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Whos the NYC Business Communitys Choice for Mayor?

Business leaders have divided the Democratic candidates for mayor into those they believe embrace business and those who do not, writes THE CITY's Greg David. By Greg David, THE CITY. This article was originally published by THE CITY Just this week, Brooklyn businessperson Gil Cygler launched a PAC called Better NY for All to raise $500,000 to fund ads in support of Eric Adams campaign for mayor as well as a few other select candidates in the borough. A lot of small business people are being hurt by the leftward shift in the city and there has to be a better balance between the leftward shift, the need for reform, public safety and help for business, said Cygler, who ran a rental car company for many years. With less than three weeks to go before the mayoral primary and following a bruising in-person debate this week, business leaders have divided the Democratic candidates for mayor into those they believe embrace that business is part of the solution to the citys recovery from the pandemic recession and those who do not. Crime has emerged as a crucial issue for business leaders, although keeping city tax bills level is not far behind. Confidence in the candidates ability to run the city is also emerging as an important differentiator. You need a mayor that understands that business and real estate cannot be the enemy, Bill Rudin, CEO of one of the citys most important real estate firms and a longtime civic leader told THE CITY. One that understands we are a progressive city but to do that you need to maintain the job creation that has driven the city for 25 years in a sustainable and inclusive way, added Rudin, who contributed $5,000 last month to an independent group backing Ray McGuire, state election board records show. More than a dozen business leaders interviewed in recent days by THE CITY, both on the record and not for attribution, declined to name their top mayoral pick though just about all made it clear who wont get their vote. Some said they still arent sure of their No. 1 choice and note the advent of ranked choice voting ads adds extra complexity to navigating the crucial June 22 primary. Democratic mayoral candidates, clockwise from top left: Ray McGuire, Maya Wiley, Shaun Donovan, Andrew Yang, Kathryn Garcia, Dianne Morales, Eric Adams and Scott Stringer. | Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY, Hiram Alejandro Durn/THE CITY, Morales Campaign A Tale of Two Lists Most business leaders are reluctant to name the names on their scorecards, but Adams as well as former Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia, ex-HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and Citigroup executive Ray McGuire generally fall into the acceptable column. Entrepreneur and former presidential candidate Andrew Yangs policies are regarded as pro-business, but what some see as his lack of knowledge of the city has raised concerns. Again with the goofy Hello New York City opener (this is a mayoral debate, not SNL) and ending with a shout out for a Knicks win. Does he take this race seriously? Kathryn Wylde, CEO of the big business group the Partnership for New York City, asked Wednesday night in a post-debate assessment for The New York Times. Progressives Maya Wiley and Dianne Morales are anathema to many business leaders due to their rhetoric about shifting funds from the NYPD and their support for raising taxes on the wealthy. City Comptroller Scott Stringers decision to run on a similarly progressive platform puts him in the same group, but some business leaders say they believe he would govern in a more centrist fashion, if elected. Crime has emerged as an overriding concern for business leaders. We need police reform and we need to address a spike in crime, said Cygler, a member of the executive committee of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and former big de Blasio donor. I grew up in the 1980s when crime rose sharply. We have to address the spike in subway crime and in the use of guns. Business owner and Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce leader Gil Cygler launched a PAC supporting Eric Adams for mayor, June 3, 2021. Meanwhile, the city now has the highest personal income tax in the country, and a Citizens Budget Commission report showed its business taxes also are the nations steepest. The possibility that the next mayor will seek to raise them further is another concern for both large and small businesses. Winston Fisher, a politically active real estate executive, noted that the Alliance Capital, which rented more than 1 million square feet of space in one of his buildings, is decamping to Nashville, taking more than 1,000 high-paying finance jobs. The reality is New York is under assault as a place to do business, he said. We need tax policy that means people believe the money is being spent wisely and not tax policy to be punitive. A Deterioration in Services Leaders of the hospitality industry, the New York economic sector hardest hit by the pandemic, say theyre frustrated that candidates havent offered more detailed plans to rescue their businesses, especially in this weeks debate. I wouldve liked to hear more specific policies related to the restaurant and nightlife industry, in terms of how the sector can employ people from all walks of life who need jobs, and how hospitality spurs economic activity in other sectors and brings people out at all hours creating more vibrant and safer streets and subways, said Andrew Rigie, executive director of the New York Hospitality Alliance, which hasnt held any fundraisers for candidates and has no endorsement plans. Real estate leaders like Rudin and Fisher want the next mayor to commit to a campaign to bring back office workers to the citys major business districts. Concern about the citys regulations on businesses remain. Most of the candidates have outlined plans to overhaul the bureaucracy that businesses deal with, but the issue got far less attention at Wednesdays debate than in the first candidate square-off last month. Public safety and concern about deterioration in city service delivery have trumped politics in the mayoral race, Wylde told THE CITY. Candidates with strong records on these issues, regardless of their ideological leanings, are gaining broad support in the final days before the election, added Wylde, who lent her name to the host committee for a Zoom fundraiser for Garcia and has personally contributed to her campaign, as well as those of Stringer, Donovan and McGuire. The Partnerships PAC, meanwhile, has supported Adams. Mayoral hopeful Andrew Yang received an endorsement from Jonathan and Andrew Schnipper, owners of the Schnippers restaurant chain, outside of their 41st Street location on Friday, May. 7, 2021. While Wylde has been the most outspoken about Yangs lack of experience, Cygler and Don Winter, chair of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, said the candidates knowledge gap is clear when he meets with business groups. Winter noted a clear contrast with Adams when the Brooklyn borough president met with the members of the Manhattan Chamber. Eric Adams was very prepared. Hes tough on issues that are very important and hes a very strong small business advocate, he said. His emphasis on crime is very needed. The Yang campaign responded to the criticism by pointing to his business credentials, including starting a test preparation company. Its clear Andrews story and passion for helping people is resonating with New Yorkers, said Alex Sommer, a Yang campaign spokesperson. As any small business owner in the city will tell you, starting and growing a company is not for the faint of heart. Andrews singular experience among the candidates is exactly the change in leadership New Yorkers are looking for. Many business leaders have worked with Stringer over the years both as Manhattan borough president and as a comptroller. He was generally regarded as a centrist before moving fully into the progressive camp for the mayoral campaign. He notched the the endorsement of many of the citys progressive groups, including the Working Families Party, before a sexual harassment controversy caused many backers to abandon him. Still, some business leaders havent written him off. Scott is a good guy and a bright guy but with a desire to appeal to a certain group, said Winter. If elected, I hope he will moderate those positions. A Pivotal Role Business leaders are not interested in the Republican primary because they believe the winner of the Democratic primary will easily win the general election in November. Many business people have funded independent expenditure groups that have backed preferred candidates, with most of the money going to boost Adams, Yang, Donovan and McGuire. Charter school supporters have moved strongly behind Adams and Yang. While no one will say so on the record, these leaders are also disappointed that McGuire has not emerged as a stronger candidate in the race. Although Fisher Brothers has contributed to Adams, Donovan and Yang, Winston Fisher said he is still deciding how he will rank the candidates when he votes. All of them agree the election is crucial for the citys future. There was this horrible pandemic, coming out of it the state raised taxes, the crime rate is rising and a lot of high-income earners are leaving the city, said Winter. The next mayor will play a pivotal role in bringing the city back to life or take us in the exact opposite direction. THE CITY is an independent, nonprofit news outlet dedicated to hard-hitting reporting that serves the people of New York.

https://bklyner.com/whos-the-nyc-business-communitys-choice-for-mayor/

What does the Jewish community want from Jewish followers of Jesus?

Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Back in April, the Jewish world was shocked to learn that a Gentile Christian couple was living in an ultra-Orthodox section of Jerusalem, claiming to be Jews, with the husband serving as a rabbi. In response to that scandal, I wrote an article titled, As Jewish Followers of Jesus We Deplore Deceptive Techniques. As Messianic Jews, we too were shocked to read this report. This is not who we are and this is not how we operate. But now another report has rocked sectors of the Jewish world, especially the religious community in Israel. The anti-missionary group Yad LAchim has drawn attention to Messianic Jewish leader Boaz Michael who lives in Jerusalem and who is open and unashamed about his faith in Yeshua. He also believes in a living a Torah-observant life and honoring Jewish tradition. As a headline on the Israel National News website states, synagogue and study hall in Jerusalem found to be used as Christian missionary training centers by missionaries posing as Orthodox Jews. It is at this point, though, that I need to interrupt this story and ask some honest questions. In the first case, you had a Gentile Christian posing as an ultra-Orthodox rabbi while privately holding to Christian beliefs, and together we said, that is deceptive and wrong, and we reject such practices (again, see my article for quotes and references.) In the second case, you have a Messianic Jew whose website openly proclaims his belief in Yeshua and whose center in Jerusalem is unashamedly devoted to teaching and training Messianic Jews, yet he gets attacked for being open and forthright. As Messianic Jews, we agree. This makes no sense. Groups like Yad LAchim would surely say, dont play games with us, Brown. You know exactly what the issue is. These missionaries are claiming to be from Jews. Just look at how they live. But thats the whole point. These Messianic Jews are telling the Jewish world, without any ambiguity whatsoever, that: 1. Yeshua is the Messiah of Israel 2. Yeshua fulfills the Torah rather than abolishes it. So, in light of His teachings, they are Torah observant and they believe that, because of Gods covenant with Israel, there is much beauty in Jewish tradition, so where they do not find it contradictory to their faith in Yeshua, they honor those traditions. After all, when Jews come to faith in Jesus in a church setting, leaving all trace of their Jewishness behind, the anti-missionaries say, You see! That proves it. Once a Jew believes in Jesus, he is lost to our people and his children will no longer be raised Jewish. But then, when a Jewish follower of Jesus feels deeply drawn to his people, makes Aliyah, lives as a model citizen, keeps the biblical calendar, observes the dietary laws, and raises his children to be Jewish, he is called a dangerous deceiver. Recently, One for Israel, a sabra-led, Messianic Jewish outreach organization that seeks to bring Israel into the knowledge of Jesus the Messiah, received heavy criticism for a series of articles and videos strongly criticizing the Oral Law (see here for a debate in Hebrew between a One for Israel leader and an ultra-Orthodox rabbi). Some even called their material antisemitic. In contrast, Boaz Michael and his organization, Firstfruits of Zion, honor the Oral Law and show great respect for rabbinic traditions. And the Bram Center in Jerusalem, which is the focal point of the current controversy, carries this mission statement: Building Torah-based Messianic Judaism in Israel. And their stated goal is to communicate the message of Yeshua as the Messiah within his proper Jewish context. And what is the response of the anti-missionaries and other traditional Jews: They are really Christians, not Jews! This is deceptive! One article actually carries this astonishing statement from Yad LAchim about Firstfruits of Zions study center in Jerusalem, called Tzemach David and located within the Bram Center: The Tzemach David facility that trains them looks like a synagogue in every way. Instead of crosses, it has an aron kodesh [Holy Ark], sifrei Torah [Torah scrolls] and sifrei kodesh [holy books]. The literature they put out appears to be Torani [Torah-themed] but is spiked with Christian teachings. The missionaries themselves conduct what would appear to be Jewish lives and wear haredi garb kippahs, beards and so on. Exactly! Just like the first followers of Yeshua were Jews who continued to live as Jews, so also these Messianic Jews live today. And just like the meeting places of these first Jewish disciples were called synagogues (see Jacob [James] 2:2 in Greek), so Tzemach David doesnt look like a church building with crosses (for the record, it is a study center; it is does not house a congregation). But they are totally open and honest about their faith in Yeshua. Nothing is hidden. Nothing is meant to mislead or deceive. They are who they are and if there wasnt a single Jew on the planet watching them, they would live the same way. Now, you might differ with their theology or their view on rabbinic traditions (as I do, personally; see here). But you cannot call them deceptive. And thats really where the rubber meets the road. When we, as Jewish followers of Jesus, join the church and say, We are Jewish Christians, we are told, Just drop the Jewish part. You are Christians and you are apostates. When we say, We believe in meeting in Messianic synagogues and following the biblical calendar, we are called deceptive. When we reject Jewish tradition, we are told we are committing spiritual suicide, cutting ourselves off from our history and our people. When we honor Jewish tradition, we are told that we are impostors of the worst kind. To be perfectly clear, as a Jewish follower of Jesus, I fully expect to be rejected by many of my own people, especially in the religious community. While that grieves me because of my love for our people, I accept that rejection as a distinct honor and privilege. I am being rejected as our Messiah was rejected. I wear that as a crown. So, there are no complaints here, no victim mentality, no martyr complex, and no pity parties.

https://www.christianpost.com/voices/what-does-jewish-community-want-from-jewish-followers-of-jesus.html

Is Russia again undermining Libyas peace with its embassy move?

Insight Russias plan to open up consular services in Benghazi is another sign that Moscow is not ready to give up on warlord Khalifa Haftar. Russia has once again thrown the spanner in the works of an international effort to bring peace and stability to war-torn Libya, which has been divided by a decade-long conflict, experts say. Moscow has indicated that it will open up its embassy in Libyas capital Tripoli by the end of year. At the same time, it has insisted that consular services will start functioning in Benghazi in the east, an area that is under the control of renegade warlord General Khalifa Haftar. "It is not that easy, safety is the most important thing. We cannot put our people and the safety of our foreign missions at risk, Russias Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said earlier this week. His remarks were aimed at highlighting why Moscow has dragged its feet in resuming consular services in Tripoli where other European powers such as Spain have recently opened up their embassies. Moscow is more interested in the Benghazi consulate than its embassy in Tripoli because it's still betting on the military solution in Libya despite the political progress that has been made, said Abdulkader Assad, the chief editor of The Libya Observer and Libya Alahrar English. The Kremlin wants the world to believe that it's making a genuine effort to bring stability to Libya but in fact Russia wants military presence in eastern and southern Libya to secure lucrative oil, gas and construction projects, he told TRT World. Perhaps it was no surprise when one of Haftars commanders this month called for a secession of eastern Libya despite UN-led attempts to maintain peace between the warring sides. These statements are indicative of Russian plans to prolong the conflict, said Assad. Oil-rich Libya is split between the UN-backed Tripoli government and a Russia-backed administration run by Haftar in the east. A ceasefire between the two sides in October 2020 deescalated most of the tension. Then a UN-led mediation effort helped install a Government of National Unity (GNU) in Tripoli in March. The GNU will ensure that a national election takes place in December. Russia has in the past tried to scuttle peace initiatives. Moscow at first supported the UN's mediation effort in Libya in 2019 that was led by the former special envoy, Ghassan Salame. Yet at the same time it blocked a UN Security Council resolution in 2019 that called on warlord Khalifa Haftar to halt a military assault on Tripoli against the UN-backed government. Russia is a conflict enabler in Libya. Haftars international posture and attack on Tripoli wouldnt have been possible without active Russian political and material assistance, said Salah El Bakkoush, a political analyst and former advisor to Libya's High Council of State. Thousands of mercenaries belonging to the infamous Russia-based Wagner Group have been fighting in Libya alongside Haftars forces, and numerous reports show thats being done at the behest of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia wants a strategic advantage against NATO and it has concluded that continuing to support warlord Haftar, Aguila Saleh, and Gaddafi elements will prolong conflict, which can serve for its goals, Bakkoush told TRT World. Russia's interests, at least for now, are best served by prolonging the conflict and Haftar is a useful tool in that strategy. Russia has allegedly used its mercenaries to take control of Libyas oil trade. Sirte, located between Tripoli and Benghazi, is a strategic gateway to oil reserves. The mercenaries have dug trenches to connect oilfields to near-sea positions in Sirte so that they can illicitly ship off oil from Libya with the help of Haftar's militias, said Assad, the chief editor of The Libya Observer. This has been confirmed by a UN panel of experts, and yet no action has been taken neither by the international community nor the UN Security Council to force Russia to withdraw its mercenaries. On its part, Russia is saying that it wants a good relationship with the Tripoli government. Bogdanov, the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, said Moscow has invited GNU leaders for talks. But experts said that this is just another Russian ploy to prolong the conflict. Russia's support for Haftar is still ongoing despite the UN-brokered ceasefire, said Assad. This is clearly manifested in the rejection of Moscow to withdraw Wagner Group mercenaries from Sirte, Jufra and various areas in eastern region. Russia will not make an exit for Libya any time soon as it sees Haftar as a way to get hold of Libyas resources, said Assad. In recent months, some GNU officials have indicated their willingness to cooperate with Russia. But Assad said the GNU must first demand Moscow to pull back its mercenaries to show its commitment to peace. Let's face it, Moscows main reason for its involvement in Libya is the oil and gas projects, and the presence of their Wagner mercenaries near the Sharara oilfield is proof of this, he said. Source: TRT World

https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/is-russia-again-undermining-libya-s-peace-with-its-embassy-move-47253

Will Skipping OTAs Be A Death Knell For Some Green Bay Packers Wide Receivers?

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown is skipping the voluntary OTA's. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Equanimeous St. Brown is averaging a pedestrian 9.3 receptions per season during his first three years with the Green Bay Packers. Devin Funchess, who signed a free agent deal with the Packers 14 months ago, has yet to catch a pass for Green Bay. So, it seems like an odd choice that these two players who figure to be on the roster bubble have elected not to attend Green Bays ongoing organized team activities. Yes, OTAs are voluntary. But for two players with so much to lose, skipping OTAs could potentially be career suicide. Its something they get to choose and if they think theyre getting themselves in the best position to be able to help this team, then hey, thats how it is in the offseason, Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett said. But we miss em and wed love em here. Amazingly, Green Bays top five receivers have chosen not to attend OTAs. In addition to St. Brown and Funchess, the group also includes Davante Adams, Allen Lazard and Marquez Valdes-Scantling. With peeved Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers at odds with the organization, it seems more than coincidental that Green Bays top pass catchers have all chosen to sit home at the same time. But Packers wide receivers coach Jason Vrable doesn't believe this was orchestrated to show support for Rodgers. There's been no talk of that with me, Vrable said. I'm excited for 'em for the future and hopefully next week they show up and we'll be ready to roll. Adams, Lazard and Valdes-Scantling have substantial bodies of work in Green Bay and have enough house credit built up to miss an OTA. Adams has been to four Pro Bowls, Lazard has 68 catches over the last two years, and MVS averaged an NFL-best 20.9 yards per catch last season. In the case of St. Brown and Funchess, though, their absence is akin to a D-plus student skipping midterms. St. Brown, a sixth-round draft pick in 2018, has just seven catches in the last two seasons. St. Brown missed the entire 2019 season with a high ankle sprain, then played just 19% of the snaps in 2020. Green Bay used a third-round draft pick on slot receiver Amari Rodgers, and Malik Taylor is a superior special teams player to St. Brown. So St. Browns chances of making the roster were probably no better than 50-50 before he chose to skip OTAs. Funchess, a free agent acquisition in 2020, sat out last season due to concerns over COVID-19. Although Funchess is just 27, he has just three receptions in the last two years and his career is clearly at a crossroads. Funchess, a second-round draft pick by Carolina in 2015, had his best year in 2017 when he caught 63 passes for 840 yards (13.3 average) and eight touchdowns. He followed that up with a so-so season in 2018 (44-549-4), then signed a whopping one-year, $13 million free agent deal with Indianapolis. Funchess played just one game for the Colts in 2019 after breaking his collarbone. Funchess was designated for return from injured reserve in mid-November and began practicing, but Indianapolis chose not to activate him. Funchess then spent the rest of the 2019 campaign on the injured reserve list and has been a complete non-factor in Green Bay. I think he's had basically a year and a half to understand our playbook, so I think from that standpoint he should be great, Vrable said of Funchess. I've watched the Carolina tape and he only played a little bit in Indy, but I'm excited about obviously his physical attributes, but also just kind of his intensity and toughness that I think he will bring to the room. The Packers cant wait to get all of their wideouts back in the receivers room. With Rodgers wanting out of Green Bay, second-year man Jordan Love could be the Week 1 starter and needs as much work as possible with his potential pass catchers. I think as a coach you always want as many guys that choose to show up here, Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. I think theres a lot of team chemistry, which is so important in winning and losing in this league and just learning how to play together, learning how to practice together, setting the standards for this football team. So certainly, yeah, youd love to have everybody here. For some that chose to stay away, they may not be here much longer.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/robreischel/2021/06/04/will-skipping-otas-be-a-death-knell-for-some-green-bay-packers-wide-receivers/

What questions remain as Onslow athletic realignment bill sits in Senate?

North Carolina House Bill 276, which would give Onslow Countys six largest high schools the option to form their own conference -- in defiance of the N.C. High School Athletic Associations 2021-2025 realignment plan -- sits in the state Senate's Committee on Rules and Operations after it passed the House on May 11. More:Miller: NC House passes HB 276, would put Onslow high school athletics in no-win situation More:Miller: Why politics should steer clear of NCHSAA realignment More:Hit the road: New NCHSAA realignment dramatically affects 2 Jacksonville schools The bill, introduced in March by Rep. Phil Shepard, who represents central and southern Onslow County, would allow the county school board to negate the realignment plan that has Jacksonville and Northside in the Big East 3-A/4-A Conference along with D.H. Conley, Havelock, J.H. Rose, New Bern and South Central; and White Oak in the Coastal 3-A Conference with Dixon, Richlands, Swansboro, Croatan and West Carteret. More:How House Bill 276 is creating division among Onslow County sports parents But there is no timetable for when HB 276 could get through committee and be voted on in the Senate. As its sponsors and opponents wait for discussion, time is growing short. The new athletic year arrives in less than three months. Right now the focus of our work has been on the budget primary, said Sen. Michael Lazzara, the former Jacksonville Mayor Pro Tem who now represents District 6 for Onslow and Jones counties. I have asked for our staff to look at the bill and give me feedback on it. Onslow County Schools confirmed that Lazzara has met with Superintendent Dr. Barry Collins. Lazzara said he has also spoken with some parents, some principals and have talked to some others, adding that he wants to make sure the responsible parties are all on board. No simple answers Lazzara admitted he has questions regarding the bill, which would become effective when it becomes law, as written in Section 4. Onslow County Schools announced in April that it would follow the NCHSAAs realignment plan, despite the bill. School board member Melissa Oakley said that, while the General Assembly cannot deny a district funding in retaliation, there are still those ways around doing so indirectly beyond the obligations of the law. I think thats a concern for me, Lazzara said. I dont think it is good policy to create unnecessary division. Shepard, however, doesnt think there would be penalties. I can tell you this. Not on my watch. I dont want to do anything to hurt our schools or school system, he said. I may not agree with the schools decision to not abide by this law because we have worked hard to get here, but thats not in my way of thinking. In its current form, the new conference is only an option. There is concern among county officials that the Senate would create a mandatory clause, which would then send it back to the House for a revote. Because HB 276 is a local bill, in that it affects less than 15 counties, it would not be subject to Gov. Roy Coopers veto. School board chairman Bob Williams said OCS would abide by the law. If they change the law and make it where we have to do this, we will comply with what the law says, he said. As long as it is an option, our staff will make that decision. At this late date, Shepard and Lazzara said there would have to be wiggle room if the bill is made mandatory. Team practices for fall sports in the 2021-22 academic year begin Aug. 2. Do we give them six months or wait until next year? Lazzara said. Thats a legitimate question that needs to be answered. Shepard voiced frustration about the NCHSAAs decision to carry out its realignment process during the COVID-19 pandemic, which he said affected some schools Average Daily Membership. Previously, ADM was the sole determining factor for a school's realignment, but the formula has been changed. In addition to ADM, other criteria were used for the 2021-25 realignment: the success of athletic programs and the number of students that receive some form of federal aid. Because of this, schools such as Croatan, Dixon and Richlands jumped up to 3-A. Timing and transparency Oakley had several concerns. She disagreed with the timing, how the smaller 3-A schools such as Dixon would be forced to compete against bigger schools, and why they were not contacted before the bill was introduced. I dont think there was a fair balance of constituents listened to before this was put on the table, she said. "Its important for us to listen to what our athletic directors, coaches and parents had to say. Feedback from all constituents should have bene gathered and not just from a certain support base. Everyone should have been treated equally. Shepard was asked why he didnt communicate with principals or athletic directors before introducing the bill. I did reach out to a couple and we missed each other, he said. Then I was told that they were told not to get involved with discussing it. I didnt want to put them in a tough situation. While Onslow County Schools has never put a gag order on ADs or coaches, the school system indeed asked to be the sole speaking party and for coaches and ADs not to talk about HB 276 in fear they would be critical of the bill and then reprimanded by supporters of their schools athletic teams who also support it. No one contacted me about this, Williams said. Ultimately, Shepard is optimistic that we can work something out with the schools or the high school athletic association, if HB 276 is passed in the Senate. Maybe we can live with (the NCHSAA realignment) this year and make a commitment to change it for the next year, Shepard said. Im flexible and I am open to conversations. I am open to doing whatever we can to reach a decision that is of the best interest of Onslow County. If that means reaching a compromise, Im OK with that. My desire is for them to look at this and say, Maybe we go with what we have this year, but maybe we can make adjustments. Chris Miller can be contacted via email at chris.miller@jdnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @jdnsports.

https://www.jdnews.com/story/sports/2021/06/04/nc-house-bill-276-senate-schedule-onslow-county-nchsaa-realignment-phil-shepard/7507441002/

How can we believe?

We watch and follow the daily confirmed cases of COVID and make far-reaching and significant decisions based on this data. We close down businesses and socializing, or open up and potentially expose ourselves to this deadly disease all based on the data. Now we learn, from the Spokane Regional Health District, that these numbers can be totally bogus! The recent spike in confirmed cases was somewhat concerning, and now we find that many of the cases (nearly 30 percent) were really from backlogged reporting from over 5 months ago. Surely, the backlogged cases can be excluded and reported separately. There is no excuse for not having valid reports. Ken Wilder Spokane

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/jun/03/how-can-we-believe/

Why are people talking about Dr Anthony Faucis emails?

Thousands of private emails from US infectious disease chief Dr Anthony Fauci have revealed the concern and confusion at the start of the pandemic. A National Institutes of Health specialist with a career spanning seven US presidents, Dr Fauci, 80, became the face of the nations Covid-19 response and has since been the subject of both effusive praise and ferocious criticism. The over 3,000 pages of emails, obtained by the Washington Post, Buzzfeed News and CNN through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, date from January to June 2020. His conversations offer a glimpse into the early days of the US Covid outbreak and his dealings with the government, foreign and domestic health officials, the media, celebrities and everyday Americans. Dr Fauci and his colleagues took notice, in the early days, of the theory that Covid-19 may have leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan, China. The controversial claim was dismissed by experts last year, who said it was extremely unlikely. No evidence to support it has emerged. But in recent days, amid criticism of an inconclusive international probe into the virus origins and new reports of Covid-related illness in the region weeks before it was officially identified, the theory is once again sparking debate. A January 2020 email to Dr Fauci from the director of the countrys largest biomedical research facility suggested the unusual features of the virus may indicate it is engineered, prompting Dr Fauci to say he will reach out via phone. In April 2020, an email from the director of the National Institute of Health, Francis Collins, nudged Dr Fauci with the subject line conspiracy gains momentum. The doctors response to this is fully redacted. This May, Dr Fauci said he is not convinced the virus originated naturally and expressed support for an investigation. On masks In the early months of the virus, the US government was still working out mask guidance a move that has been criticised for adding to the confusion. In a February 2020 email exchange with a former US health secretary, Dr Fauci said: Masks are really for infected people to prevent them from spreading infection to people who are not infected rather than protecting uninfected people from acquiring infection. He added that store-bought masks are not really effective in keeping out virus, which is small enough to pass through material. The following month, a friend in the Chinese public health field wrote to say he has been misquoted in the media for saying the West is making a big mistake in not recommending mask use. Dr Fauci responded: I understand. No problem. We will get through this together. Questions from all sides As the public sought answers to the worsening crisis, Dr Fauci fielded inquiries from across the US including Hollywood and Silicon Valley. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg invited the doctor to participate in the social media platforms Covid information hub and respond to users questions. Actress Morgan Fairchild who reportedly collaborated with him during the Aids epidemic of the 1980s reached out in February asking how she could help. Dr Fauci suggested she tweet: The American public should not be frightened, but should be prepared to mitigate an outbreak in this country by measures including social distancing, teleworking, temporary closure of schools, etc. And, soon after a phone call with Bill Gates, a senior executive at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation wrote to say he was seriously worried about Dr Faucis health and safety. The emails also reveal Dr Fauci frequently and firmly shut down rumours that he was being censored by President Trump. I actually have not been muzzled at all, he wrote to one unidentified fan in February 2020. Some moments of levity Lionised on prayer candles and bobble-head toys, the emails show Dr Fauci professing discomfort with the adulation coming from many corners of the internet. When a colleague emailed him a story of how a shop sold out of doughnuts emblazoned with his face, he responded: Truly surrealistic. Hopefully this all stops soon It is not at all pleasant, that is for sure. In another email, he shared a story about Fauci Fever with the quip: It will blow your mind. Our society is really totally nuts. And, when actor Brad Pitt played him on the Saturday Night Live sketch comedy show, he happily told a colleague that one reviewer said Pitt looked exactly like me. Some conservative politicians and media pundits have cited the emails in their calls to sack Dr Fauci for his work on the pandemic response. US Senator Rand Paul, a Republican who has frequently clashed with Dr Fauci in hearings on Capitol Hill, said the emails make it abundantly clear the doctor is a massive fraud. Across the political aisle, liberals have argued Dr Faucis positions adapted to the scientific evidence available at the time. Others celebrated his style and tone of response to various emails. Presentational grey line The Fauci Ink Blot Test Analysis by Tara McKelvey, BBC White House reporter Faucis emails are like a Rorschach ink blot: what you see in them reveals more about you than the ink blot, or, in this case, the emails. For Trump supporters I know in small Kansas towns and other rural areas, Fauci is a villain. He broadcasts conflicting messages about the virus, these Republicans say, and twists science. They also say that he undermined then-President Trump. These conservatives refused to wear masks, even during the worst days of the pandemic, because, they said, the scientific guidelines changed constantly, and Fauci had flip-flopped. His emails will reinforce their opinions. Fauci did indeed change his mind about health guidance, such as the wearing of masks, as more information emerged about the virus. He told someone in February 2020 they did not need to wear a mask while travelling. Later, he encouraged people to wear them. In contrast, for liberals in the Midwest and in other regions, Fauci is a hero. His emails reinforce their views that he changed his mind about what people should do to fight the virus, depending upon the scientific data, and not on what Trump wanted people to hear.

https://www.timesofpakistan.pk/international-news/world/2021/06/03/people-talking-about-dr-anthony-faucis-emails/112597/

Why are virus-free areas being unfairly penalised?

Oh silly me, I left my mobile phone at home While I was buying supplies in a smallish grocer yesterday, the checkout person politely asked three people to use the QR system which was prominently displayed. Without hesitation, all three immediately replied: No phone. I realised that a definitive trend had evolved. Susie Holt, South Yarra Overall, were doing a good job checking in As usual, criticism of Melbournes compliance has been rife, but my experience has been otherwise. In recent months, in Melbourne and Victoria, I have been to restaurants, pubs, theatres, a cinema, a concert, a book launch, markets, a massage place, tourist sites, weekly gatherings of my choir at a hall, my mums aged care home, a hospital ... and I have had to check in everywhere. Can Scott Morrison explain how his preaching Resilience, strength, character, determination. Peter Rickard, Surrey Hills For some of us, the health risk is very real To people critical of us over-50s who are not anti-vaxxers but are apprehensive about the one in 100,000 chance of a clot from the AstraZeneca vaccine, imagine this: About 100,000 people are to attend an event at the MCG and beforehand there is an announcement that one person will be shot and be at risk of death or serious life-long injury. Robyn Lovell, Epping As usual, the well-off continue to flourish The old saying, privatise the profits, socialise the losses, has never been more appropriate. The calls for more assistance to those workers susceptible to lockdowns coincides with Stock Exchange record levels and the federal Treasurer extolling how well the economy is going for the wealthy. Alan Duncan, Frankston South THE FORUM Step up, Senator Colbeck My mum is in aged care where she is looked after very well by the staff. Richard Colbeck has again faced questions in Senate estimates. Again, he could not answer valid questions about aged care and vaccination. This is his portfolio for which the taxpayers pay his extremely large salary. I would suggest both. Senator Colbeck does not engender any confidence that this portfolio is being handled well or even adequately. I would remind him that he is a servant of the people and is not immune from scrutiny or accountability. Pam Kershaw, Kew At last, some progress Scott Morrison, it is great to see you grasp the hose (needle) at last and to hear that you and state and territory leaders are leaning heavily towards making vaccinations mandatory for your front-line aged care workers (The Age, 4/6). Better late than never. Kay Moulton, Surrey Hills Try a caravan park A dedicated quarantine centre comprising numerous, individual, self-contained cabins, all with a balcony, sounds to me a lot like a modern caravan park. It would be a lot cheaper and quicker than building something new near Avalon Airport. Those of us who are not registered for GST because our income is so low are excluded from Victorias small business grants. Not even the feds did that with JobKeeper an ABN and a loss of business was required. Deb Campbell, Deans Marsh Mandatory vaccination If the Prime Minister and state premiers have not begun to lay down the guidelines for our future living with COVID-19, they need to get onto it pronto. To enter many aged care centres, you need to show evidence of having received a current flu vaccination. No COVID vax, no entry seems the logical rule to apply everywhere. David Marshall, West Brunswick Lack of basics records Federal health authorities are not keeping any records of how many Australians returning from overseas have been vaccinated and whether they develop COVID-19 (The Age, 4/6). I give up. David Hamilton, Hampton An impossible ask I am attempting to comply with recently announced QR code rules, only to be thwarted by the convoluted, drawn out-procedure required to bring this about. I want to do the right thing but cannot without continually seeking help from those around me until this rigmarole is simplified. Dawn Evans, Highton When Victorians matter The federal election is coming. The Prime Minister has rediscovered Victoria, providing help for workers and a new quarantine centre. Next he will visit our state and lay hands upon us. George Reed, Wheelers Hill Danger in being smug Oh the irony. Just days after Gladys Berejiklian felt the need (again) to spruik the superiority of New South Wales COVID-19 response in relation to Victorias, we read COVID check-ins impacted by outage in NSW (The Age, 3/6). And only last week it was reported that NSW authorities were alarmed by a plunge in the number of people checking in to venues, with Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello saying the Victorian outbreak is a powerful reminder that we cannot drop out guard. A little more empathy and a little less competition would be helpful. Peter Morris, Connewarre Bring the children home There are now 209 children stuck in India without their parents (The Age, 4/6). Why not allow the parents to fly to India on the condition that they stay onboard. Load their children on the plane and fly the families back to Australia where they can spend two weeks in quarantine. John Adler, Hampton Protecting all creatures Incomprehensibly, as the state government exerts enormous energy to control the spread of COVID-19, it condones the bloody carnage of thousands of peaceful, defenceless ducks. Well over 80per cent of Victorians are outraged by this slaughter and demand duck shooting be stopped. Ducks experience the same pain and terror that you or I would if blasted by a shotgun. A society is greatly diminished if its compassion extends only to its human population. Jennifer Joseph, South Yarra Follow US and NZ lead It is deeply shaming that Australia does not take more of its share of refugees. Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews is negotiating a settlement deal for refugees in detention here and in Nauru and Papua New Guinea to go to New Zealand (The Age, 3/6). The federal government clings to the myth that asylum seekers arriving by boat are illegal. Any persecuted person has a right to seek asylum and the method of transport is not relevant according to the UN. The offer from NZ to take 150 refugees has been repeatedly rebuffed. Peter Dutton perpetuates the myth that letting them go there will encourage more boat arrivals to Australia. This shows zero compassion and empathy. Joe Biden has increased the annual humanitarian intake to 62,500. Jan Marshall, Brighton More human, less toxic The huge volumes of poison being spread in crop fields being sown (due to the mouse plague) is horrendous. Apart from the collateral poisoning (ie. It is beyond belief that we do not have a safe, effective, less toxic, more humane method to control pests and plagues. We have research capability. Catherine Miller, Chewton Offences against women At last Pope Francis has made revision to canon law to address the sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable adults (World, 3/5) but he also includes reinforcing the ban on ordaining women. It is ironic that the revision was put under a new section entitled Offences against human life and dignity and liberty, recognising the injustice done to minors in the church but not to women in the church. Sadly the church continues to be irrelevant in a changing world. Julie Ottobre, Forest Hill Its a two-way street So Xi Jinping wants to create a credible, loveable and respectable image of China (The Age, /6). Vicki Myers (Letters, 3/6) expresses wonder and dismay about Matthias Cormanns apparent epiphany on climate issues (The Age, 2/6). Hey, he is a politician. He changes his socks. He changes his undies. He changes his mind. It is simple, routine self-interest. Along with the leopard, however, his spots are unchanged. David Allen, Bayswater North Osakas brave stand My hearty congratulations to Naomi Osaka for standing up for her principles. She is, by all accounts and appearances, a quiet, introverted and sincere person, and it seems a very heavy-handed way for authorities to handle her situation given that they appear to need her more than she needs them. Chris Wilson, Poowing AND ANOTHER THING Credit:Illustration: Matt Golding Coronavirus Hearing about the two false positives leave me feeling rather negative. Kicking and screaming comes to mind. Darryl Annett, Northcote Well done, James, but beware. ScoMos MOU probably means My Own Understanding. Patricia Rivett, Ferntree Gully The latest fashion craze in Melbourne. Wearing your face mask as a bracelet. Chris Brown, Melbourne Aged care. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Meg McPherson, Brighton The state government panics because of its inadequate contact tracing and organisation. Victorians pay for its ineptness. Rita Reid, Port Melbourne Jackie Burgess (3/6), details of your vaccination can be found on your myGov account. Heather Murfet, Northcote Furthermore Irony is a great basis for comedy but Id never pictured Xi (3/6) as a stand-up comedian. Bryan Lewis, St Helena Matters in the public interest involving taxpayer-funded representatives should be investigated. Simple as ABC. Graham Williams, Glen Waverley Beware, Collingwood (3/5). Jeff Browne may be Eddie McGuires Trojan Horse. Chris Del Prete, Pascoe Vale South

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/why-are-virus-free-areas-being-unfairly-penalised-20210604-p57y98.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed

How Can I Collect More Links for My Website?

If you are interested in creating a strong digital marketing campaign, then you understand the importance of focusing on search engine optimization. At the same time, there are a lot of factors involved in search engine optimization , including the quality of the links you have pointing back to your website. If you would like to generate as many strong links as possible, you may want to consider working with a professional link building agency that can help you. Take a look at a few important tips below. Post Blogs as a Guest on a Website One of the first ways you can collect more external links pointing back to your website is to post guest blogs on a different website. In exchange for posting a blog on another website, you should be able to include a link pointing back to your own website. At the same time, you have to think carefully about where you post your blog, as you want to target people who might be interested in the products and services you provide. Because there are so many opportunities to post blogs another the website, you should think carefully about where you share your information. That way, you can generate a large return on your marketing investment. Go To Event Conferences and Build Relationships In addition, you can also collect more links pointing back to your website by going to more conferences and events and your industry. One of the best sources of links is other people in your industry. You may be able to set up relationships with partners, convincing them to post links on their website that point back to your own website. You might be able to set up a link-sharing arrangement with them. You can develop strong relationships with others by going to physical conferences in your area. Take a look at some of the conferences that are coming up in your local area. You may be able to build strong relationships that can serve you well. Consider Buying Them One option you may want to think about is to consider buying them. Of course, this is not the best option available, as you will pay for every link you get. This is a strategy you might want to consider if you are trying to get your website off the ground in the beginning. On the other hand, this is also going to take a large bite out of your marketing budget. Therefore, you should try to limit the number of links you buy. There are better ways for you to acquire external links that point back to your website. Post More Quality Content and Develop Links Organically Finally, the best way for you to collect links that point back to your website this to post high-quality content regularly. There is a saying that high-quality content is going to Market itself. Even though this is true up to a certain point, if you post quality content, people will naturally want to link back to it. Then, this will create a positive feedback loop. If more people link back to your website, your ranking is going to improve. This will increase the number of people who visit your website, increasing the exposure of your content. As a result, you will collect even more external links that point back to your website. At a certain point, this is the best way for you to collect quality links. If you post quality content regularly, the rest will probably take care of itself, as long as you work with professionals. Develop a Strong Link Campaign with the Help of the Pros These are just a few of the many ways you can collect more external links pointing back to your website. It is important for you to focus on collecting as many quality links as possible, as this will help you increase your online visibility. If you have a lot to do to run your company, you may want to let professionals build your links for you. That way, you can focus on other parts of your business that are more important. Share this: Facebook Tumblr Twitter LinkedIn Email Pinterest Reddit Pocket Print Telegram WhatsApp Skype

https://theinscribermag.com/how-can-i-collect-more-links-for-my-website/

When Is An Import Not An Import For Patent Law?

ARTICLE To print this article, all you need is to be registered or login on Mondaq.com. The interim decision of Fancourt J in Rhodia Operations v Neo Chemicals & Oxides raises, but does not answer, some interesting questions around the scope of patent protection relating to imports. The background is that Neo was held, in 2018, to have infringed Rhodia's patent, which was concerned with the use of cerium oxide as a catalyst for purifying vehicle exhaust gases. Rhodia elected for damages, seeking damages in respect of cerium oxide imported into the UK by Neo from China. The inquiry is due to be heard in January 2022. At the case management conference in the inquiry, Neo raised the following issues by way of a summary judgment application: Whether goods brought from China into and stored in a bonded warehouse in the UK, for subsequent export to a non-EU country, are imported and/or kept within the meaning of s.60 of the Patents Act 1977. Whether goods brought from China into and stored in the UK for the purpose of export and distribution overseas (principally to Germany) are imported and/or kept within the meaning of s.60 of the Patents Act 1977. Whether Neo is entitled in law to contend that, had it not imported and stored the goods in the UK for subsequent export, it would have imported and stored them in a non-UK port. There was insufficient time at the CMC to determine the application, which was subsequently heard in a three day hearing. The relevance of the three issues is as follows. On the first issue, the UK was an EU member when the acts of importation took place. Neo argued that the goods stored in a bonded warehouse remained at all times within the EU's external transit customs procedure for non-Union goods, and therefore were never imported into the UK for the purposes of s.60. On the second issue, Neo contended that there is a disconnect between the wording of the Patents Act 1977 and the Community Patent Convention in relation to the scope of infringing acts. S.60(1)(a) of the Act specifies the infringing acts as "makes, disposes of, offers to dispose of, uses or imports the product or keeps it whether for disposal or otherwise, whereas Article 29 of the Convention specifies the infringing acts as "making, offering, putting on the market or using a product which is the subject-matter of the patent, or importing or stocking the product for these purposestarget=_blank (author's underlining). Section 130(7) of the Act states "... it is hereby declared that the following provisions of this Act ... section 60 ... are so framed as to have, as nearly as practicable, the same effects in the United Kingdom as the corresponding provisions of the European Patent Convention, the Community Patent Convention and the Patent Co-operation Treaty have in the territories to which those Conventions apply". Neo accordingly contended that s.60(1)(a) should be read as per Article 29, with the effect that the importation of goods solely for the purposes of subsequent export are not infringing acts. The third issue relates to a long-standing policy in English patent law that it is not generally a defence, in a claim for damages for patent infringement, to contend that the activities complained of could have been carried out in a non-infringing manner, and that the infringing activities therefore did not cause damage to the patentee. Specifically, Rhodia is claiming that if it were not for the importation and keeping of cerium oxide products by Neo in the UK for export, it would have made those overseas sales, and is therefore claiming the profits it would have made on such sales. Neo's contention is that any acts of importation and keeping were not causative of Rhodia losing overseas sales, as the importation and keeping could have been done in a non-UK port. The judge declined to grant summary judgment on any of the issues raised, deciding instead that they would be better determined at the inquiry itself. These issues, of general importance in patent law, will therefore have to wait until 2022. In the meantime, the author regards the third issue as of particular interest and importance. The policy referred to above stems from an old (1888) decision of the House of Lords in United Horse Shoe and Nail Co Ltd v John Stewart & Co. In that case, the defendant had used a patented process to manufacture horse shoe nails, which it subsequently sold. The patentee sought damages on the basis that had the defendant not made those sales, the patentee would have made them. The defendant contended that it could have used an alternative (non-infringing) process to manufacture the nails, and that its use of the process therefore did not cause the patentee to lose sales. The House of Lords rejected the defendant's argument, saying in terms that once infringement is admitted or found, the fact that the defendant could have achieved the same results in a lawful manner is irrelevant. The United Horse Shoe principle remains good law in the UK, albeit with an exception for damages calculated on the "negotiating damages" basis. In such cases, i.e. where the patentee cannot establish lost sales, the court, in determining the arms-length royalty which would notionally have been agreed in a licence, will take into account an argument by the defendant that it could have gone elsewhere to source a licence. The author can see good policy reasons for upholding the United Horse Shoe principle in relation to acts of manufacture, but is less persuaded that the principle should apply to acts of importation. In the author's view, a mere act of importation, without any subsequent offering or selling within the UK, is simply not causative of any loss on the patentee's part. It remains to be seen, though, whether the Patents Court will agree. The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

https://www.mondaq.com:443/uk/patent/1075520/when-is-an-import-not-an-import-for-patent-law

Are Board Retirement Age Policies Illegal?

