Coalition and Labor MPs have backed an Indigenous "Voice to Parliament" but recommended the proposal be further developed before it is considered as a referendum proposal to be enshrined in the constitution.
The Voice — a representative body to advise Parliament on policies affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people — was the central recommendation of the "Uluru Statement from the Heart", issued by a gathering of Indigenous Australians in 2017. It has been backed by Labor but faced hostility from the Coalition.
The "co-design" process recommended by Parliament's constitutional recognition committee would involve Indigenous people and consider national, regional and local elements of a Voice. The committee recommended the design work be finished in the next term of Parliament and then progress through the legislative and constitutional process in a "deliberate and timely manner".
While strong advocates of the Voice may welcome the Coalition MPs' endorsement of it, they will likely criticise the declaration that the proposal needs further work before going to a referendum. The backers say the constitutional change can be done first, followed by the practical and legal development of how it would function.
Labor senator Patrick Dodson, co-chair of the committee, said a Voice would be the party's first constitutional priority if elected, even as it pushes for a separate referendum on an Australian republic.
Tabling the committee's final report in Parliament on Thursday, he said it was a significant step towards the Parliament achieving bipartisan progress on constitutional recognition.
"There has been some quite intense discussion on what should come first: a referendum, legislation or co-design. In some ways this is a matter of political judgement, working through to achieve a successful outcome for First Nations peoples and the Australian community," he said.
Greens senator Rachel Siewert issued a minority report, dissenting against the recommendation that the policy design work come before the referendum. Liberal senator Amanda Stoker also dissented, backing a focus on regional representative bodies rather than a national entity or constitutional change.
The remaining Coalition MPs have backed progress on a Voice despite criticisms from Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his predecessor Malcolm Turnbull, who suggested the proposal would be viewed as a third chamber of Parliament, be incompatible with Australian democracy, and face defeat at a referendum.
Liberal co-chair Julian Leeser said the committee's outcome had "confirmed bipartisan support for the concept of the Voice" and predicted it could become a reality if successfully designed.
"The design of the Voice is now a matter for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to work with government to achieve," he said.
Senator Dodson said the government's position was "undefined" and called on Mr Morrison to back the committee's findings.
"The current Prime Minister may be waiting for this report before he makes his mind up. But I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and I hope he would get behind it and support it if we get into power next year," he told Fairfax Media.
Earlier this year, the Prime Minister said he viewed the proposal as a third chamber of Parliament and unworkable.
"People can dress it up any way they like but I think two chambers is enough," he told ABC Radio.
The parliamentary committee also backed another recommendation of the Uluru statement, a process of truth-telling about Indigenous history since colonisation. The MPs called for the government to consider the establishment of a national resting place for Indigenous remains.
The committee considered the Uluru statement, the report of the non-partisan Referendum Council, the findings of the 2015 committee on constitutional recognition and the findings of a 2012 expert panel.


NSO’s Pegasus is in the spotlight after many, many reports. Update your Apple devices for the 12th and 13th zero days. Read more on SIM swapping, and Kaseya. A new study points to a way for spotted owls and finally a proof of concept project using OPA and cosign to sign and verify images.
- If you haven’t been keeping up with all of the NSO’s Pegasus spyware news and the back and forth, The Verge has a great rundown of what is known at this point with a ton of links. If you’re concerned about your phone, Amnesty International has released MVT on GitHub to search for it.
- Keep updating your Mac’s and iPhones as Apple has patched actively exploited vulnerabilities in both culminating in the 13th zero day patched this year alone via Security Week.
- One of the people allegedly involved with the massive Twitter hack and many other SIM swapping extortions primarily for unique social media handles has been indicted. Read more at KrebsOnSecurity
- John Hammond at Huntress digs into the Kaseya ransomware attack and asks why wasn’t it worse?
- Finally, ethically concerning Clearview AI raised $30 million and “that new investors have asked not to be publicly identified” via Yahoo News.
Owl fun and facts:
The spotted owl is back in the news as a 17 year study was recently released that showed the best chance of survival for the spotted owl was to remove the invasive barred owl originally found on the East Coast. Read more at OSU news.
A Shout Out:
This is another really interesting use case of policy as code to sign and verify images using 2 major CNCF projects.
“This project is just a proof-of-concept project that shows people how they can use cosign and OPA (Open Policy Agent) together to implement the signing and verifying container image process together.
In most basic form, cosign is a container signing tool; it helps us to sign and verify container images by using the signature algorithm (ECDSA-P256) and payload format”
Read more about the project on GitHub
TSD began as an internal newsletter that our Security Lead, Daniel Tobin, would circulate to the team each Tuesday. It proved to be a great resource for all of us so we thought, why not share it with all of you? Our hope is that it helps make you just a bit more secure.
Check back here every Tuesday for more TSD or sign up below to stay in the loop!
That’s owl for now!


In this week’s newsletter, I look back on a lunch I had with Siri co-founder Adam Cheyer in 2014. Siri was a ground-breaking intelligent assistant. But his new, recently launched company, Viv, will put intelligence into much more than your smartphone.
Artificial Intelligence technology is slowly but surely making everything around us smarter. Some AI, such as IBM’s Watson, will take years to be fully utilized. Watson is currently being deployed as a medical research assistant, but it will have many other uses in years to come. Other AI, such as Siri and Google Now, are already widely deployed. Regardless of when and where these AI systems are rolled out, a common theme has emerged: AI is increasingly being used to augment human intelligence, rather than replace it. AI may as well stand for ‘Assistive Intelligence’, particularly if Viv is any indication.
I mentioned in a previous newsletter that virtual assistant software in your smartphone is probably the most popular form of AI right now. On iPhone the software is called Siri, on Android it’s Google Now, and on a Microsoft Windows phone it’s Cortana. All three enable you to ask a question – for example, will it rain tomorrow? – and a robotic voice will respond. I just asked that very question to my Siri and she responded, “It sure looks like it’s going to rain tomorrow.” Thanks for being a downer, Siri.
Phase 2: Mr Robot Cameos
That was phase one of intelligent assistants. Phase two will be AI devices that reside in our homes. An early example is Amazon Echo, which looks kind of like a mini-speaker. The idea is that you place the Echo in a common living area, such as your kitchen, and ask it questions. You can ask it to play music, give you the latest news, or forecast the weather like my Siri just did. The device is always-on and you just need to say its name, “Alexa,” to wake it. According to Amazon, Alexa is self-learning software:
“Alexa is built in the cloud, so it is always getting smarter. The more customers use Alexa, the more she adapts to speech patterns, vocabulary, and personal preferences.”
It must be getting very smart by now, because the Echo has become one of the most popular Internet devices of the year. It even made a guest appearance in the latest season of Mr Robot, one of my favorite TV shows. In last week’s episode, lonely FBI Agent Dominique DiPiero asked her Echo, “Alexa, when is the end of the world?” Alexa launched into an overly technical explanation about the Sun, but “several billion years time” was the gist of her answer.
Phase 3: Intelligence Everywhere
Echo is a nifty tool, but it still only scratches the surface of what an AI assistant will eventually do. The third phase of this trend will be intelligence embedded in everything around you. One company in particular is trying to make that a reality. Viv is being billed as “an intelligent interface to everything.” It’s been one of the most hyped startups of 2016, but in this case there is good reason to believe the hype. That’s because the team behind Viv is the same one that built Siri.
That team includes Adam Cheyer, the engineering brains behind both Siri and Viv. A couple of years ago, I had lunch with Adam Cheyer in San Jose, California. It was the end of May 2014 and I was working on a book project about Douglas Engelbart, the Silicon Valley pioneer who created arguably the world’s first personal computer. Cheyer worked with Engelbart in the mid-1990s, while at SRI International (previously called the Stanford Research Institute). Cheyer was particularly impressed by Engelbart’s vision that computers should augment human intelligence, not usurp it. He carried that philosophy forward into Siri, which was the pioneer among the three smartphone assistants mentioned above.
One thing Cheyer said that day in May 2014 particularly stuck with me. “When you do AI,” Cheyer told me, “my learnings from Doug was that you do it in the context of helping people – it’s just a tool. You’re not going to replace humans.” With Viv, which at the time we spoke was still in stealth, Cheyer and his co-founders at Viv are taking that augment philosophy another step forward.
What Viv Will Deliver
For a start, Viv will be able to answer more sophisticated queries than Siri and its ilk. In the first public demonstration of Viv in May 2016, co-founder and CEO Dag Kittlaus “ratcheted up” the familiar weather questions to showcase Viv’s intelligence. He asked Viv: “Will it be warmer than 70 degrees near the Golden Gate bridge after 5pm the day after tomorrow?” Despite the complex structure of the question, Viv was easily able to answer: no.
The other way Viv will extend what Siri achieved is to make itself a platform for third-party developers, so any software will be able to tap into Viv’s “intelligence.” Prior to Siri getting acquired by Apple in 2010, it reportedly accessed more than 40 third-party services. But after the acquisition, Siri was shut off from third parties completely. So Viv is a chance for Kittlaus, Cheyer and Chris Brigham (the third founder) to finally bring intelligent assistants to thousands – perhaps eventually tens of thousands – of different apps.
I’m sure there will be amazing new apps that emerge to take advantage of Viv’s platform, but even imagining what current apps could do with it is instructive. Imagine being able to talk to Spotify and ask it to find “music that inspired David Bowie’s 1995 album Outside.” If it correctly interpreted that query, Viv-powered Spotify would present you with a playlist that included acts like Nine Inch Nails and Ministry. Maybe even specific songs that Bowie once name-checked in an obscure interview archived somewhere on the Web. That would be very cool – and very useful.
If Viv is ultimately successful, then it’ll be a voice interface to the Internet for nearly everything. Not just Spotify, but you’ll be able to talk to items in your home and objects outside. John Battelle likened the potential of Viv to Google’s search interface in its early years. He said it’s “a new way to interact with the Internet,” just as Google search was a new way to interact with the Internet back in the mid-90s. It’s early days, but I think that’s a great comparison.
In conclusion, intelligent assistants are destined for more than a cameo in Mr Robot. If Viv’s potential plays out, they’ll end up featuring as background in The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful, and every other popular tv program too.


