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Missed your flight from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore? Don't fret — another plane isn't far behind. The roughly one-hour flight is the busiest international route in the world, according to a report released this week from OAG Aviation Worldwide. Airlines operated 30,537 flights between the Malaysian capital and Singapore, more than 2,500 a month. Hong Kong to Tapei came in at second, with 28,887 flights in the 12-month period. That route topped the list in terms of passengers, however, as passenger planes carried more than 6.5 million people between the two between March and February. Routes within East Asia dominates the list of busiest air routes in the world, with 14 city pairs in the top 20, according to OAG. The roughly two-hour flight between Kuwait and Dubai came in ninth, with 15,332 flights between March and February. A lone North American route — between New York's LaGuardia Airport and Toronto's Pearson International — made the top 10 during the year ended in February, landing in 8th place with 16,956 flights. Service between Chicago and Toronto ranked 20th with 13,100 flights. The longest flight to make the list was the approximately seven-hour trip between New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and London's Heathrow. That route is the 16th busiest with 13,888 flights in that period. The list only ranked international routes. The world's busiest route is a domestic flight: the short hop between Seoul and Jeju island, with about 65,000 flights a year, according to OAG. Airlines offer the most frequencies in the U.S. between San Francisco and Los Angeles with close to 35,000 flights a year.

Other

Other

I sat down with UBS' Art Cashin at the bar at Bobby Van's steakhouse across the street from the NYSE for our annual look back/look ahead. Art and I both agree that the big story for 2018 was the return of volatility. Here are Art's thoughts on what's in store for 2019. "I think perhaps the Fed will not hike ever again in 2019. ... If you go back and look at what I said both in our interview and with you time and time again, I have been a bear on yields. I think that the Fed — is somewhat misreading what's going on. Yields are not going much higher and — there's an outside chance that they cut before the end of 2019. " "I think it will be very volatile, and — for the first half — probably flat to down as the Fed and others grapple with what they want to do." "Time is running out. They're going to have to make a decision in late spring. I think Brexit will be forced upon them and it will not be comfortable. I think people will be surprised at how disruptive it is." "I think they may walk back from the tariffs that are threatened, but I think the global economy may shrink somewhat. It's already begun to shrink. China's seeing it — its exports go down, but perversely, not with America yet. That's to come. It — the — the exports are going down with Europe. So the global economy is slowing. 2019 is going to be somewhat of a difficult year." "I don't believe so. I think we will get something that approximates it, and you'll get perhaps in midyear a relaxation rally, but — with — with the problems of — political sequencing, whatever, I don't think it works out." "That will be difficult to find, and — and if anything I would think, and I'm not an economist, that instead of 3 percent or better growth, you're probably going to get way back to 1.5 percent or 1.7 percent, and — and things will slow down." "He will be a bit of a problem in the first half and he will bend over backwards to try to be a big help to it in the second half. Whether that's effective or not, I don't know." "I don't know. It's a terrific gamble for them because if it passes, it's not vastly different than NAFTA, so it will keep the economy and the exchanges working well. If the Democrats choose to really fight, it could very disruptive of the biggest trade area in the world." As for Art's 2018 predictions, I give high marks for his three core predictions: Not bad, given how low the accuracy rate of most predictions are.

Finance

Investing

BEIJING, April 16 (Reuters) - China's new home prices in March rose 0.6 percent from a month earlier, accelerating from 0.5 percent growth in February, Reuters calculated from National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data published on Tuesday. From a year earlier, average new home prices in China's 70 major cities increased 10.6 percent in March, up from the 10.4 percent gain a month earlier. Home prices in China are expected to rise more this year than predicted just a few months ago, a recent Reuters poll showed, as Beijing urges banks to ramp up lending and lower interest rates to support economic activity. Resilience in the property market would provide some cushion for China's economy as sectors such as manufacturing and retail are hit by trade war tensions and weak consumer confidence. (Reporting by Lusha Zhang and Beijing Monitoring Desk Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

Environmental

Pollution

HIROSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) - Progress on ridding the world of nuclear weapons, not an apology, is what Hiroshima would want from a visit by U.S. President Barack Obama to the Japanese city hit by an American nuclear attack 71 years ago, survivors and other residents said. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said during a visit to the city on Monday that Obama wanted to travel there, though he did not know if the president’s schedule would allow him to when he visits Japan for a Group of Seven summit in May. No incumbent U.S. president has ever visited Hiroshima. A presidential apology would be controversial in the United States, where a majority view the bombing of Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, and of the city of Nagasaki three days later, as justified to end the war and save U.S lives. The vast majority of Japanese think the bombings were unjustified. “If the president is coming to see what really happened here and if that constitutes a step toward the abolition of nuclear arms in future, I don’t think we should demand an apology,” said Takeshi Masuda, a 91-year-old former school teacher. “It has been really tough for those who lost family members. But if we demand an apology, that would make it impossible for him to come,” he told Reuters. Masuda’s mother died a few weeks after being caught in the nuclear attack. At schools where he taught after World War Two, some students had been orphaned, others severely burned. A U.S. warplane dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, killing thousands of people instantly and about 140,000 by the end of that year. Nagasaki was bombed on Aug. 9, 1945, and Japan surrendered six days later. Miki Tsukishita, 75, remembers watching something shiny falling from the sky over Hiroshima that morning. He ran back into his house shouting: “The sun is falling down”. That shielded him from direct exposure to the blast, heat and radiation. Tsukishita was among those who placed an advertisement in the Washington Post in 1983 urging then-President Ronald Reagan to visit Hiroshima. Tsukishita wants Obama, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in part for his push for nuclear disarmament, to use his influence to persuade leaders of other nuclear-armed countries to visit Hiroshima too, so they understand the inhumanity of atomic weapons. “What really matters is not repeating the tragedy. I want him to say to other nuclear states ‘I’ve come to Hiroshima, so should you’,” he said. Hiroshi Harada, a former head of the atomic bomb museum Kerry visited this week, was six when the bomb was dropped. “At that moment, we saw people burned black, having their skin melted or limbs blown apart. It is unlikely that survivors would be in a cheery, welcoming mood,” Harada said. “But President Obama would be making a very delicate political decision to come to Hiroshima. I would want to accept his visit with hopes that it will lead to the next action (for the abolition of nuclear arms).” Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Linda Sieg, Robert Birsel

Transportation

Shipping

(CNN)Public health experts are continuing to sound the alarm on the teen vaping epidemic, tying the 1.3 million increase in teen tobacco users from 2017 to 2018 directly to e-cigarettes. The rise has been so significant that it has wiped out any progress in declining youth tobacco use in recent years, according to a report published Monday. The report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention specifically singled out e-cigarette giant Juul as a contributing factor to the escalating rates. "The bottom line is, we have considerably troubling news on the tobacco control front when it comes to kids," said Brian King, a deputy director in the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health and co-author of the report. King said that the rise in vaping was the single biggest jump in teen use of a tobacco product since the beginning of the survey in 1999. Vaping is the most common form of teen tobacco use King and his colleagues analyzed data from the 2011-18 National Youth Tobacco survey to estimate trends among high school and middle school students and found that in 2018, 27% of high school students and 7.2% of middle school students said they used tobacco for one or more days in the month. Among all tobacco products, including cigarettes, chewing tobacco and hookah, e-cigarettes -- also known as vapes -- were the ones most commonly used by teens; 3.05 million or 20.8% of high school students and 570,000 or 4.9% of middle school students said they vaped at least once in the previous month. Also, there were 1.5 million more teens using e-cigarettes in 2018 than in 2017. The researchers also found no significant change in the current use of combustible tobacco products by teens, other than e-cigarettes, that drove the overall increase in youth tobacco use. Notably, no decline in use of other tobacco products was identified. Before 2018, high school e-cigarette use had peaked in 2015 with 16% of students vaping. Use of e-cigarettes fell for the first time in the history of the survey by 29% in 2016, and the drop was sustained through 2017. However, in 2017-18, e-cigarette use jumped 77.8% among high schoolers and 48.5% among middle schoolers, erasing any previous declines. Vaping epidemic tied to Juul The report points out that the rise in vaping coincided with the increasing market popularity of Juul. "It's no coincidence that we've seen a sharp uptake in Juul sales," King said. From 2016 to 2017, the sales of Juul increased by approximately 600%, a trend that continued through 2018. And although King pointed out that Juul was not "the only game in town," it has held the largest market share of any e-cigarette: more than 70%. "We are committed to fighting underage use of vaping products, including JUUL products," Juul spokeswoman Victoria Davis said in a statement Monday. She pointed out that the CDC's data was initially presented last fall, and since then, the company has implemented a plan to reduce underage use; it "stopped the sale of flavored JUULpods to retail stores, enhanced our online age-verification, and [is] continuously working to remove inappropriate third-party social media content." Juul's popularity has been linked to aggressive marketing and its wide variety of flavors popular with youth. A single Juul liquid nicotine pod can contain as much nicotine as a pack of cigarettes, "which can harm the developing adolescent brain," King said. Because teens' brains are still developing, they can be more susceptible to addiction. King said he and his colleagues found that not only was overall use of tobacco products rising, so was frequency. From 2017 to 2018, the percent of high school students who went from current e-cigarette users, using at least once in the previous 30 days, to frequent users, or using 20 or more times in the previous 30 days, jumped from 20% to 27.7%. Also troubling, he said, was the number of teens who used multiple tobacco products. Of the 4.04 million high school students and 840,000 middle school students using any product, about 2 in 5 high school students and 1 in 3 middle school students used two or more. The most common combination was e-cigarettes and traditional combustible cigarettes. Federal agencies go after e-cigarettes Because of the significant rise in vaping by teens, the US Food and Drug Administration announced new restrictions on e-cigarette sales in November, including restricting sales of flavored e-cigarettes to locations with age restrictions and requiring advanced age verification processes for online vaping sales. And in December, the US surgeon general issued a call to action over the health consequences of e-cigarette use by teens, which had previously been declared an epidemic. Last week, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb sent letters to the CEOs of Juul and tobacco company Altria, requesting a meeting to discuss the youth vaping epidemic and the implications of Altria's recent $13 billion stake in Juul. "After Altria Group, Inc.'s acquisition of a 35 percent ownership interest in JUUL, many of JUUL's public statements seem inconsistent with its previous representations to the FDA," Gottlieb said in the letter to Juul's Kevin Burns. "I have no reason to believe these youth patterns of use are abating in the near term, and they certainly do not appear to be reversing. Manufacturers have an independent responsibility to take action to address the epidemic of youth use of their products," he added. Although the new report found high increases in e-cigarette use were high, they were not seen across the board in the high school and middle school populations. Vaping was the most commonly used tobacco product among white and Hispanic high school students, but cigars were more common among black high school students. "It's important to note that there are variations" in use, King said. "We don't want to play public health Whack-A-Mole. We want all forms of tobacco use to decline." It's not complicated to make sure we are moving in that direction, he said. "We don't need to reinvent the wheel. We just need to grease the squeaky wheel." He pointed to interventions such as increasing the minimum age for tobacco sales, as a number of states have done, and including e-cigarettes in anti-smoking education and efforts.

Technology

Electronics

United Nations (CNN)President Donald Trump claimed on Wednesday that China is working to interfere in November's midterm elections with the aim of damaging him politically. "Regrettably, we found that China has been attempting to interfere in our upcoming 2018 election coming up in November against my administration," Trump said during remarks at the UN Security Council. The President offered scant details or evidence, which came during a session meant to focus on issues of nonproliferation. He suggested the meddling attempts came as retribution for the budding trade war he has waged with Beijing. "They do not want me or us to win because I am the first president ever to challenge China on trade," Trump said. "We are winning on trade. We are winning at every level. We don't want them to meddle or interfere in our upcoming election." Speaking after Trump, China's representative on the Security Council denied attempts to interfere in US elections. "China has all along followed the principle of non-interference in other countries' domestic affairs. This is a tradition of Chinese foreign policy," said Wang Yi, China's State Councilor and Minister for Foreign Affairs. "We do not and will not interfere in any countries' domestic affairs. We refuse to accept any unwarranted accusations against China, and we call upon other countries to also observe the purposes of the UN charter and not to interfere in other countries' internal affairs." Later Wednesday, Trump tweeted an image of a recent China Daily sponsored insert in the Iowa-based Des Moines Register newspaper, containing articles supporting Beijing's stance on the trade war. "China is actually placing propaganda ads in the Des Moines Register and other papers, made to look like news. That's because we are beating them on Trade, opening markets, and the farmers will make a fortune when this is over!" the US President said on his official Twitter. China Daily is a state-media publication which has regularly paid Western news organizations to publish pro-China supplements and advertisements. The US distributor of China Daily is registered as a foreign agent in the United States under the US Foreign Registration Act. A senior administration official on Wednesday sought to further flesh out Trump's allegation that China "has been attempting to interfere" in the 2018 midterm elections, but offered no concrete evidence to back up the President's claim. None of the activities the official described rose to the level of Russia's coordinated campaign to influence voters in 2016 in support of Trump's candidacy. Instead, the official lumped in longstanding practices of the Chinese government and reiterated the administration's belief that Chinese tariffs targeting regions in the US that supported the President in 2016 amount to election interference The official described a "whole of government approach using political, economic, commercial and informational tools to benefit the interests of the Chinese Communist Party" and insisted that these activities "go way beyond how normal countries interact with one another." "The activities have reached an unacceptable level," the official said on an official White House briefing call set up on condition of anonymity. A new round of tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods went into effect this week at Trump's order. The move escalated a standoff between the US and China, and Trump has held out the possibility of slapping additional tariffs should Beijing retaliate. US intelligence officials have stated previously that nations like China or Iran may work to interfere in the midterm elections using a playbook established by Russia during the 2016 presidential contest. Throughout his time in office, Trump has repeatedly downplayed Russia's attempts to interfere in the 2016 election, which US intelligence assessments say was meant to benefit him. He did not mention Russian interference attempts during his remarks on Wednesday and the activities described by the senior administration official several hours later did not rise to the level of Russia's actions in 2016. The official listed other longstanding Chinese government activities without making specific connections to the midterm elections or explaining how such actions amount to election interference: "China punishes or rewards businessmen, think tanks, movie studios, journalists, religious leaders and even political candidates depending on whether they criticize or support china's policies." The official said the administration is "in the process of declassifying more information" and said Vice President Mike Pence will outline the Chinese effort in a speech next week at the Hudson Institute. The official insisted that the actions amount to election interference because "some of these activities are actually covert." Later, departing UN headquarters, Trump insisted there is ample evidence of China's enmity toward him. "Plenty of evidence they would like to see me not win," Trump said when questioned about his earlier claim Beijing is working to interfere in November midterm contests. "First time ever they've been confronted on trade," Trump said. "They can't get involved." Earlier this month, US Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said that election meddling attempts haven't yet reached the scale of the 2016 interference efforts. But he said US agencies were actively monitoring the situation ahead of the vote. Republicans are working to retain control of the House and Senate, through face daunting prospects with an unpopular president. Trump has suggested previously that China would work to damage Republicans in November. "China has openly stated that they are actively trying to impact and change our election by attacking our farmers, ranchers and industrial workers because of their loyalty to me," he tweeted last week. What China does not understand is that these people are great patriots and fully understand that China has been taking advantage of the United States on Trade for many years." Trump has vowed to add tariffs on an additional $267 billion in Chinese goods if Beijing takes steps that negatively impact agricultural or industrial workers. This story has been updated. CNN's Kwegyirba Croffie contributed reporting.

Politics

International Relations

An Arizona pastor who once praised the gunman behind Florida’s Pulse nightclub massacre and prayed for then-President Obama's death has become the first person banned from entering Ireland under exclusion powers, the Irish Times first reported Sunday. Details: Ireland's Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan signed an order barring entry to the country for Steven L. Anderson, pastor of Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona — which the Southern Poverty Law Center lists as an anti-gay hate group and the Anti-Defamation League as anti-Semitic. Flanagan was due to preach to a congregation in Dublin on May 26, per the Irish Times.

Other

Other

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - An Argentine prosecutor in charge of a probe into police corruption in Buenos Aires province was found tied up by an attacker who apparently entered and escaped through a window, local officials said on Wednesday. Fernando Cartasegna was rushed to the hospital after he was found lying face down on the floor, with his arms and legs bound, in his office in the provincial capital La Plata, District Attorney Julio Conte Grande told reporters. “He was grabbed from behind and could not identify the attacker,” Conte Grande said, adding that Cartasegna was not seriously hurt in the incident. The office had been locked from inside, suggesting the assailant had used a window in the late afternoon attack. On Tuesday Cartasegna said he was hit from behind with a police club in La Plata over the weekend. The attacker told him to drop the police corruption investigation or wind up like Alberto Nisman, a federal prosecutor found shot dead in his Buenos Aires apartment in 2015 while developing a case against then-President Cristina Fernandez, he added. Pamphlets saying “Meet the New Nisman” had recently been left on Cartasegna’s home patio, he told local newspaper La Nacion in an interview published Wednesday morning. The word “Nisman” was spelled out with sugar in Cartasegna’s office on Wednesday, Conte Grande said. “They wanted to intimidate me into dropping the case,” Cartasegna said in the interview. The Nisman case was initially dubbed a suicide, but polls show most Argentines believe his death was a homicide. The 51-year-old investigator was found shot through the head in January 2015, a pistol by his side, hours before he was to appear in Congress to outline his accusation that Fernandez had tried to cover up Iran’s alleged role in the 1994 truck bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires. Fernandez has dismissed the accusation and Iran has denied any involvement in the attack, which killed 85 people. Cartasegna will take some time off work, and “we are going to reinforce his security,” Conte Grande said. Reporting by Hugh Bronstein; Editing by Richard Chang

Crime

Organized Crime

...and how they're bringing it back to life The strangest thing about talking to writer Simon Barrett and director Adam Wingard is just how nice they both seem. These are the same two guys that dreamed up the animal mask murderers of You’re Next, after all, before they turned Downton Abbey softie Matthew Crawley into a killing machine in The Guest. But as a duo, they’re open and engaging, Barrett cracking up in silent laughter whenever Wingard goes on a passionate tear. They’re here at TIFF to show Blair Witch, their sequel to the 1999 found footage classic about a bunch of filmmakers that disappeared in the forests of Maryland. Made totally under the radar, Blair Witch was such a secretive project that it was actually marketed this year under an entirely different name, until Lionsgate made the big reveal at this year’s Comic-Con. The strangest thing about talking to writer Simon Barrett and director Adam Wingard is just how nice they both seem. These are the same two guys that dreamed up the animal mask murderers of You’re Next, after all, before they turned Downton Abbey softie Matthew Crawley into a killing machine in The Guest. But as a duo, they’re open and engaging, Barrett cracking up in silent laughter whenever Wingard goes on a passionate tear. They’re here at TIFF to show Blair Witch, their sequel to the 1999 found footage classic about a bunch of filmmakers that disappeared in the forests of Maryland. Made totally under the radar, Blair Witch was such a secretive project that it was actually marketed this year under an entirely different name, until Lionsgate made the big reveal at this year’s Comic-Con. I sat down with Wingard and Barrett here in Toronto to talk about why The Blair Witch Project worked, their rather strong feelings about how 2000’s rush-job sequel Book of Shadows ruined it all, and what was key to bringing the franchise back from the dead. I sat down with Wingard and Barrett here in Toronto to talk about why The Blair Witch Project worked, their rather strong feelings about how 2000’s rush-job sequel Book of Shadows ruined it all, and what was key to bringing the franchise back from the dead. This film was a secret for a really long time. How did you get involved in the first place? Simon Barrett: Lionsgate had bought our film You’re Next, and during the window between them acquiring it and releasing it, they set up this top-secret meeting for Adam and me at their studios in Santa Monica. We weren’t quite sure what it was about; we just hoped it wasn’t that they were postponing our release any further, honestly. And they told us, "We own the rights to The Blair Witch Project and we’re talking about doing another one. It’s top secret, even here at the company." No one outside that circle knew about it, and they wanted to know if that was anything we’d be interested in, I think partially because they were also fans of the two VHS films that Adam and I worked on. That was February 2013, and that was really the beginning. We’ve been offered a lot of remakes and sequels over the course of our careers, especially after You’re Next was a success, and none of them were creatively exciting to us. Blair Witch was the first one where it was like, "Absolutely, that’s something we really want." What was it about the property that changed your minds? Adam Wingard: Found footage has really gone through so many different facets over the years, it felt like it was time to return to what originally started it all. We had just met Eduardo Sánchez and Gregg Hale, the original creators of The Blair Witch Project, only a few weeks before at Sundance, and I was picking Eduardo’s brain endlessly about Blair Witch Project on a long van ride to Salt Lake City. I remember asking him, "When do you think you’re going to make a Blair Witch sequel? Because it feels like it’s the right time." There were all these lesser found footage horror films coming out, that were doing well at the box office, but that everybody just seemed to kind of hate, honestly. SB: I think something that creatively excited me about it was that there’s no obvious kind of version of what a Blair Witch sequel is. It was kind of a blank slate, because the first film really has a very complex mythology, but it hints at it very obliquely. So it was a chance to do something really fun and creative and different, because no one really has any preconceived expectations of what a Blair Witch film in 2016 would be. AW: One of the questions we get asked a lot is, "Were you afraid of competing with the legacy of the first film?" My answer to that is always that the legacy of the first film had basically been completely tarnished by how bad the sequel was and how off the rails it went. I think it took a lot of people a while to take the first movie seriously again. Only in the last five years or so has it resurfaced and come out on top as a horror classic. You can see how things went south on it becoming a franchise right away. If you go back in time and look at all of the marketing materials that came out after the first film, they just tried to bleed that thing immediately. Bad video games, bad adaptations, book adaptations. All this stuff that they just immediately did without trying to actually set up the franchise. Being a fan of the original film, it was very transparent that there was all this cash-in stuff, and that sucked the life out of it right away. SB: People probably forget that Book of Shadows came out 15 months after the original. "Here’s your fucking sequel. Give us more money." That’s not how you make a film properly. This one took us three and a half years pretty much, from script to its first screening. I was telling a colleague after the screening this felt a little like The Force Awakens for Blair Witch, in that both films are all about telling the audience, "Hey, remember? This is why you loved this thing!" As part of that, were you laying down hooks for possible future installments? I’m sure Lionsgate would love for this to become a healthy franchise. SB: Well, I think I can say in all confidence that our film is going to outgross The Force Awakens. [laughs] Like Adam said, for us as fans and as filmmakers, the challenge of this project was getting the franchise back on track, and that means building something new and creating something that can go in different directions. I don’t want to ever jinx anything and assume that you’re going to have a sequel to complete a story, because that’s hubris and that will almost always backfire. So we told a complete film that reminds people what the Blair Witch legend is, and reminds them what they loved about the original film. But we also set things up so that if this is a success — if this is a story that either we’re able to continue, or someone else is able to continue, hopefully with our guidance — there’s some really new and exciting and possibly more experimental places they can take it. AW: The Force Awakens is a really great example. I think everybody’s in that same nostalgic headspace now. Blair Witch and Phantom Menace both came out in ‘99, and now we’re in this new cycle where everybody’s saying, "Okay, we need to get back to the things that we loved about these things." Hopefully Eduardo and those guys will be able to do the [Blair Witch] prequel that they’ve talked about. I really want to see that, but to get that [you have to] convince audiences that they want to see it. You have to get them back into the horror headspace, and you have to keep it in that found footage world, and then you can kind of re-explore the mythology. It’s about setting up the franchise and setting up that world so you can go outside of it. You couldn’t have done A New Hope and then done Rogue One and all those kind of things right away. You have to get the series out there, and then you can explore the universe once it’s set up. But it really depends on people watching it. You could have had anybody out in the woods running into the Blair Witch, but you choose to focus on the brother of one of the characters from the original, and how he deals with her disappearance years later. How important was that in building out this universe you’re talking about? SB: Lionsgate, when they first sat down with us, they were clear that they wanted it to be a very direct sequel. Found footage. It was actually their idea that it be the younger brother of the Heather character, searching for her. The idea of creating a sequel that was narratively linked to the original, and in a character-based way, really felt like the right creative approach. AW: It was really important for us to directly link this film to the first one with the kind of family legacy, the "lega-sequel" approach, if you want to call it that. Because it’s one of those things where the second film went so off the rails to the point that it even takes place in a universe outside of the first film, so it’s technically not even a direct continuation of the first film in any way. It’s cool that they attempted something like that, but ultimately the tone of that film is, "We’re better than this silly shot-on-video movie," and it has this nose-in-the-air quality to it, weirdly, like the first film’s ridiculous or something because it’s a found footage movie. But that’s what you want out of it. I know the main reason I didn’t go see part two in the theaters was because it wasn’t [found footage]. It didn’t understand that the reason that the first film was so interesting was because it was shot by the characters within the movie itself, and at the time, that was something so unique that I think that people just couldn’t imagine spending millions of dollars on something that looked cheap, basically. But that’s the key to it. You have to embrace that. But you do add some new things to the found footage formula here. There’s a drone camera, and a sequence where one of the characters is throwing a camera ahead of her to light her path. It plays within the conceit of the world, but it's also giving you shots to cut together in a more traditional manner. AW: We had a lot of trial and error experience with that over the course of making the VHS [anthology] films. In each one of those films they have five to six segments of different styles of found footage, so we saw almost every way available right now — and even some ways that we made up — in terms of how you could have characters filming themselves. When we were making this film, it really was trying to create something that was right on the edge of being a cinematic experience mixed with the found footage experience. If you go too far in one way or the other, it’s not going to work, and that’s what I discovered with VHS. Unfortunately, you need a little bit of shakiness and some of the things that are stigmatized by found footage. But on the other end of it, you can do things outside of that realm stylistically that border on more conventional cinematic language. I think that’s the future of this [genre], is trying to bridge that gap. And ultimately, your goal as a filmmaker doing a film like this is to make people forget about why people are filming, what they’re filming on, or any of that stuff. Ultimately you want them wrapped up in the predicament that the characters are in, and hopefully we achieved that. Blair Witch opens Friday, September 16th.

Entertainment

Film

A prototype of SpaceX’s next big rocket fell over and sustained damage in south Texas, thanks to high winds in the area. Images from SpaceX’s facility in Boca Chica, Texas show part of the vehicle sideways on the ground and slightly crumpled. The damage from the mishap will take a few weeks to repair, according to CEO Elon Musk. Since the holidays, SpaceX engineers in south Texas have been building a prototype of the company’s new Starship rocket. Formerly known as the BFR, the Starship is the next-generation vehicle that SpaceX is developing to transport cargo and people to orbit, as well as to the Moon, Mars, and maybe even beyond. The full system actually consists of two big components: a large rocket booster, named Super Heavy, which will launch a crew-carrying spacecraft — the Starship — into space. Whoops. Starship Hopper nosecone has been blown over in high winds. NSF's BocaChicaGal https://t.co/liIk970sm5 pic.twitter.com/6rgGtZmAE2 The Starship prototype has been coming together relatively quickly in Boca Chica, which is also the location of SpaceX’s future private launch site. On January 5th, Musk said that SpaceX was aiming to do the first test flights with the vehicle in four weeks, though eight weeks was probably more likely due to “unforeseen issues.” Well, one of those issues turned out to be wind. In a tweet, Musk said that gusts moving at 50 miles per hour broke the Starship’s mooring blocks, used to secure the vehicle to the ground. This caused the Starship’s fairing, the top half of the spacecraft, to fall over. Musk noted, however, that the actual propellant tanks needed for the prototype are fine. The prototype that fell over isn’t an exact replica of what the finished Starship will look like. The test vehicle is slightly shorter than the final Starship design, and it will also have just three engines, while the final plans call for seven. Once the damage is repaired and the prototype is complete, the company wants to perform short “hop” tests with the vehicle. These tests entail igniting the vehicle’s engines and sending the rocket to low altitudes between 1,640 and 16,400 feet, before landing it upright back on Earth. The flights should be similar to the hop tests that SpaceX did with its Grasshopper prototype, meant to test out the technology needed for the Falcon 9’s landing system. Good shot of @SpaceX Starship flight test vehicle being assembled in Boca Chica, Texas https://t.co/qUYDdZznBK At the beginning of the vehicle’s construction, Musk revealed that various changes had been made to the Starship’s design. For the last few years, Musk has claimed that the giant rocket would be constructed out of carbon-fiber composites. Now the bulk of the vehicle will be made out of stainless steel alloy instead, a material that Musk argues can withstand super high temperatures and still remain strong. Additionally, the vehicle’s Raptor engines have gone through a supposedly radical redesign. SpaceX is also making a few changes regarding where it makes the Starship rockets. The company noted that it will shift some of its Starship prototype production to Boca Chica, Texas, rather than the Port of Los Angeles as originally planned. However, development and some manufacturing of Starship and the Raptor engines will still be done out of SpaceX’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California. Musk said the company chose to build the prototypes locally in Texas because they were too big to move across the country easily.

Technology

Space

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil’s public finances improved in October, Treasury figures showed on Thursday, as a seasonally expected monthly surplus helped reduce the government’s overall deficit this year and keep it on track to come in below target. Still, the 8.7 billion reais ($2.1 billion) primary budget surplus in October was less than economists had expected and social security spending continued to rise, highlighting the underlying strains on the public accounts. Treasury Secretary Mansueto Almeida said there will be hardly any flexibility in the budget for the next two years, adding that public investment, already its lowest on record, will more likely fall further than rise. “Don’t think that we will have much room for public investment in 2020 or 2021. Under our current rules, the trend for this spending in 2021 is that it will be lower than it is now,” Almeida told reporters in Brasilia. Almeida also said the government is on track to post a nominal deficit this year of around 6% of gross domestic product and register an increase in gross public debt far lower than anticipated. Almeida was speaking after Treasury figures showed the central government’s primary budget surplus in October was less than the 10.7 billion reais surplus median forecast in a Reuters poll, and 11.0% smaller than the 9.5 billion reais surplus posted in the same month last year. October tends to be a surplus month, thanks to the inflow of oil-related funds and corporate and income tax intakes. The year-to-date primary deficit, before interest payments are taken into account, narrowed to 63.85 billion reais, 14.8% less in real terms compared with the first ten months of last year, Treasury said. In the 12 months to October the primary deficit stood at 113.1 billion reais, or 1.1% of gross domestic product, down from 1.3% of GDP a year ago. The government’s 2019 target is for a deficit of 139 billion reais. But social security spending rose 8.0% on the same month a year ago to 14.6 billion reais. That swelled the accumulated social security deficit so far this year to 179.9 billion reais, some 3% wider than a year ago, Treasury figures showed. ($1 = 4.22 reais) Reporting by Marcela Ayres; Writing by Jamie McGeever; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Nick Zieminski

Finance

Economics

LOS ANGELES — E!'s first original scripted digital series Hashtaggers will feature guest stars Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi (Jersey Shore), Ian Ziering (Beverly Hills 90210) and William Shatner, Mashable has learned exclusively. The 9-episode comedy, created by L.A.-based content and production studio Stun Creative, will debut on February 8, kicking off the NBCUniversal network's new lineup of digital programming. The show follows a dysfunctional group of celebrity ghost tweeters (played by Patty Guggenheim, Peet Guercio, Carl Tart and Kimberley Crossman as Nikki Hart). Polizzi, Ziering and Shatner will appear as celebrities who hire these "hashtaggers" to tweet for them. Each episode of the series will run 3 to 5 minutes and will be released simultaneously across E!’s social and digital platforms. E! — best known as the home of red-carpet specials and the Kardashians — has been ramping up its efforts to expand its programming and change the perception that it only delivers one type of show. "We’ve been here as a network for two plus decades, and there’s a perception that we do only celebrity entertainment news –- but we do so much more than that," Bryce Kristensen, vice president of interactive and social at E!, told Mashable. "Hashtaggers is a great example of us expanding our footprint in the digital content place and also on air." In March of 2015, E! took the plunge into scripted original programming by premiering the drama The Royals. Later that year, the network took a chance on YouTube star Grace Hebig by giving her her own show (a move imitated by other networks, including MTV). The series averaged modest ratings, but it still gave E! the opportunity to dabble in the digital space and diversify its audience by attracting young digital viewers to television. E! then expanded its footprint in the digital world by announcing its first ever slate of original digital series, including Hashtaggers. Also on deck: The Royal Hangover (a continuation of the social post-show livestream about The Royals), Glam Squad (a comedy about an actress's beauty team), TV Scoop (a show highlighting TV's most buzzworthy moments), Ranked (a spin on the top 10 list), Fashion Bloggers (a show that follows three Instagram influencers), Three To Be (a digital series with fashion tips) and Random Fandom (a show about committed fan communities). The network also boasts two popular digital shows: Live From E!, a live weekday web-show hosted by E! News talent; and E! News Now, an original short-form news series produced specifically for broadband and mobile platforms. After Stun Creative pitched Hashtaggers, E! knew it would be the right fit to help launch E!'s digital programming slate. "The show really resonated with E! because they are looking to create digital programming for their digital platform that hits on network’s pop culture sweet spot," Mark Feldstein, Stun Creative co-founder, told Mashable. "It’s a mashup of all the elements in entertainment and pop culture worlds," Brad Roth, Stun Creative co-founder, added. "It's a millennial workplace comedy following these essentially dysfunctional digital natives trying to help Hollywood’s celebrities manage their social footprint." But creating a digital series has its challenges, even with a major network backing it. "We had to do something that felt authentic to the medium in a tone and sense of humor that resonates with viewers," Feldstein said. Roth, too, said there's "no exact formula" when it comes to creating a hit digital series. But the Stun executives think that social media buzz will help drive the popularity of Hashtaggers. If Hashtaggers becomes a hit, E! is not ruling out the idea of turning it into a network series. "We are hoping in partnership with our scripted team to create concepts that might potentially have legs in the future," Kristensen said. "We could use this show [Hashtaggers] to see if concepts could potentially work in linear." For now, though, the goal is simple: #Viewers.

Television

Entertainment

What Is It: Past-life regression therapy is a form of hypnosis and attendant talk therapy that essentially suggests that we carry evidence — emotional, psychic and occasionally physical — of our past lives into our current one. (You have to accept the idea of pseudo-reincarnation or past lives, period, to get with it.) By accessing those memories and talking through them, past-life regression can help us confront issues in our current life. Personally, I’m a bit of a pragmatist: I was intrigued by the premise of past-life regression when I got the cold email about it, but I didn’t really put much stock in it. As a fairly confirmed skeptic, I thought it would be interesting to experience something outside of my comfort zone, so I dove in. “We unconsciously carry forward experiences, attitudes, and relationship dynamics from prior lives into our current lifetime,” therapist Ann Barham writes on her website. “By bringing these memories into conscious awareness, we can release or diffuse the energy and emotional blockages that keep us stuck. Typically, [a past life regression] therapist guides the client through the significant events of the lifetime, through the death experience, and then a ‘life review.’ This is where the purpose of that lifetime, the lessons learned, and decisions made are examined from a higher, spiritual perspective.” Barham’s new book, The Past Life Perspective, explores past-life therapy through a series of case studies culled from her practice. Who Tried it: Alex Heigl, PEOPLE and Entertainment Weekly associate editor Level of Difficulty: I’d say anywhere from a 1-5, depending on your experience with guided meditation or hypnosis. My weapons-grade anxiety makes it difficult for me to relax to the point where I believe my subconscious is truly taking over — your mileage may vary. And while Barham warns that it can be painful to experience things from your past lives — including, but not limited to, their deaths, for example — I didn’t find it particularly trying. About the Process: Past-life regression is essentially guided hypnosis. You’re put into a deeply relaxed but still conscious state and asked questions about what you see or feel; images and sensations that appear are then interpreted into a cohesive vision of a past life. After being guided through this narrative, Barham’s session involves using the uncovered narrative to illustrate problems in your own life and how lessons learned from the regression can be applied to them. I’m still having a hard time figuring out exactly how successful my session with Barham was. After being guided into an extremely relaxed but still conscious state — as I mentioned earlier, I think it’s virtually impossible for me to get my mind to slow down to the point of “deep hypnosis” — I was able to envision/uncover/”re-live” a past life as a Depression-era man living with his family in California. Possibly involved with a WPA job, he was working as part of a road crew and attempting to support a wife and two children. I remain somewhat skeptical of the process — at times I felt like I was just filling in details because I was being asked to, rather than uncovering something “real.” But that’s a whole other can of worms: Where were these images coming from? If I was consciously constructing a narrative because I felt like I was being asked to do so, what was my guiding process for this? If I was constructing a narrative instead of “discovering” one, why did I pick the one that I did, one that was relatively mundane, kind of depressing and more or less the complete opposite of my own life experience? And if the details were coming from my subconscious, uh, where and how?  Different unexplainable moments during my regression, numbered in order of most disconcerting to least: 1. A strange heaviness all down my left side, and only my left side at one point — phenomenon like these are typically chalked up to injuries sustained by one of your past lives, so maybe my dude had a stroke? 2. A man with blue eyes. My dad has blue eyes, but it’s apparently a recessive trait in my family — both my sister and I are brown-eyed — though the image of the man I may or may not have been was clearly blue-eyed, albeit with brown hair. 3. A recurring image of the northern California coastline, somewhere around Monterey, possibly. Wind-swept, a very literal end-of-the-earth kind of setting. The Verdict: A person I interviewed prior to my session summed things up far better than I could: “I don’t know or care whether these are actual lifetimes my soul had. That’s beside the point. The narratives and issues I saw mirrored to me issues that I was grappling with, and gave me different perspectives on my own ingrained patterns about those issues.” [Emphasis mine.] We can debate the metaphysics of past-life regression until we’re all blue in the face, but the point is that it’s a form of therapy regardless, albeit a nontraditional one. If you’re able to uncover, deal with, and feel better about issues you’re facing via past-life regression, then it’s a success, and probably a more fun one than your usual therapy session. If you’re interested in experiencing a version of past-life therapy, Barham’s website offers an $8 guided recording that will walk you through the steps she takes to help people access their past lives.