ARTICLE To print this article, all you need is to be registered or login on Mondaq.com. In the Mentor Blog today, Lynn Jokela writes about mandatory board retirement age policies at S&P 500 companies. California's Unruh Civil Rights Act which provides: [a]ll persons within the jurisdiction of this state are free and equal, and no matter what their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, or sexual orientation are entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments of every kind whatsoever. Civ. Code 51. The statutory listing of categories protected from discrimination is long, but it is not exclusive. Courts have held that the Act is intended to prohibit all arbitrary discrimination by business establishments, regardless of whether the basis for that discrimination is listed in the statute. Javorsky v. Western Athletic Clubs, Inc., 242 Cal. App. 4th 1386, 1394 (2015). Thus, discrimination by age may in some circumstances violate the Act. See, e.g, Candelore v. Tinder, Inc., 19 Cal. App. 5th 1138 (2018) (finding plaintiff had sufficiently alleged a claim for age discrimination). The Unruh Civil Rights Act is not merely precatory. Section 52(a) imposes liability on "[w]hoever denies, aids or incites a denial, or makes any discrimination or distinction contrary to Section 51". Liability may include actual damages, possible treble damages and attorney's fees. The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

https://www.mondaq.com:443/unitedstates/retirement-superannuation-pensions/1076074/are-board-retirement-age-policies-illegal

Should Insider Reverse Veil Piercing Be Applied To Protect Constitutional Rights?

Last Friday's post addressed Vice Chancellor Slights' novel ruling that outsider reverse veil piercing is an equitable remedy that is available in Delaware. Manichaean Capital v. Excela Technologies, Inc., 2021 Del. Ch. LEXIS 100. Insider reverse veil piercing occurs when a shareholder seeks to disregard the corporate entity. Professor Stephen Bainbridge recently makes the case that insider reverse veil piercing is "s the only doctrinal way of deciding when a corporation's shareholders may assert their free exercise rights when the state infringes on those rights by regulating their corporation". Professor Bainbridge post identifies a number of defects in the amicus brief filed by 44 law professors in Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. v. Sebelius, 133 S. Ct. 641 (2012). Readers may recall that I too found fault with the academy's brief but for a different reason: 44 Law Professors Make A Case Against Corporate Social Responsibility.

https://www.mondaq.com:443/unitedstates/shareholders/1076070/should-insider-reverse-veil-piercing-be-applied-to-protect-constitutional-rights

Why Choose A Maltese Foundation?

This Article begins by reviewing a number of generic reasons to use a foundation and then considers the specific characteristics and benefits that can be provided by a Malta foundation. There are numerous reasons why a foundation may be of benefit, each of which are relevant in terms of Malta private foundations: Asset protection: if a home country is not politically or economically stable, a foundation can be established overseas and assets transferred into it (professional advice should always be taken in the home country, prior to any transfer taking place). if a home country is not politically or economically stable, a foundation can be established overseas and assets transferred into it (professional advice should always be taken in the home country, prior to any transfer taking place). Confidentiality: the foundation deed must state the foundation's name, its registered address, a description of the initial endowment with which it was formed, and its purposes and objects. the foundation deed must state the foundation's name, its registered address, a description of the initial endowment with which it was formed, and its purposes and objects. Lifestyle planning: partners who are not married, or whose family arrangements are not straight-forward, may find that some countries' legal systems do not provide adequate solutions on their death or separation. In such cases, a specifically drafted foundation can be used to ensure that partners, and children of such partners, are treated as the founder intends. partners who are not married, or whose family arrangements are not straight-forward, may find that some countries' legal systems do not provide adequate solutions on their death or separation. In such cases, a specifically drafted foundation can be used to ensure that partners, and children of such partners, are treated as the founder intends. Securitisation vehicle: Maltese law allows for the use of a foundation in place of a trust, as an appropriate vehicle for the securitisation of debt. Maltese law allows for the use of a foundation in place of a trust, as an appropriate vehicle for the securitisation of debt. Spendthrift beneficiaries: foundations can be created to prevent reckless heirs from spending family wealth on the death of their parents, by limiting their interest to income or to capital (at least until they reach a certain age, or until they fulfil certain requirements). foundations can be created to prevent reckless heirs from spending family wealth on the death of their parents, by limiting their interest to income or to capital (at least until they reach a certain age, or until they fulfil certain requirements). Succession planning: a foundation can generate a greater degree of privacy and flexibility than may be possible with a will alone. Foundations can be used to avoid the division of family estates and to prevent disputes between heirs. Maltese Foundation Legislation In 2007, Malta enacted specific legislation regarding foundations. Subsequent legislation was introduced, regulating the taxation of foundations, and this further enhances Malta as a jurisdiction for international private asset planning. Characteristics of Maltese Foundations Maltese private foundations are regulated by the 'Second Schedule to the Civil Code of the Laws of Malta'. New legislation introduced a registration procedure, which has been designed in a way to safeguard the privacy of Maltese private foundations. A foundation can only be constituted by virtue of a public deed 'inter vivos,' drawn up by a notary public or by means of a will. Once the foundation is constituted, it is registered with the Malta Registrar of Legal Persons. 'inter vivos,' drawn up by a notary public or by means of a will. Once the foundation is constituted, it is registered with the Malta Registrar of Legal Persons. A private foundation is limited to a maximum period of 100 years. In terms of Maltese legislation, it is possible to re-domicile a foundation into and out of Malta. A foundation may be terminated at any time if all of the beneficiaries agree, provided they are all alive, none have been convicted of a crime or are minors. If the founder is still alive his consent would also be required. Termination obligations must be included in the deed. An interesting feature of a Maltese foundation, is that segregated cells can be established within a foundation to achieve particular purposes with particular assets. The segregated cell does not have separate legal personality, however the assets and liabilities of the cell are ring-fenced from the other assets and liabilities of the foundation, and/or other cells. Maltese Foundations: A Choice to be Taxed In One of Two Ways A foundation can either be treated as a trust, OR as a company, which is both resident and domiciled in Malta: Taxation as a Trust A Maltese foundation can irrevocably elect, that the foundation be treated as a trust for tax purposes. An election to be treated as a trust gives rise to beneficial private asset planning opportunities, particularly where the founder and beneficiaries are not resident and/or domiciled in Malta. In such a situation no tax and/or duty will be payable in Malta. This applies on settlement and in relation to the income, attributable to the foundation. Taxation as a Company If a Maltese foundation decides to be taxed as a company, as with other companies in Malta, the income and/or gains realised, are subject to tax in Malta on a worldwide basis at the flat rate of 35%. However, on the distribution of qualifying foreign or local source income, by the foundation in favour of its beneficiaries, the beneficiaries will generally be entitled to a refund of 6/7ths of the Malta tax paid by the foundation, giving an effective tax rate of 5%. This assumes that the beneficiaries are not resident and/or domiciled in Malta. A number of reliefs are also available to foundations, as well as to companies. These include; the full imputation system, participation exemption, and access to appropriate unilateral agreements, Malta also has a wide network of Double Tax Treaties. The Dixcart office in Malta can assist with the efficient establishment and management of a foundation to meet the agreed objects.

https://www.mondaq.com:443/wealth-asset-management/1075530/why-choose-a-maltese-foundation

Where did Wolf Alice get their name from?

Wolf Alice and the Wolf-Girl from The Company Of Wolves. Picture: Laura Allard Fleischl/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images As the band return with their third album, Blue Weekend, we delve into the inspiration behind their mysterious moniker. Wolf Alice have had an amazing career so far - their debut album My Love Is Cool garnered plenty of critical acclaim and the band walked home with the Best Album Of The Year Award at the 2018 Hyundai Mercury Prize for the follow-up, Visions Of A Life. The band formed in 2010 around singer Ellie Rowsell and guitarist Joff Oddie, who performed acoustic songs under the name Wolf Alice. They later took on Joel Amey to play drums and Theo Ellis as bassist. It was the name of their very first EP, released in 2010 - and it wasnt just a random selection of words. A dinner party becomes sinister in the film in a scene from the 1984 film The Company Of Wolves. Picture: Cannon Film/Getty Images A story called Wolf-Alice first appeared in 1979 as part of a collection of dark fairy tales by British writer Angela Carter, called The Bloody Chamber. "Wolf-Alice" is a variation on the old Little Red Riding Hood, about a feral child who is raised by wolves: "Nothing about her is human except that she is not a wolf. Eventually the child is sent to live with a character called The Duke, who is essentially a vampire. Alice comes of age and starts to menstruate, leading her to become more aware of the passage of time and her life as a human woman. When The Duke is mortally attacked by the local peasants, she comforts him and gradually his reflection appears in a nearby mirror, indicating his return from the undead existence he has been suffering. Danielle Dax as "Wolf-Girl" in the film The Company Of Wolves. Picture: Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Image Also included in the same book was a similarly gothic story called The Company Of Wolves, which was turned into a startling film in 1984 by director Neil Jordan, and starring Angela Lansbury. Heres the scary trailer! Ironically, the character of Wolfgirl was played by Danielle Dax, who also had a successful career as a musician in the 1980s!

https://www.radiox.co.uk/artists/wolf-alice/wolf-alice-name-meaning/

What happened around Tiananmen Square on June 4th 1989?

THE STUDENT protests that engulfed Tiananmen Square in 1989and the Chinese governments violent response to themhave become a byword for communist repression. Today, mention of the events of June 4th is strictly censored within China. In Hong Kong, the only place on Chinese soil in which large remembrance rallies once took place, the vigil held each year in Victoria Park has been banned since 2020. The government says this is because of the pandemic, but a new national-security law has made some people wonder whether even lighting candles in private homes is legally permissible. Yet in the West the killing of freedom-demanding protesters has helped to define attitudes towards China ever since. The Economist Today Hand-picked stories, in your inbox A daily email with the best of our journalism Sign up Several factors brought students to occupy Tiananmen Square in 1989. Inspired by the reforms that Mikhail Gorbachev was pushing through in the Soviet Union, many of those on university campuses were demanding more intellectual freedom. Limited market reforms adopted by Deng Xiaoping, who had become paramount leader of China in 1978, had also led to higher food prices and deepening inequality, causing agitation among the general population. At the same time, the perception that Deng was prepared to loosen the states grip on the everyday lives of Chinese encouraged more open discussion in the press about the direction in which the country was heading. Some hoped for a transition to full democracy. More immediately, in April 1989 Hu Yaobanga former general secretary of the Communist Party who had been demoted because of his liberal viewshad died. Around 10,000 students headed to Tiananmen Square in Beijing, ostensibly to mourn Hu. Alongside the banners lamenting his death were many that demanded greater freedom and democracy. Party leaders were, at first, unsure of how to deal with this threat to their authority. Three factors fed their indecision. First the party, like the students, was in mourning for the loss of its former general secretary. Second, the leadership was split between reformers and conservatives. Hu's replacement, Zhao Ziyang, was also a liberal. That gave reformers the upper hand, initially at least. Third, the students enjoyed a deep cultural reverence for their education and a belief that they were still children who should be protected. As the party considered its response, the student demonstrations spread to dozens of other cities around the country. And worryingly for the communist leadership there were signs that workersas well as members of the establishment like journalists in the state media and civil servantswere beginning to back them. By the end of April as many as 100,000 people were gathering in Tiananmen Square each day. Some party bigwigs, including Mr Zhao, called for dialogue to end the dispute. (He would later meet with student leaders, to little effect, offering leniency if they called off their protests.) Others, most notably Li Peng, the prime minister, thought that denouement could only be achieved through force. By May, as the party dithered, hundreds of thousands had taken to the streets across the country demanding political reform. Some 1,000 students in the square began a hunger strike to the bitter end. Adding fuel to the fire, Gorbachev flew to Beijing for a meeting with Deng. His arrival gave students additional cover. They knew the leadership would not want to clear the square by force during this historic summit, marking the end of a bitter cold-war feud. Perhaps a million people had, by now, been drawn to the centre of Beijing. After Gorbachev left, however, the mood changed: hardliners gained ascendancy and martial law was declared in Beijing on May 20th. Troops were massed around the capital. Met with the pleas of ordinary Beijingers to hold fire, held up by roadblocks, and with the eyes of the world upon them, the soldiers moved no further. Deng decided that force was his only option. On June 3rd troops were ordered to move into the city and clear the square by the following day, using any means necessary. To justify this, the party said the unrest had turned into a "counter-revolutionary rebellion" and needed to be crushed. This time, as the troops pressed forward, rather than be swayed by the entreaties of ordinary civilians, they opened fire upon them. When faced with a barrier comprising thousands of bottle-and-stone throwing demonstrators on a bridge in Muxidi, the army mowed them down, probably killing hundreds. Before dawn on June 4th, the soldiers had reached the square. Although no definitive death toll exists, eyewitnesses talk of protesters who had fled the square being shot at close range and being crushed by tanks. Several soldiers, meanwhile, were dragged from their vehicles and beaten to death. As protesters retreated, trigger-happy troops roamed the suburbs in search of them, in the process killing innocents, including doctors and schoolchildren. It is likely that thousands of people in Beijing lost their lives on June 4th. The massacre inspired a few protests across the country. Foreign governments, including Americas, announced limited sanctions. Yet the democratic revolution had foundered. In time the unspeakable affair, in China at least, would become literally so.

https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2021/06/04/what-happened-around-tiananmen-square-on-june-4th-1989

What is the history of National Donut Day? Is today a national holiday?

The first Friday of June every year is National Donut Day. But the origins behind the unofficial holiday named for the sweet treat are not always known to the public. According to the Salvation Army, National Donut Day was not recognized until 1938. Its origins started during World War I in 1917, when the original Salvation Army Doughnut was served to those fighting on the front lines by volunteers. Two female Salvation Army officers got the idea to comfort soldiers on the front lines by serving home cooking. The volunteers, often women who went by the nickname doughnut lassies, served the treats to soldiers fighting in Europe. The doughnuts were often fried inside American soldiers helmets. The American infantrymen fighting on the frontlines who received the treats were often referred to as doughboys. Two decades later, The Salvation Army created National Donut Day to honor the women who served the sugary treat to the World War I soldiers who served on the front lines. The day began as a fundraiser for the Chicago Salvation Army branch to help the poor during the Great Depression. Lets call it an unofficial holiday. While National Donut Day is not an actual holiday on the calendar, its certainly a celebrated day. Seventy-eight years after it was recognized, the day is now celebrated to help raise awareness for The Salvation Army, to honor the service of those veterans who fought many years ago, and the volunteers who served them. There are several ways to celebrate the day with your local Salvation Army. A number of donut shops are offering freebies, including Krispy Kreme, Dunkin, Duck Donuts and Walmart. New Jersey also has several sweet spots throughout the state you can check out. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com Katherine Rodriguez can be reached at krodriguez@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us at nj.com/tips.

https://www.nj.com/food/2021/06/what-is-the-history-of-national-donut-day-is-today-a-national-holiday.html

Where is serial killer Bobby Joe Long now?

Believe Me depicts the true story of Lisa McVey and serial killer Bobby Joe Long. Picture: PA / Netflix Believe Me is a film adaptation based on the true events of the 1984 abduction of Lisa McVey. Trigger warning: The following article contains themes of sexual assault and abuse that some readers may find upsetting. Based on the harrowing true story of Lisa McVey, Believe Me is a gripping portrayal of the Tampa Bay teenager's abduction. Not only was she kidnapped by Bobby Joe Long, McVey was then continually raped and held captive for a 26-hour period. Upon her escape, however, police met her account with disbelief. Here, we take a look at the true story of serial killer Bobby Joe Long, as the movie lands on Netflix. Katie Douglas stars as Lisa McVey in Believe Me. Born in Kenova, West Virginia in 1953, Long was a serial killer and rapist who attacked women in the Tampa Bay area in the 1984. Long married his high school girlfriend in 1974, with whom he had two children. She then filed for divorce in 1980. According to reports, Long had committed at least 50 rapes before embarking on an eight-month killing spree. Lisa McVey was the only survivor. Whilst in his apartment, the 17-year-old touched various surfaces in an attempt to leave her DNA behind, and made notes of clues, such as the assailant's facial features and the building itself, in order to assist police later on. She was eventually allowed to go and recalls the moment she took her blindfold off: When he released me and drove off, I took off my blindfold and saw this amazing oak tree. I had wanted to die before and now I wanted to live, I got a second chance at life. McVey has since worked at the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office for nearly two decades, and has also been working as a School Resource Officer. Bobby was eventually arrested outside a Florida movie theatre in November that year. He was charged with sexual battery and the kidnapping of McVey, before police linked him to several murder cases. McVey played a key part in leading the investigators to Long. Lisa McVey's abduction ordeal is depicted in feature film, Believe Me. Long eventually confessed to killing ten women and pleaded guilty at his trial in 1985. According to the Florida Department of Corrections, received one five-year sentence, four 99-year sentences, 28 life sentences, and one death sentence. Bille Joe Long was executed via lethal injection on May 23, 2019 - more 30 years after his conviction. Long's last meal consisted of roast beef, bacon, french fries and soda. His death warrant was the first to be signed by the newly-appointed Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis. Believe Me is available to stream on Netflix now

https://www.radiox.co.uk/news/tv-film/bobby-joe-long-serial-killer-lisa-mcvey-abduction/

Are any of the Too Hot To Handle couples still together?

Picture: Netflix Netflix's hit reality dating show gave Love Island a run for its money last year. Set in the stunning tropical resort of Casa Tau in Mexico, Netflix's Too Hot To Handle provided the perfect escapism last year for viewers stuck in lockdown. Giving Love Island a run for its money, the reality dating game show saw a line-up of gorgeous singletons head into the boujee villa, hoping to find love - and bag themselves the $100,000 prize money, of course. But while at first glance the show's premise seemed pretty straight-forward, there was a catch: if the contestants so much as shared a smooch or engaged in any kind of petting (heavy or otherwise), the fund would start to diminish. They were even told they had to resist pleasuring themselves. READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Love Island 2021 Of course, the combination of skimpy outfits, sun and sea, and hormones flying about meant that the contestants were soon reprimanded for their actions and the cash dwindled on a daily basis. The main culprits for breaking the rules were Francesca Farago and Harry Jowsey - costing the cast a hefty $32,000 in fines. At the end of the show, the prize money dwindled down to $50,000, which was then split between all ten contestants. In May this year, Netflix confirmed the show would be returning to our screens on June 23. Ahead of season two, we take a look at where last year's contestants are - and if any of the couples are still together. This is a bit of a grey area, tbh. As they were in the show, Francesca Farago and Harry Jowsey have been in an on-again-off-again relationship since. Whilst Harry shared a loved-up snap of them in Mexico on his Instagram in May and it looked like the pair had reconciled their differences, Francesca has since slammed the Australian model for his "extremely disrespectful" behaviour. She has not specified exactly what he did. Rhonda Paul and Sharron Townsend were also fan favourites, but as the pair live in separate states, distance became an issue and they amicably called things off. Since the show aired on Netflix, Nicole O'Brien and Bryce Hirschberg also dated. Here's what the season one contestants have been up to since the show: Francesca Farago Whilst Francesca was spending most of her time between Los Angeles and Vancouver last year, the influencer announced she was moving to London in February 2021. The news came after she confirmed her romance with TOWIE star, Demi Sims, and the pair shared snaps of their luxury holiday to Mexico on the 'Gram. Sadly, the pair called it quits in May 2021, and Demi has since been spotted kissing Goerdie Shore's Bethan Kershaw outside a hotel in Mayfair. Beyond her love life, Francesca has her own clothing brand called Farafo The Label, which specialises in eco-friendly swimwear. Harry Jowsey As well as posting shirtless snaps and holiday pics, the Australian YouTuber and former model owns a sunglasses brand called Naughty Possums. He's even set up his own OnlyFans account! Despite his on-off relationship with Francesca, Jowsey was previously thought to be dating YouTuber Tana Mongeau and even Kylie Jenner's bestie, Stassie Karanikolaou. Chloe Veitch Essex-born model Chloe is no stranger to reality TV. As well as her stint on Too Hot To Handle, the brunette beauty also appeared on season 2 of The Circle. Back in 2020, she launched a YouTube channel, posting makeup tutorials and more. David Birtwistle Former semi-pro rugby player David Birtwistle has been living the high-life since the Netflix show ended. As well as posting workout videos and sky-diving snaps, David has been jet-setting around the world and riding a helluva lot of motorbikes. He's also set up an online coaching resource called Endeavour. Lydia Clyma London-based actress and model Lydia has been collaborating with various brands and raising her social profile. Speaking to The Sun, she said: "As the show is on Netflix, I get recognised in every country I've been to since the show came out. "It's great when people come over and chat or ask for photos. Doing the show was such a fun experience and has opened my life up to further opportunities I wouldn't have had beforehand. Kelechi 'Kelz' Dyke Flitting between Los Angeles and the UK, Kelz is still very much a fitness fanatic and plays for American football team, the London Warriors. Nicole O'Brien Nicole regularly hangs out with her "ride or die" Chloe, and has also shared snaps of the pair with David from the show. As well as modelling, the Irish stunner has released a song called 'Irish Eyes'. Kori Sampson Model Kori Sampson may have been a latecomer on the show, but he certainly made a splash. As well as being an ambassador for UK homeless charity, Centrepoint, Kori has created an ebook on fitness and lifestyle. Rhonda Paul The Atlanta-based model frequently shares adorable snaps of her and her son, Amare. Despite hitting it off with co-contestant Sharron (the pair affectionately became known as "Sharronda"), distance and other factors got in the way of their relationship. Rhonda was then rumoured to be dating someone else. Bryce Hirschberg The California-based musician not only lives a boujee life on his boat, he's appeared in movies and directed award-winning film, Counterfeiters. He was also dating Nicole after the series ended. Haley Cureton The Florida college student made waves in the Too Hot To Handle resort when she broke the rules by kissing Francesca, before Lana kicked her off the show for making "insufficient progress". Speaking to Women's Health in 2020, Francesca said she's still good pals with Haley: "I was very sad when she left. It was extremely upsetting because she was my best friend in the house, and I confided in her," she said. "She always had my back 100-percent, but it was foreseen that she was gonna go." Sharron Townsend As well as being a reality TV star, Sharron is a personal trainer and kids' wrestling coach. He also set up a new initiative called the Today I Smiled Project, which was created to "spread love within the world through performing a random act of kindness." Too Hot To Handle is returning to Netflix for a second season on 23 June 2021. READ MORE: Too Hot To Handle Season 2: Netflix release date, cast and more

https://www.radiox.co.uk/news/tv-film/netflix-too-hot-to-handle-cast-couples-now/

How did the North Loop in Minneapolis get its name?

Curious Minnesota Listen and subscribe to our podcast: Via Apple Podcasts |Spotify | Stitcher The North Loop neighborhood, once a major manufacturing hub near downtown Minneapolis, has transformed into one of the city's most popular residential and entertainment destinations. Drew Cove and a friend who lives in the neighborhood were at Fulton Brewing's taproom and started discussing how the North Loop got its name. "A loop" doesn't seem to appear anywhere in the area, so it bugged Cove for a long time, he said. "I'm a big history and geography buff. I did some research, but couldn't find a definitive answer," he said. Cove turned to Curious Minnesota, the Star Tribune's community reporting project fueled by great questions from inquisitive readers. The term "Loop" originated in 1891 when the newly formed Twin City Rapid Transit required all streetcars serving downtown Minneapolis to travel a loop on Washington Avenue, 1st Avenue S. (now Marquette Avenue) and High Street (where the Main Post Office is today) and Hennepin Avenue to reach a central transfer station on Hennepin at 1st Street. A streetcar with a 'Loop' destination sign travels downtown in 1953. The Loop was created as part of a larger effort to institute a system of free transfers between streetcars, said Aaron Isaacs, who co-wrote the book "Twin Cities by Trolley" and oversees the Minnesota Streetcar Museum. Previously, passengers had to pay a new fare any time they transferred from one streetcar to another. This was a windfall for the streetcar company but the public hated it, he said. In the mid-1880s both city councils passed free transfer ordinances, which the streetcar company stonewalled until 1891. Trying to minimize lost revenue and discourage transfer abuse, Twin City Rapid Transit created a Byzantine procedure which ultimately didn't work, said Isaacs. Every streetcar was diverted around the Loop where all passengers wishing to transfer had to enter the transfer station. There they paid a nickel for a transfer, boarded whichever streetcar they were waiting for, presented the transfer and received a nickel refund, he said. Not surprisingly, this was way too much trouble, added to travel time and created unforeseen delays when too many streetcars were trying to navigate the process. It was also costing the streetcar company a lot of money paying transfer agents and diverting their streetcars around the loop, he said. The cumbersome system was jettisoned in 1894. Other than streetcars from south Minneapolis terminating downtown, the diversion around the loop ended. "However, the term 'Loop' stuck, and became a synonym for 'downtown,' " said Isaacs. "Any streetcar terminating in either downtown Minneapolis or downtown St. Paul carried a 'LOOP' destination sign." After the streetcars were replaced by buses, the buses continued to carry "LOOP" signs until the new Metropolitan Transit Commission bought buses in 1971 with "Downtown" signs. The term "Loop" continues in use by Metro Transit staff as convenient shorthand for "Downtown." "It's worth mentioning that the most famous use of loop refers to downtown Chicago, thanks to the well-known elevated rapid transit tracks opened in the 1890s that circle downtown to this day," he said. The North Loop neighborhood also includes Warehouse District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The North Loop is located northwest of the central business district between downtown Minneapolis and the Mississippi River. Streets in the North Loop are oriented to be parallel to the river, which means that they run at a 45-degree angle relative to the grid of the rest of the city. From the late 1800s to the 1930s, the North Loop was the center of a wholesaling and manufacturing boom that turned Minneapolis into one of the key distribution centers in the United States, said historian Rolf Anderson, who authored the nomination for the Warehouse District's historical designation. The city's expanding modern railroad system expedited business growth. The district attracted national firms, including International Harvester, John Deere Co., Ford Motor Co., and Creamettes pasta. The Milky Way candy bar was born in the North Loop in 1923 when Frank Mars and his son, Forrest, came up with an idea to create a candy bar that tasted like a malted milk shake, said Anderson. Besides being a significant business and milling hub, the Warehouse District made the historical registry in 1989 because of its architecture. Some of biggest designers in the state contributed to the area, including the architect of the State Capitol Building in St. Paul, and Lakewood Cemetery, Hennepin Avenue Methodist Church and the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis. When the Great Depression hit, the North Loop steadily declined as the companies that built the area began to disperse, Anderson said. The buildings sat vacant for decades, but at the turn of the century began to revitalize, with historic warehouses becoming housing and modern business centers, according to the North Loop's Neighborhood Association website. People eating on the patio at Borough restaurant, located in the North Loop, in 2013. More than 130 buildings remain in the district, some from 1865. As the North Loop continues to grow, Anderson hopes city officials continue to make preservation a priority. He cited the five buildings that were taken down when the Federal Reserve Bank was built. The North Loop was described by Forbes magazine as "One of America's Best Hipster Neighborhoods." Fodors Travel Guide put the neighborhood on its 2016 list of 25 places in the world that avid travelers should check out. If you'd like to submit a Curious Minnesota question, fill out the form below: This form requires JavaScript to complete.

https://www.startribune.com/north-loop-minneapolis-name-history-meaning-streetcars-warehouse-district/600059762/

What headphones does DJ Khaled wear?

Overview Some centuries ago, when the word headphones were mentioned, most people could only relate it to telecommunication companies or aviation agencies. In our world today, technological advancements have helped to bridge the gap and inadvertently correct that notion. In todays world, headphones are now a basic feature of practically everybodys life regardless of age, gender, and even geographical location. Adults make use of wireless headphones while jogging, noise-canceling headphones for flight and frequent travels, or plain headphones just for listening to music. Even kids are not left out as well as volume-limiting headphones were created and are readily available for a superb gaming or study experience. People from all spheres of life now make use of it in their daily activities. For sound engineers and music producers, it is an integral part of their equipment gear that aids their efficiency. See also history of noise-canceling headphones It is not strange to see basketballers and footballers hanging headphones around their necks before or after a game. Celebrities, too, are always spotted with headphones that are, in most situations, wireless. One of such celebrities is DJ Khaled, a well-known hip-hop rapper, actor, and multi-billionaire who is also an excellent music producer with a Grammy Award to his credit. One can only imagine the quality of sound and price of the headphones which he wears. A brief history of DJ Khaled DJ Khaled is a Palestinian-American whose real names are Khaled Mohammed Khaled. He was born on the 26th of November in 1975, making him forty-five years old currently. He was born to Palestinian parents who came into the United States to have a better life. Hes one of the wealthiest rappers in America as he is currently worth seventy-five million dollars. He started as a radio host on a popular hip-hop station and gradually rose to the limelight when he became a DJ. He attracted even more fame when he collaborated with several music stars and even produced songs for them. He has to his name eleven studio albums and several hit singles. Being the versatile producer that he is, hes very picky about his equipment gear which is an integral part of his studio. As expected, he owns a couple of headphones, but hes usually seen with the Beats by Dre Mixr On-Ear headphones which have become some kind of signature piece on him. Check out also history of headphones This particular headphone is also quite popular with other music stars but DJ Khaled flaunts it around the most as hes also a big fan of Beats by Dre headphones. He only recently began to frequently use BeoPlay H6, which is produced by Bang & Olufsen. These chosen headphones can be seen on him at different intervals. Usually, when hes producing songs, the BeoPlay H6 is his choice, while the Beats by Dre is used when hes playing as a DJ. Beats by Dre Mixr On-Ear headphones These designs of headphones were created with DJs and sound enthusiasts in mind as they are very suitable for them. They are the loudest and lightest among other headphones of the same maker, and they have a deep bass quality that endears them to the hearts of DJs. Its well molded and crafted headband makes it quite sturdy and ideal for travel. Most of them have soft pads on the ears, thus making them wearable for an extended period. Although it is light in weight, it has proven to be able to withstand the rigors and tedious pace of DJ life. They are DJs favorites because they reproduce accurate sound, keep sounds from escaping through them, and can be heard even in noisy places like clubs and concert halls. Their sophisticated features put them on the high side economically, but they are worth every penny of the fortune spent on them. Their prices range from seventy dollars to a hundred and fifty depending on the design chosen and model. See also what are volume-limiting headphones BeoPlay H6 These headphones are produced by Bang & Olufsen, and they are over-the-ear headphones stylishly built for comfort and efficiency. They are classy devices with a good sound quality system that strikes a balance between treble and bass levels. They are closed-back and effectively prevent sound spillage at every point in time. Their lightweight makes them quite mobile and very easy to handle and move around. The sound quality makes them ideal for song production and studio recording. DJ Khaled favors this particular headphone as he has made several appearances with it. Although it can also be used by DJs, it is not always their first choice. These headphones are also made with thick materials, which help to ensure their durability. They can be expensive too but are long-lasting and productive assets when acquired, even with a perfect fit accentuating the beauty of the wearer. See also; the different types of headphone cables Conclusion Although DJ Khaled is one of the very numerous celebrities who use headphones, his love for them runs deep. He recently struck up a partnership with Danish company Bang & Olufsen to produce and market the second generation of their BeoPlay headphones. Although he has ceased to be the face of Beats by Dre headphones, he still wears them, especially when playing at music shows. It is a common sight in his studio to see them sitting alongside all other equipment gear or hanging on his neck. He even had them custom-made for him, which costs almost twice the regular price. Both headphones which he uses have an excellent sound quality and are the best of their kind. So when top-notch sound quality and efficiency are required, these headphones are perfect choices. Even in cases where the song quality seems flawed, one rests assured to get an improved and balanced listening experience with these headphones. Due to the high-performance levels on which they are produced, they are mostly wired and can also support two persons at the same time with the share-in feature that they have.

https://www.musicrooms.net/what-headphones-does-dj-khaled-wear/

Can I use a robot vacuum on the patio?

Besides hazards such as leaves, mud and water that can damage your robot vacuum, many manufacturers state that operating in extreme temperatures can also damage the unit. A robot vacuum is a great time-saving device that allows you to clean the floors of your home without actually doing any work other than emptying the dustbin. It is so helpful that the robot vacuum has transitioned from being a luxury item to being a cleaning staple in households. Some people enjoy their device so much that they want to use it outside on their patio. However, this is not something the manufacturer recommends. While there are automated devices specifically designed to work outside, including the weeding robot, robot lawn mower and robot pool cleaner, there are currently no outdoor robot vacuums available on the market. In fact, one of the first warnings found in every robot vacuum owners manual is For indoor use only. There are many reasons for only using a robot vacuum indoors. For instance, if you have a brick patio or a deck with gaps between the boards, the vacuum will not navigate either surface effectively. Leaves may clog the unit, twigs will confuse it and any insects or worms it encounters will likely be pulled into the machine, making for a messy and unpleasant cleaning. The most important reason for not using your robot vacuum outside is that its not weatherproof. A robot vacuum is expensive enough to be considered an investment, and if it runs over a damp or wet section of your patio or gets caught in the rain or splashed, it may damage the machine. Repairs or replacements will not be covered under warranty in this situation because the damage is due to misuse. How to clean a patio Now that weve ruled out using a robot vacuum to clean your patio, lets look at the three types of cleaning a deck may need: sweeping, scrubbing and rinsing. Sweeping The most basic way to clean your patio simply involves removing dry debris such as grass clippings, leaves, twigs and dirt. To do this, you will need a heavy-duty outdoor broom or push broom so you can sweep the debris off of your patio. Alternatively, you can use a leaf blower to quickly clear debris from your patio. Scrubbing When you have ground-in dirt or algae buildup on your patio, you have to put a bit more elbow grease into your cleaning efforts. After you sweep your patio, you can use a bucket and gradually mix two parts of distilled white vinegar to one part baking soda. This creates a natural cleanser with a creamy consistency. Spread this product across your patio using a sponge mop and let it sit for roughly 30 minutes before using a long-handled scrub brush to scrub the patio thoroughly. Alternatively, you could use a handheld scrub brush as it offers better leverage, but can be hard on your knees. After scrubbing, its time to rinse. It is vital to remember that vinegar will kill plants. You have to be very careful with the application and rinsing of vinegar so you do not cause any damage to nearby gardens or your lawn. If you prefer, you can purchase a chemical-based patio cleaner instead. Rinsing Rinsing can follow and replace scrubbing. For the lightest-duty approach to rinsing, you just need a hose to spray down your patio. If you need heavier-duty cleaning, consider using a pressure washer. Before using a hose or a pressure washer, make sure you have adequate drainage. What you need to buy to clean your patio Yocada Heavy-Duty Outdoor Broom This durable polyethylene terephthalate broom is 54 inches long which helps reduce back strain. The design is effective on outdoor debris so you can better clean your patio. Where to buy: Sold by Amazon PHYEX 18-Inch Push Broom Specifically designed to clean outdoor surfaces, this well-built push broom is perfect for sweeping or scrubbing your patio. It has a combination of stiff and soft bristles to gather dust and debris. Where to buy: Sold by Amazon Yocada Sponge Mop The Yocada Sponge Mop is a heavy-duty, multipurpose tool designed to hold up during rugged applications. It has a telescoping handle for comfort and an easy-to-operate squeegee for convenience. Where to buy: Sold by Amazon Greenworks Cordless Leaf Blower/Vacuum If youre looking for a versatile, cordless leaf blower that quickly clears your patio of debris, this model can deliver 340 CFM of air at 185 mph. It also quickly converts to a vacuum for additional cleaning capabilities. Where to buy: Sold by Amazon Sun Joe 2030 Max PSI Electric Pressure Washer This affordable little powerhouse generates up to 2030 PSI and delivers 1.76 GPM of water for more thorough cleaning. Its designed for patios and has an automatic shut-off that helps prolong the pumps life. Where to buy: Sold by Amazon and Home Depot Sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter for useful advice on new products and noteworthy deals. Allen Foster writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money. Copyright 2021 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved.

https://www.cbs42.com/reviews/br/home-br/vacuums-br/can-i-use-a-robot-vacuum-on-the-patio/

Are wind farms slowing one another down? Watts Up With That?

If the offshore wind turbines are too numerous, they will produce less power; this should be considered when planning the farms HELMHOLTZ-ZENTRUM HEREON Research News IMAGE: NOT ALWAYS EQUALLY POWERFUL: WIND FARMS CAN SLOW EACH OTHER DOWN. view more CREDIT: PHOTO: NICHOLAS DOHERTY VIA UNSPLASH The expansion of wind energy in the German Bight and the Baltic Sea has accelerated enormously in recent years. The first systems went into operation in 2008. Today, wind turbines with an output of around 8,000 megawatts rotate in German waters, which corresponds to around eight nuclear power plants. But space is limited. For this reason, wind farms are sometimes built very close to one another. A team led by Dr. Naveed Akhtar from Helmholtz Zentrum Hereon has found that wind speeds at the downstream windfarm are significantly slowed down. As the researchers now write in the journal Nature Scientific Reports, this braking effect results in astonishingly large-scale low wind pattern noticeable in mean wind speeds. On average, they extend 35 to 40 kilometers in certain weather conditions even up to 100 kilometers. The output of a neighboring wind farm can thus be reduced by 20 to 25 percent, which ultimately leads to economic consequences. If wind farms are planned close together, this wake effects need to be considered in the future.Combination of climate and wind farm data With their study, Naveed Akhtar, an expert in regional climate modeling, and his colleagues took a look into the future and assessed the wind characteristics for a medium-term target state of offshore expansion. They used the computer model COSMO-CLM, which is also used by weather services and which is able to resolve weather situations regionally in detail in this case for the entire North Sea and combined it with the future wind farm characteristic their area and the number and size of the turbines. They used the wind farm planning for the North Sea from 2015 as a basis. This contains wind farms, some of which have not yet been built.Braking effect especially in stable weather conditions Naveed Akhtar used the COSMO model to calculate the wind speed over the North Sea for the period from 2008 to 2017 covering a range of different weather conditions. The results clearly show that we will face a large scale pattern of reduced wind speed, which show largest extensions during stable weather conditions, typically the case in March and April. In stormy times, on the other hand especially in November and December the atmosphere is so mixed that the wind farm wake effects are relatively small. In order to verify the model data, the team compared the simulations with wind measurements from 2008 to 2017. They used measurements that were recorded on two research platforms in the North Sea and data from wind measurement flights that colleagues from the TU Braunschweig performed over existing wind farms. The comparison shows that the Hereon researchers are correctly simulating the wind wakes. What is special about the work is that for the first time a full ten-year period has been calculated for the entire North Sea. Conventional flow models for analyzing wind farms have a very high spatial resolution, but only look at a wind field over a short period of time, says Akhtar. In addition, these cannot be used to determine how a wind farm changes the air flow over a large area. While the group has mainly dealt with the extent to which the wind farms influence each other in their current work, they intend to investigate in the near future what influence the reduced wind speeds have on life in the sea. Wind and waves mix the sea. This changes the salt and oxygen content of the water, its temperature and the amount of nutrients in certain water depths. Naveed Akhtar: We would now like to find out how the reduced mixing affects the marine ecosystem. ### From EurekAlert! Like this: Like Loading Related

https://shepherdgazette.com/are-wind-farms-slowing-one-another-down-watts-up-with-that/

How to Read Deleted WhatsApp Messages?

WhatsApp Ideas and Tips: Protecting in thoughts the privateness of its customers, the corporate always brings new options to make chatting extra enjoyable. WhatsApp has already launched an fascinating function of delete messages for everybody just a few years in the past. Many occasions we despatched such messages by mistake to our associates or relations which we dont want them to learn. WhatsApp launched the Delete for Everybody function within the 12 months 2017. Additionally Read Know How to Read Deleted Messages on WhatsApp | WatsApp Ideas And Tips | Watch Video After this function was launched, the one who obtained the message will get a notification of the message being deleted. You may delete the message through the use of Delete for everybody within the first private chat. Though youll have to do that message deletion inside 7 minutes of sending the message, after that the message wont be deleted. Many occasions, we ourselves come throughout such notifications of Message is Deleted and we marvel what that message should have been. Additionally Read WhatsApp To Quickly Let You Entry Account from 4 Linked Units Listed below are simple ideas and tips via which additionally, you will give you the chance to see deleted messages on WhatsApp Go to Google Play Retailer and obtain the Notisave app. Its an app that may hold a tab on notification, and it is among the respectable choices to contemplate for studying deleted messages. Upon getting put in the app, permit all of the permissions Notisave wants to entry together with images, information, media, and click on on the auto-start choice. After giving permission and auto begin choice, the app will hold observe of all of the notifications and WhatsApp messages youve obtained. After this, even when the sender deletes the message, it is possible for you to to learn via Notisave app. You too can learn the notifications you unintentionally or unintentionally swiped away. Though, theres no official method via which youll retrieve the deleted messages on WhatsApp. However this hack will certainly aid you to learn these deleted messages which your mates didnt need you to learn! This hack is strictly for Android customers and never for iOS customers. There are additionally different third occasion apps that may permit you to learn deleted WhatsApp messages. Additionally Read WhatsApp Tricking Customers For Consent On Privateness Coverage: Centre Tells Delhi HC

https://www.gadgetclock.com/how-to-read-deleted-whatsapp-messages/

What Is Podman and How Does It Differ from Docker?

