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Diana serves, or has served, on numerous boards over the years. Those boards include Tessa, Safe Passage, the Ending Violence Against Women (EVAW) Program, and the El Paso County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. In 2005, Diana received the Colorado Springs Business Journal’s “Women of Influence Award”. |
Ms. May is a graduate of Colorado State University and received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Kansas School of Law. She is married to her husband Tony, who is a retired Colorado State Trooper. Together, she and her husband have one son Anthony (14). |
Russia's $9 Billion Drone Program Looks Like a Bluff, but Should You Laugh It Off? |
Just how serious a threat does Russia's drone program pose to U.S. defense contractors? |
Russia has high hopes of developing its own home-grown drones, such as this Dozor-600 being developed by St. Petersburg's Tranzas Company. Photo: Wikimedia Commons. |
This month, for the first time ever, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu revealed how much Russia intends to spend on building a fleet of high-speed, long-endurance, combat "drone" aircraft: $9 billion. |
So reports Russian daily Vedemosti, in a report that got picked up by DefenseNews.com just this past week. |
Nine billion dollars? That sounds like a lot of money. It means that, over the next six years, Russia will spend approximately $1.5 billion annually on its drone fleet -- splitting this roughly 50-50 between research and development, and actual purchases of actual drones. As Vedemosti notes, this is "only a few tens of... |
But here's the thing: The U.S. Pentagon is spending about $2 billion a year on UAV R&D alone. That's before accounting for additions to its drone fleet -- billions of dollars a year spent to accumulate an arsenal of General Atomics Predators and Reapers, Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Global Hawks and Fire Scouts, Textron... |
A Forpost UAV on display -- actually, a rebadged Israeli Searcher Mk 2. Photo: Wikimedia Commons. |
Historically, Russia's drone program has fallen somewhat short of high-tech. Photo: Wikimedia Commons. |
Should you be scared of rusty Russian weaponry? |
Vedemosti sheds even more light on the state of advancement of Russia's drone program. For example, "not all" of Russia's drones currently meet Defense Ministry standards of being able to keep eyes on-target for 100 hours continuously. According to one Defense Ministry source, Russia "needs another three to five years"... |
The U.K., while also behind the U.S. in drone technology, has been studying and using the aircraft for years, and is developing its own new stealthy, weapons-carrying drone: the Taranis. The British, however, don't expect to be able to field the Taranis before 2030. It seems unlikely that the Russians will be able to b... |
A recent report out of market researcher Teal Group predicted that global sales of UAVs will total $89 billion over the next 10 years -- with U.S. defense contractors winning 65% of those sales. Russia's push to spend $9 billion developing its own drone technology suggests the country would like to compete for a piece ... |
Yet despite Vedemosti's assertion that Russia has "500 drones" in its arsenal, and is investing in more, the last big drone development we heard out of Russia was that the country had had to go out and buy drones from Israel to outfit its fleet. Vedemosti says that even these drones are all "obsolete." And now we hear ... |
And that's probably the real upshot of this story. Until we learn that the UAE has overtaken the U.S. in drone technology, there's little to fear from the country that's buying its drones from them: Russia. |
Above: Kratos character model is filled with detail. |
Both video game spending and dad jokes were up in April. Consumer spending grew 18 percent year-over-year from $699 million to $823 million across the board, according to the industry-tracking firm The NPD Group. |
Santa Monica Studio’s God of War had the best launch month ever for a PlayStation 4 exclusive, in terms of dollar sales. It instantly ascended to the No. 1 spot on the top sellers list for April and it is now No. 3 on the best-selling games of 2018 behind Capcom’s Monster Hunter: World at No. 2 and Ubisoft’s Far Cry 5 ... |
April was a great month for Sony in particular, thanks to God of War. It was the best-selling publisher of the month, and the PlayStation 4 set a new record in software sales. |
Though God of War wrested the top spot from Far Cry 5, the cult-overthrowing open-world adventure didn’t tumble too far. It fell to No. 2 but it remains the best seller of 2018, and Ubisoft is still the top-selling publisher year-to-date. |
MLB 18: The Show stayed steady at the No. 3 spot last month, but Rare’s multiplayer pirate title Sea of Thieves plummeted to No. 18 after a strong start. Nintendo’s bet on cardboard landed its Labo Toy-Con 01 Variety Kit in the top 10, showing that players are willing to put their dollar where their memes are. Its Toy-... |
