Dr. Prempeh’s good works speaking for him
4th Aug 2021 Ababiopeter News Leave a comment
In 2008, when Dr. Matthew Opoku-Prempeh won the New Patriotic Party (NPP) primary held at Georgia Hotel in Kumasi, and subsequently emerged the Member of Parliament (MP), for the Manhyia Constituency, people not too conversant with the dynamics of the Ashanti Region politics, were surprised.
Their surprise wasn’t because Dr. Prempeh popularly known as ‘Napo’ wasn’t qualified, but widely seen as very young to step into the shoes of Dr. Kwame Addo Kufuor, who was then bowing out of Parliament after faithfully serving the good people of Manhyia.
Those who were aware, however, of the ever-rising political activities of the then young aspiring MP, knew that there would be no vacuum created following the exit of Dr. Addo-Kufuor, as Dr. Prempeh had in his early student’s politics days, already displayed quality leadership skills.
True to their expectation, the MP, as soon as being sworn-in on January 7, 2009, never disappointed the people of his Manhyia constituency, as his presence was felt in Parliament early on through wise contributions to Parliamentary business.
The son of Apagyafie was coming on board with exceptional character and unblemished integrity, braced with great courage and resolve in handling affairs.
The leadership style of Dr. Opoku-Prempeh also endeared him to the entire constituent to the extent that, there arose issues on where he should serve, when the Manhyia constituency was split into Manhyia North and South. The MP opted to serve the people of Manhyia South.
Dr. Prempeh’s contribution to the fortunes of the NPP, in opposition, was something that people within and outside the party would simply not forget as he was extremely active, in ensuring that the party won back power in the 2016 elections
Dr. Prempeh In Government
It wasn’t surprise, therefore, that when NPP took office after it won the 2016 elections, Dr. Prempeh was to be among the first batch of ministers to be named by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. Amazingly, Napo was placed in charge of the education ministry and, obviously became the surprise element because of his background, though, as Medical Doctor largely seen as someone rather caste in the health ministry.
Napo’s leadership skills were thus smithed out the more, as he had to pioneer the government’s flagship programme of the Free Senior High School (Free SHS); and did not have a single reason to fail the system.
With team-work, Dr. Prempeh was able to marshal all necessary forces to roll out the Free SHS, which itself, came along with teething problems that he succeeded in surmounting, with time.
At the end of President Akufo-Addo’s first term, it became obvious that the Medical Doctor without any background in education sector management, had succeeded in making history for the Nana Akufo-Addo administration through achieving lots for the education sector.
Beyond the successful implementation of Free SHS programme, the education sector also witnessed significant reforms during the tenure of Dr. Prempeh as the minister.
He brought dignity and respect to bear by always placing himself in touch with workers of the education sector, to know their challenges and prescribing necessary solution. It was not out of nothing that under Dr. Prempeh’s watch, no union under the education sector ever embarked on strike action.
Second Term Of Akufo-Addo And Napo
Dr. Prempeh was again among the first set of appointees named by President Nana Akufo-Addo in his second term and now again placed in-charge of Energy and was also made a Member of Cabinet.
His quality leadership and teamwork have come to play once again, as he steers affairs to ensure that Ghana’s energy sector improves to meet its huge demand.
Just like he strategically did as the Education Minister, the labour front of the energy sector has also become calm and thus driving the sector workers to offer their maximum best.
Well Deserved Honours
Dr. Prempeh is not a stranger to awards and honours, as he could count them in numbers since, he became a minister. For three times running he was named as the best Minister in the Akufo-Addo government.
Apart from that, he was selected as the 2020 recipient of the Harvard Ministerial Medal of Achievement in recognition of his work, over the past four years, towards strengthening public education in Ghana. Specific criteria include insightful leadership, clarity of purpose, and consistent commitment to the goals, and tangible benefits for citizens from the Minister’s efforts.
In 2021 alone, Dr. Prempeh has already received two Honorary Doctorate Degrees from two of Ghana’s renowned tertiary institutions: One from the University of Education, Winneba (UEW) and the other one from the University of Professional Studies (UPSA), Accra.
The UEW conferred the Honorary Doctorate on Dr. Prempeh on May 26, 2021, for his efficient handling of the education sector whilst he was the Education Minister. A citation read at ceremony held at Winneba, among other things, indicated that the Free SHS was implemented under his watch and he ensured quality placement in all schools, he made lots of reforms in the education sector by establishing National Reform Secretariat to transform all aspects of education in the country, including the upgrade of all Colleges of education to University Colleges; the adoption of a National Teachers’ Standards; the rollout of the Teacher Education Curriculum Framework; and the Tertiary Education Policy for Ghana initiative.
The UPSA on the other hand, conferred Doctorate Degree (Doctors of Human Letters) on Dr. Prempeh on July 24, 2021, for his leadership as the Minister of Education in the first term of President Akufo-Addo.
Parts of the UPSA citation read: ‘’You have invested in making yourself a notable leader, thereby proving that the twenty first century leadership is teachable, learnable, measurable skill. We recognise your deep commitment to leadership and service and celebrate your contribution towards the education of mother Ghana’s future generation.’’
Dr. Prempeh was born May 23, 1968 to Oheneba Kwame Kyeretwie, who was Otumfuo Asantehene’s Apagyahene, and Madam Elizabeth Akosua Nyarko at the Komfo Anokye Hospital, in Kumasi. He started his primary education at the KNUST Primary school and then proceeded to the prestigious Prempeh College in 1980. From there, he entered the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, where he read medicine.
It was at KNUST that he made his first appearance as a leader, after he won the position as the local National Union of Ghanaian Students (NUGS) President, a position he held from 1991 -1992. In 1995, Dr. Prempeh left Ghana to pursue further education and work as a surgeon in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
In 2003, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh decided to return to Ghana to pursue a career in business and more importantly in politics.
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After Article 370, Will Transnational Terrorist Organizations Look to Kashmir for Permanent War?
Transnational extremist groups may become the next reason for escalation between India and Pakistan.
By Umair Jamal for The Diplomat
Credit: AP Photo/Dar Yasin
India’s decision to integrate Jammu and Kashmir has complicated the region’s jihadist landscape. Escalation of violence looks like a real possibility with a massive jihadist infrastructure waiting and gearing up to take advantage of the situation.
It’s extremely worrying that the emerging narrative in Kashmir, which favors resentment among Kashmiris at a collective level, is set to provide extremist groups fodder for recruitment propaganda. This is exactly what India has been trying to avoid for decades. However, the post-integration lockdown situation appears to have achieved exactly what New Delhi set out to evade decades ago.
Observers are warning that transnational extremist groups such as the Islamic State (ISIS), Al Qaeda, and their local affiliates may have found an opening that didn’t exist for years. Extremist groups with bases in the valley can cause chaos not only in Kashmir, but also regionally.
Previously, the narrative in Kashmir had been averse to transnational groups preaching or carrying out violence against the Indian security forces. That may not be the case anymore: for better or worse, extremist sentiments are finding more space among the masses than they did in the past.
Al-Qaeda, which has struggled to make its brand attractive for years, is eyeing the situation in Kashmir as an opportunity for revival. In July, the group’s leader asked its fighters to inflict “unrelenting blows” on Indian security forces. There are other groups with transnational identities that want to make gains at the expense of the existing situation. In this regard, ISIS is already being projected as one of the emerging threats in Jammu and Kashmir. In March, the group announced a province in Kashmir and, a week ago, The Economic Times, quoting an intelligence report, noted that Kashmir had become a “hotspot of ISIS activities.”
The spillover effects of probable violence in the valley look like a real possibility. Pakistan is already considering deploying troops along the Line of Control (LoC). In an interview with the New York Times on Monday, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States Asad Majeed Khan noted that “If the situation escalates on the eastern border, we will have to undertake redeployments.” Arguably, after India’s Jammu and Kashmir’s integration, the situation along the LoC is going to remain tense for a longer period. One can call the condition on both sides of LoC a permanent crisis, which has the potential to lead to war.
The situation in Kashmir has generated a new dilemma for Pakistan’s foreign policy: While Pakistan would certainly like to take advantage of the situation, the country’s policymakers may run into trouble if credible evidence emerges, attributing attacks in the valley with links across the LoC. It is expected that any major decision in this regard will come after November when the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meets to decide Pakistan’s case.
Pakistan’s policy-makers understand that the brewing violence in Kashmir is certain to create a crisis between Islamabad and New Delhi. For now, Pakistan would want to distance itself from terror-related incidents in Jammu and Kashmir, which might implicate Islamabad. It’s not a surprise that Pakistan’s military, as well as civilian leadership, has repeatedly warned of conversations which would link Pakistan to the existing crisis in Jammu and Kashmir. Arguably, there is an understanding in Islamabad that, for now, the situation in Jammu and Kashmir shouldn’t be seen as getting armed assistance from Pakistan. Moreover, there is an expectation that local agitation is going to create a serious situation for New Delhi in the valley in the coming weeks and months. Thus, in immediate terms, keeping anti-India militant groups in check is in Pakistan’s best interest.
However, it remains unclear if Pakistan can totally shut down groups aspiring to join the conflict in Kashmir. In this regard, the challenge doesn’t just come from organizations that have been banned by Pakistan, but also from groups and individuals that want to join under the banner of ISIS and Al Qaeda. For the next two to three months, Pakistan will have to work hard to keep in check such groups, and individuals.
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There is an urgent need to improve health services in Los Cabos: Eda Palacios
vice Sudcalifornian Renewal Party (PRS) Ida Maria Palacios MarquezDuring his speech at the last regular session of the House of Representatives State Congress He stated that the Covid-19 pandemic has revealed the needs of the health sector and despite the establishment of the specialized hospital before Mexican Social Security Institute Too much stimulus, it is necessary to take further action to mitigate deficiencies.
The deputy stressed that the country’s population growth requires better health services, including that there are more doctors serving citizens, as the lack of cadres appeared. During the Covid-19 pandemic.