Other

Other

Dec 21 (Reuters) - Cintas Corp: * Q2 REVENUE $1.61 BILLION VERSUS I/B/E/S VIEW $1.58 BILLION * Q2 EARNINGS PER SHARE VIEW $1.26 — THOMSON REUTERS I/B/E/S * - INCREASING ANNUAL GUIDANCE FOR FISCAL 2018 * - RAISING 2018 EPS FROM CONTINUING OPERATIONS GUIDANCE TO A RANGE OF $5.39 TO $5.46 * - FISCAL 2018 GUIDANCE EXCLUDES ANY POTENTIAL IMPACT OF U.S. TAX REFORM * - INTEGRATION OF G&K CONTINUES TO PROCEED AS PLANNED * FY2018 EARNINGS PER SHARE VIEW $5.37, REVENUE VIEW $6.40 BILLION — THOMSON REUTERS I/B/E/S Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:

Finance

Investment

The sites Trump has tweeted since announcing his campaign in summer 2015 mapped by frequency. Since winning the presidential election, Donald Trump has reportedly skipped out on the majority of his intelligence briefings; this past Sunday, Trump made headlines after sharing false information blaming his loss of the popular vote on mass voter fraud — a claim previously reported by the conspiracy news site Infowars. It’s been widely reported that Trump is an obsessive consumer of cable news — he has himself admitted to receiving at least a portion of his military advice from “the shows.” But, pundits and chyrons aside, relatively little is known about where the next president will find the news and commentary that might color his time in office. What exactly is Trump’s media diet? What we know of Trump’s relationship to the modern internet suggests the president-elect rarely browses it himself. Trump campaign press secretary Hope Hicks told GQ he relies largely on Google News printouts from staffers and sparingly reads his own email. And a 2007 deposition suggests that Trump doesn’t use a computer or carry a smartphone during the daytime hours, and often dictates daytime tweets to his assistants. To better understand Trump’s media consumption, BuzzFeed News turned to the president-elect's largest source of public proclamations and shared news: Twitter. While Trump’s media consumption and methods appear opaque and unconventional, the stories he chooses to share with his now 16 million–plus followers offer a unique window into the news and commentary that catch his eye. BuzzFeed News reviewed 26,234 of Trump’s 34,062 tweets, which we received through the Twitter API and developer Brendan Brown, who has archived Trump’s tweets beyond what is accessible via the API (a stream of data that includes information like tweet text, time, and date). We filtered that data down to the 2,687 hyperlinks tweeted by Trump’s personal Twitter account since he announced his candidacy in June 2015. By programmatically expanding the shortened links in his tweets we were able to group and count them to generate a rudimentary portrait of the news and opinion he publicizes and, presumably, consumes. A few things to note before the data: The analyzed tweets were broadcast between June 1, 2015 — the month Donald Trump announced his presidential campaign — and Nov. 17, 2016. The majority of Twitter.com links tweeted by Trump's account were retweets. Sites that were categorized as "media" were broadly defined as organizations that publish content regularly. Campaign-related links include links to President-elect Trump's own website as well as links to sites related to the GOP. (Click to zoom.) (You'll find a downloadable spreadsheet of Trump's tweets from June 16, 2015, to Nov. 17, 2016, here.) Our analysis revealed a media ecosystem that appears to largely reinforce and affirm the views publicly expressed by Trump and his closest advisers. The news stories Trump tweets share several characteristics: 1) They often favor sensationalism over facts and reporting; 2) They frequently echo direct quotes from Trump himself or his closest advisers; and 3) They routinely malign his enemies and vindicate his most controversial opinions. When it comes to news sources, the stories tweeted by Trump (and the staffers who sometimes manage his Twitter account) suggest that he is unfazed by news of questionable accuracy, likely to rely on hyper-partisan news, and apt to promote mainstream news only when it validates his opinions. While politicians from both sides of the aisle use their Twitter accounts to share content that furthers their agendas, Trump's reliance on sources and stories of questionable accuracy stands out both in frequency and in engagement. The stories shared by Trump’s account throughout his campaign suggest the president-elect has constructed a powerful online filter bubble that largely flatters and confirms that which he claims to be true. Using his tweeted links as a guide, Trump’s favorite information source appears to be Twitter itself. Nearly half of the hyperlinks shared by Trump’s account during his presidential campaign come from Twitter URLs. Many show Trump retweeting his fans, including — according to Fortune — at least 75 retweets of white supremacists and a false claim about gun violence demographics. Trump’s other most frequently tweeted links are to his Facebook page (266 links) and his website (201 links — most referring to statements, event schedules, and voter information). During campaign season Trump shared more Breitbart links to his more than 15 million followers than any other news organization (in August Breitbart chairman Steve Bannon joined Trump’s campaign as CEO and will enter the West Wing in January as Trump’s senior White House adviser). While Trump also shares links from mainstream sites — his second most shared site during the time period analyzed was the Washington Post — Trump’s preferred content seems to be right-leaning, hyper-partisan sites and opinion blogs including Newsmax (18), the Gateway Pundit (14 links), the Conservative Treehouse (11), the Political Insider (1), Conservative Tribune (1), Infowars (1), newsninja2012.com (5), and westernjournalism.com (1). Trump’s Twitter account also shares links from a number of obscure personal blogs, like agent54nsa.blogspot.com, which hosted a joke post about a fake game show about Monica Lewinsky hosted by a character named “Stink Fartinmale.” Trump rarely shares the kind of flagrantly concocted fake news stories promoted by Macedonian teens. Yet the president-elect does seem to have an affinity for factually murky stories bolstered by opinion, circumstantial evidence, and hearsay that appear generally supportive of his most controversial statements. Frequently throughout the presidential campaign Trump tweeted stories that seemed to back up his claims that “thousands” of Muslims cheered from New Jersey rooftops as the World Trade Center towers fell on 9/11, despite no evidence from police or confirmed news reports. Other Trump-tweeted stories include a Breitbart piece with the headline, "Trump 100% Vindicated: CBS Reports ‘Swarm’ On Rooftops Celebrating 9/11" and a New York Post piece about Orlando Pulse nightclub shooter Omar Mateen allegedly celebrating on 9/11. These stories prove slippery in their presentation by Trump or in their framing of the facts they claim to report. The Post headline, despite Trump’s insistence, does little to bolster his claim — Mateen was a teen in school in Florida and not in New Jersey, where Trump claimed the cheering took place. And while the Breitbart headline suggests “swarms” of cheering Muslims, the video evidence — in the form of a Sept. 16, 2001, local newscast — shows only anecdotal evidence of cheering (framed as such by the newscasters). The reference to a “swarm” overstates the anecdote which notes that a group of eight individuals possibly of Muslim faith were arrested in New Jersey after 9/11. Like a number of the stories Trump shares via Twitter, strong headlines and flimsy evidence are touted as vindication of a controversial claim, but leave the vigilant reader with the daunting task of proving a negative. BuzzFeed News’ analysis shows that, despite Trump's repeated claims of a deeply biased mainstream media, the president-elect shares news stories from a high number of traditional media outlets. Throughout the course of the campaign, Trump frequently tweeted from mainstream organizations like the Washington Post (26), New York Post (22), The Hill (21), Politico (15), CNN (12), USA Today (10), Bloomberg (7), Forbes (7), CBS News (6), ABC News (5), and NBC News (5) among others. In nearly every instance, the stories shared were news items about polls that favored Trump (many from the primaries) or negative articles about Hillary Clinton — many of them aggregations of WikiLeaks emails. It’s hard not to look at the the frequency and demeanor of Trump’s tweeting of mainstream outlets and not see a desire for validation from the nation’s biggest traditional newsrooms. When covered positively, Trump’s response is effusive — in one response to an article from the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza, Trump remarks “it is a true person of character that can change his opinion & do what is right.” But such accolades are often supplanted — if not eradicated — at the first sign of adversarial coverage. In July 2015, for example, Trump fired off a tweet praising a “great article” in Politico Magazine by Rich Lowry. Nine months later, Trump’s tune had changed. “Wow, @Politico is in total disarray with almost everybody quitting,” Trump tweeted. “Good news -- bad, dishonest journalists!” It’s worth noting that BuzzFeed News’ analysis of Trump’s shared links suggests that when the president-elect does tweet a report from a mainstream publication, it is often to share positive news about himself or a report that supports his positions. Trump, for example, was quick to share a Slate story touting polling data on his own leadership qualities — he shared the story twice in two days — adding an “I agree!” endorsement. But beyond one other nonscientific online poll, Trump did not share any of the more than 4,400 Slate stories containing his name — many of them adversarial in their coverage — published on the site within the past year. Analysis of the links Trump shares on Twitter charts a media echo chamber that is often literal. Stories shared by the president-elect were frequently sympathetic recaps of his campaign rallies, composed mostly of quotes from Trump himself containing unsupported claims. Of the 2,687 links Trump tweeted since beginning his campaign, the story with the highest number of combined likes and retweets (53,700) comes from LifeZette, a politics site whose editor-in-chief is pro-Trump political commentator Laura Ingraham (and who is reportedly on Trump’s short list for White House press secretary). The story’s only quotes come from the stump speech in which Trump first pledged to “drain the swamp” in Washington. Similarly, links tweeted by Trump’s account highlight praise from those in Trump’s inner circle. In one tweet from July, Trump shared a CNBC op-ed suggesting that America “need[s] a tough negotiator like Trump to fix US trade policy,” a post authored in part by Trump policy adviser Peter Navarro. BuzzFeed News’ analysis of Trump’s media universe shows the president-elect isn’t immune from sharing more blatant misinformation. Throughout the campaign Trump’s Twitter account shared two separate stories from prntly.com, a site that used to sell business cards and postcards and now calls itself “America’s Top News Site.” Prntly has been described by the Washington Post as “fake news” and is run by a former ecstasy dealer from Albany. According to the Post, Prntly has allegedly made up its own sources, lifted copy from other sites and pawned it off as “exclusive,” and allows users to sign up and write their own news stories without any vetting. The two Prntly stories Trump has shared — both since removed from the site — include claims that Trump’s appeal with Rust Belt voters is higher than any candidate since FDR (no citation or evidence) and that Trump successfully pressured Ford to move a Mexican plant to Ohio (incorrect and disproven by numerous outlets including the Washington Post). Similarly, Trump has shared news articles from hyper-partisan and frequently nonfactual blogs like Powdered Wig Society, which, recently lamented, “WaPo put out a list of fake news sites and Powdered Wig is not included. Dammit! We shall endeavor to try harder.” The blog post shared by Trump cites Prntly as its source and refers to Hillary Clinton as “Hitlery” Clinton. Frequently, stories shared by Trump from hyper-partisan outlets sacrifice facts for convenience of narrative. One Gateway Pundit piece retweeted by Trump this past August alleged that a “Democrat Fire Marshal Turn[ed] THOUSANDS of Trump Supporters Away at Columbus Rally.” The tweet helped to stir up a micro-controversy among Trump supporters of unfair bias and toward the Republican candidate. A follow-up article from the Columbus Dispatch corrected the number, reporting only a few hundred were turned away and that convention center officials capped the rally at 1,000 — a number the Trump campaign agreed to beforehand. Trump’s Twitter account is just one part of the president-elect’s information diet, but it’s an instructive one. With its broad reach comes considerable influence; a BuzzFeed News analysis found that Trump’s average news tweet receives about 10,265 engagements (a combination of retweets and favorites) with a median engagement of 4,729, while his top news tweets garnered well above 53,000 total engagements. Throughout the campaign, Trump's engagement from his account outperformed Hillary Clinton's substantially. In the three months leading up the election day (Aug. 9 to Nov. 8), Clinton's account tweeted 2,449 times with an average of 3,964 retweets; Trump tweeted 587 times with an average of 10,863 retweets. And many of Trump's biggest non-news tweets pulled in hundreds of thousands of total engagements. Thanks to Trump’s facility with Twitter and his uncanny ability to use it to simultaneously bypass and program traditional media, the account has been a uniquely powerful megaphone for his candidacy — and an unconventional preface for his presidency to come. This story was amended to remove the Daily Caller's inclusion in a list of "hyper-partisan sites and opinion blogs."

Politics

US

Corinne Olympios will be making one final return to Paradise. In a statement obtained by PEOPLE on Wednesday, Olympios announced that she will be joining the Bachelor in Paradise reunion special that will be televised later this summer. “I am very happy to be appearing on the Bachelor in Paradise special,” said Olympios, 25. Her statement was released just days after DeMario Jackson, 30, first revealed that he will be returning for the BiP and Bachelorette: Men Tell All reunions shows. “I’m doing the Men Tell All for The Bachelorette and I’ll be doing Paradise as well,” Jackson told TMZ. “I owe it to my cast mates. They’ve been very supportive of me throughout this whole entire thing and I want to thank them all personally, face to face — give them all hugs and bro out or sis out, or whatever. They’ve been so helpful.” Although Olympios was invited to return to Bachelor in Paradise this summer, she declined the offer. “I respectfully made the decision not to return,” she said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE at the end of June. News of Olympios’ and Jackson’s appearances on the Bachelor/ette spin-off reunion special comes a month after production on season 4 was subsequently halted after two producers voiced their concerns following a sexual encounter between the pair, which was caught on cameras. Days after production was shut down by Warner Bros. to investigate the “misconduct” and all of the contestants were sent home, Olympios and Jackson both retained legal counsel and released statements. “I am a victim and have spent the last week trying to make sense of what happened on June 4. Although I have little memory of that night, something bad obviously took place, which I understand is why production on the show has now been suspended and a producer on the show has filed a complaint against the production,” Olympios said in a statement to PEOPLE via her rep. “It’s unfortunate that my character and family name has been assassinated this past week with false claims and malicious allegations. I will be taking swift and appropriate legal action until my name is cleared and, per the advice of legal counsel, will be seeking all available remedies entitled to me under the laws,” Jackson said in his statement. But almost 10 days since announcing that production had been halted, Warner Bros. addressed the controversy, announcing that the investigation was complete and concluding that there was no evidence of misconduct. In the wake of the scandal, Olympios’ legal team announced that they would be conducting their own investigation; two weeks after the controversy arose, her internal investigation concluded. “In light of the overwhelming amount of misinformation that has been spread in the media, I want to clarify a few things. My intent over the past few weeks has been to learn and understand what happened on June 4. While I never filed complaints or accusations against anyone associated with Bachelor in Paradise, my team and I felt it was very important to be thorough in getting to the bottom of what had occurred,” Olympios said. “I felt victimized by the fact that others were judging me through conflicting and unsubstantiated reports, while I myself had no recollection of the events that transpired,” Olympios continued. “My team’s investigation into this matter has now been completed to my satisfaction. I am also happy about the changes that have been made to the production of Bachelor in Paradise. While I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to have been a participant on The Bachelor, and while I was invited to return to Bachelor in Paradise when production resumed, I respectfully made the decision not to return,” the statement continued. She concluded: “I understand the media’s interest in this story, and I greatly appreciate my fans’ concerns for my well-being, but I think it is best if I keep any further thoughts private for now.” Though Warner Bros. said in a statement that the company “does not intend to release the videotape of the incident” between Olympios and Jackson, they insisted that they “plan to implement certain changes to the show’s policies and procedures to enhance and further ensure the safety and security of all participants.” A source close to production also told PEOPLE that precautions are being taken to ensure a similar incident won’t occur. According to the source, “in broad strokes, changes were made to ensure everyone’s safety” — particularly in regards to alcohol consumption and consent. Season 4 of Bachelor in Paradise will kick off its two-night premiere on Monday, Aug. 14 at 8 p.m., and continue on Tuesday, Aug. 15 at 8 p.m., both on ABC.

Television

Reality TV

President Trump plans to nominate Richard Grenell to be the U.S. ambassador to Germany, the White House announced Friday evening. Grenell, who has served as a Fox News contributor, is the longest-serving U.S. spokesman at the United Nations, serving during the George W. Bush administration from 2001 to 2008.  Reports in July indicated Trump had picked the foreign policy commentator as his diplomat to the NATO ally. It is believed Grenell would be the first openly gay appointee of Trump's administration if confirmed. Germany has been the focus of some of Trump's past criticism, with the president scolding the country for not meeting NATO's target for defense spending. View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

Politics

Government

Photo: Arnaud Deprez The Greek myth of Narcissus, who fell in love with his own reflection and doomed himself because of it, is the inspiration for the mirror-based kinetic sculpture Narcisse by Nonotak Studio. 25 reflective mechanized screens shudder and flip in geometric patterns, creating surface forms and augmenting the room. "Using lights and reflections running all around the room, Narcisse affects the visual perception of the space," Nonotak explains. "Through the interplay of angles, surfaces, movement and sounds, it transforms, defines, merges and explores different kinds of space and spatiality, from water surface, to sharp and dangerous surfaces." The installation was exhibited at LE CUBE in Issy Les Moulineaux, France last month. Custom made shields for the electric servos meant they could send MIDI data to each mirror and be controlled on Ableton Live's timeline. Using MaxMSP software, they tweaked the MIDI signal and visualized the setup too. The duo see it as a continuation of their previous work, but one that gives their perception-bending visuals a more physical form than their light art experiments. Plans are afoot for a V.2 which would be larger and involve projections.  "We like how the amount of details change when switching from one scale to another," they note. See it in action below: Photo: Arnaud Deprez Photo: Arnaud Deprez Photo: Arnaud Deprez Click here to visit Nonotak Studio's website, and check out the links below for more from the artist duo.  Related: Light, Scaffolding, and Shadows Reach for the Infinite "X" Marks the Art in Minimalist Light Installation 'Convergence' Artists-in-Residence: Nonotak Studio Take Montreal's Satosphere Dome Artists Turn a Concrete Parking Lot into a Cross of Light Enter a Stunning Exploration of Light and Space Dancing 'Silhouettes' Illuminate This Audio-Visual Performance Isotopes v.02 Is An Audiovisual Cage

Other

Other

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The maker of Humvee military vehicles filed a lawsuit accusing Activision Blizzard Inc of reaping billions of dollars of revenue by incorporating its trademarks without permission in its flagship “Call of Duty” video game franchise. In a complaint filed on Tuesday night in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, AM General LLC accused Activision of taking advantage of its goodwill and reputation in the “Humvee” and “HMMWV” marks by featuring them prominently in “Call of Duty,” and licensing related content for use in toys and books. “Humvee” and “HMMWV” are short for High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles. AM General said it has made more than 278,000 Humvees. Mary Osako, a spokeswoman for Activision, said on Wednesday that the company does not discuss pending litigation. Activision has said “Call of Duty” last year was the world’s largest video game console franchise, and North America’s largest for the eighth straight year. The franchise was launched in 2003, and sales had by 2016 topped 250 million units, with revenue exceeding $15 billion, according to the Santa Monica, California-based company. But AM General said that success came “only at the expense of AM General and consumers who are deceived into believing that AM General licenses the games or is somehow connected with or involved in the creation of the games.” AM General is owned by MacAndrews & Forbes Inc and Renco Group Inc, which are holding companies for the billionaires Ronald Perelman and Ira Rennert, respectively. The South Bend, Indiana-based company said it wants compensatory, punitive and triple damages from Activision, after more than a year of communication failed to end the dispute. Humvee-branded vehicles have been used for more than three decades by the U.S. military and in more than 50 countries, AM General said. In recent months, they have been used in armed conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, and to provide relief to victims of Hurricane Harvey in Texas. AM General has also produced a civilian vehicle, the Hummer. The case is AM General LLC v Activision Blizzard Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 17-08644. Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis and G Crosse

Other

Other

Fixes SPOKANE, Wash. — Two weeks before graduation last spring, Lori Wyborney, the principal at John R. Rogers High School, and her three assistant principals gathered around a table covered with papers and Popeyes takeout. On a screen facing them was a list of three dozen students who administrators believed could succeed in an Advanced Placement class. But the students were not yet scheduled to take one in the fall. The principals looked at each student’s profile, which included the student’s answers to districtwide survey questions about what worried them about A.P. classes, what subjects interested them and which adults in the building they trusted. Wyborney, concentrating as she sat with her elbows on the table and one hand absent-mindedly raised to her mouth, kept up a running commentary. “Boy, she’s not taking much next year,” she said of a student before placing her in A.P. digital photography. Of another: “He’s looking at a four-year college. He has got to get into A.P. English.” Over and over, she declared, “I’m on it” as she scribbled the names of students to whom she planned to propose scheduling changes. The meeting was part of a broad effort across the district to decrease the gap between the number of students from high-income families and low-income families who go to college. In Spokane, 48 percent of graduates in 2014 who received free or reduced-price lunch — a typical indicator of poverty — went on to higher education the next year, compared with 65 percent of those who didn’t receive subsidized meals, according to state data. Nationally, 52 percent of low-income high school graduates immediately enrolled in college that year, compared with 81 percent of high-income students. The district aims for all students to enroll in some sort of postsecondary program after high school — whether it’s a community college, a university, a liberal arts college or a vocational program — and to remain at those schools until they earn a diploma or degree. To make sure students persist in college is a deeper task than the usual work of helping them meet application deadlines and submit financial aid paperwork. Spokane’s educators have latched onto an idea that might strike others as counterintuitive: They believe they can get more students to go to college — and stay there — by making high school harder. Spokane has eliminated all unchallenging classes, such as Outdoor Living, a science course that Wyborney described as “Camping 101.” College prep courses are now the default curriculum for all high school students, and the district has increased the number of A.P. courses it offers. Although students are required to take only three years each of lab science and math to earn a diploma, they’re pushed to take four years of each — and most do. “We’ve eliminated choices to the point where you really only have college-ready choices,” Wyborney said. The strategy stems from a finding of federal research that a high school’s “academic intensity” still counts more than anything else that it does to help its students go on to complete a bachelor’s degree. Specifically, Rogers High School’s work is modeled on efforts by Steven Gering, Spokane’s chief innovation and research officer. He was previously the principal of Spokane’s North Central High School; during his tenure, according to his analysis of state data, it recorded the largest increase in the state in the percentage of students attending college after graduation. Spokane is an economically diverse city of roughly 200,000 people. Rogers High is in the city’s poorest neighborhood. About 78 percent of its 1,500 students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, according to state data. Rogers has the lowest college-going rate in the district. But it made the most improvement in the last five years for which the city has full data, raising that rate from 43 percent in 2011 to 53 percent in 2015. And it’s sending more low-income students to four-year schools: 27 percent of its spring 2016 graduates who had received free lunch enrolled in the fall, the highest proportion of any school in the district. Wyborney took over the school in 2010, when it graduated about 60 percent of its students and was selected to participate in a federal school turnaround program. Her office is decorated with Eastern Washington University sports team posters, portraits of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and a framed copy of the Declaration of Independence, in nods to her educational roots as a coach, an athletic director and a history teacher. She casually refers to students she meets as “girlfriend” and “buddy.” Walking the hallways, she most often greets staff members and students with a touch on the arm and a joke. But students also know Wyborney is serious about making them work harder. When a counselor tells her that a student doesn’t want to take a science course in his senior year, she doesn’t miss a beat: “That’s not happening,” she says. In the class of 2016, 87 percent of graduates had taken four years of lab science, and nearly 90 percent had taken four years of math,Wyborney said. In the fall, 437 Rogers students were enrolled in A.P. courses, up from 372 the previous spring. The makeup of those classes nearly matched the socioeconomic and racial demographics of the school. The harder classes don’t just prepare students academically. They help students visualize themselves at college, Wyborney said. “For kids in poverty, more often than not, what they’re saying is, ‘I’m not a good student,’ ” she said. “What we have to do is convince them, ‘Well, actually, you are.’ ” This school year, she has held multiple assemblies to explain why she and teachers relentlessly push tougher schedules. She told students the statistics for their school’s ZIP code — a nearly 30 percent poverty rate and a 17 percent unemployment rate — and explained how a good education can help break the cycle of poverty. Destiny Roupe entered high school five years ago assuming her family wouldn’t be able to afford college. But her teachers and principal wouldn’t stop talking about it. “It was the way she talked to us, like we actually had a chance,” she said of Wyborney. “There wasn’t any doubt in her voice. For a while that shocked me. You could just feel the genuine hope for us to get out of where we are.” The focus on A.P. classes, which tend nationally to serve students from high-income families, ultimately convincedRoupe that college was an option for her; she took eight of them before graduating in 2016 and going on to the University of Washington to study political science. “We get the stigma that we’re not much when it comes to education, and I think those A.P. classes really help,” she said. “It helps us see we’re just as good as everyone else.” The data on the benefits of enrolling in A.P. courses is not conclusive. Studies, including some paid for by the College Board, the organization that runs the A.P. program, have found that students who pass an A.P. exam do better in college. Other research has questioned whether the classes have any significant benefits when compared with honors courses. In Spokane, the district pays the test fees for students who can’t afford them. Wyborney and Gering say there are benefits even if a student fails an A.P. exam: They learn the skills they need to succeed in college, such as note-taking, time management and how to form study groups. “For us, it’s more about the skill-building than it is about the content,” Wyborney said. Spokane is updating its entire K-12 curriculum to teach those kinds of skills. Students in its early grades will not only do more research and weekly writing, but they’ll also start to learn good studying, note-taking and organizing strategies in fourth grade. Roupe said she felt well equipped to tackle an English course in her first semester of college. “Being able to have a discussion about … books is a lot of what I did in high school,” she said. “I didn’t feel overwhelmed.” As proud as they are of successful students like Roupe, administrators remain acutely aware of how far they have to go. On a snowy day in February, Wyborney and her administrative team gathered for a weekly meeting at Rogers around bags of chips and jars of salsa. Wyborney handed out graduation-rate statistics from around the district. Rogers had hit a high of 82 percent in 2016. But her enthusiasm was restrained. “Just stats to look at, my little love bugs,” she said. “We’ve got to figure out 18 percent of the kids.” An earlier version of a picture caption with this article misidentified a teacher working with students on researching colleges. He is Ben Cochran, not Ryan Elmer, who is one of the students.

Education

Schools

(The following statement was released by the rating agency) BARCELONA/LONDON, December 15 (Fitch) Fitch Ratings has upgraded Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V.'s (FCA) Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) and senior unsecured rating to 'BB' from 'BB-'. The Outlook is Positive. The Short-Term IDR has been affirmed at 'B'. The agency has also upgraded Fiat Chrysler Finance Europe S.A.'s and FCA's senior unsecured rating to 'BB' from 'BB-'. The upgrade reflects Fitch's expectations of sustainable positive free cash flow (FCF) as cash absorption has been a major rating constraint. The Positive Outlook reflects our expectations that the FCF margin will increase to more than 1.5% in the foreseeable future, a level commensurate with a higher rating. The ratings also reflect FCA's improved credit metrics, including funds from operations (FFO) net adjusted leverage declining towards less than 1x in 2018 and its solid business profile, including broad product and geographic diversification and robust brands. KEY RATING DRIVERS Strong Earnings, Weak FCF: Adjusted group operating margin increased to 5.5% in 2016 from 4.3% in 2015 and Fitch expects a further strengthening to more than 7% by 2019. We expect all regions to contribute positively to group margin improvement. The product portfolio has strengthened and decreasing investments in recent years have had a positive impact on the depreciation rate. However, FCF remains on the weak side for the ratings, especially considering the lack of dividends and declining capex ratio in past years. Nonetheless, Fitch projects FCF to improve gradually in the coming years thanks to better underlying profitability, lower cash interest paid and the absence of dividend resumption, which should offset some of the cash tax increase. Improving Financial Structure: FCA's consolidated gross debt and leverage have been high for the ratings despite continuous improvement since 2014. FFO adjusted gross leverage was just above 2.5x at end-2016, down from more than 4x at end-2014. However, the group maintains substantial cash, and consolidated FFO adjusted net leverage below 1.5x is more commensurate with the ratings. The debt prepayments and amendments at FCA US formally removed the ring-fencing around its cash and improved the group's financial structure. This will also reduce interest expenses and bolster FFO. Fitch expects FFO adjusted net leverage to decline towards less than 1x by end-2018. Solid Business Profile: Fitch believes that FCA's business profile is consistent with a low investment grade rating. The business profile reflects the group's positive track record since the merger with Chrysler, its broad product and geographic diversification, and its diversified portfolio of well-recognised global brands. This is despite the spin-off of Ferrari in early 2016. Disruptive Sector Trends: FCA has limited investments in major fundamental trends reshaping the industry such as powertrain electrification, autonomous driving and new mobility services including car sharing and ride hailing. This has safeguarded its cash generation but could leave the company falling behind in a rapidly changing sector. However, we expect further investments in these fields and the signing of new alliances following FCA's recent announcement that it has joined BMW, Intel and Mobileye in the development of an autonomous driving platform. Group Structure Development: The group's history includes many disposals and acquisitions and the CEO has been vocal about his intention to participate in further industry consolidation. We expect further corporate reorganisation in the next 12-18 months, under the final months of the current CEO's tenure and possibly additional moves during the upcoming 2018-2022 plan under new management. Options include a complete or partial disposal or spin off of the components businesses or of the premium brands, including Alfa Romeo or Maserati, although we believe the probability of the latter is low in the short term. DERIVATION SUMMARY FCA remains the most indebted auto manufacturer in Fitch's portfolio, despite continuous deleveraging since 2014, and the one with the weakest and least steady cash generation. Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is currently going through a period of weak FCF, lower than FCA, but this is driven by a sharp increase in capex to prepare for future models and strengthen its manufacturing footprint. All other manufacturers have now moved to sustained FCF generation. However, Fitch expects FCF to improve continuously and profitability is adequate compared with peers in the 'BB' and 'BBB' rating categories. Strong earnings generated in North America and improving results in other regions lead to comfortable operating margins comparing favourably with higher-rated PSA, Renault and Ford. FCA's business profile is also supported by its large scale, solid brand and broad end-markets diversification versus other mass-markets carmakers rated in the 'BB' and 'BBB' categories such as Renault and PSA. However, FCA is less advanced than most of its close peers in the field of alternative powertrains, such as hybrid and electric vehicles, autonomous driving and new mobility services and car ownership options. KEY ASSUMPTIONS Fitch's key assumptions within our rating case for the issuer include: -Group revenue to increase by 2% in 2017 and grow by about 15% in 2018 and mid-single digits in 2019; -Group EBIT margin to increase to more than 6% in 2017 and increase further to more than 7% by 2019, due to still robust profitability in the NAFTA region, further strengthening in Europe and a gradual recovery in Latin America and Asia; -Capex about stable in 2017 and to increase to EUR10.0 billion-EUR10.5 billion in 2018-2019; -No dividend distributed in 2017-2019; -No specific M&A incorporated in our rating case as this will be treated on a case by case basis when announced. RATING SENSITIVITIES Future Developments That May, Individually or Collectively, Lead to Positive Rating Action -FCF sustainably above 1.5% (2016: 0.4%, 2017E: 1.7%, 2018E: 2.1%) -FFO adjusted net leverage sustainably below 1.5x (2016: 1.3x, 2017E: 1.2x, 2018E: 0.9x) -Sustained success of the Jeep and Maserati expansion and Alfa Romeo rejuvenation Future Developments That May, Individually or Collectively, Lead to Negative Rating Action -FCF sustainably below 1% -FFO adjusted net leverage sustainably above 2x -CFO / adjusted debt below 25% -Increasingly lagging behind developing fundamental industry trends LIQUIDITY Healthy Liquidity: FCA reported EUR12 billion in cash and equivalents at end-3Q17, excluding Fitch's EUR3.1 billion adjustments for minimum operational cash. Liquidity is also supported by EUR7.6 billion of committed credit lines at end-September 2017. This largely covers debt of EUR7.7 billion maturing over 4Q17 and 2018. The group also follows a conservative financial strategy aiming to maintain a robust gross cash position as protection against the next cyclical downturn. Liquidity has declined compared with end-2016 notably because of the voluntary prepayment of the outstanding principal and accrued interest of FCA US's tranche B term loan maturing in May 2017 for EUR1.7 billion, the repayment in 2017 of two large notes and other long-term debt for a total EUR3 billion, and negative FX movement of EUR1.1 billion. Contact: Principal Analyst Aurelien Jacquot Associate Director +33 1 4429 9137 Supervisory Analyst Emmanuel Bulle Senior Director +34 93 323 84 11 Fitch Ratings Espana S.A.U. Av. Diagonal 601 08028 Barcelona Committee Chairperson Paul Lund Senior Director +44 20 3530 1244 Media Relations: Adrian Simpson, London, Tel: +44 203 530 1010, Email: adrian.simpson@fitchratings.com. Summary of Financial Statement Adjustments -Fitch adds an 8x multiple of leases, totalling EUR2.7bn, to debt in line with its methodology. -Fitch adjusts year-end cash balances by EUR3.1bn to account for operational cash requirements and seasonal working capital. -Derecognised receivables of EUR5.5bn are added to debt. Additional information is available on www.fitchratings.com. For regulatory purposes in various jurisdictions, the supervisory analyst named above is deemed to be the primary analyst for this issuer; the principal analyst is deemed to be the secondary. Applicable Criteria Corporate Rating Criteria (pub. 07 Aug 2017) here Additional Disclosures Dodd-Frank Rating Information Disclosure Form here Solicitation Status here Endorsement Policy here ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: here. 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Investment

Bonds

President TrumpDonald John TrumpTrump pushes back on recent polling data, says internal numbers are 'strongest we've had so far' Illinois state lawmaker apologizes for photos depicting mock assassination of Trump Scaramucci assembling team of former Cabinet members to speak out against Trump MORE will be attending the funeral for the evangelical Christian leader Billy Graham on Friday, according to a spokesman for the Graham family. Mark DeMoss confirmed Trump’s attendance during an interview with WBTV. Previously, a Secret Service official had told NBC affiliate WYFF Greenville that Trump would be attending the funeral.  Former President George W. Bush and his wife will pay their respects on Monday due to a scheduling conflict, DeMoss said. He noted that he does not know whether any other former presidents will attend the funeral service. Graham died on Wednesday at age 99 in his home near Charlotte, N.C. He was suffering from cancer, pneumonia and other ailments at the time of his death. The late pastor’s body will lie at the Billy Graham Library on Monday and Tuesday and be taken to D.C. to lie in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Wednesday and Thursday. A private funeral and burial will take place on Friday afternoon. View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

Politics

Current Events

Tallahassee police issued an arrest warrant for a white man who was seen in a viral video pulling a gun out on several black college students in efforts to stop them from going into an apartment complex earlier this month. ABC News reported Saturday that local police issued the arrest warrant for the man, identified as Donald Crandall, Jr., on Friday for allegedly violating a state law against improper exhibition of a firearm.  “After reviewing all of the evidence and consulting with the State Attorney’s Office, a warrant was obtained for Donald Crandall, Jr.," police said in a statement obtained by the publication. “The warrant has been issued at this time, but as of right now he has not been arrested,” Tallahassee police officer Damon Miller told the publication on Saturday. “I do not know his whereabouts at this time.” The warrant was issued in connection with an incident that was captured on video earlier this month and posted to Twitter by Florida A&M student Isaiah Butterfield. These are the kind of people that are burning Nike products , we are sick of the discrimination never thought I’d have a personal experience with racism like this, this man pulled a gun on us because we were walking up to my friends apartment w/o a key pic.twitter.com/TlMFQjoM1N In the video, Crandall can be seen pushing past students before locking them out of a student housing complex owned by the Baymont Inn & Suites by Wyndham Hotels.  The students, along with a bystander who is white, argued with Crandall for several minutes, before Crandall pulled a gun saying, “If you don’t got a key to this building, you don’t belong in the elevator.” Crandall, who worked at an area hotel at the time of the video, was reportedly fired from his job after the video went viral, garnering more than 480,000 views on Twitter as of Saturday evening. "Pax Hotel Group wants to assure the public that the former General Manager of the Baymont by Wyndham, Tallahassee Central was terminated on Monday afternoon once we were made aware of the incident,” Pax Hotel Group said in a post on Instagram. “He has not been transferred or rehired at any of Pax Hotel Group’s properties. His employment with Pax Hotel Group has been terminated,” the group added. View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

