Recag/C4_8 · Datasets at Hugging Face

text stringlengths 9 78.2k
The Full Year bottom line is up only 1% on the $2.274 Billion Net Profit posted for 2007. EBITDA came in at $4.538 Billion, up 36% year on year, on Revenues of $11.698 Billion, up 52%.
The result clearly outline the full impact of the global economic downturn on the steelmaking sector, with the 4Q loss of $480 million a staggering turnaround from the $1.228 Billion Net Profit posted in 3Q 2008. 4Q EBITDA came in at $518.2 million, down 71% quarter on quarter, on the back of 4Q Revenues of $2.058 Billion, down 45% quarter on quarter.
Chief Financial Officer, Galina Aglyamova, noted the ongoing impact of the crash in steel demand and prices, after a buoyant 9M 2008.
“..at the end of Q3 we witnessed a drop in sales prices, as a result of a global financial crisis and drastic decline in demand. As the global economy continued its slowdown, in Q4 we witnessed a further decline in demand for our products and had to face substantial sales decline as well as price deterioration. In Q1 2009 we see its ongoing impact on demand and on prices.
The company isn’t expecting a rapid turnaround forecasting a ‘significant’ year on year decrease in Revenues, Sales and prices. It notes that the range of economic stimulus measures being implemented globally may see some improvement in 2H 2009.
JCCSF turns its sukkah into an art experience – J.
Who could have predicted way back in 1969 that a Rolling Stones song title would one day be put to use to reinterpret a Jewish holiday?
The song, “Gimme Shelter,” is the title and theme of the experimental new installation “Gimme Shelter: The Sonic Sukkah Experience.” The exhibit is an interactive audiovisual tapestry of Jewish voices, and it will be both online and on display at the JCC of San Francisco from Tuesday, Sept. 21 through Oct. 3.
Rapper Ephryme, among many others, offer their takes on Sukkot, home and shelter.
The installation is part of the JCC’s weeklong “Sukkot: Outside In” celebration, which also features a farmers market, lectures, workshops and a “Schmooze in the Sukkah” party.
Gimme Shelter’s free opening reception on Tuesday, Sept. 21, will include etrog drop cocktails, a blessing by Rabbi Elliot Kukla, and live music by Jascha Hoffman of Girls in Trouble and U.C. Davis American studies professor Ari Kelman with his band, Tukhes.
At the installation patrons will be able to step inside a traditional sukkah and pick up a pair of headphones (there will be many) to listen to different people interpreting Sukkot. The recordings also will be available online with accompanying photographs.
For the project, co-curators Dan Wolf and Brian Garrick, both of JCCSF’s The Hub, contacted artists, musicians, rabbis and community leaders around the world to get their takes on Sukkot, home and shelter. Local contributors were recorded onsite at the JCC or by Garrick; global participants sent in their pieces. The completed project includes recordings and photographs from 18 people scattered about the Bay Area, New York and Israel.
“The heart of the project is the audio recordings,” Garrick says.
Wolf and Garrick asked all participants the same six questions — including “what does home mean to you?” and “what gives you shelter?” — and received wildly different responses. While some of those involved, such as American Jewish World Service president Ruth Messinger, gave meaningful, straightforward answers, others stretched the idea even further.
“People really took the idea and ran with it,” Wolf says.
Jewish rapper Eprhyme chose to respond with a rap about home and shelter, in which he sampled the original Rolling Stones “Gimme Shelter” beat. Similarly, Michael Hearst of rock band One Ring Zero also chose to answer in song form.
Kelman, who’ll be performing at the opening reception, created a soundscape in which he sampled religious verses.
Robbie Gringras, a British theater artist now living in Israel, recorded a humorous piece about descending into a bomb shelter — and what to tell your daughter if bombs are falling outside. His piece includes images of the actual shelter he hid in during the Lebanon War.
Kukla’s recording, about his work with Bay Area Jewish Healing Center, will be complemented in the sukkah by his paintings created in response to his experiences praying with patients.
New JCCSF executive director Barry Finestone recorded himself discussing his family’s move to the Bay Area.
After gathering all the responses this summer, Wolf and Garrick got to work editing the audio and visuals into 18 different pieces.
“We heard real and diverse stories, different voices and different kinds of music, different flavors — we heard the full range of expressions of people riffing on Sukkot,” Garrick says.
At the exhibit, artwork and photographs submitted by the different storytellers will accompany the recordings. After listening, visitors will be able to leave comment.
