question stringlengths 11 149 | article stringlengths 529 63.5k | summary stringlengths 4 444 | model source stringclasses 3 values | length bucket int8 0 2 | url stringlengths 35 310 | qa classifier score float32 0.1 0.85 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
What's actually the best material for baseball and cricket bats? | This is an Inside Science story. The crack of a bat as it strikes a ball is the sound of summer in both the United States and the United Kingdom, albeit from a different sport in each -- baseball in one, cricket in the other. The sound itself is also subtly different in each country because the two sports use different woods in their differently shaped bats. The reasons for this are mostly to do with history and tradition (you'd be hard-pressed to find two sports more wrapped up in their traditions than these ones), but there are solid performance-related reasons as well. Baseball bats have gone through a few changes over the years. In the early days of the sport, the bats tended to be much heavier than they are today and were made out of dense woods like hickory. Over the course of the 20th century, however, ash became the dominant wood for bats, because it offers a good balance of weight, swing speed and durability, said Lloyd Smith, a mechanical engineer at Washington State University. The most important variable in a batter's swing, particularly when it comes to hitting home runs, is the speed of the swing, which players can improve by either getting stronger or using a lighter bat. A heavier bat is better for hitting the ball a long distance because it generates more kinetic energy than a lighter one does, but that comes at the expense of control -- it may be easier to make contact with a lighter bat since the player can swing it more easily. In a game where even the best hitters still miss two-thirds of the time, the ability to hit the ball at all is just as important as the ability to hit it far. The density of ash wood makes for bats that are heavy enough to have some power, but light enough to swing with good speed and control. Over the past couple of decades many players have rushed to embrace maple, after Barry Bonds used bats made of maple to set his single season home run record of 73 in 2001 (Smith suggests that the performance-enhancing drugs probably had a bigger influence than the bat material, but professional athletes tend to be a superstitious bunch when it comes to equipment). Now, around half of all players use maple bats, up from a tiny fraction in the 1990s. Although maple wood is denser than ash on average, and that would seem to make maple bats slightly stiffer and stronger, most bats made from maple still tend to end up about the same density as their ash counterparts. "I tend to say pick whatever species of tree you want, just get the right density," said Smith. Although players have been rushing to embrace maple bats because they believe they perform better than ash, Smith's tests have actually found that ash actually has slighter higher performance metrics. "It could be that their psychology is more important than the small differences between woods," he said. "It's always interesting to see the intersection of superstition and science." Although baseball bats have undergone a slow evolution over the past century, cricket bats have remained largely unchanged for 200 years. The flat, paddle-shaped blade is made of a single piece of willow -- preferably from trees grown in the English counites of Essex or Suffolk -- while the handle is made of cane. Willow is stiff and shock-resistant and also lightweight, which is important for the much wider bats used in cricket. Equally important, said Ben Tinkler-Davies, a materials scientist at Cambridge University, is that the bat needs to look aesthetically good, and make a satisfying sound when it strikes the leather ball. Because willow is a fairly soft wood, bats made out of willow must be "knocked in" before they are used. This means tapping its surface with a ball or special mallet for several hours to crush down the top layer of the wood, to make it harder and more durable. Tinkler-Davies and his colleagues, however, believe that cricket bats are due for a rethink. They have designed a prototype bat made out of laminated bamboo, which they say is more environmentally friendly and cheaper and offers better performance, and described the results in the Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology. Willow trees take about 15 years to mature to the point where they can be harvested for bats, and around 20% of the wood ends up being unsuitable and thrown away. Bamboo, in contrast, only takes about five years to grow and is more consistent so less is discarded. It also grows well in places like India, where many bats are manufactured. Currently, lots of willow harvested in England is shipped to India to be turned into bats that are then shipped back to England. Bamboo is also stiffer, denser and heavier than willow -- the prototype bat was about 40% heavier than a willow one of the same dimensions -- so bamboo bats could be thinner, making them easier and faster to swing. The "sweet spot" on the blade was also larger than on a traditional willow bat. But knowing how much cricket fans and players love the meaty thwack of leather on willow, Tinkler-Davies also tested the sound the bamboo bat made and found it was the same frequency as a willow one. "Bamboo bats would be more eco-friendly, perform better and you don't lose the satisfying sound," said Tinkler-Davies. "The only difference is the aesthetics." So far, the bamboo bat idea has received mixed reactions from the cricket community. The Marylebone Cricket Club in London, which is guardian of the game's laws, says for now the bats are illegal -- the laws state that bats must be made out of wood, and bamboo is technically a grass. The potentially greater power of the bamboo bats is also a concern, as it could unbalance the game in favor of the batters. But the club also says the sustainability angle is important and plans to discuss the topic at its next Laws sub-committee meeting. After 200 years, one of the most traditional of sports could be ripe for a revolution, just like its American cousin. Inside Science is an editorially independent nonprofit print, electronic and video journalism news service owned and operated by the American Institute of Physics. | The sound of a baseball bat hitting a ball is different in the U.S. and UK because of the different woods used. Ash is the most popular material for baseball bats, while maple is the preferred material for cricket bats. Scientists say there are many other factors that play a role in which wood is used. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/best-material-baseball-cricket-bats/story?id=77847430 | 0.684927 |
Will Tim Tebow make the 53-man roster in Jacksonville? | Now that tight end Tim Tebow has gained a spot on Jacksonvilles 90-man roster a week before Memorial Day, the next question becomes whether, as of Labor Day, hell land on the 53-man roster. As one team source recently characterized it, theres less than a 50-percent chance of that happening. Those odds are still a lot better than theyd be for the usual last man in. The Jaguars currently have five other tight ends on the team. The more likely scenario (unless Tebow decides on his own to step away) would be that the Jaguars release Tebow and then re-sign him to the practice squad. Given that every team can call up two practice-squad players every week to the game-day roster, Tebow could still end up in uniform and, potentially, on the field. That likely would consist of playing special teams, with something more substantial than personal protector for the punter. Kickoff team, kick return unit, punt return, etc. However it plays out, the same man who ultimately deemed Tebow worthy of a roster spot will be the one who ultimately decides Tebows fate come September. At some point, Tebow will have to demonstrate some degree of objective football competence. If every pass route he runs ends with the ball ricocheting off his helmet, even the most ardent Tebowmaniacs eventually will cease their suspension of disbelief. Thats when Tebow would be given a chance to retire from football, and then possibly to join the team in some non-playing capacity. If Tebow can do just enough to pass the eyeball test, thats when the bobbleheads and other baubles bearing Tebows name will be for sale and when Tebow will become an official member of the team, even if its just on the practice squad from Monday through Saturday. And in uniform on Sunday. originally appeared on Pro Football Talk | Tim Tebow has been added to the Jacksonville Jaguars' 90-man roster. | pegasus | 0 | https://sports.yahoo.com/tim-tebow-53-man-roster-155930462.html?src=rss | 0.28973 |
Will Tim Tebow make the 53-man roster in Jacksonville? | Now that tight end Tim Tebow has gained a spot on Jacksonvilles 90-man roster a week before Memorial Day, the next question becomes whether, as of Labor Day, hell land on the 53-man roster. As one team source recently characterized it, theres less than a 50-percent chance of that happening. Those odds are still a lot better than theyd be for the usual last man in. The Jaguars currently have five other tight ends on the team. The more likely scenario (unless Tebow decides on his own to step away) would be that the Jaguars release Tebow and then re-sign him to the practice squad. Given that every team can call up two practice-squad players every week to the game-day roster, Tebow could still end up in uniform and, potentially, on the field. That likely would consist of playing special teams, with something more substantial than personal protector for the punter. Kickoff team, kick return unit, punt return, etc. However it plays out, the same man who ultimately deemed Tebow worthy of a roster spot will be the one who ultimately decides Tebows fate come September. At some point, Tebow will have to demonstrate some degree of objective football competence. If every pass route he runs ends with the ball ricocheting off his helmet, even the most ardent Tebowmaniacs eventually will cease their suspension of disbelief. Thats when Tebow would be given a chance to retire from football, and then possibly to join the team in some non-playing capacity. If Tebow can do just enough to pass the eyeball test, thats when the bobbleheads and other baubles bearing Tebows name will be for sale and when Tebow will become an official member of the team, even if its just on the practice squad from Monday through Saturday. And in uniform on Sunday. originally appeared on Pro Football Talk | Tim Tebow has been added to the Jacksonville Jaguars' 90-man roster. There's less than a 50-percent chance he'll land on the 53-man roster. The Jaguars currently have five other tight ends on the team. | pegasus | 1 | https://sports.yahoo.com/tim-tebow-53-man-roster-155930462.html?src=rss | 0.447717 |
Will Tim Tebow make the 53-man roster in Jacksonville? | Now that tight end Tim Tebow has gained a spot on Jacksonvilles 90-man roster a week before Memorial Day, the next question becomes whether, as of Labor Day, hell land on the 53-man roster. As one team source recently characterized it, theres less than a 50-percent chance of that happening. Those odds are still a lot better than theyd be for the usual last man in. The Jaguars currently have five other tight ends on the team. The more likely scenario (unless Tebow decides on his own to step away) would be that the Jaguars release Tebow and then re-sign him to the practice squad. Given that every team can call up two practice-squad players every week to the game-day roster, Tebow could still end up in uniform and, potentially, on the field. That likely would consist of playing special teams, with something more substantial than personal protector for the punter. Kickoff team, kick return unit, punt return, etc. However it plays out, the same man who ultimately deemed Tebow worthy of a roster spot will be the one who ultimately decides Tebows fate come September. At some point, Tebow will have to demonstrate some degree of objective football competence. If every pass route he runs ends with the ball ricocheting off his helmet, even the most ardent Tebowmaniacs eventually will cease their suspension of disbelief. Thats when Tebow would be given a chance to retire from football, and then possibly to join the team in some non-playing capacity. If Tebow can do just enough to pass the eyeball test, thats when the bobbleheads and other baubles bearing Tebows name will be for sale and when Tebow will become an official member of the team, even if its just on the practice squad from Monday through Saturday. And in uniform on Sunday. originally appeared on Pro Football Talk | Tim Tebow has been added to the Jacksonville Jaguars' 90-man roster. There's less than a 50-percent chance he'll land on the 53-man roster. The more likely scenario would be that the Jaguars release Tebow and then re-sign him to the practice squad. | pegasus | 2 | https://sports.yahoo.com/tim-tebow-53-man-roster-155930462.html?src=rss | 0.522853 |
Is Brian Burns Considering a Number Change? | The stud defensive end could be sporting a new look in 2021. Earlier this week, Panthers wide receiver DJ Moore made it official by switching from No. 12 to No. 2. Since Moore made it official, a couple of other Panthers have hinted at a new jersey number including running back Christian McCaffrey and now, Brian Burns. Defensive end Brian Burns posted a photoshopped picture on his Instagram story of him in a No. 9 Panthers jersey. Could this mean he is considering a switch out of his current No. Burns wore No. 99 during his college days at Florida State. Photo via Brian Burns' Instagram: @brianburns99 The NFL eased up on jersey number restrictions this offseason by allowing players to choose from a wider range of numbers. The expanded jerseys will allow running backs, tight ends, fullbacks, H-backs, and wide receivers to wear numbers 1-49 and 80-89; defensive backs can choose from 1-49; linebackers 1-59 and 90-99; offensive linemen 50-79; and defensive linemen 50-79 and 90-99. QBs, kickers, and punters will remain in 1-19 You can follow us for future coverage by clicking "Follow" on the top righthand corner of the page. Also be sure to like us on Facebook & Twitter: Facebook - @PanthersOnSI Twitter - @SI_Panthers and Schuyler Callihan at @Callihan_. | Brian Burns posted a photoshopped picture on his Instagram story of him in a No. 9 Panthers jersey. Could this mean he is considering a switch out of his current No. 99? The NFL eased up on jersey number restrictions this offseason. | bart | 1 | https://www.si.com/nfl/panthers/gm-report/is-brian-burns-considering-a-number-change | 0.22683 |
Is Brian Burns Considering a Number Change? | The stud defensive end could be sporting a new look in 2021. Earlier this week, Panthers wide receiver DJ Moore made it official by switching from No. 12 to No. 2. Since Moore made it official, a couple of other Panthers have hinted at a new jersey number including running back Christian McCaffrey and now, Brian Burns. Defensive end Brian Burns posted a photoshopped picture on his Instagram story of him in a No. 9 Panthers jersey. Could this mean he is considering a switch out of his current No. Burns wore No. 99 during his college days at Florida State. Photo via Brian Burns' Instagram: @brianburns99 The NFL eased up on jersey number restrictions this offseason by allowing players to choose from a wider range of numbers. The expanded jerseys will allow running backs, tight ends, fullbacks, H-backs, and wide receivers to wear numbers 1-49 and 80-89; defensive backs can choose from 1-49; linebackers 1-59 and 90-99; offensive linemen 50-79; and defensive linemen 50-79 and 90-99. QBs, kickers, and punters will remain in 1-19 You can follow us for future coverage by clicking "Follow" on the top righthand corner of the page. Also be sure to like us on Facebook & Twitter: Facebook - @PanthersOnSI Twitter - @SI_Panthers and Schuyler Callihan at @Callihan_. | Brian Burns posted a photoshopped picture on his Instagram story of him in a No. 9 Panthers jersey. Could this mean he is considering a switch out of his current No. 99? The NFL eased up on jersey number restrictions this offseason by allowing players to choose from a wider range of numbers. | bart | 2 | https://www.si.com/nfl/panthers/gm-report/is-brian-burns-considering-a-number-change | 0.224206 |
Will Dominic Cummings herd immunity evidence produce a smoking gun? | Dominic Cummings tweeted that herd immunity wasnt a secret strategy - Tolga Akmen/AFP On March 13 last year, 10 days before the first Covid lockdown, Sir Patrick Vallance went on the Radio 4 Today programme to explain the government strategy. It was, he said, "to try and reduce the peak, broaden the peak, not to suppress it completely. Also because most people, the vast majority of people, get a mild illness, to build up some degree of herd immunity as well so that more people are immune to this disease and we reduce the transmission. "At the same time we protect those who are most vulnerable from it those are the key things we need to do." The day before, Boris Johnson had used another turn of phrase. Referring to a graph showing how cases would quickly peak and overwhelm the NHS without action, he said: "We've got to squash that sombrero." Until that point, officials had held out the faintest of hopes that Britain could "contain" the pandemic. Now they were saying all that could be done was to "delay" the peak of the crisis, with hopes that it could be pushed into the summer with the curve flattened so the number of cases could be reduced. Within all that, one phrase keeps returning to haunt ministers and health officials "herd immunity", and whether policies were deliberately aiming to achieve it or merely to avoid the risks inherent in a strategy of total suppression. In furious tweets over the weekend, Dominic Cummings, the Prime Minister's former senior adviser, accused Number 10 of lying in saying herd immunity had never been part of its Covid strategy. The "shocking truth" was that herd immunity was the Government's plan until less than a fortnight before the first lockdown, he tweeted on Saturday. "V foolish, & appalling ethics, to lie about it. The right line wd have been what PM knows is true: our original plan was wrong & we changed when we realised," he wrote. On Sunday, he accused those who reported his outbursts of "losing their minds". Story continues "Herd immunity wasn't 'a secret strategy', it was THE OFFICIAL PUBLIC EXPLAINED ON TV/RADIO STRATEGY!" he tweeted. The tweets, ahead of Mr Cummings' appearance at the science and technology committee on Wednesday, say "herd immunity by September" was "literally the official plan in all documents/graphs/meetings until it was ditched". Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings, his former chief adviser, who appears before MPs this week - Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP Mr Cummings was certainly heavily involved in these meetings as chief adviser Mr Johnson. If the messages being communicated were confused, what he does not acknowledge is his own responsibility for government communications at the time. He has already promised to hand over "the only copy of a crucial historical document from Covid decision-making" to MPs for their inquiry on Wednesday. Mr Cummings has been scathing about a number of disastrous decisions taken by the Government he advised and any future public inquiry may be at least as unforgiving. Given his recent role within that Government, and the tendency of his outbursts to produce more heat than light, those waiting for more Westminster drama on Wednesday may wonder whether his evidence amounts to a smoking gun. | Dominic Cummings tweeted that herd immunity was the Government's plan until less than a fortnight before the first lockdown. Cummings will appear before an MPs science and technology committee on Wednesday. He is expected to give evidence on Wednesday, but it is not clear whether his evidence will produce a smoking gun. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://news.yahoo.com/dominic-cummings-herd-immunity-evidence-152701677.html | 0.283483 |
How Special Can Rookie QB Davis Mills be for Texans? | Davis Mills could be the biggest surprise in Houston Texans history. That, or a complete bust HOUSTON -- He's yet to take a snap during a practice that matters, but Davis Mills will be the most talked about Houston Texans player this offseason. That's what happens when selected with a team's first pick despite having a top-five quarterback on the roster. And while he's not a first-round gunslinger, Mills will be treated under the microscope in similar fashion. Did Nick Caserio make a mistake when on the clock. Expect all that and more until the season's end. Heck, some skeptics will say that well past the 2021 campaign even if Mills shows promise during his rookie season. Deshaun Watson was expected to be the first franchise quarterback since the team's arrival in Houston back in 2002. Despite signing a four-year extension in September worth $156 million, he demanded a trade this offseason. It was expected that Watson would be elsewhere following the NFL Draft last April before lawsuits came pouring in. He now is facing 22 civil cases of sexual misconduct and sexual assault that could keep him out of the NFL for this year. Enter Mills, the quarterback from Stanford with plenty of upside, but much unknown overall. Houston added Tyrod Taylor and Jeff Driskel in free agency and traded for Ryan Finley. Taylor, who has starting experience working with Culley, likely is viewed as the bridge option. Mills was drafted not to hold a clipboard, but rather be the name that could be the starter for years to come. Culley is sold that all the intangibles are there in Mills' game. It now comes down to deliver when the lights are on and the cameras are rolling. Hes a prototype NFL quarterback, Culley said following Texans' rookie camp. Hes smart. He can make all the throws, and we feel fortunate that we were able to get him when we got him. The lack of film on Mills only is partially on his own merit. A knee injury from high school cost him a chance to start during his freshman season. An abbreviated Pac-12 season due to COVID-19 knocked out several starts that could have solidified him as the consensus QB6 for 2021. Mills only started 11 games in the past two seasons. When the Pac-12 season did begin, he went 4-1 as a starter, winning his final four games in Palo Alto. During that span, the Georgia native also threw for 1,181 yards and six touchdowns against three interceptions all of which came in the season finale against UCLA. As for "prototypical passing" Mills averaged a rating of 151.8 during the four-game winning streak. He also averaged a completion rating of 70.7 percent in the same span. Obviously, he didnt play as much football as some of the other guys because of the COVID situation in the Pac-12, but we really love what hes all about, Culley said. History won't play in Mills' favor due to draft selection. Since 2000, only three quarterbacks selected in the third round have earned a Pro Bowl nod. Matt Schaub needed to be sign with the Texans to become a standout while Nick Foles flourished in doses with the Philadelphia Eagles. For full-fledged careers, Russell Wilson is the only superstar drafted in Round 3. Mills' final season of college leads to doubts from the outside, but not from those close to him. Stanford coach David Shaw knows the upside the 6-foot-4 gunslinger can bring to an offense. According to the Cardinal coach, Mills would be in the running for the No. 1 pick of 2022 should he have stayed another season. The job of Mills becoming a franchise star relies on the shoulders of pass-game coordinator Pep Hamilton. As Shaw's former offensive coordinator, he already knows what style of player Mills can be at the next level. READ MORE: DeAndre Hopkins Among Former Texans Visiting Houston He also knows how to get the best out of a young quarterback. Hamilton helped Andrew Luck prepare for the NFL before joining forces with him in Indianapolis. Last season, he was instrumental in the success of Justin Herbert with the Chargers. Herbert reset the rookie record in passing touchdowns on his way to Offensive Rookie of the Year honors. He had weapons such as Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and Hunter Henry. The hope is that rookie wide receiver Nico Collins and tight end Brevin Jordan can be similar role players. If you go back and look at all the guys hes coached through his career, you can see the one thing we love about having Pep here all of those guys he coached, whether they were young or had been in the league, all got better, Culley said of Hamilton. Houston cannot rush to get Mills in the starting lineup. It's why adding a name like Driskel as a secondary option might be essential for camp. The confidence of a young quarterback could dictate the career early. It also could destroy any progress in a matter of moments. Mills has the backing support of his new team. He also has the seal of approval from one of the more respected coaches in NFL circles from the collegiate game. Time now will tell if anything will come of the No. 67 pick. Fundamentals can keep a starter under center for quite some time. If all goes as plans, Mills' decision-making and accuracy will not just win him the starting job, but also win over the fanbase for years to come. CONTINUE READING: New Texans LB Pierre-Louis Readies For Next 'Blessing' | Davis Mills could be the biggest surprise in Houston Texans history. The quarterback from Stanford has plenty of upside, but much unknown overall. | bart | 0 | https://www.si.com/nfl/texans/news/special-rookie-qb-davis-mills-houston-texans | 0.174381 |
How Special Can Rookie QB Davis Mills be for Texans? | Davis Mills could be the biggest surprise in Houston Texans history. That, or a complete bust HOUSTON -- He's yet to take a snap during a practice that matters, but Davis Mills will be the most talked about Houston Texans player this offseason. That's what happens when selected with a team's first pick despite having a top-five quarterback on the roster. And while he's not a first-round gunslinger, Mills will be treated under the microscope in similar fashion. Did Nick Caserio make a mistake when on the clock. Expect all that and more until the season's end. Heck, some skeptics will say that well past the 2021 campaign even if Mills shows promise during his rookie season. Deshaun Watson was expected to be the first franchise quarterback since the team's arrival in Houston back in 2002. Despite signing a four-year extension in September worth $156 million, he demanded a trade this offseason. It was expected that Watson would be elsewhere following the NFL Draft last April before lawsuits came pouring in. He now is facing 22 civil cases of sexual misconduct and sexual assault that could keep him out of the NFL for this year. Enter Mills, the quarterback from Stanford with plenty of upside, but much unknown overall. Houston added Tyrod Taylor and Jeff Driskel in free agency and traded for Ryan Finley. Taylor, who has starting experience working with Culley, likely is viewed as the bridge option. Mills was drafted not to hold a clipboard, but rather be the name that could be the starter for years to come. Culley is sold that all the intangibles are there in Mills' game. It now comes down to deliver when the lights are on and the cameras are rolling. Hes a prototype NFL quarterback, Culley said following Texans' rookie camp. Hes smart. He can make all the throws, and we feel fortunate that we were able to get him when we got him. The lack of film on Mills only is partially on his own merit. A knee injury from high school cost him a chance to start during his freshman season. An abbreviated Pac-12 season due to COVID-19 knocked out several starts that could have solidified him as the consensus QB6 for 2021. Mills only started 11 games in the past two seasons. When the Pac-12 season did begin, he went 4-1 as a starter, winning his final four games in Palo Alto. During that span, the Georgia native also threw for 1,181 yards and six touchdowns against three interceptions all of which came in the season finale against UCLA. As for "prototypical passing" Mills averaged a rating of 151.8 during the four-game winning streak. He also averaged a completion rating of 70.7 percent in the same span. Obviously, he didnt play as much football as some of the other guys because of the COVID situation in the Pac-12, but we really love what hes all about, Culley said. History won't play in Mills' favor due to draft selection. Since 2000, only three quarterbacks selected in the third round have earned a Pro Bowl nod. Matt Schaub needed to be sign with the Texans to become a standout while Nick Foles flourished in doses with the Philadelphia Eagles. For full-fledged careers, Russell Wilson is the only superstar drafted in Round 3. Mills' final season of college leads to doubts from the outside, but not from those close to him. Stanford coach David Shaw knows the upside the 6-foot-4 gunslinger can bring to an offense. According to the Cardinal coach, Mills would be in the running for the No. 1 pick of 2022 should he have stayed another season. The job of Mills becoming a franchise star relies on the shoulders of pass-game coordinator Pep Hamilton. As Shaw's former offensive coordinator, he already knows what style of player Mills can be at the next level. READ MORE: DeAndre Hopkins Among Former Texans Visiting Houston He also knows how to get the best out of a young quarterback. Hamilton helped Andrew Luck prepare for the NFL before joining forces with him in Indianapolis. Last season, he was instrumental in the success of Justin Herbert with the Chargers. Herbert reset the rookie record in passing touchdowns on his way to Offensive Rookie of the Year honors. He had weapons such as Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and Hunter Henry. The hope is that rookie wide receiver Nico Collins and tight end Brevin Jordan can be similar role players. If you go back and look at all the guys hes coached through his career, you can see the one thing we love about having Pep here all of those guys he coached, whether they were young or had been in the league, all got better, Culley said of Hamilton. Houston cannot rush to get Mills in the starting lineup. It's why adding a name like Driskel as a secondary option might be essential for camp. The confidence of a young quarterback could dictate the career early. It also could destroy any progress in a matter of moments. Mills has the backing support of his new team. He also has the seal of approval from one of the more respected coaches in NFL circles from the collegiate game. Time now will tell if anything will come of the No. 67 pick. Fundamentals can keep a starter under center for quite some time. If all goes as plans, Mills' decision-making and accuracy will not just win him the starting job, but also win over the fanbase for years to come. CONTINUE READING: New Texans LB Pierre-Louis Readies For Next 'Blessing' | Davis Mills could be the biggest surprise in Houston Texans history. Deshaun Watson was expected to be the first franchise quarterback since 2002. The lack of film on Mills only is partially on his own merit. | bart | 1 | https://www.si.com/nfl/texans/news/special-rookie-qb-davis-mills-houston-texans | 0.204681 |
How Special Can Rookie QB Davis Mills be for Texans? | Davis Mills could be the biggest surprise in Houston Texans history. That, or a complete bust HOUSTON -- He's yet to take a snap during a practice that matters, but Davis Mills will be the most talked about Houston Texans player this offseason. That's what happens when selected with a team's first pick despite having a top-five quarterback on the roster. And while he's not a first-round gunslinger, Mills will be treated under the microscope in similar fashion. Did Nick Caserio make a mistake when on the clock. Expect all that and more until the season's end. Heck, some skeptics will say that well past the 2021 campaign even if Mills shows promise during his rookie season. Deshaun Watson was expected to be the first franchise quarterback since the team's arrival in Houston back in 2002. Despite signing a four-year extension in September worth $156 million, he demanded a trade this offseason. It was expected that Watson would be elsewhere following the NFL Draft last April before lawsuits came pouring in. He now is facing 22 civil cases of sexual misconduct and sexual assault that could keep him out of the NFL for this year. Enter Mills, the quarterback from Stanford with plenty of upside, but much unknown overall. Houston added Tyrod Taylor and Jeff Driskel in free agency and traded for Ryan Finley. Taylor, who has starting experience working with Culley, likely is viewed as the bridge option. Mills was drafted not to hold a clipboard, but rather be the name that could be the starter for years to come. Culley is sold that all the intangibles are there in Mills' game. It now comes down to deliver when the lights are on and the cameras are rolling. Hes a prototype NFL quarterback, Culley said following Texans' rookie camp. Hes smart. He can make all the throws, and we feel fortunate that we were able to get him when we got him. The lack of film on Mills only is partially on his own merit. A knee injury from high school cost him a chance to start during his freshman season. An abbreviated Pac-12 season due to COVID-19 knocked out several starts that could have solidified him as the consensus QB6 for 2021. Mills only started 11 games in the past two seasons. When the Pac-12 season did begin, he went 4-1 as a starter, winning his final four games in Palo Alto. During that span, the Georgia native also threw for 1,181 yards and six touchdowns against three interceptions all of which came in the season finale against UCLA. As for "prototypical passing" Mills averaged a rating of 151.8 during the four-game winning streak. He also averaged a completion rating of 70.7 percent in the same span. Obviously, he didnt play as much football as some of the other guys because of the COVID situation in the Pac-12, but we really love what hes all about, Culley said. History won't play in Mills' favor due to draft selection. Since 2000, only three quarterbacks selected in the third round have earned a Pro Bowl nod. Matt Schaub needed to be sign with the Texans to become a standout while Nick Foles flourished in doses with the Philadelphia Eagles. For full-fledged careers, Russell Wilson is the only superstar drafted in Round 3. Mills' final season of college leads to doubts from the outside, but not from those close to him. Stanford coach David Shaw knows the upside the 6-foot-4 gunslinger can bring to an offense. According to the Cardinal coach, Mills would be in the running for the No. 1 pick of 2022 should he have stayed another season. The job of Mills becoming a franchise star relies on the shoulders of pass-game coordinator Pep Hamilton. As Shaw's former offensive coordinator, he already knows what style of player Mills can be at the next level. READ MORE: DeAndre Hopkins Among Former Texans Visiting Houston He also knows how to get the best out of a young quarterback. Hamilton helped Andrew Luck prepare for the NFL before joining forces with him in Indianapolis. Last season, he was instrumental in the success of Justin Herbert with the Chargers. Herbert reset the rookie record in passing touchdowns on his way to Offensive Rookie of the Year honors. He had weapons such as Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and Hunter Henry. The hope is that rookie wide receiver Nico Collins and tight end Brevin Jordan can be similar role players. If you go back and look at all the guys hes coached through his career, you can see the one thing we love about having Pep here all of those guys he coached, whether they were young or had been in the league, all got better, Culley said of Hamilton. Houston cannot rush to get Mills in the starting lineup. It's why adding a name like Driskel as a secondary option might be essential for camp. The confidence of a young quarterback could dictate the career early. It also could destroy any progress in a matter of moments. Mills has the backing support of his new team. He also has the seal of approval from one of the more respected coaches in NFL circles from the collegiate game. Time now will tell if anything will come of the No. 67 pick. Fundamentals can keep a starter under center for quite some time. If all goes as plans, Mills' decision-making and accuracy will not just win him the starting job, but also win over the fanbase for years to come. CONTINUE READING: New Texans LB Pierre-Louis Readies For Next 'Blessing' | Davis Mills could be the biggest surprise in Houston Texans history. The quarterback was selected with a team's first pick despite having a top-five quarterback on the roster. Deshaun Watson was expected to be the first franchise quarterback since the team's arrival in Houston back in 2002. | pegasus | 2 | https://www.si.com/nfl/texans/news/special-rookie-qb-davis-mills-houston-texans | 0.23725 |
Should the Celtics bank on Robert Williams in 2021 NBA offseason? | originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston Look, we know there will soon be plenty of time to debate all of the tough offseason decisions ahead for the Boston Celtics, so forgive us for jumping on the accelerator a bit here. But after Robert Williams nearly swatted his way to a Game 1 triple-double while playing on maybe nine healthy toes, all we can think about is the future. Even at something far less than 100 percent, Williams hobbled his way to 11 points, 9 rebounds, and a Celtics playoff-record 9 blocks in a mere 22 minutes, 40 seconds of floor time in Saturdays loss to the Brooklyn Nets. Its not a coincidence that Bostons best defensive effort maybe of the entire season came with Williams swatting anything he could get his fingertips near. Kyrie Irving praised Timelords timing, this after an emphatic first-quarter block on an Irving layup attempt in transition ignited the block party. Bruce Brown is going to have nightmares about Williams appearing out of thin air to swat his shots around the basket. Williams blocked Nic Claxton twice on a single shot attempt at one point. But it was the sight of Williams stonewalling a James Harden drive attempt in isolation then swatting the Beards step-back 3-pointer that really drove home how impactful Williams can be, defensively. Nets players in Game 1 finished 1-of-13 shooting (7.7%) with the nine rejections and two turnovers, per the NBAs player-tracking data. Bostons defensive rating was a stellar 93.2 with Williams on the court and he swatted 64 percent of the team-high 14 shots he contested overall. Weve been screaming it all season (well, three seasons, really, but well save that victory lap for another day): The Celtics are simply a different team with Robert Williams on the floor. And Boston must decide soon if they want to ensure his presence in green deep into the future. Story continues Williams, the 27th pick in the 2018 draft, will be extension eligible this summer. Hes set to earn $3.7 million in the 2021-22 season and the Celtics can tender a $5.4 million qualifying offer in the summer of 2022 to make him a restricted free agent. There will be obvious reasons for hesitation from the Celtics: Williams has played in only 113 of a possible 236 regular-season games during his pro career. Hes been injury prone, including missing extended time with hip ailments the past two seasons. But even as Bostons payroll starts to bloat with Jayson Tatums rookie extension set to kick in next season, the Celtics should ponder the obvious benefits of locking up a 23-year-old big man who might only be scratching the surface of his potential. Tipping in favor of an extension, Williams brings out the best in Bostons core including Tatum, who said earlier this year that Williams might be his favorite guy to play alongside. Williams agent should consider bringing Tatum to his first offseason chat with Ainge as leverage. Williams' injury history is absolutely concerning and he could have made a big-money extension a slam dunk if he didnt have a variety of maladies. But give Williams credit for toughing it out here late in the season as the Celtics pump his turf toe full of cortisone while recognizing that the team has no other big man that can impact the game the way he does. Heck, it sorta feels like the Celtics need to find a way to keep Williams on the court for upwards of 30+ minutes per game this series if theyre going to have any chance at success. The Nets played with far more hesitation with Williams around the rim and his ability to swat perimeter jumpers only added to their general reluctance when No. 44 was on the court. It used to be that the Celtics shied away from rookie extensions but that has changed a bit in recent years with Jaylen Brown and Tatum inking pacts. As Brown blossoms into an All-Star talent, his four-year, $103 million extension (with incentives up to $115 million) looks better every day. So maybe theres a sweet spot that Boston can find that gives Williams a healthy pay bump that banks on his future despite the caution flags with his health. The natural comp would be the 5-year, $90 million extension signed by Clint Capela in Houston in 2018. But remember that Capela had already established himself as the full-time starter averaging a double-double in the season before that deal. Williams emerged as Bostons starter at the end of this season but the smaller sample might keep his price tag a bit lower. The Celtics have to be careful with a bloating cap sheet, at least while they figure out the long-term futures of players like Marcus Smart, Evan Fournier, and Kemba Walker. But Williams should be a priority this offseason. Locking him up secures three key pieces of this core and Boston can then figure out the pieces that fit best around them. Its too bad we couldnt see this Nets series with a healthy Brown and a fully healthy Williams. That might level the playing field a bit more for Boston. But a Tatum/Brown/Williams core for the long-term future is anything but a daydream, especially if the Celtics lock up Williams before his price tag spikes one of his volleyball blocks. | The Boston Celtics are a different team with Robert Williams on the floor. Williams is set to earn $3.7 million in the 2021-22 season and the Celtics can tender a $5.4 million qualifying offer in the summer of 2022. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://sports.yahoo.com/celtics-bank-robert-williams-2021-202113729.html?src=rss | 0.285912 |
Can Kilmarnock repeat play-off comeback and escape against Dundee? | Scottish Premiership play-off final second leg: Kilmarnock v Dundee Venue: Rugby Park, Kilmarnock Date: Monday, 24 May Kick-off: 19:45 BST Coverage: Listen on BBC Radio Scotland DAB/810MW, live text commentary on the BBC Sport website & app, highlights on BBC One Scotland at 22:45 Kilmarnock's 28-year stay in the Scottish top flight could be over within 90 minutes on Monday evening when they face Dundee in the second leg of the Premiership play-off. They trail 2-1 from a first leg where they were second best for much of the contest. But manager Tommy Wright declared "We're back in the game" after Brandon Haunstrup's 77th minute goal ensured a one-goal deficit to chase at Rugby Park. They have also been here before. Five years ago, after losing the first-leg of the play-off to Falkirk, they were on their way down before they turned it around in emphatic fashion in the second leg. In 2015-16, Kilmarnock lost 20 of their 38 league games and celebrated victory on just nine occasions. They went through three managers that season. Gary Locke resigned in January and Lee McCulloch was in caretaker charge for almost a month until former Newcastle United midfielder Lee Clark took permanent charge. They finished eight points clear of bottom side Dundee United but were seven behind 10th-placed Hamilton Academical and had to go through a play-off to preserve their Premiership status. The Ayrshire side met Falkirk, who had lost just twice in the league since the turn of the year and finished second in the Championship ahead of Hibernian. The Bairns had beaten champions Rangers 3-2 towards the end of the season and then were 5-4 aggregate winners over Hibs in the play-off semi-final. The momentum was very much with Falkirk ahead of the play-off showdown. Greg Kiltie scored twice against Falkirk and remains with Kilmarnock The first leg looked destined for a goalless draw before Luke Leahy took a quick free-kick to Craig Sibbald, who teed up Will Vaulks for the winning goal in stoppage time. But Falkirk manager Peter Houston warned his side to expect a much stiffer challenge from Kilmarnock in the return. Clark, annoyed that his side had not been awarded a penalty when Tope Obadeyi appeared to be impeded in the box but did not go down, believed his side could turn it around. Both managers turned out to be right as Clark's team was reborn in the second leg. At a sun-kissed Rugby Park, two goals inside the first eight minutes from Greg Kiltie and Miles Addison wiped out the deficit. Kiltie added his second and Killie's third just after the hour. Amid joyous scenes, Kris Boyd rolled in the fourth to make it 4-0 on the night and 4-1 on aggregate. Afterwards, Clark warned the club needed to change personnel and mentality to avoid further brushes with relegation from the top flight. They did and, when Clark left for Bury the following February, Kilmarnock sat sixth before finishing eighth under Lee McCulloch. Then followed the heady heights of fifth then third under Steve Clarke, but a downward spiral followed the former West Bromwich Albion and Reading boss's appointment as Scotland head coach. Under Angelo Alessio then Alex Dyer, they finished eighth as the 2019-20 season was cut short by the pandemic, with the latter departing in January with his side in ninth this term. Ashcroft aiming to haunt Kilmarnock That comeback win over Falkirk was bittersweet for centre-half Lee Ashcroft, who found himself being released by Kilmarnock before joining Dunfermline Athletic then Dundee in the Championship. The 27-year-old is now looking to end his five seasons in the second tier by ensuring there is no repeat. "I loved my time at the club, but it never worked out," he said. "I was glad to finish on a high and keep the club in the division. "I hadn't played many games that season, but I got in for the play-offs and managed to do well and keep the club up. I look back and it was a great experience to go through." There will be no tears if he consigns his former club to relegation while taking Dundee where he believes "they belong". "I'm a Dundee player now and I want to get Dundee back in the Premiership, that's I was brought in here for," he said. "Hopefully I can be a part of that and do my job on Monday - it would be amazing in my first year at the club." Lee Ashcroft helped Kilmarnock stay up in 2016 but now aims to send them down Ashcroft thinks the pressure will be mainly on the Premiership side. "I have been in Kilmarnock's position before with Killie and it feels as if the weight of the world is on your shoulders," he said. "I know it's a game of football, but it means so much to so many people. "It depends on the person as well. I was still youngish and it was tough, but I am feeling different this time. It feels much better. It's good pressure, we are looking to achieve something good." Ashcroft needs no warning about the danger of a one-goal first-leg lead. "It was the same when I was there," he said. "We were a goal down and Falkirk came to Rugby Park and we managed to put on a performance. They have experienced players in their team that have been about and know what it takes, so we know it's going to be a battle and we need to be 100% at it to give ourselves a chance." McKenzie out to repeat comeback Rory McKenzie is one of Ashcroft's former Kilmarnock team-mates - the others being fellow forward Greg Kiltie and midfielder Gary Dicker - who are survivors of that comeback win over Falkirk. "Me, Graz and Kiltie, we've been in this position before and managed to get out it," the 27-year-old, who like Kiltie is a product of the Rugby Park youth system, said. "It is a pride thing as well - you don't want to be a part of a team that got Kilmarnock relegated. I believe we have enough experienced heads in there to get us through it. "It's about not letting the occasion get too big for you and just trying to grind it out." McKenzie thinks it is different from the Falkirk game because, unlike then, Kilmarnock this time headed into the first leg in good form and believes there is much pressure on the second-tier side to succeed. "Being in the Premiership, you could say we've got more to lose, but Dundee are a big club as well and have a lot to play for and have a lot of big-name players in their squad," he said. "If you start thinking about what relegation could mean, it could get a bit overwhelming, but we need to focus on the football side of things. That's all we can control." | Kilmarnock face Dundee in the second leg of the Premiership play-off. They trail 2-1 from a first leg where they were second best for much of the contest. Five years ago, they were on their way down before beating Falkirk 4-0. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/57216402 | 0.125988 |
Can Former PGA Championship Site Belmont Become A Muni Model As A Reimagined 12-Hole Course? | Aerial view of Belmont Golf Course, a municipal course outside of Richmond, Virginia, that was a ... [+] former site for the PGA Championship. The venue is now being leased by the First Tee of Greater Richmond and has a 12-hole course along with a six-hole par-3 course and a putting course. Belmont Golf Course Golf facilities like Sweetens Cove, Goat Hill Park and Bobby Jones in Atlanta havent just drawn a passionate following with their outside-the-box approaches. Their success has also served as inspiration for others to try something a bit unconventional. Belmont Golf Club in Richmond, Virginia, is one of those. The home of the 1949 PGA Championship won by Sam Snead, Belmont is one of only two courses in the entire nation designed by Hall of Fame architect A.W Tillinghast thats still open to public play (the other being Bethpage Black in New York). The historic course looks considerably different today, and while some may term it downsizing going from 18 holes to 12 community leaders are excited about what they see as a significant upgrade. Belmont has officially unveiled the restoration of its new 12-hole course as well as the creation of a 6-hole short course called The Little Bell and an 18-hole putting course called The Ringer that spans 34,000 square feet. The facility, redone and reimagined by Davis Love IIIs design firm, is also the new home of the First Tee of Greater Richmond and CEO Brent Schneider views the venue as a modernized community asset thats welcoming to all. We have taken inspiration from other unique facilities, Schneider said, specifically mentioning places like the nine-hole Sweetens Cove in Tennessee, the nine-hole reversible Bobby Jones course (and six-hole short course) in Atlanta and quirky Goat Hill Park in Oceanside, California, thats under 4,500 yards and also has a three-hole kids course. All of these facilities offer something different. Sweetens has a fun, cool alternative vibe with great golf that is attractive to many golf enthusiasts. Bobby Jones and Goat Hill Park, though they center around golf, have built incredible cultures that have served their respective communities well. The new bunkering at the third hole at Belmont Golf Course, which was redesigned by Love Golf ... [+] Design. Belmont Golf Course The First Tee was awarded a 20-year lease to operate Belmont after the course became available and its $5 million renovation plan was backed by Henrico Countys Department of Parks and Recreation. More than 75% of the money for the project was donated to support the First Tees mission of teaching life skills and character education to youth in the community. We are committed to running Belmont as an inclusive, welcoming and affordable community asset, Schneider said. There will be an entry point to the game of golf for all at Belmont. The layout of the property was conducive to dividing the facility into the new 12-hole loop, which uses the original finishing hole as its finisher, and the additional amenities. While some elements of the original Tillinghast design had been changed in the early 1920s by Donald Ross, Mark Love (the younger brother of Davis) said they tried to restore many of the original characteristics as part of their restoration effort. We did work very hard to use the images and history we did have along with the details we felt were original to the Tillinghast design to be as faithful to the original as possible, Love said. And, where we had to create some elements where the original version had been lost, we tried our best to channel what we thought would reflect Tillinghast style work. The First Tee of Greater Richmond has a 20-year lease at Belmont. Belmont Golf Course All six holes at the par-3 course reflect Tillinghast templates and range from 65 to 175 yards in length. Rates are $40 on weekends for the 12-hole course and $10 for Little Bell. Theres a $5 fee to play the putting course. Juniors can play either course for half price, including the more than 23,000 students in Henrico County that are part of the First Tee School Program. When asked whether hes hopeful Belmont might become a model for similar municipal golf facilities that are reimagining what they could or should be, Schneider said he hasnt given it a lot of thought. For now, hes focused on the vision to strengthen the character of the local community. If others take notice or look to replicate it, well humbly take it as a compliment and support their efforts, he said. Golf is such a great game and is unique in the fact that it can connect people of all ages, ethnicities and economic situations to an outdoor game that is both challenging and fun. | Belmont Golf Club in Richmond, Virginia, was the home of the 1949 PGA Championship won by Sam Snead. The venue is now being leased by the First Tee of Greater Richmond and has a 12-hole course along with a six-hole par-3 course and a putting course. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikmatuszewski/2021/05/24/can-former-pga-championship-site-belmont-become-a-muni-model-as-a-reimagined-12-hole-course/ | 0.354614 |
