With 92 percent of the country’s viewers watching content on dedicated video websites and related apps in Q4 2016, China is entering a golden era of entertainment consumption, characterised by consumers’ growing appetite for quality, catered content, and the convergence of multiple devices.
For marketers, these developments are sharpening the country’s advertising opportunities, and online video platforms—in particular, iQIYI—are exploring new content marketing channels in close collaboration with brand owners.
According to an iResearch study, China’s online video advertising sector reeled in Rmb33.4 billion (US$4.9 billion) in revenue last year, and iQIYI is no longer limiting its reach to video hosting alone. The platform is utilising its dedicated user base and massive content library, and making a mark with its iJOY marketing model (see overleaf).
iQIYI’s CMO, Vivian Wang, explained how at the iJOY marketing conference held in Beijing in June: “There’s a new market for video, where advertising and content have fused, and consumers are highly engaged with the medium. Aggregation is getting more personalised and efficient, subcultures like anime and hip-hop are finding an audience on our channels, short videos have shown rapid growth, and in-feed ads are booming.”
CMO Vivian Wang speaks at Beijing's iJOY marketing conference
Owning the entertainment value chain
iQIYI currently boasts 310 million daily active users, including 150 million on mobile. This places it at the top of China’s video-streaming industry, and a healthy second in the app industry when ranked by engagement time, trailing only WeChat. Founded less than eight years ago, the video platform has a footprint worthy of a closer look.
“We’ve developed a ‘one dish many ways’ business model for content producers,” says CEO Tim Gong. “Whether it’s advertising, paid membership, franchising, copyright sales, gaming or ecommerce, it’s the same recipe throughout—distribution and monetisation.”
Original content generates more traffic and has long-term business value. And platforms that once prided themselves in streaming video are gaining an advantage when they also take charge of the production and creative direction of their content.
iQIYI is an exceptional case study for this: seizing this opportunity, it has invested heavily in its own native content with a healthy ecosystem behind to support its growth expectations.
Xiaohui Wang, chief content officer at iQIYI, said that investing heavily in its HEAD IP (intellectual property) content—its top-tier content, that which receives the highest popularity scores and largest audience size—is part of its content strategy.
Wang estimates that—in addition to the 90,000 independent videos produced daily over 30 channels—iQIYI is ramping up its in-house offerings “producing 1,000 hours of HEAD content throughout 2017”. He has high aspirations for iQIYI: “We are establishing ourselves as the best online-streaming platform, the best player in internet native content production, and the best ecosystem of content.”
iQIYI partners with Xiaomi, vivo, Yum!China, VIP.COM, and FAW-Volkswagen at the iJOY marketing conference in June
Capitalising on star power
iQIYI’s content investments are a unique strategy: the group now relies on its star-making power with new talent, going so far as to double-up as talent scout and employer. Because of its grassroots approach, iQIYI-only dramas, IP-based dramas, and internet-native dramas are in high demand.
In 2016, iQIYI produced 25 original internet dramas that generated 31.2 billion click-throughs. Its content was ranked No 1 by weighing more than one third of all internet dramas in China.
Ying Dai, vice-president and general manager of internet dramas at iQIYI, explains the approach: “We don’t just stand backstage, we collaborate with film production teams in their search for promising actors. We want to communicate with these individuals at the start of every new project, and nurture them on their journey to the screen.”
iQIYI now commissions multiple-season productions to maintain quality—a technique popular TV shows in the US use. Episodes are released on a weekly basis by design.
In addition to new talent, well-established actors and hosts also co-produce iQIYI’s original content. Bin Jiang, vice-president and general manager of programme development at iQIYI, said of the effort: “Celebrity-produced shows and IP-extension shows are two drivers of our internet variety shows.” IP-extension shows refer specifically to subsequent seasons of successful variety shows, which drew in extra large audiences for iQIYI, garnering 7.1 billion views in 2016 with an advertising revenue of Rmb2 billion.
“Aggregation is getting more personalised and efficient, subcultures like anime and hip hop are finding an audience on our channels, short videos have shown rapid growth, and in-feed ads are booming”
Vivian Wang, CMO at iQIYI
“We are establishing ourselves as the best online-streaming platform, the best player in internet native content production, and the best ecosystem of content”
Xiaohui Wang, chief content officer at iQIYI
“We don’t just stand backstage, we collaborate with film production teams in their search for promising actors”
Ying Dai, vice-president and general manager, internet dramas at iQIYI
“Celebrity-produced shows and IP-extension shows are two drivers of our internet variety shows”
Bin Jiang, vice-president and general manager, programme development at iQIYI
Creating a content atlas
From in-feed ads and offline events, to licensing opportunities, iQIYI’s iJOY marketing model has opportunities across the map of content:
IP crossover: iQIYI’s marketing capability provides greater flexibility for brands, allowing them to reach a wide range of consumers across a variety of online mediums by implementing pan entertainment strategies. “Successful companies that deal in media are knocking down their long-standing silos of film, TV, literature,” says Michael Chen, vice-president of sales at iQIYI. “Pan entertainment is the new standard. We’ve constructed a comprehensive upstream-to-downstream production chain to live among video: literature, animation, ecommerce, gaming, and other formats.”
IP soft-embedment: Video ad spots—regardless of their placement—are easy for viewers to skip, and likely come off as a hard sell. Rather than disturbing users with a 30-second ad spot wedged haphazardly within a video, iQIYI vouches for a more fluid process for embedding branding. Brands make their home on iQIYI through mediums such as well-placed mascots, on virtual goods in a mobile game, or featuring as a location in their latest miniseries.
O2O interest flow: Online-to-offline experiential marketing is paramount in providing a closed-loop content experience for consumers. iQIYI has taken to the ground with offline events for its 523 million online users, including iQIYI Comic-Con, iQIYI All-Star Carnival and iQIYI Summer Operations.
Completing the communication cycle, users can also engage through ‘Bubble Circle’, the company’s built-in SNS system—314 million of iQIYI’s users are under 30, and 35 million of those younger users engage daily on the platform.
Chen believes that targeting the younger demographic means keeping communication portals open. “We’re currently in the age of Marketing 2.0, where online and offline worlds feed each other reciprocally. Our face-to-face events and Bubble Circle facilitate engagement, and we’re eager to dive into Marketing 3.0, where innovative technology like AR and VR play a more powerful role throughout.”
iQIYI’s integrative marketing solutions tap into entertainment trends
IP licensing: “While Hollywood gathers 70 percent of its income from licensing, the sector only accounts for 2.5 percent of income in China’s film industry,” explains Jared Ren, vice-president of licensing at iQIYI. “This signals a massive opportunity for growth in the coming years. It’s green lights all the way for us.”
Brands like Disney and Marvel have established vast and diverse content libraries built on characters whose emotional resonance spans decades. iQIYI seeks to build this same rapport with audiences through content collaboration, a strong digital presence, retail goods, offline entertainment and even a planned theme park based on iQIYI content.
‘IN’ advertising: “iQIYI pursues marketing with the aim to combine brand and conversion,” says Frankie Fu, vice-president of sales at iQIYI. Along the way, the company’s DMP leverages automatic tags powered by big data, collecting user interests to increase the precision of audience targeting.
As a product of these developments, iQIYI has seen an increase in programmatic buying, and has committed itself to setting benchmarks for transparency, accurate metrics and brand safety across its services and the market as a whole.
In-feed ads: iQIYI is the first player in the online streaming industry to release in-feed ads as a major advertising strategy. The sector subsequently saw 2,000-fold growth in just one year, opening the doors for brand conversion.
Fred Mao, managing director, corporate development sales department at iQIYI, outlines the native advertising landscape in China: “The country now has 665 million mobile netizens, which makes up 95 percent of all Chinese netizens. Knowing this, a rapidly growing number of SMEs have laid a solid foundation for the explosive growth of in-feed ads, and independent research shows that 50.4 percent of mobile users are in favour of these ads.”
“We’re eager to dive into Marketing 3.0, where innovative technology like AR and VR play a more powerful role throughout”
Michael Chen, vice-president, sales at iQIYI
“While Hollywood gathers 70 percent of its income from licensing, the sector only accounts for 2.5 percent of income in China’s film industry. This signals a massive opportunity for growth in the coming years”
Jared Ren, vice-president, licensing at iQIYI
“The country now has 665 million mobile netizens, which makes up 95 percent of all Chinese netizens. Knowing this, a rapidly growing number of SMEs have laid a solid foundation for the explosive growth of in-feed ads”
Fred Mao, managing director, corporate development sales department at iQIYI
“iQIYI pursues marketing with the aim to combine brand and conversion”
Frankie Fu, vice-president, sales at iQIYI


Eighteen inmates and a guard were injured Monday when members of two Black Muslim factions fought each other at the Adolescent Remand Shel ter on Bikers Island, it was learned last night.
Only one of the injuries, to an inmate, was serious enough to require brief hospitaliza tion, a Correction Department spokesman said. He said the disturbance erupted from an argument between two leaders of the factions over a Biblical interpretation, and that picks fashioned from bedsprings were used by some inmates.
The spokesman; Agenor L. Castro, said Correction Depart ment officials had since been in touch with both factions to avoid another flare‐up, and that Muslim officials had said they would also talk to the inmates.
The shelter houses close to 2,000 youths between 16 and 20 years old. News about the flare‐up was not made public Monday because it was felt “not serious enough to warrant that kind of news release,” Mr. Castro said.Continue reading the main story


By Lt. Brian Davi, A.A., Public Information Officer
Central California Women’s Facility
With Associate of Arts degrees in hand, 38 inmates at the Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) shucked off their pasts and took steps to a much brighter future.
Families clutched inmate-designed ceremony programs while educational administrators and graduates offered inspirational speeches during a recent ceremony.
Warden Deborah K. Johnson recognized the hard work of the inmates.
“Your past does not represent your future,” she said. “Each of you has opportunities to improve yourself, your families, community and especially your children.”
Faculty from Feather River College, based out of the University of California, Merced, awarded the AA Degrees in front of the graduates’ friends, family, teachers and CCWF administrators during the Sept. 5 ceremony.
Warden Johnson congratulated the class of 2014 for stepping up against the odds of being incarcerated and taking the positive step toward being role models at CCWF. She also lauded dedication to challenge their minds to become future educated members of society upon release.
Since 2009, CCWF has graduated approximately 150 inmates with AA degrees from Feather River College or Coastline College.
According to officials, many of the graduates are the first in their families to receive a college degree.
For many graduates, this AA degree represents the first step in their life-changing endeavors as many said they want to continue to further their education.