The Sukkot reinterpretation is part of an ambitious plan from the Hub, a young adult organization that explores Jewish identity through arts and culture.
“Gimme Shelter: The Sonic Sukkah Experience” will run Tuesday, Sept. 21, through Oct. 3 at JCCSF, 3200 California St., S.F. Free opening reception at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 21. Information: www.jccsf.org/gimmeshelter.
Slider phones seems to be my latest bag. So I am happy to present that PT-S280 slider from Pantech & Curitel. What makes this phone stand out from the usual slew of crap Korean phones is the included Moneta software. Moneta is a banking application capable of performing money transfers, balance checking, etc. The mobile banking project has been around in Korea for some time, but it is just now really taking off overseas. If trends follow the same path, then maybe some better Moneta-esque applications can hit mobile handsets stateside soon.
This phone also has a 2-inch display, camera, and more.
(Reuters) - France have suffered injury blows ahead of their matches against the Netherlands and Uruguay, with midfielder Paul Pogba, forwards Anthony Martial and Alexandre Lacazette, and defender Benjamin Mendy ruled out.
Manchester United’s Pogba and Martial arrived at France’s Clairefontaine training base but were released following an assessment by team doctor Franck Le Gall, the French Football Federation (FFF) said on Monday.
Arsenal’s Lacazette was called up to replace Martial, but was ruled out a few hours later due to an unspecified injury after Le Gall spoke to the English club’s medical staff.
Pogba, who missed United’s 3-1 away defeat by Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday, was diagnosed with a muscular lesion in his left thigh, while Martial has an adductor issue.
Manchester City left back Mendy has a knee sprain and has been replaced by Olympique Lyonnais defender Ferland Mendy, while Borussia Moenchengladbach forward Alassane Plea was called up for Lacazette.
Tottenham Hotspur’s Moussa Sissoko came in for Pogba.
Martial played 90 minutes and scored United’s goal against City from the penalty spot in the second half.
The injury will be frustrating for Martial, who fought his way back into the national squad after scoring six goals in his last five league appearances for United.
World champions France visit the Netherlands in the Nations League on Friday before facing Uruguay in a friendly on Nov. 20.
The government is going to stop accepting ‘guesstimates’ for large-scale projects.
Not a fan of Peony & Blush then.
When Dermot talks, we listen.
Mary Moore from Rathcoole in south county Dublin featured on the architectural renovation TV series in 2009, when works were carried out on her three-bedroom home.
Did you catch these brilliantly Irish subtitles on Room To Improve last night?
The introduction of a Feng Shui expert was the final straw.
Vilnius (AFP) – Vitali Klitschko, Ukraine's popular politician and world heavyweight boxing champ, said Monday opposition parties could decide on a challenger to President Viktor Yanukovych in a "couple of months".
Klitschko, 42, whose party finished third in the 2012 parliamentary elections, said he was thinking about running against Yanukovych, but insisted solid support from all opposition parties would be key to his decision.
"It is very important to have (a) united candidate" with the "biggest chance to win," he told reporters in Lithuania, speaking alongside other Ukraine opposition leaders.
"We need (a) couple of months more," he said, asked by AFP about a potential date.
This summer Klitschko, who has the nickname of "Dr Ironfist", edged ahead of Yanukovych among potential voters for the first time, according to a June study by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology.
He got the backing of 16 percent of potential voters, as opposed to 14 percent for the president.
Nearly half of the respondents said they currently had no preference or were against all the potential candidates named by the pollster.
Besides Klitchko's UDAR (Punch) party, Ukraine has two other main opposition groups including the Batkivshchyna party of jailed ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko's and the strongly nationalist Svoboda group.
On Monday, top officials of all three were in Lithuania -- holder of the EU's half year rotating presidency ???- for talks on a free trade and association agreement Ukraine expects to sign with the EU in Vilnius in late November.
Vitali, 42, currently holds the WBC heavyweight title. His younger brother Wladimir, 37, holds four heavyweight world titles.
Here's a chance to win a pair of tickets to "Young Frankenstein" on March 6.
