Question:
Whale-watchers off Dana Point got the Christmas gift of a lifetime last week when a trio of gray whales was spotted frolicking with scores of dolphins and sea lions.

Capt. Steve Plantz is a lifelong ocean explorer who has led tours with Captain Dave’s Dana Point Dolphin and Whale Watching Safari for the past two years. He said to see the gray whales alone would have been a sight, but to see all the sea creatures floating in unison was a rarity.

Plantz took a group of whale-watchers out to sea on Christmas Eve aboard the Manute’a, a 50-foot catamaran sailboat. The goal was to find marine mammals, including gray whales, who are most often spotted between December and May during their annual migration from north of Alaska to the lagoons of Baja California.

What the 49 passengers witnessed instead was a water ballet among the animals.

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“It’s definitely a top-tier kind of sighting,” Plantz said.

In a video published Friday, aerial footage captured by drone pilot Grayden Fanning shows the whales swaying from side to side as Pacific white-sided dolphins jump and spin, cruising the pressure wave created by the massive mammals. Nearby, sea lions splash while a flock of seagulls flies overhead.

Plantz said there were two adults and one juvenile among the whales. He thinks a courtship was brewing, which piqued the curiosity of the dolphins.

The boat includes an underwater viewing area for passengers — whom Plantz described as ecstatic about the water show — to observe the dolphins. It’s not uncommon to see the animals this time of year, he said, when they come in closer to the shore as the waters cool.

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The tour lasted longer than the typical 2 1/2 hours as the excursion traveled farther from the harbor, following the whales down the coast toward Camp Pendleton.

Dana Point was recently deemed the whale and dolphin capital of the world. Plantz said seeing both sea creatures swimming alongside each other really drove that message home.

“It’s a special treat to see that.”

While Orange County was reveling in the spirit of the holidays this week, a group of marine mammals held a party of their own.

On Tuesday, Dec. 24, Capt. Steve Plantz, on board the Manute’a — a catamaran operated by Capt. Dave’s Dolphin and Whale Watching Safari — came across a festive sight involving three gray whales, and some dolphins and sea lions.

Plantz had taken the Manute’a out on its first public cruise on Christmas Eve morning and was looking for marine mammals — including gray whales which have started to show up off the Orange County coastline during their annual migration from the Bering Sea in Alaska.

He first saw a group of common dolphins which led Plantz about three miles straight out of Dana Point Harbor, where he caught sight of the whale spouts. As the boat got closer, Plantz saw three whales — two adults and one juvenile. The common dolphins continued to frolic with the whales who were cruising south.

Two hours later, Plantz took out a second group of passengers. This time he found the whales off Camp Pendleton, surrounded by about 20 Pacific white-sided dolphins and three sea lions.

“The dolphins were diving around them and under them,” Plantz said. “The sea lions were just jumping.”

“Had this been any day of the year, to get a sighting like this would have felt like Christmas,” he added. “To get this on Christmas Eve, it added a special element.”

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The Many Meanings of January 1st - A Homily

Archdiocese of Washington ^ | 12-31-19 | Msgr. Charles Pope

Posted on by Salvation

The Many Meanings of January 1st – A Homily

This feast day of January 1st is a very complex tapestry, both culturally and liturgically. Perhaps we can use the second reading by St. Paul to the Galatians as a way to weave through some of the many details. We can look at it in three parts.

I. The chronology of our celebration – The text from St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians says, When the fullness of time had come …

Most people in the wider culture and in the Church are going about today saying, “Happy New Year!” And rightfully so, for it is the beginning of the new year. But most people think of New Year’s Day in almost wholly secular terms. Sadly, it is best known for excessive drinking and rather loud parties.

Yet it is a mistake to see New Year’s Day simply as a secular holiday. St. Paul reminds us, in speaking of “the fullness of time,” that all time and all ages belong to God.

It is not simply 2020; it is 2020 Anno Domini (A.D.). Even the most secular and unbelieving of people in the Western world locate their place in time in relation to Jesus Christ. It is 2020 years since the birth of Christ. Every time we write the date on a check or at the top of the letter, every time we see the date at the top of the newspaper or on our computer screen, that number, 2020, points back to Christ. He is the Lord of history. Jesus sets the date; He is the clock we go by. All time belongs to Him.

Jesus says in the book of Revelation, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, The beginning and the end. He who is, and who was, and who is to come” (Revelation 22:13).

If it is true that 2020 references the birth of Christ, the question arises as to why Christmas Day is not also New Year’s Day. But this actually fits in well to liturgical and spiritual sensibilities.

In the Church, and stretching back into Jewish times, it was customary to celebrate the high feasts of faith over the period of a week. In Christian tradition this came to be known as the “octave.” Though we think of a week as seven days, it does not take long to consider that we celebrated Christmas last week on Thursday. Now this week we celebrate New Year’s Day on Thursday, and Thursday to Thursday inclusive is eight days.

Thursday, January 1, 2020 is the eighth day of Christmas. In the Christian tradition the octave is considered really as one long day that lasts eight days. Therefore, Wednesday, January 1, 2020 completes Christmas day; Christmas day is fulfilled. Or as St. Paul says, the “fullness of time” in terms of Christmas day has come. And thus the calendars flip from one year to the next. Now, at the end of Christmas day, our calendars go from 2019 to 2020 A.D.

The rest of the secular world has largely moved on already, barely thinking of Christmas anymore. As I walk in my neighborhood, I see the strange spectacle of Christmas trees already set out at the curb waiting to be picked up by the recycling trucks. Yes, for many in our hurried world, Christmas is over. But we in the Church continue to celebrate the great Christmas feast and cycle. Having completed the octave, we move on to Epiphany week.

Thus, this New Year, we contemplate the “fullness of time.” The passage of another year reminds us of the magnificent truth that to God all time, past, present, and future, is equally present. He holds all things together in Himself. He is the same yesterday, today, tomorrow, and forever. And whenever He acts, He always acts in our time, out of the fullness of time. This is a very deep mystery and we should ponder in silence the mystery that for God, all things ARE. He is not waiting for things to happen. For Him, everything is accomplished. I will write more on this in tomorrow’s blog.

II. The content of our celebration – St. Paul goes on to say, God sent forth his son born of a woman. And with this statement we are again reminded that we are still in the Christmas cycle.

We’ve already discussed the concept of the eighth day, of the octave. And while it is New Year’s Day, there is also a complex tapestry of religious meanings to this day as well.

As we’ve already seen, it is still Christmas day, the eighth day of the one long day that we call Christmas Day.

Historically, this is also the day of Christ’s circumcision. And for a long period in Church history that was the name given to this feast day, “The Circumcision of the Lord.” As I have written previously, I personally regret the loss of this feast, at least in terms of its title.

This is the day when Joseph and Mary brought Christ to be circumcised. In this, Jesus as man and also as God reverences the covenant He has made with His people. It is a beautiful truth that God seeks relationship with His people. And in this covenantal act of the circumcision is the moving truth that, as the Letter to the Hebrews puts it, Jesus is not ashamed to call us His brothers (Heb 2:11).

There is here the first shedding of blood by Jesus. It is also a sign of His love for us.

Another truth about the content of this feast is the Holy Name of Jesus. For not only was a Jewish boy circumcised on the eighth day, but he was also given his name, and all hear that name for the first time.

The name, Jesus, means “God saves.” And indeed this most Holy Name of Jesus, when used in reverence, has saving power. We are baptized in His Holy Name along with that of the Father and the Holy Spirit. And all of our prayers conclude with His Holy Name. Scripture says of His great and holy name,

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil 2: 9-11).

And yet another identity and content of this feast day is shown in its current, formal title, “The Solemnity of Mary Mother of God.” This title replaced the title of the Feast of the Circumcision back in 1970. However, it is the most ancient title for this feast day. Again, you can read more on this issue in a previous blog post.

We note in the reading that Paul says that God sent forth his Son, born of a woman. Jesus is the eternal Son of the Father; He is God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God. Jesus is God, and since Mary gives birth to Jesus, Mary is the Mother of God, because Jesus is not two different persons.

Mary did not just give birth to part of Jesus, she gives birth to Jesus. And thus the title “Mother of God” speaks to us as much about Jesus as it does about Mary. It is a title that she has because of the Church’s insistence that Jesus cannot be divided up into two different people. We cannot say that Mary gives birth to one Jesus but not “the other one.” There is only one Jesus, though He has two natures, human and divine.

