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"A year ago, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross was on TV holding up cans of soup saying tariffs would increase soup by five cents ," Snipes said. "But soup doesn’t use a whole lot of aluminum. Bump it up to a car, then it might translate to a $500 increase."
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has opposed tariffs on the idea they will spark a global trade war of retaliatory tariffs.
In Florida, the chamber estimates more than $1 billion of annual exports including boats, manicure and pedicure preparations, cheese and copper waste could be threatened by new tariffs from Canada, China, Mexico and the European Union.
RELATED: What is a tariff, and why should you be worried about it?
"This is the wrong approach, and it threatens to derail our nation’s recent economic resurgence," the chamber says on its website.
Kobosko is more optimistic. He said he hasn’t lost much business because he doesn’t take deposits and customers are understanding that the tariffs have caused some upheaval in the shutter business.
He believes the U.S. will step up and produce more. Maybe prices won’t be as cheap as they were before, but he thinks they will begin to level out.
Shutters for the average three-bedroom, two-bathroom house cost between $6,000 and $8,000, Kobosko estimated.
"I don’t think it’s a bad thing long term," he said about the metal tariffs. "We’re in a transition period now."
A federal jury found a former BP executive not guilty Friday of making false statements to investigators in connection with the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Prosecutors said David Rainey, in the early days of the spill, had manipulated calculations to match a far-too-low government estimate of the amount of oil spewing into the Gulf following the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. He was charged with lying about having done so during a 2011 interview with federal investigators. However, defense attorneys said Rainey’s figures were made honestly and that he had no reason to lie.
“I agree with the verdict,” said US district judge Kurt Engelhardt said as he thanked the jurors.
“We respect the jury’s verdict,” said Leo Tsao, a federal prosecutor speaking after the trial.
Eleven rig workers died in the Deepwater Horizon explosion, which resulted in the nation’s worst offshore oil spill. A federal judge overseeing civil litigation in the case ruled this year that roughly 3.19m barrels spilled before the damaged well was capped – a rate of more than 36,000 barrels per day. Various early estimates were much lower. Rainey’s trial focused on an early National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimate, days after the spill began, of about 5,000 barrels a day, and whether Rainey had “backed into” his own calculations to match that estimate.
Rainey himself smiled but declined to talk to reporters as he walked briskly out of the courtroom to hug family members.
Rainey also faced a charge of obstructing a congressional investigation but Engelhardt dismissed that charge this week, in part because members of Congress, including Massachusetts Democratic senator Ed Markey, could not be subpoenaed to testify.
Rainey was one of a handful of people charged criminally in connection with the disaster.
A former BP engineer, Kurt Mix, was convicted on one of two criminal counts in 2013 after prosecutors said he deleted text messages about the oil flow following the explosion. His conviction was overturned because a jury forewoman tainted deadlocked deliberations by mentioning she had heard something outside the trial that affirmed her view of Mix’s guilt. Prosecutors have asked an appellate court to reinstate the conviction rather than have them try Mix again.
Trial is pending for BP well site leaders Robert Kaluza and Donald Vidrine, who have pleaded not guilty to manslaughter charges stemming from the 11 deaths.
Anthony Badalamenti, a former manager for Halliburton Energy Services Inc, BP’s cement contractor on the rig, was sentenced to one year of probation for destroying evidence in the aftermath of the spill.
Should We Be Outraged That GM Has Resumed Political Giving?
It may be a new General Motors, but the company is already getting back to some of its old tricks. After nobly suspending donations to political campaigns after its bailout, the automaker has resumed its giving. Meanwhile, the U.S. remains the company's majority owner. As long as that's the case, the firm giving money to political figures should be forbidden.
The beneficiaries include Midwestern lawmakers, mostly Democrats, who have traditionally supported the industry's legislative agenda on Capitol Hill, including Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D., Mich.), Sen. Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio) and Rep. John Dingell (D., Mich.).
The list also includes Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor, the House Republican Whip, who would likely assume a top leadership post if Republicans win control of the House in November.
