promising investment opportunities in the education sector.
The administrative court has rejected a case filed by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education to deny a retired Qatari teacher the end of service gratuity for the years of service that exceeded 20 years.
Ashghal has handed over to the Ministry of Education and Higher Education as many as 11 of the new 15 schools for starting classes in the new academic year later this month.


Persistent depressive disorder, formerly known as dysthymic disorder (also known as dysthymia or chronic depression), was renamed in the DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Dysthymia is also known as chronic depression, because the primary feature of persistent depressive disorder is a depressed mood that doesn’t go away over a long period of time.
The essential feature of persistent depressive disorder (dysthymia) is a depressed mood that occurs for most of the day, for more days than not, for at least 2 years (at least 1 year for children and adolescents).
This disorder represents a consolidation of DSM-IV-defined chronic major depressive disorder and dysthymic disorder. Major depression may precede persistent depressive disorder, and major depressive episodes may occur during persistent depressive disorder. Individuals whose symptoms meet major depressive disorder criteria for 2 years should be given a diagnosis of persistent depressive disorder as well as major depressive disorder.
Because these symptoms have become a part of the individual’s day-to-day experience, particularly in the case of early onset (e.g., “I’ve always been this way”), they may not be reported unless the individual is directly prompted. During the 2-year period (1 year for children or adolescents), any symptom-free intervals last no longer than two months.
In children and adolescents, their mood may also be marked by increased and significant irritability for a year or longer.
Furthermore, in order to be diagnosed with persistent depressive disorder, there has to have never been a manic episode, a mixed episode, or a hypomanic episode in the first 2 years, and criteria have never been met for cyclothymic disorder.
In order to meet the diagnostic criteria for dysthymic disorder, the symptoms may not be due to the direct physiological effects of the use or abuse of a substance (for instance, alcohol, drugs, or medications) or a general medical condition (e.g., cancer or a stroke). The symptoms must also cause significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, educational or other important areas of functioning.
Between 0.5% and 1.5% of adults in the U.S. experience this disorder in any given year, according to the American Psychiatric Association (2013).
If the disorder is diagnosed before age 21, it is associated with a higher risk of the person having a personality disorder or substance use disorder. This disorder is, by its very definition, chronic and can be challenging to treat.
For more information about treatment, please see general treatment guidelines for dysthymic disorder.
This criteria has been adapted for DSM-5. Diagnostic code: 300.4.