Science

Psychology

LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Scotland bosses avoided repricing billions of dollars of souring investments on the eve of the 2008 financial crisis for fear of endangering bonuses and a takeover bid for a rival, court documents allege. The claimants’ filings allege senior managers were warned by internal risk experts for more than six months that overvalued toxic debt, including subprime mortgage bonds, had left the bank dangerously exposed to a collapse in U.S. property prices. But some managers resisted the warnings, allege lawyers acting for RBS shareholders now seeking billions of pounds in compensation for losses suffered when the bank was bailed out in the 2008 crisis, according to the claimants’ “particulars of claim” and a witness statement seen by Reuters. In documents filed by lawyers acting for RBS, the bank rejects those allegations, and denies that it should have repriced assets more promptly or that it misled shareholders over its finances. The allegations, which focus on the months leading up to the 2008 crisis, are at the heart of a 4 billion pound ($5 billion)lawsuit brought by thousands of RBS’s investors, which is due to start in the UK early next year. Documents seen by Reuters include the claimants’ particulars of claim and the bank’s defense. In the 1990s and 2000s, RBS had gone from being a small Scottish lender to a global banking giant, largely thanks to an aggressive expansion plan led by former chief executives George Mathewson and Fred Goodwin. In the summer of 2007, the bank stunned markets by leading a consortium of lenders in a 71 billion euro ($77.3 billion) takeover of Dutch bank ABN Amro just as worries about a massive U.S. credit bubble were gathering momentum. Little more than a year later, RBS became one of the biggest casualties of the turmoil that engulfed the industry. In 2008, the Edinburgh-based bank made a then record 12 billion pound cash call on investors. Just six months later, RBS - Britain’s largest corporate lender and home to hundreds of billions of pounds of customer deposits - required the first tranche of a UK government bailout that ended up costing 45.5 billion pounds. As a result, some shareholders, including some of Britain’s biggest institutional fund managers, lost more than 90 percent of their investments. They are now claiming they were misled about the state of the bank’s finances ahead of the 2008 cash call and are seeking compensation for their losses. A trial is scheduled to begin in London in March after the two sides failed in July to agree an out-of-court settlement. It could end up being one of the costliest cases in English legal history. RBS, which is still 70 percent owned by the British taxpayer, declined to comment for this article. But Chief Executive Ross McEwan said last month that the bank, while still pursuing settlement talks with some of the claimants, was ready to fight if the case reaches court. The bank has already booked billions of pounds of writedowns since 2008 and is facing a number of U.S. cases alleging mis-selling of mortgage bonds. It has provisioned $5.6 billion to settle these and other historic misconduct charges. Some analysts estimate the total eventual claims against the bank will outstrip RBS’s expectations. The claimants’ particulars of claim and a witness statement seen by Reuters detail allegations regarding the bank’s behavior in the months before its near-collapse; they allege there were significant disagreements between staff with responsibility for steering the lender through the worst banking crisis since the Great Depression. The issue of whether the bank deliberately decided against writing down the value of its troubled mortgage-backed bonds – and whether this decision caused misrepresentation of the bank’s financial health - is a key area of contention. The bank was one of the world’s leading sellers of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and other asset-backed securities (ABS) in the mid-2000s. RBS Greenwich, a U.S. unit of the bank, underwrote $99 billion of U.S. sub-prime securities in the two years to the end of 2006, a volume surpassed only by Lehman Brothers, according to a separate set of U.S. court documents filed in the Southern District of New York in connection with a July 2015 action by RBS investors against the bank. According to the UK claimants’ court filings, senior RBS managers on both sides of the Atlantic clashed with risk analysts over how to value the bank’s exposure to distressed debt. Much of the risk was embedded in complex structured credit products called Collaterised Debt Obligations (CDOs). In September 2007, Victor Hong, a former risk manager for JP Morgan and Credit Suisse, was appointed head of fixed-income Independent Price Valuation (IPV) at RBS Greenwich. As a managing director of risk management, he was one of the most senior analysts responsible for assessing the market value of the unit’s fixed-income portfolio. Hong says that soon after he was appointed he complained to his bosses that these assets were troubled and needed to be marked down in value, according to his witness statement. Hong says he refused to sign off the IPV report for September 2007, alleging in his statement that the IPV function was “effectively a sham and was not independent at all.” Claimants’ lawyers told Reuters his testimony is likely to prove important in their case against the bank. The trial is expected to last six months and to hear from scores of witnesses. Hong’s witness statement alleges that analysis and research passed to senior RBS management from subordinate staff, including Hong, showed some other banks and dealers were marking down some ABS CDOs towards 25 cents in the dollar by October 29, 2007, while RBS senior management was recommending that ABS CDOs were marked at 75 cents in the dollar. Ultimately, the September 2007 report carried a disclaimer stating the bank had been unable to independently verify the value its $3.5 billion portfolio of super-senior ABS assets since July 31, 2007, “due to a lack of market liquidity and transparency.” In court documents for the defense, RBS says a lack of trading in such assets at the time made it difficult to pinpoint what the correct values were. Hong told lawyers for the claimants that his predecessor, Lauren Rieder, told him that the writedowns he and others were calling for would not be authorized by senior RBS management, according to the particulars of claim. The documents do not specify what level of writedown Hong wanted. In that conversation, Hong alleges in the particulars of claim, Rieder used words to the effect that he should “get comfortable” with signing off the September 2007 IPV report and the unchanged marks because to press for lower valuations would mess up “the bonuses.” In a message sent to Reuters via social media network LinkedIn, Rieder said the allegations against her were “totally false and completely made up.” She declined to comment further. Rieder is not expected to testify at the trial. According to the particulars of claim, Hong alleges that Bruce Jin, former head of Market Risk at RBS Greenwich Capital Markets, encouraged him to sign off the September 2007 valuation report, and that Jin said he would support Hong if anyone questioned the bank’s inability to revalue the assets. Jin told Reuters the conversation Hong describes never took place. Lawyers for RBS say in court documents that there is no truth in Hong’s claims and that Hong was told by at least one manager, identified in the documents as Carol Mathis, that the issue of how to value super-senior (SS) CDOs had been escalated to more senior management. Mathis was then the chief financial officer for RBS in North America. Emails sent by Reuters to Mathis via Digital Asset Holdings LLC, where she now serves as Chief Financial Officer, went unanswered. Hong, who also alleges that managers in London wanted to avoid writedowns because of RBS’s bid for ABN Amro, resigned in November 2007, less than two months after he had started at RBS. He blamed “persistent discrepancies between trader marks and analytical fair-market values” for making his job intolerable, according to his witness statement. Hong, who went on to work for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, alleges that Jin told him he would receive a bonus at the end of March 2008 if he reconsidered his resignation, according to his witness statement. Jin told Reuters that such a conversation never took place. In a defense document filed at the court, RBS says that Rieder signed the September IPV report in place of Hong but denies her action was inappropriate, noting that Hong was a new recruit. In court documents RBS also denies Hong was improperly prevented from performing his IPV job. The bank says it was already considering changes to the valuation of some of the assets in question, and that some ABS CDOs were written down within a month of Hong’s departure. The bank denies that Hong conducted any substantive analysis of the value of RBS’s super-senior CDOs, alleging his research amounted predominantly to “unstructured provision of press reports, research notes and market information relating to the valuation of ABS CDOs held by other institutions.” Former staff at RBS Greenwich, which is based in Connecticut, have told Reuters that UK-based management undermined their powers to reprice billions of dollars of distressed debt. While Jin, speaking out for the first time since leaving the bank, rejected Hong’s specific allegations against him, he told Reuters that RBS’s approach to valuing troubled assets at the time was too slow, given the market data then available. He said that senior UK managers influenced pricing decisions at RBS Greenwich. “Normally, if you have a trading book position, the desk has the ability to mark those positions, it is within their rights, and no other authority can take away that ability. But that happened at RBS,” he said. “You do not have another body, certainly not from another region, taking over the ability of a trader to mark their marks.” In court documents for its defense, RBS says it was appropriate for senior management to take part in discussions when it was hard to judge the value of distressed assets. Jin, who now works at the Japanese bank Nomura as head of market risk in New York, said he had been a “vocal” opponent of the alleged failure by RBS to respond to market conditions more quickly. He said he has so far declined to help lawyers acting for shareholders, and was reluctant to get involved in the legal case because he wanted to focus on his current role. A second source, who asked not to be named, said RBS Greenwich bosses were uncomfortable with the loss of authority over U.S marks but acquiesced to avoid clashes with more senior executives in Britain. “It was all being run out of London. It was entirely run out of there,” the source said. The claimants’ particulars of claim allege that Chris Kyle, the London-based chief financial officer of RBS’s investment bank, and Deloitte, the bank’s accountant, had suggested a batch of revised “fair value marks” on super-senior CDOs by April 2008. The heads of the investment bank, John Cameron and Brian Crowe, allegedly overruled them because they were unhappy with the writedowns these new marks would have triggered, according to the particulars of claim. Crowe told Reuters he could not remember whether such a conversation took place. Cameron did not respond to requests for comment by email and LinkedIn. Kyle and Deloitte declined to comment. In its defense document, RBS says it did discuss the valuations of these assets with Deloitte both before and after April 9, 2008. The defense document says that the values ultimately decided upon were higher than those first discussed with the accountancy firm. The bank denies that this supports shareholders’ claims that the bank knew these exposures had been “dramatically over-marked” since late 2007. Additional reporting by Kirstin Ridley, Edited by Richard Woods and Simon Robinson

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Investment

LONDON, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Barclays is having to put plans in place for dealing with Britain’s divorce from the European Union without clarity on how political negotiations will go, the bank’s Chief Executive Jes Staley said on Wednesday. The British lender said in July that it was talking to Irish regulators about extending its activities in Dublin in preparation for when Britain leaves the EU in March 2019. Staley said the bank will relicense all of its branches in Europe so they become part of their Irish business but they are having to make these changes without clear direction from London or Brussels on what they need to do. “Like all of us, we are in sway to the desires and wishes of the political bodies and I have no idea how that will go,” Staley said speaking at an event in Westminster, close to the British parliament. “I think there is a clear recognition of the importance of the United Kingdom but the political reality that we all have to deal with, we will make adjustments,” the American added. Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein made similar comments about the political uncertainty on Monday, when he said a lot of things were out of the bank’s control when it came to building up its new European headquarters in London. Unless Britain negotiates new trading relations with the EU, banks, insurers and fund managers could be locked out of the bloc’s markets when it leaves. Bank of England Deputy Governor Sam Woods said on Wednesday that job losses totalling 75,000 in banking and insurance because of Brexit were plausible. London dominates global currency trading and is Europe’s main finance hub. Overall the sector employs more than a million people across Britain. Some firms have started to move staff out of London, while others are waiting until early 2018 to see if Britain and the EU agree transitional arrangements to smooth Brexit. Staley was however optimistic that London would remain at the centre of European capital markets. “The capital markets are in London not because of Barclays, and not because of JPMorgan, not because of Goldman Sachs. They are here because the investors of free capital...are by and large located in New York and London, and we want to be near our investors,” he said. (Reporting By Anjuli Davies; Editing by Keith Weir)

Finance

Banking

Dec 8 (Reuters) - Wige Media AG : * Builds up new sporttotal.tv business, along with its international project business, and sells _wige broadcast and _wige solutions * Purchase price for sold operations amounts to 4 million euros ($4.32 million) in total, 3.5 million euros of which for _wige solutions GmbH and 0.5 million euros for _wige broadcast GmbH * In addition, _wige media is likely to raise hidden reserves by 0.8 million euros in context of restructuring * Since only parts of order concerning technical equipment for racing track infrastructure projects in Kuwait can be taken into account in 2016, revenues are likely to amount to 63 million euros and EBT to -6.5 million euros * Consistently positive earnings with steady growth are anticipated from 2017 onward Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage: ($1 = 0.9266 euros) (Gdynia Newsroom)

Technology

Software

The Fed sent a loud and clear signal that it would like to raise rates in June, but the decision may end up in the hands of the British. The Fed's release of its April meeting minutes showed the Fed's discussion reflected more of the recent comments from Fed regional presidents, who have also been warning markets were not reflecting its intention to hike interest rates. However, the minutes started a new divide on Wall Street: Fed watchers who think the Fed will move in June and those who think the Brexit vote eight days after the Fed's meeting could hold them back. Brexit is the term for the U.K. vote on whether to remain in the European Union. The markets had been bracing for a more hawkish message from the Fed, but its emphasis on June was an even hawkier surprise. "They were worried the market was underestimating a rate hike this year," said Mohamed El-Erian, Allianz chief economist. The Fed funds futures are now pricing in a 27 percent chance of a June hike, up from 4 percent a week ago.

Finance

Economics

A team of American chefs on Wednesday won the biennial Bocuse d’Or culinary competition — the equivalent of the Olympics for professional cooks — for the first time in the contest’s 30-year history. In the finals in Lyon, France, a group of 10 chefs and helpers from the United States won the gold medal. Norway took the silver medal, and Iceland won the bronze. In 2015 an American team was awarded the silver medal in the competition, which was founded by the French chef Paul Bocuse. Teams from 24 countries competed this year. “I promised Monsieur Paul 10 years ago that we’d make it to the top of the podium,” said the chef Thomas Keller, who is the president of Team U.S.A. “We made it in nine.” The team’s head chef was Mathew Peters, 33, from Meadville, Pa., who was most recently the executive sous-chef of Mr. Keller’s New York restaurant, Per Se. His commis, or helper, was Harrison Turone, 21, from Omaha, who also worked at Per Se. Both of the chefs took a year off to prepare for the contest, a fierce competition in which the American team is made up of younger chefs who can spare the time to train. Philip Tessier, a member of the team that won second place in 2015, was the Americans’ coach. This year the chefs were required to prepare a meat platter and a vegan dish in 5 hours 35 minutes. “We had to use two proteins, Bresse chicken and crayfish,” Mr. Peters said. “And this was the first year there was a vegan dish.” The teams were required to interpret “Poulet de Bresse aux Écrevisses,” a Lyonnaise classic. The American version involved the chicken with morel mushroom sausage, braised wings, a wine glaze and sauce Américaine, a kind of lobster sauce. Alongside were a chicken liver quenelle with foie gras, corn custard, black-eyed peas and toasted pistachios, as well as lobster tail with Meyer lemon mousse. The garnishes included preparations using carrots, Vidalia onions, black truffles, carrots, peas and potatoes. They brought some of the ingredients from the United States. For the vegan dish, the chefs prepared California asparagus with cremini mushrooms, potatoes, a custard made of green almonds, Meyer lemon confit, a Bordelaise sauce and a crumble using an almond and vegetable yeast preparation that mimicked Parmesan cheese. The team arrived in Lyon 10 days ago. After the winners were announced at 7:25 p.m. local time, Mr. Peters, who had been cooking since 8:40 a.m., said his energy was starting to come back. An estimated 300 American supporters were in the hall to cheer the team. Unlike some teams, the Americans were supported only by commercial sponsors and contributions, with no government funding. “I don’t think our government knows who we are,” Mr. Keller said. Mr. Keller said he could not estimate how much participation in the contest cost. But he said that experience was essential. “We learned along the way,” he said. “Our win was built on the shoulders of a thousand people.” An earlier version of this article misstated the number of chefs and helpers on the United States team. It was 10, not more than a dozen. cooking cooking cooking

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Other

The longest bull market in history could be showing worrying echoes of one of the greatest crashes Wall Street has ever seen. Robert Shiller, professor of economics at Yale University and a Nobel laureate, says the steep run-up in this market rally is similar to the excesses of the 1920s before the October 1929 market crash and Great Depression. "The 1920s is quite a legend that people are often thinking about," Shiller said Friday on CNBC's "Trading Nation. " "I look at 1929 particularly as the end of the roaring '20s and it ended in a bout of speculation. Between May and September of '29 the stock market went up over 30 percent in just a few months." Rapid stock market rises began even earlier. From the beginning of 1928 to Black Thursday on Oct. 24, 1929, the surged nearly 50 percent. Over the next five days, the index plummeted 23 percent. It had reached an all-time high just a month before the crash. "At that time it seemed like it was a kind of gambling. The word gambling was used a lot to describe the market at that time so it became vulnerable. We're not exactly in that circumstance but we do have the market that has surged since 2009 so there is something of that spirit today," he said. The S&P 500 hit its market bottom in March 2009. Since those lows, the S&P 500 has rallied 334 percent in the longest stretch on record since World War II without dipping into a bear market. While markets briefly fell into a correction earlier this year, stocks quickly recovered to reach new heights as recently as late September. Shiller says this rebound is driven more by the bullish market narrative than hard data. "It's something about capitalism and the advancement of people willing to take risks. We have a role model in the White House who models that," said Shiller. "Something like that has driven not just the stock market but the whole economy up in the United States and makes the United States the most expensive stock market in the world." The roaring '20s and dot-com mania of the 1990s share in some of that bullish sentiment, said Shiller. "It was a similar story that was boosting the market but they don't last forever and eventually the story starts to wilt," he said. "It's animal spirits — people's excitement about the stock market, bitcoin and other things."

Finance

Investment

When I first started writing erotica in 1999, I would often get the question, “What, exactly, is erotica?” Nowadays, in our post-Fifty Shades of Grey world, I rarely get that kind of confusion. Instead, there remains a bit of a misconception that all of modern erotica is somehow similar to Fifty Shades, with female submissives being the name of the game. The truth: There’s a lot to discover about the genre beyond E.L. James’ massive bestseller. I should know; I’ve edited more than 60 erotica anthologies and have read hundreds of stories for the Best Women’s Erotica of the Year series I curate. Writing erotica has irrevocably changed my life, and has given me new perspectives on my own sexuality as well as those of my fellow human beings. The past decade has seen a boom in women turning to the page to detail sexy stories that would very likely make even Christian Grey blush. And for anyone who knocks erotica as anything less than an art form, it’s interesting to note that of the 130 erotic authors recently surveyed by writer Emmanuelle de Maupassant, roughly 30% of respondents said they have formally studied literature. Women writers come to the world of erotica for different reasons: some as a business opportunity, some to safely explore sexual fantasies they can’t share in their real lives, and some simply to create hot stories that will arouse readers. While I’m firmly of the mindset that fiction is just that, fiction, and can’t be used to divine real-life trends in sexuality, I do think it’s a positive for women that erotic fiction has become more mainstream. Not having erotica tucked away into some dark corner sends the message that it’s okay to think about sex, to think about what turns you on. Erotica gives us permission, in case we didn’t have it already, to acknowledge ourselves as sexual, and sexy, beings, whose desires may be far more complicated than we’re often led to believe. The fact that erotica, along with erotic romance — from blockbuster print bestsellers to upstart indie ebook publishers to websites and magazines like Congress — is now so widely available means that we are becoming more comfortable talking about sex, including some deeply kinky sex. Take a stroll through any given bookstore romance section and you’re just as likely to see handcuffs as you are Fabio-esque images. Female authors are writing about straight women, lesbian women, bisexual women, male-male erotica, and beyond, and in the process, giving their fellow readers access to all sorts of models of sexual fulfillment that don’t fit any kind of mold. When Refinery29 asked me to curate a selection of what’s hot in erotica written by women, I wanted to bring you a sampling of that kind of variety. Ahead, you’ll find excerpts from some of today’s top erotic writers, with stories ranging from sweet to filthy, with just about everything in between. These authors have brought forth the heart of what makes sex such a delight by capturing the lusty, down-and- dirty moments right alongside the emotional nuances that make these stories worth reading — and re-reading. Prepare to be delighted, and surprised, because these writers don’t shy away from BDSM, erotic risk-taking, sex with strangers, male/male lust, historical erotic scenes, or anything else. This time, we’re starting with a handful of steamy stories, but we’ll be featuring a new story every month. Even if you think erotica is not your cup of tea, I hope you’ll check the excerpts out in case something strikes your fancy. And if you have suggestions for authors our readers should know about, please leave a comment sharing your favorites! From Scarlet by Emmanuelle de Maupassant.I twist up the color. It’s the sort of red that leads you into trouble: the red of vamps and femme fatales. I can’t help but smile at that. It may take more than a slash of scarlet to lead me astray!I move the red to my lips and it goes on beautifully, thick and creamy. Darker than I thought it would be, yet suiting my complexion. I give myself a wink.You’re not looking too bad. Bloody good lipstick, I think. Why not undo a button? So I do. Then I fluff my hair.It takes only those few seconds for the color to cast its spell. A strange confidence suffuses me, running through the lattice of my veins, pulsing to my groin. My breasts swell under the constriction of my bra, nipples stiffening. A she-wolf, long sleeping in her winter cave, has woken, bringing with her a hunger for flesh.I’d been feeling tired, wanting nothing more than hot water on my body and the solace of alcohol, but I want something else now.I want a man.I return to the party, where the lights have dimmed. Any man will do.Read more. From The Discipline by Jade A. WatersThe sun hadn’t fully risen when I woke, and the light trickling through the sheer curtains was gentle enough that I kept my eyes closed. The fact that I lay here with Dean on Christmas morning brought a smile to my lips. Our moments, from lusty and hot like last night to this sweetness in our sleep beside one another, never stopped enthralling me.I stretched out my leg, careful not to shift too hard on the mattress surface, but Dean stirred behind me. His hand reached out to brush over my hip.“Are you awake?” he whispered.“Yes. Barely.”“Mmm.” He uttered the noise before scooting against me, the width of his chest warm on my back and his legs folding up beneath my thighs. He brushed aside my hair, then pressed soft kisses on my neck and shoulder. “Good morning.”“Morning.”I looped my arm around my waist, grazing the fingers he’d laid on my hip before he slid them up over my arm, then under it to glide over the Greek letters on my side. ελευθερία. Eleutheria.Do you find freedom when captured?He’d asked me this our first morning together, his fingers playing over my tattoo like they were now after we’d shared a wild night, where he’d invited me to explore this intense, delectable world with him. It’d been easy to say yes, because how could one refuse the adventures it felt like she’d been craving her entire life? Dean had drawn each and every one of my desires into the open and somehow inspired even more.“Do you know what I dreamed of?” he asked.“What?”“Last night. The way you looked over my knee.”Read more. From Just One Night by Kyra Davis.Mr. Dade’s before me, holding a single drink.“You’re not joining me?” I ask.Mr. Dade’s smile widens as he places the glass in my hand. “Oh, I’ll be joining you.”I sip the scotch and then sip again. It’s beautiful. Just like this room, with its warm gold hues and notes of luxury.He takes back the glass. “My turn.”He extracts an ice cube, uses it to trace a path along the neckline of my dress. As the cool, wet surface touches my breasts, I feel my nipples harden as they reach out to him, begging him to go further. He responds by tasting the hints of scotch on my skin — light kisses filled with heat, his hands now on my hips. I’m breathing again but each breath is shallow as I struggle to stay still.He lifts the scotch glass again and brings it to my lips, tipping it back just slightly so that the smoky taste only trickles over my tongue. And then his fingers slip into the glass again and this time the melting ice is moved up my thighs. My body and my mind are no longer connected. I feel my legs part, only slightly at first but as he slowly pushes my dress up, I encourage him with increased access.Read more. From Craving Flight by Tamsen Parker.Here I am. Naked in front of a man for the first time in five years. For the first time since my divorce. I hope with all my heart this will be the last man who will see me this way. That I’ll be able to give myself to him fully, perhaps even more than he knows. There’s only one last piece of my plumage left to give way and though I see motion out of the corner of my eye, it takes longer for his touch to reach me than I’d expect, as if he hesitated.But then his hands are roving the tightly wound scarves, searching for the place to start. He doesn’t ask for help, so I don’t give him any, but let him fumble until he finds the place where the ends are pinned. He unwinds the bound length and lets it rest against my back.“I’ve been dreaming of this.” His voice is thick with desire or emotion. It’s difficult to tell which because I can’t see his face. “Every night for weeks, I’ve dreamed of you coming to me. I could imagine your body, but this…this was a mystery.”Reverence. That’s what colors the timbre of his voice.Read more. From Agnes Moor’s Wild Knight by Alyssa Cole.“Would you like more wine?” Gareth’s velvety burr ended the silence between them. He had addressed her directly, and she could no longer protect herself by pretending he wasn’t there.She turned to see him holding a flagon toward her cup solicitously, as if she hadn’t been carefully ignoring him for most of the evening. His gaze on her was a living thing, like the fire licking at the wood in the hearth.“You are the visitor here, Your Lordship,” she said, trying to keep her voice even-keeled. The consummate hostess. “It is I who should be serving you.”His eyes went dark at her words.“Do you wish to serve me?” he asked in a low voice, leaning closer to her. “Because I do not require a wench to do my bidding. What I desire is that which would give you pleasure. If this wine gives you pleasure, I will pour it. If there is something else you would ask of me, it is yours.”Read more. From Goodbye Paradise by Sarina BowenThe hotel room door opened with a click. We walked inside, and Caleb shut it behind us. Then he leaned on the door and sighed. “How lucky are we?”“So lucky that it cannot be measured,” I said, looking around the tidy room. I kicked off my shoes, and then thought better of it. “Should we go eat something? Are you hungry?”Caleb gave me a wolfish grin. “Not for food.”Oh. A dangerous tingle settled into my groin, just from the look on his face. I looked away. I took off my jacket, and stripped off my sweater. I was tired of wearing the same less-than-clean clothes. “Tomorrow we can do laundry, maybe,” I said. It wasn’t that I wanted to discuss laundry. But I was feeling self-conscious all of a sudden, now that I was alone in a bedroom with Caleb.If Caleb had an opinion about laundry, I didn’t hear it. He walked over to one of the beds, yanking down the covers, exposing the sheets. Then he began to methodically remove all his clothes. He didn’t stop at the sweater, like I had. His shirt, T-shirt, jeans and socks all hit the deck.Read more. From Hold Me Down by Sara Taylor Woods.“Give me your hands.”I frowned at him.“Talia.” His voice was sharp. “Give me your hands.”I did. He held my wrists in the stretch of one big hand, lifting them over my head, laying me down again. I watched the pulse hammer in his throat as he leaned down to tie me to his headboard. The knots weren’t tight, but I had no interest in trying to get away. I lay stretched out on his bed, and he finally — finally — unzipped my skirt and slid it down my legs.To be honest, I hadn’t expected to be naked in front of Sean Poole when I got dressed that evening. I’d indulged in some wishful thinking (as I did basically all the time), but I didn’t really own any sexy underwear. Tonight’s panties had a green heart-shaped argyle pattern. They cut a little high up on my cheeks. Nothing special.But he murmured, “Jesus, look at you.”I blushed and looked away. His hands slid up my thighs and his fingers curled around the waistband of my panties and pulled them down.Oh, come on. The lights were on, and he was going to look, like he’d fucking looked at everything else, like he could memorize it.“Sean, listen—”“Hush,” he said again, and looked up at me. “Are you going to make me gag you?”Read more. From A Gentleman in the Street by Alisha RaiHis hand came down on her ass, not hard enough to hurt, but enough to warm. She gave a yelp that was abruptly cut off when his hand lingered, stroking the red mark he had left behind. “You like that?”She wanted to smile but controlled it, fearful he would see it and think she was laughing at him. There was a hint of pleading in his question. He was hoping beyond hope that she liked his palm smacking her, because he clearly liked it very much.She stretched her hands down over his back and scraped her fingernails over his ass, which clenched in reaction. “I adore it,” she purred.The room spun around her as he tossed her on the bed, and then he was there, a couple hundred pounds of aroused male bending over her, bracketing her smaller body. “Really?”“Really.” She drew her leg up, sliding it over his muscular thigh. “Would you like to do it again?”Small white lines formed around his mouth. “Yes.”She craned up, touching her nose to his. “How many times have you jerked off, thinking of spanking my ass?”A shudder ran through him. “Too many.”“Was I a bad little slut in these fantasies?”He closed his eyes and inhaled, deep and slow. “I don’t like that word.”“What word?”He licked his lips, his shoulders tensing. “Slut.”“You seem to. In this context.”Read more. From “Scissoring” by Annabeth Leong in Inked: Sexy Tales of Tattoo Erotica edited by Anna SkyWas it her imagination, or was her new scissors tattoo actually burning on her arm? The longer Letty spent pretending to be the person Toni apparently wanted her to be, the more she enjoyed it. Wasn’t this what anonymous encounters were all about? Discovery? If things went badly, Letty never had to see Toni again. She didn’t even care if things became so awkward she had to leave the concert early. Before meeting Toni, she’d been feeling old and out of place anyway.The door to a stall swung open. Letty still hadn’t answered Toni’s question. Brazen Toni had things covered, though. She raised one elegant eyebrow and headed for it, glancing back at Letty to see if she was following.“Jesus Christ,” Letty muttered under her breath. She wasn’t a lesbian. She’d never wanted a woman before.But she knew she’d never forgive herself if she didn’t find out what would happen locked in a small space with Toni. Touching the scissors tattoo for luck, she reminded herself of all the years she’d spent feeling that something more had to be out there somewhere. This was something more.Letty took a deep breath and slipped in after her, locking the door behind them.Read more. From In Her Closet by Tasha L. Harrison“So let’s talk about your aversion to casual sex,” I began.“Ohh-kay,” he stammered. “What do you want to know?”“Well, for starters, how strict is this rule?”“What do you mean?”“I mean, what is your definition of sex? Is it the Bill Clinton definition or the Mormon definition?”“Well, first off, it’s not a rule. It’s just what I think is best for me right now. And as far as strictness goes…no intercourse.”“No intercourse?”“Nope.”“None?”“None.”“Damn,” I cursed under my breath. “I really wanted to fuck you tonight.”He laughed. “Was that your mission?”“Yes. And I fear I’ve failed miserably before I even left the base. But…can Iask you something?”“Ask me anything,” he said invitingly.Read more. From Untouchable by Elizabeth SaFleurEvery candle in Carson’s room was lit, over two dozen pillars similar to the ones he’d used in a demonstration he’d given at Club Accendos months ago. The young girls giggled and screamed as their partners dripped hot wax on their bellies and breasts. No one got burned or hurt. The sensation play simply brought out their innate melodrama. He’d been bored to tears. Right now, nothing interested him more.After laying London down on the table, he took a moment to admire the wisps of caramel and chocolate strands by her cheeks, her ponytail dripping over the edge of the table.“Are you cold?” he asked.“No.” She shifted and the plastic crinkled underneath the sheet. “I’m fine.”Carson freed his belt from her waist. A loud clank when it hit the floor made her startle.He picked up a bottle of oil and snapped open the top. After filling his palm with the lubricant, he spread it over London’s stomach. He moved to her breasts, kneading and then pinching her raspberry nipples. Her back arched into his hands, and her hands grew white from fisting the sheets by her side.Read more. From “Arielle” in Cathedral of Furs: Ardent Erotica Inspired by Anaïs Nin by Lana FoxWhen I walked in, you were still in your work suit. I think that’s how you wanted it — you’d be the manager, the ringmaster, and we’d be the ponies, turning your tricks.That’s why you had us kiss one another, yes?I was shy at first, having never kissed a woman, but Jeanne was ravenous, her mouth ardent, as if she’d been waiting years for me, and she stained my mouth with her cherry-dark lipstick, with kisses like crushed velvet — selfless, selfish, all and nothing. As our mouths sank together, our breasts touched, mine adorned only with the finest satin, hers covered with gauzy material studded with teardrops of finery. Held by her so we breathed as one, I felt her hardened nipples. I swept my hand against her thigh and the curve of her buttock, feeling her body so warm, so smooth inside her dress.Beneath my skin, my blood was beating, making every little part of me flush and gasp. I was alive, so alive, especially when I felt your arms encircling me from behind, and your sex — hard and insistent — pressing at my back. I threw back my head then, making ardent sounds, as Jeanne lay soft-damp kisses down my throat, and you explored my body through the thin satin, your hands caressing me with slippery smoothness, as if I were already bare. I felt you touch my hips, my sides, your lips insistent against my nape. I felt you gather me tighter than Jeanne, grinding against me.Desperation. Need.Read more. From Bollywood and the Beast by Suleikha SnyderShe wasn’t a virgin. That much was true. But this was hardly in the same category as anything she’d experienced after the prom or a set-striking party. Impulsive, wild, frantic groping under the shelter of exotic trees and hanging vines. Seducing a man over 10 years older than her. Whispering “I love you” and meaning it. Taj made the impossible seem possible. He turned the unthinkable into the spoken and the done.Rocky straddled his lap, her skirt hiked above her knees and the sun-warmed wooden bench marking patterns into her skin. Taj shucked his shirt and tossed it aside with defiance, as if even now he was daring her to cringe, to pull away, to run. Not a chance. She kissed the jagged scars down the side of his throat and every pale burn that ran down his chest. It was just like his face…the combination of pain and perfection. As if the hand of fate had chosen to strike only one side, leaving the other as a reminder of what he used to be. And it didn’t matter. Because she cherished both equally, touched both equally.“You can’t scare me, Taj. Don’t even try.”He rubbed his jaw against her cheek and then turned to catch her earlobe between his teeth and tug. “How can I, sweet Rakhee, when you are scaring me?”He was shivering under her hands. But not from fear.“We should not,” he said, even as his body told her differently.Read more. From “Tell Me a Secret” from A Bloom in Cursive by Leandra VaneJake kissed like he sang. Easing slowly into hard, guttural desire, and once he got started he didn’t stop. His touch was like melted sugar, his taste was smoky and bitter, like I had always imagined a good punk rocker would. His body was soft, poetic, and I scratched lines down his back, challenging him to give up all his secrets.When we finally broke apart, we were both heaving. He pulled the CD player remote from his pocket, silenced the music, and tossed the remote aside. He frowned.“I did this to make you happy. Not get into your pants.”“Do you want in my pants?”“Yes. But we can wait.”“I’ve been waiting.”Challenge accepted.Jake picked me up and slammed my ass on the table. He had hid his muscle from me like I had hid my longing, but neither of us held back as we crashed into each other.I pulled his sweater up his back and over his shoulder blades. The material was tight and clung to his smooth skin, tangling up in his arms. By the time he wrestled free of the pesky layer I had tossed my sweatshirt across the room and popped the button on my jeans open.I felt so rock and roll there on the table in my yellow polka dot bra, drinking in the contours of his long, smooth frame.He snaked his fingers down my back, sending a shiver up my spine. With a flick my bra sprang away from my body and a cool sweep of air tantalized my tits.Jake gripped the metal of my left nipple ring between his teeth and gave a little pull. The shot of pain was soothed by a swish of his tongue and I began shaking. I reached down and fumbled for his fly, but it was out of my reach.Jake reared back and hooked his thumbs in the back belt loops of my jeans and tugged. My bare ass slapped against the fake wood panel and I let out a shriek. The denim became bunched at my knees and I cursed myself for wearing laced up combat boots. I scrambled for my shoe laces but he pushed me back on the table.Read more. From The Siren and the Sword (Magic University Book 1) by Cecilia Tan"Soothsaying Practices of the Western World" left Kyle dizzy and wondering how he could even hope to grasp all the practices they'd covered. Tea leaves, coffee grounds, molten lead hardened in water, crystal balls, runes, Tarot, flame scrying, palmistry, psychometry, weathercasting ― and to think they hadn't even gone into astrology because that was a whole separate class!The magically-raised students seemed to have grown up taking these things for granted. Kyle wondered how many omens he was missing every single day. He'd known that if you found a penny it was good luck, but he'd thought it was only the ones that were heads-up. Apparently, it was all pennies, though? The bit about black cats and walking under ladders: False. But there were other ones his classmates insisted were true, and Kyle was finding it harder and harder to keep track of them.He opened his textbook on omens and tried to read, but was too distracted by worrying to actually absorb what he was looking at.Thankfully, Jess came in not long after that. "Hello, sweetness," she said, planting a kiss on his lips. "What are you doing hanging around?""Oh, I thought maybe I'd catch Alex to help me with some studying, but apparently he's at the library."Jess pursed her lips. "I've never seen him actually study this hard before. He's been there a lot lately. Maybe his project is behind schedule. "Kyle sighed.Jess slipped onto the couch next to him. "Want me to help you with your studying instead?"He put his arm around her and pulled her in for a kiss. "I can think of something I'd rather do. Your roommate said she'll be at the lab all night.""Oh? On a Thursday? How funny." Jess's smile turned sly. "But convenient. Maybe you're leading a charmed life, Kyle Wadsworth?""Oh, um...""I have to write five pages tonight, but come on." She took him by the hand and pulled him into the bedroom. "Maybe we can kill two birds with one stone."She closed the door behind him. "Take off your clothes and lie down on the bed."Read more. From The Boss by Abigail BarnetteI couldn’t believe I was doing this. I couldn’t believe it was actually happening, after six years. After I had given up hope of ever having a sexual experience as satisfying as my night with Leif. Every muscle in my body tensed with anticipation. My breath caught in my chest as my fingers ventured down, under the black lace of my panties. I thought back to my white cotton underpants that night at the Crowne Plaza, and I giggled to myself. If anyone had told me back then that I’d be sex-ambushing the man six years later, I wouldn’t have believed I would have the nerve.I closed my eyes and stroked two fingers down my slit. My hips lifted. I’d been so eager for this moment, now it seemed like my skin was too sensitive to touch. I thought of what Neil would see when he walked in, and remembered the undisguised appreciation in his eyes while he’d watched our hands on my body.My stomach fluttered with nervous butterflies. What if he was expecting the girl from six years ago, who’d only had sex with fumbling teenage boys? What if he got here and was turned off by my initiative? After all, he’d found my naiveté so endearing the last time we were together.Oh shut up, I scolded myself. Would you really want to fuck a guy who only wanted you for your sexual inexperience? No, because that would be weird.I’d made a salient point, I had to concede.My fingertips circled my clit, and a shaky breath stuttered across my lips. My flesh felt hot and heavy under my hand, and I cupped myself, letting my fingers slip between the folds of my sex.The door clicked open, and the weight of my desire became like an electric current. My lungs seized, my limbs quivered. I opened my eyes, a soft groan escaping me when I saw Neil there. He closed the door and dropped his messenger bag. His gaze met mine and held it as he walked toward me in his long black coat and leather gloves. I don’t know how I managed to maintain eye contact, but I did, and I had never felt so sexy in my entire life. Why had I ever doubted that this would please him?His maddeningly neutral expression gave nothing away, but he couldn’t disguise the hunger in his eyes. Oh, he wanted me. He stood over me, looking down as I continued to move my hand beneath my panties.“Take those off.”Read more. From S.E.C.R.E.T. Shared by L. Marie AdelineWe made it down the short aisle. Standing in front of the cockpit door, she gave three quick knocks. A second later, a sandy-haired young man with thick glasses and a space between his front teeth poked his head out. Oh dear. I hated to admit that my shallow Southern heart sank, though I politely pulled my grin a little wider, reminding myself what the C in S.E.C.R.E.T. stood for. If my fantasy man wasn’t...compelling, I didn’t have to go through with the fantasy.“Is this our lovely visitor?” he asked with a lisp. Oh dear.“Yes,” the flight attendant said. “Miss Dauphine Mason, this is our multitalented First Officer Friar. Miss Mason is keen to see what goes on in here. It might help her with her fear of flying.”“Ah, yes. Dispel the mystery and the fear disperses. That’s Captain Nathan’s specialty. He can show you around while I stretch my legs. Three’s a crowd in here! Good luck!”After mangling all those S’s, First Officer Friar made a beeline to the back of the plane. Out the window in front was a dark sky; below, nothing but black water. The high whine of the engines masked the screams in my own head as my legs now turned to cement. Eileen nudged me through the narrow doorway.“I’ll be back in a little while,” she said, looking at her watch. “Enjoy your flying lesson.” She shut the door behind her.The pilot sat silhouetted in the window. The only thing I could see above the seat was the back of his head. He wasn’t wearing a jacket, only his white shirt, the muscles on his arms apparent beneath his sleeves as he flicked a number of switches from left to right on a panel in front of him. Thankfully, the white noise drowned out my pounding heart.“Be with you in a moment, Dauphine. I just want to make sure autopilot’s running smoothly. A robot takes over for most of the flight from now on. A very smart one.” There it was. That accent again. The man from Security! The man with the sexy British accent! The air left my chest and the pressure squeezed my lungs. Feeling tantalized and terrified at that same time had a bad effect on my stomach. I slapped both hands on the curved walls of the cockpit to steady myself as the plane rose and straightened. The pilot faced a wall of lights and levers that seemed to blink and shift on their own. Then he finally turned his chair around, aviators off, brown eyes on me. I gasped. “Don’t worry, we’re on automatic, but we’re not going to be alone in here for long, so I apologize ahead of time for the furtive nature of our interlude,” he said, loosening the top button of his uniform. “But I need to know, before we continue with our tutorial on the safety of flight: Do you accept the Step, Miss Mason?”I couldn’t believe this was happening. “Here? Now?”“Yes. Here and now. Trust me when I say I can help you with your fear of flying. And a few other things too, I suspect,” he said, leaning back into the plush leather of his pilot seat, taking me in from bottom to top.“I’ve never been in an airplane before,” I muttered, stalling.“I understand that,” he said, steepling his fingers. “But you are doing a fine job of your first time.”Standing four feet from a complicated instrument panel that the pilot was no longer facing, I watched dark clouds whip by the nose of the plane through the high, narrow windows.“Are we...safe in here?”“Very safe,” he said. “Safer than driving. Safer than almost any other activity you can do at hundreds of miles an hour, high in the air.”“What if there’s turbulence?” I asked, just as we hit a little bump. I yelped. My arms flew up to grasp the ceiling.He took it as a cue to gesture me over to him.Here we go! I slowly, carefully, closed the gap between us, and over his shoulder got a better view of the world before me. It was dusk, but light poked through the clouds, illuminating little towns and villages nestled in the foot of a mountain range. They looked like a strand of jewels dropped from a great height. It was beautiful, but still I felt gut-punched and queasy. Levers and buttons continued to move in a ghostly way all around us.“Turbulence is just air pockets. The plane will ride through it. And I’m right here if anything goes awry.”I stood above him now, his head level with my breasts. “Do you accept the Step?” Handsome face, kind eyes, great smell, manly hands, but the clincher truly was his beautifully tailored shirt. Terribly shallow, I know.“Yes, I accept.”“Then may I help you off with your knickers?”Read more. From The Virgin by Tiffany ReiszNow, here they were, alone in Kingsley’s bedroom. And she was going to hurt him. And she’d never done anything like this before in her life. Where did she start?She took a step back and looked Kingsley up and down. He needed something. Not a collar, but something, something to make everything different between them.“How do you feel about blindfolds?” she asked.“I don’t mind them, but I’d rather see you.”Stepping back in front of him, she started to unbutton his vest. She’d undressed him before, at his command, but never of her own volition. He stood there, still and submissive, letting her pull the vest down and off his arms. She thought about folding it, thought about hanging it up. This was part of one of Kingsley’s sexiest Regency-style suits, after all. And likely, one of his most expensive. Instead, she paused, looked at it, and then dropped it on the floor.“You’re more like him than you can possibly know,” Kingsley said.To which Eleanor replied, “Don’t speak until spoken to.”Kingsley bowed his head in apology. She felt something new surging through her veins, something sweet and spiked and utterly intoxicating.Power.Kingsley remained still as she unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it out of his trousers. He had such a beautiful body — all lean muscle and old scars — that she couldn’t stop herself from kissing his naked shoulder as she pushed his shirt down his arms. First, a kiss on the naked shoulder; then, on the naked bicep. Then, the naked forearm and the naked wrist.The naked wrist.She left him standing there while she went down on her hands and knees by the bed. She pulled out a suitcase and opened it up. Inside was bondage equipment — ropes, adjustable spreader bars, cuffs, and collars.And gauntlets.She took out two black leather gauntlets and laid them on the bed. She’d seen male submissives at The Eighth Circle wearing various sorts of leather. Bicep cuffs, chest harnesses, but her favorite were the gauntlets. They looked so medieval, like something a knight would wear under his armor. And after a battle, he’d strip down to nothing but the dirt and sweat and the leather braces on his wrists.Eleanor lifted Kingsley’s arm and held it against her chest. She wrapped the brace around his forearm and laced it.“You like leather?” he asked. His voice was soft and the gentleness of his tone made her even more nervous.“Yeah, I do. On men, especially.”“Why did you never tell me?”She glanced up at him. “You never asked.”Kingsley narrowed his eyes at her. “I should have asked. What other secrets are you keeping in here?”He touched her temple and let his fingers trail down until they rested on her chest, under her shirt and over her heart.“Lots of secrets,” she whispered.“Tell me all your secrets. Tell me everything you want.”“You,” she said. “Like this.”“Like what?”“Submissive to me.”“You’ve fantasized about this?” he asked. “About me submitting to you?”Read more. From To Italy with Love by Fiona Zedde“Show me your room.”It was Chrisanne’s voice that did it. Low and urgent with heat, it made Iris’ panties pull tight against her moistening flesh. But even though Chrisanne demanded to see her room, she pushed into Iris’ hips with her own. Iris whimpered at the press of her stiffening dick between them. She blindly reached for Chrisanne and slotted their mouths together. Twin groans filled the kitchen.“I missed the way you taste,” she gasped into Chrisanne’s mouth.It was more the way she kissed, an all-in sensuous dance of tongue and lips, her mouth latching on to Iris’ like there was no other sustenance she needed. A hot and sweet sucking on her tongue while her hands roamed over Iris’ back and low on her hips, pressing them urgently together.Chrisanne pulled back. “If you don’t want me to get pussy juice all over your kitchen counter, you need to show me to your room, now.”But Chrisanne was already moving them back, guiding Iris toward where she guessed the bedroom was. Her guess was good enough, so Iris closed her eyes and enjoyed the feel of that hot mouth on hers, the firm pressure of Chrisanne’s thumbs tilting up her jaw so she could nibble and suck her neck. Iris shivered, then winced when her shoulder hit a doorway. Her eyes flew open.Yes, the bedroom…this way. She guided Chrisanne past the guest bathroom and to the bedroom. She scrabbled backward with her hand for the door handle, turned it, and pushed it open.Chrisanne stopped dead. “Where is your bed?”Fuck. In the rush of all the blood in her body flooding south, she forgot about the lack of an actual bed in her bedroom. Since Jasmyn left and took her bed — she’d called to curse her out and demand it back — she’d been sleeping on a pile of comforters in the middle of room. But that didn’t matter now.“My ex.” Iris squeezed Chrisanne’s breasts through her tank top. “She took it.”“Fuck her then.”“No.” She fumbled with the buttons of Chrisanne’s jeans. “You fuck me.”“You’re so corny.” But she seemed very much on board with that plan, yanking down the zipper of Iris’ dress and pulling it off to toss it carelessly aside. “Shit.” Chrisanne stepped back. “I actually forgot how beautiful you were.” She stared at Iris’ body, on display in (thankfully) matching bra and panties.Iris was soaking wet and desperate to get her mouth all over Chrisanne. She yanked down her own panties and got rid of her bra. “Stop telling me and show me.”“Fuck, you’re bossy.”Read more. From The Unicorn by Delphine DrydenThere was a tempo to it, Daniel had realized. A way to pace things, to keep it all in hand. The pain, the rest, the repositioning. The natural end to one whip’s usefulness, and the logical time to pick up a different toy. He was better organized tonight and determined not to accidentally deviate from his planned scene.Mara’s ass and upper thighs were rosy, glowing from the flogger and vivid red in a few spots from the tawse, but not so bad he needed to stop yet. She was drifting in subspace, and probably able to take more pain now. Give that freshly whipped skin a few moments to recover, he knew, and it would be sensitive beyond belief.The cane was slender, some translucent fiber rather than bamboo, and slightly whippy. He tested it on his palm awhile, figuring out how it would fly in the air, realizing he would not need to use his wrist as much. A short, almost choppy, flat stroke.First, more questions.“What about tabletop games?”“Uh...you mean like Monopoly, or RPGs? Or European-style? All of them are yes.”“Nice. Who shot first?”“Greedo! Just kidding, just kidding. Han, duh.”The duh thing couldn’t be allowed to stand. Daniel brought the cane down across the crest of her rump. It sounded thuddier than he’d expected. Mara’s reaction, a shocked gasp, was very gratifying. He gave her a few seconds to let her decide whether to continue.“Original series or Next Generation?”She answered this one more promptly. “Both, but for different reasons.”“Fair enough.”Delia grumbled. “Picard forever. Also Seven of Nine forever.”Mara lifted her face from the horse; tears streaked the cheek Daniel could see, but she didn’t sound upset when she spoke to Delia. “You are not one of those Voyager people?”“No!” Delia stroked her dark hair, hastening to reassure her. “No, I just think Jeri Ryan is really hot. Just throwing it out there.”“Everybody thinks she’s really hot.”Daniel cleared his throat, getting the subs back on task. He didn’t really mind the conversation, though. He liked the apparent truth-serum effect of the whips. Mara had opened up some online, while they were playing, but he wanted to know more. Delia had wanted to know more, too. And asking her random things seemed to keep Mara from getting too trancy. Maybe it would let the scene draw out a while longer.But after a few more questions and strokes of the cane, he was having trouble thinking up stuff to ask her. There was so much eye candy in the room he was really mostly proud of himself for not actively drooling. And Mara, he could tell all too plainly, was already so aroused. Her pert, rounded ass was moving in tiny circles between strokes, as she tried to rub against the nap of the time-softened leather bench. And her mouth kept making an O shape that drove him insane with lust.Read more. From “Appetizer” by Sommer Marsden in The Sexy Librarian’s Big Book of Erotica edited by Rose Caraway“Remember now, Ollie,” Jamie said. “Just tongue, lips, teeth. No fingers. No penetration. That’s for me. Not for you.”“Got it,” Oliver said. He sounded as breathless as I felt.He looked me over slowly at first. My cheeks burned with embarrassment tinted with need. What did he think of me? Of this? Of us? But then I saw the hump in his khakis and realized he had an erection. A quite sizable one if I wasn’t mistaken. I forgot all that when he bent forward, almost as if in prayer, and kissed my inner thighs. First one, then the other. He dragged his soft bee-stung lips up to the very top of my thigh where the skin was the most sensitive. He kissed a maddeningly soft line across my mound and then down the other side. When my hips lifted up to meet his mouth, to tempt him, he finally gave us both what we clearly wanted. His mouth clamped down on me, his lips soft and hot. His tongue parted me, slickening my already juicy pussy with his saliva. His tongue painted insistent swirls on my clitoris until I was gripping the arms of the chair and moving my body up to meet him.Jamie sat and watched. His cock was hard, that much I could tell. His eyes were shiny, mouth set in a fine amused line. He was enjoying this almost as much as me, I realized with what bordered on shock.It had never occurred to me that this fantasy of mine did anything for him. But clearly it did.“Make her come,” he whispered.Oliver sealed his mouth to me, using the rigid tip of his tongue to nudge my clit over and over and over until I was panting for breath. Then he stopped. His mouth hovered near my pussy, but he’d pulled back. He didn’t touch me. My head pounded with blood, and I shifted restlessly. I wanted to come. I needed to come. Desperately.Oliver glanced up at me with his pretty, gem-colored eyes and gave me a crooked grin. Then he blew warm breath across my damp sex. Before I could register this new tactic, his mouth was back on me, his tongue back at me. Working me.I came with a rough cry and an eager thrust of my hips. Thrusting up with such a force I felt the bite of his upper teeth against the smooth skin of my mound.I sank back and sighed. Then I began to laugh.“Good?” Jamie asked. I could tell he was asking both of us.“Good,” I echoed, trying to catch my breath.“One more?” Oliver said.Before I could answer, Jamie nodded once and said, “Yeah, but after that first one she’s really sensitive. So you’ll have to hold her legs.”Read more.