Will Ohio State footballs next quarterback continue the Buckeyes streak of Heisman Trophy contenders? | COLUMBUS, Ohio Ohio State coach Ryan Day likened playing quarterback at Ohio State to playing shortstop for the New York Yankees. A marriage of marquee position and marquee program means sky-high expectations and, when everything goes well, accolades. On Mondays episode of Buckeye Talk we made our predictions on who will be OSUs next Heisman Trophy finalist. While OSU shares the record for winners with seven, candidates have become more frequent in recent years. There have been nine top 10 finishes in the last nine years after OSU had only 11 in the 36 years after Archie Griffins repeat wins in 1974-75. Each of the Buckeyes last four full-season starting quarterbacks so not counting Cardale Jones has at some point in his career finished at least fifth in the Heisman voting. Braxton Miller (2011-13): He may have ended his career as a receiver, but Millers dual-threat prowess nearly earned him an invitation to New York. As a sophomore in 2012 he finished fifth, then remained in fringe competition with a ninth-place finish in 2013. J.T. Barrett (2014-17): Millers preseason injury in 2014 opened the door for Barretts brilliant debut. His fifth-place finish that season makes him the last freshman at any position to place that high in the voting. Jones, though, opened the 2015 season as the starter before Barrett reclaimed the job. Despite that promising debut, Barrett never again made the voting top 10. Dwayne Haskins (2018): No one on this list better capitalized on a single season. As a redshirt sophomore, Haskins threw for 4,831 yards and 50 touchdowns and finished third behind Oklahomas Kyler Murray and Alabamas Tua Tagovailoa. Justin Fields (2019-20): With Haskins off to the NFL somewhat unexpectedly, OSU needed a high-ceiling quarterback to match the talent spread across the rest of the roster. Fields came in from Georgia and finished third in the voting one spot ahead of Chase Young and three ahead of J.K. Dobbins. Fields also finished seventh last season, a one-time favorite undone by a couple of bad performances on a condensed schedule. Whether or not the winner of the 2021 quarterback competition can continue the streak could get complicated next spring. Regardless of who wins the job and how well he plays, top prospect Quinn Ewers arrives in January to begin a new battle. One of the three current competitors was our Buckeye Talk text subscribers pick for the next Buckeye to go to New York. The vote was close, though, and many said they think the next finalist will come from outside the quarterback room. If youve never listened to Buckeye Talk, try it now. And subscribe to Buckeye Talk on any of these podcast platforms or wherever you listen to podcasts. Buckeye Talk on iTunes Buckeye Talk on Spotify Buckeye Talk on Google Play Fields Bears jersey: Ohio State football fans can purchase Justin Fields new Chicago Bears jersey here. Its available in white, blue and orange and in mens, womens and youth sizes. Theres also a cheaper T-shirt option. Hey, Stephen Gene Smith set to receive contract extension through 2026 2023 DE Lebbeus Overton could join short list of multi-sport Buckeyes How Troy Smith influenced U.S. Rep. Anthony Gonzalezs NIL stance | Each of Ohio State's last four starting quarterbacks has finished in the top 10. The Buckeyes have won the Heisman Trophy seven times in the last 36 years. The winner of the 2021 competition will be the next Heisman Trophy finalist. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.cleveland.com/osu/2021/05/will-ohio-state-footballs-next-quarterback-continue-the-buckeyes-streak-of-heisman-trophy-contenders.html | 0.265649 |
Will Ohio State footballs next quarterback continue the Buckeyes streak of Heisman Trophy contenders? | COLUMBUS, Ohio Ohio State coach Ryan Day likened playing quarterback at Ohio State to playing shortstop for the New York Yankees. A marriage of marquee position and marquee program means sky-high expectations and, when everything goes well, accolades. On Mondays episode of Buckeye Talk we made our predictions on who will be OSUs next Heisman Trophy finalist. While OSU shares the record for winners with seven, candidates have become more frequent in recent years. There have been nine top 10 finishes in the last nine years after OSU had only 11 in the 36 years after Archie Griffins repeat wins in 1974-75. Each of the Buckeyes last four full-season starting quarterbacks so not counting Cardale Jones has at some point in his career finished at least fifth in the Heisman voting. Braxton Miller (2011-13): He may have ended his career as a receiver, but Millers dual-threat prowess nearly earned him an invitation to New York. As a sophomore in 2012 he finished fifth, then remained in fringe competition with a ninth-place finish in 2013. J.T. Barrett (2014-17): Millers preseason injury in 2014 opened the door for Barretts brilliant debut. His fifth-place finish that season makes him the last freshman at any position to place that high in the voting. Jones, though, opened the 2015 season as the starter before Barrett reclaimed the job. Despite that promising debut, Barrett never again made the voting top 10. Dwayne Haskins (2018): No one on this list better capitalized on a single season. As a redshirt sophomore, Haskins threw for 4,831 yards and 50 touchdowns and finished third behind Oklahomas Kyler Murray and Alabamas Tua Tagovailoa. Justin Fields (2019-20): With Haskins off to the NFL somewhat unexpectedly, OSU needed a high-ceiling quarterback to match the talent spread across the rest of the roster. Fields came in from Georgia and finished third in the voting one spot ahead of Chase Young and three ahead of J.K. Dobbins. Fields also finished seventh last season, a one-time favorite undone by a couple of bad performances on a condensed schedule. Whether or not the winner of the 2021 quarterback competition can continue the streak could get complicated next spring. Regardless of who wins the job and how well he plays, top prospect Quinn Ewers arrives in January to begin a new battle. One of the three current competitors was our Buckeye Talk text subscribers pick for the next Buckeye to go to New York. The vote was close, though, and many said they think the next finalist will come from outside the quarterback room. If youve never listened to Buckeye Talk, try it now. And subscribe to Buckeye Talk on any of these podcast platforms or wherever you listen to podcasts. Buckeye Talk on iTunes Buckeye Talk on Spotify Buckeye Talk on Google Play Fields Bears jersey: Ohio State football fans can purchase Justin Fields new Chicago Bears jersey here. Its available in white, blue and orange and in mens, womens and youth sizes. Theres also a cheaper T-shirt option. Hey, Stephen Gene Smith set to receive contract extension through 2026 2023 DE Lebbeus Overton could join short list of multi-sport Buckeyes How Troy Smith influenced U.S. Rep. Anthony Gonzalezs NIL stance | Each of Ohio State's last four starting quarterbacks has finished in the top 10. The Buckeyes have won the Heisman Trophy seven times in the last 36 years. The winner of the 2021 competition will be the next Buckeye to go to New York. Click here for more Ohio State football news. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.cleveland.com/osu/2021/05/will-ohio-state-footballs-next-quarterback-continue-the-buckeyes-streak-of-heisman-trophy-contenders.html | 0.323095 |
Can Black Lives Matter LA dismantle the powerful police unions? | On 22 April 2020, a Los Angeles police officer showed up to the scene of a car accident and fatally shot one of the drivers. The officer rapidly fired six shots from a distance at Daniel Hernandez, 38, who was holding a box cutter and appeared disoriented and in distress. The Hernandez family believed there might be consequences for such an unwarranted killing until they learned the officers identity: Toni McBride, a 23-year-old whose father is a director of the powerful LA police union, which defends officers accused of misconduct. My brother was in a collision and he needed help, said Marina Vergara, Hernandezs sister. Instead, he was executed by an officer who knew she would have the protection of her father and his associates. Daniel Hernandez. Photograph: Courtesy of Marina Vergara One year after the George Floyd uprisings, Vergara is part of a coalition of activists in LA that has begun targeting the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL), the union that represents officers after theyve killed civilians. Organizing with Black Lives Matter LA, the advocates are fighting to eject law enforcement associations from public sector labor groups in hopes of eventually dismantling police unions altogether. Tensions over police union membership have been simmering for years within the US labor movement, but boiled over last May after Floyds murder, which prompted the Minneapolis police union leader to launch an attack on Floyds character and call BLM protesters terrorists. LA is now home to one of the most organized campaigns against police unions, led by local union members who have lost loved ones to police killings and who are now directly standing up to a sister union within the same labor federation. LAPPL is not a union. They dont belong with unions. They take the lives of other union members, said Vergara, who is part of the LA teachers union. I am a union member and I advocate for my community. They dont. They advocate for their rights and how they can avoid being held accountable. They advocate for more weapons, more funds, and more jobs for them to control the community. How unions have escalated violence Police unions grew in the US in the 1960s as the civil rights movement was increasing scrutiny of officer misconduct. In the decades since, law enforcement associations have dramatically expanded their powers through their contracts. Its hard for me to think of police as traditional workers, said Veena Dubal, a University of California, Hastings law professor and labor expert, and former Berkeley police review commissioner. They are the only people in our country who have the right to take away life and to do so with immunity. They are unequivocally forces that seek to insulate police from any kind of accountability, and thats very different than what a union does. Everything that police associations push for the hardest are the things that allow the police to be harmful Nana Gyamfi The unions have negotiated a wide range of exceptional rights for officers, including requiring departments to erase misconduct records from officers files, giving them a clean slate. Union contracts have also mandated that abuse investigations remain secret; allowed officers found to be intoxicated at work to go home without discipline; created huge obstacles to firing police; and ensured that when police officers kill civilians, they can wait several days before they have to give a statement. The impact of those contracts, experts say, is deadly. Research has repeatedly shown that after police departments have won special bargaining rights, those agencies experienced sharp increases in killings by officers and violent misconduct. One study found that the stronger the contracts and protections, the more police abuse people. The unions in LA also wield significant power through political donations and lobbying, giving them tremendous influence in elections and policymaking. Everything that police associations push for the hardest are the things that allow the police to be harmful, said Nana Gyamfi, an LA civil rights lawyer and the president of the National Conference of Black Lawyers, which recently co-produced a report on US police killings in which human rights experts from 11 countries documented potential US police violations of international law. The inquiry found that unions were integral to obstruction and manipulation in misconduct cases. Police chiefs and mayors have also spoken out against unions, lamenting how difficult it is to fire bad officers and how their contracts block reform efforts. A former Minneapolis police chief called the union leader a disgrace to the badge last year, saying the union controlled the police culture, blocked transparency efforts and fought me at every turn. While labor groups have long resisted efforts to publicly oppose police unions, the dynamics shifted during last summers uprisings. The LA union members fighting back When LA sheriffs killed 18-year-old Andres Guardado, shooting him five times in the back on 18 June last year, one of the first groups that began organizing to support his family was Unite Here, the hotel and food service workers union. Thats because Andress father is a cook and 14-year member of the union, which called on the sheriff to resign. DeAnna Sianez Sullivan, the mother of David Sullivan. Photograph: Stephanie Mei-Ling/The Guardian Other LA labor activists began speaking out, energized by the national protests. Our unions are for blue-collar workers and the working class, helping families and lifting up the community, said DeAnna Sianez Sullivan, an LA member of the electrical workers union. The police unions are there to defend officers at all costs. Her son, David Sullivan, was 19 years old when police in Buena Park, south of LA, killed him during a traffic stop in 2019; he was unarmed and had been pulled over for expired tags, and eventually tried to flee during the stop. Bruce Praet, the lawyer representing the police department in the Sullivan familys civil lawsuit, is a former LA police union attorney and co-founder of Lexipol, a private corporation that helps craft law enforcement policies for cities. The company works to protect departments from litigation and has been accused of thwarting accountability. He founded a for-profit company that writes policies for the police and then a police officer kills somebody, and he gets another job defending the police, said Sam Sullivan, Davids sister. The family said Praets involvement in their case was a reminder of how police unions and their associates have influenced higher-level policies while also fighting against accountability in individual cases. If you say, I feared for my life, that justifies everything, said Sam, 23, noting how unions rely on policies that give officers wide latitude to kill when they claim that a civilian posed a deadly threat. Why are you afraid of a boy who was running away and had no weapon? Praet did not respond to an inquiry. When LAPD officer McBride killed Hernandez last year, his family was distraught to learn that not only was she the daughter of an LAPPL union leader (who called BLM a hate group), she was also a popular Instagram influencer, who posted videos of herself firing assault rifles at targets and hanging out with celebrities. The conflict of interest posed by McBrides father was so problematic that the local prosecutor, who has accepted significant donations from LAPPL, had to recuse herself from reviewing the killing. Vergara, Hernandezs sister, said it was enraging to watch McBrides Instagram videos: It made me realize what kind of person she was. In a rare rebuke of an officer shooting, the LA police commission ruled in December that McBride violated policy when she fired the final two shots at Hernandez while he was on the ground. But because of the secrecy around the process, Hernandezs family does not know what discipline McBride faced as a result if any. We miss Danny every day, and well never really get justice, said Vergara. But we want accountability. We want to know what happens to a police officer when they kill out of policy. Lawyers for McBride did not respond to multiple inquiries, and the LAPD did not answer questions about her status. Family of Daniel Hernandez, who was killed by Los Angeles law enforcement, speak at a protest organized by Black Lives Matter. Photograph: Chelsea Lauren/REX/Shutterstock We will win BLMLA is now hosting weekly protests outside the LAPPL union building and is advocating for the LA County Federation of Labor (LA Fed), an umbrella union group, to eject LAPPL and other police unions. If we stop thinking of police associations as labor unions, and we have them removed, it would really lift the veil on who they are a special interest group, said Dr Melina Abdullah, a BLMLA co-founder, who is also a Cal State LA professor and member of the California Faculty Association union. The police unions have significant influence within LA Fed, and ejecting them would likely have far-reaching consequences. Last year, LA Fed declined to endorse a criminal justice reform ballot measure that police groups had opposed, and refused to support a progressive district attorney candidate who was supported by other non-police members. Chiquita Twyman, whose brother was killed by LA sheriffs in 2019, is a board member with SEIU Local 2015 (which represents long-term care workers), and she showed up to an LA Fed meeting in 2019 to urge members not to endorse incumbent district attorney Jackie Lacey, who almost never prosecuted officers for killings. But the police union members showed up in full force to support Lacey, and Twymans pleas were ultimately ignored: It was upsetting. The Labor Federation has to stand with us union members. DeAnna Sianez Sullivan said it was frustrating that more union leaders werent speaking out: While they support their union members, they dont want to denounce the police associations out of fear of possible repercussions. Chiquita Twyman at a recent protest. Photograph: Photo by Sam Levin While the LA Fed has so far resisted calls to eject police, some labor groups across the country have started to take a stand, said Andrea J Ritchie, a researcher with Interrupting Criminalization, an initiative at the Barnard Center for Research on Women. Seattle officers were expelled from the regions largest labor council last year; the teachers union successfully campaigned to remove Minneapolis police from schools; and the Writers Guild of America formally urged AFL-CIO (Americas largest union association) to kick out police. Its in labors interest to organize as broadly and deeply as possible, said Ritchie, noting that police membership has become untenable in many unions. If the majority of the folks that you want to organize dont want to be in a room with the people youre allied with, then youre going to have to make a choice. LA Fed and LAPPL spokespeople did not respond to inquiries. LAPPL leaders have dismissed the movement to oust the union as laughable and undemocratic. But organizers with BLMLA, which did similar weekly protests outside DA Laceys office until she was voted out in November, said they were confident the campaign would be successful. We intend to be there every week, because it reminds people that we have the power, said Abdullah. Were committed to it. It might be a long struggle, but we will keep going until we win. | LA is home to one of the most organized campaigns against police unions. Black Lives Matter LA is fighting to eject law enforcement associations from public sector labor groups in hopes of eventually dismantling police unions altogether. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/may/24/los-angeles-black-lives-matter-police-unions | 0.526672 |
Can Black Lives Matter LA dismantle the powerful police unions? | On 22 April 2020, a Los Angeles police officer showed up to the scene of a car accident and fatally shot one of the drivers. The officer rapidly fired six shots from a distance at Daniel Hernandez, 38, who was holding a box cutter and appeared disoriented and in distress. The Hernandez family believed there might be consequences for such an unwarranted killing until they learned the officers identity: Toni McBride, a 23-year-old whose father is a director of the powerful LA police union, which defends officers accused of misconduct. My brother was in a collision and he needed help, said Marina Vergara, Hernandezs sister. Instead, he was executed by an officer who knew she would have the protection of her father and his associates. Daniel Hernandez. Photograph: Courtesy of Marina Vergara One year after the George Floyd uprisings, Vergara is part of a coalition of activists in LA that has begun targeting the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL), the union that represents officers after theyve killed civilians. Organizing with Black Lives Matter LA, the advocates are fighting to eject law enforcement associations from public sector labor groups in hopes of eventually dismantling police unions altogether. Tensions over police union membership have been simmering for years within the US labor movement, but boiled over last May after Floyds murder, which prompted the Minneapolis police union leader to launch an attack on Floyds character and call BLM protesters terrorists. LA is now home to one of the most organized campaigns against police unions, led by local union members who have lost loved ones to police killings and who are now directly standing up to a sister union within the same labor federation. LAPPL is not a union. They dont belong with unions. They take the lives of other union members, said Vergara, who is part of the LA teachers union. I am a union member and I advocate for my community. They dont. They advocate for their rights and how they can avoid being held accountable. They advocate for more weapons, more funds, and more jobs for them to control the community. How unions have escalated violence Police unions grew in the US in the 1960s as the civil rights movement was increasing scrutiny of officer misconduct. In the decades since, law enforcement associations have dramatically expanded their powers through their contracts. Its hard for me to think of police as traditional workers, said Veena Dubal, a University of California, Hastings law professor and labor expert, and former Berkeley police review commissioner. They are the only people in our country who have the right to take away life and to do so with immunity. They are unequivocally forces that seek to insulate police from any kind of accountability, and thats very different than what a union does. Everything that police associations push for the hardest are the things that allow the police to be harmful Nana Gyamfi The unions have negotiated a wide range of exceptional rights for officers, including requiring departments to erase misconduct records from officers files, giving them a clean slate. Union contracts have also mandated that abuse investigations remain secret; allowed officers found to be intoxicated at work to go home without discipline; created huge obstacles to firing police; and ensured that when police officers kill civilians, they can wait several days before they have to give a statement. The impact of those contracts, experts say, is deadly. Research has repeatedly shown that after police departments have won special bargaining rights, those agencies experienced sharp increases in killings by officers and violent misconduct. One study found that the stronger the contracts and protections, the more police abuse people. The unions in LA also wield significant power through political donations and lobbying, giving them tremendous influence in elections and policymaking. Everything that police associations push for the hardest are the things that allow the police to be harmful, said Nana Gyamfi, an LA civil rights lawyer and the president of the National Conference of Black Lawyers, which recently co-produced a report on US police killings in which human rights experts from 11 countries documented potential US police violations of international law. The inquiry found that unions were integral to obstruction and manipulation in misconduct cases. Police chiefs and mayors have also spoken out against unions, lamenting how difficult it is to fire bad officers and how their contracts block reform efforts. A former Minneapolis police chief called the union leader a disgrace to the badge last year, saying the union controlled the police culture, blocked transparency efforts and fought me at every turn. While labor groups have long resisted efforts to publicly oppose police unions, the dynamics shifted during last summers uprisings. The LA union members fighting back When LA sheriffs killed 18-year-old Andres Guardado, shooting him five times in the back on 18 June last year, one of the first groups that began organizing to support his family was Unite Here, the hotel and food service workers union. Thats because Andress father is a cook and 14-year member of the union, which called on the sheriff to resign. DeAnna Sianez Sullivan, the mother of David Sullivan. Photograph: Stephanie Mei-Ling/The Guardian Other LA labor activists began speaking out, energized by the national protests. Our unions are for blue-collar workers and the working class, helping families and lifting up the community, said DeAnna Sianez Sullivan, an LA member of the electrical workers union. The police unions are there to defend officers at all costs. Her son, David Sullivan, was 19 years old when police in Buena Park, south of LA, killed him during a traffic stop in 2019; he was unarmed and had been pulled over for expired tags, and eventually tried to flee during the stop. Bruce Praet, the lawyer representing the police department in the Sullivan familys civil lawsuit, is a former LA police union attorney and co-founder of Lexipol, a private corporation that helps craft law enforcement policies for cities. The company works to protect departments from litigation and has been accused of thwarting accountability. He founded a for-profit company that writes policies for the police and then a police officer kills somebody, and he gets another job defending the police, said Sam Sullivan, Davids sister. The family said Praets involvement in their case was a reminder of how police unions and their associates have influenced higher-level policies while also fighting against accountability in individual cases. If you say, I feared for my life, that justifies everything, said Sam, 23, noting how unions rely on policies that give officers wide latitude to kill when they claim that a civilian posed a deadly threat. Why are you afraid of a boy who was running away and had no weapon? Praet did not respond to an inquiry. When LAPD officer McBride killed Hernandez last year, his family was distraught to learn that not only was she the daughter of an LAPPL union leader (who called BLM a hate group), she was also a popular Instagram influencer, who posted videos of herself firing assault rifles at targets and hanging out with celebrities. The conflict of interest posed by McBrides father was so problematic that the local prosecutor, who has accepted significant donations from LAPPL, had to recuse herself from reviewing the killing. Vergara, Hernandezs sister, said it was enraging to watch McBrides Instagram videos: It made me realize what kind of person she was. In a rare rebuke of an officer shooting, the LA police commission ruled in December that McBride violated policy when she fired the final two shots at Hernandez while he was on the ground. But because of the secrecy around the process, Hernandezs family does not know what discipline McBride faced as a result if any. We miss Danny every day, and well never really get justice, said Vergara. But we want accountability. We want to know what happens to a police officer when they kill out of policy. Lawyers for McBride did not respond to multiple inquiries, and the LAPD did not answer questions about her status. Family of Daniel Hernandez, who was killed by Los Angeles law enforcement, speak at a protest organized by Black Lives Matter. Photograph: Chelsea Lauren/REX/Shutterstock We will win BLMLA is now hosting weekly protests outside the LAPPL union building and is advocating for the LA County Federation of Labor (LA Fed), an umbrella union group, to eject LAPPL and other police unions. If we stop thinking of police associations as labor unions, and we have them removed, it would really lift the veil on who they are a special interest group, said Dr Melina Abdullah, a BLMLA co-founder, who is also a Cal State LA professor and member of the California Faculty Association union. The police unions have significant influence within LA Fed, and ejecting them would likely have far-reaching consequences. Last year, LA Fed declined to endorse a criminal justice reform ballot measure that police groups had opposed, and refused to support a progressive district attorney candidate who was supported by other non-police members. Chiquita Twyman, whose brother was killed by LA sheriffs in 2019, is a board member with SEIU Local 2015 (which represents long-term care workers), and she showed up to an LA Fed meeting in 2019 to urge members not to endorse incumbent district attorney Jackie Lacey, who almost never prosecuted officers for killings. But the police union members showed up in full force to support Lacey, and Twymans pleas were ultimately ignored: It was upsetting. The Labor Federation has to stand with us union members. DeAnna Sianez Sullivan said it was frustrating that more union leaders werent speaking out: While they support their union members, they dont want to denounce the police associations out of fear of possible repercussions. Chiquita Twyman at a recent protest. Photograph: Photo by Sam Levin While the LA Fed has so far resisted calls to eject police, some labor groups across the country have started to take a stand, said Andrea J Ritchie, a researcher with Interrupting Criminalization, an initiative at the Barnard Center for Research on Women. Seattle officers were expelled from the regions largest labor council last year; the teachers union successfully campaigned to remove Minneapolis police from schools; and the Writers Guild of America formally urged AFL-CIO (Americas largest union association) to kick out police. Its in labors interest to organize as broadly and deeply as possible, said Ritchie, noting that police membership has become untenable in many unions. If the majority of the folks that you want to organize dont want to be in a room with the people youre allied with, then youre going to have to make a choice. LA Fed and LAPPL spokespeople did not respond to inquiries. LAPPL leaders have dismissed the movement to oust the union as laughable and undemocratic. But organizers with BLMLA, which did similar weekly protests outside DA Laceys office until she was voted out in November, said they were confident the campaign would be successful. We intend to be there every week, because it reminds people that we have the power, said Abdullah. Were committed to it. It might be a long struggle, but we will keep going until we win. | LA is home to one of the most organized campaigns against police unions. Black Lives Matter LA is fighting to eject law enforcement associations from public sector labor groups in hopes of eventually dismantling police unions altogether. The unions have negotiated a wide range of exceptional rights for officers, including requiring departments to erase misconduct records from officers files. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/may/24/los-angeles-black-lives-matter-police-unions | 0.612575 |
Why Is Brand Affinity So Important For Affiliate Programs? | Affiliate Marketing Strategist. Owner of Affiliate Insider (An Affiliate Marketing Agency, Media Hub + Training Business). Affinity marketing relates to how customers identify with and share a set of common values with the brands they engage with. And right now, brands need to think about and develop affinity around their affiliate program with their partners. Market for emotion-based action, and apply the psychology of selling to your affiliate program. Let's be very clear: Affinity is not the same as loyalty. One reason brand affinities are so strong is that they are rooted in core emotions. Emotion-based selling will always work well in comparison to other types of sales. A good affiliate manager uses emotive-based sales to improve their outreach and partner onboarding. Let's explore this in real life. Ill use myself as an example. I like using Apple products. I have a Mac and an iPhone. As an affiliate program marketer, I use digital media devices all day in my job. Apple creates products that make my life simple. They identify with being a company that services a digital generation (which I totally identify as), and they value quality, sustainability and service in business. These are things that I identify with in my own business and with my own clients. So, you see, I have an affinity with this brand based on the values that they represent and, therefore, Ive chosen to invest my money in their product. Their product is not cheap. It is also not the best when you compare computer specs and prices to that of Apple merchandise. The price is not the issue. The brand affinity drives my emotive input to partner with this brand for my business, staff and personal needs. As affiliate program managers, we need to do the same in relation to our affiliate programs. We need to develop marketing content that supports our program growth and engagement to build affinity with our affiliate partners and other publishers too. Dont market your offers; build affinity around your affiliate program brand. Affinity runs deeper than simply a like for the product itself. Think carefully about one value your affiliate program delivers to your partners right now. It could be that you always pay on time. It could be that your program offers clear and transparent marketing offers with no hidden costs or marketing jargon. Being able to contextualize these values into your affiliate program promotion and partner outreach can help you to build rapport faster and get affiliates to promote your offers over competitors. Affinity marketing costs nothing but an investment of time. Affinity marketing is based around the notion that your brand will have a clear personality that your partners and affiliate audience will want to interact with. You might already have most of this in place within your company. Factors like tone of voice in your copy and knowing your ideal target affiliate or partner demographic should already be part of your marketing strategy to grow your affiliate program reach. But, in essence, these types of components can also help to develop your programs brand affinity. You need to make sure that you fully understand what your affiliates want from your program, and you need to ensure your team, agency or network is singing from that same hymn sheet. The messages that you send out should always be clear and consistent regardless of their subject matter. In turn, you can improve key business points such as sales, outreach, lead generation, and long-term partner loyalty. Its about building values. You need to be pushing for positive perceptions around your affiliate program. Your tech stack should support scale and provide in-depth data to allow your partners to grow your business efficiently. Your team should be kept abreast of the latest digital marketing trends and be engaged to have meaningful conversations with partners about how you can help them develop and, in turn, grow your business. Affiliates (just like customers) want authenticity from the brands that they invest in working with. Get more personal about managing your partners and their expectations. Ensure that you are including some of the real-life experiences and testimonials of what has helped to make your affiliate program brand what it is today. Dont throw this information out all at once you need to make sure that you have a program story that you can continue to pass to your affiliates long after they have signed up to your program. When I talk about the program story, I mean showing your program beyond facts and figures and using storytelling, personalization and testimonials. Affinity marketing is all about looking into the psychology of what can be used to build a program and deep connection that really works for you and your partnerships. You can then continuously reinforce the value and traits that you have established with your program brand. No matter the marketing channel or outreach point that you choose to use, your team, company culture and affiliate programs values must shine through, creating an easier point of emotional association. Affinity is not the same as loyalty. Brand loyalty can easily be swayed. Affinity will not be. It runs much deeper because its based on emotional decision-making. It is about building a genuine connection between you, your team and the partner you are working with, and this is much more difficult to break compared to incentivized loyalty. While investing time to build affinity marketing around your brand is a longer-term strategy, it can only pay dividends. With many brands now focusing on their presence online and how they connect with their affiliates without events, affinity marketing is going to be a game plan that savvy brand marketers who operate affiliate programs invest in to build long-lasting rapport. Its a powerful tool that can really help your affiliate program stand out and start winning long-term partnerships too. Forbes Agency Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. | Affinity marketing relates to how customers identify with and share a set of common values with the brands they engage with. A good affiliate manager uses emotive-based sales to improve their outreach and partner onboarding. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2021/05/24/why-is-brand-affinity-so-important-for-affiliate-programs/ | 0.202186 |
Why Is Brand Affinity So Important For Affiliate Programs? | Affiliate Marketing Strategist. Owner of Affiliate Insider (An Affiliate Marketing Agency, Media Hub + Training Business). Affinity marketing relates to how customers identify with and share a set of common values with the brands they engage with. And right now, brands need to think about and develop affinity around their affiliate program with their partners. Market for emotion-based action, and apply the psychology of selling to your affiliate program. Let's be very clear: Affinity is not the same as loyalty. One reason brand affinities are so strong is that they are rooted in core emotions. Emotion-based selling will always work well in comparison to other types of sales. A good affiliate manager uses emotive-based sales to improve their outreach and partner onboarding. Let's explore this in real life. Ill use myself as an example. I like using Apple products. I have a Mac and an iPhone. As an affiliate program marketer, I use digital media devices all day in my job. Apple creates products that make my life simple. They identify with being a company that services a digital generation (which I totally identify as), and they value quality, sustainability and service in business. These are things that I identify with in my own business and with my own clients. So, you see, I have an affinity with this brand based on the values that they represent and, therefore, Ive chosen to invest my money in their product. Their product is not cheap. It is also not the best when you compare computer specs and prices to that of Apple merchandise. The price is not the issue. The brand affinity drives my emotive input to partner with this brand for my business, staff and personal needs. As affiliate program managers, we need to do the same in relation to our affiliate programs. We need to develop marketing content that supports our program growth and engagement to build affinity with our affiliate partners and other publishers too. Dont market your offers; build affinity around your affiliate program brand. Affinity runs deeper than simply a like for the product itself. Think carefully about one value your affiliate program delivers to your partners right now. It could be that you always pay on time. It could be that your program offers clear and transparent marketing offers with no hidden costs or marketing jargon. Being able to contextualize these values into your affiliate program promotion and partner outreach can help you to build rapport faster and get affiliates to promote your offers over competitors. Affinity marketing costs nothing but an investment of time. Affinity marketing is based around the notion that your brand will have a clear personality that your partners and affiliate audience will want to interact with. You might already have most of this in place within your company. Factors like tone of voice in your copy and knowing your ideal target affiliate or partner demographic should already be part of your marketing strategy to grow your affiliate program reach. But, in essence, these types of components can also help to develop your programs brand affinity. You need to make sure that you fully understand what your affiliates want from your program, and you need to ensure your team, agency or network is singing from that same hymn sheet. The messages that you send out should always be clear and consistent regardless of their subject matter. In turn, you can improve key business points such as sales, outreach, lead generation, and long-term partner loyalty. Its about building values. You need to be pushing for positive perceptions around your affiliate program. Your tech stack should support scale and provide in-depth data to allow your partners to grow your business efficiently. Your team should be kept abreast of the latest digital marketing trends and be engaged to have meaningful conversations with partners about how you can help them develop and, in turn, grow your business. Affiliates (just like customers) want authenticity from the brands that they invest in working with. Get more personal about managing your partners and their expectations. Ensure that you are including some of the real-life experiences and testimonials of what has helped to make your affiliate program brand what it is today. Dont throw this information out all at once you need to make sure that you have a program story that you can continue to pass to your affiliates long after they have signed up to your program. When I talk about the program story, I mean showing your program beyond facts and figures and using storytelling, personalization and testimonials. Affinity marketing is all about looking into the psychology of what can be used to build a program and deep connection that really works for you and your partnerships. You can then continuously reinforce the value and traits that you have established with your program brand. No matter the marketing channel or outreach point that you choose to use, your team, company culture and affiliate programs values must shine through, creating an easier point of emotional association. Affinity is not the same as loyalty. Brand loyalty can easily be swayed. Affinity will not be. It runs much deeper because its based on emotional decision-making. It is about building a genuine connection between you, your team and the partner you are working with, and this is much more difficult to break compared to incentivized loyalty. While investing time to build affinity marketing around your brand is a longer-term strategy, it can only pay dividends. With many brands now focusing on their presence online and how they connect with their affiliates without events, affinity marketing is going to be a game plan that savvy brand marketers who operate affiliate programs invest in to build long-lasting rapport. Its a powerful tool that can really help your affiliate program stand out and start winning long-term partnerships too. Forbes Agency Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. | Affinity marketing relates to how customers identify with and share a set of common values with the brands they engage with. Market for emotion-based action, and apply the psychology of selling to your affiliate program. Dont market your offers; build affinity around your affiliate program brand. | pegasus | 2 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2021/05/24/why-is-brand-affinity-so-important-for-affiliate-programs/ | 0.142169 |
Are U.S. Officials Under Silent Attack? | During the final weeks of the Trump Administration, a senior official on the National Security Council sat at his desk in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, across from the West Wing, on the White House grounds. It was mid-November, and he had recently returned from a work trip abroad. At the end of the day, he left the building and headed toward his car, which was parked a few hundred yards away, along the Ellipse, between the White House and the Washington Monument. As he walked, he began to hear a ringing in his ears. His body went numb, and he had trouble controlling the movement of his legs and his fingers. Trying to speak to a passerby, he had difficulty forming words. It came on very suddenly, the official recalled later, while describing the experience to a colleague. In a matter of about seven minutes, I went from feeling completely fine to thinking, Oh, somethings not right, to being very, very worried and actually thinking I was going to die. He fell to the ground before he reached his car, and realized that he was in no condition to drive. Instead, he made his way to Constitution Avenue, where he hoped to hail a taxi. He managed to open the Lyft app on his phone, and ordered a driver, who took him to the hospital. When he arrived at the emergency room, the official thought, Im probably not walking out of here. He approached the reception desk. Are you on drugs? a doctor asked him. The official shook his head. He was led to an examination room. Hospital staff found his White House identification card in his pocket, and three cell phones, one of which they used to call his wife. They thought he might be having a stroke, but an MRI ruled it out. Blood tests also turned up nothing unusual. The official, who was in his mid-thirties, had no prexisting conditions. The doctors were at a loss, but told him they suspected that he had suffered a massive migraine with aura. It took about two hours for his speech to begin to return. When he checked out of the hospital, the next day, he still had a pounding headache, but was soon able to go back to work. Several days later, a colleague called him to discuss suspected cases of the Havana Syndrome, a mysterious ailment that had first affected dozens of U.S. officials in Cuba, and which now appeared to be spreading. The N.S.C. official didnt think that he was suffering from the Havana Syndrome; it seemed outlandish that someone would be struck while on the grounds of the White House. But, as his colleague described some of the more severe cases that had been reported, it occurred to the official that this might be his problem. Look, this is probably nothing, he told his colleague, but what you described sounds kind of like what happened to me. Three years ago, my colleague Jon Lee Anderson and I published a piece in The New Yorker about the first Havana Syndrome incidents among C.I.A. and State Department employees. Beginning in December, 2016, officials described being bombarded by waves of pressure in their heads. Some said they heard sounds resembling an immense swarm of cicadas, following them from room to roombut when they opened a door to the outside the sounds abruptly stopped. A few reported feeling as if they were standing in an invisible beam of energy. The aftereffects ranged: debilitating headaches; tinnitus; loss of vision and hearing; vertigo; brain fog; loss of balance and muscle control. For some, the symptoms went away quickly; for others, they have persisted. The experiences have varied to such an extent that government doctors have struggled to form a coherent diagnosis, and many of the patients have been met with skepticism both inside and outside the government. One of the most convincing early cases involved a senior C.I.A. officer who had flown to Cuba, in secret, to meet with colleagues there. In her room at the Hotel Nacional, in August, 2017, the officer awoke with a start to a low humming noise and a feeling of intense pressure in her head. She asked a colleague who came to her room if he heard anything, but he did not. A few days later, after she returned to C.I.A. headquarters, she began to have trouble with her eyesight and her balance, making it impossible to read or to drive. At the time, the officer was the highest-ranking member of the C.I.A. to become ill with the syndrome. The incident persuaded Mike Pompeo, the C.I.A. director, to shut down the agencys station in Havana, and Rex Tillerson, the Secretary of State, followed suit, pulling U.S. diplomats out of the country. Some government employees, who were uninjured and invested in their assignments, considered the withdrawal an overreaction. The result was confusion, division, and anger. After the events in Cuba, there were a few potentially related incidents that the C.I.A. tried to handle internally; one of these involved an intelligence officer who, in late 2017, woke up in a hotel room in Moscow with severe vertigo. (A C.I.A. doctor told him, This isnt it, referring to the Havana Syndrome.) It wasnt until the summer of 2020, more than a year after two White House staff members reported Havana Syndrome-like episodes, that their bosses decided to conduct a government-wide analysis, essentially reopening a cold case. They have discovered that what began with several dozen spies and diplomats in Havana now encompasses more than a hundred and thirty possible cases, from Colombia to Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan to Austria, in addition to the United States and other countries. At least four of the cases involve Trump White House officials, two of whom say they had episodes on the Ellipse. The C.I.A. accounts for some fifty cases. The rest are mostly U.S. military and State Department personnel and their family members. Top officials in both the Trump and the Biden Administrations privately suspect that Russia is responsible for the Havana Syndrome. Their working hypothesis is that agents of the G.R.U., the Russian militarys intelligence service, have been aiming microwave-radiation devices at U.S. officials to collect intelligence from their computers and cell phones, and that these devices can cause serious harm to the people they target. Yet during the past four years U.S. intelligence agencies have been unable to find any evidence to back up this theory, let alone sufficient proof to publicly accuse Russia. Intelligence is an imperfect science, a U.S. intelligence official told me. Its what you know, and it can change in a blink of an eye. There is still disagreement about how to refer to the incidents. Privately, officials characterize them as attacks. Publicly, they refer to them as anomalous health incidents. In late May, 2019, a large group of White House officials checked into an InterContinental Hotel in London, where they prepared for President Donald Trumps state visit. Before dawn on the day of Trumps arrival, Sandra Adams, a mid-level White House staffer, collected a sheaf of documents that had arrived overnight for her team, and had a quick breakfast in the hotel dining room. When she returned to her room, overlooking Green Park, she pulled open the curtains and settled into a chair to read. Suddenly, a ringing sound, annoying at first, then distinctly painful, seemed to envelop her. When she left the room, her ears continued ringing. Later in the trip, she invited a more junior White House staff member, Adrian Banks, to hang out with her in her hotel room before the two went to dinner. (The names Sandra Adams and Adrian Banks are pseudonyms.) As they chatted on the couch, Adams again heard the sound, and felt an acute pressure in her head, as did Banks. They rushed out of the room and into the hallway, where the sound and the pressure subsided. But for the rest of the trip both officials suffered migraines. When the delegation returned to Washington, Adams described the incident to a special White House office responsible for tracking security threats. She was told that what had happened to Banks and her was classified, which meant that they were not supposed to tell anyone, including their doctors, about their experience in London. They visited doctors at the White House Medical Unit, who thought that Adams and Banks were suffering from ordinary headaches and sinus infections that had potentially been brought on by stress. The doctors suggested that they take ibuprofen and decongestants and get some rest. As the weeks passed, Adamss ears and lymph nodes became more swollen, her migraines grew worse, and she felt as if she had strep throat. Banks continued to have headaches, too. Their symptoms persisted despite repeated visits to private physicians and urgent-care clinics. Adams told a colleague, No one seemed to take it seriously. In the cramped warrens of the West Wing, Adams and Banks would often cross paths with Charles Kupperman, the deputy national-security adviser and a veteran of the Reagan White House. In 1978, Kupperman, a hard-liner in Russian affairs, wrote an article cautioning Americans that the ability of the U.S. to defend itself is in doubt because of the size, sophistication and rate of growth of Soviet military power. When the Soviet Union collapsed, in 1991, he was the president of Xsirius Superconductivity, a company working on the use of microwave technology to allow helicopters to detect radiation from air-defense radar systems. Kupperman joined the N.S.C. staff in April, 2018, as a top policy aide to John Bolton, Trumps national-security adviser. Early in his tenure, Kupperman told Bolton that he wanted to take on the Havana Syndrome and drive it into the ground. He had no proof, but he was convinced that the Russians were behind the attacks, and that they were using technology that the K.G.B. had devised during the Cold War. The Russians have a very good capability in microwave weaponry, Kupperman told me. The victims in Cuba had been spies and diplomats, so the Havana Syndrome investigation was being led by the C.I.A. and the State Department. In the spring of 2018, both agencies were in a period of transition; Trump fired Tillerson and nominated Pompeo to replace him as Secretary of State, and Gina Haspel succeeded Pompeo as the director of the C.I.A. She and her deputy, Vaughn Bishop, visited the White House for meetings, and Kupperman would pull them aside to discuss the Havana Syndrome, with which he had become obsessed. He pressed them for information, but they repeatedly told him that they didnt have anything new. The intelligence agencies, Kupperman said, didnt really make it a priority to use all of their resources and accesses to figure this out as quickly as they could. He added, of Haspel, She was skeptical that it was real, and, once she was, the rest of that organization took its cue. Haspel wasnt the only one who seemed unconvinced. After the initial incidents in Havana, the F.B.I. sent a team of agents to the city to try to figure out what might be causing the illnesses. They found no dispositive evidence of any attacks, although by the time they arrived the theoretical perpetrators would have had ample opportunity to conceal any evidence of wrongdoing. In addition, profilers with the F.B.I.s Behavioral Analysis Unit conducted assessments of the victims. The unit presented its findings to State Department officials, including John Sullivan, a Deputy Secretary and the head of a task force that the department had set up to look into the syndrome. The profilers assessment was that the victims were suffering from a mass psychogenic illness, a condition in which a group of people, often thinking that they have been exposed to something dangerous, begin to feel sick at the same time. But, when a State Department official asked how many victims the profilers had interviewed, the unit explained that it hadnt spoken to any of them directly. The units conclusions were based on transcripts of previous interviews that the F.B.I. had done with the patients, and on patient histories compiled by the victims doctors, including neuropsychologists and other specialists, who had already ruled out the idea of a mass psychogenic illness: many of the victims didnt know about the other people who were sick, and their bodies couldnt have feigned some of the symptoms they were exhibiting. Bolton, like Kupperman, believed that the Havana Syndrome was real, and he initially thought that either Russia or China was responsible. By the summer of 2018, hed landed on Russia; more possible cases were reported by U.S. diplomats at the consulate in Guangzhou, and Bolton didnt think that the Chinese would take such action on their home turf. Bolton told me that Pompeo said, Ive looked at this since the Administration started. Nobody can figure out whats going on. Bolton then met with officials from the C.I.A. They couldnt reach agreement on who did it, Bolton told me. In fact, they couldnt reach agreement on whether it was real. He went on, I told them, Look, as far as I am concerned, the fact that we had this happen not just in Cubathough that was the biggest collection of casesbut in China, it seems to me this ought to be a high priority. And they said, Were still working on it. Kupperman was promoted to deputy national-security adviser in January, 2019, at which point he received access to the governments most sensitive intelligence programs. He told his C.I.A. briefer to show him any new intelligence regarding the Havana Syndrome, but he was given few updates. As far as he could tell, the C.I.A. had found very little since he joined the Administration. Then, in June, Sandra Adams and Adrian Banks told Kupperman about what had happened to them in London. He had no doubt they were telling the truth. Kupperman told Bolton and officials at the C.I.A., hoping that they would reassess the threat now that there appeared to be two White House victims. William Happer, a former N.S.C. official and an expert on radiation propagation, who was involved in the discussions, said that his C.I.A. colleagues didnt know what to make of the new cases. There was only anecdotal, fuzzy information, Happer told me. The problem was the lack of really good data. We didnt have very much. Hear ye, hear ye! His Majesty is about to acknowledge his privilege! Facebook Twitter Email Shopping Cartoon by Liana Finck There was one tangible result. When Bolton and his delegation returned to London, they stayed at a Marriott. Often, when a person suffers a concussion or another form of head trauma, biomarkers indicating damaged brain tissue are detectable in the blood soon after the initial injury. When the first set of C.I.A. victims cropped up in Cuba, medical personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Havana drew their blood and placed the samples in a refrigerator. Researchers planned to check the samples for blood biomarkers. But in September, 2017, when Hurricane Irma hit Cuba, the Embassy lost power, and the refrigerated samples were spoiled. The opportunity to do blood tests was lost, but specialists at the University of Pennsylvanias Center for Brain Injury and Repair have been able to use MRIs to study the brains of forty Havana Syndrome patients. They found no signs of physical impact to the victims skullsit was as if the victims had a concussion without a concussion, one specialist told mebut the team found signs consistent with damage to the patients brains: the volume of white matter was smaller than in a similar group of healthy adults, which indicated that something structural in the brain had been affected. At the White House, Adams and Banks continued to experience symptoms. Kupperman lobbied to have them evaluated by State Department doctors who had examined other suspected victims of the Havana Syndrome in Cuba and in China. A few months after the incident in London, the doctors checked Bankss and Adamss vision, balance, hearing, and cognitive skills, in a series of tests known as the Havana Protocol. Adams listed the symptoms that had persisted: migraines, swollen lymph nodes, and sore throat. A doctor told her, referring to the Havana victims, Whatever you heard, those are not the same symptoms as the rest of the cohort. Adams left with the distinct impression that the doctor wanted her to believe that she had imagined the experience in London. Banks saw a different doctor at the State Department. After the tests for balance and cognition, the doctor said, You passed. Banks tried to explain that some days were better than others, and that on bad days the pain was more severe. I was having a good day, Banks told a colleague. But the doctor was skeptical. Adams and Banks reported back to Kupperman. They said, We know our bodies and we know these symptoms and its not normal, he recalled. Nobody did any serious medical diagnostics, which is just appalling. Bolton was frustrated, too. But, after a while, there really wasnt much more I could do, he told me. You can say to somebody only so many times, Whats the cause?, and then have them reply, I dont know. His takeaway was that C.I.A. officials believed the Havana Syndrome was an incoherent collection of psychosomatic reports, groupthink, and disparate mental conditions. He told me, They just werent going to pursue it. | David Rothkopf: U.S. officials are under silent attack from a mysterious ailment. He says a senior official on the National Security Council was struck by a migraine while on the White House grounds. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/05/31/are-us-officials-under-silent-attack | 0.634037 |