Dirt bikes stolen from Myaree dealership
Expensive dirt bikes worth tens of thousands of dollars were stolen from a dealership in Myaree early Thursday morning.
The bikes, all red and white Honda CRF450R and CRF250R models, were taken about 2am when thieves smashed their way into the McCoy Street business.
Police say an alarm was set off but that the thieves got away with seven bikes.
New 2017 Honda CRF450R and CRF250R bikes sell for between $8000 and $12,000 each.
Fremantle Detectives are now investigating if the bikes were ridden away or transported using a truck or trailer.
One of the bikes was recovered in Gosnells later on Thursday after a member of the public spotted it. The thief had abandoned the bike after it ran out of fuel.
Police want to speak to anyone who saw anything suspicious in the McCoy Street area between midnight and 2am on Thursday.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make a report online at www.crimestopperswa.com.au.
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Five fishermen from
Five fishermen from Ramannapallem of Kothapalli mandal went to sea on August 3, For all the latest India News,Written by MUKESH BHARDWAJ | Chandigarh | Published: April 30 Haryana minister and Congress spokesman Randeep Surjwala ridiculed the BJP’s observations.
had an altercation a day before he was killed. He had also been booked under the NSA for allegedly assaulting a polling officer at a booth during an assembly election in Fatehpur Sikri in 1993.By: Express News Service | New Delhi | Updated: December 12” one user tweeted. attained after a see-saw battle. will feel they have not lost much. They demanded that farmers’ permission should be necessarily taken before acquiring their land. BJP waved red flags Members from Congress,By: Express News Service | New Delhi | Published: May 17 Here is the list of winners: TASLEEM UDDIN – RJD – Araria RAJ KUMAR SINGH – BJP – Arrah SUSHIL KUMAR SINGH – BJP – Aurangabad JAI PRAKASH NARAYAN YADAV – RJD – Banka BHOLA SINGH – BJP – Begusarai S K alias BULO MANDAL – RJD – Bhagalpur ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY – BJP – Buxar KIRTI AZAD – BJP – Darbhanga HARI MANJHI – BJP – Gaya JANAK RAM – BJP – Gopalganj RAMVILAS PASWAN – LJP – Hajipur DR ARUN KUMAR – RLSP – Jahanabad CHIRAG KUMAR PASWAN – LJP – Jamui BIRENDRA KUMAR CHAUDHARY – BJP – Jhanjharpur UPENDRA KUSHWAHA – RLSP – Karakat TARIQ ANWAR – NCP – Katihar C MAHBOOB ALI KAISER – LJP – Khagaria MOHAMMAD ASRARUL HAQUE – CONG – Kishanganj PAPPU YADAV – RJD – Madhepura HUKM DEO NARAYAN YADAV – BJP – Madhubani JANARDAN SINGH “SIGRIWAL” – BJP – Maharajganj VEENA DEVI – LJP – Munger AJAY NISHAD – BJP – Muzaffarpur KAUSHLENDRA KUMAR – JD-U – Nalanda GIRIRAJ SINGH – BJP – Nawada RAM KRIPAL YADAV – BJP – Pataliputra SHATRUGHANA SINHA –?
68 lakh was donated from Karnataka, followed by public rally on March 16. For all the latest India News, since they are essential for rejuvenation of Ganga, seeking action against “love jihad”. In their memorandum to the District Collector and SP Sachin Badshah, CASHFGS chairperson Nighat Ahmed said, We fear the way the complaint was handled,” he added. These forces are also responsible for threatening the unity and integrity of the nation and attempting to subvert the time-tested democratic principles of the country.
Attacking the state government, download Indian Express App More Related News” said Rajan S. telecom providers would send text and voice-based awareness messages. The bench of Justice A V Ramakrishna was acting upon a petition filed by a person E V Antony, said Kerala High Court on Monday. From creation of separate Telangana state to Food Security Bill,he accused the Congress of doing politics by judging its gains and losses.other cabinet ministers and several senior Congress leaders were present.Chief Minister Raman Singh and a host of other leaders.


By offering a stipend and a secure network connection, agencies will welcome employees' personal devices at work.
Mobile computing pilot programs involving Apple iPads and other tablet PCs and smart phones have been a dime a dozen around government. Momentum for all things mobile has been undeniable, but in November 2011, President Barack Obama issued an executive order calling on agencies to limit spending on unnecessary IT devices, citing tablets and smart phones in particular.
However, rather than squelching interest in mobile technology, some observers say Obama’s order might actually help advance those plans as officials re-evaluate their existing computing device strategies for employees and confirm the benefits of mobility. It could also hasten the adoption of a workplace mobile device management approach that is growing in the private sector. It involves a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) plan and is often coupled with giving employees allowances to buy their own devices for shared work and personal use.
“The order is going to prompt agencies not already doing so to do a strategic review of their workers, their needs and security requirements, so that they can create a mobile device policy around that,” said Adelaide O'Brien, a research director at IDC Government Insights.
After such an evaluation, some agencies will find, as many private-sector firms have, that a BYOD policy can be one of their tools for reducing IT acquisition and management costs while letting employees use the tools they prefer, which helps them be more productive and stay current with new technology, O’Brien said.
“Agencies are very open to this idea,” she added.
They are hardly alone. IDC predicts that in three years 55 percent of all mobile devices used in workplaces worldwide and across all industries will be personally owned — or what IDC calls employee-liable devices. However, O’Brien expects the government to lag somewhat because of security and related concerns.
The growth of BYOD is also driven by a recognition that enterprise IT’s traditional purchase-and-control-everything approach is ill-suited to mobile technology.
“With the variety of [mobile] devices and cost points and the pace at which the technology is moving, it doesn’t make sense [for enterprises] to try and manage that,” said Gene Zapfel, a managing partner at Unisys Federal Systems. “You also need to think about [giving employees] allowances [to buy mobile devices]. It’s a lot cheaper and cleaner than managing a supply chain.”
The allowance idea got its first high-profile plug in February 2011 when then-Federal CIO Vivek Kundra suggested that agencies think about giving employees a $2,000 allowance to buy a mobile device and network plan for work. Roger Baker, CIO at the Veterans Affairs Department, said at an industry event in May 2011 that he expects the government to move to that stipend model within two years.
Numerous agencies are already laying the groundwork. For example, the National Nuclear Security Administration is building a secure mobile wireless infrastructure and has been allowing a test group of employees to access some agency resources using their personal smart phones, said J. Travis Howerton, NNSA's chief technology officer.
The agency’s long-term plan is to allow some employees to use approved personal devices in exchange for turning in their agency-issued devices, such as BlackBerrys. “Over time, I would like to see BlackBerrys go to zero,” Howerton said. NNSA is also planning to provide allowances for mobile devices to selected employees who have a documented business need for that capability.
Most agencies will need to deploy some new capabilities to enable those programs, such as ways to partition devices with separate spaces for work and personal use and the ability to remotely wipe data from a lost or stolen device. They will also need policies that clearly spell out employees' responsibilities, typically codified in acceptable-use agreements.
Agile software development
Federal agencies are often known for taking a Missourian “show me” stance when it comes to embracing new ideas. Those waiting to see if agile development can replace the government’s traditional, plodding style of custom software development won’t have any excuses for avoiding agile after this year.
The number of agencies trying agile development, in which programmers collaborate frequently with end users and develop functionality incrementally to get working software out the door more quickly, is taking off.
For example, the Office of Personnel Management was emboldened by its success with a trio of agile-based projects last year and now has at least eight new agile projects started or planned. Elsewhere, the Homeland Security Department, U.S. Postal Service, VA and numerous Defense Department agencies have agile projects under way.
Nevertheless, agile remains a promising but challenging opportunity. Achieving all the benefits it has to offer will involve a major mind-set change among all the stakeholders in the acquisition and development process.
Given the reservations that many executives still have about cloud computing, it’s hard to believe that one of the first cloud services that many agencies will adopt is also one of the highest profile: enterprise e-mail.
By the end of 2012, about 2 million federal employees will start their workdays by retrieving e-mail messages from a cloud-based system, which is astounding given that practically none were doing so only two years ago. And that’s just counting the agencies that have gone public with their cloud e-mail plans.
As for those lingering cloud concerns: Get over it, say agency executives who are leading the changeover. Officials at the General Services Administration, the Army, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say cloud-based e-mail services will cost them half or less of what they would pay for in-house messaging systems, while also meeting government security requirements.
Besides saving money, the more standard and accessible cloud-based systems also provide a better platform for building new collaboration applications.
HTML5 for mobile apps
No matter how small, fast or cool a smart phone or tablet PC might be, what many people like most about them are the applications that run on the devices and are available from places such as Apple’s App Store and Google’s Android Market. The handy, dynamic little apps for work and fun are typically much easier to use than the static websites that users access from a mobile device’s browser. Plus, many of the native apps work even when devices don’t have a network connection.
Unfortunately, until recently, agencies that wanted to create native mobile apps had to develop separate versions for each of the mobile operating systems if they wanted to reach the widest audience. But now agencies can use the newest version of HTML, called HTML5, to create standard Web apps that have many of the same great features as the native mobile phone apps.
Numerous agencies, including the Transportation Security Administration and the Labor Department, are hopping on the HTML5 bandwagon, but they recognize that the new standard is not a silver bullet. Many elements of HTML5 are quite stable, but some spotty areas remain, at least for the short term.
Only a couple of years ago, virtual desktop technology was an interesting newcomer in search of a good, mass-appeal business case to justify its not insignificant price tag. It will find that irrefutable return-on-investment rationale in 2012 in the form of all the smart phones and tablet PCs that are invading government workplaces.
Virtual desktop infrastructure solutions were designed to eliminate the management and security liabilities posed by fleets of traditional desktop PCs that store and run most of their own software. With VDI, a centrally managed server hosts the client software and data, and makes it available across a network to end-user client computers as needed.
Smart phones and tablet PCs are becoming the ultimate thin client. In conjunction with other solutions for ensuring security and partitioning workloads, VDI could let agencies dole out virtual desktops to a wide range of devices, from desktop PCs and thin clients to smart phones and tablet PCs.