Adult

Pornography

Looking to surf the mobile web privately, but generally prefer the Google Search app over standalone browsers like Safari or Chrome? Then you’ll appreciate the latest update to the Google Search app for iOS, which now introduces an “incognito mode” that you can further protect using Touch ID, along with a host of other changes. While private browsing has long been an option in most browsers, Google’s search app has been without the feature, despite the fact that many mobile consumers today use Google’s app as their main entry point to the web on their iPhone. The app today is ranked slightly higher than Google’s Chrome browser, in fact, as the #2 Utility and #30 Overall app on the iTunes App Store, versus Chrome’s #3 and #34 slots in Utilities and Overall, respectively. To use the new private search feature, you simply toggle on the incognito mode option in the Settings, when you don’t want your search and browsing history saved. In addition, you can also switch on Touch ID for incognito mode, which means that no one but you can re-enter your existing incognito session. Once enabled, you can even kick off a new incognito mode session via 3D Touch on the app icon. The addition of incognito mode is the biggest new feature in the updated app, but Google says there have been other tweaks as well, including performance improvements and increased stability on iOS 10, making the app twice as reliable as the earlier version. Another notable feature is the ability to watch YouTube videos right in the search results. Before, you would have to open a new page or visit the YouTube app. The update is live now on the App Store.

Other

Other

When most of us hear "tantra," we think about sex, Sting, and steamy sex — not necessarily a Pilates workout. Sure, tantra is often brought up in the context of sex, and many people including Sting use the principles to connect to their partners and enhance their sex lives. But sex is just one aspect of tantra, and as whacky as it sounds, tantric principles like breathing can be applied to your workouts. At its core, tantra is an at least 5,000 year-old system of health, wellness, and empowerment, explains Meg Berry, a tantra expert and classically trained mat Pilates instructor based in South Orange, New Jersey. Tantra is a school of thought that incorporates meditation and breathing, and is broken up into "sutras" or texts. The most well-known sutra is the Kama Sutra, which is why tantra is often associated with sex. "Tantra is really all about empowering yourself to create your health," she says. "When you have that functionality and that connection with real life, that makes you feel blissful." In other words, everything in tantra comes back to integrating the mind with the body, she says. So, how exactly does tantra relate to Pilates? According to Berry, there's a natural link, because they're both "core-centered philosophies." In tantra, there's a belief that people (regardless of their gender) have feminine energies in their lower chakras, and masculine in their upper chakras. "Our lower chakras are what we call in Pilates, your core," Berry says. But, core work isn't the only similarity between Pilates and tantra. Pilates is a system of exercises designed to promote core strength and stability, but it's also "a moving meditation," in that it involves integrating the mind and the body through the breath, Berry says. Breath is a cornerstone of mat Pilates, and most classes incorporate specific breathing techniques that allow you to activate your abdominal muscles to perform exercises. In tantra — particularly during tantric sex — using breath is fundamental to feeling connected to yourself and the world around you. "The philosophy of tantra and the philosophy of Pilates are remarkably compatible, to put it mildly," Berry says. "I actually wonder if Joseph Pilates studied tantra and was influenced by it." At Berry's Pilates studio, Artful Body, she teaches a class that fuses Pilates and tantra, called Tantra Core. But she says anyone can bring tantric breath into their workouts or daily activities. Learning tantric breathwork is exercise in itself, but there are some helpful YouTube video tutorials that you can use to learn. If you are curious about tantric breath, the basic gist is that your core muscles have to contract and release fully each time you breathe, she says. It sounds simple, but Berry says it can make a huge difference in your workouts. Tantric breath can be incredibly invigorating, Berry says. "It really teaches you how to manage your energy, and does build up your energy and vitality so that you feel ready to take on the world," she says. If you're able to harness all that energy in your workout, then it could help you get a deeper result, or at the very least make you more aware of what's happening in your body. If this all goes over your head, that's understandable, because tantra is a heady concept to digest. But, at the very least, consider paying more attention to your breath, and see what happens when you bring that skill into everything that you do. And if it doesn't instantly help your workout, at the very least it could boost your sex life. Read These Stories Next:Tantric Sex Tips That Anyone Can Try Tonight Yes, You Can Have Tantric Sex By Yourself 5 Steps To Better Sex, According To A Tantric Expert

Other

Other

BEIJING (Reuters) - The first batch of companies will start trading on the STAR Market on July 22, the Shanghai Stock Exchange said on Friday. China launched the Nasdaq-style tech board last month. Reporting by Beijing Monitoring Desk, Andrew Galbraith and Samuel Shen in Shanghai; Editing by Susan Fenton

Other

Other

Zsa Zsa the English bulldog, whose droopy tongue, protruding teeth and penchant for Slim Jims earned her fleeting moments of fame last month as the winner of the World’s Ugliest Dog contest, died on Tuesday. She was 9. Her death was announced by her owner, Megan Brainard of Anoka, Minn., who said the dog had died in her sleep. She said Zsa Zsa had not been having any health issues. The average life expectancy for bulldogs, according to the American Kennel Club, is eight to 10 years. The news of her death was first reported by TODAY.com. Zsa Zsa’s life had modest beginnings. She spent the first five years in a puppy mill in Missouri before she was put up for auction and bought by a rescue group. After Ms. Brainard adopted her, Zsa Zsa spent her days lounging around, refusing to do much of anything unless food was involved. Her favorite snacks? A Slim Jim or a steak burrito from Chipotle. But her life turned into a cross-country whirlwind after she won the World’s Ugliest Dog contest in Petaluma, Calif., on June 23. Her family drove 30 hours from Minnesota to enter her in the contest, which is actually a celebration of unsightly dogs and is intended to promote pet adoption. Zsa Zsa’s résumé was tough to beat: a dry, dangling tongue. A severe underbite, with crooked teeth that almost touched her nose. A dose of drool. Ms. Brainard said she had to carry the dog across the stage and entice her to impress the judges. “She was eating part of a Slim Jim on the table and just sneezed all over them and was drooling on them,” she said. In the end, Zsa Zsa bested 13 other dogs to seize the title. After that, her life became as glamorous as that of Zsa Zsa Gabor, the actress she was named for. The bulldog sported a pink manicure. Fans wore T-shirts adorned with her face. She visited New York City to appear on national TV. She even flew first class. “I felt like I was traveling with Brad Pitt or something,” Ms. Brainard said. “People would be screaming her name. It was just crazy.” In Zsa Zsa’s final weeks, Ms. Brainard said, the world got to learn what she knew all along: When you’re loved, looks don’t matter at all. OpinionMargaret Renkl

Pets

Dogs

Winning five Olympic medals is a science; wearing five Olympic medals is an art. Nobody knows this better than swimming legend Michael Phelps, who owns so many medals he could probably fashion them into a kind of chainmail unitard if he so wished. As he departs the Olympic scene, Phelps is passing on his medal-wearing knowledge to the next generation of stars, namely fellow swimming sensation Katie Ledecky. The record-smashing phenom had some trouble aligning the five medals she won in Rio—four gold, one silver. She asked for some help from the veteran Phelps, whom Ledecky has looked up to at least since this fateful autograph session ten years ago, and the old timer was happy to oblige: "It depends how you put them on. I put them on one-by-one, then tuck them behind." Sound advice from the master. Try to remember that the next time you win five medals—an eventuality Phelps feels fairly confident about. As he explained how he knew the ropes—"I've done it before"—he added, "Don't worry, you'll learn." Phelps and Ledecky took part in a photoshoot alongside gymnast Simone Biles for the cover of Sports Illustrated: Biles has won two more medals in the time since this photo was taken, so she might have to re-enroll in the Phelps Medal-Arranging Academy.

Sports

Athletics

President TrumpDonald John TrumpFacebook releases audit on conservative bias claims Harry Reid: 'Decriminalizing border crossings is not something that should be at the top of the list' Recessions happen when presidents overlook key problems MORE said Tuesday he is not looking to restart his administration’s practice of separating migrant families at the southern border amid reports that he was considering reinstating the policy. Trump, during an Oval Office meeting with the president of Egypt, denied that he was considering putting the policy back in place, but he vouched for its effectiveness as a deterrent to illegal border crossings. "We're not looking to do that, no," he said. Trump argued that without the ability to separate families who cross into the U.S. illegally, "it brings a lot more people to the border." But he maintained he was not looking to restart the practice. "Once you don’t have it, that’s why you see many more people coming. They’re coming like it’s a picnic because, 'let's go to Disneyland,'" he said. The Trump administration instituted a "zero-tolerance" immigration policy last year that directed law enforcement to criminally prosecute those caught crossing the border illegally, which subsequently led to the separation of thousands of migrant families. Amid intense backlash from lawmakers in both parties over the morality of the policy, Trump signed an executive order last June halting the separations after contending only Congress could address the problem. Multiple reports published Monday said the president wanted to reinstitute the policy as he attempts to clamp down on illegal border crossings. The reports said that outgoing Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen NielsenKirstjen Michele NielsenTop immigration aide experienced 'jolt of electricity to my soul' when Trump announced campaign Trump casts uncertainty over top intelligence role Juan Williams: Trump, his allies and the betrayal of America MORE opposed the move on legal grounds, citing court rulings and Trump's own executive order. The clash reportedly contributed to her resignation. Nielsen, whose resignation was announced Sunday night, had publicly defended the policy last year. Trump on Tuesday sought to dodge responsibility for the separations, insisting that the Obama administration had implemented a similar policy first. "President Obama had child separation," Trump said. "Take a look. The press knows it, you know it, we all know it. I’m the one that stopped it." Trump has made similar claims about Obama's policies in the past. Multiple fact-checkers have noted that the Obama administration separated children from their families at the border in limited cases, but that it did not have the same "zero-tolerance" policy instituted by the Trump administration. --Updated at 1:10 p.m. View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

Politics

US

May 2 (Reuters) - Italy car sales in April: * rise 11.53 percent to 166,966 units, says the Transport ministry * Fiat Chrysler’s share of the Italian car market stands at 29.19 percent, according to Reuters calculations Further company coverage: (Reporting by Milan newsroom)

Automotive

Vehicles

LUSAKA (Reuters) - Hundreds of people hurled stones and broke into shops owned by foreigners in the Zambian capital Lusaka on Monday, accusing immigrants of being involved in ritual killings, police said. At least six people have been killed in the capital of the southern African nation in the past four weeks and police said some body parts including ears, hearts and genitals had been removed, raising suspicion of ritual killings. “Four shops have been looted so far on suspicion that they (the owners) were involved in the recent murders which have been happening in area,” police spokeswoman Charity Munganga-Chanda said. Residents on Monday chanted “We want peace !” as extra riot police were drafted into troubled areas. Police detained four suspects on Sunday for questioning on suspicion of carrying body parts that were being put through forensic tests to establish whether they belonged to humans. Reporting by Chris Mfula; Editing by Richard Balmforth

Other

Other

Nov 22 (Reuters) - Autoliv Inc * AUTOLIV CONFIRMS CONCLUSION OF SPECIFIC PART OF ONGOING INVESTIGATION WITH THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION * SAYS ‍A SPECIFIC PART OF AN ONGOING INVESTIGATION BY EUROPEAN COMMISSION HAD BEEN CONCLUDED FOR EUR 8.1 MILLION​ * SAYS ‍MORE SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF ITS INVESTIGATION CONTINUES​ * SAYS ‍MANAGEMENT DOES NOT BELIEVE OUTCOME OF THIS DISCRETE PORTION OF EC’S INVESTIGATION PROVIDES AN INDICATION OF TOTAL PROBABLE LOSS​ Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:

Technology

Telecommunications

(Adds details, quotes, background) PARIS, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Total criticised on Thursday the European Investment Bank's decision to stop financing all fossil fuel projects including gas, saying companies that might switch to gas-fired power plants from heavy-polluting coal could now reconsider. "I think it is a poor decision by the European Investment Bank (EIB) not to finance any new gas project. This decision has been taken on an unfair ground, driven by opinions that are clearly ignoring the benefit of gas compared to coal," Philippe Sauquet, Total's head of gas, power and renewables, told a gas and power conference in Paris. "Gas has never been so much criticised in Europe," he said. The EIB said last week that it would stop funding fossil fuel projects at the end of 2021, a landmark decision that potentially deals a blow to billions of dollars of gas projects in the pipeline. Sauquet said the decision ignored the importance of gas compared with pure electricity in heating, adding that during cold days in France for example, gas helps heat homes using the equivalent of around 10 nuclear reactors in a single day. Gas enables the increase of intermittent renewables in the power mix, he added. "It is bad news because in the end this kind of decision will bring more CO2 emissions in Europe," Sauquet said, adding that some companies that were considering the move from coal to gas would now question why they should close their coal power plants and would rather keep those for now. "This decision would give a bad example to countries that really need to increase their energy production and today do not have the incentives to make the right choice and move from coal," Sauquet said. (Reporting by Bate Felix; Editing by Edmund Blair and Susan Fenton)

Renewable Energy

Wind Power

Nov 29 (Reuters) - Herald Holdings Ltd: * HY PROFIT ‍ATTRIBUTABLE TO EQUITY SHAREHOLDERS OF COMPANY HK$16.8 MILLION VERSUS HK$106.9 MILLION Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:

Industry

Manufacturing

The Supreme Court on Monday struck down a trademark provision blocking "immoral or scandalous" trademarks. The justices ruled in favor of a company called "FUCT" whose trademark was earlier found to have violated the provision. The court found that the statute can't stand because it "disfavors certain ideas." Justices Elena KaganElena KaganTrump pays respects to late Justice Stevens at Supreme Court Kagan: I will 'never accept' Supreme Court's ruling on partisan gerrymandering Liberal, conservative Supreme Court justices unite in praising Stevens MORE, Clarence ThomasClarence ThomasWhat to know about the fight over Trump's tax returns Liberal, conservative Supreme Court justices unite in praising Stevens Overnight Health Care — Sponsored by Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids — Harris walks back support for eliminating private insurance | Missouri abortion clinic to remain open through August | Georgia sued over 'heartbeat' abortion law MORE, Ruth Bader GinsburgRuth Bader GinsburgRuth Bader Ginsburg defends conservative Justices Kavanaugh and Gorsuch Ginsburg dismisses court packing and term limits for Supreme Court justices Ginsburg says she hopes to serve on bench 'as long as' Stevens did MORE, Samuel AlitoSamuel AlitoOvernight Defense: Esper sworn in as Pentagon chief | Confirmed in 90-8 vote | Takes helm as Trump juggles foreign policy challenges | Senators meet with woman accusing defense nominee of sexual assault Esper sworn in as Pentagon chief Trump pays respects to late Justice Stevens at Supreme Court MORE and Neil GorsuchNeil GorsuchThe executive branch's job is to enforce laws, not make them Lewandowski on potential NH Senate run: If I run, 'I'm going to win' Here's how senators can overcome their hyperpartisanship with judicial nominees MORE ruled in the majority. Chief Justice John Roberts, alongside Justices Stephen BreyerStephen BreyerTrump Justice Department to resume federal executions Liberal, conservative Supreme Court justices unite in praising Stevens How much do you know about your government? A July 4 civics quiz  MORE and Sonia SotomayorSonia SotomayorHere's how senators can overcome their hyperpartisanship with judicial nominees Trump pays respects to late Justice Stevens at Supreme Court Supreme Court rules against Trump on census citizenship question MORE, partially dissented. Erik Brunetti, had sought the trademark for his clothing brand "FUCT," saying that it's pronounced one letter at a time. But the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rejected his request, finding that Brunetti's trademark was a "total vulgar" and "therefore unregisterable." In the majority opinion, Kagan wrote that the justices found that the patent office had not been applying the measure blocking the so-called "scandalous" or "immoral" trademarks from a neutral viewpoint. The opinion cited examples in which the office had blocked trademarks that promoted drug use but approving others that spoke out against drugs. And the justices rejected the government's proposal that they consider the law be limited to just "vulgar" trademarks. The law "covers the universe of immoral or scandalous....material," Kagan wrote. "Whether or not lewd or profane. Whether the scandal and immorality comes from mode or instead of from viewpoint." She said that asking the court to reinterpret the law in such a way would effectively force the justices to establish a new law. "In any event, the 'immoral or scandalous' bar is substantially overbroad. There are a great many immoral and scandalous ideas in the world (even more than there are swearwords), and the Lanham Act covers them all," Kagan wrote. "It therefore violates the First Amendment." Alito emphasized that point in a concurring opinion, writing that Monday's ruling "does not prevent Congress from adopting a more carefully focused statute that precludes the registration of marks containing vulgar terms that play no real part in the expression of ideas." "But we are not legislators and cannot substitute a new statute for the one now in force," Alito wrote. In a separate opinion, Roberts wrote that he believes that "immoral" aspect of the law should be struck down, but that it's possible to do a more narrow reading of the ban on "scandalous" trademarks. "Standing alone, the term 'scandalous' need not be understood to reach marks that offend because of the ideas they convey; it can be read more narrowly to bar only marks that offend because of their mode of expression – marks that are obscene, vulgar, or profane," he wrote. And the chief justice said that he believes that the government can reject obscene, vulgar or profane trademarks without violating the First Amendment – a belief that Breyer addressed in his own dissenting opinion. "How much harm to First Amendment interests does a bar on registering highly vulgar or obscene trademarks work? Not much," Breyer wrote. Sotomayor also said that she would uphold the government's interpretation of the ban on "scandalous" trademarks. "Adopting a narrow construction for the word 'scandalous' – interpreting it to regulate only obscenity, vulgarity, and profanity – would save it from unconstitutionality," the justice wrote. And Sotomayor warned that the court's ruling Monday "will beget unfortunate results," arguing that the trademark office "will have no statutory basis to refuse (and thus no choice but to begin) registering marks containing the most vulgar, profane, or obscene words and images imaginable." --This report was updated at 11:38 a.m. View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

Law

Legal

Former Rep. Trey GowdyHarold (Trey) Watson GowdyTrey Gowdy joins Trump's legal team Trey Gowdy out at Fox News amid talks to join Trump defense team The Hill's Morning Report - White House escalates impeachment battle royal MORE (R-S.C.) is in talks to join President TrumpDonald John TrumpDemocrats request testimony from Trump's former Russia adviser Trump adviser: 'He should stop saying things that are untrue' US moves British ISIS suspects from Syria amid Turkish invasion MORE's legal team as the president mounts a defense against an impeachment inquiry from House Democrats. "We are in discussion with Trey about joining our team," Trump attorney Jay SekulowJay Alan SekulowTrump puts election-year politics at center of impeachment case Trey Gowdy joins Trump's legal team Trey Gowdy out at Fox News amid talks to join Trump defense team MORE said, adding that no final decisions have been made. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. A Fox News spokesperson said Wednesday that Gowdy has been terminated from his role with the network and is no longer a contributor. Reports first surfaced late Tuesday afternoon that Gowdy was in talks to join the president's impeachment defense team. Conflicting reports later emerged about whether he had formally agreed to take on an outside role or if discussions were ongoing. Gowdy, a former prosecutor who retired from Congress after his term ended in January, would bring an extensive knowledge of both the legal system and the inner workings of House proceedings. He served as the chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee and led the House Select Committee on Benghazi, where he grilled former Secretary of State Hillary ClintonHillary Diane Rodham ClintonTrey Gowdy joins Trump's legal team Support for impeachment reaches highest level in Fox News poll Trey Gowdy out at Fox News amid talks to join Trump defense team MORE and other Obama administration officials over their roles and knowledge of the 2012 attack on the U.S. Consulate in the eastern Libyan city. The White House on Tuesday evening escalated the fight with House Democrats over their impeachment inquiry. White House counsel Pat Cipollone sent a letter to Speaker Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiDemocrats request testimony from Trump's former Russia adviser Trey Gowdy joins Trump's legal team Tillis says impeachment is 'a waste of resources' MORE (D-Calif.) and three committee leaders stating that the administration would not cooperate with any of their requests related to the impeachment inquiry. The White House decried the inquiry as an "invalid" effort to "overturn the results of the 2016 election" and asserted that the lack of a formal vote to launch an impeachment inquiry broke with past precedent and violated the executive branch's rights. Pelosi announced late last month that the House would formally launch an impeachment inquiry into Trump, alleging he abused his office by urging Ukraine's president to “look into” Democratic presidential candidate Joe BidenJoe BidenDemocrats request testimony from Trump's former Russia adviser Pence open to releasing transcripts of call with Ukraine Trey Gowdy joins Trump's legal team MORE. Democratic committee leaders have in recent days issued subpoenas demanding records from the White House, Vice President Pence, the Office of Management and Budget, the Pentagon and Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy GiulianiRudy GiulianiTrey Gowdy joins Trump's legal team Trump asked Tillerson to interfere in DOJ case against Giuliani client: report Barr to speak at Notre Dame law school on Friday MORE as part of the investigation. Updated Oct. 9 at 12:47 p.m. View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

Politics

Government

When six Columbia University graduate students arrived at their creative-writing seminar one recent Tuesday, they encountered an unlikely classmate. The actress Mary-Louise Parker, who is starring in Adam Rapp’s Broadway play “ The Sound Inside ,” had been invited to sit in by their professor, the writer Leslie Jamison. The women met four years ago, when Jamison interviewed Parker at Symphony Space about her memoir, “ Dear Mr. You ,” a series of epistolary vignettes dedicated to the men in her life. The two became friends, and Parker was one of the first people to receive a galley of Jamison’s 2018 book, “ The Recovering ,” a literary history of sobriety . She read it twice. “I was obsessed with it. I am obsessed with it,” Parker said. Parker would like to write another book, but she’s been blocked. “And I’ve been craning away from the personal,” she explained to Jamison, “because I felt that everything I wrote was seen through the lens of ‘actress writing.’ ” Instead of writing, these days Parker stands onstage eight times a week and delivers a monologue about writing. In “The Sound Inside,” she plays a character named Bella Lee Baird, who sounds a lot like Jamison—a middle-aged creative-writing professor at an Ivy League college. (“In my mind, I’m actually Leslie Jamison,” Parker said.) In the play, Baird discovers that she has terminal stomach cancer. As she grapples with the diagnosis, she fixates on a student named Christopher Dunn, who boasts in class that he will one day write as well as Dostoyevsky. The students in Jamison’s workshop were huddled at a rectangular wooden table in Dodge Hall. The seminar had the dozy air common to classes that take place right after lunch—the fluorescent lights buzzing, the smell of burned coffee and wintergreen gum. Parker sat at one end, wearing a black sweater and tortoiseshell glasses. On her right sat Jamison in a maroon polka-dot dress. Parker tried to put the students at ease. “Acting is so similar to writing in so many ways,” she said. “I don’t know if I’m the greatest actress or anything, but I’m a really good dramaturge. I can tell a structure, and I can tell where there’s a flaw.” Jamison asked the students to discuss their thesis projects. Yoshiko Iwai explained that she got into writing through modern dance. She was working on some essays about “death rituals” and was interested in “the way we write the body.” She wants to get an M.D. after her M.F.A. “You’re going to go to med school?” Parker asked, her eyes wide. Next up was David Garczynski, who had bushy eyebrows and slight stubble. “Yeah, so, um, Yoshiko’s a tough act to follow,” he said. He told Parker that he was writing essays about climate change on the part of Long Island where he is from. “I wanted to talk about this idea of home as a place I never want to return to.” “You never want to return?” Parker asked. “And yet your writing is all centered around it.” “I’m not that exciting,” Garczynski said. Parker shot him a look. “Don’t give me that face,” he scoffed. The students seemed to hold their breath, until Parker shot back, “But, seriously, who is interesting?” Jamison cut in. “I was encouraging David to bring in more of the personal narrative.” Garczynski nodded. “I’m totally fascinated now,” Parker said. “Like, you went red hot.” Maria Allocco, who was drinking kombucha, continued the introductions. “My father was an Italian Catholic priest when he fell in love with my mother in South Korea,” she said briskly. “They eloped and were disowned by their families. I write mixed-genre pieces on mixed-race experience. And I write through lenses of feminism, and also about fluidity and allyship.” She said her writing was informed by silent-meditation retreats; she has attended seven of them. At the end of class, Parker told the students that she wished she could audit the course. “I’m a crazy nerd,” she said. “I memorize poems. In my dressing room backstage are all these poems. Just this morning, I left a haiku on my son’s bed to remind him to clean the panini maker.” The class laughed, so Parker decided to share her work. With a small smirk, she recited: He forgot my bath. Ashamed, I wait for his touch. Young hands, soaping me. ♦

Other

Other

(Reuters) - Roman Catholic leaders in Texas on Thursday identified around 300 priests and others accused of sexually abusing children. It was one of the largest groups of names disclosed by the church as it faces U.S. state and federal investigations into its handling of decades of allegations of sexual misconduct by priests. The names were posted online by the state’s 15 Catholic dioceses and follow an August grand jury report in Pennsylvania detailing seven decades of abuse of thousands of children by more than 300 priests. “The Bishops of Texas have decided to release the names of these priests at this time because it is right and just and to offer healing and hope to those who have suffered,” said Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of the Galveston-Houston diocese, who is also president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. In the months after the Pennsylvania report, dozens of other dioceses around the United States have released the names of hundreds of priests and others accused of abuse. Some states have opened their own investigations into the church. Texas’ Catholic dioceses have been in the spotlight since November when authorities searched the offices of the archdiocese of Galveston-Houston looking for documents related to a priest charged in September with sex crimes. About 30 percent of Texas’ population, or 8.5 million people, identify as Catholics, one of the highest rates for any U.S. state, according to the USCCB. Some of the 15 Texas dioceses listed priests accused of abuse going back as far as the 1940s. Others like Laredo only went back to 2000, when it was created, and listed no names. It was not clear whether the release of names would result in prosecutors bringing charges. The majority of the priests identified in Texas have died, as is the case in most dioceses around the country. Reporting by Andrew Hay in New Mexico; editing by Darren Schuettler

Other

Other

"'Well, you wouldn't do a third-person shooter because it'd be kind of boring, and it wouldn't let you think like John Wick. You'd have to make something where it's about thinking. So, I guess it's like a strategy game?'"  Leaving a movie theater with games producer and friend Ben Andac, indie developer Mike Bithell pitched an off-the-cuff premise for a combat game. It would be a tactical puzzler, possibly turn-based, dedicated to unpacking the marvelous mind of Bithell's favorite on-screen hero, the John Wick. The hypothetical game of "John Wick chess" (as the concept would come to be short-handed) would bottle the mesmerizing complexity of the hero's iconic fighting skills, while examining the in-the-moment thought processes of the man behind the pistol.  In this theoretical world, gamers wouldn't run around in poorly rendered suits under even more poorly rendered neon lights, heedlessly cascading bullets onto charmless enemies. No, we would become John Wick from the inside out.  To Bithell, this imagined game was little more than a pleasant exchange between friends, a clever answer to a pipe dream question from Andac — "How would you make a John Wick video game?" — shared in the post-cinematic glow of an action film Bithell can't even remember the title of now. To Andac, it was a job interview for one of the most beloved franchises in action movie history.  Andac knew the Wickverse was in the market for an unconventional games guy. And more importantly, he knew Bithell's name was already in the running.  After all, Andac had put it there. "But he makes weird shit. And he's called Mike." "They brought in a producer called Ben, who is out there," Bithell recounts of an early conversation between franchise creators at Lionsgate and gaming publishers at Good Shepherd (which he was notably not party to) for Mashable — gesturing to a lobby filled with PR folks and Andac in the process. "And then they say, 'Who would make a weird, interesting John Wick game?' And Ben says, 'I've got a friend, who is obsessed with John Wick and obsessed with action movies. But he makes weird shit. And he's called Mike.'" Now, months later, Bithell is the official creator and director behind John Wick Hex — an unconventional prequel to the movie trio, made for Windows and Mac OS and announced in early May. The brilliant mind behind indie smash hits like Subsurface Circular, Thomas Was Alone, and Volume, among many others, Bithell is far from the go-to, AAA guy many action franchises might want for a lead developer — a fact he'd be the first to tell you. Gameplay from Mike Bithell's 'John Wick Hex' Bithell champions minimalist design and stupendously original narratives, a style that has earned him a BAFTA Games Award, mountains of critical praise, and countless fans, but isn't exactly standard fare for major adaptations.  "I'd been making [indie] games for a while, and so I wasn't really looking to make a John Wick game," Bithell remembers with a smile. "I didn't even think it was possible to get something like that." But Bithell's high-ranking role in the behind-the-scenes Wickverse was no accident. Lionsgate wanted to do something different, and Bithell is different. "I didn't even think it was possible to get something like that." As Bithell understands it, project leaders on the movie side of John Wick began their gamifying mission by asking publishers and producers at Good Shepherd to simply find "something cool" to do with their universe. Enter Andac, then Bithell, and finally John Wick Hex. "I think the outside world thinks of [John Wick] as like an action franchise," Bithell notes. "But from [Lionsgate's] perspective, it's just an indie movie that did really well and changed into these three great films. So they were very into the idea of doing something that was less obvious and was interesting." But could Hex be too outside the box for Wick's larger audience?  As evidenced by the many shocked, skeptical, and confused reactions to its first teaser, Hex is indeed an unusual game. Titled for its hexagonally designed character mechanics — meaning in-game Wick can take actions in any six directions per "move" — Hex is unlike any combat game you've seen before.  Yes, it's similar to a tabletop game like chess or checkers, but the stakes are far higher and the rules far less strict. As Bithell notes, Wick would never wait for his "turn." So in the game, there are no turns. Instead, players are encouraged to smoothly string together sequences of sidesteps and assaults to evade their enemies in fluid, Wick-like motions bit-by-bit. Sure, you could theoretically wait indefinitely between actions — but the game's threatening aesthetic, intimidating rhythm, and implicit urgency seem to beg for rapid decision making.  Add in the game's phenomenal "fog of war" feature, a visual cloaking mechanism designed to shield from sight what Wick himself would not know about in any given arena, and you've got a pretty compelling framework for some panicky, yet thoughtful gameplay. This promising blend comes in large part from Bithell — his games Subsurface Circular and Subsurface Quarantine share much of Hex's dire moodiness, despite their text-based design — as well as from the cherished input of John Wick's filmmakers. "Once the filmmakers got involved, they started seeing the focus on the martial arts, the focus on the fight choreography, and how seriously we were taking the art of that," Bithell recounts, emphasizing his appreciation for the cinematic collaborators' willingness to step into the world of games. Watching John Wick Chapters 1 and 2 "at least every few weeks" and flying to Los Angeles from London to read the Parabellum screenplay before Lionsgate even began production on it, Bithell relied heavily on Hex's movie partnership to tie his prequel story into the larger universe he admired so much.  Bithell recalls John Wick stuntmen agreeing to film physical demonstrations of combat for developers to model their animations after, and scouring through Wickverse details for the perfect narrative hooks to hang his story on. At one point, John Wick director Chad Stahelski even welcomed Bithell into a Parabellum editing suite to chat Hex plans between feature-length film cuts.  "He took a break, bless him," Bithell laughs. "It could have been his excuse to take an hour off from work to be honest. But it was a productive hour! He came up with fog of war."  "We want to make something original and interesting. That's how John Wick got to be John Wick." From what little of Hex Bithell was able to show at E3 2019, it seems that this cross-medium partnership has paid off thus far. Yes, Hex is a Bithell game — but it is also undoubtedly a John Wick game, and not just because of its title. With no release date in sight and very little known about its story (although Bithell promises it will be faithful to its origin, yet ripe with unexpected twists), Hex largely remains a mystery to those eager to see it released. Heck, we can't be sure that Keanu Reeves' voice is in it yet. But of two things, both promises from Bithell himself, we can be certain. "One is to make something that is true to franchise, that respects the amazing work of everyone who has worked in this universe before me, and to make sure we don't mess it up," Bithell assures John Wick fans. "The other responsibility, and I take this really seriously, is to do something interesting, and to not just make a lazy, easy, cash grab game," he explained. "I don't want to make that game. I don't want to play that game. And Lionsgate definitely doesn't want to make that game either. We want to make something original and interesting. That's how John Wick got to be John Wick, because they took a chance on a strange movie about a guy whose dog dies and then he takes out bad guys."  For both Bithell and the rest of the creators in the Wickverse, John Wick Hex is just the next step in the franchise's long history of doing things that are original and interesting.  And short of the Baba Yaga himself, there isn't anyone more up to the task of championing John Wick and his legacy than Mike Bithell.  John Wick Hex is available for pre-order now.