Are U.S. Officials Under Silent Attack? | During the final weeks of the Trump Administration, a senior official on the National Security Council sat at his desk in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, across from the West Wing, on the White House grounds. It was mid-November, and he had recently returned from a work trip abroad. At the end of the day, he left the building and headed toward his car, which was parked a few hundred yards away, along the Ellipse, between the White House and the Washington Monument. As he walked, he began to hear a ringing in his ears. His body went numb, and he had trouble controlling the movement of his legs and his fingers. Trying to speak to a passerby, he had difficulty forming words. It came on very suddenly, the official recalled later, while describing the experience to a colleague. In a matter of about seven minutes, I went from feeling completely fine to thinking, Oh, somethings not right, to being very, very worried and actually thinking I was going to die. He fell to the ground before he reached his car, and realized that he was in no condition to drive. Instead, he made his way to Constitution Avenue, where he hoped to hail a taxi. He managed to open the Lyft app on his phone, and ordered a driver, who took him to the hospital. When he arrived at the emergency room, the official thought, Im probably not walking out of here. He approached the reception desk. Are you on drugs? a doctor asked him. The official shook his head. He was led to an examination room. Hospital staff found his White House identification card in his pocket, and three cell phones, one of which they used to call his wife. They thought he might be having a stroke, but an MRI ruled it out. Blood tests also turned up nothing unusual. The official, who was in his mid-thirties, had no prexisting conditions. The doctors were at a loss, but told him they suspected that he had suffered a massive migraine with aura. It took about two hours for his speech to begin to return. When he checked out of the hospital, the next day, he still had a pounding headache, but was soon able to go back to work. Several days later, a colleague called him to discuss suspected cases of the Havana Syndrome, a mysterious ailment that had first affected dozens of U.S. officials in Cuba, and which now appeared to be spreading. The N.S.C. official didnt think that he was suffering from the Havana Syndrome; it seemed outlandish that someone would be struck while on the grounds of the White House. But, as his colleague described some of the more severe cases that had been reported, it occurred to the official that this might be his problem. Look, this is probably nothing, he told his colleague, but what you described sounds kind of like what happened to me. Three years ago, my colleague Jon Lee Anderson and I published a piece in The New Yorker about the first Havana Syndrome incidents among C.I.A. and State Department employees. Beginning in December, 2016, officials described being bombarded by waves of pressure in their heads. Some said they heard sounds resembling an immense swarm of cicadas, following them from room to roombut when they opened a door to the outside the sounds abruptly stopped. A few reported feeling as if they were standing in an invisible beam of energy. The aftereffects ranged: debilitating headaches; tinnitus; loss of vision and hearing; vertigo; brain fog; loss of balance and muscle control. For some, the symptoms went away quickly; for others, they have persisted. The experiences have varied to such an extent that government doctors have struggled to form a coherent diagnosis, and many of the patients have been met with skepticism both inside and outside the government. One of the most convincing early cases involved a senior C.I.A. officer who had flown to Cuba, in secret, to meet with colleagues there. In her room at the Hotel Nacional, in August, 2017, the officer awoke with a start to a low humming noise and a feeling of intense pressure in her head. She asked a colleague who came to her room if he heard anything, but he did not. A few days later, after she returned to C.I.A. headquarters, she began to have trouble with her eyesight and her balance, making it impossible to read or to drive. At the time, the officer was the highest-ranking member of the C.I.A. to become ill with the syndrome. The incident persuaded Mike Pompeo, the C.I.A. director, to shut down the agencys station in Havana, and Rex Tillerson, the Secretary of State, followed suit, pulling U.S. diplomats out of the country. Some government employees, who were uninjured and invested in their assignments, considered the withdrawal an overreaction. The result was confusion, division, and anger. After the events in Cuba, there were a few potentially related incidents that the C.I.A. tried to handle internally; one of these involved an intelligence officer who, in late 2017, woke up in a hotel room in Moscow with severe vertigo. (A C.I.A. doctor told him, This isnt it, referring to the Havana Syndrome.) It wasnt until the summer of 2020, more than a year after two White House staff members reported Havana Syndrome-like episodes, that their bosses decided to conduct a government-wide analysis, essentially reopening a cold case. They have discovered that what began with several dozen spies and diplomats in Havana now encompasses more than a hundred and thirty possible cases, from Colombia to Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan to Austria, in addition to the United States and other countries. At least four of the cases involve Trump White House officials, two of whom say they had episodes on the Ellipse. The C.I.A. accounts for some fifty cases. The rest are mostly U.S. military and State Department personnel and their family members. Top officials in both the Trump and the Biden Administrations privately suspect that Russia is responsible for the Havana Syndrome. Their working hypothesis is that agents of the G.R.U., the Russian militarys intelligence service, have been aiming microwave-radiation devices at U.S. officials to collect intelligence from their computers and cell phones, and that these devices can cause serious harm to the people they target. Yet during the past four years U.S. intelligence agencies have been unable to find any evidence to back up this theory, let alone sufficient proof to publicly accuse Russia. Intelligence is an imperfect science, a U.S. intelligence official told me. Its what you know, and it can change in a blink of an eye. There is still disagreement about how to refer to the incidents. Privately, officials characterize them as attacks. Publicly, they refer to them as anomalous health incidents. In late May, 2019, a large group of White House officials checked into an InterContinental Hotel in London, where they prepared for President Donald Trumps state visit. Before dawn on the day of Trumps arrival, Sandra Adams, a mid-level White House staffer, collected a sheaf of documents that had arrived overnight for her team, and had a quick breakfast in the hotel dining room. When she returned to her room, overlooking Green Park, she pulled open the curtains and settled into a chair to read. Suddenly, a ringing sound, annoying at first, then distinctly painful, seemed to envelop her. When she left the room, her ears continued ringing. Later in the trip, she invited a more junior White House staff member, Adrian Banks, to hang out with her in her hotel room before the two went to dinner. (The names Sandra Adams and Adrian Banks are pseudonyms.) As they chatted on the couch, Adams again heard the sound, and felt an acute pressure in her head, as did Banks. They rushed out of the room and into the hallway, where the sound and the pressure subsided. But for the rest of the trip both officials suffered migraines. When the delegation returned to Washington, Adams described the incident to a special White House office responsible for tracking security threats. She was told that what had happened to Banks and her was classified, which meant that they were not supposed to tell anyone, including their doctors, about their experience in London. They visited doctors at the White House Medical Unit, who thought that Adams and Banks were suffering from ordinary headaches and sinus infections that had potentially been brought on by stress. The doctors suggested that they take ibuprofen and decongestants and get some rest. As the weeks passed, Adamss ears and lymph nodes became more swollen, her migraines grew worse, and she felt as if she had strep throat. Banks continued to have headaches, too. Their symptoms persisted despite repeated visits to private physicians and urgent-care clinics. Adams told a colleague, No one seemed to take it seriously. In the cramped warrens of the West Wing, Adams and Banks would often cross paths with Charles Kupperman, the deputy national-security adviser and a veteran of the Reagan White House. In 1978, Kupperman, a hard-liner in Russian affairs, wrote an article cautioning Americans that the ability of the U.S. to defend itself is in doubt because of the size, sophistication and rate of growth of Soviet military power. When the Soviet Union collapsed, in 1991, he was the president of Xsirius Superconductivity, a company working on the use of microwave technology to allow helicopters to detect radiation from air-defense radar systems. Kupperman joined the N.S.C. staff in April, 2018, as a top policy aide to John Bolton, Trumps national-security adviser. Early in his tenure, Kupperman told Bolton that he wanted to take on the Havana Syndrome and drive it into the ground. He had no proof, but he was convinced that the Russians were behind the attacks, and that they were using technology that the K.G.B. had devised during the Cold War. The Russians have a very good capability in microwave weaponry, Kupperman told me. The victims in Cuba had been spies and diplomats, so the Havana Syndrome investigation was being led by the C.I.A. and the State Department. In the spring of 2018, both agencies were in a period of transition; Trump fired Tillerson and nominated Pompeo to replace him as Secretary of State, and Gina Haspel succeeded Pompeo as the director of the C.I.A. She and her deputy, Vaughn Bishop, visited the White House for meetings, and Kupperman would pull them aside to discuss the Havana Syndrome, with which he had become obsessed. He pressed them for information, but they repeatedly told him that they didnt have anything new. The intelligence agencies, Kupperman said, didnt really make it a priority to use all of their resources and accesses to figure this out as quickly as they could. He added, of Haspel, She was skeptical that it was real, and, once she was, the rest of that organization took its cue. Haspel wasnt the only one who seemed unconvinced. After the initial incidents in Havana, the F.B.I. sent a team of agents to the city to try to figure out what might be causing the illnesses. They found no dispositive evidence of any attacks, although by the time they arrived the theoretical perpetrators would have had ample opportunity to conceal any evidence of wrongdoing. In addition, profilers with the F.B.I.s Behavioral Analysis Unit conducted assessments of the victims. The unit presented its findings to State Department officials, including John Sullivan, a Deputy Secretary and the head of a task force that the department had set up to look into the syndrome. The profilers assessment was that the victims were suffering from a mass psychogenic illness, a condition in which a group of people, often thinking that they have been exposed to something dangerous, begin to feel sick at the same time. But, when a State Department official asked how many victims the profilers had interviewed, the unit explained that it hadnt spoken to any of them directly. The units conclusions were based on transcripts of previous interviews that the F.B.I. had done with the patients, and on patient histories compiled by the victims doctors, including neuropsychologists and other specialists, who had already ruled out the idea of a mass psychogenic illness: many of the victims didnt know about the other people who were sick, and their bodies couldnt have feigned some of the symptoms they were exhibiting. Bolton, like Kupperman, believed that the Havana Syndrome was real, and he initially thought that either Russia or China was responsible. By the summer of 2018, hed landed on Russia; more possible cases were reported by U.S. diplomats at the consulate in Guangzhou, and Bolton didnt think that the Chinese would take such action on their home turf. Bolton told me that Pompeo said, Ive looked at this since the Administration started. Nobody can figure out whats going on. Bolton then met with officials from the C.I.A. They couldnt reach agreement on who did it, Bolton told me. In fact, they couldnt reach agreement on whether it was real. He went on, I told them, Look, as far as I am concerned, the fact that we had this happen not just in Cubathough that was the biggest collection of casesbut in China, it seems to me this ought to be a high priority. And they said, Were still working on it. Kupperman was promoted to deputy national-security adviser in January, 2019, at which point he received access to the governments most sensitive intelligence programs. He told his C.I.A. briefer to show him any new intelligence regarding the Havana Syndrome, but he was given few updates. As far as he could tell, the C.I.A. had found very little since he joined the Administration. Then, in June, Sandra Adams and Adrian Banks told Kupperman about what had happened to them in London. He had no doubt they were telling the truth. Kupperman told Bolton and officials at the C.I.A., hoping that they would reassess the threat now that there appeared to be two White House victims. William Happer, a former N.S.C. official and an expert on radiation propagation, who was involved in the discussions, said that his C.I.A. colleagues didnt know what to make of the new cases. There was only anecdotal, fuzzy information, Happer told me. The problem was the lack of really good data. We didnt have very much. Hear ye, hear ye! His Majesty is about to acknowledge his privilege! Facebook Twitter Email Shopping Cartoon by Liana Finck There was one tangible result. When Bolton and his delegation returned to London, they stayed at a Marriott. Often, when a person suffers a concussion or another form of head trauma, biomarkers indicating damaged brain tissue are detectable in the blood soon after the initial injury. When the first set of C.I.A. victims cropped up in Cuba, medical personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Havana drew their blood and placed the samples in a refrigerator. Researchers planned to check the samples for blood biomarkers. But in September, 2017, when Hurricane Irma hit Cuba, the Embassy lost power, and the refrigerated samples were spoiled. The opportunity to do blood tests was lost, but specialists at the University of Pennsylvanias Center for Brain Injury and Repair have been able to use MRIs to study the brains of forty Havana Syndrome patients. They found no signs of physical impact to the victims skullsit was as if the victims had a concussion without a concussion, one specialist told mebut the team found signs consistent with damage to the patients brains: the volume of white matter was smaller than in a similar group of healthy adults, which indicated that something structural in the brain had been affected. At the White House, Adams and Banks continued to experience symptoms. Kupperman lobbied to have them evaluated by State Department doctors who had examined other suspected victims of the Havana Syndrome in Cuba and in China. A few months after the incident in London, the doctors checked Bankss and Adamss vision, balance, hearing, and cognitive skills, in a series of tests known as the Havana Protocol. Adams listed the symptoms that had persisted: migraines, swollen lymph nodes, and sore throat. A doctor told her, referring to the Havana victims, Whatever you heard, those are not the same symptoms as the rest of the cohort. Adams left with the distinct impression that the doctor wanted her to believe that she had imagined the experience in London. Banks saw a different doctor at the State Department. After the tests for balance and cognition, the doctor said, You passed. Banks tried to explain that some days were better than others, and that on bad days the pain was more severe. I was having a good day, Banks told a colleague. But the doctor was skeptical. Adams and Banks reported back to Kupperman. They said, We know our bodies and we know these symptoms and its not normal, he recalled. Nobody did any serious medical diagnostics, which is just appalling. Bolton was frustrated, too. But, after a while, there really wasnt much more I could do, he told me. You can say to somebody only so many times, Whats the cause?, and then have them reply, I dont know. His takeaway was that C.I.A. officials believed the Havana Syndrome was an incoherent collection of psychosomatic reports, groupthink, and disparate mental conditions. He told me, They just werent going to pursue it. | David Rothkopf: U.S. officials are under silent attack from a mysterious ailment. He says a senior official on the National Security Council was struck by a migraine while on the White House grounds. He was rushed to the hospital, where doctors thought he might be having a stroke, but an MRI ruled it out. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/05/31/are-us-officials-under-silent-attack | 0.698128 |
How Many Times Is Disney Going To Introduce Their First Gay Character? | People from the Walt Disney Company participate in the annual LA Pride Parade in West Hollywood, ... [+] California, on June 9, 2019. - LA Pride began on June 28, 1970, exactly one year after the historic Stonewall Rebellion in New York City, 50 years ago. (Photo by DAVID MCNEW / AFP) (Photo credit should read DAVID MCNEW/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images Disneys upcoming Cruella, a live-action origin story for the iconic antagonist of 101 Dalmatians, is being praised for featuring Disneys first gay character. Its a familiar milestone for the company, as Disney has pioneered their first gay character at least 7 times, give or take; Onward, Beauty and the Beast, Jungle Cruise, The Rise of Skywalker, Zootopia, Toy Story 4, and Avengers: Endgame all feature minor characters who make exceedingly subtle references hinting at same-sex attraction. Conveniently, these minuscule slivers of LGBTQ representation are so brief, so utterly irrelevant to the plot of these films, that they can be easily edited out for socially conservative audiences, as was the case with the quick lesbian kiss from The Rise Of Skywalker. Pro-LGBTQ press outlets, starved for representation, will either cheer Disneys cautious baby steps towards inclusion, or criticize the companys cynicism. None of these queer background characters really stick around in collective memory long enough to make an impression, hence, each time Disney pulls the same trick, it is heralded as the first. Arguably, Disney has never made enough commitment to representation to even justify the word; even Cruellas alleged LGBTQ representation appears to be more of a tease, rather than a commitment. Actor John McCrea, who plays Cruella's fashion-obsessed friend Artie, stated: "It depends on who you're asking I suppose - but for me, yes, it's official: he's queer. But we don't see him falling in love; there's no social aspect to the character. It's not beating you on the head with a stick." It seems odd that, in 2021, Disney is still attempting to have their cake and eat it when it comes to LGBTQ representation, especially when other animated childrens media, such as Steven Universe, Adventure Time, The Owl House and Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, feature openly queer characters. However, even Disneys tepid attempts at representation have managed to spark fury in the heart of the intolerant, attracting boycotts and aggressive censorship. And Disney, like every other media institution, seeks to avoid controversy that threatens profit. The LGBT community cant celebrate Disneys firsts forever, and the half-hearted representation shown thus far is only fueling frustration. Surely, another culture war is on the horizon, and Disney, the hulking behemoth of the entertainment world, is going to be viewed as an important battleground. On the plus side, Kevin Feige has promised that The Eternals and Thor 4 will feature LGBTQ representation, so there are at least two more firsts to look forward to. | Disney has pioneered their first gay character at least 7 times, give or take. | ctrlsum | 0 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2021/05/24/how-many-times-is-disney-going-to-introduce-their-first-gay-character/ | 0.616609 |
How Many Times Is Disney Going To Introduce Their First Gay Character? | People from the Walt Disney Company participate in the annual LA Pride Parade in West Hollywood, ... [+] California, on June 9, 2019. - LA Pride began on June 28, 1970, exactly one year after the historic Stonewall Rebellion in New York City, 50 years ago. (Photo by DAVID MCNEW / AFP) (Photo credit should read DAVID MCNEW/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images Disneys upcoming Cruella, a live-action origin story for the iconic antagonist of 101 Dalmatians, is being praised for featuring Disneys first gay character. Its a familiar milestone for the company, as Disney has pioneered their first gay character at least 7 times, give or take; Onward, Beauty and the Beast, Jungle Cruise, The Rise of Skywalker, Zootopia, Toy Story 4, and Avengers: Endgame all feature minor characters who make exceedingly subtle references hinting at same-sex attraction. Conveniently, these minuscule slivers of LGBTQ representation are so brief, so utterly irrelevant to the plot of these films, that they can be easily edited out for socially conservative audiences, as was the case with the quick lesbian kiss from The Rise Of Skywalker. Pro-LGBTQ press outlets, starved for representation, will either cheer Disneys cautious baby steps towards inclusion, or criticize the companys cynicism. None of these queer background characters really stick around in collective memory long enough to make an impression, hence, each time Disney pulls the same trick, it is heralded as the first. Arguably, Disney has never made enough commitment to representation to even justify the word; even Cruellas alleged LGBTQ representation appears to be more of a tease, rather than a commitment. Actor John McCrea, who plays Cruella's fashion-obsessed friend Artie, stated: "It depends on who you're asking I suppose - but for me, yes, it's official: he's queer. But we don't see him falling in love; there's no social aspect to the character. It's not beating you on the head with a stick." It seems odd that, in 2021, Disney is still attempting to have their cake and eat it when it comes to LGBTQ representation, especially when other animated childrens media, such as Steven Universe, Adventure Time, The Owl House and Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, feature openly queer characters. However, even Disneys tepid attempts at representation have managed to spark fury in the heart of the intolerant, attracting boycotts and aggressive censorship. And Disney, like every other media institution, seeks to avoid controversy that threatens profit. The LGBT community cant celebrate Disneys firsts forever, and the half-hearted representation shown thus far is only fueling frustration. Surely, another culture war is on the horizon, and Disney, the hulking behemoth of the entertainment world, is going to be viewed as an important battleground. On the plus side, Kevin Feige has promised that The Eternals and Thor 4 will feature LGBTQ representation, so there are at least two more firsts to look forward to. | Disney has pioneered their first gay character at least 7 times, give or take. Disney has never made enough commitment to representation to even justify the word. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2021/05/24/how-many-times-is-disney-going-to-introduce-their-first-gay-character/ | 0.6467 |
How Many Times Is Disney Going To Introduce Their First Gay Character? | People from the Walt Disney Company participate in the annual LA Pride Parade in West Hollywood, ... [+] California, on June 9, 2019. - LA Pride began on June 28, 1970, exactly one year after the historic Stonewall Rebellion in New York City, 50 years ago. (Photo by DAVID MCNEW / AFP) (Photo credit should read DAVID MCNEW/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images Disneys upcoming Cruella, a live-action origin story for the iconic antagonist of 101 Dalmatians, is being praised for featuring Disneys first gay character. Its a familiar milestone for the company, as Disney has pioneered their first gay character at least 7 times, give or take; Onward, Beauty and the Beast, Jungle Cruise, The Rise of Skywalker, Zootopia, Toy Story 4, and Avengers: Endgame all feature minor characters who make exceedingly subtle references hinting at same-sex attraction. Conveniently, these minuscule slivers of LGBTQ representation are so brief, so utterly irrelevant to the plot of these films, that they can be easily edited out for socially conservative audiences, as was the case with the quick lesbian kiss from The Rise Of Skywalker. Pro-LGBTQ press outlets, starved for representation, will either cheer Disneys cautious baby steps towards inclusion, or criticize the companys cynicism. None of these queer background characters really stick around in collective memory long enough to make an impression, hence, each time Disney pulls the same trick, it is heralded as the first. Arguably, Disney has never made enough commitment to representation to even justify the word; even Cruellas alleged LGBTQ representation appears to be more of a tease, rather than a commitment. Actor John McCrea, who plays Cruella's fashion-obsessed friend Artie, stated: "It depends on who you're asking I suppose - but for me, yes, it's official: he's queer. But we don't see him falling in love; there's no social aspect to the character. It's not beating you on the head with a stick." It seems odd that, in 2021, Disney is still attempting to have their cake and eat it when it comes to LGBTQ representation, especially when other animated childrens media, such as Steven Universe, Adventure Time, The Owl House and Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, feature openly queer characters. However, even Disneys tepid attempts at representation have managed to spark fury in the heart of the intolerant, attracting boycotts and aggressive censorship. And Disney, like every other media institution, seeks to avoid controversy that threatens profit. The LGBT community cant celebrate Disneys firsts forever, and the half-hearted representation shown thus far is only fueling frustration. Surely, another culture war is on the horizon, and Disney, the hulking behemoth of the entertainment world, is going to be viewed as an important battleground. On the plus side, Kevin Feige has promised that The Eternals and Thor 4 will feature LGBTQ representation, so there are at least two more firsts to look forward to. | Disney has pioneered their first gay character at least 7 times, give or take. Disney has never made enough commitment to representation to even justify the word first. The company has been criticized for their cautious baby steps towards inclusion, or criticize the companys cynicism. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2021/05/24/how-many-times-is-disney-going-to-introduce-their-first-gay-character/ | 0.66007 |
How Could Jadarrius Perkins Shakeup the Florida Gators Secondary? | After welcoming four transfers before spring football camp, the Florida Gators welcomed another experienced college prospect who has a chance to take the field immediately. Cornerback Jadarrius Perkins, formerly with Missouri for three months after two years at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, pledged to become a member of UF's secondary on Saturday evening. A long, athletic defensive back with positional versatility, the hope is that Perkins can come in and make an immediate impact on the backend of the Gators' defense. Perkins took first team reps during Missouri's spring camp this offseason, quickly adapting to the Tigers defense after enrolling in January. With two new defensive backs coaches on staff and following numerous veteran departures, it isn't out of the question to suggest Perkins will similarly surge up the depth chart in Gainesville. UF has yet to confirm his transfer, but Perkins is expected to be immediately eligible after the NCAA Division I Board of Directors shifted toward a one-time transfer rule in April. So long as that is the case, Perkins should be expected to find playing time rather quickly with the Gators. Capable of playing both outside and nickel cornerback, Perkins could factor into both spots on the depth chart as he offers playing experience in an otherwise young secondary. Florida really only has one starter set in stone among its three cornerback positions: Kaiir Elam, who primarily mans the outside, boundary corner spot. With three All-SEC honors (two Coaches, one Associated Press) in two seasons at Florida, Elam is locked into a starting role and won't leave the field often. Snaps could open up outside if Elam shadows an offense's best receiver into the slot or in some sub-packages, but in base defense he'll mainly play outside. That leaves Perkins with snaps to take between the field and STAR nickel cornerback positions, where no player has put together a rsum quite like Elam's. Given Perkins' length and speed, he's an ideal fit to play outside opposite of Elam and man up on receivers in press coverage. Perkins also has the speed to play off-man and various outside zone schemes. In that case, Perkins would chiefly compete with junior cornerback Jaydon Hill for playing time. Hill made five starts last season and broke up seven passes, ranking second-best on the team behind Elam, and has been expected to take over the starting role that Marco Wilson vacated by entering the NFL Draft. If anything, Hill and Perkins are likely to rotate significantly at the field cornerback spot as UF's defensive backs have regularly rotated in the past. Should Florida elect to play Perkins in the nickel as well, he'll battle sophomore Tre'Vez Johnson for playing time at STAR. Johnson didn't start as a true freshman but appeared in 11 games defensively, making 15 tackles and defending two passes while playing in the slot almost exclusively. Although his skill-set may fit best outside, Perkins could also thrive in the STAR role in redzone packages where Florida wants bigger defensive backs in coverage. Such packages could pave a way for UF to get freshman cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. onto the field as well, creating a trio of physical, press-man corners in Marshall, Perkins and Elam that can lock down receivers in a confined area of the playing field. Otherwise, Marshall, a consensus five-star in Florida's 2021 signing class, won't need to be rushed onto the field. That could prove pivotal in his development as Marshall's senior season of high school ball was altered and shorted amid the coronavirus pandemic. With Perkins now in the fold, Marshall can instead play in a limited fashion and take on snaps as he gains comfort within the defense. Perkins will have to prove himself in Florida's fall camp to earn immediate playing time as he makes the leap from junior college football to the SEC, but the arrow appears to be pointing up. Perkins' versatility and college experience could prove instrumental as coaches Wesley McGriff and Jules Montinar reconstruct Florida's secondary, offering the team a stop-gap and a proven commodity of sorts as it attempts to stabilize its passing defense. | Jadarrius Perkins pledged to become a member of the Florida Gators on Saturday. Perkins is a long, athletic defensive back with positional versatility. He could play both outside and nickel cornerback for the Gators. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.si.com/college/florida/football/florida-gators-jadarrius-perkins-analysis-shakeup-secondary | 0.264924 |
How Could Jadarrius Perkins Shakeup the Florida Gators Secondary? | After welcoming four transfers before spring football camp, the Florida Gators welcomed another experienced college prospect who has a chance to take the field immediately. Cornerback Jadarrius Perkins, formerly with Missouri for three months after two years at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, pledged to become a member of UF's secondary on Saturday evening. A long, athletic defensive back with positional versatility, the hope is that Perkins can come in and make an immediate impact on the backend of the Gators' defense. Perkins took first team reps during Missouri's spring camp this offseason, quickly adapting to the Tigers defense after enrolling in January. With two new defensive backs coaches on staff and following numerous veteran departures, it isn't out of the question to suggest Perkins will similarly surge up the depth chart in Gainesville. UF has yet to confirm his transfer, but Perkins is expected to be immediately eligible after the NCAA Division I Board of Directors shifted toward a one-time transfer rule in April. So long as that is the case, Perkins should be expected to find playing time rather quickly with the Gators. Capable of playing both outside and nickel cornerback, Perkins could factor into both spots on the depth chart as he offers playing experience in an otherwise young secondary. Florida really only has one starter set in stone among its three cornerback positions: Kaiir Elam, who primarily mans the outside, boundary corner spot. With three All-SEC honors (two Coaches, one Associated Press) in two seasons at Florida, Elam is locked into a starting role and won't leave the field often. Snaps could open up outside if Elam shadows an offense's best receiver into the slot or in some sub-packages, but in base defense he'll mainly play outside. That leaves Perkins with snaps to take between the field and STAR nickel cornerback positions, where no player has put together a rsum quite like Elam's. Given Perkins' length and speed, he's an ideal fit to play outside opposite of Elam and man up on receivers in press coverage. Perkins also has the speed to play off-man and various outside zone schemes. In that case, Perkins would chiefly compete with junior cornerback Jaydon Hill for playing time. Hill made five starts last season and broke up seven passes, ranking second-best on the team behind Elam, and has been expected to take over the starting role that Marco Wilson vacated by entering the NFL Draft. If anything, Hill and Perkins are likely to rotate significantly at the field cornerback spot as UF's defensive backs have regularly rotated in the past. Should Florida elect to play Perkins in the nickel as well, he'll battle sophomore Tre'Vez Johnson for playing time at STAR. Johnson didn't start as a true freshman but appeared in 11 games defensively, making 15 tackles and defending two passes while playing in the slot almost exclusively. Although his skill-set may fit best outside, Perkins could also thrive in the STAR role in redzone packages where Florida wants bigger defensive backs in coverage. Such packages could pave a way for UF to get freshman cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. onto the field as well, creating a trio of physical, press-man corners in Marshall, Perkins and Elam that can lock down receivers in a confined area of the playing field. Otherwise, Marshall, a consensus five-star in Florida's 2021 signing class, won't need to be rushed onto the field. That could prove pivotal in his development as Marshall's senior season of high school ball was altered and shorted amid the coronavirus pandemic. With Perkins now in the fold, Marshall can instead play in a limited fashion and take on snaps as he gains comfort within the defense. Perkins will have to prove himself in Florida's fall camp to earn immediate playing time as he makes the leap from junior college football to the SEC, but the arrow appears to be pointing up. Perkins' versatility and college experience could prove instrumental as coaches Wesley McGriff and Jules Montinar reconstruct Florida's secondary, offering the team a stop-gap and a proven commodity of sorts as it attempts to stabilize its passing defense. | Jadarrius Perkins pledged to become a member of the Florida Gators on Saturday evening. Perkins is a long, athletic defensive back with positional versatility. He could play both outside and nickel cornerback for the Gators this season. He is expected to compete with Jaydon Hill and Tre'Vez Johnson for playing time. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.si.com/college/florida/football/florida-gators-jadarrius-perkins-analysis-shakeup-secondary | 0.337879 |
Could Ohio be the next state to legalize college athletes profiting from name, image and likeness? | COLUMBUS Ohio could be the next state to allow collegiate athletes to make money off their name, image and likeness. State Sen. Niraj Antani, R-Miamisburg, will hold a news conference Monday afternoon to announce "major legislation involving collegiate athletics" accompanied by Ohio State University Athletic Director Gene Smith. To date, 16 states have passed legislation that allows college students to make money through advertisements, sponsorship deals and other promotions based on their sports success and popularity. Five of those laws Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and New Mexico take effect July 1. That presents a fairness problem for the NCAA, which regulates student athletics. Complicating matters further, each state has different rules on how students can make money from their own fame, whether universities can reject contracts and how athletes hire agents. Worried about a patchwork of laws, the NCAA has asked Congress to pass legislation on name, image and likeness. Former Ohio State University wide receiver and current U.S. Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, R-Rocky River, was one of the legislators leading the charge. But so far nothing has passed, and proponents aren't optimistic about legislation taking effect before July 1. Meanwhile, the NCAA Division I Council, which oversees the highest level of college athletics, delayed a January vote on rules allowing athletes to make money. The delay came after a warning from the Department of Justice that the new rules could violate antitrust laws. Smith co-led a working group that developed rules on how schools could implement name, image and likeness. He has advocated for regulating students' endorsement opportunities rather than restricting them entirely. Facing a July 1 deadline from several states and little help from Congress to date, the NCAA is expected to vote on name, image and likeness rules during its June 22-23 meeting. Money has long been the dividing line between amateur and professional athletes. But in recent years, those athletes have advocated for being able to profit from their own work and success, especially as universities and television networks rake in cash from their endeavors. (Ohio State Universitys athletic department brought in a school record of nearly $234 million between July 1, 2019, through June 30, 2020.) For example, Opendorse, a digital marketing platform for athletes, estimated that former Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields could have earned more than $1 million a year off of his name, image and likeness. But the changes could help lesser-known athletes with savvy social media presences, too. Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has advocated for compensating players. He could have made as much as $700,000 off his success as the 2019 Heisman Trophy winner and leader of the national championship-winning Louisiana State University, according to one estimate. Amid that backdrop, Antani is expected to propose a law to legalize ways for students to profit off their own fame in Ohio. Any changes would need approval from both chambers of the Ohio Legislature and Gov. Mike DeWine's signature. Michigan already passed a law on the topic. It takes effect Dec. 31, 2022. Dispatch reporter Joey Kaufman and USA Today Sports contributed to this article. | 16 states have passed legislation that allows college students to make money from their fame. The NCAA has asked Congress to pass legislation on name, image and likeness. Ohio could be the next state to legalize ways for students to profit off their own fame. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/2021/05/24/could-ohio-allow-college-athletes-profit-their-name-image-and-likeness/5239021001/ | 0.463445 |
Could Ohio be the next state to legalize college athletes profiting from name, image and likeness? | COLUMBUS Ohio could be the next state to allow collegiate athletes to make money off their name, image and likeness. State Sen. Niraj Antani, R-Miamisburg, will hold a news conference Monday afternoon to announce "major legislation involving collegiate athletics" accompanied by Ohio State University Athletic Director Gene Smith. To date, 16 states have passed legislation that allows college students to make money through advertisements, sponsorship deals and other promotions based on their sports success and popularity. Five of those laws Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and New Mexico take effect July 1. That presents a fairness problem for the NCAA, which regulates student athletics. Complicating matters further, each state has different rules on how students can make money from their own fame, whether universities can reject contracts and how athletes hire agents. Worried about a patchwork of laws, the NCAA has asked Congress to pass legislation on name, image and likeness. Former Ohio State University wide receiver and current U.S. Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, R-Rocky River, was one of the legislators leading the charge. But so far nothing has passed, and proponents aren't optimistic about legislation taking effect before July 1. Meanwhile, the NCAA Division I Council, which oversees the highest level of college athletics, delayed a January vote on rules allowing athletes to make money. The delay came after a warning from the Department of Justice that the new rules could violate antitrust laws. Smith co-led a working group that developed rules on how schools could implement name, image and likeness. He has advocated for regulating students' endorsement opportunities rather than restricting them entirely. Facing a July 1 deadline from several states and little help from Congress to date, the NCAA is expected to vote on name, image and likeness rules during its June 22-23 meeting. Money has long been the dividing line between amateur and professional athletes. But in recent years, those athletes have advocated for being able to profit from their own work and success, especially as universities and television networks rake in cash from their endeavors. (Ohio State Universitys athletic department brought in a school record of nearly $234 million between July 1, 2019, through June 30, 2020.) For example, Opendorse, a digital marketing platform for athletes, estimated that former Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields could have earned more than $1 million a year off of his name, image and likeness. But the changes could help lesser-known athletes with savvy social media presences, too. Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has advocated for compensating players. He could have made as much as $700,000 off his success as the 2019 Heisman Trophy winner and leader of the national championship-winning Louisiana State University, according to one estimate. Amid that backdrop, Antani is expected to propose a law to legalize ways for students to profit off their own fame in Ohio. Any changes would need approval from both chambers of the Ohio Legislature and Gov. Mike DeWine's signature. Michigan already passed a law on the topic. It takes effect Dec. 31, 2022. Dispatch reporter Joey Kaufman and USA Today Sports contributed to this article. | 16 states have passed legislation that allows college students to make money from their fame. The NCAA has asked Congress to pass legislation on name, image and likeness. Ohio could be the next state to legalize ways for students to profit off their own fame in Ohio, a state senator says. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/2021/05/24/could-ohio-allow-college-athletes-profit-their-name-image-and-likeness/5239021001/ | 0.512286 |