TV makers, including LG Electronic, Panasonic and Thomson, expect increased number of replacements of conventional and small-size TV screens with large-size smart TV panels above 55 inch screen size. Premium and ultra-premium ranges of QLED and OLED TVs are also expected to be in much demand during the World Cup from October 5 to November 19.
The industry expects overall sales growth of 18 to 20 per cent, and in continuation of the previous year a higher growth of over 30 per cent from premium products such as large screen TVs, higher capacity refrigerators and washing machines.
Like in earlier season, the industry is gearing up with offers and interest-free finance schemes to woo customers with new launches along with high-decibel 360 degree campaigns. However, there are also concerns about sales of value-based opening price point (OPP) mass segment products.
Godrej Appliances Business Head and Executive Vice President Kamal Nandi said again this festive season would be price-led, where the volume would be similar to last year but high-priced premium products would grow over 30 per cent.
"Mass segment will be under pressure, as we have been experiencing throughout this year right from Q1 because the inflationary trend is still continuing and as a result, there is pressure on the discretionary spends. Moreover, variation in monsoon, with some states not getting adequate ranis, could impact agricultural income. So, I think this both will play on the mass segment and therefore, we do not expect the mass segment really to do well," Nandi told PTI.
The appliance and consumer electronics industry is expected to cross Rs 70,000 crore sales this year and the festive season sales, which start from Onam in the south and cover Ganesh Chaturthi, Durga Puja and Deepawali, contribute around 25-27 per cent.
Companies also expect pent-up demand for airconditioners which faced challenged due to weather-related uncertainties this summer.
"There is demand even during the monsoon as there has been lesser rainfall. Therefore, temperatures were high. We see that trend very clearly in the southern, northern and parts of western and eastern markets also. In the north temperatures are high and with with little rainfall, humidity levels are also high. So AC demand will be there," he said.
Panasonic Life Solutions India also expects a double-digit value-led growth this festive season, primarily led by smart ACs and home appliances products including refrigerators and washing machines.
"Last year, we observed that value growth surpassed volume growth and anticipate the trend to continue this year as well with consumers seeking value-added features and lower total cost of ownership. Inverter ACs followed by 4K Android LEDs continue to be the growth drivers for us that grew in double digits," said Panasonic Marketing India Managing Director Fumiyasu Fujimori.
South Korean major LG India is encouraged by a 20 per cent growth in Onam sales and expects good growth both in volume and value terms during the festive season this year.
It has introduced Diwali offers ahead of the festive season to boost consumer sentiment and encourage early purchases, said LG India Senior VP -Head GTM Ashish Agrawal.
"This festive season is coinciding with the World cup. We will see good demand for large screen TVs, battery-backed party speakers and soundbars (audio category). There are many consumers who upgrade their homes or shift to new homes so demand for premium segment like large screen TV, large size refrigerators, washing machines, microwave ovens and AC will significantly increase," he said.
Similarly, Super Plastronics Pvt Ltd (SPPL), which has licences for international brands including Blaupunkt, Thomson, Kodak and White-Westinghouse for the Indian market, also expects the TV market to grow.
"There are few instances in the TV Industry where festival season and India's most popular sport cricket's main event World Cup will be together. We may witness the highest viewership ever, as a result, there can be significant growth in TV sales especially in higher screen sizes," said SPPL CEO Avneet Singh Marwah.
According to Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association (CEAMA), it is "optimistic" about the uptick in consumer demand and expects "10 to 15 per cent sales growth this festive period".
"Unlike last year when there was high volatility in commodity prices, this year has witnessed stable commodity prices. Consequently, no price hikes are anticipated as we approach the festive season, which is indeed a positive sign," said CEAMA President Eric Braganza.
Emphasising on premiumisation of products, BSH Home Appliances India MD and CEO Saif Khan said consumer preferences are shifting towards high-quality, feature-rich and innovative appliances.
"The premium segment continues to be a significant growth driver for us. The external headwinds have had their fair share of impact on sales but Indian consumers have showcased resilience and the pent-up demand will work to our advantage this year," he said.
Haier India expects 30 per cent growth in sales and has launched a range of new products across categories. It expects the premium segment to perform even better than last year as more consumers are looking to upgrade their appliances.
"Our experience during Onam in the south has been encouraging... We have observed that premiumisation has been a consistent trend in the consumer electronics industry, and we anticipate premium segments will continue to lead the festive sales," said Haier India President Satish NS.
Monday, 04 Dec, 2023
- 3-1: Modi’s Guarantee Stamped on Heartland
BJP records massive win in MP, ejects Cong govts in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh; southern comfort for Grand Old Party with victory in Telangana. Prime Minister Narendra Modi stamped his electoral authority on the heartland ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as the BJP wrested Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh from the Congress while retaining Madhya Pradesh with a two thirds majority.Blackstone set to Sell India ARC to Former Exec
Blackstone, the world’s largest alternative assets manager, is exiting the distressed assets space in India by selling its controlling interest in a high-profile, six-year-old joint venture that includes Tata group, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank. Mathew Cyriac, former PE co-head for Blackstone India, has emerged as frontrunner to buy a controlling 51% in IARC, said people in the know.Singhania, Nawaz Discuss Settlement
Settlement talks have commenced between Raymond Group chairman Gautam Singhania and his wife Nawaz Modi following their separation, legal sources close to the couple said.
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- View: Modi shouldn't chase Musk to Make in India
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- Honda Cars to hike prices of its entire model range from January
- Godrej Properties net debt up 17 pc to Rs 6,174 cr in Jul-Sep mainly to fund land acquisitions


Triggered email messages have repeatedly been shown to garner response rates higher than business-as-usual emails. But that doesn’t mean that you should expect all your Welcome campaigns to be read – or to even reach the inbox. A new study from Return Path finds that it’s a different type of message that’s most likely to be read.
Cart abandonment is a major concern for online retailers, and according to new research, shipping costs and overall price are the two major factors that are causing digital shoppers to abandon their items.
A majority (55%) of client-side marketers believe that conversion rate optimization (CRO) is crucial to their overall digital marketing strategy.
A/B testing is the most common form of conversion optimization used among the client-side marketers surveyed worldwide.
Customer journey analysis is on track to become one of the most commonly used methods to improve conversion rates, and is now rated the most valuable method by users.
A/B testing is still a top method used among client-side marketers to improve conversion rates.
The biggest pain point for client-side marketers today is the major bottleneck presented by IT and web development teams.
Asked what they do when they struggle using a mobile app for shopping, 51% close the app and abandon their shopping cart.
Online shoppers aged 18-65 are most likely to abandon their shopping carts due to unexpected shipping costs.
89% of company marketers (primarily UK-based) feel that conversion rate optimization is crucial (55%) or important (34%) to their overall digital marketing strategy.


Obvs! Sedgwick's Old Brown Sherry is not a cure for Covid-19, warns brewer
Old Brown Sherry is not a cure for Covid-19, as claimed in viral social media posts.
Rumours have been circulating on social media in which is it claimed that not only does a glass of Sedgwick's Old Brown Sherry “make your blood warm”, it also kills the deadly coronavirus.
The rumours started circulating after a WhatsApp voice note was shared online.
In the voice note, a Xhosa-speaking woman in the Eastern Cape claimed that a child, who had been very ill from Covid-19, was “cured” after having a sip from their uncle's alcohol stash.
However, Distell Group debunked the rumours and said it was aware of the WhatsApp voice note doing the rounds on social media.
The group also said it did not condone the consumption of alcohol by minors.
“We have become aware of a WhatsApp voice note alleging that Old Brown Sherry offers medicinal benefits. This is simply not true,” the group said in a statement.
“Old Brown Sherry is not a cure for Covid-19. We are equally shocked and extremely concerned that the voice note also suggests that Old Brown Sherry can be consumed by minors. It is illegal for alcohol to be sold to or consumed by anyone under the age of 18, and as Distell we do not condone the consumption of alcohol by minors.”
The group advised all consumers to always refer to official sources of information about Covid-19 before sharing rumours.
According to the World Health Organisation, drinking alcohol does not protect one against Covid-19 and can be dangerous. The organisation warned that the harmful use of alcohol increases one's risk of health problems.


This is the moment the young man was photographed after injuring himself while trying to rape a lady.
Home / NAIJA NEWS / UNIZIK Student Caught Trying To Rape A Lady But What He Ended Up Doing to Himself Will Shock You (Photo)
The unnammed man, a student of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), was severely injured after jumping down storey building in failed attempt to rape lady on Thursday, August 25.
The unnamed male attempted to rape the lady at the female hostel block A by 3:45am.
The girl then raised alarm by screaming at the top of her voice and in a bid to escape, he jumped down from the second floor of the hostel and landed in a gutter and was arrested later.
A Lagos stylist, Tosin took to Instagram to cry out after he was allegedly arrested …


One man is dead and three others are injured following a Jeep rollover in an unincorporated part of San Luis Obispo County.
According to the California Highway Patrol, a 31-year-old man from Newhall, California was driving a 1998 Encore M-151 military style two-door Jeep westbound on a private dirt road off Huasna Rd around 10:20 Saturday night.
In a CHP report, the driver, while going about 30 MPH, made an unsafe turning maneuver to the left which caused the vehicle to overturn. All occupants were ejected.
CHP says the driver died from his injuries when the vehicle overturned and was pronounced dead on scene. Authorities are still in the process of notifying next of kin before releasing his name.
According to officials, none of the occupants were wearing lap/shoulder seat belts.
The three passengers, a male and two females, sustained minor injuries. One of those passengers was airlifted to Marian Regional Medical Center according to officials.
It is unknown if drugs or alcohol were a factor in the collision.


The day was March 9th, 1997 and the music world woke up to a shock. Notorious BIG (Biggie Smalls) was ambushed in the streets of LA. There’s no doubt that music, and the world itself lost so much that day.
March 9th will always be remembered as the day the world lost a great, if not the greatest rapper and artist in the hip hop community. His music has brought light to many issues, has been a motivator and an inspiration for so many. Notorious BIG, although not here will always be remembered.
Check out this tribute and share it.