And thus, on this feast of Christmas, on this eighth day of Christmas, we are reminded and solemnly taught that Jesus is human and also divine. In taking a human nature to Himself from his mother Mary, He remains one person. God has sent forth his son born of woman.

III. The consolation of our celebration – St. Paul goes on to say, Born under the law to ransom those under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons. As proof that you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son in our hearts crying out Abba, Father! So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and, if a son, also an heir through God.

Note three things about this text:

A. Our Adoption – We have already noted that on the eighth day Jesus is circumcised and enters into the Covenant, into the Law. In the Incarnation He joins the human family; in the Covenant He joins our family of faith. He will fulfill the old Covenant and inaugurate the new one. And by this New Covenant, by baptism into Him, we become members of His Body and thereby become adopted as sons.

We become sons in the Son. When God the Father looks to His Son, loving His Son, he is also looking at us and loving us, for we are in Christ Jesus, members of His Body through baptism. God is now our Father, not in some allegorical sense, but in a very real sense. We are in Jesus and therefore God really is our Father.

B. Our Acclamation – St. Paul says that the proof of our sonship is the movement of the Holy Spirit in us that cries out Abba! In Aramaic and Hebrew, Abba is the family term for father. It is not baby talk, like “Dada.” But just as most adults called their father “Dad” or some other endearment rather than “father,” so it is that Abba is the family term for father. It would be a daring thing for us to call God “Dad” unless we were permitted to do so, and instructed to do so by Christ.

St. Paul speaks of this word as proof that we are sons. In so doing, he emphasizes that it is not merely the saying of the word that he refers to. Even a parrot can be taught to say the word. Rather, St. Paul is referring to what the word represents: an inner movement of the Holy Spirit wherein we experience a deep affection for God the Father. By our adoption, our baptism into Christ, by our reception of the Holy Spirit, we love the Father! We develop a deep affection for Him and dread offending Him. By this gift of the Spirit, God is my Father whom I deeply love!

C. Our advancement – Notice that St. Paul then speaks of how we have moved from being a slave to being a son, an heir. In Jesus, we are not just any son, we are the only Son of the Father. And as Jesus has a kingdom from His Father, we too inherit it with Him! As sons in the Son, we are heirs with Jesus to the Kingdom! Jesus speaks of His disciples as one day reigning with Him: And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me (Lk 22:29). In Jesus, all Heaven will be ours and we will reign with Christ forever. This is not our doing, not our glory; it is Christ’s doing and His glory in which we share.

And thus we have a very rich tapestry on this New Year’s Day, this feast of the Octave of Christmas, this Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord, this Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus, this Feast of Mary the Mother of God. And also we are given this feast wherein the glory of Christ is held before us and we who are members of His body are told of the gifts that we receive by His Holy Incarnation and His Passion, Death, and Resurrection.

It’s not a bad way to start the new year: reminded of God’s incredible love for us, of His rich blessings and promises.

TOPICS:

Apologetics

Catholic

History

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KEYWORDS:

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To: nickcarraway; NYer; ELS; Pyro7480; livius; ArrogantBustard; Catholicguy; RobbyS; marshmallow; ...

Monsignor Pope Ping!

by 2 posted onby Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

To: Salvation

We note in the reading that Paul says that God sent forth his Son, born of a woman. Jesus is the eternal Son of the Father; He is God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God. Jesus is God, and since Mary gives birth to Jesus, Mary is the Mother of God, because Jesus is not two different persons. So much error has occurred due to the Council of Ephesus' ruling on this as Rome has completely abused this decision. Scripture never refers to Mary as the "Mother of God". Rome has again departed from Scripture in favor of "tradition".

To: ealgeone

So what?

by 4 posted onby Marchmain (safe, legal and wrong)

To: Marchmain

It has led to a whole bunch of Mariolatry in Roman Catholicism.

To: ealgeone

Mariolatry... what a laugh!

by 6 posted onby Marchmain (safe, legal and wrong)

To: Marchmain

If it weren’t so false it might be funny.

To: ealgeone

Rome has again departed from Scripture in favor of "tradition". 2 Thessalonians 2:15 - Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.

2 Thessalonians 2:15 - Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold thewhich ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.

To: BenghaziMemoriam; ealgeone

So, we know what the traditions taught by the epistles are. But are there additional traditions that the apostles taught by word, and, if so, how do you prove the traditions not written down were actually taught by the apostles?

To: BenghaziMemoriam

2 Thessalonians 2:15 - Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle. Rome has taken great liberty with this and the other two passages that mention tradition. However, Rome completely ignores the context of these passages. Why? Because if they don't their "traditions" will be found very un-Scriptural. However, the very early church considered tradition with what was found in the Scriptures. It's not the wide open tradition that Rome has developed over the centuries.

To: kosciusko51

Roman Catholicism cannot give this list. It has been asked for numerous times. And IF Roman Catholics are honest they will have to admit the ECFs equated tradition with what was in the Scriptures. Not this mysterious definition of "tradition" Roman Catholics try to foster on everyone.

To: kosciusko51

So, we know what the traditions taught by the epistles are. But are there additional traditions that the apostles taught by word, and, if so, how do you prove the traditions not written down were actually taught by the apostles? "As I have already observed, the Church, having received this preaching and this faith, although scattered throughout the whole world, yet, as if occupying but one house, carefully preserves it. She also believes these points [of doctrine] just as if she had but one soul, and one and the same heart, and she proclaims them, and teaches them, and hands them down, with perfect harmony, as if she possessed only one mouth. For, although the languages of the world are dissimilar, yet the import of the tradition is one and the same."

- Ireneus, Against Heresies 1:10:2

https://ccel.org/ccel/irenaeus/against_heresies_i/anf01.ix.ii.xi.html

"As I have already observed, the Church, having received this preaching and this faith, although scattered throughout the whole world, yet, as if occupying but one house, carefully preserves it. She also believes these points [of doctrine] just as if she had but one soul, and one and the same heart, and she proclaims them, and teaches them, and hands them down, with perfect harmony, as if she possessed only one mouth. For, although the languages of the world are dissimilar, yet the import of the tradition is one and the same."- Ireneus, Against Heresies 1:10:2

To: BenghaziMemoriam

Nice quote, doesn’t answer the question.

To: kosciusko51

"...if we turn our attention to the beginnings of Apostolical teaching after His ascension, we shall find ourselves unable to fix an historical point at which the growth of doctrine ceased, and the rule of faith was once for all settled. Not on the day of Pentecost, for St. Peter had still to learn at Joppa that he was to baptize Cornelius; not at Joppa and Cæsarea, for St. Paul had to write his Epistles; not on the death of the last Apostle, for St. Ignatius had to establish the doctrine of Episcopacy; not then, nor for centuries after, for the Canon of the New Testament was still undetermined . Not in the Creed, which is no collection of definitions, but a summary of certain credenda, an incomplete summary, and, like the Lord's Prayer or the Decalogue, a mere sample of divine truths, especially of the more elementary. No one doctrine can be named which starts complete at first, and gains nothing afterwards from the investigations of faith and the attacks of heresy."

- John Henry Newman, Development of Christian Doctrine

"Now, as you know, it has been held from the first, and defined from an early age , that Mary is the Mother of God. She is not merely the Mother of our Lord's manhood, or of our Lord's body, but she is to be considered the Mother of the Word Himself, the Word incarnate. God, in the person of the Word, the Second Person of the All-glorious Trinity, humbled Himself to become her Son."

- John Henry Newman, Discourses to Mixed Congregations

To: BenghaziMemoriam

If your point is true that not all Christian teachings were not completed with the apostles, how could the first century believer know what was necessary for salvation? Or did they have sufficient information at that time? And why should any current Christian be held accountable for beliefs the early Christians were not taught by the apostles?

To: kosciusko51

If your point is true that not all Christian teachings were not completed with the apostles, how could the first century believer know what was necessary for salvation? Or did they have sufficient information at that time?

And why should any current Christian be held accountable for beliefs the early Christians were not taught by the apostles? In any age, it would seem that there are certain bare basics that are required to be taught to (and accepted by) the believer. The Apostles' Creed seems to fit that (by definition). However, there's more than just knowing and believing:

"What good does it do to speak learnedly about the Trinity if, lacking humility, you displease the Trinity? Indeed it is not learning that makes a man holy and just, but a virtuous life makes him pleasing to God. I would rather feel contrition than know how to define it. For what would it profit us to know the whole Bible by heart and the principles of all the philosophers if we live without grace and the love of God? Vanity of vanities and all is vanity, except to love God and serve Him alone."

- Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ

https://ccel.org/ccel/kempis/imitation/imitation.ONE.1.html

"To whom much is given, much will be required" (Luke 12:48).

In any age, it would seem that there are certain bare basics that are required to be taught to (and accepted by) the believer. The Apostles' Creed seems to fit that (by definition). However, there's more than just knowing and believing:"What good does it do to speak learnedly about the Trinity if, lacking humility, you displease the Trinity? Indeed it is not learning that makes a man holy and just, but a virtuous life makes him pleasing to God. I would rather feel contrition than know how to define it. For what would it profit us to know the whole Bible by heart and the principles of all the philosophers if we live without grace and the love of God? Vanity of vanities and all is vanity, except to love God and serve Him alone."- Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ"To whom much is given, much will be required" (Luke 12:48).

To: BenghaziMemoriam

So, what teachings necessary for our salvation and spiritual life are not taught either explicitly or implicitly in Scripture? And how do you prove that?

To: kosciusko51

So, what teachings necessary for our salvation and spiritual life are not taught either explicitly or implicitly in Scripture? And how do you prove that? How do you prove that the collection of writings that make up Scripture (particularly the New Testament) are exactly the ones that belong there (no more and no less)? When was that decided and by whom?

How do you prove that the collection of writings that make up Scripture (particularly the New Testament) are exactly the ones that belong there (no more and no less)? When was that decided and by whom?

To: BenghaziMemoriam

You answer my question first, and I’ll answer yours.

To: kosciusko51

You answer my question first, and Ill answer yours. Ok. Ill make an honest attempt to answer to your last questions and would appreciate that you do likewise.

So, what teachings necessary for our salvation and spiritual life are not taught either explicitly or implicitly in Scripture? And how do you prove that? I dont have an exhaustive list, but I do have at least one example: the obligation of Sunday Worship and its supplanting of the Jewish Sabbath. Its definitely not explicit in Scripture and its a stretch to say that its implicit. Of course, there are a few references to worship occurring on the Lords Day. However, thats different than claiming that Scripture mandates it. If you can provide that definitive info, then you can answer the Seventh-Day Adventists who claim You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. Nevertheless, for centuries (millennia?), many (most?) Christians recognize it's necessary for salvation (myself included). While not explicit in Scripture, its arguably consistent with it. Even so, it still needed some time to develop. The very first Christians were Jewish and probably would have continued keeping the Jewish Sabbath until instructed that it was no longer binding (whereas the Sunday obligation is). I cannot provide proof (certainly none that a Seventh-Day Adventist would accept) other than what has been historically observed by several Christian writers over the centuries.

Now, as a reminder, here are my questions:

How do you prove that the collection of writings that make up Scripture (particularly the New Testament) are exactly the ones that belong there (no more and no less)? When was that decided and by whom?

Ok. Ill make an honest attempt to answer to your last questions and would appreciate that you do likewise.I dont have an exhaustive list, but I do have at least one example: the obligation of Sunday Worship and its supplanting of the Jewish Sabbath. Its definitely not explicit in Scripture and its a stretch to say that its implicit. Of course, there are a few references to worshipon the Lords Day. However, thats different than claiming that Scriptureit. If you can provide that definitive info, then you can answer the Seventh-Day Adventists who claim. Nevertheless, for centuries (millennia?), many (most?) Christians recognize it's necessary for salvation (myself included). While not explicit in Scripture, its arguably consistent with it. Even so, it still needed some time to develop. The very first Christians were Jewish and probably would have continued keeping the Jewish Sabbath until instructed that it was no longer binding (whereas the Sunday obligation is). I cannot provide proof (certainly none that a Seventh-Day Adventist would accept) other than what has been historically observed by several Christian writers over the centuries.Now, as a reminder, here are my questions:

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Now is the time to take urgent action to protect our planet. We’re committed to stopping the devastating effects of the climate crisis on people and nature by supporting Friends of the Earth. Join us here.

‘Eco-anxiety’ is not a clinical diagnosis, nor is it a disorder. But it is a very real concern that’s impacting people’s lives right now. With the Amazon forest burning, animal species disappearing, coral reefs dying out, more extreme weather events and glaciers melting rapidly, it’s understandable that people are worried. In the words of 16-year-old climate change activist Greta Thunberg: “Our house is on fire.”

© Associated Press / Brasil2 via Getty Images Eco-anxiety is on the rise, particularly among young people. Eco-anxiety, or climate change anxiety, can cause sleepless nights, intense bouts of worry and, in severe instances, may also lead to drastic shifts in people’s behaviour. Experts have to HuffPost UK there’s been a rise in the number of people coming to them with environmental concerns over the past two years (a trend which only seems to be getting worse as the headlines on climate change grow more shocking) – and with the UN warning that we have 11 years to make a change before it’s too late. Earlier this week a group of psychologists from The Climate Psychology Alliance (CPA) told The Telegraph eco-anxiety among children “escalated” over the summer. The organisation is now campaigning for it to be recognised as a psychological phenomenon, however caveated that it shouldn’t be classed as a mental illness as the worry is a “rational” one. © ASSOCIATED PRESS Greta Thunberg. Ahead of the Global Climate Strike on Friday 20 September – which is set to be the biggest yet with both adults and children taking part – here’s what you need to know about eco-anxiety and why taking action might actually help you tackle it.

What is eco-anxiety?

© DisobeyArt via Getty ImagesWhat does it look like?

Eco-anxiety can lead to people overthinking and catastrophising about the future. It can be triggered by almost anything, suggests Burke, who works with adults aged 20-50 years old and is a BACP member – from seeing something in the news to engaging in a debate with a friend about eating meat. One of her clients was triggered by seeing colleagues at work coming in with plastic bags full of food and not recycling them. She had calculated that her small office was one of millions of other offices likely doing the same, and had begun to catastrophise about the huge amount of waste and plastic on our planet. It left her in tears in the therapy room. ____________________________________________________ More on our Empowering the Planet campaign: Make a donation to help our cause Sign our petition to help prevent plastic in the ocean Learn how you can ask UK parliament to stop climate change ____________________________________________________ This type of anxiety can also make people become compulsive in the behaviours they adopt to try and do their bit for the planet. Natasha Crowe has seen this in practice a lot. New mums in particular can become compulsive about their daily behaviours, she explains, “so constantly recycling or making sure they’re using eco wipes and eco nappies, and really trying to drill down on the daily impact that they’re making.” One of her clients commutes for work and has stopped driving to the office. Now he gets a bus to work, which takes him longer – an hour and a half in total. It’s all about taking back control for these people, but when these changes impact on wellbeing, or have a negative impact on a person’s life, it’s time to take a step back. Catastrophic thoughts can be dangerous, as they can lead to “a sense of helplessness” and can be “immobilising”, says Burke. You end up thinking: what’s the point? But there are solutions.

© boonchai wedmakawand via Getty ImagesWhat can you do?

Pernambuco-based group BCI, the controlling shareholder of fuel distributor T.T Work (formerly called Total), will invest R$90 million to build an outlet mall in Moreno, located 30 kilometers from state capital Recife. The development will be the first discount mall in Pernambuco and the third in the Northeast region. About 80% of the investment will be financed with money from development lender Bank of the Northeast (BNB) and the rest with BCI's own capital. The outlet mall is a diversification of the group's activities, which last year earned R$7.9 billion with fuel imports, ethanol trading, liquid bulk storage and the manufacturing of 50-cylinder motorcycles under Chinese brand Shineray, in addition to real estate. With a total area of 500,000 square meters, the development is expected to be delivered to retailers in July and to open its doors to shoppers in October.

According to the Reuters report, Ripple, the company behind the third-largest cryptocurrency XRP, is planning to collaborate with banks in Brazil to utilize XRP for cross-border settlements. Ripple launched operations in Brazil to expand the use of XRP not only in Brazil but the whole South American region.

Ripple to collaborate with digital banks.

According to the report, Ripple is expected to announce partnerships in the coming months with more institutions, including digital banks. Ripple, recently raised $200 million in a series c funding around. The company has successfully partnered with several banks and financial institutions to make cross-border payments easier, utilizing XRP. MoneyGram is one of the financial giants that the company has partnered with.