The indictment reportedly accusing Hezbollah members of killing a former prime minister will fuel unrest, not justice.
The indictment delivered by the UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) to Lebanon's state prosecutor Saeed Merza marks the latest twist in a widely publicised and highly controversial operation of international justice.
The indictment reportedly accusing four members of Lebanon's party Hezbollah in the 2005 killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri will usher in a new phase of confrontation between Hezbollah on one hand and its local, regional and international enemies on the other. Domestic tensions will reach another high. Pro-Hariri March 14 forces have met the decision with much fanfare and political posturing. Hezbollah is expected to strike back with its Secretary General Hasan Nasrallah slated to deliver a televised speech on Saturday addressing the issue.
But the indictment and its immediate fallout is unlikely to lead to actual arrests or upset the existing balance of power within the country in isolation of other regional developments. Since its inception as a fact finding mission in the wake of Hariri's killing on February 14, 2005, the tribunal has been marred by a serious credibility deficit, constant political interference, and heightened media speculation. The court may have the full backing of Western powers and the stamp of formal authority of international law, but it lacks the executive teeth to implement its decisions and the moral high ground - in the eyes of many Lebanese - to extract concessions by means other than force.
The full impact of the tribunal's latest measure is best understood in the context of its past conduct and legal standing with the Lebanese state; the recent accession to the seat of government by Hezbollah and its allies; and the profound regional transformations known as the Arab Spring or Arab Revolts, most notably the uprising in neighbouring Syria whose political influence in Lebanon cannot be underestimated.
The tribunal is a court of many culprits but no smoking gun. Mainstream media coverage in the West has largely parroted the official narrative of the tribunal as leaked from its offices or portrayed by its proponents. But any keen observer of Lebanon's local media is aware that the dominant narrative on the international stage breaks down into several conflicting ones on the domestic front. These narratives draw on a complicated network of sources and scenarios.
Internationally, the two most notable and recent journalistic investigations into the affair were those of Germany's publication, Der Spiegel, in May 2009, and Canada's state broadcaster, CBC, in November 2010. Both reports strongly insinuated that Hezbollah was behind the attack. According to the tribunal sources quoted by the two media outlets, a 2007 probe by a special unit of Lebanon's security forces uncovered a network of mobile phones that was activated, operated, and dismantled in sync with the timing and location of the assassination. The media reports, however, make no reference to the fact that Lebanon's telecommunication networks used as evidence is severely undermined by counter findings of cases of alleged Israeli espionage within Lebanon's phone network.
In July of last year, local media reported that Charbil Qazzi and Tarek al-Rabaa, two high ranking employees at Lebanon's major telecommunications network Alpha, were arrested and charged with spying for Israel. Hezbollah-led March 8 forces were quick to argue that the entire communications network has been exposed to Israel manipulation and control. In August, Nasrallah held what amounted to a public deposition indicting Israel in the killing of Hariri. In addition to exposing the infiltration of Lebanon's phone networks, Nasrallah placed another alleged Israeli spy and former Lebanese army officer by the name of Ghassan al-Jidd at the crime scene shortly before the crime took place. Nasrallah also showed video footage described as Israeli aerial surveillance of Hariri's car convoys in the years preceding the attack. Nasrallah then called on the tribunal to take this circumstantial evidence into account, something the latter has apparently avoided.
Nasrallah's counter offensive was not the first time the tribunal faced a serious credibility crisis. If its current case is based telecommunications evidence, the initial case made by its progenitor, the fact finding mission, was based on eye witness accounts. Back then, the target was Hezbollah's ally, Syria. Testimonies implicating Syrian and Lebanese security officials led to the arrest and incarceration, for over three years, of Lebanon's top four security generals. Several witnesses later recanted their statements. Leaked recordings of meeting between the key witness and Rafik Hariri's son Saad dealt a final blow to the investigation. The "false witness" fiasco did not end with the overdue release of the four imprisoned generals. One of them has dogged the court ever since with lawsuits against its commissioners.
Former suspect and head of Lebanon's national security forces Jamil Sayyid has kept the tribunal's prosecutor Danielle Bellemare on the hot seat by demanding that all files relating to his wrongful imprisonment and held by Bellemare be handed over to Sayyid. His ongoing legal wrangling with the tribunal are likely to cause further embarrassment to the international body and provide fodder for its opponents eager to undermine its latest move.
A Wikileaks document published by Lebanon's daily al-Akhbar has also shed suspicion over the integrity of Bellemare as a non-baised prosecutor. Even if the tribunal manages to overcome its legal woes and moral failings, it will certainly face serious obstacles in achieving its ends on the ground.
Created under chapter 7 of the UN charter and governed by a memorandum of understanding signed by Lebanon's government, the tribunal's legal authority fully supersedes that of Lebanon's. But it has no executive arm to implement its decisions and is entirely dependent on Lebanese authorities to do so. Lebanon's state authorities, however, are themselves divided and bear conflicting loyalties. The internal security forces, who uncovered the alleged mobile phone network, are politically patronised by the Hariri-led March 14 camp. The Lebanese army's intelligence service largely responsible for uncovering Israel's network of spies, on the other hand, is closely associated with Hezbollah and its allies.
The tribunal can thus hand down its arrest warrants to state prosecutor Merza and grant him 30 days to execute them. It is also responsible for the safety and transport of the accused once they are detained. But should the 30 day period pass without much incident, all the tribunal can do is disclose the names of the accused and turn them into international pariahs or ultimately sentence them in absentia.
In the context of Hezbollah, that is hardly a threat to its existing status as a "terrorist organisation" in the books of a political body much more powerful than the UN - the United States and its ally Israel. More specifically, the prime alleged suspect in the indictment, Mustafa Badr al-Din, is believed to be Hezbollah's top military commander replacing his former brother-in-law, Imad Mughnieh, who was assassinated in Damascus, Syria in 2008. Badr al-Din is thus already among the world's most wanted men living under extremely secretive circumstances.
Hezbollah's vulnerability in the face of these indictments lies elsewhere. The armed movement cares less for international law than for local legitimacy. Hezbollah's leadership views Lebanese law as its first line of defence against attempts to turn it into a full fledge pariah. This is why the party launched a military campaign in May 2008 against Hariri forces when the latter, then in power, issued a decision outlawing the party's underground communications network.
Later cooperation between the Hariri led-government and the tribunal led to the downfall of the government last January. The formation this week of a new coalition government bringing together Hezbollah, its allies, and former Hariri ally Najib Miqati was precisely intended to block official Lebanese cooperation with decisions like the current indictment even if an exit strategy from the government's binding legal obligations remain unclear.
In his speech tomorrow, Nasrallah is likely to reassert the party's suspicion of the integrity of the tribunal; stand by the party's cadres and reject any accusation of its members as an indictment of the entire group; and warn against any attempts to sanction the tribunal's decision with Lebanese approval. With his allies in power, the party is safe from any immediate state actions against it. But Western powers and their local allies will link their recognition of and dealing with the new government to the latter's compliance with the tribunal's directives. They will try to extend Hezbollah's isolation to include the government. Sectarian incitement will also draw on the decision to portray the Shia-based party as an enemy of Lebanon's Sunni community.
Hezbollah's rhetoric of supporting the Syrian regime's crackdown on opposition forces and public demonstrations has also led to its further isolation among the wider Arab public. All of this is bound to turn the tribunal's decision from a toothless tool of legal wrangling to a public weapon of sectarian and factional polarisation within the country and a potential cassis belli in a future military confrontation should regional circumstance offer an opportune time to do so. Meanwhile, the full truth behind the killing of Rafik Hariri - like the truth behind other assassinations of similar international calibre and consequences – will remain as elusive as ever.
Hicham Safieddine is a Beirut-based journalist and researcher of the Middle East. He has written for the Toronto Star in Canada, al-Ahram Weekly in Egypt, and al-Akhbar in Lebanon.
Hicham Safieddine is a Beirut based journalist and researcher of the Middle East.