Gaming

Video Games

(Adds details of release, background) OTTAWA, June 8 (Reuters) - New housing prices in Canada jumped by 0.8 percent in April from March, the biggest gain in almost a year, amid keen buyer interest in the hot markets of Toronto and Vancouver, Statistics Canada said on Thursday. The monthly increase was the biggest since the 0.8 percent advance recorded in May 2016. Compared to April 2016, new house prices leapt by 3.9 percent, the highest year-on-year since the 4.1 percent seen in May 2008. The data will undoubtedly fuel worries about a potential housing bubble in Vancouver and Toronto, where prices grew by the most in 28 years. Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz last month said hefty Toronto home prices increases were not sustainable. Prices in Toronto, which accounts for 25.49 percent of the Canadian market, surged by 2.1 percent, the highest month-on-month advance since the 2.8 percent recorded in March 1989. Builders cited a shortage of developed land as one reason. Vancouver prices climbed by 1.2 percent, their second consecutive advance. Vancouver is the largest city in the Pacific province of British Columbia, where the government imposed a 15 percent property transfer tax on foreign real estate buyers last August. The price index excludes apartments and condominiums, which the government says are a particular cause for concern and which account for one-third of new housing. Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama

Real Estate

Housing

For the past two decades, the Webby Awards have sifted through the annals of the internet to unearth genuinely good things buried within the bog of crap online. Once discovered, those true gems of the web are given awards, which look like silver springs or duck penises, depending on where your mind's at. We here at VICE have been lucky enough to win a few Webby Awards over the years, and we stare at the shelf full of them here in the office when we're having a particularly shitty day. The Webby Awards began in 1997, handing out honors to sites like Entropy8 back when you were still marveling over the Windows Maze House screensaver. This year, the Webby Awards will be celebrating their 20th anniversary, and in honor of their big 2-0 we've decided to put together playlists of some of VICE's classic Webby-winning docs. Some of the Webby favorites include our documentary about the Mexican-Mormon War, the Motherboard documentary 3-D Printed Guns, and our series The Real, among others. Give them all a watch in the playlist above. Also, keep an eye out for The Internet Cannot Be Stopped—the Webby Awards' massive project featuring collaborations with VICE, Pitchfork, Google, and other Webby winners.

Other

Other

The Communications Workers of America union filed a federal labor charge against Alphabet's Google on Thursday, accusing the company of unlawfully firing four employees to deter workers from engaging in union activities. The complaint, seen by Reuters, will trigger a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) investigation into whether Google violated the four individuals' right to collectively raise concerns about working conditions. Google fired the four named employees "to discourage and chill employees from engaging in protected concerted and union activities," the filing states. "Its actions are the antithesis of the freedoms and transparency it publicly touts." Google did not respond to a request for comment on the filing, though it has said the four workers were let go for violating the company's data-security policies. Google also last month acknowledged hiring a consultancy known for defeating unionism. The CWA union, which represents 700,000 North Americans working at AT&T Inc, Walt Disney Co and companies in several other industries, has been trying to organize workers at Google, said Laurie Burgess, an attorney at Messing Adam & Jasmine who worked on the NLRB filing. The union stepped forward to make the charge against the company "because it has been harmed by Google's actions," she said. If at the end of its investigation the NLRB finds Google has a case to answer, the union could seek to reach a settlement or, ultimately appeal to a court. CWA spokeswoman Beth Allen said its organizing director has been in touch with Google employees for some time to offer assistance. "It's a good partnership we have and through their own organizing if they decide they want to form a union, we're here to help them," she said. "We really believe in workers leading their own struggles." The four workers, who were fired Nov. 25, "visibly led and participated in" organizing at Google, according to the filing. "I was fired for organizing my coworkers and advocating for better working conditions for everyone who works at Google (including employees, temps, vendors, and contractors)," one of the workers, Paul Duke, said in a tweet on Wednesday. He and others in social media posts since their exit have alleged that Google, which has faced a swell of worker activism over the past two years, wanted to demonstrate consequences for speaking out. Duke and sacked co-workers Laurence Berland and Sophie Waldman publicly signed a petition in August urging Google to reject business from three U.S. immigration agencies that the petition said had mistreated migrants. The fourth fired worker, Rebecca Rivers, had protested Google policies that appeared to undermine its support for people who identify as gay, lesbian or transgender. When the NLRB finds violations, it typically tries to help accusers and companies reach a settlement. Google in September announced such a settlement after an employee accused the company of firing him for his conservative political views. Google said it agreed to remind employees that its "policies do not prevent employees from discussing workplace issues." The company has long prided itself on listening to employee feedback and even adjusting course on the spot based on ideas at all-staff meetings. But it now serves more than 3 billion consumers and business customers across search, navigation and health technology, and it faces fierce competition in advertising and increased regulatory scrutiny. The company in the last year has reeled in elements of its unorthodox culture, such as by cutting back on companywide meetings next year, as it deals with its much broader influence. Workers and investors have been able to exercise limited oversight over Google's practices because co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin control Alphabet's shareholder voting power. The co-founders stepped down Tuesday from their executive roles but retain their votes and board seats.

Technology

Google

What's it like to retire at 33? "Every day is like a Sunday where I don't have chores, and I have all this free time and can do what I want." That's the synopsis from Justin McCurry, a Raleigh, N.C. resident who swapped life as an engineer for early retirement two years ago. Far from subsisting on rice and beans, McCurry eats "5-star meals" made from scratch at home, vacations with his family and spends time outdoors hiking and swimming. So what's the secret to ditching the rat race before even hitting the big 4-0? "We weren't extraordinarily wealthy or lucky in terms of income or jobs," said McCurry, who writes about his experience on his personal finance blog www.RootOfGood.com. Instead, he and his wife (who recently joined him in early retirement) saved about half of their income and tried to resist lifestyle inflation. Even though their combined salaries never rose to more than $141,000 ($150,000 with dividends), they were able to squirrel away a sizable net worth, which currently stands around $1.4 million. To accomplish this, their family saved on most people's three big expenses: housing, transportation and food. They still live in the same house they bought during law school and haven't purchased a new car since college. They also rarely eat out. Still, the McCurry family makes a point to go on vacation and went on a seven-week excursion to Mexico last year. To save money, they used credit card points to pay for part of it and ended up spending just $4,500 for their family of five on the trip. McCurry's advice for others who want to retire early is relatively straightforward: don't inflate your lifestyle and save, save, save. "Get a good handle on what your expenses are, and if you're really serious about retiring early, you need to save a lot of your income," McCurry said, adding that about 50 percent would be an ideal savings ratio. For fellow early retiree Jeremy Jacobson, who blogs at www.gocurrycracker.com, a vacation prompted him to rethink his priorities and decide he wanted to ditch his career as an electrical engineer decades early. "I was scuba diving in the Philippines, and I thought it was way better than being at work," he said. Following this, he sold his car, house and motorcycle in favor of an apartment near work and a bike commute. By cutting back on expenses, Jacobson was able to retire at 38 even though his joint income with his wife never surpassed $135,000. Today, their net worth hovers around $2 million. "The main thing is just being able to live on a small percentage of your income," he said, recommending people save a minimum of half of their income and try to minimize taxes if they want to retiree early. While squirreling away his own retirement war chest, Jacobson saved as much as 70 percent of his after-tax income. Jacobson said he's not worried about getting a smaller Social Security check in the future. He crunched the numbers and found his lost earnings would not boost his check that much. He and his family keep expenses relatively low by finding happiness in things that don't cost as much money, like hanging out with friends over home-cooked meals. In total, Jacobson's retirement expenses total about $40,000 per year, an amount roughly equal to what he made in blog income last year. They also spend the majority of their retirement traveling, often staying in countries with a low cost of living. For example, a one-bedroom apartment with an infinity pool and maid service cost them less than $400 per month in Thailand. So far in retirement, he and his wife have visited about 20 different countries. "There's a whole word out here of unique experiences so if you can think there's another way to live beside the 9 to 5 (and) if you can take the tremendous wealth and income opportunity that the U.S. has and instead of buying stuff and experiences in the short term, you can use it to buy freedom," Jacobson said.

Finance

Investing

T Presents Diedrick Brackens’s vibrant textiles tell stories about being black and queer in the South. On the first day of weaving class as an undergraduate at the University of North Texas, in Denton, the artist Diedrick Brackens walked into his classroom to find 30 looms lined up in perfect rows in front of a cabinet filled with color-coordinated yarn, like a “rainbow in the back,” he remembers. He was instantly hooked. Now 30, Brackens works from a studio in the Leimert Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, where he makes intricate weavings mainly from cotton, a material he uses for its versatility, he says, but also “to pay tribute to those who came before me.” His grandmother picked cotton as a child in Limestone County, Tex., where she and much of the rest of Brackens’s family later settled. “She had to do this thing that comes along with this awful history,” he says. “And if that is part of my story, I have to make very beautiful things.” Brackens does think that the work he makes is beautiful. “There is something undeniably pleasing about looking at fabric,” he says. He also considers cloth the ideal medium in which to tell his stories, which are so woven through with symbolism that they’re rarely as straightforward as they may at first seem. Brackens’s work is not only shaped by his identity as a queer black man but also strongly influenced by his relationship to his family, and their relationship to the South. As an army kid, he moved around a lot, but he’d always return to Limestone County to spend the summers with his grandmother and extended family. In the years since he left Texas, in 2012, to earn his M.F.A. at California College of the Arts in San Francisco, Brackens has quickly found recognition within the art world. Last summer, four of his works were included in the Hammer Museum’s biennial “Made in L.A. 2018” exhibition, and in October the Studio Museum in Harlem awarded him its annual Wein Prize, whose previous recipients include Simone Leigh, Glenn Ligon and Lorna Simpson. This summer, his first institutional solo show in New York, “Darling Divined,” is on view at the New Museum. Brackens’s work still has its roots in his childhood traveling to and from Texas. The centerpiece of his “Made in L.A.” presentation, for example, “Bitter Attendance, Drown Jubilee,” (2018), which is also on display in “Darling Divined,” represents an incident his mother and grandmother talked about often when he was a child: the day, in 1981, when three black boys died at a local Juneteenth celebration, around eight years before Brackens was born. Only after he looked into it as an adult did he learn the full story. The teenagers drowned while in police custody — with some alleging they were handcuffed — after the boat they were in capsized. (All three officers were acquitted in 1982.) In Brackens’s piece, two young men wade in a lake, a set of open handcuffs resting below the main scene (as if suggesting an alternate ending to this real-life story); one boy reaches down for a catfish while the other holds a much larger one. Brackens sees the catfish as representations of himself, of Southernness or, more abstractly, of “ancestors or spirits,” he says. “If this was the boys’ resting place,” he continues, “how do we commune with them? How do we continue to love them?” The work reflects on not only that event but also the complexity of love, loss and memory. “The history of that event forever affected some of the dynamics in his hometown, in thinking about how police related to the black community,” says Erin Christovale, a co-curator of “Made in L.A. 2018.” “But I think overall the allegorical nature of his work holds its own as well.” Indeed, a mysterious, spiritual quality characterizes much of Brackens’s work, in which each element has meanings both literal and metaphorical. Speaking about the 10 textile pieces in his current show — vivid weavings in which black figures and animals are silhouetted against vibrant bands of color (dusty yellows, mineral greens, sumptuous purples) — Brackens explains how the works’ many encounters between humans and animals represent relationships between “friends and lovers and family members” and serve as vehicles for his intricate narratives. Brackens also frequently looks to the work of Essex Hemphill — the Philadelphia-based poet whose writing, produced from the ’80s until his death in 1995, was firmly rooted in race and sexuality — to unpack the dynamics of male intimacy. “There’s often this doubling in Hemphill’s poetry between lover, between mentor, between father, between friend,” Brackens says. “And there is always this distance that’s hard to penetrate in regard to masculinity. That’s something that I’m very interested in with my father, and with father figures.” In his work “Opening Tombs Beneath the Heart” (2018), Brackens depicts an intimate moment, in hues of pink and brown, between two men who are just barely touching. Each figure is framed by an arched window, a visual reference to the church and a nod to Brackens’s Southern Baptist upbringing that complicates the viewer’s understanding of their relationship. In the background, a bleeding dead pig serves as a stand-in for the fatted calf, a biblical symbol suggesting a celebration to mark the return of the prodigal son. These days, when Brackens is not teaching at California State University, Long Beach, he is studying historical migrations, and “all the ways black folks moved through and around the country,” he says. In particular, he is researching the Underground Railroad, charting a course of black migration that will, within his practice, play into the theme that has guided all of his work so far: a search for the true meaning of home. “Diedrick Brackens: Darling Divined” is on view now through Sept. 8, 2019, at the New Museum, 235 Bowery, New York, newmuseum.org.

Other

Other

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Gas production at the earthquake-prone Groningen field will drop by at least 75 percent in the next five years, ahead of schedule towards the projected end of extraction. The Dutch government decided this year to shut down in 2030 what was once Europe’s largest natural gas field because decades of extraction had caused dozens of earthquakes each year, damaging thousands of homes and buildings. Production will drop below 5 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year from 2023, the Dutch government said on Monday, as measures to reduce demand for Groningen gas are working better than planned. “We are ahead of schedule,” Economy Minister Eric Wiebes said. “The end of gas production in Groningen is in sight.” Output is set to drop to 19.4 bcm in the year that began in October, already down 65 percent from its peak of 54 bcm in 2013. In order to drive down output, the nine largest industrial users of low-caloric Groningen gas, who each use at least 100 million cubic meters per year, will be forced to switch to other sources of energy by 2022, Wiebes said. Demand for Groningen gas will also be reduced by building extra capacity to convert high-caloric foreign gas to the low-caloric gas needed for the Dutch network, and by cutting exports to Germany. Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Ed Osmond

Renewable Energy

Wind Power

Harry Styles has a lot of tattoos — this, we know. What we didn't know was that the internet's favorite boyfriend recently added three new tattoos to his 50+ collection — and no one noticed. The new ink was spotted after paparazzi caught Styles playing cornhole with supermodel Kaia Gerber on a beach in Malibu earlier this week. As the photos made their way online, fans noticed that Styles was showing off what appeared to be three new tattoos on his legs. Last time we checked, the only designs Styles had on the lower half of his body included a tiger tattoo on his upper left thigh and a few smaller tattoos on his feet and ankles. Zoom in, and you'll see that Styles added a tattoo to his upper right thigh (it apparently says "California") and a tiny tattoo on top of each kneecap — which are far too blurry to be legible. Of course, that hasn't kept fans from talking about the elusive ink on Twitter, begging Styles to give us a better look. Unfortunately for fans, Styles is a little more private than some of our other tattooed faves, so he probably won't post photos of his new designs on Instagram any time soon. If he didn't directly tell fans he pierced his own ear a day before co-chairing the Met Gala, then he probably won't let us in on these little tattoo secrets, either... but who knows? The under-the-radar star is full of surprises.

Tattoos

Art

Traffic cops rush into the intersection to stop the flow of cars, while drivers honk angrily, their evening commute delayed. Some of the protestors taunt them, “Get out of your car and onto a bike!” Two days earlier, on November 27th, the workers had lost one of their own. José Manuel Matías Flores, 22, was riding his bike in southwest Mexico City, carrying an Uber Eats food delivery. Merging onto a major avenue, a truck hit him and then sped off. Matías Flores was declared dead at the scene. The protesters are demanding that Uber take responsibility and help his surviving family members. Matías Flores was the first known death of an Uber Eats worker in Mexico, two years after the service was introduced in October 2016. In the following six months, four more Uber Eats couriers have died in crashes. On December 12th in Puebla, Luis Fernando Hernández Fong, 23, was killed, leaving behind a three-year-old daughter. On February 10th, a young woman courier was killed in a hit-and-run in Querétaro. On February 18th, Edwin Eduardo Galván Salas was hit in Mexico City. He was declared brain dead several days later. On March 10th, motorcyclist Luis Alberto Cárdenas Hernández was killed in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco. Most recently, Rappi courier Ximena Callejas, 20, was killed in a hit-and-run while biking in Mexico City on May 4th. Many delivery people work for both applications, switching back and forth depending on demand. Food delivery workers have been killed beyond Mexico. In Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Sydney, Costa Rica, Argentina, and Spain, couriers have been killed while working for apps like Uber Eats, Glovo, Caviar, and Rappi. In Argentina and Chile, Uber Eats and Rappi riders have organized and are pushing for legislation to protect their labor rights. The grievances are shared with Mexican workers: unstable wages, a lack of health insurance, and the risk of injury or death. Nonfatal crashes have also been commonplace for Uber Eats couriers in Mexico: broken arms, clavicles, noses, and near-amputations. Injuries aren’t the only risk of riding through Mexican cities at all hours; Uber Eats workers have had their motorcycles and bicycles destroyed in crashes and been robbed at gunpoint when making deliveries. Earnings are meager, despite the risks: most deliveries in Mexico City net between 30 and 60 pesos ($1.58 to $3.17). Signing up is easy: workers only have to download the app, register at a local office, and have a bicycle or motorcycle. Within days, they can start receiving orders through the app. Their neon green backpacks are now ubiquitous in Mexico City, as couriers zip from restaurants to apartments and office buildings. It’s easy to order from Uber Eats, but dangerous to deliver. In Mexico, there are 13.1 traffic deaths per 100,000 people. That’s higher than the US, where 12.4 people die in crashes for every 100,000. Most developed countries have even lower rates; in Canada, there are just 5.8 traffic fatalities per 100,000. In February 2017, Uber began offering insurance for delivery trips in Mexico to cover medical costs of injuries and death. The Verge spoke with eight Uber Eats riders in Mexico who have been injured on the job. Five of them sought compensation through Uber’s insurance policy. None of them have received it. The families of deceased Uber Eats couriers have turned to their co-workers for financial help while waiting for the company to deliver. Some couriers incurred massive debt and spent months recovering from injuries sustained while working for Uber Eats. Uber launched in summer 2013 in Mexico City; Uber Eats launched there in 2016. Mexico City’s notorious traffic made it a logical target for food delivery apps. Unlike in the US, most food delivery options were small, local businesses. Uber Eats was able to grow rapidly, thanks to the company’s name recognition and ample advertising budget. Uber Eats now operates in 33 Mexican cities. Uber declined to give specific statistics for Mexico, but said that worldwide there are 300,000 Uber Eats “delivery partners.” Uber Eats has also helped the company expand into Mexican markets where local authorities have blocked their ride-hailing service, like Oaxaca and Cancún. The majority of Mexican workers work informally in jobs that are not regulated or taxed, like being a street vendor. Wages in these jobs are unpredictable and benefits are nonexistent. Uber Eats couriers are considered “service providers” under Mexican labor law, which means they have no recourse to recoup lost earnings, receive disability payments, or receive employer-sponsored health care. Couriers are not registered for social security and Uber can kick them off the app with no warning. As service providers, it is also very difficult for couriers to make a legal case against the company. Making matters worse, Uber’s operations in Mexico are registered through the subsidiary “Uber BV,” headquartered in the Netherlands. By registering abroad, Uber reduced its tax obligations in Mexico and deterred lawsuits from Mexican service providers. Uber’s terms and conditions for users in Mexico state that the arbitration of any disputes will take place in Amsterdam. None of the injured couriers interviewed by The Verge had the means to pay for a lawyer to make a claim against the company. They are struggling to pay back hospital bills and keep up with daily expenses. Uber’s recent IPO filing showed impressive growth for Uber Eats. In 2018, Uber Eats revenue more than doubled to $1.5 billion. The report said that Uber Eats operates in over 500 cities, with planned expansion into the 700 cities where Uber’s driver services are already offered. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has said the company plans to increase cross-promotion between the two apps and generate more ride-hailing users from the food delivery service. The company needs to be regulated to prevent labor abuses, says Roberto Cruz Peña, a Mexico City labor lawyer. “People are going to continue connecting to the app to make money, even if they have absolutely no labor rights,” he says. “These companies aren’t going to change until the government puts the brakes on them.” A pattern emerged in riders’ stories: those who called for help from Uber’s insurance were told their injuries would not be covered, or the insurance company never arrived to the scene of the crash. In Querétaro, Alex Loyola called for help when he was hit by a car, but the insurance representative told him he would have to pay for the tow truck himself. In Mexico City, Raúl Micalco was carrying a delivery when a car hit him, but Uber would not cover his hospital bills for a broken arm. Vicente Solís, of Puebla, called the insurance company when he was hit, but they never showed up. Hector Martínez was hit in Mexico City, and the woman who hit him took him to the hospital when he didn’t get a response from Uber. Marco Antonio Cervantes was attacked while making a delivery. He fought back and was stabbed in the hand, causing permanent nerve damage. Luis Guillermo Castro Reséndiz, 44, started working for Uber Eats in 2017 when he was laid off after 20 years in the Mexican Postal Service. A high school dropout with two children to support, Castro Reséndiz knew his options were limited. He registered for Uber Eats, working seven days a week. During a good week, he brings in 2,500 pesos ($133), which is just enough to make ends meet. Castro Reséndiz is tall and heavy-built. His gruff voice hides a soft demeanor. He gets off his motorcycle but doesn’t take off the giant green Uber Eats backpack or his black helmet, as if the uniform has now become a part of him. On January 13th, he made his last delivery of the day, taking his motorcycle to the Iztapalapa borough in southeast Mexico City. Castro Reséndiz dropped off an order of barbecue and then headed home, a half-hour ride away. He was riding north when another motorcycle hit him from behind, throwing him onto the pavement and knocking him unconscious. After he came to, Castro Reséndiz felt a searing pain in his shoulder. The motorcyclist who hit him refused to pay for the damage to Castro Reséndiz’s motorcycle or medical expenses. He had to call a tow truck for his motorcycle, which was totaled. At the emergency room, an X-ray revealed that he had a broken clavicle. He called Uber, but the support staff said that because he wasn’t carrying a delivery when the accident happened, the company would not cover his medical expenses. Castro Reséndiz provided screenshots of his messages in the Uber app with the company to The Verge to confirm this. Castro Reséndiz paid for his medical expenses out of pocket and spent three weeks recuperating. “Since then I haven’t been able to pay off my debts,” he says. “What little money I had saved, I had to spend.” Even though his clavicle wasn’t entirely healed, Castro Reséndiz went back to work. Months later, he still tapes the injury every morning. He takes painkillers to make it through long days riding a rented motorcycle with a heavy backpack. A few weeks after the accident, Uber called him into the Mexico City offices to share his feedback on the app. “I told them about the accident,” he says. “All they did was give me a free backpack.” Despite the hardships, Castro Reséndiz plans to continue working for Uber Eats. “It’s sad,” he says. “But because I’m not well-educated, I’m stuck in this situation.” With a friend, he formed a WhatsApp group called “Desconecte masivo,” (Mass Disconnect) last fall, and added all the Uber Eats couriers he knew. The group quickly swelled to over 200 people. On November 17th, dozens of delivery workers joined a caravan to Uber’s offices. The couriers presented Uber with a list of 10 demands, including higher nighttime rates, explanations for riders whose accounts were deactivated, and a more comprehensive insurance policy. The next action took place on November 29th, calling for justice in Matías Flores’ death. Maldonado says in the months following the accident, Uber Eats couriers gave money to Matías Flores’ family while they waited for help from Uber. “We’re all helping each other because the company and the government. They’re not doing anything to help us,” Maldonado says. Uber Eats declined to comment on whether Matías Flores’ family had been compensated. “All Uber Eats trips in Mexico, regardless of the mode of transport, are insured at no additional cost to delivery partners, and provide coverage to third parties and delivery partners in the case of death or injury,” the company said in a statement. “In these difficult situations, we reach out to the families affected and ensure contact has been made by the insurance company regarding coverage, and we offer to support any law enforcement investigation.” It was 8:30PM. Uber Eats couriers showed up and began negotiating with the driver who had hit him. Rosales also called the Uber support line, asking for an ambulance. The insurance representative didn’t show up until 11PM, over two hours after he had called for help. Rosales says the representative had him fill out a form and then told him to make a deal with the driver who had hit him. Rosales is slender, with a close-cut haircut and stylish glasses. He moved to Mexico City from his hometown in Puebla as a teenager and started working to send back money for his younger siblings. “He told me he couldn’t do anything else to help me,” he says. He’s serious as he recounts the story. Even though Rosales was carrying a delivery to an Uber Eats client, the insurance didn’t cover his injuries. He went to the hospital and paid out of pocket. His Uber Eats colleagues convinced the driver to pay for the damage to his motorcycle. Jorge Ramírez, 30, says that surge rates motivated him to hop on his motorcycle on a rainy night last April. Working through the downpour, he suddenly lost control of his motorcycle on the slick pavement. He wiped out, breaking his fibula. He spent months recuperating and went into debt to pay his hospital bills. “Even when the conditions are dangerous, you’re enticed to keep working,” Ramírez says. “But you know the company won’t do anything to help if you get hurt.” Uber Eats acknowledges that road safety is a problem in Mexico. But the insurance program the company offers to couriers falls short. Other workers have been a lifeline for those hit by cars. Riders in Puebla donated money to help the family of Hernández Fong, the courier killed there in December. When Edwin Eduardo Galván Salas died in February, couriers visited his mother in Iztapalapa and gave her what money they could. Uber declined to comment on whether any of these families were compensated. The deaths of five Mexican Uber Eats couriers in the past six months should sound the alarm to improve protections for its workers around the world. But despite the risks of racing by bike or motorcycle through hectic streets, thousands of Mexicans still see Uber Eats as a promising source of income. With little interference from the Mexican government, Uber Eats will continue to grow. “I appreciate that Uber gave me an opportunity to work,” says Castro Reséndiz, who broke his clavicle earlier this year. “But at the end of the day, you’re on your own,” he says. “They don’t care if you do 10, 20 deliveries a day. Because there are always new people joining.”

Disaster

Transportation

Download the Astro Guide app by VICE on an iOS device to read daily horoscopes personalized for your sun, moon, and rising signs, and learn how to apply cosmic events to self care, your friendships, and relationships. The moon in intellectual air sign Libra connects with jovial Jupiter at 5:30 AM, inspiring a harmonious mood. We’re making changes and setting boundaries as the moon clashes with the sun at 6:55 AM and Saturn at 7:22 AM. The sun opposes Saturn at 1:07 PM and the mood is grumpy, but it’s a good time to focus and get work done. Be mindful of your responsibilities or else you’ll get a talking-to today. Power struggles are in the air as the moon clashes with Pluto at 3:35 PM. All times ET. The moon is in Libra, inspiring you to focus on your home and family, but tension also arrives in your relationships as the sun opposes Saturn, creating a pessimistic mood and finding you and your partners asking who's "in charge." Aren't you both, dear Cancer? The moon in Libra lights up the communication sector of your chart, bringing news your way, but the energy is low as your ruling planet, the Sun, opposes taskmaster Saturn. You want to take a break, but your responsibilities are calling. It's time to create a more sustainable schedule for yourself. The moon in Libra asks you to reflect on your budget today. The energy is low, thanks to the sun's opposition to Saturn. The mood is grumpy—spend time with friends and lovers another day. The moon is in your sign today, Libra, asking you to focus on self care—however, the sun opposes taskmaster Saturn and you're feeling pulled in so many directions. Responsibilities at home and work are calling you. You have plenty of responsibilities to focus on today as the sun opposes Saturn. Be mature in your communications today, and watch out for blocks in connecting and sharing ideas—keep things clear and concise. The moon in Libra asks that you catch up on rest, too. The moon in Libra finds you in the mood to socialize, but the energy is low today due to the sun's opposition to taskmaster Saturn. Be especially wise about your spending and budgeting, Sagittarius. The moon in Libra finds you reflecting on your career goals. The energy is heavy today, especially as the sun opposes your ruling planet Saturn. A call is made in an issue concerning a relationship. Responsibility is an important theme today as the sun opposes your ruling planet Saturn. It might be time to change your schedule up, not only so you can be more productive, but also so you can rest. The moon in fellow air sign Libra asks you to look at the big picture. The energy is low today due the sun's opposition with melancholy Saturn—watch out for blocks in communication. Intense emotions are in the air and it's time for a change. The moon in Libra encourages you to release the past. You have to handle some important responsibilities at home and at work as the sun opposes taskmaster Saturn. Don't be surprised if you feel grumpier than usual today, Aries. Them moon in Libra finds you reflecting on the give-and-take in your relationships. The moon in Libra inspires you to get organized today, but watch out for a grumpy energy as the sun opposes melancholy Saturn. It's not the best day for a romantic date or to hang out with your friends. Serious issues are on your mind. The moon is in fellow air sign Libra, which usually finds you in a very flirtatious mood—however, the energy is grumpy today as the sun opposes Saturn. It's time for something that has been stagnating to change. Crack open a window and go for a walk. Be wise about money today. What's in the stars for you in July? Read your monthly horoscope here. Want these horoscopes sent straight to your inbox? Click here to sign up for the newsletter.

Astrology

Zodiac

Eric Staal will play his first game at PNC Arena as a visitor when the New York Rangers play their next-to-last road contest at the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night. Staal, who was acquired from Carolina at the trade deadline, and the Rangers can clinch a playoff berth by beating the Hurricanes for the 10th straight time. Staal played his entire career with Carolina since the team selected him as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2003 draft and served as the captain from January 2010 until he was shipped to New York. “There will be a lot of unique, different emotions in general, because of being there and being there so long,” said Staal, who on Wednesday wrote a personal thank you to the organization and the Hurricanes fans in The Players Tribune. The Rangers are trying to hold off the Pittsburgh Penguins for second place in the Metropolitan Division, leading by one point with six games remaining. Carolina is trying to stave off elimination, trailing Philadelphia by seven points for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. TV: 7 p.m. ET; MSG New York, FSN Carolinas, NHL.TV ABOUT THE RANGERS (43-24-9): Staal scored only 10 times in 63 games with Carolina this season and was mired in a nine-game goalless drought with New York before netting a pair of goals in Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the Penguins. “Every game, every day, I’m feeling more comfortable, more confident in the way I can help this team,” said Staal, who admitted it will be a “weird feeling” seeing his younger brother Jordan opposing him Thursday. Staal scored 322 goals in 11-plus seasons with the Hurricanes, including a pair of 40-goal campaigns in 2005-06 and 2008-09. ABOUT THE HURRICANES (33-28-16): Although Carolina has points in its last four games (2-0-2), Tuesday’s 2-1 shootout loss at the New York Islanders was its league-high 16th defeat beyond regulation and its fifth in a row over the past nine games. Goaltender Cam Ward is coming off a strong performance with a 30-save effort in the loss to the Islanders, but he has permitted seven goals in dropping both starts to the Rangers this season. The Hurricanes’ power play continues to sputter, converting on 1-of-19 chances over the past eight games. 1. Rangers G Henrik Lundqvist has allowed four goals in three starts this season to improve to 23-9-1 against Carolina. 2. The Hurricanes recalled F Sergey Tolchinsky from Charlotte of the American Hockey League. 3. New York is 5-for-13 on the power play over the past four games. PREDICTION: Rangers 3, Hurricanes 1

Sports

Hockey

Doctors who specialize in infectious diseases warned Tuesday that deaths in the U.S. from the coronavirus could dramatically increase if the Trump administration relaxes guidelines that have encouraged Americans to minimize contact with one another. Those doctors said that President Donald Trump, governors and health officials should actually impose even stronger restrictions to stem the spread of the pandemic than are in effect now. "If you don't keep the restrictions or make them stricter, you're going to have more people infected, hospitalized, and dying from the disease," said Dr. Tina Tan, a board member of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. "It's going to be a lot more people," said Tan, who works at Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. Trump for days has suggested he would issue new, looser guidelines for social interactions and nonessential businesses, at least in areas that have not seen large numbers of COVID-19 cases. Trump has been motivated by a desire to reverse at least some of the massive economic fallout from restrictions of varying forms around the country in reaction to the virus outbreak. Trump said Tuesday, "I would love to have the country opened up, and just raring to go, by Easter," which is on April 12 this year. Also Tuesday, the number of reported coronavirus cases in the U.S. reached 50,206, with deaths linked to the virus reaching 600. A day earlier, an article in The Atlantic authored by two doctors called for "a true national pause — a cessation of all nonessential activities" for at least two weeks in the United States, which could significantly slow the progression of the pandemic. Twenty Democratic members of the House of Representatives in a letter to Trump on Tuesday urged him to "immediately issue a nationwide 'shelter-in-place' order" for at least two weeks for the same reason. Tan said she agreed that a shutdown of that type could decrease the death toll that is now looming. "We're going to completely overwhelm the hospital system," without tighter restrictions than those in effect now, Tan said. "There are many systems right now that are right on the edge. It doesn't take much to push them over." "Look at Italy," she said, referring to the country that at the moment has the highest number of active coronavirus cases. "They made some restrictions, then tightened," she said. "Then a lot of people died." More than 6,800 people in Italy have died from the outbreak. "Loosening restrictions makes absolutely no sense if you look at it from a health perspective," Tan said. "I really think now that people are worth more than actually trying to save the economy right now." Dr. Greg Poland, a member of the vaccine research group at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, said, "This is fundamentally a tension, worldwide, between politics, economics and lives, and how is that going to shake out?" "That's what I'm worried about," Poland said. Poland said the rate of transmission of the coronavirus has been increasing exponentially. Like Tan, he said that relaxing guidelines could speed up the number of cases and deaths. "From a pandemic point of view, the more you keep people distanced from one another, and [practice regular] handwashing, they cannot get infected," he said.  "We haven't even reached the peak of this pandemic yet," he said. Bringing people back together in business and social settings in coming weeks "means that you are doing that with the full knowledge that you are increasing surge demand on the medical system, and increasing mortality," Poland said.  "As you increase the demand on the health-care system, the mortality rate goes up. It skyrockets," Poland said.  He said tight restrictions that discourage interactions between people should be continued for some time to slow the spread of the virus. "This is not weeks, this is months, plural," Poland said. "What we're seeing right now is a reflection of transmissions that happened 14 to 28 days ago," he said. "The reality is you have to have no cases, wait 14 to 28 days, and see if there are no [additional] cases, and then say 'all clear.'" He compared the pandemic to a house fire. "If your house is on fire, and I come squirt some water in a corner for a while, yeah, I don't burn that corner, but the rest of the house is on fire," Poland said. "There is no halfway [response], and if there is, the house still burns down." An analysis by researchers at Imperial College in London projected that 2.2 million Americans could die from the coronavirus without suppression efforts like the ones adopted by states and encouraged by the federal government.  With restrictions, the death toll could drop to 1.1 million, or even less, depending on the strength and prevalence of the restrictions. Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Tuesday that the U.S. has "several more weeks" to go before officials should consider lifting stringent coronavirus mitigation measures such as stay-at-home orders. "This is going to be a long fight," said Gottlieb, who is a CNBC contributor. "I think we need to keep this going for several more weeks, but there is an end to this, and we know where it is," Gottlieb said.