Wanna win a pair of tickets to see "Young Frankenstein" on March 6 at Robinson Center Music Hall? Ah, who am I kidding, of course you do. It's simple: just send an email to tiffanyholland@arktimes.com with "Young Frankenstein tickets" in the subject line and you'll be entered. The deadline is Sunday March 4 and the winners will be contacted Monday March 5.
Advertised as the “Showcase of the Immortals,” WrestleMania isn’t just the Super Bowl for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), it’s an economic boon to the city lucky enough to host.
Last year’s WrestleMania 33 made a US$181.5 million economic impact on the Orlando region. But even with its 1.5 million-subscriber streaming network and immense social media following, WWE wasn’t the only game in town.
Smaller groups such as Ring of Honor, EVOLVE and Progress also put on shows in Orlando for its fans. Under the corporate shadow of the WWE, a vibrant independent wrestling scene flexed it muscles.
I spoke with those plying their trade outside of WWE, and they told me that they’re finding it easier to make a full-time living from wrestling.
They’ve done it by embracing the opportunities of the digital age and its promise for the bold, creative and self-motivated. By foregoing traditional media channels to connect with fans, sell their wares and promote their skills on a global scale, they’ve helped fuel an indie wrestling boom.
When WWE Chairman and CEO Vincent K. McMahon began raiding the talents of regional promotions in the 1980s to expand his wrestling empire, he applied a headlock on the American wrestling scene that’s still firmly applied.
In 2001, McMahon purchased the Time Warner-owned World Championship Wrestling (WCW), eliminating its last viable competitor and significantly reducing opportunities for gainful employment in wrestling. Although Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (now Impact) spent many years on the Viacom-owned Spike TV, WWE has spent the 2000s without much in the way of serious competition.
That’s started to change in today’s climate of tech disruption and globalization. Wrestling’s acrobatic moves and daredevil stunts are tailor-made for the age of YouTube and GIFs, while streaming services such as New Japan World, Fite and Twitch have made it easier than ever to binge on wrestling.
Investors have noticed: The Mark Cuban-led AXS TV has made a deal to air New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) on cable for U.S. audiences.
Other outfits now have substantial corporate backers. The Sinclair Broadcast Group owns Ring of Honor, the Japanese entertainment company Bushiroad runs New Japan Pro Wrestling, while the Canadian broadcaster Anthem Sports & Entertainment is behind Impact Wrestling.
Since 1982, Meltzer’s newsletter has been a resource for fans intrigued by the inner workings of wrestling. Since 2008, he’s offered both digital and print versions of the newsletter. Increased coverage of wrestling from the likes of Sports Illustrated, ESPN and Rolling Stone has also raised the profile of non-WWE offerings.
Fixtures in the Ring of Honor and NJPW promotions, Bullet Club members such as brother tag team The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega have set a new standard for creatively moving merchandise and delivering incredibly entertaining performances, often with heavy doses of humor.
Lauded as one of wrestling’s most exciting attractions, Omega dazzled 35,000 fans in Tokyo in early January in a match against a longtime WWE star, Chris Jericho. The group’s ranks also include Cody Rhodes, a second-generation wrestler who experienced a career resurgence after leaving WWE in 2016.
Last year, Bullet Club T-shirts became available at Hot Topic’s more than 600 stores. Members have signed contracts with Funko, a maker of popular vinyl figures. Their YouTube series “Being The Elite” has over 165,000 subscribers.
The Wrestling Observer reported that Bullet Club had Hot Topic’s best-selling shirts during the week of Thanksgiving, while the printer Pro Wrestling Tees claimed sales of 417,430 over four months at the retailer.
The Chicago-based Pro Wrestling Tees has upended the model for selling merchandise on the indie scene, creating revenue streams for 800 wrestlers. According to Sports Illustrated, the company has paid more than $3.5 million in royalties from sales since 2013.
If there’s one independent wrestler who embodies this entrepreneurial spirit, it’s Scott Colton. Better known as Colt Cabana, he’s tackled various side hustles after a brief, disappointing run in WWE.
Additionally, he’s the co-founder of the aforementioned Pro Wrestling Tees, a stand-up comedian, a sometimes actor (“Maron,” “Chicago P.D.”) and even a children’s book author.
Despite the new opportunities, indie wrestlers, like other entrepreneurs, are grappling with making a living without employer-provided health care and retirement benefits. Plus, there’s that business of learning a craft that’s dangerous and competitive.