Controversial weed killer Roundup will still be sold in SA regardless of recent court decisions linking its use to cancer in humans, pharmaceuticals company Bayer said last week, writes Legalbrief. Bayer said that its subsidiary Monsanto will continue to sell its Roundup weed killer in SA despite a US jury last month awarding nearly $80m to a man who claimed it had given him cancer. A TimesLIVE report notes that, according to court documents, Edwin Hardeman used Roundup for 30 years. Though no direct link between Hardeman's cancer and Roundup has been confirmed, the jury voted in his favour on the basis that there were insufficient warnings about the risk of using the product. Last year, a jury awarded Dewayne Johnson, who has non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, $78m in damages for his exposure to Roundup. Magda du Toit, corporate engagement manager for Bayer SA, said: ‘We are disappointed with the jury's decision, but this verdict does not change the weight of over four decades of extensive science and the conclusions of regulators worldwide that support the safety of our glyphosate-based herbicides and that they are not carcinogenic. The verdict has no impact on future cases and trials, as each one has its own factual and legal circumstances. Bayer stands behind our products and will vigorously defend them,’ she added.
The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said although it was aware of the developments in the Roundup case in the US it was not looking to have the products removed from SA shelves unless it received compelling information. However, Rico Euripidou, the environmental health campaign manager at groundWork, a non-profit environmental justice organisation, said most farm workers in SA were not properly informed about Roundup's hazardous properties, sometimes couldn't read or understand the labels, and did not have equipment to protect them from exposure.
But Spier Wine Estate farmer Angus McIntosh does, and he wants the use of glyphosate, the main ingredient in many weed killers, banned. A Cape Argus report notes that most maize crops in SA are genetically modified and are sprayed with weed killers containing glyphosate. McIntosh, who runs the Farmer Angus butchery on 126 ha of land on the estate in Stellenbosch, said glyphosate had received attention around the world for its negative effects. ‘SA is the only country ... where the population’s staple diet – maize – is genetically modified. These maize crops are just one of the many crops that are being sprayed with glyphosate which eventually ends up in our food and water sources,’ said McIntosh. ‘People don’t know what they are eating. Essentially they are being forced to eat genetically modified food, laced with poison,’ he said. Last month, Miami announced its ban on glyphosate, as did the Indian State of Kerala in February, and France in January. Many other governments around the world have either placed restrictions on or have issued a statement of their intention to ban it. However, Dr Gerhard Verdoorn, of the agriculture industry association, CropLife SA, said there was no reason to ban glyphosate. ‘Banning glyphosate is like switching all the lights off for ever to save the world – it is simply stupid. Without glyphosate, we would have serious weed problems and plant disease and plant pest problems as weeds contribute significantly to plant diseases and plant pests,’ said Verdoorn.
Meanwhile Bayer has mounted a campaign to reassure staff and shareholders that it can contain the fallout over Roundup. However, an advisory group has urged investors to protest against management’s actions and pay. According to a report in The Times, CEO Werner Baumann held a conference call with employees around the world this week, assuring them that the 155-year-old German company will weather the challenge despite a second loss in US courts, according to people familiar with the situation. Investor trust in Baumann is slipping, with proxy adviser Glass Lewis & Co questioning Baumann’s bonus and urging a vote of no confidence in him and other executives at Bayer’s annual meeting this month. A Bayer representative declined to comment on internal communication. The company has repeatedly said it will defend Roundup vigorously and that scientific studies have shown its key ingredient, the chemical called glyphosate, to be safe. More than 11 200 lawsuits in the US seek to link the herbicide to cancer. There is potential for the glyphosate cases to further erode value for shareholders, Glass Lewis said.