Spending on hardware grew 15 percent year-over-year in April from $195 million to $225 million, thanks mainly due to the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo’s SNES Classic. Sony came out on top — PlayStation 4 was the best-selling console last month as well as year-to-date, and its PlayStation 4 Pro bundle with God o... |
“PlayStation 4 generated the highest April unit sales for a console since Nintendo Wii in April 2009, and the highest April dollar sales for a console since Nintendo Wii in April 2008,” said Piscatella. |
Because of the high sales of PlayStation 4, it’s no surprise that the complementary DualShock 4 Wireless Controller has now set a record as the “all-time best-selling gamepad in dollar sales,” according to NPD. |
Accessories and game card spending overall was up 28 percent year-over-year in April, reaching $240 million as compared to 2017’s $187 million. |
AFP file photo | Morocco is sensitive about perceived threats to the Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony it annexed in 1975. |
Morocco has severed diplomatic ties with Iran over Tehran's support for the Polisario Front, a Western Sahara independence movement, the Moroccan foreign minister said on Tuesday. |
Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita accused Iran and its Lebanese Shiite ally, Hezbollah, of training and arming Polisario fighters via the Iranian embassy in Algeria. |
"This month Hezbollah sent (surface-to-air) SAM9, SAM11 and Strela missiles to the Polisario with the connivance of Iran’s embassy in Algiers," he told reporters. |
There was no immediate Iranian reaction to the Moroccan move or accusation. Iran has backed Polisario in the past. |
Hezbollah denied in a statement that it was training and arming Polisario and said Morocco had taken its decision under "American, Israeli and Saudi pressure". |
Algeria, Morocco's neighbour, hosts camps for people displaced by the conflict region and Polisario members but denies giving military aid to the group. |
Bourita said he had just returned from Iran after informing it of Morocco's decision to sever relations. Rabat's ambassador has already returned home and Iran's charge d'affaires will be expelled on Tuesday with immediate effect, he said. |
The Western Sahara region has effectively been split by an earthen wall separating an area controlled by Morocco that it claims as its southern provinces and territory controlled by the Polisario, with a UN-mandated buffer zone between them. |
Morocco also cut diplomatic ties with Shiite Iran in 2009 after accusing it of questioning Sunni rule in Bahrain, a Gulf Arab island that has a Shiite majority. |
Diplomatic relations were restored in 2014, but they were never strong, with Rabat enjoying close ties with Tehran's regional rival, Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia. |
The Bears will move up to Class 2A next season. |
When Blake's Joe Mairs became the fourth member of his team to win his singles match in the Class 1A boys' tennis team championship Wednesday at Reed-Sweatt Tennis Center, he offered no reaction. No joyous grunt or yell. No clenched fist. No smile. |
He had clinched a state title for the powerhouse program, the state's No. 1 team, which last year suffered a disappointing section loss to Breck. But for there to be much excitement, there needed to be drama, and there was none in Blake's state title victory. The Bears defeated Virginia 7-0. |
"This season we were back, more on top of things, trying to make sure it was a 7-0 win rather a 5-2," the state's No. 1 player, Ben Ingbar, said of his team's focus in an uneven matchup that could have given way to mental lapses. |
Ingbar, Mairs and Jack Barker — the state's top three singles players — didn't lose a game. The Virginia players, who reached the state finals with a 5-2 victory over St. Paul Academy, seemed to know they were overmatched. In Barker's match, after some of the points he scored, his opponent shook his head with his eyes ... |
The doubles matches weren't much more competitive. The Bears never loosened control of their leads. |
None of which is surprising. Blake, which will begin competing in Class 2A next season, went undefeated this season. The team even defeated Minnetonka, the Class 2A team champion, twice in six days. |
Blake’s Ben Ingbar held the Class 1A championship trophy while Jack Barker admired it and Joe Mairs applauded. All three Bears won 6-0, 6-0. |
In the semifinals Wednesday morning, the Bears defeated Rochester Lourdes 6-1. The match the Eagles won was only the seventh that Blake has lost all season. |
"We work hard on the little things," Bears coach Ted Warner said. "There's no such thing as an easy ball. Treat the ball with respect. Treat your opponent with respect. Really good players make certain shots look easy, but they're never that easy. We've worked hard on that kind of stuff." |
Fueled by marque new drama series addition, Nashville, CMT is on a streak of 21 consecutive weeks of year-to-year total day ratings growth in adults 18-49. While Nashville — which is half-way though its first season on CMT and fifth overall — has been renewed for a 16-episode sixth season, there are no plans to extend ... |