A 10% rise in cross-border transactions in Brazil

The cross-border settlements between Brazil and other countries from January to November totaled the US $ 4.6 billion, an increase of 10% over the same period last year. Currently, all of these transactions are processed via SWIFT, which is quite expensive and very slow. Ripple aims to take over SWIFT to provide frictionless international payments. Ripple’s CEO in Brazil, Luiz Antonio Sacco, said, “With successive advances in Brazilian banking regulation to facilitate financial transactions, including international, opportunities here will grow greatly in the coming years.”

Instruction: Retrieve semantically similar text.


Question:
Emily Blunt is seen on the run with her children in the terrifying new trailer for A Quiet Place: Part II.

The film is a follow-up to the 2018 thriller about a family trying to survive with their children in a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by monsters with acute hearing.

Following the deadly events at home, the Abbott family (Blunt, Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe) must now face the terrors of the outside world as they continue their fight for survival in silence.

Forced to venture into the unknown, they quickly realise that the creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats that lurk beyond the sand path.

The new trailer also gives fans a peek at newcomers Cillian Murphy and Djimon Hounsou.

A Quiet Place: Part II was written and directed by Blunt’s husband John Krasinski.

It will be released on March 20.

Happy New Year!

A trailer for the chilling sequel to A Quiet Place is here, and it's just as eerie and terrifying as we feared.

After the deadly events of the first film, things continue to be downright terrible for the Abbott family (Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe) as they journey into the outside world. From the looks of things, even more horrors await them.

A Quiet Place Part II, directed by John Krasinski, hits theaters March 20.

Starting New Year’s Day, Californians creeped out by the trove of personal data companies collect on their online shopping, searching and social media habits will get sweeping new privacy rights that will let them opt out of having their information sold or shared and let them demand that it be deleted.

“This is really a watershed moment for consumers,” said Scott W. Pink, a Menlo Park lawyer who advises companies on cybersecurity and privacy. “It’s the first law in the United States outside specialized industries like health care that provides consumers some degree of control and access over data collected on them.”

The California Consumer Privacy Act approved in June 2018 was inspired by public outrage over data breaches at major companies such as Facebook, Yahoo and Equifax that exposed consumers to potential fraud and misuse of their personal information, and by the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation.

The new law requires that businesses disclose their data gathering and sharing practices and allows consumers to opt out of it and to demand that businesses delete collected information on them. It prohibits companies from penalizing consumers with higher rates or fewer services for exercising their privacy rights and from selling information about children under age 16 without their explicit consent.

But questions continue to swirl as companies scramble to comply. The state attorney general is still finalizing proposed regulations intended to guide consumers and businesses in order to meet a July deadline when enforcement is expected to begin.

And both consumer and business advocates continue to spar over whether the new privacy provisions go too far or not far enough, with proposed state and federal substitutes in the works.

Jessica Melugin, a policy analyst at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a free market think tank in Washington, D.C., said Europe’s privacy regulations, which took effect a month before the Legislature approved California’s law, already are revealing unintended consequences.

“We have Europe to look to to see how this has gone, and it’s not particularly encouraging,” said Melugin, citing reports that large companies that collect data have increased market share. “The big players have gotten bigger since that regulation went into effect, simply because the bigger firms can better afford to comply with these regulations. It’s going to do more to solidify the bigger players. You can already see it — every privacy lawyer and compliance specialist is being gainfully employed.”

Alastair Mactaggart, the San Francisco real estate developer and privacy advocate whose proposed ballot measure spurred the California Legislature to pass the law, is so frustrated over industry lobbying efforts to weaken it that he’s seeking a new measure for the November 2020 ballot.

“Some of the world’s largest companies have actively and explicitly prioritized weakening the CCPA,” Mactaggart said in announcing his new proposed initiative in September.

Others are urging federal legislation to avoid a patchwork of state data privacy laws. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Fremont, introduced an Internet Bill of Rights in 2018 that has drawn bipartisan interest.

Consumers already had some privacy rights under federal and state law before the California Consumer Privacy Act.

The federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 requires parental consent before collecting personal information online from children age 12 and younger and allows them the right to see it and ask that it be deleted. The new California law adds that kids up to age 16 must consent to the sale of their online data.

A state law, the California Online Privacy Protection Act, already required companies to post a privacy policy online explaining what information they gather on consumers, how it might be shared and any process for reviewing it or making changes. The new law requires companies to disclose information collected upon request, free of charge, up to twice in a 12-month period. Companies also must disclose the types of information, what kind of recipients it is shared with, and the business reason for collecting it.

In preparation for the new law, Facebook, for example, now tells California customers that information it collects may include “internet or other electronic network activity information, including content you view or engage with,” and “photos and face imagery that can be used to create face-recognition templates if you or others choose to provide it and you have the setting turned on.”

Facebook, stung by 2018 revelations that millions of its customers had their personal data harvested from their profiles by a British political consulting firm without their consent, now offers Californians a “click here” link “to exercise your ‘right to know’ or your ‘right to request deletion.’ ”

The new law applies to companies operating in California with gross revenues over $25 million that collect personal information from 50,000 or more consumers a year or generate at least half their revenue from selling such information. Critics argue that may include a lot of companies that might not seem like the law’s prime targets, such as a pizzeria or grocery.

The law leaves it to the attorney general to enforce most provisions, though individual consumers could sue companies for data breaches. Companies could be fined up to $7,500 for each violation.

Following the act’s approval in 2018, industry advocates succeeded in defeating bills that would have required consumers to “opt in” before companies could use their personal data and would have allowed consumers to sue companies over a broader range of violations.

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Homeland Security wants to scan US citizens’ faces, too Mactaggart had said he was inspired to propose the privacy law after a friend who worked at a technology company told him he’d be terrified if he knew how much information was gathered on him. His proposed 2020 initiative would increase penalties for violating children’s privacy. It also would create a new privacy enforcement agency and bolster protections for sensitive financial, health, location and race data.

But Pink said that while the Legislature made a number of changes to help companies comply with the new law, “it is clear that it intends to keep the main protections in effect” and that the new law “will impose significant new obligations on companies doing business in California.”

Cleveland kidnapping survivors Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus on journey from captivity to helping others Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus spoke openly about their decade in captivity.

Police remember finding Gina DeJesus alive, more than 9 years after her kidnapping

Police remember finding Gina DeJesus alive, more than 9 years after her kidnapping Heidi Gutman/ABC

On May 6, 2013, the city of Cleveland witnessed a miracle when Amanda Berry called 911 from a neighbor’s phone.

“I’ve been kidnapped and been missing for 10 years. I’m here. I’m free now,” Berry, now 33, told the 911 operator.

Berry, along with Gina DeJesus, now 29, and Michelle Knight, now 38, had been held captive for more than 9 years by Ariel Castro. Castro kidnapped each of the women between 2002 and 2004.

ABC News' Robin Roberts conducts the first broadcast interview with Cleveland kidnapping survivors, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus. Heidi Gutman/ABC

For years, the women endured unimaginable abuse, as they were chained, starved and tortured by Castro.

The three women never gave up hope, and since their escape they have worked to help and heal others.

Berry and DeJesus shared new details of their years of horror and how they’ve triumphed over their trauma in new interviews with “20/20.”

Watch the full story on "20/20" Friday, Jan. 3, at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.

April 21, 2003: Amanda Berry is abducted

Just a day before her 17th birthday, Amanda Berry got up and got ready for work.

“I almost called off of work that day because the next day was my birthday. You know, what if? What if I would’ve called off that day?” Berry said.

While walking home from work, a vehicle started to follow Berry down the street, and the man inside asked her if she needed a ride home.

The man, Ariel Castro, was an elementary school bus driver and the father of Berry’s friend and classmate from middle school.

In April 2003, Castro kidnapped 16-year-old Amanda Berry as she was walking home from her job at Burger King. ABC

“He’s like, ‘Well she’s at my house. Would you like to go see her?’" Castro said of his daughter, who lived in another neighborhood with her mother, Castro's ex-wife.

"I said, ‘Yeah, sure,’” Berry said.

After they entered the white, two-story house on Seymour Avenue, Castro told Berry that his daughter might be taking a bath, she said.

“So he said, ‘We’ll just wait,’” Berry said. “So he started showing me around the house. And I never got back out.”

Castro took Berry upstairs and showed her something strange: a mystery woman sleeping in a bedroom in front of a television set. She later learned that the woman was Michelle Knight, who was abducted by Castro at 21 and had been held by him for almost a year. Berry’s memories of what happened next are still raw.

“He took me to the next bedroom, and it was just really dark in there, and he didn’t turn on the lights, and there was a little, like, a little room off of the bigger bedroom, kind of a big closet,” Berry said. “And he took me in there, and he told me to pull down my pants. And from there I knew, like, this was not going to be good.”