Such political giving should not be permitted. The U.S. government is majority shareholder of GM. It controls the company. This effectively means GM is providing non-dividend money to select decision makers of its biggest shareholder. It would be like if GEICO sought favorable treatment by giving money to select managers of Berkshire Hathaway, its parent company. If securities law doesn't forbid such activity, it certainly should.
Of course, once the government is no longer a major shareholder in the firm, then it should feel free to give as much money as it likes to political campaigns. But as long as the government has a controlling stake, this is a serious conflict-of-interest. Not only should GM be forbidden from providing these contributions, but the politicians should be forbidden from accepting.
Update: A GM Spokesperson contacted me to tell me that the contributions in question were from GM's Political Action Committee (PAC) which is comprised of voluntary contributions from GM employees. As a result, the section I struck through no longer applies. But you can decide for yourself if this makes the giving less improper. Using the example above, it would be like if GEICO employees voluntarily gave money to a GEICO-run fund that then gave money to select Berkshire management. Is that okay? If nothing else, it would likely have been wise for GM to encourage its employees to give to political campaigns on their own, instead of through the PAC, until the government no longer owns a majority share in the company so avoid the seeming conflict-of-interest.
THE Docklands’ first five-star hotel opened today — filling up most of its 87 rooms thanks to the Australian Open.
THE Docklands’ first five-star hotel opened today — acing bookings thanks to the Australian Open.
The luxury hotel, named Peppers, had 90 per cent of its rooms booked months in advance.
It’s billed as the precinct’s first five-star hotel, with a restaurant and bar, outdoor heated pool and child-minding service.
Prints of Melbourne’s iconic W-class trams line the walls of some of its 87 rooms.
General manager Jeremy Nordkamp said the new hotel — with direct access to Etihad Stadium -would be a drawcard for local and international tourists.
“With Melbourne’s sporting events peaking over summer, including the Australian Open and cricket season, it’s no surprise we’ve reached 90 per cent capacity upon opening to the public,” he said.
The Australian Open is predicted to pump $250 million in to the Victorian economy, with organisers declaring staff, players and spectators would book more than 17,000 hotel room nights across December and January.
The new Peppers hotel shares its building, dubbed M Docklands, with 186 residential apartments that will be settled from next month.
Its developer, Capital Alliance, is also responsible for plans for a $250 million hotel and residential for nearby Waterfront City.
residents alike are key to invigorating Docklands and ensuring its success,” chief executive Mohan Du said.
Gulf oil producers could have lost in excess of $324 billion (Dh1.19 trillion) as their massive overseas assets were hit by the global financial crisis, an official said.
Although the GCC countries have not publicised the size of their assets abroad, independent estimates put them at nearly $1.8trn, said Abdul Aziz Al Owaishik, Director of the Economic Integration and Studies at the Riyadh-based GCC Secretariat.
"We do not have exact figures on the value of the GCC government investments abroad but they have been estimated at nearly $1.8trn, round 60 per cent of which are believed to be dollar-denominated," he told the London-based Arabic language daily Al Hayat. "These assets are expected to have suffered from a paper loss of around 30 per cent of their total value, or even more."
Owaishik did not specify the size of the loss but at 60 per cent, the GCC dollar-based assets stood at $1.08trn. This means their loss of more than 30 per cent exceeded $324 billion because of the global crisis.
The bulk of those assets are controlled by sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) and are concentrated in the US and other Western industrial powers. The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority controls the biggest part of those assets as its overseas investments were estimated at between $350-875bn at the end of 2007.
"The global crisis has indirectly affected project financing in the GCC as local banks have become more cautious in extending loans and international banks have halted a large number of credit lines," he said.
PARIS (Reuters) - French waste and water group Suez (SEVI.PA) said its core earnings in the first nine months of the year rose 6.7 percent to 2.05 billion euros (1.82 billion pounds), boosted by a strong performance at its key European recycling division.
Nine-month revenues rose 13 percent to 12.7 billion euros, including a 12 percent or 1.34 billion euro effect due to the first-time consolidation of Suez’s GE Water acquisition.