After a long gap of nearly two decades, the 78-year old Tirunelveli District Police Cooperative Thrift and Credit Society Limited paid dividend to its members on Wednesday, thanks to the efforts of Superintendent of Police Asra Garg.
On coming to know from his driver David that dividend to the investors of Tirunelveli District Police Cooperative Thrift and Credit Society Limited had not been given for the past eighteen years, Mr. Asra Garg discussed it with Special Officer of the society I. Noor Mohamed and secretary Natarajan, who told the SP that it would consume two full years to complete the entire process and disburse the dividend arrears.
However, Mr. Asra Garg, who provided adequate men and material support to Mr. Noor Mohamed and Mr. Natarajan, asked them to complete the exercise within two months.
Beating the deadline, the team accomplished the mission within just 27 days and the dividend of Rs. 23.16 lakh was given to 521 members on Wednesday.
According to Mr. Noor Mohamed, the society, now having 933 members and rated as an ‘A' Grade society since 1999, has Rs. 69.29 lakh as shares and Rs. 80.72 lakh as thrift fund while Rs. 1.88 crore has been invested in other societies as fixed deposits.
“The general body of the society has now decided to increase the loan ceiling from Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 5 lakh, depending upon the salary being drawn by the members. And the repayment period will be increased from 48 months to 120 months,” Mr. Noor Mohamed informed.
Increase in loans
As per the revised scheme, DSPs and Personal Assistant to SP can get a loan of upto Rs. 5 lakh while Inspectors and Superintendents (ministerial staff) can draw Rs.3.50 lakh as loan from the society. Similarly, Sub-Inspectors can get Rs. 2.50 lakh and Head-Constables and Assistants can avail Rs. 2 lakh. Constables, Junior Assistants, Typists, Data Entry Operators can get Rs. 1.50 lakh as loan while this amount will be Rs. 1 lakh for Record Clerks and Office Assistants.
Handing over the dividend, Inspector General of Police, South Zone, S.S. Krishnamurthy said the policemen, who had to plan their lifestyle according to their salary, should effectively make use of this credit facility to improve their living standards and to meet their unexpected expenditures.
The IG praised Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Tirunelveli, K.P. Shanmugarajeshwaran and Mr. Asra Garg for their efforts in disbursing the dividends within the shortest possible period of 27 days. Mr. Shanmugarajeshwaran, Mr. Asra Garg and Tuticorin SP T. Senthilkumar spoke.
Keywords: Thrift and Credit society


28th of December, 2021. Georgetown, Guyana, South AmericaLast updated: December 28, 2021 at 14:45 pm
Meenakshi Narine, the wife of Georgetown Mayor, Ubraj Narine, has taken to social media to condemn alleged fake news reports by a questionable online publication “Live in Guyana” about her family. Her message, posted on her Facebook Page yesterday, 27th of December, reads:
My family and I were enjoying the Season only to be distressed by the news that we have become targets of propaganda. I would like to state that the article posted by Live in Guyana is totally false and is a deliberate attempt at targeting my family. I hope a good conscience would allow the persons who posted those false statements to remove it.
Her statement follows two questionable reports about the Georgetown Mayor, Ubraj Narine, by the publication, “Live in Guyana.” The said source published an article yesterday, 27th of December, that the Mayor has been placed on station bail and his firearm lodged after he discharged three rounds during an altercation between himself, his wife, and his father-in-law. Action News Guyana also carried a similar story alleging that the mayor was involved in a domestic altercation during which he discharged several rounds.
The Mayor, along with his wife, however, has denied all this.
Statement from His Worship Pt Ubraj Narine, Mayor of the City of Georgetown
It has been brought to my attention that the online propaganda site Live in Guyana has made me their recent target of lies and misinformation. It would seem that this political press piece is unable to observe the sanctity of the Christmas seasons but prefers to continue its brand of gutter politics.
In my Christmas message as I have continued to call through the year for all stakeholders to work together for the betterment of all Guyanese. There is no place for this type of dirty politics. I refute and reject the slanderous statements made in the social media post and call for its immediate retraction.


The United States Department of Commerce announced the federal red snapper season in the Gulf of Mexico will be reopened for recreational anglers.
The new season will conclude Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 4. This announcement comes after the original three-day federal season for the popular species closed two weeks ago.
The plan will include 39 additional days of red snapper fishing in Gulf federal waters for recreational anglers. The announcement is a result of an agreement between the Department of Commerce and the five Gulf states — Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas — which hoped to improve access for the species.
These changes only apply to recreational anglers, not commercial or charter fishing.
The announcement is a huge victory for recreational anglers and advocacy groups such as the American Sportfishing Association. The group’s conservation director, Mike Leonard, said the announcement “is a welcome relief for the thousands of tackle shops, marinas, equipment manufacturers and other business who have suffered from decreasing public access to Gulf red snapper in recent years.” Keep Florida Fishing also issued a statement praising the decision.
“An extended federal Gulf red snapper season will have a tremendous positive economic impact on Florida’s coastal communities, which depend on our state’s $9.6 billion sportfishing industry,” said Gary Jennings, the group’s director. “We appreciate efforts to expand access to our fisheries, and we will continue to push for improvements to federal management of recreational fishing.”
The original Gulf season in federal waters was June 1-3, the shortest ever. All Gulf states had longer seasons, with Florida enacting a 78-day season. It also will end Labor Day.
The extended federal season will consist of three-day weekends (Friday-Sunday) from Friday, June 16 through Monday, September 4. Fishing also will be allowed on Monday and Tuesday, July 3-4 and Monday, September 4. The compromise to reach the agreement is that each state’s season also will be closed Monday through Thursday during the season, with the exception of holidays. Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas might gain additional fishing days in state waters in the fall depending on harvest estimates from the summer season.
The Department of Commerce’s announcement on its website added that the agreement between the federal government and the Gulf states “is a significant step forward in building a new Federal-State partnership in managing the Gulf of Mexico red snapper stock.”


A car crash 11 years ago left Terry Brake with a brain injury and forced him to quit his job as a mechanical engineer. He had to relearn how to walk and talk, and was unable to work longer than two hour stretches.
As part of his therapy, Brake was given a banana plant from his South African doctor to help him relax. That gesture planted an idea. When his longtime caregiver Laurie Macpherson bought a 40-hectare farm in Huron County, the idea took seed. They became business partners and started a tropical fruit farm.
Growing bananas and papayas in Ontario’s climate would appear to be an impossible endeavor without a sophisticated laboratory and team of horticulturalists. However, the two simply started seeding and graphing plants on their own and with lots of trial and error, it took root.
Today, they sell their produce at farmers’ markets in Goderich and Exeter. Bananas are four for $2 while papayas are $3 each, comparable to the price of imported fruit at the big supermarkets.
Located in Blyth, about a three-hour drive west of Toronto, east of Lake Huron, Macpherson and Brake were naive but eager for a career change when they started the farm in 2010. The locals were skeptical when word got out they were growing bananas.
“We’ve been accused of growing pot or that we were getting (the fruit) from the food terminal,” says Macpherson, a law clerk for 25 years, taking a break from plucking purple beans.
“So we had open houses, asking them to come in and see it for themselves.”
Now they have a loyal local following as well as supporters from as far as Windsor who come to buy the fruit as well as more typical Ontario produce such as kale, broccoli, beans and tomatoes.
Broad fragrant leaves from a cluster of 10 banana trees hits my face as I step deeper into the hoop house, essentially a giant plastic tent with metal arches grounded by wooden planks. The bananas are still green and won’t be ready for market for another week. Macpherson returns from her house with a plate of Lady Fingers. These fat little bananas with thick skin are sweeter than the Cavendish variety, the common banana produced for export markets.
A circular path along the perimeter of the house is dotted with pineapple plants, long spiky leaves poke at my ankles as I walk past trees sprouting guava, papaya and oranges. Brake, who acts as the farm’s administrator, plucks a leaf from the lemon tree for me to smell. The scent is more intense than lemon zest.
“Our dream is to see (these fruits) growing everywhere and not have to depend on other countries and employ local people,” says Brake. He is hoping to expand the operation from the current three hoop houses on the property and be able to feed more people in the province.
“We don’t need to rely on boats or planes and we can have better tasting fruit that would otherwise rot during transport,” he says.
“We travel to the Dominican Republic and get tips from the plantations there. We also made a friend in Jamaica who works at a resort and showed us how to graph and grow the plants,” says Macpherson, who learned that banana trees grow better in triangle formations rather than in rows. “We also learned that orange trees have to be constantly trimmed before they bear fruit, and that lemons have to be picked before they turn yellow or else they rot quickly.”
This year, they’re introducing lychee, starfruit and passionfruit to the farm. The one crop that failed to flourish? Coconut. The cold-sensitive tree didn’t survive the winter and the two decided it was too much trouble to replant it.
But how do the rest of the plants fare since Ontario is far from having a tropical climate? When temperatures start dipping, the hoop houses are heated by an outdoor furnace fuelled by wood cut down on the farm’s property. “We do select cutting,” says Brake. “We have loggers cut trees from an area and we don’t cut from it again for 20 years. We noticed in the last six years, our maple trees have gotten bigger because they have more room to grow now.”
Brake and Macpherson efforts aren’t being universally praised. The farm is facing multiple charges from the Township of Huron and Huron County for failing to obtain permits for its hoop houses, as well as a single charge from the Maitland Conservation Authorityfor altering the wetland and clear-cutting on their property.
Their next court date with the township is in October. They are scheduled to go to pretrial with the conservation authority in December.
Brake says the township’s former building official determined that the hoop houses weren’t permanent structures and therefore aren’t subject to commercial taxes. As for the clear-cutting allegations, Brake says that the trees cut down were diseased or dying.
When contacted for a statement, The Township of Huron and Maitland Conservation Authority said they cannot comment on matters regarding ongoing cases.
Brake, however, is optimistic that the legal hurdles will clear by the end of the year. He and Macpherson hope to expand operations and build 100 hoop houses on the property next year so they can expand into other markets in the province. There is an online petition in circulation supporting the farm.
“The county put us in a pickle but we’re here to stay,” says Macpherson.
Other tropical fruits grown at the farm
While the farm grows more conventional Ontario produce including peppers, kale, cabbage, lettuce, cauliflower, celery and broccoli, it’s the tropical fruit that’s getting most of the attention.
Brake brought a guava tree from Florida last year and says it produces hundreds of fruit each year. The relatively fuss-free plant needs warm temperatures and water to survive.
Lemons and limes
The farm has about 100 citrus trees scattered among two hoop houses since Brake and Macpherson started growing them four years ago. Throughout the year, the leaves are trimmed and sold for potpourri.
Oranges and grapefruit
“The big grapefruit tree was a gift from a customer in London because it got too big for him,” says Brake. “He grew his outside in his backyard in the summertime and brought it to us in the winter.” The farm also grows two types of oranges, navel and Valencia in two hoop houses. Bees are kept in the back of the hoop house to help pollinate the trees.
Grown from a strain of Sugarloaf, a type of pineapple grown in Hawaii, these pineapples are smaller, sweeter and less acidic than the Smooth Cayenne, the species of pineapple most common on Canadian shelves. They also have a shelf life of 10 days.
The farm harvests about 300 papayas throughout the year and Macpherson bringing papaya salads to Thanksgiving and Christmas gatherings.