She became Castro’s second prisoner.

“He took me to the basement and he taped my wrists and he taped my ankles and he put on a belt around my ankles over the tape,” Berry said. “He put a helmet over my head, and he said, ‘Just be quiet and don’t make any noise. And I’ll take you home.’”

Berry said Castro chained her to a pole, shut off the lights and left her in the dark with a television on.

“I just started screaming and crying… ‘Somebody please help me,’ you know. And nobody, nobody came,” she said. “I was so scared that I was going to die. I didn’t think that I was going to ever make it home.”

April 24, 2003: Day 4 of Amanda Berry’s Captivity

As news of her abduction made headlines, Berry watched her mother and sister on the TV in the basement.

“That kept me going. And I said, ‘You know what, I’m going to make it home to you. As long as you fight, I’m going to fight,’” Berry said.

On the fourth day of her abduction, April 24, 2003, Berry said Castro moved her to an upstairs bedroom and chained her to a radiator.

“It was really hard, you know, because in the beginning, the chain was around my stomach,” Berry said. “Going to sleep at night, you know, if you wanted to toss on to your back, you couldn’t do that, you would have to take the whole chain and move it to the front of your stomach so that you're not laying on the big lock on your back.”

One week after Amanda Berry’s abduction, Castro calls her family

Berry was missing for a week when her family received a late-night call from Castro, who taunted them using Berry’s cell phone.

“He called and said, ‘I have Mandy,’ which, nobody called her Mandy but [people] who knew her,” said Beth Serrano, Berry’s sister. “'She wants to be with me.'”

In 2003, the FBI was just starting to develop technology that could track a cell phone’s location if it was turned on. With that information, they were able to narrow down that her phone had been used within a thirty to forty block area.

“We spent about a week, around the clock, in that area, hoping that this phone would be used again,” FBI agent Tim Kolonik said. But Castro never used Berry’s phone again.

“That was the last we heard of anything,” Serrano said.

Meanwhile, Berry’s dark and filthy room at Castro’s house was about the size of a closet.

“The mattress was old and nasty, and it was just disgusting. And we had the bucket to use the bathroom, and that smelled horrible,” Berry said.

Once a day, Berry said, Castro gave her a bag of chips or crackers or other food to eat. But everything, including her weekly shower, came at a price.

In April 2003, Castro kidnapped 16-year-old Amanda Berry as she was walking home from her job at Burger King. FBI

“I mean, he tried to act nice, but he’s like, ‘Well, maybe you need to go take a shower,’ and I had to take a shower with him,” Berry said.

Berry said she had to “numb” herself to cope with the sexual abuse.

“You, like, put your mind somewhere else so that you're not there. You know, you're not in that room with him,” Berry said.

In her diary, Berry used a code to record how many times he raped her each day.

“I would always write these numbers at the top of the pages, because I felt like, you know, one day maybe authorities will get to read it. And he’ll be punished for what he did,” Berry said.

“There was plenty of times when I just never knew,” Berry said, adding that she thought, “Why is he keeping me here?”

“I didn’t know if one day we were gonna be murdered or he wanted more girls in the house,” Berry said. “Like, what was he going to do to us.”

Almost a year after Berry became his prisoner, Castro went on the prowl again just five blocks away from the street where he kidnapped Berry.

April 2, 2004: Gina DeJesus is abducted

Gina DeJesus, then 14 years old, was close friends with Castro’s daughter, Arlene. Castro was also friends with DeJesus’ dad. On the day she was kidnapped, DeJesus and Arlene were heading home from school when they went their separate ways.

As DeJesus continued her journey home, a maroon vehicle pulled up on the curb with Arlene’s father at the wheel.

“He asks me… 'You seen my daughter?’ I said, ‘Yeah, she’s right around the corner,’ and he was like, ‘Can you help me find her?’ And I said, ‘Sure,’” DeJesus said.

But instead, Castro drove Gina to his house, where he asked her for help moving a stereo. Once inside, DeJesus was unnerved by his bizarre behavior, she said.

“He was, like, fixing his eyebrows and, like, trimming his mustache and, like, cutting his nose hairs,” DeJesus said.

“He’s like, starts like, to, like, touch me and stuff, and then I’m like, ‘What are you doing? You could go to jail.’ He just switches up like, ‘Well, OK, we’re going to, you’re going to go home now.’ He said, ‘But you can’t go through the same door you came in.’”

A year after Berry's abduction, Castro abducted 14-year-old Gina DeJesus as she returned home from middle school. FBI

Castro led DeJesus to his basement, where she said he grabbed her and chained her up.

“He didn’t make it tight enough, so I threw it over, and then I tried to run, but he sat on my back,” DeJesus said. “And then I just start kicking him. I kicked him and I bruised him really bad.”

As Castro overpowered her, DeJesus screamed for help, but the radio in his basement and the radio in the living room were too loud, DeJesus said.

“He, would take my hair and like, put it in his mouth. … I don’t know why he did it but it was gross,” she said.

DeJesus said the first time Castro raped her was on May 7, 2004. Though she remembers the exact date, DeJesus said she was not comfortable discussing the details of what happened.

Life in captivity

At first, DeJesus was Castro’s new favorite.

“He seems to treat me better than the other girls. I have the nicer room,” DeJesus said.

A year after Berry's abduction, Castro abducted 14-year-old Gina DeJesus as she returned home from middle school. ABC

Berry said the slight gestures of favoritism made the girls feel jealous: “It was just simple things, but when you don’t have anything, you’re like, ‘Well, why don’t I have that? I want that.’”

She said that at first, Castro took special care to keep the girls divided and did not permit them to talk.

“He was always there watching every move, it was like he knew everything, every move that we did,” DeJesus said.

The girls were occasionally allowed out of their rooms to do chores, but had to obey stringent rules.

“We had to use, like, a tiny drop of, dish soap to wash like a full sink of dishes,” Berry said.

“We had to put the pan in the center on the stove,” DeJesus added.

“It couldn’t be a little to the left, a little to the right,” Berry said.

To fill the empty hours, Berry kept a diary in notebooks, on napkins and even on fast food bags. The black-and-white television was their only window to the outside world.

Amanda Berry tried to make her daughter Jocelyn's life normal in their room seen here. FBI

March 2006: Amanda Berry’s mom dies while she’s in captivity

Berry said she would watch the Montel Williams Show featuring psychic Sylvia Browne, desperately wishing her mother would appear on the program so “[Browne] could tell my mom that I was alive and that I’m OK,” she said.

In 2004, Berry’s mother Louwana Miller, went on the show. Browne told her, “I’m sorry … she’s not alive.”

“I just broke down crying because I couldn’t believe she said that,” Berry said. “And then my mom broke down crying, so that hurt even worse.”

Together, Amanda Berry and her daughter Jocelyn shared the room in Ariel Castro's house pictured here. FBI

Miller never got to see her daughter freed. She died of heart failure three years after Berry disappeared.

“I think that was the hardest part of being in there. Like, she was always fighting. And she was never gonna give up on me,” Berry said. “For her to get sick and I couldn’t be there with her ... I couldn’t help her when she was sick.”

Christmas 2006: Amanda Berry Gives Birth

Berry realized she might be pregnant on her 20th birthday.

“I was terrified. How? I mean, I barely eat,” Berry said, “and I’m chained to a wall, and I have a bucket for a bathroom.”

She gave birth to Jocelyn on Christmas in 2006.

“This is his kid, you know. How do I feel about that? And she resembled him a lot, and I would look at her, and I just felt, like, she’s mine. She’s mine,” Berry said.

DeJesus said that having the little girl there with them was a welcome distraction.

“It was fun because I can get away from the situation,” DeJesus said. “When I was playing with Jocelyn, Jocelyn made me forget everything.”

Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight shared this room in Ariel Castro's house. FBI

Jocelyn saw the chains on her mother, which Berry said Castro instructed her to call “bracelets.”

“She was about 2, almost 3 years old, and he finally took the chains off of me. And that was because of Jocelyn.”

As Jocelyn grew older, Castro allowed her freedoms that Berry, DeJesus and Knight were not given.

Though she was locked in with the three of them whenever Castro left the house, Jocelyn occasionally was allowed to go outside in the backyard, to the park or to Sunday services with her father. Castro’s love for Jocelyn seemed to turn him into a different man with her.