What are the roles of Scotland's lord advocate, and do they clash? | By Philip Sim BBC Scotland political reporter Published 46 minutes ago image copyright Scottish government image caption James Wolffe and Alison Di Rollo were appointed as Scotland's law officers by Nicola Sturgeon in 2016 The search is on for a new lord advocate after James Wolffe QC announced he would be stepping down as the Scottish government's top law officer. Whoever gets the job will be faced by issues ranging from Covid-19 to the constitution, as well as questions over the very nature of the post itself. Outside of political circles, the lord advocate is perhaps best known as the head of Scotland's independent prosecution service, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS). This means they have ultimate responsibility for the prosecution of crime and the investigation of deaths north of the border. Whenever an "indictment" is laid against someone in a criminal trial - the court document which sets out the charges against the accused in the most serious cases - it is done so in the name of "Her Majesty's Advocate". They are represented in court by a prosecutor from the procurator fiscal's office, but the case will literally be tried in the lord advocate's name as "HMA vs Joe Bloggs". The office of lord advocate dates back to the 1400s, and after 1707 was the chief legal advisor to the UK government on Scottish legal matters. After devolution, the lord advocate became legal advisor to the Scottish government, while a new office of Advocate General for Scotland was set up to advise the Crown and UK ministers on matters of Scots law. The law officer posts - including the deputy role of solicitor general - are part of the Scottish government. As well as advising ministers on legal wrangles and legislative plans, they can take part in the weekly meetings of the first minister's cabinet. This was dropped as a regular practice by Alex Salmond in 2007 in a bid to "de-politicise" the post, but the Lord Advocate can still attend when legal issues are expected to come up - and there have been more than a few of those in recent years. They can also sit on the government benches at Holyrood and make statements to MSPs or answer questions on behalf of ministers. And the lord advocate tends to represent the Scottish government in big court cases, with recent examples including the various legislative disputes over Brexit and the powers of the Scottish Parliament. Debate over the two "hats" worn by the lord advocate has been going on in legal circles pretty much since devolution. However calls for the job to be split into separate roles have been intensified by the row over the Holyrood inquiry into the government's mishandling of complaints against Alex Salmond. A particular point of contention was the intervention of the Crown to have one of Mr Salmond's submissions redacted over fears it did not comply with court orders, prompting a furious response from the former first minister and opposition parties. Mr Wolffe insisted he was not personally involved in any decisions around the Salmond inquiry, and dismissed claims that the move was in any way politically motivated as "wholly without foundation". However the furore brought fresh focus to the question of the dual roles of the lord advocate, with Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar saying there were "real questions" about the "separation of power" between the prosecutorial service and the government's legal advisor. Some have suggested shifting to a model similar to that used in England and Wales, where there is a separate office of "director of public prosecutions". In March, Mr Wolffe told MSPs that while other systems were available, he was "satisfied that the different responsibilities and functions can be combined with integrity" by the lord advocate. Whatever shape the role ultimately takes, the next lord advocate has a number of weighty issues waiting for them. The recovery from Covid-19 poses a range of challenges for the prosecution service, with an ever-mounting backlog of trials and a dispute over government resilience funds which recently saw defence lawyers go on strike. There is the perennial issue of independence, with ministers making plans to draw up a referendum bill - something the Lord Advocate would have to be happy was within Holyrood's powers, given they could end up defending it in the Supreme Court. The protracted row with Mr Salmond is not over, with the former first minister planning fresh proceedings against the government over the conduct of its top civil servant. There is also the storm over the failed prosecution of individuals linked to Rangers Football Club, and the payment of tens of millions of pounds in damages - something Mr Wolffe had to issue an "unreserved apology" for, despite the fact he wasn't in office at the time. There has also been controversy about yet another facet of the job, fatal accident inquiries. Some high-profile investigations have dragged on for years, with Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie writing the system off as "dysfunctional". The office of Lord Advocate has always been held by an eminent lawyer or judge. The next incumbent is likely to come from a select group at the pinnacle of the legal profession in Scotland. Mr Wolffe was formerly Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, the professional body for Scotland's court lawyers. His immediate predecessors were Frank Mulholland and Dame Eilish Angiolini, both QCs who had a background in the prosecution service and who served as solicitor general before graduating to the top job. However, the current solicitor general, Alison Di Rollo, announced her departure alongside that of Mr Wolffe. Although the role has changed hands immediately after the last three Holyrood elections, it is not fixed to political terms or which party is in government - Dame Eilish was appointed by Jack McConnell, then kept on by Alex Salmond. But given the issues ahead, there will be intense interest in political circles about who is going to get the job. Related Topics Scottish government | Lord advocate is head of Scotland's independent prosecution service. They have ultimate responsibility for the prosecution of crime and investigation of deaths. | bart | 0 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-57227039 | 0.425215 |
What are the roles of Scotland's lord advocate, and do they clash? | By Philip Sim BBC Scotland political reporter Published 46 minutes ago image copyright Scottish government image caption James Wolffe and Alison Di Rollo were appointed as Scotland's law officers by Nicola Sturgeon in 2016 The search is on for a new lord advocate after James Wolffe QC announced he would be stepping down as the Scottish government's top law officer. Whoever gets the job will be faced by issues ranging from Covid-19 to the constitution, as well as questions over the very nature of the post itself. Outside of political circles, the lord advocate is perhaps best known as the head of Scotland's independent prosecution service, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS). This means they have ultimate responsibility for the prosecution of crime and the investigation of deaths north of the border. Whenever an "indictment" is laid against someone in a criminal trial - the court document which sets out the charges against the accused in the most serious cases - it is done so in the name of "Her Majesty's Advocate". They are represented in court by a prosecutor from the procurator fiscal's office, but the case will literally be tried in the lord advocate's name as "HMA vs Joe Bloggs". The office of lord advocate dates back to the 1400s, and after 1707 was the chief legal advisor to the UK government on Scottish legal matters. After devolution, the lord advocate became legal advisor to the Scottish government, while a new office of Advocate General for Scotland was set up to advise the Crown and UK ministers on matters of Scots law. The law officer posts - including the deputy role of solicitor general - are part of the Scottish government. As well as advising ministers on legal wrangles and legislative plans, they can take part in the weekly meetings of the first minister's cabinet. This was dropped as a regular practice by Alex Salmond in 2007 in a bid to "de-politicise" the post, but the Lord Advocate can still attend when legal issues are expected to come up - and there have been more than a few of those in recent years. They can also sit on the government benches at Holyrood and make statements to MSPs or answer questions on behalf of ministers. And the lord advocate tends to represent the Scottish government in big court cases, with recent examples including the various legislative disputes over Brexit and the powers of the Scottish Parliament. Debate over the two "hats" worn by the lord advocate has been going on in legal circles pretty much since devolution. However calls for the job to be split into separate roles have been intensified by the row over the Holyrood inquiry into the government's mishandling of complaints against Alex Salmond. A particular point of contention was the intervention of the Crown to have one of Mr Salmond's submissions redacted over fears it did not comply with court orders, prompting a furious response from the former first minister and opposition parties. Mr Wolffe insisted he was not personally involved in any decisions around the Salmond inquiry, and dismissed claims that the move was in any way politically motivated as "wholly without foundation". However the furore brought fresh focus to the question of the dual roles of the lord advocate, with Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar saying there were "real questions" about the "separation of power" between the prosecutorial service and the government's legal advisor. Some have suggested shifting to a model similar to that used in England and Wales, where there is a separate office of "director of public prosecutions". In March, Mr Wolffe told MSPs that while other systems were available, he was "satisfied that the different responsibilities and functions can be combined with integrity" by the lord advocate. Whatever shape the role ultimately takes, the next lord advocate has a number of weighty issues waiting for them. The recovery from Covid-19 poses a range of challenges for the prosecution service, with an ever-mounting backlog of trials and a dispute over government resilience funds which recently saw defence lawyers go on strike. There is the perennial issue of independence, with ministers making plans to draw up a referendum bill - something the Lord Advocate would have to be happy was within Holyrood's powers, given they could end up defending it in the Supreme Court. The protracted row with Mr Salmond is not over, with the former first minister planning fresh proceedings against the government over the conduct of its top civil servant. There is also the storm over the failed prosecution of individuals linked to Rangers Football Club, and the payment of tens of millions of pounds in damages - something Mr Wolffe had to issue an "unreserved apology" for, despite the fact he wasn't in office at the time. There has also been controversy about yet another facet of the job, fatal accident inquiries. Some high-profile investigations have dragged on for years, with Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie writing the system off as "dysfunctional". The office of Lord Advocate has always been held by an eminent lawyer or judge. The next incumbent is likely to come from a select group at the pinnacle of the legal profession in Scotland. Mr Wolffe was formerly Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, the professional body for Scotland's court lawyers. His immediate predecessors were Frank Mulholland and Dame Eilish Angiolini, both QCs who had a background in the prosecution service and who served as solicitor general before graduating to the top job. However, the current solicitor general, Alison Di Rollo, announced her departure alongside that of Mr Wolffe. Although the role has changed hands immediately after the last three Holyrood elections, it is not fixed to political terms or which party is in government - Dame Eilish was appointed by Jack McConnell, then kept on by Alex Salmond. But given the issues ahead, there will be intense interest in political circles about who is going to get the job. Related Topics Scottish government | Lord advocate is the head of Scotland's independent prosecution service. They advise ministers on legal wrangles and legislative plans. But they are also responsible for the prosecution of crime and investigation of deaths. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-57227039 | 0.50842 |
What are the roles of Scotland's lord advocate, and do they clash? | By Philip Sim BBC Scotland political reporter Published 46 minutes ago image copyright Scottish government image caption James Wolffe and Alison Di Rollo were appointed as Scotland's law officers by Nicola Sturgeon in 2016 The search is on for a new lord advocate after James Wolffe QC announced he would be stepping down as the Scottish government's top law officer. Whoever gets the job will be faced by issues ranging from Covid-19 to the constitution, as well as questions over the very nature of the post itself. Outside of political circles, the lord advocate is perhaps best known as the head of Scotland's independent prosecution service, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS). This means they have ultimate responsibility for the prosecution of crime and the investigation of deaths north of the border. Whenever an "indictment" is laid against someone in a criminal trial - the court document which sets out the charges against the accused in the most serious cases - it is done so in the name of "Her Majesty's Advocate". They are represented in court by a prosecutor from the procurator fiscal's office, but the case will literally be tried in the lord advocate's name as "HMA vs Joe Bloggs". The office of lord advocate dates back to the 1400s, and after 1707 was the chief legal advisor to the UK government on Scottish legal matters. After devolution, the lord advocate became legal advisor to the Scottish government, while a new office of Advocate General for Scotland was set up to advise the Crown and UK ministers on matters of Scots law. The law officer posts - including the deputy role of solicitor general - are part of the Scottish government. As well as advising ministers on legal wrangles and legislative plans, they can take part in the weekly meetings of the first minister's cabinet. This was dropped as a regular practice by Alex Salmond in 2007 in a bid to "de-politicise" the post, but the Lord Advocate can still attend when legal issues are expected to come up - and there have been more than a few of those in recent years. They can also sit on the government benches at Holyrood and make statements to MSPs or answer questions on behalf of ministers. And the lord advocate tends to represent the Scottish government in big court cases, with recent examples including the various legislative disputes over Brexit and the powers of the Scottish Parliament. Debate over the two "hats" worn by the lord advocate has been going on in legal circles pretty much since devolution. However calls for the job to be split into separate roles have been intensified by the row over the Holyrood inquiry into the government's mishandling of complaints against Alex Salmond. A particular point of contention was the intervention of the Crown to have one of Mr Salmond's submissions redacted over fears it did not comply with court orders, prompting a furious response from the former first minister and opposition parties. Mr Wolffe insisted he was not personally involved in any decisions around the Salmond inquiry, and dismissed claims that the move was in any way politically motivated as "wholly without foundation". However the furore brought fresh focus to the question of the dual roles of the lord advocate, with Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar saying there were "real questions" about the "separation of power" between the prosecutorial service and the government's legal advisor. Some have suggested shifting to a model similar to that used in England and Wales, where there is a separate office of "director of public prosecutions". In March, Mr Wolffe told MSPs that while other systems were available, he was "satisfied that the different responsibilities and functions can be combined with integrity" by the lord advocate. Whatever shape the role ultimately takes, the next lord advocate has a number of weighty issues waiting for them. The recovery from Covid-19 poses a range of challenges for the prosecution service, with an ever-mounting backlog of trials and a dispute over government resilience funds which recently saw defence lawyers go on strike. There is the perennial issue of independence, with ministers making plans to draw up a referendum bill - something the Lord Advocate would have to be happy was within Holyrood's powers, given they could end up defending it in the Supreme Court. The protracted row with Mr Salmond is not over, with the former first minister planning fresh proceedings against the government over the conduct of its top civil servant. There is also the storm over the failed prosecution of individuals linked to Rangers Football Club, and the payment of tens of millions of pounds in damages - something Mr Wolffe had to issue an "unreserved apology" for, despite the fact he wasn't in office at the time. There has also been controversy about yet another facet of the job, fatal accident inquiries. Some high-profile investigations have dragged on for years, with Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie writing the system off as "dysfunctional". The office of Lord Advocate has always been held by an eminent lawyer or judge. The next incumbent is likely to come from a select group at the pinnacle of the legal profession in Scotland. Mr Wolffe was formerly Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, the professional body for Scotland's court lawyers. His immediate predecessors were Frank Mulholland and Dame Eilish Angiolini, both QCs who had a background in the prosecution service and who served as solicitor general before graduating to the top job. However, the current solicitor general, Alison Di Rollo, announced her departure alongside that of Mr Wolffe. Although the role has changed hands immediately after the last three Holyrood elections, it is not fixed to political terms or which party is in government - Dame Eilish was appointed by Jack McConnell, then kept on by Alex Salmond. But given the issues ahead, there will be intense interest in political circles about who is going to get the job. Related Topics Scottish government | Lord advocate is head of Scotland's independent prosecution service. They have ultimate responsibility for the prosecution of crime and investigation of deaths north of the border. The office of lord advocate dates back to the 1400s, and after 1707 was the chief legal advisor to the UK government on Scottish legal matters. | bart | 2 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-57227039 | 0.444128 |
Is Braden Smith the Colts best kept secret? | The Indianapolis Colts offensive line has been a well-oiled machine over the last three seasons and one of the more underrated reasons for that is due to the play of right tackle Braden Smith. In listing every teams best-kept secret, Bleacher Report landed on Smith for the Colts as he enters a contract year that could see him get paid among the highest right tackles in the NFL. Indianapolis Colts guard Quenton Nelson has been a staras much as an interior lineman can be one, anywaysince being drafted in 2018. This offseason, much of the media focus has been on the left tackle position, which lost Anthony Castonzo to retirement and added Eric Fisher after the draft. While right tackle Braden Smith hasnt received nearly as much attention as Nelson or the Colts left-tackle vacancy, he is a player on whom Indianapolis depends. Formerly a guard at Auburn, Smith entered the league as a second-round draft pick in the same class as Nelson. While the latter is a three-time first-team All-Pro, Smith has quietly been an anchor at right tackle. He has only missed three games and has played at least 75 percent of the offensive snaps each year. In 2020, Smith was responsible for only three penalties and did not allow a sack, according to Pro Football Focus. Smith might not pop on film as much as Nelson, but hes just as valuable to Indianapolis offensive front. Smith has been a key part of the offensive line ever since he moved to right tackle for the 2018 prime-time game against the New England Patriots. He was drafted to be a guard, but the Colts moved him to the edge out of necessity, and the rest is history. Now, Smith is likely to get a massive contract over the summer that could make him one of the highest-paid players at his position. Related | Braden Smith has quietly been a key part of the Indianapolis Colts offensive line over the last three seasons. | ctrlsum | 0 | https://sports.yahoo.com/braden-smith-colts-best-kept-124843581.html?src=rss | 0.124148 |
Is Braden Smith the Colts best kept secret? | The Indianapolis Colts offensive line has been a well-oiled machine over the last three seasons and one of the more underrated reasons for that is due to the play of right tackle Braden Smith. In listing every teams best-kept secret, Bleacher Report landed on Smith for the Colts as he enters a contract year that could see him get paid among the highest right tackles in the NFL. Indianapolis Colts guard Quenton Nelson has been a staras much as an interior lineman can be one, anywaysince being drafted in 2018. This offseason, much of the media focus has been on the left tackle position, which lost Anthony Castonzo to retirement and added Eric Fisher after the draft. While right tackle Braden Smith hasnt received nearly as much attention as Nelson or the Colts left-tackle vacancy, he is a player on whom Indianapolis depends. Formerly a guard at Auburn, Smith entered the league as a second-round draft pick in the same class as Nelson. While the latter is a three-time first-team All-Pro, Smith has quietly been an anchor at right tackle. He has only missed three games and has played at least 75 percent of the offensive snaps each year. In 2020, Smith was responsible for only three penalties and did not allow a sack, according to Pro Football Focus. Smith might not pop on film as much as Nelson, but hes just as valuable to Indianapolis offensive front. Smith has been a key part of the offensive line ever since he moved to right tackle for the 2018 prime-time game against the New England Patriots. He was drafted to be a guard, but the Colts moved him to the edge out of necessity, and the rest is history. Now, Smith is likely to get a massive contract over the summer that could make him one of the highest-paid players at his position. Related | Braden Smith has quietly been a key part of the Indianapolis Colts offensive line over the last three seasons. Smith is likely to get a massive contract over the summer that could make him one of the highest-paid players at his position. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://sports.yahoo.com/braden-smith-colts-best-kept-124843581.html?src=rss | 0.135416 |
Is Braden Smith the Colts best kept secret? | The Indianapolis Colts offensive line has been a well-oiled machine over the last three seasons and one of the more underrated reasons for that is due to the play of right tackle Braden Smith. In listing every teams best-kept secret, Bleacher Report landed on Smith for the Colts as he enters a contract year that could see him get paid among the highest right tackles in the NFL. Indianapolis Colts guard Quenton Nelson has been a staras much as an interior lineman can be one, anywaysince being drafted in 2018. This offseason, much of the media focus has been on the left tackle position, which lost Anthony Castonzo to retirement and added Eric Fisher after the draft. While right tackle Braden Smith hasnt received nearly as much attention as Nelson or the Colts left-tackle vacancy, he is a player on whom Indianapolis depends. Formerly a guard at Auburn, Smith entered the league as a second-round draft pick in the same class as Nelson. While the latter is a three-time first-team All-Pro, Smith has quietly been an anchor at right tackle. He has only missed three games and has played at least 75 percent of the offensive snaps each year. In 2020, Smith was responsible for only three penalties and did not allow a sack, according to Pro Football Focus. Smith might not pop on film as much as Nelson, but hes just as valuable to Indianapolis offensive front. Smith has been a key part of the offensive line ever since he moved to right tackle for the 2018 prime-time game against the New England Patriots. He was drafted to be a guard, but the Colts moved him to the edge out of necessity, and the rest is history. Now, Smith is likely to get a massive contract over the summer that could make him one of the highest-paid players at his position. Related | Braden Smith has quietly been a key part of the Indianapolis Colts offensive line over the last three seasons. The right tackle has only missed three games and has played at least 75 percent of the offensive snaps each year. Smith is likely to get a massive contract over the summer that could make him one of the highest-paid players at his position. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://sports.yahoo.com/braden-smith-colts-best-kept-124843581.html?src=rss | 0.177874 |
Will the India variant stop England ending lockdown? | New data released over the weekend added to concerns about the ability of the Covid variant first detected in India B.1.617.2 to spread in the UK, but brought relief by suggesting that the vaccines still offer considerable protection against this growing threat. Data shows that B.1.617.2 has continued to replace B.1.1.7, the so-called Kent variant that became dominant in the UK last year and in some places by a considerable margin. In the two weeks to 15 May, the variant accounted for 81% of analysed samples in Bedford, 90.4% in Blackburn and 64% in Wigan, according to the Wellcome Sanger Institutes Covid-19 genomic surveillance data, which excludes recent travellers and surge-testing specimens. Public Health England (PHE) data on the likelihood that a close contact of a person infected with B.1.617.2 will get infected themselves the secondary attack rate is 12.5%, compared with 8.1% for the Kent variant, which is more than 50% higher. This is good evidence that the India variant is substantially more transmissible than B.1.1.7, said Martin McKee, professor of European public health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, cautioning that these numbers have not yet accounted for vaccination status. It could be that the secondary attack rate reduces when contacts are stratified by vaccine status or by whether they are within or outside the household, said Adam Kucharski, an associate professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. So, it might be the real number is a bit lower when you adjust for the fact that some of those contacts might be more or less risky than others. A preliminary PHE analysis showed that after one dose, both the Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines saw a drop in effectiveness to roughly 33.5% against the India variant, versus about 51% for the Kent variant. After two doses, the Pfizer/BioNTech jab had an effectiveness of about 88% against the India variant, compared with 93.4% against the Kent variant. With the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, the numbers fell to roughly 60% and 66%. With the ability to spread faster and a minimum three-month lag between vaccine doses among the under-50s, the virus has an opportunity to get a foothold because so many people in that age range are partially or are yet to be vaccinated, said Dr Stephen Griffin, an associate professor at the University of Leeds school of medicine. I think the major issue is the time it takes for the optimal response which means that we really need to get the second doses into people as quickly as possible. That could mean that you prioritise people for a three-week Pfizer or Moderna protocol in those areas, I think that would be sensible. Minutes taken at meetings of the UK governments Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) showed the scientists expected that a variant that substantially escapes immunity or is highly transmissible (more so than the Kent variant) could lead to a wave of infections potentially larger than that seen in January 2021 in the absence of interventions. The recent rise in case numbers of the India variant and the dramatic fall in cases of the Kent variant will continue and get more intense in the coming weeks, given that we are yet to see the impact of the third stage of lockdown-easing, which lifted a range of restrictions on 17 May, said Paul Hunter, a professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia. The big uncertainty is if the vaccination campaign that weve got is enough to keep people out of the hospital even if they get infected. And if that holds, then we might end up seeing the infection circulating widely in the community, but not imposing unbearable pressures on the health system not leading to a huge increase in fatalities. Globally, it appears that hospitals are not exclusively filling up with elderly people there are a lot of middle-aged people, particularly in areas of high transmission, Kucharski added. I think we are in this period, particularly over the next couple of months, where we have a lot of people who have got partial protection and if you have got low case numbers that will probably be enough. But if you had very high case numbers, even if it is quite a small risk, at a population level that can still translate up into quite a lot of hospitalisations. Given that most cases of B.1.617.2 are a result of community transmission, and that the unlocking continues with a virus that is better able to spread exponentially, there could be a lot of illness, said Griffin. We need to learn the lessons that we need to be proactive and preventive, because being reactive just doesnt work. | B.1.617.2 has replaced the Kent variant as the most common form of the virus in the UK. There is still no sign of the England and Wales lockdown ending. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/24/will-the-india-variant-stop-england-ending-lockdown | 0.143093 |
Will the India variant stop England ending lockdown? | New data released over the weekend added to concerns about the ability of the Covid variant first detected in India B.1.617.2 to spread in the UK, but brought relief by suggesting that the vaccines still offer considerable protection against this growing threat. Data shows that B.1.617.2 has continued to replace B.1.1.7, the so-called Kent variant that became dominant in the UK last year and in some places by a considerable margin. In the two weeks to 15 May, the variant accounted for 81% of analysed samples in Bedford, 90.4% in Blackburn and 64% in Wigan, according to the Wellcome Sanger Institutes Covid-19 genomic surveillance data, which excludes recent travellers and surge-testing specimens. Public Health England (PHE) data on the likelihood that a close contact of a person infected with B.1.617.2 will get infected themselves the secondary attack rate is 12.5%, compared with 8.1% for the Kent variant, which is more than 50% higher. This is good evidence that the India variant is substantially more transmissible than B.1.1.7, said Martin McKee, professor of European public health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, cautioning that these numbers have not yet accounted for vaccination status. It could be that the secondary attack rate reduces when contacts are stratified by vaccine status or by whether they are within or outside the household, said Adam Kucharski, an associate professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. So, it might be the real number is a bit lower when you adjust for the fact that some of those contacts might be more or less risky than others. A preliminary PHE analysis showed that after one dose, both the Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines saw a drop in effectiveness to roughly 33.5% against the India variant, versus about 51% for the Kent variant. After two doses, the Pfizer/BioNTech jab had an effectiveness of about 88% against the India variant, compared with 93.4% against the Kent variant. With the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, the numbers fell to roughly 60% and 66%. With the ability to spread faster and a minimum three-month lag between vaccine doses among the under-50s, the virus has an opportunity to get a foothold because so many people in that age range are partially or are yet to be vaccinated, said Dr Stephen Griffin, an associate professor at the University of Leeds school of medicine. I think the major issue is the time it takes for the optimal response which means that we really need to get the second doses into people as quickly as possible. That could mean that you prioritise people for a three-week Pfizer or Moderna protocol in those areas, I think that would be sensible. Minutes taken at meetings of the UK governments Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) showed the scientists expected that a variant that substantially escapes immunity or is highly transmissible (more so than the Kent variant) could lead to a wave of infections potentially larger than that seen in January 2021 in the absence of interventions. The recent rise in case numbers of the India variant and the dramatic fall in cases of the Kent variant will continue and get more intense in the coming weeks, given that we are yet to see the impact of the third stage of lockdown-easing, which lifted a range of restrictions on 17 May, said Paul Hunter, a professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia. The big uncertainty is if the vaccination campaign that weve got is enough to keep people out of the hospital even if they get infected. And if that holds, then we might end up seeing the infection circulating widely in the community, but not imposing unbearable pressures on the health system not leading to a huge increase in fatalities. Globally, it appears that hospitals are not exclusively filling up with elderly people there are a lot of middle-aged people, particularly in areas of high transmission, Kucharski added. I think we are in this period, particularly over the next couple of months, where we have a lot of people who have got partial protection and if you have got low case numbers that will probably be enough. But if you had very high case numbers, even if it is quite a small risk, at a population level that can still translate up into quite a lot of hospitalisations. Given that most cases of B.1.617.2 are a result of community transmission, and that the unlocking continues with a virus that is better able to spread exponentially, there could be a lot of illness, said Griffin. We need to learn the lessons that we need to be proactive and preventive, because being reactive just doesnt work. | B.1.617.2 has replaced the Kent variant as the most common form of the virus in the UK. There is still no sign of the lockdown-easing effect ending, say experts. The UK is still in a state of precautionary lockdown. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/24/will-the-india-variant-stop-england-ending-lockdown | 0.18179 |
Which Incoming Transfer Will Have the Biggest Impact for the Vols This Fall? | Several of Tennessee's players are currently on campus, and the remaining players will start trickling back in over the next week. After June 1st, pre-season work goes into full swing, with likely only a break for the July 4th holiday. Josh Heupel & Co. have added key additions through the transfer portal, and they could take more, as players have from now to June 30th to declare to play for a team. This article is based on what the Vols have brought in through May 24th, as we make a case for which transfer will have the most significant impact this fall. Jack The Vols have made some noise with the amount of highly coveted transfers they have been able to land this offseason, but Texas transfer linebacker Juwan Mitchell tops them all. The former Longhorn led Texas in tackles last season and has tremendous size to allow him to make plays against the run. Tennessee's linebacker situation was looking rough through the majority of the spring practices, as three of the Vols linebackers are walk-ons and another is a converted long snapper, so Mitchell transferring to Rocky Top gives the Vols a valuable addition at a weak position. Mitchell's size gives him the ability to fill in gaps on the Tennessee defense, and his 6'1", 235-pound frame gives him the length to cover many places on the field, which will bode well for Mitchell when playing zone defense. Tennessee landed the best available player at a position in need, and with Mitchell starting right away, he will have a quick and significant impact in Knoxville and is a huge reason why the Vols no longer have to worry about the middle of the field on defense. Jake In swift success, Josh Heupel has hit pay dirt through the transfer portal. And Jack is right Juwan Mitchell should see the field instantly. When you combine that with Tennessee's lack of depth at linebacker, Mitchell may easily be the quickest transfer to see the field this season. But in terms of the biggest impact among incoming transfers, you don't just look for instant playing time. You also look at the scope of the season and who could, over the course of 12 to 13 games, register the greatest impact on his position group and on the team as a whole. For that literal and figurative honor, I would look no further than former Kansas defensive tackle Da'Jon Terry. At 6-foot-4 and 320 pounds, Terry brings a dangerous combination of size and athleticism. He played basketball in high school, and he made his presence felt in Lawrence with 14 tackles and two sacks last season. When you combine those factors with his relationship with Tennessee defensive line coach Rodney Garner which dates back to Terry's high school days his impact should send ripples across a defensive line that needs all the pass-rushing help it can get. Moreover, those factors aren't the only ones that make Terry the biggest transfer portal splash for the Vols. His work ethic is what guided him to become a prized football recruit after his time on the hardwood, and it helped him generate similar buzz when he decided to enter the portal after last season. Terry is a self-proclaimed gym-rat, and he emphasized this during an early interview with VR2 on SI before his commitment. "I feel like they are getting a player that is going to come in and really work," he said at the time. "A smart player, a fast player, and a player that is going to work within the lines of the game. Just a compassionate player that loves the game." Terry's desire to learn the game, coupled with his ability to process information quickly, is another reason he should thrive. "I feel like Da'Jon is one of the fastest learners on the team," said Terry's former teammate at Kansas, Marcus Harris, last fall (via 247Sports). "He grasps all the information they throw at him. He applies that to the fieldHe makes it easier for the defensive ends. I feel like he's going to be something special." Matt Jake and Jack both make great points for their players, and the fact we have three different players making the biggest impact is a testament to how well Josh Heupel has done in the transfer portal. It is easy to make a case for Mitchell, as his path to the field is evident. He will impact Tennessee this fall, but as Jake mentioned, sometimes the biggest impact can be how you stabilize a position group. I think Terry is a tremendous addition to the defensive line, but I think Caleb Tremblay may have the greatest impact. I have talked to a couple of good sources who believe if Tremblay stays healthy, he will play himself into a draft pick under Rodney Garner. The once-coveted junior college recruit is set to make his last run at the NFL, and he will treat it just like a business trip. He fits the attacking style of play Garner wants to play up front, and he should have ample opportunity to make a name for himself inside of the position group. It would be silly to discount Joe Milton as well. He certainly has a case for the starting job and to be each of our picks. Milton will have to quickly learn Tennessee's install and make things come together on the field. Even if Milton does not win the job from day one, I believe he will still be a factor for Tennessee this fall. Quarterbacks with his size and athleticism do not come along each day. He will find himself getting touches and opportunities this fall, even if he is not QB1. Jack Foster and Jake Nichols contributed to this feature | Tennessee has signed a number of players through the transfer portal this offseason. Juwan Mitchell, Da'Jon Terry and Jake Heupel are among the players who could have a big impact on the team this season. | bart | 1 | https://www.si.com/college/tennessee/football/which-incoming-transfer-will-have-the-biggest-impact-for-the-vols-this-fall | 0.441858 |
Which Incoming Transfer Will Have the Biggest Impact for the Vols This Fall? | Several of Tennessee's players are currently on campus, and the remaining players will start trickling back in over the next week. After June 1st, pre-season work goes into full swing, with likely only a break for the July 4th holiday. Josh Heupel & Co. have added key additions through the transfer portal, and they could take more, as players have from now to June 30th to declare to play for a team. This article is based on what the Vols have brought in through May 24th, as we make a case for which transfer will have the most significant impact this fall. Jack The Vols have made some noise with the amount of highly coveted transfers they have been able to land this offseason, but Texas transfer linebacker Juwan Mitchell tops them all. The former Longhorn led Texas in tackles last season and has tremendous size to allow him to make plays against the run. Tennessee's linebacker situation was looking rough through the majority of the spring practices, as three of the Vols linebackers are walk-ons and another is a converted long snapper, so Mitchell transferring to Rocky Top gives the Vols a valuable addition at a weak position. Mitchell's size gives him the ability to fill in gaps on the Tennessee defense, and his 6'1", 235-pound frame gives him the length to cover many places on the field, which will bode well for Mitchell when playing zone defense. Tennessee landed the best available player at a position in need, and with Mitchell starting right away, he will have a quick and significant impact in Knoxville and is a huge reason why the Vols no longer have to worry about the middle of the field on defense. Jake In swift success, Josh Heupel has hit pay dirt through the transfer portal. And Jack is right Juwan Mitchell should see the field instantly. When you combine that with Tennessee's lack of depth at linebacker, Mitchell may easily be the quickest transfer to see the field this season. But in terms of the biggest impact among incoming transfers, you don't just look for instant playing time. You also look at the scope of the season and who could, over the course of 12 to 13 games, register the greatest impact on his position group and on the team as a whole. For that literal and figurative honor, I would look no further than former Kansas defensive tackle Da'Jon Terry. At 6-foot-4 and 320 pounds, Terry brings a dangerous combination of size and athleticism. He played basketball in high school, and he made his presence felt in Lawrence with 14 tackles and two sacks last season. When you combine those factors with his relationship with Tennessee defensive line coach Rodney Garner which dates back to Terry's high school days his impact should send ripples across a defensive line that needs all the pass-rushing help it can get. Moreover, those factors aren't the only ones that make Terry the biggest transfer portal splash for the Vols. His work ethic is what guided him to become a prized football recruit after his time on the hardwood, and it helped him generate similar buzz when he decided to enter the portal after last season. Terry is a self-proclaimed gym-rat, and he emphasized this during an early interview with VR2 on SI before his commitment. "I feel like they are getting a player that is going to come in and really work," he said at the time. "A smart player, a fast player, and a player that is going to work within the lines of the game. Just a compassionate player that loves the game." Terry's desire to learn the game, coupled with his ability to process information quickly, is another reason he should thrive. "I feel like Da'Jon is one of the fastest learners on the team," said Terry's former teammate at Kansas, Marcus Harris, last fall (via 247Sports). "He grasps all the information they throw at him. He applies that to the fieldHe makes it easier for the defensive ends. I feel like he's going to be something special." Matt Jake and Jack both make great points for their players, and the fact we have three different players making the biggest impact is a testament to how well Josh Heupel has done in the transfer portal. It is easy to make a case for Mitchell, as his path to the field is evident. He will impact Tennessee this fall, but as Jake mentioned, sometimes the biggest impact can be how you stabilize a position group. I think Terry is a tremendous addition to the defensive line, but I think Caleb Tremblay may have the greatest impact. I have talked to a couple of good sources who believe if Tremblay stays healthy, he will play himself into a draft pick under Rodney Garner. The once-coveted junior college recruit is set to make his last run at the NFL, and he will treat it just like a business trip. He fits the attacking style of play Garner wants to play up front, and he should have ample opportunity to make a name for himself inside of the position group. It would be silly to discount Joe Milton as well. He certainly has a case for the starting job and to be each of our picks. Milton will have to quickly learn Tennessee's install and make things come together on the field. Even if Milton does not win the job from day one, I believe he will still be a factor for Tennessee this fall. Quarterbacks with his size and athleticism do not come along each day. He will find himself getting touches and opportunities this fall, even if he is not QB1. Jack Foster and Jake Nichols contributed to this feature | Texas transfer linebacker Juwan Mitchell will have the biggest impact on the Tennessee defense this fall. Da'Jon Terry is the biggest transfer portal splash for the Vols, bringing a dangerous combination of size and athleticism to the defensive line. The season starts on September 6th against the University of Florida. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.si.com/college/tennessee/football/which-incoming-transfer-will-have-the-biggest-impact-for-the-vols-this-fall | 0.667045 |
Is There Still a Future for Will Grier in Carolina? | For the first month or so of the 2020 season it was a rotating door at the backup quarterback spot for the Carolina Panthers between Will Grier and P.J. Walker. From week to week, there would be no true idea as to who the backup to Teddy Bridgewater was going to be until gameday when the Panthers would release the inactives list. When Bridgewater went down with an MCL sprain in a week ten loss to Tampa Bay, it seemed like the perfect time to insert Will Grier and see what you have in him. However, Rhule sort of foreshadowed the decision to start Walker over Grier against Detroit earlier in the week when he told the media the following about Grier. "He's practiced really well and prepared really well. We could go the whole year not getting Will in the game and I would know exactly what we have with him because I see it day in and day out. I have no doubt about what he can do. He just has to go out and do it when the time comes. But I want to make sure I say it again, I think Will has a fantastic future and if he plays this week I have no doubt that he can play well and help us win." Don't get me wrong, I think P.J. Walker played well in his start against Detroit despite the two interceptions, but I don't necessarily understand the logic of not playing Grier. I get he wasn't drafted by Rhule, but he is a third-round pick regardless. Walker played for Rhule at Temple and was very successful help in guiding the Owls to back-to-back 10-win seasons. Rhule knows what Walker can do in a game because he's seen it with his own eyes. However, there is still a big question as to whether or not Grier has a future with the Panthers. There's a boatload of them, even some of the greats had awful rookie campaigns. I'm not saying Will Grier is Peyton Manning by any means, but there hasn't been enough of a sample size to say that Grier can't cut it as an NFL quarterback. If it's the latter, it may be in the best interest of both parties to part ways and allow Grier to have a fresh start with an organization that can give him an opportunity to win a backup job. The fact that Grier was inactive for nine of the final eleven games of the 2020 season seems to be a good indicator that he has some work to do in order to leapfrog P.J. Walker for the No. 2 spot. With OTAs set to begin today, Grier will need to make the most out of every single rep he gets. You can follow us for future coverage by clicking "Follow" on the top righthand corner of the page. Also, be sure to like us on Facebook & Twitter: Facebook - @PanthersOnSI Twitter - @SI_Panthers and Schuyler Callihan at @Callihan_. | Will Grier has been the backup quarterback for the Carolina Panthers for the past few seasons. Grier was inactive for nine of the final eleven games of the 2020 season. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.si.com/nfl/panthers/gm-report/is-there-still-a-future-for-will-grier-in-carolina | 0.210388 |
Is There Still a Future for Will Grier in Carolina? | For the first month or so of the 2020 season it was a rotating door at the backup quarterback spot for the Carolina Panthers between Will Grier and P.J. Walker. From week to week, there would be no true idea as to who the backup to Teddy Bridgewater was going to be until gameday when the Panthers would release the inactives list. When Bridgewater went down with an MCL sprain in a week ten loss to Tampa Bay, it seemed like the perfect time to insert Will Grier and see what you have in him. However, Rhule sort of foreshadowed the decision to start Walker over Grier against Detroit earlier in the week when he told the media the following about Grier. "He's practiced really well and prepared really well. We could go the whole year not getting Will in the game and I would know exactly what we have with him because I see it day in and day out. I have no doubt about what he can do. He just has to go out and do it when the time comes. But I want to make sure I say it again, I think Will has a fantastic future and if he plays this week I have no doubt that he can play well and help us win." Don't get me wrong, I think P.J. Walker played well in his start against Detroit despite the two interceptions, but I don't necessarily understand the logic of not playing Grier. I get he wasn't drafted by Rhule, but he is a third-round pick regardless. Walker played for Rhule at Temple and was very successful help in guiding the Owls to back-to-back 10-win seasons. Rhule knows what Walker can do in a game because he's seen it with his own eyes. However, there is still a big question as to whether or not Grier has a future with the Panthers. There's a boatload of them, even some of the greats had awful rookie campaigns. I'm not saying Will Grier is Peyton Manning by any means, but there hasn't been enough of a sample size to say that Grier can't cut it as an NFL quarterback. If it's the latter, it may be in the best interest of both parties to part ways and allow Grier to have a fresh start with an organization that can give him an opportunity to win a backup job. The fact that Grier was inactive for nine of the final eleven games of the 2020 season seems to be a good indicator that he has some work to do in order to leapfrog P.J. Walker for the No. 2 spot. With OTAs set to begin today, Grier will need to make the most out of every single rep he gets. You can follow us for future coverage by clicking "Follow" on the top righthand corner of the page. Also, be sure to like us on Facebook & Twitter: Facebook - @PanthersOnSI Twitter - @SI_Panthers and Schuyler Callihan at @Callihan_. | Will Grier has been the backup quarterback for the Carolina Panthers for the past few seasons. Grier was inactive for nine of the final eleven games of the 2020 season. The Panthers have yet to decide whether or not to keep Grier on the roster for the 2019 season. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.si.com/nfl/panthers/gm-report/is-there-still-a-future-for-will-grier-in-carolina | 0.236291 |
Why has a planes forced landing in Belarus become an international incident? | The diversion of a Ryanair flight en route to Lithuania by Belarus, leading to the arrest of a dissident journalist who was on board, has sparked international outrage and calls for tough sanctions against the former Soviet-bloc nation. Here is a look at what happened in the sky over Belarus and its aftermath. Ryanair Flight FR4978, traveling Sunday from Athens to the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, was in Belarus airspace about six miles from the Lithuanian border when it changed direction and turned toward the Belarusian capital of Minsk. Ryanair said Belarusian flight controllers told the pilots that there was a bomb threat against the jetliner and ordered them to land in Minsk. The Belarusian military scrambled a MiG-29 fighter jet in an apparent attempt to encourage the crew to comply with the orders of air-traffic controllers. Advertisement Once the plane landed, Belarusian security agents arrested Raman Pratasevich, who ran a popular messaging app that helped organize mass demonstrations against President Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus authoritarian leader. They also removed from the plane Pratasevichs Russian girlfriend, Sofia Sapega, who studies at a Vilnius university. Agents with dogs then checked the plane and the passenger luggage, and eventually let the flight continue to Vilnius hours later. The move led to the arrest of Pratasevich, a 26-year-old activist and journalist who left Belarus in 2019 and faced charges there of inciting riots. He was a blogger and co-founder and editor of Nexta, a popular channel on the Telegram messaging app that was a key factor in organizing protests in Belarus after a presidential election in August 2020. Lukashenko, who has run the nation of 9.3 million people with an iron fist for more than a quarter-century, was declared the winner by a landslide, but the opposition and some election workers say the vote was rigged. Months of protests followed, representing the strongest challenge to Lukashenkos rule since he took over in 1994 following the demise of the Soviet Union. The Belarusian authorities have unleashed a brutal crackdown on demonstrations. More than 34,000 people have been arrested since August, including opposition activists, and thousands have been beaten and abused by police to try to stem the protests. U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken called the incident shocking and appealed for Pratasevichs release. The European Union summoned Belarus ambassador to condemn the act against the jetliner, which was traveling between two of the 27-nation blocs member states. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said it amounted to a hijacking, and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda called it a state-sponsored terror act. Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who fled to Lithuania after the August election, called on the International Civil Aviation Organization to begin an investigation, and the ICAO later said that it was strongly concerned by the apparent forced landing. An EU summit is considering a strong response, over and above previous sanctions on Belarusian officials for their involvement in rigging the August election and the crackdown on protests. Some EU leaders called for scrapping landing rights in the bloc for Belarus national airline or exclusions from sports events. Advertisement Belarus can rely on its main sponsor and ally, Russia, which has provided political support and financial assistance to Lukashenkos government amid the protests. | The diversion of a Ryanair flight to Lithuania by Belarus has sparked international outrage. The Belarusian military scrambled a MiG-29 fighter jet in an apparent attempt to encourage the crew. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-05-24/what-was-behind-plane-diversion-belarus-arrest-activist | 0.133353 |