Me, before I found out about the end of Google Reader.
When I found out yesterday afternoon that Google was shutting down Google Reader, I thought it was a prank.
It is one of the three Google services I use multiple times a day for work, in addition to email and search. My reader is one of a few automatic tabs that open when I start my browser every morning.
As an editor, I love having the dozens of publications I read daily in one place, from the real estate section of the Wall Street Journal to a niche blog about luxury shopping in China.
So when I found out that the news was real, and that Google Reader would no longer be available after July 1, I was peeved.
Yes, I'm in the media, and probably rely on Google Reader more than most people to keep up with the news.
But I consider myself a "normal" person and not a "tech nerd" — I've had the same MacBook since 2007, I've never paid for an app, and even though I've worked at Business Insider for more than two years, a lot of the news on SAI goes right over my head.
In fact, this is the first time I can recall having an emotional reaction, positive or negative, to tech news.
The truth is, Google Reader makes my job much easier, and I dread the thought of turning on my computer the first day of July and seeing an error page where my feeds used to be. I've heard there are other services that can replace my reader once its defunct, but it seems inconvenient to switch when my current reader works perfectly well.
For me — and for the thousands of people who have signed petitions begging Google to change its mind— it's a useful tool, and probably not too costly or complicated to keep around.
So why are they killing it?
PHOENIX — Just before 4 p.m. on Tuesday, at an intersection near the convention center where President Trump was scheduled to hold a campaign rally, two vendors hawked products with competing messages.
The event would not start for another three hours, but thousands of rallygoers and protesters had already arrived downtown and made clear on which side they stood.
They swapped accusations of being ignorant or brainwashed, of being paid to be there, of being on the wrong side of history, of being hateful. Some tried to engage in discussions, but those often devolved into screaming positions over and over again as both sides recorded video of the exchange. Local police officers in casual polo shirts served as a buffer.
Under the hot August sun that afternoon, the political and racial divisions that have deepened across the country in recent weeks played out on this city’s downtown streets.
As the temperature hovered near 106 degrees, volunteers on both sides handed out bottles of water.
Nearby, the Rev. Michael Weldon sat on the steps of St. Mary’s Basilica in a brown robe and quietly prayed: Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
“I hear anger in people’s voices,” he said.
On the other side of the convention center, rallygoers stood in line along a street protected by trash and recycling trucks. A protester in a floppy hat held a neon pink sign reading “Trump the Ignoramus” and loudly mocked the president for avoiding the draft and for not following through on many of his campaign promises, such as building a wall and locking up his political rival, Hillary Clinton.
“He’s a chicken! Chicken!” the man shouted.
Elam said she’s glad Trump ignored the pleas from Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton (D) to delay the event because the country is so divided following a rally in Charlottesville earlier this month that attracted hundreds of white supremacists and neo-Nazis and ended in violence.
Elam, who works in the health-care industry and lives in Tempe, Ariz., said she’s alarmed to see cities remove monuments to Confederate leaders, an action she compared theoretically to conservatives removing the statues of civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr.
She struggled to list what Trump has done as president that she likes. For her, success is more of a feeling than a laundry list of actions.
To Betsy Sweeney, a 70-year-old East Coast transplant living in Phoenix, the president’s behavior since taking office has been un-American. She believes the president is an embarrassment who is disrespectfully holding a rally so soon after the clashes in Charlottesville that left a counterprotester dead.
“No other president would behave in the manner that he’s been behaving in,” said Sweeney, a health-care worker who said her elderly patients would suffer under the health care changes Trump has proposed.
Police in helmets and bulletproof vests were now on the scene, and black-clad and masked protesters associated with the far-left antifa movement — short for anti-fascist — began to file into the crowd of protesters.