“She loved him, and he loved her,” Berry said. “I was nervous, like, would he touch her? Would he ever think about touching her because, you know, he had his problems?”

May 6, 2013: Escape

The women finally made their escape after more than nine years in captivity.

“Jocelyn goes downstairs, and then she runs back up, and she says, ‘I don’t find Daddy. Daddy’s nowhere around,’” DeJesus said.

“My heart immediately started pounding," Berry said. "I’m like, ‘Should I chance it? If I’m going to do it, I need to do it now.'"

For the first time in 10 years, Berry said she found her bedroom door unlocked without Castro around. Downstairs, the front door was open but wired with an alarm. Beyond it, the storm door was padlocked shut, but Berry was still able to squeeze out an arm.

DeJesus said she thought Berry had been caught by Castro and talked Knight out of running to Berry. Berry said someone passing by outside saw her, but did not intervene.

That’s when neighbor Charles Ramsey showed up.

A general view of the exterior of the house where, on Monday, three women who had disappeared as teenagers approximately ten years ago were found alive on May 7, 2013 in Cleveland, Ohio. Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

“He kind of, like, started like trying to pull on the door, but he couldn’t get it open either,” Berry said. “And so he, like, kind of kicks it, and he’s like, ‘There you go. Finish kicking it out, and you can get out.’”

Once Berry was out, she called for Jocelyn to crawl through the door. The two of them found a neighbor with a phone to call 911. Police arrived and rescued DeJesus and Knight.

“I was terrified, and just because there’s people on the street doesn’t mean that he wouldn’t hurt me. I was so terrified,” Berry said. “I still don’t know why he left that day with the door unlocked. I will never know.”

DeJesus remembered it took her “a while to come out” of her room because she didn’t believe the police were really there.

“I thought maybe they were people in costumes ‘cause I was shocked,” she said. She wasn’t the only one.

“When I was telling [first responders] my name, they looked like they’d seen a ghost or something,” DeJesus said. “Like their face completely dropped.”

Where Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus are today

On Aug. 1, 2013, Castro was sentenced to life plus 1,000 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to 937 counts of kidnapping and rape. On Sept. 3, 2013, he was found dead in his prison cell. He had killed himself.

By then, Castro’s house had already been demolished. It is now a garden.

Two years later, DeJesus and Berry graduated from high school. DeJesus got to have the quinceañera she never had and wore a dazzling white dress.

Berry and DeJesus together wrote their memoir, “Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland,” with Washington Post journalists Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan, which was released in April 2015.

Berry now works with a local news station covering missing children and adults in the Cleveland area.

“That's the most important thing that I'm doing right now,” Berry said. “I just want to make the world a better place.”

Ohio Gov. John Kasich, from left, introduces Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight during his State of the State address at the Performing Arts Center Monday, Feb. 24, 2014, in Medina, Ohio. Tony Dejak/AP Photo

Berry is also raising Jocelyn, who’s now 13 and thriving.

“Jocelyn is more special than I could even use words to describe. I always describe her as wise beyond her years,” said Jocelyn’s former teacher Erin Hennessey.

In 2018, DeJesus founded The Cleveland Family Center for Missing Children and Adults to “work with the families to help them navigate the media, to help to go to the police station,” DeJesus said.

“When she disappeared, we really struggled as a family to get help for anything and Gina really feels no family should have to ever endure that kind of pain while they're looking for a family member,” said Sylvia Colon, DeJesus’ cousin and the center’s co-founder.

Most amazingly, DeJesus’ foundation is located on the same street where she was held captive for nine long years.

“I just want to change the neighborhood. I want to turn it to, like, positive and I want to give back,” she said.

Liberal VoteVets group proves just how disgusting they are once again. This time routing for another Benghazi to happen just because of their hatred for President Trump.

You can see the disgusting tweet below:

“Hey @POTUS remember you’re Benghazi rants during 2016? You’re about to have your own unfortunately in Iraq.”

As it turns out the President is no Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton and over 100 Marines, two dozens AH-64 Apaches, and a dozen fighter jets zoomed overhead. Everyone was evacuated safely from the embassy.

Here’s some of the responses to the asinine tweet by VoteVets.

Looks like VoteVets deleted this ill-thought-out tweet rooting for another Benghazi just to own Trump: pic.twitter.com/BjpRjGQs4L — Kristina Wong 🇺🇸 (@kristina_wong) December 31, 2019

It's times like this that unmask those who are truly anti-American and pro-evil – here's such an instance with @votevets https://t.co/66qW3i7w1X — Tony Shaffer (@T_S_P_O_O_K_Y) January 1, 2020

What are your thoughts on the group VoteVets cheering for another Benghazi and loss of American life?

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Iraqi militiamen were back at it again today outside the US Embassy in Iraq, but this time they were met with tear gas and rubber bullets from a new contingent of 100 US soldiers who were deployed to protect the embassy after yesterday’s violent protests:

FOX NEWS – The dozens of pro-Iran militiamen and protesters camped outside the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad were met Wednesday with tear gas thrown by U.S. Marines guarding the compound.

Smoke rose from the building after protesters lit a fire on the roof of the enclosure’s reception area, one day after militiamen stormed into the compound and smashed windows before pulling back.

It was one of the worst attacks on a U.S. diplomatic mission in years.

The demonstrators were protesting the deadly U.S. airstrikes that targeted an Iran-backed militia over the weekend that killed 25 fighters. Those strikes were in response to a rocket attack on an Iraqi Army base that killed a U.S. contractor and injured several American troops.

By Wednesday morning, the protesters had set up around 50 tents, along with a makeshift clinic. Cooks with aprons were serving meals out of giant pots.

Outside one of the gates, a Shiite cleric recited verses from the Muslim holy book, the Koran, through a loudspeaker.

Elsewhere, demonstrators could be seen hurling rocks over the walls of the embassy compound before U.S. troops responded by firing tear gas from the roofs of the buildings.

Some 100 U.S. Marines arrived at the embassy late Tuesday to bolster security as President Trump has denounced the actions by protesters, vowing the situation in Baghdad “will not be a Benghazi.”

The corporate mainstream media are splitting — some still studiously ignore Bernie Sanders, while some now acknowledge the strength of his campaign and are starting “throw the kitchen sink” attacks on him. And then there are the grassroots trends.

Extraordinary news

by Bernie Sanders

Today, I am very proud to share with you some extraordinary news: our campaign has received more than 5 million individual contributions — that is more contributions than any campaign has received at this point in a presidential election in the history of our country.

Now I want to say a few words about why this accomplishment is so extraordinary.

For far too long, the economic and political systems have been stacked against ordinary Americans. The rich get richer because they use their wealth to buy our candidates and our elections. Meanwhile, more and more working people become demoralized and choose not to participate in the political process.

What we are proving on this campaign is that one does not need to beg the wealthy and the powerful for campaign contributions in order to win elections.

We are proving that when you run a campaign that speaks directly to the needs of working people and young people, they are ready to fight with you.

We are proving that we — US — are far more powerful than the 1 percent have ever imagined.

And that is important.

Because change never happens from the top down. It always happens from the bottom up. And now is the time, more than ever before, for millions of working families — black and white, Latino, Asian and Native American, gay and straight — to come together to end the collapse of the American middle class and to make certain that our children and grandchildren are able to enjoy a quality of life and a habitable planet that brings them health, prosperity, security and joy.

That kind of campaign is also the only kind of campaign that will win in November.

Now I am proud to say that ours is the only campaign in this Democratic primary with more donations than Donald Trump.

And that is important for two reasons:

First, practically, our campaign has raised more money than any other campaign in this race and will raise more money than any campaign would against Donald Trump.

We have 5 million individual donations in a Democratic primary that hasn’t even cast its first vote yet.

Against Trump, I believe we will have 50 million individual contributions, at least. And at $27 a piece, that would be more than $1 billion. It’s absolutely obscene and outrageous that an election would cost that much money, but our campaign has proven we will be able to raise more than enough money to win.

And our donation number is important for another reason: because in order to beat Trump, we’re going to need the largest voter turnout in the history of America.

And you don’t have the largest voter turnout unless you create energy and excitement.

And you don’t create energy and excitement unless you are prepared to take on the people who own America — not just beg them for money.

We need a progressive agenda that mobilizes millions and millions of Americans behind ideas like Medicare for all, raising the minimum wage, leading the world in combating climate change and more.

Now, you know that poll after poll shows we beat Trump by wide margins.