He noted that “in Baja California Sur, at the peak of infection that occurred at the beginning of the epidemic, the need for more medical workers, nurses and stretcher carriers to deal with the health crisis situation became clear.”
Likewise, he pointed out that the lack of places for medical care forced families to go to private places, which greatly affected their economy, However, in addition to the Covid-19 pandemic, Every day, hundreds of citizens suffer from a lack of services provided by the medical units in Los Cabos.
“Let’s remember that the infrastructure of the General Hospital in Los Cabos Municipality does not have an intensive care area, enough operating rooms for complex surgical interventions, and there is not enough dialysis and other services,” he stressed.
For all of the above, the deputy confirmed that the establishment of a third-level specialized hospital in San Jose del Cabo by IMSS This is incredible news for all residents, and although it is already authorized by Federal Government, Los Cabos City Council Provided the land for its construction, noting that its creation is emerging, as well as new spaces and the training of cadres to make a difference.
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Home → Featured Artists → Grelle, Martin → New Wealth for the Blackfeet by Martin Grelle
New Wealth for the Blackfeet by Martin Grelle
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"The flag is a fur-trade era flag carried by employees of the American Fur Co. The Blackfeet have the flag, but have also acquired the hat (typical of the fur trade), a trade gun, a small red trade blanket, a mule (with it's pack), a packhorse (with it's pack AND it's colt) ... And quite likely a couple of the horses they're riding as well, or at least some bridles. Maybe they traded for these things, maybe not... Odds probably favor "not"."
MARTIN GRELLE ( 1954– ) < BACK TO ARTISTS Martin Grelle, b. 1954, Clifton, Texas, (United States) Born & raised in Clifton, Texas, Martin Grelle and his wife, Joyce, still live on a small ranch a few miles from town. His studio sits in the picturesque Meridian Creek Valley, surrounded by the oak & cedar-covered hills of Bosque County, just a short distance from his home, but also within a few miles of the family & friends who are so important in his life. He has two sons, Josh & Jordan, who have left home to pursue their own dreams, but who stay in touch frequently. Grelle’s parents, Ervin & Ella, have both passed from this life, but he still has his brothers, Carl & Marvin, living nearby, as well as his sister, Mary, who lives in Ft. Worth. Joyce’s 3 sons, Zach, Emitt & Carl, and their families are also close, and visit the ranch often. Grelle began drawing & painting when he was very young, and was fortunate to have James Boren & Melvin Warren, two professional artists and members of the prestigious Cowboy Artists of America, move to the area when he was still in high school, and it has had a lasting impact on his direction & career. Mentored by Boren, he had his first one-man show at a local gallery within a year of graduating from high school in 1973. In the 44 years since that time, he has produced some 30 one-man exhibitions, including annual shows at Overland Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona from 1989 through 2014, and has won awards of both regional & national importance at shows around the country. Grelle was invited into membership with the Cowboy Artists of America in 1995, fulfilling a dream that began in the early 70’s when he first met Boren & Warren. That same year he was invited to participate in the first Prix de West Invitational at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. Since that time he has won the Prix de West Purchase Award, twice (one of only seven artists to do so), the Nona Jean Hulsey Rumsey Buyers’ Choice Award, twice, the CA People’s Choice Award in 2002, the CA Ray Swanson Award in 2008, the CA Buyers’ Choice Award in 2011, 2012, and 2014, and the Silver Award for Water Solubles in 2012 and 2014. He was awarded the Legacy Award by The Briscoe Museum in 2012, for his impact on western art, and was presented the Spirit of the West Award by the San Dimas Festival of Arts in April of 2016. Other major invitational exhibitions & sales Martin has participated in include The Masters at the Autry Museum in Los Angeles, and the Quest for the West at the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis, the Coeur d’Alene Auction, and the Jackson Hole Art Auction. Grelle has also been featured in a number of publications throughout his career, including multiple appearances in ART OF THE WEST and WESTERN ART COLLECTOR magazines, SOUTHWEST ART, WESTERN ART & ARCHITECTURE, PERSIMMON HILL, AMERICAN COWBOY, WESTERN HORSEMAN, INFORMART, WILD WEST, & was listed in TRUE WEST magazine’s 2011 Best of the West Source Book. He was honored with a retrospective showing of his work, along with fellow CA artist, Herb Mignery, for the Gilcrease Museum’s Rendezvous Show 2013. Martin Grelle has a real sense of responsibility to his collectors, which fills his heart every morning when he walks into the studio, believing that what he does is a gift entrusted to him from God, and must not be left unused or taken for granted, but developed and improved upon. His parents, and Jim & Mary Ellen Boren, all set that example for him – an example of not only striving to be the best artist he can be, but the best man he can be as well. Beyond his studio, Grelle strives to pass on what others have passed to him. He has given multiple demonstrations around the country, teaches an annual weekend workshop along with his good friend, and fellow CA, Bruce Greene – which they have done for 24 years straight - and mentors other aspiring artists by critiquing their work. He has donated work to a large number of organizations to aid in their progress, including The Bosque Arts Center in Clifton, Texas. Grelle has twice served on the board of directors for the CA organization, serving as President for 2014, and as Chairman of CAA 50th Anniversary Events during 2015. He is also involved with The Joe Beeler Foundation, founded by the Cowboy Artists of America to coincide with their mentoring program, which provides scholarship opportunities for artists seeking to improve their skills, and has served on the Board of Directors for the past several years, and as President during 2014-2015. Education • Self-taught; mentored by James Boren • Cowboy Artists of America Museum, Kerrville, TX, Workshop, Harvey Johnson/Melvin Warren, 1983 • Bosque Conservatory, Clifton, TX, Workshop, Bettina Steinke Selected Collections • National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, OK • Booth Western Art Museum, Cartersville, Georgia • Erivan & Helga Haub Family Awards • San Dimas Festival of Arts, San Dimas, California, Spirit of the West Award, 2016 • National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition, Silver Award, Water Solubles, Oklahoma City, OK, 2014 • National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition, People’s Choice, Oklahoma City, OK, 2014 • Gilcrease Museum - Rendezvous Retrospective, 2013 • National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition, Silver Award, Water Solubles, Oklahoma City, OK, 2012 • Briscoe Western Art Museum, Legacy Award, San Antonio, TX, 2012 • National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition, Buyers Choice, Oklahoma City, OK, 2012 • National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition, Buyers Choice, Oklahoma City, OK, 2011 • Phoenix Art Museum, Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition & Sale, Ray Swanson Memorial Award, “Newlyweds,” Phoenix, AZ, 2008 • National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Prix de West, Nona Jean Hulsey Buyer’s Choice, “Dust in the Distance,” Oklahoma City, OK, 2006 • National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Prix de west, Purchase Award, “Two Coups”, Oklahoma City, Ok, 2005 • National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Prix de West, Nona Jean Hulsey Buyer’s Choice, “Signs Along the Snake,” Oklahoma City, OK, 2004 • Greeley Stampede Western Invitational Art Exhibit & Sale, Artist’s Choice Award and Buyer’s Choice Award, Greeley, CO, 2003 • Phoenix Art Museum, Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition & Sale, People’s Choice Award, “Monarchs of the North”, Phoenix, AZ, 2002 • National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Prix de West, Purchase Award, “Teller of Tales,” Oklahoma City, OK, 2002 • Evening of Art, Best of Show, McKinney, TX, 1989 • Evening of Art, Best Work in Opaque Painting, McKinney, TX, 1988 • Texas Ranger Hall of Fame Show, Silver Award for Oils, Waco, TX, 1985 • Texas Ranger Hall of Fame Show, Artist Award, Waco, TX, 1985 • American Indian & Cowboy Artists (AICA), 3rd Annual Exhibition, Gold Medal for Drawing, San Dimas, CA, 1979 • American Indian & Cowboy Artists (AICA), 3rd Annual Exhibition, Best of Show, Lloyd Mitchell Memorial Award, San Dimas, CA, 1979 • American Indian & Cowboy Artists (AICA), Bronze Medal for Drawing, 1st Annual Exhibition, San Dimas, CA, 1977 • Phippen Museum, Silver Award for Water Color, George Phippen Memorial Outside Show, Prescott, AZ, 1977 Affiliations • Cowboy Artists of America, 1995-Present • Cowboy Artists of America, President, 2014, Chairman of CAA 50th Anniversary Events, 2015 • American Indian & Cowboy Artists (AICA), 1977-1983


Zip Dip, a popular west side creamy whip, opens for 70th season
Updated: 8:11 AM EST Mar 6, 2020
Zip Dip, a popular west side creamy whip, is opening for the warm season Friday.Celebrating its 70th season, the popular soft serve ice cream spot still holds the same old-fashioned charm that it did when it opened in 1950.Located at 4050 Drew Ave., just off of Harrison in Green Township, the old-school ice cream parlor is a family favorite for many on the west side of town.The ice cream shop has a storied history, spanning many generations of Cincinnatians. The property was initially purchased in 1947, with Zip Dip opening in 1950 as part of the Westchester subdivision.The ice cream shop will kick off its 2020 season at 11 a.m. Friday. It will be open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.For more information, click here.
Zip Dip, a popular west side creamy whip, is opening for the warm season Friday.
Celebrating its 70th season, the popular soft serve ice cream spot still holds the same old-fashioned charm that it did when it opened in 1950.
Located at 4050 Drew Ave., just off of Harrison in Green Township, the old-school ice cream parlor is a family favorite for many on the west side of town.
The ice cream shop has a storied history, spanning many generations of Cincinnatians. The property was initially purchased in 1947, with Zip Dip opening in 1950 as part of the Westchester subdivision.
The ice cream shop will kick off its 2020 season at 11 a.m. Friday. It will be open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.