Aug 20, 2013, 3:07 PM EST
Major League Baseball did what it had to do: the league just announced that the Red Sox Ryan Dempster has received a five-game suspension and an undisclosed fine for intentionally throwing at and hitting Alex Rodriguez with a pitch in the top of the second inning of Sunday night’s game.
If it hadn’t suspended Dempster, the league would have been sending a message to the rest of baseball that throwing at a batter intentionally — or, at the very least, unpopular ones like A-Rod — was acceptable. That’s simply untenable for a league which purports to disapprove of pitchers throwing at batters on purpose.
Joe Girardi was fined due to his animated argument with umpire Brian O’Nora.
The Red Sox have two games off in the next week, so Dempster is unlikely to even miss a start, *
rendering this more of a five-game’s-salary fine as opposed to an actual suspension. That is, assuming he doesn’t appeal. Which, given that many are saying that Dempster hit A-Rod because he disagreed with Rodriguez being allowed to play pending the appeal of his own suspension, would be pretty rich indeed.
UPDATE: No, I was wrong. He still gets his salary, which makes this 100% symbolic, minus the fine.
Nov 26, 2014, 10:04 PM EST
Here’s the farewell Instagram post from third baseman Pablo Sandoval, who signed a five-year, $98 million free agent contract with the Red Sox earlier this week …
Nov 26, 2014, 8:18 PM EST
Jackson was limited to 11 minor league games in 2014 due to a right wrist injury that ultimately required surgery.
Nov 26, 2014, 6:43 PM EST
From FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal comes word that the Padres have shown interest in trading for Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp …
Nov 26, 2014, 5:10 PM EST
The Dbacks were not in the picture until very recently. But better late than never.
Nov 26, 2014, 4:25 PM EST
Since there’s no such thing as a stupid question …
Nov 26, 2014, 3:58 PM EST
Don’t tell the people who like to hang out in the bleachers. They may not realize it, actually.
Nov 26, 2014, 2:30 PM EST
It sorta makes sense I guess, even if it never goes down.
Nov 26, 2014, 2:14 PM EST
Rodriguez was projected to make around $2 million via arbitration.
Nov 26, 2014, 1:40 PM EST
An intriguing scrap-heap pickup for the Rays.
Nov 26, 2014, 1:15 PM EST
This year he played at Triple-A for the Angels, hitting .332 with 25 homers and a 1.017 OPS in 95 games.
Nov 26, 2014, 12:59 PM EST
Ronald Guzman is the Rangers’ 17th-ranked prospect.
Nov 26, 2014, 11:19 AM EST
Capuano is 36 years old, so finding a guaranteed big-league job for 2015 could be difficult.
Nov 26, 2014, 10:47 AM EST
Drafted in 2012, free agent in 2014.
Nov 26, 2014, 10:30 AM EST
Nov 26, 2014, 10:15 AM EST
Either the Rangers or the Twins had the winning bid.
Nov 26, 2014, 9:44 AM EST
Need some dingers? I know a guy who can get you some dingers, man.
Nov 26, 2014, 9:13 AM EST
So who plays third base?
Nov 26, 2014, 8:00 AM EST
It’s like clockwork. A team signs a big free agent or two and someone argues that baseball is doomed without a salary cap. It’s always baloney, of course.
Nov 25, 2014, 10:12 PM EST
Max Scherzer, a client of Scott Boras, seems comfortable with slow-playing this market. We’ve seen loads of rumors and reports involving the other prominent free agent ace, Jon Lester, but it’s hard to identify which teams are in the running at the moment for Max. The Giants may be one …
Nov 25, 2014, 8:47 PM EST
Via Jeeho Yoo of Seoul’s Yonhap News, right-hander Lucas Harrell and outfielder Jim Adduci both agreed to one-year deals Tuesday in the Korea Baseball Organization — Harrell with the KIA Tigers for $900K and Adduci with the Lotte Giants for $650K.
- Yasmany Tomas signs a six-year, $68.5 million deal with the Diamondbacks 68
- No, the Red Sox signing Pablo and Hanley is not proof that baseball needs a salary cap 158
- Red Sox announce four-year, $88 million deal with Hanley Ramirez, DFA Juan Francisco 33
- The Cubs have offered Jon Lester “north of $135 million” 68
- Pablo Sandoval’s deal: five years, $98 million plus an option 43
- Kyle Seager, Mariners close to $100 million extension 26
- The 2015 Hall of Fame ballot is out — Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez are new on the ballot 286
- So what would the Red Sox look like with Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval? 49
- The 2015 Hall of Fame ballot is out — Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez are new on the ballot (286)
- No, the Red Sox signing Pablo and Hanley is not proof that baseball needs a salary cap (159)
- More Hall of Fame ballots like Adam Rubin’s please (138)
- Report: Pablo Sandoval chose the Red Sox over the Giants because he felt disrespected (135)
- UPDATE: The Pablo Sandoval-Red Sox deal is done, pending a physical (133)


Pilar Sanders is a model, actress, and reality television personality from the United States of America. Over the years, Pilar Sanders has worked on a range of projects. Walker, Texas Ranger, The Jamie Foxx Show, Veronica’s Closet, Pilar Sanders: Prime Time Love, and others are among her credits.
Table of Contents
What is the Net worth of Pilar Sanders ?
Pilar Sanders is a joyful woman who enjoys spending time with her family. As a result of her labor, she is now well-known and wealthy. In addition, her total net worth is expected to be over $5 million US dollars in 2022.
Biography and Early Life
Pilar Sanders was born on October 10, 1974, in Elmira, New York, in the United States of America. She is currently 47 years old. Her father’s name is Dan Biggers, and her mother’s name is Jeanette. Scottie Biggers and Kandie Biggers are her two siblings. She is of Christian faith and is of American ancestry.
View this post on Instagram
She is also of African-American ancestry. According to astrology, her zodiac sign is Libra. In terms of her official education, she graduated from a local high school in her hometown. She also completed her post-secondary study at a university.
Height and Weight
Pilar Sanders is a stunning woman with a fantastic personality. The actress stands at a height of 5 feet and 9 inches. She is 59 kg in weight. Furthermore, the statistics are 35 inches breast, 24 inches waist, and 35 inches hips when it comes to general body measures. Her hair is black, and her eyes are a dark brown tone.
Career and Professional Life
Pilar Sanders is an actress, model, and reality television star. She had always been fascinated by the entertainment industry and aspired to pursue it as a career. She has finally realized her lifetime ambition. Pilar Sanders has worked with various modeling agencies during the course of her modeling career, including Irene Marie and Ford Models. She has also sponsored a lot of brands as of today.
View this post on Instagram
In addition, she has appeared in a range of television ventures. Her television credits include Walker, Texas Ranger, The Jamie Foxx Show, Veronica’s Closet, LL Cool J’s in Da House, Deion Pilar: Prime Time Love, and more. She was also a co-founder of Prime Time Achievers. Streets of Blood, The Mob Squad, Deion and Pilar : Prime Time Love, and others are among her cinematic credits.
Status of Relationship
Piler Sanders is divorced when it comes to her love and private life. She is, however, in a relationship right now. James Prince, also known as Prince, is the man she is dating. Rap-a-Lot Records’ President and CEO is him. Deion Sanders was her previous husband. Deion is a professional football player as well as a baseball player.
They married on May 21, 1999, and after 14 years of marriage, they divorced on June 28, 2013. Shilo, Shedeur, and Shelomi were their three children, and they lived a good life. She is not involved in any other relationships. She is forthright about her gender preferences. Sanders hasn’t had any problematic events as of today.
Facts of Pilar Sanders
|Full Name:||Pilar Sanders|
|Born Date:||10 Oct 1974|
|Best Match for Marriage:||Gemini|
|Height:||5 feet 10 inches (1.78m)|
|Net Worth||$5 million USD|
|Eye Color||Dark brown|
|Birth Place||Elmira, New York|
|Siblings||Scottie Biggers, Kandie Biggers|
|Kids||Shilo, Shedeur, and Shelomi|
Originally posted on @