Suez confirmed its 2018 earnings guidance for revenue growth of about nine percent and growth in EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) of about 10 percent, both at constant exchange rates. Nine-month EBIT stood at 963 million euros, up 4.4 percent gross and up 9.7 percent at constant exchange rates.
Inspired by the renowned HBO series, the Game of Thrones studio tour will open Westeros to everyone in spring 2020. Located at the Linen Mill Studios in Banbridge, Co Down the Game of Thrones Studio Tour is a must for all fans.
Showcasing authentic sets, costumes and props from all seasons of the hit series, including the upcoming eighth and final season, this engaging, enchanting tour will allow fans to truly step inside the world of Westeros and beyond.
The Game of Thrones Studio Tour, comprising the breathtaking imagery, captivating sets, original props and costumes, and other behind-the-scenes items from the hit HBO series Game of Thrones, will drop fans in the very heart of the Seven Kingdoms. Guests will be treated to an up-close and personal look at a wide selection of items pulled straight from the screen and have the opportunity to walk through authentic set pieces from some of the show’s most iconic scenes.
In collaboration with HBO Licensing & Retail, Linen Mill Studios are designing and building the new 110,000-square-foot interactive experience and will open its gates for visitors in Spring 2020. It is the first in a series of Game of Thrones Legacy projects announced by HBO last year.
Located within Linen Mill Studios in Banbridge, Northern Ireland - the original filming location used for many iconic scenes throughout the run of the series - the tour will bring visitors face-to-face with original set pieces, costumes, props, and weapons used to create the worlds of Westeros and Essos.
Featuring a compelling mix of behind-the-scenes insights, interactive elements, and expansive, fully dressed sets, visitors will wander in the very footsteps of Westeros’s most prominent residents, re-living key moments from the series and standing right where they took place.
In anticipation of the tour’s opening in Spring 2020, a world-class creative team is working closely with Linen Mill Studios and HBO to bring the dynamic environments of both Westeros and Essos to life in a new format.
The deeply immersive and sensory experience will evoke the show’s magnificence from King’s Landing, Winterfell, Dragonstone, The Wall and the lands beyond, to kingdoms across the Narrow Sea like Mereen and Braavos.
The Game of Thrones Studio Tour will allow fans from around the world to experience the craftsmanship and artistry of the Game of Thrones production team as part of the largest authentic public display of Game Of Thrones artifacts in the world.
The Studio Tour will also feature a first-of-its-kind collection of informative displays highlighting the production spaces and the craftsmanship and artistry of the creative teams who brought the epic series to life. Information about Production Design and the Art Department workshops will enhance the visitor experience along with an interactive Costume Department station, displays about the Make-up and Prosthetics Shop, The Armoury, and others.
“It is our sincere pleasure to announce the first attraction from the Game of Thrones Legacy project in Northern Ireland. Some of the most iconic scenes from Game of Thrones were filmed at Linen Mill Studios and our fans will soon have an opportunity to visit and see the work of the show’s incredible crew in the museum setting it deserves,” said Jeff Peters, vice president, licensing & retail, HBO.
"Linen Mill Studios is thrilled, in partnership with HBO, to have this opportunity to offer fans a unique insight into the making of the Game of Thrones series in the authentic setting of one of its foremost filming locations. We are committed to giving fans the opportunity to experience firsthand the most comprehensive selection of iconic elements from the show available anywhere in the world,” said Andrew Webb, Managing Director, Linen Mill Studios.
“Northern Ireland is very proud to host the epic adventure that is the production of Game of Thrones. Almost from the start fans of the show from near and far along with those that are just culturally curious have sought out and enjoyed visiting the public locations featured in the show. It's now really exciting that Linen Mill Studios, one of the film studios used by Game of Thrones from the start, is soon to become open to the public as a Game of Thrones visitor experience. It is brilliant that this visitor experience is being built and developed on top of the genuine film studio where many of the most iconic Game of Thrones scenes were filmed,” said Richard Williams, Chief Executive, Northern Ireland Screen.