The state companies Rosneftegas and Rosneft, headed by Igor Sechin, could be interested in the potash producer Uralkali's assets, a news report said Monday.
A source close to businessman Suleiman Kerimov said that the billionaire's fund was prepared to sell its stake in Uralkali for a price that would value the whole company at $20 billion, Vedomosti reported.
Kerimov's foundation currently holds a 21.7 percent stake in the company, which on Friday was valued at $16.05 billion on the London Stock Exchange.
Earlier media reports said that investor Vladimir Kogan could buy a stake in Uralkali for $3.7 billion.
Alexander Dobrovinsky, a prominent Russian lawyer who earlier accurately predicted several upcoming deals, said on Facebook that Kogan has already paid 20 percent of the sum needed to purchase the stake and that the deal will be concluded within the next two to three weeks.
Another investor, President Vladimir Putin's close ally Arkady Rotenberg, may also enter the game, a source in a state bank told Vedomosti.
Businessmen and the companies that might be involved in a deal have officially denied that they are eyeing Uralkali and Kerimov has denied he is selling it.
Speculations that Kerimov might sell his stake in the company mounted after Uralkali's CEO, Vladislav Baumgertner, was arrested by Belarussian authorities on Aug. 26 on suspicion that he abused his position and official powers.
In July, prior to Baumgertner's arrest, Uralkali abruptly pulled out of Belarus Potash Company, its partnership with the Belarussian potash producer Belaruskali that jointly controlled 40 percent of the world market. The Russian company claimed that its Belarussian partner was violating the companies' agreement to sell exclusively through BPC.
Uralkali shares on the Moscow Exchange have grown by more than 37 percent since the beginning of August on news of the ongoing competition to buy Kerimov's stake.


Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge, QI host Sandi Toksvig and documentary director Norma Percy are among the winners of this year’s Women in Film and TV Awards.
Waller-Bridge will be awarded the ScreenSkills Writing award today for her body of work, which includes BBC2’s Fleabag, Channel 4’s Crashing and BBC America’s Killing Eve. Judges said the writer/performer “strives to create characters who defy feminine stereotypes in TV, and in the process has made global audiences fall in love with them”.
Isles takes home the ENVY Producer Award at today’s lunchtime ceremony, while Toksvig’s EIKON Presenter Award recognises the broadcaster’s work from QI to The Great British Bake Off.
Meanwhile, US-born documentary film-maker and producer, Norma Percy will receive the Argonon Contribution to the Medium Award for her TV series, which include Inside Obama’s White House, The Iraq War, Putin, Russia and the West and Iran and the West.
Other winners at this year’s awards include Howards End director Hettie McDonald; Detectorists producer Gill Isles; Arabella Gilbert, production manager of The Night Manager; Selina MacArthur, who edited Black Mirror episode USS Callister; and Lucy Ainsworth Taylor and Angela Barson, co-founders of VFX house BlueBolt, which recently worked on BBC1’s Little Drummer Girl.
The BBC News and Factual Award goes to Deeyah Khan, the documentary film-maker who founded Fuuse, a media and arts company that puts women, people from minorities, and third-culture children at the heart of telling their own stories.