Russian VOD provider Megogo has jumped aboard the live-streaming bandwagon. Beginning in August, the service will offer the Eastern European market access to live broadcasts of large-scale public events, from music festivals to sports and eSports tournaments.
Chosen as the first headliner for the new services is Z-Games 2016, an Olympics-style Eastern Europe sports tournament and music festival and, according to the Moscow-based company execs “the main event of the year for youth in the post-USSR.”
“Choosing the project, we looked at dozens of events and picked the most entertaining and interesting. It was not only first-class music and sports component, but also the atmosphere of the festival, extremely popular among progressive audience, that influenced our choice,” said Ivan Shestakov, company marketing director, in a statement.
Z-Games are scheduled to take place in early August on the Black Sea, with more than 1,500 athletes, musicians, DJs, and artists filling the beach over four days, according to the game’s website.
Using a mix of professional-grade cameras and Samsung smartphones (hand operated and attached to drones), Megogo is planning to live stream all four days — from 7 am until the last DJ set. Online translation will be available to viewers in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, the Baltic States and other Eastern European countries.
Additional content will include summaries, interviews, discussions and analytics, highlights, fan moments, backstage events and the after-party scene.
Company execs estimate the broadcast will garner an international audience of more than 150,000 viewers daily, and view the event as a launch pad to other live-streaming initiatives. The live stream will be available globally free of charge every day of the festival on the Megogo website and apps for all devices and platforms.
Live streaming is, of course, all the rage among digital brands in 2016, with early leaders in the space — namely Facebook — setting the pace for others to catch up. YouTube and Yahoo (via Tumblr) have both responded by launching their own live-streaming features. Twitter, meanwhile, via the live-streaming platform Periscope, recently tested its live broadcast capabilities at Wimbledon, and plans to stream 10 NFL games every Thursday night during the upcoming season, tapping into the ever-growing demand for live content.


Former W.Va. state trooper pleads no contest to domestic battery
RITCHIE COUNTY, W.Va. (WTAP) - Former West Virginia State Police Trooper Joseph Comer on Friday pleaded no contest to domestic battery, and guilty to violating a protective order.
Comer was released from jail following the hearing in Ritchie County on Friday.
He will be sentenced in 2024. He could face up to a year in jail and/or a $500 fine.
He must complete all parts of the agreement or the deal is off.
Copyright 2023 WTAP. All rights reserved.


“Obama runs the risk of mission creep in Syria……. However, the key test will be for the US president. Having committed his forces to the fight, he needs to reflect on the lessons of past unsuccessful campaigns. Two-thirds of Americans support the US attack on Isis. But to retain that support, he must set clear goals and avoid the curse of mission creep………..”
That is normal, this mission creep: it goes with war, all wars. Going to war is not like giving a birthday party, as I tweeted yesterday. Much more unpredictable. It is almost like going out on a blind date: you can never be sure how things will turn out. That is why they called them ‘blind’.
In this case Mr. Obama is going on a double (nay multiple) blind date, along with a gaggle of princes and potentates. Whom he had to pressure and coerce to forcefully side against their wayward fellow Wahhabis of ISIS and Al Nusra and other assorted international cutthroats.
Just don’t get blindsided.
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum


Transfer students discuss imposter syndrome amid pandemic, remote instruction
(Cat Nordstrom/Daily Bruin)
May 7, 2021 12:03 a.m.
A strong sense of imposter syndrome hits Aaron Sokthavy Tann at the start of each quarter.
With the quick turnaround of UCLA’s quarter system, Sokthavy Tann said he finds it hard to adjust to new instructors when classes begin – especially amid online classes.
The third-year communication transfer student was used to the semester system at his community college, making the transition to UCLA more difficult. He also said he feels like a fraud asking for letters of recommendation and reaching out to professors that he hardly knows.
This lack of connection to his professors contributes greatly to his experience of imposter syndrome, he said.
Imposter syndrome describes a phenomenon in which one doubts their abilities and diminishes personal successes as undeserved.
Sokthavy Tann is just one of many students who experience self-doubt. This feeling has been exacerbated for some over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic because of remote instruction.
Most recently, the university’s decision to prioritize incoming students – but not fourth-year transfer students – sparked conversations among the transfer student community about feelings of devaluation from UCLA administration.
Transfer student housing fosters community among transfer students, said Tiffany Do, a fourth-year sociology transfer student.
Do said she did not feel imposter syndrome during her in-person classes because she could rely on dorm life to provide her a close connection with the transfer and greater UCLA community. However, the feeling arose when she became a Transfer Experience intern, a position under UCLA Residential Life that helps with transfer student programming on the Hill.
“I wasn’t used to the hustle culture here and the sense of always having to be productive, and that made me feel imposter syndrome because I wanted to do so much for the transfer community,” Do said.
For Kelly Giang, a third-year philosophy transfer student, imposter syndrome comes and goes.
But when imposter syndrome does hit, it is often when she talks to non-transfer students at club meetings about campus life, she said. Because she never had an in-person campus experience, Giang feels excluded, causing her to doubt her belonging at UCLA, she said.
“They’re not trying to exclude anybody, of course, but it kind of happens unintentionally,” Giang said.
Although Kayne Doughty enjoys the convenience of taking classes from his room, he said self-doubt sometimes seeps through the cracks when talking to his non-transfer student classmates about student life at UCLA.
“When you’re in a smaller setting and everyone has to talk, and you start to feel that pressure that, ‘Oh, maybe I don’t have all this experience and stuff. I come from a very different institution.’ You feel the imposter syndrome creeping in,” said the third-year history transfer student.
Other non-transfer students can also contribute to this feeling by stigmatizing the transfer experience, Do said.
“You hear like, ‘Oh, transferring is so easy. … Getting into UCLA as a transfer student is so easy,’ when (non-transfers) don’t realize that being a transfer student doesn’t mean one thing, and a lot of people have worked really, really hard to get into UCLA,” Do said.
However, imposter syndrome is not all-encompassing among the transfer community.
Tim Lawrence, a third-year political science transfer student, uses his economically disadvantaged background to empower him – it serves as a reminder of how hard he has worked to attend UCLA, he said.
Do, who serves as the Southeast Asian Campus Learning Education and Retention Transfer coordinator, said the most important way to combat imposter syndrome is to know what resources are available. The Transfer Leadership Coalition and Undergraduate Students Association Council Office of the Transfer Student Representative, for example, offer resources and spaces for transfer students, she said.
Another resource is peer counseling, which allows transfer students to connect with others who can empathize with their experiences, Do added.
“You get to talk to another fellow student, and it’s not as intimidating as potentially talking to a faculty member about some of the issues that we go through,” she said.
Giang copes with her imposter syndrome by reminding herself of her worth.
On her desk, Giang keeps a Post-it note decorated with a UCLA sticker and the words, “No matter what, you belong here.” Giang also hangs her student ID card on the wall and keeps other UCLA memorabilia in her room to remind her of the university she attends, though she is taking classes from her room at home.
Although imposter syndrome can make the college experience more difficult, Do believes every transfer student belongs at UCLA.
“We deserve to be here, and I hope that the school, other students and staff recognize that,” Do said.


As a conservative and a Christian, I believe actor and comedian Pete Davidson should be strongly applauded for his recent controversial remarks on Saturday Night Live in which he compared the alleged R. Kelly sex scandals with the proven Catholic Church sex scandals.
Saturday Night Live’s Pete Davidson isn’t going to hit pause on R. Kelly or Michael Jackson anytime soon. The comic said on the show’s latest episode that he thinks people should continue to listen to the two music icons if they want.
Angelo Clary spoke out after his daughter Azriel Clary, 21, told CBS News’ Gayle King that her parents demanded wire transfers from R. Kelly and encouraged her to record sexually-explicit videos with the singer when she was 17 so they could blackmail him.
R. Kelly was “guilty as hell” and received “libido-killing shots” after his 2002 arrest for child pornography, the singer’s former lawyer claimed in a blockbuster interview later questioned by the lawyer’s son.
While R. Kelly spent the weekend behind bars at Cook County Jail after being charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, a fan he’d met just a few months ago was reportedly digging up enough cash to bail him out.
Kelly has dodged charges for decades. The new indictment involves four victims, three of them minors at the time, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said. Kelly was “shell-shocked” and “extraordinarily disappointed and depressed” by the charges, his lawyer Steve Greenberg told the AP.
Two more women stepped forward Thursday to say singer R. Kelly preyed on them when they were minors – with one saying the singer exposed himself without warning and raped her while she was intoxicated.
R&B singer R. Kelly has reportedly been suffering from panic attacks — one serious enough to send him to a hospital — in the days before and after Lifetime’s damning documentary series on his alleged sexual abuse aired.