Podman is a container engine thats compatible with the OCI Containers specification. Podman is part of RedHat Linux, but can also be installed on other distributions. As its OCI-compliant, Podman can be used as a drop-in replacement for the better-known Docker runtime. Most Docker commands can be directly translated to Podman commands. Heres a look at how the two runtimes stack up. To a lot of people, a container is still a Docker container. This isnt an accurate representation of the current container ecosystem. Docker produces OCI container images, which can be used with other compatible runtimes. Kubernetes is one example, while Podman is another. As a consequence, Podman and Docker have overlapping core functionality. Both produce images that the other can use to run containers. The two runtimes then add their own specialisms on top of the base containerization features. How to Install Podman If youre using RedHat Linux, Podmans in the extras repository. Use subscription-manager to add the repository. Youll then be able to use yum to install Podman. su - subscription-manager repos --enable rhel-7-server-extras-beta-rpms yum -y install podman Most other popular Linux distributions also include Podman in their default repositories. You can apt install podman , dnf install podman or pacman -S podman to get it installed. Working with Containers and Images Podmans CLI is deliberately aligned with Dockers. That means that you can use familiar Docker commands to interact with Podman containers: podman pull my-image:latest podman run my-image:latest --name my-container podman ps podman rm my-container Podman should be instantly familiar to Docker users. You could alias docker to podman and not notice a difference in day-to-day use. Of course, not every feature is available, thoughtrying to use Docker Swarm commands will throw an error, as Podman doesnt have anything equivalent to Swarm. While it feels similar to Docker, Podman has a few distinguishing differences. First and arguably most significant is its architecture. Podman is daemon-lesstheres no long-living process managing your containers. When you run a podman command, youre interfacing directly with the process thats starting your containers and fetching your images. Dockers CLI is dependent on a connection to the Docker daemon. The CLI sends commands to the daemon, and the daemon then acts on them to create containers. Podmans model helps to address some of the concerns around Docker security. The lack of a daemon considerably reduces the container attack surface. If you need remote access, Podman exposes a REST API that lets you interact with all supported resource types. Pods Podman comes with unique features that Docker lacks entirely. In Podman, containers can form pods that operate together. Its similar to the Kubernetes Pod concept. To create a Pod, use the pod create command: podman pod create --name my-pod Containers are added to Pods by including the --pod flag with podman run : podman run --pod my-pod --name image-1 my-image:latest podman run --pod my-pod --name image-2 another-image:latest Containers in the Pod can be managed in aggregate by using podman pod commands: podman kill my-pod # Kill all containers podman restart my-pod # Restart all containers podman stop my-pod # Stop all containers The Pod concept is powerful, as it lets you manage multiple containers in aggregate. You can create app containers, such as a frontend, a backend, and a database, add them to a Pod, and manage them in unison. The closest Docker gets to this is with Compose. Using Compose requires you to write a docker-compose.yml file and use the separate docker-compose binary. Podman lets you create Pods using one command without leaving the terminal. When you need to export a Pods definition, Podman will produce a Kubernetes-compatible YAML manifest. You can take the manifest and apply it directly to a Kubernetes cluster. This narrows the gap between running a container in development and launching it onto production infrastructure. podman generate kube Rootless Containers Podman supports rootless containers. This helps you lock down your security by preventing containers from running as the hosts root user. Docker now supports rootless mode as a daemon configuration option. Podman had rootless before Docker and places a greater emphasis on its use. First, install slirp4netns : yum install slirp4netns Next, configure a quantity of user-scoped network namespaces: echo "user.max_user_namespaces=28633" > /etc/sysctl.d/userns.conf sysctl -p /etc/sysctl.d/userns.conf This command enables the use of network namespaces without being root . Now, youre ready to run a rootless container! Connect to the server as an ordinary user. Start a new container with podman run . It will be created with the UID of your user account instead of root . Besides fully rootless namespaces, podman is scoped to the current user by default. Your images and containers are stored in your users $HOME folder. When you run podman ps or podman images , youll only see your content instead of every resource on the system. Conclusion Podman is an OCI-compliant container runtime that works without a daemon. The CLI implements all the core Docker commands. You can easily transition to Podman or use it alongside an existing Docker installation. Unlike Docker, Podman has first-class support for managing multiple containers. The Pod model makes it easy to work with a stack of services. You can stop, restart, and delete all the associated containers by using pod-level commands. Podmans also ready to help you make the jump to container orchestration services. The ability to export Kubernetes-compatible YAML makes Podman a closer match to many containerized production environments. Developers and operators can utilize the same tool to manage their containers, enabling more collaboration and flexibility.

https://www.cloudsavvyit.com/11575/what-is-podman-and-how-does-it-differ-from-docker/

What was planned for Prince Philip's 100th birthday celebrations?

The Daily Star's FREE newsletter is spectacular! Sign up today for the best stories straight to your inbox Invalid Email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up today! Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Prince Philip passed away on the 9th of April this year at the ripe old age of 99. The Prince, known for his controversial gaffs and long, dutiful marriage to The Queen, was actually due to turn 100 on 10 June - just two months after his death. The Prince would have been the first male British royal to ever reach 100 years old and it would have been a huge milestone for the modern monarchy. This being said, he was actually very reluctant to turn 100. He even said that he 'couldn't imagine anything worse' in an interview with The Telegraph in 2000. (Image: PA) If he'd have been alive to celebrate - his centenary bash would have looked quite different from that of The Queen Mother's - who turned 100 back in 2000. Her celebrations involved an 8,000 person parade, followed by a fly from the red arrows, which was then topped off with the release of 100 white doves. 40,000 members of the public gathered along Pall Mall to enjoy the spectacle. Given covid restrictions and lockdown measures, Prince Philip's party would have been considerably more pared back. No official dates were marked for the Prince's birthday and the palace had not confirmed any special public celebrations for the big day. (Image: WPA Pool/Getty Images) We don't have any details as to what Prince Philips would-be-birthday would look like, and the palace have not confirmed whether it will be marked in any way, however we do know that The Queen is planning some celebratory activities for her official birthday on 12 June. Although The Queen was actually born on 12 April, she always celebrates her birthday twice. This is a tradition within the monarchy that stems back to King George in 1748, who wanted to celebrate his birthday in the sun, so rescheduled it for the warmer months. This summer The Queen will be turning 95 and there will be several gun salutes across London to mark the occasion. The traditional Trooping of the Colour, will be scaled back to a 'mini trooping' so as to comply with covid restrictions. It's expected that The Queen will enjoy a much smaller celebration at Windsor Castle this year, as she spend it without Prince Philip for the first time in 73 years.

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/what-planned-prince-philips-100th-24251501

What Is an Echo Dot?

Amazons Echo Dot is a smart speaker that uses Alexa, a voice assistant that performs tasks like controlling smart home hardware, setting timers, and answering questions. The Echo Dot has a different design from other Echo speakers and is the least expensive Echo speaker in Amazons lineup, but it omits a few features. Amazons Echo Dot is one product of many in the Amazon Echo family. Its a popular smart speaker that uses a virtual assistant named Alexa thats developed from AI. There are many generations of the Echo Dot, including the original 1st Generation, 2nd Generation, 3rd Generation, and 4th Generation ones. Starting at $50, the Echo Dot is the least expensive Echo speaker. For example, the Echo Studio costs $200. You can access Alexa through your Echo Dot by saying the wake word near the device. The wake word is the name to which the device will listen to know when youre calling it. By default, the wake word is Alexa, but you can change it to Echo, Amazon, or Computer. Once you say the wake word, you can follow up with any of Alexas voice commands. Of course, you need to be close enough to your Echo Dot that it can pick up your voiceit works best when youre within 10 meters. Your Echo also needs to be connected to Wi-Fi to function. With your Echo Dots Alexa, you can learn and use new skills that can add safety, convenience, and joy to your life. You can view all of your Alexa skills and browse for new ones in the Alexa app. Once Alexa learns a skill, it can be accessed through voice commands. Here are some of Alexas best skills: Controlling other smart devices. If you own other smart devices that support Alexa, you can set up and control them through your Echo Dot. This is perfect for smart TVs, lights, plugs, locks, thermostats, and cameras. If you own other smart devices that support Alexa, you can set up and control them through your Echo Dot. This is perfect for smart TVs, lights, plugs, locks, thermostats, and cameras. Playing music. Alexa can play music from Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, and many other music services. You can even ask Alexa to play a musical style or genre. Alexa can play music from Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, and many other music services. You can even ask Alexa to play a musical style or genre. Offering Alexa Guard. The skill configures your Echo to listen for signs of trouble. It will act as a security device that listens for glass breaking, alarms, and other potentially dangerous sounds. Youll be notified on your phone and can follow up with emergency services. The skill configures your Echo to listen for signs of trouble. It will act as a security device that listens for glass breaking, alarms, and other potentially dangerous sounds. Youll be notified on your phone and can follow up with emergency services. Weather reporting. You can ask Alexa for a weather report as youre getting ready in the morning so that youll know what to wear. You can also ask for future weather reports. You can ask Alexa for a weather report as youre getting ready in the morning so that youll know what to wear. You can also ask for future weather reports. Answering questions. Alexa will scrape the web and gather reliable information to answer any questions that you might have. The virtual assistant is more capable than you might think, so dont be afraid to ask complex or difficult questions. Alexa will scrape the web and gather reliable information to answer any questions that you might have. The virtual assistant is more capable than you might think, so dont be afraid to ask complex or difficult questions. Improving your productivity. You can set reminders, create to-do lists, read and reply to emails, make phone calls, and much more to increase your productivity. There are a huge number of voice commands and features that you can use with your Echo Dot, and you can read all about them on Amazons website. As Amazons machine-learning models continue to improve, youll be able to do even more with your Echo Dot. How the Echo Dot Differs from Other Echos If youve ever shopped around for an Amazon Echo product, then youve probably noticed that there are several Echo devices besides the Echo Dot. Its important to note that theres only one Alexa. Any Amazon Echo or third-party device with built-in Alexa will share all of the same features and capabilities as the AI. However, a device that Supports Alexa or Works with Alexa wont share the same features and capabilities. It just means that they can be controlled using Alexas voice service. Take, for example, a smart plug that supports Alexa. Yes, you can control the smart plug with Alexa, but you wont be able to talk to the plug to use any of Alexas features or skills. The most that you can do is turn the plug on or off, track energy consumption, and create a schedule for it to operate using Alexa. Amazon Echo products dont differ in terms of Alexas capabilities, since they all have built-in Alexa. The main differences are from the design of the devices, which make certain Echos better than others for specific activities. A great example is the Amazon Echo Show. It has a 5.5 smart display, which makes it the perfect Echo to use if youre trying to follow a video recipe with Alexa, call family and friends with video, or display a beautiful slideshow of photos. The compact screen makes the Echo Show ideal for these activities. You can still talk and access all of Alexas features and skills, just like with the Echo Dot. The Echo Dot doesnt have a display, so it cant show a video recipe or display photos. For recipes, Alexa will verbally list the steps to follow a recipe or ask to send the recipe to your phoneso you can watch or read it there. Alexa doesnt support photos on the Echo Dot, so youll have to look for another Echo device that does. And of course, larger Echo devices have room for more capable speaker hardware, boosting audio quality. If youve never tried Alexa before, the Echo Dot is a fantastic and affordable smart device to try. With the features and skills that we mentioned earlier, youll see how valuable and fun Alexa can be. For starters, to keep it simple, use your Echo Dot as an alarm clock, to play music, to set reminders, and to create to-do lists. You can also treat the device like Google by asking Alexa any questions that you have. This is a great way to break into the smart device world. From there, you can play around with other Alexa features and browse the skill list. With over 100,000 Alexa skills (and growing), you can personalize your Echo Dots Alexa to the fullest. If youre interested in Alexa and Amazons Echo line of products, the Echo Dot is the least expensive hardware that you can buy. We highly recommend it, although the larger Echos offer better sound quality, if thats what youre looking for.

https://www.howtogeek.com/730189/what-is-an-echo-dot/

How will the Queen celebrate her official birthday and when is it?

The Queen will celebrate her official birthday next weekend at her Windsor Castle home. Plans for an extravagant four-day weekend to celebrate her platinum jubilee in 2022 were announced earlier this week. However, much like last year, the monarchs official birthday will be a quieter affair due to ongoing COVID restrictions. The Queens official birthday falls on Saturday June 12 and usually she celebrates with the Trooping the Colour ceremony in London. Read more: Meghan Markle to male lovely nod to Queen with new babys name However, a more scaled down version will once again take place, it has been revealed today (June 4). Posting to the Royal Family Twitter page, a post confirmed: The Queen will mark her Official Birthday on Saturday 12th June. Her Majesty will view a parade held by the Household Division and The Queens Colour of F Company Scots Guards will be trooped in the Quadrangle of #WindsorCastle. Itll take place in the Quadrangle of Windsor Castle like last year (Credit: Splash News) The Duke of Kent will accompany the Queen More details of the day were posted on the royal family website. There, it was revealed that the Duke of Kent will accompany the monarch on the day. He is colonel of the Scots Guards. The Queen will mark her Official Birthday on Saturday 12th June. The statement added: The parade will be led by the Foot Guards, who will be joined in the Quadrangle by The Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery and the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment. Music will be played by a Massed Band of the Household Division, which will include 1st Battalion Scots Guards Pipes and Drums. It added: Upon The Queen and The Duke of Kents arrival in the Quadrangle, Her Majesty and His Royal Highness will be greeted by a Royal Salute, and the National Anthem. Read more: Four-day weekend for the Queens platinum jubilee confirmed for 2022 The parade will commence with the Musical Troop as the Band plays. The Colour will then be trooped through the ranks, and the parade will conclude with a second Royal Salute. It concluded: The Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery will then fire a 41 Gun Royal Salute, to mark Her Majestys Official Birthday, from the East Lawn at Windsor Castle. It hasnt been confirmed that the parade will be televised. However, the smaller Trooping the Colour parade was on the news channels last year. The Queen will mark her Official Birthday on Saturday 12th June. Her Majesty will view a parade held by the Household Division and The Queens Colour of F Company Scots Guards will be trooped in the Quadrangle of #WindsorCastle. The Queen turned 95 on April 21. The tradition of the British monarch celebrating two birthdays stems back to 1748. It first happened during the reign of King George II. As his birthday fell in November, the weather wasnt suitable for a large public celebration. So he decided to combine it with an annual military parade in the summer, when the weather would hopefully be nice. Head to our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and tell us.

https://www.entertainmentdaily.co.uk/royals/how-will-the-queen-celebrate-her-official-birthday-and-when-is-it/

Why study a postgraduate humanities degree in Britains Ocean City?

If you're considering studying a humanities subject at postgraduate level, the University of Plymouth is a fantastic institution at which to undertake the challenge. The programmes have lots to offer - academically, personally and socially - providing greater insight into our historic and cultural landscape, and further informing your own contributions. Heres why you should think about a humanities postgraduate programme with the University of Plymouth. 1. Explore a new career path I saw the masters programme as a muse, but also as a commitment to my art, or less pretentiously, a way out of a dull office job. It was an invigorating time, the turning point in my fledgling literary career," says Tom, MA Creative Writing graduate. 2. Shape the future and understand how to drive positive change in society What we study facilitates change, and that's really exciting," says Leia, MA Environmental Humanities student. 3. Understand more about the world, its people and express your ideas in diverse ways As well as offering a flexible learning structure, the MA provided me with the opportunity to study subjects that I was interested in. I learnt about the origins of the civil rights movement and the role of lesser-known activists. I was also given the confidence to develop my own ideas, says James, MA History graduate. 4. Learn by doing alongside leading academics, researchers and experts "This is part of the fun of studying history unpacking the ambiguities of complex characters like Drake and their actions and trying to find the truths in the tales," states Dr Elaine Murphy on unravelling the story behind mariner Sir Francis Drake. 5. Engage with Plymouths thriving creative and heritage hub The Box, which is right on the university's doorstep, is not only a great museum and art gallery with incredible cake in its cafes, it's also home to an extensive archive which has been amazing for my masters, says Leonie, MA Environmental Humanities student. 6. Build a new life for yourself and achieve your aspirations Not only did my confidence in myself and my ability grow, I felt like I found a place I belonged. I felt in sync with their ethos to grow together, to take risks and challenge myself, says Ryan, MA Creative Writing graduate. Find out more and apply now to start in September 2021 (full or part-time) via the university's website.

https://www.inyourarea.co.uk/news/why-study-a-postgraduate-humanities-degree-in-britains-ocean-city/

Does my car insurance cover a rental if my car is out of service?

In the event of an accident or if your car breaks down, you need to make sure youre covered. Your car could be in a repair shop for days or weeks, and paying for a rental car out of pocket would be costly. Dont assume that your car insurance policy automatically covers the cost of a rental, rental insurance can be an add-on. Comparing multiple insurance quotes can potentially save you hundreds of dollars per year. To see how much you can save, visit Credible to get a free quote in minutes and explore its partners. If you have rental reimbursement coverage, your auto insurance provider will cover the cost of a rental car or public transportation expenses while your vehicle is being repaired due to a covered loss. Auto insurance will not cover a rental car unless you have rental reimbursement coverage and if theres damage to your personal car as a result of something covered by your collision coverage and comprehensive insurance. Insurance providers will cover the cost of the rental vehicle until your car is back on the road or until your insurance coverage limit runs out, whichever comes first. If you need a new vehicle, authorized rental time will be limited. You can typically choose where to rent but some insurers may partner with specific rental car companies. If the company is in your insurers network, your insurance company may be able to directly bill the car rental company. However, if its outside their network, you may be responsible for upfront costs and then request a reimbursement. Head over to Credible to get a free quote from its partners. It only takes two minutes. Covered scenarios include accidents or damage that fall under your comprehensive or collision coverage. Collision insurance covers damage to your vehicle in the event of a covered accident with another vehicle or object. This includes: A collision with another vehicle A collision with a stationary object An accident that involves rolling or falling over Comprehensive insurance pays to repair or replace your car thats stolen or damaged by something other than collision. This includes: Theft and vandalism Fire Natural disasters Falling objects Damage from animals Civil disturbance If you were in an accident and the other driver was at fault, their insurance provider is responsible for paying your rental car bill. If you are at fault, your liability coverage will pay for the other drivers rental car while rental car reimbursement coverage pays for yours. Rental reimbursement coverage will not pay for a rental car if your vehicle is in the repair shop for general maintenance. It also doesnt cover gas, mileage, additional insurance or any security deposit required by the rental car company. To make sure you are not overpaying for car insurance, its free to check online through Credibles partners and get a car insurance quote. How much rental car insurance coverage you need depends on the individual. Consider the cost of renting in your city and keep in mind that the cost for luxury vehicles or larger cars will be higher. Rental coverage also has limits, which is the maximum amount your insurer will pay for a covered claim. For example, your rental insurance may have a limit of $25 per day up to 30 days or $750 per claim until your personal car is driveable again. If the cost exceeds the limit, you may have to pay out of pocket. Although this car coverage is optional, the out-of-pocket cost of car rentals for a week could be hundreds of dollars. If youre worried about the costly car insurance payments, rental reimbursement coverage is a low-cost add-on and typically costs only a few dollars a month. Credibles partner rental companies can send you free car rental insurance quotes if they find you a better rate. Email The Credible Money Expert at moneyexpert@credible.com and your question might be answered by Credible in our Money Expert column.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/money/does-car-insurance-cover-auto-rental

What does Yonaguni mean and what are the Bad Bunny lyrics?

PUERTO Rican rapper Bad Bunny has dropped a video for new track 'Yonaguni.' It follows the release of El ltimo Tour Del Mundo, the last of three studio albums to be released in 2020, and a debut appearance on Saturday Night Live. For his new track, Bad Bunny sings in his native Spanish but also wanted to show off his skills in Japanese. In the song, the rapper attempts to forget a love interest living on the Japanese island of Yonaguni. As part of the Yaeyama Islands, Yonaguni is located 67 miles off the east coast of Taiwan. It also lies between the Pacific Ocean and East China Sea. According to Newsweek, it was occupied by America from 1945 to 1972. Before the 27-year-old artist ever made it into his new source of inspiration, Yonaguni gained worldwide recognition in 1986 when an underwater rock formation forming staircase-like terraces was discovered by local divers. In a mix of Japanese and Spanish, Bad Bunny admits he is not able to forget his love interest before promising he is willing to "take a flight" for her. IT'S BACK! Due to Covid, Bad Bunny, like many other artists, has been deprived of any live performances since 2020. However, in April 2021, the rapper announced plans for a 2022 tour set to kick off in Denver, Colorado, on February 9. The tour will feature stops on the West and East Coasts of America and will end in Miami, Florida, on April 1, 2022.

https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/3015951/yonaguni-mean-bad-bunny-lyrics/

Who is Sanjay Guptas wife Rebecca Olson Gupta?

THE famous neurosurgeon and medical corespondent isn't the only successful breadwinner in the family. Sanjay Gupta's wife of almost two decades may not be on TV but she also has a thriving high power job. Rebecca and Sanjay both grew up in Novi, Michigan attending the same high school and college- the University of Michigan. After the University of Michigan, Rebecca continued her education earning her J.d. at the University of South Carolina-Columbia before passing the Georgia State Bar. The 52-year-old has since been practicing family law for two decades being self-employed. The couple lives in Atlanta, Georgia with their three young daughters, Sage Ayla, Soleil Asha, and Sky Anjali. Sanjay shared his proposal with InStyle, "I wrote her a poem and in the last line asked her to marry me. Watching her read it, I was very nervous-it was over a page long." Before Rebecca finished the poem, he was down on one knee. They were married in Charleston, South Carolina on May 15, 2004 in a Hindu wedding ceremony. The Olson's and the Gupta's participated in all the traditional Hindu rituals from Sanjay's musical entrance to his baraat- the room's welcoming ceremony- to Rebecca being carried in on a chair lifted by her brothers. Celebrations continued in the ballroom with traditional bhangra dancing. The happy couple celebrated their 17th wedding anniversary last month. Most read in Celebrity Exclusive SPELLING TROUBLE! Kourtney 'to film new Hulu show' with boyfriend Travis and her kids 'DISRESPECTFUL!' According to Celebrity Net Worth, Sanjay has an estimated net worth of $12 million with a salary of $4 million. The neurosurgeon, medical reporter, actor, and writer is one of the most trusted and recurring faces on CNN which he joined in 2001. He is the associate chief of neurosurgery at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta and an assistant professor of neurosurgery at Emory University School of Medicine.

https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/3016673/who-is-sanjay-gupta-wife-rebecca-olson-gupta/

Did 3.7 Million People Die Because of Covid Coverup of Potential Wuhan Lab Origin of Virus?

By Robert Romano Click here to urge Congress to adopt the Covid Commission bill to study origins of the virus in China! Almost 3.7 million people have died worldwide from the Covid pandemic that began in the Wuhan province of China in late 2019, and now, the American people are learning that the U.S. government has had intelligence for months that indicates the virus might have been released from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in a laboratory accident. On Jan. 15, right at the end of former President Donald Trumps term in office, the State Department released a fact sheet that stated, The United States government has reason to believe that several researchers inside the WIV became sick in autumn 2019, before the first identified case of the outbreak, with symptoms consistent with both COVID-19 and common seasonal illnesses. This raises questions about the credibility of WIV senior researcher Shi Zhenglis public claim that there was zero infection among the WIVs staff and students of SARS-CoV-2 or SARS-related viruses. And it accused the Wuhan lab of possibly conducting gain of function research on bat-to-human transmission of coronaviruses: Starting in at least 2016, WIV researchers studied RaTG13, the bat coronavirus identified by the WIV in January 2020 as its closest sample to SARS-CoV-2 (96.2% similar). Since the outbreak, the WIV has not been transparent nor consistent about its work with RaTG13 or other similar viruses, including possible gain of function experiments to enhance transmissibility or lethality. This mirrored claims in a May 23 Wall Street Journal report that offered additional details of the potential lab accident: Three researchers from Chinas Wuhan Institute of Virology became sick enough in November 2019 that they sought hospital care, according to a previously undisclosed U.S. intelligence report. The Journal disclosures appear to be referencing the same intelligence report that the State Department fact sheet was in January. The May 23 report from the Journal sent the Biden administration scrambling, with President Joe Biden issuing a statement on May 26 that in March he had asked the Intelligence Community to redouble their efforts to collect and analyze information on whether it emerged from human contact with an infected animal or from a laboratory accident. But the intelligence goes back further. The State Department inquiry reportedly began last fall. according to CNN. And a May 2020 Australian Daily Telegraph news story quoted a Five Eyes intelligence report on the potential Wuhan lab origins of Covid. According to the Daily Telegraph, [The dossier] states that to the endangerment of other countries the Chinese government covered-up news of the virus by silencing or disappearing doctors who spoke out, destroying evidence of it in laboratories and refusing to provide live samples to international scientists who were working on a vaccine As intelligence agencies investigate whether the virus inadvertently leaked from a Wuhan laboratory, the team and its research led by scientist Shi Zhengli feature in the dossier prepared by Western governments that points to several studies they conducted as areas of concern. Moreover, the intelligence report was aware that western governments funded a team of Chinese scientists who belong to a laboratory which went on to genetically modify deadly coronaviruses that could be transmitted from bats to humans and had no cure, and is now the subject of a probe into the origins of COVID-19. The intel report itself stated, Despite evidence of human-human transmission from early December, PRC authorities deny it until January 20 The World Health Organisation does the same. Yet officials in Taiwan raised concerns as early as December 31, as did experts in Hong Kong on January 4. This intel would have been critical to the public health response by officials in the U.S., China and elsewhere. Unfortunately, Chinas lack of cooperation stands at the center of the failure to identify patient zero of Covid, with the intelligence hinting that China might have had access to these patients all along if they indeed came from the Wuhan lab. But the Wests response was not much better. It was nothing short of a coverup. As U.S. Rep. Bill Posey (R-Fla.) revealed in a Washington Examiner oped on Feb. 26, rather than conducting an investigation of Wuhan lab, world health officials instead depended on Dr. Peter Daszak of EcoHealth who got a $666,442 grant beginning in 2014 to conduct bat-to-human coronavirus transmission studies in China at the Wuhan lab to lead the crucial inquiries into whether his own experiments might have been the cause of the pandemic. The grant was subcontracted to the Wuhan lab, according to a 2017 study by the Director of the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Dr. Shi Zheng-li, stating it was jointly funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIAID R01AI110964), the USAID Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT) PREDICT program to PD and ZLS, among others. As Posey noted, the Daszak-led investigations remarkably went on to give the Wuhan lab a clean bill of health: Ironically, the Lancet chose Daszak to lead its investigation into the origins of COVID-19, including its possible origins at Wuhan a theory Daszak has repeatedly called a conspiracy theory. WHO also included Daszak as a key member of its investigation team. Unsurprisingly, the WHO investigation team concluded on Feb. 8, after a brief visit to the Wuhan Institute, that it was unlikely the virus leaked from a lab, and this possibility needed no further investigation. Now, Posey is proposing H.R. 834, which would create a bipartisan commission to look at the origins of the virus. Certainly, if nothing else, Congress should be hauling Daszak in for questioning. In a recently released email from Dr. Daszak to Dr. Anthony Fauci,director of NIAID, on April 18, 2020, I just wanted to say a personal thank you on behalf of our staff and collaborators, for publicly standing up and stating that the scientific evidence supports a natural origin for COVID-19 from a bat-to-human spillover, not a lab release from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. But in a Dec. 2019 interview, Dr. Daszak admitted that the research at the Wuhan lab was in fact looking at novel coronaviruses and that the viruses were being manipulated: we have now found, you know, after 6 or 7 years of doing this, over 100 new SARS-related corona viruses, very close to SARS Some of them get into human cells in the lab, some of them can cause SARS disease in humanised mice models and are untreatable with therapeutic monoclonals and you cant vaccinate against them with a vaccine. So, these are a clear and present danger I think corona viruses you can manipulate them in the lab pretty easily. Spike protein drives a lot of what happen with corona virus, in zoonotic risk. So you can get the sequence, you can build the protein, and we work a lot with Ralph Baric at UNC to do this. Insert into the backbone of another virus and do some work in the lab. So you can get more predictive when you find a sequence. Youve got this diversity. Now the logical progression for vaccines is, if you are going to develop a vaccine for SARS, people are going to use pandemic SARS, but lets insert some of these other things and get a better vaccine. Read that again. Dr. Daszak, Dr. Shi and the Wuhan lab had over 100 new SARS-related corona viruses, very close to SARS in the lab. The pandemic could have been any one those more than 100 coronaviruses they had in the lab, and Daszak knew it. Now, a May 14 letter to Science magazine co-authored by Dr. David Relman of Stanford University School of Medicine and 17 other doctors says a lab accident remains a viable hypothesis alongside a natural event, and urging further review of the subject: Theories of accidental release from a lab and zoonotic spillover both remain viable. Knowing how COVID-19 emerged is critical for informing global strategies to mitigate the risk of future outbreaks In November, the Terms of Reference for a ChinaWHO joint study were released. The information, data, and samples for the studys first phase were collected and summarized by the Chinese half of the team; the rest of the team built on this analysis. Although there were no findings in clear support of either a natural spillover or a lab accident, the team assessed a zoonotic spillover from an intermediate host as likely to very likely, and a laboratory incident as extremely unlikely. Furthermore, the two theories were not given balanced consideration. Only 4 of the 313 pages of the report and its annexes addressed the possibility of a laboratory accident. Notably, WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus com-mented that the reports consideration of evidence supporting a laboratory accident was insufficient and offered to provide additional resources to fully evaluate the possibility. As scientists with relevant expertise, we agree with the WHO director-general, the United States and 13 other countries, and the European Union that greater clarity about the origins of this pandemic is necessary and feasible to achieve. We must take hypotheses about both natural and laboratory spillovers seriously until we have sufficient data. One of the co-signers on the letter was Dr. Ralph Baric of the Department of Epidemiology and Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, one of Dr. Shis long-time research collaborators, and one of the worlds foremost experts on novel coronaviruses. In a 2015 study, Baric and Shi were able to combine two separate coronaviruses to create a new one. The doubts today call into question greatly the certitude that Dr. Daszak gave the world in the early days of 2020 that there was simply no way the virus could have originated in a lab. Dr. Daszaks coverup of his potential role in the outbreak was even used to engage in Covid censorship. We may never know. And neither will the 3.7 million dead and counting from Covid. Robert Romano is the Vice President of Public Policy at Americans for Limited Government.

https://clarion.causeaction.com/2021/06/04/did-3-7-million-people-die-because-of-covid-coverup-of-potential-wuhan-lab-origin-of-virus/

Does the NFL represent the single most egregious case of institutional racism in the 21st century?

https://clarion.causeaction.com/2021/06/04/does-the-nfl-represent-the-single-most-egregious-case-of-institutional-racism-in-the-21st-century/

What is the In-vitro diagnostics market growth in the coming years?

Pune , India , 2021-Jun-04 /EPR Network/ Factors such as the increased adoption of PoC IVD devices, rising elderly population base, and the growing number of infectious diseases are expected to drive the growth of the in-vitro diagnostics market. The global In-Vitro Diagnostics Market size is projected to reach USD 96.0 billion by 2025 from USD 84.5 billion in 2020, at a CAGR of 2.6% during the forecast period. Ask for PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=703 Market Segmentation: Based on products and services, the in vitro diagnostics market has been segmented into regents and kits, instruments, data management software and services. Within IVD market, reagents and kits accounted for the largest share in 2020. The large share of this segment can be attributed to the superior quality of reagents enabling accurate diagnosis and thus, having high preference amongst the healthcare professionals. Based on end user, the in vitro diagnostics market has been segmented into hospitals, laboratories, patient self-testing, academia, point-of-care -testing others. The point-of-care testing segment is estimated to have enormous growth due to rising availability of highly efficient PoC kits. Recently launched point-of-care devices offer a precise diagnosis of chronic diseases that has raised its adoption in laboratories. Key Market Drivers: 1 Rising geriatric population and subsequent growth in the prevalence of chronic and infectious diseases. 2 Increasing adoption of fully automated and POC instruments in developed regions 3 Growing awareness regarding disease diagnosis in developing regions 4 Growing R&D investments by industry players to launch new IVD products Regional Analysis: North America dominates the overall market based on region. This can be attributed to the rising geriatric population. Elderly population has comparatively weaker immunity and, therefore, is more susceptible to infections and other diseases. Furthermore, the regulatory scenario is quite stringent in the region that ensures the availability of defect-free IVD devices in the market that proves beneficial for market growth. Request for Sample Pages: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=703 Top Key Players:- The prominent players in the in vitro diagnostics market include Roche Diagnostics Limited (Switzerland), Siemens Healthineers (Germany), Danaher Corporation (US), Abbott Laboratories (US), Thermo Fisher Scientific (US), Johnson & Johnson (US), Becton, Dickinson and Company (US), Bio-Rad Laboratories (US), Sysmex Corporation (Japan), bioMrieux (France), Diasorin (Italy), Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics (US), and Qiagen (Germany).

https://express-press-release.net/news/2021/06/04/943687

Where is Kamala Harris today?

VICE President Kamala Harris has been at the center of immigration issues at the southern US-Mexico border since President Joe Biden asked her to take charge. On June 3, Mexican President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador wrote on his social media that Harris told him the US would send millions of Johnson & Johnson vaccines to Mexico - but did not specify when. No schedule has been published about VP Harris' June 4 schedule, but it is believed that she will continue President Biden's vaccine outreach with foreign countries. On Thursday, June 3, Harris spoke with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the US' Strategy for Global Vaccine Sharing. Modi expressed his appreciation for the assurance of vaccine supplies to India as part of the US' vaccine sharing strategy - under which India is expected to get the first batch of doses by the end of the month. In a series of tweets, Modi said he also thanked Harris for all the support and solidarity from the US government, businesses and the Indian diaspora. 4 On Thursday, June 3, Harris spoke with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the US' Strategy for Global Vaccine Sharing Credit: The Mega Agency As part of the US' Global Vaccine Sharing strategy, the country will distribute 80million doses of the Covid jab to foreign countries. About 25million of those jabs are expected to be shipped to southeast Asia. Kamala Harris' timeline June 3, 2021: Harris spoke with Indian PM Modi about the US' Strategy for Global Vaccine Sharing. June 2, 2021: Harris joined President Biden as they declared June a "national month of action" in an effort to mobilize more Americans to get vaccinated by July Fourth. With the help of the vaccinations, Biden said, Americans are headed into a summer vastly different from last year, calling it "a summer of freedom." 4 VP Harris and President Joe Biden were in Oklahoma on June 1 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa massacre Credit: Getty June 1, 2021: Harris and President Biden were in Oklahoma to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa massacre - when a white mob destroyed a vibrant Black business district and killed as many as 300 people. May 31, 2021: The vice president and President Biden commemorated fallen service members at Arlington Cemetery, in Virginia, on Memorial Day. Vice President Harris will make her first trip to Guatemala and Mexico on June 6. The purpose of Harris' trip will aim to lower migration from the region and focus on areas such as economic development, climate and food insecurity and women's issues. Harris will land in Guatemala on Sunday, June 6, and be in the country until the evening of June 7, senior adviser Symone Sanders told reporters on a call. UFO report 'has CLASSIFIED annex' fueling rumor gov has secret alien info BRUTAL Husband jailed for beating wife to death on cruise as guests thought it was an act She will then fly to Mexico on June 8, where she will spend the day before returning to Washington in the evening, Sanders said. Harris will build on topics previously discussed with leaders in Guatemala and Mexico such as securing the border and leading trade missions to the region, her advisers said. The vice president has not yet spoken with leaders from El Salvador and Honduras, other countries in the region with significant migration to the United States.

https://www.the-sun.com/news/3016017/where-kamala-harris-today/

Who is Kate Bolduans husband Michael David Gershenson?

KATE Bolduan made history by becoming the youngest morning show anchor at age 29. The CNN anchor was also named one of The Hill's 50 Most Beautiful People in 2011. Bolduan married Michael David Gershenson in 2010. Gershenson is a principal at The Carlyle Group, which specializes in corporate real estate transactions. Gershenson's 40 dealings at The Carlyle Group have totaled $2billion. He, like Bolduan, is a graduate of George Washington University. 4 They married in 2010 Credit: Getty The couple have two daughters. Born in 1983 in Indiana, Kate Bolduan is one of four daughters. Her father was a doctor and her mother was a nurse. She graduated from George Washington University in 2005, and she was summa cum laude and a member of Phi Beta Kappa. After graduation, she got a job as a general assignment reporter for WTVD-TV in Durham, North Carolina, where she stayed until 2007. 4 She graduated George Washington University Credit: Getty Then, she returned to Washington D.C. where she got a job as a production assistant for NBC News and MSNBC. Bolduan also has credits at House & Garden Magazine, Dateline NBC, and NBC Nightly News. In 2007, she got a job at CNN as a news correspondent for CNN NewsSource. She also served as a co-anchor on such shows as State of America with Kate Bolduan on CNN International, New Day, and The Situation Room. UFO report 'has CLASSIFIED annex' fueling rumor gov has secret alien info BRUTAL Husband jailed for beating wife to death on cruise as guests thought it was an act When Kate Bolduan became the host of At This Hour with Kate Bolduan, shhe became the youngest morning show anchor in history. She was 29 years old when she got the job. After a biref hiatus, the show returned to CNN in April 2021.

https://www.the-sun.com/news/3016294/kate-bolduan-husband-michael-david-gershenson/

When is Meghan Markles book The Bench released?

THE prospects for Meghan Markles book The Bench have been thrown into doubt due to a row between the publisher and the book store Waterstones. The publication of the book doesnt appear to be in doubt but the spat could impact sales. Currently the childrens book is scheduled to be available on June 8, 2021. Meghans publisher Penguin Random House is in a spat with Waterstones, the Telegraph reports. Penguin Random House has reportedly limited the credit they give to Waterstones - meaning the bookseller can only buy a certain amount from the publisher. In response, Waterstones has yanked Penguin Random House books from its displays at 283 stores across the UK. Waterstones bosses reportedly gave orders that only a small amount of Penguin Random House books should be visible to customers. This could impact sales for upcoming titles like Meghan's book. Waterstones says the measures were introduced to protect its stock, and are not a protest. A spokeswoman said: "We are not boycotting PRH titles but we are doing our utmost to ensure that availability for customers remains good despite the lower overall levels of stock. We do this generally by giving their titles less prominent positioning within our bookshops. Waterstones are currently operating with reduced credit terms from PRH, the only publisher in the UK to place any limitations on our ability to trade. Waterstones usually buys books on credit, then raises the money to pay publishers back - however the chain's credit was reportedly reduced at the end of last year. A spokesperson for the UKs trade union for professional writers The Society of Authors warned: There is understandably some concern among the author community about this. Were talking about the UKs biggest publisher and the UKs biggest high-street bookseller. Whatever supply and contractual disagreements these businesses are experiencing, they both have a responsibility not to let them impact authors and the readers who want to enjoy their work. A Waterstones spokesman said: "We are hopeful with our shops now open again that normality will return and that we will be allowed to buy appropriately. Certainly, our shops are exceptionally busy and book sales are very strong. Customers can already pre-order the book on Amazon and also via WH Smith. It has already become the number one bestseller on the online stores site. Waterstones also has the book for pre-order on its website. It is also available to readers in the US via Bookshop.org. The Duchess of Sussex penned The Bench after originally writing a poem for Harry's first Father's Day from Archie. A picture of the book shows a watercolour by award-winning artist Christian Robinson of a bench under a tree surrounded by birds. The mum-to-be's pen name is given as: "Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex". Meghan said: "The Bench started as a poem I wrote for my husband on Father's Day, the month after Archie was born. That poem became this story. Harry, Meg, Archie & baby 'could join Queen on Palace balcony for Jubilee' 'VERY DAMAGING' Queen finds Meghan and Harry's behaviour 'deplorable', royal expert claims ROYAL WELCOME Queen to host US President Joe Biden and First Lady at Windsor next WEEKEND UNITED Wills & Kate 'closer than ever' as Meg & Harry rift brings 'unexpected consequence' "Christian layered in beautiful and ethereal watercolour illustrations that capture the warmth, joy and comfort of the relationship between fathers and sons from all walks of life. "This representation was particularly important to me and Christian and I worked closely to depict this special bond through an inclusive lens. "My hope is that The Bench resonates with every family, no matter the make up, as much as it does with me."

https://www.the-sun.com/news/3016907/when-meghan-markle-book-the-bench-released/

Why is Aymeric Laporte playing for Spain at Euro 2020 & did he play for France?

SPAIN will be looking to win back the European Championships they lost five years ago in France when they partake in this summer's tournament. And La Furia Roja will have the chance to do it with Man City stalwart Aymeric Laporte in their side, despite having never capped him before. 2 Aymeric Laporte has been selected to play for Spain at the Euros Credit: Reuters The 27-year-old will be taking part in his first ever major international tournament, thanks to his inclusion. Laporte was born in the French Basque Country so is French by nationality. Because of his Basque links, Laporte played his youth career and the first part of his professional career with Spanish club Athletic Bilbao. Laporte, however, played 51 times for France's youth sides, from Under-17s all the way up to the Under-21s, who he captained. Exclusive PAUL IN Logan Paul looks 'like a gladiator' and 'nothing like YouTuber who fought KSI' DISGUSTING & DIRTY Everything to know about NHL player Jake Evans' injury He then earned a big-money 57m move to Manchester City, where he's gone on to become one of the Premier League's best defenders. Laporte was actually called up to the France squad in September 2019, however he got damaged his knee ligaments before he could play. The Times reports that boss Didier Deschamps promised a return to the French squad as soon as he was fit but the call never came, a decision which ultimately set in motion Laporte's switch to Spain. France have the likes of Lucas Hernandez, Clement Lenglet, Raphael Varane, Prensel Kimpembe and Kurt Zouma in the central defensive roles. Laporte then officially changed his international allegiance to Spain, who granted him a Spanish passport last month. The player Aymeric Laporte is eligible to play for the representative teams of the RFEF Spanish Football Association with immediate effect, it said in a statement. 2 Aymeric Laporte won the Premier League with City last month Credit: PA Players are allowed to switch allegiances, so long as they haven't played over three times for their country before the age of 21. Spain manager Luis Enrique then selected Laporte in his Euro 2020 squad on May 21, electing to leave out Real Madrid legend Sergio Ramos. Laporte will going Pau Torres, Inigo Martinez and City team-mate Eric Garcia as the squad's main centre-backs.

https://www.the-sun.com/sport/3013641/aymeric-laporte-spain-euro-2020-france/

Where Does The Phrase Computer Bug Come From?

https://www.dailywire.com/news/where-does-the-phrase-computer-bug-come-from In our hugely tech-literate world, most of us understand on a basic level at the very least what a computer bug is. The term is used so often in general life and pop culture that its actually hard to avoid. The first use of the concept of a bug may date back as far as 1843, when Ada Lovelace discussed issues with program cards used in The Babbage Engine invented by computer pioneer Charles Babbage, who designed the first automatic computing engines decades before the technology existed to actually build them. An analyzing process must equally have been performed in order to furnish the Analytical Engine with the necessary operative data, and that herein may also lie a possible source of error. Granted that the actual mechanism is unerring in its processes, the cards may give it wrong orders, said Lovelace in 1843. The first use of the term bug regarding this concept was provided by Thomas Edison in 1878. Writing to an associate, Edison said, You were partly correct, I did find a bug in my apparatus, but it was not in the telephone proper. It was of the genus callbellum. The insect appears to find conditions for its existence in all call apparatus of telephones. Later that same year, he wrote to Theodore Puskas, again referencing bugs. It has been just so in all of my inventions. The first step is intuition and comes with a burst, then difficulties arisethis thing gives out and [it is] then that Bugsas such little faults and difficulties are calledshow themselves and months of intense watching, study and labor are requisite before commercial success or failure is certainly reached, wrote Edison. However, the first recorded real computer bug identified was found at 3:45pm on September 9th, 1947, and was a moth found in number 70 relay, Panel F, of the Harvard Mark II Aiken Relay Calculator. After being found, this moth was taped to the machines logbook, alongside a note, Relay #70 Panel 4 (moth) in relay. First actual case of bug being found. This caption was added by a pioneering computer scientist and U.S. Navy Rear Admiral, Grace Hopper, while working on a Mark II Computer at Harvard University. In 1964, Hopper was awarded the Society of Women Engineers Achievement Award, the Societys highest honor, In recognition of her significant contributions to the burgeoning computer industry as an engineering manager and originator of automatic programming systems. Ian Haworth is an Editor and Writer for The Daily Wire. Follow him on Twitter at @ighaworth. The views expressed in this piece are the authors own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire. The Daily Wire is one of Americas fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a member. Share this: Twitter Facebook

https://clarion.causeaction.com/2021/06/04/where-does-the-phrase-computer-bug-come-from/

What is the best way to clean out paintbrushes?

Renee asks, Whats the best way to clean out my paintbrushes? Of course after you finish a paint project around your home, cleaning brushes is not the most favorite thing for anyone, but its fairly easy and very important. If youre using an oil-based paint, of course youll use mineral spirits to clean it. But most people use latexsoap and water, like I have here, is just perfect. Best just to put it in a bucket like this, work out as much of that paint as you can, and then blasting away a little bit more of it with a hose will get a lot of the particles out of it. But to finish up the cleaning project, whether its oil or latex, use that wire brush to really work out all of the little particles and to kind of comb out all of the hairs on your brush. And then let it dry just a little bit. And then use your original sheath to put it back in place, so that itll keep the bristles nice and straight. And if you dont have this, you can use newspaper, fold it around it neatly, put a piece of masking tape on it, and itll work great. This post originally appeared on Todays Homeowner: https://todayshomeowner.com/video/paintbrush-cleaning-tips/ For more information on this topic, check out:

https://www.wkrg.com/ask-danny/what-is-the-best-way-to-clean-out-paintbrushes/

Will a deal on Illinois energy legislation come soon enough to save solar?