Home zzz-Archive Reviews Wonder Boys
Wonder Boys
by Kent Williams
I suppose I've read the first half of more novels than just about anybody who doesn't work in publishing. Whenever a movie comes along that's based on a novel, I feel compelled to give the author his or her say before turning things over to the director, but I hate knowing the ending in advance. Besides, with most novels, especially contemporary novels, I'm ready to bail after a couple of hundred pages anyway. Michael Chabon's Wonder Boys was different, so beautifully written and casually perceptive that I kept wanting to read the next sentence, the next paragraph. Then, about halfway through the book, I started to get this weird feeling that Chabon had no idea where he was going, which made sense given that his main character, a middle-aged novelist named Grady Tripp, has no idea where he was going. Chabon had been something of a wonder boy himself, of course. The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, published when he was only 24, catapulted him to the literary equivalent of fame. But what to do for an encore? After much typing, Chabon turned in a 672-page draft of something called Fountain City, which is yet to be published. Then he sat back down and wrote Wonder Boys, a novel about a novelist who can't write a novel--correction, a novelist who can't stop writing a novel. Like Fellini with 8Þ, Chabon worked through his creative block by making his creative block the subject of his next creation. And Grady Tripp, who's trapped in a years-long funk, does the same. A coming-of-middle-age story, Wonder Boys is about what happens to promising young writers when they aren't that young anymore, or that promising. With the new movie version of Chabon's novel, director Curtis Hanson may be trying to ward off a sophomore slump of his own. L.A. Confidential, his last film, carried him to the top of most critics' Best Ten lists (not mine), and though he's been around a while, directing so-so thrillers, Wonder Boys may be his attempt to prove that L.A. Confidential was no fluke, and that he can handle comedy as well as he can handle film noir. I suppose he can; then again, I wasn't that impressed with the way he handled film noir. Hanson and scriptwriter Steve Kloves have captured the sweet melancholy of Chabon's novel, the way life can sometimes feel like one thing after another, with no connecting thread to speak of. But they've also made a movie that has no...well, no connecting thread. Where's the book's spine? The handsomely disheveled Michael Douglas is Grady, a professor of creative writing whose third wife just left him and whose fourth wife (Frances McDormand) is still married to the head of the English Department (Richard Thomas). She's also the school's chancellor and pregnant with Grady's child. He loves her, apparently, or at least he would love her if he could see through the metaphorical haze of the book he's forever writing and the literal haze of the pot he's forever smoking. When the movie opens, it's WordFest, the university's annual book-chat hootenanny, which brings Grady's editor, Terry Crabtree (Robert Downey Jr.), to town. Crabtree, who managed to pick up a tuba-toting transvestite on the flight to Pennsylvania, wants to know where Grady's manuscript is, a topic Grady will spend most of the movie evading. That tuba-toting transvestite offers a clue to the farcical streak that runs through Chabon's novel, a streak that has become a streaky blur in the movie. Wonder Boys is, at best, mordantly funny; at worst, it's downright depressing. Take James Leer (the effective, if not quite affective, Tobey Maguire), Grady's most promising student. James may or may not have written a novel of his own, and it may or may not be a masterpiece, but we'll never know because he's 1) a compulsive liar and 2) about as emotional as a tree stump. Or is he just a novelist? The movie consists mostly of Grady and James driving around town with a dead dog in the trunk of the car. The dog, which belongs to Grady's mistress, was shot with a gun that James insisted was only a cap gun mere moments before the fateful blasts.
Call it a shaggy-dead-dog story. Like life, Wonder Boys doesn't even try to make sense most of the time. Alas, it's not nearly as funny as it thinks it is, or wants to be, or thinks it wants to be. Mostly, it's sad--a cold, damp kind of sadness that seems to have seeped into everybody's bones. (It's so chilly outside, you can see their breath escaping from their mouths.) In the book, the sadness was transfigured by the sheer elegance of Chabon's prose. In the movie, it lingers in the snowy, sleety, rainy streets, forming little puddles of loneliness at everyone's feet. And it lingers in the performances, especially Maguire's. Not since Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? have the literary types rattled the bars of their cage with such aplomb. Listening to the racket, you'd almost think writing still mattered.


Lawyer Hired by Jay-Z to Represent 21 Savage Says Goal is to 'Get Him Out' of Detention
Jay-Z says the arrest of rapper 21 Savage is "an absolute travesty" and has hired a lawyer to help his fight against deportation.
The lawyer hired by Jay-Z to aid rapper 21 Savage in his fight against deportation told NBC News the attention to the case is important to others detained in immigration cases.
Alex Spiro, a New York-based attorney, said Jay-Z hired him with the directive: "get him out and figure out what happened."
On Sunday, 21 Savage, who was born Sha Yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, was arrested in the Atlanta area by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which said he is a British national and was in this country illegally.
The 26-year-old musician is being held pending deportation proceedings and if deported faces a potential 10-year ban from re-entering the country.
ICE said that the rapper was brought to the U.S. as a child legally in 2005, on a visa that expired a year later in July 2006, leaving him without legal status.
"At the end, the attention on the case is important for all the other incarcerated people and that's important to me," Spiro told NBC News. "And it's important to Jay."
"In addition to being a successful recording artist, 21 deserves to be reunited with his children immediately," Jay-Z said this week in a statement on his official Facebook account.
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Korea Chair "The Capital Cable #34" with Sydney Seiler
September 29, 2021 • 9:30 – 10:15 am EDT
Ask Live Questions Here
The event will be webcast live from this page.
Please join us for a special discussion with Mr. Sydney Seiler, the National Intelligence Officer for North Korea at the National Intelligence Council on recent developments on the Korean Peninsula.
Mr. Sydney Seiler is the National Intelligence Officer for North Korea at the National Intelligence Council. Previously, he was the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) Senior Analyst and Senior Defense Intelligence Expert for North Korea, serving as the principal advisor and senior expert on Korean Peninsula security issues to the USFK Commander and the U.S. Defense Intelligence Enterprise. Mr. Seiler also served as the U.S. Special Envoy for Six Party Talks (2014-2015), where he coordinated U.S. diplomacy and policy on the DPRK, and led negotiations with North Korea. Prior to that, Mr. Seiler served as the director for Korea on the National Security Council (2011-2014). A member of the Senior National Intelligence Service, Mr. Seiler has over 37 years of experience focusing on Korean Peninsula affairs in a range of executive management, intelligence, and policy positions within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Central Intelligence Agency Directorate of Analysis, CIA’s Directorate of Operations, CIA’s Open Source Center, and the National Security Agency.
The Capital Cable is made possible by the generous support of Kia Motors and the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Asia , Korea , Defense and Security , and Geopolitics and International Security
Mark Lippert
Senior Advisor (Non-resident), Korea Chair
Sydney Seiler
National Intelligence Officer for North Korea, National Intelligence Council
The Capital Cable


Barack Obama: The CFR's man
By Samuel Blumenfeld
Published November 11, 2008 at 12:00am
As I watched the press conference on Friday given by President-elect Barack Obama, I asked myself, "How did this 47-year-old African-American with no executive experience and only three years in the Senate become the most powerful political leader in the entire world?" All I had to do was look at the panoply of Washington Wise Men standing in back of him to understand how all of this happened.
As Carroll Quigley revealed in his remarkable book, "Tragedy and Hope," the financial powers in America control both major political parties, and they choose who will run for president. They generally prefer a center-left president with liberal social views, but occasionally, as in the case of Reagan, they will get a center-right man who will be surrounded by the usual members of the Council on Foreign Relations.
These same interests managed to get Woodrow Wilson into the White House by dividing the Republicans. Once Wilson was in, they got both the Federal Reserve System and the income tax passed by Congress. The man who kept Wilson in line was Col. Edward Mandell House, a Rockefeller plant whose book, "Philip Dru: Administrator," clearly showed that he believed in a socialist system led by a Mussolini-type leader.
The Council was formed after World War I by the financial powers to make sure that they could control American foreign policy by controlling the presidency. After Wilson, the Republicans made a comeback with Warren Harding who died mysteriously while in office. Vice President Calvin Coolidge then became president. Herbert Hoover succeeded him in 1929, just in time for the Stock Market crash and the start of the Great Depression caused by the Federal Reserve's tight money policies. The major financial interests had gotten out of the market before the crash and were able to pick up the pieces at bargain prices. In fact, it was during the Depression that the Rockefellers were able to build Rockefeller Center.
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The Republicans were defeated in 1933, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt became president, presiding over the longest and deepest depression in American history. With him came not only liberals but communists who took over the bureaucracies. Pearl Harbor got us into World War II, after which the United Nations was formed as the first step toward world government.
When Roosevelt died while serving his fourth term, in came VP Harry Truman, who was then surrounded by the same financial wise men out of the Council. They got us into the Korean War. After Truman, we were given a choice between liberal Democrat Adlai Stevenson and moderate Republican Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, both men controlled by the big money powers.
Then came JFK, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton, and finally George W. Bush. Barry Goldwater, representing a resurgence of conservatism, ran against Lyndon Johnson. But because Nelson Rockefeller had been booed at the Republican convention that nominated Goldwater, the finance-controlled media came down on Goldwater like a ton of bricks.
And now we come to the present. John McCain is no movement conservative, and therefore was acceptable to the financial powers. But they preferred Barack Obama. Since he was young and inexperienced, he would have to surround himself with members of the Council on Foreign Relations. And the way he stammered at his press conference indicates that he needs them very badly. It doesn't matter that he is on the far left and has commie friends. Roosevelt had them, too.
Obama's road to the top was via leftist Chicago politics, which is rough and brutal, run by men who love political power.
The Founding Fathers saw government as the protector of the inalienable rights of the nation's citizens as they pursued their individual happiness. Today's leftist politicians see government quite differently. They want to use government force to impose their left-wing agenda. And the American people are quite confused by the whole thing. Conservatives want to return government to the principles espoused by the Founding Fathers: limited government, low taxes, prudent use of military force for national security, unfettered free enterprise. But it will not be easy.
Our big American auto companies are finding it hard to compete with their foreign counterparts. Why? Because they have become social institutions, more concerned with health care, retirement benefits and educational programs than making cars that people want to buy. Free enterprise is hardly free anymore.