Why has a planes forced landing in Belarus become an international incident? | The diversion of a Ryanair flight en route to Lithuania by Belarus, leading to the arrest of a dissident journalist who was on board, has sparked international outrage and calls for tough sanctions against the former Soviet-bloc nation. Here is a look at what happened in the sky over Belarus and its aftermath. Ryanair Flight FR4978, traveling Sunday from Athens to the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, was in Belarus airspace about six miles from the Lithuanian border when it changed direction and turned toward the Belarusian capital of Minsk. Ryanair said Belarusian flight controllers told the pilots that there was a bomb threat against the jetliner and ordered them to land in Minsk. The Belarusian military scrambled a MiG-29 fighter jet in an apparent attempt to encourage the crew to comply with the orders of air-traffic controllers. Advertisement Once the plane landed, Belarusian security agents arrested Raman Pratasevich, who ran a popular messaging app that helped organize mass demonstrations against President Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus authoritarian leader. They also removed from the plane Pratasevichs Russian girlfriend, Sofia Sapega, who studies at a Vilnius university. Agents with dogs then checked the plane and the passenger luggage, and eventually let the flight continue to Vilnius hours later. The move led to the arrest of Pratasevich, a 26-year-old activist and journalist who left Belarus in 2019 and faced charges there of inciting riots. He was a blogger and co-founder and editor of Nexta, a popular channel on the Telegram messaging app that was a key factor in organizing protests in Belarus after a presidential election in August 2020. Lukashenko, who has run the nation of 9.3 million people with an iron fist for more than a quarter-century, was declared the winner by a landslide, but the opposition and some election workers say the vote was rigged. Months of protests followed, representing the strongest challenge to Lukashenkos rule since he took over in 1994 following the demise of the Soviet Union. The Belarusian authorities have unleashed a brutal crackdown on demonstrations. More than 34,000 people have been arrested since August, including opposition activists, and thousands have been beaten and abused by police to try to stem the protests. U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken called the incident shocking and appealed for Pratasevichs release. The European Union summoned Belarus ambassador to condemn the act against the jetliner, which was traveling between two of the 27-nation blocs member states. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said it amounted to a hijacking, and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda called it a state-sponsored terror act. Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who fled to Lithuania after the August election, called on the International Civil Aviation Organization to begin an investigation, and the ICAO later said that it was strongly concerned by the apparent forced landing. An EU summit is considering a strong response, over and above previous sanctions on Belarusian officials for their involvement in rigging the August election and the crackdown on protests. Some EU leaders called for scrapping landing rights in the bloc for Belarus national airline or exclusions from sports events. Advertisement Belarus can rely on its main sponsor and ally, Russia, which has provided political support and financial assistance to Lukashenkos government amid the protests. | The diversion of a Ryanair flight en route to Lithuania by Belarus has sparked international outrage and calls for tough sanctions against the former Soviet-bloc nation. Ryanair said Belarusian flight controllers told the pilots that there was a bomb threat against the jetliner and ordered them to land in Minsk. | pegasus | 2 | https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-05-24/what-was-behind-plane-diversion-belarus-arrest-activist | 0.246659 |
Are NFTs The Future Of E-Commerce? | Age 21 Kamil Sattar Is The Founder & CEO of E-commerce Mentoring And A Leading Industry Expert Of Dropshipping. getty I'm sure you've heard the NFT market is taking off. For example, Grimes recently sold a round of NFTs for nearly $6 million. A LeBron James highlight garnered more than $200,000. In addition to this, the band Kings of Leon is releasing a new album in the form of an NFT. Even a piece of Banksy's artwork was turned into an NFT. "NFT" stands for "non-fungible token." "Non-fungible" means you cannot exchange the item for another being of equal value. A $10 bill, for example, can be exchanged for two $5 bills; similarly, one bar of gold can be swapped for another bar of gold of the same size. These are examples of things that are fungible. An NFT, on the other hand, is a one-of-a-kind digital item that isn't interchangeable. As someone who is personally interested in the NFT space and runs an e-commerce mentoring company, I've been paying attention to how this tech could affect online business. I believe NFTs have the potential to disrupt online shopping, an industry expected to continue growing significantly. In e-commerce, I see NFT technology as one way to help streamline digital sales and enable lifetime product data tracking not previously possible. "eNFTs," as I call them, could also empower a more transparent commerce ecosystem. To further illustrate this, consider the potential use cases: From my perspective, NFTs could have the potential to replace SKUs with blockchain-based analog, as well as encourage one-of-a-kind products. The model could also support a more equitable profit-sharing system, particularly for emerging brands that are looking to establish themselves in e-commerce. Furthermore, NFTs could enable e-commerce data tracking, as users can have lifetime access to every data point across the product's life span. And I'm not the only one who thinks so. According to one Forbes article published in April, NFTs have the potential to make it "extremely easy" for users to see the entire supply chain history of a product they've purchased, as well as "make the entire transaction life-cycle of a product completely traceable." What This Could Mean For Leaders In E-Commerce Throughout my time in the e-commerce space, I have seen almost a mirror image in the development of applications, websites and information we are seeing now in cryptocurrency, and NFTs are an extension of that. Think about how when the internet was made, we found many new and exciting ways to use it, and platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Google and many, many more were created as a result. NFTs are the "new" craze right now, but I believe theyre just the beginning. I predict we will find new and exciting ways to use them as well, whether those uses are in the art space, e-commerce, clothing and fashion, and more. With e-commerce and cryptocurrency being such fast-moving industries, to stay ahead of the game, I encourage e-commerce brands to simply remain open to new projects and new ideas on a daily basis. From my perspective, every day, a new opportunity to stay ahead of the game and provide a better service to customers appears. Of course, there will likely be many changes and challenges along the way, one of which could be consumer adoption and educating the masses on the technology. We are also living in amazing, scary and unique times, and it can be hard to keep up with all the information. So, if you're in e-commerce and thinking of exploring NFTs, I recommend really doing your research and ensuring that information is from reputable sources. Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. | Kamil Sattar: Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have the potential to disrupt online shopping. | ctrlsum | 0 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2021/05/17/are-nfts-the-future-of-e-commerce/ | 0.110899 |
Are NFTs The Future Of E-Commerce? | Age 21 Kamil Sattar Is The Founder & CEO of E-commerce Mentoring And A Leading Industry Expert Of Dropshipping. getty I'm sure you've heard the NFT market is taking off. For example, Grimes recently sold a round of NFTs for nearly $6 million. A LeBron James highlight garnered more than $200,000. In addition to this, the band Kings of Leon is releasing a new album in the form of an NFT. Even a piece of Banksy's artwork was turned into an NFT. "NFT" stands for "non-fungible token." "Non-fungible" means you cannot exchange the item for another being of equal value. A $10 bill, for example, can be exchanged for two $5 bills; similarly, one bar of gold can be swapped for another bar of gold of the same size. These are examples of things that are fungible. An NFT, on the other hand, is a one-of-a-kind digital item that isn't interchangeable. As someone who is personally interested in the NFT space and runs an e-commerce mentoring company, I've been paying attention to how this tech could affect online business. I believe NFTs have the potential to disrupt online shopping, an industry expected to continue growing significantly. In e-commerce, I see NFT technology as one way to help streamline digital sales and enable lifetime product data tracking not previously possible. "eNFTs," as I call them, could also empower a more transparent commerce ecosystem. To further illustrate this, consider the potential use cases: From my perspective, NFTs could have the potential to replace SKUs with blockchain-based analog, as well as encourage one-of-a-kind products. The model could also support a more equitable profit-sharing system, particularly for emerging brands that are looking to establish themselves in e-commerce. Furthermore, NFTs could enable e-commerce data tracking, as users can have lifetime access to every data point across the product's life span. And I'm not the only one who thinks so. According to one Forbes article published in April, NFTs have the potential to make it "extremely easy" for users to see the entire supply chain history of a product they've purchased, as well as "make the entire transaction life-cycle of a product completely traceable." What This Could Mean For Leaders In E-Commerce Throughout my time in the e-commerce space, I have seen almost a mirror image in the development of applications, websites and information we are seeing now in cryptocurrency, and NFTs are an extension of that. Think about how when the internet was made, we found many new and exciting ways to use it, and platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Google and many, many more were created as a result. NFTs are the "new" craze right now, but I believe theyre just the beginning. I predict we will find new and exciting ways to use them as well, whether those uses are in the art space, e-commerce, clothing and fashion, and more. With e-commerce and cryptocurrency being such fast-moving industries, to stay ahead of the game, I encourage e-commerce brands to simply remain open to new projects and new ideas on a daily basis. From my perspective, every day, a new opportunity to stay ahead of the game and provide a better service to customers appears. Of course, there will likely be many changes and challenges along the way, one of which could be consumer adoption and educating the masses on the technology. We are also living in amazing, scary and unique times, and it can be hard to keep up with all the information. So, if you're in e-commerce and thinking of exploring NFTs, I recommend really doing your research and ensuring that information is from reputable sources. Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. | Kamil Sattar: Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have the potential to disrupt online shopping. He says NFTs are the "new" craze right now, but they're just the beginning. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2021/05/17/are-nfts-the-future-of-e-commerce/ | 0.101828 |
Are NFTs The Future Of E-Commerce? | Age 21 Kamil Sattar Is The Founder & CEO of E-commerce Mentoring And A Leading Industry Expert Of Dropshipping. getty I'm sure you've heard the NFT market is taking off. For example, Grimes recently sold a round of NFTs for nearly $6 million. A LeBron James highlight garnered more than $200,000. In addition to this, the band Kings of Leon is releasing a new album in the form of an NFT. Even a piece of Banksy's artwork was turned into an NFT. "NFT" stands for "non-fungible token." "Non-fungible" means you cannot exchange the item for another being of equal value. A $10 bill, for example, can be exchanged for two $5 bills; similarly, one bar of gold can be swapped for another bar of gold of the same size. These are examples of things that are fungible. An NFT, on the other hand, is a one-of-a-kind digital item that isn't interchangeable. As someone who is personally interested in the NFT space and runs an e-commerce mentoring company, I've been paying attention to how this tech could affect online business. I believe NFTs have the potential to disrupt online shopping, an industry expected to continue growing significantly. In e-commerce, I see NFT technology as one way to help streamline digital sales and enable lifetime product data tracking not previously possible. "eNFTs," as I call them, could also empower a more transparent commerce ecosystem. To further illustrate this, consider the potential use cases: From my perspective, NFTs could have the potential to replace SKUs with blockchain-based analog, as well as encourage one-of-a-kind products. The model could also support a more equitable profit-sharing system, particularly for emerging brands that are looking to establish themselves in e-commerce. Furthermore, NFTs could enable e-commerce data tracking, as users can have lifetime access to every data point across the product's life span. And I'm not the only one who thinks so. According to one Forbes article published in April, NFTs have the potential to make it "extremely easy" for users to see the entire supply chain history of a product they've purchased, as well as "make the entire transaction life-cycle of a product completely traceable." What This Could Mean For Leaders In E-Commerce Throughout my time in the e-commerce space, I have seen almost a mirror image in the development of applications, websites and information we are seeing now in cryptocurrency, and NFTs are an extension of that. Think about how when the internet was made, we found many new and exciting ways to use it, and platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Google and many, many more were created as a result. NFTs are the "new" craze right now, but I believe theyre just the beginning. I predict we will find new and exciting ways to use them as well, whether those uses are in the art space, e-commerce, clothing and fashion, and more. With e-commerce and cryptocurrency being such fast-moving industries, to stay ahead of the game, I encourage e-commerce brands to simply remain open to new projects and new ideas on a daily basis. From my perspective, every day, a new opportunity to stay ahead of the game and provide a better service to customers appears. Of course, there will likely be many changes and challenges along the way, one of which could be consumer adoption and educating the masses on the technology. We are also living in amazing, scary and unique times, and it can be hard to keep up with all the information. So, if you're in e-commerce and thinking of exploring NFTs, I recommend really doing your research and ensuring that information is from reputable sources. Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. | Kamil Sattar: Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have the potential to disrupt online shopping. He says NFTs are the "new" craze right now, but they're just the beginning. He believes they could help streamline digital sales and enable lifetime product data tracking. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2021/05/17/are-nfts-the-future-of-e-commerce/ | 0.1462 |
Is Indias Pandemic Crisis As Bad As We Think? | It's so bad they're all wearing double masks. A Covid-19 patient is seen heading to Lok Nayak Jai ... [+] Prakash (LNJP) hospital on May 16, 2021 in New Delhi, India. (Photo by Raj K Raj/Hindustan Times via Getty Images) Hindustan Times via Getty Images Few of us in the market really trust what we read, and even see, in regard to this last 15 months of a global pandemic. India has replaced Brazil for the new emerging market Covid disaster zone. Im not there. So in turning to the market, the quick answer is maybe Covids not as bad as we think it is, but the pandemics surely pounding Indias economy. It might even be worse than investors think, says Shumita Deveshwar, an analyst from TS Lombard. Rising local lockdowns amid high virus caseload hurt economic activity. TS Lombard Lengthy lockdowns in Mumbai and Delhi have helped bend the virus curve there, but Indias caseload is still high and far more geographically widespread than the first wave. People seem to be under more duress this time around than in the first wave, with some seeing multiple family members hospitalized or even dying from the fast spreading virus first found in Wuhan, China. High-frequency indicators, such as mobility, demand for electricity, auto sales and jobs, signal sharply weakening economic momentum in the first few months of the year. Downside risks are rising to the previously projected V-shaped recovery. We have been scaling back our GDP forecast, says Deveshwar. It now stands at 9% versus 10.5% in March. Health experts are forecasting that cases are peaking, and are in decline in crowded Delhi and Mumbai. Unfortunately, they are rising elsewhere so India is reporting infections of around 350,000 cases per day, and apparently this is not due to PCR test overload as India is not testing as much as we did in the U.S. As has been said by nearly every multilateral institution since the beginning of the pandemic, the lockdowns are leading to massive income loss. Some personal economic bruises will not heal for some time. Widespread job losses were still being reported as of last week, including in rural areas. This suggests that medium- and small-scale firms located in rural areas are facing stress, says Deveshwar. Demand for work under the government-funded rural employment guarantee program in April was the highest in 9 months as laborers turn to the state now for help. A Pew Research Center study estimates that Indias middle income group fell by 32 million people compared to the number it could have reached if the pandemic had not led to lockdowns. The poor (those who live on around $2 per day) increased by an estimated 75 million, reversing a years long reduction in Indian poverty levels between 2011 and 2019. Its all gone. After months of heavy buying, foreign equity investors have turned modest net sellers of late, Deveshwar says. Year-to-date, the MSCI India Index is up 5.5%, beating the MSCI Emerging Markets Index by about 300 basis points. Critical patients receive free oxygen inside the Engineering College in Uttar Pradesh on India May ... [+] 16, 2021. The state is home to nearly 200 million people. Less than 20,000 have died from Covid-19. (Photo by Imtiyaz Khan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Covid Slowing, But... The effective reproduction number (the R-naught) a key indicator of how fast the Covid virus is infecting people has declined below 1 for the first time since mid-February. The latest data put out by the COV-IND-19 study group from the University of Michigan shows the India R-naught at 0.99 as on May 15. Its really nothing to write home about, but at least its going in the right direction. The national R-naught was a nasty 1.61 on April 1, meaning for every one person sick with SARS-Cov-2, one and a half people on average would catch it, too. The death toll is just happening in crowded cities like Mumbai, which is interesting. The Dainik Bhaskar, a Hindi newspaper, sent out 30 reporters along the villages of the Ganges River in Uttar Pradesh state. They found more than 2,000 dead bodies across some 700 miles. The state government says only about 300 are dying daily. Authorities have been reportedly piling dirt and sand over more than 350 bodies lying in shallow graves in Kannauj, a city of roughly 85,000. Dogs were often seen gnawing at some of the 400 corpses just a short distance from a crematorium in Kanpur, the largest city in UP with close to four million people. According to Dainik Bhaskar daily, dozes of corpses have been seen at times floating down the river. Over 17,500 people have died of Covid-19 in Uttar Pradesh, a state of that is so big, it has more people than Russia (199 million vs 144 million in Russia). To put that into perspective, 114,871 people died of Covid-19 in Russia. The good news is that active cases, by and large, and in freefall, despite the depictions of morbidity along the Ganges River, and the middle aged connected to oxygen tanks outside small medical centers with little to no room, even on a good day. Some 18.2 million have been vaccinated but thats a long way off from even a third of the population, which sits at 1.4 billion people. | India has replaced Brazil for the new emerging market Covid disaster zone. It might even be worse than investors think, says Shumita Deveshwar, an analyst from TS Lombard. High-frequency indicators, such as mobility, demand for electricity, auto sales and jobs, signal sharply weakening economic momentum. | pegasus | 2 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2021/05/17/is-indias-pandemic-crisis-as-bad-as-we-think/ | 0.109051 |
Why do we hate the sound of our own voices? | (The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Neel Bhatt, University of Washington (THE CONVERSATION) As a surgeon who specializes in treating patients with voice problems, I routinely record my patients speaking. For me, these recordings are incredibly valuable. They allow me to track slight changes in their voices from visit to visit, and it helps confirm whether surgery or voice therapy led to improvements. Yet Im surprised by how difficult these sessions can be for my patients. Many become visibly uncomfortable upon hearing their voice played back to them. Do I really sound like that? they wonder, wincing. (Yes, you do.) Some become so unsettled they refuse outright to listen to the recording much less go over the subtle changes I want to highlight. The discomfort we have over hearing our voices in audio recordings is probably due to a mix of physiology and psychology. For one, the sound from an audio recording is transmitted differently to your brain than the sound generated when you speak. When listening to a recording of your voice, the sound travels through the air and into your ears whats referred to as air conduction. The sound energy vibrates the ear drum and small ear bones. These bones then transmit the sound vibrations to the cochlea, which stimulates nerve axons that send the auditory signal to the brain. However, when you speak, the sound from your voice reaches the inner ear in a different way. While some of the sound is transmitted through air conduction, much of the sound is internally conducted directly through your skull bones. When you hear your own voice when you speak, its due to a blend of both external and internal conduction, and internal bone conduction appears to boost the lower frequencies. For this reason, people generally perceive their voice as deeper and richer when they speak. The recorded voice, in comparison, can sound thinner and higher pitched, which many find cringeworthy. Theres a second reason hearing a recording of your voice can be so disconcerting. It really is a new voice one that exposes a difference between your self-perception and reality. Because your voice is unique and an important component of self-identity, this mismatch can be jarring. Suddenly you realize other people have been hearing something else all along. Even though we may actually sound more like our recorded voice to others, I think the reason so many of us squirm upon hearing it is not that the recorded voice is necessarily worse than our perceived voice. Instead, were simply more used to hearing ourselves sound a certain way. [Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend. Sign up for our weekly newsletter.] A study published in 2005 had patients with voice problems rate their own voices when presented with recordings of them. They also had clinicians rate the voices. The researchers found that patients, across the board, tended to more negatively rate the quality of their recorded voice compared with the objective assessments of clinicians. So if the voice in your head castigates the voice coming out of a recording device, its probably your inner critic overreacting and youre judging yourself a bit too harshly. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/why-do-we-hate-the-sound-of-our-own-voices-158376. | Neel Bhatt: The discomfort we have over hearing our voices in audio recordings is probably due to a mix of physiology and psychology. | pegasus | 0 | https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/Why-do-we-hate-the-sound-of-our-own-voices-16182156.php | 0.114812 |
Why do we hate the sound of our own voices? | (The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Neel Bhatt, University of Washington (THE CONVERSATION) As a surgeon who specializes in treating patients with voice problems, I routinely record my patients speaking. For me, these recordings are incredibly valuable. They allow me to track slight changes in their voices from visit to visit, and it helps confirm whether surgery or voice therapy led to improvements. Yet Im surprised by how difficult these sessions can be for my patients. Many become visibly uncomfortable upon hearing their voice played back to them. Do I really sound like that? they wonder, wincing. (Yes, you do.) Some become so unsettled they refuse outright to listen to the recording much less go over the subtle changes I want to highlight. The discomfort we have over hearing our voices in audio recordings is probably due to a mix of physiology and psychology. For one, the sound from an audio recording is transmitted differently to your brain than the sound generated when you speak. When listening to a recording of your voice, the sound travels through the air and into your ears whats referred to as air conduction. The sound energy vibrates the ear drum and small ear bones. These bones then transmit the sound vibrations to the cochlea, which stimulates nerve axons that send the auditory signal to the brain. However, when you speak, the sound from your voice reaches the inner ear in a different way. While some of the sound is transmitted through air conduction, much of the sound is internally conducted directly through your skull bones. When you hear your own voice when you speak, its due to a blend of both external and internal conduction, and internal bone conduction appears to boost the lower frequencies. For this reason, people generally perceive their voice as deeper and richer when they speak. The recorded voice, in comparison, can sound thinner and higher pitched, which many find cringeworthy. Theres a second reason hearing a recording of your voice can be so disconcerting. It really is a new voice one that exposes a difference between your self-perception and reality. Because your voice is unique and an important component of self-identity, this mismatch can be jarring. Suddenly you realize other people have been hearing something else all along. Even though we may actually sound more like our recorded voice to others, I think the reason so many of us squirm upon hearing it is not that the recorded voice is necessarily worse than our perceived voice. Instead, were simply more used to hearing ourselves sound a certain way. [Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend. Sign up for our weekly newsletter.] A study published in 2005 had patients with voice problems rate their own voices when presented with recordings of them. They also had clinicians rate the voices. The researchers found that patients, across the board, tended to more negatively rate the quality of their recorded voice compared with the objective assessments of clinicians. So if the voice in your head castigates the voice coming out of a recording device, its probably your inner critic overreacting and youre judging yourself a bit too harshly. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/why-do-we-hate-the-sound-of-our-own-voices-158376. | Neel Bhatt: Why do we hate the sound of our own voices? He says the sound from an audio recording is transmitted differently to your brain. Bhatt says we're more used to hearing ourselves sound a certain way. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/Why-do-we-hate-the-sound-of-our-own-voices-16182156.php | 0.264589 |
Why do we hate the sound of our own voices? | (The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Neel Bhatt, University of Washington (THE CONVERSATION) As a surgeon who specializes in treating patients with voice problems, I routinely record my patients speaking. For me, these recordings are incredibly valuable. They allow me to track slight changes in their voices from visit to visit, and it helps confirm whether surgery or voice therapy led to improvements. Yet Im surprised by how difficult these sessions can be for my patients. Many become visibly uncomfortable upon hearing their voice played back to them. Do I really sound like that? they wonder, wincing. (Yes, you do.) Some become so unsettled they refuse outright to listen to the recording much less go over the subtle changes I want to highlight. The discomfort we have over hearing our voices in audio recordings is probably due to a mix of physiology and psychology. For one, the sound from an audio recording is transmitted differently to your brain than the sound generated when you speak. When listening to a recording of your voice, the sound travels through the air and into your ears whats referred to as air conduction. The sound energy vibrates the ear drum and small ear bones. These bones then transmit the sound vibrations to the cochlea, which stimulates nerve axons that send the auditory signal to the brain. However, when you speak, the sound from your voice reaches the inner ear in a different way. While some of the sound is transmitted through air conduction, much of the sound is internally conducted directly through your skull bones. When you hear your own voice when you speak, its due to a blend of both external and internal conduction, and internal bone conduction appears to boost the lower frequencies. For this reason, people generally perceive their voice as deeper and richer when they speak. The recorded voice, in comparison, can sound thinner and higher pitched, which many find cringeworthy. Theres a second reason hearing a recording of your voice can be so disconcerting. It really is a new voice one that exposes a difference between your self-perception and reality. Because your voice is unique and an important component of self-identity, this mismatch can be jarring. Suddenly you realize other people have been hearing something else all along. Even though we may actually sound more like our recorded voice to others, I think the reason so many of us squirm upon hearing it is not that the recorded voice is necessarily worse than our perceived voice. Instead, were simply more used to hearing ourselves sound a certain way. [Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend. Sign up for our weekly newsletter.] A study published in 2005 had patients with voice problems rate their own voices when presented with recordings of them. They also had clinicians rate the voices. The researchers found that patients, across the board, tended to more negatively rate the quality of their recorded voice compared with the objective assessments of clinicians. So if the voice in your head castigates the voice coming out of a recording device, its probably your inner critic overreacting and youre judging yourself a bit too harshly. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/why-do-we-hate-the-sound-of-our-own-voices-158376. | Neel Bhatt: The discomfort we have over hearing our voices in audio recordings is probably due to a mix of physiology and psychology. He says the recorded voice, in comparison, can sound thinner and higher pitched. Because your voice is unique and an important component of self-identity, this mismatch can be jarring, he says. | pegasus | 2 | https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/Why-do-we-hate-the-sound-of-our-own-voices-16182156.php | 0.356983 |
Will Jeff Zucker Stay At CNN After AT&T Spins Off WarnerMedia? | NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 09: President of CNN Jeff Zucker attends the 12th Annual CNN Heroes: An ... [+] All-Star Tribute at American Museum of Natural History on December 9, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for CNN) Getty Images for CNN CNNs Jeff Zucker might not be leaving the network after all. Zucker, who has led CNN to strong ratings and financial performance, announced early this year he would leave when his contract ends at the end of the year. AT&T on Monday confirmed reports that it would spin off WarnerMedia, the parent company of CNN, HBO, TNT and the Warner Bros. film and television studios. The deal would merge WarnerMedia with Discovery, which operates HGTV, The Food Network and Animal Planet. The resulting company would be positioned as a major force in streaming, to rival companies like Disney and Netflix. Discoverys president and CEO David Zaslav will lead the new company, and that could convince Zucker to stay on as CNNs president. The Los Angeles Times reported Sunday that Zucker has strong ties to Zaslav, with both men getting to know each other while working at NBC. A close associate of Zucker at CNN, the Times reported, said Zucker would probably stick around should Zaslav oversee the new venture, noting that Zucker had become disillusioned by the AT&T-imposed cost-cutting that has occurred across WarnerMedia. PASADENA, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 16: President and CEO, Discovery, Inc. David Zaslav speaks onstage ... [+] during the Discovery, Inc. TCA Winter Panel 2020 at The Langham Huntington, Pasadena on January 16, 2020 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Amanda Edwards/Getty Images for Discovery, Inc.) Getty Images for Discovery, Inc. It is super exciting to combine such historic brands, world class journalism and iconic franchises under one roof and unlock so much value and opportunity, Zaslav said in a statement released by AT&T. With a library of cherished IP, dynamite management teams and global expertise in every market in the world, we believe everyone wins...consumers with more diverse choices, talent and storytellers with more resources and compelling pathways to larger audiences, and shareholders with a globally scaled growth company committed to a strong balance sheet that is better positioned to compete with the worlds largest streamers. | CNN's Jeff Zucker announced he would leave the network at the end of the year. AT&T announced it would spin off WarnerMedia, the parent company of CNN, HBO, TNT and the Warner Bros. film and television studios. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/markjoyella/2021/05/17/will-jeff-zucker-stay-at-cnn-after-att-spins-off-warnermedia/ | 0.235951 |
Will Jeff Zucker Stay At CNN After AT&T Spins Off WarnerMedia? | NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 09: President of CNN Jeff Zucker attends the 12th Annual CNN Heroes: An ... [+] All-Star Tribute at American Museum of Natural History on December 9, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for CNN) Getty Images for CNN CNNs Jeff Zucker might not be leaving the network after all. Zucker, who has led CNN to strong ratings and financial performance, announced early this year he would leave when his contract ends at the end of the year. AT&T on Monday confirmed reports that it would spin off WarnerMedia, the parent company of CNN, HBO, TNT and the Warner Bros. film and television studios. The deal would merge WarnerMedia with Discovery, which operates HGTV, The Food Network and Animal Planet. The resulting company would be positioned as a major force in streaming, to rival companies like Disney and Netflix. Discoverys president and CEO David Zaslav will lead the new company, and that could convince Zucker to stay on as CNNs president. The Los Angeles Times reported Sunday that Zucker has strong ties to Zaslav, with both men getting to know each other while working at NBC. A close associate of Zucker at CNN, the Times reported, said Zucker would probably stick around should Zaslav oversee the new venture, noting that Zucker had become disillusioned by the AT&T-imposed cost-cutting that has occurred across WarnerMedia. PASADENA, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 16: President and CEO, Discovery, Inc. David Zaslav speaks onstage ... [+] during the Discovery, Inc. TCA Winter Panel 2020 at The Langham Huntington, Pasadena on January 16, 2020 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Amanda Edwards/Getty Images for Discovery, Inc.) Getty Images for Discovery, Inc. It is super exciting to combine such historic brands, world class journalism and iconic franchises under one roof and unlock so much value and opportunity, Zaslav said in a statement released by AT&T. With a library of cherished IP, dynamite management teams and global expertise in every market in the world, we believe everyone wins...consumers with more diverse choices, talent and storytellers with more resources and compelling pathways to larger audiences, and shareholders with a globally scaled growth company committed to a strong balance sheet that is better positioned to compete with the worlds largest streamers. | CNN's Jeff Zucker announced he would leave the network at the end of the year. AT&T announced Monday it would spin off WarnerMedia, the parent company of CNN, HBO, TNT and the Warner Bros. film and television studios. A close associate of Zucker at CNN said Zucker would probably stick around should Zaslav oversee the new venture. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/markjoyella/2021/05/17/will-jeff-zucker-stay-at-cnn-after-att-spins-off-warnermedia/ | 0.220987 |
How Does LSU Football Compare to Alabama in Early Stages of 2022 Recruiting Class? | Tigers at the top of the SEC in recruiting in the SEC with plenty of room to grow LSU and Alabama are both headed into a crucial stretch of recruiting. Timing and location will play major roles with both programs as they compete for many of the nations top prospects. The key to evaluating LSU versus Alabama recruiting battles is timing and location. Those two factors will be critical to the 2022 recruiting class for both football programs. Heres a quick look at where each school stands with commitments, its desire to land top skill players, and how each program stacks up against one another along the recruiting trail as we head into the month of June, the first month the NCAA will allow official visits in over a year. Total Commitments And National Scope Alabama: 6 (three offensive and three defensive). LSU: 13 (eight offensive and five defensive). LSU is off to the faster start than Alabama, racking up nine in-state commitments and one of the top classes in the country. While Alabamas commitments are certainly very good, the Crimson Tide is looking to capitalize on more out-of-state targets than LSU. Thats a big reason why Alabama has only six commitments, as many top targets have yet to travel to Tuscaloosa for even an unofficial visit let alone an official visit. Both programs will be competing for several of the same recruits to finish out the recruiting class, with Louisianas top prospects a major part of the equation. Louisiana Skill Talent Continues To Be A Priority Both programs generally reload at defensive back, running back and wide receiver. Yes, LSU needs offensive linemen and Alabama needs to refurbish its linebacker core, but the bottom line is elite skill talent is the goal for both programs and it can be had right in LSUs backyard. Louisiana is loaded yet again, and even with a combined five in-state skill position recruits committed to the Tigers, there are a handful of Louisiana skill players that the Tigers truly need that are also being ardently being recruited by the Crimson Tide as well. This has been mentioned before, and will be a common theme moving forward. The following three players are absolute musts for LSU, and Alabama covets each of the three as well. Kendrick Law, running back Leveon Moss and wide receiver Shazz Preston all come from Louisiana. All three are also national recruits. Its hard to say for certain where any of the three will land. Its early with recruiting, and the Tigers have yet to truly set up in-state official visits. Well, at least theres no big weekend thats been made public. As an example, Law is all but certain to officially visit LSU. According to this SI All-American article, FSU, Alabama, and TCU were three schools hes also mentioned as possible official visits, but he has been concentrating on actual football as opposed to recruiting. Law is as important as any recruit left on the board as his versatility (running back, wide receiver, cornerback or safety) is all but unmatched nationally. Both LSU and Alabama hold as good a chance to sign Law as any other programs. Current LSU Official Visit Schedule Features Out Of State Prospects While official visits change quite frequently, LSU does appear to be attempting to bring in out-of-state prospects first. Many of these young men have never been to Louisiana, let alone Baton Rouge and LSU. That is a major reason for LSU already scheduling official visits with players from Texas, Florida, and even the state of Washington. Look for that trend to continue, with an additional possibility. At some point, LSU has to line up in-state prospects for visits. This is where the true game of recruiting begins. Its all about timing. For each position group, LSU needs to know the intentions of its true top target before it goes on to the next prospect. That is why official projecting the absolute visit dates are always a guessing game. Official visits oftentimes finalize a recruits decision. If it waits too long, some of those same players could visit out-of-state programs and commit. Alabama is the prime competition, as one might imagine. This cat and mouse game has no definitive answer and thats why its so interesting. The Next Month Will Be Critical For LSU And Alabama Which players actually visit, when they visit, and the order of schools they visit, can all lead to the success or failure for LSU and Alabama. Numerous top targets have yet to set official visits, but are expected to lock in dates during the next few weeks. Look for LSU to host several more official visitors this next month than is already known, and also look for Alabama to do the same. Keep a close eye on the Louisiana prospects, with many of them being friends and wanting to visit schools together. Later this year, theres also an important game in Tuscaloosa... Looking To The Future: Alabama Hosting Top Recruits When LSU Visits Tuscaloosa Its common for a rivalry game to be a major aspect of a recruiting campaign. Unofficial visits for underclassmen, as well as some senior targets, will be a priority. The biggest aspect, however, would be official visits for a few truly top-notch prospects. Two key Florida prospects are an example of that situation playing out for LSU and Alabama. LSU and Alabama will collide in Bryant-Denny Stadium on November 6th, and the two SEC rivals will be competing for top recruits that will be officially visiting the Crimson Tide that same weekend. Two confirmed official visitors for that weekend both hail from American Heritage in Fort Lauderdale. Defensive end Marvin Jones, Jr. and cornerback Earl Little, Jr. are both national recruits, with Alabama and LSU both in contention for Little. LSU will host Little on Oct. 2nd when LSU welcomes Auburn to Death Valley. Little is one of LSUs top prospects regardless of position. It would be a huge win for the Tigers if they could land Little, especially with Alabama also after the national cornerback recruit. As for his teammate, Jones, thats an interesting situation. LSU does not appear to be one of the favorites for Jones at this time, but the Tigers still have time to lure the elite defensive end to LSU for an official visit. Perhaps Jones visits Baton Rouge with Little on October 2nd. This is recruiting, and there will be ebbs and flows. Final Thoughts LSU has important decisions to make about in-state and out-of-state prospects. When does LSU bring in those players being the primary question, as Alabama and other programs will be looking to pounce on many of the same prospects that LSU covets. How well LSU lines up its official visit schedule for the month of June will go a long way in determining if the Tigers have a legitimate shot at signing a better recruiting class than Alabama, and possibly signing the nations top recruiting class overall. | LSU and Alabama are both in the early stages of recruiting for the 2022 class. Both programs will be competing for several of the same recruits. | ctrlsum | 0 | https://www.si.com/college/lsu/football/where-lsu-alabama-stand-recruiting-2022 | 0.24436 |
How Does LSU Football Compare to Alabama in Early Stages of 2022 Recruiting Class? | Tigers at the top of the SEC in recruiting in the SEC with plenty of room to grow LSU and Alabama are both headed into a crucial stretch of recruiting. Timing and location will play major roles with both programs as they compete for many of the nations top prospects. The key to evaluating LSU versus Alabama recruiting battles is timing and location. Those two factors will be critical to the 2022 recruiting class for both football programs. Heres a quick look at where each school stands with commitments, its desire to land top skill players, and how each program stacks up against one another along the recruiting trail as we head into the month of June, the first month the NCAA will allow official visits in over a year. Total Commitments And National Scope Alabama: 6 (three offensive and three defensive). LSU: 13 (eight offensive and five defensive). LSU is off to the faster start than Alabama, racking up nine in-state commitments and one of the top classes in the country. While Alabamas commitments are certainly very good, the Crimson Tide is looking to capitalize on more out-of-state targets than LSU. Thats a big reason why Alabama has only six commitments, as many top targets have yet to travel to Tuscaloosa for even an unofficial visit let alone an official visit. Both programs will be competing for several of the same recruits to finish out the recruiting class, with Louisianas top prospects a major part of the equation. Louisiana Skill Talent Continues To Be A Priority Both programs generally reload at defensive back, running back and wide receiver. Yes, LSU needs offensive linemen and Alabama needs to refurbish its linebacker core, but the bottom line is elite skill talent is the goal for both programs and it can be had right in LSUs backyard. Louisiana is loaded yet again, and even with a combined five in-state skill position recruits committed to the Tigers, there are a handful of Louisiana skill players that the Tigers truly need that are also being ardently being recruited by the Crimson Tide as well. This has been mentioned before, and will be a common theme moving forward. The following three players are absolute musts for LSU, and Alabama covets each of the three as well. Kendrick Law, running back Leveon Moss and wide receiver Shazz Preston all come from Louisiana. All three are also national recruits. Its hard to say for certain where any of the three will land. Its early with recruiting, and the Tigers have yet to truly set up in-state official visits. Well, at least theres no big weekend thats been made public. As an example, Law is all but certain to officially visit LSU. According to this SI All-American article, FSU, Alabama, and TCU were three schools hes also mentioned as possible official visits, but he has been concentrating on actual football as opposed to recruiting. Law is as important as any recruit left on the board as his versatility (running back, wide receiver, cornerback or safety) is all but unmatched nationally. Both LSU and Alabama hold as good a chance to sign Law as any other programs. Current LSU Official Visit Schedule Features Out Of State Prospects While official visits change quite frequently, LSU does appear to be attempting to bring in out-of-state prospects first. Many of these young men have never been to Louisiana, let alone Baton Rouge and LSU. That is a major reason for LSU already scheduling official visits with players from Texas, Florida, and even the state of Washington. Look for that trend to continue, with an additional possibility. At some point, LSU has to line up in-state prospects for visits. This is where the true game of recruiting begins. Its all about timing. For each position group, LSU needs to know the intentions of its true top target before it goes on to the next prospect. That is why official projecting the absolute visit dates are always a guessing game. Official visits oftentimes finalize a recruits decision. If it waits too long, some of those same players could visit out-of-state programs and commit. Alabama is the prime competition, as one might imagine. This cat and mouse game has no definitive answer and thats why its so interesting. The Next Month Will Be Critical For LSU And Alabama Which players actually visit, when they visit, and the order of schools they visit, can all lead to the success or failure for LSU and Alabama. Numerous top targets have yet to set official visits, but are expected to lock in dates during the next few weeks. Look for LSU to host several more official visitors this next month than is already known, and also look for Alabama to do the same. Keep a close eye on the Louisiana prospects, with many of them being friends and wanting to visit schools together. Later this year, theres also an important game in Tuscaloosa... Looking To The Future: Alabama Hosting Top Recruits When LSU Visits Tuscaloosa Its common for a rivalry game to be a major aspect of a recruiting campaign. Unofficial visits for underclassmen, as well as some senior targets, will be a priority. The biggest aspect, however, would be official visits for a few truly top-notch prospects. Two key Florida prospects are an example of that situation playing out for LSU and Alabama. LSU and Alabama will collide in Bryant-Denny Stadium on November 6th, and the two SEC rivals will be competing for top recruits that will be officially visiting the Crimson Tide that same weekend. Two confirmed official visitors for that weekend both hail from American Heritage in Fort Lauderdale. Defensive end Marvin Jones, Jr. and cornerback Earl Little, Jr. are both national recruits, with Alabama and LSU both in contention for Little. LSU will host Little on Oct. 2nd when LSU welcomes Auburn to Death Valley. Little is one of LSUs top prospects regardless of position. It would be a huge win for the Tigers if they could land Little, especially with Alabama also after the national cornerback recruit. As for his teammate, Jones, thats an interesting situation. LSU does not appear to be one of the favorites for Jones at this time, but the Tigers still have time to lure the elite defensive end to LSU for an official visit. Perhaps Jones visits Baton Rouge with Little on October 2nd. This is recruiting, and there will be ebbs and flows. Final Thoughts LSU has important decisions to make about in-state and out-of-state prospects. When does LSU bring in those players being the primary question, as Alabama and other programs will be looking to pounce on many of the same prospects that LSU covets. How well LSU lines up its official visit schedule for the month of June will go a long way in determining if the Tigers have a legitimate shot at signing a better recruiting class than Alabama, and possibly signing the nations top recruiting class overall. | LSU and Alabama are both in the early stages of recruiting for the 2022 class. Both programs will be competing for several of the same recruits to finish out the recruiting class, with Louisianas top prospects a major part of the equation. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.si.com/college/lsu/football/where-lsu-alabama-stand-recruiting-2022 | 0.326175 |