Garrison Riegel considers himself an eternal optimist. It might help explain why he launched his Chicago-based solar company, Celestar Solar, last year during the pandemic. But his sunny outlook was tested this week as legislation needed to renew solar incentives failed yet again to pass, more than a year after solar developers and advocates warned that the states nascent industry could be decimated without the renewal. In the final days of the spring legislative session that ended Monday, it looked like stakeholders who had argued bitterly over various aspects had reached near-consensus on an ambitious bill. Then the fate of the states largest coal plant caused an impasse at the last minute. Legislative leaders have promised to reconvene lawmakers in coming weeks to vote on the bill if an agreement can be reached. During an extended session, passing a bill requires two-thirds rather than a majority of votes. Riegel doesnt know if he should get his hopes up yet again. The next regularly scheduled legislative session is a short veto session in the late fall. As an industry we were hopeful this would happen last fall, thats when it needed to happen to prevent layoffs, he said. Then we were holding out hope for the spring. Now if its pushed to the fall that will be really tough for a lot of folks in the industry, and there will be a lot of disappointed homeowners. Riegel points to the massive waitlist for distributed and community solar incentives created by the 2017 Future Energy Jobs Act, before funding ran out. He hopes such evidence of widespread support for renewable energy will help build the final momentum needed to convince lawmakers to pass a bill. The draft legislation many lawmakers are ready to approve and most key stakeholders have agreed to support would phase out coal-fired power by 2035 and natural gas-fired power by 2045, while providing $600 million over five years to three of the states six nuclear plants. The nuclear support had been the main sticking point threatening to derail the legislation, until nuclear owner Exelon and Gov. J.B. Pritzker reportedly reached an agreement. Then some unions, local officials and legislators demanded that the 1,600-MW Prairie State Energy Campus in Southern Illinois be granted an exemption from the declining caps on carbon emissions that would close coal plants. Clean energy advocates were furious. Its really difficult to have a climate bill when you are exempting the largest polluter in the state and seventh largest polluter in the nation, said Jessica Collingsworth, lead Midwest energy policy analyst for the Union of Concerned Scientists, a member of the Clean Jobs Coalition, which has for two years been pushing an ambitious bill called the Clean Energy Jobs Act. That really put a stop to things. A coal plant in crisis The Prairie State plant has been billed as a clean coal plant that aims to use carbon capture and sequestration, but it has long been viewed by many as a debacle that saddled municipalities with crippling debt for ballooning costs, even as promises of cheap energy have failed to materialize. The plant is owned by a consortium of nine public power agencies that made binding deals with more than 300 municipal utilities and electric cooperatives across eight states. Normally if a coal plant is uneconomical, or the profit margins just arent big enough, it closes, said J.C. Kibbey, clean energy advocate for the Natural Resources Defense Council, a member of the Clean Jobs Coalition. But the ownership structure is so complicated with Prairie State that there is no one entity with their finger on the button who can stop it. This is the only way out, to close this down with deliberate declining caps administered through policy. Prairie State spokesperson Alyssa Harre said earlier this spring that overly aggressive and unproven targets that call for the removal of fossil fuels prematurely or add unnecessary taxes will put customers at risk for increased energy costs and more frequent outages. But Kibbey pointed to multiple analyses that have shown a quicker shift to renewables and the closure of all coal plants will mean Prairie States customers will break even, save a little or at most pay a little more for energy. We were very deliberate about soliciting input about the concerns of municipalities with contracts with Prairie State, Kibbey said, and incorporating budget stabilization and relief measures into the bill to help those communities. Especially if you monetize the environmental impacts of Prairie State, he continued, it just doesnt make sense to keep running it. While a bill reflecting the latest developments hasnt been introduced yet, members of the Clean Jobs Coalition feel confident based on negotiations and earlier drafts that legislation will ultimately include extensive investments in just transition for communities impacted by coal plant closures, as well as equity and workforce development in the renewable energy economy. Were continuing to put the pressure on legislators and demanding action on climate, said Collingsworth. Were sending out action alerts to our Illinois members. Its a priority for the governor and obviously many groups to pass comprehensive climate and equity legislation. Thats giving me hope. Nuclear and renewable funding The $600 million for nuclear plants that Pritzker reportedly agreed to is about double what the governor had originally proposed, based on a recent analysis of the fleets economic status, and more than many stakeholders including renewable companies wanted. A coalition of labor unions backed higher support for the nuclear plants, and the Clean Jobs Coalition backed capacity market reforms which are apparently now off the table that would have benefitted Exelon while also potentially securing savings that could have been invested in renewables. The compromise reached on nuclear power includes a promise that funds will be reimbursed if Exelon benefits from a proposed federal tax credit for nuclear. FEJA created subsidies for two of Exelons six nuclear plants, and three more of the plants would be subsidized under the latest agreement. Unlike the subsidies under FEJA which are picked up by customers statewide, only ratepayers in ComEd territory in northern Illinois would pay for the new nuclear supports. Dave Kraft, executive director of the Nuclear Energy Information Service, which opposes nuclear power, is among those who have long questioned whether Exelon would really close the plants without the subsidies it demands, and whether all the nuclear power is really needed. Its the same legalized extortion that has been going on for years, Kraft said, with Exelon and its backers putting forth the message, Woe is the state, jobs will be lost, the tax base will be destroyed. We dont argue with that. But (the politics are) about the jobs, not the energy. Kraft said that when anti-nuclear activists pushed for support for workers and residents when the Zion nuclear plant closed in northern Illinois more than 20 years ago, the concept of just transition was novel. Today, it is a major component of the negotiations in Illinois, and of a movement nationwide. If anyone needs to be bailed out, its the communities and the workers, not the corporations, whether youre talking about nuclear or fossil fuels, Kraft said. Thats why you have a just transition. Refusing to give up Under the latest agreement, ratepayers will pay about twice as much per month to fund renewable development. The increase would be allowed by raising the cap on what utilities can charge for renewable investments, a measure supposed by both the Clean Jobs Coalition and renewable energy interests backing a separate bill called Path to 100. While supporters of the different bills have in the past been at loggerheads, advocates of a renewable energy transition seem now largely united around passing the legislation thats been hashed out. After weeks of negotiations, its been a long process, but I think currently its in a good place with agreement from the different parties in the room, said Collingsworth. Riegel has worked as an electrician and solar installer in Illinois since 2007, when the states solar industry was tiny. He watched solar blossom after the Future Energy Jobs Act was passed, then face the cliff, as many have described it, when funding ran out. FEJA was a huge success. It was amazing. I couldnt believe that Illinois finally passed a piece of legislation that gave us working in solar hope that Illinois would be a major player in the market, he said. While his young company has survived the past year, hes holding off on hiring more employees and buying more work vehicles and equipment until incentives are restored. I am confident that clear minds will prevail, but Im not sure how long it will take or how many jobs will be lost before legislators can come up with some type of solution, he said. Thats my concern not that it wont happen but that it will take too long and jobs will be lost in the process. Despite the recent disappointments and uncertainty, he has confidence in the end-game. FEJA really demonstrated that theres a huge appetite for solar in Illinois. Im incredibly optimistic that the industry can be reignited and there will be a ton more solar installations. Well be closer to meeting our renewable energy targets in the state, and hundreds or thousands of jobs will be created in the process.

https://energynews.us/2021/06/04/illinois-stakeholders-still-hopeful-on-clean-energy-deal-but-will-it-come-soon-enough-for-solar-companies/

What will travel guidebooks look like in a post-pandemic world?

Theres one thing thats certain about travel as we head into summer: Its undergone significant change. COVID-19-related restrictions and requirements, safety precautions, attractions and businesses adapting to a pandemic world theres a lot to know. Below, TODAY takes a dive into the guidebook business how it was impacted by the pandemic, how guidebooks are put together and what you need to know if youre thinking about taking a summer trip, particularly an international one. An emphasis on road trips during the pandemic There has been a noticeable shift in how readers consume travel books since the pandemic began. NPD BookScan, which tracks U.S. sales in the book industry, reported an approximate 25% drop in sales for travel books in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the first quarter of 2020, as Piers Pickard, publisher and vice president of print for Lonely Planet, noted in an email to TODAY. Those who have shown interest in his brand's guidebooks, he added, have gravitated toward titles focusing on outdoor experiences closer to home. Our bestsellers are no longer guides to Japan, Costa Rica or Italy. Now were selling books on national parks, road tripping, hiking and cycling, he explained. Rick Steves, the author, TV host and tour operator who specializes in European travel, was honest in assessing how the pandemic affected his guidebook business, which he said enjoyed its best sales year ever in 2019 but has slumped in the past year. Nobody wants to buy a guidebook to Barcelona right now. And it's the road tripping around the United States books that are doing good, he told TODAY over Zoom. Keep in mind that the information in guidebooks currently on the market may not be entirely up to date, for obvious reasons. Still, Pickard said a recent guidebook is a worthwhile resource to have. The inspirational content within our guidebooks does not age, nor do the deep dives into the history and culture of each place, said Pickard, whos based in the U.K. Guidebooks remain a rich source of travel inspiration and theyre a brilliant tool for sparking wanderlust and helping you plan how to get from A to B via C on that next trip. Of course, as Steves pointed out, some flexibility will be required. Anybody traveling independently needs a guidebook. If I was going to Europe next month I could, Im not going to, but I could I would use a guidebook. But I would know the guidebook was from before COVID, and it's the only thing that's available now, he said in the late-May interview. I would be flexible in understanding that things will have changed, and I will just roll with the punches and try to supplement that with online stuff that's more accurate right now. Some background on how Steves puts together his guidebooks: He has a team of co-authors and researchers with whom he works on approximately 50 titles covering Europe. New editions of the top sellers think big cities like London, Paris and Rome are released annually, while other books are updated every two or three years. In the case of the most popular titles, we aspire to visit every place in every book every year. That's our goal, Steves said. And we don't phone it in. We don't do it online. We and that means me or my co-authors or our researchers physically go to these towns and check every restaurant, check every hotel, check all the sites, check the train stations, check the bus schedules. And it's just, that's our passion. We just love it. Before the pandemic, Steves was spending 100 days a year in Europe, working on his guidebooks, tours and TV show. Rick Steves Similarly, the writers with Lonely Planet fact-check every single place mentioned in guidebooks before they are published, according to Pickard. Pickard said Lonely Planet, a company that covers every continent, typically researches a destination around nine months before its corresponding guidebook is published. Prior to the pandemic, approximately 140 guidebooks (or 35% of the total in the brands wide-ranging series) received updates annually. Whats next for guidebooks The next wave of guidebooks from Lonely Planet and Rick Steves wont arrive for months, if not longer. Pickard said updated versions of Lonely Planets top 100 bestsellers will be published between September of this year and April 2022, followed by another 100 books before the end of 2022. Were checking every single place listed to make sure its still open post-pandemic, he said. But were also working on the next generation of guidebooks for 2022 because the world keeps moving, even through a pandemic. Well feature a more diverse range of local voices in our books. Well focus more on immersive experiences (activities that involve meeting people and doing things) than just sights. Well add actionable ideas for making your vacation more sustainable and more fun. Well focus more on immersive experiences (activities that involve meeting people and doing things) than just sights. Piers Pickard Pickard noted that Lonely Planets new guidebooks this year will contain a COVID-19 update in the front that will encourage people to check for the latest information with venues and accommodation providers. Steves is taking a longer view with his series of Europe guidebooks he and his team are planning to research new editions in spring 2022, with the goal of releasing around Christmastime of that year. He doesnt believe it would be productive for his team to dive deep into the titles before then. I don't think you could go anytime in 2021 and research and know what it's going to be because there's another winter of no tourism coming up. I need to know who's standing in the spring of 2022. That's when I'm ready to go invest in my research, he said. I don't care what anybody promises. There is no way to have a guidebook available that you'd buy in a store that was researched after COVID in 2022 because it takes a year to do the research, get it all edited and then get it distributed and sold in the retail outlets, he added. Whether youre looking at a domestic or international getaway and whether youre vaccinated or not the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommendations on its website for before, during and after travel. The CDC does not recommend traveling internationally if you havent been fully vaccinated. Regardless of vaccination status, however, you will need proof of a negative COVID-19 test or recent recovery from COVID-19 before returning to the U.S. from an international trip. For travel recommendations and advisories for specific foreign countries, you can consult the CDC and U.S. Department of State websites. Those hoping to travel to Europe might be disappointed to find that both advise against traveling to the continent. Having said that, the European Union in May moved toward allowing visitors who are fully vaccinated. Pickard noted that in the past month or so Lonely Planet has seen an uptick in sales for guidebooks for European countries such as Greece, where U.S. residents are exempt from a mandatory quarantine if they provide an acceptable form of certification of their health condition, such as a vaccination certificate or negative COVID-19 test result, and Iceland, where U.S. citizens are permitted to enter if they are fully vaccinated. (At last check, one of Steves top-selling books on Amazon was his Iceland guidebook.) It's a good idea to check websites for U.S. embassies and the EU to learn all the requirements and restrictions for countries. Safety, obviously, will be a priority no matter where you go, and there are tools online that can help you stay informed. To give three examples, beyond the aforementioned websites: Google Flights displays pertinent advisories and restrictions when searching for flights; Skyscanner has a live map containing similar information; and Tripadvisor offers a travel safe resource that allows users to search for hotels that are taking added precautions and to message business owners directly. Pickard said, People will see differences passing through an airport and being on a plane aimed at keeping everyone safe. Destinations and hosts realise that safety is a key concern and are taking extra steps to visibly reassure. And of course people should follow government guidance about where they go and how they behave in destinations. Pickard also emphasized the need to book travel and attractions in advance and to have the ability to be flexible. Travel insurance will not generally cover COVID-related cancellation, so the emphasis is on being able to change your plans penalty-free, he added. If youre nervous, use a travel agent and insist on being able to cancel and rebook without penalty. When I go to Paris, I want my cheeks kissed. ... I want to go to the pubs in Ireland and clink glasses with people who really believe that strangers are just friends who have yet to meet. Rick Steves If youre on the fence about a European vacation, Steves, who hopes to relaunch his tours in early 2022, makes a compelling argument for putting off a trip to the continent for a while longer. Im not going to travel until its safe to travel. In fact, Im not going to travel until its convenient to travel. Europe is not open until Europe is open all of Europe, he said. As I like to say when Im giving talks and so on, when I go to Paris, I want my cheeks kissed, he added. When I go to Rome, I want to pack into the piazza with a gelato and do the passeggiata with all the generations in the street as they do that wonderful stroll in the evening as the sun's going down on the pedestrian-only boulevards. I want to go to the pubs in Ireland and clink glasses with people who really believe that strangers are just friends who have yet to meet. That's the fun of travel. You know, the mark of a good traveler is how many people do they meet. There are ways to help satisfy your wanderlust (without the hassle or the literal baggage) from the comfort of your own home. Steves has been hosting Monday night travel parties on Zoom, which you can watch on his website. He also has a new public television special, Europe Awaits, airing June 7. (He and his production crew are working on footage for his program Rick Steves Europe that was shot before the pandemic; hes not planning to shoot new material until 2022.) Lonely Planet offers many articles and videos for both domestic and international locations. You always have the option of picking up a guidebook from your local bookstore and daydreaming, too. Related:

https://www.today.com/money/travel-guidebooks-how-they-were-impacted-pandemic-what-s-next-t220087

Why must impediments to economic globalization be removed?

Of the problems confronting the world economy, none can be resolved by a single country alone. We must all put the common good of humanity first rather than place ones own interest above the common interest of all. We must have a more open mindset and take more open steps, and work together to make the pie of the global market even bigger. We need to strengthen the mechanisms for sharing benefits globally, and explore new ways of international cooperation. The goal is to give more impetus to economic globalization and remove impediments as much as we could. As global value and supply chains continue to develop, countries are inter-connected with each other, and integration of their economy is the order of the day. Distances between countries are getting shorter, and interactions among countries are growing, hence the probability of differences and frictions. The right solution lies in consultation and cooperation. All problems could be settled in the spirit of equality, mutual understanding and accommodation. We need to promote development through opening-up and deepen exchanges and cooperation among us. We need to join hands with each other instead of letting go of each others hands. We need to tear down walls, not to erect walls. We need to stand firm against protectionism and unilateralism. We need to continually bring down trade barriers, optimize global value and supply chains, and jointly foster market demand. Innovation-driven development is essential to sustained growth of the world economy. What we are seeing is a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation. It has reached a historic juncture when major breakthroughs are within sight. Countries need to step up cooperation in innovation. We need to facilitate integration of science and technology with economic growth, and increase the sharing of innovation results. We need to remove barriers that hamper the flow of knowledge, technology, talents and other factors of innovation, and support our businesses in technical exchanges and cooperation on their own accord. This is a way to unleash the potential for innovation. And, to benefit mankind with the better use of knowledge, we need to tighten the protection of intellectual property. The least desirable is for us to stifle the flow of knowledge, or to create or even widen the technology divide among us. Source: CGTN

https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/why-must-impediments-to-economic-globalization-be-removed/

How Does the BMW i4 Weight Compare to the Tesla Model 3?

Not all cars are created equal. Its easier to stare at the headline specs and figures of each car and make a determination about which is better. However, context matters more than just the raw numbers. One of the most important figures for electric cars is weight, as the weight of an EV plays a huge factor into its efficiency, range, and performance. However, how that weight is added to the car can make a difference on its overall driving experience. So lets take a look at the all-new BMW i4 and its curb weight, next to the Tesla Model 3. Before we get into specifics, though, its important to understand how certain brands, in certain countries weigh their cars. For instance, the DIN (Deutsches Institut fr Normung, the German institute for standardization) weight that German manufacturers use accounts for each vehicle to have topped-off fluids but only 90-percent of its fuel tank filled. While the fuel doesnt apply to electric cars, there are still cooling fluids and washer fluids that add weight to the vehicle. Theres also the EU kerb weight rating, which adds an additional 75 kg to DIN, to account for a driver and an arbitrary amount of luggage. In America, our curb weight ratings are funny. Theyre supposed to be weighed with fluids topped off, fuel at 100-percent, and with the options that more than 33 percent of customers are expected to choose. So it can be a bit inaccurate, especially on brand-new vehicles with no precedent of customer option choice. Also, some manufacturers include a driver, some do not. BMW i4 vs Tesla Model 3 First, lets take a look at the BMW i4. The entry-level model is the BMW i4 40, which has a DIN weight of 2,050 kg (4,519 lbs). However, it has an EU weight of 2,125 kg (4,684 lbs). The BMW i4 M50, which packs more power and an additional electric motor, checks in with a DIN weight of 2,215 kg (4,883 lbs), and an EU weight of 2,290 (5,048 lbs). Now lets look at the Tesla Model 3. To be honest, its difficult to get the true weight rating for the Model 3. For starters, Tesla no longer provides press releases for its vehicles, which is incredibly frustrating. Additionally, there seems to be a big disparity in weight ratings from different publications. Assuming the pubs weigh the cars themselves, with their own equipment, different options could cause different weight ratings. To try and keep things fair, were going to use Edmunds weight ratings. According to Edmunds, the Standard Range Plus rear-wheel drive Tesla Model 3 checks in at 1,624 kg (3,582 lbs). If you jump up to the Model 3 Performance, that weight climbs to 1,843 kg (4,065 lbs). This is where context matters more than just the raw numbers. Edmunds claims the Model 3 Standard Range Plus weighs in at around 500 kg (1,100 lbs) less than the standard BMW i4 40. Both cars have a single, rear-mounted electric motor, with similar performance the BMW i4 40 hits 60 mph in 5.7 seconds, with the Tesla taking 5.3 seconds. However, the BMW i4 has a claimed range of 300 miles, while the Tesla claims 263 miles. So despite weight far more, the BMW i4 has similar performance and even more range. Of course, the BMW i4 40 is quite a bit more expensive, starting at $55,400, compared to the Model 3s $39,900 (both before tax incentives). The BMW i4 M50, using the figures BMW provided and Edmunds Model 3 figures, still weighs almost 500 kg (1,000 lbs) more than the Tesla Model 3 Performance. Both have all-wheel drive and gobs of power. The BMW i4 M50 is a bit slower, hitting 60 mph in a claimed 3.9 seconds, compared to the Model 3 Performances 3.1 seconds. The BMWs range is also worse, at 235 miles, compared to the Teslas 315 miles. Again, the BMW i4 M50 is more expensive than the Model 3 Performance, with a starting price of $65,900, compared to the Teslas $56,990. Without context, it seems as if Tesla is far better at weight management. However, context is important. The BMW i4 is built on an existing internal combustion architecture, the same CLAR chassis that underpins everything from the 3 Series to the 8 Series. Yes, CLAR was made to accommodate both internal combustion and electrification but such a chassis is always going to be a jack-of-all-trades and master of none. Whereas the Tesla Model 3 is built on a bespoke chassis, developed specifically for it. Due to that, the Model 3 has an inherent weight advantage. Theres also the fact that the BMW i4 is far more luxurious on the inside, with more premium materials, better technology, and a hatchback trunk. Although, the Tesla has a front trunk and the BMW does not. Still, the Bimmers added interior luxury, leather, trim, and heavier duty plastics all contribute to a lot of its weight disadvantage. Conclusion Without question, the Tesla Model 3 is considerably lighter than the BMW i4. Its bespoke EV chassis, lack of increased luxuries, and lack of a large, power-operated, hatchback trunk lid, all contribute to making it a featherweight, compared to the BMW i4. Yes, there are legitimate reasons as to why the BMW i4 weighs a lot more than the Model 3 but it weighs more nevertheless. However, that doesnt necessarily make it a better EV (whether it is or isnt can only be determined by driving both back-to-back). That will matter to some customers but it wont matter to others. Which means customers will have to weigh (no pun intended) both cars curb weights against their luxuries, and driving experiences, to see which is more important to them.

https://www.bmwblog.com/2021/06/04/bmw-i4-weight-compared-to-tesla-model-3/

Was braucht Fhrung nach Homeoffice?

Welche Fhrungsherausforderung auch post Homeoffice noch eine Rolle spielen und warum es wichtig ist, sich mit diesen auseinanderzusetzen, erlutert Carmen Abraham Fhrung im Homeoffice fr die meisten sei dies mittlerweile ein alter Schuh, wie auch Carmen Abraham besttigt: Nach so vielen Wochen und Monaten ist dieser einfach ausgetreten und will nicht mehr passen. Anstatt sich weiter Blasen zu laufen solle der Blick doch endlich nach vorne gerichtet sein. Sinkende Inzidenzwerte und das Voranschreiten der Impfungen versprechen bald wieder mehr Freiheit. Die Sparringspartnerin rt jedoch beim Thema Homeoffice am Ball zu bleiben, denn die Fhrungsherausforderungen bestehen auch noch post Homeoffice. ber Herausforderungen in der Fhrung zu reden und die Krise operativ zu bewltigen ist eines, doch sich nachhaltig auf Neues einzulassen, selbst zu lernen und neue Methoden zu integrieren, steht auf einem anderen Blatt, so Carmen Abraham. Und ich gehe noch weiter. Die Fhrungsherausforderungen werden voraussichtlich noch grer. Gerade dort, wo geglaubt wird, es geht back to normal. Bereits im vergangenen Herbst hat Carmen Abraham unter ihren LinkedIN-Kontakten eine Umfrage durchgefhrt. Die Schlussfolgerungen zu aktuellen und kommenden Fhrungsherausforderungen haben nichts an Aktualitt eingebt: Am Ende ist es immer eine Frage der Fhrungspersnlichkeit und ihrer Offenheit fr Reflektion und einen Vernderungswillen, erlutert Abraham. Die Meinungen zum Homeoffice gingen damals sehr weit auseinander. Konservativ gefhrte Unternehmen sahen das remote Arbeiten als groe Herausforderung, andere hatten dieses System schon lnger etabliert. Alle waren ber das vergangene Jahr gefordert, die Komfortzone zu verlassen, umzudenken, nderungen vorzunehmen und dennoch Geschft zu machen. Ein Statement aus der Umfrage war hierzu: Das zeigt mal wieder, wie viel Potenzial in den Unternehmen schlummert, wenn man quasi dazu gezwungen wird, die Arbeit anders zu organisieren. Dies zeige laut Carmen Abraham, dass in Unternehmen und fr Fhrungskrfte vieles mglich sei, der Weg dorthin aber nicht unbedingt bequem ist. Die Fhrungsherausforderungen, die mit der Arbeit von zuhause aus vermehrt entstanden sind, werden Fhrungskrfte auch knftig noch weiter fordern, erlutert die Ratgeberin fr Executives. Hierzu zhlen unter anderem: Spaltungen, Identifikation, Fokus, Intuition, Ego-Anspruch und Kontrollverlust. Was genau diese Herausforderungen fr Fhrungskrfte im Detail bedeuten, zeigt Carmen Abraham im neuesten Beitrag ihres persnlichen Blogs Gedanken.gut. Den neuen Blogbeitrag und viele weitere Informationen zu Carmen Abraham klar.wirksam.kraftvoll finden Sie unter: www.carmen-abraham.de Carmen Abraham klar.wirksam.kraftvoll Die agile Welt, die digitale Welt, die Welt, die durch schnellen und dynamischen Wandel unbersichtlich geworden ist, stellt ganz neue Anforderungen an Leadership. Carmen Abraham ist Sparringspartnerin und Ratgeberin, wenn Executives und Leistungstrgern in Zeiten von VUCA Komplexitt die Sicht vernebelt, der Wirkungsgrad ihrer Rolle pltzlich eingeschrnkt scheint und sie sich eher als Getriebener fhlen denn als Gestalter. Mithilfe von Carmen Abraham finden Leistungstrger Klarheit, erhhen ihren Wirkungsgrad und erleben ihre ganze Strke. Kontakt talentwaerts KG | Carmen Abraham Carmen Abraham Grneburgweg 12 60322 Frankfurt am Main +49 69 90559072 mail@carmen-abraham.de http://www.carmen-abraham.de Die Bildrechte liegen bei dem Verfasser der Mitteilung.

https://pressnetwork.de/was-braucht-fuehrung-nach-homeoffice/

Did each of these 20 players ever score a goal whilst on loan at Middlesbrough?

Middlesbrough will be looking to do some shrewd business in the transfer market. With high-profile players such as Britt Assombalonga and Ashley Fletcher both moving on this summer it means that Neil Warnock will have his work cut out to bring in some players to take the club forward. However with funds likely to be limited it means that the Teessiders may need to be creative. Exploring the loan market could be a good option for Warnock, with previous years proving that those on short-term arrangements can score crucial goals along the way. Have a go of our quiz and test yourself! 1 of 20 Ryan Fredericks Yes No

https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/did-each-of-these-20-players-ever-score-a-goal-whilst-on-loan-at-middlesbrough/

What Do We Look For In A Golf Club?

Golf clubs are always fighting to attract and retain members, and the competition to do so is fierce. Clubs must ensure their offering is as attractive as possible to golfers. When it comes to choosing a club, any prospective member will have a range of criteria they will consider, apportioning a different degree of importance to each. For the purposes of this article, we have amalgamated the Golf Monthly teams views to create an identikit prospective golf club member. Heres what the Golf Monthly team said: The principal reason I want to become a member of a golf club is to play golf and to enjoy it. Therefore, the golf course will be my first consideration when selecting a club. I recognise each individual will have their own ideas about what makes a good course, but to simplify: it must be a course that I find enjoyable to play, and one that I will be happy to play on a regular basis. Power hitters may look for a longer course where they can open their shoulders from the tee, whereas short game specialists may prefer a more technical and tricky track where their prowess around the greens will come to the fore. Some will look to a links as the only option, others might favour a less windswept and more manicured parkland track. An essential requirement for me though I think this will be universal is that the course is maintained in good condition. Top priority will be the greens. Im willing to overlook a few failings at a club if the greens are in pristine condition. I can forgive the locker rooms looking a little tired and the bacon rolls requiring a bit of chewing if the putting surfaces are like velvet. Then, working backwards in terms of importance, when Im considering the quality of course maintenance, Ill look at: the tees, the fairways, the bunkers, the rough and then the general appearance, including course furniture, pathways, hazards, trees, shrubbery and/or gorse. It is also important for me to see that the club committee and greenkeepers are forward-thinking in terms of making changes to improve the course. I want to join a club with ambitions to be as good as it can be. Continuing on a playing theme, Ill be interested to see the clubs fixture list. How easy it is to get a tee time will be an important factor as well. If the tee is constantly booked up by visiting parties and corporate outings, then membership will seem less appealing. Im pretty busy and five hours for 18 holes is no use at all. Other things Ill consider from a golfing perspective include the extent and quality of the practice facilities. That last point leads on to probably the key off-course criteria that might sway me one way or another when considering joining a club. I want to feel that Ill be accepted and be able to integrate from day one. I dont want to feel constrained by overly stuffy rules and regulations. Im not particularly bothered about the clubhouse being a palace. I just want it to be comfortable, clean and functional. I want it to deliver a good standard of catering and a well-stocked bar. I want there to be useable locker rooms with a decent shower and a good space for changing. Id also like to know how active the club is in promoting social events. Location of the club will clearly be a factor. Then, of course, theres cost. Unless I can answer yes to both these questions then taking out membership will be tough to justify. To summarise then, this is what Im looking for: a golfers golf club where the focus is on the course and competition, delivering the best possible playing experience for members. The club should have a welcoming and unstuffy atmosphere providing good food and a social scene that will be welcoming for me and my family. Let us know on social media

https://www.golfmonthly.com/features/the-game/what-do-we-look-for-in-a-golf-club-95150

What Does A Golf Course Manager Do?

As you look forward to another 18 at your club, spare a thought for the beleaguered golf course manager. Youre running late as you turn into the car park and see the rest of your fourball warming up on the tee. Climbing out of your car you stand on a piece of chewing gum which glues itself to the sole of your brand new Pikolinos. Typical! As you rush to the tee, steam pouring from your ears, you notice whats-his-name, the course manager, standing half way down the 18th, talking to a man in a suit. Its only the fact its your turn to play that prevents you from charging over to give him a piece of your mind. Perhaps that is just as well, because what you had no way of knowing is that the man in the suit works for the Environment Agency and your course manager is deep in conversation with him regarding the renewal of an abstraction licence for the borehole, which gives access to water from the underground aquifer, which provides the irrigation water for the course. With water becoming increasingly precious and golf seen as a luxury, those negotiations can be delicate and it is only the expertise of your course manager, who can detail exactly how much water has been used during the past and how much is recycled, that will improve the chances of a settlement that doesnt do long term damage to the golf course. Related: Why its time to talk about greenkeeper mental health You blundering in and complaining about chewing gum in the car park wouldnt have helped the cause. But your course manager could just as easily have been conducting a risk assessment of the entire site, identifying every single area which could constitute a risk in any conceivable circumstance gradient of slope used by a triple mower or buggy, slip hazards leading off the greens or tees, secure nature of trees etc so that when the Health and Safety Executive calls the documentation is filed and ready for inspection. Or he could be discussing the five-year course policy document with your chairman of greens and the clubs appointed agronomist, which helps ensure that there are none of those knee-jerk changes in direction when a new captain or committee takes over. Or he could be hosting an educational workshop, subsidised by his professional association, BIGGA (the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association), which utilises funding provided by trade companies. Employers need to recognise that education and training is an on-going, non-stop process. Remember, if you are part of a members golf club, then you are actually the employer and the responsibility and funding for staff training should in fact fall to you and not be down to the employees own association. He might also be taking time out to help the rest of his team on the golf course cutting greens, tees and fairways, repairing divots and raking bunkers at 5.30am. Related: 10 things greenkeepers are talking about Your course manager is responsible for ensuring that the clubs greatest asset, the course itself, is kept in top order and even enhanced when he is given the resources to do the job, in conditions which provide drought one year and flooding the next. If you feel it appropriate, mention it to the course manager in passing or raise it with the greens committee. Im sure if cleanliness of the car park has fallen below an acceptable level then it wont be long before the pressure washers will be out to clean it up. In return it would be nice if you could at least learn your course managers name!

https://www.golfmonthly.com/features/the-game/what-does-a-golf-course-manager-do-85892

What Is It Like Being A Golf Club Captain?

Historically, the role of golf club captain has carried significant prestige. Some members yearn for the honour, sitting on various committees for years hoping their turn will come; others show no desire, perhaps fearing the level of commitment required. Jim Seatter: Yes, I think deep down you always think about it. Ive spent a lot of time on the committee and I was elected vice-captain in 1993, but the oil industry went belly-up and I had to find something else to do. I went down south to work in golf club management and resigned as vice-captain. When I came back in 2007 I went back on the council and thought I might get another chance. Tony Wise: This is my second stint. I was captain at Southwood, a local municipal course, in 2001, and I pretty much said to myself that I wouldnt do it again. Not that I didnt enjoy it, but it was quite intense. So when I got asked I did give it some serious thought. JS: Our 400-year celebrations were in 2016 and we had a major dinner, attended by about 300 members, and also a quadruple-head match between Royal Dornoch, the Country Club of Carolina, the Donald Ross Society and the Athletic Club of Atlanta. We had four dinners on the trot from Wednesday to Saturday with each section hosting one. That was a very busy and enjoyable week. TW: We had a whole week of celebrations to mark the clubs 125th anniversary, with a number of competitions across all sections and a big party in the clubhouse at the end of the week. That was a big highlight, as was my captains day. But the biggest thing for me was the massive support from the members, which suddenly comes out of nowhere. JS: With a members club youre always going to have highs and lows and you have to manage them the best you can. One of the biggest problems I had was members complaining about lack of tee times, too many visitors etc. But when you look into it, you find that every member wants to play at nine oclock! TW: Working full-time while trying to juggle the captaincy was a challenge. I was fortunate because work gave me an extra weeks holiday as Id been at the company for 25 years. When I took the role, I met up with the current captain and took my wife along and asked her to fire away if she had any questions, because I had to make sure she was on board. JS: It was. I expected it to be very busy and intense at times because youve got meetings here, there and everywhere. I knew there was going to be a lot of travelling and a lot of things to be done, but you accept thats what youre signing up for! TW: It was probably more time-consuming than I imagined, but that didnt detract from the role. Im really pleased I did it. Its a gem of a club. JS: Not losing my temper at an AGM! No, it was probably just moving things forward with the driving range and clubhouse projects. All you can do as a captain is keep the club moving forward rather than stagnating. JS: My handicap stayed the same. Actually, I think I started at 5 and finished at 4. But I must admit, there are times when youre playing a match and find yourself thinking, Ive got a speech to make tonight, and you start to think about what youre going to say. TW: I started at 8 and finished on 9, but to be honest, 8 was the lowest Id ever been. I was playing three or four times a week rather than once or twice, so there was a lot of golf. People had said my golf would take a nosedive but I dont think mine did. JS: Yes. Were a fairly grounded club and we dont stand on ceremony. You get, Good morning, Mr Captain, which is nice, but my friends treated me the same. TW: They did. Ive got a lot of good friends at the club, but it was amazing how many people showed support. Thats Hartley Wintney its a very friendly club. Original article printed in 2018

https://www.golfmonthly.com/features/the-game/what-is-it-like-being-a-golf-club-captain-149666

Could parts of Cambridgeshire be in Norfolk after electoral map rewrite?

Published: 4:41 PM June 4, 2021 Updated: 5:13 PM June 4, 2021 North Norfolk gone, Norfolk MPs covering Cambridgeshire and Norwich North secured for the Conservatives - those are just some of the possible outcomes from plans to shake up the electoral map. The boundary commission is set to unveil initial plans to redraw the Westminister map later this month. The redrawing will be the first in 11 years after two earlier attempts were binned. "We can guess from some of the material in the 2018 review where changes will be," said Alan Finlayson, professor of political and social theory at the UEA. "North Norfolk is too small, while others need to be broken up. "North Norfolk could be absorbed into other constituencies [or absorb bits of other constituencies] and there will be segments of Cambridgeshire taken into Norfolk." Alan Finlayson is a professor of political and social theory at the UEA - Credit: Copyright: Archant 2019 You may also want to watch: Mr Finlayson also expects to see changes in Norwich North, which he said could impact the political makeup of the seat. The Conservative Norwich North seat could pick up parts of the Labour south, while also gaining from the surrounding countryside - which could cement the seat as a Tory stronghold. Unlike the last two reviews, this one will keep the number of MPs in the UK at 650 instead of reducing it to 600. However, England will gain 10 MPs, while Scotland and Wales will lose out. Mr Finlayson stressed that nothing was certain and the proposals can change through consultation. "Overall the review is likely to favour the Conservatives," he said. "That's because the current boundaries favour Labour but also because the Conservatives are in power." The Conservative's Chloe Smith and Labour's Clive Lewis debating before the 2015 General Election. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY - Credit: Copyright: Archant 2015 Mr Finlayson said governing parties are unlikely to bring in policies that would hurt them at the ballot box. "However, it might mean that in some cases [Conservatives could lose] their seats, not necessarily in Norfolk but in places like London. "What is in the party's interest might not be in members interests, they will try to get this done without involving MPs as much as they can." Asked what the impact might be, Mr Finlayson said voters might not notice the changes straight away. "It might upset some people who feel they live in Cambridgeshire but have to vote for a Norfolk MP or they feel their votes are 'wasted' because they are in a different [constituency]," he said. "But it will change people's lives if it affects the national political picture. "It might give 10 seats more to the Conservative party which will help them stay in power, but there's a lot of complexity to electoral geography." If this review is successful the changes will not come into effect until late 2023. Office for National Statistics figures shows many of Norfolk constituencies fall outside the acceptable electoral quota of between 69,724 to 77,062 voters. Norwich North, Norwich South, North Norfolk and Great Yarmouth are all under, while Mid Norfolk, South Norfolk and Wavaney are all over. Great Yarmouth would take Thulrton from South Norfolk South Norfolk would take Wymondham and surround villages Norwich South would take Cringleford and Old Costessey from South Norfolk. Wensum swapped from Norwich South to Norwich North. North Norfolk takes Aylsham from Broadland, which would make Broadland short. To make Broadland acceptable again it would take North Norfolk's Briston and Breckland's Hermitage. Mid Norfolk would have gained Harling & Heathlands, and Guiltcross. East Cambridgeshire wards of Littleport East and Littleport West in a cross-county boundary South West Norfolk constituency. North West Norfolk would have taken Walton from West Norfolk. The number of voters per constituency in the 2018 review was set at between 71,031 and 78,507.

https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/norfolk-electoral-map-redrawn-mps-cambridgeshire-8026104

Who stays and who goes at King's Lynn Town?

Published: 5:00 PM June 4, 2021 Kings Lynn Town are expected to overhaul their squad over the next few weeks in preparation for the new National League season. CHRIS LAKEY takes a look at the retained list.... UNDER CONTRACT Ross Barrows: Popular player who, after more than two months out on furlough, played three games in a week to round off the season. Good asset. Alex Brown's future could be elsewhere - Credit: Ian Burt Alex Brown: Injured then furloughed, but looks to be out of favour. Kyle Callan-McFadden: Absolute warrior in defence - just needs someone of a similar mind beside him. Sonny Carey - big summer ahead - Credit: Ian Burt Sonny Carey: The one player who is worth a significant sum of money. Bournemouth and Swansea were reportedly interested. The former Norwich City youngster has a year left on his contract and may feel now is the time to take the next step up. Lynn will want a six-figure sum for the 20-year-old. Be a great asset for another year, but that sort of cheque in the in-tray is hard to refuse. Michael Clunan: Club captain. Highly thought-of by players and the manager. A bit lightweight, physically, but a big influence. Anyone doubting him should look at the video of the game at Notts County: probably the individual performance of the season. Tyler Denton: Good player down the left flank. No surprised to see him wanted by Lynn and, financially, has some value. Tai Fleming: Might not be in the starting picture still only 19 so a loan might do him good. Cameron King: Fantastic midfielder, but with fitness issues. Hopefully Lynn will persist with him. Near untouchable at his best and will be needed if Carey departs. Rory McAuley: Currently suspended by the club, pending court proceedings so not possible to judge until they are complete. Chris Smith: Central defender might end up looking for a new club. Lots of commitment, but need someone more physically imposing. Dayle Southwell: Striker has never really cracked a long run of starts and therefore never really got going. EXERCISED OPTION Michael Gyasi: Hit some form towards the end of the season. Unpredictable too unpredictable at times. OFFERED NEW TERMS Aaron Jones: Currently recovering from his second injury, this one (Achilles) much more serious. Brilliant in the 10 games he started, but might be touch and go to start the new season. Quality which is why Lynn want him to stay. Jordan Richards: Good midfielder, great engine. Bit more competition this coming season so might not be the shoe-in some people might think. RELEASED Alex Kiwomya: Great pace, but just hasnt really got going at The Walks. Need someone physically stronger. Sam Kelly: Not seen or heard of since furloughed kicked in. Lynn rarely saw the best of him, which was a shame. Ryan Jarvis: Like Gash, couldnt commit to full-time football. Been a terrific player for the club and another who wont be short of offers. OTHERS Alex Babos: Not offered a deal, having come in to help through the last few months of the season. Elkan Baggott: Big things expected of the Indonesian centre-half, who was on loan from Ipswich Town. Likely to be wanted at Portman Road. Michael Gash: Striker unable to commit to full-time football. Given a great send-off last weekend. Seems like the number of clubs interested in his services is well into double figures. Joe Gascoigne: Young midfielder who has come through the ranks. Small in stature, big in heart. Good squad player for now Florian Guimdo-Tsaguim: Another youth product and one for the future. Rob Howard: Came in on loan from relegated Southend, who have triggered the option to retain his services in the National League next season. Simeon Jackson - a return to The Walks seems unlikely - Credit: Ian Burt Simeon Jackson: Had a good spell in the second half of a season which he finished strongly - but a return was always perhaps unlikely. Archie Mair: Loan from Norwich City was cut short by injury. A talent, but Paul Joness arrival suggests he wont be back at Lynn for a whole. Alfie Payne: Came in to help. Theo Richardson: Keeper came in at short notice but never likely to have room in the squad next season and it would be as back-up. Theo Richardson - looking for the next challenge - Credit: Ian Burt NEW SIGNINGS Ethan Coleman: Holding midfielder impressed during his loan spell and has now signed a contract to return full-time. Quality player probably taking over the Ryan Jarvis role. Paul Jones: Keeper comes in with bags of experience. Munashe Sundire: Young midfielder, with a tenacious attitude to his game.

https://www.edp24.co.uk/sport/kings-lynn-town-ins-and-outs-8027862

What does the EU's white list mean for UK holidaymakers this summer?

Get the latest news from all parts of our city - sign up for our free email newsletter Invalid Email Something went wrong, please try again later. Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice The UK is yet to be added to the European Unions white list for quarantine free travel from outside the bloc, despite the country having low enough infection rates for it to be included. Brussels has delayed making the decision due to fears over rising case numbers in the country, and the spread of the Delta variant first discovered in India. The news is a blow to travel companies throughout the continent however, the UK may still make the list by July 1 if it can contain the spread of this new variant and case numbers generally. Heres everything we know about the white list, and how it might affect UK tourists this summer when people are looking to travel again. The European Union white list is a group of countries that the bloc suggests should be allowed for quarantine-free travel into the Union, regardless of whether they have been vaccinated or not. The UK would normally fit the EUs threshold for inclusion, as Covid cases in the country are currently less than the 75 per 100,000 that is required however, the EU is concerned about the trend in the UKs cases, as well as the spread of the Delta variant first discovered in India. This could still change ahead of the EUs final decision on June 14, which may mean UK citizens can travel to countries such as Spain, Greece and Italy with relative ease from the start of July. However, individual states can still set their own restrictions and this list is only seen as a guide as to how you should conduct your travel plans. The EUs white list currently includes Israel, New Zealand, Rwanda, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Australia and Japan which is due to host the Olympics in July. The UK could still be added to this list ahead of a final decision by the EU on June 14, but as it is they are still waiting to see how rising case levels and in particular the spread of the Delta variant first discovered in India, progresses over that period. No new countries were added to the UKs green list when Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced changes to the UKs travel arrangements on Thursday. However, seven countries were added to the UKs red list (Afghanistan, Bahrain, Costa Rica, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Trinidad and Tobago). The countries still on the UK green list include:

https://www.leeds-live.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/what-eus-white-list-mean-20745539

Didn't get enough of a 'Friends' fix from the reunion? How about a 'Friends'-themed cruise?