Barack Obama was chosen because he can control the masses with his personal, charismatic charm and his messianic promise to save this country from its profligate ways. And since the conservative movement is in shambles, it will take quite a few years before it can re-emerge as a vital political force. But if the Democrats make an even bigger mess than the one we now have, the conservative comeback may occur sooner than we think.
However, you can be sure that our leftist-controlled education system will do all in its power to make sure that the conservative movement is dead and buried for good.
Samuel Blumenfeld
Dr. Samuel L. Blumenfeld is the author of eight books on education, including: "Is Public Education Necessary?" "NEA: Trojan Horse in American Education," "The Whole Language/OBE Fraud" and "Homeschooling: A Parents Guide to Teaching Children." His latest is "Crimes of the Educators: How Utopians Are Using Government Schools to Destroy America's Children." Back issues of his incisive newsletter, The Blumenfeld Education Letter, are available online.
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Does Clarence Thomas Care About Prosecutors Behaving Badly?
Adam Serwer
The Supreme Court. Flickr/afagen
Lopsided Supreme Court rulings can often give insight into the character and philosophy of the justices. The court’s Tuesday decision in Smith v. Cain, which overturned the murder conviction of a Louisiana man named Juan Smith, offers one such example.
The story is fairly simple: Smith was convicted of killing five people on the testimony of a single eyewitness. At trial, the prosecutors conveniently forgot to provide the defense with a detectives’ notes, which indicated that the eyewitness had initially told the detective that he “could not ID anyone because [he] couldn’t see faces” and “would not know them if [he] saw them.” That meant that since there was no physical evidence linking Smith to the crime, the prosecution’s entire case hinged on the testimony of a single eyewitness (a notoriously unreliable yet persuasive form of evidence) who initially said he could not identify the killer.
Eight justices saw this as significant enough to grant Smith a new trial. Justice John Roberts wrote the six-page majority opinion.
In his dissent, Justice Clarence Thomas spent 19 pages arguing that the jury would have come down the same way even if the evidence had been included. He explained how he found most of the potentially exculpatory evidence in the case unpersuasive or sees it as implicating Smith. It’s clear Thomas believes Smith is guilty.
Whether or not a jury might have come to a different conclusion if they had seen the withheld evidence is a pretty subjective judgement, and one that recalls previous debates over “empathy” and “objectivity” in judging. The view of the overwhelming majority of the court was that the prosecution might have had a much more difficult time convicting Smith if they had allowed their only evidence to be properly evaluated. Thomas felt otherwise, and it’s not exactly surprising, given his prior rulings on criminal justice issues. Thomas has previously argued that conditions of confinement are not technically “punishment” for the purposes of the Eighth Amendment (a view that allows draconian prison treatment to be constitutional) and in favor of the legality of schools strip-searching minors on the basis of dubious evidence. For all his vaunted skepticism of government, Thomas is more or less sure that if you ever have a run-in with the authorities, you’ve probably done something wrong.
This isn’t merely an issue of Smith’s guilt. The more prosecutors feel like they can get away with railroading defendants, the more they’re likely to do it, and the more likely an innocent person is to be punished. The possibility isn’t an abstract one. As the New York Times‘ Adam Liptak reported, the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office has had between 13 and 28 convictions marred by failure to disclose evidence. Last year, the conservative majority on the court overturned a financial award won by a New Orleans man who spent 18 years locked up for crimes he didn’t commit because the district attorney’s office withheld key evidence in his case. Yet the prosecutors’ behavior in the Smith case was so egregious that even his conservative colleagues were unwilling to join him this time around in upholding the original verdict.
Thomas’ famous quote during his confirmation hearings has been revisited in this context before, but it’s worth recalling again.
You know, on my current court, I have occasion to look out the window that faces C Street, and there are converted buses that bring in the criminal defendants to our criminal justice system, busload after busload. And you look out, and you say to yourself, and I say to myself almost every day, ‘But for the grace of God there go I.’ So you feel that you have the same fate, or could have, as those individuals. So I can walk in their shoes, and I can bring something different to the Court. And I think it is a tremendous responsibility, and it is a humbling responsibility; and it is one that, if confirmed, I will carry out to the best of my ability.
In the years that followed, the reality has turned out to be much different. Thomas’ rulings have displayed very little empathy or concern for those who do walk in those prison-issue shoes.
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Valeant To Acquire Salix Pharmaceuticals For $158.00 Per Share In Cash
Valeant will acquire all of the outstanding common stock of Salix for $158.00 per share in cash, or a total enterprise value of approximately $14.5 billion.
LAVAL, Quebec
RALEIGH, N.C.
/PRNewswire/ -- Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc.
(NYSE: VRX) (TSX: VRX) and
Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd.
(NASDAQ: SLXP) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Valeant will acquire all of the outstanding common stock of Salix for
per share in cash, or a total enterprise value of approximately
. The transaction was approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies.
Salix Pharmaceuticals
is a widely recognized gastrointestinal market leader with a portfolio of 22 total products, including well-known prescription brands Xifaxan, Uceris, Relistor, and Apriso, as well as a strong near- term pipeline of innovative, new assets.
"Salix's market-leading gastrointestinal franchise is an ideal strategic fit for Valeant's diversified portfolio of specialty products," said
J. Michael Pearson
, Valeant's chairman and chief executive officer. "The growing GI market has attractive fundamentals, and Salix has a portfolio of terrific products that are outpacing the market in terms of volume growth and a promising near-term pipeline of innovative products. With strong brand recognition among specialist GI prescribers, a highly rated specialty sales force, and a significant product and commercial presence across the undertreated and underserved gastrointestinal market, this acquisition offers a compelling opportunity for Valeant to create a strong platform for growth and business development."
Thomas W. D'Alonzo, Chairman of the Board and Acting Chief Executive Officer of Salix, stated, "We are pleased to have reached an agreement with Valeant, which is a logical partner and importantly, creates immediate value for our shareholders. Combining Salix's leading market position in gastroenterology with Valeant's scale and resources will create a stronger and more diverse business committed to providing better health solutions to health care providers and their patients. We are proud of the accomplishments of our Salix team. Together, we have built our company into the leading gastrointestinal specialty pharmaceutical company, providing solutions for patients and healthcare providers. We look forward to working with the Valeant team to ensure a smooth transition."
The combination is expected to yield greater than
in annual cost savings from the cost base of the combined company. Synergies are expected to be achieved within six months of close, primarily from reductions in corporate overhead and R&D rationalization, with the cost to achieve these synergies to be approximately 65%. Valeant and Salix will determine how best to integrate the two companies to leverage the combined strengths of both while ensuring a smooth and orderly transition. Consistent with Valeant's approach to integrating Bausch + Lomb, there are no planned reductions to Salix's highly rated specialty sales forces or hospital, key account and field reimbursement teams and we will determine the optimal size of Primary Care Sales Force through the integration process.
, Salix reported five to nine month wholesaler inventory levels for its top four products. Valeant has conducted extensive due diligence on Salix's stand-alone wholesaler inventory levels, stand-alone inventory work down plan, and associated potential litigation and regulatory exposure. Valeant expects to work down wholesale inventory and plans to target two months or less of wholesale inventory by year-end 2015. The net impact of the excess inventory on 2015 revenues is expected to be greater than
The acquisition is structured as an all-cash tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of Salix common stock at a price of
per share followed by a merger in which each remaining untendered share of Salix common stock would be converted into the right to receive the same
cash per share consideration as in the tender offer.
The all-cash offer will be financed through a combination of bank debt and bonds. As a result of the need to draw down inventories, EBITDA will be artificially low in 2014 and 2015, resulting in the initial net leverage ratio of approximately 5.6. Valeant is committed to reducing its net leverage ratio to be below 4.0 by the second half of 2016. As a result of the plan to reduce wholesaler inventory levels in 2015, the transaction is expected to be modestly accretive to 2015 cash EPS, but over 20% accretive to 2016 cash EPS.
Valeant does not expect any change to its credit ratings as a result of the transaction.
The transaction, which is expected to close in the second quarter of 2015, is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approval.
Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
served as Valeant's legal counsel, and Salix was advised by
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP
acted as financial advisors to Valeant.
Centerview Partners
and J.P. Morgan acted as financial advisors to Salix. Fully committed debt financing has been provided by
Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.
Mitsubishi UFJ Securities (USA), Inc.
DNB Bank ASA
and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc.
Conference Call and Webcast Information
Valeant will host a conference call and a live Internet webcast along with a slide presentation tomorrow at
5:00 a.m. PT
to discuss the acquisition of Salix and its fourth quarter financial results for 2014. The dial-in number to participate on this call is (877) 876-8393 confirmation code 90757812. International callers should dial (973) 200-3961, confirmation code 90757812. A replay will be available approximately two hours following the conclusion of the conference call through
and can be accessed by dialing (855) 859-2056, or (404) 537-3406, confirmation code 90757812. The live webcast of the conference call may be accessed through the investor relations section of the Company's corporate website at www.valeant.com.
About Valeant
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc.
(NYSE/TSX:VRX) is a multinational specialty pharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of pharmaceutical products primarily in the areas of dermatology, eye health, neurology and branded generics. More information about Valeant can be found at www.valeant.com.
About Salix
, headquartered in
, develops and markets prescription pharmaceutical products and medical devices for the prevention and treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. Salix's strategy is to in-license late-stage or marketed proprietary therapeutic products, complete any required development and regulatory submission of these products, and commercialize them through the Company's 500-member specialty sales force.
Salix trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol "SLXP".


Under Review: ‘Green Zone’
— by MARIUSZ ZUBROWSKI —
During certain portions of “Green Zone,” it seemed that the project was only green-lighted when the relevancy of Oscar-giant “The Hurt Locker” was established. Riding under the assumption that Kathryn Bigelow’s war epic would win big at the academy awards — which it did — “Green Zone” would be released during prime time as the Iraq war genre would be newly rejuvenated. Of course, I’m not saying that this is what happened. In fact, I’m 100 percent certain that it didn’t; however, first impressions are everything in the world of cinema — especially when you are in the process of writing a review for said film.
Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon are usually a strong partnership. Greengrass has already directed “The Bourne Ultimatum” and “The Bourne Supremacy” with the talented actor and it’s the role of Jason Bourne that has established Damon’s chops as a action star. However, “Green Zone” exemplifies neither Greengrass’ or Damon’s talents and is over-simplistic, clichéd and ultimately unlikable.
The film chronicles the story of Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller, played by Damon. He and his team are ordered to complete several raids looking for weapons of mass destruction and chemical weapons. However, upon further inspection at one of the alleged storage facilities, Miller finds clues of faulty and/or forged intelligence and this causes him to go rouge in the unstable region of the world.
The problem with Miller is that he expresses nothing but pure machismo. Even when he is taken hostage by enemy soldiers, he remains stoic. No expressions of nervousness plague him and though this makes for a passable action-hero, it also makes the character much more distant from the audience. Sometimes, it feels like Miller is just as soulless as his manipulating higher ups — a robotic soldier with no other motivation than just accomplishing his mission.
Surprisingly, “Green Zone” is very easy to follow, however, this is not good news for Greengrass’ latest endeavor. The film’s undeniably clichéd and formulaic, the screenplay by Brian Helgeland stumbles constantly and the plethora of bad performances do not help. Perhaps the most interesting part of the experience was to see Greengrass’ use of his signature “shaky camera” technique during the action sequences, but even these moments fall short.
It may be hard to deviate away from the green zone, but it is heavily advised to stay clear of its proximity.
Follow Mariusz Zubrowski on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ItsJustMariusz.
Tags: "Green Zone", Matt Damon, Paul Greengrass
Posted 12 Mar 2010 by Other Writers in Opinions, Reviews
← Under Review: ‘She’s Out of My League’
Under Review: ‘Throws of Passion’ →
MCat #
First negative review I’ve seen. I’m only hearing good things.
Josiane #
It’s hard to believe that this movie is partly based on the book Imperial Life in the Emerald City, Inside the Green Zone.
I read the book and it’s serious, investigative journalism. I don’t understand how it’s been turned into a sort of Ramboesque adventure by the likes of Greengrass and Damon. I was hoping for something more politically astute and critical so yes very disappointed in this last pairing.
monks #


More wisdom from Tony Benn
Regular readers of my Blog know I am a great fan of Tony Benn - now 84 years young. I managed to get hold of a copy of one of Tony's speeches called "The Use and Abuse of Religion."
This speech was at Oxford University in 2006. Tony had been a student at Oxford in his youth during which time he was elected as President of the Oxford Union.
I just wanted to share a few highlights that illustrate the wisdom of one of the greatest British politicians of the last 100 years.
University Sermon by the Rt Hon Tony Benn PC
The University Church of St Mary the Virgin on Sunday, 14 May 2006
"Adam Smith was the founder of one of the greatest religions of all; those who worship money. Archbishop Dow Jones, whom I’ve never met, works twenty-four hours a day on his averages. Dow Jones tells us every day on the business news how society is doing by measuring what is happened on Wall Street."
"When we heard that God told the President to go to war, and that man Moussaoui who was sentenced to life imprisonment last week in America for being involved in 9/11 had said “We are the soldier of God, you are the army of Satan”, you realise that the same language is used by both sides."
"I remember once when the Russians and the Americas had a space race, to see who could land on the moon first, the Russians landed a space vehicle on the moon. It was like a World War I tank, with caterpillar tracks and it went across the surface of the moon, and I had a letter from a constituent in Bristol that I have never forgotten. It said “Dear Tony, I see that the Russians have put a space vehicle on the moon. Is there any possibility of a better bus service in Bristol?” Now, you can laugh, but it was a very, very sensible question. With a fraction of the money that you spend on war you, everyone in Africa with Aids could get drugs and the United States could have a health service. When you have to make a moral judgement the scientist cannot help you in his capacity as a scientist."
"I read the other day that if everyone in the world had the same living standards as the Americans it would require the resources of 33 earths to do it; 33 times as much oil and food and water. That reinforced for me the idea that the human race are like survivors in a lifeboat, after a shipwreck. Imagine a little lifeboat with a few people in it with one loaf of bread for there are only three ways that you can distribute in those circumstances. You sell the bread so the rich gobble it up, you fight for it so the strong gobble it up, or you divide it up and share it."
"It is the motivation of moral teaching that encourages you to want to do it yourselves. These words appeared in the Charter of the United Nations, I heard them 61 years ago, I was on my way back as a pilot from the Middle East in a troop ship coming back to this great university to resume my studies and I heard the preamble to the Charter and it said “We the peoples of the United Nations” – it didn’t say we the coalition of the willing, or we the free world, or we the international community, “We peoples of the United Nations, determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war which twice in our lifetime has caused untold suffering to mankind”. That was the commitment that we made, and this generation has to discharge that commitment because, dare I say, there is no moral difference between the stealth bomber and the suicide bomber. Both kill innocent people for political reasons, and that I believe is in defiance of everything that was being taught by Jesus and the great religious leaders whom we have been celebrating in this wonderful University Church today."
Posted by Trevor Gay at 10:43 am
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Madison Cawthorn leaving Western North Carolina? He buys $1M house out of state
Joel Burgess
Asheville Citizen Times
Rep. Madison Cawthorn, the far-right congressman currently representing Western North Carolina, has bought a $1.1 million home in southwest Florida.
Cawthorn, 27, bought the Cape Coral home in August, according to the register of deeds records for Lee County, Florida.
His spokesperson did not return a Nov. 8 message asking about his residency status or plans once he leaves office on Jan. 3. The youngest member of the U.S. House at the time of his 2020 election, Cawthorn lost in the Republican primary after multiple scandals and missteps.
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According to voter and property records, he remains registered to vote in the Rugby area of Henderson County, where he owns a home and has lived for years. He used that address to vote at an early one-stop location for the May 17 primary. His current voter record showed him as not voting early this election.
It is not clear if Cawthorn had a previous connection to Cape Coral. He has visited former President Donald Trump at his home in Mar-a-Lago on Florida's southeast coast.
He will need to be in North Carolina for upcoming court dates and is set to appear on Jan. 13 in Mecklenburg County District Court on a charge of carrying a loaded gun while going through airport security. Other court dates include Dec. 12 in Cleveland County on a charge of driving while license revoked and Feb. 2 for a speeding charge in Polk County.
Feb. 2 for a speeding charge in Polk County.
Joel Burgess has lived in WNC for more than 20 years, covering politics, government, and other news. He's written award-winning stories on topics ranging from gerrymandering to police use of force. Got a tip? Contact Burgess at jburgess@citizentimes.com, 828-713-1095, or on Twitter @AVLreporter. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.


SECURE Act: Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement
The original SECURE Act (the “Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement” Act) was signed into law in December 2019. This Act initiated some of the largest changes to retirement plans since the Pension Protection Act of 2006. One of the most significant changes from that Act was the change in the Required Minimum Distribution “Required Beginning Date” from 70 ½ to age 72. A separate provision in the original SECURE Act eliminated the option for beneficiaries of IRA accounts to “stretch” those IRA distributions over their lifetime. The change was made to limit the distributions from Beneficiary IRA accounts created after December 31, 2019, to ten years. Unfortunately, there remains uncertainty around how distributions must be made by Beneficiary IRA owners over the ten year period. Whether or not annual Required Minimum Distributions will be required remains to be finalized. However, any potential penalties on these distributions, if not taken in 2020 and 2021, were eliminated, per IRS Notice 2022-53.
I am hopeful that final rules will be in place this year (2023) regarding how distributions must be taken by Beneficiary IRA owners over the ten-year period.
Following up to the original SECURE Act, a $1.7 trillion federal spending package entitled SECURE 2.0 was passed by Congress on December 23rd, 2022. While there are many new changes in this Act, I will cover the ones that are most relevant to high-net worth individuals who are either actively saving for retirement or already retired.
Increase in the age for RMDs: Starting in 2023, Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) must be taken at age 73 (changed from age 72, per the original SECURE Act). Then in 2033, RMDs will start at age 75. This is an important planning consideration, not just for those turning 72 this year. For many high-net worth individuals, RMDs mean taking IRA distributions that are subject to ordinary income tax that the individual may not need for cash flow. These IRA distributions, especially for those with significant IRA assets, can push other income into higher tax brackets including investment and Social Security income. Since Medicare Part B premiums are based on Modified Adjusted Gross Income, taking RMDs can even increase Medicare Part B premiums. So, this change potentially prolongs taking additional taxable income that can have financial impact beyond the tax on the actual RMDs. Notably, those starting their RMDs under these new rules have until April of the following year to take the first year RMD. However, one must evaluate their own tax picture as this would mean taking two RMDs into one year, potentially creating an even higher marginal tax rate in the year the RMDs are both taken.
Reduction in the penalty for not taking RMDs: For many years, the penalty for not taking Required Minimum Distributions has been a whopping 50% of the RMD not taken. Starting in 2023, the penalty has been reduced to 25% and, if taken within two years (with some limitations), the penalty is reduced to 10%. As a reminder, if a RMD is taken retroactively, an individual who has been remiss in taking their RMD for a particular year can request penalty abatement using Form 5329 and attaching a letter of explanation to the IRS.
Higher contribution limits for older individuals in retirement plans: Starting in 2025, the catch-up contribution limit for retirement plan contributions (such as those made to 401(k)s and 403(b) plans) is increasing for those ages 60-63. These individuals will be able to contribute the greater of $10,000 or 150% of the regular catch-up amount for 2024 (indexed for inflation, starting in 2026). So, for individuals, especially high-income earners who can max out their retirement contributions, they will be able to save even more. Notably, for individuals who have access to a Roth option within their retirement plan, they could make these contributions with after tax dollars, which may be considered tax free income when withdrawn.