25-Sep-2011 Source: HeliHub.com
Kevin Kelly,Â spoke this week for the Communications Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada – which represents some Newfoundland offshore workers – and called for the Sikorsky S92 to be replaced in offshore service.Â Kelly works on the Hibernia oil platform east of St. Johnâ€™s, and was reacting to the 20th September issue with a Bristow Norway S92 which had to turn back to base after a problem en route to a North Sea rig (See HeliHub.com page for this incident).
New Democrat MP Jack Harris, who presented to the Wells Inquiry into offshore helicopter safety, agreed with Kelly that Cougar should consider replacing their S92 fleet.
The Canadian offshore operations from Newfoundland, are very sore about the S92 after the much-publicised Cougar Helicopters crash in March 2009 which killed 17.Â The Canadian media were hot on the case of the Bristow Norway incident, including one outlet contacting HeliHub.com to see if we could help with our European connections – they were seeking a representative from Bristow Norway be interviewed within the hour.
The Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) said Wednesday it has reviewed the incident and confirmed that the S-92A choppers transporting workers to offshore oil installations east of St. Johnâ€™s have been inspected and are airworthy.
William P Johnson – HeliHub.com US correspondent


Hundreds of new jobs are headed to Colorado Springs, Mayor Steve Bach announced Monday morning.
The company Stellar Restaurant Solutions, which started locally, works as a call center for some of the nation's biggest restaurant chains. When things started to expand, they thought about moving out of Colorado, but thanks to some changes have decided to stick around.
Having Stellar expand means hundreds of jobs to start--and maybe even thousands down the road.
Stellar's CEO Steve Bigari says the decision to stay in the Springs didn't come lightly, and had a lot to do with Bach.
"We need someone to treat us like we belong...to help use the resources of the city as appropriate to help streamline decisions and help get things done more quickly; get us quality people; and get our permits on time. He's completely changed the heart of the city towards business," Bigari said.
Bigari said the quality of employees here in Colorado also played a big part in their decision to stay.
The expansion is already underway, but it's unclear when those jobs we'll be available. We'll let you know when we learn more.