How Does LSU Football Compare to Alabama in Early Stages of 2022 Recruiting Class? | Tigers at the top of the SEC in recruiting in the SEC with plenty of room to grow LSU and Alabama are both headed into a crucial stretch of recruiting. Timing and location will play major roles with both programs as they compete for many of the nations top prospects. The key to evaluating LSU versus Alabama recruiting battles is timing and location. Those two factors will be critical to the 2022 recruiting class for both football programs. Heres a quick look at where each school stands with commitments, its desire to land top skill players, and how each program stacks up against one another along the recruiting trail as we head into the month of June, the first month the NCAA will allow official visits in over a year. Total Commitments And National Scope Alabama: 6 (three offensive and three defensive). LSU: 13 (eight offensive and five defensive). LSU is off to the faster start than Alabama, racking up nine in-state commitments and one of the top classes in the country. While Alabamas commitments are certainly very good, the Crimson Tide is looking to capitalize on more out-of-state targets than LSU. Thats a big reason why Alabama has only six commitments, as many top targets have yet to travel to Tuscaloosa for even an unofficial visit let alone an official visit. Both programs will be competing for several of the same recruits to finish out the recruiting class, with Louisianas top prospects a major part of the equation. Louisiana Skill Talent Continues To Be A Priority Both programs generally reload at defensive back, running back and wide receiver. Yes, LSU needs offensive linemen and Alabama needs to refurbish its linebacker core, but the bottom line is elite skill talent is the goal for both programs and it can be had right in LSUs backyard. Louisiana is loaded yet again, and even with a combined five in-state skill position recruits committed to the Tigers, there are a handful of Louisiana skill players that the Tigers truly need that are also being ardently being recruited by the Crimson Tide as well. This has been mentioned before, and will be a common theme moving forward. The following three players are absolute musts for LSU, and Alabama covets each of the three as well. Kendrick Law, running back Leveon Moss and wide receiver Shazz Preston all come from Louisiana. All three are also national recruits. Its hard to say for certain where any of the three will land. Its early with recruiting, and the Tigers have yet to truly set up in-state official visits. Well, at least theres no big weekend thats been made public. As an example, Law is all but certain to officially visit LSU. According to this SI All-American article, FSU, Alabama, and TCU were three schools hes also mentioned as possible official visits, but he has been concentrating on actual football as opposed to recruiting. Law is as important as any recruit left on the board as his versatility (running back, wide receiver, cornerback or safety) is all but unmatched nationally. Both LSU and Alabama hold as good a chance to sign Law as any other programs. Current LSU Official Visit Schedule Features Out Of State Prospects While official visits change quite frequently, LSU does appear to be attempting to bring in out-of-state prospects first. Many of these young men have never been to Louisiana, let alone Baton Rouge and LSU. That is a major reason for LSU already scheduling official visits with players from Texas, Florida, and even the state of Washington. Look for that trend to continue, with an additional possibility. At some point, LSU has to line up in-state prospects for visits. This is where the true game of recruiting begins. Its all about timing. For each position group, LSU needs to know the intentions of its true top target before it goes on to the next prospect. That is why official projecting the absolute visit dates are always a guessing game. Official visits oftentimes finalize a recruits decision. If it waits too long, some of those same players could visit out-of-state programs and commit. Alabama is the prime competition, as one might imagine. This cat and mouse game has no definitive answer and thats why its so interesting. The Next Month Will Be Critical For LSU And Alabama Which players actually visit, when they visit, and the order of schools they visit, can all lead to the success or failure for LSU and Alabama. Numerous top targets have yet to set official visits, but are expected to lock in dates during the next few weeks. Look for LSU to host several more official visitors this next month than is already known, and also look for Alabama to do the same. Keep a close eye on the Louisiana prospects, with many of them being friends and wanting to visit schools together. Later this year, theres also an important game in Tuscaloosa... Looking To The Future: Alabama Hosting Top Recruits When LSU Visits Tuscaloosa Its common for a rivalry game to be a major aspect of a recruiting campaign. Unofficial visits for underclassmen, as well as some senior targets, will be a priority. The biggest aspect, however, would be official visits for a few truly top-notch prospects. Two key Florida prospects are an example of that situation playing out for LSU and Alabama. LSU and Alabama will collide in Bryant-Denny Stadium on November 6th, and the two SEC rivals will be competing for top recruits that will be officially visiting the Crimson Tide that same weekend. Two confirmed official visitors for that weekend both hail from American Heritage in Fort Lauderdale. Defensive end Marvin Jones, Jr. and cornerback Earl Little, Jr. are both national recruits, with Alabama and LSU both in contention for Little. LSU will host Little on Oct. 2nd when LSU welcomes Auburn to Death Valley. Little is one of LSUs top prospects regardless of position. It would be a huge win for the Tigers if they could land Little, especially with Alabama also after the national cornerback recruit. As for his teammate, Jones, thats an interesting situation. LSU does not appear to be one of the favorites for Jones at this time, but the Tigers still have time to lure the elite defensive end to LSU for an official visit. Perhaps Jones visits Baton Rouge with Little on October 2nd. This is recruiting, and there will be ebbs and flows. Final Thoughts LSU has important decisions to make about in-state and out-of-state prospects. When does LSU bring in those players being the primary question, as Alabama and other programs will be looking to pounce on many of the same prospects that LSU covets. How well LSU lines up its official visit schedule for the month of June will go a long way in determining if the Tigers have a legitimate shot at signing a better recruiting class than Alabama, and possibly signing the nations top recruiting class overall. | LSU and Alabama are both in the early stages of recruiting for the 2022 class. Both programs will be competing for several of the same recruits to finish out the recruiting class, with Louisianas top prospects a major part of the equation. LSU has nine in-state commitments, while Alabama has only six. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.si.com/college/lsu/football/where-lsu-alabama-stand-recruiting-2022 | 0.58738 |
Can Israel blast Gaza and still make friends in the Gulf? | Article content DUBAI Scenes of devastation in Gaza are likely to make it harder for Israel to win its biggest diplomatic prize: recognition by Saudi Arabia. But so far, the other rich Gulf states that invested in opening ties with Israel last year are showing no public sign of second thoughts. Arab officials have come together to condemn what they describe as flagrant Israeli violations during the past two weeks, from Israeli police action around Jerusalems al-Aqsa mosque to deadly air strikes on the Gaza Strip. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Back to video But in the United Arab Emirates, which along with Bahrain recognized Israel last year under the U.S.-backed Abraham Accords, official criticism of Israel now often comes balanced with popular expression of hard words for the other side. In some cases in the UAE, which has long denounced Islamist political movements, condemnation of the Hamas militants who control Gaza even echoes Israeli talking points. You have made Gaza a graveyard for the innocent and children, Waseem Yousef, a Muslim preacher in the UAE, tweeted to his 1.6 million followers on Twitter. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content In a country where social media is closely monitored by the authorities, another Emirati, Munther al-Shehhi, tweeted: I will not stand by or empathize with any terrorist group such as Hamas in support of any cause, even if it is packaged as humanitarian or religious. #No To Terrorism. A social media hashtag has even begun circulating among some Gulf Arabs, which reads #Palestine Is Not My Cause. SAUDIS KEEP DISTANCE So far, such sentiment does not seem to have made inroads too deeply into Saudi Arabia. The biggest, richest and most powerful of the Gulf monarchies is widely presumed to have given its tacit blessing to last years decision by neighbors Bahrain and the UAE to embrace Israeli ties. But it held back from recognizing Israel itself, and now appears far less likely to do so, at least in the medium term. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Many Saudis have responded to the Not My Cause hashtag by posting pictures of King Salman, with his quote: The Palestinian cause is our first cause. On May 13, Saudi television aired footage of a cleric in Mecca praying for Palestinian victory against the enemy of God, less than year after the kingdoms leading imam discouraged rhetoric against Jews following the September accords. It would now be inconceivable that the Saudi leadership could contemplate normalizing ties with Israel for at least a couple of years, said Neil Quilliam, associate fellow at Britains Chatham House think tank. Last years decisions by the UAE and Bahrain, followed by Sudan and Morocco, to recognize Israel were denounced by the Palestinians as abandoning a unified position under which Arab states would make peace only if Israel gave up occupied land. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content The UAE and Bahrain argued that their agreements would ultimately benefit the Palestinians, including because Israel had promised to abandon plans to annex West Bank territory. Abdulrahman al-Towajry, 29, a Saudi national visiting a Riyadh shopping mall, said the countries that had made peace should really reconsider it as Israel could not be trusted to abide by promises. There is strength in unity so if Arab and Muslim countries unite, the conflict would end. It could have ended a long time ago if they had, he told Reuters. But the Emiratis and others probably have too much invested in the policy to change course abruptly now. The agreements have propelled tourism, investment and cooperation in fields from energy to technology. A UAE investment fund has plans to purchase a stake in an Israeli gas field and Dubais port operator is bidding for Haifa Port. The Abraham Accords are an irreversible process, said prominent Emirati commentator Abdulkhaleq Abdulla. It was very clear that it was in keeping with the UAEs national priorities and strategic interests so there is no going back. (Reporting by Ghaida Ghantous in Riyadh and Marwa Rashad in London Additional reporting by Lisa Barrington in Dubai and Mohammed Benmansour in Riyadh Editing by Peter Graff) Share this article in your social network Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Shopping essentials Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. NP Posted Sign up to receive the daily top stories from the National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. Email Address There was an error, please provide a valid email address. By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300 Thanks for signing up! A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it please check your junk folder. The next issue of NP Posted will soon be in your inbox. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again Trending | Scenes of devastation in Gaza are likely to make it harder for Israel to win recognition by Saudi Arabia. | pegasus | 0 | https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/can-israel-blast-gaza-and-still-make-friends-in-the-gulf | 0.107395 |
Can Israel blast Gaza and still make friends in the Gulf? | Article content DUBAI Scenes of devastation in Gaza are likely to make it harder for Israel to win its biggest diplomatic prize: recognition by Saudi Arabia. But so far, the other rich Gulf states that invested in opening ties with Israel last year are showing no public sign of second thoughts. Arab officials have come together to condemn what they describe as flagrant Israeli violations during the past two weeks, from Israeli police action around Jerusalems al-Aqsa mosque to deadly air strikes on the Gaza Strip. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Back to video But in the United Arab Emirates, which along with Bahrain recognized Israel last year under the U.S.-backed Abraham Accords, official criticism of Israel now often comes balanced with popular expression of hard words for the other side. In some cases in the UAE, which has long denounced Islamist political movements, condemnation of the Hamas militants who control Gaza even echoes Israeli talking points. You have made Gaza a graveyard for the innocent and children, Waseem Yousef, a Muslim preacher in the UAE, tweeted to his 1.6 million followers on Twitter. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content In a country where social media is closely monitored by the authorities, another Emirati, Munther al-Shehhi, tweeted: I will not stand by or empathize with any terrorist group such as Hamas in support of any cause, even if it is packaged as humanitarian or religious. #No To Terrorism. A social media hashtag has even begun circulating among some Gulf Arabs, which reads #Palestine Is Not My Cause. SAUDIS KEEP DISTANCE So far, such sentiment does not seem to have made inroads too deeply into Saudi Arabia. The biggest, richest and most powerful of the Gulf monarchies is widely presumed to have given its tacit blessing to last years decision by neighbors Bahrain and the UAE to embrace Israeli ties. But it held back from recognizing Israel itself, and now appears far less likely to do so, at least in the medium term. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Many Saudis have responded to the Not My Cause hashtag by posting pictures of King Salman, with his quote: The Palestinian cause is our first cause. On May 13, Saudi television aired footage of a cleric in Mecca praying for Palestinian victory against the enemy of God, less than year after the kingdoms leading imam discouraged rhetoric against Jews following the September accords. It would now be inconceivable that the Saudi leadership could contemplate normalizing ties with Israel for at least a couple of years, said Neil Quilliam, associate fellow at Britains Chatham House think tank. Last years decisions by the UAE and Bahrain, followed by Sudan and Morocco, to recognize Israel were denounced by the Palestinians as abandoning a unified position under which Arab states would make peace only if Israel gave up occupied land. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content The UAE and Bahrain argued that their agreements would ultimately benefit the Palestinians, including because Israel had promised to abandon plans to annex West Bank territory. Abdulrahman al-Towajry, 29, a Saudi national visiting a Riyadh shopping mall, said the countries that had made peace should really reconsider it as Israel could not be trusted to abide by promises. There is strength in unity so if Arab and Muslim countries unite, the conflict would end. It could have ended a long time ago if they had, he told Reuters. But the Emiratis and others probably have too much invested in the policy to change course abruptly now. The agreements have propelled tourism, investment and cooperation in fields from energy to technology. A UAE investment fund has plans to purchase a stake in an Israeli gas field and Dubais port operator is bidding for Haifa Port. The Abraham Accords are an irreversible process, said prominent Emirati commentator Abdulkhaleq Abdulla. It was very clear that it was in keeping with the UAEs national priorities and strategic interests so there is no going back. (Reporting by Ghaida Ghantous in Riyadh and Marwa Rashad in London Additional reporting by Lisa Barrington in Dubai and Mohammed Benmansour in Riyadh Editing by Peter Graff) Share this article in your social network Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Shopping essentials Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. NP Posted Sign up to receive the daily top stories from the National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. Email Address There was an error, please provide a valid email address. By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300 Thanks for signing up! A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it please check your junk folder. The next issue of NP Posted will soon be in your inbox. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again Trending | Scenes of devastation in Gaza are likely to make it harder for Israel to win recognition by Saudi Arabia. But so far, the other rich Gulf states that invested in opening ties with Israel last year are showing no public sign of second thoughts. | pegasus | 1 | https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/can-israel-blast-gaza-and-still-make-friends-in-the-gulf | 0.164542 |
Can Israel blast Gaza and still make friends in the Gulf? | Article content DUBAI Scenes of devastation in Gaza are likely to make it harder for Israel to win its biggest diplomatic prize: recognition by Saudi Arabia. But so far, the other rich Gulf states that invested in opening ties with Israel last year are showing no public sign of second thoughts. Arab officials have come together to condemn what they describe as flagrant Israeli violations during the past two weeks, from Israeli police action around Jerusalems al-Aqsa mosque to deadly air strikes on the Gaza Strip. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Back to video But in the United Arab Emirates, which along with Bahrain recognized Israel last year under the U.S.-backed Abraham Accords, official criticism of Israel now often comes balanced with popular expression of hard words for the other side. In some cases in the UAE, which has long denounced Islamist political movements, condemnation of the Hamas militants who control Gaza even echoes Israeli talking points. You have made Gaza a graveyard for the innocent and children, Waseem Yousef, a Muslim preacher in the UAE, tweeted to his 1.6 million followers on Twitter. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content In a country where social media is closely monitored by the authorities, another Emirati, Munther al-Shehhi, tweeted: I will not stand by or empathize with any terrorist group such as Hamas in support of any cause, even if it is packaged as humanitarian or religious. #No To Terrorism. A social media hashtag has even begun circulating among some Gulf Arabs, which reads #Palestine Is Not My Cause. SAUDIS KEEP DISTANCE So far, such sentiment does not seem to have made inroads too deeply into Saudi Arabia. The biggest, richest and most powerful of the Gulf monarchies is widely presumed to have given its tacit blessing to last years decision by neighbors Bahrain and the UAE to embrace Israeli ties. But it held back from recognizing Israel itself, and now appears far less likely to do so, at least in the medium term. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Many Saudis have responded to the Not My Cause hashtag by posting pictures of King Salman, with his quote: The Palestinian cause is our first cause. On May 13, Saudi television aired footage of a cleric in Mecca praying for Palestinian victory against the enemy of God, less than year after the kingdoms leading imam discouraged rhetoric against Jews following the September accords. It would now be inconceivable that the Saudi leadership could contemplate normalizing ties with Israel for at least a couple of years, said Neil Quilliam, associate fellow at Britains Chatham House think tank. Last years decisions by the UAE and Bahrain, followed by Sudan and Morocco, to recognize Israel were denounced by the Palestinians as abandoning a unified position under which Arab states would make peace only if Israel gave up occupied land. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content The UAE and Bahrain argued that their agreements would ultimately benefit the Palestinians, including because Israel had promised to abandon plans to annex West Bank territory. Abdulrahman al-Towajry, 29, a Saudi national visiting a Riyadh shopping mall, said the countries that had made peace should really reconsider it as Israel could not be trusted to abide by promises. There is strength in unity so if Arab and Muslim countries unite, the conflict would end. It could have ended a long time ago if they had, he told Reuters. But the Emiratis and others probably have too much invested in the policy to change course abruptly now. The agreements have propelled tourism, investment and cooperation in fields from energy to technology. A UAE investment fund has plans to purchase a stake in an Israeli gas field and Dubais port operator is bidding for Haifa Port. The Abraham Accords are an irreversible process, said prominent Emirati commentator Abdulkhaleq Abdulla. It was very clear that it was in keeping with the UAEs national priorities and strategic interests so there is no going back. (Reporting by Ghaida Ghantous in Riyadh and Marwa Rashad in London Additional reporting by Lisa Barrington in Dubai and Mohammed Benmansour in Riyadh Editing by Peter Graff) Share this article in your social network Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Shopping essentials Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. NP Posted Sign up to receive the daily top stories from the National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. Email Address There was an error, please provide a valid email address. By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300 Thanks for signing up! A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it please check your junk folder. The next issue of NP Posted will soon be in your inbox. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again Trending | Scenes of devastation in Gaza are likely to make it harder for Israel to win recognition by Saudi Arabia. But so far, the other rich Gulf states that invested in opening ties with Israel last year are showing no public sign of second thoughts. Arab officials have come together to condemn what they describe as flagrant Israeli violations during the past two weeks. | pegasus | 2 | https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/can-israel-blast-gaza-and-still-make-friends-in-the-gulf | 0.211542 |
What Are The Risks Of Crypto Savings Accounts? | There are quite a few popular cryptocurrency savings accounts out there, including options from platforms like BlockFi, Linus, Outlet, and Gemini. These savings accounts are very different from traditional savings accounts, and in more ways than many people realize. First, investors should remember that cryptocurrency savings accounts are built to accept and hold crypto deposits, including Bitcoin, Ethereum and other popular cryptocurrencies. Not only that, but crypto savings accounts offer much higher rates of return than regular savings, and even high-yield savings accounts. That depends on the platform you use and the type of cryptocurrency you deposit. As an example, BlockFi lets account holders earn up to 8.6% APY on their crypto deposits. This highest rate currently applies to the cryptocurrencies like the Gemini Dollar (GUSD) and the Paxos Standard Token (PAX), yet you'll earn more like 5% to 6% with digital currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. INDIA - 2021/05/11: In this Photo illustration a Bitcoin logo is seen displayed on a smartphone ... [+] screen with a pc screen background. Risks Of Crypto Savings Accounts While earning 5% to 8% or more in a savings account probably seems ideal, you should know that there are risks involved with this type of account, and with owning cryptocurrency in general. These risks don't necessarily mean crypto savings accounts are a bad product. However, you should only invest in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or use a crypto savings account if you are fully aware of what could happen in the worst case scenario. No FDIC Insurance According to Ian Kane, who is founder of a fintech company called Ternio, an immediate risk to consider is the fact that crypto assets do not come with FDIC insurance. With traditional savings accounts, customers are protected on up to $250,000 per account in the unlikely event of a bank failure, yet crypto assets do not offer this protection. "This means if the company offering the savings account does not also provide the private-keys associated with the wallet where savings are held, then it is possible a users funds can be lost if the company goes under," says Kane. Loss Of Control According to cryptocurrency expert Patrick Moore of Crypto What, another major downside is the fact you give up total control of your cryptocurrency assets. Moore points out that acquiring a crypto savings account means that one has to relinquish their account "keys" to the lending body. Since the whole crypto system is decentralized, the risk of shenanigans is actually quite high. If the administrator of your crypto savings account lends money to third parties and is never paid back, you could lose all or part of your assets with no recourse. Cryptocurrency expert and consultant Viputheshwar Sitaraman says giving up your keys is a huge concern regardless. "In a normal savings account, the money is yours, full stop," he says. "But with Bitcoin or other cryptocurrency, if you lose your keys, there is no dedicated company or organization to help recover your wallet." More Rules On Withdrawals If you have a traditional savings account, you can withdraw your money and close your account at any time. However, CPA and crypto expert Mark DiMichael of Citrin Cooperman says this may not be the case with your crypto savings account. For example, some cryptocurrency savings accounts have withdrawal limits that cap the amount you can take from your account over a specific period of time. These withdrawal limits can put your money out of reach when you need it most, like during a financial emergency. Not only that, but you may also have to pay fees to withdraw your money. These fees can add up if you're an active crypto trader who makes a lot of transfers in and out of your account. Price Volatility Meanwhile, Kane says price volatility is another significant item customers should be aware of. If the balance and interest is paid in a dollar-backed stable coin, then it's easy to account for the interest being paid. However, if the balance and interest is paid in Bitcoin, then Kane points out that the total balance and payments will fluctuate according to market conditions. This means that the interest you earn could be worth more or less on any given day. That makes it hard to plan, and to know if your account is truly helping you "get ahead." Robert R. Johnson, PhD, CFA, CAIA and Professor of Finance at Heider College of Business, Creighton University, says it's important to remember that cryptocurrencies are purely speculative vehicles. "They have no underlying fundamental value and suffer from many weaknesses as any sort of savings vehicle," he says. They also routinely experience large price moves in a single day, which makes them a strange and risky asset to grow in a savings account. For example, Johnson points out that Dogecoin traded at a high of 0.4223 on April 20, 2021, yet this cryptocurrency traded at 0.1637 just three days later. "That kind of volatility is not conducive to a savings account," says Johnson. Counter-Party Risk You have to remember that these saving accounts are able to offer you such high yields because they are lending out the crypto you deposit at much higher rates. The risk to you as a depositor is that the platform or exchange you are utilizing suffers a wave of defaults on their loans that they cant cover. The result of a breakdown of the platform could be disastrous for savers with assets deposited. Simply put, they still offer the potential for higher returns on cryptocurrency, and this is what crypto investors are after in the first place. Still, there are quite a few factors to consider before you open one of these accounts and hand over the keys to your digital assets. First off, Neil Chopra of Fireblocks says consumers should carefully evaluate the platform or app theyre using to ensure that the provider they choose to go with is "compliant, secure, reliable, and reputable." Even though cryptocurrency is "newer" in general, you should also consider how long the app or platform has been around, he says. In the meantime, research and look into user reviews and perform due diligence on the background of the company, its investors, and its leadership team. Second, make sure you're not betting the farm (or your entire retirement) on crypto investments or their potential savings account returns. Bryan Routledge, Associate Professor of Finance at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business, says that a well-diversified investment strategy should always be your goal. You do not want to overload your portfolio with any individual stock, and especially Gamestop GME , he says. "Think of Bitcoin as you would any other stock. You might tilt your portfolio towards an industry or a company, but just a small amount." | Investors should remember that cryptocurrency savings accounts are built to accept and hold crypto deposits. These risks don't necessarily mean crypto savings accounts are a bad product. One major downside is the fact you give up total control of your cryptocurrency assets. | pegasus | 1 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertfarrington/2021/05/17/what-are-the-risks-of-crypto-savings-accounts/ | 0.125527 |
What Are The Risks Of Crypto Savings Accounts? | There are quite a few popular cryptocurrency savings accounts out there, including options from platforms like BlockFi, Linus, Outlet, and Gemini. These savings accounts are very different from traditional savings accounts, and in more ways than many people realize. First, investors should remember that cryptocurrency savings accounts are built to accept and hold crypto deposits, including Bitcoin, Ethereum and other popular cryptocurrencies. Not only that, but crypto savings accounts offer much higher rates of return than regular savings, and even high-yield savings accounts. That depends on the platform you use and the type of cryptocurrency you deposit. As an example, BlockFi lets account holders earn up to 8.6% APY on their crypto deposits. This highest rate currently applies to the cryptocurrencies like the Gemini Dollar (GUSD) and the Paxos Standard Token (PAX), yet you'll earn more like 5% to 6% with digital currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. INDIA - 2021/05/11: In this Photo illustration a Bitcoin logo is seen displayed on a smartphone ... [+] screen with a pc screen background. Risks Of Crypto Savings Accounts While earning 5% to 8% or more in a savings account probably seems ideal, you should know that there are risks involved with this type of account, and with owning cryptocurrency in general. These risks don't necessarily mean crypto savings accounts are a bad product. However, you should only invest in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or use a crypto savings account if you are fully aware of what could happen in the worst case scenario. No FDIC Insurance According to Ian Kane, who is founder of a fintech company called Ternio, an immediate risk to consider is the fact that crypto assets do not come with FDIC insurance. With traditional savings accounts, customers are protected on up to $250,000 per account in the unlikely event of a bank failure, yet crypto assets do not offer this protection. "This means if the company offering the savings account does not also provide the private-keys associated with the wallet where savings are held, then it is possible a users funds can be lost if the company goes under," says Kane. Loss Of Control According to cryptocurrency expert Patrick Moore of Crypto What, another major downside is the fact you give up total control of your cryptocurrency assets. Moore points out that acquiring a crypto savings account means that one has to relinquish their account "keys" to the lending body. Since the whole crypto system is decentralized, the risk of shenanigans is actually quite high. If the administrator of your crypto savings account lends money to third parties and is never paid back, you could lose all or part of your assets with no recourse. Cryptocurrency expert and consultant Viputheshwar Sitaraman says giving up your keys is a huge concern regardless. "In a normal savings account, the money is yours, full stop," he says. "But with Bitcoin or other cryptocurrency, if you lose your keys, there is no dedicated company or organization to help recover your wallet." More Rules On Withdrawals If you have a traditional savings account, you can withdraw your money and close your account at any time. However, CPA and crypto expert Mark DiMichael of Citrin Cooperman says this may not be the case with your crypto savings account. For example, some cryptocurrency savings accounts have withdrawal limits that cap the amount you can take from your account over a specific period of time. These withdrawal limits can put your money out of reach when you need it most, like during a financial emergency. Not only that, but you may also have to pay fees to withdraw your money. These fees can add up if you're an active crypto trader who makes a lot of transfers in and out of your account. Price Volatility Meanwhile, Kane says price volatility is another significant item customers should be aware of. If the balance and interest is paid in a dollar-backed stable coin, then it's easy to account for the interest being paid. However, if the balance and interest is paid in Bitcoin, then Kane points out that the total balance and payments will fluctuate according to market conditions. This means that the interest you earn could be worth more or less on any given day. That makes it hard to plan, and to know if your account is truly helping you "get ahead." Robert R. Johnson, PhD, CFA, CAIA and Professor of Finance at Heider College of Business, Creighton University, says it's important to remember that cryptocurrencies are purely speculative vehicles. "They have no underlying fundamental value and suffer from many weaknesses as any sort of savings vehicle," he says. They also routinely experience large price moves in a single day, which makes them a strange and risky asset to grow in a savings account. For example, Johnson points out that Dogecoin traded at a high of 0.4223 on April 20, 2021, yet this cryptocurrency traded at 0.1637 just three days later. "That kind of volatility is not conducive to a savings account," says Johnson. Counter-Party Risk You have to remember that these saving accounts are able to offer you such high yields because they are lending out the crypto you deposit at much higher rates. The risk to you as a depositor is that the platform or exchange you are utilizing suffers a wave of defaults on their loans that they cant cover. The result of a breakdown of the platform could be disastrous for savers with assets deposited. Simply put, they still offer the potential for higher returns on cryptocurrency, and this is what crypto investors are after in the first place. Still, there are quite a few factors to consider before you open one of these accounts and hand over the keys to your digital assets. First off, Neil Chopra of Fireblocks says consumers should carefully evaluate the platform or app theyre using to ensure that the provider they choose to go with is "compliant, secure, reliable, and reputable." Even though cryptocurrency is "newer" in general, you should also consider how long the app or platform has been around, he says. In the meantime, research and look into user reviews and perform due diligence on the background of the company, its investors, and its leadership team. Second, make sure you're not betting the farm (or your entire retirement) on crypto investments or their potential savings account returns. Bryan Routledge, Associate Professor of Finance at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business, says that a well-diversified investment strategy should always be your goal. You do not want to overload your portfolio with any individual stock, and especially Gamestop GME , he says. "Think of Bitcoin as you would any other stock. You might tilt your portfolio towards an industry or a company, but just a small amount." | Investors should remember that cryptocurrency savings accounts are built to accept and hold crypto deposits. These risks don't necessarily mean crypto savings accounts are a bad product. One major downside is the fact you give up total control of your cryptocurrency assets. Some crypto savings accounts have withdrawal limits that cap the amount you can take from your account. | pegasus | 2 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertfarrington/2021/05/17/what-are-the-risks-of-crypto-savings-accounts/ | 0.267081 |
What's the matter with Twins pitcher Kenta Maeda this season? | Enough things have gone wrong for the Twins this season that no one factor is a primary reason for their 13-25 start. Yep. Uh-huh. Absolutely. But I dare say that the Twins might merely be a disappointing team with a reasonable chance to rebound rather than a team in disaster territory needing to play the next four-plus months like the best team in baseball just to have a chance at the postseason if one reasonable key expectation hadn't gone awry: the pitching of Kenta Maeda. Patrick Reusse and I talked about Maeda on Monday's Daily Delivery podcast, and let's explore his season in a little more detail now. If you don't see the podcast player, click here to listen and subscribe to Daily Delivery. A season ago, the Twins were 8-3 in Maeda's starts a year when he finished with a 2.70 ERA and was the Cy Young runner-up. By all accounts, he was tremendous in spring training this season and seemed poised to deliver a similar season in 2021 as an encore. Instead, Maeda has a 5.26 ERA and the Twins are just 2-6 in his starts. When you are losing 75% of the games pitched by your No. 1 starter, you are going to have problems. Not all of it has been his fault, but consider: In the last three starts Maeda has made in which the Twins have ended up losing, they have given him leads of 2-0, 3-0 and 4-1 and he's given it all back and sometimes more. That was the case Sunday, when that 4-1 lead evaporated in a four-run fifth inning for Oakland off of Maeda in an eventual 7-6 A's win. Those are games a team rightfully expects to win with its projected ace on the mound. *Perhaps some of it could be explained by a groin injury Maeda reportedly worked through on Sunday and has perhaps bothered him for previous starts. Even if Maeda said it's a familiar injury that he can pitch through, a small difference can have major consequences. *For instance: His average fastball velocity is down a little this season and averaged just 90.7 mph on Sunday. Maeda is not a particularly hard thrower regardless, but that subtle dip can have an impact. The difference in his fastball and changeup velocity Sunday, per FanGraphs, was only 5.5 mph. It was on average 7 mph different last season. A dip in velocity or an impact on the sharpness of Maeda's pitches whether injury-impacted or not could also explain why he's striking out just 7.9 hitters per 9 innings this season, about two less per nine innings than his career average and three less than he averaged last season. He's also walking a batter more per nine innings than a year ago. Maeda has already given up nine more hits than he did all of last season. *That said, there could also be an element of luck at play. Opposing hitters had just a .208 average on balls put in play last season, a VERY low mark. This year, they are hitting .350 on balls in play, a VERY high mark. And Maeda was very good in clutch situations last season, stranding 80.2% of baserunners. This year, he's kept just 68.3% of baserunners from scoring. Then again, Statcast says 45.6% of balls in play this season have been hard hit compared to just 24.7% last year. So it stands to reason that batters would have a higher average and that more of the runners on base would come around to score. *It could also be that batters have adapted somewhat to Maeda's pitch mix. He's continued to rely more heavily on his slider throwing it about 40% of the time last year and this year after using it on about 28% of his pitches with the Dodgers. Against Oakland on Sunday, Maeda actually threw fastballs 40.4% of the time, a season-high. The A's rally in the fifth inning started with two hits off his split-changeup and slider. Last year hitters swung at almost 40% of his pitches that were outside the strike zone. This year it's just below 30%, a marked difference that can have a dramatic impact on getting into favorable counts. Add it up, and Maeda's struggles have had a major impact. The Twins would still be in trouble even if he was having a much better season, but let's say they were 6-2 in his eight starts instead of 2-6 a reasonable projection based on last year and expectations. Their record, if we assume everything else stays the same, would be 17-21 disappointing, sure, but still in the neighborhood where one good week gets a team back to .500. | Kenta Maeda has a 5.26 ERA and the Twins are just 2-6 in his starts. | bart | 0 | https://www.startribune.com/whats-the-matter-with-twins-pitcher-kenta-maeda-this-season/600058133/ | 0.612823 |
What's the matter with Twins pitcher Kenta Maeda this season? | Enough things have gone wrong for the Twins this season that no one factor is a primary reason for their 13-25 start. Yep. Uh-huh. Absolutely. But I dare say that the Twins might merely be a disappointing team with a reasonable chance to rebound rather than a team in disaster territory needing to play the next four-plus months like the best team in baseball just to have a chance at the postseason if one reasonable key expectation hadn't gone awry: the pitching of Kenta Maeda. Patrick Reusse and I talked about Maeda on Monday's Daily Delivery podcast, and let's explore his season in a little more detail now. If you don't see the podcast player, click here to listen and subscribe to Daily Delivery. A season ago, the Twins were 8-3 in Maeda's starts a year when he finished with a 2.70 ERA and was the Cy Young runner-up. By all accounts, he was tremendous in spring training this season and seemed poised to deliver a similar season in 2021 as an encore. Instead, Maeda has a 5.26 ERA and the Twins are just 2-6 in his starts. When you are losing 75% of the games pitched by your No. 1 starter, you are going to have problems. Not all of it has been his fault, but consider: In the last three starts Maeda has made in which the Twins have ended up losing, they have given him leads of 2-0, 3-0 and 4-1 and he's given it all back and sometimes more. That was the case Sunday, when that 4-1 lead evaporated in a four-run fifth inning for Oakland off of Maeda in an eventual 7-6 A's win. Those are games a team rightfully expects to win with its projected ace on the mound. *Perhaps some of it could be explained by a groin injury Maeda reportedly worked through on Sunday and has perhaps bothered him for previous starts. Even if Maeda said it's a familiar injury that he can pitch through, a small difference can have major consequences. *For instance: His average fastball velocity is down a little this season and averaged just 90.7 mph on Sunday. Maeda is not a particularly hard thrower regardless, but that subtle dip can have an impact. The difference in his fastball and changeup velocity Sunday, per FanGraphs, was only 5.5 mph. It was on average 7 mph different last season. A dip in velocity or an impact on the sharpness of Maeda's pitches whether injury-impacted or not could also explain why he's striking out just 7.9 hitters per 9 innings this season, about two less per nine innings than his career average and three less than he averaged last season. He's also walking a batter more per nine innings than a year ago. Maeda has already given up nine more hits than he did all of last season. *That said, there could also be an element of luck at play. Opposing hitters had just a .208 average on balls put in play last season, a VERY low mark. This year, they are hitting .350 on balls in play, a VERY high mark. And Maeda was very good in clutch situations last season, stranding 80.2% of baserunners. This year, he's kept just 68.3% of baserunners from scoring. Then again, Statcast says 45.6% of balls in play this season have been hard hit compared to just 24.7% last year. So it stands to reason that batters would have a higher average and that more of the runners on base would come around to score. *It could also be that batters have adapted somewhat to Maeda's pitch mix. He's continued to rely more heavily on his slider throwing it about 40% of the time last year and this year after using it on about 28% of his pitches with the Dodgers. Against Oakland on Sunday, Maeda actually threw fastballs 40.4% of the time, a season-high. The A's rally in the fifth inning started with two hits off his split-changeup and slider. Last year hitters swung at almost 40% of his pitches that were outside the strike zone. This year it's just below 30%, a marked difference that can have a dramatic impact on getting into favorable counts. Add it up, and Maeda's struggles have had a major impact. The Twins would still be in trouble even if he was having a much better season, but let's say they were 6-2 in his eight starts instead of 2-6 a reasonable projection based on last year and expectations. Their record, if we assume everything else stays the same, would be 17-21 disappointing, sure, but still in the neighborhood where one good week gets a team back to .500. | Twins pitcher Kenta Maeda has a 5.26 ERA and the Twins are just 2-6 in his starts. Maeda is not a particularly hard thrower regardless, but that subtle dip can have an impact. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.startribune.com/whats-the-matter-with-twins-pitcher-kenta-maeda-this-season/600058133/ | 0.719034 |
What's the matter with Twins pitcher Kenta Maeda this season? | Enough things have gone wrong for the Twins this season that no one factor is a primary reason for their 13-25 start. Yep. Uh-huh. Absolutely. But I dare say that the Twins might merely be a disappointing team with a reasonable chance to rebound rather than a team in disaster territory needing to play the next four-plus months like the best team in baseball just to have a chance at the postseason if one reasonable key expectation hadn't gone awry: the pitching of Kenta Maeda. Patrick Reusse and I talked about Maeda on Monday's Daily Delivery podcast, and let's explore his season in a little more detail now. If you don't see the podcast player, click here to listen and subscribe to Daily Delivery. A season ago, the Twins were 8-3 in Maeda's starts a year when he finished with a 2.70 ERA and was the Cy Young runner-up. By all accounts, he was tremendous in spring training this season and seemed poised to deliver a similar season in 2021 as an encore. Instead, Maeda has a 5.26 ERA and the Twins are just 2-6 in his starts. When you are losing 75% of the games pitched by your No. 1 starter, you are going to have problems. Not all of it has been his fault, but consider: In the last three starts Maeda has made in which the Twins have ended up losing, they have given him leads of 2-0, 3-0 and 4-1 and he's given it all back and sometimes more. That was the case Sunday, when that 4-1 lead evaporated in a four-run fifth inning for Oakland off of Maeda in an eventual 7-6 A's win. Those are games a team rightfully expects to win with its projected ace on the mound. *Perhaps some of it could be explained by a groin injury Maeda reportedly worked through on Sunday and has perhaps bothered him for previous starts. Even if Maeda said it's a familiar injury that he can pitch through, a small difference can have major consequences. *For instance: His average fastball velocity is down a little this season and averaged just 90.7 mph on Sunday. Maeda is not a particularly hard thrower regardless, but that subtle dip can have an impact. The difference in his fastball and changeup velocity Sunday, per FanGraphs, was only 5.5 mph. It was on average 7 mph different last season. A dip in velocity or an impact on the sharpness of Maeda's pitches whether injury-impacted or not could also explain why he's striking out just 7.9 hitters per 9 innings this season, about two less per nine innings than his career average and three less than he averaged last season. He's also walking a batter more per nine innings than a year ago. Maeda has already given up nine more hits than he did all of last season. *That said, there could also be an element of luck at play. Opposing hitters had just a .208 average on balls put in play last season, a VERY low mark. This year, they are hitting .350 on balls in play, a VERY high mark. And Maeda was very good in clutch situations last season, stranding 80.2% of baserunners. This year, he's kept just 68.3% of baserunners from scoring. Then again, Statcast says 45.6% of balls in play this season have been hard hit compared to just 24.7% last year. So it stands to reason that batters would have a higher average and that more of the runners on base would come around to score. *It could also be that batters have adapted somewhat to Maeda's pitch mix. He's continued to rely more heavily on his slider throwing it about 40% of the time last year and this year after using it on about 28% of his pitches with the Dodgers. Against Oakland on Sunday, Maeda actually threw fastballs 40.4% of the time, a season-high. The A's rally in the fifth inning started with two hits off his split-changeup and slider. Last year hitters swung at almost 40% of his pitches that were outside the strike zone. This year it's just below 30%, a marked difference that can have a dramatic impact on getting into favorable counts. Add it up, and Maeda's struggles have had a major impact. The Twins would still be in trouble even if he was having a much better season, but let's say they were 6-2 in his eight starts instead of 2-6 a reasonable projection based on last year and expectations. Their record, if we assume everything else stays the same, would be 17-21 disappointing, sure, but still in the neighborhood where one good week gets a team back to .500. | Twins pitcher Kenta Maeda has a 5.26 ERA and the Twins are just 2-6 in his starts. Maeda is not a particularly hard thrower regardless, but that subtle dip can have a major impact on a pitcher's performance. The Twins might be a disappointing team with a reasonable chance to rebound rather than a team in disaster territory. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.startribune.com/whats-the-matter-with-twins-pitcher-kenta-maeda-this-season/600058133/ | 0.76947 |
Did QAnon sneak in (or get invited) to Arizona's sham election audit? | Add to the list of conspiracy addicts getting their daily fix of fantasy fraud at Arizonas sham election audit the hopelessly hooked Trump junkies from QAnon. Yes, it appears that folks who identify with the originators of the unhinged assertion that the United States (perhaps even the world) is controlled by a coterie of Satan-worshipping pedophiles operating out of the basement of a Washington, D.C., pizza parlor are among those with their fingers on our ballots. Imagine that. Although, it should not be a surprise. Afterall, the Arizona Senate Republicans behind the sham audit allowed former state lawmaker Anthony Kern, a conspiracy-spreading Trump zealot who was at the U.S. Capitol the day the insurrectionists stormed the building, to help count and inspect ballots. Perhaps even your ballot. This after they hired a company, Cyber Ninjas, with zero experience in election audits and a CEO whos a conspiracy-believing crank known for posting unproven allegations about election fraud on Twitter. Then the company tried to keep the press and public out of the counting process and brought in a bunch of Trump acolytes to do the unbiased counting. Much of this was documented in The Arizona Republic by way of the very fine work of Jen Fifield and Andrew Oxford, who provided an in-depth look at the zealots and conspiracy believers who have been running and participating in the sham audit. Arizona election audit has a QAnon problem A report by Media Matters adds to that work, pointing out that even more partisan political pranksters have hopped out of the clown car rolling around the fairgrounds with our ballots in the trunk. According to the Media Matters report, at least two individuals linked to the Arizona Senates ballot-counting circus also have links to the kookiest of the conspiracy worlds upper echelon. Or, as reporter Olivia Little described it: Simply put: Arizonas election audit has a QAnon problem. The report says that a pair of QAnon supporters, now affiliated with the audit, bragged about their relationships with state Senate President Karen Fann and Republican Congressman Andy Biggs. Who knows how many other members of QAnons digital cult have had access to ballots. A few Republicans are speaking up A few Republican officials are speaking up. Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, a Republican whose office already has done a thorough, unbiased, transparent and professional audit of the election results called the wild allegations being made by, among others, former President Donald Trump unhinged. He added, We cant indulge these insane lies any longer. As a party. As a state. As a country. A while back there was an NPR/Ipsos poll indicating that a number of the craziest assertions made by QAnon and other digital rumor mongers are gaining a foothold among some Americans. We can't go lower. There is no basement One of the pollsters, Chris Jackson, said, Increasingly, people are willing to say and believe stuff that fits in with their view of how the world should be, even if it doesnt have any basis in reality or fact. Sadly, some of those people now control the Arizona Senate. The pizza parlor doesnt even have a basement. Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com. For more opinions content, please subscribe. | Arizona's sham election audit has a QAnon problem, says Ed Montini. | bart | 0 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/ej-montini/2021/05/17/did-qanon-sneak-get-invited-sham-arizona-election-audit/5124478001/ | 0.166786 |