Limitations on catch-up contributions for high-income earners: Starting in 2024, for income earners of $145,000 and over (indexed for inflation), all catch-up contributions to qualified retirement plans (such as 401(k) plans) must be allocated to a Roth account.
RMDs eliminated from Roth 401(k) plans: Starting in 2024, Roth 401(k) plans have the same rules as Roth IRAs. There will be no RMDs required from Roth 401(k) plans. This will allow individuals who have an option to keep Roth accounts with an employer plan a more even playing field for evaluating their options to convert to Roth IRA versus staying in the employer plan.
Changes to SIMPLE plans: SIMPLE retirement plans may be “simpler” than their 401(k) cousins, but with simplicity comes limitations. The new Act makes several changes to SIMPLE plans. These changes include higher employer contributions and allowing Roth contributions for employees (starting in 2023). Notably, SEP-IRA plans, which are often used by high-income self-employed individuals, will also be eligible for Roth contributions. Starting in 2024, employers will have the option to replace their SIMPLE-IRA plan with a SIMPLE-401(k) plan or other 401(k) plan if they require mandatory employer contributions.
Potentially higher IRA Catch-up Contributions: As a reminder, for 2023, IRA and Roth-IRA contributions are limited to a total of $6,500 (or 100% of earned income, if less). For those ages 50 and older, they can make a $1,000 catch-up contribution. While IRA contributions have increased over the years, indexed to inflation, the catch-up contribution has remained $1,000 since 2015. Starting in 2024, the $1,000 limit will be adjusted annually for inflation.
Roth conversions for 529 plans: 529 plans (for education) have been advantageous for families saving for retirement by allowing tax-free growth potential on plan assets. Starting in 2024, tax-free and penalty-free rollovers will be allowed from 529 plans to Roth IRA accounts in the name of the 529 plan beneficiary. Limitations include a limit of $35,000 allowed for the rollover, rollovers only allowed for a named beneficiary who has been in place for 15 years and rollovers can only be for plan contributions and earnings that have been in place for at least five years.
We have covered only a few of the SECURE 2.0 Act rules in this article. As demonstrated here, the rules are complex and will be rolled out over the next few years. Everyone’s planning situation is unique and now the need for professional financial advice from a trusted expert is more important than ever.
← Ask Ashley: 2022 Year End Planning, General Tax Updates & Ideas for Self-Employed Individuals
Ask Ashley: Year-End Planning, Social Security Income


On the record: Gary Smith
The Oracle at Delphi has nothing on the Chief EDA Analyst at Dataquest.
by Peggy Aycinena
[Editor’s Note: An abreviated version of this article first appeared on-line in EDA Vision in July 2001.]
Starting and ending with the Tao is pretty enigmatic stuff when, in the middle of the stream, you find a bass-toting, black-leather-clad blues musician fresh out of the Naval Academy living in a shack in the midst of Silicon Valley.
That pretty much summarizes Gary Smith for those who know him. For those who don’t, to quote from an introduction to Gary I heard at a panel last year where he was acting as moderator, "If anyone in this room doesn’t know who Gary Smith is, they don’t belong in this room."
For a number of years, Gary Smith has been (and by the looks of things will continue to be) the single most important prognosticator in EDA. The industry listens to Gary, at DAC and a thousand other venues over the course of the year. They bank on his annual numbers reporting on the health of the industry. They pin his EDA Landscape poster up on the wall to keep track of which companies are which in the here today/acquired tomorrow world of EDA. They take their business plans and nascent product ideas to him and hope for his blessings. They quote him. They court him. They keep him busy. And, apparently, he loves it -- taking all of the adulation in stride with a smile and a nod. Which is what you would expect from a guy who takes Eastern philosophies seriously and incorporates them into his mindset and lifestyle.
The rest of Gary’s story is as follows. However, if you believe as Gary does that "less is more," you needn’t read on. Based on what you’ve read, you already know him.
Chapter 1: I am born
Smith was born in Stockton, California, and grew up in the San Joaquin Valley. He claims with a laugh that he knows the whole story of George Lucas’ American Graffiti as if it were his own. I pointed out that the movie was set in Modesto. "Oh well," he chuckled. "You’ve seen one Valley town, you’ve seen them all."
When college beckoned, Gary was accepted at U.C. Berkeley and then received word of his appointment to the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. How to decide? It was simple, he says. He looked at a map -- 120 miles from Stockton to Berkeley, 3000 miles from Stockton to Annapolis. He opted for really going away to school and "enlisted." (He acknowledges that Annapolis is one of the most beautiful communities in the world and, if he were not so happy in Northern California, that’s where he would settle.)
During his plebe summer in Maryland, the Navy rowing team went to Rome to represent the U.S. at the Summer Olympics. On the night before their event, the team did as the Romans do, enjoyed a bit too much Chianti, and attempted to "borrow" all of the flags of the various countries in attendance. They were -- as could be predicted -- caught, jailed, quickly bailed out, and still hung-over the next day while rowing. Naturally, they came in dead last and returned in shame to Annapolis, facing a year’s worth of KP or worse. But, to their surprise, when they arrived on campus they were greeted by nothing short of a standing ovation from their shipmates and peers. Gary tells this story with relish, knowing full well that his secret is out: Gary’s a rebel and proud of it.
Roger Staughbach was one of Gary’s shipmates at the Academy, an indication of the depth of talent on the football team during Gary’s years there. Those were good years: Gary majoring in electrical engineering (note: the Naval Academy Degree, at the time, was called "Marine Engineering" and had five sections; Mechanical Engineering, Nuclear Physics, Aerospace Engineering, EE and Computer Science), rooting for a victorious football team, and preparing for a career in the military. Although Gary’s seen a few passages in life since his college years, he still sports a U.S.N.A. sticker on the back of his car. Once a Mid (as in "Midshipman"), always a Mid.
Unfortunately, reality set in and by the time Gary was stationed on a Naval destroyer for the fourth time in six years off the coast of Vietnam, he was ready to make a change in his life’s plan and become a civilian at first opportunity. When he came out of the Navy, he went to see fellow Academy graduate and headhunter, Joe Daniels, for some career counseling. Gary already had a job offer in his pocket to work for McDonald Douglas as an aerospace engineer specializing in power design for electronic systems: "You’re desk will be on the top floor of the hanger, tenth row down, fifth desk over," he was told.
Not surprisingly, Gary wanted to listen to Daniels who countered with a different proposal, "I’ll bet you don’t really know what you want to do, but I do. You want to be in semiconductor sales. Trust me on this one."
Gary was sure the Daniels was mad: "I’m a power guy, and I don’t know anything about semiconductors or sales." But Daniels prevailed, and Gary tracked down two different job offers along those lines, one with Texas Instruments in Dallas and one with National Electric in Geneva, Ill. He opted for National Electric and semiconductors became Gary’s life’s work. (Parenthetically, he admits that he didn’t "feel comfortable in semiconductors until we went to MOS-voltage forms because they were equatable to tubes.")
Breadth of a Salesman
Gary thoroughly enjoyed the work at National. In those early years when he was selling SCRs, diodes, and power tubes, sales folks also served as application engineers, integration engineers, and over-all walking experts on the use of semiconductors in electronic systems. The expertise he developed at National allowed him to be recruited by International Rectifier in El Segundo, CA. Gary was with IR until he was recruited into TRW’s marketing organization in Lawndale, CA, working with Q.T. Wiles, later made infamous by the MiniScribe scandal; a driven man who Gary credits with developing early semiconductor-level technology and marketing.
Q.T. unfortunately ended up in jail, but not before putting his stamp on the industry. His management style was unambiguous, according to Gary, "You pleased Q.T. or you were history." Fortuitously, Fairchild Semiconductor then offered Gary a position that he happily accepted, as it required a move to Silicon Valley. Unfortunately, the hiring manager left before Gary arrived, so he accepted an alternative offer at Signetics (Sunnyvale, CA) instead, working in Central Marketing.
Eventually, it was time to move on again. This time he had an opportunity to be part of his first start-up as a Sales Manager for Telmos in Sunnyvale, an enterprise spearheaded by Fairchild co-founder, Jean Hoerni. Hoerni invented the planer transistor, an idea that helped trigger the development of the integrated circuit, and was one of the eight legendary scientists and technologists who left William Schockley in 1957 to found Fairchild Semiconductor. Gary’s experience at Telmos was a positive one, everyone full of zeal and optimism. Gary lasted 5 successful quarters with the company before it was time to move on. He came out financially sound, however, by selling his stock upon departure.
Gary was lured south again by Plessey to serve as Business Unit Manager for ASICs in their Orange County offices. It was at Plessey that the idea of getting back into full-time engineering first came to Gary. He had lost his Chief Engineer and had spent months trying to replace him. Gary served as acting Chief Engineer in that period and discovered that he liked that role a whole lot more than he liked running the division.
Additionally, he discovered that he missed Silicon Valley, so he moved back north as Sales and Applications Manager for ES2 in Santa Clara. That led him to his work as a Sales and Marketing Manager for IMI in Milpitas, CA, and then to a stint at LSI Logic, also in Milpitas. While at LSI, Gary decided to "retire" from management and go back into actual engineering, serving as a methodologist for the company.
Concluding this part of his story, Gary points out that he averaged 3 years per job over the course of his long journey through technology, far higher than the standard metric of 2.4 years per job for the typical working stiff in Silicon Valley.
Finally in 1994, Dataquest nudged him into his truest calling -- Industry Analyst. Since that time, Gary has applied his background in semiconductors, which coincides with the complex history of the industry, to his role as guru for the most fascinating niche in the business, Electronic Design Automation. (The role of guru is often the one he describes as his "real retirement.")
Has Gary enjoyed being an analyst? "Yes. As I always say, it’s great to be 'retired.' Now, if I could only get my hours to under 50 a week."