The Full Year bottom line is up only 1% on the $2.274 Billion Net Profit posted for 2007. EBITDA came in at $4.538 Billion, up 36% year on year, on Revenues of $11.698 Billion, up 52%.

The result clearly outline the full impact of the global economic downturn on the steelmaking sector, with the 4Q loss of $480 million a staggering turnaround from the $1.228 Billion Net Profit posted in 3Q 2008. 4Q EBITDA came in at $518.2 million, down 71% quarter on quarter, on the back of 4Q Revenues of $2.058 Billion, down 45% quarter on quarter.

Chief Financial Officer, Galina Aglyamova, noted the ongoing impact of the crash in steel demand and prices, after a buoyant 9M 2008.

“..at the end of Q3 we witnessed a drop in sales prices, as a result of a global financial crisis and drastic decline in demand. As the global economy continued its slowdown, in Q4 we witnessed a further decline in demand for our products and had to face substantial sales decline as well as price deterioration. In Q1 2009 we see its ongoing impact on demand and on prices.

The company isn’t expecting a rapid turnaround forecasting a ‘significant’ year on year decrease in Revenues, Sales and prices. It notes that the range of economic stimulus measures being implemented globally may see some improvement in 2H 2009.

JCCSF turns its sukkah into an art experience – J.

Who could have predicted way back in 1969 that a Rolling Stones song title would one day be put to use to reinterpret a Jewish holiday?

The song, “Gimme Shelter,” is the title and theme of the experimental new installation “Gimme Shelter: The Sonic Sukkah Experience.” The exhibit is an interactive audiovisual tapestry of Jewish voices, and it will be both online and on display at the JCC of San Francisco from Tuesday, Sept. 21 through Oct. 3.

Rapper Ephryme, among many others, offer their takes on Sukkot, home and shelter.

The installation is part of the JCC’s weeklong “Sukkot: Outside In” celebration, which also features a farmers market, lectures, workshops and a “Schmooze in the Sukkah” party.

Gimme Shelter’s free opening reception on Tuesday, Sept. 21, will include etrog drop cocktails, a blessing by Rabbi Elliot Kukla, and live music by Jascha Hoffman of Girls in Trouble and U.C. Davis American studies professor Ari Kelman with his band, Tukhes.

At the installation patrons will be able to step inside a traditional sukkah and pick up a pair of headphones (there will be many) to listen to different people interpreting Sukkot. The recordings also will be available online with accompanying photographs.

For the project, co-curators Dan Wolf and Brian Garrick, both of JCCSF’s The Hub, contacted artists, musicians, rabbis and community leaders around the world to get their takes on Sukkot, home and shelter. Local contributors were recorded onsite at the JCC or by Garrick; global participants sent in their pieces. The completed project includes recordings and photographs from 18 people scattered about the Bay Area, New York and Israel.

“The heart of the project is the audio recordings,” Garrick says.

Wolf and Garrick asked all participants the same six questions — including “what does home mean to you?” and “what gives you shelter?” — and received wildly different responses. While some of those involved, such as American Jewish World Service president Ruth Messinger, gave meaningful, straightforward answers, others stretched the idea even further.

“People really took the idea and ran with it,” Wolf says.

Jewish rapper Eprhyme chose to respond with a rap about home and shelter, in which he sampled the original Rolling Stones “Gimme Shelter” beat. Similarly, Michael Hearst of rock band One Ring Zero also chose to answer in song form.

Kelman, who’ll be performing at the opening reception, created a soundscape in which he sampled religious verses.

Robbie Gringras, a British theater artist now living in Israel, recorded a humorous piece about descending into a bomb shelter — and what to tell your daughter if bombs are falling outside. His piece includes images of the actual shelter he hid in during the Lebanon War.

Kukla’s recording, about his work with Bay Area Jewish Healing Center, will be complemented in the sukkah by his paintings created in response to his experiences praying with patients.

New JCCSF executive director Barry Finestone recorded himself discussing his family’s move to the Bay Area.

After gathering all the responses this summer, Wolf and Garrick got to work editing the audio and visuals into 18 different pieces.