Did QAnon sneak in (or get invited) to Arizona's sham election audit? | Add to the list of conspiracy addicts getting their daily fix of fantasy fraud at Arizonas sham election audit the hopelessly hooked Trump junkies from QAnon. Yes, it appears that folks who identify with the originators of the unhinged assertion that the United States (perhaps even the world) is controlled by a coterie of Satan-worshipping pedophiles operating out of the basement of a Washington, D.C., pizza parlor are among those with their fingers on our ballots. Imagine that. Although, it should not be a surprise. Afterall, the Arizona Senate Republicans behind the sham audit allowed former state lawmaker Anthony Kern, a conspiracy-spreading Trump zealot who was at the U.S. Capitol the day the insurrectionists stormed the building, to help count and inspect ballots. Perhaps even your ballot. This after they hired a company, Cyber Ninjas, with zero experience in election audits and a CEO whos a conspiracy-believing crank known for posting unproven allegations about election fraud on Twitter. Then the company tried to keep the press and public out of the counting process and brought in a bunch of Trump acolytes to do the unbiased counting. Much of this was documented in The Arizona Republic by way of the very fine work of Jen Fifield and Andrew Oxford, who provided an in-depth look at the zealots and conspiracy believers who have been running and participating in the sham audit. Arizona election audit has a QAnon problem A report by Media Matters adds to that work, pointing out that even more partisan political pranksters have hopped out of the clown car rolling around the fairgrounds with our ballots in the trunk. According to the Media Matters report, at least two individuals linked to the Arizona Senates ballot-counting circus also have links to the kookiest of the conspiracy worlds upper echelon. Or, as reporter Olivia Little described it: Simply put: Arizonas election audit has a QAnon problem. The report says that a pair of QAnon supporters, now affiliated with the audit, bragged about their relationships with state Senate President Karen Fann and Republican Congressman Andy Biggs. Who knows how many other members of QAnons digital cult have had access to ballots. A few Republicans are speaking up A few Republican officials are speaking up. Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, a Republican whose office already has done a thorough, unbiased, transparent and professional audit of the election results called the wild allegations being made by, among others, former President Donald Trump unhinged. He added, We cant indulge these insane lies any longer. As a party. As a state. As a country. A while back there was an NPR/Ipsos poll indicating that a number of the craziest assertions made by QAnon and other digital rumor mongers are gaining a foothold among some Americans. We can't go lower. There is no basement One of the pollsters, Chris Jackson, said, Increasingly, people are willing to say and believe stuff that fits in with their view of how the world should be, even if it doesnt have any basis in reality or fact. Sadly, some of those people now control the Arizona Senate. The pizza parlor doesnt even have a basement. Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com. For more opinions content, please subscribe. | Ed Montini: Arizona's sham election audit has a QAnon problem. He says the group's members have access to our ballots. Montini says it should not be a surprise that the group is involved in the audit. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/ej-montini/2021/05/17/did-qanon-sneak-get-invited-sham-arizona-election-audit/5124478001/ | 0.296676 |
Did QAnon sneak in (or get invited) to Arizona's sham election audit? | Add to the list of conspiracy addicts getting their daily fix of fantasy fraud at Arizonas sham election audit the hopelessly hooked Trump junkies from QAnon. Yes, it appears that folks who identify with the originators of the unhinged assertion that the United States (perhaps even the world) is controlled by a coterie of Satan-worshipping pedophiles operating out of the basement of a Washington, D.C., pizza parlor are among those with their fingers on our ballots. Imagine that. Although, it should not be a surprise. Afterall, the Arizona Senate Republicans behind the sham audit allowed former state lawmaker Anthony Kern, a conspiracy-spreading Trump zealot who was at the U.S. Capitol the day the insurrectionists stormed the building, to help count and inspect ballots. Perhaps even your ballot. This after they hired a company, Cyber Ninjas, with zero experience in election audits and a CEO whos a conspiracy-believing crank known for posting unproven allegations about election fraud on Twitter. Then the company tried to keep the press and public out of the counting process and brought in a bunch of Trump acolytes to do the unbiased counting. Much of this was documented in The Arizona Republic by way of the very fine work of Jen Fifield and Andrew Oxford, who provided an in-depth look at the zealots and conspiracy believers who have been running and participating in the sham audit. Arizona election audit has a QAnon problem A report by Media Matters adds to that work, pointing out that even more partisan political pranksters have hopped out of the clown car rolling around the fairgrounds with our ballots in the trunk. According to the Media Matters report, at least two individuals linked to the Arizona Senates ballot-counting circus also have links to the kookiest of the conspiracy worlds upper echelon. Or, as reporter Olivia Little described it: Simply put: Arizonas election audit has a QAnon problem. The report says that a pair of QAnon supporters, now affiliated with the audit, bragged about their relationships with state Senate President Karen Fann and Republican Congressman Andy Biggs. Who knows how many other members of QAnons digital cult have had access to ballots. A few Republicans are speaking up A few Republican officials are speaking up. Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, a Republican whose office already has done a thorough, unbiased, transparent and professional audit of the election results called the wild allegations being made by, among others, former President Donald Trump unhinged. He added, We cant indulge these insane lies any longer. As a party. As a state. As a country. A while back there was an NPR/Ipsos poll indicating that a number of the craziest assertions made by QAnon and other digital rumor mongers are gaining a foothold among some Americans. We can't go lower. There is no basement One of the pollsters, Chris Jackson, said, Increasingly, people are willing to say and believe stuff that fits in with their view of how the world should be, even if it doesnt have any basis in reality or fact. Sadly, some of those people now control the Arizona Senate. The pizza parlor doesnt even have a basement. Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com. For more opinions content, please subscribe. | Ed Montini: Arizona's sham election audit has a QAnon problem. He says the group's members have access to our ballots. Montini says it should not be a surprise that the group is involved in the sham audit. The Arizona Senate is controlled by people who believe in conspiracy theories, he says. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/ej-montini/2021/05/17/did-qanon-sneak-get-invited-sham-arizona-election-audit/5124478001/ | 0.397426 |
Why is FLoC, Googles new ad technology, taking flak? | FEW PEOPLE outside the advertising industry will mourn the death of third-party cookies. These are snippets of code placed on peoples browsers that allow advertising companies to track them around the web, gather information about them and then flog products to them based on their interests. (They differ from first-party cookies, which websites use to remember peoples details, for example to keep them logged in, but do not track them when they leave.) Last year Google announced that by 2022 it would no longer use third-party cookies or permit other companies to deploy them via Google Chrome, the internets most popular web browser. Other big browsers have already blocked third-party cookies by default. The technology seems moribund, but Google has just started testing what it hopes will become the new standard, called Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC). It has already been criticised by the makers of other browsers and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital-rights group. Instead of allowing advertisers to track individuals browsing history, as with cookies, FLoC groups similar browsing behaviour into numbered cohorts, each of which contains thousands of users. Each week a persons browser will review the sites they have visited and match them to a cohort. Advertisers can see which cohort a person belongs to, but not the characteristics that link its members. But by observing the behaviour of other members of this cohort, advertisers can work out the interests they probably share. If, for example, lots of members of one cohort search for water bottles, advertisers might serve other members ads for bottles, too. Google claims that this semi-anonymity is more protective of privacy than third-party cookies, which track specific users, but still 95% as effective at getting users to click on ads. But FLoC is coming under fire. Many people will still balk at the idea of a label that can be used to infer their interests, even if advertisers arent tracking their every move online. Although users can block FLoC, if it is enabled by default, as it probably will be in Chrome, many will not. It may also be difficult for Google to stop the system from grouping people by characteristics they wish to keep private, such as race or sexuality. Beyond this, the system may not be as anonymous as it seems. Some critics worry that sorting users into cohorts will make them easier to fingerprint, whereby websites use other identifiers, such as your IP address or even the size of your browser window, to identify individual users. FLoC would give them one more way to distinguish people. FLoC has also been accused of being anti-competitive. Companies that use it would be reliant on semi-anonymised data to identify people. But Google, one of the biggest players in online advertising, is not so hobbled. It amasses lots of first-party data in other ways, such as when users interact with Chrome or Android, its mobile operating system. This gives Google a competitive advantage. Google began testing FLoC in March by rolling it out to 0.5% of Chrome users in ten countries. No other browser has said it will implement FLoC, but two, Brave and Vivaldi, have come out against it, as has DuckDuckGo, a search engine. Microsoft has disabled FLoC in Edge, its browser. Even if Google tweaks FLoC in light of the trial it will probably still be a hard sell. But that might matter little. Given Googles dominance of online advertising and the ubiquitousness of Chrome and Android, FLoC might steamroller its way to being part of the architecture of the web. Dig deeper: A new type of ad is heading for your iPhone The advertising business is becoming less cyclicaland more concentrated Googles problems are bigger than just the antitrust case | Google is testing what it hopes will become the new standard, called Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC) FLoC groups similar browsing behaviour into numbered cohorts, each of which contains thousands of users. Google claims that this semi-anonymity is more protective of privacy than third-party cookies. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2021/05/17/why-is-floc-googles-new-ad-technology-taking-flak | 0.12098 |
What are the UK travel rules from May 17? | (CNN) As of today, going on holiday is no longer illegal for travelers from England, Scotland and Wales. While the move has been met with relief from those eager to take a foreign holiday, many have been left confused by the new travel regulations, along with the risk-based "traffic light" system that's now in place. Here's everything you need to know about the UK travel rules. From May 17, residents of England, Scotland and Wales are allowed to go on vacation now that restrictions which made it illegal to travel abroad for non-essential reasons have ended. However, government officials have warned that the experience will be very different due to ongoing concerns around Covid-19. "This is a new way of doing things, and people should expect travel to be different this summer -- with longer checks at the borders, as part of tough measures to prevent new strains of the virus entering the country and putting our fantastic vaccine rollout at risk," UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said in a statement on Monday. The UK's traffic light system for designating safe travel destinations, lists 12 countries or territories it classifies as "green" -- meaning anyone traveling there will not have to quarantine on return. These are: Portugal (including the Azores and Madeira); Australia; New Zealand; Singapore; Brunei: Iceland; Faroe Islands; Gibraltar; Falkland Islands; South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; St. Helena, Ascension & Tristan da Cunha and Israel. It's worth noting that entry to Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei and the Faroe Islands is heavily restricted, so a destination's appearance on the list doesn't automatically mean that UK travelers can go there. English travelers are permitted to visit 12 "green" destinations without having to quarantine on their return, provided they take a pre-departure test, as well as a PCR test on or before day two of their arrival back in the UK. That said, some countries currently listed as green, such as New Zealand and Australia, are not permitting While travelers are also allowed to visit countries designated "amber" or "red," the restrictions are much stricter, making them far less attractive options. Those who choose to visit places on the "amber" list, which include France, Greece, Spain and Italy, will have to quarantine for 10 days, take a pre-departure test and also get a PCR test on day two and eight of their isolation. However, "amber" destinations qualify for a test-to-release scheme, which means holidaymakers can take a PCR test after five days' quarantine. If they receive a negative result, they will be permitted to go out into the community. Travelers from England who choose to visit "red" list destinations are required to check in to one of the UK's quarantine hotels, at a cost of 1,750 (around $2,445) per adult when they return. They must also follow the same testing regulations as those arriving from "amber" destinations. Scotland and Wales' May 17 "green lists" are initially the same as England's, but they might change according to the two countries' needs. From May 24, people in Northern Ireland will be able to make non-essential trips to other parts of the Common Travel Area, which includes the UK, the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. The Northern Ireland government has yet to announce a relaxation of its international travel rules. The UK government has said the decision-making is based on factors including a country's Covid-19 transmission risk, its variant of concern transmission risk and its genomic surveillance capability. The UK's Joint Biosecurity Centre has undertaken risk assessments for each destination, using data including total number of vaccination doses administered per 100 people. The amber list contains some of the UK's most-loved tourist destinations, such as Italy, Greece, Spain and France. The government guidance is that UK residents should not be booking holidays to "amber list" countries, or planning any nonessential travel, but it is no longer illegal to do so. The amber list is subject to change, which means countries may move to green or red at any time. Travelers from England, Scotland and Wales are allowed to go anywhere within those countries and overnight stays are permitted at hotels, B&Bs and hostels. Nonessential travel in and out of Northern Ireland is still banned and tourist accommodation is yet to reopen. Those who plan to visit any of the Scottish islands are advised to take two lateral flow tests before their trip. Quarantine rules depend on whether the country you're traveling to/from is on the "green," "red" or "amber list." If you are arriving into the country from a "red" list country, you will have to quarantine in a designated hotel upon arrival for 10 days at your own expense. Bookings must be made through this online portal. The charge for a single adult is 1,750. There are designated quarantine hotels in England and Scotland. If your final destination is in Wales or Northern Ireland, you will need to book a hotel in England or Scotland. If you are arriving from an "amber" list country, you will have to quarantine at home for 10 days. The other people in your household do not need to quarantine with you, unless they were also on your trip, or they have Covid symptoms, or they test positive. If you are arriving from a "green list" destination, quarantine is not a requirement. The quarantine requirements work in tandem with testing. It's compulsory to take a Covid test on or before day two of your quarantine, and on or after day eight. If you are arriving in England from an "amber" country, it's possible to end your quarantine early via the Test to Release system. This involves paying for a private test, if it's negative, you can end your quarantine period. It's not possible to do this until you've been in England for at least five days. If you're arriving from a "red" or "amber" destination, your passenger locator form must contain details of your quarantine destination. You can get public transport to your place where you intend to quarantine, but the official guidance is to only do so "if you have no other option." For the full rules, see here. During your quarantine, you will be contacted by NHS Test and Trace. The UK government has said the "red", "amber" and "green" list will be "continuously monitored" and updated every three weeks, so it's worth keeping tabs on a destination before you depart. There's no guarantee that a "green" country will stay that way. As for the system more generally -- the guidance says travel restrictions will be formally reviewed on June 28, no later than July 31 and October 1, 2021. Some countries, such as Iceland, are now open to international travelers who can present proof of vaccination. In the absence of this, sometimes a recent negative Covid-19 test, or proof of recovery from Covid-19 will also suffice. The rules frequently change from country to country and it is advisable to check destination-specific requirements before booking travel and closer to departure. Yes. Travelers heading to approved destinations will need to take a pre-departure test, as well as a PCR test on or before day two of their arrival back in the UK. A test may be needed by the country you're traveling to. Most destinations that are open to arrivals now require a recent negative PCR test before visitors can enter. Of the countries on the UK "green" list that are currently welcoming tourists or are feasible to reach from the UK, all require a negative PCR test. Some also require visitors to quarantine. The US is currently on the UK's "amber" list. As explained above, the UK does not advise nonessential travel to "amber" countries. Plus, UK residents have been banned from entering the United States since March 2020 and this ban is still in place. When the initial "green list" destinations were announced, the World Travel & Tourism Council expressed disappointment that the US was not included and accused the UK government of being "too cautious." Airlines have also been clamoring for the reintroduction of the transatlantic travel corridor, one of the world's busiest air routes during pre-pandemic times. It's unknown when the United States might make it onto the "green list" but it'll likely coincide with a lifting of US restrictions on UK travelers. The UK has been gradually lifting its Covid-19 restrictions in tandem with its vaccine roll out. Restarting international travel on May 17 is part of Step 3 of England's lockdown easing, which also includes reopening indoor venues like museums and holiday accommodation including hotels. England's Covid-19 roadmap initially pinpointed June 21, 2021 as the date in which all Covid-19 restrictions could be lifted. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have not bookmarked a specific date for the ending of their respective restrictions. The June 21 date has always been TBC, and the UK government has been keen to emphasize that it's not set in stone. There are currently concerns about a new Covid-19 variant originating from India, now circulating in the UK. It's unknown when the traffic light system will be lifted, but official guidance says travel restrictions will be reviewed on June 28, and again no later than July 31 and October 1, 2021. | From May 17, residents of England, Scotland and Wales are allowed to go on vacation. | bart | 0 | https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/what-are-travel-rules-uk/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fedition_world+%28RSS%3A+CNNi+-+World%29 | 0.25168 |
What are the UK travel rules from May 17? | (CNN) As of today, going on holiday is no longer illegal for travelers from England, Scotland and Wales. While the move has been met with relief from those eager to take a foreign holiday, many have been left confused by the new travel regulations, along with the risk-based "traffic light" system that's now in place. Here's everything you need to know about the UK travel rules. From May 17, residents of England, Scotland and Wales are allowed to go on vacation now that restrictions which made it illegal to travel abroad for non-essential reasons have ended. However, government officials have warned that the experience will be very different due to ongoing concerns around Covid-19. "This is a new way of doing things, and people should expect travel to be different this summer -- with longer checks at the borders, as part of tough measures to prevent new strains of the virus entering the country and putting our fantastic vaccine rollout at risk," UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said in a statement on Monday. The UK's traffic light system for designating safe travel destinations, lists 12 countries or territories it classifies as "green" -- meaning anyone traveling there will not have to quarantine on return. These are: Portugal (including the Azores and Madeira); Australia; New Zealand; Singapore; Brunei: Iceland; Faroe Islands; Gibraltar; Falkland Islands; South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; St. Helena, Ascension & Tristan da Cunha and Israel. It's worth noting that entry to Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei and the Faroe Islands is heavily restricted, so a destination's appearance on the list doesn't automatically mean that UK travelers can go there. English travelers are permitted to visit 12 "green" destinations without having to quarantine on their return, provided they take a pre-departure test, as well as a PCR test on or before day two of their arrival back in the UK. That said, some countries currently listed as green, such as New Zealand and Australia, are not permitting While travelers are also allowed to visit countries designated "amber" or "red," the restrictions are much stricter, making them far less attractive options. Those who choose to visit places on the "amber" list, which include France, Greece, Spain and Italy, will have to quarantine for 10 days, take a pre-departure test and also get a PCR test on day two and eight of their isolation. However, "amber" destinations qualify for a test-to-release scheme, which means holidaymakers can take a PCR test after five days' quarantine. If they receive a negative result, they will be permitted to go out into the community. Travelers from England who choose to visit "red" list destinations are required to check in to one of the UK's quarantine hotels, at a cost of 1,750 (around $2,445) per adult when they return. They must also follow the same testing regulations as those arriving from "amber" destinations. Scotland and Wales' May 17 "green lists" are initially the same as England's, but they might change according to the two countries' needs. From May 24, people in Northern Ireland will be able to make non-essential trips to other parts of the Common Travel Area, which includes the UK, the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. The Northern Ireland government has yet to announce a relaxation of its international travel rules. The UK government has said the decision-making is based on factors including a country's Covid-19 transmission risk, its variant of concern transmission risk and its genomic surveillance capability. The UK's Joint Biosecurity Centre has undertaken risk assessments for each destination, using data including total number of vaccination doses administered per 100 people. The amber list contains some of the UK's most-loved tourist destinations, such as Italy, Greece, Spain and France. The government guidance is that UK residents should not be booking holidays to "amber list" countries, or planning any nonessential travel, but it is no longer illegal to do so. The amber list is subject to change, which means countries may move to green or red at any time. Travelers from England, Scotland and Wales are allowed to go anywhere within those countries and overnight stays are permitted at hotels, B&Bs and hostels. Nonessential travel in and out of Northern Ireland is still banned and tourist accommodation is yet to reopen. Those who plan to visit any of the Scottish islands are advised to take two lateral flow tests before their trip. Quarantine rules depend on whether the country you're traveling to/from is on the "green," "red" or "amber list." If you are arriving into the country from a "red" list country, you will have to quarantine in a designated hotel upon arrival for 10 days at your own expense. Bookings must be made through this online portal. The charge for a single adult is 1,750. There are designated quarantine hotels in England and Scotland. If your final destination is in Wales or Northern Ireland, you will need to book a hotel in England or Scotland. If you are arriving from an "amber" list country, you will have to quarantine at home for 10 days. The other people in your household do not need to quarantine with you, unless they were also on your trip, or they have Covid symptoms, or they test positive. If you are arriving from a "green list" destination, quarantine is not a requirement. The quarantine requirements work in tandem with testing. It's compulsory to take a Covid test on or before day two of your quarantine, and on or after day eight. If you are arriving in England from an "amber" country, it's possible to end your quarantine early via the Test to Release system. This involves paying for a private test, if it's negative, you can end your quarantine period. It's not possible to do this until you've been in England for at least five days. If you're arriving from a "red" or "amber" destination, your passenger locator form must contain details of your quarantine destination. You can get public transport to your place where you intend to quarantine, but the official guidance is to only do so "if you have no other option." For the full rules, see here. During your quarantine, you will be contacted by NHS Test and Trace. The UK government has said the "red", "amber" and "green" list will be "continuously monitored" and updated every three weeks, so it's worth keeping tabs on a destination before you depart. There's no guarantee that a "green" country will stay that way. As for the system more generally -- the guidance says travel restrictions will be formally reviewed on June 28, no later than July 31 and October 1, 2021. Some countries, such as Iceland, are now open to international travelers who can present proof of vaccination. In the absence of this, sometimes a recent negative Covid-19 test, or proof of recovery from Covid-19 will also suffice. The rules frequently change from country to country and it is advisable to check destination-specific requirements before booking travel and closer to departure. Yes. Travelers heading to approved destinations will need to take a pre-departure test, as well as a PCR test on or before day two of their arrival back in the UK. A test may be needed by the country you're traveling to. Most destinations that are open to arrivals now require a recent negative PCR test before visitors can enter. Of the countries on the UK "green" list that are currently welcoming tourists or are feasible to reach from the UK, all require a negative PCR test. Some also require visitors to quarantine. The US is currently on the UK's "amber" list. As explained above, the UK does not advise nonessential travel to "amber" countries. Plus, UK residents have been banned from entering the United States since March 2020 and this ban is still in place. When the initial "green list" destinations were announced, the World Travel & Tourism Council expressed disappointment that the US was not included and accused the UK government of being "too cautious." Airlines have also been clamoring for the reintroduction of the transatlantic travel corridor, one of the world's busiest air routes during pre-pandemic times. It's unknown when the United States might make it onto the "green list" but it'll likely coincide with a lifting of US restrictions on UK travelers. The UK has been gradually lifting its Covid-19 restrictions in tandem with its vaccine roll out. Restarting international travel on May 17 is part of Step 3 of England's lockdown easing, which also includes reopening indoor venues like museums and holiday accommodation including hotels. England's Covid-19 roadmap initially pinpointed June 21, 2021 as the date in which all Covid-19 restrictions could be lifted. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have not bookmarked a specific date for the ending of their respective restrictions. The June 21 date has always been TBC, and the UK government has been keen to emphasize that it's not set in stone. There are currently concerns about a new Covid-19 variant originating from India, now circulating in the UK. It's unknown when the traffic light system will be lifted, but official guidance says travel restrictions will be reviewed on June 28, and again no later than July 31 and October 1, 2021. | From May 17, residents of England, Scotland and Wales are allowed to go on vacation. Travel restrictions which made it illegal to travel abroad for non-essential reasons have ended. | bart | 1 | https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/what-are-travel-rules-uk/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fedition_world+%28RSS%3A+CNNi+-+World%29 | 0.33303 |
What are the UK travel rules from May 17? | (CNN) As of today, going on holiday is no longer illegal for travelers from England, Scotland and Wales. While the move has been met with relief from those eager to take a foreign holiday, many have been left confused by the new travel regulations, along with the risk-based "traffic light" system that's now in place. Here's everything you need to know about the UK travel rules. From May 17, residents of England, Scotland and Wales are allowed to go on vacation now that restrictions which made it illegal to travel abroad for non-essential reasons have ended. However, government officials have warned that the experience will be very different due to ongoing concerns around Covid-19. "This is a new way of doing things, and people should expect travel to be different this summer -- with longer checks at the borders, as part of tough measures to prevent new strains of the virus entering the country and putting our fantastic vaccine rollout at risk," UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said in a statement on Monday. The UK's traffic light system for designating safe travel destinations, lists 12 countries or territories it classifies as "green" -- meaning anyone traveling there will not have to quarantine on return. These are: Portugal (including the Azores and Madeira); Australia; New Zealand; Singapore; Brunei: Iceland; Faroe Islands; Gibraltar; Falkland Islands; South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; St. Helena, Ascension & Tristan da Cunha and Israel. It's worth noting that entry to Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei and the Faroe Islands is heavily restricted, so a destination's appearance on the list doesn't automatically mean that UK travelers can go there. English travelers are permitted to visit 12 "green" destinations without having to quarantine on their return, provided they take a pre-departure test, as well as a PCR test on or before day two of their arrival back in the UK. That said, some countries currently listed as green, such as New Zealand and Australia, are not permitting While travelers are also allowed to visit countries designated "amber" or "red," the restrictions are much stricter, making them far less attractive options. Those who choose to visit places on the "amber" list, which include France, Greece, Spain and Italy, will have to quarantine for 10 days, take a pre-departure test and also get a PCR test on day two and eight of their isolation. However, "amber" destinations qualify for a test-to-release scheme, which means holidaymakers can take a PCR test after five days' quarantine. If they receive a negative result, they will be permitted to go out into the community. Travelers from England who choose to visit "red" list destinations are required to check in to one of the UK's quarantine hotels, at a cost of 1,750 (around $2,445) per adult when they return. They must also follow the same testing regulations as those arriving from "amber" destinations. Scotland and Wales' May 17 "green lists" are initially the same as England's, but they might change according to the two countries' needs. From May 24, people in Northern Ireland will be able to make non-essential trips to other parts of the Common Travel Area, which includes the UK, the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. The Northern Ireland government has yet to announce a relaxation of its international travel rules. The UK government has said the decision-making is based on factors including a country's Covid-19 transmission risk, its variant of concern transmission risk and its genomic surveillance capability. The UK's Joint Biosecurity Centre has undertaken risk assessments for each destination, using data including total number of vaccination doses administered per 100 people. The amber list contains some of the UK's most-loved tourist destinations, such as Italy, Greece, Spain and France. The government guidance is that UK residents should not be booking holidays to "amber list" countries, or planning any nonessential travel, but it is no longer illegal to do so. The amber list is subject to change, which means countries may move to green or red at any time. Travelers from England, Scotland and Wales are allowed to go anywhere within those countries and overnight stays are permitted at hotels, B&Bs and hostels. Nonessential travel in and out of Northern Ireland is still banned and tourist accommodation is yet to reopen. Those who plan to visit any of the Scottish islands are advised to take two lateral flow tests before their trip. Quarantine rules depend on whether the country you're traveling to/from is on the "green," "red" or "amber list." If you are arriving into the country from a "red" list country, you will have to quarantine in a designated hotel upon arrival for 10 days at your own expense. Bookings must be made through this online portal. The charge for a single adult is 1,750. There are designated quarantine hotels in England and Scotland. If your final destination is in Wales or Northern Ireland, you will need to book a hotel in England or Scotland. If you are arriving from an "amber" list country, you will have to quarantine at home for 10 days. The other people in your household do not need to quarantine with you, unless they were also on your trip, or they have Covid symptoms, or they test positive. If you are arriving from a "green list" destination, quarantine is not a requirement. The quarantine requirements work in tandem with testing. It's compulsory to take a Covid test on or before day two of your quarantine, and on or after day eight. If you are arriving in England from an "amber" country, it's possible to end your quarantine early via the Test to Release system. This involves paying for a private test, if it's negative, you can end your quarantine period. It's not possible to do this until you've been in England for at least five days. If you're arriving from a "red" or "amber" destination, your passenger locator form must contain details of your quarantine destination. You can get public transport to your place where you intend to quarantine, but the official guidance is to only do so "if you have no other option." For the full rules, see here. During your quarantine, you will be contacted by NHS Test and Trace. The UK government has said the "red", "amber" and "green" list will be "continuously monitored" and updated every three weeks, so it's worth keeping tabs on a destination before you depart. There's no guarantee that a "green" country will stay that way. As for the system more generally -- the guidance says travel restrictions will be formally reviewed on June 28, no later than July 31 and October 1, 2021. Some countries, such as Iceland, are now open to international travelers who can present proof of vaccination. In the absence of this, sometimes a recent negative Covid-19 test, or proof of recovery from Covid-19 will also suffice. The rules frequently change from country to country and it is advisable to check destination-specific requirements before booking travel and closer to departure. Yes. Travelers heading to approved destinations will need to take a pre-departure test, as well as a PCR test on or before day two of their arrival back in the UK. A test may be needed by the country you're traveling to. Most destinations that are open to arrivals now require a recent negative PCR test before visitors can enter. Of the countries on the UK "green" list that are currently welcoming tourists or are feasible to reach from the UK, all require a negative PCR test. Some also require visitors to quarantine. The US is currently on the UK's "amber" list. As explained above, the UK does not advise nonessential travel to "amber" countries. Plus, UK residents have been banned from entering the United States since March 2020 and this ban is still in place. When the initial "green list" destinations were announced, the World Travel & Tourism Council expressed disappointment that the US was not included and accused the UK government of being "too cautious." Airlines have also been clamoring for the reintroduction of the transatlantic travel corridor, one of the world's busiest air routes during pre-pandemic times. It's unknown when the United States might make it onto the "green list" but it'll likely coincide with a lifting of US restrictions on UK travelers. The UK has been gradually lifting its Covid-19 restrictions in tandem with its vaccine roll out. Restarting international travel on May 17 is part of Step 3 of England's lockdown easing, which also includes reopening indoor venues like museums and holiday accommodation including hotels. England's Covid-19 roadmap initially pinpointed June 21, 2021 as the date in which all Covid-19 restrictions could be lifted. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have not bookmarked a specific date for the ending of their respective restrictions. The June 21 date has always been TBC, and the UK government has been keen to emphasize that it's not set in stone. There are currently concerns about a new Covid-19 variant originating from India, now circulating in the UK. It's unknown when the traffic light system will be lifted, but official guidance says travel restrictions will be reviewed on June 28, and again no later than July 31 and October 1, 2021. | From May 17, residents of England, Scotland and Wales are allowed to go on vacation. The move has been met with relief from those eager to take a foreign holiday. However, government officials have warned that the experience will be very different due to ongoing concerns around Covid-19. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/what-are-travel-rules-uk/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fedition_world+%28RSS%3A+CNNi+-+World%29 | 0.34326 |
Could the two players who collided to begin the last playoffs be the Canes key this year? | The playoffs began, last August, at the intersection of two former and future teammates. In the first game against the New York Rangers, newly acquired Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Brady Skjei laid out former Rangers teammate Jesper Fast in the neutral zone, knocking Fast out of what turned out to be a very short series. Nine months later, free-agent signing Fast heads into his first postseason with the Hurricanes at the same time Skjei completes his first full season with the team, and in some ways their combined presence represents one of the biggest improvements the Hurricanes have made since last season. The easiest answer is to avoid the Boston Bruins, who won eight of nine games against the Hurricanes while eliminating them in consecutive years, first in the Eastern Conference finals, then in the first round. With the first two rounds played entirely within the Central Division, the Bruins arent a concern at the moment. But the Hurricanes have been good enough to win a total of 2 series the past two years, and expectations are higher this spring after a remarkably successful performance in the abbreviated regular season. Against the Predators, and either the Tampa Bay Lightning or Florida Panthers should they advance, the Hurricanes may not need to dig any deeper than they have in the regular season when they went 16-5-3 against that trio. (The Lightning might be a slightly different challenge now having added Steven Stamkos and Nitika Kucherov in the postseason, a resounding victory over the salary cap.) Their aspirations lie beyond the division, and as this team moves into what should be its window to contend for the Stanley Cup, itll need more ammunition in the postseason than it has had the past two years. While many of the Hurricanes key players are at an age where they should improve with each passing season, Fast and Skjei have made the team better with their presence Fast as a newcomer, Skjei as an invaluable counterbalance on defense who feels like hes been around much longer than he have. The Hurricanes also added gritty fourth-line center Cedric Paquette during the season another postseason need filled and Alex Nedeljkovic has emerged as a viable alternative to Petr Mrazek in goal, but its the two Rangers refugees who may represent the biggest difference at this time of year. Skjeis a calming presence on the blue line, versatile and reliable, and far more than he was last year, when the league shut down soon after his arrival. Now that his feet are on the ground, his brief injury absence last month only underlined his value to the team now as the essential fourth man behind the Hurricanes big three of Jaccob Slavin, Dougie Hamilton and Brett Pesce. (And even more so if Slavin isnt ready to start the series.) Then theres Fast, whose hard-driving forechecking game should be even more valuable in the postseason than it has been so far. Thanks to Skjei, the Hurricanes never had to deal with Fast last season, but the Swede has the speed and the intention to be a disruptive force, especially if used against the oppositions top line, as the Hurricanes are likely to use the line of Jordan Staal, Fast and Warren Foegele. The long journey of the postseason is always in part a search for the unexpected. Its rare a team goes deep in the playoffs without someones reputation being made, a careers direction changing directions, an undiscovered gem being discovered. After two eventful postseasons that ended sooner than the Hurricanes would have liked, the difference this year could be as simple as the two players who collided to begin the playoffs a year ago. | Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Brady Skjei and former Rangers teammate Jesper Fast collided in the first game of last season's playoffs. | ctrlsum | 0 | https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/nhl/carolina-hurricanes/article251453818.html | 0.125193 |
Could the two players who collided to begin the last playoffs be the Canes key this year? | The playoffs began, last August, at the intersection of two former and future teammates. In the first game against the New York Rangers, newly acquired Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Brady Skjei laid out former Rangers teammate Jesper Fast in the neutral zone, knocking Fast out of what turned out to be a very short series. Nine months later, free-agent signing Fast heads into his first postseason with the Hurricanes at the same time Skjei completes his first full season with the team, and in some ways their combined presence represents one of the biggest improvements the Hurricanes have made since last season. The easiest answer is to avoid the Boston Bruins, who won eight of nine games against the Hurricanes while eliminating them in consecutive years, first in the Eastern Conference finals, then in the first round. With the first two rounds played entirely within the Central Division, the Bruins arent a concern at the moment. But the Hurricanes have been good enough to win a total of 2 series the past two years, and expectations are higher this spring after a remarkably successful performance in the abbreviated regular season. Against the Predators, and either the Tampa Bay Lightning or Florida Panthers should they advance, the Hurricanes may not need to dig any deeper than they have in the regular season when they went 16-5-3 against that trio. (The Lightning might be a slightly different challenge now having added Steven Stamkos and Nitika Kucherov in the postseason, a resounding victory over the salary cap.) Their aspirations lie beyond the division, and as this team moves into what should be its window to contend for the Stanley Cup, itll need more ammunition in the postseason than it has had the past two years. While many of the Hurricanes key players are at an age where they should improve with each passing season, Fast and Skjei have made the team better with their presence Fast as a newcomer, Skjei as an invaluable counterbalance on defense who feels like hes been around much longer than he have. The Hurricanes also added gritty fourth-line center Cedric Paquette during the season another postseason need filled and Alex Nedeljkovic has emerged as a viable alternative to Petr Mrazek in goal, but its the two Rangers refugees who may represent the biggest difference at this time of year. Skjeis a calming presence on the blue line, versatile and reliable, and far more than he was last year, when the league shut down soon after his arrival. Now that his feet are on the ground, his brief injury absence last month only underlined his value to the team now as the essential fourth man behind the Hurricanes big three of Jaccob Slavin, Dougie Hamilton and Brett Pesce. (And even more so if Slavin isnt ready to start the series.) Then theres Fast, whose hard-driving forechecking game should be even more valuable in the postseason than it has been so far. Thanks to Skjei, the Hurricanes never had to deal with Fast last season, but the Swede has the speed and the intention to be a disruptive force, especially if used against the oppositions top line, as the Hurricanes are likely to use the line of Jordan Staal, Fast and Warren Foegele. The long journey of the postseason is always in part a search for the unexpected. Its rare a team goes deep in the playoffs without someones reputation being made, a careers direction changing directions, an undiscovered gem being discovered. After two eventful postseasons that ended sooner than the Hurricanes would have liked, the difference this year could be as simple as the two players who collided to begin the playoffs a year ago. | Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Brady Skjei and former Rangers teammate Jesper Fast collided in the first game of last season's playoffs. The two players have been key to the Hurricanes' improvement since then. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/nhl/carolina-hurricanes/article251453818.html | 0.458416 |
Could the two players who collided to begin the last playoffs be the Canes key this year? | The playoffs began, last August, at the intersection of two former and future teammates. In the first game against the New York Rangers, newly acquired Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Brady Skjei laid out former Rangers teammate Jesper Fast in the neutral zone, knocking Fast out of what turned out to be a very short series. Nine months later, free-agent signing Fast heads into his first postseason with the Hurricanes at the same time Skjei completes his first full season with the team, and in some ways their combined presence represents one of the biggest improvements the Hurricanes have made since last season. The easiest answer is to avoid the Boston Bruins, who won eight of nine games against the Hurricanes while eliminating them in consecutive years, first in the Eastern Conference finals, then in the first round. With the first two rounds played entirely within the Central Division, the Bruins arent a concern at the moment. But the Hurricanes have been good enough to win a total of 2 series the past two years, and expectations are higher this spring after a remarkably successful performance in the abbreviated regular season. Against the Predators, and either the Tampa Bay Lightning or Florida Panthers should they advance, the Hurricanes may not need to dig any deeper than they have in the regular season when they went 16-5-3 against that trio. (The Lightning might be a slightly different challenge now having added Steven Stamkos and Nitika Kucherov in the postseason, a resounding victory over the salary cap.) Their aspirations lie beyond the division, and as this team moves into what should be its window to contend for the Stanley Cup, itll need more ammunition in the postseason than it has had the past two years. While many of the Hurricanes key players are at an age where they should improve with each passing season, Fast and Skjei have made the team better with their presence Fast as a newcomer, Skjei as an invaluable counterbalance on defense who feels like hes been around much longer than he have. The Hurricanes also added gritty fourth-line center Cedric Paquette during the season another postseason need filled and Alex Nedeljkovic has emerged as a viable alternative to Petr Mrazek in goal, but its the two Rangers refugees who may represent the biggest difference at this time of year. Skjeis a calming presence on the blue line, versatile and reliable, and far more than he was last year, when the league shut down soon after his arrival. Now that his feet are on the ground, his brief injury absence last month only underlined his value to the team now as the essential fourth man behind the Hurricanes big three of Jaccob Slavin, Dougie Hamilton and Brett Pesce. (And even more so if Slavin isnt ready to start the series.) Then theres Fast, whose hard-driving forechecking game should be even more valuable in the postseason than it has been so far. Thanks to Skjei, the Hurricanes never had to deal with Fast last season, but the Swede has the speed and the intention to be a disruptive force, especially if used against the oppositions top line, as the Hurricanes are likely to use the line of Jordan Staal, Fast and Warren Foegele. The long journey of the postseason is always in part a search for the unexpected. Its rare a team goes deep in the playoffs without someones reputation being made, a careers direction changing directions, an undiscovered gem being discovered. After two eventful postseasons that ended sooner than the Hurricanes would have liked, the difference this year could be as simple as the two players who collided to begin the playoffs a year ago. | Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Brady Skjei and former Rangers teammate Jesper Fast collided in the first game of last season's playoffs. The two players have been key to the Hurricanes' improvement since then. The Hurricanes have won a total of 2 series the past two years, and expectations are higher this spring. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/nhl/carolina-hurricanes/article251453818.html | 0.519111 |