Pressed to bypass modesty, Gary tries to explain why he’s one of the "leading indicators" in EDA. "Well, John Marron once said that I was right 80 percent of the time -- probably a bit exaggerated. Actually, I steal 80 percent of my ideas. But it’s not a coincidence that I can make the calls in EDA. I came out of the Power User community and I know a lot of really smart people. All I really do is communicate those ideas in a half-way decent manner."
The Soothsayer
Gary feels that the take-away message from DAC 2001 in Las Vegas is clear: "Standards are finally here." He’s got the long-view with which to make such claims.
"In DMV days [Daisy-Mentor-Valid], the companies had become old and stodgy. Then, Cadence and Synopsys made the jump to RTL and they provided the tools. [Out of DMV], only Mentor survived because of its military customer base, a situation that was both good and bad for the company. [Unfortunately], the military did not make the move to RTL, and Mentor’s always been good at doing what their customers tell them to do. ‘We’re going to do gate-level [design] for the rest of our lives. Don’t bother us with RTL,’ was the military’s message to Mentor. That’s why Wally [Rhines] was brought in to turn that situation around."
And the situation in EDA today -- is there room for a couple more big players? "Absolutely," according to Gary. "There’s market space available in the applications area. It’s a leadership issue."
Although he’s not willing to bet money on the winners, he says that Monterey, Magma, and Sequence certainly all have a shot at joining the ranks of the first tier EDA companies -- Cadence, Synopsys, Mentor Graphics, and Avanti. Gary notes that Roy Jewell, new president and CEO at Magma, and Vik Kulkarni, COO at Sequence, both spent time in Avanti, their tenure at that now-troubled organization coinciding with a time when the company was "in its heyday" and enjoyed solid leadership. "At that time, I had my money on Avanti being the next big leader," Gary admits.
Making the Tough Call
Commenting on possible problems ahead for the current EDA leaders, Gary says that Cadence has never in its history had a stronger management team than it sports today, "But unless they put their R&D team together, they’ll fall behind." Additionally, he says that it appears that "Synopsys may not understand the software implications of electronic system-level design the way Cadence does [with its VCC offering]."
Business forecasts and P&Ls stand nervously in the spotlight this year across the entire semiconductor food chain. So where does Gary think EDA is headed, financially, over the next 4 quarters considering the current downturn?
He’s sticking with the ballpark figure he threw out at his Dataquest presentation at DAC 2001 in Las Vegas. "I still see 19.4 percent growth, so I’ve lowered it by .6 percent. [Clearly], the semiconductor industry is in the worst downturn in its history, the communications industry is in the dumps, and all of the other industry segments -- with the possible exception of military/aerospace -- are in trouble as well. So, the question is: How will all of this affect EDA?"
He answers his own question at length: "In a market as complex as EDA, there are many sub-markets, all with their own business cycles. If you take a quick look at EDA, you can identify 54 of them. [Meanwhile], today there are two cycles that are driving the industry, the Semiconductor Cycle and the Semiconductor Process Cycle. The Semiconductor Cycle probably should be renamed. In essence, it’s the Idea Cycle. The User Community running out of ideas, or at least not putting them on the market, causes any large, broad-based semiconductor downturn."
"Any really hot market, [like we saw in 2000], tends to slow down product innovation. The answer then is to design yourself out of the recession. This [will cause] an upturn in EDA spending for around two design cycles, two to three calendar years."
"The Semiconductor Process Cycle is driven by the Semiconductor Roadmap. Today we’re building .13-micron semiconductors. EDA tools, especially IC layout tools, need replacing every two process cycles. We are presently late with the tools needed for the .13- to .10-micron processes, which has kept demand for EDA tools extremely high, despite (or really because of) the present downturn."
"That being said, there are some things to watch for. Obviously certain sub-markets are affected by the downturn, the emulation and acceleration sub-app being the most obvious. These are large capital expenditures and always are closely monitored by finance. Also, consulting projects are almost always cut [in times like these]. If the recession goes on too long, you’ll see companies starting to cut into critical parts of their organization just to keep afloat. That’s when engineers go, usually after a long recession lasting a year to 18 months. This one is 10 months old as of now. Also you will see EDA spending cut at companies that use the component-based design style. For those companies, design isn’t as critical a component to their corporate survival and that could impact PCB and FPGA tool sales."
"The EDA forecast is based on the assumption that this recession will not last into 2002. However, if [it does], the numbers will be impacted [accordingly]. But for now, with the demands caused by the Idea Cycle and the Semiconductor Process Cycle, the EDA market is [actually] in an enviable position."
Gary’s nothing, if not an optimist.
He’s also a musician.
Back in Stockton, Gary was a drummer until he hit the 8th grade. That’s when one of the bass players in the school orchestra "accomplished the impossible" by actually breaking the "unbreakable" E string on the instrument. Gary guesses that the kid was probably injured by the destructing string, which would explain the boy’s sudden departure from the middle-school orchestra.
Gary was asked by the conductor to step in and assured Gary that playing the bass was easy. "I’m only teaching you three notes on the instrument," the conductor told Gary. "When I point at you, just go bam, bam, bam." Clearly, there was more to playing the bass than these instructions would indicate, but the conductor said that, for the remainder of the performance, all Gary had to do was to fake it, to appear to draw the bow across the strings without making contact. That way it would appear that Gary was playing, but could instead be staying out of harm’s way, musically speaking. The ruse was successful: During the performance, Gary played his occasional "bam, bam, bam" as instructed and the rest is history.
Gary’s a member of the Los Gatos Blues Band and sometimes-bass player with the industry music standard bearers, the Porch Dawgs. Check out www.losgatosbluesband.com. There you’ll find, among other useful images, two photos, dubbed by Synopsys’ Karen Bartelson as ScaryGary1 and ScaryGary2, of bass-slung-low Gary "Marlon Brando" Smith at his best and baddest.
Meanwhile, a new band debuted at DAC 2001 in Las Vegas, The Full Disclosures, a 5-man assembly including Gary on bass, Aart de Geus on lead guitar, Don MacMillen on harmonica, Arne Lang-Ree on drums, and Grant Pierce as singer and guitarist. Gary says their successful gig in Las Vegas validated one of his longest-standing theories: The singer always gets the girls. Gary served as lead singer on several numbers at DAC in Las Vegas including "Every day I have the Blues" and was sought out, after the fact, by a groupie specifically referencing his fine rendition of that number.
Gary is open about his life-long interest in comparative religions. He’s widely read on the topic and has a remarkable range of knowledge and familiarity with a number of different sacred disciplines. When asked to provide a few pearls of wisdom with which to draw our conversation to a close, he offered these:
"There are three illusions: perfection, control, and knowledge. The best rule of conduct is to laugh at everything."
"In order to know the Tao, it is necessary above all to not think. Man is born with free will. Don’t use it. Follow the Tao."
So don’t be surprised if the next best seller to come out of Silicon Valley is a philosophical treatise: The Tao of ASIC Design. Don’t hold your breath, however, for The Tao of FPGA Design. Remember this is an ASIC guy who’s publicly predicted the pending demise of the FPGA and only time will tell if Smith’s right.
Meanwhile, it’s clear that the Oracle at Delphi has nothing on the Chief EDA Analyst at Dataquest. After all, the Oracle never belted out the blues on bass, clad only in black leather and a smile.
[Editor's Note: Gary Smith is engaged to be married to Verisity's Lori Kate Calise in July 2004. Congratulations to the bride and groom!]
Peggy Aycinena owns and operates EDA Confidential. She can be reached at peggy@aycinena.com
Copyright (c) 2004, Peggy Aycinena. All rights reserved.


Utah Red Rocks Gymnastics Preseason Rankings
By Alex Stark@starkaw23 Jan 3, 2017, 12:00pm MST
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Deena Lofgren
The Utah Red Rocks gymnastics team starts their 2017 season with high expectations once again. The Red Rocks are ranked No. 6 in the preseason. The Red Rocks received two first place votes and are ranked behind defending national champion Oklahoma, LSU, Alabama, UCLA and Florida. Utah dazzled fans in December at the annual Red Rocks Preview. Utah returns four All-Americans: sophomore Kari Lee, senior Baely Rowe, and sophomores Sabrina Schwab and Maddy Stover. Rowe is the team’s only senior. Utah also features highly anticipated 2016 U.S. Olympic alternate freshman MyKayla Skinner.
"We have a young but extremely talented team," said Utah co-head coach Tom Farden. "The expectations for our team every season are to qualify into the Super Six and challenge for a national championship. This year is no different and we are pleased to see that the other coaches see us in that same light."
Utah was also picked to finish second in the Pac-12 in the preseason Pac-12 coaches’ poll. Utah received three of the eight first place votes, with the other five all going to defending champion UCLA, who was picked to finish first. Utah and UCLA will face off in the Jon M. Huntsman Center on Feb. 18.
The Red Rocks will kick off their 2017 season on Saturday Jan. 7 at 5:00 p.m. MDT against No. 7 Michigan. Television coverage of the meet will be provided by Pac-12 Network if you are not able to make it to the top 10 showdown.


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Notes from my inbox
The element of surprise is common in a system where so many decisions depend on forecasts of the future.” – Iconoclastic economist Frank Knight, mid-20th century
Pieter Koekemoer is head of the personal investments business.