ARSENE WENGER is confident Aaron Ramsey will play again for Arsenal this season.
The Wales midfielder was hurt in Tuesday night's 4-0 FA Cup fifth round replay win at Hull.
He suffered a thigh injury 15 minutes after coming on as a substitute.
That will force him to miss key games in the coming weeks, starting with Sunday's FA cup quarter-final with Watford and the Champions League decider in Barcelona.
But when asked whether Ramsey's season was over Wenger insisted: "I dont believe that.
"At the moment his clinical signs are quite positive. I would say four weeks.
"It was a bit worse than I thought because I didn’t see it.
"Usually when a player gets injured with a muscle, he stops and I did not have that feeling of precaution so I thought he would be available for Sunday."
Per Mertesacker and fellow centre-back Gabriel were also forced off with injuries against the Tigers at a time when Laurent Koscielny was already sidelined.
Wenger added: "Mertesacker came off injured but should be available. Koscielny is not far.
"Will I risk him or not? There is a little medical risk but I have not made a decision yet.
"Francis Coquelin is coming back from suspension and Hector Bellerin is now available.
"My gut feeling is that Gabriel will join in tomorrow and be available."
The Gunners run the risk of being knocked out of two cup competitions in the space of a few days.
They are also eight points behind leaders Leicester in the race for the Premier League title.
Wenger said: "We want to stay alive in all of them but then again lets be focused on the next one.
"I don’t believe anyone in my side this about Barcelona at the moment, or Everton, they are completely focused on Watford."


The FCC's Office of Communications Business Opportunities is holding a "Capitalization Strategies Workshop" for small, minority-owned and women-owned businesses in the communications industry. The workshop is scheduled for NOVEMBER 12th at FCC headquarters in WASHINGTON.
The workshop will include two panels, one with government representatives and the other with private sector financial experts. Thirty-minute breakout sessions for one-on-one meetings with experts are also planned.
Among the experts available at the breakout sessions (which require pre-registration) are CORE CAPITAL's MARK LEVINE, RLJ EQUITY PARTNERS' JERRY JOHNSON, OPPORTUNITY CAPITAL PARTNERS' ANITA STEPHENS GRAHAM, the SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION's RICHARD BLEWETTE, The NTIA's MAUREEN LEWIS, The USDA Rural Utilities Service's GARY BOJES, the TELECOMMUNICATIONS DEVELOPMENT FUND's JIM PASTORIZA, SYNCOM's ROBERT L. GREENE, the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship's CHERYL MILLER, and the MINORITY BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AGENCY's CARLOS GUZMAN.


Palestinian officials said Wednesday they expect the UN’s cultural body to admit two ancient Christian pilgrimage sites in Bethlehem on a list of world heritage sites.
“We believe the moral majority will be with the Palestinian rights,” Omar Awadallah, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said of the vote expected Friday in Russia. “Self-determination includes cultural rights,” he said.
Palestine’s representatives at UNESCO are putting forth an application that includes two Bethlehem-area holy sites – the Church of the Nativity and nearby Pilgrimage Route. The sites are among 20 in the occupied West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem that officials hope to eventually submit.
Awadallah said the Palestinian leadership was seeking to add the sites to the heritage list in order to protect them from threats they face under occupation and a poor economic climate.
Along with the Bethlehem sites, they are also making continuous efforts to protect Palestinian heritage areas in Jerusalem, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967, Awadallah said.


Orlando has two players reach 20 points in beating New Orleans, 119-96.
ORLANDO, Fla.— Evan Fournier scored 22 points and Aaron Gordon added 20 as the Orlando Magic routed the New Orleans Pelicans 119-96 on Wednesday night.
New Orleans’ Elfrid Payton had his streak of triple-doubles end at five straight games.
CAVALIERS 107, BUCKS 102: Rookie Collin Sexton scored 25 points, Jordan Clarkson added 23 and host Cleveland delayed Milwaukee from clinching the Central Division with a win over the short-handed Bucks, who were without superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo.
JAZZ 137, KNICKS 116: Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points, Rudy Gobert made all seven shots and added 18 points, and visiting Utah romped to its fifth straight lopsided victory.
Joe Ingles made six 3-pointers and also scored 18, and Mitchell made five 3-pointers as the Jazz finished 20 of 42 (48 percent) from behind the arc.
The Jazz led by as much as 37 in a game that was even easier than their recent easy victories.
Kevin Knox scored 27 points for the Knicks.
GRIZZLIES: Guard Avery Bradley will miss at least a week because of a bruised shin.