Science

Biology

Content Warning: This piece contains graphic descriptions of violence, including towards children. The kid was a zombie, I guess—in Days Gone, they’re “freaks”—but this is, or was, unmistakably a kid. Five, maybe six years old? I don’t know their name, I don’t know how they got this way. All I know is the game said to clear the roof, and provided no options for me to deal with the situation other than coldly bashing in their skull. And so I swung away. Another time, a question mark appeared on my map, the game’s way of saying “Hey, check this out.” (If you don’t, the event disappears.) When I got there, I found some people defending an outpost. Not “freakers,” not zombies, just regular ass humans. But still: enemies, I’m told. Like clockwork, I pulled out my gun, and watched the corpses stack up. I was rewarded for my efforts with... absolutely nothing. There was nothing special about this outpost, no special upgrade to find. It appears I’d just slaughtered a bunch of people trying to get by, for no reason. Well, not for no reason: again, the meter charting my progress to the next level went up a tiny bit. Cha-ching. This is Days Gone in microcosm: feeding the game’s relentless assault of upgrades, collectibles, and other disconnected pieces of video game-isms that rub against the game’s alleged core, a man with a “code.” These moments, among others, gave me pause during my earliest hours with Days Gone, the first original franchise from developer Sony Bend since 1999’s Syphon Filter for the original PlayStation. But after more than 20 hours roaming Sony’s unnecessarily sprawling and achingly misguided open world zombie game, I’m numb. I don’t know why this game exists. It’s a hodgepodge bucket list of Stuff You Expect in Open World Games, half-baked ideas executed better elsewhere—several in another game published by Sony, Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us—and a failed morality tale whose emotional stakes are constantly undermined. Days Gone refuses to settle on what it wants to be or what it wants to say. Rather than settling on a direction, it proceeds in all directions, hoping a more-is-better philosophy will prove blinding. This is true of both the clumsy mechanics, which are ever present and impossible to ignore, and its story, following the boring moral compass of biker Deacon St. John, who roams the world in the years after an event turned the whole world to shit, claiming to operate by a “code” but refusing to allow said code to operationally manifest into action. But that itself is selling the narrative failings of Days Gone—and Deacon himself—way short. A moral code, applying old norms in a world without “rules,” is a post-apocalyptic trope because it’s classically effective at drawing tension from the base premise: life would be easier if you treated everyone like disposable garbage, but what’s that mean for the soul? But using this trope effectively requires either careful setup or especially sharp execution, and ideally both. Days Gone has neither, despite what its many hours of dour cutscenes with people acting extremely serious tries to suggest. The game opens in the midst of the freaker panic. Explosions, fire, screaming. Deacon’s wife, Sarah, has been stabbed and is bleeding out. Deacon and Boozer, his biker buddy, track down a government helicopter, but it only has room for—wait for it—two. Deacon shoves Sarah on the chopper, and in a moment meant to lay the groundwork for Deacon’s inherent goodness, he stays behind with Boozer, fearing he won’t survive what comes next. Fast forward two years into the future, and it’s Deacon and Boozer on the road. No Sarah. The huge time jump means Days Gone skips over the part where the world falls off a cliff. What, if any, institutions survived? Has anyone managed to assert control? Over whom? What factions—because there are always factions in these stories—have emerged? In theory, this means the game can slowly reveal the new status quo. In reality, it means establishing a world without enough grounding much of it. The Rippers, for example, are people with self-inflicted scars in patterns. They, uh, do a lot of drugs and hurt people for… reasons? What we know is Deacon and Boozer are “drifters,” people who refuse to settle down in any one camp, choosing to bounce around while engaging in various forms of contract work. And damn, good luck getting the TV show Sons of Anarchy out of mind playing Days Gone. That’s for good reason; the developers routinely cited Sons of Anarchy as a primary inspiration, and the three main leads of Days Gone have an awfully similar dynamic of that saga. Kurt Sutter’s seven-season drama focused on a biker gang whose stated goal was protecting a community but routinely drowned it in unwanted violence. (It fell off a cliff once it killed off you-know-who, the heart of the show, in that kitchen.) Days Gone and Sons of Anarchy share walking contradictions: endless talk of a moral code, while profiting from actions undermine it. But while Sons of Anarchy eventually lost the thread, the show was, at one point, using that contradiction as the pitch. These are bad people, but you’re gonna root for them after spending lots of time in private, exposed as people with complex motivations. We never get such generous time with anyone in Days Gone. Boozer? He’s sidelined for Story Reasons in the opening hour of the game. Sarah? Exclusively tied to flashbacks. It’s not hard to imagine a much stronger game where those three were playing off one another, and it’s wild how much this extremely long game simultaneously feels deeply underwritten. (Much credit, though, to the actors—especially the central trio of Sam Witwer (Deacon), Jim Pirri (Boozer), and Courtnee Draper (Sarah)—for imbuing their characters with enough humanity in key moments to sometimes paper over the compromised writing. When they’re given moments to play off one another, each sells the relationship. There’s just not enough.) The thing is, Deacon sucks. He doesn’t just suck because he moves around the world as if he’s just learning to walk and super frustrating to control around packs of zombies, he sucks because the game tries to present him as a morally complex anti-hero and it doesn’t land. It’s one thing to present players with a character they’re supposed to feel conflicted about, but what am I supposed to do with a person who says you “can’t shoot a woman unless you have to,” while later selling a woman he saved to a labor camp, knowing she’ll spend her whole life digging ditches for the tyrant running the place? (At one point, there’s quest line explicitly about how this woman wants to leave and can’t, and the game dedicates a whole mission to you checking up on her and not believing her.) This isn’t a surprise to Deacon, either. Every time you swing by this slave outpost, its purpose is proudly on display. Sure, Deacon will walk over and tell an NPC who’s beating one of the workers to “stop it,” but you can’t make an active choice to intervene, and the assigned quests for the camp keep coming. The beatings, and Deacon’s barking, eventually becomes so routine that you begin to ignore it. It becomes part of the scenery, and by the time the game introduces characters willing to call Deacon out on his shit, it feels hollow. It’s not that Deacon is “bad” or “good” or “somewhere in-between.” He’s nothing, and when the weight of the entire game is placed on his shoulders, if he doesn’t work, the rest falls. Part of the problem might have to do with Days Gone glacial progress. Like I said, I spent more than 20 hours in this world, and only in the last hour did I unlock the game’s second (also unjustifiably huge) map. There is not 20 hours of plot or character development in that time—half, at best?—but there’s a lot of boring, repetitive shooting to do in that time. Days Gone acts as though it’s a game where its narrative and gameplay will meaningfully intersect, complementing and reflecting one another. That’s not true, and maybe helps explain why Day’s Gone itself is so ambiguous about Deacon’s much talked about code; if it was fully explained, the contradictions in gameplay would be even more stark. Even as a fallback, it’s not fun to play! The shooting is mediocre, the driving is mediocre, and you fight the same set of boring, bland zombies who do nothing but run straight in a line and easily forget you exist for half the game. Remember those massive swarms of zombies that have been part of the marketing for Days Gone since the beginning? They’re a minor part of the game now, more a collectible than a defining characteristic. (Only once, by accident, did I manage to get a nearby horde to interact with, and subsequently kill, a group of human enemies I was facing.) It’s a small example of a larger problem the game fails to wrestle with, but hours into the game, there’s a mission where a character takes you hunting. You track the fecal matter of a nearby deer, wound it with a well-timed shot, and track its blood trail to a corpse on the other side of the forest. Soon after, the game prompts a hunting mission. Instead of using these new skills, the game drops huge, glowing marks on the map, and the moment you show up, there’s a pack of wolves, a deer, or something else to easily kill within moments of arriving. The game never again asks you to use these tracking skills—ever!—because there are no survival elements to Days Gone, like persistent hunger or thirst, and even trading in meat for currency at the camps is a total waste of time; it doesn’t get you anything decent in return. And that’s Days Gone in a nutshell: a waste of time that doesn’t get you anything decent in return. I could have written everything here after a few hours of playing, but I kept thinking “There’s gotta be something around the corner to justify all this.” And so I’d play a few hours, and then a few more. Soon, a big plot turn was being communicated, and so I gave the game another chance. But that, like Deacon’s code, was just a long con. A game with a billion carrots on a stick, but no matter how many you eat, you’re still hungry, but at that point, the sunk cost of eating these damn carrots is so large you might as well keep eating. There’s a moment halfway through the game, when you and Boozer have killed a bunch of people, and there’s a quiet moment of reflection. “They had it coming, right?” says Deacon. “Yeah, guess we all do,” replies Boozer. The empty exchange underscores Days Gone, and everything that goes wrong with it. The people you kill don’t matter, nor the people you save. But at least the meter keeps going up. Follow Patrick on Twitter. If you have a tip or a story idea, drop him an email: patrick.klepek@vice.com. Have thoughts? Swing by Waypoint's forums to share them!

Other

Other

ATHENS (Reuters) - Britain could allow free movement of people from the European Union during an implementation phase after Brexit to allow the economy to attract talented people, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said on Thursday. When asked by Reuters TV if Britain would accept full free movement of people during an implementation phase, Johnson said this was possible, and could be agreed before Britain left the EU in two years’ time. “Ideally I think it could be done, what with goodwill and imagination it could be done as fast as – I think it can be done in two years,” Johnson told reporters in Athens. “In the last 10 years I have been one of the few British politicians to speak up on the benefits of immigration,” he said. Johnson added that he did not want to discourage talented people from coming to Britain, but said the government wanted control over flows. “We don’t want to close the doors. We simply want to have a system that is balanced,” he said. The comments from Johnson are more explicit than a suggestion from Prime Minister Theresa May that free movement be continued during a phase after Brexit when Britain and the EU implement their divorce accord. Concern over immigration from the European Union was a major reason behind Britain’s vote to leave, and May has said she will respect those fears by not seeking membership of Europe’s single market which would mean allowing freedom of movement of people. Reporting by Renee Maltezou, writing by Michele Kambas and Guy Faulconbridge, editing by David Milliken

Politics

Brexit

From home- and ride-sharing apps to TV and movie streaming subscriptions to social media platforms – Internet companies have transformed our lives. Today the internet sector contributes approximately $1 trillion, or 6 percent of GDP, to the national economy, as well as 3 million jobs and 231,000 businesses. These digital economy jobs and businesses are thriving in almost every city — and in metro areas across the country. The truth is undeniable: cities are shaping the next chapter in America’s history, and the digital economy is a driving force. While venture capital in the tech industry has historically concentrated in a handful of U.S. cities, metro areas nationwide are benefiting from the internet sector. Local policymakers are demonstrating leadership and building deeper internet ecosystems, resulting in new businesses emerging everywhere. Meanwhile, cities across the country are popping up as new tech hubs by mixing unique cultural and historical traits with innovative policy approaches. We believe that cities broaden this growth even further by highlighting success from the ‘ground up’ and diffusing the success of local innovation into the national policy dialogue. Those cities that best integrate digital technologies into their economies and ecosystems can achieve more for their residents — and those that do not could fall behind. In our report, Here They Come: A Look at the Future of Cities in the Internet Age, published by the National League of Cities and Internet Association, we focused on actionable lessons and examples of innovation leadership in four unique cities: Columbus, Ohio, Kansas City, Missouri, Phoenix, and Pittsburgh. We chose these cities for their major internet-sector presences — and for the valuable lessons offered by their successful community-oriented programs. In Columbus, homegrown tech firms are setting up shop and workers from the coasts are moving in to take advantage of a friendly business environment and booming tech scene. The city has quietly built the right environmental factors to foster tech businesses and is now reaping the benefits — perhaps most notably through its victory in the national Smart City Challenge for its technology-integrated transportation system plan. Kansas City has one of the fastest growing tech scenes of the past decade, and boasts a higher concentration of internet sector and STEM workers than New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago. The city has taken care to develop economic inclusion plans to ensure the sector’s benefits are diffused across its residents — while also applying the tech start-up mentality to its unique cultural traditions, such as in its Arts Incubator program. In Phoenix, leaders are actively pushing economic diversification and experimentation through digital technology. They have opened up government data for the public, welcomed autonomous vehicles, and are working with local partners to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of the area’s labor force. In Pittsburgh, the city is using the world-class tech talent groomed in its universities to revitalize the region and attract offices for numerous major internet firms. Local stakeholders have partnered with private sector firms to develop and test state-of-art technologies. The city is also examining its own internal processes for tech applications, such as in procurement. All of these cities demonstrate that strong, local digital economies have underlying strengths that help them thrive, ranging from robust partnerships to a focus on economic inclusion. Throughout our research, eight key lessons surfaced again and again to guide city investment in the tech economy: Ultimately, when fostered with intent, the internet sector provides great promise for cities to use technology to build more inclusive, innovative economies. As we near the start of the 2020s, it is increasingly evident that cities are leading the national agenda on innovation. The digital economy is driving an unprecedented expansion of ever-smarter, more-connected cities — and local leaders would do well to prepare now.

Technology

Social Media

Amnesty International on Tuesday blasted the Supreme Court's ruling that upheld President TrumpDonald John TrumpFacebook releases audit on conservative bias claims Harry Reid: 'Decriminalizing border crossings is not something that should be at the top of the list' Recessions happen when presidents overlook key problems MORE's travel ban, saying that the policy "has no place" in the civilized world. “This hateful policy is a catastrophe all around — not only for those who simply want to travel, work, or study here in the States, but for those seeking safety from violence as well," the leading human rights organization said in a statement. "While this decision doesn’t address the separate and equally harmful ban on refugees, it cruelly traps people in conflict-afflicted countries and prevents them from seeking safety in the U.S. or being reunited with family. "Some of the people banned from this policy are fleeing conflicts that the United States has had a direct hand in creating or perpetuating, as is the case in Yemen and Syria. In those cases especially we are essentially lighting a house on fire and locking the escape door shut. This ban, and the anti-Muslim sentiment in which it originated, has no place in a country that claims to value human rights.” The statement came shortly after the Supreme Court upheld Trump's travel ban that prohibits individuals from five Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. The countries include Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia and Yemen.  Amnesty International has been highly critical of Trump's travel ban since it was first implemented through executive order. In the group's annual audit of human rights around the world earlier this year, it said that the order was "transparently hateful."  In addition to Amnesty International, Democratic lawmakers and other organizations quickly condemned the Supreme Court's ruling. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said that history would judge the U.S. harshly for the ruling. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) said that upholding the ban gave "legitimacy to discrimination and Islamaphobia." View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

Politics

Immigration

HONOLULU – Lava has burned down two buildings at a geothermal plant near Hawaii&aposs erupting Kilauea volcano. A substation and adjacent warehouse that stored a drilling rig at the Puna Geothermal Venture were covered by lava on Wednesday, according to a Thursday statement from Ormat Technologies, the Nevada company that owns the plant. The main access road to the plant has also been covered and blocked by lava. An alternative access road remains open. Two geothermal wellheads were destroyed on May 28. Meanwhile, county officials issued mandatory orders for residents of Leilani Estates to evacuate by noon and those in Kapoho Beach and Vacationland to leave by 2 p.m. or risk being trapped and unreachable by emergency crews. Police said a 55-year-old man was arrested after he circumvented a traffic checkpoint and crashed his vehicle into a hardened lava flow. Authorities said he was trying to get a look at lava and demanded passage through the checkpoint but was told by police to turn around. About an hour later, the same man, whose name was not released, was brought back to the checkpoint by a resident with injuries to his head and face. The man told police he had smashed his truck into lava. He was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and cited for loitering or refusing to leave a designated evacuation zone and failing to wear his seat belt. He was released pending further investigation after being admitted to a hospital. The Puna geothermal plant was taken offline and evacuated soon after the volcano began erupting on May 3. Officials removed roughly 50,000 gallons of pentane, a flammable gas similar to lighter fluid used in power generation at the plant, to an off-site industrial park. The geothermal wells were also plugged to prevent the accidental release of toxic gases from the lava flow. Kilauea has displaced thousands of residents and destroyed dozens of homes.

Natural Disasters

Volcanoes

The U.S. general in charge of coalition forces organized against the Islamic State said Monday that while most of the terrorist group's territory hasd been retaken, the group's hateful ideology remains a global threat. In a video message posted to Operation Inherent Resolve's official Facebook page, Army Lieutenant General Paul Funk reported that coalition forces have retaken 65,000 square miles of land from the terrorist group. Funk also warned that there was more work to do to combat the group's ideology, particularly online. "Their repressive ideology continues," Funk said. "The conditions remain present for Daesh to return, and only through coalition and international efforts can the defeat become permanent." "We enter 2018 confident that increased security will enable the global coalition to further assist the Iraqi and Syrian people," Funk added. The New Year's message from Funk and coalition leaders comes days after FBI agents raided the home of a Virginia man who the agency says wanted to join the Islamic State. Sean Andrew Duncan, a U.S. citizen from Pittsburgh, was arrested Friday on charges of attempting to obstruct a terrorism investigation, and that he had tried to dispose of evidence when law enforcement showed up at his townhouse. NBC Washington reported Tuesday that Duncan had been in contact with a detained ISIS supporter who told investigators that Duncan spoke about wanting to join ISIS and conduct an attack inside the United States. Duncan had been on the FBI's radar since at least 2016, when agents interviewed him upon his return from Turkey in February. View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

Military

Defense

If policymakers worldwide thought grappling with the implications of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was wild, the U.S. is about to launch a whole new privacy-related theme park. With the looming California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 due to take effect by January 2020, the U.S. Congress will be under a magnifying glass as it considers its approach to drafting a new federal privacy law to override or compliment California’s. Just this week, there was a House Committee Hearing on protecting consumer privacy and a Senate Committee Hearing on principles for a federal data privacy framework. Considering any form of privacy legislation that applies to some of the world’s largest tech giants would touch virtually everyone online, U.S. policymakers have a tremendous opportunity to take the lead on healthy privacy laws and regulations that protect both users and innovation online. Granted, it’s not going to be easy. Privacy protection is not a new concept. Indeed, most modern laws and frameworks can trace their origins to the principles in the 1980 OECD Privacy Guidelines and the 1981 Council of Europe Convention. However, so much has changed with the advent of the Web, social media, messaging apps, and a global digital economy that it’s hardly a surprise these founding guidelines are more irrelevant each passing month. Despite attempts to “future-proof” privacy protection, it’s constantly being challenged by the sheer amount of personal data that’s increasingly available. For all of its potential to inspire innovative breakthroughs and solutions to some of the world’s most pressing issues and problems, the Internet is equally as vulnerable to misuse. Perhaps one of the lessons that hit home hardest, especially in the U.S., was the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandal that broke in early 2018. Through an innocent-looking quiz, a data analysis firm was able to collect intimate information on roughly 87 million Facebook users — without their consent — to target ads during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Not only did it expose the vast power of data to influence populations; it also revealed a chasm in existing privacy protections. And, it damaged our trust of the Internet. So how do we protect privacy today? Let’s be honest: Protecting privacy in today’s fast-paced environment is a serious challenge, especially as it’s hard to predict the countless ways personal data could be used and misused. Nonetheless, policymakers and business leaders can help restore trust online by championing the privacy of everyone online everywhere and standing for genuine and lasting protection of our personal data. It’s more important than ever that laws and policies created to protect users provide clear, achievable rules for privacy protection that data handlers are proud to champion. It’s also critical to do so in a way that doesn’t harm the infrastructure of the Internet.  We can start by taking a hard look at how we justify the uses of personal data. Prerequisites such as “legitimate business interest” and “user consent” were meant to provide fair boundaries, but too often bad practices are excused on the grounds that a user gave consent or it was “needed” for a business purpose. Yet these days, it seems that more often than not we’re asked to agree to terms and conditions that most people never read nor fully understand. The only other choice we have is to not use the service. There is rarely an option to negotiate the privacy terms of service. In some cases, without us even being aware, our data is used in ways we might never have imagined just because a company decided it was a good idea for its business. To create lasting privacy protection in a world consistently innovating and reinventing itself online, we must ask ourselves the tough and unpopular questions — and keep asking them regularly. Here are a few for starters: Would a reasonable person consider the collection, use and/or disclosure of their personal data to be legitimate and fair? (Not from the business’s perspective, but from the perspective of society and the individual). Have we given companies too much freedom to indulge new data uses without additional consent? Are there some uses of personal data that should simply be no-go zones? At the same time, we also need to provide tangible incentives for good privacy practices and other ways to achieve personalized services that do not sacrifice privacy. The Internet Society recently published tips for policymakers on signs of a good privacy law framework as a helpful starting point. With so much focus on privacy in the U.S. this year, this is a great opportunity to challenge our assumptions, ask the tough questions and shift the balance in favor of individuals’ privacy. There may not be a one-size-fits-all solution, but we can start building trust online by putting concrete safeguards in place to protect our personal data. As the U.S. Congress contemplates its approach to privacy legislation this week, let’s all commit to making it work for everyone. Christine Runnegar is the senior director of Internet trust at the Internet Society, a non-profit organization founded in 1992 to provide leadership in Internet-related standards, education, access, and policy. She leads the non-profit’s trust agenda which advocates for policies that support an open, globally-connected and secure Internet. View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

Technology

Privacy

One of the frustrations of researchers who study chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head hits, is that it can be detected only in autopsies, and not in the living. Researchers, though, have been trying to solve this problem in two primary ways: by identifying biomarkers linked to the disease that show up on imaging tests in certain locations in the brain, and by trying to locate in the blood the protein that is the hallmark of the disease. On Monday, two groups of researchers said they had made what they considered small steps in developing both methods. The announcements are small parts of much larger studies that will take years to bear fruit, if they ever do. Both methods have been questioned by detractors, some of whom say the hype is getting ahead of the science. Scientists, these critics note, have spent decades trying to find ways to accurately diagnose Alzheimer’s disease, which has some of the same characteristics as C.T.E. Still, at a medical conference in Boston on Monday, Robert Stern, a professor of neurology at Boston University, said technology developed by the company Quanterix (paid for in part with a grant from the N.F.L.) had identified elevated levels of tau proteins in blood samples of 96 former football players between 40 and 69 years old, compared with only 25 people of the same age in a control group. The results, which are part of a seven-year study and are under review for publication, are preliminary because they identify only the total amount of tau in the blood, not the amount of the specific tau linked to C.T.E. Additional tests are being done in Sweden to determine the amount of the C.T.E.-related tau in the blood samples, Stern said. Even so, Stern said, the blood samples from the 96 former players suggest that absorbing repeated head hits earlier in life can lead to higher concentrations of tau in the blood later. “The more times they hit their head, the higher the tau in their blood,” Stern said of the football players. “If you look at the higher levels of plasma tau, you only find them in the N.F.L. players, not the control group.” In the future, blood tests may be a cost-effective way to diagnose C.T.E. compared with neuro-imaging tests, which are far more expensive. Patients with high levels of tau in their blood could then be screened further for C.T.E., Alzheimer’s and other diseases. A separate study published in the journal Translational Psychiatry focused on a 39-year-old former N.F.L. player who had sustained 22 concussions. Doctors at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York said PET scans revealed that the biomarker AV1451 bound to the parts of the player’s brain in the same way as in people diagnosed with C.T.E. posthumously. A reliable solution, though, may be many years away. Many more players will need to be tested, and as the authors note, the findings must be correlated with the results from the players’ autopsies.

Science

Biology

A federal appeals court on Wednesday invalidated a patent relating to Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals’ blood vessel dilator Inomax, helping clear the way for Praxair Inc to launch a copycat version. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a determination by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that key claims in a patent covering a method of distributing Inomax’s active ingredient nitric oxide were invalid as obvious. To read the full story on Westlaw Practitioner Insights, click here: bit.ly/2k76Xju

Law

Civil

When the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report on federal government’s information technology (IT) systems last year, it caused a lot of noise, much of it warranted. Committee room props insinuated that the Department of Defense (DoD) needs to investigate the value of 8-inch floppy disks for critical systems. No one would disagree with that example. At the House Oversight and Government Reform hearing on this issue last May, DoD chief information officer Terry Halvorsen thoughtfully responded that the department uses what works within its available budget. Still, some government technology leaders exploit these highly-publicized examples by advocating for a “rip, rewrite, and replace” strategy regarding federal IT. This idea is fueled by the misconception that the path of “cloud first” is the Holy Grail for modernization. As the chief executive officer of a U.S.-based, non-outsourced software company, with nearly 30 years of experience with major IT companies, I’ve seen how blanket replacement strategies and new unproven technologies have fared. They often result in a disastrous outcome.   No one likes to air their dirty laundry, especially when it comes to mismanagement of taxpayer dollars. But, what we rarely hear is that many of these “rip, rewrite, and replace” projects either never come to fruition, are over budget, or even resort back to the original platform. If you don’t believe me, ask taxpayers in Pennsylvania. So as we begin down the path of modernizing our federal IT systems, it’s valuable to review what has worked and what hasn’t in the real world. In many cases, there is much the public sector can learn from the ingenuity found in the private sector. Cloud mania Last month there was a major outage in Amazon Web Services’ S3 cloud storage solution. This impacted large companies like Apple to small businesses. While Amazon’s track record is excellent overall, this is still a prime example of the risks when you outsource certain infrastructure to an external provider. At the end of the day, the people dependent on your products and services aren’t going to remember the Amazon outage, they are going to remember your outage. Any internet-based organization is reliant on third parties, so it may seem there’s no way to avoid such dependencies. The key is getting specific — knowing when to trust these external, virtualized consumed cloud services and when to depend on your own tried and true infrastructure. One example: large private sector organizations with the same “can’t fail” mandates as government long ago determined that no cloud solution used for systems-of-record can approach the rock-solid reliability, performance, security and total cost of ownership of a post-modern mainframe. Then there’s the cost factor. Many large corporations using mainframes have learned the hard way that a wholesale move to the cloud or other commodity distributed servers ultimately proves to be more expensive. Virtualized x86 environments are prone to sprawl and demand constant attention — and constant spending. Rubin Worldwide’s studies have shown costs at server-intensive IT shops are 65 percent higher than those of mainframe-intensive shops, and that mainframe companies earn 28 percent more profit per IT dollar spent than server-centric companies. Two platforms What is working well is a hybrid two platform approach that integrates the post-modern mainframe and the cloud. Here, powerful and cost-efficient systems of record — like the mainframe — remain in your data center to fuel the mission-critical and competitively differentiating side of the IT picture. The approach prudently leverages the cloud to handle common applications and non-mainframe infrastructure as a service that are essential, though not uniquely mission-critical. In the case of the government, for example, consuming human resource administration as a cloud service makes sense. However, there is no U.S. federal tax system that can be consumed as a service from a public cloud provider. The only base of code to do this work is under the exclusive stewardship of the federal government. And this core systems of record runs, and should rightfully remain, on the mainframe. This requires a fiscally responsible strategy of modernizing systems on the mainframe — speeding development to keep pace with the demands of a mobile, digital economy — versus moving off, to a lesser performing, more costly platform. Such pragmatic modernizing takes effort, but tremendous advantages are gained as a result. Data security Data privacy concerns underscored by recent cyber attacks are a major concern, and a national security issue. The dollars spent trying to protect on-premises distributed systems or cloud services from attack are growing. Meanwhile, a well-managed and maintained mainframe is the most secure computing infrastructure available, requiring much less protection from outside attack. IBM research has found that the post-modern mainframe requires 69 percent less effort to secure than other systems. Legacy thinking As new budgets and priorities are being proposed, we should understand that the real problem isn’t about legacy technology, but a pattern of legacy thinking, where hot, new technologies seduce us into believing that certain tried systems are no longer trustworthy or flexible enough to meet tomorrow’s needs and that some Holy Grail exists to fix all federal IT challenges. While true for certain technologies, it’s not true for all. It’s time to discern and be specific about what needs to be modernized. What we’ve seen in the private sector offers a clue. Otherwise, we could very well be wasting time, effort and taxpayer dollars chasing the next big thing, when modernizing the original is the most effective and efficient option. Chris O’Malley is chief executive officer of Compuware, an American software company with products aimed at the information technology departments of large businesses. The views expressed by contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill. View the discussion thread. Contributor's Signup The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

Technology

Social Media

WorldCover, a New York and Africa-based climate insurance provider to smallholder farmers, has raised a $6 million Series A round led by MS&AD Ventures. Y Combinator, Western Technology Investment and EchoVC also participated in the round. WorldCover’s platform uses satellite imagery, on-ground sensors, mobile phones and data analytics to create insurance options for farmers whose crop yields are affected adversely by weather events — primarily lack of rain. The startup currently operates in Ghana, Uganda and Kenya . With the new funding, WorldCover aims to expand its insurance offerings to more emerging market countries. “We’re looking at India, Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia. India could be first on an 18-month timeline for a launch,” WorldCover co-founder and chief executive Chris Sheehan said in an interview. The company has served more than 30,000 farmers across its Africa operations. Smallholder farmers are those earning all or nearly all of their income from agriculture, farming on 10-20 acres of land and earning around $500 to $5,000, according to Sheehan. Farmers connect to WorldCover by creating an account on its USSD mobile app. From there they can input their region and crop type and determine how much insurance they would like to buy and use mobile money to purchase a plan. WorldCover works with payments providers such as M-Pesa in Kenya and MTN Mobile Money in Ghana. The service works on a sliding scale, where a customer can receive anywhere from 5x to 15x the amount of premium they have paid. If there is an adverse weather event, namely lack of rain, the farmer can file a claim via mobile phone. WorldCover then uses its data-analytics metrics to assess it, and, if approved, the farmer will receive an insurance payment via mobile money. Common crops farmed by WorldCover clients include maize, rice and peanuts. It looks to add coffee, cocoa and cashews to its coverage list. For the moment, WorldCover only insures for events such as rainfall risk, but in the future it will look to include other weather events, such as tropical storms, in its insurance programs and platform data analytics. The startup’s founder clarified that WorldCover’s model does not assess or provide insurance payouts specifically for climate change, though it does directly connect to the company’s business. “We insure for adverse weather events that we believe climate change factors are exacerbating,” Sheehan explained. WorldCover also resells the risk of its policyholders to global reinsurers, such as Swiss Re and Nephila. On the potential market size for WorldCover’s business, he highlights a 2018 Lloyd’s study that identified $163 billion of assets at risk, including agriculture, in emerging markets from negative, climate change-related events. “That’s what WorldCover wants to go after…These are the kind of micro-systemic risks we think we can model and then create a micro product for a smallholder farmer that they can understand and will give them protection,” he said. With the round, the startup will look to possibilities to update its platform to offer farming advice to smallholder farmers, in addition to insurance coverage. WorldCover investor and EchoVC founder Eghosa Omoigui believes the startup’s insurance offerings can actually help farmers improve yield. “Weather-risk drives a lot of decisions with these farmers on what to plant, when to plant, and how much to plant,” he said. “With the crop insurance option, the farmer says, ‘Instead of one hector, I can now plant two or three, because I’m covered.’ ” Insurance technology is another sector in Africa’s tech landscape filling up with venture-backed startups. Other insurance startups focusing on agriculture include Accion Venture Lab-backed Pula and South Africa based Mobbisurance. With its new round and plans for global expansion, WorldCover joins a growing list of startups that have developed business models in Africa before raising rounds toward entering new markets abroad. In 2018, Nigerian payment startup Paga announced plans to move into Asia and Latin America after raising $10 million. In 2019, South African tech-transit startup FlexClub partnered with Uber Mexico after a seed raise. And Lagos-based fintech startup TeamAPT announced in Q1 it was looking to expand globally after a $5 million Series A round.

Other

Other

(Reuters Health) - While a healthy-plant based diet is tied to a lower risk of kidney disease, people who fill their plates with starchy, sugary vegetarian fare may actually increase their risk of kidney damage, a new study suggests. Researchers examined data on eating habits and kidney function for 14,686 middle-aged adults, following half of them for at least 24 years. Overall, 4,343 participants developed chronic kidney disease. People who most closely adhered to a diet of healthy plant-based foods were 14 percent less likely to develop kidney disease than individuals who rarely ate these foods, the study found. At the same time, participants who consumed the greatest amount of unhealthy vegetarian foods were 11 percent more likely to develop kidney disease than people who ate the smallest amounts of these foods. “Relatively higher intakes of healthful plant foods and relatively lower intakes of less healthful plant foods and animal foods are associated with favorable kidney outcomes,” said senior study author Casey Rebholz of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore. “We believe that healthful plant foods played an important role because higher consumption of healthful plant foods were associated with a lower risk of kidney disease and slower decline in kidney function when the consumption of less healthful plant foods and animal foods were held constant,” Rebholz said by email. A healthy plant-based diet includes whole grain foods; fruits like apples, pears, and oranges; veggies like dark, leafy greens, sweet potatoes, and broccoli; nuts and natural peanut butter; and legumes like string beans and lentils. Study participants who had the healthiest plant-based diets consumed an average of nine to ten servings a day of these foods. These individuals were more likely to be women, white, older, high school graduates, and physically active. An unhealthy plant-based diet may limit meat but load up on potatoes. This type of diet might also include juice instead of whole fruit, sodas and sugary drinks, and lots of candy, cake and chocolate. Participants who had the least healthy plant-based diets consumed an average of seven servings a day of these foods. They were more likely to be men, younger, sedentary, and drink more alcohol. The association between plant-based diets and chronic kidney risk was especially pronounced for people with a normal weight at the start of the study, researchers report in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. The study wasn’t a controlled experiment designed to prove that certain eating patterns directly contribute to kidney disease. One limitation of the study is that researchers relied on participants to accurately recall what they ate and drank, which can lead to measurement errors, the study authors note. Researchers also may not have had a complete picture of long-term eating habits. Still, it’s possible eating more fruits and vegetables may make it easier for the kidneys to rid the body of toxins, said Dr. Michal Melamed of Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, New York. Fruits and vegetables have less acid, putting less demand on the kidneys than meats which have a lot of acid. “It could also be that the people who eat more fruits and vegetables also do other things, such as exercise more, get more sleep, or in general have a healthier lifestyle and that is the reason why this association is seen,” Melamed, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email. “In general, multiple studies have shown that eating a lot of processed meats and red meats is probably not good for people, not just for their kidney health but also for the heart.” SOURCE: bit.ly/2ISjZzr Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, online April 26, 2019.

Nutrition

Healthy Eating

(Reuters) - Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY.N) reported a larger-than expected quarterly loss on Tuesday as the company produced fewer barrels of oil and gas and commodity prices remained low. The Houston-based company’s production from ongoing operations, including its international business, fell 12.2 percent to 605,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day. The company said its average worldwide realized crude oil prices were $41.49 per barrel, down 13.2 percent from a year earlier. Occidental said its daily production in Texas’ Permian Basin rose by 5,000 boe, but was offset by lower production of natural gas and related liquids. Occidental said on Monday it acquired 35,000 acres (14,164 hectares) of West Texas acreage for $2 billion in cash, boosting its position in the oil-rich Permian Basin. The company’s quarterly net loss narrowed to $241 million, or 32 cents per share, from $2.61 billion, or $3.42 per share. The year-earlier quarter included a $2.6 billion after-tax charge related to scrapped projects and a sharp decline in oil and gas prices. Adjusted loss of 15 cents per share was larger than the average analyst estimate of 11 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Revenue fell 15.8 percent to $2.73 billion, but came in above expectations of $2.69 billion. Reporting by Vishaka George in Bengaluru; Editing by Ted Kerr and Sriraj Kalluvila

Energy

Oil

The Axe Files, featuring David Axelrod, is a podcast distributed by CNN and produced at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics. The author works at the institute. Chicago (CNN)Mitt Romney "feels he's putting country over party" in his outspoken opposition to Donald Trump, his former top political adviser says. Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, has refused to support Trump despite his status as the party's presumptive nominee. At a retreat for GOP fund-raisers over the weekend and in an interview with CNN, Romney warned that Trump will lead to "trickle-down racism" in the U.S. and he criticized fellow Republicans who didn't do more to stop Trump's rise in the GOP. Beth Myers, who served as senior adviser to Romney's 2012 presidential campaign and chief of staff during his years as Massachusetts governor, said that Romney's opposition to Trump's candidacy is a matter of conscience. "I talked to him at length about it and I'm very comfortable with his position," Myers told David Axelrod on "The Axe Files," a podcast produced by CNN and the University of Chicago Institute of Politics. "He feels he's putting country over party and that to me makes sense. He couldn't do it any other way and put his head on a pillow at night." Romney tears into GOP for not criticizing Trump Myers, a veteran of three decades in Republican politics, took a more nuanced position on Trump's candidacy. "He clearly reflects the voters who voted in the Republican primaries. He showed strongly in many many states and the voters were heard," she said. "Does he reflect my visions of America and the Republican party? No." When asked if she felt Trump is equipped to be president, Myers took a long pause. "Yes," she answered, adding, "I think he's a very different candidate and we will see." To hear the whole conversation with Myers, which also touched on how she got her first campaign job while working at a bar, her time with Karl Rove in Texas, and much more, click on http://podcast.cnn.com. To get "The Axe Files" podcast every week, subscribe at http://itunes.com/theaxefiles.

Politics

Government

NEW YORK, April 27 (Reuters) - Bristol-Myers Squibb Co on Thursday posted better-than-expected first-quarter earnings, helped by growth from cancer drugs Opdivo and Yervoy and blood thinner Eliquis. The U.S. drugmaker, which has faced increasing competition for blockbuster Opdivo as well as pressure from activist investors, also raised its expectations for its full-year earnings, reversing a cut to its outlook it made in the previous quarter. Opdivo sales rose 60 percent in the quarter, while Eliquis and Yervoy sales rose 50 percent and 25 percent, respectively. Opdivo and Yervoy are immuno-oncology drugs, which target the body’s immune system to fight cancer. Bristol-Myers reported profit of $1.57 billion, or 94 cents a share, in the quarter, up from $1.20 billion, or 71 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, Bristol-Myers said it earned 84 cents a share. Wall Street analysts, on average, had expected the company to earn 74 cents a share. Revenue rose 12 percent to $4.93 billion, which was also higher than the average analyst estimate of $4.74 billion. The company had warned last quarter that the potential for earlier-than-expected lung cancer competition from Merck & Co Inc could sap Opdivo’s earnings potential this year. Merck had filed for speedy U.S. approval of its immuno-oncology drug Keytruda as an initial lung cancer treatment in combination with chemotherapy. That coincided with Bristol-Myers’ decision not to seek accelerated approval for a combination of Opdivo and Yervoy in first-line lung cancer. But Opdivo outperformed scaled-back sales expectations for the quarter, generating revenue of $1.13 billion, up from $704 million last year. The company increased its forecast for 2017 earnings to a range of $2.85 a share to $3 a share, up from its previous forecast range of $2.70 a share to $2.90 a share. In February, the company added three independent directors to its board, a move it said was supported by activist investor Jana Partners, which had built a position in the company. Billionaire investor Carl Icahn has also taken a stake in Bristol-Myers. Bristol-Myers shares closed at $53.77 on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday. They are down around 8 percent in 2017. (Reporting by Michael Erman; Editing by Bill Rigby)

Pharmaceuticals

Pharmaceuticals

Feb 1 (Reuters) - Camino Minerals Corp: * CAMINO MINERALS TO RAISE $2.1 MILLION FOR ADDITIONAL DRILLING AT CHAPITOS COPPER PROJECT * CAMINO MINERALS CORP - ‍INTENDS TO RAISE UP TO $2.1 MILLION BY A PRIVATE PLACEMENT, TO FUND ADDITIONAL DRILLING AT LOS CHAPITOS PROJECT​ Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:

Other

Other

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey will begin to repatriate captured Islamic State militants to their home countries as of Monday, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu was quoted as saying by state media on Friday. Turkey has long criticised its European allies for refusing to take back Islamic State fighters who are their citizens, and on Monday warned that Ankara would send captured jihadists back to their countries even if their citizenships have been revoked. “We are telling them: ‘We’ll repatriate these people to you’, and we are starting as of Monday,” the state-run Anadolu news agency quoted Soylu as saying. Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu and Ece Toksabay; Editing by Dominic Evans

Politics

Turkey

Following are excerpts from a CNBC interview with Pierre Gramegna, Luxembourg's Finance Minister, and CNBC's Akiko Fujita and Geoff Cutmore from the World Economic Forum 2018.

Other

Other

Psychology suggests you probably want to blame someone for how much it’s costing you to drive this summer. Driving the news: At an average of almost $3 a gallon, pump prices are 60 cents more than last Memorial Day and the highest in four years. Economists agree that no person or action can single-handedly affect pump prices over time, which are largely driven by a global oil market. That doesn’t mean we can’t indulge in the human condition of blame. Americans often blame the sitting president for high pump prices, and this time there is some evidence to back that up. Trump’s announcement earlier this month he would withdraw America from the Iran nuclear deal and re-impose sanctions on that nation’s oil supply is among the geopolitical risks pushing global oil prices higher, which are hovering around $70 a barrel. His move could be adding around 10 cents a gallon to gasoline prices, according to Bob McNally, president of the Rapidan Energy Group consulting firm and former Republican energy adviser during the George W. Bush administration. But Trump is blaming OPEC, and there’s reason for that too. Half the price of a gallon of American gasoline is driven by global oil prices, which are influenced heavily by the oil cartel, Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. OPEC’s oil exports represent about 60% of the total oil traded globally. In response to prices plummeting below $30 a barrel in early 2016, OPEC members along with Russia agreed to cut production in November 2016. The higher prices we’re seeing today are partly as a result of that move. Now that oil prices have risen to between $70 and $80 a barrel in the last few weeks, OPEC and Russia are considering boosting production. McNally predicts pump prices could drop as soon as next month if these plans stick and oil prices keep dropping. Lawmakers often blame OPEC for high prices — and each other, particularly in an election year like this. But McNally suggests Congress should support moves by OPEC and Russia to stabilize the oil market. Conservatives and industry often blame the Environmental Protection Agency for higher costs, and in this case they're right--though this policy has been in place since the early 1990's. The agency requires stricter emissions standards in the summertime for gasoline than winter. This stricter standard typically costs refiners several cents more to refine from crude oil to gasoline. It costs way more to fill up in California ($3.73 a gallon) than it does in Oklahoma ($2.71). This is due to several factors, including higher state taxes and transportation costs of moving fuel. As for your wheels, a Toyota Prius will save you more than a Ford F150, which has been America’s top-selling vehicle for decades. That’s probably not going to change, auto analysts say. This bout of rising gas prices is unlikely to be nearly as intense as in 2008, when prices breached the $4 mark and briefly changed people’s buying habits. Prices then dropped precipitously amid the economic crash. If OPEC and Russia follow through and boost production, this run could be much shorter than anticipated. “Unless it’s a very high price and sustained, we typically don’t see a change in [car] buying habits,” said Michelle Krebs, an executive analyst at Autotrader. U.S. oil production has roughly doubled from five million barrels a day to more than 10 million over the past decade. This oil boom, fueled by fracking and horizontal drilling technologies, helped drive down global oil prices a few years ago and helps insulate gas prices to some degree, experts say. It doesn’t do anything to lessen America’s use of oil itself as a fuel or our dependence on an inherently volatile global market.