And when you combine that with the kind of grassroots enthusiasm our campaign has demonstrated the ability to generate, we will not only win this election, but we will have the organization ready to fight to transform this country.

You may remember that when I said I was going to run for president, I said that it would take a political revolution to win.

A lot of people thought that was an acknowledgment of impossibility. It wasn’t.

It was a statement of what would be necessary to undo the damage that has been done to our country and reclaim our country from the oligarchs.

Now, speaking this way about the need to take on the insurance companies, the drug companies, the fossil fuel companies, the military industrial complex, the prison industrial complex and virtually the entire damn one percent tends to make wealthy folks nervous.

That is fine.

They will see our numbers and will no doubt ratchet up their attacks.

But I have no doubt we will be ready.

And that we will win.

Contact us by email at fund4thepanamanews@gmail.com

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TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan's top military official was among eight people killed in an air force helicopter crash in mountainous terrain outside Taipei on Thursday, the defense ministry said. Five others survived.

As chief of the general staff, Gen. Shen Yi-ming was responsible for overseeing the self-governing island's defense against China, which threatens to use military force if necessary to annex what it considers part of its territory.

The helicopter was flying from Taipei to the northeastern city of Ilan for a New Year's activity when it crashed. The victims included other senior military officials and the two pilots.

The UH-60M Blackhawk with 13 people on board dropped from the radar screen 10 minutes after takeoff from Songshan air force base around 7:50 a.m., Taiwan's defense ministry said. It went down in the mountainous, heavily forested Wulai area southeast of the capital.

Shen, 63, had taken over as chief of the general staff in July after serving as commander of Taiwan’s air force, which is undergoing a substantial upgrade with the arrival of the most advanced version of the U.S. F-16V fighter.

Alexander Huang, a strategic studies professor at Tamkang University in Taiwan who had known Shen for a decade, said he had stood out as a pilot and an officer.

“He was very calm and very stable and unlike other army guys he was always smiling, so he got a specific leadership style that also made him a popular leader in the entire military,” Huang said.

It will likely be months before the cause of the crash is known, but the pilots appeared to have been highly experienced.

“Of course, reasonable people would think in the direction of mechanical failure or maintenance problem, but without proof you can’t say anything," Huang said.

A special government committee will look into the cause of the crash, a defense ministry statement said.

Taiwan's military has operated Blackhawk helicopters for decades and completed a sale for another 60 UH-Ms from the U.S. for $3.1 billion i n 2010. The one that crashed was a model dedicated to search and rescue and had been delivered in 2018, according to the ministry.

The loss of Shen and other high-ranking officials will require a rapid reshuffle of positions, but should have minimal effect on Taiwan's Jan. 11 elections for president and lawmakers, said Andrew Yang, a former deputy defense minister who said Shen was highly respected throughout his career.

“I don’t think the crash will have a strong impact over the elections but certainly it will affect the armed forces because so many senior officers passed away as a result of this crash," he said.

The ruling Democratic Progressive Party said in a statement on social media that all its public campaign events from now through Saturday would be cancelled.

"The loss of pillars of our country make us feel endless sorrow," the statement read.

The party has been strongly critical of China's attempts to increase economic, military and diplomatic pressure. Incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen appears on track to win a second term over her more pro-China opponent, Han Kuo-yu of the main opposition Nationalists.

Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan's top military official was among eight people killed in an air force helicopter crash in mountainous terrain outside Taipei on Thursday, the defense ministry said. Five others survived.

As chief of the general staff, Gen. Shen Yi-ming was responsible for overseeing the self-governing island's defense against China, which threatens to use military force if necessary to annex what it considers part of its territory.

The helicopter was flying from Taipei to the nearby city of Yilan for a New Year's activity when it crashed. The victims included other senior military officials and the two pilots.

The UH-60M Blackhawk with 13 people on board dropped from the radar screen 10 minutes after takeoff from Songshan air force base around 7:50 a.m., Taiwan's defense ministry said. It went down in the mountainous, heavily forested Wulai area southeast of the capital.

Shen, 63, had taken over as chief of the general staff in July after serving as commander of Taiwan’s air force, which is undergoing a substantial upgrade with the arrival of the most advanced version of the U.S. F-16V fighter.

Alexander Huang, a strategic studies professor at Tamkang University in Taiwan who had known Shen for a decade, said he had stood out as a pilot and an officer.

Six days after the shooting that resulted in the death of one Nnaemeka Nnabuenyi popularly known as “Onyeocha” at Umuokwu village in Alor, Idemili Council Area of Anambra State, a Citizens’ Group in the state has expressed worry over the bulk passing game between the security agencies as to the real killer of the deceased.

Tragedy had struck on Christmas day at the residence of one Engineer Emeka Eze of Alor Community when security personnel initially said to be a Police Officer, fired gunshot at a cow in a bid to stop it from escaping but the bullet missed target and allegedly hit Nnaemeka who is a domestic staff of the said Engineer Emeka.

In a swift reaction, the Anambra State Police Command through its Public Relations Officer, Haruna Mohammed debunked the allegation of Police involvement in the killing, stating that a DSS Personnel attached to a VIP, whose identity was yet unknown, fired the gunshot.

The Command would later through the same source, urge the public to disregard its initial information as to the identity of the shooter, stating that investigation was ongoing.

On the 27th of December, 2019, the DSS in Anambra issued a statement denying that its operative was responsible for the shooting, saying it was done by a local vigilante operative in the area.

Reacting to the development, the Police Stakeholders Partnership Forum, PSPF in Anambra State, has called for thorough investigation to unmask the real shooter and bring him to justice.

In a statement signed by the members, the group noted that a human life has been cut short prematurely and the Anambra State Police Command has a duty to conduct prompt, impartial and exhaustive investigation into cases of crime against the state, such as the one at hand with a view to ensuring that justice is done.

The statement read; “In this particular case, credible investigation is warranted to unravel the truth, identify the person who carried out the shooting and the motive, and the matter charged to court in accordance with the law. Justice must be served for the victim, the perpetrator and the society, in accordance with the Anambra State Administration of Criminal Justice Law 2010”.

Also speaking on the matter, a human rights lawyer, Barr Chekwube Umenwa described the bulk passing between the security agencies as not just unwarranted but disgusting, shameful and diversionary, adding that anything short of investigation is compounding felony.

“Criminal law whether Federal or State has no provision for mediation in homicide cases, be it murder or manslaughter. Police has a duty to conduct investigation into the case at hand and come to a conclusion. Afterwards, if they establish a “prima facie” case against the suspect, they have to file the appropriate charge and arraign him. After arraignment, assuming the family of the deceased is in any way appeased by the suspect, it is only the Attorney General of Anambra State that can bring the case to a quick end by filing a “Nolle Prosequi” in the case, which means that the State has decided to let defendant go”, he noted.

BOSTON (CBS) — Over the course of the last 10 games, NFL quarterback Ryan Tannehill has done quite a bit to rewrite the story of Ryan Tannehill, NFL quarterback.

Against all odds, he’s been one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks since he took the starting job from Marcus Mariota and helped turn the Titans’ season around, and he’s a significant reason why the Titans will be entering Saturday night’s playoff game in Foxboro with a whole lot of confidence.

But if the Titans are to really make that matter and deliver an upset playoff victory, Tannehill’s going to have to flip one more script. And this one’s a doozy.

He’s going to have to figure out how to play at Gillette Stadium.

Having been in the AFC East for the first six seasons (over seven years) of his career, Tannehill is no stranger to playing at Gillette Stadium. He’s played there six times, and he’s yet to win a game. In half of those games, Tannehill’s offense was held to seven points or fewer, with Tannehill’s offenses failing to put points on the board twice.

The individual stats aren’t great. Overall, when playing at Gillette Stadium, Tannehill has completed 142 of his 233 passes (60.9 percent) for 1,554 yards, which comes out to 259 yards per game and 6.7 yards per attempt. The completion rate and yardage stats aren’t too bad, all things considered.

But he’s also thrown five touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He’s thrown at least one interception in every game he’s played in Foxboro, throwing two interceptions for four straight games in New England from 2013-16. And he’s been held without a touchdown pass in three of his six starts.

He’s also taken 24 sacks in those six games, though 17 of those came as a young QB in his first three years. He’s fumbled six times, losing the ball three times.