FOMC Recap: No More Hiking Bias?
With seemingly every member of the Federal Reserve emphasizing that the central bank would be “patient” following its December interest rate hike, it came as no surprise that the Fed left interest rates unchanged today. And, despite the speculation that Chairman Powell and Company could revisit their balance sheet rundown strategy, the central bank was quiet on that front as well.
Did you catch that subtle-but-significant shift? In addition to emphasizing its patience moving forward, the FOMC also changed from assuming further increases to interest rates to future adjustments, leaving the door open for potential interest rate cuts if the economy deteriorates in the coming months and quarters.
That’s the big shift that traders have glommed onto, and that’s why we’ve seen a classic dovish reaction to the meeting in markets. Traders immediately bought bonds on the potential for lower interest rates, driving the yield curve down by 2-4bps across the curve. As a result, we’ve seen the US dollar gain a quick 40-60 pips against most of its major rivals, while US stock indices have rallied to fresh 7-week highs. Gold has tacked on a quick 10 points to trade at $1325.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is currently delivering his post-meeting press conference, and he is reinforcing the dovish message of the statement. Crucially, he confirmed a Wall Street Journal report from last week by noting that the Fed is evaluating its balance sheet plan and will be finalizing plans at the coming meetings. He also noted that the central bank’s portfolio will be normalized sooner and at a higher level than previously believed.
Essentially, the early interpretation is that the Fed has shifted from a bias toward hiking interest rates to a completely neutral and data-dependent outlook. This represents a major change in outlook from the central bank, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see ongoing weakness in the US dollar and continued strength in stock indices as traders digest the significance of this shift.


It all started to go horribly wrong immediately after the Bombers beat the Eskimos in Edmonton on Sept. 30, to improve to 10-3 and seemingly lock up home field advantage in the playoffs.
The first domino to fall came right after the bye week in September, with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers sitting at 8-3 and feeling great about their season.
Jamaal Westerman, one of the vocal leaders on the team, was not taking part in practice and was later revealed to be out for the season with a reported torn triceps muscle.
It was the first real sign of adversity for the Bombers but one they felt they could handle, with strong depth on the defensive line and an offence that could churn up enough yards and put up enough points to take a lot of pressure of the defence.
For two weeks everything looked OK, but it all started to go horribly wrong immediately after the Bombers beat the Eskimos in Edmonton on Sept. 30, to improve to 10-3 and seemingly lock up home field advantage in the playoffs.
That’s when they let their collective foot off the gas.
The Bombers have not played a complete game since and have a 1-3 record, with two of the losses coming at home against non-playoff teams.
They are perilously close to losing their home playoff game, with an offence that has come completely apart, a defence that can’t stop anybody and a sporadic kicking game.
They lost two more star players to devastating injuries — linebacker Moe Leggett (torn Achilles) and wide receiver Darvin Adams (arm) — and completely lost the mojo that had them looking like the second best team in the league and legitimate Grey Cup contenders just four weeks ago.
Suddenly, the dominoes are falling rapidly, and Saturday’s performance against the 7-10 B.C. Lions was the worst yet.
If the Bombers can’t beat the 13-3-1 Calgary Stampeders on Friday in Alberta and if the 11-6 Edmonton Eskimos beat the 10-7 Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday, Winnipeg will have to go on the road to open the playoffs in Edmonton.
Could you even have imagined that to be possible after that 28-19 Winnipeg win in Edmonton exactly a month ago?
Quarterback Matt Nichols, once a strong candidate for the league’s most outstanding player award, has been knocked out of two of the last four games — once with a torn finger nail and once with an apparent calf injury.
His backups, Dom Davis and Dan LeFevour, don’t look at all capable of getting the job done when he’s out.
Bombers coach Mike O’Shea said Nichols’ latest injury — suffered in Saturday’s 36-27 loss to the Lions — is not that serious but it could cause him difficulty as the team prepares for what is now a huge game in Calgary.
Not that the offence has been any great shakes with Nichols in the lineup lately.
In the last five games, the Bombers have not hit the 300-yard passing mark once. They’ve been held to net offence totals of 241, 303, 232, 343 and 333.
Before they started sliding, their offence was averaging 400 yards per game, the best total by a Bombers team since 2002.
Without an efficient offence, the Bombers are doomed because the defence has been getting torched.
In the last five games they’ve allowed yardage totals of 543, 572, 356, 484 and 436. Though they are 2-3 in those games, the Bombers have not been close in the yardage battle in any one of them.
The bright side, of course, is they are still 11-6 and do still have a chance to right the ship.
A solid performance and a victory in Calgary and another the next week in the playoffs would likely make fans forget all about this ugly stretch.
Many a CFL team over the years has stumbled into the post-season and rediscovered the magic in November. As bleak as things look, this season is still salvageable.
It’s hard to imagine that working for the Bombers right now, with the way their defence is getting picked apart, but stranger things have happened.
Perhaps O’Shea said it best, when he was asked what it will take to get the good feelings back for this slumping squad.
The Stampeders have nothing to play for Friday and could rest key players.
They’ve also just lost two games in a row for the first time since 2012.
A win will be there for the taking for the Bombers, warts and all.
And perhaps the good feelings won’t be far behind.