If the recent reunion of everybody's favorite Friends isn't enough for you, a theme cruise that celebrates the iconic '90s TV show will take place May 15 to May 21, 2022, on Celebrity Equinox. The cruise ship will leave from Fort Lauderdale, with scheduled ports of Key West, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. Like many theme cruises, the sailing is being put together by an outside company, the travel agency Fan World Travel. It is a partial charter of the ship, with events dedicated solely for people who book through the agency's site Cruise With Friends. The site promises Friends-themed costume contests, trivia games and more: "Get ready to eat like Joey, joke like Chandler, cook like Monica, shop like Rachel, yoga like Phoebe and dig like Ross." Theme cruises: From '80s music to auto racing, there's a cruise for every fandom No actors from the show are scheduled to be on the cruise. But we speak from experience when we say that there's nothing like being on a cruise with 1,000 other people who love the same TV show that you do. Fares range from $1,648.66 per person for an inside stateroom up to $3,048.66 for a Sky Suite with a balcony. On Celebrity, Wi-Fi, a premium beverage package, $150 shore excursion credit per person, gratuities, taxes and fees are included in the fare. Theme cruises often have different payment policies than regular cruises, and the Friends one is no exception. Deposits are $1,000 per person for inside, oceanview and balcony cabins and suites are $1,500 per person -- due at booking and nonrefundable. (The site encourages travel insurance). Grab your besties and find out.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2021/06/04/friends-themed-cruise-coming-celebrity-equinox-may-2022/7540800002/

What is the latest on carbon sequestering on Irish farms?

Research is underway to calculate the carbon sequestering potential of Irish farms but the ability to calculate accurate figures of the amount of carbon that is sequestered on individual Irish farms is still some distance away. This was a key message from Irish Farmers Association (IFA) National Environment Committee chairman Paul OBrien. Speaking to Agriland earlier this week on Wednesday (June 2), OBrien explained: The unfortunate thing is we are going to be a good few years away from having a real quantity of figures that well be able to stand over. The reality is that the national agricultural soil carbon observatory was set up last November. Sequestering research The chairman noted that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has allocated funding to Teagasc to conduct research on farms to produce figures on carbon sequestration. However, he warned: Unfortunately, 2021 will be a base year for research. The flux towers will be up measuring, theyll be doing the core testing and they will be quantifying the amount of carbon in land at the moment. Then, in order for us to be able to prove that we have a carbon sequestration ability, we then need for that to be stood over a period of time, he said, adding that having data that can withstand international scrutiny and peer review will be key. We are going to be a number of years away from being able to give farmers a real figure of how much potential carbon sequestration they have on their farms. Continuing, OBrien was optimistic about the potential thats there, noting that, on an international level, an Australian farm company had sold carbon credits to computer giant Microsoft for $500,000 earlier this year. He stressed, however, that farmers must be rewarded for carbon sequestration. Turning to the Climate Bill going through the Oireachtas at present, OBrien outlined the IFAs focus on this, noting that, as things stand, the bill does not account for carbon removals through sequestering in its current wording: Advertisement Weve highlighted to the Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action that any future budget under the Climate Bill has to take into account removals once carbon can be proved to be sequestered. A budget has to work both ways, he stressed both for carbon being emitted and sequestered. Sequestering recognition Noting that, at present, farmers are not being rewarded for the sequestering that is already occurring through hedgerows, grasslands and bogs and the matter is being bypassed in the whole debate, the IFA environment chair described the situation as a problem. Theres a science lag at the moment and we are unfortunately in a scenario where we are waiting for the figures that we believe are there [to be proven beyond doubt], he explained. We produce something thats absorbing carbon the whole time the whole process of photosynthesis CO2 is sucked in from the atmosphere and O2 is produced. We are going back to national school stuff here. The reality is we all have knowledge that this happens but its to get the real quantitative figures that farmers can then use and then look if they have a figure, will agriculture be allowed into a [carbon credit] trading scheme then at that stage. Were putting our trust in Teagasc to come up with that research and come back to us. It was disappointing that other countries are able to quantify that ahead of us. We believe that we have a good news story, massively able to sequester a lot of carbon and once we can prove that, then that will help to change the whole debate I believe. Farmers should own their carbon sequestration ability once its been quantified. That should stay very firmly with farmers and agriculture in general. Each individual farmer should have the ability to, once proven, have those potential carbon credits attributed to them individually. Ultimately weve got to get this quantified first before we can start talking about what well do with them, OBrien concluded.

https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/what-is-the-latest-on-carbon-sequestering-on-irish-farms/

Has Manscaping Gone Mainstream?

Millions of Americans are returning to some form of pre-pandemic life. And as citizens revert back to their old lives, they are resuming their previous self-care practices and retaining some newfound habits inspired by months of a sedentary lifestyle. For men, that means going back to reopened barbershops, sticking to new skin care and hygiene routines, maybe keeping their pandemic beard and, also, manscaping. Manscaping, or the act of trimming or shaving body hair on the chest, neck, ear, nose and groin among other areas, has been a quiet practice for years. Men have typically done it in private for themselves or for their partner(s) and never really openly discussed the practice, though the results were obvious and apparent on the beach and at the gym. Men have used shavers, scissors and electric razors most commonly designed to cut facial hair from companies like Gillette, Braun, Wahl and Andis, among others to trim and cut their body hair, but more recently, brands like Manscaped and Meridian have launched products dedicated to manscaping. As brands have emerged, the manscaping conversation has become more mainstream. According to a survey of 500 men conducted by First and First Consulting, one in four men say theyve started manscaping more over the past year, and men between the ages 18 and 24 were more likely to say theyre manscaping a lot more. You May Also Like Gillette said the manscaping conversation over the last three years has been consistent on social media with 2,000 mentions from common men and not influencers. Kristina Vanoosthuyze, director of scientific communications for Gillette, said one in three men are grooming on a regular basis and that figure doubles when it comes to Gen Z. There are more influencers doing stuff in this space and that helps people be more pointed in what theyre looking for, said First and First Consulting founder and chief executive officer Devon Zdatny. The interest in manscaping is highest among men in casual relationships at 29 percent than single men at 25 percent and married or cohabiting men at 20 percent. The survey also found that 51 percent of men say they shave their groin and 42 percent say they trim the area; Millennial men, in particular, are 64 percent more likely to shave their groin. The survey notes that shaving and trimming are not mutually exclusive, and that some reasons for grooming the area is for hygiene, enhancing the aesthetics of the anatomy, curiosity and boredom or out of self-care. First and First said Gen Z men are more inclined to manscaping because they are less likely to engage with toxic masculinity and see body hair grooming as a more gender neutral and acceptable activity. The firm added that heterosexual men are 47 percent more likely to forego manscaping than men in the LGBTQ+ community, and Gen Z men are 50 percent more likely to be openly part of the LGBTQ+ community than older generations. Vanoosthuyze compared body grooming at home versus waxing saying the shaving and trimming process is easy, pain-free and mess-free compared to waxing, and it gives men a high degree of freedom and convenience in the bathroom. But for decades men have used shavers and razors designed to trim and cut the hair on the head and face and not the rest of their body, which may have very delicate and thin skin said Vanoosthuyze. Of all the manscaping and grooming, she continued, groin and armpit are the most popular. Shavers need to be ergonomically designed for your hand and to easily reach those body parts. The male body has curves and contours. When shaving the face, you have one curve: the jaw. But for the body, there are your knees, ankles, groin, etc. Though Gillette offers razors, shavers and products that are body friendly, the brand doesnt offer any products to be used exclusively for body hair. Paul Tran, founder and CEO of Manscaped said, The adoption of electric trimmers over more traditional tools has been remarkable and has only accelerated year-to-year since we launched in 2016. Of course, some men still use other tools to groom groin and body hair, but at what cost? Tran described the manscaping market as an underserved white space. He compared the very mature beauty industry and how a product exists for every one of a womans needs while men didnt have a particular product specifically designed for the male groin area, until Manscaped arrived, he said. Prior to Manscaped, he continued, self-care down there had been historically neglected and considered a taboo topic. This forced men to use unsuitable tools, resulting in grooming accidents in their most sensitive parts. Since our entrance into the market, weve filled this void and sparked an open conversation around it. Tran said the brand saw an upward trajectory in sales through 2020 due to an increase in at-home grooming routines, more cleanliness and hygiene practices and online shopping. He added, Additionally, we began shipping to more than 30 countries last year and executed strategic marketing campaigns internationally. Meridian, another body hair grooming brand founded by Lumin founders Darwish Gani and Richard Hong, was introduced in 2020 also for men to groom their body hair. Gani said they noticed a shift in mens personal care through Lumin and that manscaping shared many things in common with skin care. For one, the practice is stigmatized. Though influencers are leading the manscaping conversation, men in general are more comfortable with discussing body hair grooming practices as more videos about the practice crop up and theyre directly targeted through advertisements. Zdatny said that searches for phrases like razor blade have remained steady but searches for electric razor, nose hair, and ear hair have increased. The survey also found that 70 percent of Gen X and Baby Boomers trim their nose hair and 61 percent trim their ear hair, while 52 percent of Millennials trim their nose hair and 26 percent trim their ear hair and finally 9 percent of Gen Z men trim their ear hair and 34 percent trim their nose hair. Manscapeds nose hair trimmer was the top trending nose hair trimmer on Amazon over Zwillings nose hair trimmer and Sharper Images nose and ear hair trimmer. Were in the early innings, Gani said about the manscaping market. Were going to see in the next year or two who are the options for this category and what does this category entail. The next step is the category and major players get defined and then the next phase is maturity and growth. Vanoosthuyze said she has seen three generations of men in her family with different self-care habits, and the youngest really taking to manscaping. She said that if men form a habit in their adolescence, they are more inclined to keep the habits for a long time. It wasnt a common topic 20 to 30 years ago, she said. Now its mainstream and normal. If a habit becomes mainstream, then men want more tips. We anticipate this category will only continue to grow, said Tran. With vaccinations ramping up and lockdown conditions shifting, even more men are taking to groin and full-body grooming and care.

https://wwd.com/beauty-industry-news/body-care/has-manscaping-gone-mainstream-1234825792/

Whats a good hotel in Paris ?

Many of you write to us asking us to advise you on the best hotel in Paris, the best hotel in the capital etc... As you can probably imagine, this notion is very subjective. It all depends on your tastes, your budget, the area in which you want to stay. That said, we will try to answer these questions as best we can while trying to remain totally objective. It is not easy to define what a good hotel is. There are so many criteria! First of all, we add the option of location, even if it is basically quite vast, we are looking for a good hotel in Paris. In order to answer this question we have chosen to define objective criteria recognised by the vast majority of users. The criteria that a good hotel or at least a good room must respect and that we will therefore develop revolve around: the bed, the pillow, the shower, the toilet, the view, the food, and the details. Hotel rooms are so important that there are a bunch of websites dedicated to talking about them, such as TripAdvisor, where a hotels reputation is at stake, especially through ratings and guest reviews. Unless youve had a particularly scary experience, Id say that most of the rooms youve stayed in have the same basic features: walls, door, bed, ceiling, toilet and shower. Lets examine this theory in more detail and talk about what makes a hotel room good, or not! The quality of the bed A comfortable bed is absolutely essential, because in the end you only need a hotel room for two things: showering and sleeping. A big, soft, comfortable bed is what you want, especially after a long journey to Paris. The softness of the lumbar spring and the lumbar support. I once slept in a very small hotel room, but it had the largest and most comfortable bed I have ever had the pleasure of having and it made me forget the size of the room. the quality of the pillow In the same general group as the bed but equally important, the pillow takes a crucial place. There is hardly a more disheartening incident than settling into a comfortable bed, only to find that your head is resting on a rock. And it happens! It is not uncommon to find pillows that are totally uncomfortable to say the least. Hotel pillows must be the most comfortable and give you an experience you will never have elsewhere. The shower There are so many things that can go right or wrong with a hotel shower, so many variables. Lets start with the basics. Decent water pressure and the ability to maintain a constant water temperature make for a good shower at the very least. You cant have a trickle of cold, light, icy water coming out of a shower head. Similarly, you dont want to be stuck against the shower wall, as if youve been caught in a riot and the cops have turned the water cannon on you. The size of the shower is very important. The bigger the shower, the better, and if theres a chance you can get a double shower or an essential oil shower like at Urban Bivouac, then youll understand what its like to have a good shower, in a good hotel! The toilets It is difficult for anyone to come close to what the Japanese offer in terms of high quality hotel toilets. And yet there is no such thing as a good hotel without top toilets! Here too one expects if not an experience, at least cleanliness, at least the impression of being the only one to use it. Without necessarily talking about heated seats, dripping water and rainforest sounds to mask all your tinkling and all sorts of gadgets out of nowhere, but ... if in fact an excellent hotel will offer to live this unique experience. The view Even the smallest hotel room can be made bearable with a fantastic view. Likewise, nothing surprises you more than walking into a beautiful hotel room with a large window and a panoramic view of the city you are visiting. On the other hand, it is totally depressing to find yourself in a nice hotel with a very good room, but with only an average or even null view. Food and drink A good hotel in Paris must respect certain standards, not international, but French, in terms of gastronomy. What could be more illogical than to find yourself in Paris with a mini-market breakfast that you could eat in any train station or airport franchise. From a good hotel in Paris, one expects good food, a typical French breakfast, fresh products, not to mention good wine, champagne even if the budget allows it. But without talking about luxury, simplicity is also good, you need originality, even love in what is served to you. In any case, this is what you would expect from a good Parisian establishment. Perfection is in the details Bath towels Large, soft, fresh, white hotel towels. Nothing makes you feel more special than wrapping a nice towel around you or, if youre really lucky, a bathrobe and some small slippers. You want to feel like theyre still new. Toiletries Enjoying the bath products on offer while bathing in a large tub or feeling spoiled with body scrubs, facial cleansers and other little things, are obviously a big plus. We wont go so far as to ask for a TV or a sound system in the bathroom, but basically its these kinds of details that make the difference. The mirror The must, and this is what I expect from a good hotel, is a heated mirror so that when you get out of the shower, the mirror is not completely fogged up by steam. Yes, a little, but it makes a difference. A little chocolate Frankly, a little chocolate on my pillow and Im over the moon! A little attention that doesnt cost much but makes you feel unique! This is what you expect from a good hotel. The little chocolate should not be there to make up for mistakes made elsewhere, no, it should be the final touch, the one that will make you want to come back again and again to this place that you are starting to appreciate above all else. Parking, transport and access A good hotel in Paris must also offer you facilities in terms of mobility. A good hotel will offer you a parking space, but it must be said that in Paris this is relatively rare, at least in a reasonable price range. However, hotels often have privileged agreements with nearby private car parks and most of the time offer you an adjoining parking space to unload your luggage. In Paris, a good hotel should also be well served by public transport (metro, bus, tramway), if possible have self-service bicycle stations nearby and of course be able to easily call a taxi service to reach airports, train stations, workplaces etc. Note that in Paris, motorbike taxi services can often get you around faster than a car and sometimes even the metro, depending on where you are going. In any case, it is an option not to be neglected in Paris. As far as public transport is concerned, you should choose a hotel with a metro station, or at least a bus station, nearby, but above all, this station should be located on a line that will allow you to easily discover Paris and do what you have to do. Note that sometimes it is more interesting to find a hotel outside the historic centre, in the peripheral districts, because you will find more affordable rates, good quality rooms and often direct and efficient transport to all your destinations. This is what I think makes a hotel good or bad. In any case, these are the elements on which I can make an objective judgment. I also rely on these elements to make a reservation, to ask questions before I even book my room. I prefer to make a phone call if I dont have the precise information. At least I dont have to rely solely on the reviews left by other guests, even though these are more than important most of the time.

http://www.hotel-collingwood.co.uk/What-s-a-good-hotel-in-Paris.html

What are the key drivers in client acquisition?

Reputation and word of mouth still trump digital marketing for clients choosing which financial adviser they want to work with. Thats according to new research conducted by Lancaster University Management School on behalf of Financial Management Bureau, an advisory firm based in Kendal, Cumbria. Financial advisory firm Financial Management Bureau (FMB) has tasked students at Lancaster University Management School with a six-month project to find out how people choose a financial adviser. Modus operandi The six BA Marketing students who are based in the UK, South Korea, China, Spain and Romania, studied academic papers and third party research, as well as creating their own survey of around 150 people and conducting phone interviews. They found that the vast majority of people heard about their current financial adviser via either word of mouth (34 per cent) or referrals (24 per cent), with a further 33 per cent learning about them from people including family members, employers or professionals such as accountants. Only around five per cent of the survey respondents said they would rely on an online search. Most peoples research into financial advisers (40 per cent) consisted of looking for referrals or recommendations, or via reviews (20 per cent) or news articles (15 per cent). Respondents to the survey listed reliability and reputation as by far the most important factors they considered when choosing a financial adviser. Price was the third most important consideration, closely followed by breadth of service. As FMB managing director Liz Beavis explains, There are so many factors to take into consideration in marketing these days that it can be easy to begin missing the wood for the trees. These results are very helpful in reminding us that often the most effective marketers are satisfied clients themselves, who will share their experiences with others. And, of course, the basis of these positive experiences comes from the one-on[1]one service they receive and staff and advisers making the effort to give them extra help and add value. Liz, who is also a financial planner within the business added: People also said they appreciated honest, clear, jargon-free advice that was personalised to them. This is perhaps no great surprise, but it does go to show the value of being down to earth and taking the time to treat people patiently and like human beings. Online factors The research also found that having a high quality website was only moderately important to many respondents (41 per cent) when choosing a financial adviser, with the important target market of the over-55s placing the least value on this. At the same time, 91 per cent said that social media had no influence on their choice, with 32 per cent getting their information from newspapers and 28 per cent from email newsletters. Ruth Power is Director of Business Development at FMB and says that this was a reminder that it was important for advisers to connect with people using a range of media. Of course, the research doesnt cover how much of a negative effect a poor website may have or how much of a part social media may play in subconsciously nudging people, said Ruth, who is also an entrepreneur in residence at LUMS. However, I think the transition to digital is a slow one when it comes to financial management, because we have a lifetime client journey and different clients access media in different ways. Its about managing that transfer to digital; you cant just flip everything. You have to take into account that still the most important way for people to hear about the business is a recommendation from someone they know and trust. FMB has been working with Lancaster University for a number of years, collaborating on projects to both enhance learning for the students and give insights to the business. Ruth said: We dont have the resources or time to undertake this kind of market research, so student projects give our business something extra. They are looking at things as a blank canvas and often see things from a different perspective. Liz added: Its so refreshing to have new sets of eyes on the business. They have really come up with some interesting findings as to what prompts people to seek advice and how they go about choosing an adviser. This is really important for us to understand, as we go about growing our business and finding new clients. I would recommend that other local businesses take a look at how they can work together. Its great for the students and really injects energy into your business as well. Continue reading article

https://ifamagazine.com/article/what-are-the-key-drivers-in-client-acquisition/

Where will we find the next Uber?

EISAs Director General, Mark Brownridge, is in optimistic mood as he argues why he believes it will be companies from within the EIS and SEIS ranks which will rise to the challenge and become the next Uber or AirBnB So now we know for sure. 2020 was the worst year economically for the UK in 300 years as the UK economy shrank by 9.9%. And the grim reading doesnt stop there. According to the Office of National Statistics, that contraction is more than twice as much as the previous largest annual fall on record and is one of the largest across all the major economies in the world. Not since 1709 has our economy fared so badly. It wasnt disease but cold weather. The Great Frost of 1709 was so cold, there were reports of flocks of birds frozen mid-air and plunging to the ground. Other stories told of corpses impossible to move because they were frozen into their bedsheets. All across Europe rivers iced over, bringing commerce to a halt. Three months of cold weather ruined a years worth of crops, caused starvation and was an economic catastrophe. The UK economy wouldnt recover from it for 10 years. The road ahead This time round, our road to recovery should, fingers crossed, be easier. The Bank of England tells us the economy is like a coiled spring with businesses and households currently in stasis but ready to unleash pent-up growth when the economy is fully reopened. So the prospects of a roaring 20s might provide salvation. Certainly, many of the small business owners and entrepreneurs that we talk to, and as I am sure many of you can testify, have found 2020 to be at best difficult and at worst catastrophic. Small businesses tend to be cashflow dependent; they dont always have large reserves of profit to call upon so any downturn in sales can have a significant effect. So far, we havent seen the number of insolvencies and bankruptcies that we might expect given the situation. There can be little doubt that the Governments interventions such as CBILS, Bounce Back Loans and Future Fund have propped up small businesses. However, as these measures start to get wound down, theres no doubt these numbers will rise. Winners and losers Whats clear is that the pandemic has created winners and losers, both at sector and firm level. At sector level, fairly obviously the hospitality, travel and leisure sectors have had a tough pandemic. Pubs shut, travel banned and social gatherings off limits have meant all almost all firms in these sectors have been decimated. The retail sector has created winners and losers more than most. The major online retailers and supermarkets have had a great pandemic in terms of business performance. Smaller or high street stores with little online presence have struggled or in many cases (Debenhams, Topshop) closed their doors permanently. The other big sector winners have been those sectors which were already starting to see growth but which the pandemic has accelerated at lightning speed, predominantly in tech. Think Zoom, Hopin (first fundraising to Unicorn in 2 years) and Revolut. Other sector success stories, for obvious reasons, have been medtech and biotech. The scramble for vaccines, testing kits, PPE, personalised health and diagnostic equipment has seen a wall of money reach a sector that has typically struggled to access funding given the traditionally longer timescales needed to start and scale such businesses (by contrast BioNTech, who developed the first Covid-19 vaccine with Pfizer, started in 2008 with a seed investment of $150M, an amount a UK biotech startup can only dream of). Continue reading article

https://ifamagazine.com/article/where-will-we-find-the-next-uber/

Can Nets-Bucks Live Up To The Hype?

tchow (Tony Chow, video producer):NBA fans, were back with our NBA postseason chats! On the heels of the defending champions elimination, Ive asked Jared Dubin, Andres Waters and Louis Zatzman to join me to discuss what in the world happened to the Knicks, how the Bucks match up with the Nets Big Three, whos best-positioned to come out of the West and plenty of other questions around the NBA playoffs. Its been a while since weve done one of these, so lets start with a broad question. dubin (Jared Dubin, FiveThirtyEight contributor): The degree to which the Heat were uncompetitive against the Bucks. I wouldnt have picked them to win this year like they did in the bubble, but I did not think theyd be the only team to get swept. tchow: Yeah, thats a good shout, Jared. Given how close Game 1 was, I really expected that to be a much closer series than it was. louis.zatzman (Louis Zatzman, FiveThirtyEight contributor): I think both teams are fairly different this year. Jrue Holiday changes the Bucks, and the Heat never had that top-end gear that they showed at times last year. Still, though, that doesnt explain the Heat folding from Game 2 onward. dubin: The Bucks won Games 2, 3 and 4 by a combined 80 points! I will have to check with the research department, but that sounds like a lot of points. What makes LeBron James so great | FiveThirtyEight dre.waters (Andres Waters, FiveThirtyEight contributor): I was surprised by the lack of competitiveness in the Hawks-Knicks series. Maybe competitiveness is the wrong word, but I really thought that series would have been closer. tchow: OK, Dre. Youre going to go there right off the bat. I love it. I do want to look forward, but lets spend a little bit of time looking back here. dubin: Trae Young really solved the Knicks defense in the final regular-season matchup between those two teams. He had 14 assists when he exited the game with an injury in the third quarter, but the Knicks came back and won after he went out. (And thus won the regular-season series 3-0.) New York (to put it kindly) did not have an answer for him in this playoff series. zatzman: Hes such a good passer when he gets inside the arc that it puts a ton of stress on the defense. And the Knicks just couldnt open up the Hawks defense in the same way, no matter what they tried. related: The Atlanta Hawks Were Going Nowhere Until Nate McMillan Became Their Coach Read more. dubin: In fairness, they did not try very much. Tom Thibodeau has a lot of virtues as a coach, but offensive creativity is not one of them. dre.waters: Exactly why they were tied for the fewest points per game this postseason. zatzman: I was sure theyd try Julius Randle at center at some point. If you cant get a stop, may as well try to score yourself. But, nada. dubin: They used that small-ball look briefly in Game 4, I believe. But they really did not have enough wings to go small for long stretches. But thats because they built a roster for Thibodeau, who always wants to play big. zatzman: Trae Youngs performance against the Knicks points to my biggest surprise of the postseason so far: the ability of playoff rookies (Ja Morant, Devin Booker as well) to adapt to playoff defenses without missing a beat. Thats something I dont remember seeing before. tchow: All right, enough about those Knicks. Lets look ahead in the Eastern Conference. We know all four teams heading into the conference semifinals at this point, and the FiveThirtyEight forecast actually surprised me. It gives the Brooklyn Nets a better shot to beat the Bucks (65 percent) than it gives the Sixers to beat the Hawks (58 percent). dubin: Im assuming the model knows Joel Embiid is injured and is factoring that in. dre.waters: I was just about to say that, Jared, having spent a decent amount of time on the model. Its definitely factoring Embiids injury in. dubin: Yep. Phillys current roster rating is the lowest of all remaining playoff teams. zatzman: Thats surprising to me, then! I would think the Hawks have a good shot with Embiid hurt. The Sixers were not a good offensive team with Embiid on the bench. With DeAndre Hunter back, I could see the Hawks defense surprising us. dre.waters: The Hawks actually rank third in postseason defensive rating. After being among the bottom half of the league during the regular season, thats really surprising as well. But Im sure a big part of that was just the Knicks. dubin: A 42 percent chance of winning is a pretty good shot! The Sixers defense should still be quite good even with Embiid out, and they have a lot of options to throw at Trae, with Ben Simmons, Danny Green and Matisse Thybulle. tchow: Well, the Sixers do have Seth Curry. We were all sad about Steph Curry missing out on the postseason when Seth was sitting right there. zatzman: They dont really have the personnel to do the switch-switch-isolation offense that playoff teams might do to pick on Young. So a lot of the offense might be dependent on Simmons hitting the paint. I am hesitant. dre.waters: Im with you, Louis. We saw Harris have a really good game earlier, and Simmons has played well so far except for his free-throw shooting, whew. But I dont know if they can beat the Hawks when theyre playing like this. dubin: Im interested to see who they use Hunter on. zatzman: Thats such a good question, Jared. Does Bogdanovi guard Harris?! That would be a big ask. dubin: Im also curious to know what Embiid looks like, and if he tries to play through the injury. Im not breaking any news here when I say that Embiid is a different caliber of athlete than I am, but as a two-time meniscus tear veteran, I can confirm that injury is not fun. Embiid also previously had a meniscus tear in his opposite knee, for which the Sixers at first listed him as day-to-day before he eventually needed surgery. tchow: OK, lets dive into the matchup I think everyone is more interested in (sorry Sixers and Hawks fans): Nets vs. Bucks. The Nets looked dominant against a stubborn Boston Celtics team, but the Bucks beat them 2-1 in the regular season, and Giannis put up some pretty incredible numbers against Brooklyn in those games (39.7 points, 10.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists). zatzman: Im watching for Holiday to have his Fred-VanVleet-on-Steph-Curry-in-the-Finals moment, defensively. For the Bucks to win, Holidays individual defense has to be fantastic. dre.waters: Im interested to see what the Nets do to stop Giannis from having his way in the paint. If I remember correctly, the Nets werent too great defending in that area. zatzman: And Giannis had the most dominant season around the rim in the NBA Advanced Stats database, since 1996-97. Every baseball fan should know these Negro League stars | FiveThirtyEight dubin: None of the BucksNets games included all three of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden in the lineup, so I would just as soon throw those results out. Im watching for, in no particular order: How the Bucks deploy Jrue and Giannis on defense, and who picks up whichever star is not defended by one of those two guys. How many different matchups the Nets try on Giannis. Bruce Brown. The U!) zatzman: Re: your first point, Jared, I actually think Giannis should guard a non-star, at least to start. You cant stonewall the Nets offense, so I think it would make more sense to try to cause havoc and force turnovers, and Giannis is one of the best at that in the league. Start him on Blake Griffin (if you can wiggle Lopez elsewhere) or maybe even Joe Harris, and see if you can eke out a transition game. I feel like Giannis has to just spend a lot of time on KD, because Im not sure how else you make it work. zatzman: Thats where the Donte DiVincenzo injury hurts. He offered defensive flexibility to an extent that Forbes doesnt. dubin: Definitely. related: The Bucks Remade Themselves Defensively. Read more. dre.waters: I feel like its more a question of their depth, though, because you cant really expect Blake to do that for maybe seven games. dubin: Yeah, Blake obviously cant handle enough minutes to spend the entire game on him. I think youve just got to keep trying bodies until something works for a few possessions, then change it up when he figures that out, and keep daring him to shoot jumpers. Blake, KD, Nic Claxton, Jordan, Green if he comes back, Brown, whoever can hang for a few possessions gets a turn. dre.waters: I dont think they would want Blake playing that many minutes, either. But Claxton and Brown are disruptive, so I could definitely see them using them in spurts. zatzman: The works for a few possessions thing is important, I think. Neither team is going to stop the others stars for a full game, let alone a full series. The matchups are tough to jury-rig both ways, which means this thing is probably going to be won by a small handful of stops in a row, more or less. Claxton should be big for that, for the Nets. He can get stops! dubin: This series is kind of why Nash spent the whole season experimenting with different stuff. When they have to do it now against an opponent for whom theres not an obvious matchup, theyre used to it and wont spontaneously combust, perhaps like a team that was knocked out of the last two postseasons because it couldnt make adjustments because it spent the whole year playing the same way. (And changed that this year!) tchow: OK, lets flip it now. Like you said, Jared, the Bucks never had to face KD, Kyrie and Harden all together during any of their regular-season games. zatzman: Theyll probably start Lopez, playing drop defense, and following the script they perfected for two seasons. But as Jared said, they have more options now! If Lopezs weaknesses start to outweigh his strengths, defensively, you can turn to Giannis at center or even P.J. Tucker and start switching to grind things down. I think the Bucks matchups will be fluid, at least for stretches of games, with all of Jrue, Khris Middleton and Giannis spending time on all of the Nets stars. dubin: I think using Jrue as a sort-of fire extinguisher makes sense. Start him on whoever of those guys is going off, but if another gets it going, make them deal with Jrue for a few possessions and see what happens. dre.waters: I would think they might go with Middleton on Kyrie and put Holiday on Harden if hes still the main ball-handler, while perhaps Giannis is on KD. dubin: Yeah. Or like Louis said, bring in Tucker and maybe put him on KD, with Giannis helping off of Blake or Brown or Claxton or whoever else is out there. tchow: I love this imagery of Holiday as a fire extinguisher. It immediately made me think of that video game, Overcooked, where you sometimes have to run around putting out fires. zatzman: Jrue is the break in case of, but for every possible disaster. Poor guy. If theres anything more stressful than cooking in a kitchen thats on fire, its having to switch between guarding Kyrie Irving, James Harden and Kevin freaking Durant. So youre onto something here, Tony. But as for the basketball, I like that compromise, Jared. Maybe Giannis cant guard a non-star when Lopez or Forbes is out there (especially both), but there are lineups that would allow it, and Tucker helps there. tchow: OK, before we wrap up this chat, lets talk about the West briefly. The FiveThirtyEight model gives the Jazz a 27 percent chance of winning the Finals, while the Western team with the next-best odds is the Suns with a 12 percent chance after dispatching the Lakers on Thursday night. (Even after wrapping up the Trail Blazers, the Nuggets are still at only 5 percent to win it all.) dubin: Definitely the Los Phoetah Mavgets. dre.waters: I second that pick! dubin: Guaranteed to be both right and wrong. dre.waters: In all honesty, though, if I HAD to make a pick right now, I like Utah. zatzman: Thats fun to hear! I havent heard a lot of confidence in Utah, particularly before the playoffs started. dre.waters: Yeah, it definitely helped, Louis. I dont know if they would have been my pick at the start of the postseason. But once they got Donovan Mitchell back, they have been lights out. And they were good on both sides of the ball in the regular season. He was supposed to get an MRI today. It would be extremely beneficial for Utah if somebody knocked off the Suns before the conference finals, because Chris Paul and Devin Booker against drop coverage is not ideal for the Jazz. zatzman: Jared, you have a point there. They couldnt have had a more beneficial matchup than the Grizzlies, in terms of a team thats not built to capitalize on the Jazz defense. But a lot of teams in the West could hurt the Jazz for playing defense like that the Suns, Clippers, Mavericks, for example. dubin: Chris Paul and Paul George have already torn that coverage apart in previous playoff series. zatzman: Speaking about putting out fires, the West has in large part been a bunch of teams that are scrambling to win rockfights, plus Utah. Whereas the East has been smooth sailing for everyone left. I cant tell if it means the best teams are more dominant in the East (it probably doesnt mean that) or the worst playoff teams are better in the West (this is probably true). But it makes me feel like the Nets-Bucks series has more importance than any other right now. dubin: Given Embiids injury, I feel pretty good about the winner of Nets-Bucks will win the Finals. Check out our latest NBA predictions. | FiveThirtyEight

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/can-nets-bucks-live-up-to-the-hype/

How Much Do Americans Really Care About Bipartisanship?

Welcome to Pollapalooza, our weekly polling roundup. Poll(s) of the week Despite the countrys deeply polarized politics, President Biden has suggested he can get the GOP to work with him. But he and his fellow Democrats have struggled to garner Republican support in Congress on big-ticket items, even though polls have shown at least some degree of support among Republican voters for policy proposals like the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package passed in March and new spending on infrastructure. This has presented the Biden administration with a quandary: Republican voters back some of its policies, but Republican lawmakers seem unlikely to vote for them. Enter the White Houses attempts to redefine bipartisanship as support from Republicans in the broader public instead of those in Congress. According to a new Morning Consult poll, though, Americans arent really buying it. When given three interpretations of the word bipartisan, only 10 percent of voters said it involved getting broad support from voters across the political spectrum; 32 percent said it had to involve wide support among lawmakers from both parties, while 43 percent said it was best defined as including support from both lawmakers and voters across partisan divides (14 percent didnt know or had no opinion). The poll didnt ask voters their views on each of the three definitions separately, so we dont know whether they would find all of them at least somewhat credible; nevertheless, they were least likely to back the White Houses characterization of bipartisanship. Yet despite not agreeing with the Biden administrations definition of bipartisanship, voters in the Morning Consult survey did think that among the major figures in Washington mentioned, Biden was the most interested in achieving bipartisanship: 53 percent agreed that he cared about getting bipartisan support for major legislation while only 34 percent disagreed. Democrats overwhelmingly agreed with this view, of course, but so did about 1 in 5 Republicans. By comparison, less than 40 percent of voters said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer cared about achieving bipartisanship, and less than 30 percent said the same of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Americans have long said they prefer that the parties work together, and respondents in Morning Consults poll were no different. For instance, 85 percent of voters said it was very or somewhat important for legislation to have bipartisan support, 69 percent agreed that policies with bipartisan backing were the best policies, and 62 percent disagreed with the idea that it was a waste of time for politicians to seek bipartisan support. Whats more, there were no meaningful differences between how Democrats and Republicans answered these questions. However, polls also show that many Americans are willing to scrap bipartisanship if it means passing legislation that their party prefers. For instance, a 2019 poll from the Pew Research Center found that despite majorities of Democrats (69 percent) and Republicans (61 percent) saying it was very important that elected officials be willing to compromise, members of both parties thought it was more important for officials from the other party to compromise than it was for officials from their own party to do so. Seventy-nine percent of Democrats thought it was very important for Republican lawmakers to compromise compared with just 41 percent of Republicans. Likewise, 78 percent of Republicans thought it was very important for Democratic lawmakers to compromise compared with 48 percent of Democrats. related: Bidens Push For Big Government Solutions Is Popular Now But It Could Backfire Read more. And wanting the other side to make more concessions is well established in the research we have on voters preferences for legislative outcomes. According to a 2014 study by political scientists Laurel Harbridge, Neil Malhotra and Brian F. Harrison, respondents preferred legislation when their party got more of what it wanted and when it dominated the coalition that passed the bill versus the outcomes that were more bipartisan-oriented. In fact, respondents sometimes viewed bipartisan tradeoffs as the equivalent of a legislative defeat for their party. Notably, the researchers found this effect even though they tested respondents attitudes on fairly noncontroversial policies funding for NASA or legislation to make it easier for small businesses to obtain loans. That means its possible that these effects could be even more pronounced on more divisive legislation. In other words, voters like bipartisanship more in theory than in practice. But that doesnt mean bipartisan support isnt still important politically. Voters may prefer more partisan policy results, but their stated desire for bipartisanship means that politicians can still benefit by at least trying to work together. Notably, Morning Consults poll found that 75 percent of voters respected politicians more when they made efforts to get bipartisan support, with essentially no difference between how Democrats and Republicans answered. Making bipartisan appeals could also help politicians appear more moderate to the electorate, which in turn could make them more attractive to a broader slice of the public and boost their electoral chances. In 2020, for instance, the strongest-performing candidates in U.S. House elections tended to be more ideologically moderate. And Biden, of course, also ran as a moderate in the Democratic primary and went on to win the 2020 presidential contest while talking a lot about unity and working with Republicans. He may never have expected to actually achieve much bipartisan compromise once in office, but its little surprise that Bidens not abandoning bipartisan talking points since appearing somewhat more moderate than former President Donald Trump may have been a critical factor in his victory. Other bites An April poll by Pew found that 60 percent of Americans strongly or somewhat favored the death penalty for people convicted of murder, compared with 39 percent who strongly or somewhat opposed it. Majorities did however express concerns about some aspects of the death penalty: 78 percent said there was some risk that an innocent person would be put to death, and 63 percent said the death penalty didnt deter people from committing serious crimes. Gallups latest polling on American attitudes toward Israel and Palestinians found some small but notable shifts compared with its past surveys. On the one hand, three-fourths of Americans expressed very or mostly favorable views toward Israel, which represented little change from previous surveys. But the share of Americans who had more sympathy for Palestinians in the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict inched up to 25 percent in February, the highest total Gallup has recorded in the past 20 years. (To be clear, though, sympathy for Israelis is still much higher, as 58 percent said they sympathized more with the Israelis.) This greater sympathy for Palestinians is mostly due to Democrats having more favorable views, as support for Palestinians has grown more popular among some Democrats. Gallup found, however, that Democrats were still very split on which side they sympathized with more: 42 percent said the Israelis, and 39 percent said the Palestinians. By comparison, though, a whopping 79 percent of Republicans said they sympathized more with the Israelis. The American Jewish Committees new survey of attitudes among American Jews found that 70 percent approved of Bidens job performance, while 26 percent disapproved. However, the president did get somewhat lower ratings for his handling of U.S.-Israel relations, with just 58 percent approving and 27 percent disapproving (15 percent didnt know). When asked whether they thought peace between Israel and Palestinians was possible, 60 percent said things hadnt changed much over the past year, while 25 percent said they were less optimistic and 14 percent said they were more optimistic. However, this poll was conducted largely before the most recent conflict in Gaza, so its possible that respondents pessimism would be higher now. In the latest edition of way-too-early presidential polling, YouGov/Yahoo News tested a potential rematch between Biden and Trump and found Biden ahead 46 percent to 36 percent. In addition, 53 percent of Americans said they didnt want Trump to run in 2024 at all, including 82 percent of Democrats, 53 percent of independents and 19 percent of Republicans. His continued hold over the GOP was clear, however, as 65 percent of Republicans said they wanted Trump to seek the presidency in the next election. After being delayed by a year due to COVID-19, the Summer Olympics are coming up in July in Tokyo, and 49 percent of Americans told the Seton Hall Sports Poll they planned to watch some parts of the games, about the same as the 51 percent who said they watched in 2016. And fans may have to be OK with just streaming or watching on TV, as organizers have already said foreign fans and families of athletes wont be able to attend because of the pandemic. In fact, at this point its unclear whether Japanese fans will be allowed to attend. Despite this, only 22 percent of Americans said the absence of fans would make them less likely to watch. The pandemic halted many gatherings or moved them online, but Gallup found that in-person attendance at religious services has increased as the threat from COVID-19 has decreased. Conducted from early to mid-May, the poll found that 20 percent of Americans had attended an in-person service in the past week, and 10 percent said they attended one virtually. Back in May 2020, only 3 percent said they had attended an in-person service, and 28 percent said they had attended virtually. Biden approval According to FiveThirtyEights presidential approval tracker, 53.2 percent of Americans approve of the job Biden is doing as president, while 40.3 percent disapprove (a net approval rating of +12.8 percentage points). At this time last week, 54.2 percent approved and 40.4 percent disapproved (a net approval rating of +13.9 points). One month ago, Biden had an approval rating of 53.5 percent and a disapproval rating of 40.0 percent, for a net approval rating of +13.5 points. I buy that lotteries are a smart nudge to improve vaccination rates: Nate Silver How racial justice protests have started a contemporary culture war

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-much-do-americans-really-care-about-bipartisanship/

Is Our Primary System Broken?