Energy

Oil

Production on the sixth Mission: Impossible film will go on hiatus after its star, Tom Cruise, was injured while performing a stunt. “During production on the latest Mission: Impossible film, Tom Cruise broke his ankle while performing a stunt,” Paramount Pictures said in a statement Wednesday. “Production will go on hiatus while Tom makes a full recovery, and the film remains on schedule to open July 27, 2018.  Tom wants to thank you all for your concern and support and can’t wait to share the film with everyone next summer.” The studio’s statement doesn’t specify how long filming will be delayed, but Variety, which was first to report the news, says it could be between six weeks and three months in order to give Cruise time to heal. Director Christopher McQuarrie also shared an update on Twitter, writing, “Thank you all for your support and concern. Tom is on the mend and MI6 is on track for 07.27.2018.” Thank you all for your support and concern. Tom is on the mend and MI6 is on track for 07.27.2018 https://t.co/c4XqsEuRh4 — ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) August 16, 2017 Video obtained by TMZ over the weekend appeared to show the 55-year-old Cruise jumping between two buildings on the film’s London set, but coming short of making it to the other rooftop, hitting the building instead and limping away after. Cruise is known for performing many of his own stunts, including ones in previous Mission: Impossible films like scaling Dubai’s Burj Khalifa in Ghost Protocol and dangling off the side of a plane as it takes off in Rogue Nation. Mission: Impossible 6 also stars Henry Cavill, Alec Baldwin, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, and Michelle Monaghan.

Other

Other

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel’s parliament speaker went on national radio on Thursday to try to quell anger over a ban on female staff wearing skirts deemed too short, a move that has caused a scandal in a legislature where informal dress has long been the fashion. The furore began about 10 days ago when Knesset security guards began turning away women they accused of being dressed immodestly, even though the rules do not specify a skirt length. On Wednesday, about 30 women protested at the Knesset’s security entrance, posing for news cameras wearing above-the-knee skirts or dresses in defiance of the ban. They were supported by a man wearing a skirt over his trousers and a member of parliament who stripped down to his undershirt. The lawmaker, Professor Manuel Trajtenberg, complained that soon women would “have to wear burkas”. Parliamentary Speaker Yuli Edelstein said on national radio the Knesset had not gone, in his words, “Iran-Taliban”. The issue has been referred to a special committee, where lawmakers and aides, male and female, will take a look at the dress code and decide to what extent it should be implemented. Edelstein defended the need for decorum in the legislature and said parliament’s administrative director had only been doing his job when he sent around a letter in October reminding everyone of the dress code. The official, he said, had been acting on “numerous complaints from legislators and staffers” about people clad inappropriately. The debate touched on sensitive religious issues in increasingly conservative Jerusalem and in a country where the secular majority and ultra-Orthodox Jewish minority are traditionally at odds over the role of women in society and their attire. At the Knesset, some women staffers said male guards had embarrassed them publicly by ordering them to unbutton their coats so they could see the length of their skirts. The controversy seemed almost out of place in a legislature where business suits are as much the exception as polite debate and where shouting matches are de rigueur. For an institution charged with enacting laws, its own dress code is not written in stone. While banning tank tops, ripped trousers, flipflops and shorts, it does not set a precise hemline, merely forbidding “short skirts and dresses”. A ban on open-toed sandals and jeans has only been enforced - inconsistently - in the last decade. Editing by Janet Lawrence

Society

Culture

On a windy morning in January, a group of police and city workers closed a long-existing tent encampment beneath an overpass on K Street in Washington, D.C. First came the warning posted to the camp about the imminent sweep—generally, camp inhabitants are given three days to pack up their belongings and leave. Then came the removal of property from the sidewalk, as Department of Public Works employees dragged trash and tents and other personal belongings into the back of an idling garbage truck. “It’s not usually 4 a.m., it’s usually 2 a.m. [when the sweep happens],” a man named Adam Bredenberg who lived in an encampment told me before a similar eviction in 2017 in the Bay Area. “I pound an energy drink, put on some warm clothes, get my essential stuff. They basically force all the people out of the space, then usually they put down fences and clean everything out, and the people end up on the edge of whatever space they've cleared out trying to decide where to go. In a couple cases, there have been citations and arrests and brutality.” This process is routine in many cities with large homeless populations, generally the result of property owners lodging enough complaints to stir the municipality into action. After the K Street sweep was over, out came the advocates and reporters asking the obvious question: Where should these people go? “There is a [shelter] bed available to everyone on the street experiencing homelessness,” Wayne Turnage, the city’s deputy mayor for health and human services, told the Washington Post. This response by an official is extremely common. It suggests that a choice is being made by these homeless folks: Do you want to go into a shelter or do you want your stuff swept? But a closer look at the choice between remaining on the street in an encampment and going to a shelter shows that it's not an easy decision for many homeless people—and some of them don't have any options at all. San Francisco currently has a list of around 1,000 people waiting for a 90-day shelter bed. In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the waitlist was 163 people deep last December. Last summer in Greenfield, Massachusetts, 25 people waited for one of the 20 beds available. In many cities, there aren't enough shelter beds to accommodate the people living on the streets. They aren't living in tents by choice, but out of necessity. Word about the shelter waitlists get around, and so even if a city can offer some extra temporary shelter for encampment residents, the perception is still that their entry into a shelter bed will push someone else back onto the street. I’ve spoken to dozens of people experiencing homelessness over the years, and many have told me that in that case, they’d rather just stay outside. But even when there are shelter beds available, there are still plenty of logical reasons that someone may decide not to enter the system, and many policies that keep them outside of it. As codified in the Callahan Consent Decree from 1981, New York City is legally obligated to provide shelter to any homeless individual. (Most other cities do not have the same obligation.) However, there are rules in those shelters, including a curfew, which makes sense if you believe that homeless people need structure and order to their lives. But that's certainly not what all of them need—many, for instance, have jobs that might keep them out past the shelter curfew. There are other rules that are simply non-starters for other people. “In Oakland, there are 460 shelter beds total available for over 9,000 unsheltered people on any given night,” encampment resident Yana Johnson said in the days leading up to an eviction in 2018. “These 460 shelter beds do not serve women with children, people with pets, or any working person who has night shifts. Under this criteria, a majority of residents… are totally excluded from shelters, which are often only available for one night.” Some cities have been trying to remove these barriers, but it’s a slow process despite the best efforts of local homeless activists. In Denver, there have recently been attempts by lawmakers to create a homeless bill of rights. “It can’t just be a building. It has to be a place where people can live out their basic life functions,” legislator Jovan Melton, author of the bill, told the Denver Post. “Say you’re working a swing shift, but the shelter says we stop taking people at 5 p.m. Well, that’s not adequate. That doesn’t meet that person’s needs.” And if those needs aren’t being met, the logical choice for many people experiencing homelessness will be to remain outside of the shelter system. “[Living outside] amongst other people, there’s a sense of community,” Amber Whitson, a Bay Area resident who’s been living “on the streets,” as she described it, for almost 23 years, told me. “If alone, solitude. If out in nature, then to be away from society. If in town, then to have easier access to the things that I might need. There are many challenges that come along with living in a tent, but in the right circumstances, those challenges are worth it.” Some shelter stays are for one night at a time, forcing people to leave when the sun comes up. Other shelters allow stays for longer periods, generally maxing out at around 90 days. But these spaces never provide a space you can truly call your own. Even though a street encampment is in constant danger of being swept, it makes sense someone would choose a static spot to keep one’s belongings within a community they can trust to watch over things when they leave. Which isn’t to say that encampments are some utopian ideal—there’s plenty of danger coming from every direction, from people who are also living outside, to housed people upset at homelessness, to cars and trucks speeding past. But at least they don't have to deal with shelter employees who have a huge amount of power over them. During the infamous 2013 eviction of the Bay Area’s Albany Bulb encampment, Whitson said that she attempted to enter the shelter that was erected nearby to house some of the homeless folks being driven out. “I was greeted at the door by a woman holding a Maglite over her head, as if to strike someone with it, and was turned away after I was told that I wasn’t on the list,” Whitson tells me. “That was my last attempt at staying in a shelter.” As Andrew Huff wrote in the Philadelphia-based social platform Generocity: Reports of sexual abuse in shelters are rampant, and it’s the result of this inherent dynamic between provider and recipient. Sometimes, the overworked and underpaid staff can’t or aren’t willing to give shelter residents the care they need. This forces residents to take matters into their own hands. “We had a woman living with us who was getting increasingly hostile and violent, and we warned staff multiple times. They ignored us, so we had to hide all the knives and anything that could be used as a weapon,” said Esperanza Fonseca, who was homeless in Orange County, California, in 2018. “This woman ended up physically attacking me at six in the morning, but since staff was so unresponsive, the women in the house defended me and subdued her.” Police eventually came, and Fonseca’s attacker ended up back on the street. Soon after, so did the women who ended up defending Fonseca. The staff, Fonseca said, had claimed these women were violent. Without a support network in place, Fonseca packed up and left. “The most painful thing was to watch women leave the shelter to go back to the streets because they thought it was better,” Fonseca said. “In the shelter, I was subjected to violence, threats, harassment, discrimination. That is what we feared we would face in the streets, but we still experienced it at the shelter, just with more rules and expired milk.” Sign up for our newsletter to get the best of VICE delivered to your inbox daily. Follow Rick Paulas on Twitter.

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LW Evander Kane left the game after the second period Monday with an upper-body injury and did not return. He is unlikely to play Tuersday. G Robin Lehner (lower body) and C Tyler Ennis (upper body) were sidelined Monday. C Zemgus Girgensons scored in Buffalo’s 3-2 loss to Detroit on Monday night, his first goal in 24 games. Girgensons’ last goal had come Jan. 25, when he scored twice. Girgensons has six goals on the season. C Tyler Ennis (upper body) and G Robin Lehner (lower body) were sidelined Monday.

Sports

Hockey

Our guide to the city’s best classical music and opera. ‘DANCING VOICES’ at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater (Oct. 20, 7:30 p.m., Oct. 21, 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.). Meredith Monk teams up with the Young People’s Chorus of New York for this White Light Festival performance in a typical Monkian vein, breaking down boundaries between voice and body. Francisco J. Núñez is the artistic director, with the American Contemporary Music Ensemble on hand.212-721-6500, lincolncenter.org/white-light-festival MAHAN ESFAHANI at Miller Theater (Oct. 26, 8 p.m.). You’d be excused for missing it, but there have been wars in the harpsichord world this past year, with this young, thoughtful soloist as the main provocateur attacking some of the prevailing styles and aesthetic commitments of the period-instrument movement. Here he reprises a recent recording that came out on Deutsche Grammophon, playing Bach’s “Goldberg” Variations.212-854-7799, millertheatre.com ‘THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL’ at the Metropolitan Opera (Oct. 26, 8 p.m., and through Nov. 21). Based on the Luis Buñuel film, “Angel,” Thomas Adès’s latest opera, was a hit at its Salzburg Festival premiere last year, and now makes its American debut, with the composer acting as conductor. Tom Cairns, the opera’s librettist, directs this tale of a dinner party that proves inescapable, with an enormous cast that includes Sally Matthews, Sophie Bevan, Alice Coote, Audrey Luna, Iestyn Davies, Joseph Kaiser, Rod Gilfry and John Tomlinson. 212-362-6000, metopera.org RENÉE FLEMING AND INON BARNATAN at Carnegie Hall (Oct. 23, 8 p.m.). Surprises abound in this recital from the pre-eminent American soprano, although there’s a welcome foray into excepts from Strauss’s “Ariadne auf Naxos” to round out the program. Before that, there’s music by Brahms and André Previn, the premiere of two songs by Caroline Shaw, and works from an overlooked Austrian, Egon Kornauth.212-247-7800, carnegiehall.org NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC at David Geffen Hall (Oct. 25, 7:30 p.m., through Oct. 31). Alan Gilbert makes a return to the podium he only just vacated, for a concert in celebration of another former Philharmonic music director, Leonard Bernstein. Joshua Bell is the violin soloist in Bernstein’s “Serenade,” and the mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor intones words from the Hebrew Book of Lamentations in the Symphony No. 1, “Jeremiah.” As ever with Mr. Gilbert, there’s also new music, this time Joey Roukens’s “Boundless (Homage to L.B.).”212-875-5656, nyphil.org ORCHESTRA DELL’ACCADEMIA NAZIONALE DI SANTA CECILIA at Carnegie Hall (Oct. 20-21, 8 p.m.). It’s quite a shock to learn that these concerts are Antonio Pappano’s debut on the Carnegie Hall rostrum, but fitting that it comes at the helm of the European orchestra whose reputation he has done so much to revive. On Friday, though, their Verdi and Respighi is not the main attraction: That billing goes to Martha Argerich, the elusive pianist, who makes a rare appearance to play Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3. Saturday’s concert is more adventurous, featuring Mahler’s Symphony No. 6 and a new cantata by Salvatore Sciarrino, “La nuova Euridice secondo Rilke,” sung by Barbara Hannigan.212-247-7800, carnegiehall.org JOSHUA RUBIN AND VASKO DUKOVSKI at Miller Theater (Oct. 24, 6 p.m.). Clarinet duets are the focus of attention at this free pop-up concert in Morningside Heights, including the premiere of a work by Camila Agosto. There’s also John Zorn’s “Sortilège,” Peter Eotvos’s “Derwischtanz” and Chaya Czernowin’s “Duo Leat.”212-854-7799, millertheatre.com

Classical Music

Concerts

LIMA, Peru — Presidential elections in Peru were headed to a second round of voting on Sunday with the daughter of an imprisoned former president in the lead over a centrist former prime minister, Peruvian officials said. Keiko Fujimori, 40, whose father, Alberto, ruled the country with an iron fist in the 1990s, had about 38 percent of the vote, according to an official count of about one-fifth of the ballots. Trailing her by double digits was Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, 77, a centrist economist who served as the country’s prime minister in the mid-2000s. Ms. Fujimori, a right-wing candidate, campaigned on promises to promote foreign investment while restoring her father’s law-and-order legacy of combating extremist groups. But her campaign was unable to clinch the majority needed to avoid a runoff, scheduled for June 5. Speaking to supporters Sunday, Ms. Fujimori said that the results reflected a “new political map” in the country and that voters wanted to “reclaim the state’s presence.” But critics fear that her candidacy risks a return to the authoritarianism of her father, whose legacy has become a central issue of the campaign. Mr. Fujimori, who ruled from 1990 to 2000, suspended the Constitution and disbanded Congress. In 2009, a court found him guilty of corruption and human rights abuses, including running death squads that carried out extrajudicial executions. He is now in prison serving a 25-year sentence. Mr. Fujimori is credited, however, with dismantling the Shining Path, Peru’s deadly extremist organization. His economic policies tamed the country’s hyperinflation, eventually setting Peru on a path of steady growth, which continues. “The father’s legacy is a double-edged sword for Keiko,” said Jo-Marie Burt, a senior fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America, a policy group. “It brings her a steady stream of votes, but it brings her a steady rejection. There are people who will never vote for her.” It remained unclear whether Ms. Fujimori would be able to win a second round of voting if the voters supporting her opponents migrated toward a single rival. In 2011, she advanced to the second round but lost to Ollanta Humala, a former army officer who capitalized on sentiment against her. Polls indicate she will face a tough race against Mr. Kuczynski. On Sunday, Peruvians fanned out to voting stations like the one at Sagrado Corazón Chalet School, where soldiers guarded ballot boxes placed in classrooms. Damaris Poma Escobedo, 28, a supermarket employee, voted for Ms. Fujimori because she identified with a female candidate. “We need a woman to be president,” she said. “She has good ideas, and I think the past is the past, and we can look forward to give her an opportunity.” Guillermo Fernandin Bohl, 34, a caterer, said he had voted for Mr. Kuczynski. “He can bring foreign investors and modernize the country,” he said. “When you are smart, you vote for the right one, not for someone’s race or looks.” Throughout the campaign, Ms. Fujimori was repeatedly assailed by her rivals, who said another Fujimori presidency would harm the country’s democracy. On Tuesday, an estimated 30,000 people gathered for a protest march against her candidacy, staged on the 24th anniversary of Alberto Fujimori’s coup. Ms. Fujimori recently signed a pledge to respect human rights and freedom of the press, an unusual move meant to signal to voters that she would not repeat her father’s authoritarianism. “If anything, the election is more polarized this year,” said Cynthia McClintock, a political scientist specializing in Peru at George Washington University. “Keiko Fujimori has a long way to go.” An article on April 11 about presidential elections in Peru in which Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of an imprisoned former president, was in the lead misstated, in some editions, her finish in the first round of presidential voting in 2011. Ms. Fujimori finished second, not first. (A runoff is set for June 5 in this year’s election.)

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RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Brazil plans to restart domestic uranium mining in 2019 for the first time in five years, the mines and energy minister told a newspaper in an interview published on Monday. Operations would begin this year at a mine in the city of Caetite in the northeastern state of Bahia, Minister Bento Albuquerque told Estado de S. Paulo newspaper. A ministry spokesman confirmed Albuquerque’s comments. State-owned nuclear firm INB had halted mining in Caetite in 2014 after one cache of uranium ran out, but at the time it was not licensed to begin operations at another dig nearby. A spokesman for nuclear regulator Cnen said that it had issued a license for the Caetite mine in April this year. Under the constitution, uranium exploration can only be carried out by INB, although Albuquerque has previously stated that the government aimed to allow exploration partnerships with private investors in future. The minister reiterated that goal in his comments to Estado. Brazil has the 7th largest uranium reserves in the world, and only a third of the country has been explored, Estado reported. China, the United States, France, Japan, South Korea and Russia have already expressed interest in uranium mining in Brazil, the newspaper added, citing government officials. Albuquerque told Estado that he wanted to break the government’s monopoly in uranium exploration and in running nuclear power plants, although he said this would require a constitutional change to be voted on in Congress. Reporting by Gabriel Stargardter and Jake Spring; Editing by Edmund Blair

Mining

Geology

Makes about 4 dozenPrep time: 20 minutesTotal time: 1 hour and 30 minutes 16 tablespoons|226 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature½ cup|115 grams granulated sugar1 teaspoon vanilla extract2 teaspoons almond milk 1 ¾ cups|230 grams all-purpose flour1 cup|140 grams finely chopped salted pistachios½ cup pistachio flour1 teaspoon kosher salt½ cup|60 grams confectioners sugar, for rolling 1. Heat oven to 325°F. 2. In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the granulated sugar and butter on medium speed until fluffy. Add the almond milk and vanilla and mix on low until smooth. Add the all-purpose flour, pistachios, pistachio flour, and the salt and mix until fully incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 3. Roll the dough into 1-tablespoon rounds and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, about 2-inches apart. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until they spread slightly and are lightly set. 4. Cool completely, then roll in a large bowl filled with the confectioners’ sugar. Get recipes like this and more in the Munchies Recipes newsletter. Sign up here .

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Cooking

MOSCOW — We have a saying in Russia, Stanislav Cherchesov told reporters from behind his fearsome mustache on Saturday afternoon. “Anyone,” said Cherchesov, the coach of Russia’s World Cup team, “can be a god if he tries.” The statement — made a day before Russia would play Spain in the World Cup’s round of 16 — was both pushback and premonition. Cherchesov knew what everyone was thinking: that his Russia team, the lowest-ranked in the field, had surpassed expectations as the host of the World Cup but would surely reach the end of the line when it took on Spain, a former world and European champion. [Up Next: Follow our live coverage of Brazil vs. Mexico] But Cherchesov seemed to know better. He thought his team had more to give. And he was right. In a stunning upset, Russia eliminated Spain on penalty kicks, 4-3, after a 1-1 tie on Sunday that extended through 90 minutes of regulation and 30 minutes of extra time. The long day finally ended when the Russian goalkeeper, Igor Akinfeev, kicked away Iago Aspas’s fifth penalty attempt for Spain. The Russians had been dominated throughout the game, but a penalty kick by Artem Dzyuba before halftime allowed them to tie the score at 1-1, and a gritty, disciplined, defensive effort ultimately led to the penalty shootout — and to a result that many had considered unthinkable. Cherchesov and Russia now have any number of players to toast as they begin to look ahead to their next game, on Saturday in Sochi, where they will play a quarterfinal match against Croatia, which won its own penalty-shootout battle on Sunday against Denmark. One hero, for sure, is Akinfeev, who saved two of Spain’s five penalties. Then there is Dzyuba, who created and then converted the penalty that drew Russia level in a game in which it appeared comically overmatched at times. And maybe Sergey Ignashevich, the 38-year-old center back, who was drafted into the World Cup squad late in Russia’s preparations. He has played every minute of this tournament, and he anchored the five-man defensive back line with the leadership and the direction to hold off Spain again and again. “It’s an incredible feeling,” midfielder Aleksandr Golovin said. “To be honest, I do not even know what to do right now. We are in some kind of dream, a fairy tale.” To say Russia played Spain to a draw was technically true. But in reality Spain played and Russia chased for most of the match inside the cavernous Luzhniki Stadium. Spain was content to keep possession of the ball after an early goal and Russia was, well, content to let Spain have it. For 10, 15, 20 passes at a stretch, Spain worked the ball around the field at will — a game of keepaway disguised as a World Cup elimination match. The pro-Russian crowd whistled its disapproval early and repeatedly, and urged its team on whenever it managed — even briefly — to steal the ball away from the Spaniards. But Spain, inevitably and repeatedly, simply took the ball back. And kept it. “We knew that Spain would play the ball in the match and leave it to them: We were prepared for this,” Golovin said. “We knew that we would keep them as far away from the penalty area as possible.” Spain was so dominant in the first half that it nearly made it to halftime with a 1-0 lead despite having taken no shots: its opening goal came off the right ankle of Ignashevich, who unwittingly scored this World Cup’s 10th own goal — a record total already — as he fell to the ground while tangling with Spain’s Sergio Ramos on a free kick in the 12th minute. Staked to the early lead it sought, Spain continued to pass and Russia continued to chase. The game quickly devolved into a high-stakes training session. And then, in the 40th minute, everything changed. Russia won a corner kick, Alexander Samedov fired it in and Dzyuba headed it directly onto the arm of Spain’s Gerard Piqué — who, for some reason, had jumped to challenge Dzyuba with his back turned and one arm over his head. The Dutch referee, Bjorn Kuipers, called a hand ball. Dzyuba buried the ensuing penalty kick past David De Gea and, just like that, Russia — and its crowd — came to life. Russia had ridden that kind of full-throated support right through its first three games at the tournament. Its maximum-effort style on the field and early success — two victories in its first three games — had quickly got its countrymen on board, easing fears that the tournament might be an afterthought for the host country if the Russian team exited early. Dzyuba’s goal seemed to revive those fans on Sunday, and perhaps made them imagine a victory might just be possible. The start of the second half was more even, and the free kicks and corners Russia won — with increasing frequency — soon began to create two and three half-chances at a time before Spain would force the ball clear. Spain still ruled the statistics — it completed 1,029 passes to Russia’s 202 by the end of the match — but it stubbornly refused to adjust its style even after it became clear Russia would not yield. The Spaniards had good chances — a long-range shot by Andrés Iniesta in the second half, a dangerous run by the substitute Rodrigo in the second extra period — but a goal never came. The defeat will be a bitter one to swallow for Spain. The team had rallied after stunningly firing its coach, Julien Lopetegui, two days before its opening match here, and it had emerged from the group stage without a defeat and with a favorable path to the final. Fernando Hierro, the former Spanish national-team player who took over for Lopetegui, tried to shield his players from blame — “I can look them all in the eyes” — but could not hide his disappointment. “How do you think we are feeling?” Hierro said to a question about the team’s postgame mood. “We are feeling like all Spaniards are feeling this evening.” 8 Photos View Slide Show › But Russia is exulting. Having reached the penalty-kick shootout, its team seized its chance and finished the job. First Fyodor Smolov, then Ignashevich, then Golovin, then Denis Cheryshev — all beat De Gea. Akinfeev did the rest, stopping Koke on Spain’s third attempt and Aspas on the fifth. Cherchesov, the coach, watched none of it from his post on the sideline, banking his emotions for what was to come. “I believe this is only the beginning,” he said, “so I have to save my emotions for the future.” He did not join the celebrations as Akinfeev deflected the ball high into the air with his trailing foot to seal the victory. That was for the players, who piled on top of their goalkeeper as the crowd of 78,011 made a sound louder than any heard yet at this World Cup. Those fans will now get at least one more chance to cheer. —— Here’s how Russia beat Spain: The Russian team goes crazy as a jubilant Moscow crowd cheers on their advancement to the quarterfinals. Russia was considered one of the weakest teams in the tournament, and Spain one of the favorites. But in 120 minutes Spain could only force one own goal, and when it comes down to penalties anybody can beat anybody. Andrew Das: Stunning finish there as Akinfeev kicks away the last attempt by Aspas. The Russians pour toward him and he dives, fists outstretched into the grass to absorb their love. The crowd has gone absolutely bonkers in here. MISS Spain! Akinfeev dives the wrong way but gets a foot on Iago Aspas’s penalty! GOAL Russia! Denis Cheryshev goes down the middle as David de Gea dives to his side. GOAL Spain! Sergio Ramos with exaggerated slow steps and sends Akinfeev the wrong way. GOAL Russia! Aleksandr Golovin powers the ball under a diving de Gea. MISS Spain! Koke’s shot isn’t enough to the side, and Akinfeev dives to his right and stops it. GOAL Russia! Sergey Ignashevich’s stutter step sends de Gea the wrong direction. GOAL Spain! Gerard Pique powers his shot into the bottom left corner as Akinfeev once again dives the wrong way. GOAL Russia! David de Gea gets his right hand onto it, but Fedor Smolov’s shot is too powerful. GOAL Spain! Andres Iniesta easily puts it into the back of the net as Akinfeev dives the wrong way. Spain wins the coin toss, and captain Sergio Ramos elects for Spain to shoot first. EXTRA TIME IS OVER! The referee blows his whistle, and we are going to penalties! Rodrigo gets off a low shot from the top of the box, but Akinfeev easily falls to his side and saves it. Russia gets a corner kick but the ball is deflected out of danger. Just a few minutes left for Spain to get a winner here. If you are wondering how attacking Russia has been for the last hour and change, the answer is: Not very! Another Spanish error almost frees Russia. Pique tried to navigate out of trouble in his own box and loses the ball, but Spain clears. Andrew Das: Dramatically cooler in here suddenly as the weather changes — just what the tiring Russians needed. What they needed more was the corner they just won. A beautiful Spanish free kick drifts achingly beyond three Spanish players, and they IMMEDIATELY sprint to referee Bjorn Kuipers to argue that Pique and Ramos were held and deserve a penalty. Andrew Das: That really should have been a penalty for the hold on Ramos. He couldn’t get free of his man and the ball sailed within a few feet of him. Nope. Kuipers waves play on. Spain is generating a good chance every two minutes. If there were an hour left in this game they would surely score, but Russia might be able to hold out for just 10 minutes more. Andrew Das: Did they chant “Russ-see-ya!” this much in Rocky IV? Russia with a free kick just inside their own half ... and it is kicked out for a Spanish goal kick. You almost get the sense that Russia doesn’t care one bit about trying to score. Andrew Das: There is something you have to respect about the stubborn way Spain plays on days like this. It’s as if they’re refusing to change — flatly refusing — in the face of overwhelming evidence what they’re doing isn’t working. “We will win our way,” they seem to be saying. “However long it takes.” The trust, the belief, inherent in that is admirable. The question is: will it be successful? Rodrigo with a beautiful dummy along the sideline, and he sprints forward in the most pulsing move a Spanish player has made all day. But his tight angle shot is blocked by Akinfeev, and Dani Carvajal can’t get a strong shot on the rebound. Andrew Das: Was that Spain’s best chance to win it before penalties? Maybe. Rodrigo loses his man with a brilliant dummy in the open field, but Carvajal lashed the rebound into a defender. Soooooo close there. Fifteen more minutes before we go to penalties. A basically 50/50 chance at winning on penalties would be a great outcome for Russia, so perhaps Spain is going to push even higher for a winning goal? Andrew Das: You have to wonder if the crowd is giving Russia a vital lift here. Let’s be honest: Spain’s the better team, and they’re quicker. But Russia isn’t breaking, isn’t surrendering a yard. And every time they need someone to make a play, he makes it. That’s infectious, especially as this thing goes on and on and on .... Spain earns a free kick in the final minute of the first period of extra time, and Pique gets a head to Koke’s ball, but it is straight at Akinfeev. Andrew Das: Pique’s header is saved and the crowd rises and cheers as one. They really believe now. Iago Aspas attempted to go one-on-four but his shot was blocked. At least he went for it though! Andrew Das: The 38-year-old Ignashevich fighting off the substitute Aspas — twice — to clear on that break just now is the most tangible sign of how much Russia is willing to give here today. Disciplined, noble effort under sustained pressure. They can be proud, however it ends. Marco Asensio gets a clear shot, but a soft kick from 20 yards out goes right into Igor Akinfeev’s hands. Andrew Das: Asensio follows up Koke’s long-range attempt with one of his own. Maybe one of those will shake something loose here, but it telegraphs that Spain realizes it might want to score soon rather than leave this to PKs in a hostile stadium. Momentum in those can do funny things. Koke with the most un-Spain moment of the day there, firing off a shot from 35 yards. Maybe he’s had enough, too. That was a frustration ball that landed 35 rows up. Isco immediately plays a piercing ball through to Aspas who cuts it back for Dani Carvajal, but his shot is blocked. We are back underway. It is a hot day in Moscow and a few players have cramped up already. This game may come down to one side making a tired mistake. As a reminder, for the first time in the World Cup, the teams will be given a fourth substitute to hopefully spice up the extra time period. Andrew Das: That could be big for Russia, which used its first three early (by the 65th minute). Passes in regulation: Spain 854, Russia 227 Passes completed: Spain 772, Russia 169. The key category, as always, is goals. And that one’s 1-1. Spain gets one last cross in, but it is headed clear, and the referee blows his whistle! After a short break, we’ll have 30 more minutes of Spain passing it among themselves. Russia perhaps gets their final chance of regular time, but Fedor Smolov curls his shot well wide. Andrew Das: The Russian fans are on their feet at the Luzhniki; they think they’ve won the 90 minutes even if they’ve lost the statistics on points, and want to try to steal it here. Spain gets three corners in a row, but can’t get a good shot off. The fourth official signals four minutes of extra time. Aspas chests a pass back to Iniesta, and his low on-target shot is parried aside. The rebound comes to Aspas, but his shot is dragged wide. Spain looks much more dangerous and direct with Iniesta and Aspas on, making you wonder why it took until the 80th minute for them both to be on. Andrew Das: Akinfeev may just have kept Russia in the World Cup. Dove right to stop Iniesta’s shot from the top of the area, pushing it right, then scrambled up to paw away Aspas’s follow shot with his left hand. Super play. The ensuing corner sort of awkwardly bounces through the box without being touched, though there are appeals for a hand ball. The video assistant referee takes a look, but sees the ball only hit Sergey Ignashevic’s shoulder, not arm. Andrew Das: That’s a good use of V.A.R. there; Kuipers stops the throw while they look for a hand ball on the replay, but when it shows the ball his Ignashevich in the chest, he takes the V.A.R.’s word and waves play to continue. A few seconds delay to get the call right. Spain makes their final change, and it’s an interesting one. Iago Aspas, who is a sort of hybrid striker/winger, comes in for Diego Costa. He scored the late equalizer against Morocco. Andrew Das: That’s the most movement we’ve seen from Costa in an hour as he sprints to the sideline to be replaced by Aspas. Hierro really needed to do something, or at least send on someone will to run around a bit more, cause some confusion. Let’s hope those were the instructions to Aspas. Spain currently running the world’s largest, most boring rondo: just encircling a Russian team that doesn’t seem to be trying too hard to get the ball back. It is as if Spain thinks the first team to 1,000 passes automatically wins. A long Koke pass goes high over Marco Asensio’s head and out of bounds, which is a good metaphor of how dangerous Spain’s attack has been. Andrew Das: Spain still looks like it’s going to have to pass its way through a picket fence here; all the possession lately is around the outside, ringing the Russians but not probing the center. That’s fine for keepaway. It’s significantly harder to score a goal that way, though, especially if the Russians refuse to be drawn out of their compact shape. “Want the ball way out wide?” they seem to be saying. “Go ahead, have the ball outside.” Jordi Alba is taken down by Roman Zobnin, who gets a yellow card for his troubles. Right back Nacho makes way for Dani Carvajal, who started each of the last two games. Andrew Das: It’s amazing how Spain never seems to run out of Real Madrid or Barcelona players to bring on. It’s David Silva who makes way for Iniesta. Andrew Das: Silva didn’t really show much today. If anyone can sort Spain out, create something out of nothing, it’s probably Iniesta. Iniesta, 34, is surely in his last World Cup. And after all he’s won, he absolutely does not want to go out to Russia in the round of 16. Russia makes their final substitution, taking off goal scorer Artem Dzyuba for Fedor Smolov. Spain still has all three of their substitutions left, but Andres Iniesta is coming on shortly. Andrew Das: Russia has used all three of its subs now. They’ve also grabbed a bit more of the momentum, though they’ve still been out-passed today by nearly three to one. Last I checked, Spain had completed about 600 passes, Russian just under 200. Diego Costa thought he had a little breakaway going against the Russian defense, but the offside flag is up. He just know it. Here comes Denis Cheryshev, on for Aleksandr Samedov at attacking midfielder. Cheryshev has played in Spain since he was 12, and would love to score against this team full of Real Madrid and Barcelona players. A great chance for Spain and David Silva. He creates a little bit of space to get his head on a cross, but sends it wide of the left post. Diego Costa gets a nice through ball behind the defense, but his cutback is blocked out. Russia clears the subsequent corner away. Spain looks like a version of classic Spain that has been run through the copier. It’s definitely Spain, but they’re lacking the edge, the detail and the definition that made them Spain. It’s not possession to intentionally lull Russia to sleep, or possession that is constantly probing for openings. It’s possession that isn’t creative enough to regularly trouble Russia. For Russia, the plan is simple: Keep doing what they’re doing. For Spain, the decision is much harder: When, if ever, do they try something new? Spain has always been supremely confident in sticking to their game plan, assuming the goal is coming eventually. But they could go more direct to Diego Costa, or bring players like Andres Iniesta, Thiago or Iago Aspas off the bench. Spain immediately on the attack, with Isco doing most of the hard work. The ball eventually skips to a wide open Jordi Alba, but it’s at an awkward height and he’s only able to thrust a quadriceps at it. We are underway! Russia has brought Vladimir Granat on for Yury Zhirkov. Russia stays in the 5-4-1 though. No change in formation. Spain and Russia go into the half all even 1-1, as the World Cup of strange goals continues. Spain’s came on a free kick own goal, while Russia’s was from a yellow card after a hand ball in the box. Spain has dominated possession but failed to generate many chances, while Russia has sat back and looked to score on the counter. Andrew Das: Spain must be kicking itself for not pressing harder for a second goal before halftime. They were in total control, and Russia was willing to lie back and take whatever they did. But content in possession, Spain was happy to play keepaway — a winning strategy unless, you know, you somehow give up the tying goal and let the hosts and the crowd roar back to life. Now Russia will probably go into the locker room thinking, “You know .......” The half ends with a Diego Costa header and a Russian counterattack, but neither amount to anything. In the final minute of the first half, Spain takes their first shot. It’s from Marco Asensio outside the box, and it is blocked. Spain’s defense has been uncharacteristically error-prone this World Cup, but at some point it stops being uncharacteristic and is simply the reality of the situation: David de Gea’s fumbled shot in the opener, Ramos and Iniesta’s miscommunication against Morocco and now Pique’s hand ball for a goal here. Artem Dzyuba slams the ball into the corner as de Gea dives the wrong way. The Moscow stadium sounds deafening. Strange arguments from Spain over the penalty: Pique rose with his arm over his head. Even with his back turned, that’s an unnatural position that’s indefensible when he got an advantage from it. The score is even, though the game surely has not been. Penalty kick for Russia! Big Artem Dzyuba rose highest on the corner kick, and headed the ball off of Gerard Pique’s arm, which was sticking up straight in the air. All of a sudden Russia is on the front foot, and Spain’s defense looks unorganized. Russian corner coming up. Sergio Ramos was unable to deal with a high ball, eventually giving Aleksandr Golovin a shot from 15 yards out, but he curls the ball wide of a diving David de Gea and wide of the post. Spain is really trying to stretch Russia out, with Jordi Alba and Nacho practically stuck to the sidelines, and Sergio Ramos pinging balls from sideline to sideline. If Russia can get some high balls into the box, they would seemingly have an advantage. Forward Artem Dzyuba is enormous, and outside of Sergio Ramos and Gerard Pique, Spain doesn’t really have height or physicality at the back. Andrew Das: The crowd is turning on Spain’s possession now, whistling as they just toy with the Russians. But Russia isn’t doing much to change the game here, either. Current pass count on that last stoppage: Spain 231, Russia 58. It’s going to get worse. Russia’s defense is actually performing quite well. Spain has yet to take a shot, and haven’t really had any dangerous chances except for the free kick. Too bad that free kick resulted in a goal. At some point Russia will have to open up in search of a tying goal, but when will that be? Probably not until the second half. Roman Zobnin sees an opening and takes it from midrange. His shot sails over the bar. Sergio Ramos was defended 1-on-1 at the back post on the free kick, and it looked like he managed to get a foot on the ball while practically being tackled. On replay, that will be ruled a Sergey Ignashevich own goal. Ramos was swinging at it, but the ball ultimately bounced off the back of Ignashevich’s leg and in. I suppose the lesson here is to not turn your back to the ball while tackling the attacker on a free kick. That’s the second own goal for Russia in this tournament. Andrew Das: Ramos will claim that goal, scored while he and Ignashevich fell together at the back post. Tough break — Ignashevich knew nothing of it — but fair for Spain, which has dominated so far. That’s the 10th own goal of the tournament by the way, a World Cup record. Far and away the leader for the Golden Boot. Yuri Zhirkov’s rough challenge draws a foul from the referee Bjorn Kuipers. Spain will have a dangerous free kick from the wing, as soon as Nacho gets some treatment for taking studs in the leg. So far the game is playing to type. Spain has all of the possession and is attempting to unlock the Russian defense with quick movement and passing, while the one time Russia got the ball they made a break for it and earned a corner. Andrew Das: Spain in complete control in the first 10 minutes, just passing the ball back and forth, around and around, and probing that back five when there’s a chance. When Russia does break, the crowd roars, and Golovin even won a corner at one point. But Russia did nothing with it, and we’re right back to Spain on the ball. The possession stats are going to be wildly lopsided today Yuri Zhirkov grabs a rebound and lets one fly from long range. Spain gets a body on it. No threat. Russia has an ultra-defensive setup. They are starting 5 defenders at the back, and their breakout star of this World Cup, Denis Cheryshev, is on the bench. He started the tournament on the bench, but came into the first game early after Alan Dzagoev’s injury. Andrew Das: Russia is playing five across the back today, with the 38-year-old Sergey Ignashevich holding down the center. Diego Costa already has set up shop in his living room. Jordi Alba tries to take it himself for Spain, but Russia’s defense deals with him quickly. We are underway! Spain is in red, hosts Russia are in white, and 80,000 fans are in Luzhniki Stadium to cheer them on. Andrew Das: Today’s referee is a veteran Dutchman, Bjorn Kuipers. He’ll know the Spanish players from European games. Teams and schedule for the semifinal and final. We’ve pulled some photos from group stage games and made one very important change — we removed the ball. See if you can guess where it was.