from October 9, 2018
This is a
Nederlog of Tuesday,
This is a crisis
log but it is a bit different from how it was until 2013:
I have been
writing about the crisis since September
1, 2008 (in Dutch, but
since 2010 in English) and about
the enormous dangers of surveillance (by secret services and
by many rich commercial entities) since June 10, 2013, and I will
continue with it.
moment and since more than two years
problems with the company that is
supposed to take care that my site is visible
and with my health, but I am still writing a Nederlog every day and
I shall continue.
2. Crisis Files
five crisis files
that are mostly well worth reading:
A. Selections from October 9, 2018:
1. Homeless America
The items 1 - 5 are today's
selections from the 35 sites that I look at
every morning. The indented text under each link is quoted from the
link that starts the item. Unindented text is by me:
2. Brazil’s Bolsonaro-Led Far Right Wins a Victory
3. Historian Howard Zinn Warned Us About the Supreme Court
4. Why elite men like Brett Kavanaugh lie and cheat without
5. Bias – The New Impartiality
This article is by
Chris Hedges on Truthdig. It starts as follows:
It is 8 a.m. I am in
the small offices of Street
Roots, a weekly newspaper that prints 10,000 copies per edition.
Those who sell the newspaper on the streets—all of them victims of
extreme poverty and half of them homeless—have gathered before heading
out with their bundles to spend hours in the cold and rain.
I say, which I do because
I did not know most of the things mentioned in the above
quotation (and Street Roots looks OK to me).
The men and women, most
middle-aged or elderly, sit on folding chairs that hug the walls. They
are wrapped in layers of worn and tattered clothing. Some cradle small
dogs. Others cup their hands around disposable coffee cups and take
small sips. The weekly newspaper was founded in 1998. It focuses on
issues surrounding social and environmental justice as well as
homelessness. It also reprints poems and artwork by the 180 vendors,
who buy the paper for 25 cents a copy and sell it for a dollar.
The average age at death for a
man is 51 and for a woman 43. Nearly half succumb to alcohol or drugs,
28 percent are hit by vehicles and 9 percent commit suicide. Life
expectancy plummets once you become homeless. From 50 to 80 homeless
people die on the streets of Portland every year, and many more in its
Here is more from the article:
These men and women,
and increasingly children, are the collateral damage of the corporate
state, their dignity and lives destroyed by the massive transference of
wealth upward, deindustrialization
and the slashing of federal investment in affordable housing begun
during the Reagan administration. The lack of stable jobs that pay a
living wage in the
gig and temp economy, the collapse of mental health and medical
services for the poor, and gentrification are turning America into a
living hell for hundreds of thousands of its citizens. And this is just
Yes, I think that is quite
correct. Here is the last bit that I quote from this article:
As we barrel toward
another economic collapse, the suffering endured by those on the
streets will become ever more familiar, especially with the corporate
state intent on further reducing or eliminating social services in the
name of austerity. Nothing will halt the downward spiral other than
sustained civil disobedience. The two ruling political parties are
wedded to an economic system that serves the corporate rich and
punishes and criminalizes the poor and the working poor. Over half the
country is probably only a few paychecks away from being on the streets.
I think this is quite
correct as well - and to provide one comparison between my Dutch self,
who has been ill since nearly 40 years, whose illness was not
regarded as real until March of this year (2018), and who has always -
for 50+ years - earned less than the least possible legal
income in Holland (mostly because the dole pays less, and I have
been in the dole for 32 years):
I have been living very carefully indeed, but then I can - at
present, at least - survive for some five months without any pay
(thanks to my pension, that is also again lower than the lowest
pension, but more than the dole).
And I do not know how long this will last, and in Holland pensions have
been lessened as well.
Anyway... there is a lot more in this article, and most is
depressing, but is also strongly recommended.
Bolsonaro-Led Far Right Wins a Victory
This article is by
Glenn Greenwald on The Intercept. It starts as follows (and no, I do not
copy titles which are three lines in length):
For the past
thirty years, Congressman Jair Bolsonaro was a fringe extremist in
Brazilian politics, known mostly for outlandish,
deliberately inflammatory quotes
in which he paid
homage to the most notorious torturers of the 1964-1985 military
regime, constantly heralded the 1964 coup as a “defense of democracy,”
a female socialist colleague in Congress that she was too ugly to
“deserve” his rape, announced that he’d rather learn that his son died
in a car accident than was gay, and said he conceived a daughter after
having four sons only due to a “moment of weakness.” (Last September, he
used Google to translate a Brazilian epithet for LGBTs to, in
essence, call me a faggot on Twitter).
His policy prescriptions
were even more deranged. Western media has often referred to him as
“Brazil’s Trump” but that is wildly inaccurate, understating the case
by many magnitudes. In temperament, ideology, and personal history,
Bolsonaro – a former Army Captain during Brazil’s notorious 21-year
military dictatorship – is far closer to Philippines President
Rodrigo Duterte or Egyptian dictator General Abdel El-Sisi than Trump.
I say, and I did not
know most of the things mentioned in the above quotation. Here is more
He has criticized monsters
such as Chile’s Pinochet and Peru’s Fujimori – for not slaughtering
more domestic opponents. He had advocated that mainstream Brazilian
politicians be killed. He wants to chemically castrate sex
offenders. In all respects, the hideous Brazilian military dictatorship
that took over Brazil and ruled it for 21 years – torturing and
summarily executing dissidents, with the support of the US and UK in
the name of fighting Communists – is his model of governance.
As a result of last night’s
truly stunning national election in Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro has been
instantly transformed from marginalized clown into the overwhelmingly
dominant force in the country’s political life. Bolsonaro himself
fell just short of winning the 50% needed to win the presidency without
Well... I conclude two
things from this quotation: First, Bolsonaro is a very dangerous total
idiot (not in the sense that he is without brains but in the sense he
is without any morality or ethics) and second, but with much
certainty, that either most of the Brazilians are utter idiots
(intellectually) who have been grossly deceived by their media or
that these elections have been frauded.
I do not know
the last two possibilities is more realistic, and my main reason is
that I do not know enough about Brazil.
Here is more from the
But given the margin of
victory, he is the
overwhelming favorite to win on October 28 against the second-place
candidate, ex-São Paulo Mayor Fernando Haddad. Haddad is the
previously unknown, hand-picked successor anointed by Lula, the
ex-two-term President who had been leading all polls until he was
convicted on dubious corruption charges and quickly imprisoned so as to
bar his candidacy, then silenced by Brazil’s right-wing judiciary with
a series of remarkable prior restraint censorship orders barring all
media outlets from interviewing him.
Bolsonaro won with most
demographic groups. In the state of Rio de Janeiro, Bolsonaro
won a shocking 60% of all votes cast, winning every
neighborhood and district, most with more than 50% of the votes cast.
I must say that I find
that pretty suspect, as is the following:
What was most startling was
how wildly inaccurate Brazil’s typically reliable polling data turned
out to be, under-estimating the far-right wave by such a massive
quantity that it’s difficult to describe in words.
Well, one plausible
answer is that Bolsonaro won so much because the elections were
fraudulent. And no, as I said above, I do not
know how likely this was
for lack of information about Brazil.
Here is the last bit
that I quote from this article:
I do not think I
with this, in part because I myself think that any halfway intelligent
person who likes democracy (and that should be the most) can and should
know that even a failing democracy is considerably better and safer
than a tyranny, which is what Brazil seems to get as its next
It’s all part of a global
trend, undermining liberal democracies, fueled by their own failures,
that has no end in sight. Quite the contrary: the trend seems to be
accelerating, with each country’s similar movement synergistically
feeding and strengthening one another.
And besides, if I were Glenn Greenwald (who is not only an
Bolsonaro, but also a homosexual who lives with his Brazilian friend in
would want to move out from Brazil. And this is a recommended article
in which there is considerably more.
Howard Zinn Warned Us About the Supreme Court
This article is by
Jacob Sugarman on Truthdig. It starts as follows:
These are the facts. The
Senate majority, which the Republican Party currently holds with 51
seats, presently represents 18
percent of the country’s population. Following Brett Kavanaugh’s
confirmation, four of the Supreme Court’s nine justices have been
appointed by presidents who lost the popular vote. Two of those
justices attended the same D.C.
area prep school.
If the United States
government faces a legitimacy crisis, it’s one that has been building
for 18 years, if not longer than that. In 2000’s Bush v. Gore
decision, five conservative justices determined that Florida could not
conduct a recount of its heavily disputed election results—a decision
that effectively handed the presidency to the Republican
candidate. “Although we may never know with complete certainty the
identity of the winner of this year’s Presidential election, the
identity of the loser is perfectly clear,” John Paul Stevens, who was
appointed by Gerald Ford, wrote in his dissent. “It is the Nation’s
confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the rule of law.”
I more or less agree,
although I think I should remark that many judges and many prosecutors
are elected in the USA, which does not seem to me the
best way to select them, simply because most voters will not have
adequate ideas about the law.
Here is Howard Zinn:
“It would be naive to
depend on the Supreme Court to defend the rights of poor people, women,
people of color, dissenters of all kinds,” he wrote. “Those rights only
come alive when citizens organize, protest, demonstrate, strike,
boycott, rebel, and violate the law in order to uphold justice.”
“The Constitution gave no rights to working people: no right to work
less than twelve hours a day, no right to a living wage, no right to
safe working conditions,” he continued. “Workers had to organize, go on
strike, defy the law, the courts, the police, create a great movement
which won the eight-hour day, and caused such commotion that Congress
was forced to pass a minimum wage law, and Social Security, and
Actually, I do not
think it is naive to believe that it is the duty of the
Supreme Court to - also - ¨defend
the rights of poor people, women,
people of color, dissenters of all kinds¨ although I probably agree with Zinn that it is naive to
depend for this on the Supreme Court.
Here is the last bit
that I quote from this article (and it is by Zinn):
“No Supreme Court, liberal
or conservative, will stop the war in Iraq, or redistribute the wealth
of this country, or establish free medical care for every human being.
Such fundamental change will depend, the experience of the past
suggests, on the actions of an aroused citizenry, demanding that the
promise of the Declaration of Independence—an equal right to life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—be fulfilled.”
Well... yes and no:
Yes, I agree that ¨fundamental changes¨ probably do depend ¨on the actions of an aroused citizenry¨, but then again ¨equal rights¨ of any
kind are legal rights, so the law does get involved -
somehow - in any case. But this is a recommended article.
elite men like Brett Kavanaugh lie and cheat without consequences
This article is by
Chauncey DeVega on Salon. It starts as follows:
Brett Kavanaugh is now a
Supreme Court justice. The FBI's limited investigation of the
sexual assault accusations against him was clearly
inadequate. Numerous leads were ignored and dozens of potentially
important witnesses were not interviewed. Moving beyond a political
cover-up to a level of gross malfeasance, the FBI -- at the direction
of Donald Trump's White House -- did not interview either Christine Blasey Ford or Julie Swetnick, two
of Kavanaugh's three known accusers.
It was clear from the
beginning that this "reopened" background check was used by Donald
Trump's White House to provide a fig leaf and an excuse for those
Republicans whose consciences were "troubled" by the numerous and
credible allegations by multiple people that Brett Kavanaugh actively
participated in a culture of excessive drinking, sexual harassment,
violence and perhaps rape while a young man at Georgetown Preparatory
School and then Yale University.
This ploy worked. Like
Trump himself -- indeed more so -- Kavanaugh is a member of the white
male elite. As such he has been taught that he is entitled to power as
a birthright. The Supreme Court is his destiny. Like other elite white
men in America, Kavanaugh and Trump have also proven themselves to be
master liars for whom the rules of normal society do not apply. There
is to be no accountability for the rich and powerful in America.
I think this is more or less
correct, but I did not like the interview that follows with a
professor of education (which I am sorry, but is not a science)
and I totally skip that.
– The New Impartiality
This article is by
Kit on The Off-Guardian. It starts as follows:
Well... the ¨example¨
Preston gives is boloney, and he might as well have said that 2+2=5,
which also is not believed by anyone except by the near
brain dead. What Peston really seems to believe, if he is
honest, is this:
n. not partial or biased, treating or affecting
That’s the dictionary definition of the word
“Impartiality”. Up until very recently, it was not a complicated or
controversial concept in any way. But these days meanings are rather
more fluid than they used to be. Free speech doesn’t necessarily
involve being able to speak freely. Democracy doesn’t necessarily
And “impartial journalism”
doesn’t necessarily involve being impartial.
At least, according ITV’s
political editor Robert Peston. Speaking at the Cheltenham literature
festival, he’s quoted in the Guardian as saying:
Impartial journalism is
not giving equal airtime to two people one of whom says the world is
flat and the other one says the world is round. That is not balanced,
Well... in a solid sense I
agree with Kit, but I also think it is less nonsense than
(on which no one sane can believe the Wikipedia
anymore, which seems to grow worse every day) and it is totalitarianism
because deciding what the truth is is not
a function of
journalists, nor of editors, nor of those who pay these, but must
be done (correctly or incorrectly) by the readers or viewers of the
But that’s not TRUE
impartiality anymore, according to Robert.
[impartial journalism is
about] weighing the evidence and saying on the balance of
probabilities…this is the truth. It is the role of a journalist to say,
‘we’ve got these two contradictory arguments, I’m now going to advise
all of you which is likely to be closer to the truth.’”
Under Robert’s new and
improved version of “impartial journalism”, one side would get more air
time because they are probably right. The other side, the wrong
side, would get some time to make their case, but afterwards a
friendly (and “impartial”) servant of the state would tell all their
viewers to ignore it. That it had been declared officially wrong by the
powers that be, and all good citizens should disregard it entirely.
This is, of course,
Then there is this in the article:
Television news has a
simple task: Provide an unbiased, open and honest platform to supply
the public with information.
Robert’s words attack this
very idea, instead turning the news into a means to enforce
state-sanctioned consensus through emotional blackmail and manipulative
This follows a disturbing
trend, a direct flow from no-platforming on campuses, to calls to shut down RT or banning Alex Jones from social media.
It can all be read as one thing: a direct, media-driven push toward
state-backed censorship under the guise of protecting the public.
Enforcing a one-sided consensus under the false-flag of a sacred duty
to “truth” or a hallucinatory public virtue.
Whatever mask it wears –
whatever veneer is layered on its surface – the solid body of the issue
is still the same: censorship.
I agree mostly with Kit,
except that I do not think Preston´s journalism is either nonsense or
censorship, though I agree it probably entails these, but it is
and indeed quite explicitly so.
Here is the last quotation I
provide from this article and it occurs near its end:
Yes and no, and my point
is easily seen if you ask ¨how is the truth presented (in journalism,
or in any other instance)?" And the answer to that is - alas - that
even what seems to be the truth according to the vast majority of
scientists (as in climatology) may these days either be not
reported at all, or else gets often reported in a strongly biased way.
The truth doesn’t require a
shield. The truth isn’t fragile or vulnerable or soft. It doesn’t need
guards to protect it, a filter to clarify it or a marketing campaign to
promote it. The truth doesn’t need a bullhorn to blare it out or
censorship to prop it up. The truth is a lion, not a lamb.
Finally, there is also the point that there are several other
definitions of being impartial, two of which are these.
First, here is the definition from the Cambridge English Dictionary
(under ¨American English¨):
And second, this is from
(also called evenhandedness or fair-mindedness) is a
principle of justice holding that decisions should be based on objective criteria, rather than
on the basis of bias, prejudice,
or preferring the benefit to one person over another for improper
I think either definition
is better than the one offered by Kit, but her article is
end of 2015 that
xs4all.nl is systematically
ruining my site by NOT updating it within a few seconds,
as it did between 1996 and 2015, but by updating it between
two to seven days later, that is, if I am lucky.
claimed that my site was wrongly named in html: A lie.
They have claimed that my operating system was out of date: A lie.
just don't care for my site, my interests, my values or my
ideas. They have behaved now for 2 years
as if they are the
eagerly willing instruments of the US's secret services, which I
from now on suppose they are (for truth is dead in Holland).
two reasons I remain with xs4all is that my site has been
there since 1996, and I have no reasons whatsoever to suppose that any
other Dutch provider is any better (!!).


Gay rights activists in Poland vowed Thursday to defy a ban on a parade that Warsaw officials imposed in hopes of preventing clashes between participants and a group opposed to gay rights. Warsaw mayor Lech Kaczynski on Monday ordered organizers to cancel the fourth annual Parade of Equality, planned for June 11, citing plans by a youth organization to hold a counterdemonstration at the same time. The mayor said he wanted to prevent attacks on the gay rights activists.
But Szymon Niemiec, the head of Poland's Gay and Lesbian Association, denounced Kaczynski's decision as a violation of the constitutional right to free expression and said his group would hold its parade as planned. "It turns out that this country isn't democratic even though it recently joined the European Union," Niemiec said.
He said his group has sent a letter to provincial authorities asking them to overrule the ban.
Earlier this month, hundreds of gay rights activists were attacked with stones, eggs, and firecrackers during a march in the southern city of Krakow by counterdemonstrators. Police officers fired tear gas and shot rubber bullets into the air to keep the two sides apart.