Pompeo says Iran supreme leader ‘lies’ over coronavirus
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday accused Iran’s Ali Khamenei of lying about the coronavirus pandemic as the Supreme Leader rejected US assistance for his hard-hit country. Pompeo
In a televised address Sunday, Khamenei described the United States as “charlatans” and charged that Washington could bring in a drug to keep the virus alive.
Pompeo in a statement also used loaded language, accusing “Iran’s chief terror airline” Mahan Air of bringing in what he called the “Wuhan virus” through its continued flights to China.
“The regime continues to lie to the Iranian people and the world about the number of cases and deaths, which are unfortunately far higher than the regime admits,” Pompeo said.
He said that the United States remained open to offering aid and was “working tirelessly” to develop a vaccine.
“Khamenei rejected this offer because he works tirelessly to concoct conspiracy theories and prioritizes ideology over the Iranian people,” Pompeo said.
He also signaled that the United States was unreceptive to the Islamic republic’s first-ever request for a loan from the IMF, where Washington effectively holds a veto, accusing the regime of funding “terror abroad” with its resources.
President Donald Trump’s administration has maintained its policy of “maximum pressure” and sanctions as Iran is hit hard by the virus, with an official death toll of more than 1,800. levant
source: AFP levant


After a rough start to their road trip, the Atlanta Braves have put together back-to-back wins and will try to capture their first series victory of the 2022 season when they wrap up a four-game series against the San Diego padres on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball.
Atlanta dropped the opener in lackluster fashion falling 12-1. They won the next two games behind strong pitching performances by Kyle Wright and Ian Anderson.
Bryce Elder will make his second career start in Sunday’s game. Elder was pressed into action during the opening homestand and pitched well allowing six hits and three runs over 5 2/3 innings. He tired late and a pair of homers to Juan Soto and Josh Bell skewed his final line.
Right-hander Yu Darvish will make his third start of the season for the Padres and will be looking to bounce back from one of the worst outings of his career. Darvish held the Diamondbacks hitless for six innings, albeit with four walks in his debut start. He then failed to get out of the second inning against the Giants allowing eight hits and nine runs. The Braves have had some success against Darvish who has allowed 26 hits and 15 runs in 23 1/3 career innings against Atlanta.
Ozzie Albies began Saturday’s game with a homer and has now homered in three straight and four of his last five games. Matt Olson is 5-for-11 in the series with a double, a homer and three walks.
Sunday’s game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN and is scheduled to get underway at 7:08 p.m. ET.
Game Date/Time: Sunday, April 17, 7:08 p.m. ET
Location: Petco Park, San Diego, California
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan


ABINGDON, Va. — Five members of a citizens group are appealing approval of a Pal’s Sudden Service at The Meadows in Abingdon because they don’t like the signature teal color and design of the drive-thru, leading Pal’s CEO to threaten to pull out if the original plans are not honored.
On Wednesday, members of the Friends of Abingdon filed an appeal with the town manager of the Abingdon Planning Commission’s May 20 approval of the project, saying the restaurant’s design doesn’t comply with the town’s zoning code.
“The whole thing is centered around whether it’s going to be teal,” said Town Manager Jimmy Morani.
Pal’s CEO Thom Crosby issued a written statement later Wednesday that states: “We have received a Certificate of Appropriateness of our standard building design of a Pal’s restaurant at The Meadows. The design features our teal blue color and unique architecture of classic menu items on the structure.”
The color and design are what Crosby calls “important elements of the Pal’s brand,” including a hot dog, a hamburger, Frenchie Fries and a Big Tea.
“Should the Town of Abingdon rescind the previously approved certificate, we will be forced to choose not to construct a restaurant at the location,” Crosby said.
According to a release from Pal’s last month, the Abingdon restaurant could create about 60 jobs.
“Pal’s is estimated to generate $200,000 to $220,000 sales tax revenue annually for the town,” Morani said. “That is approximately one third of the annual debt service for the sports complex.”
The Abingdon Sports Complex, estimated to cost about $7 million, is being built by the town and is a key component of The Meadows at Exit 17, which is now being developed with a Food City, Eastman Credit Union, Holiday Inn Express and other restaurants in addition to Pal’s.
“We need the development,” Morani said. “The development needs the sports complex.”
The Friends of Abingdon members state in the appeal: “First and foremost we wish to state that this is NOT an attempt to keep Pal’s out of Abingdon. And it does NOT, in any way, suggest that our membership has anything against having a Pal’s in Abingdon. Pal’s is a well-respected, reputable company that would be an asset to Abingdon and generate tax revenue.”
The Friends of Abingdon formed in opposition to development of The Meadows project. In 2016, the group filed a lawsuit in an attempt to stop the project, but it was dismissed.
The group’s appeal is now subject to a public hearing, the town manager said. The appeal will likely be considered by the Town Council at its first regular meeting in August because the July meeting would not meet the public notice requirements of 21 days, he added.
In the appeal, members of the citizens group said the building’s color and design wouldn’t comply with the Abingdon zoning ordinance.
“The ‘teal’ blue color and general style of the building are not ‘coordinated’ with other buildings within the development,” as required by the zoning ordinance, states the letter, which is signed by Friends members Nan Harman, Joe LeVine, Donna LeVine, Stephen C. Jett and Dr. James Moore.
But Morani said there’s no mention of specific colors in the town code.
He added that there are “some references to conformity, which some of the opponents are mentioning or bringing up.”
The larger issue, according to Morani, is whether The Meadows lies in Abingdon’s Historic District Entrance Corridor Overlay District.
The outline of that district is still being studied and defined by both the Town Council and the Planning Commission and is subject to what is considered an arterial entrance to the town, as defined by the Virginia Department of Transportation, Morani said.
“There’s a question as to whether the town has the authority to regulate these entrance corridors, if they are not an arterial road,” Morani said. “The bottom line is, we have many streets on there that are not arterial roads.”
Pal’s first restaurant in Abingdon could spur other development, the town manager said.
“If the Pal’s locates in Abingdon, a domino effect could take place. Others would locate in that same development as well,” he said.
Last month, the town’s director of planning and zoning, Jason Boswell, said Pal’s next step will be to submit the site plan to include setback requirements, erosion and sediment control plan, registered design professional drawings of the proposed structure, along with any required permits, electrical, mechanical and plumbing.
On Wednesday, Boswell said the appeal “doesn’t stop Pal’s from designing the building and moving forward with their plans. It doesn’t stop them from building that building. It could potentially stop them from using their trademark color.”


- Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Indonesia has set a new viewership record during its ninth season
- The league saw EVOS Legends’ match against RRQ Hoshi reach a peak viewership of over 2.8 million people
- RRQ Hoshi won the match but EVOS will have another chance to challenge its rival
The latest match between EVOS Legends and RRQ Hoshi set a new peak viewership record in the history of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Indonesia.
Esports Charts: 2.8M Fans Saw the Game
While Mobile Legends: Bang Bang is far from being one of the top mobile esports titles in the West, the game continues to enjoy great popularity in Asia. According to the latest statistics from Esports Charts, the latest Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League (MPL) in Indonesia has set a new peak viewership record.
The record happened during the last week of the regular season when two of the local powerhouses, EVOS Legends and RRQ Hoshi, clashed in a heated match. As the two are some of the most popular teams in Indonesia, their fans flooded the streams, helping the league reach a peak audience of 2,845,364 concurrent viewers.
Indonesia’s viewership record prior to the latest game was scored during the eighth season of the local league and stood at 2.3 million. It was also the third-highest peak viewer count in the game’s competitive history and was surpassed only by the M2 and the M3 World Championships.
RRQ Won but EVOS Will Have a Chance to Avenge Its Loss
RRQ eventually won the match and became the champion of the event. This was by no means an easy game as EVOS Legends came close to defeating RRQ a few times. In the end, the match concluded with a 2-1 result in the latter team’s favor.
It is worth noting that the second most popular match in the ninth season of MPL Indonesia was another faceoff between EVOS Legends and RRQ Hoshi. It managed to attract 1.7 million viewers at its peak. The two teams might stand against one another once again. EVOS Legends will soon play against Alter Ego. If the former wins, it will have the chance to challenge RRQ Hoshi once again.
The MPL Indonesia Season 9 playoffs are scheduled to kick off on April 21. The competition will last four days and will provide two teams with a shot at the MLBB SEA Championship in 2022 – the first LAN event in the region since the beginning of the pandemic.