“We heard real and diverse stories, different voices and different kinds of music, different flavors — we heard the full range of expressions of people riffing on Sukkot,” Garrick says.

At the exhibit, artwork and photographs submitted by the different storytellers will accompany the recordings. After listening, visitors will be able to leave comment.

The Sukkot reinterpretation is part of an ambitious plan from the Hub, a young adult organization that explores Jewish identity through arts and culture.

“Gimme Shelter: The Sonic Sukkah Experience” will run Tuesday, Sept. 21, through Oct. 3 at JCCSF, 3200 California St., S.F. Free opening reception at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 21. Information: www.jccsf.org/gimmeshelter.

Slider phones seems to be my latest bag. So I am happy to present that PT-S280 slider from Pantech & Curitel. What makes this phone stand out from the usual slew of crap Korean phones is the included Moneta software. Moneta is a banking application capable of performing money transfers, balance checking, etc. The mobile banking project has been around in Korea for some time, but it is just now really taking off overseas. If trends follow the same path, then maybe some better Moneta-esque applications can hit mobile handsets stateside soon.

This phone also has a 2-inch display, camera, and more.

(Reuters) - France have suffered injury blows ahead of their matches against the Netherlands and Uruguay, with midfielder Paul Pogba, forwards Anthony Martial and Alexandre Lacazette, and defender Benjamin Mendy ruled out.

Manchester United’s Pogba and Martial arrived at France’s Clairefontaine training base but were released following an assessment by team doctor Franck Le Gall, the French Football Federation (FFF) said on Monday.

Arsenal’s Lacazette was called up to replace Martial, but was ruled out a few hours later due to an unspecified injury after Le Gall spoke to the English club’s medical staff.

Pogba, who missed United’s 3-1 away defeat by Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday, was diagnosed with a muscular lesion in his left thigh, while Martial has an adductor issue.

Manchester City left back Mendy has a knee sprain and has been replaced by Olympique Lyonnais defender Ferland Mendy, while Borussia Moenchengladbach forward Alassane Plea was called up for Lacazette.

Tottenham Hotspur’s Moussa Sissoko came in for Pogba.

Martial played 90 minutes and scored United’s goal against City from the penalty spot in the second half.

The injury will be frustrating for Martial, who fought his way back into the national squad after scoring six goals in his last five league appearances for United.

World champions France visit the Netherlands in the Nations League on Friday before facing Uruguay in a friendly on Nov. 20.

The government is going to stop accepting ‘guesstimates’ for large-scale projects.

Not a fan of Peony & Blush then.

When Dermot talks, we listen.

Mary Moore from Rathcoole in south county Dublin featured on the architectural renovation TV series in 2009, when works were carried out on her three-bedroom home.

Did you catch these brilliantly Irish subtitles on Room To Improve last night?

The introduction of a Feng Shui expert was the final straw.

Vilnius (AFP) – Vitali Klitschko, Ukraine's popular politician and world heavyweight boxing champ, said Monday opposition parties could decide on a challenger to President Viktor Yanukovych in a "couple of months".

Klitschko, 42, whose party finished third in the 2012 parliamentary elections, said he was thinking about running against Yanukovych, but insisted solid support from all opposition parties would be key to his decision.

"It is very important to have (a) united candidate" with the "biggest chance to win," he told reporters in Lithuania, speaking alongside other Ukraine opposition leaders.

"We need (a) couple of months more," he said, asked by AFP about a potential date.

This summer Klitschko, who has the nickname of "Dr Ironfist", edged ahead of Yanukovych among potential voters for the first time, according to a June study by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology.

He got the backing of 16 percent of potential voters, as opposed to 14 percent for the president.

Nearly half of the respondents said they currently had no preference or were against all the potential candidates named by the pollster.

Besides Klitchko's UDAR (Punch) party, Ukraine has two other main opposition groups including the Batkivshchyna party of jailed ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko's and the strongly nationalist Svoboda group.

On Monday, top officials of all three were in Lithuania -- holder of the EU's half year rotating presidency ???- for talks on a free trade and association agreement Ukraine expects to sign with the EU in Vilnius in late November.

Vitali, 42, currently holds the WBC heavyweight title. His younger brother Wladimir, 37, holds four heavyweight world titles.