Our invasion of Iraq caused all kinds of problems only now being more fully recognized. The financial cost is now estimated at more than $2 trillion while thousands of returned troops have post-traumatic stress disorder and there is a total lack of personnel and facilities for their care. And now there is ISIS.
Some pundits and politicians (the usual suspects) have declared there would be no ISIS if President Obama had not removed all American troops from Iraq. They forget that a status of forces agreement, signed before President Obama took office, stated all American troops would leave except those assigned to our embassy.
A better declaration would be that if we did not invade Iraq in 2003 there would be no ISIS. Saddam Hussein simply would not tolerate it.
Perhaps we should remember that it is our inherent strength as a nation that forms the strength for our foreign policy. As we use our resources policing the world, we abdicate our responsibility to provide domestic programs that educate our people to make America strong economically so we can address our social, political and environmental needs.
George J. Motsay, M.D.
Upper Macungie Township


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Every so often, we receive questions from listeners about CKUA. As such, we’re pleased to present Marc’s Mailbag, wherein our CEO/Monthly subscriber/campaign leadership donor, Marc Carnes, answers some of the more interesting queries we’ve received recently. This month’s edition finds Marc speaking about our advertising and financial model.
Question: “Why do we hear advertising on-air if CKUA is listener supported?
With advertising limited to only two minutes per hour, we still receive questions from listeners about why they hear advertising on CKUA. The answer is two-fold: from a balanced financial perspective, it would not be a good idea to turn down revenue from interested advertisers. Secondly, many of our advertisers are also listeners, which is where the “listener supported” aspect can really be amplified.
Since many of the business-owners that we work with are fans themselves, advertising is a means by which they can support CKUA more significantly while doing something good for their company. I’d be hesitant to turn down a fan who wants to support CKUA in the spirit of cooperation and mutual benefit. The goal is to present their messages in authentic ways that complement our programming, and we do this in three different ways.
Advertising and sponsor messages. You will will not hear an ad on CKUA that you can listen to on another station. Our team works with the client to write ads which are voiced by our hosts, creating a familiar sound and style that you identify with. Blasting you with endless commercial radio-sounding advertising would have you reaching for the dial faster than Baba could say, “And a sweet good morning to you.”
Features. Whether through music discovery or the stories behind it, curious minds are drawn to CKUA. That’s why you will hear segments on subjects directly or tangentially tied to our programming. For instance, Indigenous Pathways celebrates the importance of arts, culture and identity. The How of Wow recognizes that creativity brings about technology and innovation. And Notes on Wellness calls attention to the importance of self-care, in which music and the arts can play a powerful role. These are all examples of features presented through partnerships.
Arts and Culture partnership messages. Prior to the pandemic, CKUA would promote and sponsor more than 150 artists, venues, and events annually. In doing so, this helps to promote the creative people and work that add so much vibrancy to our communities. We are proud of our role in exposing artists to new audiences, filling seats, supporting creative sector jobs, and contributing to a rich Canadian cultural context. And we can’t wait for it to return, with a flurry of creative output and social gatherings. (Remember those?)
What’s more, we want you to love the community-minded businesses we love. By presenting our advertising and sponsor messages the way we do, recent surveys have shown that nearly 90% of listeners would shop at a business seen as supporting CKUA.
To build a thriving community takes all kinds. We appreciate the organizations we get to work with and who share the same values as those of our audience. When done right, it’s a beautiful relationship.
Shameless sales plug: If you represent a business and would like to share your love of music, arts and culture across Alberta and beyond, we’d love to hear from you!


On proper punctuation; or How to speak so people will listen
Quick, how many spaces should you use after a period?
If you answered two, you are, according to Farhad Manjoo of Slate, “totally, completely, utterly, and inarguably wrong.” I’m a two-spacer myself, always have been, on account of that’s the way I was taught in my fifth grade typing class. It’s really never been an issue. I double-tap the space bar after each period literally without thinking, the habit is so ingrained.
And yet, I’d consider changing my ways to be more correct (I was a copy editor for goodness sakes, and a damn good one at that) if only Farhad wasn’t such a humongous dickhead about the issue.


Here's how McCutchen chose his iconic No. 22
This story was excerpted from Justice delos Santos’ Pirates Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
Andrew McCutchen has worn only one number as a Pittsburgh Pirate: No. 22. With the double deuce on his back, McCutchen became a five-time All-Star, a four-time Silver Slugger, a one-time Gold Glover and the Pirates’ first MVP Award winner since Barry Bonds. But back in 2009 when he was the new kid in town, McCutchen intended to wear No. 22 for just one season.
As McCutchen was reintroduced to Pittsburgh on Friday, he shared his original intention for No. 22 to be a one-and-done, as well as what ultimately changed his tune.
McCutchen was -- and still is -- a fan of Ken Griffey Jr. He described Griffey Jr. as his idol, likely watching countless highlights of The Kid during his childhood in Florida. So when McCutchen made his debut with the Pirates in 2009, he, too, wanted to rock No. 24. There was just one small holdup.
When McCutchen was called up, pitcher Tom Gorzelanny was already wearing No. 24. Instead of Griffey Jr.’s digits, McCutchen wore No. 22, an aesthetically pleasing number, but not his digits of choice.
McCutchen predicted that Gorzelanny likely wouldn’t be on the team in 2010, which would open the door for him to wear Griffey Jr.’s signature number. Sure enough, the Pirates traded Gorzelanny ahead of the ‘09 Trade Deadline. But while McCutchen had the opportunity to make the switch, his tone shifted when he looked into the stands and started seeing the No. 22 -- his No. 22.
“As the season went on that year in 2009, I started to see people wear my jersey,” McCutchen said. “I thought that was the coolest thing in the world. I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to keep 22.’ I would feel bad if I wore 22, then the following year, I’m wearing 24.”
McCutchen may not have worn No. 24 with the Pirates as he envisioned, but in 2022, he finally had the opportunity to do so with Milwaukee. Last Spring Training, McCutchen was in the middle of discussing the opportunity to wear No. 24 when Mike Vassallo, the Brewers’ senior director of media relations, gave McCutchen a phone with Griffey Jr. on the line. For the full story, click here.
Upon returning to Pittsburgh, McCutchen didn’t have to worry about bartering with teammates to reclaim his number. Not only was the No. 22 vacant, but no Pirate has worn the number since McCutchen was traded. McCutchen credited the organization, specifically clubhouse and equipment manager Scott “Bones” Bonnett, for taking care of the number during his five seasons away from the team.
“I’m sure Bones has had his dustups with some guys who may have come and might have wanted to wear 22,” McCutchen said. “I've got to thank those guys for preserving it, and also respect the players who have come here for not necessarily requesting it. It speaks a lot for them.
“I appreciate them, and I appreciate anyone who played a part in it. It’s nice to be able to wear it and to know that no one else wore it ever since I’ve put it on. Ever since Xavier Nady left in , I’ve been wearing 22.”


You claim you can party like a pro, but can you really?
Like a lot of other things in Los Angeles, our booze-and-drug-fueled nightlife is perhaps more fantasy than reality.
A new analysis of mobile location data from America's most-populous cities found that L.A. didn't even rate when it came to staying up late on New Year's Eve:
Yep. L.A. didn't even make the top 10 of stay-up cities ranked by Sense Networks.
The winner was Miami, which had the most active users up between 4 a.m. and 5:59 a.m. The company notes that …
… Los Angeles and its celebrity population are missing from the list; residents did not stay up late enough to make the top 10.
Perhaps all the kids raving Monday night turned off their phones so their parents couldn't find them with the Find My iPhone feature? (This would have shut them out of Sense Networks data, theoretically).
Oh, heck, it's true: Despite our rep, L.A. is an after-hours backwater. We have a history of comparatively conservative policies when it comes to boozing and dancing, despite our status as America's medical marijuana capital.
[Warning, NSFW language]:
And we've been to Miami. You can find a party 24/7, even on weekdays, during its annual Winter Music Conference in March. Really.
L.A. didn't make the top 10 of cities that turned in early, but a few SoCal cities did: Chula Vista, in San Diego County's southwest end (hi mom!), made number 3 on that list; Long Beach was a runner up.
California knows how to party? Um, sure.