Tannehill’s Miami offenses averaged 11.3 points per game in those six trips to Gillette, topping 17 points just once. The average score was 34-11. Technically speaking, the closest Tannehill came to winning in New England came in 2016, when the Dolphins lost 31-24. That was a game, though, which the Patriots led 31-3 midway through the third quarter. In a game where Jimmy Garoppolo was on fire before getting hurt, the Patriots let off the gas late, allowing Tannehill to lead a comeback, but the Dolphins’ final drive ended with a pick in the end zone:

After that, Tannehill got one more start in New England. It came in Week 4 of the 2018 season, and it was grisly. He went 11-for-20 for just 100 yards with no touchdowns and one interception while taking two sacks and losing a fumble. Trailing 38-0 in the fourth quarter, Tannehill was benched at the end of the blowout loss for Brock Osweiler, who promptly led a touchdown drive.

Repeating, for effect: After failing to lead the Dolphins to any points, Tannehill was benched. For Brock Osweiler. Who then went 4-for-5 for 35 yards and a touchdown.

That was a game that included Tannehill looking like this:

It was a similar look to Tannehill’s Week 8 visit to Foxboro in 2015, which took place on national TV on Thursday Night Football. That night, this happened:

All told, Gillette Stadium has been a house of horrors for Tannehill. In that stadium, he has a 69.9 passer rating, and with six chances, he’s kept his team competitive just once. Long before the Patriots’ defense took on the “Boogeymen” moniker, Tannehill had encountered plenty of unfriendly ghosts that resided inside of Gillette Stadium.

Of course, the comparison of the offenses from the Dolphins from 2012-18 to the offense of the Titans in 2019 doesn’t quite lead to an apples-to-apples situation. At the same time, though, it’s worth noting that during those six trips to Gillette, Tannehill was not facing a defense quite like the one that the 2019 Patriots will be carrying into Saturday night’s matchup. This year, the Patriots rank first in both yards and points allowed. From 2012-18, they ranked anywhere from first to 10th in points allowed, and anywhere from eighth to 26th in yards allowed. (The Patriots ranked 29th in yards allowed in 2017, but Tannehill missed that season due to a torn ACL.)

Despite a sloppy end to the season, the Patriots still finished the year with the best third-down defense, and they finished first in the league with 25 interceptions — five more than any other team. They ranked tied for seventh in the NFL with 47 sacks, and they finished first by a massive margin in opponents’ passer rating. (The Patriots allowed opposing QBs to post a 62.8 passer rating. The Ravens ranked second, at 77.5. The gap between the No. 1 and No. 2 spots was greater than the gap between the No. 2 and No. 20 spots.) In posting his tremendous numbers this year, Tannehill faced just one defense that ranked in the top 12 in opponents’ passer rating. He aced that one test, beating the Chiefs with both his arm and his legs, but he still didn’t face a defense that compares in any way to that of the Patriots.

Tannehill was asked Tuesday if playing in Foxboro is different than playing in any other road stadium. Tannehill downplayed the question.

“I mean I don’t know if there is a difference,” Tannehill answered. “Obviously it’s a place that they’ve played well at in the past. But at the end of the day, it’s football. It’s a road environment, it’s gonna be loud, and we have to be ready to go.”

As far as playoff history, there is none, as Saturday will mark Tannehill’s first taste of playoff football. With 22 touchdowns and just six picks this season, with a 7-3 record, with a 70.3 completion rate, with a league-best 9.6 yards per attempt and 117.5 passer rating, the 31-year-old Tannehill has already done a tremendous job this year of shifting perceptions about what kind of quarterback he is. Ultimately, though, that progress will be rendered mostly meaningless if he can’t solve whatever has plagued him whenever he’s played football in the state of Massachusetts.

You can email Michael Hurley or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.

Dunbrody Archers turned out in force on Hook Head in Co Wexford on Wednesday to participate in a ceremony going back more than 300 years.

Chair of New Ross District Municipal Council, Cllr John Fleming explained the origin of the tradition of firing an arrow into the sea from the rocks beneath the world’s oldest operational lighthouse.

“The tradition dates from 1687 when the Mayor and the corporation of New Ross Town Council claimed their authority over the waters by travelling to Hook and shooting an arrow into the sea from Hook Head Lighthouse.”

Cllr Fleming explained that the Mayor of New Ross, casting the arrow into the sea symbolises the port of New Ross’s authority over the estuary of the Barrow and the Suir all the way down to Hook Head.

The members of Dunbrody Archers, founded in 2004 and now one of the largest archery clubs nationally, assisted Cllr Fleming in “the arrow ceremony” by unleashing a volley of arrows into the air at the historic lighthouse.

Cllr Fleming explained that Hook Head is renowned as the oldest intact working lighthouse in the world, dating from the fifth century when local monks lit fires on the headland to keep the ships at sea safe.

“Hook Lighthouse was built by the knight, Sir William Marshal and he also built the port town of New Ross along with Kilkenny Castle, Ferns Castle, Tintern Abbey and many other historical gems in the area,” he said.

“He married Isabel De Clare the daughter of Strongbow and Aoife and they became quite the medieval ‘power couple’ and it is thought that he built Hook Lighthouse to guide ships safely to his port town of New Ross.”

“The Hook Lighthouse tour incorporates 115 steps to the top of the lighthouse tower and features holograms illustrating the ancient history of the tower and the Hook area and spectacular views of the southern coast.”

From No More Fake News

Technocracy is the basic agenda and plan for ruling global society from above, so we need to understand it from several angles.

Consider a group of enthusiastic forward-looking engineers in the early 20th century. They work for a company that has a contract to manufacture a locomotive.

This is a highly complex piece of equipment.

On one level, workers are required to make the components to spec. Then they must put them all together. These tasks are formidable.

On another level, various departments of the company must coordinate their efforts. This is also viewed as a technological job. Organizing is considered a technology.

When the locomotive is finished and delivered, and when it runs on its tracks and pulls a train, a great and inspiring victory is won.

And then...the engineers begin to think about the implications.

Suppose the locomotive was society itself? Suppose society was the finished product? Couldn't society be put together in a coordinated fashion? And couldn't the "technology of organizing things" be utilized for the job?

Why bother with endlessly arguing and lying politicians? Why should they be in charge? Isn't that an obvious losing proposition? Of course it is.

But engineers could lay out and build a future society that would benefit all people. Hunger, disease, and poverty could be wiped out. Eliminating them would be part of the uncompromising blueprint.

This "insight" hit engineers and technicians like a ton of bricks. Of course! All societies had been failures for the same reason: the wrong people were in charge.

Armed with this new understanding, engineers of every stripe began to see what was needed. A revolution in thinking about societal organization. Science was the new king. And science would rule.

Of course, for an engineered world to work, certain decisions would have to be made about the role of the individual. Every individual. You couldn't have an air-tight plan if every human were free to pursue his own objectives. Too many variables. Too much confusion. Too much conflict. Well, that problem could be solved. The individual's actions would be tailored to fit the coordinated operations of the planned society.

The individual would be inserted into a pre-ordained slot. He would be "one of the components of the locomotive." His life would be connected to other lives to produce an exemplary shape.

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After five years, have increased passenger fares by 1 to 4 paisa across various classes. On the New Year's eve, the announced fare across its network, effective from today, that is January 1, 2020.

Which fares will get costlier?

Ordinary non-AC, non-suburban fares were increased by 1 paise per km of journey and in mail/express non-AC class, the will be 2 paisa per kilometre. On the other hand, for AC classes the fare will be 4 paisa per kilometre.

The fare hike is also applicable to premium trains such as Shatabdi, Rajdhani, Duronto, Vande Bharat, Tejas, Humsafar, Mahamana, Gatimaan and other special trains. Well, for example- in the Delhi-Kolkata Rajdhani, which covers a distance of 1,447 km, the hike at the rate of 4 paise per km will be around Rs 58.

Exceptions:

Pass holders are spared. The hike will be applicable for only 34 per cent of the travellers on Indian tracks, while looking into the affordability concerns of daily commuters, the restrained from hike for passengers over suburban sections and season ticket holders, which constitute 66 per cent of its total passengers.

There will not be any change in the reservation fee and super fast charges and the hike in fares will not be applicable to tickets already booked. The hike will have no effect on catering charges either, officials said.

The ‘marginal’ hike is expected to bring in another Rs 2,300 crore to the revenue of the cash-strapped national transporter and the railways said that the additional revenue will be used for the modernisation of the network. Like- augment passenger experience through modernization of coaches and improved station infrastructure. Further, Railways claimed that the burden of 7th Pay Commission on has necessitated rationalization of fares.

But is that enough? Listen to this podcast to know more

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