In other CMT scripted news, the network has passed on its soapy comedic pilot His Wives and Daughters, and the network also no longer is pursuing a Varsity Blues TV series adaptation, releasing the project which had been in development at CMT. |
Under Viacom’s new mandate of facilitating more cooperation between the brands, CMT’s breakout reality series The Dude Perfect Show, recently moved to one of the company’s six flagship networks, Nickelodeon, for Season 2. (Similarly, two newly picked up TV Land series, Heathers and American Woman, are migrating to anot... |
“Dude Perfect was a show that we aired and did very well with teen boys. It did so well that we moved it to Nickelodeon, which is the perfect home for that series,” Dinsmore said. |
He is a supporter of series relocating from one network to another. |
The network’s main goal is to keep the current momentum. |
With the help of Nashville, the network also has been able to attract blue-chip new advertisers that had not been on the network like Apple, Coca Cola and American Express, Dinsmore added, noting that Coca Cola has been locked in as sponsor for the first half of Nashville’s upcoming Season 5B, while Budweiser will be i... |
In April'17, most OEMs including Maruti Suzuki, Royal Enfield, TAMO (PV), Bajaj Auto and M&M (FES) reported better than expected numbers while Tata Motors (CV) and Ashok Leyland (M&HCV) posted a muted performance. While CV's remained under pressure due to unsold BSIII inventory and lower offtake of high priced BSIV veh... |
Growth in 4W segment for the month was resilient and players like Maruti Suzuki/TAMO/Toyota reported strong volumes buoyed by recent launches. Maintain top picks: HMCL, MSIL and Eicher. |
■ 2W industry was a mixed bag post heavy retail sales in March'17, due to liquidation of BSIII inventories. While HMCL sales declined 4% YoY to 591K units, TVSL's volumes grew +8% YoY/ -4% MoM (scooters sales grew +29% YoY, motorcycles: +10% YoY and mopeds declined -14% YoY) while exports grew +42% YoY. |
BJAUT's total 2W volume remained flat YoY to 293K, while export sales increased 44% YoY to 132K (Africa region stabilizes); domestic 2W sales declined 19% YoY to 162K. |
■ 4W volumes have been resilient as companies having recently launched new models managed to post good growth. MSIL's domestic sales increased +23% YoY; Tata Motors sales increased 23% YoY to 12,827 units due to recently launched Hexa, Tiago and Tigor. While Hyundai's volumes grew by +6%, Honda volumes saw a quantum ju... |
■ CVs saw a decline in the M&HCV segment due to pre-buying effect and unsold inventory of BSIII vehicles, coupled with higher priced BSIV vehicles saw limited offtake which led to weak demand in the month of April 2017. |
Tata Motors' total CV sales declined -36% YoY to 16,017 units (MHCV -50%; LCV -24%). Ashok Leyland and VECV sales declined 30% and 42% respectively on a YoY basis. Ashok Leyland M&HCV sales declined 43% YoY to 4,525 units whereas LCV sales increased 11% YoY to 2,558 units. |
■ Tractors continued with the momentum with M&M and Escorts' domestic tractor sales increasing 21% and 18% YoY respectively. |
Two Canadian soldiers and a British soldier died Monday in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan that may have been caused by mechanical failure or human error. |
The Canadians were Master Cpl. Patrice Audet, 38, and Cpl. Martin Joannette, 25. Three other Canadian soldiers, whose names weren't disclosed in keeping with military policy, were injured. Two of them have already returned to work while the third one was in stable condition at the hospital at the Kandahar Airfield. |
The third victim was a British soldier serving with the NATO-led force, said alliance spokesman Lt.-Cmdr. Chris Hall. The name of that soldier has not yet been released. |
The crash comes shortly after the deaths of two other Canadian soldiers, one of whom died Friday following the explosion of a roadside bomb and another who succumbed Saturday to wounds sustained in June. |
"It has been an extremely difficult week here in Kandahar," Canadian commander Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Vance said early Tuesday. "We all are feeling a great sense of loss." |
The crash occurred at about 1:50 p.m. local time at an American forward operating base in Zabul province, about 80 kilometres northeast of the city of Kandahar, and was not related to insurgent activity, the military said. |
The Zabul base is outside Canada's main sphere of operations, but the crew was apparently on a transport mission. |
The cause of the crash has not been determined, but enemy fire has been ruled out, Vance said. |
"A flight-safety investigation is currently underway to determine the cause of the crash," he said. |
Audet served with the 430 Tactical Helicopter Squadron while Joannette was with the 3rd Battalion, Royal 22nd Regiment. Both were based at Valcartier, Que. |
Vance described Audet as a "charismatic man who always knew the right words to put a smile on someone's face" and as a "big man with a gentle heart." |
Joannette had a "heart of gold and a remarkable generosity," Vance said. "He was a proud and devoted infantryman who excelled in adversity." |
The latest deaths bring to 124 the number of Canadian soldiers who have died as part of the Afghan mission since 2002. |