Why is Donald Trump within a whisker of the White House? Two-thirds of the country can’t even name the three branches of government. If we don’t revitalize civics education, we will be entrusting our future to people who know little to nothing of the way our government works. The way we are going, one of these days a Bernie Sanders or, heaven help us, a Donald Trump will not just be a candidate for president. He will actually become president, writes Max Boot.
This election year is memorable for many reasons but among the most important is showing Republicans the cost of their infatuation with “alternative” news sources. The right’s addiction to its own news has become destructive. Whether Trump wins or loses, conservatives need to re-evaluate their infatuation with “alternative” news sources that tell them what they want to hear and join a more mainstream conversation that includes different points of view.
The American people tend not to trust Hillary Clinton, despite her and Bill’s best efforts to combat these sentiments. In this review of Joe Conason's book, Man of the World: The Further Endeavors of Bill Clinton, Carla Anne Robbins explores why the Clintons have had trouble with their public image.
In this intriguing prequel to his upcoming book, Sebastian Mallaby reveals a new side to controversial former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan. Greenspan was often accused of trusting too much in markets and being blind to the effects of bubbles, but Mallaby shows that Greenspan, in fact, was the man who knew.
Trade Policy Has Become Politically Unpopular. These Steps Could Help Rehabilitate It. This piece is based on a new CFR discussion paper authored by Edward Alden and Robert E. Litan, titled “A Winning Trade Policy for the United States.”
Tragedies keep occurring in war, despite the best intentions of U.S. troops. Micah Zenko provides recommendations to reduce the inevitable human errors in Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq that have led to avoidable civilian casualties.
Congress overrode a presidential veto to enable the families of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia in U.S. courts. But the law will be a thorn in U.S. foreign relations, and plaintiffs will not likely get justice, says expert Stephen I. Vladeck.
President Obama and his defenders are trumpeting the new aid agreement with Israel as proof that he is the best friend Israel ever had in the White House. In fact, it’s a bad deal and should be treated the same way Obama treated prior agreements he didn't like: It should be forgotten by the next president.
Learn more about CFR’s mission and its work over the past year in the 2016 Annual Report. The Annual Report spotlights new initiatives, high-profile events, and authoritative scholarship from CFR experts, and includes a message from CFR President Richard N. Haass. Read and download »


For more than three decades, the global economy was defined by unbridled integration and unprecedented interdependence. Neither political spats nor localized wars could slow the globalization train. Markets were markets, business was business and multinational firms became more multinational. Not anymore.
In this new era of strategic competition between China and the West, disengagement is the order of the day. While this trend is likely to impede economic growth, increase business costs (via supply-chain restructuring) and raise prices for everyone, the economy that loses the most might well be China’s.
The People’s Republic would not be where it is today without globalization. International trade, investment and capital-market access drove economic growth, while knowledge transfer — aided by engagement among students, scientists and academics — enabled technological leveling-up.
Ties with the outside world also forced China to introduce a legal system capable of establishing and enforcing contract and intellectual-property law — and the expansion of China’s economic might enabled the country increasingly to project power abroad.
However, in recent years, the openness that underpinned globalization — the “rising tide that lifted all boats” — has given way to a geopolitically focused, zero-sum mindset. International commerce and finance have increasingly been shaped by national security considerations. Export controls, the blacklisting of companies and restrictions on market access in sensitive sectors — such as certain cutting-edge technologies — have become commonplace.
The Sino-American rivalry has reflected and accelerated this shift. The US has targeted China with a variety of measures — including restrictions on imports, exports and investment — and added dozens of Chinese companies to its so-called Entity List.
Other countries have also increased their scrutiny of Chinese investment and restricted certain types of commercial exchanges with China. Sanctions over China’s human-rights abuses in Xinjiang and Hong Kong have been introduced as well.
China might not have initiated the disengagement process, but it seems committed to seeing it through. In refusing to condemn Russia’s war on Ukraine, its leaders made clear that, in their view, the US — and the West more broadly — is in terminal decline, and now is the time to challenge the existing world order.
Beyond retaliatory sanctions and tariffs, China has been ramping up its efforts to become self-reliant in advanced technology and science, through highly state-centric and protectionist industrial policies. Its goal is to “sanction proof” its economy, especially by de-Americanizing its supply chains.
The extent to which this is possible is impossible to know precisely, but China’s efforts to achieve self-reliance certainly cannot succeed across the board. As The Economist reported in February, China is struggling the most in areas where supply chains are longer and more complex, such as mRNA vaccines, agrochemicals, computer operating systems and payment systems.
In semiconductors, China remains dependent on foreign suppliers, despite government investment worth tens of billions of dollars. China has similarly failed to break its foreign dependency in aerospace and automobiles, and its efforts to develop a yuan-based alternative to US-dollar-based finance and payment systems have yet to gain traction.
However, China’s bid for self-reliance might not only fail — it could backfire. As The Economist report also pointed out, when Chinese companies are cut off from foreign competition and expertise, their capabilities are stunted.
Despite the unfavorable economic consequences, we should expect geopolitics-driven disengagement to continue. China is certain to try to build an alternative financial infrastructure, and the US would delist Chinese firms from its stock exchanges.
The US Congress is reportedly considering legislation to restrict or prohibit US foreign direct investment abroad in several sensitive sectors, much as it does to Chinese investment in the US. Trade measures aimed at diversifying supply chains and ensuring supplies of critical inputs, such as rare earth elements, are also to be expected.
As disengagement progresses, many critical sectors — such as the Internet — are likely to split into two distinct blocs, each with its own rules and standards. The divide in digital standards, data management and usage provisions, and network equipment and telecommunications services would grow. Market-access restrictions and new approval and licensing requirements would proliferate.
These changes would come when China is already grappling with several serious challenges, including unfavorable demographics, a weak property market, an over-extended banking sector, stalled productivity, politicized governance, and the consequences of its “zero COVID” policy. China’s economic “miracle” seems to be well past its peak. Annual economic growth could well drop to 2-3 percent in the coming years, meaning that the official goal of doubling per capita income and GDP between 2020 and 2035 cannot be realized.
This slowdown could have far-reaching consequences. For starters, China’s ability to compete with the US would be compromised. China’s economy might never overtake the US’, especially if the yuan’s value falls by 20-25 percent over the next few years.
Moreover, prices for commodities — especially those that are key to China’s housing and construction sector — would decline. While the higher costs of newer, more regional supply chains should generate inflationary pressures, weaker Chinese demand and a cheaper yuan could reduce them.
Foreign investment flows into China would decline, with funding increasingly allocated to other Asian countries or emerging markets.
While China would not become “uninvestable” (as long as military conflict does not break out), international investors are likely to keep their China portfolios underweight. Although the yuan is likely to enjoy a status on par with the Japanese yen, the British pound and the Canadian dollar, it cannot come close to displacing the US dollar.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has staked his government’s legitimacy on China’s continued prosperity, but that is becoming increasingly difficult to deliver — and disengagement is an important reason.
George Magnus is a research associate at the University of Oxford’s China Centre and SOAS University of London.
Copyright: Project Syndicate
No matter what indicator you use, Russian President Vladimir Putin is winning in the energy markets. Moscow is milking its oil cash cow, earning hundreds of millions of US dollars every day to bankroll the invasion of Ukraine and buy domestic support for the war. Once European sanctions against Russian crude exports kick in from November, the region’s governments will face some tough choices as the energy crisis starts to bite consumers and companies. Electricity costs for homes and businesses are set to soar from October, as the surge in oil income allows Putin to sacrifice gas revenue and squeeze supplies to
In an August 12 Wall Street Journal report, Chinese sources contend that in their July 28 phone call, United States President Joe Biden was told by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping (習近平) that “he had no intention of going to war with the US” over House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s then upcoming visit to Taiwan. However, there should be global alarm that Xi did use that visit to begin the CCP’s active war against democracy in Taiwan and globally, and that the Biden Administration’s response has been insufficient. To hear CCP officials, People’s Liberation Army (PLA) spokesmen, and a
Much of the foreign policy conversation in the US over the past two weeks has centered on whether US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi ought to have visited Taiwan. Her backers pointed out that there was precedent for such a visit — a previous House speaker and US Cabinet members had visited Taiwan — and that it is important for officials to underscore the US’ commitment to Taiwan in the face of increasing Chinese pressure. Critics argued that the trip was ill-timed, because Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) would likely feel a need to respond, lest he appear weak
United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) founder and former chairman Robert Tsao (曹興誠) on Friday last week pledged to donate NT$3 billion (US$100 million) to help Taiwan protect itself from the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) aggression. While still UMC chairman, Tsao gained a reputation for supporting unification with China and backing parties such as the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the New Party and the People First Party, which have similar leanings. During a TV show on Monday, host Clara Chou (周玉蔻) asked Tsao which politicians he now supported. Tsao said he had supported the New Party when it formed, had become disappointed by People First


April is National Volunteer Month and Hillsboro’s volunteers give so many hours of their time to make life better for all of us.
03/13/2017 9:34 AM
2017 will be full of activities and events in Hillsboro. Make sure you save these key dates before you make plans to travel.
01/04/2017 3:00 PM
With severe cold expected this week, the City of Hillsboro offers warming stations at four locations.
"...Hillsboro is an inclusive and welcoming place where we all work together to lift each other up..."
The City of Hillsboro's redesigned Spanish-language newsletter, ¡Creciendo Juntos!, is now available.
The City’s website – www.Hillsboro-Oregon.gov – has been upgraded to be an even better resource for residents, community partners, businesses, and visitors.
10/25/2016 12:50 PM


ARLINGTON -- White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu wasn't thinking about the double needed to hit for the cycle when he stepped to the plate in the ninth inning of a 17-7 loss to the Rangers Saturday night at Globe Life Park.Derek Holland, who was long gone from his start
ARLINGTON -- White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu wasn't thinking about the double needed to hit for the cycle when he stepped to the plate in the ninth inning of a 17-7 loss to the Rangers Saturday night at Globe Life Park.
Derek Holland, who was long gone from his start by the time Abreu hit near 11 p.m. CT, couldn't stop thinking about a second straight miserable trip to the mound. Good or bad, these are the sorts of games the White Sox expect during the course of a now 46-74 rebuilding season.
But even with a big-picture view and hope for light at the end of the tunnel, the losses don't become any easier.
"We are not here to lose games," said Abreu through interpreter Billy Russo. "We came here every day with a purpose and that purpose is to win games.
"It's tough. It's tough when you lose, even when you lose by one run or the manner which we lost today. But you have to learn from the losses. You have to find things to learn from them and to try to correct and to apply the next game."
Ten hitters came to the plate during a five-run White Sox first inning off Texas starter Martin Perez. Abreu singled during that rally, tripled and scored in the fifth and homered in the seventh.
In that leadoff at-bat in the ninth, Abreu pulled a broken-bat single into left to match his career high with a fourth hit. He has hit in eight straight games with five home runs, eight RBIs and six multi-hit efforts during the streak.
Instead of thinking about making individual history, Abreu simply was trying to keep his hands inside the ball.
"You know, unfortunately we are passing through a bad moment," Abreu said. "It doesn't matter what you perform on the field. If the team is not winning, you are not going to feel good or happy.
"Fortunately for us, today's game is over. And now we have to think about tomorrow's game."
Holland made his first start at Globe Life as a visitor, writing "thank you" on the back of the mound in tribute to the great memories he had pitching for the Rangers. He won't have many great memories from Saturday, allowing seven runs on six hits in 2 2/3 innings.
It was good for Holland to be back in Texas, but his theme was similar to Abreu's. His ultimate goal is to do better for his team.
"That's really what means more to me right now is my team and being able to help them, do my part to stay in the game longer and pitch better than I have been," Holland said. "These guys have been working their [tails] off to be where they are right now, and for me to not do my job is just upsetting."
Scott Merkin has covered the White Sox for MLB.com since 2003. Read his blog, Merk's Works, follow him on Twitter @scottmerkin, on Facebook and listen to his podcast.