Here's a chance to win a pair of tickets to "Young Frankenstein" on March 6.

Wanna win a pair of tickets to see "Young Frankenstein" on March 6 at Robinson Center Music Hall? Ah, who am I kidding, of course you do. It's simple: just send an email to tiffanyholland@arktimes.com with "Young Frankenstein tickets" in the subject line and you'll be entered. The deadline is Sunday March 4 and the winners will be contacted Monday March 5.

Advertised as the “Showcase of the Immortals,” WrestleMania isn’t just the Super Bowl for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), it’s an economic boon to the city lucky enough to host.

Last year’s WrestleMania 33 made a US$181.5 million economic impact on the Orlando region. But even with its 1.5 million-subscriber streaming network and immense social media following, WWE wasn’t the only game in town.

Smaller groups such as Ring of Honor, EVOLVE and Progress also put on shows in Orlando for its fans. Under the corporate shadow of the WWE, a vibrant independent wrestling scene flexed it muscles.

I spoke with those plying their trade outside of WWE, and they told me that they’re finding it easier to make a full-time living from wrestling.

They’ve done it by embracing the opportunities of the digital age and its promise for the bold, creative and self-motivated. By foregoing traditional media channels to connect with fans, sell their wares and promote their skills on a global scale, they’ve helped fuel an indie wrestling boom.

When WWE Chairman and CEO Vincent K. McMahon began raiding the talents of regional promotions in the 1980s to expand his wrestling empire, he applied a headlock on the American wrestling scene that’s still firmly applied.

In 2001, McMahon purchased the Time Warner-owned World Championship Wrestling (WCW), eliminating its last viable competitor and significantly reducing opportunities for gainful employment in wrestling. Although Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (now Impact) spent many years on the Viacom-owned Spike TV, WWE has spent the 2000s without much in the way of serious competition.

That’s started to change in today’s climate of tech disruption and globalization. Wrestling’s acrobatic moves and daredevil stunts are tailor-made for the age of YouTube and GIFs, while streaming services such as New Japan World, Fite and Twitch have made it easier than ever to binge on wrestling.

Investors have noticed: The Mark Cuban-led AXS TV has made a deal to air New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) on cable for U.S. audiences.

Other outfits now have substantial corporate backers. The Sinclair Broadcast Group owns Ring of Honor, the Japanese entertainment company Bushiroad runs New Japan Pro Wrestling, while the Canadian broadcaster Anthem Sports & Entertainment is behind Impact Wrestling.

Since 1982, Meltzer’s newsletter has been a resource for fans intrigued by the inner workings of wrestling. Since 2008, he’s offered both digital and print versions of the newsletter. Increased coverage of wrestling from the likes of Sports Illustrated, ESPN and Rolling Stone has also raised the profile of non-WWE offerings.

Fixtures in the Ring of Honor and NJPW promotions, Bullet Club members such as brother tag team The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega have set a new standard for creatively moving merchandise and delivering incredibly entertaining performances, often with heavy doses of humor.

Lauded as one of wrestling’s most exciting attractions, Omega dazzled 35,000 fans in Tokyo in early January in a match against a longtime WWE star, Chris Jericho. The group’s ranks also include Cody Rhodes, a second-generation wrestler who experienced a career resurgence after leaving WWE in 2016.

Last year, Bullet Club T-shirts became available at Hot Topic’s more than 600 stores. Members have signed contracts with Funko, a maker of popular vinyl figures. Their YouTube series “Being The Elite” has over 165,000 subscribers.

The Wrestling Observer reported that Bullet Club had Hot Topic’s best-selling shirts during the week of Thanksgiving, while the printer Pro Wrestling Tees claimed sales of 417,430 over four months at the retailer.

The Chicago-based Pro Wrestling Tees has upended the model for selling merchandise on the indie scene, creating revenue streams for 800 wrestlers. According to Sports Illustrated, the company has paid more than $3.5 million in royalties from sales since 2013.

If there’s one independent wrestler who embodies this entrepreneurial spirit, it’s Scott Colton. Better known as Colt Cabana, he’s tackled various side hustles after a brief, disappointing run in WWE.