17-year-old Rayven Franklin Carpenter of 18th Avenue Place N.E. in Hickory was arrested by Hickory Police at about 5:30 Friday afternoon (May 15) on one felony count of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury.
Carpenter, who is listed as a student at the Rosenwald School, was taken into custody at the Hickory Marketplace Shopping Center on Springs Road N.E. He has been jailed in the Catawba Co. Detention Facility with bond set at $50,000, secured. A first appearance in District Court was scheduled for tomorrow (May 19) in Newton.
No further details are available.
28-year-old Dustin Clark Lawhon of Bravard Street in Valdese was arrested by Hickory Police at about 10:40 last night (May 17). He was charged with possession with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver a schedule II controlled substance.
He was arrested after Officers received information that Lawhon was selling crack cocaine at the Sunny Valley apartment complex. Police located Lawhon on the 4th Street S.E. side of the complex. There, they searched Lawhon’s person, leading to the discovery of a baggie containing 1.6 grams of crack cocaine.
Lawhon was taken into custody without incident and placed in the Catawba Co. Detention Facility under a $50,000 secured bond. He was scheduled to make a first appearance in District Court today in Newton.
29-year-old Randal Scott Jordan, Jr. of 12th Street Court S.E. and 30-year-old Katie Rose Williams 3rd Avenue S.W., both from Conover, were arrested yesterday (May 14) by Caldwell Co. Sheriff’s Officers. They were each charged with felony possession of methamphetamine and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.
Jordan and Williams were taken to the Caldwell Co. Detention Center where they were each given a $25,000 secured bond. First appearances in District Court were set for May 18 in Lenoir.
54-year-old Ronald Earl Curtis of Dry Ponds Road in Hudson, 36-year-old Michael Paul Desaint-Hippolyte of Holly Court in Lenoir, 42-year-old Jerry Eugene Fair of Kaylor Driver in Granite Falls and 30-year-old Megan Leeann Ruppert of Farmer Lane in Lenoir were all arrested by Lenoir Police yesterday (May 14). They were each charged with felony conspiracy to sell or deliver heroin. Desaint-Hippolyte was also charged with a misdemeanor probation violation.
All four suspects were taken to the Caldwell Co. Detention Center with bond for each set at $100,000, secured, plus an additional $400 cash bond for Desaint-Hippolyte. First appearances in District Court were scheduled yesterday in Lenoir.
33-year-old Viviana Barbara Eller of 17th Street S.E. in Hickory was arrested at about 11:20 last night (May 14) on one felony count of possession of heroin.
The charge comes in connection to an incident in December of last year in which Hickory Police responded to a shoplifting call at a local Family Dollar store. Store surveillance led to the issuance of a warrant for Eller’s arrest on a shoplifting charge.
As she was taken into custody, but before she was taken to H.P.D. for processing, Eller insisted on bringing her purse. While at Police headquarters, heroin was found in Eller’s purse. She was initially indicted for that offense on March 20.
Following yesterday’s arrest, Eller was placed in the Catawba Co. Detention Facility with bond set at $10,000, secured. She has since been released. An appearance in District Court was scheduled for today in Newton.
The N.C. Department of Transportation is planning a traffic shift in Statesville tonight (May 14) to move I-40 westbound traffic onto the new bridge structure east of the I-77 overpass. The work is part of the Interstate 40/77 Interchange improvement project.
Crews will begin working on the shift at 8 p.m., with work completed by six o’clock tomorrow morning. The traffic shift will require crews to close one lane of I-40 westbound, including the ramp to I-77 northbound, for a brief period to remove the existing concrete barrier wall and cushion. The barrier wall will be reset on the new alignment for the bridge and new pavement markings will be placed in the updated pattern.
Motorists traveling through the area are advised to slow down, use caution and be mindful of any crews working along the roadside.
The first phase of the I-40/77 interchange project is about 50 percent finished, with completion scheduled for 2017.
36-year-old James Edward Russell III of Mt. Gilleland Church Road in Connelly Springs was arrested by Caldwell Co. Sheriff’s Officers yesterday (May 13) on charges of felony possession of methamphetamine, misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia, driving while license revoked and fictitious or altered title, registration card or tag.
He was taken to the Caldwell Co. Detention Center with bond set at $75,000, secured. Russell was scheduled to make a first appearance in District Court today in Lenoir.
27-year-old John Dorsey Crisp IV of Shearers Road in Mooresville was arrested Tuesday (May 12) by Iredell Co. Sheriff’s Officers on charges of manufacturing marijuana, felony possession of marijuana, possession with intent to sell or deliver marijuana, maintaining a dwelling for a controlled substance, possession of a schedule I controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and alcohol related offenses.
Events leading to his arrest began on May 5 when members of the Iredell County Aggressive Criminal Enforcement Team received information about a person allegedly selling homemade liquor and marijuana. An investigation was launched, identifying John Crisp as the possible suspect. Deputies went to Crisp’s home to speak with the suspect.
During the interview, Crisp initially denied any wrongdoing. As Deputies prepared to search the property, Crisp admitted that he was growing marijuana. The search turned up 175 marijuana plants growing on the property. 126 quarts of liquor were also found at various locations on the property. In addition, an active still was found concealed in a building, along with several 55-gallon drums of mash, which is used in the production of moonshine.
An indoor marijuana growing operation was also found, along with 773 grams of marijuana and psylocibin mushrooms. Deputies also found firearms, including a loaded handgun. The marijuana has an estimated street value of $4,000 and the estimated street value of the moonshine was set at $3,100.
Crisp was given a $15,000 secured bond. He faces additional charges in connection to the non-tax paid liquor violations. A District Court appearance was set for May 14.
State A.L.E. officers also assisted with the investigation.
18-year-old Michael Ray Robinson and 17-year-old Sanitra Kay Robinson, both from Lincoln Street, along with 17-year-old Zakari Scott Turner of Pete’s Road and 16-year-old Austin Lee Turner of Oak Grove Church Road, all from Lincolnton, have been arrested by Lincolnton Police on felony charges of breaking & entering, larceny and conspiracy.
On April 15, Officers responded to a residential breaking & entering call at an address on the 1100 block of East Catawba Street in the Oaklawn community. Officers spoke to the victims who said someone forcibly entered their home while they weren’t home and took various items from the residence.
The scene was processed and the case was assigned to Det. Robert Hayes for further investigation. Det. Hayes developed probable cause for arrest warrants for the four suspects.
No court dates are currently listed for Michael Robinson. Sanitra Robinson will appear in District Court on May 21, while Zakari Turner and Austin Turner both have court dates set for June 2.
The investigation is ongoing and further arrests are possible. Anyone with information should call Det. Hayes at 704-736-8900 or Lincolnton-Lincoln County Crime Stoppers at 704-736-8909. Crime Stoppers may remain anonymous. Information resulting in an arrest could result in a reward of up to $1,000.
The Catawba County Board of Commissioners will meet at 7 p.m. on Monday, May 18, in the 1924 Courthouse at 30 North College Avenue in Newton. The Commissioners will receive a presentation on the proposed update to the county’s 2007 Parks Master Plan, accompanied by a Planning Board recommendation to approve the update. The plan provides a guideline for future development, subject to available resources.
The committee kept public comments in mind as they reviewed existing parks across the county and sites for potential future parks. The committee then updated existing plan. According to County Senior Planner Susan Ballbach, the plan incorporates significant community input. The plan was developed by county staff, in consultation with the county’s Parks Advisory Committee, over an 18-month period.
The Committee’s review included the existing parks: Baker’s Mountain, Riverbend and St. Stephens Park. The updated plan includes specific recommendations for improvements to the existing parks.
The proposed plan also recommends development of a regional park on Mountain Creek, a 589-acre site obtained by the County in 2010. In addition, it recommends smaller “historic parks” near the Catawba County Historical Association’s Bunker Hill Covered Bridge and Murray’s Mill.
The draft plan is currently available for review online at catawbacountync.gov/Parks. Questions may be directed to Ms. Ballbach at 828-465-8381 or email@example.com.


Organization: Department of International and Cross-strait Education
According to the “Ethnologue: Languages of the World” website, there are now 1.1 billion Chinese users in the world, roughly 1/7 of the world’s population, and more and more people are learning Chinese. “Chinese Fever” has been spreading like wild fire in the past decade, and in response, the Ministry of Education and National Taiwan University have created a new online course for learning Chinese: “Learning Chinese: Start from Scratch”. The course is being offered on Coursera, the largest MOOCs platform in the world (Website: https://www.coursera.org/learn/learn-chinese-mandarin), and it will be free for all learners. It can also be used by educators as a supplementary teaching resource.
The course is designed for beginner-level learners of Chinese and spans six weeks. Everyday scenarios and conversations, and videos, photos, animation, and comics are used throughout the course to enhance memorization and understanding.
The course starts on Coursera on August 31 and it will then be repeated every six weeks. Learners can register on Coursera using their e-mail or Facebook account from August 20. Anyone is welcome to register at any time.
The Digital Learning Center of National Taiwan University will hold several workshops for educators on ways to use this online course. Please visit its website for more details. (https://www.dlc.ntu.edu.tw/)


(CNN) — Kanye West has been suspended by Instagram after he posted a racial slur directed at “Daily Show” host Trevor Noah, a spokesperson for Meta confirmed to CNN.
West violated the platform’s policies on hate speech, bullying and harassment, according to Meta. He is restricted from posting, commenting and other actions for 24 hours and the company will take further action if necessary, the spokesperson said.
Kanye West posted an insult directed at Noah on Wednesday, after the talk show host spoke about the rapper’s treatment of ex-wife Kim Kardashian and her boyfriend, comedian Pete Davidson, on a “Daily Show” segment on Wednesday. Tuesday.
“You might not feel sorry for Kim because she’s rich and famous,” Noah said in the segment. “But what is happening is scary to watch and highlights what so many women go through when they choose to leave.”
In Kanye West’s post, later removed by Instagram, he replaced the “Kumbaya” lyrics with a racial epithet. Prior to the post’s removal, Noah had responded by expressing her admiration for West as an artist and his sincere concern for him and his family.