Welcome to FiveThirtyEights politics chat. The transcript below has been lightly edited. sarah (Sarah Frostenson, politics editor): Were still more than a year away from the 2022 midterms, but the first phase of the election cycle has already begun: the primaries. Both major parties are beginning to decide which candidates they will place on the ballot come Nov. 2022, and they each face choices. In the GOP, candidates are vying to align themselves with Trump, in personality and policy. On the Democratic side, progressive candidates are challenging more moderate incumbents. Theres conflict all around. Remember, primaries are still a relatively new thing in the U.S.; they didnt really come about until the late 1890s and early 1990s, and much of the way our presidential primaries work is by accident. So lets discuss the role of primaries and how they help (or hurt) democracy, and what we can expect the primary season to tell us about the 2022 midterm elections. First, lets get a quick temperature of the room. galen (Galen Druke, podcast producer and reporter): I think our primary system is broken. But maybe our whole party system is broken and the primaries are just a symptom. Its difficult to poll how many people believe in QAnon geoffrey.skelley (Geoffrey Skelley, elections analyst): With some caveats about potentially better systems that might exist, I dont think the primary system is broken. And yeah, that has a lot to do with the fact that, as Galen says, Im not sure our primaries are necessarily the root of the problem. julia_azari (Julia Azari, political science professor at Marquette University and FiveThirtyEight contributor): I think the primary system is broken, but not because of ideological extremism. I think our system of democratic responsiveness is broken. Voters are becoming increasingly dissatisfied and drawn to anti-system alternatives because their needs are not being met. sarah: Ooh disagreement, good! OK, now that we know everyones starting point, lets talk a little bit about why primaries were founded in the first place, or why it is that we have the system we do. related: Politics Podcast: Its Already Time To Keep An Eye On 2022 Primaries Read more. galen: We did a whole audio documentary series on this so Im happy to take a shot at it. Essentially, our current primary system is the product of happenstance. The party apparatus itself used to be overwhelmingly in charge of choosing presidential nominees. But starting with the Progressive Era in the early 20th century, rank-and-file voters got more input albeit, more of a suggestion than actually choosing the nominees. Nominees were still chosen at state and national party meetings by party insiders who represented various interests like unions or the elite or what have you, as opposed to by voters at the ballot box. This changed after a disastrous Democratic nominating convention in 1968 that resulted in violence in Chicago. Democratic activists demanded reforms and those followed, in relatively short order, creating the system we have today. Under this system, delegates to state or national conventions are meant to nominate candidates that voters have chosen in transparent primary contests that are held within the same calendar year as the general election. But the system we have today is still very much a patchwork of different rules by state. geoffrey.skelley: Right, prior to the widespread adoption of primaries by the early 20th century, most party nominations were decided by variants of a caucus-convention system. But people became frustrated with let me know if this sounds familiar elites manipulating the process. sarah: Those damn party elites; need em but also love to hate em. julia_azari: You sometimes see nostalgia in political science communities for a smoke-filled room to pick candidates and Im really not in that camp. That ship has sailed, and it decidedly wasnt that great. Its the patchwork and guesswork of the contemporary primary that I object to. galen: I will agree and disagree with Julia. The proverbial smoke-filled rooms work, but they can only really be responsive to the public if there is opportunity for new parties to be born and die like there is in other democracies, and that just isnt the case in the U.S. julia_azari: I also want to emphasize that the movement this came out of Progressivism had some serious problems, like ignoring and sometimes participating in racist practices. But the push for the primary system also wasnt just about abstract principles of good government; there were also OTHER party elites who saw primaries as a way to gain power, so this isnt a cut and dried story of elites vs. masses. It never is. galen: In many states, primaries were ushered in by activists who wanted a specific outcome that they werent getting. julia_azari: Right, exactly. And the role activists played sorta gets lost in the discussion. galen: For instance, in the case of 1968 Democratic nominating convention, the thing party activists werent getting was a suitably antiwar candidate, for those interested in the history. And basically, party activists demanded changes, got them, and have played a big role in the system ever since. geoffrey.skelley: The 1968 convention also gets to Julias point about democratic responsiveness. Hubert Humphrey didnt run in a single primary and yet won the Democratic nomination. So there were definitely demands among activists to prevent that from happening again. julia_azari: I still think theres a role, though, for indirect democracy in our primaries as long as there is representation and coordination. This was my big concern in the 2020 Democratic primary there was so much emphasis on defeating the other side (centrists vs. ), which struck me as at odds with coming up with a ticket that could actually reflect the party more broadly. Additionally, one of the key things following 1968 and the reforms that came after, is that both parties got better at representation more women, people of color, younger voters. The Democratic Party still has some of these rules for delegates at the national convention (the Republican National Committee and some state parties also have some gender parity rules). galen: Although perhaps some irony here, Julia, is that studies of party-controlled primaries in other countries have shown that, at least in the case of representation of women, party conventions produce more parity. geoffrey.skelley: Well, they were in part they certainly seem more small-d democratic than other methods of choosing nominees. Progressive reformers believed primaries would be harder for party elites to control compared to caucuses and conventions, where they might manipulate rules or buy support in some way to help their preferred candidate. But popular politicians still felt they might benefit politically from primaries, too, so self-interest also played a role in their development. Take presidential primaries, which first took place in 1912 when former president Theodore Roosevelt challenged President William Taft for the GOP nomination. Roosevelt pushed for primaries by arguing the party should let the people rule, which played into progressive sentiments at the time. But Roosevelt also knew he would have a hard time winning if primaries werent adopted because party insiders would back Taft and thats what ultimately happened. Despite Roosevelts many primary victories, Taft narrowly won renomination, which, in turn, prompted Roosevelt to walk out of the Republican National Convention and run as a third-party candidate. galen: Transparency and fairness were the rationale. And in some ways primaries achieved that; in other ways they didnt, just like having people vote doesnt always produce consensus outcomes. The design of the voting process matters, and the primaries are not designed well. Its worth mentioning, too, that the U.S. is very unique in its primary process. Basically no other country has primaries as open as we do. Most countries leave it up to the parties to decide who they want to run in general elections. julia_azari: Right. I dont think we can downplay the strategic considerations that went into the development of the primary process. Different kinds of candidates and factions thought they could benefit from having a different kind of process that empowered voters rather than conventions. Some defenders of the current system also argue that the way voters are involved can be a benefit to parties and the process as a whole; primaries require candidates to show they can be competitive in different kinds of electorates. For instance, take Barack Obamas success in winning over white voters in the 2008 Iowa caucuses. Or John F. Kennedy showing that as a Catholic he could still appeal to a Protestant electorate in West Virginia. I dont think its a coincidence that these examples are both about identity, but its also about the primary system helping show general appeal and prowess as a candidate. Read more. galen: I have so many thoughts right now. And my keyboard is broken. julia_azari: As do I Galen, as I have some issues with that piece from the Atlantic, but luckily my keyboard isnt broken. First, its just not clear that primaries are a key source of polarization rather than a reflection of it. Second, theres some disagreement among political scientists about whether primary voters are more extreme than other voters (I would argue that the consensus has generally shown that they are not), but evidence also shows that primary voters are pretty nuanced/sophisticated. They care about electability. They can be convinced to vote for moderates. And putting voters aside for a moment, its far from a consensus that primaries actually contribute to polarization. Third, other research suggests that parties still have a lot of influence in Congressional primaries, and maybe even in presidential primaries, Trump notwithstanding. OK, Im done monologuing now. geoffrey.skelley: That first point, Julia, is really important. Polarization in Congress actually went down as the use of primaries skyrocketed in the early 20th century. And yet polarization then increased again while primaries continued to be in use almost everywhere. So connecting primaries as a cause of polarization is just really problematic. In fact, recent studies have suggested primaries may not even be exacerbating polarization. That may sound surprising, but there isnt a ton of evidence that more extreme candidates are more likely to win primaries. We just tend to focus on those who do. julia_azari: Right, Geoffrey. I also think we just dont have a good handle on what we mean by ideology sometimes. The 2014 House election in the Virginia 7th Congressional District is a good example of this. When David Brat defeated Eric Cantor in 2014, it was heralded as a sign of what was to come in the Republican Party. And to some extent it was, but the ideological story is not so simple. Cantor was very conservative! And while there is evidence that GOP lawmakers are getting more conservative, what weve really seen is not this giant lurch to the right, but more so an adoption and embrace of an anti-establishment brand, as that was sort of the point with a lot of these Tea Party candidates. That hasnt exactly been great for governance, but its not the same thing as polarization or moving to the ideological extremes. (Additionally, that district is now represented by a moderate Democrat.) How racial justice protests have started a contemporary culture war galen: So I think there are two responses to criticisms of the current design of our primary system (and to be clear, it is poorly, and inadvertently designed). One is to make primaries more like a general election in which more people vote so its not just highly partisan people voting. The other is to revert primaries to proverbial smoke-filled rooms in which party insiders choose who runs in the general. This piece Sarah shared argues for the former. The potential problem there is that we arent sure primaries are driving polarization as Julia and Geoffrey have mentioned. But even if, say, primaries do drive polarization because they attract a small electorate, making them more open isnt a surefire way to increase participation. They could just as well remain low turnout affairs that attract highly ideological voters. And even if more open primaries do increase turnout, that expanded electorate wont necessarily prioritize the things that parties usually care about in selecting nominees like policy and the long term health of the party. geoffrey.skelley: Yeah, higher turnout in primaries isnt a magic solution to nominate more moderate candidates. For instance, Shigeo Hirano at Columbia University and James M. Snyder Jr. at Harvard University noted in their book on primary elections that while primary electorates became somewhat more moderate as turnout went up, there was no relationship between turnout and how ideologically extreme a nominee was in House races from 1992 to 2014. galen: In some ways the argument espoused in the Atlantic does seem to fit a period of time when party affiliation is declining and the parties are relatively weak. The problem is parties do have a role to play in democracy because rank-and-file voters often know very little about policy or candidates, etc., and parties add structure and meaning. But obviously, that can all get out of hand too. Arguably one of the biggest problems with going back to smoke-filled rooms at this point is that the parties are pretty weak and those smoke-filled rooms themselves would be controlled by ideologues and activists and people who may not care about the long term health of the party or maybe worse, the long term health of democracy. sarah: That hits on a point I was thinking about Galen. There has been a recent rise in the number of Americans who identify politically as independent. julia_azari: I mean, Im a little skeptical because nearly half of all states have open primary elections. Maybe but they can also open the door to more people running against the party itself and basically running as demagogues who dont care about policy. geoffrey.skelley: And a fair number of states have semi-closed primaries, whereby independents can still choose to vote in one partys primary. Only 11 states have fully closed primaries that prevent anyone outside the party from voting in a party primary. But again, open primaries arent a magical pixie dust for polarization. You can still get extreme candidates in high-turnout open primaries, too. julia_azari: Right, to use Wisconsin (where I live), as an example. Our primaries are pretty much as open as you can get. You dont have to ask for a Republican or Democratic ballot you choose which partys race you want to vote in in the privacy of the voting booth. But our Senate delegation isnt exactly unpolarized, and weve been at the epicenter of some very nasty, polarized politics. People think competition in our elections makes people compromise, but it can also just provide an incentive to differentiate and take down the other side. geoffrey: Ah, the alternatives conversation. related: Few Americans Who Identify As Independent Are Actually Independent. Thats Really Bad For Politics. Read more. sarah: Its time for it. galen: The idea of open primaries, in which all candidates run on the same ballot and you use ranked choice voting to narrow is an interesting reform. It gets you closer to a consensus, but obviously, it may weaken the parties faster, which again, is not necessarily all that good even if you dont like the current political state of affairs. Because even in the Wisconsin example, you are still ultimately activating people to be partisans in the primary, because there are two different ballots. That is, Republicans and Democrats arent competing in the primary, but if they did compete, things might be different. geoffrey.skelley: Yeah, Im not so sure about that, Galen. Top-two primary systems like in California and Washington havent necessarily produced more moderate members in the state legislatures. Now, we dont exactly have a long history with those, so that limits how much we can say about them. But I dont think theyre some panacea either. Moreover, they can produce clearly problematic outcomes when two candidates from the same party advance in a district that on paper would be competitive in a general election. julia_azari: I dont really know what this translates into systems-wise, but my perspective on this is that a new system shouldnt be focused on candidates or on achieving moderation or any other particular result. Instead reforms should be focused on voters and what they want and are not getting. galen: Thats a really good point, Julia. If you try to redesign a democratic system just looking for a specific result in the near term, you are likely going to create knock-on effects that you dont want, and it may not even reflect overarching democratic goals/norms. A good example of this is the U.K.s experience with the Fixed-term Parliaments Act. It was designed to establish regularly scheduled general elections every five years, instead of allowing the prime minister to call elections as they wish. But instead of creating a more equitable election system, the act is now criticized for having created parliamentary paralysis and is under consideration to be repealed after just 10 years in place. geoffrey.skelley: In a vacuum, I think ranked-choice voting is good in the sense that voters can make choices that will lead to more consensus-driven outcomes. You have to get majority support to win at some point. However, ranked-choice voting can involve longer, more complicated ballots, which could cause fewer voters to complete their ballots and discourage turnout. The current system isnt great. Weve said a lot of the reforms arent either. Im stuck. julia_azari: Yeah. Ive been reading open-ended survey responses for some research and, admittedly, these are the folks who are angry enough to write something, but it seems like the issue is that people arent really getting represented and feel like theres a ruling class. You could argue that polarization prevents better public policy from being passed, but it seems just as likely that moderates in governing positions would do a lot to preserve the status quo. And now that someones asked about solutions, Ive gone silent geoffrey.skelley: So as with most things, there are tradeoffs. And considering that the moderate middle is a myth when it comes to voters, I dont know that ranked-choice voting is going to bring about more consensus-oriented results. Maybe candidates are pushed to campaign that way, but in terms of the payoff, it may be too soon to tell with only a few places using such systems. julia_azari: Primaries are not necessarily the biggest problem we have either in a country where there is a growing anti-democratic movement. galen: So basically, I think my takeaway is that making democracy well-designed and getting people to be less angry/partisan/polarized are two different things. And they are very often conflated in our current environment. sarah: Yeah, I was going to say, it seems as if there was actually quite a bit of consensus system in this chat the primary system could be improved (less consensus here on what reforms would work best; more experiments in democracy, please), and no, its not because of the primary system that were polarized. julia_azari: If only all Americans could have a slack chat, theyd find their common ground! I do think Galen and I disagree a bit about smoke-filled rooms, though. geoffrey.skelley: Theres also some disagreement regarding whether the current system is worth preserving, but I think that yeah, theres agreement that its minor compared to the larger forces driving polarization. 20 questions with Nate Silver and Galen Druke | FiveThirtyEight Politics Podcast What would have to happen for a 3rd party to be viable

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/is-our-primary-system-broken/

Who Will Stand by Queen Elizabeth's Side at Her First Birthday Parade Since Prince Philip's Death?

Queen Elizabeth will be joined by her cousin at this year's Trooping the Colour. For the second year in a row, the public celebration of the monarch's birthday has been scaled down due to the coronavirus pandemic. But on June 12, Queen Elizabeth will be accompanied by Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, to see a parade in the Quadrangle of Windsor Castle. Get push notifications with news, features and more. Upon their arrival, the Queen and Prince Edward will be greeted by a royal salute and the national anthem will be played. The parade will be held by the Household Division, led by the Foot Guards and joined by the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery and the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment. Music will be played by a Massed Band of the Household Division, which will include 1st Battalion Scots Guards Pipes and Drums. The parade will commence with a 41-gun royal salute from Windsor Castle's East Lawn. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Edward, Duke of Kent Queen Elizabeth and Prince Edward, Duke of Kent | Credit: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images This marks Queen Elizabeth's first Trooping the Colour since her husband Prince Philip died on April 9 at age 99. Prince Philip retired from royal duties in 2017 and skipped the public birthday festivities in 2018, 2019 and 2020. queen elizabeth Queen Elizabeth at Trooping the Colour 2020 | Credit: Pool/Samir Hussein/WireImage Get the premiere issue of PEOPLE Royals for glamorous new photos and inside stories royals fans haven't seen or read elsewhere! Subscribe at peopleroyals.com/launch Trooping the Colour usually attracts thousands of people onto the streets of central London to view the procession of horseback-riding royals and carriages. The day's highlight is the royal family gathering on the iconic Buckingham Palace balcony to witness a traditional fly-past. Last year, the army staged a smaller-scale parade and celebration at Windsor Castle, with just the Queen in attendance. Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more! Although the Queen's 95th birthday was on April 21, Trooping the Colour always takes place in the early summer of the second weekend in June. The reason is a practical matter more than anything: the weather is nicer!

https://people.com/royals/trooping-the-colour-2021-plans-announced-queen-elizabeth-joined-duke-of-kent/

Can corporates net-zero drive help put tropical countries on rapid road to ending deforestation?

Terry Slavin looks at the LEAF coalition, an initiative backed by the U.S., Britain and Norway that aims to channel carbon-offsetting finance into saving tropical forests One important announcement to come out of Joe Bidens Earth Summit was the launch of the LEAF coalition, a $1bn a year programme that hopes to unleash a flood of private sector finance for tropical forests. It has the backing of the U.S., Britain and Norway, alongside nine multinational companies including Salesforce, Amazon, Unilever and Nestl. Tropical forests are critically important for carbon storage and biodiversity, yet they are being lost at an alarming rate. In 2020 alone, 4.2m hectares of humid tropical primary forests were lost, according to WRI. That was an increase of 12% on 2019, and the resulting carbon emissions (2.64 Gt) equalled that from India in 2018. WRI says forests currently receive less than 3% of climate funding, mainly through public sector lending, yet have the potential to provide more than 23% of the climate mitigation needed by 2030, and private finance is sorely needed to fill the gap. One reason for the dearth of private finance is that investing in tropical forest conservation has had a chequered history, first in the Clean Development Mechanism, and then in REDD (Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation). Both programmes were criticised by NGOs of trampling on the rights of indigenous people and displacing deforestation from one place to another without actually cutting emissions. Under LEAF, companies can only take delivery of the credits if they have a 1.5C aligned science-based target Although REDD was renamed REDD+ and redesigned about 10 years ago to address many of its failings, forestry offsets have been left with a serious image problem, and credits per tonne of avoided CO2 cost as little as $3-$5, a tenth of the price of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. Yet with companies looking to buy offsets as part of their net-zero emissions plans, as well as the airline industrys Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), which is initially voluntary, the Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Market estimates that demand for carbon credits could increase 15-fold to $50bn by 2030. Thats a big pot of potential finance the coalition hopes that it can tap if it can bring cast-iron social and environmental integrity to the forest offsets market both on the side of sellers of the credits and to ensure buyers are not using them in lieu of cutting their own emissions. The LEAF programme will channel private sector finance into helping countries like Costa Rica preserve tropical forests. (Credit: CocosBounty/Shutterstock) Under LEAF, which stands for Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest finance, companies can only take delivery of the credits if they have a 1.5C aligned science-based target, covering all three scopes, and be signed up to the UN Race to Zero campaign, which sets strict rules on offsets only being used when companies have done the utmost to cut their own emissions. They will have to publicly report on both their greenhouse gas emissions and their use of carbon credits, and be independently audited. The key difference on the supply side is that projects to be funded will be chosen by the countries themselves, in line with their commitments to cut their national emissions under the Paris Agreement. To be accepted to the scheme, the countries plans should demonstrate equity , inclusivity and transparency, reach local communities, particularly indigenous people, and support wider climate goals. If we are going to solve biodiversity loss and the climate crisis, we need to leverage all the tools at our disposal The price of the credits has been set initially at $10 per tonne of CO2, two or three times what is being paid currently a floor price that is being guaranteed by the three donor countries that are part of the LEAF coalition. In an emailed response to questions, Thomas Lingard, Unilevers global environment director, described LEAF as a globally applicable, scalable way to create financial incentives for ending deforestation for good, potentially unlocking billions of dollars for forest protection. Eron Bloomgarden, executive director of Emergent, a U.S. nonprofit that will act as an intermediary between the coalition buyers and tropical forest country sellers of credits. He said the involvement of donor countries and the public-private nature of LEAF will be critical to its success. If we are going to solve biodiversity loss and the climate crisis . we need to leverage all the tools at our disposal not just private investment, but also the tools the public sector has at its disposal such as enforcement, tax policy, the development of new protected areas and moratoria on different practices, like new palm oil plantations. The original REDD programme was accused of trampling on the rights of indigenous people. (Credit: Ricardo Moraes/Reuters) Guyana, Costa Rica and three Brazilian states have already indicated that they will look to respond to a July 22 deadline for the first call for proposals, and the first agreements expected to be signed by the end of this year. During an interview at Reuters Events Responsible Business Summit, Costa Ricas president, Carlos Alvarado, applauded the initiatives potential to attract private sector funding to help his country expand its forest cover to 60% by 2030. He pointed out that Costa Rica managed to increase its forest cover from 20% to over 50% over a period of 20 years after introducing payments for environmental services in the 1990s, but without any REDD+ funding. Finance instead came from domestic taxes and loans/grants from international financial institutions, development banks and conservation groups. We need to encourage the private sector to see activities protecting forests are real services that benefit humanity We have a public-private system in place in Costa Rica to protect forests, but it isnt necessarily recognised within a carbon market, Alvarado said. This initiative will work not only to finance protection of forests, but it will have other positive externalities for the people who live in them, particularly indigenous people. We need to encourage the private sector to see that these [activities protecting forests] are real services that benefit humanity. Selling countries will have to meet the TREES standard (The REDD+ Environmental Excellence Standard), setting rules for how jurisdictions measure, monitor, report and verify emission reductions for reducing deforestation and degradation, including environmental and social safeguards. Mary Grady, is executive director of U.S. nonprofit ART, which has developed the standard. Demand from business and aviation scheme CORSIA is pushing up carbon credits. (Credit: Liviu Constantin Popa/Shutterstock) She said TREES was designed based on learnings from the World Bank Forest Carbon Partnership programme, REDD+ early movers, and some of the bilateral payment for performance agreements, such as that between Norway and Indonesia, and Norway and Gabon, which have been effective in reducing deforestation in those countries, but took years of painstaking negotiations. What we wanted to do to attract private capital at scale to ART is to make the rules the same for all the participants. Key to this is setting a common $10 price per tonne of CO2 avoided, though this price could climb in future. Grady says participating countries have different options: they can sell credits to a corporate buyer, an airline under the CORSIA scheme, or one of the participating governments could use LEAF to make a performance-based payment. We do not believe that emissions reductions or avoided emissions credits should be used to achieve companies net-zero targets And while companies buying the credits will use them to support carbon-neutral claims, they will only be able to sell the credits once before they are retired, with any profit going to the supplier country. Asked how Unilever intends to use any credits it buys through LEAF, Lingard said engagement with LEAF would be additional to Unilevers work reducing its own emissions, including programmes to end deforestation in the production of palm oil, soy and cocoa in its supply chain. Eliminating deforestation from commodity value chains is a critical element of our strategy, and we see LEAF as a systems-level tool to help achieve that. Our participation in the LEAF is therefore not about offsetting emissions but rather about ending deforestation. We do not believe that emissions reductions or avoided emissions credits should be used to achieve companies net-zero targets. These should be achieved through deep cuts in emissions, complemented by carbon removals to balance residual emissions. LEAF is critical to the development of moratoria on new palm oil plantations. (Credit: Rich Carey/Shutterstock) But not all companies will necessarily have the same attitude, and it remains to be seen whether the environmental and social safeguards built into LEAF and its hybrid public-private sector model, will answer critics of the voluntary offsets market such as Assaad Razzouk, a Singapore-based clean-energy entrepreneur who is host of the The Angry Clean Energy Guy podcast. Razzouk, who spent 15 years developing carbon-reduction projects in countries like China, Indonesia, India and the U.S., says efforts to scale up the voluntary offsets market should be resisted. We have a 15-year track record that says compliance markets [like emissions trading schemes in the EU and New Zealand] work, but voluntary markets dont. We have to move not to net zero, but to zero. Actions that do not decrease emissions directly are meaningless. By demonstrating long-term demand signals for credits, the concept is to get countries on a rapid pathway to zero deforestation He is particularly critical of the offsetting plans of energy companies like Shell, which continues to increase its oil and gas production while asking its customers to pay a premium to offset emissions from their cars. At the same time, channelling private sector funding to a country like Costa Rica, where the political will is clear, where the buy-in from the population exists, and where the action on the ground is consistent with the political will and buy-in . might work, Razzouk says, but only if corporates buying the credits follow Unilever's approach and "don't do anything with them not even count them against their emissions reduction. The minute that happens, you are back to the problem of integrity. But Bloomgarden of LEAF says private finance is critical in the fight against deforestation. What were doing is connecting [public sector action to protect forests] to this resurgence of interest of corporates in net zero and climate commitments. By demonstrating long-term demand signals [for credits], not just from the public sector, but from corporate buyers, the concept is to get countries on a rapid pathway to zero deforestation. This article is part of The Ethical Corporation summer 2021 in-depth briefing on natural capital. Click on the cover to download your digital copy for free.

https://www.reutersevents.com/sustainability/can-corporates-net-zero-drive-help-put-tropical-countries-rapid-road-ending-deforestation

What is the Jolie gene and could a new drug prevent recurring breast cancer?

When Angelina Jolie announced in May 2013 that she had tested positive for a BRCA1 gene mutation and chosen to have a double mastectomy, it encouraged a surge in women to get tested for the hereditary mutation, which can significantly increase a womans chances of developing breast and ovarian cancer. The 37-year-old mother of six explained her reasons for having the surgery at the time. She said her doctors estimated she had an 87 per cent risk of breast cancer and a 50 per cent risk of ovarian cancer. "I decided to be proactive and to minimise the risk as much I could," she wrote. Now a new drug, Olaparib, has shown promising results in treating cancer sufferers with the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations, offering hope for the future. Everyone has BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes they produce proteins that help to repair DNA. However, 1 in 400 people has BRCA gene mutations. Women with the faulty BRCA1 gene have a 60 to 90 per cent risk of developing breast cancer and a 40 to 60 per cent risk of developing ovarian cancer in their lifetimes. Men with the gene mutation also have an increased risk of developing male breast cancer and prostate cancer. People who have got BRCA mutations BRCA 1 and 2 mutations tend to get the kinds of breast cancer that are more aggressive, says Professor Andrew Tutt, Professor of Oncology at The Institute of Cancer Research and Kings College London. While he estimates less than five per cent of people with breast cancer have a BRCA mutation, he says 10 to 20 per cent of those with the more aggressive triple-negative breast cancer have the BRCA1 gene mutation. Professor Tutt is the lead author on a recently published study into the drug, Olaparib, which has been shown to reduce the risk of breast cancer returning in those with the BRCA mutation by 42 per cent. The OlympiA phase-three study, conducted by the Institute of Cancer Research and coordinated by the Breast International Group, evaluated 1,836 breast cancer patients; half were given Olaparib and the other half were given a placebo drug to take after completing chemotherapy treatment for a year. Two years later, 77.1 per cent of those who had the placebo were cancer-free, but this figure was significantly higher 85.9 per cent for patients who took Olaparib. Significantly, the researchers also assessed disease-free survival three years after treatment and found that taking the drug reduced the risk of cancer spreading to other parts of the body by 43 per cent. Tutt is reluctant to say that this proves that Olaparib could be a long-term cure. Its still quite early in the follow-up, he says. When youre talking about a cure, you need quite long-term evidence because breast cancer can take a long time to recur. For this reason, the study will monitor the participants for 10 years. Significantly, Oliparib has not been shown to prevent cancer from taking hold in the first place. Instead, this new study shows that the drug could prevent breast cancer from recurring. The patients involved in the trial had had all of their visible cancer removed. However, Tutt says, a significant number of people who have their cancer removed can have a recurrence or cancer can move to other organs in the body (metastasis). He describes the undetectable traces of cancer post-treatment as seeds or seedlings which can lead to metastasis. The trial was designed to see if Olaparib could treat those invisible seedlings of cancer and reduce the rate at which women got those metastases or recurrences which are life-threatening. Thats what the trial was doing. Thats not the same as prevention of a new cancer. The study did prove conclusive in preventing the recurrence of breast cancer, he says. We do have an answer to the main aim, which is can it reduce the recurrence of life-threatening breast cancer, Tutt says, and the answer is yes. However, it is not yet known whether Olaparib could prevent a new cancer from developing. Yes there is the potential that that might be true but we have not asked that question and we do not have that answer, Tutt says. He believes such trials might be the next step. As the drug has not been proven to prevent women from developing breast cancer in the first place, it is unlikely, at this stage, that it will have an impact on the number of women taking precautions such as preemptive mastectomies. However, if Olaparib receives a license to prevent breast cancer recurrence, it could still benefit people who are recovering from breast cancer. It would be an additional treatment to keep them alive and well without recurrent disease, Tutt says. Its worth noting that women are not the only ones who could benefit; it could prevent recurrences in men who have developed breast cancer (most of whom have BRCA mutations). Indeed, six men were included in Tutts trial. Olaparib and other PARP inhibitors are already available, but currently only in advanced, incurable cancers, including breast cancer, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer and pancreatic cancer for those with BRAC mutations. They help push the disease back into control but this is not a curative setting, thats just trying to help people live longer and live better, Tutt explains. Olaparib is not yet licensed as a drug to prevent recurrences of breast cancer. Pharmaceutical companies will need to present evidence to the licensing authorities. Weve just produced the evidence and we fully anticipate the pharmaceutical companies involved with Olaparib which is AstraZeneca and Merck now taking this data...to the global medicine health regulators and apply for licenses, which Im sure they will do in a short time frame. However, he cannot estimate when that will be and when this drug will be on the market.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/body/jolie-gene-could-new-drug-prevent-recurring-breast-cancer/

Is Mexicos President a Threat to Its Democracy?

During a recent visit to a coal-fired power plant run by Mexicos state electricity utility, President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador recalled with nostalgia that only a few decades ago, the state produced all of the countrys electricity. Now, he lamented, it generated only half, thanks to free-market policies over the past three decades that had hurt ordinary Mexicans. In that period they tried to destroy Pemex and the Federal Electricity Commission with reforms to take market share away from them to give it to private companies, especially foreign ones, he said, referring to Mexicos former state oil and electricity monopolies. The silver-haired populist is trying to reverse course. It is part of what critics see as a drive to recreate the Mexico of his youth in the 1960s and 1970s, when the country was a one-party state with an all-powerful president, a compliant congress and courts, and an economy powered by state-run firms, especially in energy. It was a time before the country embraced globalization in the mid-1980s and democracy in the late 1990s. Its the return of the Tlatoani, says political analyst Denise Dresser, referring to ancient Aztec kings that began a long tradition in Mexico of powerful rulers, including Spanish viceroys and Mexican presidents so dominant that a 1970s joke had the president asking what time it was only to be told whatever time you say it is, Mr. President. What is different about the 67-year-old Mr. Lpez Obradorwidely known by his initials, AMLOis how he has managed to dominate the political and economic life of this country of 126 million not by defying its democratic system but by exploiting it. Elected by a landslide in 2018, he is by far the most authentically popular politician this country has seen in a generation, boasting 60% approval ratings despite a weak economy and a pandemic that hit Mexico particularly hard. Now, many in business and growing numbers of middle-class Mexicans fear that he will use that power to subvert the very democracy that elevated him. Even presidents from Mexicos former ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)described by the Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa as the perfect dictatorshipdutifully obeyed the Mexican constitution by retiring after a single six-year term. Mr. Lpez Obrador, by contrast, is hollowing out a number of the institutions that limit presidential power, and many worry that he will try to stay in office beyond 2024, or at least hold sway over a handpicked successor.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/is-mexicos-president-a-threat-to-its-democracy-11622818830

Are BlackBerry shares a buy at $16?

BlackBerry (NYSE:BB) has had a weird ride so far in 2021. Its not just cryptocurrencies that are driven by whats happening on social media. No, by 27 January, BlackBerry shares had more than quadrupled from their end-of-2020 price. And the climb appears to have been based on a bullish frenzy on Reddit. The January Reddit craze quickly subsided, and the price fell back, but still retained some of its gains. Since then, BlackBerry shares have been slowly declining. But that was only until June, and the BlackBerry share price has now been launched upwards again. 5G is here and shares of this sleeping giant could be a great way for you to potentially profit! According to one leading industry firm, the 5G boom could create a global industry worth US$12.3 TRILLION out of thin air And if you click here well show you something that could be key to unlocking 5Gs full potential... Its doubled in the past month and stands at a shade under $16, as I write. Its not easy to see a good reason behind the current bullishness. At least theres none that I can see. Software potential BlackBerry is a very different company to the one that made those funny phones with keyboards all those years ago. It doesnt make those any more, having transformed into a software developer. The company now does cybersecurity software and also for the automotive industry. I reckon those are areas with considerable long-term potential. But BlackBerry doesnt appear poised for any great breakthrough or important development any time soon. Forecasts for the year to January 2022 suggest a fall in revenue of 10%, to around $824m. As for profits, analysts have BlackBerry down for a loss per share of five cents for the year. So its shares have no forward P/E multiple to go on. And with the company on a market-cap of almost $9bn, were looking at a price to sales ratio of nearly 11. Some US commentators suggest its all about shorting. BlackBerry is a big target of the shorters right now, with around 10% sold short at the moment. It might well be. I see a couple of lessons for long-term Foolish investors here. Perhaps the most obvious is dont take any notice of social media. Ramping on Reddit is most definitely not a good reason to buy BlackBerry shares, in my book. It was bad enough in the old days when short-term chancers would pump up shares on investing forums in the hope of making a quick killing. But social media draws in those who otherwise have little interest in, or knowledge of, stock market investing. Valuation, valuation The other lesson is that fundamental valuation is what counts. Sure, stocks can have very high valuations on traditional measures, but that is often justified. Plenty of companies have grown to outstrip their early high valuations, and then gone on to even greater things. Im just not sure Im seeing that with BlackBerry. Given that the price seems to be driven by nothing rational at the moment, theyre not a buy for me right now.

https://www.fool.co.uk/investing/2021/06/04/are-blackberry-shares-a-buy-at-16/

Have I left it too late to profit from the stock market recovery?

As the FTSE 100 powers past 7,000, Im wondering how much further the stock market recovery has to run. The index is up 40% since slipping below 5,000 in March last year, but has been idling lately. It absolutely could, given the UKs relative vaccine success. Thats also possible, given mutant Covid threats. 5G is here and shares of this sleeping giant could be a great way for you to potentially profit! According to one leading industry firm, the 5G boom could create a global industry worth US$12.3 TRILLION out of thin air And if you click here well show you something that could be key to unlocking 5Gs full potential... Thats the problem with second-guessing the stock market. Nobody can say for sure whether a recovery can continue, or what will trigger the next crash. There are simply too many variables. I cant second-guess this stock market recovery The first step is to remember what ace investor Warren Buffett has taught us. Dont predict the market! When deciding whether to invest in UK shares, its the underlying company that matters. I cant gauge whether todays stock market recovery will continue, but I can do my best to work out which stocks are well-placed to increase their profits if it does, or will prove resilient if it crashes. Lately, I have been steering clear of the riskier recovery stocks, such as cinema chains and travel companies. I know theyve done well lately, but I also think theyre vulnerable to another stock market crash. Recent government flip-flopping over travel restrictions has increased my unease. The easyJet share price fell 5% yesterday after ministers reversed their decision to green list Portugal. Today, Im focusing on companies that have shown resilience throughout the last crazy year. I admire Legal & General Group for standing by its generous dividend. Id also buy grocery chain Tesco, which also offers a steady, solid yield. Id buy these FTSE 100 stocks in any weather Business support specialist Bunzl, pharmaceutical giants and income hero GlaxoSmithKline, clothing retailer Next, and future renewables giant SSE are just some of the companies Id consider buying today. I might also build a position in long-term favourites such as spirits giant Diageo and household goods supplier Unilever. Id also add asset manager M&G and global mining giant Rio Tinto to my watch list, as they offer incredible yields of 7.34% and 5.33% respectively. By investing in a balanced spread of shares I dont have to worry whether the stock market recovery will continue, pause, or reverse. Even a crash doesnt worry me toon much. History shows that stock markets should always rebound, given time. Id simply take the opportunity to snap up more stock at a lower price. Then when the next leg of the stock market recovery hopefully arrives, I should reap the benefits.

https://www.fool.co.uk/investing/2021/06/04/have-i-left-it-too-late-to-profit-from-the-stock-market-recovery/

How can the housing sector promote a mental health strategy?

Katie Colombus, author of the Samaritans book How to Listen Ms Colombus started her journalism career in Shanghai before moving to London. She has worked for Sky entertainment news and news stand titles such as the i newspaper and The Telegraph. More recently Ms Colombus worked at Save the Children before joining the Samaritans as assistant director of communications. She is the author of the Samaritans latest book How to Listen, which includes tips from trained Samaritans call staff on how to listen to people in ways that can prevent concern escalating into more complex emotions and health issues. Margaret Hanson, chief executive, Imagine Independence Ms Hanson is chief executive at Imagine Independence, a Liverpool-based mental health charity that enables and supports people to live full and independent lives. Imagine Independence offers social inclusion and health promotion activities to help people become more resilient and learn how to overcome challenges that can cause mental and physical ill health. It also campaigns to challenge the stigma of mental illness and to get people talking about the issues that underpin mental ill health. Over the past 13 years Ms Hanson has worked exclusively within charities and health, with previous roles including vice-chair of Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board in North Wales and chief executive of Age Concern North East Wales. She also co-founded the 2025 Movement, a coalition that aims to address health inequalities and promote mental well-being in North Wales. Andrew Sturgess, regional specification manager South England, Aico and HomeLINK After college, Mr Sturgess worked as a personal trainer before joining the RAF and subsequently serving in Afghanistan. Since leaving the military, he has worked for Aico alongside partners in the social housing sector. Aico and HomeLINK also work with the Electrical Industries Charity to help increase understanding of mental health issues and how to challenge the stigma. Within Aico Mr Sturgess is part of a team of mental health officers who are available to help staff who might need support or just to talk. Amy Cheswick, director of customers and partners, Raven Housing Trust Ms Cheswick is director of customers and partners at Raven Housing Trust, a social housing provider managing more than 7,000 homes across Surrey and Sussex. She joined the organisation in 2013 and has worked in housing for nearly 30 years. Passionate about delivering excellent customer services and supporting local authorities to prevent and reduce homelessness, Ms Cheswick has played a key role in shaping the tailored support services offered by Raven to provide as many people as possible the opportunity to have the home they need, while building strong communities. Ms Cheswick has been a member and chair of the Chartered Institute of Housing South East board. She is currently a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Housing and a member of the National Housing Federations national homelessness steering group.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/home/home/how-can-the-housing-sector-promote-a-mental-health-strategy-70854

What going on with the SolGold share price?

The SolGold (LSE:SOLG) share price has been climbing rather impressively recently. In fact, over the past two weeks, the company has seen its stock rise by more than 16%. And over the past 12 months, its up around 45%. Considering that at the start of 2021, the SolGold share price nearly halved, seeing such a rapid recovery is impressive. Lets take a look. The rapidly recovering SolGold share price Ive previously explored this business. But as a quick reminder, SolGold is an early-stage mining group operating out of Ecuador and Australia. Despite its small size, the firm successfully managed to secure the rights to a large region of land containing what could be the worlds best-underdeveloped gold and copper mining location. At least, thats how the management team describes it. And that may not be a exaggeration. 5G is here and shares of this sleeping giant could be a great way for you to potentially profit! According to one leading industry firm, the 5G boom could create a global industry worth US$12.3 TRILLION out of thin air And if you click here well show you something that could be key to unlocking 5Gs full potential... This area was titled the Alpala project. It contains a multi-billion-dollar mountain of wealth responsible for sending the SolGold share price up by nearly 70% in 2020 alone. However, the recent growth appears to originate from progress made at the firms Cascabel project. Located approximately 3 km north of the Alpala deposit, Cascabel is 85% owned by SolGold through a subsidiary. While it is currently unknown how much ore is present at the site, seven of the 10 drill hole assays detected consistent levels of copper and equivalents in densities similar to what was initially found at Alpala. Further assays need to be carried out. But the management team has stated it aims to release a mineral resource estimate later this year. This is excellent news for the business and its investors. Therefore seeing the SolGold share price take off is not that surprising to me. The progress made at both Alpala and Cascabel is promising. However, there remains a long road ahead where many things can go wrong. The pre-feasibility study for Alpala has been consistently delayed, with a current release date set for late 2021. And until this is completed, the deposit will remain untouched. Cascabel, on the other hand, is in a much earlier stage of development. Therefore even if it reveals itself to be a second Alpala, it could be several years before any mining actually starts. Being a mining business, SolGold has no pricing power. It is almost entirely at the mercy of fluctuating commodity prices. At the moment, due to supply restrictions caused by the pandemic and fears of inflation, the price of copper and gold have been rising rapidly. However, there is no guarantee they will stay that way. In other words, SolGold may not be able to take advantage of the currently elevated material prices. And therefore, any decline in the value of these metals will likely adversely affect the SolGold share price. The bottom line My opinion on SolGold remains largely unchanged. The latest results from Cascabel are exciting, but as a whole, the company is still very young with no source of revenue. If the management team successfully executes its current strategy, then I believe the SolGold share price could see some explosive long-term growth. However, with so many unknowns at this stage, Im still keeping this stock on my watch list for now.

https://www.fool.co.uk/investing/2021/06/04/what-going-on-with-the-solgold-share-price/

Who Will Capture The Merchant Payment Opportunity In Africa?

By Osahon Akpata With 95% of African consumer payments done in cash, the opportunity to digitize payment in the ... [+] continent is significant. getty Every year, micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) accept over $19 trillion in cash payments globally. The opportunity to digitize these payments and earn fees is quite significant. MSMEs are at the forefront of providing goods and services to consumers. They are also economically important, employing between 60% and 70% of the global population. There are about 100 million MSMEs in Africa, with 42 million in Nigeria alone, and consumer payments on the continent are expected to top $2.1 trillion by 2025. Given that only about 5% of these transactions are currently digitized, banks, Fintech firms, mobile money operators are building innovative solutions to capture this payment opportunity. Financial institutions and regulators have an incentive to digitize transactions because it costs countries up to 1.5% of GDP to print, distribute and replace bank notes annually. Yet, the digital infrastructure required to make cashless work is often unstable. At the point of sale, paying with cash is often the easier choice for consumers. Paying with cash is a habit with hidden costs; it is accepted everywhere, does not require equipment to process and is usually a faster transaction than other forms of payment. There are about 100 million MSMEs in Africa, with 42 million in Nigeria alone, and consumer payments on the continent are expected to top $2.1 trillion by 2025. On the contrary, digital payment solutions often require special hardware to process, have a visible cost to the merchant, are not accepted by all merchants or consumers and are often slow and complicated to use. So, convincing African consumers and merchants to switch from cash to digital payments is an uphill task. All hope is not lost, though. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital payments across the globe. For example, in Nigeria (Africas largest economy), the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System reported that the country experienced an 88% year-on-year growth in electronic payments in Q1 2021. The payments amounted to $155 billion USD. POS collections were up 48% while mobile payments surged by 189%, evidence that consumers are increasingly using digital channels for payments. Street market crowd at Lagos Island's commercial district. getty While different firms pursue the transaction fee opportunity available from digitizing consumer to business payments, the value of data may be the larger prize. New products and services such as merchant cash advances can be created by payment providers or their partners given access to the data. In South Africa, Lulalend, a local Fintech company, uses AI-driven scoring technology to approve SME funding. The treasure trove of transaction data captured using digital payment solutions could be quite valuable. Payment solutions need to be better and more compelling than cash, with value added services so good that merchants are willing to pay for them. Small and medium sized enterprises have business intelligence challenges such as accounting, sales tracking and forecasting. They seek to strengthen and manage customer relationships with CRM solutions, store credit and promotions and they struggle with raising working capital and value chain financing, while managing inventory. A payment solution provider that helps solve some of these problems for merchants should have an advantage over the chief competitor, cash. Building the required scale on both consumer and merchant sides to achieve critical mass for adoption is no small feat. Consumers will not buy into a digital payment solution accepted by only a few merchants and the provider will not see much uptake from retailers until there is a large consumer base demanding the payment method. Payment solutions need to be better and more compelling than cash, with value added services so good that merchants are willing to pay for them. Regulators have a key role to play here as they push for a cashless economy and establish national standards that encourage interoperability. For example, Ghana and more recently Nigeria have implemented universal QR solutions facilitating transactions between all banks in the respective countries. These moves are encouraging as merchant acquiring is very resource intensive since the solution needs to be pitched to and accepted by businesses and merchants are onboarded one at a time. In China, where QR payments are ubiquitous, the key players Alipay and WeChat invested heavily on both the issuing and acquiring side to make this a reality. To be sure, China is a single market with one regulator and African regulators could benefit from accelerating integration through the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). The key to achieving scale for Africa payment providers lies in interoperability, starting nationally and expanding across the region to simplify cross-border commerce. The implementation of the AfCFTA broadens the opportunity for merchant payments. A successful merchant payment solution needs a business model that does not rely strictly on transaction fees to earn its revenues. High fees are a disincentive to transactions via that channel. A large retailer can absorb fees due to the volumes it processes but MSMEs need to pass the costs on directly to customers. A working mum in Bamako who is at the checkout counter at a local supermarket and is asked to pay an additional 3% to cover the merchant service fee of a POS if she plans on using a card, will quickly look for cash to complete her purchase. However, if the storeowner was getting strong value-added services from the payment provider, he might not try to pass on the fee to the customer. Additionally, if the customer received some loyalty rewards for using that channel, she is more likely to choose it. It is doubtful that any single player will capture the African market on its own because it is large and fragmented with multiple currencies and regulators. Fintech firms are nimble and innovative with a high propensity for creating value-added solutions. With over 548 million registered mobile wallets in Africa, MoMo operators have significant scale and a deep understanding of consumer behavior. Banks tend to have strong risk management and compliance capabilities and are licensed to provide select financial services such as lending. There are opportunities along the value chain, and the best merchant payment solutions in Africa will be a result of partnership between players. The opportunity is there for the taking. Osahon Akpata ('11) Osahon Akpata (11) is Head of Consumer Payments for Ecobank, a pan African bank with operations across 33 African countries.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/columbiabusinessschool/2021/06/04/who-will-capture-the-merchant-payment-opportunity-in-africa/

Where is the Boohoo share price going in June?