Additionally, he’s the co-founder of the aforementioned Pro Wrestling Tees, a stand-up comedian, a sometimes actor (“Maron,” “Chicago P.D.”) and even a children’s book author.

Despite the new opportunities, indie wrestlers, like other entrepreneurs, are grappling with making a living without employer-provided health care and retirement benefits. Plus, there’s that business of learning a craft that’s dangerous and competitive.

Me, before I found out about the end of Google Reader.

When I found out yesterday afternoon that Google was shutting down Google Reader, I thought it was a prank.

It is one of the three Google services I use multiple times a day for work, in addition to email and search. My reader is one of a few automatic tabs that open when I start my browser every morning.

As an editor, I love having the dozens of publications I read daily in one place, from the real estate section of the Wall Street Journal to a niche blog about luxury shopping in China.

So when I found out that the news was real, and that Google Reader would no longer be available after July 1, I was peeved.

Yes, I'm in the media, and probably rely on Google Reader more than most people to keep up with the news.

But I consider myself a "normal" person and not a "tech nerd" — I've had the same MacBook since 2007, I've never paid for an app, and even though I've worked at Business Insider for more than two years, a lot of the news on SAI goes right over my head.

In fact, this is the first time I can recall having an emotional reaction, positive or negative, to tech news.

The truth is, Google Reader makes my job much easier, and I dread the thought of turning on my computer the first day of July and seeing an error page where my feeds used to be. I've heard there are other services that can replace my reader once its defunct, but it seems inconvenient to switch when my current reader works perfectly well.

For me — and for the thousands of people who have signed petitions begging Google to change its mind— it's a useful tool, and probably not too costly or complicated to keep around.

So why are they killing it?

PHOENIX — Just before 4 p.m. on Tuesday, at an intersection near the convention center where President Trump was scheduled to hold a campaign rally, two vendors hawked products with competing messages.

The event would not start for another three hours, but thousands of rallygoers and protesters had already arrived downtown and made clear on which side they stood.

They swapped accusations of being ignorant or brainwashed, of being paid to be there, of being on the wrong side of history, of being hateful. Some tried to engage in discussions, but those often devolved into screaming positions over and over again as both sides recorded video of the exchange. Local police officers in casual polo shirts served as a buffer.

Under the hot August sun that afternoon, the political and racial divisions that have deepened across the country in recent weeks played out on this city’s downtown streets.

As the temperature hovered near 106 degrees, volunteers on both sides handed out bottles of water.

Nearby, the Rev. Michael Weldon sat on the steps of St. Mary’s Basilica in a brown robe and quietly prayed: Where there is hatred, let me sow love.

“I hear anger in people’s voices,” he said.

On the other side of the convention center, rallygoers stood in line along a street protected by trash and recycling trucks. A protester in a floppy hat held a neon pink sign reading “Trump the Ignoramus” and loudly mocked the president for avoiding the draft and for not following through on many of his campaign promises, such as building a wall and locking up his political rival, Hillary Clinton.

“He’s a chicken! Chicken!” the man shouted.

Elam said she’s glad Trump ignored the pleas from Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton (D) to delay the event because the country is so divided following a rally in Charlottesville earlier this month that attracted hundreds of white supremacists and neo-Nazis and ended in violence.

Elam, who works in the health-care industry and lives in Tempe, Ariz., said she’s alarmed to see cities remove monuments to Confederate leaders, an action she compared theoretically to conservatives removing the statues of civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr.

She struggled to list what Trump has done as president that she likes. For her, success is more of a feeling than a laundry list of actions.

To Betsy Sweeney, a 70-year-old East Coast transplant living in Phoenix, the president’s behavior since taking office has been un-American. She believes the president is an embarrassment who is disrespectfully holding a rally so soon after the clashes in Charlottesville that left a counterprotester dead.

“No other president would behave in the manner that he’s been behaving in,” said Sweeney, a health-care worker who said her elderly patients would suffer under the health care changes Trump has proposed.

Police in helmets and bulletproof vests were now on the scene, and black-clad and masked protesters associated with the far-left antifa movement — short for anti-fascist — began to file into the crowd of protesters.