“We very much welcome this exciting announcement. Game of Thrones has transformed Northern Ireland into a leading international screen tourism destination, bringing many more visitors and fans of the show to Northern Ireland to explore the stunning landscapes, coastlines and mountains showcased in the series. The new attraction will also allow visitors to see the authentic sets and costumes and learn how Game of Thrones was made.
"The StudioTour location at the Linen Mill Studios in Banbridge, midway between Belfast and Dublin, can be easily reached by the 11 million people who visit the Island of Ireland each year as well as providing even more reasons for international tourists to visit. I commend both Linen Mill Studios in recognising the increasing opportunity in screen tourism here and HBO’s commitment to Northern Ireland as the ‘Home of Thrones’. I have no doubt this investment will deliver a world-class visitor experience,” said John McGrillen, Chief Executive of Tourism NI.
Would you like to take the Game of Thrones Studio Tour but can't wait until 2020? Why not take a Game of Thrones Tour with IrishCentral instead? You can find all the information here.
Monied foodinistas have had the chance to eat food from a heady array of celebrity and inside-food-celebrity chefs over the past eight years during the Restaurant at Meadowood's annual, highly publicized guest chef benefit series known as the 12 Days of Christmas. But this year, as chef Christopher Kostow tells Inside Scoop, the Michelin three-star restaurant is giving itself the year off to regroup and just serve their normal menu during the holiday season of early December when the restaurant typically goes into hyper-speed dealing with new menus every night.
Kostow seems to suggest this will just be a one-year hiatus, and they're going to use the time to "rethink and refresh the entire series to make it as engaging as possible for the guests, the visiting chefs and the Restaurant's team."
Guest chefs over the years have include New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles luminaries like Nancy Silverton (Mozza), Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo (Animal, Son of a Gun), Jeremy Fox (Rustic Canyon Wine Bar + Kitchen), David Chang (Momofuku, etc.), Grant Achatz (Alinea, Next), Daniel Humm (Eleven Madison Park, Ignacio Mattos (Estela), and Andy Ricker (Pok Pok); as well as international guests like Christian Puglisi (Relæ in Copenhagen), Rasmus Kofoed (Geranium in Copenhagen), Kobe Desramaults (In De Wulf in Dranouter, Belgium), and Virgilio Martínez (Central in Lima, Peru).
Most recently, the Meadowood crew has been working on a casual offshoot in downtown St. Helena, in the former Tra Vigne space, called The Charter Oak. It's due to open sometime this year.
This optional subsystem clocks in at 9 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial/ToC, 1 page SRD, 1 page company logo, leaving us with 5 pages of content. The screen-version optimized for tablets instead clocks in at 15 pages, laid out in landscape format, and sports the same content.
This review is based on the revised and improved version of the pdf.
All right, so what is the Stealth Scale? If you’re like me and adore infiltration scenarios, you’ll have noted that Stealth can become pretty rolling-intense; The Stealth Scale proposes the following: Each character being stealthy tracks the position of the foes on the Stealth Scale – all of them, at once, with one token.
When using the Stealth Scale, it is assumed that creatures use two dominant senses to track creatures: Sight and hearing. These are the Basic Senses.
Keen Senses include darkvision, greensight, mistsight, low-light vision and see in darkness as well as spells like see invisibility.
Advanced Senses include blindsight, blindsense, lifesense, tremorsense, scent, thoughtsense and x-ray vision.
A huge improvement of the engine is the introduction of the masked conditions –basically, impaired creatures no longer necessarily drag down their groups and instead are treated as masked until the condition has been resolved. More on that later, but it is a game-changer of an improvement. Masks may pertain to either hearing, sight or other senses.
The Stealth Scale knows a total of 5 different states, which are summarized on a handy cheat-sheet that can now be found on the final page – now actually also listing mechanical benefits! This makes the cheat-sheet actually useful to have, so yeah, kudos.
Full awareness of a creature is called “Paying attention”; then comes “Aware”, which increases the Stealth DC by 5. “Alert” creatures are on guard; Cautious creatures decrease the Stealth DC by 5 and do not add Dex-bonus to AC against the Stealth-using character(s). Finally, Off Guard critters decrease Stealth DC by 10 and don’t add Dex-mod to AC or initiative.