We Boohoo (LSE: BOO) shareholders havent had a great 2021 so far, with our shares down 9% since the start of the year. Based purely on my opinion that Boohoo shares are undervalued, I reckon it should go up. But I do see some factors that appear to be holding it back. For one thing, the attraction of online sellers that propelled so many of them upwards in 2020 is subsiding. When high street stores are all closed, thats good news for online retail, for sure. But thats over now. 5G is here and shares of this sleeping giant could be a great way for you to potentially profit! According to one leading industry firm, the 5G boom could create a global industry worth US$12.3 TRILLION out of thin air And if you click here well show you something that could be key to unlocking 5Gs full potential... And I think the early pandemic climb in 2020 was overdone. Well, overdone for the short term if it was based solely on the store closures effect, that is. With a long-term view to the companys potential growth, I reckon the Boohoo share price was still good value, even at its high point last year. Boohoo share price volatility But the past year or so does highlight for me a couple of the risks of buying Boohoo shares. One is that, as with just about any growth share, theres a lot of sentiment behind the price. And that sentiment can often turn sour. I think Boohoo should be one of Junes winners. But sentiment leads to volatility, and theres every chance we could see a couple of bearish summer months. The Boohoo share price is up 35% over the past two years, which is a great result. But its down nearly 30% since mid-June last year. So depending on when an investor might have bought, Boohoo could be anything from a big winner to a big loser right now. And thats in the space of just two years. The other big risk is its actually very hard to put a rational valuation on the stock. Were now looking at a trailing P/E of over 40. Theres a lot of future growth already built into that valuation. I might simply have got my assessment wrong, and the shares might be overvalued. I dont think so, but theres uncertainty here. Theres one other thing I reckon could be holding the Boohoo share price back from a bullish summer. It comes from the companys last set of results. They were just fine, in my view. But the outlook for the current year will have disappointed some investors. Boohoo expects revenue growth of around 25%, which might sound good. But it does follow on from a year with 40% growth. And when revenue growth for a stock like this starts to slow, we often see a period of weakness. So to sum up. I think Boohoo deserves to gain in June. But there are short-term factors I think could hold it back. Still, I say thats a good thing for investors who are still in a net buying phase.

https://www.fool.co.uk/investing/2021/06/04/where-is-the-boohoo-share-price-going-in-june/

Who Is the Best Opponent for Brock Lesnar If He Returns to WWE?

0 of 5 Photo credit: WWE.com Kofi Kingston name-dropped Brock Lesnar on Monday's WWE Raw. The Beast Incarnate hasn't appeared for the company since his match with Drew McIntyre last year at WrestleMania 36, but his name has reemerged on the list of current Superstars on the company's official website. This is interesting because the former WWE champion's contract expired in August 2020. But this would make sense as the company recently dumped several names, including Braun Strowman, who stood to make over $1 million per year into 2023, according to Fightful Select (h/t James Holder of Inside the Ropes). That certainly seems plausible, and Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Live (h/t Ringside News) suggested it was no coincidence that the crossover star came up on WWE programming. With a live crowd in place for SummerSlam in August, this would be as good of a time as any to bring The Beast back into the fold. So, who could stand toe-to-toe with the man who ended The Undertaker's streak at WrestleMania 30. Here are the five best opponents for Lesnar if he returns to WWE.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2944154-who-is-the-best-opponent-for-brock-lesnar-if-he-returns-to-wwe

Why Is It So Hard to Return to Normal?

A year ago, we were a country frozen in time. Empty planes flew across the sky, life took place on Zoom. We cleaned our groceries, left deliveries outside for days, and debated whether going to the store was really worth the risk. But what a difference a year makes! We are a country in which more than half of Americans are fully vaccinated, and air travel is almost back to pre-pandemic levels. Like it or not, life is getting back to normal. And largely we dont like it. Of course, we will never be normal again. The scars of a pandemic will be indelible, will shape us in ways we cant even begin to guess. The worldwide death of millions will linger in our collective consciousness forever. My grandfather, who died in the 1990s, never got over the flu pandemic of 1918. He developed small habits shaped by his fears. He never took the bus. He walked to work every day. He took handfuls of vitamins. He never got over the miracle of surviving the thing that killed so many of his siblings, his friends, his peers. We are a country of mourners now; more than 594,000 Americans have died of coronavirus. According to a AP/NORC poll, a fifth of all Americans have lost a close friend or relative to Covid. We arent the people we were in January of 2020 and we never will be. And we Americans are the lucky ones. Covid still rages across most of the world. Countries like Colombia and Argentina are seeing their worst death rates so far. Fortunately, or unfortunately, our new normal is upon us now. Employers want us back in the office, and people want to travel. They want to go back to the rituals of normal American lifeweddings, funerals, birthday parties, graduation celebrations. Various media outlets have predicted a roaring twenty-twenties. But the problem with getting back to normal seems to be two-fold. One problem is that some people dont want to go back to normal. As Anders Melin and Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou noted in Bloomberg, a May survey of 1,000 U.S. adults showed that 39% would consider quitting if their employers werent flexible about remote work. Working from home has created a culture of families that eat lunch together, of pets that enjoy midday strolls, of life that is just a little bit calmer. My husband, who used to spend one week a month in California for work, no longer makes his regular cross-country trips.

https://www.vogue.com/article/normal-life-after-pandemic

What Really Happened To Phaedra Parks' Car?

"Real Housewives of Atlanta" alum Phaedra Parks is asking fans for help after her car was broken into. Phaedra revealed what happened on her Instagram, writing that two guys had smashed her window and stole some personal items she had in her car while she was running an errand. The author posted a photo of herself alongside her damaged Mercedes Benz. "Tonight at exactly 7:02pm during daylight someone (2 guys) broke into my car on Miami Circle exactly 11 minutes after I got out to drop off an item," she wrote in the caption. The former reality star also explained how the thieves did it: "They jumped through the passenger window and broke my glove compartment." Phaedra shared ATL Scoop's Instagram story that showed surveillance footage of the suspects' getaway car in hopes that fans may have information. The attorney found fame by appearing in the Atlanta version of the popular Bravo franchise "Real Housewives" before she left the show in 2017 ahead of its 10th season. Page Six reports that Phaedra was fired from the show after she spread a rumor that costar Kandi Burruss and her husband Todd Tucker wanted to drug and rape another costar, Porsha Williams. Phaedra later apologized but appeared to have no regrets about being done with the show. "What's meant to happen will happen," she told People at the time. "They say you're set up to step up for the next thing, right?" Hopefully, Phaedra can keep that positive attitude while she works to get some of her belongings back. Here's what's missing.

https://www.nickiswift.com/428602/what-really-happened-to-phaedra-parks-car/

Why Is There Such Reluctance to Discuss Natural Immunity?

If youre among those of us who arent tribally invested in Covid politics but would like good information about when life will resume as normal, chances are youre interested in herd immunity. Youre likely not interested in having to rely on the Internet Archive for good information on herd immunity. Alas, its become a go-to place for retrieving, as it were, previously published information on herd immunity that became inconvenient post-vaccine and then virtually Memory-Holed. Over the past 15 months, the litany of Experts True Facts and Science regarding various aspects of SARS-CoV-2 has changed more often than the starting lineup of a bad minor league ball club. Covid-19 is spread by droplets, especially from asymptomatic people, until one day it was airborne all along and people who werent sick in all likelihood werent even sick. Stay at home, youre safer indoors, even stay away from parks and beaches; well, actually, outdoors is the place to be. Masks dont work against viruses and are actually unhealthy to wear if youre not sick, then suddenly they did work and without one you might as well be shooting people. Everyone knows and PolitiFact verified that the virus couldnt have been created in the prominent infectious disease lab doing gain-of-function research on coronaviruses in bats coincidentally at Covid Ground Zero until, one day, PolitiFact had to retract the entire Pants on Fire! article. And so forth. Unfortunately, information about herd immunity has also not been immune to this kind of meddling. Until recent months, people readily understood that active immunity came about either by natural immunity or vaccine-induced immunity. Natural immunity comes from battling and defeating an actual infection, then having your immune system primed for the rest of your life to fight it off if it ever shows up again. This immunity is achieved at a sometimes very high personal price. Vaccine-induced immunity is to prime your immune system with a weaker, non-threatening form of the invading infection, so that its ready to fight off the real thing should you ever encounter it, and without your having first to risk severe illness or death. Those interested in herd immunity in itself likely dont have a moral or political preference for one form of immunity to the exclusion of the other. Immunity is immunity, regardless of whether a particular person has it naturally or by a vaccine. All immunity contributes to herd immunity. Others, however, are much less circumspect. They seem to have forgotten the ultimate goal of the public campaign for people to receive vaccination against Covid-19. Its not to be vaccinated; its to have immunity. People with natural immunity i.e., people whose immune systems have faced Covid-19 and won dont need a vaccine. They do, however, need to be considered in any good-faith discussion of herd immunity. There are two prongs to herd immunity, as we used to all know, and those with natural immunity are the prong thats being ignored. Its not just mere oversight, however. Fostering such ignorance can lead to several bad outcomes: People with natural immunity could be kept from employment, education, travel, normal commerce, and who knows what other things if they dont submit to a vaccine they dont need in order to fulfill a head count that confuses a means with the end The nation could already be at herd immunity while governors and health bureaucrats continue to exert extreme emergency powers, harming peoples liberties and livelihoods People already terrified of Covid including especially those whove already had it would continue to live in fear, avoiding human interaction and worrying beyond all reason People could come to distrust even sound advice from experts about important matters, as they witness and grow to expect how what the experts counsel diverges from what they know to be wise counsel while it conforms to and amplifies the temporary needs of the political class Those of us wanting good information certainly dont want any of those outcomes. But others seem perfectly fine to risk them. They include not only elected officials, members of the media, political talking heads, self-important bureaucrats, and their wide-eyed acolytes harassing shoppers, but strangely also highly prominent health organizations. For example, late last year Jeffrey Tucker showed that the World Health Organization (WHO) suddenly, and for reasons unknown, changed its definition of herd immunity. Using screenshots from a cached version on the Internet Archive, Tucker showed how the WHO altered its definition in such a way as to erase completely the role of natural immunity. Before, the WHO rightly said it happens when a population is immune either through vaccination or immunity developed through previous infection. The WHOs change stated that it happens if a threshold of vaccination is reached. Not long after Tuckers piece appeared, the WHO restored natural immunity to its definition. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), seemingly apropos of nothing, on May 19 issued a safety communication to warn that FDA-authorized SARS-CoV-2 antibody tests should not be used to evaluate immunity or protection from COVID-19 at any time. The FDAs concern appears to be that taking an antibody test too soon after receiving a vaccination may fail to show vaccine-induced antibodies, but why preclude its use for identifying people with an adaptive immune response to SARS-CoV-2 from a recent or prior infection? Especially after stating outright that Antibody tests can play an important role in identifying individuals who may have been exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and may have developed an adaptive immune response. Then there is the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director, Dr. Anthony Fauci, that ubiquitous font of fatuous guidance. He had told people that herd immunity would be at 60 to 70 percent immunity, and then he started publicly cinching those numbers up: 75 percent, 80 percent, 85 percent, even 90 percent (as if Covid-19 were as infectious as measles). He is quoted in the New York Times admitting to doing so deliberately to affect peoples behavior: When polls said only about half of all Americans would take a vaccine, I was saying herd immunity would take 70 to 75 percent, Dr. Fauci said. Then, when newer surveys said 60 percent or more would take it, I thought, I can nudge this up a bit, so I went to 80, 85. Now or better put, as of this writing Fauci has taken to arguing herd immunity is a mystical elusive number, a distracting endgame, and therefore not worth considering. Only vaccinations are worth counting. As he put it recently, We dont want to get too hung up on reaching this endgame of herd immunity because every day that you put 2 million to 3 million vaccinations into people [it] makes society be more and more protected. While composing an article about natural immunity and herd immunity for my home state of North Carolina, I happened to notice that the Mayo Clinic had removed a compelling factoid about natural immunity. Its something I had quoted in an earlier discussion of the matter and wanted to revisit it. Heres what the Mayo Clinic once wanted people to know in its page on Herd Immunity and COVID-19 with respect to natural immunity: [T]hose who survived the 1918 flu (influenza) pandemic were later immune to infection with the H1N1 flu, a subtype of influenza A. The Mayo Clinic pointed out that H1N1 was during the 2009-10 flu season, which would be 92 years later. That finding attested to just how powerful and long-lived natural immunity could be. As can be seen from the Internet Archive, however, sometime after April 14 the Mayo Clinic removed that compelling historical aside: The Mayo Clinic also reoriented its page to feature vaccination over the natural infection method (method? ) Whatever the reason, its keeping Americans in the dark about how many people have active immunity from Covid-19. Its keeping people needlessly fearful and suspicious of each other. Its empowering executive overreach. Worst of all, its tempting people to consider government and business restrictions on the unvaccinated, regardless of their actual immunity. Jon Sanders is an economist and the senior fellow of regulatory studies and research editor at the John Locke Foundation in Raleigh, North Carolina.

https://alethonews.com/2021/06/04/why-is-there-such-reluctance-to-discuss-natural-immunity/

When Will the First Baby Be Born in Space?

When the first baby is born off-Earth, it will be a milestone as momentous as humanitys first steps out of Africa. Such a birth would mark the beginning of a multiplanet civilization for the human species. For the first half-century of the space age, only governments launched satellites and people into Earth orbit. No longer. Hundreds of private space companies are building a new industry that already has US$300 billion in annual revenue. Im a professor of astronomy who has written a book and a number of articles about humans future in space. Today, all activity in space is tethered to Earth. But I predict that in around 30 years people will start living in space; and soon after, the first off-Earth baby will be born. The Players in Space Space started as a duopoly as the United States and the Soviet Union vied for supremacy in a geopolitical contest with loud military overtones. But while NASA achieved the moon landings in 1969, its budget has since shrunk by a factor of three. Russia is no longer an economic superpower, and its presence in space is a pale shadow of the program that launched the first satellite and the first person into orbit. The new kid on the block is China. After a late start, the Chinese space program is surging, fueled by a budget that has recently grown faster than their economy. China is building a space station, the country has landed probes on the moon and Mars, and it is planning a moon base. On its current trajectory, China will soon be the dominant space power. Governments will continue to launch rockets, but it would be safe to say that the future of private space flight arrived in 2016 when, for the first time, commercial launches outnumbered launches by all the worlds countries combined. But the most exciting progress is being made by private space companies that are marketing space for tourism and recreation. Elon Musks goal for SpaceX is to carry 100 people at a time to the moon, Mars, and beyond, although in public presentations he is coy about giving a timeline. Jeff Bezos company, Blue Origin, also aims to colonize the solar system. Such grandiose plans have skeptics, but remember that these are the two richest people in the world. Living on the Moon or Mars For a spacecraft, the trip to Mars is about 1,000 times farther than a trip to the moon, so the moon will be humanitys first home away from home. China is partnering with Russia to build a long-term facility at the moons South Pole sometime between 2036 and 2045. NASA plans to put boots on the moon in 2024 and establish a a permanent settlement called the Artemis Base Camp within another decade. As part of the Artemis mission, NASA is also planning to launch a lunar space station in 2024 called Gateway. NASA is teaming up with SpaceX for this and future lunar projects, and the lunar station will make it easier for SpaceX to resupply the future lunar colony. After the moon comes Mars, and the collaboration between SpaceX and NASA is accelerating the timeline for getting there. NASAs plans are purposeful, but the organization hasnt given a timeline. Elon Musk, on the other hand, has loudly proclaimed that he intends to have a colony on Mars by 2050. Humanitys attempt to colonize the moon will give us a good sense of the challenges we might face on Mars. Sex and Babies in Space For a civilization to be really free from Earth, the population needs to grow, and that means babies. Living on the moon or Mars will be arduous and stressful, so the first inhabitants will probably spend only a few years there at a time and are unlikely to start a family. But once people do take up permanent residency off-Earth, there are still many unknowns. First, little research has been done on the biology of pregnancy and reproductive health in a space or low-gravity environment like the moon or Mars. Its possible there will be unexpected hazards to the fetus or mother. Second, babies are fragile, and raising them is not easy. The infrastructure of these bases would have to be sophisticated to make some version of normal family life possible, a process that will take decades. With these uncertainties in mind, it seems likely that the first off-Earth baby will be born much closer to home. A Dutch startup called SpaceLife Origin wants to send a heavily pregnant woman 250 miles up just long enough to give birth. They talk a good story, but the legal, medical and ethical obstacles are formidable. Another company, called Orbital Assembly Corporation, plans to open a luxury hotel in orbit in 2027 called the Voyager Station. Current plans show that it would hold 280 guests and 112 crew members, with its spinning-wheel design providing artificial gravity. But the breathless news reports omit any discussion of the difficulty and cost of such a project. However, on April 12, 2021, NASA announced that it is considering allowing a reality TV show to send a civilian to the International Space Station and film them for 10 days. Its plausible that this idea could be extended, with a wealthy couple booking a long-term stay for the entire process from conception to birth in orbit. At the moment, theres no evidence anyone has had sex in space. But with about 600 people having been in Earth orbit, including one NASA couple who kept their marriage a secret, one space historian was able to gather plenty of space age salacious moments. My guess is that sometime around 2040, a unique individual will be born. They may carry the citizenship of their parents, or they may be born in a facility operated by a corporation and end up stateless. But I prefer to think of this future person as the first true citizen of the galaxy. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Image Credit: NASA/Dennis Davidson/WikimediaCommons

https://singularityhub.com/2021/06/04/when-will-the-first-baby-be-born-in-space/

Can Boris Johnson fix the UK train system?

Sceptics question if the new Great British Railways is going to be any different Boris Johnson Image Credit: Gulf News My father liked to tell a story that when, during the last days of the Second World War, he was travelling though England and working then for the Ministry of Supplies, making sure that agricultural products mostly food for wartime rationing reached where it should. And that meant travelling up and down England by train. If youve ever travelled north from London, the Cheshire town of Crewe is where train passengers change to travel to Manchester, Liverpool or North Wales. And it was at Crewe that my fathers story took place. The way he tells it, a group of soldiers were playing cards and there was a sizeable sum of bank notes at stake on the table. The lights of the waiting room out suddenly, there was rumble and then a scream. When the lights came back on, one soldier had his hand impaled on the notes with a dagger, stopped in his attempt to steal the cash by the quick actions of another gambler. I thought of that as I passed through Crewe on the train to London. The rail industry still dominates the town, its local League One club in the third tier of English football are known as The Railwaymen, and theres a complex network of sidings at the central station where dozens of old trains, rolling stock, engines all in the liveries of former incarnations of the UK railway systems now rest in homage to the train as a transport mode. Successive governments since the Second World War have tried to fix the UK train system, whether that be through slashing thousands of kilometres of tracks and shutting hundreds of stations, nationalising the railway under one big umbrella of British Rail, or selling off piece to franchise operations some two decades ago in a disastrous policy that only saw shareholders rewarded as train services declined and ticket prices went through the roof. Booking a train ticket in England now is a complicated affair more complex than booking a flight requiring you to carefully watch when you travel, what train provider you can use and making sure you dont accidentally stray into First Class coaches. As an example, I had planned to travel from London to Glasgow. An off-peak one-way ticket booked at least a week in advance would cost 104 (Dh540). I flew for 39. Regular commuters into London face an annual seasons pass cost that can exceed 5,000 with limited seats and overcrowded trains, or where industrial action by railway unions stops service because the franchises want to have the driver alone responsible for making sure the train doors are closed and passengers are all on-board. Last week, it was the turn of the government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson to try and fix the broken train service. Yes, my return journey from London was delayed for an hour initially because of an unruly passenger on a train at Watford that resulted in all train services from Euston being delayed, and then a signal fault further delayed service near Northampton. The government has said its massive overhaul will improve matters for long-suffering passengers. Instead of the British Rail that died with the spin-off of franchises, now it will be Great British Railways that will set train timetables and ticket prices as well as managing railway infrastructure. I am a great believer in rail, but for too long passengers have not had the level of service they deserve, Johnson said. By creating Great British Railways and investing in the future of the network, this government will deliver a rail system the country can be proud of. As things stand now, UK passengers have the highest per-kilometre price in Europe. Indeed, one of the spurious arguments there were very many used by Brexiteers to push for leaving the EU was that Brussels was impeding proper reform of the UKs rail system. That was a stretch, given that train travel across the EU is generally cheap, efficient and always on time! I should hasten to add that Luxembourg yes, it is small but nevertheless became the first country in Europe to make all public transport free. Yes, you read that right. ALL public transport is free. The government also committed to giving another 1 billion to Transport for London (TfL) to cover operational costs for the rest of the year. But there are strings attached. TfL must actively pursue letting London Underground trains run without train guards with only the driver responsible for making sure the trains operate safely. Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, is grateful for the extra cash but says hell fight the one-man train idea tooth and nail. As things stand now, the UK government has also committed to building HS2 a high-speed train link between London and Birmingham initially, and then onto to Manchester and Leeds and other northern cities. The price tag so far is 100 billion and rising by the day, the first trains wont run until 2028 and a good proportion of the eventual investment will have to be recuperated from passengers. HS2 will cut travel times between London and Birmingham to a little over the hour mark. Thats ideal for commuters but after Covid-19 there are fewer people now making train journeys to or from offices as home-working took hold. And with HS2 to fund, is it any reason that critics already say Johnsons Great British Railways plan will be starved of adequate funding that is a prerequisite for an effective train system just like youll find on the continent.

https://gulfnews.com/opinion/op-eds/can-boris-johnson-fix-the-uk-train-system-1.79648653

Will Lebanese Banks Pay 'Fresh Dollars' to Depositors?

After the Central Bank issued a memo asking Lebanese banks to pay monthly fresh dollar sums to depositors, questions arose on whether the banks will abide by the decision, especially after they reportedly said in a leaked letter that they lack the ability to do so. Quoting informed banking sector sources, the al-Anbaa news portal of the Progressive Socialist Party said the $400 sum will be divided between $200 paid from the Central Banks obligatory reserve and $200 paid from banks own money. The Central Bank will also pay the other $400 that is supposed to be dispensed in Lebanese lira and according to the Sayrafa platform rate, which stands at LBP 12,000 against the dollar at the moment, the sources added. Some banks have expressed reservations that they cannot secure the $200 in cash, but the Central Bank has insisted on the demand, the sources revealed. Accordingly, banks will abide by the circular, and if they dont abide, they will face measures, the sources went on to say, also revealing that banks had sought to pay only $150 before being obliged by the Central Bank to pay $200. Earlier in the day, the Central Bank issued a memo to banks to monthly pay every depositor $400 in fresh cash as well as the equivalent of $400 in Lebanese lira at the Sayrafa platform rate. A leaked letter sent by the Association of Banks in Lebanon to Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh meanwhile said that "banks cannot pay any cash sums in foreign currency no matter how low the sums may be." The letter carries the date of Thursday, June 3 while the Central Banks memo was issued on Friday, June 4. "Banks' foreign currency liquidity at the correspondent banks is still negative by more than $1 billion," ABL explained, adding that "any cash withdrawals can only be provided through lowering banks' obligatory reserve at the central bank.

http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/281868-will-lebanese-banks-pay-fresh-dollars-to-depositors

What Is It About Ramcharitmanas That Makes Liberals So Afraid?

Shri Ramcharitmanas is an epic poem in the Awadhi language (Eastern Hindi language) penned by Goswami Tulsidas, an Indian poet from the 16th century. It includes all the activities of Lord Rama and the word Ramcharitmanas literally means Lake of the deeds of Rama. It is regarded as one of the finest Hindu literary masterpieces and is venerated by the Hindus as a sacred book. It is the shorter version of Valmikis Ramayana but with the immeasurable character of Tulsis high intellect and poetical spirit. Although brief, it is an epic, split into 12,800 lines split into 1,073 stanzas and 7 kinds or divisions. Tulsidass poetic proclamation is the ultimate devotion or Bhakti to Lord Rama. Follow NewsGram on LinkedIn to know whats happening around the world. Lord Rama is the most important deity for the Hindus because he embodies the essence of Hindu civilization. He symbolizes the qualities of obedience, self-sacrifice, bravery, and respect for elders. These principles are highly regarded by every Hindu household. Both Ramcharitmanas and Ramayana are used to convey these principles. Lord Ram symbolizes Indian cultural oneness since he connects people of various cultures and regions. India is united by Rams persona, he brings together people of various backgrounds and beliefs because they appreciate the principles that Ram represented in his life. Jai Shri Raam is not just a motto but also a confirmation of Indias cultural oneness. While the name Shri Raam is always recited for harmony and tranquility, in recent days, it is very much in the headlines for numerous reasons and has been employed in pointless political debates. This is because liberals have assumed the task to defame the sacred name Raam. They sought to say with all possible means that that Raams name did not exist. They loathe Shri Raams followers and especially Sanatan Dharma (eternal dharma) in the nation. Secular liberals who despise the Hindus cannot accept the potential of the Raam Naam (Raams Name) to unify the Hindus. They also hate the fact that the epic Ramcharitmanas has the capacity to unify people from various castes, backgrounds, and language groups. When this union breaks down, their divide and rule policy progress effortlessly. This is why these liberals consider it very crucial to slander and destroy Lord Raams glory. They question the truth of the Ramayana or be it Ramcharitmanas. They think Lord Rama is a fictitious character and their aim to demolish Ram Sethu and destroy proofs relating to the Ram Temple at Ayodhya were two attempts to undermine Indians trust in Lord Raam. They believe that if they can persuade people to forget about Lord Raam, they can convince them to forget about their Hindu heritage as well. However, they failed in their mission and will never prevail, as Hindus are becoming more cognizant of their civilization and culture. They are speaking up and demanding their rights. This isnt the first time that people like these have spoken out against Lord Rama and the Ramcharitmanas. English authors, in the past, have also misconstrued the meaning of Raam and the Ramcharitmanas. While controlling India, the British did everything they could to remove the affection and devotion from the Indians hearts for Lord Rama. However, they never succeed. ALSO READ: Contribution Of Hindu Temples In India During Covid Crisis Ramcharitmanas was dubbed the Bible of North India by JM McPhee when he translated it. He said, We might speak of it with truth as the Bible of Northern India A copy of it is to be found in almost every village and the man who owns it earns the gratitude of his illiterate neighbors when he consents to read aloud from its pages The poet was wiser than he knew when he insisted on writing his book in the vernacular. The so-called secularists and liberals have written a slew of articles calling Ramanand Sagars serial Ramayana a Hindu-Propaganda. These liberals didnt just propagate misinformation about Shri Ram and the Ramcharitmanas; they also authored offensive essays and poetry about other Hindu deities. They despise Lord Ram because he stands in the way of their Breaking India ambition. Forgetting Lord Raam would fundamentally alter the essence of our culture and nation and for Hindus, this is the most serious threat. As a result, we must devote all of our efforts to preserving Lord Shri Rams legacy and principles.

https://www.newsgram.com/what-is-it-about-ramcharitmanas-that-makes-liberals-so-afraid-2/

What homes sold last week in Petaluma?

712 Crinella Drive, 3 bedroom, 2-bathroom, $795,000 1800 Wisteria Circle, 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom, $570,000 523 B St., 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom, $1,450,000 1692 Sutter Court, 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom, $749,000 1935 Rogers Lane, 5-bedroom, 4-bathroom, $1,287,000 2413 Magnolia Ave., 4-bedroom, 4-bathroom, $1,950,000 26 Wallenberg Way, 4-bedroom, 4-bathroom, $2,900,000 1626 Big Bend Drive, 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom, $750,000 352 Jacquelyn Lane, 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom, $825,000 5083 Bodega Ave., 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom, $1,950,000 1717 Clairmont Ct., 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom, $755,000 308 Sherri Ct., 5-bedroom, 3-bathroom, $1,350,000 105 Maria Dr., 3-bedroom, 2-barthroom, $740,000 413 Oak St., 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom, $852,000 6 Josette Ct., 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom, $1,310,000 905 Sonoma Ave., 4-bedroom, 2-bathroom, $951,000 1550 Bungalow Lane, 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom, $925,000

https://www.petaluma360.com/article/news/what-homes-sold-last-week-in-petaluma/

How to Track Someones Phone Contacts?

Accessing someones phone contacts is challenging when you dont have direct access to the smartphone. However, you do not need to check their phone to access the contact list anymore. We have a solution that will help you track someones smartphone activities without even touching it. The best part is that you do not need to hack any smartphone to do it. All it takes is a mobile application and you will get remote access to any smartphone. It is up to you whether you want to check contact lists or WhatsApp conversations. Lets find out. Phone monitoring is a term used to define a process that includes getting remote access to a smartphone. The process lets you check the complete activities of a device without showing any signs of leaving any trace. It is a continuous process and you can check the activities whenever you want. All you need to do is complete a one-time setup on the smartphone. After that, you will get direct access to the contacts list of the targeted device. You can also check the browsing history of a device after connecting it. For this, you need to use a phone monitoring application. Luckily, there are dozens of useful apps for the job. We tried some of them and found our winner. Here is the application you need to change the complete game of phone monitoring. Spyier So as we promised earlier, here is the application we will use to track any smartphones contacts. It will allow you to get into their device and see the data on your screen. Spyier is a phone monitoring app, trusted by millions of people. It is fast, secured, and very convenient to use. It comes with a simple but helpful layout that is easy to work with. Even if you are a beginner, youll get used to it in no time. This application offers some advanced features that not only allow you to track contacts but give access to more critical details of the targeted device. It lets you check call logs, live location, messages, media, WhatsApp conversations of any smartphone. Spyier is one of the most popular apps in the phone monitoring market. It is used by peoples of 190+ nations. Additionally, they offer 24/7 customer support, so you can call them anytime if you face a problem. Now, lets get to the most important part where we will discuss how you can use this application to monitor someones mobile phone online. How to Monitor a Smartphone With Spyier Monitoring any smartphone with this platform requires a one-time setup. Therefore, it is important to check the complete guide before you try it on someone. Here are the steps to help you out. Part1: Registration Visit Spyiers website and create an account to start the process. The complete process is simple and you can create an account with your email address. After that, you need to select a package to access the services. Luckily, there are different plans and you can easily find the one that suits your needs. After choosing the plan, verify your email address and find all the details in it. In case you do not receive an email, check the email address you used while creating an account or contact customer support. Part2: Install Spyier The second part is a bit complicated as you need to install this application on the targeted device. For this, select the device that you want to monitor- Android or iPhone. If it is an Android device, install the Spyier application on the device. You can download the application from the email link received in your inbox. After that, follow the instructions to allow all the permissions to the app. In the targeted device, you need to log in with the account you created earlier. It will link the phone with your account to collect its data. On the other hand, click on the iPhone logo if you want to monitor an iPhone. Enter the iCloud details of the account logged in on the targeted smartphone. After entering the data, the application will start the verification that may take a few minutes. Once the application shows the connection status, you can leave the phone and move to the last step. Part3: Start Monitoring It is the part where you start the phone monitoring. Login to your Spyier account on any web browser and you will see the name of the smartphone you connected to earlier. Now, click on the dashboard and you will find multiple tools as shown in the above picture. Click on Contacts to access the complete list of contacts saved in that smartphone. Thats it. With a single click, you can use any other feature offered by this platform. For example, you can click on the location button to check the live location of the targeted phone. Some users like to monitor WhatsApp activities using the exclusive feature available for both Android and iPhone users. Thus, you wont face any problem in using the application. You can log in and log out of your account anytime you want. The phone will stay connected as long as you keep the subscription updated for your account. The application offers more than 30 features to find data from the device. On the dashboard, you can click on any of the features to access that data. In simple words, you can track almost all the data from the smartphone. From their messages to browsing history, everything can be accessed with a single click. Additionally, there is a keylogger that provides an additional way to find data from the smartphone. Final Words Tracking a smartphone is easier when you are backed by a phone monitoring application. To get access to someones mobile contacts, you need to connect their smartphone to a phone monitoring application. Spyier is a perfect choice for beginners, who do not have experience of using such applications. We shared an easy guide that helps you connect any smartphone with a Spyier account. With this guide, anyone can access someones contacts remotely.

https://androidcure.com/track-someones-phone-contacts/

Was wollte diese Werbeanzeige fr den Peugeot 404 Coup Injection 1962 blo aussagen?

Werbung ist ein wunderbarer Spiegel der Zeit. In den Archiven der Autohersteller whlt, der findet zahlreiche Motive, die heute nicht mehr vorstellbar sind. Diese Anzeige fr das Peugeot 404 Coup Injection aus dem Jahr 1962 gehrt zweifelsfrei in diese Kategorie. Werbemotiv fr das Clipping: Peugeot 404 Coup Injection von 1962. (Foto: Peugeot) 1962 war eine andere Zeit. n den USA regierte mit John F. Kennedy ein fast noch jugendlicher Prsident. Whrend der Kubakrise stand die Welt am Abgrund des Atomkriegs. Und im Kino liefen Filme wie Hatari!, Der Schatz im Silbersee oder James Bond 007 jagt Dr. No. In den meisten Autos, die damals neu auf die Strae kommen, bernimmt ein Vergaser die Gemischaufbereitung. Und Frauen waren in der Autoindustrie eher schmckendes Beiwerk als potenzielle Kundin. Regelmig bildeten die Hersteller in ihren Anzeigen Models ab, um das Motiv zu schmcken. Zur Premiere des Peugeot 404 Coup Injection montierte der franzsische Autobauer den Kopf einer jungen Dame vor den Khlergrill. Keine Ahnung die Gestalter damit ausdrcken wollten! Schon die Haltung, die die Dame vor dem Lwen von Peugeot einnimmt, ist bemerkenswert. Das schaffen in der Realitt des Lebens vermutlich selbst Artisten nicht. Was die Situation nicht einfacher macht. Mir schwant Bses, da der franzsische Autobauer mit der Anzeige einst seine damals neue Kraftstoffaufbereitung mit Hilfe einer Einspritzanlage bewarb. Zugegeben ein das ist ein schmutziger Gedanke, zumal der Filmklassiker Deep Throat erst zehn Jahre spter entstand. Peugeot setzt die Kugelfischer-Einspritzanlage in Serie ein Denn losgelst von dem bescheuerten Motiv war der Motor, den Peugeot im Mrz 1962 auf dem Autosalon in Genf prsentierte, eine Sensation. Statt eines bis dahin blichen Vergasers nutzte Peugeot als erster Groserienhersteller eine Einspritzanlage nach dem System Kugelfischer. Das Peugeot 404 Coup Injection wird heute im Rckblick oft vergessen. Denn die Saugrohr-Einspritzanlagen sind im Gedchtnis vieler Auto-Fans eng mit BMW verbunden. Schlielich stieg die Kugelfischer durch den bayrischen Autobauer und seinen BMW 2000 tii Ende 1969 zum Traum aller Sportfahrer auf. BMW M10 mit Einspritzanlage System Kugelfischer (Foto: BMW) Zudem gehrten die Kugelfischer-Einspritzanlagen viele Jahre bei Rennmotoren der Bayern zum Inventar. Schon Mitte der 1960er-Jahre setzt BMW sie in der Formel 2 ein. Spter gab es sie auch in den Gruppe-5-Boliden der Deutschen Rennsport Meisterschaft. Und mehr als 20 Jahre nachdem Peugeot die Anlage in der Serie einsetzte, vertraute BMW auch bei seinem Formel-1-Motoren noch auf das gleiche System. Mit Erfolg, denn Nelson Piquet sicherte sich mit dem BMW-Turbo den Titel des Formel-1-Weltmeisters. Doch das ist eine andere Geschichte. Kehren wir zurck ins Jahr 1962! Damals war die Einspritzanlage ziemlich fortschrittlich. Die Anlagen hatten, eine genaue Synchronisation der Einspritzpumpe mit dem Gasgestnge vorausgesetzt, einen guten Ruf. Peugeot war mit dem Einsatz seiner Zeit voraus. Fr die Werbeanzeige gilt das nur bedingt. Gut mglich, dass die Verantwortlichen nur ausdrcken, wie sich eine Autofahrerin ber das einfache Handling des Peugeot 404 Coup Injection freut. Doch dazu montierten sie die Dame mit leicht geffneten Mund vor das Auto montiert. Das war auch 1962 eigentlich schon ziemlich bescheuert.

https://autonatives.de/werbeanzeige-peugeot-404-coupe-injection-1962.html

Did Rowan Atkinson Die in May 2021?

In May 2021, some social media pages started to spread a rumor that Rowan Atkinson, the actor who portrayed Mr. Bean, had died. This is not true. Atkinson did not pass away in May 2021. For one, Atkinson is a very popular comedian. If he really did pass away, news of his death would be widely reported by mainstream newspapers. This rumor, however, has only been spread by random social media accounts. The official Facebook page for Mr. Bean has not made any announcements about Atkinsons death. Furthermore, a spokesperson for the actor confirmed to the AFP that this was a hoax, saying I can confirm hes alive. This is not the first time that Atkinson has died according to an internet rumor. In fact, this is not the first time that this same image has been used to spread a death hoax about Mr. Bean. Heres an old iteration of this rumor that circulated in 2018:

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/rowan-atkinson-mr-bean-dead/

How much did the invisible sculpture sell for?

Italy 24 News says the artwork must be kept at a private home and be in a space that has no obstruction. First, it was the banana taped to the wall. Now, it's nothing. No, literally, it's nothing, The Indian Express says Italian artist Salvatore Garau, 67, auctioned off an 'invisible sculpture.' $18,300, according to The Indian Express. Invisible isn't how Garau looks at it though. "The vacuum is nothing more than a space full of energy, and even if we empty it and there is nothing left, according to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, that 'nothing' has a weight. Therefore, it has energy that is condensed and transformed into particles, that is, into us," Italy 24 News quotes him saying. Italy 24 News says the artwork must be kept at a private home and be in a space that has no obstruction. The news outlet says the buyer will get a certificate of authentication that will be signed and stamped by the artist. This is not the first invisible sculpture Garau has created. Shared another one to his Instagram called, "Buddha in Contemplazione."

https://www.wtsp.com/article/life/invisible-sculpture-auction/67-00b6637e-2084-409e-8964-1442e178ad0b

Does Cruella Have a Post-Credits Scene?

Giving villains a backstory is often a double-edged sword; its nice to get insight into why they are the way they are, but it also erases any mystery and makes them more sympathetic, sometimes to the point of excusing their nefarious deeds because all they really need is a chance to prove themselves to be good. Its definitely possible to delve into the psychology of a villain without sacrificing their wicked nature, which is what Disney seems to be touting with their marketing for the upcoming villain origin film Cruella. While some may not be completely convinced on that front, Maureen Johnsons tie-in prequel novel assures us that Cruella de Vil is, in fact, humanbut that doesnt mean shes a good person.

https://www.newsbreak.com/news/2264588178867/does-cruella-have-a-post-credits-scene

How will we know weve recovered from the pandemic?

Last year, Covid-19 had barely engulfed the world when people began anticipating the recovery: preparing for it, imagining it, willing it into being. At the end of March 2020, for instance, Antnio Guterres, the United Nations secretary general, called for a recovery that would lead to a different economy. It had been just three weeks since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Covid-19 a global pandemic and the US suspended flights from Europe, and just a week after India announced a lockdown. Around 36,000 people had died worldwide, no one knew for sure if second or third waves were in the offing, and there were no vaccines. Any sort of recovery, we know now, was a long way away. Its tempting to think that at this momentJune 2021were much closer to recovery, particularly if you live in the US or the UK, where vaccinations have made a resumption of near-normal life possible for many people, and where policymakers are now intent on rebuilding the economy rather than stanching its wounds. The US unemployment rate fell below 6% in May, down from its peak of 14.8% in April 2020, and a Federal Reserve official said the central bank was nearing the moment when it would ease up on its bond-purchase stimulus. But a full and final recovery certainly isnt around the corneras indicated by worries about the Delta variant, failures to reach herd immunity, or shortages of vaccines for developing countries. Given what we know now about how Covid-19 has ravaged economies and lives, in fact, the idea of recovery has to go beyond simple case counts and death statistics. We asked professionals in a number of areas, from economics to philosophy, to see what markers theyd use to judge that weve recovered. And we found that, given the circumstances, perhaps the very notion of a recovery is up for dispute. Global vaccinations The differential state of vaccination drives across the world is perhaps the strongest indicator that were nowhere near a full recovery. European and North American nations have locked up multiple rounds of vaccines for themselves until 2023; meanwhile, dozens of poor countries will give hundreds of millions of their citizens their first shots only by 2022 or 2023. For these people, the pandemic will continue. Waves of disease will ebb and flow, and as Indias ongoing second wave shows, variants might emerge to re-infect even those who have recovered. Economies will stutter from lockdown to lockdown. But the uncertainties suffered by these countries will have knock-on effects on wealthier, vaccinated countries as well, in the form of persistent travel restrictions, disrupted supply chains, and constant caution against the arrival of variants from overseas. One example: As of March, around 200,000 seafarers, unable to go home, had to stay on their cargo ships beyond the expiry of their contracts, according to the International Maritime Organization. Crews are stretched thin, particularly after Indian seafarers faced staffing restrictions in the light of their countrys second wave, and sailors are in high demand. If the pandemic in India doesnt subside, the shipping industry will face a crunch of manpower into the foreseeable future. These effects of the two-track recovery reveal the truth in an adage that has become shop-worn in just the past year: In a globalized world, no one is safe until everyone is safe. The macroeconomy For most recessions, recovery is an imprecise term, said Ricardo Reis, an economics professor at the London School of Economics. In that sense, its not all that different from when astronomers decide whether Pluto is a planet or not, Reis said. Its not airtight. Economists tend to look at business cycle data to arrive at some answers, though. One obvious metric is GDP. GDP-wise, the question of Have we recovered? has to be answered with an absolute No,' Reis said. We havent even reached the level of GDP circa the end of 2019. The US might reach its pre-pandemic levels of GDP growth, hovering between 2-3%, by the end of 2021, but Reis argues that even that wouldnt constitute recovery. A more complete recovery, he said, would involve arriving at the GDP level that the US would have achieved if it had been growing at its 2-3% all this while, over the past two years. That happens with some recessions, not with others. As of now, this is not a financial crisis, so that leaves me optimistic, Reis said. At the same time, this feels like an event like World War II or the Spanish Flu, where it gets a little silly to talk about going back to the old trend line, because the new trend line is so profoundly different. If the character of the economy itself has been reshaped, then theres no measurable reset to any old normal. Reis laid out other metrics that macroeconomists often look to, such as building permits issued for new homes and unemployment numbers. But these arent always helpful. Last year, even through the worst of the pandemic, the number of US residential building permits issued rose well above the pre-pandemic year of 2019, as people looked for better places to work from home. In May, the US created 559,000 jobs, short of the 650,000 or so that economists expected. But that still leaves the country nearly 8 million jobs short of pre-pandemic levels. That number looks more stark in terms of racial equity. For white workers, the unemployment rate in May was 5.1%, but for Black workers, it was 9.1%a sign that employment recoveries varied across sector and across classes of work. Reis said that employment and output rates are sometimes decoupled after a recession. After 2010, unemployment recovered faster than output, maybe because there had been a fall in productivity, Reis said. The reverse happens as well: Economic output surges even as the employment rate lags temporarily, which appears to be the case at the moment. The two are never perfectly in sync, Reis said. It makes a big difference to how you think about recovery if you look at unemployment without looking at economic output. Epidemiology The most-discussed measure of the spread of Covid-19 was R0, or R-nought: the number that shows how many other people a sick individual can infect. For society to function smoothly, R0 has to be less than one, said Peter English, a public health expert who sits on the council of the British Medical Association. That will mean the number of cases wont increase. One way of forcing R0 down is to immunize the population. Even then, English said, we must expect to see little flares in places, as we see with the flu. An alternative way to measure recovery, English said, is to look at whether people with non-Covid-19 ailments were able to get treated when needed. In the UK, the healthcare systemif it has copedhas done so at the expense of a lot of other things. Cancers and other things were diagnosed late, treatments were suspended. In April 2020, for instance, the number of urgent cancer treatment referrals fell by 60% compared to April 2019. One proxy for this metric is the number of hospital beds given over to Covid-19 patients. In mid-April 2020, as the first wave of the pandemic was storming through England, nearly 19,000 beds in Englands hospitals were filled by Covid-19 patientsa quarter of all occupied beds, according to data from the National Health Service. On April 8 of this year, Covid-19 patients needed 2,784 beds, just 2.6% of all occupied beds. The further that number drops, the closer the state of public health gets to full recovery. Restaurant dining At least according to one narrow metricrestaurant dining in the seven wealthy countries where OpenTable operatesthe recovery is already here. Walk-ins and reservations have rebounded to a level last seen in February 2020, before Covid-19 swept through the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, Ireland, Germany, and Mexico. But these gains also feel provisional. Australia has managed its simulacrum of normal life by strictly prohibiting entries into the country by any outsiders. The UK, having only just opened indoor spaces for dining in May, is already worrying about a third wave of disease spurred by the Delta variant of the coronavirus. New lockdowns will send the curves south again. Consumer spending By early May, US consumer spending had bounced back to just 0.1 percentage point below its level in the fourth quarter of 2019. In part, this was driven by the pent-up demand among wealthy, white-collar workers who came out unscathed, said Jaana Remes, a partner at the McKinsey Global Institute. They maintained their incomes, and couldnt spend as much in 2020, so their savings expanded. In the US alone, household savings grew by $1.6 trillion. Even in Germany, where savings rates are ordinarily high, youre seeing a 50% increase in savings during the pandemic. In research that Remes led, she found that spending patterns will likely experience decisive shiftsforetelling not so much a recovery to 2019s patterns as a realignment. People are now used to doing more at home, she said. Theyve bought better TVs or home gyms or coffee makers. She expects a decline in business traveland in all the spending that comes with it. Grocery shops may never quite recover, because theres a stickiness to the habit of ordering groceries online. What worries Remes is the potential iniquities in consumer spending. It can take twice as long for lower-income folks to recover to full consumption, she said. Many of these people work in the service sector, and their jobsat grocery-shop tills, for instancemay never return. Even new automation and digitization in manufacturing will impact the speed and shape in which those come back. The end of housing eviction freezes or unemployment benefits will draw down the spending abilities of those affected. The legacy of this crisis, Remes said, is potentially a longer-term impact on inequality that is more severe. Community resilience Daniel Sullivan, a psychologist who heads the University of Arizonas Cultural-Existential Psychology Laboratory, investigates how people respond to huge adverse events: hurricanes, earthquakes, massive environmental, or manmade disasters. In these contexts, psychologists prefer the term resilience to recovery, as a way to understand not just when people stop reporting anxiety or stress but also how well they can to cope the next time around. Sullivan and his colleagues have some methods to quantify this. One is the Social Vulnerability Index compiled by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The index uses a number of census data pointsage distribution, say, or poverty levelsto determine how resilient a community is. For instance: In 2018, the last year for which data is available, Hidalgo County in Texas had a score of 0.98 out of 1, indicating a high level of vulnerability, while Sussex County in New Jersey had a score of 0.02. Such tools could indicate which areas will prove more or less resilient than others, but their utility might be limited. Sullivan thinks Covid-19 is a tricky case. Unlike a tornado, a pandemic is an ongoing, ever-changing situation, affecting so much of the population at any one time. It is a chronic event, not a discrete one. Already it has lasted more than a year, and the disease is likely to come and go even in vaccinated countries. For similar reasons, the average duration that a person in a disaster-hit zone takes to broadly recovera year or thereaboutscannot apply. As a consequence, Sullivan thinks, it will be tempting to conclude that weve recovered long before we actually have. Behavioral changes, like dining out or traveling or mixing into crowds, will precede psychological recovery, simply because people are so eager to return to those aspects of their lives. Societies will equip themselves better for pandemics, and governments will believe Weve run this drill before, we can run it again, Sullivan said. That kind of minimal sense of safety is necessary before we can go on to process all the complex wounds weve experienced. Coming to terms with those wounds will make up the real, long-term feat of recovery. Well-being Theres a reason why its so hard to get to grips with the concept of recovery,' said Anna Alexandrova, a philosopher of science at Cambridge University. Its because its the ultimate fake term. By which Alexandrova means, in the lingo of academic philosophy, that the word recovery judges as well as describes. Implicitly, it invites us to think about a return to some good state that weve slipped out of, she said. But there can be a lot of disagreement about whether that previous state was a good one. Some may say: I dont want recovery if it means thoughtless travel or rampant consumerism. ' There is an ethical and political space around the word that makes it ambiguous. What the word means depends on what your values are. Accordingly, Alexandrova is wary about how the word might be co-opted by politicians or economic experts, who hasten to tell the public the world has recovered through just the usual host of familiar indicators like GDP data or inflation numbers. For one thing, recovery wont be a reversal of what happened last year, she said. It isnt just restarting the clock. It has to be a new process that starts now and rebuilds the capacities weve lost. Children have been affected, for instance, she said, by not being able to go to school or play with others. It wont be sufficient just to pitch them back into full days of school; theyll need additional help to restore their social skills. Asked what she personally would consider a signpost of recovery, Alexandrova thought hard for a minute. As a teacher and a mother, my 2020 has been dominated by care, she said. On Zoom, she found herself ministering to students at the ends of their wits, more fragile and more anxious than ever. Theyve paid an enormous price, she said. Seeing these students feel once again that theyre a priority, and that their careers are not just being sacrificed [by pandemic lockdowns]that, for me, will be the beginning of the end of it all.

https://qz.com/2016457/how-will-we-know-weve-recovered-from-the-pandemic/

Which countries are still seeing increases in COVID cases?