With it being Halloween day, we here at A Gaming Website reminisce over the characters that made us cringe in fear (and maybe other things). With all the scary games out now, finding video games with actually scary monsters is quite the challenge. Games seem to be focusing more on cheap jump-scares rather than developing truly frightening enemies that instill fear into the player. To give credit to titles that gave us those fearful enemies, we present the top 10 scariest monsters in video games. (Characters from movie based games will be neglected from the list i.e. Alien from Alien Isolation)
Gatherers (Amnesia) (Honorable Mention)
Upon release of Amnesia: Dark Descent, gamers were introduced to the horrific sight of the Gatherers. These disfigured beings were the main antagonists tasked with stopping players from escape. Without anything to fight back, the player must use their wits to evade the Gatherers to progress through the story. These Gatherers search castle Brennenburg for the player, but sadly lack much intelligence when hunting. Nevertheless, being unarmed, these claw wielding monsters are enough to ensure your lack of sleep.
10) ReDead (Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time)
Few action-adventure titles are as recognized, and remembered as the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. With that being said you wouldn’t expect such a title to appear on the scariest monsters list. Those who have played OoT remember one monster to instill fear into you. The ReDead are the evil zombie creatures that walk the earth during Ganondorf’s rule. With the ability to freeze the player with its terrible screech, there is nothing worse than slowly watching the ReDead walk towards Link until it wraps around him eating away at his hearts.
9) Crimson Heads (Resident Evil Remake)
Zombies are scary, it’s that simple. Slow shambling corpses inching their way towards you ready to devour your flesh is a horrific sight. What if when you put down one of these terrible undead they came back again? In comes the crimson heads from the Resident Evil Remake the living redead zombies that are faster, and more vicious, that the previous incarnations. Crimson heads are formed by the re-death of normal zombies that don’t have the cranium destroyed. Donning a red skin color with an even higher hunger and you easily have one of the scariest monsters in the Resident Evil series.
8) Shibito (Siren)
The normal concept of a zombie is an undead being who has lost everything about what they once were. Siren’s adaptation of zombies known as Shibito are a new look at zombies. Shibito are intelligent beings that retain some of their personality traits from when they were living; those who worked in the fields before their infection still work the fields sort of idea. With that being said, Shibito are smart enough to hunt the player and use weapons against you.
What makes the shibito scarier than normal zombies is the fact that they don’t stay dead. Shibito only fall into an unconscious state for a set amount of time that varies. Some Shibito could revive instantaneously, while others could take a few minutes to come back. The fact that these beings can’t die, are intelligent enough to hunt you down, and use weapons is easily the reason why they are some of gaming’s scariest monsters.
7) Necromorphs (Dead Space Series)
Yes zombies are scary, but they just wobble towards you at a speed of 1 mph? What makes it even less scary is the fact that they scratch you or bite you, not really too scary. What if zombies had sharp claws, and ran at incredible speeds with the ability to tear you to shreds? The Necromorphs from Dead Space are just that.
The Necromorphs aren’t like zombies where a well-placed shot will put them down, you’ll need to completely dismember them. Cut off their legs and they’ll crawl, cut off their arms and they’ll bite you, cut off their head and they’ll swing wildly until they find and kill you; creepy enough right? Coming in a variety of different forms, the Necromorphs are more than enough to scare the hell out of you whilst they disembowel what’s left of your corpse.
6) Lisa (P.T.)
Arguably the scariest game of all time, P.T. (Playable Trailer) puts players in a seemly inescapable looping hallway that deteriorates through each pass-through. Listen to the radio on your travels and you’ll learn about a pregnant woman named Lisa. This horrific one-eyed being stalks the player as they traverse through the seemingly endless hallway. With her eerie crying, and the ability to haunt the player, Lisa is without a doubt one of the scariest monsters in gaming. Just don’t let Lisa grab you, if twisting your neck 180 degrees, and who knows what else she does to your dead corpse.
5) The Groom (Outlast: Whistleblower)
When you here the name Outlast, you expect over an over-the-top horror experience with disturbing characters. In the Outlast DLC story, Whistleblower, players are “treated” to one character that tops the cake for insanely creepy beings in the Outlast franchise. Eddie Gluskin is a patient at the Mount Massive Asylum for killing, and mutilating various women; he already sounds like such a loveable guy…said nobody ever! Eddie Gluskin, once escaping incarceration, is out to find the girl of his dreams; thus earning the Groom moniker. The main problem is Gluskin intends to make the player his wife by mutilating you, and removing your manhood. If there is one person on this list I especially don’t want to be left alone in a room with, the Groom ranks pretty high!
4) Kusabi (Fatal Frame 2)
The Fatal Frame franchise is known for providing incredible jump scares that make players almost fly across the room in fear. What many players who haven’t played the franchise don’t know is that the series provides foes that instill nightmares into grown-adults. The Kusabi is a being that appears across the second and third installment of the series, and like many of the beings on this list, is somewhat immortal.
The Kusabi is born from a failed ritual where the person is continuously slashed, hanged, and thrown into a hellish abyss. After seeking vengeance upon the village that murdered the victim, the Kusabi destroyed the village and shrouds it in darkness; and guess what village you’re in (hint, you’re not in the safe village). With the ability to kill the player with one touch, and immortal in various parts of the game, the Kusabi is one nightmarish spirit. If that wasn’t enough, in Fatal Frame III: The Tormented the Kusabi can appear randomly to attack the player; maybe you should just avoid the village that sacrifices people.
3) Alma (F.E.A.R.)
There are many things that walk this Earth that are just pure evil, little girls. One little girl that stands out is Alma from the 2005 hit F.E.A.R. This little girl is out for revenge against the Armacham Technology Corporation, and she knows how to exact that revenge. Armed with incredible psionic powers, Alma can tear a room full of people apart with her mind. With such powerful abilities, the player can only run upon seeing this dark-haired devil child; or face a horrific death that would make most people vomit upon witnessing the aftermath.
2) Pyramid Head (Silent Hill 2)
The bogeyman differs from person to person portraying the viewer’s biggest fears. For James Sunderland, his bogeyman happens to be Pyramid Head. Pyramid Head is a being that wears a giant helmet stalking the grounds of Silent Hill. Contrary to popular belief, Pyramid Head is a type of being rather than just one; so there are many different Pyramid Heads that roam. Not only is its presence alone ominous, the pure brutality and obscene actions that Pyramid Head commits on the demonic beings themselves proves that Pyramid Head is one monster you don’t want to see in a dark alley.
1) Reborn Laura (The Evil Within)
When you hear the title The Evil Within, most gamers will immediately associate the game with Walmart brand version of Pyramid Head known as The Keeper; or the informal name Safe Head. While The Keeper was an incredibly intimidating foe that would cause nightmares for gamers for weeks, there was a foe far more scary in the game. Ruvik’s sister, Laura (or Reborn Laura) is a walking spider-like monstrosity. While being nearly immune to bullets would make Laura a threat to behold already, she can teleport throughout the map to consistently stay on Sebastian’s back; and cause players to consequently s**t their pants. Just remember to keep your distance from Laura’s grab attack, one touch = instant death!
Do you agree with our list? Let us know what monsters you think should have made the list in the comments below, and make sure to check back daily for new gaming content!