Mintel points to key consumer trends shaping retail, including wellness and convenience.
This October, Global Research firm Mintel pointed to six key consumer trends impacting industries and markets around the world and identified how they will play out in the years to come.
In 2019 and beyond, the global consumer landscape will evolve like never before, driven by themes of privacy, individuality, wellness, convenience and connectivity:
Total Wellbeing: Consumers are treating their bodies like an ecosystem and seeking solutions that complement their personal health and evolving needs.
Challenge Accepted: A growing momentum to take on new challenges is driving consumers to reach new heights and uncover new passions.
Rethink Plastic: While not inherently bad, the throwaway use of plastic is driving consumers to review their own behaviors to prevent plastic pollution.
On Display: Consumers and brands are becoming more aware that they have a digital persona to nurture and grow, creating tension as everyone fights for attention and nobody is safe from scrutiny.
Social Isolation: Constant digital connectivity, where physical interactions are replaced with digital updates, can increase feelings of loneliness, social isolation and depression, creating a demand for products and services that help consumers learn to disconnect.
Redefining Adulthood: The concept of what it means to be an adult has changed beyond recognition and consumers are adapting to lives that don’t fit the mold.
Here, the global Mintel Trends analyst team explores how these trends are set to shake up markets around the world, including implications for both consumers and brands.
“In 2019 and beyond, growing consumer curiosity with the microbiome shows no signs of abating. From gut-friendly fermented foods to probiotic skincare, consumers will demand products that balance and boost the natural bacteria found in and on the body.”
“Consumers are looking externally to their surroundings and internally towards their physical and mental wellbeing, expecting holistic approaches to wellness. Across the globe consumers are increasingly seeking personalization and in the UK, as many as 42% of British consumers are interested in a personalized diet based on their genes/DNA. Developments in health monitoring, such as skin sensors or ingestible capsules, will satisfy consumers’ demand for this personalized approach, while also building on scientific research in these emerging fields.”
“As appetites for adventure grow, consumers are becoming more willing than ever to expand their comfort zones, push themselves to the limit with new experiences and use social media to compete with and offer inspiration to their peers.”
“Social media inspiration is blurring the line between reality and #lifegoals, opening consumers up to a whole new world. In fact, a third (32%) of Canadian consumers who have attended a live event say they learn about live events from social media. It may be fueling a love of adventure, but social media is not without its pitfalls and in the years to come, companies and brands should proceed with caution.”
“When it comes to recycling, well-meaning consumers are desperate to do the right thing but often simply don’t know how or where to start. As consumers continue to challenge brands over the perils of plastic waste, the development of recyclable products and packaging that are convenient for consumers to separate will be critical. But equally as important will be creating incentives and initiatives; in China, 58% of Mintropolitans* are willing to pay more for ethical brands.”
“In 2019 and beyond, expect to see more sponsored ‘reverse’ vending machines and bring-your-own-mug schemes. But it takes more than any one individual or brand to save the world; the future will be about working together. Companies and organizations should look to partner in order to create or crowdsource ideas that will make innovative and disruptive changes, such as the development of biodegradable materials, the search to enhance the recyclability of plastic or the cultivation of a better waste management system.”
“Consumers and brands have come to accept and nurture their digital personas, perfectly curating their online identities. But even among the most carefully crafted feeds, one misguided post can lead to intense scrutiny and public backlash. In the U.S., 16% of Hispanic social media users have boycotted brands based on things they learned on social media.”
“Now more than ever, it’s crucial for companies and brands to have social media strategies in place and to train employees about company morals and etiquette, so that when (not if) they are faced with a sensitive issue, they know how to handle it in a timely way. While it is important to balance the cycle of ‘negative exposure’ by sharing good, positive stories, it’s equally important to promote critical thinking and dissent. This will help brands align with consumers’ defiant side and break through their filter bubbles.”
“Technology can make the world a lonely place. Consumers increasingly live their lives through smartphone screens and, although connected electronically, they are becoming isolated from each other both physically and emotionally. It seems there are countless reasons why consumers may feel they never need to leave their homes, with 34% of Brazilian Millennials (aged 19-35) saying they prefer to contact companies/brands online rather than in-store or over the phone. And smart home technology and delivery services make it easier than ever for consumers to feel they have everything they need under their own roof.”
“Facilitating connections and creating unique spaces where communities can be built is the next stage in cultivating customer loyalty. Brands who position their physical and virtual ‘space’ as places for consumers to meet while also eating, shopping or taking part in a leisure activity will lead to a boost in not only engagement, but revenue.”
“With experiences over material things being a key priority for consumers, companies need to focus on campaigns and opportunities that focus on making life memorable. Taking a technology-first approach could be the answer, as more and more consumers are commonly relying on technology to manage their everyday ‘adult’ tasks. In fact, a third (33%) of U.S. consumers agree they would rather interact with people online than in-person.”
“Despite more convenience and opportunity, the challenges of adulthood have not disappeared. Those looking to capitalize on this will serve as a resource for these hurdles by making responsibilities feel more manageable and even fun (sometimes). Flexibility is the name of the game. With a growing remote workforce, consumers’ daily lives are fluid and brands have to adapt to lifestyles no longer defined by 9-5 work cultures.”
*Mintropolitans are broadly defined by Mintel as those who represent a significant, sophisticated consuming group (aged 20-49) who pursue quality of life rather than just wealth, are well educated, and are the potential trendsetters.


As Jeb Bush’s campaign spins in erratic circles—slashing his campaign budget, tapping his unpopular brother to help fund-raise, and trailing Donald Trump—it’s only timely that this old video, taped in July, re-emerged in the public space.
Observe: Jeb’s arms, restricted, thrashing through the air, grasping for traction. Why is Jeb! even wearing a hoodie in 105-degree Vegas weather? Playing the role of the relatable candidate is never easy: just ask Hillary Clinton, who attempted to dance to Silento’s “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)” on Ellen.
As The Washington Post points out, Bush’s hasn’t faded completely from the polls, but as a candidate, he’s been underperforming compared to outsider candidates such as Trump and Ben Carson—something his donors anxiously hope he’ll fix.


Kudos for Bill Nemitz calling out Sen. Susan Collins (“Sen. Collins hardly a profile in courage during shutdown stalemate,” Oct. 2). He spells it out exactly right, in my opinion.
She has a penchant for simultaneously being against something (i.e., Gov. LePage’s behavior) while sponsoring his re-election fundraiser. Being against “big government” while being first to issue a news release (with a smiling picture) announcing every penny of new government spending in Maine.
The current “coup” that has occurred in Washington is costing all citizens real money. Most economists predict that the market will tank (retirees, take note); interest rates will go up; the overall economy will shrink (real jobs will be lost), and our recovery (such as it is) will go into reverse.
All of this is the result of a small minority of a minority party holding a majority hostage with this gun pointed at our heads.
I have been waiting, along with many others, for Sen. Collins to make a principled stand. Her choice has been not to. My choice is to support and vote for any non-Republican candidate in the next election.
This is in response to the Oct. 2 Bill Nemitz column, “Sen. Collins hardly a profile in courage during shutdown stalemate.”
We did, in fact, notice what she did, how she voted, how she turned her back on her Maine constituency and cowered to Democratic leaders.
For a person to be successful in negotiations between two sides of a problem, one does not already form opinions against one side in the negotiations.
Sen. Angus S. King Jr. has already proved that he can’t negotiate this impasse in Congress. He showed his hate against the so-called tea party when he was on talk radio, using the words “hostage” and “murder” more than once to describe the actions of the tea party.
He also refuses to talk to any who do not support his views when people go to his office.
He should drop his idea of being a great negotiator. He’s just another politician in Congress.
House is just carrying out people’s will on Obamacare
People forget that the president does not represent the people – he was elected by the Electoral College.
The Senate represents the states.
The House represents the people, and if a majority of the people don’t want Obamacare, so be it.
Affordable Care Act attacks based on disdain for Obama
Republicans from Sen. Ted Cruz to Gov. LePage continue to show why they represent the party of “No.”
They are against the Affordable Care Act. Why? I am not sure. Primarily, it seems to me, because President Obama is getting credit for it.
Never mind that it is a law passed by Congress and upheld by the Supreme Court. Never mind that a similar plan in Massachusetts signed by Gov. Mitt Romney is wildly successful at expanding health care coverage to all citizens.
Nope, LePage and Cruz are against it. In fact, LePage wasted Maine taxpayer money on a lawsuit to avoid dealing with the law. Instead of rolling up his sleeves to help cover more Mainers, he delayed and dithered.
Let us review the positives:
Immunizations are paid for. Preventative visits are paid for. Children can stay on their parents’ plan until age 26. New York and California premiums are much lower than expected.
Insurance companies must use 85 percent of premiums on patients. If they keep more than 15 percent, we get a rebate from the insurance companies! Insurance companies no longer can deny coverage because of pre-existing conditions. Insurance companies can no longer stop coverage after a catastrophic illness.
None of this matters to Republicans. No, it seems if the government is involved in helping fix our broken system, they are against it.
My advice? Stop whining and get to work covering more Americans. It is quite likely that someone’s life depends on it. If it needs tweaking later, then tweak it.
Alarmed snorkeler arrives at unfounded conclusion
Regarding the Sept. 30 letter by Benson Dana of Cape Elizabeth (“Snorkeler’s Fort Gorges visit reveals sad ecological decline”):
Science students learn that to understand an observation of the natural environment, it must be viewed in the context of ongoing scientific, cultural and sociological conditions.
Had Mr. Dana paid attention for the last 21 years, he would know that there exists more than 20 years of Environmental Protection Agency-certified data on the waters of Fort Gorges, as well as the entirety of Casco Bay. He can call 799-8574 to access data that has been recognized worldwide as a viable and important contribution to the body of knowledge on which ecologists and oceanographers, marine biologists, fisheries researchers and scientists of many other disciplines depend.
Regarding Mr. Dana’s reference to “dirty water”: Cloudiness in ocean water is most often an indicator of healthful biological activity.
Mr. Dana may have visited the fort within 48 hours of a moderate-to-heavy rain event. Under these conditions, Fort Gorges and the harbor surrounding it are engulfed in a plume of fresh water from the Presumpscot River, which carries with it silt from the riverbed, especially since the removal of dams.
Research will show appropriate turbidity (cloudiness) levels under normal conditions. Visit anywhere in Casco Bay to observe this condition.
Regarding urchins, it is well known that urchins were overharvested in the ’90s. Visit anywhere on the coast of Maine to observe this depletion.
The presumption that the “seaweed” (presumably he is referring to common rockweed, Ascophyllum nodosum) is soon to be harvested “to complete devastation” demonstrates an an absolute ignorance of the current and developing regulations for rockweed harvest, the historical harvest of this publicly held resource and the current harvest activities in Casco Bay.


Tucson, Arizona 2021-07-30 20:56:18 –
Tucson, Arizona (KGUN) — Sofas, mattresses, and other bulky furniture line the alleys across the Jefferson Park area.
Residents say that when children return to the University of Arizona in the fall semester, off-campus home furniture ends up along their yard.
“That’s terrible,” said neighborhood resident Karan Schreiber. Schreiber added that one sofa near her house had been sitting in her alley for nearly three months.
The city says they do brushes and bulky cleaning twice a year. They plan to clean the neighborhood on August 30th to remove some of the extra furniture that comes with the freshmen.
However, there are other options as well. Neighbors can pay $ 55 for extra brushes and bulky cleaning. You can also submit a code enforcement report or illegal dumping report to the city. Another option is to request a cleanup dumpling in your neighborhood.
“We will provide roll-off dumpsters to our neighbors,” said Christina Pargrove, Tucson’s Environmental and General Services division. “We put them in the places they specified, and anyone can dispose of things in them, and then we carry them away. They are provided free of charge. . “
Click for more information on these programs. here..
Bulky garbage crowds alleyways in Tucson Source link Bulky garbage crowds alleyways in Tucson