For 1966 it was a great idea, but 20 years later Seattle may have to spend $30 million to $40 million to solve the problems created by filling a gravel pit with garbage. |
As the garbage rotted, it generated methane gas that migrated through the subsurface to seep into homes as far as a mile away, beyond an interstate highway. Eleven families left their homes after technicians advised them that concentrations of methane at explosive levels had been measured. Although Seattle pays their l... |
''It's really a mess,'' said Diana Woeck, 40 years old, who has lived in two motel rooms for five weeks with her husband, David, 41, a longshoreman, and their sons Douglas, 17, Dustin, 15, Daniel, 5, and Derek, 4 months. |
The city pays the kennel charge for the family dog, but the cat and a rabbit are farmed out. |
The major cost may involve buying out properties involved. Some residents of the area, most of which lies to the east of Interstate 5, have tried to sell their homes and say no buyers have come forward. The houses range in value from $100,000 upward. |
Mrs. Woeck said she and her husband had just spent $20,000 in improvements on their home. She says she believes ''the city wants to settle by buying the house,'' which has been appraised at $125,000. The Woecks have filed a claim for that amount, plus an unspecified sum for their discomfort. |
Venting wells were drilled around the garbage dump after the methane problem was discovered. The gas is piped from wellhead to two flares, which it keeps burning. |
Late last year gas began to show up in tests of houses in the Yorkshire district across the freeway. Technicians believe it migrated along a porous vein of sand and gravel. |
Two families moved in November, and nine others did in mid-January. One family has returned. Five venting wells were drilled in spots where the heaviest concentrations had occurred. One well is in the Woecks' yard. There are 400 to 500 homes in the general area of the methane seepage. |
''The houses where we drilled venting wells now have zero readings,'' said Marybeth Turner, spokesman for the Seattle city engineering department. ''That's the good news.'' Second Problem Involved Technicians say the decaying garbage can produce methane for 30 years. A second problem, which has been deferred, is to fin... |
Officials have walked a tightrope in urging families to move when methane in dangerous concentrations was found, and they have not yet been faced with a family that refused, said Greg Bishop, a supervisor in the Seattle-King County Health Department. |
Stanley Vaivadas, interviewed at the mailbox in front of his home, is one of those who is skeptical about the warnings. |
Down the street a private security guard pulled into a driveway of a vacant house to check on it. Seattle pays for security services for homes vacated because of methane danger. |
The comments that were dug up on Kevin Hart's social media were homophobic in nature. But the comedian was towing a different line earlier in the day, saying that he has been well aware of those old comments, and stating that he has addressed them repeatedly in the past, and shown that he has grown as a person, and as ... |
In fact, in this video, Kevin Hart basically says that he received a phone call from the Academy telling him to apologize, or they'd have to find a new host. And Hart says he refuses to give into the Internet trolls, and that the same energy used to dig up those old Tweets could also be used to find the conversations t... |
But something happened between this video and the Tweets above, because Kevin Hart ultimately decided not to be a distraction, and to remove himself from the telecast. |
In the old Tweets, Kevin Hart used homophobic language when firing back at people who were criticizing him on social media. They weren't jokes. They were statements and replies that happened to use homophobic slang in derogatory fashion. |
Kevin Hart's point was that he has addressed these comments already, apologized for them, and he doesn't support the relitigation of one's history. But rather than continue to cast a shadow over the entire event, he stepped down. |
And now the Academy is back to square one, looking for a host to fill what has become, in recent years, a thankless gig. What once was an illustrious honor has become an invitation for performers to be torn down by critics over every little chance they take. Oscar hosts are either not funny, taking too much time, not o... |
The Academy has tried comedians (Jon Stewart, Chris Rock). They have tried actors (Anne Hathaway and James Franco), and seasoned awards hosts (Neil Patrick Harris). Truthfully, I'm not sure what the solution is. Do you? |
The person who made the decision to site temporary bus stops in Jubilee Way should be brought to account. |
The situation on Friday (August 31) highlights what happened. |
Traffic was already tailed back along Lincoln Road towards the garden centre yet we had buses stopping on one of the busiest roads in the town. |
Why couldn’t the layby on Jubilee Way have been coned off and cars prevented from parking in it. |
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