A public health worker helps people check in at a COVID-19 vaccination clinic at Museu da Republica (Museum of the Republic) on May 24, 2021 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photo by Mario Tama As the United States has seen vaccination numbers rise and COVID-19 cases decline, many Americans might be feeling a desire to travel more. But theres something to perhaps take a look at, before booking that next trip. There are other countries still seeing a rise in cases as the pandemic shows signs of being alive and well in those parts of the world. As of May 28, here are the countries where cases have risen and where Americans should be careful about visiting at the moment, according to the website dw.com. Countries with twice as many new cases Asia - Myanmar, Taiwan, Vietnam Africa - Botswana, Eswatini, Liberia, Uganda, Zambia Americas - Antigua and Barbuda, Haiti, Saint Kitts and Nevis Oceana - Fiji Countries with more new cases Asia - Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bhutan, China, Malaysia, Maldives, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor Leste Ad Africa - Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Mauritania, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Zimbabwe Americas - Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Saint Lucia, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela Europe - Belarus, Denmark, Portugal, Russia About the same number of cases (no change, or plus/minus 2%) Asia - South Korea, Brunei Darussalam Africa - Algeria, Mauritius, Gambia, Guinea Bissau Americas - Costa Rica, Dominica, Guatemala, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Europe - France, Norway

https://www.ksat.com/features/2021/06/04/which-countries-are-still-seeing-increases-in-covid-cases/

How the legal heirs can claim money on the death of the FD owner?

New Delhi: Fixed deposits (FD) is the most common investments that people use, especially retired persons. After the death of the FD owner, if the legal heirs want to possess it, they require to know a few things.FDs, have conditions that the depositor must decide when opening it. If the FD is in the name of one person, the bank will examine whether theres a nominee designated. If the account has nomination details, banks will check the nominees identity and transfer the money to him or her. The nomination means aims to simplify the process for settlement of claims on the death of the account holder. It does not carry away the claims of legal heirs on the estate of the dead. The person named as nominee must act as the guardian of legal heirs. A joint account can have several clausesEither or Survivor or Anyone or Survivors or Former or Survivor or Latter or Survivor. Either or Survivor: If you and your mate have a joint account with the Either or Survivor condition. If one of you dies, the bank will give the closing balance along with interest to the survivor. Even if there is a nomination in the account, the survivor will receive the funds. The nominee obtains access to funds only if both account holders die. In case there is no nomination, the survivor receives the funds. In case both die, the legal heirs of both the depositors will receive the funds. Anyone or Survivor: To know this, consider that there are more than two joint account holders. The bank will give the final balance and interest to survivors if one or more account holders die. On the death of all depositors, the nominee receives access to funds. If there is no nomination in position, on the death of one or more depositors, the legal heirs of the dead and the survivor will receive funds. On the death of all depositors, the legal heirs of all the depositors will get the funds. Former or Survivor: It is a joint account where only the previous account holder, the first holder, can withdraw money from the account. Once the former account holder dies, only then the second account holder will be able to withdraw the money. The second account holder will have to do some essential formalities with the bank to begin withdrawing funds, such as presenting the proof of death of the former account holder. On the death of both depositors, the nominee gets access. If there is no nomination and all depositors die, the legal heirs of all depositors will receive the money. Read more; Military begins recruitment drive after widespread protests Latter or Survivor: This is alike the former or survivor clause; the only difference is that the second account holder can manage the account and withdraw the funds. Only when the latter dies, the survivor will get the funds. Here also, on the death of both depositors, the nominee will receive access to funds. And if there is no nominee, the legal heirs of all depositors would obtain the money.

https://www.eastcoastdaily.in/2021/06/04/how-the-legal-heirs-can-claim-money-on-the-death-of-the-fd-owner.html

Are there.UFOs...in the Bible?

Members of Congress are expected this month to receive a report from national intelligence agencies about the governments knowledge of unidentified aerial phenomena - more commonly known as UFOs. The subject made headlines last summer, when a report from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, authored by then-Chairman Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), called for a detailed analysis of unidentified aerial phenomena data and intelligence reporting from various intelligence sources. Credit/ Marko Aliaksandr / Shutterstock. But while they are now getting more serious mainstream attention, reported sightings of UFOs are nothing new. They have been the subject of a cult following and dedicated conspiracy theorists for decades. In fact, some speculation about UFOs even claims that the pages of Sacred Scripture include evidence of ancient contact between aliens and mankind. In his 2017 book, Ancient Aliens in the Bible: Evidence of UFOs, Nephilim, and the True Face of Angels in Ancient Scriptures, Xaviant Haze lays out many such theories on Biblical extraterrestrials. Haze has published a number of works on aliens and other cryptic beings, covering everywhere from ancient India to the early Americas. Haze argues that the supernatural elements of Scripture were actually alien encounters, misinterpreted by ancient authors who lacked the proper vocabulary to describe what they were seeing. He says Eden was not a terrestrial paradise, but an ancient laboratory where aliens created humans and spliced their own genes into them, thus creating an image of God. He says the Nephilim, a race of giants mentioned in Genesis, were descendants of aliens. The Noahic Flood, Haze argues, was a way of scrapping a genetically flawed humanity and starting over. Even Jesus was an alien, according Hazes reading of Scripture. Sure, that all sounds crazy. But with aliens in the headlines this spring, The Pillar decided to take a look at some of those theories, and get the facts. We talked to Dr. Mark Giszczak of the Denver-based Augustine Institute. Giszczak holds a Ph.D. in Biblical Studies from The Catholic University of America and an S.S.L. from the Pontifical Biblical Commission in Rome. Dr. Giszczak: Uh, no. Dr. Giszczak: There are some people who have taken a very enthusiastic reading of the first few verses of Genesis chapter 6, which talks about the sons of God intermarrying with the daughters of men, and producing a race of giants, or the Nephilim. A lot of people have taken this as an indication of some sort of extraterrestrial involvement or interbreeding or something with humanity. But my own explanation of those verses goes back to St. Augustine. In the City of God book 15, he talks about this passage in specific. If you read it in context, he identifies the sons of God in Genesis 6 as the sons of Seth, the sons of the chosen line who have received the kind of blessing from Adam that traces back to the beginning of humanity. And the daughters of men in this category would be the women in the line of Cain, who have inherited the problems that come with the sins of Cain. St. Augustine says theres no doubt about the fact that these angels were men, and not, as some people think, creatures different from men. Scripture is unambiguous in what it declares. St. Augustine will also point out that its not unknown for a small number of people to be born as giants. In fact, in the context when hes discussing this, he mentions a well-known giant from his own time period in Rome. He says, Surely, even in our day, as I pointed out earlier, men have been born with bodies far bigger than what is normal. Everyone remembers the giantess of Rome, who lived along with her father and mother only a few years ago when the Goths were about to sack the city. So, he actually knows of certain giants in his own historical context, and he says the Nephilim of Genesis are not some sort of other creature. They too are human. The Pillar: Some theorists express that because angels occasionally show biological needs in Scripture, like eating, they are not angels but instead aliens. Dr. Giszczak: We believe that God is the creator of all things, and we also profess that he created all things visible and invisible. And I think thats the important distinction. As Catholics, we believe that God created intelligent beings that dont have bodies, namely the angels, and of course the fallen angels as well. So, the idea that there are other creatures in the universe is not threatening to our faith. When we see these instances in Scripture where an angel appears in human form and does things like walk around, and eat food, and have a conversation with Abraham or Lot, we shouldnt be surprised that God has a way of communicating with us by means of these angelic beings that take on flesh, but only in a kind of limited way. Its not a true Incarnation like the coming of Jesus. These angelic appearances would be bodily manifestations, a way that God can communicate with us in a visible, tangible way. And yet, those bodies are more like pseudo-bodies that will eventually disappear once their job is done. If you think about the way that God communicates with us, he has to communicate to us in ways that we understand, whether that be with words, with visions, with signs, or with these visible appearances of angelic figures in the Old Testament. That shouldnt surprise us at all. If they dont have true bodies Dr. Giszczak: We see that in the Book of Judges, and the Book of Genesis, and quite a few places where the angels appear and eat with the human beings that theyre visiting. We shouldnt perceive that as the angels being in need of physical sustenance, but rather that they appear in human form, so they take on the appearance of needing food when in fact they are pure intelligences that dont have bodies, properly speaking, but they just appear with bodies. Dr. Giszczak: Oh, certainly. Eating is very symbolic in the biblical world of a kind of union. If we share a meal together, that means that the food that were eating is now part of me, and its part of you, and so we have this kind of unity with one another through the act of eating. This is ritualized in the temple ceremonies, which are described in Leviticus, where you make your offering at the temple, and the priest will eat of the offering, symbolizing Gods partaking of the offering and reception of it, and the worshipper as well, in certain offerings, will also eat of the offering, symbolizing his unity with God. So when the angels come and they eat with Abraham, for example, its a way of symbolizing that kind of communion with God. Dr. Giszczak: The imago Dei, or the image of God, is our intellectual nature, so its the way in which were similar to God. If you go back and look at the Hebrew, and you find that key word thats translated as image, which is tselem in Hebrew, its a very interesting word. I think, to understand this well, we have to explain a little about the context of Genesis 1, which Ill try to do very briefly. Genesis 1 is largely, if you will, a liturgical text written by priestly authors. Its attempting to reveal the whole cosmos as a kind of temple, or sanctuary. If you were to walk into a temple in the ancient world and you would go into the inner sanctum, what would you find there but a tselem, an image of the deity that was being worshipped at that temple. What I find very fascinating about this is if you conceive of the creation in Genesis 1 as a kind of cosmic temple and the Garden of Eden as the sort of holy of holies of that cosmic temple, then what do you find when you go into the Garden of Eden but an image of God, a tselem, namely Adam, or Adam and Eve. And in fact, if you go to the early Rabbinic tradition of interpreting whats happening here, and what the image of God is, and who Adam is, they refer to this tradition and talk about how Adams body was radiant with divine light, and how the angels would even be tempted to worship Adam because he was so glorious. He had actually been made into an image, or tselem, of God. So in that way, Adam represents God on earth. The Pillar: Alien conspiracies are just one of many schools of thought that treat Scripture as only a historical document rather than the inspired Word of God. Dr. Giszczak: I think theres a tendency to treat the Bible as if its a magic book, or a code book that needs to be decoded. This has been a temptation since ancient times, when you think of the Gnostics or the Cabalists or others who have sought to treat the Bible almost like a magic trick. But the Church teaches that God communicates in a rather human way, with human words, which make sense to human beings, and that he writes Scripture as the Divine Author, but he also uses the human author with all of his powers to compose Sacred Scripture, so that we can say the human authors of Sacred Scripture are true authors, and God is the author of Sacred Scripture, and theres not contradiction there. God doesnt seek to hide meaning in the sacred text that needs to be decoded through esoteric means, but rather he entrusts the truth to the words of Sacred Scripture so that we might receive it with open hearts and in faith. The Christian faith is not a game of speculation or decoding, the Christian faith is the life of faith, hope, and charity, and reading Scripture as a Christian is not about answering esoteric speculative questions, reading Scripture as a Christian is so that we might become more like Christ, and be filled with the Holy Spirit, and be filled with virtue. So, I think that the distinction to draw between these speculative readings of Scripture and a more authentic Christian approach to Sacred Scripture has to do with what our goal is. Thats really a Gnostic approach. Thats a Catholic approach. The Bible is a complicated book. Understanding as much as we can about the archaeological situation, and the international literary situation, and other religions that were present in the area at the time that the Bible was written, all of those types of data help us understand what was going on in the Bible. But I think that thats a little bit different than these types of approaches that youre talking about, where these people are taking Scripture as if its a kind of secret record of these kinds of confusing or esoteric ideas that the authors of Scripture didnt really understand. I think these approaches are not consonant either with the Catholic tradition of Scriptural interpretation, nor with contemporary scholarly conventions. Ancient texts are hard to understand, and we have to do a lot of work to come to understand them, and the Bible is no exception in that. But just because they're hard to understand doesnt mean that we should resort to conspiracy-laden approaches in attempting to decode the Biblical text. Dr. Giszczak: The first thing to recommend is to read Sacred Scripture itself. If you want to understand the Catholic approach to Sacred Scripture, I would recommend starting with Dei Verbum, which is one of the dogmatic constitutions of the Second Vatican Council. Keeping your Catechism with you while you're reading Scripture will help you understand the various passages that youre encountering in a Catholic way, and obviously picking up a good commentary or study Bible will also be very helpful.

https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/are-thereufosin-the-bible

Where is Bray Wyatt now?

Bray Wyatt took on Randy Orton at WrestleMania 37, in a puzzling and underwhelming contest where he came up short. This was thanks to a distraction from Alexa Bliss, who was portrayed as his ally until then. Many wondered how the Bray Wyatt vs. Alexa Bliss storyline would progress. Unfortunately, Wyatt has been missing from WWE RAW ever since. This has led many fans to wonder where the resident scary man of WWE is. It should be noted that even though he's been missing from WWE television, Bray Wyatt put up a tweet last month. While it was an allusion to the zombies that appeared during the lumberjack match between The Miz and Damian Priest, Bray Wyatt did ask the WWE Universe if they missed him. There is no official word on why Bray Wyatt has been away for so long, but it may just be a question of waiting until fans are back in the arena. Creative may also have nothing to do with him and they may be waiting for a way for the Fiend character to evolve and transform into its next avatar, as it has done previosusly. In an exclusive for Sportskeeda Wrestling, former WWE writer Vince Russo pointed out that he may be dealing with some health issues, but obviously, because of the sensitive nature of the same, he did not delve into it further. If that is indeed the case, we wish Bray Wyatt all the best and hope that he'll be back in action once again very soon. Alexa Bliss is still playing her supernatural persona on RAW, and there's certainly a storyline to be explored there. In fact, with a slew of releases from the company, Bray Wyatt's return is absolutely necessary. Whether he comes back as The Fiend or in one of the many other personas he's donned over the years, Bray Wyatt's return is imminent. There is no timeline yet, but when it comes to Wyatt, expect the unexpected. Here's the link for it. Edited by Daniel Wood

https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe/where-bray-wyatt-now

Why are Elderly Housing with Care still experiencing an outbreak of Covid-19?

Elderly housing with care has made significant progress against Covid-19 since the deployment of vaccination began, but the facility is still experiencing minor outbreaks of coronavirus on a regular basis. Associated Press.. Is the future of the American coronavirus good, bad, or ugly? All three. The epidemic continues in Elderly Housing with Care According to Haigh, the recent epidemic in elderly housing with care is much smaller, less frequent, and less severe than during the pandemic heyday, but nevertheless, hundreds of deaths each week. Is consistent enough to explain. For example, Haigh reports that 472 deaths in the elderly home in the first two weeks of May were associated with Covid-19, compared to 10,675 deaths in the first two weeks of January. I did. These outbreaks and the consequent closure of facilities shocked the families and loved ones of those cared for in elderly housing, many of whom began to enjoy direct visits again, Hay wrote. ing. For example, Genie Wells, who was finally able to visit her mother in a nursing home in early April after being unable to meet in person for nearly a year during a pandemic, said after staff tested positive for Covid. -19. The facility suspended direct visits for 6 weeks. Many collaborative activities, such as communal meals and hairdressing services, are still discontinued. As a result, although face-to-face visits resumed, Wells said he was no longer aware of Wells because he had been in contact with his mother for so long. Risks from new residents, unvaccinated staff Experts cite two key factors behind the ongoing outbreak, Haigh reports. For example, David Giffords CMO American Healthcare AssociationHe said it was a natural mistake to assume that the vaccine was given in long-term care were done. He said, In special nursing homes and nursing homes, There is a constant influx of migrants from hospitals and communities, many of whom have not yet been vaccinated. Separately, CDC He also mentioned the risks of low vaccination rates for health care workers in skilled nursing facilities. For example, recent report By CDC Highlighted 22 breakthrough cases of 18 residents and 4 fully vaccinated staff in an outbreak caused by an infected unvaccinated staff member in a special elderly nursing home in Kentucky There were 46 cases, including. Most cases of vaccinated people were asymptomatic, but one vaccinated resident gave way. As a result of these issues, according to Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont (Democratic Party), keeping the coronavirus out of the elderly home is the same as trying to repair a leaked boat. Is Connecticut Public Health Service We have created an Operation Matchmaker that combines elderly housing with a pharmacy to ensure that new residents and staff are vaccinated. In addition, hospitals strive to ensure that patients are vaccinated before they are transferred to a nursing facility. However, due to a national labor shortage, leaders have stopped requiring elderly housing staff to be vaccinated, said Vivian Leon, director of the Connecticut Department of Healths Health Care Infection Program. Nonetheless, Leon said the state is really increasing the pressure to vaccinate these staff in collaboration with the care industry. Separately, Tim Brown, Director of Marketing and Communications, said: Athena Healthcare SystemThe system of 48 nursing facilities in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts estimates that 50% to 60% of staff have been vaccinated so far. In our entire network [outbreaks of one or two people]But most of them are employees, [who] I have not been vaccinated, he said. Brown added that if staff test positive, the network will quarantine the facility and stop direct visits until staff are retested. If there is no other case, or an employee has a particular wing. If you werent working in, allow visits to that wing or unaffected wing of positive employees, he said. Hey also reports that Connecticut is trying to minimize how these safety measures affect the ability of elderly home residents and their families to interact. Mylead Painter, Connecticuts long-term care ombudsman, gave guidance on how nursing facilities should deal with these small outbreaks to reduce the negative impact on residents and their loved ones recently. Said announced (Hey, Associated Press, 6/1).

https://exbulletin.com/world/health/964821/

Is there a relationship between them?

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a mental health condition characterized by inattention and hyperactivity. HoardingAlso known as hoarding disorder, is a state of mental health characterized by being collected in a state where things cannot be thrown away. While ADHD And accumulation is another mental health condition, and studies suggest that people with ADHD may be at increased risk of accumulation tendency. In fact, according to American Association of Anxiety (ADAA), ADHD is listed as one of the most commonly associated conditions for hoarding. In this article, well look at the relationship between ADHD and hoarding disorders and show you available treatments and how to seek help with both ADHD and hoarding. Traditionally Hoarding is associated with a mental health condition called. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).. OCD is a condition characterized by obsessions that lead to compulsions. However, Recent research Hoarding suggested that it may be more closely related to ADHD than OCD. Decision-making issues Both ADHD and hoarding can be defined by executive function difficulty. People with attention-deficit ADHD often struggle with concentration, attention, and determination. Similarly Accumulation disorder It tends to show increased carelessness, impulsivity, and inability to make decisions. ADHD, OCD, and hoarding so 2010 study , Researchers investigated the relationship between ADHD and OCD, as well as ADHD and hoarding behavior. They observed ADHD and hoarding symptoms in 155 participants with childhood-onset obsessive-compulsive disorder between the ages of 4 and 82. The results of the study showed that more than 20% of participants had symptoms of ADHD and 11.8% of these participants had a definitive diagnosis. The results also revealed that 41.9 percent of these participants with ADHD also had cumulative behavior compared to only 29.2 percent of participants without ADHD. Ah 2011 study We further investigated the potential relationship between the symptoms of hoarding, OCD, and ADHD. Eighty-seven participants were selected in this study: 32 participants experienced hoarding disorders, 22 participants experienced non-accumulative OCD, and 33 participants experienced psychiatry. Had no diagnosis or treatment history. The results found that general emotional distress was a predictor of hoarding symptoms. In addition, the symptoms of ADHD, defined by inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity, significantly increased the prediction of accumulation, but not the symptoms of OCD. According to researchers, inattention symptoms showed the strongest correlation with hoarding. What does that mean Both of the above studies were relatively small, but the results suggest that there may be a stronger relationship between ADHD and hoarding than between OCD and hoarding. However, given that ADHD and OCD are considered comorbid or comorbid, there may be some overlap between the three conditions. You may be interested in whether other comorbidities of ADHD are associated with accumulation such as dyslexia and stuttering. There is little research on the links between these.While Dyslexia Since it is commonly associated with ADHD, further research in this area is needed to determine if accumulation is also related to speech and language status. Research on hoarding and ADHD is relatively new and there is much to be learned. Studies investigating the association between ADHD and hoarding can be difficult to distinguish when ADHD really coexists with hoarding disorders. In some cases, people with accumulation disorders may have attention problems, but they may not actually have ADHD. In addition, many studies on these two conditions include other comorbidities. This can affect the results. For example, a person who has both ADHD and OCD may not be representative of someone with an accumulation disorder who has ADHD but does not have OCD. Finally, there are many core features of ADHD that appear beyond the diagnosis of ADHD, such as impulsivity and carelessness. Studies have not yet determined whether these particular features may have a greater impact on the development of hoarding than the actual impairment of ADHD. People whose ADHD is primarily defined by attention and decision-making problems may be at increased risk of developing a tendency to accumulate. Here are some tips on how to prevent ADHD from hoarding. Schedule cleaning and tidying up. ADHD can make it difficult to prioritize tasks, so creating an organized schedule can help you keep up with tasks such as cleaning and tidying up. ADHD can make it difficult to prioritize tasks, so creating an organized schedule can help you keep up with tasks such as cleaning and tidying up. Try different methods of tidying up. Declattering can come in a variety of shapes and shapes, from a simple spring cleaning session to more detailed methods such as: Small method.. Declattering can come in a variety of shapes and shapes, from a simple spring cleaning session to more detailed methods such as: Small method.. Hire someone to help you sort the items. The hoarding tendency can be overwhelming, and expert help can be a great way to classify large numbers of personal items. The hoarding tendency can be overwhelming, and expert help can be a great way to classify large numbers of personal items. Seek treatment and treatment for ADHD. If you dont address the underlying behavior that leads to hoarding trends, it can be difficult to keep your home tidy and tidy. If youre worried that ADHD may become cumulative, make an appointment with a mental health professional to discuss the details. ADHD and hoarding are separate conditions, but both benefit from traditional treatment options. Treatment options for these conditions include the following: Treatment. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) It is a common treatment option for mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression. CBT also helps with accumulation, as it helps handle emotions that cause accumulation behavior, such as negative thought patterns and processes. Behavior therapy Can also help people with ADHD Coordinate their behavior And a thought pattern to alleviate the symptoms. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) It is a common treatment option for mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression. CBT also helps with accumulation, as it helps handle emotions that cause accumulation behavior, such as negative thought patterns and processes. Behavior therapy Can also help people with ADHD Coordinate their behavior And a thought pattern to alleviate the symptoms. medicine. Dosing options For ADHD, both stimulants and non-stimulants are included. However, stimulants are the most commonly prescribed type of drug for ADHD.There are no specific medications to treat hoarding disorders, but other medications such as: Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI), May be prescribed with other treatments. The relationship between ADHD and hoarding is not as generally discussed as it should be. If you have both of these conditions, make an appointment with your healthcare professional to discuss what treatment options are available. Peer support groups provide a way for individuals with mental illness to find others with mental illness. Many groups also provide important resources for treatment from local specialists who specialize in these conditions. If you or your loved one is experiencing ADHD, hoarding, or similar conditions Diogenes SyndromeConsider contacting these organizations to find a support group in your area. Children and adults with attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder (CHADD). This is a national organization that provides resources and support to individuals with ADHD. You can find the CHADD support group directory. Here.. This is a national organization that provides resources and support to individuals with ADHD. You can find the CHADD support group directory. Here.. International OCD Foundation (IOCDF). This is another national organization that provides education and resources to those who live with OCD, including accumulation disorders. You can find the IOCDF support group directory. Here.. Also, consider contacting your health professional, therapist, or other mental health professional for more information on where you can find support for your condition.

https://exbulletin.com/world/health/964903/

Will Boris Johnson allow life as pre-Covid normal to resume on June 21?

Coronavirus infection rates in the UK are heading in the wrong direction at just the wrong moment for Prime Minister Boris Johnson. In the coming days he will thrash out with ministers whether to lift pandemic restrictions as planned on June 21, with an announcement due a week before. Businesses are demanding it, as are members of his Conservative Party, for whom the date has become a totemic symbol of life returning to normal. Yet Covid-19 cases are again on the rise, fuelled by the highly transmissible Delta variant first identified in India, which is now dominant in Britain. Cases of the strain confirmed in laboratories more than doubled this week to 12,431, while early evidence suggests it may be linked to a higher risk of hospitalisation. Data from the statistics office Friday showed an estimated 1 in 640 people in England had the virus in the week to May 29, up from 1 in 1,120 a week earlier. The rate more than tripled in Wales. The figures present a significant dilemma for Johnson as he weighs up whether to forge ahead with dropping all legal limits on social contact later in June. That would mean nightclubs reopening, full stadiums, people queuing at the bar again, and large weddings and conferences back in the diaries. Balancing, clearly, peoples desire and there clearly is a built-up desire to get back to normal against the potential risk is a very difficult judgment call, Neil Ferguson, an epidemiologist from Imperial College London whose modelling was key to the first lockdown in March 2020, told the BBC on Friday. Its not my job to make that decision, thankfully. Irreversible Johnsons ultimate decision which he has said should be irreversible will define both Britains path out of lockdown as well as perceptions of him as prime minister. He has been accused of dithering over key decisions in the pandemic, with his former top aide, Dominic Cummings, comparing him to a shopping trolley, smashing from one side of the aisle to the other. Delaying June 21 would risk a major showdown with Tory MPs, who regard the date as a promise to voters. They point to the rapid vaccine rollout, and the fact that the UK this week had a day without recorded Covid-19 deaths for the first time since the pandemic began, as reasons to proceed. But Johnson has to balance the pandemic toll taken on industry, peoples mental health and job opportunities, against the risk of a fresh spike in cases. The government must pause plans for reopening to avoid another full lockdown, a group of scientists chaired by the governments former chief scientific adviser, David King, said in an e-mailed statement. That decision should be made now to modify current false hopes, they said. Englands virus reproduction rate is at 1:1.2, meaning every 10 people infected will infect 10 to 12 other people. Last week, the range was 1:1.1. Johnson said this week before the latest data he saw nothing in the numbers to make him deviate from his plan. The government also tightened restrictions on international travel, a move it linked to the need to protect the unlocking of the economy. Removing Portugal from the so-called green list of destinations people can arrive from without quarantine was a body blow to an airline industry crying out for a reopening of European travel. But it was a strong indication of the governments priorities. Even so, much now depends on data expected next week to show how well the vaccines are performing against the Delta variant in protecting against serious illness, hospitalisation and death. Just over half of all UK adults have received two doses so far but that leaves almost half without maximum protection. About one in 10 people in the hospital with Covid-19 in hotspot areas last week had received two shots, health secretary Matt Hancock told MPs, showing that the vaccine is also not 100% effective. Its also clear there will not be 100% vaccine take-up. Wiggle room There are also political calculations on what is a matter of trust between the people and the government. Voters were promised that the vaccines would get them out of lockdown, and Johnson is eager to deliver on that. The government has some wiggle room to relax some measures rather than all on June 21, because the legal framework for Covid-19 restrictions is in place until the end of September. Jeremy Farrar, a member of the governments scientific panel advising on the pandemic response, said he is cautiously optimistic that the restrictions can be lifted. He said vaccines hold the key in the UK and around the world. This is perhaps the hardest UK policy decision of the last 18 months, he said in an e-mailed statement. The best way to protect the UK from future variants is through global vaccination. As long as the virus continues to circulate, it will continue to mutate. Bloomberg. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/world/europe/2021-06-04-will-boris-johnson-allow-life-as-pre-covid-normal-to-resume-on-june-21/

Were they insurrectionists or merely tourists?

An insurrection occurred on Jan. 6 when our nations Capitol building was stormed by Trump zealots. Fueled by absurd online claims that Trump had been deprived of re-election by voter fraud as well as by an incendiary speech delivered by Trump himself, these fanatics attempted to prevent the results of last Novembers election from being certified. Some Republican politicians insist, however, that this horrific event wasnt an insurrection. Rep. Andrew Clyde stated that it is a bald-faced lie to call the assault an act of insurrection. The Trump worshipers who comprised the mob werent insurrectionists intent on trashing the place and doing bodily harm to anyone who stood in their way. Instead, they more closely resembled tourists, Clyde claimed. Watching the TV footage of those who entered the Capitol and walked through Statuary Hall showed people in an orderly fashion staying between the stanchions and ropes, taking videos and pictures, Clyde claimed. You know, if you didnt know the TV footage was a video from January the 6th, you night actually think it was a normal tourist visit. Anyone who has watched videos of the Jan. 6 insurrection surely knows that it bears little, if any, resemblance to a normal tourist visit. I find it difficult to believe that guests touring the Capitol typically engage in vandalism and theft as well as urinate and defecate with gleeful abandon. I also doubt whether a typical tourist visit results in damages that cost tens of millions of dollars to repair. And if a normal tourist visit typically results in five deaths, then Capitol tours should be declared a public safety hazard and immediately discontinued so no more lives are lost. Despite Republican claims to the contrary, Trump loyalists indeed launched an insurrection on Jan. 6. A few months later, I noticed a new meme on social media. It was a quotation from Ulysses S. Grant, the Civil War general who later became our nations eighteenth president. Grants words seemed to foretell the Jan. 6 insurrection and explain why it had occurred. If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, Grant was quoted as having said, I predict the dividing line will not be the Mason and Dixons but between patriotism and intelligence on one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other. Grants words seemed so precognizant given the Jan. 6 insurrection that I immediately conducted research to determine their authenticity. Grant indeed uttered those words. He made this assertion during a speech delivered on Sept. 29, 1875 at a meeting of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee in Des Moines, IA. The entire speech can be read on line. In a passage preceding the one quoted in the meme, Grant cautioned, In a republic like ours, where the citizen is the sovereign and the official the servant, where no power is exercised except by the will of the people, it is important the sovereign the people shall possess intelligence. Grant then stressed the importance of a strong public school system that will ensure that intelligence which will preserve us as a free nation. Superstition, ambition and ignorance played integral roles in fermenting the assault on our Capitol. The insurrectionists had embraced the malignant superstition or lie, if you prefer that Donald Trump had actually won the November election but had been denied victory by non-existent voter fraud. Trumps ambition to serve a second term, despite having lost both the popular and Electoral College vote, goaded him into creating this lie. The QAnon followers who participated in the insurrection embodied the ignorance that Grant cited as a threat to our republic. John J. Dunphy is an author, the Godfrey 15th Precinct Democratic Committeeperson and recording secretary for the Godfrey Democrats.

https://www.thetelegraph.com/insider/article/Were-they-insurrectionists-or-merely-tourists-16224807.php

Why Is Dr. Anthony Fauci Ignoring The SARS Lab Leaks?

White House senior medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci has repeatedly ignored or omitted the fact that several cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) stemmed from lab leaks in his discussions of the presumed natural origins of COVID-19. In a Thursday interview with the Financial Times, he listed SARS along with MERS, Ebola, HIV, bird flu, the swine flu pandemic of 2009 as viruses that jumped species. Fauci also claimed during a July 2020 address to the American Urological Association that the virus literally disappeared, because it had no place to go, no one to infect, after cases peaked between March and June 2003. He made a similar claim to the American Association for Cancer Research in August 2020. By June and July of 2003, there were no cases [of SARS]. The virus was contained purely by public health measures [isolation and quarantine] without drugs and vaccines, Fauci said. Although initial SARS outbreaks have since been sourced to human consumption of civet cats in Guangzhou, China, Fauci ignored that multiple early 2000s SARS cases were traced to lab-leak incidents. Scientists in Singapore and Taiwan contracted SARS in 2003, with the Taiwanese researcher falling ill after mishandling lab equipment, according to the Taipei Times. Following those lab leaks, 25 individuals in Singapore and 10 in Taiwan had to quarantine. Ten Key Takeaways From A Shocking New Report) SARS leaked from the Chinese Institute of Virology in Beijing twice in 2004. Two different researchers became ill with SARS in late April. They were not known to be in contact with each other, as one worked with genetic fragments of the virus, and the other did not work with SARS, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) investigation. I dont think were ever going to get to Aha! It was this day and this time,' WHO investigator Julie Hall told Science Magazine at the time. However, she said, the investigation raise[d] questions about the management structure and the training of staff. At least nine individuals became sick with SARS as a result of the Beijing lab leaks. Seven of the patients were located in Beijing, and two were in Anhui Province, more than 750 miles away from the Chinese Institute of Virology. One of the patients, the mother of one of the scientists, died from the virus. Despite this history of lab leaks, Fauci has continued to downplay and flip-flop on the likelihood of a COVID-19 lab leak. During an April 18, 2020 press conference, he said that the virus was totally consistent with an animal to human origin. He testified to Congress that he was totally in favor of a full investigation of the lab leak theory, before telling CBS News Weijia Jiang that he continues to believe a natural origin is highly likely.

https://dailycaller.com/2021/06/04/anthony-fauci-ignore-sars-lab-leaks-beijing/

What's Up With CrowdStrike Stock Today?

CrowdStrike Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: CRWD) is trading lower Friday despite announcing better-than-expected financial results. What Happened: CrowdStrike reported first-quarter earnings of 10 cents per share, which beat the estimate of 6 cents per share. The company reported quarterly revenue of $302.8 million, which beat the estimate of $291.46 million. CrowdStrike kicked off the new fiscal year with strong momentum and delivered outstanding first quarter results that exceeded our expectations. We saw strength in multiple areas of the business, added $144 million in net new ARR in the quarter and grew ending ARR 74% year-over-year to exceed $1.19 billion," said George Kurtz, CEO of CrowdStrike. Related Link: Recap: CrowdStrike Holdings Q1 Earnings Analyst Assessment: Multiple analyst firms raised the price targets on the cybersecurity company: Needham analyst Alex Henderson maintained CrowdStrike with a Buy rating and raised the price target from $275 to $277. RBC Capital analyst Matthew Hedberg maintained CrowdStrike with an Outperform rating and raised the price target from $250 to $259. JP Morgan analyst Sterling Auty maintained CrowdStrike with a Neutral rating and raised the price target from $210 to $220. Mizuho analyst Gregg Moskowitz maintained CrowdStrike with a Buy rating and raised the price target from $250 to $255. Price Action: CrowdStrike has traded as high as $251.28 and as low as $88.87 over a 52-week period. At last check Friday, the stock was down 3.37% at $208.73. Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay

https://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/price-target/21/06/21432438/whats-up-with-crowdstrike-stock-today

What did Shaniera Akram stir up for Wasim Akrams birthday?

Wasim Akram, former cricketer, and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team celebrated his 55th birthday today and his wife Shaniera Akram says she is sad to be 11,683 km away from her husband on an occasion to be celebrated. She posted several tweets on Twitter about being away from her better half and appreciating the importance of family during times of an epidemic such as the one were currently undergoing. On your 55th birthday one son is in America, second in Pakistan, your wife and daughter in Australia and you just got out of a 10 day lock quarantine isolated by yourself in Abu Dhabi, she wrote. On your 55th birthday one son is in America, second in Pakistan, your wife and daughter in Australia and you just got out of a 10 day lock quarantine isolated by yourself in Abu Dhabi.Covid times make us appreciate how important family is & how strong we all are fighting together Shaniera Akram (@iamShaniera) June 3, 2021 Covid times make us appreciate how important family is & how strong we all are fighting together, Shaniera further added. In another tweet, she was asked what special thing she would get up to for her husbands birthday. Shaniera humorously replied saying, We are 11, 683 km away from each other so lets see! Sugar-free of course

https://www.bolnews.com/entertainment/2021/06/what-did-shaniera-akram-stir-up-for-wasim-akrams-birthday/

What is Mehar Bano grateful to Saba Qamar for?

Pakistani actress Mehar Bano revealed during a recent interview that she was harassed on set during a shoot, and that is when she was rescued and helped by well-known actress and supermodel Saba Qamar. The Churails series actress disclosed that she was on a set during a shoot when she was harassed by a crew member. She was shocked by the act and did not understand what was happening at that point in time as she was fairly new to the showbiz industry back then. Mehar Bano added that upon seeing this, Saba Qamar sided with her and raised a voice for her fellow actress against the harasser. Saba Qamar had the harasser kicked out of set and from the following shoots. After this incident, Mehar Bano realized that one can be harassed by anyone at any time, so they should strengthen themselves and keep their eyes open to avoid such incidents taking place in the future. After this incident, I realized that every woman should be strong enough to support another woman and raise her voice for her, she said.

https://www.bolnews.com/entertainment/2021/06/what-is-mehar-bano-grateful-to-saba-qamar-for/

What made Rabi Pirzada remember the emperor of Qawwali NFAK?

Rabi Pirzada, former singer of the Pakistani Showbiz Industry, while reacting to a statement made by Malala Yousafzai regarding marriage, said that after hearing the statement, she remembered Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the emperor of Qawwali and Sufi devotional music. Rabi Pirzada shared two photos of Malala Yousafzai on her official Twitter handle, one of which is of an innocent girl, that is, a picture from Malalas childhood, while the other photo is of Malalas recent Vogue photo shoot which took place in the UK. #Malala pic.twitter.com/hMD8nOhMdM Rabi Pirzada (@Rabipirzada) June 3, 2021 The former singer, while sharing the photos, addressed Malala Yousafzai and said that she has given up music, but seeing Malala, she got reminded of the late legend, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and a verse by him, kya se kya hogaya dekhtay dekhtay. The the former Pakistani actress and model further said we Muslims do not speak abusively or immorally to anyone, but we do hope that those who make negative statements about religion should not represent our religion. Rabi Pirzada further wrote, May Allah guide us all because none of us are complete without the teachings of religion. It should be noted that Malala Yousafzais interview was published on the website of the British fashion magazine, Vogue in which she also spoke about marriage. According to Vogue magazine, Malala Yousafzai had said, I still dont understand why people have to get married. If you want to have a person in your life, why do you have to sign marriage papers, why cant it just be a partnership? Her views on marriage have met with mixed reactions from people. Social media users reminded Malala of her Pashtoon origin and called her out for promoting western culture. There were also many who defended her against the criticism.

https://www.bolnews.com/entertainment/2021/06/what-made-rabi-pirzada-remember-the-emperor-of-qawwali-nfak/

What's Up With Roblox's Stock Today?

Roblox Corp (NYSE: RBLX) is a popular video-game company among young people and kids. The company stands apart from other gaming companies with its unique system of allowing creators to develop their own games. Users enjoy the ability to not only play other users popular games, but also to imagine and create their own. Unusual Options Activity: The stock traded up as much as 7% on Friday. Traders placed large options orders, betting that Robloxs stock will continue to rise. According to Benzinga Pro, one trader placed 4,000 contracts with a $120.00 strike that expires on June 25. Another trader placed $105.00 call sweeps that expire at the end of trading today. Robloxs stock has been a favorite among retail investors since its direct public listing. ARKs Cathie Wood famously purchased 500,000 shares, or $36 million worth, of the company after its listing. The stock was up 6.8% to $103.09 per share at publication time. Photo credit: Google Creative Commons

https://www.benzinga.com/news/21/06/21432269/whats-up-with-robloxs-stock-today