Illumina (ILMN) Given Daily Media Sentiment Rating of 0.29
News headlines about Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) have trended positive recently, Accern Sentiment reports. The research group identifies negative and positive press coverage by monitoring more than twenty million blog and news sources. Accern ranks coverage of public companies on a scale of negative one to positive one, with scores nearest to one being the most favorable. Illumina earned a daily sentiment score of 0.29 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned media headlines about the life sciences company an impact score of 44.9373408986032 out of 100, meaning that recent press coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the company’s share price in the near term.
Here are some of the news stories that may have effected Accern Sentiment’s rankings:
- Azumio Introduces DNA-Based Insights into its Fitness Platform (finance.yahoo.com)
- Insider Selling: Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) EVP Sells 1,671 Shares of Stock (americanbankingnews.com)
- Illumina, Inc. (ILMN) Hits 52-Week High – Modern Readers (modernreaders.com)
- Illumina Introduces a New Genomic Era (fool.com)
- The Illumina, Inc. (ILMN) Director Sells 20000 Shares of Stock (expressnewsline.com)
Shares of Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) opened at 199.23 on Thursday. Illumina has a 12 month low of $119.37 and a 12 month high of $199.82. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $176.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $172.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.09 billion, a PE ratio of 39.97 and a beta of 0.83.
Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The life sciences company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $662 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $642.38 million. Illumina had a return on equity of 19.69% and a net margin of 30.27%. Illumina’s revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Illumina will post $3.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
A number of research analysts have issued reports on ILMN shares. Deutsche Bank AG set a $175.00 price target on Illumina and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. Canaccord Genuity raised Illumina from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $170.00 to $215.00 in a report on Monday. Vetr downgraded Illumina from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $197.84 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, June 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $122.00 price target (up from $115.00) on shares of Illumina in a report on Monday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays PLC reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Illumina in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. The company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $177.01.
In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 825 shares of Illumina stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.77, for a total transaction of $144,185.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,540,772.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jay T. Flatley sold 15,000 shares of Illumina stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.53, for a total value of $2,632,950.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 534,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,763,913.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 134,010 shares of company stock valued at $23,946,015. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Illumina, Inc (Illumina) is a provider of sequencing- and array-based solutions for genetic analysis. The Company operates through two segments: Core Illumina and the consolidated variable interest entities (VIEs), which include the activities of GRAIL, Inc (GRAIL) and Helix Holdings I, LLC (Helix). Core Illumina consists of its core operations.
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Unlike many pro athletes a generation ago, when soccer players Joanna Lohman and Lianne Sanderson came out in their early twenties, their families, friends and teammates were more than accepting.
“When I told some of my ex-teammates, they didn’t care,” says Lohman, 31, who now plays for the Boston Breakers with Sanderson, her partner since 2010. “They were like, ‘Whatever. That’s great.’ ”
Sanderson, 26, who also plays for England’s national team, tells PEOPLE, “Our families were so understanding. We certainly have friends and people who have reached out to us who weren’t that lucky.”
Indeed, fans and strangers reach out to the engaged couple, asking them for advice.
“I get people writing to me probably bi-weekly telling me about their journey and how they don’t know how to come out and that they don’t know how to tell their parents,” says Lohman, speaking with PEOPLE exclusively for a portfolio of gay professional athletes on their choices to play and live openly. (Watch a video of all the athletes below.)
“I try to give them advice and make them feel like they’re not alone. Everyone wants to be accepted. When they see me and Lianne out on the field, they think, ‘Wow. If they can do it on that stage ‘ It gives them power to really live their lives honestly.”
Lohman, who has played on the U.S. women’s national team, volunteers with Go! Athletes, an organization committed to ending anti-LGBT bias in sports, speaking at colleges about her experiences as an out athlete.
“I never thought when I started playing soccer that I would ever have this platform to truly make a difference,” says Lohman. “Never did I think it would be through my sexuality, but I’m very open and honest. I like to interact with the fans and hopefully they believe that I’m down-to-earth and accessible.”
Sanderson understands what it feels like to be singled out. Growing up, she was the only girl on an all-boys’ team. “If I was playing in a game and I was getting a goal, some of the parents would say, ‘Oh. She’s only a girl,” and say derogatory things about me,” she says.
“My mom and dad would get upset, but then at the end of the game, those same people would come up to me, shaking my hand and congratulating me. It shouldn’t have even gotten to that point.”
Hearing those comments only made her more “inspired,” says Sanderson, who turned pro at age 14 and played on England’s World Cup team at 19. “It didn’t really affect me. I think when you get older things that people say may affect you more. I just wanted to play soccer and wanted to run around in the mud and be outside.”
For more on Joanna Lohman and Lianne Sanderson and the exclusive portfolio of gay professional athletes, pick up this week’s issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands now


Daily news refers to the day-to-day reporting of events and topics in a specific area, such as a city, state or country. This can include news from the world at large, local news, sports and other information relevant to the area in question.
The New York Daily News – the first American daily newspaper printed in tabloid format.
The New York Daily News was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the Illustrated Daily News and later renamed to Daily News. The paper was the first American daily newspaper to be printed in tabloid format, and the largest circulation newspaper in the United States for over a decade.
It was a sensational and colorful publication, covering crime, scandal and violence, lurid photographs, cartoons and entertainment features. At its height, the News had a circulation of 2.4 million copies a day.
Today the Daily News is a largely digital newspaper published by Tronc, a Chicago-based media company. The newspaper is available through subscriptions to its mobile app and on the internet via desktop browsers. The newspaper has been in the news for its coverage of the 2016 presidential election and the saga of New York Times journalist Michael Wolff.
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The Sunday Mail’s chief football writer Scott McDermott appeared on the latest edition of the Record Rangers podcast, during which he spent some time talking about Rangers midfielder Joe Aribo.
You could certainly argue that Aribo has been enjoying a positive 2020/21 campaign so far with the Glasgow club. He has currently got the joint-fifth-highest overall WhoScored rating (7.34) of any Gers player for the 2020/21 league season, scoring four Premiership goals so far this term.
On this podcast, however, McDermott shared that he still thinks the £900k-rated man, who joined Rangers from Charlton Athletic on a free transfer in the summer of 2019, can take his game up “another couple of levels,” with the journalist sharing that he believes Gers manager Steven Gerrard shares that view.
He said: “He does frustrate me at times, only because you know how good a player there is in there and you know the attributes that he’s got.
“In terms of doing that ‘number 8’ role, he’s got everything. He’s rangy, he can go past people, he shields the ball brilliantly, he looks after the ball probably better than anybody in the league in terms of holding people off, I think he’s got the ability to kind of stride forward and travel with the ball and get Rangers up the pitch and break lines – something I don’t think he does enough – and I would hope that’s part of his game that will develop.
“I think there’s no debate, he is better in that midfield three, breaking forward, but I think Gerrard will just want a wee bit more. I think he’ll be pleased with how he’s developed since he arrived at Rangers, but there’s definitely more to come with Joe Aribo, there’s great potential there and I think there’s still another couple of levels his game can go to.”
Do you expect more from Aribo?
YES, HE WILL IMPROVE
NO, HE'S PEAKED
TIF Thoughts on what McDermott had to say about Aribo…
You could say that McDermott is somewhat harsh in saying that Aribo frustrates him when you consider that the Nigeria international has arguably been one of the Gers best performers this term, completing the second-highest number of dribbles (1.6) and the fourth-highest number of key passes (1.5) per league game of any Rangers player, per WhoScored.
However, perhaps his claim that Gerrard expects more from the midfielder is a testament to the potential he believes Aribo has, and that could certainly be seen as encouraging for the 24-year-old.
So, with just over two years remaining on his Ibrox deal, it will be interesting if McDermott is right in saying that Aribo has still got more to offer the Gers as his Rangers career progresses.


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3. I think the Jags shouldn’t be too concerned about the retirement of Branden Albert. His heart wasn’t into football; better that he goes now than when the games are happening. Cam Robinson, the rookie picked to be Albert’s heir, will be the beneficiary. He’ll play earlier than expected, but he’s got the drive Albert doesn’t. We’ll see if Robinson’s good enough.
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If anything, maybe it’s even stronger now. His will to win. His will to prepare. His will to present. Just every day, the energy that he brings to the staff and to me, to the team, it’s Jon Gruden. It’s who he is. That’s been real fun to be around.
Marquette University graduateFollow on MessengerEmailprintWHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — The Houston Texans began training camp almost two weeks ago, and Jadeveon Clowney still has not participated in a full practice.


The robot HERB uses new software to sort through clutter. Photo by CMU
PITTSBURGH, May 18 (UPI) -- Clutter can be distracting and make it hard to get work done -- not just for humans, but for robots, too.
New software designed by engineers at Carnegie Mellon University is helping robots cut through the clutter to accomplish their tasks, whether that's navigating a messy living room or retrieving a milk jug from the back of the refrigerator.
When researchers tested their new software on their Home Exploring Robot Butler, or HERB, they found it not only aided HERB's clutter-cutting abilities, but also enhanced the robot's creative problem solving skills.
"It was exploiting sort of superhuman capabilities," Siddhartha Srinivasa, an associate professor of robotics at CMU, said in a news release. "The robot's wrist has a 270-degree range, which led to behaviors we didn't expect. Sometimes, we're blinded by our own anthropomorphism."
During problem-solving tasks, researchers observed HERB using techniques they had never taught it, like cradling an object in the crook of its metal arm.
Researchers also tested their software on NASA's KRex robot, the space agency's latest lunar rover model. The ability to avoid craters, lava flows, hills and debris is vital when traversing the surface the moon.
The software works by teaching the robot about the physics of its surroundings, so that it can understand what objects can be moved and how. The software makes the robot aware of which objects are delicate and which are unmovable.
The algorithm also helps the robot map out a strategy for navigating around obstacles. For each task, the robot uses its software to determine what combination of maneuvering and object rearranging will allow it to most efficiently cut through the clutter.
Researchers are scheduled to present their new software on Thursday to attendees of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, held this week in Stockholm, Sweden.


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MOSCOW, April 29 (Itar-Tass) - The Russian Health Ministry has drafted a bill over the donation of human organs, parts of human organs and their transplantation. The document bans the taking of the organs from the underage orphans, aide to the Russian health minister Lyalya Gabbasova told a press conference here on Monday.
“For the first time the term “donation of the human organs” was defined,” she noted. One of the most important provisions of the new document is the defining of children’s organ donation. The bill permits the (posthumous) taking of the organs from children. “This is permitted with the will expression given by the parents,” Gabbasova noted. “The taking of the human organs from the underage orphans is banned,” she noted.
The taking of organs from children is fully banned according to the effective legislation.