With the Stealth Scale, other creatures are situated at a distinct point between Awareness and Stealth, which constitute, like on a scale, opposite sides of the same value. Increasing one decreases the other. A Stealth check is rolled versus 10 + highest Perception modifier from the observing group + number of creatures in the group + 5 per advanced sense in the group; Alternatively, 5 + CR can be used to calculate DCs; once more, significant improvement, as it makes the DC less metagamey.
The pdf proceeds to explain the most common actions and how they interact movement on the Stealth Scale – the rules are tighter and giving signals and creating distractions (and using them!) now actually are covered: Basically, distractions create temporary masks, which is really elegant.
Group Stealth is still handled by designating a Point Man – this character makes the Stealth check on behalf of the group. All other characters are designated as operatives and increase the DC of Stealth checks made by the point man by 2. Actions by all characters may increase Awareness, but only the Point Man may increase Stealth. Rejoining groups that temporarily split is btw. covered as well.
Editing and formatting have been significantly improved. Layout adheres to the two-column standard with a few subdued colors. The pdf has no interior artwork, but comes fully bookmarked for your convenience.
The system is elegant, quick and easy to grasp and the introduction of the mask-concept also nets the GM some tight controls and easy customization angles beyond what is contained herein – specialized masks can theoretically be created to suit individual requirements. Big kudos!
Gone are the hiccups in interaction with Occult Adventures and the cheat-sheet is actually useful as presented. To add a further bonus, the system is less metagamey without compromising the ease with which it can be used. Like day and night, a vast improvement over the original iteration!
I consider this an excellent alternative for the use of Stealth, easy to grasp, less rolling intense…what’s not to like? All things you can still complain about theoretically are direct results of the system-immanent complexity-decrease, and would as such not be fair.
Add to that the low and fair price point and we have a final verdict of 5 stars + seal of approval for the revised version of the Stealth Scale. Kudos indeed!!
You can get this inexpensive variant Stealth-system here on OBS!
Purple Duck Storeroom: Magic Pants!
The countries also agreed to further cooperate in maintaining peace, stability and development in the Indo-Pacific region as well as in the world at large.
Amid increasing Chinese assertiveness in the region, India and Vietnam have underlined the importance of freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea, while calling for peaceful settlement of disputes without threat or use of force.
After delegation-level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang yesterday, the two countries also resolved to deepen cooperation in the field of defence and security.
The Vietnamese side reiterated its consistent support for India's permanent membership to United Nations Security Council (UNSC), a joint statement said.
The two sides had also inked pacts for cooperation in the field of nuclear energy, trade and investment, and agriculture following Modi-Tran talks.
India and Vietnam also agreed to further cooperate in maintaining peace, stability and development in the Indo-Pacific region as well as in the world at large.
"They also reiterated the importance of, and the need for complete compliance with international law, notably the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS), including the implementation of international legal obligations," the statement said.
The two sides also underlined the importance of the "maintenance of freedom of navigation and over-flight in the South China Sea, full respect for diplomatic and legal processes, peaceful settlement of disputes without resorting to the threat or use of force, and in accordance with international law", it said.
Both sides support the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of the Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) and look forward to an early conclusion of an effective and substantive Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.
Prime Minister Modi and President Tran had a convergence of views on various bilateral and international issues, including the regional security situation in Asia, the statement said.
They reiterated the importance of achieving a peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific region where sovereignty and international law, freedom of navigation and overflight, sustainable development and a free, fair and open trade and investment system are respected, it said.
In November last year, China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) formally endorsed the framework adopted by their foreign ministers in August for a code of conduct (COC) to handle overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea.
Besides China and Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei also have over-lapping territorial claims in the sea, known to be rich in hydrocarbons.
The two sides emphasised that India and Vietnam play important roles in safeguarding and strengthening an open, transparent, inclusive and rules-based regional architecture and in further strengthening of cooperation with ASEAN.

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