March Madness is back in full swing, but the most important tournament this year isn't taking place on the basketball court.
Upsets ruled the day in the first round of Taylor Madness, as top seeds like Bad Blood, Mean, and Look What You Made Me Do all went down. Can Haunted, New Romantics and All You Had to Do Was Stay keep their Cinderella runs alive in Round 2? Scroll down to vote below!
Second round voting is now complete -- vote in the Sweet 16 HERE!


But the big deal is the N.C. Apple Festival on Labor Day weekend, when Hendersonville's downtown launches the fall harvest with three days of apple-themed fun. you can stroll a street fair featuring arts-and-crafts and food vendors, exhibits and activities for kids. There's live music daily at the Historic Courthouse. Headliners take the stage at 7:30; 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday (The Caribbean Cowboys and The Mighty Kicks, respectively) and 5:30 and 8 p.m. Sunday (Still Cruzin'; The Legacy). What you can hear ranges from bluegrass to beach to Motown.
Monday afternoon - Labor Day - is when action focuses on the King Apple Parade; up to 60,000 people are expected.
Admission: Some events are free; others require nominal admission. Get specifics online.
Target audience: Families. Pets not allowed.
Directions: Take Interstate 85 South to U.S. 74 Bypass (at Kings Mountain); take U.S. 74 Bypass West to I-26 (at Columbus); take I-26 northwest briefly to exit 49B (U.S. 64 West), just outside Hendersonville - and keep your eyes peeled for apple-stand signs.
Travel time from Charlotte: Two hours.


Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), companies that act as middlemen in the prescription drug supply chain, posted revenues totaling more than $260 billion last year.
But a diverse range of people, politicians, advocates and health experts, are asking hard questions about just exactly how this staggering amount of money was made and what added value they brought to the supply of drugs from pharmaceutical companies to the consumer.
Many are calling for much greater transparency for PBMs in a market that one expert described as the most opaque he has studied in his nearly 50 years as an economist.
"The complexity of this market, and the opacity, is remarkable," Charles Phelps, a former professor and provost emeritus at the University of Rochester and a member of the study committee for a recent report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM), told Patient Daily. "This is a market that is more opaque than any other I have seen since I began studying economics in the 1960s."
Three companies – Express Scripts, Optima, which is owned by UnitedHealth and CVS Caremark – control approximately 80 percent of the market. PBMs essentially act as middlemen, negotiating drug prices with manufacturers and administering delivery for insurance plans, large employers and Medicare Part D.
But their role is often unseen, even though the total revenue generated by the three PBMs was approximately $260 billion.
"That is precisely why we call for greater transparency because we have no idea where the money is going in the chain," said Phelps, one of the authors of the report "Making Medicines Affordable: A National Imperative," recently published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM).
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee held a hearing on drug pricing earlier this week and examined the NASEM report more closely.
The recommendation in the report is that information should be disclosed on the average net volume of and prices paid for drugs across each active sales channel.
Phelps rejected the argument made by PBMs that they cannot reveal information because it is either proprietary or that it would lead to higher prices if details of negotiations are known.
"Give it to the feds, then they can aggregate it and at the same mask private data," Phelps said.
Overall, the NASEM report has its critics, with claims it leans far too heavily on arguing for more regulation and legislation, including advocating allowing the Department of Health and Human Services to directly negotiate drug prices for Medicare, Medicaid and Veterans Affairs.
But there is broad agreement that greater transparency is needed, particularly as it relates to PBMs.
"In my opinion, they bring no value to the system and only add cost," Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) told Patient Daily. Carter is the only pharmacist in Congress and has strong views on the role of PBMs.
He noted that when PBMs first began to ease themselves into the chain, it was with the promise that their negotiating powers would keep a lid on drug price increase.
"How is that working out for you?" Carter asked. "Drug prices have gone up more than 1,500 percent since then. If PBMs were doing their job we would not be talking about this."
Carter said consumers are not reaping the benefits of those deals made between the middleman and big pharma, adding the PBMs are believed to be pocketing not just part of the rebates negotiated but also a percentage of the drug company's list price.
Carter said PBM representatives gave testimony last week before the House Sub-Committee on Health.
"They said they were all in favor of transparency," Carter said. Yet, he added, PBMs impose gag clauses and confidentiality agreements in their contracts with pharmacists so they can’t tell consumers when they’d save money by paying out-of-pocket.
Other recommendations included using federal agencies to deter manufacturers from paying other producers for the delayed entry into the market, revising the Orphan Drug Act designed to foster the development of drugs for rare conditions.
But Phelps said it is not recommended that the brand drugs, those still under patent, should be re-imported. However, most of the authors, a mix of health experts, economists and business people, believe there is room for the importation of generic drugs if found by the Food and Drug Administration to be safe and effective.
Former U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, now a senior fellow with the Manhattan Institute, told Patient Daily that he agrees with some of the recommendations but believes others are unconstitutional.
He thinks that consumers deserve, and should be granted, more transparency in the market. Between the different players and their deals made along the chain, rebates, percentages made along the way and co-pays, a customer might not know how much drugs actually cost.
Coburn argues that new drugs should be approved faster and believes the 21st Century Cures Act, signed into law a year ago, will help greatly when fully implemented.
He cited as an example a drug he takes, which he believes costs $300 for 90 days. Yet, he, or his insurance company, pay $70, which he said should be the type of discount given to someone who cannot afford the drug.
"Price discovery is what is needed, then we can see the bad actors – publish your prices," he said. Coburn believes that as consumers are faced with much higher deductibles and co-pays, they will become much price sensitive and want more information.
Hadley Heath Manning, director of policy with the Independent Women's Forum, also weighed in on transparency, arguing the system is "very opaque."
Customers should be demanding more, Health Manning told Patient Daily, though she noted there are so many parties involved that it is difficult for consumers to have "more skin in the game."
Otherwise, she said, "more regulation would do more harm than good. There are long-term consequences, less capital and less innovation."
To combine Medicare with Medicaid and the VA in a single bargaining block would make a "huge difference," and not a positive one as the government could end up paying below market price and chill drug manufacturers.
"My overall take (on the report) was skeptical," Heath Manning said. "There was a minority report that had an alternative view and that should have been considered more in the full report."


General Motors announced today that it is investing $5.4 billion over the next three years to expand and upgrade its US production facilities.
This round of capital investments is expected to put the automaker's domestic factories in a better position to handle upcoming new models GM is set to release in the coming years.
Thus far, details for only a small portion of the multi-billion dollar investment have been released with $783.5 million headed to a trio of Michigan plants.
Of that total, $520 million will be allocated to the Delta Township assembly plant for new tools and equipment, $139.5 million will go to the expansion of the Warren facility, and $124 million will be slated for the Pontiac Metal Center.
"These investments are evidence of a company on the move, strategically investing in the people, tools and equipment to produce cars, trucks and crossovers that are built to win in the marketplace, with stunning design, quality and breakthrough technologies," GM North America president Alan Batey said in a statement.
According to GM, the $5.4 billion breaks down roughly to an investment of $5 million per day or $150 million per month over the next three years.
Since 2009, General Motors has invested almost $17 billion in its US factories.
Further details on the remaining $4.6 billion will be released over the next few months.
On a conference call this week after GM released first-quarter earnings, executives said that the company is running close to full capacity for the production of several vehicle segments.
The car maker told analysts that it doesn't want to add capacity - build new factories - but rather add shifts and increase overall efficiency.
In GM's announcement on Thursday, there was no mention of revamping the automaker's full-size pickup trucks to make use of more aluminum in the construction process. Ford recently debuted a new F-150 pickup that substitutes aluminum for steel, a move that was widely considered to be a big risk by auto industry observers.