Sports

Soccer

(Repeats to widen distribution) By Svea Herbst-Bayliss BOSTON, June 12 (Reuters) - Mitch Golden scrutinizes hedge fund managers and their investment ideas in a variety of settings from the back of a motor scooter in Ho Chi Minh City to a park bench in New York’s Central Park. The lieutenant of billionaire investor David Einhorn says it gives him the sort of perspective he can’t get from sitting in an office. “This is a really hard job to do by just looking at the stuff that comes across your desk. You have to go out and find it,” the 45-year old portfolio manager told Reuters. His approach is paying off. Golden, who runs an $800 million portfolio for Einhorn's $8.3 billion hedge fund firm Greenlight Capital, is producing some of the best numbers in the fund of funds industry and also, in the past two years, beating his boss. (Graphic:tmsnrt.rs/2s8LJrm) Greenlight Masters beat or matched the benchmark in 12 out of the last 15 years of its existence and its average annualized return of 7.7 percent through the end of 2016 handily exceeded Hedge Fund Research’s HFRI Fund of Funds Composite Index’s 3.3 percent return over the same period. It is rare for a company to run a so-called fund of funds alongside a hedge fund. By doing so, the Greenlight Masters portfolio offers clients valuable access to star investors such as Einhorn plus those still unknown on Wall Street, says Steve Algert, managing director and assistant treasurer at The J. Paul Getty Trust, one of Golden’s clients. Golden is known for the time he takes – sometimes years - and the lengths he will go to in researching potential managers. If he believes in their ideas he will wait for them to pay off - a rarity in an industry where skittish investors often pull out at the first sign of trouble. He can afford to do that because a significant amount of the capital in the portfolio comes from Einhorn and his partners at Greenlight Capital. “Mitch hustles hard to know who’s out there and to develop relationships with people even if Greenlight Masters isn’t ready to invest immediately,” said Firefly Value Partners partner Ariel Warszawski, whose fund has been in the Greenlight Masters’ portfolio for a decade. To beat the market, a manager has to be contrarian, Golden says, but he is wary of big egos and is looking for a dose of humility in candidates. “We look for people who have confidence in their work and can pick a fight with the markets,” Golden said. “It is a very subtle balance.” Brian Shapiro, whose firm Simplify LLC performs due diligence on hedge funds for wealthy clients, values Golden for his cool-headed analysis. “For him, if it is not in the numbers, it is not real.” The native New Yorker likes to go beyond the usual interactions between managers and would-be investors in conference rooms which he describes as a “Kabuki dance” in reference to a Japanese dance-drama that involves stylized expressions and melodramatic plots. Sometimes that means accompanying fund managers on company visits to gauge how they interact with management. Earlier this year, he zipped around Vietnam’s biggest city on the back of a scooter to visit a company that one of his managers was considering investing in. He declined to name the company. On Saturday mornings, Golden says he will sometimes sit in a playground in Central Park talking stocks with one of his portfolio managers as their children careen down the slides. Unlike many other funds of funds, Greenlight Masters does not automatically sell if a portfolio fund falls by a certain amount or steadily declines over a longer period. In 2015, for example, Golden stuck with energy-focused funds despite plunging oil prices and Greenlight Masters lost 8.4 percent that year. Those funds roared back in 2016, helping it gain 13.4 percent and beat the 9.4 percent returned by Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital and a flat performance by the average fund of funds. He has 18 funds in the portfolio now, having exited three and added two last year. Thomas Hill’s $110 million PlusTick Partners and Nathaniel August’s $750 million Mangrove Partners, which invest in distressed energy assets, were Golden’s top performers in 2016 with gains of more than 50 percent each. Golden acknowledges that the downside to the prolonged scrutiny is that sometimes promising fund managers will not wait and seek capital elsewhere or Greenlight Masters misses out on candidates’ early dramatic gains. “That can be very costly,” he said, declining to name the opportunities he had missed. Greenlight Masters is Einhorn’s brainchild, created in 2002, to uncover the next generations of stars and to give his partners a chance to diversify their holdings. Golden joined it in 2012 as a co-portfolio manager after earlier stints as an analyst at two hedge funds and the manager of his own firm, and has run Greenlight Masters on his own since 2013. After many months spent analyzing investments on his own, Golden brings promising candidates to a “D-meet” with Einhorn at Greenlight’s midtown Manhattan offices. “It is nice that I get to have someone like David Einhorn and other members of the investment team pick apart their ideas,” he said. Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Carmel Crimmins and Tomasz Janowski

Technology

Internet

Two Amazon employees have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.Reuters reported the affected employees are based in Milan, Italy, and are now in quarantine.Amazon told Reuters it was unaware of any US employees who had contracted the virus.On Friday, the ecommerce giant told all of its 798,000 employees to stop non-essential travel, both within the United States and outside it.Business Insider has approached Amazon for comment.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Two Amazon employees have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.Reuters reported the affected employees were based in Milan, northern Italy, and are now in quarantine. As well as confirming the Milan-based employees had contracted the virus, Amazon said it was unaware of any US employees who were affected.The news comes despite Amazon adopting drastic measures in an attempt to prevent contractions among its vast workforce. On Friday, the e-commerce giant asked all of its 798,000 employees to stop non-essential travel, both within the US and outside it.Amazon had already placed restrictions on travel to and from China in January, telling workers who had been to the country to work from home for a fortnight upon returning and seek medical attention if they showed symptoms. This mirrored prior guidance from other major tech firms like Apple, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft.But as the outbreak has spread — killing more than 3,000 people and infecting at least 89,000, with most infections and deaths in China — firms have resorted to additional measures to shield staff. Facebook's annual developer conference and Mobile World Congress were both canceled over coronavirus fears, while nearly 10,000 people have signed a petition for interactive media conference SXSW to be canceled over the issue. The world's biggest games industry conference, GDC, has been postponed thanks to the virus.Amazon isn't the only big tech firm whose employees have been affected. On Friday, a Google employee in the company's Zurich office tested positive for the coronavirus.Business Insider has approached Amazon for comment. Get the latest Google stock price here. window._taboola = window._taboola || []; window._taboola = window._taboola || [];

Industry

Manufacturing

A massive winter weather system has hit much of the Northeast as New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania declare states of emergency. Winter storm Stella shut down schools, government offices and public transportation systems and cancelled thousands of flights across the country. The storm is expected to drop as much as two feet of snow in some areas. Heavy snow and high winds already wreaked havoc with several reported accidents and power outages. Scroll down to see more scenes from this late-winter wallop. Snow plows work to keep the grounds clear at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey. Thousands of flights have been cancelled across the Northeast. Workers clear debris after a tree branch fell on a parked car in Baltimore, on Tuesday, March 14, 2017, as a winter storm moves through the region. A woman's umbrella is flipped inside out by the wind during winter storm Stella in Philadelphia. John J. Joyce, 81, of Dorchester, Massachusetts, loads up his purchases from the Stop & Shop in Milton to ride out winter storm Stella. Metro North employees clear the snow off the platform at the Greenwich Station in Greenwich, Connecticut. Metro North has suspended all rail service beginning at noon on March 14, 2017. Men plow snow at the Times Square during a snowstorm in New York on March 14, 2017. Winter storm Stella unleashed its fury on much of the northeastern United States on March 14 dropping snow and sleet across the region and leading to school closures and thousands of flight cancellations. People struggle to walk in the blowing snow during a winter storm in Boston. A woman pulls her child on a sled across a snow-covered street in Brooklyn, New York. Kids across the city are enjoying a snow day as the city closed schools. Snow plows pass along a snowy Highland Street in downtown Worcester, Massachusetts, as a winter storm arrives in the region. A horse and buggy drive through a winter snow storm in Salisbury. Ice covers cherry blossoms near the Jefferson Memorial after a snow and ice storm hit the nation's capital in Washington, D.C.

Weather

Snow

U.S. factory output was flat for the second straight month in January, raising questions about the manufacturing outlook as production dropped in the aerospace, plastics and food industries. The lack of growth in U.S. manufacturing, reported on Thursday by the Federal Reserve, confounded analyst expectations for a 0.3 percent monthly gain. The Fed had previously estimated a small increase in output for December but revised the data to show no gain in that month. Overall industrial production fell 0.1 percent in January, dragged down by a 1.0 percent decline in mining output. Utilities output rose 0.6 percent last month. The industrial sector has received support over the last year from a strengthening global economy. Manufacturing output last month was held back by output declines of 0.2 percent at aerospace factories, 0.5 percent for those producing plastics and 0.4 percent in food industries. Output rose modestly overall for goods made to last at least six months, with gains in production of primary metals, computers, and motor vehicles. Capacity utilization, a measure of how fully industries are deploying their resources, fell to 77.5 percent.

Economics

Macroeconomics

Israel Folau says the deaths of six people in wildfires across Australia's east coast are "God's judgment" for the legalization of same-sex marriage and abortion.The 30-year-old, who was sacked by Rugby Australia in May for making anti-gay comments on social media, made the claim during a sermon at his local church on Saturday."God is speaking to you guys," he told a crowd at the Truth of Jesus Christ Church in Sydney. "You need to repent and take these laws and turn it back into following what is right by God."At least six people have died and more than 300 homes have been destroyed in New South Wales, according to the BBC, but Folau says there is more to come."What you see right now, it's only a little taste of God's judgment," he said.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.A former Australian rugby player says the deaths of six people in wildfires across Australia's east coast are "God's judgment" for the legalization of same-sex marriage and abortion.Israel Folau, who was sacked by Rugby Australia in May after saying on social media that "hell awaits" gay people, made the new claim during a sermon at his local church on Saturday."God's word says for a man and a woman to be together, one man and one woman in the covenant of marriage to be together," the 30-year-old can be seen telling a crowd at the Truth of Jesus Christ Church in Sydney."Abortion — it's now OK to murder and kill unborn children and they deem that to be OK."Look how rapid these bush fires, these droughts, all these things have come in a short period of time. Do you think it's a coincidence or not?"God is speaking to you guys — Australia, you need to repent and take these laws and turn it back into following what is right by God. What you see right now, it's only a little taste of God's judgment."The fires in New South Wales have caused the deaths of at least six people and have also destroyed more than 300 homes across the state, according to the BBC.Numerous firefighters have also been injured, while schools, businesses, and hospitals have also been forced to close as firefighters continue to battle the estimated 85 fires, half of which are out of control, according to CNN.Prime Minister Scott Morrison has slammed Folau over the remarks, which he called "appallingly insensitive.""They were appalling comments," Morrison told 7News Australia."He is a free citizen, he can say whatever he likes, but that doesn't mean he cannot have regard to the grievous offense this would have caused to people whose homes have been burned down and I'm sure to many Christians around Australia for whom that is not their view at all."Folau is suing Rugby Australia for his dismissal earlier in the year, seeking 10 million Australian dollars in compensation for what he believes was wrongful discrimination over his religious beliefs, according to the Evening Standard.Read more:A stalker who sent a pictures of underage girls and a photo of a coffin to an Italian footballer and his family has been jailedA Romanian TV-show host has been accused of 'extreme racism' after saying on air that Serena Williams looks 'like one of those monkeys at the zoo'An Italian youth football team plans to wear blackface as an anti-racism gesture, and it has the support of the Italian FAA British soccer club is refusing to pay for a player who died shortly after a transfer, and it could now be barred from further signings

Politics

Australia

“What is real? How do you define real?” - Morpheus, The Matrix, 1999 I’ve had the “summer of six weddings.” The “spring of seven baby showers.” The “year with nine bachelorette weekends” — not parties, but whole weekends for some reason. And while I could tell tales of the financial strain imposed when a single person celebrates other people for their entire adulthood — and I do serve that tea boiling — instead I want to talk about feelings. Celebrating other people as a single adult is one of the most conflicting emotional states I believe I’m capable of. On one hand, I’m overjoyed. Someone I love just got engaged, married, pregnant, or whatever. These are joyous occasions! I might write like I’m Oscar the Grouch but I have a Big Bird heart. I love when people I love are happy. And as you can tell by the current volume of invitations under magnets on your fridge, engagements and weddings and babies make people happy, otherwise why celebrate these moments? It’s a lot, but I’m genuinely happy and full of gratitude that my friends and family are experiencing these things. On the other hand, I’m deeply sad. I don’t have that happiness. And for a very, very long time, I’ve been trying to find it, to no avail. All I can do is watch other people get it, no matter what I do, how hard I try, or what I change. There’s no greater reminder that you’re single and unsuccessfully trying not to be than watching a couple’s first dance as wife and husband. I’m sorry, but that is a fucking trigger. And I keep living that trigger, over and over and over again. On the other hand, even though that makes three hands, I’m exhausted. Jesus, another one? How many friends do I even have?! The emotional fortification I’ve had to build up and exert around other people’s life celebrations is a goddamn drain, quite honestly. To say nothing of the actual travel that involves working twice as hard before and after these trips just to prepare to be away from my desk. People love to talk about how to “survive” dating, but can someone give me a download on making it through a bridal shower? How about seven bridal showers? The world pushes me to keep trying (and trying, and trying) to date, no matter how bad it gets, but nobody wants to tell me how to smile and make small talk with someone’s aunt for three hours at one of these events. I’m tired, is what I’m saying. Sometimes I listen to myself at these events, as I cautiously approach conversations with people and beg the universe to prevent them from asking me, “So...are you seeing anybody?” at an actual goddamned wedding because I honestly have a breaking point. I hear myself discussing my life in its most positive light possible, shoving my career to the forefront. Sometimes I wonder if I have the professional drive that I do because it’s the one area of my life where I’ve seen effort match outcome. I’m not actually trying to inform people of what’s going on with me during these moments, I’m just trying to make myself feel less like shit. Because the table is already, quite literally, set. Single women at weddings, how sad, how desperate. Don’t believe me? Watch any bouquet toss scene in any film made since 1995. I’m walking into the life celebrations of others at an assumed deficit. While that deficit has massively been reduced in my own mind through a lot of self reflection and work, that doesn’t change how I’m perceived and even addressed by others. Year, after year, after year. I wonder if I would feel less sadness and exhaustion, and be capable of even greater levels of joy, if there were epic celebrations for single women, too. Let’s be real: There are no celebrations to congratulate single women for their life accomplishments. I didn’t throw a massive weekend event and invite 100 people I know when I crossed the “Single For Ten Years” milestone. I didn’t have a weekend in Nashville with eight of my best girlfriends when I achieved my greatest salary and professional role to-date. Would anyone have shown up for either? Taken either one seriously? I think we’ve made weddings and babies over-celebrated affairs. There, I said it. The engagement, the engagement party, the bridal shower, the bachelorette weekend, the actual wedding weekend including a rehearsal dinner, ceremony, reception, some kind of group event like kickball, the goodbye brunch, and the gifts. The pregnancy announcement, the gender reveal, the baby shower, the pregnancy photo shoot, the birth photo shoot, the post-birth photo shoot, the sip-n-see. And every “this is how many months I am” photo thereafter. I’m thinking about posting a photo once a month under the theme “this many months since I deleted my dating apps” while holding a giant numeral from CB2. Go ahead and paint me with the biggest bitter brush you’ve got. I’m not afraid of telling the truth, because I know other single women are feeling the truth, too. We don’t celebrate the lives of single women the way we celebrate the lives of couples. That’s point-blank true. There are no accomplishments, occasions, or rituals universally considered to be worthy of no-questions-asked travel, hotels, gifts, and coordinated outfits. Yes, I had a beautiful 30th birthday party. It was dinner outdoors at a long communal table with 20 people I loved. My mom flew in. It was generous of my friends and I’m grateful that I had people in my life who loved me that much. But it was dinner. And married people get birthday parties, too. I don’t think I can celebrate other people anymore. Not until life starts celebrating single women the same way. The story in this series that people contact me about most often is the one about my coffee table. And the more it stands out to single women as an accomplishment, the angrier I get that I didn’t demand presents. The Sephora registry I would have come up with, good heavens! But I didn’t. I didn’t ask people to celebrate me the way that partnered people ask people to celebrate them. Because there is no widely accepted societal structure around celebrating single. I’m not demanding that people generate less joy. Quite the opposite. Get married, have the babies. Register at Bloomies. All I am is left out. My life is left out of the list of viable celebrations. And 11 years of being left out while simultaneously being repeatedly asked to celebrate the life accomplishments of others is too much. It is just too much. In younger days I skipped weddings because I couldn’t financially afford them. Now I skip them because I can’t emotionally afford them. Everything I’ve done to improve my self worth and make myself feel not feel less-than because I’m single is so that I can simply feel as good and right in my personal accomplishments as couples do. I know it will take society longer to follow me, but it’s work I’m doing so that I can feel better about myself, and hopefully make other single women feel better, too. But the constant celebrating of life events that are quite frankly, pretty damn entitled, is due for a bit of rebellion. What is my wedding? What is my bridal shower? Can I send out formal invitations complete with a registry when I move into my new apartment? Can I expect people to fly in for that? It might sound preposterous, but to me it’s no more ridiculous than asking people to spend at least $1K to fly and stay somewhere to celebrate something that statistically has a 50/50 shot. People might not want to hear that, but I can’t even count the things I’ve heard in the last 11 years that I didn’t want to hear, either. My life is no less deserving of celebration than someone else’s. And until society comes around to my way of thinking — and my reasons for celebrating — I think I’m done.

Relationships

Romance

Letters On campuses around the country, a debate over Israel and the B.D.S. movement. To the Editor: Re “The Middle East Conflict on Campus” (Education Life, Aug. 7): As an educator and university president, I see a profound contradiction between the boycott, divestment and sanctions, or B.D.S., movement and the mission of higher education. B.D.S. paints in deceptively broad strokes an issue that is deeply complex. It condemns the entire nation of Israel and shuns all of its considerable human and material capital, including academics, regardless of political orientation, and technology, regardless of positive utility. The effects of this movement are far-reaching. Disturbing evidence shows that it has become a convenient excuse to delegitimize or malign Jewish identity on several college campuses, and Jewish students have become targets of anti-Semitic slurs, graffiti and hate speech by fellow students and, in some shocking incidents, by faculty members. This trend must be confronted. One of our primary jobs as educators is to ensure the safety and well-being of our students. To do so, colleges and universities must think and act seriously about cultivating and promoting civility on our campuses and make clear that free, meaningful expression can survive only in an environment where there are appropriate rules of engagement. It will not tamp down the crucial exchange of ideas. It will make this exchange more dignified, more meaningful and even more productive. Free speech for all has to ensure safe speech for all. RICHARD M. JOEL New York The writer is president of Yeshiva University. To the Editor: When I arrived at Tufts in 2011, I thought that Tufts Hillel would be my home away from home, the place where I would continue developing my Jewish identity and learn to frame my peace and justice studies major and love for social justice in a Jewish context. Instead it was the place where a member of my own community called me an anti-Semite. Students for Justice in Palestine became my home away from home, a place where I could embody the Jewish values of “tikkun olam” (repairing the world) and fight the injustices that Israel commits every day in my name as a Jew. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not a Jewish-Muslim conflict, but rather an anticolonial struggle for the Palestinian people. As Jews we must continue to stand by our Jewish values and “not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt” (Exodus 23:9). JULIA MASON WEDGLE Cambridge, Mass. To the Editor: It was heartwarming to read about the Visions of Peace initiative at Tufts. The effort mirrors similar grass-roots movements in Israel and the West Bank, led by Palestinians and by Israelis — including members of bereaved families who lost loved ones and ex-combatants — who together advocate for a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Nothing could stand in starker contrast to organizations like Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace, which, rather than building bridges, seek to deny Jewish American students the right to proclaim their identity on their own terms and attempt to dictate to them what they are allowed to eat (apparently not falafel), what performances they are allowed to attend and what voices they are allowed to hear on campus. Such organizations fueled the type of violent atmosphere in which thugs felt entitled to spray-paint swastikas on a Jewish frat house at University of California, Davis last year. Does anyone truly believe that trying to intimidate and silence those they disagree with can be a path to justice or peace? SHIMON MERCER-WOOD New York The writer is the spokesman for the Consulate General of Israel in New York. To the Editor: “The Middle East Conflict on Campus” unfortunately frames activism related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at Tufts as black and white, pro-Israel vs. pro-Palestinian. As student leaders in Tufts’s chapter of J Street U, a movement advocating an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory through a peaceful two-state solution, we don’t feel that fairly characterizes our campus’s Israel-Palestine conversation. Being “pro-Israel” and “pro-Palestinian” are not mutually exclusive. Protecting the rights and well-being of one people necessitates advocating the same for the other. We engage with every Israel and Palestine-related group on campus, moving our communities away from unproductive dichotomies and toward a more nuanced and solution-driven conversation. The situation in the region is too urgent for students to waste any more energy on circular debates. Those who envision a better future for Palestinians and Israelis alike should advocate a two-state solution, while respecting multiple narratives, and acknowledge that no one has a monopoly on righteousness and truth. ANDREW GOLDBLATT and AVIVA HERR-WELBER San Francisco To the Editor: Advocacy for Palestinian human rights is not at odds with Jewish identity. Many Jews, and especially students, support the use of nonviolent tactics such as boycott, divestment and sanctions, and work alongside Palestinians and other people of conscience to bring about the political pressure needed to change Israel’s oppressive and discriminatory policies. On campuses, as in state legislatures or in the national political conversation, the actual conflict is not between Jews and Muslims, but between those willing to speak out for Palestinian rights and those who refuse to acknowledge that Israel is committing human rights violations. Student activists who are members of Students for Justice in Palestine and/or Jewish Voice for Peace are leading the way by pushing for real action that will change the status quo. It’s inspiring that students at Tufts and beyond are basing their work on the values of freedom, justice and equality. REBECCA VILKOMERSON Executive Director, Jewish Voice for Peace Brooklyn To the Editor: I am a co-founder of Open Hillel, a movement of Jewish college students and recent graduates working to promote open discourse on Israel-Palestine in the Jewish community on campus. This article profiles Hillel staff and students doing important work to promote campus dialogue on Israel-Palestine. However, the article does not mention that Hillel International’s “standards of partnership” for Israel activities bar local Hillels from working with anyone deemed too critical of Israel and Israeli policy. Therefore, Hillel cannot formally engage in conversations with pro-Palestinian groups like Students for Justice in Palestine. Furthermore, anti-occupation Jewish student groups are often excluded from Hillel, limiting dialogue within the Jewish community. Jewish college students — like Jews of all ages — hold a wide variety of views on Israel-Palestine. In order to encourage local Hillel staff and students to truly engage in dialogue on these crucial issues, Hillel International must drop its exclusionary standards. RACHEL SANDALOW-ASH Brooklyn To the Editor: Activists on American campuses do the Palestinians no favors when they refuse to recognize Israel’s right to exist. Yet that’s the essence of Students for Justice in Palestine. Like other such groups in the B.D.S. movement, S.J.P. does not seek a negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In S.J.P.’s view, all of Israel is an illegal settlement. The majority of Israel’s political leaders, like its advocates on campuses and elsewhere, recognize that peace will require both sides to make painful compromises in order to create two states for two peoples, living side by side in lasting peace and security. But unless and until S.J.P. and like-minded groups reach that same conclusion, their efforts not only will not promote peace, but rather will hurt the very people for whom they claim to advocate. DANIEL ELBAUM Assistant Executive Director, American Jewish Committee Chicago

Education

Schools

MCALLEN, Texas (Reuters) - Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan made his second trip to the U.S.-Mexico border on Saturday as the Pentagon looks to develop a longer-term plan to support President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. Shanahan traveled to McAllen, Texas, to meet with officials and visit a migrant processing facility and Border Patrol station, two days after the White House announced Trump’s intention to nominate the former Boeing Co executive as defense secretary. “We’re not going to leave until the border is secure,” Shanahan told about two dozen border patrol officials as hundreds of detained migrants waited in tents to be processed.  Shanahan was accompanied by another acting secretary, Kevin McAleenan, who leads the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after a shake-up instigated by Trump, whose hard-line immigration policies have not stemmed a rising tide of migrants. On Friday, the Pentagon said Shanahan approved the transfer of $1.5 billion to build more than 80 miles (130 km) of barriers on the border, part of a patchwork project after Trump failed to secure funding from Congress for a complete border wall. Trump has been eager to have the U.S. military play a larger role on the border and, despite some criticism from lawmakers, Pentagon officials say they are looking to create a long-term plan for assistance. Shanahan told a small group of reporters traveling with him that military assistance would not continue “indefinitely,” but that it would be in place longer than months. The Pentagon has tapped a two-star Army general to work with DHS to look at what military support will be needed in the future. Shanahan said he expected a plan from the general in the next few weeks. “(It is about) getting us out of this à la carte tasking where, ‘Hey, we need 50 guys to do this, 50 guys to do that,’” a senior defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The official said the idea was to look out over a time line of at least two years. The official added that the Pentagon was reviewing a recent request from DHS to provide housing for detained migrants. “What we’re hopeful to do is have, in fairly short order for the secretary of Homeland Security, a much more predictable, comprehensive plan for the next couple of years,” the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford, said earlier this week. There are currently about 4,500 U.S. service members on the border, and they are authorized to be there until through September. The decision to transfer the $1.5 billion for border funding came on top of a March transfer of $1 billion in military money to fund the wall, which Democratic lawmakers criticized sharply. Lawmakers have hinted they may respond by putting new restrictions on the Pentagon’s authority to move money around. Shanahan said he understood Congress could take that authority away from the Pentagon and said he was unsure how to ease concerns. “I don’t have a good answer for how we’re going to balance it. It is a predicament,” he said. The Pentagon is weighing which projects from the military construction budget will be affected to help pay up to $3.6 billion for the wall and whether there is a military need for it. Reporting by Idrees Ali in McAllen, Texas; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Matthew Lewis

Security

Border Patrol

This story was delivered to Business Insider Intelligence Payments & Commerce subscribers earlier this morning.To get this story plus others to your inbox each day, hours before they're published on Business Insider, click here.The e-tailer is seemingly set to open a new grocery store in Los Angeles based on pictures and plans reviewed by Bloomberg. This information shows that Amazon has made progress in opening its own grocery store since the initiative was first reported in March 2019 and it later confirmed the news. The location is reportedly 33,000 square feet — for context, Whole Foods locations generally need to be between 25,000 and 50,000 square feet — and features a standard grocery store layout with aisles and coolers, counters for meat and seafood, a section for prepared foods, and a window for order pickup and returns near the entrance. Amazon is said to have multiple leases in Los Angeles that are being set up to become grocery stores as well.The grocery store will likely be separate from Whole Foods so that Amazon can use it to expand its reach in the market. The chain may be called Amazon Fresh, like Amazon's grocery delivery service, considering one of the locations it's renovating in Los Angeles applied for a liquor license under that name.But even if it uses a different name, it likely won't have a connection to Whole Foods, which Amazon acquired for $13.7 billion in 2017, because Whole Foods' brand image and history have limited Amazon's ability to introduce mass-market products, like Coca-Cola, to the grocer's selection. Amazon needs to offer such items if it wants to compete with the likes of Walmart and Kroger in the US grocery market, and its new grocery stores shouldn't be beholden to the same standards as Whole Foods.The most crucial part of Amazon's grocery stores will be their omnichannel capabilities.The new stores will need a way to differentiate from other major supermarkets, and their omnichannel services may be the best way to do so. Amazon has the opportunity to design stores so that they can quickly and easily fulfill delivery orders and in-store pickup, while other grocers had to retrofit their existing locations to accommodate online ordering capabilities.This means that Amazon could create a better delivery and pickup experience than other merchants because it can build in features like a pickup window, potentially helping it attract customers and orders as the US online grocery market is set to grow to $117 billion by 2023.Digital-focused grocery stores could help Amazon handle competitors' brick-and-mortar advantage. Retailers like Walmart — which has been finding success with grocery pickup and delivery — can offer quick delivery and pickup in part because they have stores around the country, so one should be conveniently located for many US consumers.Amazon doesn't have a comparable network, but if it opens some stores that are optimized for delivery and pickup and leverages its e-commerce expertise to create a superior experience, it could convince consumers to shop for groceries digitally with it even if they have access to closer grocery stores.Want to read more stories like this one? Here's how to get access: Sign up for Payments & Commerce Pro, Business Insider Intelligence's expert product suite keeping you up-to-date on the people, technologies, trends, and companies shaping the future of consumerism, delivered to your inbox 6x a week. >> Get StartedCheck to see if you already have access to Business Insider Intelligence through your company, or inquire about access if you don't. >> Check If You Have Enterprise AccessExplore related topics in more depth. >> Visit Our Report StoreCurrent subscribers can log in to read the briefing here.

Technology

E-commerce

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgian financial group KBC (KBC.BR) on Thursday reported a better-than-expected net profit in the third quarter, as it kept costs low and income from its insurance activities was higher because of the release of some provisions in Belgium. For the group as a while, deposits and loans were higher than in the same period last year, especially in its international markets unit which includes businesses in Slovakia, Hungary and Ireland. Net profit, adjusted for one-off items rose 9.9 percent in the third quarter to 691 million euros ($814.2 million), above the 648 million expected in a Reuters poll of 10 analysts. In Belgium, the company’s main market, its insurance business profited from a low number of claims for its non-life business and 49 million euros of provision releases. The group said it saw a low level of impairment charges, and even 26 million euros of provision releases in Ireland in the quarter. Nevertheless, the company also took a 54 million euro charge in Ireland in the quarter, as part of a review of tracker rate mortgage products before 2009. Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek; editing by Philip Blenkinsop

Technology

Software

WASHINGTON — Top Justice Department officials met with 14 state attorneys general on Tuesday to weigh whether they have the right tools to confront privacy and competition concerns surrounding Facebook, Google and other tech companies that have amassed extraordinary amounts of data about their consumers and advertising markets. Americans increasingly recognize that tech companies wield tremendous power and deserve greater scrutiny, the law enforcement officials said, and they discussed whether traditional approaches to antitrust issues were still suitable for modern disputes over privacy and the tech business model. Xavier Becerra, the attorney general of California, cautioned against comparisons to landmark antitrust cases. “Most would agree, this is not Standard Oil, this is not even Microsoft,” he said. But, he added, “all of those situations inform you.” The Justice Department called the conversation productive, though no decisions were made or announced. The meeting, largely a forum for officials to share ideas, sharply contrasted with Monday’s chaos at the Justice Department over the confusion of whether Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, would leave the job. He had told senior White House advisers that he was considering quitting after a New York Times article revealed that he had discussed secretly recording President Trump to expose the chaos inside the administration and invoking the 25th Amendment to remove the president from office. Mr. Rosenstein has denied the report. He attended Tuesday’s meeting, sitting alongside Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the acting associate attorney general, Jesse Panuccio, the department’s No. 3 official. The head of the Justice Department’s antitrust division, Makan Delrahim, and the acting head of the civil rights division, John M. Gore, also attended. Three major issues were broached: the tech business model, which is based on accumulating consumer data; privacy; and user terms and conditions, according to people in the room. Google came up more than other companies, according to a person in the room who was not authorized to publicly describe the discussion and spoke on the condition of anonymity. A few attorneys general expressed concern about Google’s ability to track, in a granular way, the everyday routines of people. Google’s chief executive, Sundar Pichai, was set to meet with lawmakers in Washington on Friday, including Republicans who plan to ask him about the company’s competitive practices; its work with countries accused of human rights abuses, like China and Russia; and whether its workers and search engine magnify biases. “Google has a lot of questions to answer about reports of bias in its search results, violations of user privacy, anticompetitive behavior and business dealings with repressive regimes like China,” the House majority leader, Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, said in a statement. Technology companies mine consumer behavior online for data, which they then sell on an open marketplace much in the same way that a company might sell oil. A handful of large companies control and sell the vast majority of that data. The conversation was originally billed by the Justice Department as a way to address free speech issues, as well as competitive concerns. Before it was announced, Mr. Trump, whose Twitter account is perhaps his core communications platform, amplified claims that tech and social media companies try to suppress conservative voices and opinions. But the law enforcement officials touched only briefly on whether the companies were politically biased or suppressing the free flow of ideas.

Technology

Internet

Is it hot in here? It will be come Memorial Day when the film reboot of Baywatch officially drops. A very hunky Zac Efron and The Rock star as the famed lifeguards (did we mention they were hunky?) and from the looks of things, this won't be a serious drama. The trailer is NSFW and if you check it out above, you'll see why. The once and future Troy Bolton sure has grown up. Stephen Colbert busts out his best Bon Jovi impression to roast the Democratic candidates Hasan Minhaj's dad once hilariously destroyed him over a high school cheating scandal 'The Farewell' offers a different kind of fish-out-of-water story Seth Meyers brutally outlines the best and worst case scenarios for the Democratic candidates

Entertainment

Television

John Legend is obviously his daughter Luna Simone‘s favorite musical celebrity, but it sounds like he’s got a little competition. The Jesus Christ Superstar actor sat down with Ellen DeGeneres for Wednesday’s episode of her daytime talk show, dishing on how his daughter with wife Chrissy Teigen, who turns 2 on Saturday, “had a milestone” the previous day. “She said ‘Beyoncé‘ for the first time,” said Legend, 39. “That was Luna’s first Beyoncé. I feel like I should write it down in her baby book.” Want all the latest pregnancy and birth announcements, plus celebrity mom blogs? Click here to get those and more in the PEOPLE Babies newsletter. The soon-to-be father of two (he and Teigen, 32, are expecting a baby boy in June) reveals that the incident took place while the family was in the car listening to Bey’s latest album Lemonade. “Chrissy and I were talking about Beyoncé, and Luna just starts saying things that we say now, and she said ‘Beyoncé’ in the car,” he recalls. “Has she said Ellen yet?” the host, 60, asks jokingly. Replies Legend, “Not yet, but if I say it to her, she’ll say it back. So we’ll watch the show, and she’ll see Dada on Ellen. And then she’ll say it.” Legend tells DeGeneres that while he and his model wife know #whobitbeyonce, little Luna is none the wiser about the rumors — but the couple is working with her on the concept of becoming an older sibling. “I don’t know what to expect, really, because I don’t know how Luna’s gonna be at sharing and being a big sister,” the “All of Me” singer admits. “And I don’t think she grasps exactly what’s going to happen yet. But we’ll see.”

Parenting

Pregnancy

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal judge in Montana has ordered the U.S. State Department to do a full environmental review of a revised route for the Keystone XL oil pipeline, possibly delaying its construction and dealing another setback to TransCanada Corp (TRP.TO). For more than a decade, environmentalists, tribal groups, and ranchers have fought the $8-billion, 1,180-mile (1,900-km) pipeline that will carry heavy crude to Steele City, Nebraska, from Canada’s oilsands in Alberta. U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris ruled late on Wednesday for the Indigenous Environmental Network and other plaintiffs, ordering the review of a revised pipeline route through Nebraska to supplement one the State Department did on the original path in 2014. The State Department was obligated to “analyze new information relevant to the environmental impacts of its decision” to issue a permit for the pipeline last year, Morris said in his ruling. Supporting the project are Canadian oil producers, who face price discounts over transport bottlenecks, and U.S. refineries and pipeline builders. TransCanada is reviewing the decision, company spokesman Matthew John said. It hopes to start preliminary work in Montana in the coming months and to begin construction in the second quarter of 2019. The company said this month it expects to make a final investment decision late this year or in early 2019. The ruling is negative for TransCanada, since it adds uncertainty to timing, said RBC analyst Robert Kwan, and it was important that the pipeline be constructed during the current U.S. presidential cycle. President Donald Trump is keen to see the building of the pipeline, which was axed by former President Barack Obama in 2015 on environmental concerns relating to emissions that cause climate change. TransCanada shares rose 0.2 percent in trading in Toronto. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. The State Department is reviewing the court’s order, a spokesman said. The ruling was “a rejection of the Trump administration’s attempt to ... force Keystone XL on the American people,” said Jackie Prange, a lawyer for the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group. Trump pushed to approve the pipeline soon after he took office, and a State Department official signed a so-called presidential permit in 2017 allowing it to move forward. However, Morris declined the plaintiff’s request to void that permit, which was based on the 2014 review. Last year, Nebraska regulators approved an alternative route for the pipeline, which will cost TransCanada millions of dollars more than the original path. In a draft environmental assessment last month, the State Department said Keystone XL would not harm water supplies or wildlife. That review is less wide-ranging than the full environmental impact statement Morris ordered. Reporting by Timothy Gardner; additional reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg, Manitoba; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Paul Simao

Industry

Energy

NEW YORK, Feb 7 (Reuters) - The government’s star witness in Michael Avenatti’s extortion trial conceded on Friday he wanted to expose Nike Inc’s alleged illegal payments to college basketball recruits long before he hired the celebrity lawyer. Gary Franklin, the founder and coach of youth basketball team California Supreme, spoke during cross-examination in Manhattan federal court by one of Avenatti’s lawyers, who hope to show their client simply represented Franklin’s interests at the time by threatening a press conference about the payments. In halting testimony, Franklin repeatedly struggled to recall efforts, including by his adviser Jeffrey Auerbach, to address Nike’s conduct in the year before he hired Avenatti in March 2019, even when shown documents about what he and Auerbach discussed. “Jeff said a lot of stuff,” Franklin said. Franklin conceded he was ready in October 2018 to “drop the bomb” as Auerbach put it, but said this only meant alerting Nike sports marketing chief John Slusher that two Nike executives wanted him to funnel the illicit payments and falsify invoices. The coach also said he later considered going to the FBI, at Auerbach’s suggestion. He hired Avenatti after Nike stopped sponsoring California Supreme, the executives rebuffed his entreaties and Slusher referred him to the Beaverton, Oregon-based company’s law firm. Franklin had seen Avenatti represent adult film actress Stormy Daniels in lawsuits against U.S. President Donald Trump. Avenatti is charged with shaking down Nike by threatening to expose its alleged misconduct unless the company hired him and celebrity lawyer Mark Geragos for $15 million to $25 million to conduct an internal probe, and pay Franklin $1.5 million. Prosecutors have tried to show that Avenatti was more interested in clearing away his debts, some of which were described on Thursday to jurors, and lining his own pockets. Avenatti has pleaded not guilty. Nike has denied wrongdoing. Franklin has testified he was blindsided when Avenatti, just prior to his arrest on March 25, tweeted his plan for a press conference. The coach said he had hoped to restore his relationship with Nike, whose sponsorship brought his team $72,000 annually. Auerbach testified for the prosecution. Nike is under a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission probe related to the suspect payments, according to statements and testimony at the trial, now in its eighth day. Avenatti faces two more trials scheduled this year for allegedly defrauding other clients, including Daniels. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Crime

Corruption