“When I consider what people generally want in calculating, I found that it always is a number.” – Mathematician Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, 9th century
OUR MODERN MASTERY of numbers is rooted in the Hindu- Arabic numeric system developed around 1 500 years ago and first encountered by Europeans 700 years later at the time of the Crusades. Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi was a scholar based in Baghdad and is generally recognised as the founder of algebra (literally meaning the reunion of broken parts). Incidentally, his name is also the root of the word algorithm. It took another 400 years before the concepts of probability and formal risk management were developed during the Renaissance, which led to the development of sophisticated financial and insurance markets in the 1700s. This in turn enabled the rapid economic growth achieved during the Industrial Revolution. Since the Victorian era, the study of economics and risk became increasingly dominated by mathematics and the belief in rational decision-making. The backlash against this purely numerical approach started in the early 20th century when economists such as Frank Knight pointed out that in making decisions, we are typically dealing with unquantifiable uncertainty rather than quantifiable risks. Scholars such as Amos Tversky, Daniel Kahneman and Richard Thaler have further described how cognitive biases influence the way humans manage risk and uncertainty.*
So why the history lesson? Like in al-Khwarizmi’s time, investors today are still insistent on a number; in our case, a future return expectation. This need tends to increase when recent results have been underwhelming and pessimism is more common than optimism. We understand why many investors are concerned. 2018 continues to be a testing year, reflected in cash out-performing equities, listed property and bonds – both in South Africa and globally – over the first nine months of the year. For the past three years, local shares barely beat inflation, delivering a real return of 1.5%. Local economic conditions remain tough, with many signals of weak confidence and consumers under pressure. Quality shares that used to be loved by the market over years, or even decades, have been aggressively sold down after either delivering a poor set of results, a single missed expectation or in response to news that the company in question is faced by an unexpected challenge. Global investors, who a few years ago nearly universally believed in emerging markets and the African growth story, are now shunning the continent. Given recent experience, it is reasonable to ask whether this is just a particularly tough cycle, or whether the strategies that used to work are now broken.
Unfortunately, like Knight pointed out a millennium later, we can only respond with an imperfect answer. Uncertainty means that many paths can be taken, that the collective actions of millions of decision-makers will influence the outcomes in surprising ways and that it is only with the benefit of hindsight that we will know the eventual destination.
We have, however, been here before. Whether it was the tough transition to democracy in the early 1990s, the emerging markets crisis of 1998, the bursting of the dot-com bubble in 2000, the collapse of the commodity super-cycle and the global financial crisis in 2008, or the destabilising events of Nenegate in 2015, we have been able to navigate the choppy waters. During these periods, asset prices reflect a lot of negative sentiment. Starting yields on income assets become more attractive as investors sell bonds and property. Equity valuations become undemanding as earnings decline and shares de-rate. The negative jaws of depressed earnings and increasing costs that are causing today’s concerns often create tomorrow’s opportunities. In these conditions, small changes in circumstance can lead to large jumps in share prices. We still have very high convictions that a relentless focus on valuation, coupled with judicious implementation in well-diversified, risk-appropriate portfolios will deliver good outcomes over time. In nearly all instances, the investment cases remain intact for the positions in our funds that have recently disappointed.
IN THIS EDITION
Nicholas Hops unpacks one such investment case in his article, explaining why we have exposure to selected platinum group miners despite a very tough decade for the industry. For insight into a global opportunity currently in our portfolios, read Paul Neethling’s story on New Oriental Education, China’s largest provider of private educational services, mostly after-school tutoring. You can also read the flagship fund update here or the fund commentaries available here for further information on how we have deployed your capital.
We also include two financial planning articles. In a follow-up to last quarter’s article on setting return expectations, Christo Lineveldt unpacks the return outlook from the perspective of more conservative investors. We discuss the advantages of tax-free investments, which we believe are still the best tax break available to individual investors.
Marie Antelme provides an update on the Brexit process, another example of uncertainty in action. With the statutory exit deadline less than six months away, the outcome remains surprisingly open-ended.
We hope you enjoy the read. As always, you are welcome to email us at clientservice@coronation.com if you have any specific questions, concerns or issues that you would like to discuss.
*If you are interested in reading more about this history, Peter Bernstein’s classic Against The Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk is a good starting point.
SA economy
Platinum group metals
“In the past, censorship worked by blocking the flow of information. In the twenty-first century, censorship works by flooding people with irrelevant information. In ancient times having power meant having access to data. Today having power means knowing what to ignore.” – Yuval Noah Harari
by Pieter Koekemoer
April 2021 · 6 min read
“Sorrow is better than fear. Fear is a journey, a terrible journey, but sorrow is at least an arrival. When the storm threatens, a man is afraid for his house. But when the house is destroyed, there is something to do.” – Alan Paton, author and activist
A good quarter for investors, but a tough one for South Africa


What TV channel is broadcasting the 2022 World Cup Final in the UK?
Sunday’s World Cup final will be one of the TV events of the year, as Argentina and France meet in Qatar.
It hasn’t been since 1986 and the days of Diego Maradona that the South Americans lift the World Cup trophy, although it will be their third final since.
Lionel Messi will be ready to end that long wait in his final game in the competition as he nears the end of a storied run, in search of the remaining and elusive winners’ medal.
France are defending champions after winning the World Cup four years ago in Russia and have the fearsome Kylian Mbappe in mind.
It really is a match not to be missed and as is now the tradition of World Cup finals, the match is broadcast live on BBC and ITV.
Where to watch Argentina vs France
Television channel: In the UK, Sunday’s World Cup final will be televised free and live on BBC One and ITV1. Coverage on ITV starts at 1:30pm before the BBC show starts at 1:50pm and starts at 3:00pm GMT.
Straight: Fans can also watch the game live online via BBC iPlayer and ITVX.
live blog: You can follow all the action of the day through Live Standard Sport Blog with Dan Kilpatrick, Nizaar Kinsella and Simon Collings all providing expert analysis on the ground.
Not all news on the site expresses the views of the site, but we convey this news automatically and translate it through programmatic technology on the site and not a human editor.
Jamie Franklin
“Troublemaker. Typical travel fan. Food fanatic. Award-winning student. Organizer. Entrepreneur. Bacon specialist.”
"Troublemaker. Typical travel fan. Food fanatic. Award-winning student. Organizer. Entrepreneur. Bacon specialist."
Trial begins for environmental activists who disrupted British Grand Prix
On July 3, 2022, during the Silverstone Grand Prix in Britain, environmental activists “attempted” to enter the track, according to the International Automobile Federation, when the race was interrupted due
The European Union will impose new sanctions on Iran on Monday
The European Union will impose new sanctions on 37 Iranian individuals or entities involved in the repression of the protests, but has not yet made a decision on the inclusion
Floyd Mayweather has found his next opponent, a fight in February
At forty-five Floyd Mayweather He doesn’t want to keep the boxing gloves. today we discovered the future opponent of the undefeated career boxer. Money will fight for the first time
United Kingdom: the head of Sky News resigns after 17 years at the helm of the British channel
Sky News chief John Ryley, who ran Britain’s news channel for 17 years, announced his resignation on Sunday night. “Après presque 40 ans dans le secteur de l’information, dont 28
Kevin Spacey returns to court accused of new sexual assaults
The two-time Oscar winner (for “American Beauty” and “Usual Suspects”) has already been prosecuted for four sexual assaults on three men between March 2005 and April 2013, when he was
Argentina, France, United Kingdom… The press bows before the “King”
Several hours after the announcement of Pelé’s death, the world’s media salute the legendary Brazilian, the only winner of three World Cups. On the front pages of the newspapers and


Terra FIRRMA: How Upcoming CFIUS Reform Will Impact the Real Estate Sector
by Nancy A. Fischer and Matthew R. Rabinowitz
Nancy A. Fischer
Matthew R. Rabinowitz
The Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS) is an inter-agency committee designed to review foreign investments that raise national security concerns. While you may have seen CFIUS play a role in prior transactions, upcoming expanded regulations will further impact acquisitions of U.S. real estate.
How exactly will this occur?
Under existing rules, a “covered transaction” subject to CFIUS review requires an acquisition of a “U.S. business.” This means that so-called greenfield investments in vacant land are generally outside the scope of the Committee’s jurisdiction. The Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (FIRRMA) will add the acquisition (whether by purchase, lease or concession) of certain public or private real estate to the definition of a covered transaction.
Categories of real estate subject to review include land that is part of an airport or maritime port, as well as land that will “function as part of” the foregoing. Another category includes certain land in “close proximity” to a U.S. military installation or other sensitive U.S. Government property.
CFIUS raising national security concerns due to proximity is not new. For example, a San Diego hotel was carved out of a major hotel chain purchase by China’s Anbang Insurance Group because that property was located near a U.S. naval base. In that case, CFIUS was able to assert jurisdiction because there was a pre-existing business. The new legislation will provide CFIUS with clearer jurisdictional power, including new authority for the purchase or lease of vacant property.
Like many aspects of FIRRMA, terms such as “close proximity” are subject to future definitions developed by CFIUS. It remains to be seen whether CFIUS will choose to narrowly construe relevant terminology to prevent an influx of notifications involving transactions that present little to no national security concerns.
There are also several important exclusions to consider. First, single housing units and real estate in “urbanized areas” are exempted from review. In addition, CFIUS will be issuing regulations limiting the law’s application to only certain categories of foreign persons. Details are currently unknown, though CFIUS may create further carve-outs for investors from “friendly” nations, such as NATO allies, or may restrict investment in which purchasers are owned or controlled by certain foreign governments.
The upcoming changes highlight the importance of CFIUS considerations early in the diligence phase of a proposed transaction, including leasing transactions. It is especially important to conduct a detailed assessment of the surrounding environment of a proposed site, including the potential to conduct foreign surveillance of a U.S. military installation or other particularly sensitive locations. These considerations extend beyond pure real estate transactions to any acquisition of a U.S. business with a physical presence in the United States. In those cases, it is often prudent to examine the geographic coordinates of each location and assess whether any particular site would pose a concern.
Much of FIRRMA is subject to a delayed effective date that is no later than February 13, 2020. Importantly, the above is largely unaffected by the recently announced CFIUS pilot program, which is related to foreign investment into certain U.S. businesses that produce, design, test, manufacture, fabricate or develop one or more critical technologies. CFIUS retains the authority to institute additional pilot programs, and could potentially announce a pilot program pertaining to real estate transactions to help inform the full implementation of FIRRMA. In the meantime, U.S. and foreign parties engaged in real estate transactions should closely examine how FIRRMA impacts both existing and future investment activities.
Posted in: Real Estate
Tagged: cfius and firrma