How quickly will Oilers coach Dave Tippett resort to Edmonton's brilliant 81% Solution? | We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Back to video No doubt well see it the first game of these 2021 playoffs. The 81% Solution is the best line on the Edmonton Oilers, the trio of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Kailer Yamamoto. The line played together for 146 even strength minutes this year, scoring 13 goals and allowing just three against, good for an 81 Goals For percentage, by far the best on the team and even better than the 77 Goals For percentage we saw last year from the DYNamite Line of Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Yamamoto (30 goals for, nine against). Tippett often goes to 81% Solution after Edmonton has killed a penalty, or when the team needs a goal, and sometimes coming out of TV commercial breaks. The 81% Solution is just one of many solid options Tippett has when it comes to line juggling and roster changes with his Oilers this year in the playoffs. Edmonton was a much better team this year as compared to last year, with a much improved per game goal differential, +0.1 goals per game last year compared to +0.5 goals per game this year, and a much better Grade A scoring chances per game differential, -0.2 per game last year compared to +1.8 per game this year. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content The improvement is even more dramatic when you focus on the nine games Edmonton played against Winnipeg this year, where the Oilers had a +1.4 goals differential and a +2.9 Grade A chances differential in winning seven of the nine. But I suspect this series will be tight, as the two teams were close in the NHL standings almost the entire year. Winnipeg also has a strong power play and its penalty kill was almost as strong as Edmontons PK. Its got the mighty Connor Hellebuyck in net, and even as he didnt play well against the Oilers this year, he killed it against other teams in The Canadian. Tippett will almost certainly have to make numerous adjustments as the series goes along. Here are some other moves he could make that might well make a ton of sense: 1. McLeod at 2C. As Ive said repeatedly, Im bullish about Tippetts new lines of McD, Kahun and Puljujarvi on the top line with the DYNamite Line reunited on the second until. RNH has struggled as a second line centre, but McLeod is bigger and faster. So far hes got the job done in the defensive slot. I doubted hed be able to do so but when the evidence changes, I change with it. The reason we study videotape and track scoring chances at the Cult of Hockey is so that well have a useful and fresh evidence that help us make assess players both over time and in the moment. McLeod has impressed to date. If he were moved to that 2C role, the Oil could play Jujhar Khaira and Gaetan Haas as third and fourth line centres. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content 2. Kris Russell or Slater Koekkoek in for Caleb Jones. When it came to Grade A scoring chances plus-minus, most returning Oilers players did about the same (Khaira, Haas, RNH, Bear) or were better (McDavid, Archibald, K.Russell, Chiasson, Neal, Larsson) this year as compared to last year. Two players, Draisaitl and Yamamoto dropped significantly on the attack at even strength, mainly because their attacking numbers werent jacked up by the success of playing on the DYNamite line this season as they were last season. But two others, Zack Kassian and Caleb Jones, dropped in dramatic fashion due to significant drops in performance. Jones made more than twice the rate of major mistakes on Grade A chances this year as compared to last year. I dont know why. I had expected him to improve. But his defensive game was unsteady this year. With injuries to Kris Russell and Slater Koekkoek, and with his puck-moving better than ever, Jones is in the line-up for now. But that could quickly change and the Oilers have two strong options for the third-pairing in Russell and Koekkoek. 3. Kassian in on the wing. Kassian is rounding into game shape. If Edmonton needs a big, tough and fast winger, who can play effective two-way hockey when hes bringing his A game, Kassian could be that guy. He hasnt played consistently well in more than a year. If things get nasty in this series, hes as good a bet as anyone to lead Edmontons response, if not leads its own onslaught of aggression. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Share this article in your social network Latest National Stories Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Edmonton Journal Headline News Sign up to receive daily headline news from the Edmonton Journal, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. Email Address There was an error, please provide a valid email address. By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300 Thanks for signing up! A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it please check your junk folder. The next issue of Edmonton Journal Headline News will soon be in your inbox. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again Trending | Edmonton Oilers coach Dave Tippett has many options when it comes to line juggling and roster changes with his Oilers this year in the playoffs. The 81% Solution is the best line on the Edmonton Oilers, the trio of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Kailer Yamamoto. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://edmontonjournal.com/sports/hockey/nhl/cult-of-hockey/how-quickly-will-oilers-coach-dave-tippett-resort-to-edmontons-brilliant-81-solution | 0.224904 |
How Can Airlines Reach Carbon Emissions Targets as Travel Rebounds? | Travel restrictions imposed across the world during the COVID-19 pandemic forced airlines to plead for government bailouts and lay off staff, while some folded entirely. There was one silver lining, though: a huge temporary drop in the sectors carbon emissions. In 2019, carbon dioxide emissions from aviation made up 2.5% of global emissions of the greenhouse gas. The plunge in traffic last year meant that, after decades of almost uninterrupted rapid growth, the sectors carbon emissions fell by a record 48%, according to Carbon Monitor, an international watchdog. But as people return to pre-pandemic activities, driving up demand for energy globally, those emissions will start to rebound. Airline executives in the U.S. and other parts of the world with high vaccination rates are expecting a sharp uptick in air travel this year, bolstered by the news that the European Union plans to allow vaccinated tourists to visit this summer. Aviation is considered one of the hardest sectors of the global economy to decarbonize, because the fuels and technology needed to fly without emitting greenhouse gases are much less well-developed than clean energy sources in sectors such as electricity or road transport. As other sectors reduce their emissions, aviation is expected to make up an increasingly large share of the worlds total. While the pandemics impact on aviation will likely help bring down the industrys emissions, its far from enough to meet long-term climate goals. Before COVID-19 hit, the sectors carbon emissions were expected to be three times greater in 2050 than in 2015. Dan Rutherford, aviation director at the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), a non-profit research group, thinks the increase will now be closer to 2.3 times. So its still growing, just at a slower rate. Public and government pressure on airlines to do more to reduce emissions is ramping up. As some airlines became reliant on public bailouts during the pandemic, governments in Europe hardened their approach to aviation emissions. Austria made its rescue funds for Lufthansas Austrian Airlines unit dependent on the carrier cutting back domestic routes and agreeing to new emissions and fuel efficiency targets. France outlawed some short-haul domestic flights where rail alternatives are available, while the U.K. became the first major economy to include aviation emissions in its national carbon budget, setting what campaigners call an important precedent. Meanwhile, responding to pressure from politicians and the public, airlines have set themselves increasingly ambitious climate targets, with dozens pledging to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 in recent months, compared to previous industry-wide plans to halve emissions by 2050. Before the pandemic, the sector was quite arrogant in feeling that it didnt need to make the same sort of cuts and transformations that other sectors were doing, says Andrew Murphy, aviation director at European clean transit campaign group Transport & Environment. Now the politics has changed. Airlines climate plans still rely heavily on carbon off-setting, where they essentially pay other sectors to reduce their emissions or absorb carbon from the atmosphere. A May 3 Greenpeace-led investigation found offsetting schemes still used by major airlines are highly flawed and may not be having the desired impact. Boeing 737 KLM. Aircraft flies near the Fiumicino International Airport in Rome, on May 13th, 2021. The industrys preferred path out of its emissions bind is sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Currently fuelling a tiny fraction of flights, SAF could cut aviation emissions by up to 80% if used more widely, according to the Air Transport Action Group, a trade association. It has been the focus of a flurry of lobbying activity, investment and discussions among policymakers as governments roll out COVID-19 recovery packages and climate plans. In the U.S., Congress is considering plans put forward by the Biden administration to introduce a tax credit for SAF production. Sustainable aviation fuels are made from a range of sources, including used cooking oil, animal fats, plant oils and waste vegetation, as well as wood. They have to meet certain criteria to be considered sustainable, and environmentalists have warned that, without strong oversight, production of these fuels could encourage deforestation because producers may end up clearing land to grow materials to produce the feedstocks. Cleaner e-fuelssynthetic alternatives to crude oil produced using renewable energy, water and carbon dioxideare also in development and one was used to power a test flight for the first time worldwide in the Netherlands in February. Oil companies, including Shell and BP, have invested in SAF, partnering with renewable energy firms and biofuel companies to create small supply chains. Currently, SAF costs between three and four times more than traditional kerosene fuel, while e-fuels can be between six and seven times more expensive than kerosene. Over the last five years, SAF made up just 0.01% of total fuel use by the aviation industry, according to the International Energy Agency. But several airlines have announced plans to increase their use of SAF in recent weeks. In April, United Airlines announced a deal with a dozen companies to finance its use of 3.4 million gallons of SAF made from trash in 2021, tripling the amount it has used in each of the last five years. British Airways-owner International Airlines Group has committed to using sustainable aviation fuel to power 10% of its flights by 2030, while European carrier Ryanair has pledged to use SAF for 12.5% of its fuel needs by 2030. Meanwhile, the E.U. is expected to announce a mandate for a small proportion of fuel used in flights departing from airports in the bloc to be sustainable by 2030. Supply chains would need to develop rapidly to meet those targets. A World Economic Forum report published in November found that, although enough sustainable feedstocks exist to power the entire industry on SAF, the production plants currently planned worldwide would only have capacity to produce 4 million tons annually each year, around 1% of projected fuel demand. Airlines and oil companies argue that governments need to offer subsidies, tax breaks and other incentives to allow them to develop SAF quickly enough to meet emissions goals. Michael Gill, environment director of industry trade body the International Air Transport Association (IATA), says that investing in SAF is a win-win-win option for governments during the economic recovery from COVID-19. You can create new jobs, you can have the construction of new facilities in geographical areas that need that kind of large scale infrastructure. And you can help aviation build a sustainable future, he says. IATA is also calling for research and development of more radical new zero-emissions aircraft technology, such as planes powered by hydrogen, which experts hope will eventually be used in most short-haul flights. Some climate activists may be uncomfortable with the aviation sector or oil companies, both massive polluters, receiving public funds and tax breaks to develop the technologies that they need to protect their bottom lines in a future of increased climate regulation. Murphy, of Transport & Environment, says its reasonable for any sector that needs to decarbonize to ask for government support, given the urgency of scaling up new technologies. But it cant just be about handing out money for research and development and doing test drives, he says. The money needs to be accompanied with binding targets [on SAF use and emissions. ] Royal Dutch police officers escort a Greenpeace activist during a protest to denounce airline pollution in the main hall of the Amsterdam Schiphol airport on December 14, 2019. Robin Utrecht ANP/AFP/Getty Images Emboldened governments Before the pandemic, the aviation industry had argued that the sector was too international to be regulated by individual countries. The most important piece of emissions regulation for the sector was an international agreement to offset future increases on the sectors 2020 emissions, criticized by climate campaigners as too weak to have an impact. Bailouts have changed the dynamic for regulation, Murphy says. Were seeing airlines now recognize that if it was not for the efforts of national governments and the generosity of taxpayers, the sector would have gone bankrupt. That has caused a re-evaluation of what they can expect to get away with. Consultancy McKinsey says the staggering debt levels built up by airlines over the last year mean states that bail out airlines will have an increasingly active role in the sector, creating opportunities for governments to work with airlines, including on commitments to cut emissions. E.U. leaders are considering scrapping a tax exemption on jet fuel for international flights, which exists partly because of the difficulty of coordinating taxes between national governments, but has attracted increasing criticism as the bloc emerges as a climate leader. On the flip side, its also possible that increased state ownership of airlines will make governments impatient to return them to profitability, and therefore less willing to impose new taxes or restrictions that could hit airlines bottom line. After Frances citizens assembly on climate proposed a new environmental tax on flights in September, some lawmakers argued it didnt make sense to raise taxes on airlines that the state was propping up and the plans were shelved. The U.K. government is weighing plans to eliminate a roughly $18 duty it imposes on domestic flights to offer some relief for airlines. IATA opposes any tax increases on aviation during the COVID-19 recovery. Shifting behavior Flying is likely to remain one of the most carbon-intensive activities humans can participate in for years to come, and avoiding flights is one of the most effective ways for people in rich countries to reduce their emissions. A return flight from San Francisco to London emits the equivalent of around 5.5 metric tons of CO2 per personmore than the worlds annual average per person emissions in 2019 (4.8 metric tons). It is also a luxury enjoyed by a privileged few. Just 11% of the global population took a flight in 2018 and 1% of the population was responsible for 50% of aviation emissions, according to a study led by Swedens Linnaeus University in November. Climate activists, including many scientists, say a rapid and massive reduction in air travel is the only safe path to avoid catastrophic climate change. Individual responsibility will likely play a role in the drive to cut emissions. Since before the pandemic, the flight shame movement, popularized by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, had already begun to have a real impact on demand for short-haul air travel in Europe, Rutherford says. That big change in attitudes that started in 2019, has not gone away and were going to see those political pressures build as the industry recovers from COVID. Some governments and trade groups are trying to encourage a shift toward rail travel for shorter journeys. While the French and Austrian governments have made efforts to curtail short-haul air travel, the German Aviation Association is collaborating with rail company Deutsche Bahn to replace domestic flight routes with train services in Germany. Governments in countries including Italy and Belgium are investing heavily in their train networks as part of recovery plans to help pull them out of the economic crisis brought about by the pandemic. For the U.S., a pivot from shorter flights to train travel will be more challenging. The country covers an area twice the size of the E.U., and many stretches of its rail network suffer from decades of under investment. In a recent interview with TIME, William Flynn, the CEO of passenger rail service Amtrak, said he would use $80 billion in federal funds proposed in President Bidens infrastructure plan to overhaul and improve key routes. But far more is likely needed to improve service enough to make trains an attractive replacement for flights, Rutherford says. Some U.S. airlines are beginning to voluntarily coordinate better with rail networks to phase out some unnecessary short-haul routes, but its still on a case by case basis, he adds. Although curbs on short-haul flights will have some impact, according to ICCT data, more than two thirds of aviations emissions come from medium- or long-haul flights, where train and road travel are not realistic alternatives. Forcing airlines to limit the services they provide on these routes is less palatable for governments than short-haul restrictions. But behavioural changes triggered by the pandemic may have a dramatic impact on the long-haul business. Companies are reassessing the value of business travel after a year of conducting meetings using video conferencing services like Zoom. Only a third of business travelers in the U.K. expect to return to their pre-pandemic habits, according to an April poll. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates predicts that more than 50% of business travel will disappear. McKinsey is more conservative, estimating in April that business travel will recover to around 80% of pre-pandemic levels by 2024. Business travelers, who tend to book late and often choose premium seats, generate the bulk of the profits on long-haul flights. This type of travel accounts for up to 75% of airlines revenues on some routes. To make up for the loss, McKinsey says, airlines may reduce the frequency of flights, raise prices for leisure travelers and close the gap in prices for direct and connecting flights. All of those measures would likely have the unintentional benefit of helping to reduce emissions. We need to answer that question as an industry. The Leadership Brief. Conversations with the most influential leaders in business and tech. Please enter a valid email address. * The request timed out and you did not successfully sign up. Please attempt to sign up again. Sign Up Now An unexpected error has occurred with your sign up. Please try again later. Check the box if you do not wish to receive promotional offers via email from TIME. You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Thank you! For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder. Write to Ciara Nugent at ciara.nugent@time.com. | Aviation's carbon emissions fell by a record 48% during the pandemic. But as people return to pre-pandemic activities, those emissions will start to rebound. Airlines have set themselves increasingly ambitious climate targets, with dozens pledging to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://time.com/6048871/pandemic-airlines-carbon-emissions/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+time%2Fworld+%28TIME%3A+Top+World+Stories%29 | 0.191535 |
Could a vaccine developed at Duke University prevent future coronavirus pandemics? | Jasmine White fills a syringe with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the Sheraton Charlotte Airport Hotel on Wednesday, April 14, 2021. Duke University researchers are developing another vaccine that could protect against multiple coronaviruses. jsiner@charlotteobserver.com Duke University researchers are developing a vaccine that could provide protection against multiple kinds of coronaviruses, according to a study published last week in Nature, a leading scientific journal. The vaccine, which was developed at Dukes Human Vaccine Institute, uses nanoparticles to show the immune system 24 copies of a specific part of the virus spike protein that attaches to human cells. An additional substance promotes the creation of antibodies that attack that part of the virus. Its very similar to Velcro. So if you think of one hook and loop, thats a pretty weak interaction. But if you can put one hook and loop together multiple times in multiple copies, that becomes a really strong interaction, Dr. Kevin Saunders, the Human Vaccine Institutes director of research, said during a Monday press briefing. Saunders, the Nature papers lead author, said the vaccine was based on the institutes work with an HIV vaccine. The Duke team tested the nanoparticle vaccine by injecting it into macaque monkeys, finding that it provides total protection against SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Additionally, the vaccine created antibodies against SARS, bat coronaviruses and the more contagious variants of the virus that causes COVID-19. What weve all learned now with this particular pandemic, that now is the time to prepare for the next one so that we can have vaccines on the shelf or vaccines that can be developed extremely rapidly and deployed very rapidly, Barton Haynes, the director of Dukes Human Vaccine Institute, said during a Monday briefing. Having such a vaccine available would let governments and health officials limit the spread of a virus, Hayes added, potentially preventing it from evolving into a pandemic. During a May 13 White House briefing, Dr. Anthony Fauci discussed the possibility of a vaccine that protects against multiple kinds of coronaviruses. Fauci, the director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease and White House senior adviser on the pandemic, pointed to the Duke research as potentially exciting and called it an important proof of concept. The experiments were conducted in nonhuman primates, Fauci cautioned. Nonetheless, he said, this is an extremely important proof of concept that we will be aggressively pursuing as we get into the development of human trials. | Duke University researchers are developing a vaccine that could provide protection against multiple kinds of coronaviruses. | ctrlsum | 0 | https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article251472683.html | 0.326247 |
Could a vaccine developed at Duke University prevent future coronavirus pandemics? | Jasmine White fills a syringe with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the Sheraton Charlotte Airport Hotel on Wednesday, April 14, 2021. Duke University researchers are developing another vaccine that could protect against multiple coronaviruses. jsiner@charlotteobserver.com Duke University researchers are developing a vaccine that could provide protection against multiple kinds of coronaviruses, according to a study published last week in Nature, a leading scientific journal. The vaccine, which was developed at Dukes Human Vaccine Institute, uses nanoparticles to show the immune system 24 copies of a specific part of the virus spike protein that attaches to human cells. An additional substance promotes the creation of antibodies that attack that part of the virus. Its very similar to Velcro. So if you think of one hook and loop, thats a pretty weak interaction. But if you can put one hook and loop together multiple times in multiple copies, that becomes a really strong interaction, Dr. Kevin Saunders, the Human Vaccine Institutes director of research, said during a Monday press briefing. Saunders, the Nature papers lead author, said the vaccine was based on the institutes work with an HIV vaccine. The Duke team tested the nanoparticle vaccine by injecting it into macaque monkeys, finding that it provides total protection against SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Additionally, the vaccine created antibodies against SARS, bat coronaviruses and the more contagious variants of the virus that causes COVID-19. What weve all learned now with this particular pandemic, that now is the time to prepare for the next one so that we can have vaccines on the shelf or vaccines that can be developed extremely rapidly and deployed very rapidly, Barton Haynes, the director of Dukes Human Vaccine Institute, said during a Monday briefing. Having such a vaccine available would let governments and health officials limit the spread of a virus, Hayes added, potentially preventing it from evolving into a pandemic. During a May 13 White House briefing, Dr. Anthony Fauci discussed the possibility of a vaccine that protects against multiple kinds of coronaviruses. Fauci, the director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease and White House senior adviser on the pandemic, pointed to the Duke research as potentially exciting and called it an important proof of concept. The experiments were conducted in nonhuman primates, Fauci cautioned. Nonetheless, he said, this is an extremely important proof of concept that we will be aggressively pursuing as we get into the development of human trials. | Duke University researchers are developing a vaccine that could provide protection against multiple kinds of coronaviruses. The vaccine uses nanoparticles to show the immune system 24 copies of a specific part of the virus spike protein. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article251472683.html | 0.372609 |
Could a vaccine developed at Duke University prevent future coronavirus pandemics? | Jasmine White fills a syringe with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the Sheraton Charlotte Airport Hotel on Wednesday, April 14, 2021. Duke University researchers are developing another vaccine that could protect against multiple coronaviruses. jsiner@charlotteobserver.com Duke University researchers are developing a vaccine that could provide protection against multiple kinds of coronaviruses, according to a study published last week in Nature, a leading scientific journal. The vaccine, which was developed at Dukes Human Vaccine Institute, uses nanoparticles to show the immune system 24 copies of a specific part of the virus spike protein that attaches to human cells. An additional substance promotes the creation of antibodies that attack that part of the virus. Its very similar to Velcro. So if you think of one hook and loop, thats a pretty weak interaction. But if you can put one hook and loop together multiple times in multiple copies, that becomes a really strong interaction, Dr. Kevin Saunders, the Human Vaccine Institutes director of research, said during a Monday press briefing. Saunders, the Nature papers lead author, said the vaccine was based on the institutes work with an HIV vaccine. The Duke team tested the nanoparticle vaccine by injecting it into macaque monkeys, finding that it provides total protection against SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Additionally, the vaccine created antibodies against SARS, bat coronaviruses and the more contagious variants of the virus that causes COVID-19. What weve all learned now with this particular pandemic, that now is the time to prepare for the next one so that we can have vaccines on the shelf or vaccines that can be developed extremely rapidly and deployed very rapidly, Barton Haynes, the director of Dukes Human Vaccine Institute, said during a Monday briefing. Having such a vaccine available would let governments and health officials limit the spread of a virus, Hayes added, potentially preventing it from evolving into a pandemic. During a May 13 White House briefing, Dr. Anthony Fauci discussed the possibility of a vaccine that protects against multiple kinds of coronaviruses. Fauci, the director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease and White House senior adviser on the pandemic, pointed to the Duke research as potentially exciting and called it an important proof of concept. The experiments were conducted in nonhuman primates, Fauci cautioned. Nonetheless, he said, this is an extremely important proof of concept that we will be aggressively pursuing as we get into the development of human trials. | Duke University researchers are developing a vaccine that could provide protection against multiple kinds of coronaviruses. The vaccine uses nanoparticles to show the immune system 24 copies of a specific part of the virus spike protein that attaches to human cells. An additional substance promotes the creation of antibodies that attack the spike protein. | bart | 2 | https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article251472683.html | 0.482034 |
Will attorney-client privilege apply to Giuliani's communications? | Article content Donald Trumps former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani is clashing with prosecutors over how to determine whether materials seized from his home and offices last month are covered by attorney-client privilege. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are investigating the former New York City mayors dealings with Ukrainian oligarchs while working for then-U.S. President Trump. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Back to video In a letter made public on Monday, Giulianis lawyers objected to the broad and sweeping nature of searches conducted on April 28 at Giulianis home and office, where electronic devices were seized, as well as a November 2019 search of his Apple iCloud account. Giuliani said in a statement following the raids that the seized materials are protected by attorney-client privilege and that his conduct as a lawyer and a citizen was absolutely legal and ethical. The following describes the legal doctrine of attorney-client privilege and whether it could apply to communications between Giuliani and Trump or others. Attorney-client privilege is a long-standing doctrine of U.S. law that allows people to keep their communications with legal counsel private. Lawyers can invoke the privilege to avoid testifying about conversations with clients in most settings, or turning over emails or other correspondence. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content The traditional justification for attorney-client privilege is that the legal system operates more fairly when people are able to speak candidly with their lawyers, said Jens David Ohlin, a professor of criminal law at Cornell Law School. If clients feel like whatever they disclose to attorneys will be turned over to authorities, they wont feel free to talk openly, Ohlin said. No. The privilege only covers communications relating to legal advice, said Harry Sandick, a former federal prosecutor in New York now in private practice as a defense lawyer. It does not protect a persons discussion of business, personal, or financial matters with a lawyer if they are unrelated to a legal representation, Sandick said. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Attorney-client privilege also does not apply to communications by a lawyer in furtherance of a crime or fraud. Yes. The U.S. Department of Justice has an official policy of only raiding law offices if less intrusive approaches could compromise the investigation or result in the destruction of evidence. Because of this policy, searches of a lawyers home or office are rare but not unprecedented, said Sandick. In 2002, now-deceased defense lawyer Lynne Stewart had her Manhattan office raided by the FBI. She later was convicted of providing material support to terrorists and sentenced to 10 years in prison https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-security-stewart/ny-lawyer-in-terrorism-case-gets-10-year-sentence-idUSTRE66E73B20100715. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Notably, in 2018, federal agents raided the office of Michael Cohen, another former personal lawyer for Trump, who was subsequently convicted and sentenced to three years in prison https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-cohen-sentence/former-trump-lawyer-michael-cohen-sentenced-to-three-years-prison-idUSKBN1OB2AR. The warrants for Giulianis electronic devices would have required sign-off at the highest levels of the Justice Department, said Lisa Kern Griffin, a law professor at Duke University and former federal prosecutor. This development suggests that the investigation into Giulianis activities is both ongoing and intensifying, she said. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content U.S. courts have said prosecutors must set up a review to ensure that attorney-client communications are not being improperly used as evidence. The U.S. Attorneys Office in Manhattan, which is handling the Giuliani investigation, on May 4 asked a judge to create a process for reviewing evidence seized from his home and office. In a court filing, federal prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken in Manhattan to appoint a special master to review communications taken from Giulianis devices and ensure that potentially privileged materials are not viewed by investigators. This same process was used to review materials taken from Cohen. The special master in that case, retired Judge Barbara Jones, ruled that less than 0.2% of all the Cohen documents were protected by attorney-client privilege. In a letter unsealed on Monday, Giuliani lawyers told Oetken that a covert search of his iCloud account in 2019 was illegal and urged the judge to address that issue before considering prosecutors request to appoint a special master. (Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Jonathan Oatis) Share this article in your social network Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Shopping essentials Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. NP Posted Sign up to receive the daily top stories from the National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. Email Address There was an error, please provide a valid email address. By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300 Thanks for signing up! A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it please check your junk folder. The next issue of NP Posted will soon be in your inbox. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again Trending | Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are investigating the former New York City mayors dealings with Ukrainian oligarchs while working for then-U.S. President Trump. Giuliani said in a statement following the raids that the seized materials are protected by attorney-client privilege. | bart | 2 | https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/crime-pmn/will-attorney-client-privilege-apply-to-giulianis-communications | 0.212301 |
Which NBA Team Becomes An Instant Playoff Contender If They Draft Evan Mobley? | Evan Mobley has all the skills you want from a big in today's NBA making him a true game-changer at the center position. Teams drafting at the top of the lottery usually don't become serious playoff contenders the next season, but that could change if the Toronto Raptors land USC's seven-footer Evan Mobley. In Jonathan Wasserman's latest mock draft for Bleacher Report, he has the lottery gods shining down on the Raptors, by granting them the No. 2 pick in the draft. Anyone watching Toronto this season knows their biggest need is a talent big who can anchor their defense. With the No. 2 pick, the Raptors find a match made in heaven with Evan Mobley. Wasserman writes: One disappointing down season would be worth it if it meant the Toronto Raptors could jump into the lottery's top four. They'd make a quick turnaround by adding Evan Mobley, another long, rangy defender, to join Pascal Siakam and Chris Boucher. Between Mobley and Siakam, the Raptors would have two switchable bigs capable of guarding outside the paint. But Mobley also flashed persuasive offensive skill for scoring versatility, working as a roll man or mid-range shooter who can also attack closeouts and finish drives with layups or runners. Between Mobley and Siakam, the Raptors would have two switchable bigs capable of guarding outside the paint. The driving point of Wasserman's analysis is the versatility that Mobley could bring to the Raptors' defense. Toronto's defensive philosophy is all about reading and reacting quickly, and you must be able to cross-matchup against different positions. A lineup of Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, and Evan Mobley would be devastating defensively. This is a team that could swarm you on the perimeter, and suffocate you in the paint. With Kyle Lowry aging gracefully, this team could compete right away if Mobley becomes as good as advertised in the league. Every game was a road game for the Raptors this season as they temporarily had to relocate to Tampa. But if all their misfortune lands them Evan Mobley, they will sure take that trade off. ---- [How Does Evan Mobley's Strengths and Weakness's Compare To Other NBA Prospects?] [Mock Draft Shows NBA Team Adding Evan Mobley To Young Core] ---- Be sure to stay locked into AllTrojans all the time! Follow AllTrojans on Twitter: @SI_AllTrojans Follow Millard Thomas on Twitter: @creatorthomas24 Like and follow AllTrojans on Facebook For more USC news visit www.alltrojans.com | The Toronto Raptors have the No. 2 pick in the NBA draft. Evan Mobley is a seven-footer from USC. | ctrlsum | 0 | https://www.si.com/college/usc/basketball/which-nba-team-becomes-an-instant-playoff-contender-if-they-draft-evan-mobley | 0.108783 |
Which NBA Team Becomes An Instant Playoff Contender If They Draft Evan Mobley? | Evan Mobley has all the skills you want from a big in today's NBA making him a true game-changer at the center position. Teams drafting at the top of the lottery usually don't become serious playoff contenders the next season, but that could change if the Toronto Raptors land USC's seven-footer Evan Mobley. In Jonathan Wasserman's latest mock draft for Bleacher Report, he has the lottery gods shining down on the Raptors, by granting them the No. 2 pick in the draft. Anyone watching Toronto this season knows their biggest need is a talent big who can anchor their defense. With the No. 2 pick, the Raptors find a match made in heaven with Evan Mobley. Wasserman writes: One disappointing down season would be worth it if it meant the Toronto Raptors could jump into the lottery's top four. They'd make a quick turnaround by adding Evan Mobley, another long, rangy defender, to join Pascal Siakam and Chris Boucher. Between Mobley and Siakam, the Raptors would have two switchable bigs capable of guarding outside the paint. But Mobley also flashed persuasive offensive skill for scoring versatility, working as a roll man or mid-range shooter who can also attack closeouts and finish drives with layups or runners. Between Mobley and Siakam, the Raptors would have two switchable bigs capable of guarding outside the paint. The driving point of Wasserman's analysis is the versatility that Mobley could bring to the Raptors' defense. Toronto's defensive philosophy is all about reading and reacting quickly, and you must be able to cross-matchup against different positions. A lineup of Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, and Evan Mobley would be devastating defensively. This is a team that could swarm you on the perimeter, and suffocate you in the paint. With Kyle Lowry aging gracefully, this team could compete right away if Mobley becomes as good as advertised in the league. Every game was a road game for the Raptors this season as they temporarily had to relocate to Tampa. But if all their misfortune lands them Evan Mobley, they will sure take that trade off. ---- [How Does Evan Mobley's Strengths and Weakness's Compare To Other NBA Prospects?] [Mock Draft Shows NBA Team Adding Evan Mobley To Young Core] ---- Be sure to stay locked into AllTrojans all the time! Follow AllTrojans on Twitter: @SI_AllTrojans Follow Millard Thomas on Twitter: @creatorthomas24 Like and follow AllTrojans on Facebook For more USC news visit www.alltrojans.com | The Toronto Raptors have the No. 2 pick in Bleacher Report's latest mock draft. Evan Mobley has all the skills you want from a big in today's NBA making him a true game-changer at the center position. The seven-footer can also play as a roll man or mid-range shooter. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.si.com/college/usc/basketball/which-nba-team-becomes-an-instant-playoff-contender-if-they-draft-evan-mobley | 0.119561 |
Why are so many people hungry in America? | When the Monitors intern team set out to report on rising hunger in the United States, it was audio intern Ibrahim Onafeko who crystallized our focus with a single provocative question. I wondered, in the land of plenty, why are so many people hungry in America? he says. I wanted to figure out why conventional approaches to solving hunger havent been working. In short, there are no easy answers. Definitions of who qualifies for food assistance and best practices to get food to those who need it are constantly shifting. So our team homed in on new relationships and signs of policy changes that could bring added efficiency to hunger relief efforts. In one welcome shift, it appears that the surge in need during the pandemic may have helped to ease stigma around food assistance. Public schools quickly offered frontline help for meal support. The pandemic turned schools into places for all families, regardless of whether they have kids enrolled or not, to pick up free food, says intern Nick Roll, who adds he was moved by the commitment of cafeteria workers. I realized just how invested they were in the outcomes of the children they serve, and how much they want to fix the shortcomings in the current system. At the grassroots level, neighbors stocked community fridges with free food. With greater involvement came opportunities to learn about each other. Many of the families who were receiving meals from Mark Buchers Feed the Fridge program in Washington, D.C., were Muslim, says Erika Page, another member of the intern team. So they asked that pork not be included, and Feed the Fridge changed up its recipes. The road from farm to food pantry also shortened. Intern Connie Foong visited a fourth-generation dairy farm in New York that got a boost from new state and federal programs that deliver excess produce to urban centers, ensuring small farms for now can survive. Farmer Rick Osofsky regaled Connie and staff photographer Melanie Stetson Freeman with the ups and downs of farming as he stopped to pat the cows. Through it all, his love for the work underscores every word and action, says Connie. Food has long served as a vehicle for connectedness and care that has drawn families, communities, and cultures together. And, as our series shows, that recipe will likely be baked into any lasting solutions to hunger. This column first appeared in the May 10 edition of the Monitor Weekly magazine as part of the Hunger in America series. The pandemic has changed the answer. A pandemic experiment. Get the Monitor Stories you care about delivered to your inbox. Your email address By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy Part 4: Neighbors feeding neighbors: Community fridges strengthen ties Part 5: For the newly food insecure, help that preserves dignity | In the land of plenty, why are so many people hungry in America? The pandemic may have helped ease stigma around food assistance. | ctrlsum | 0 | https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/From-the-Editor/2021/0517/Why-are-so-many-people-hungry-in-America | 0.124645 |
Why are so many people hungry in America? | When the Monitors intern team set out to report on rising hunger in the United States, it was audio intern Ibrahim Onafeko who crystallized our focus with a single provocative question. I wondered, in the land of plenty, why are so many people hungry in America? he says. I wanted to figure out why conventional approaches to solving hunger havent been working. In short, there are no easy answers. Definitions of who qualifies for food assistance and best practices to get food to those who need it are constantly shifting. So our team homed in on new relationships and signs of policy changes that could bring added efficiency to hunger relief efforts. In one welcome shift, it appears that the surge in need during the pandemic may have helped to ease stigma around food assistance. Public schools quickly offered frontline help for meal support. The pandemic turned schools into places for all families, regardless of whether they have kids enrolled or not, to pick up free food, says intern Nick Roll, who adds he was moved by the commitment of cafeteria workers. I realized just how invested they were in the outcomes of the children they serve, and how much they want to fix the shortcomings in the current system. At the grassroots level, neighbors stocked community fridges with free food. With greater involvement came opportunities to learn about each other. Many of the families who were receiving meals from Mark Buchers Feed the Fridge program in Washington, D.C., were Muslim, says Erika Page, another member of the intern team. So they asked that pork not be included, and Feed the Fridge changed up its recipes. The road from farm to food pantry also shortened. Intern Connie Foong visited a fourth-generation dairy farm in New York that got a boost from new state and federal programs that deliver excess produce to urban centers, ensuring small farms for now can survive. Farmer Rick Osofsky regaled Connie and staff photographer Melanie Stetson Freeman with the ups and downs of farming as he stopped to pat the cows. Through it all, his love for the work underscores every word and action, says Connie. Food has long served as a vehicle for connectedness and care that has drawn families, communities, and cultures together. And, as our series shows, that recipe will likely be baked into any lasting solutions to hunger. This column first appeared in the May 10 edition of the Monitor Weekly magazine as part of the Hunger in America series. The pandemic has changed the answer. A pandemic experiment. Get the Monitor Stories you care about delivered to your inbox. Your email address By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy Part 4: Neighbors feeding neighbors: Community fridges strengthen ties Part 5: For the newly food insecure, help that preserves dignity | In the land of plenty, why are so many people hungry in America? The pandemic may have helped to ease stigma around food assistance. Part 4: Neighbors feeding neighbors: Community fridges strengthen ties. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/From-the-Editor/2021/0517/Why-are-so-many-people-hungry-in-America | 0.139106 |
Why are so many people hungry in America? | When the Monitors intern team set out to report on rising hunger in the United States, it was audio intern Ibrahim Onafeko who crystallized our focus with a single provocative question. I wondered, in the land of plenty, why are so many people hungry in America? he says. I wanted to figure out why conventional approaches to solving hunger havent been working. In short, there are no easy answers. Definitions of who qualifies for food assistance and best practices to get food to those who need it are constantly shifting. So our team homed in on new relationships and signs of policy changes that could bring added efficiency to hunger relief efforts. In one welcome shift, it appears that the surge in need during the pandemic may have helped to ease stigma around food assistance. Public schools quickly offered frontline help for meal support. The pandemic turned schools into places for all families, regardless of whether they have kids enrolled or not, to pick up free food, says intern Nick Roll, who adds he was moved by the commitment of cafeteria workers. I realized just how invested they were in the outcomes of the children they serve, and how much they want to fix the shortcomings in the current system. At the grassroots level, neighbors stocked community fridges with free food. With greater involvement came opportunities to learn about each other. Many of the families who were receiving meals from Mark Buchers Feed the Fridge program in Washington, D.C., were Muslim, says Erika Page, another member of the intern team. So they asked that pork not be included, and Feed the Fridge changed up its recipes. The road from farm to food pantry also shortened. Intern Connie Foong visited a fourth-generation dairy farm in New York that got a boost from new state and federal programs that deliver excess produce to urban centers, ensuring small farms for now can survive. Farmer Rick Osofsky regaled Connie and staff photographer Melanie Stetson Freeman with the ups and downs of farming as he stopped to pat the cows. Through it all, his love for the work underscores every word and action, says Connie. Food has long served as a vehicle for connectedness and care that has drawn families, communities, and cultures together. And, as our series shows, that recipe will likely be baked into any lasting solutions to hunger. This column first appeared in the May 10 edition of the Monitor Weekly magazine as part of the Hunger in America series. The pandemic has changed the answer. A pandemic experiment. Get the Monitor Stories you care about delivered to your inbox. Your email address By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy Part 4: Neighbors feeding neighbors: Community fridges strengthen ties Part 5: For the newly food insecure, help that preserves dignity | In the land of plenty, why are so many people hungry in America? The pandemic may have helped to ease stigma around food assistance. Part 4: Neighbors feeding neighbors: Community fridges strengthen ties Part 5: For the newly food insecure, help that preserves dignity. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/From-the-Editor/2021/0517/Why-are-so-many-people-hungry-in-America | 0.144506 |
What do the Texans hope to get out of phase two of the NFL offseason? | The Houston Texans commence phase two of the 2021 NFL offseason program Monday. Coach David Culley shared with reporters on a Zoom call on May 15 what he hopes to get out of the second part of the offseason workout program. Im excited to be able to get out there with them for the first time, Culley said. Weve had the veterans now for about four weeks, strength and conditioning on Zoom meetings, putting installs in our coaching staff has. Starting on Monday, we get to do the same thing, but we get to get some field time with them. Culley says that they will start with their minicamp schedule and start off with the veteran group and get them into the culture. Said Culley: Weve got 30 new guys on this team right now. Its a brand new football team, so we want to make sure that they understand from day one what were all about and where were going and what were trying to get accomplished. Thats what we want to do for the rest of the offseason. The Texans offseason program concludes with a mandatory minicamp in June. | The Houston Texans begin phase two of their 2021 NFL offseason program Monday. Head coach David Culley says he hopes to get out of the second part of the offseason workout program. | pegasus | 1 | https://sports.yahoo.com/texans-hope-phase-two-nfl-191814720.html?src=rss | 0.11003 |
What do the Texans hope to get out of phase two of the NFL offseason? | The Houston Texans commence phase two of the 2021 NFL offseason program Monday. Coach David Culley shared with reporters on a Zoom call on May 15 what he hopes to get out of the second part of the offseason workout program. Im excited to be able to get out there with them for the first time, Culley said. Weve had the veterans now for about four weeks, strength and conditioning on Zoom meetings, putting installs in our coaching staff has. Starting on Monday, we get to do the same thing, but we get to get some field time with them. Culley says that they will start with their minicamp schedule and start off with the veteran group and get them into the culture. Said Culley: Weve got 30 new guys on this team right now. Its a brand new football team, so we want to make sure that they understand from day one what were all about and where were going and what were trying to get accomplished. Thats what we want to do for the rest of the offseason. The Texans offseason program concludes with a mandatory minicamp in June. | The Houston Texans commence phase two of the 2021 NFL offseason program Monday. Coach David Culley says that they will start with their minicamp schedule and start off with the veteran group and get them into the culture The Texans offseason program concludes with a mandatory minicamps in June. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://sports.yahoo.com/texans-hope-phase-two-nfl-191814720.html?src=rss | 0.284826 |
Why is there so much vitriol over Tim Tebow's potential Jaguars camp invite? | There are athletes who generate outlandish reactions that are disproportionate to their actual abilities. Let there be no doubt, a lot of people love them some Tim Tebow. This is easy to understand. He was a big star at the University of Florida, where he won a Heisman Trophy and was part of two national titles. He played a physical, exciting style. He wasnt a great NFL QB, but he won a playoff game. Mostly though, hes a nice guy, a charity-based guy, a do-something guy. Last week he and his foundation partnered with the state of Tennessee to fight human trafficking. Hes a motivational speaker, doing it in an uber-positive, you-can-do-it kind of way. And, of course, hes very public about his faith, which is hardly unique among pro athletes, but is appealing to those who share it. Other fans dont like him, but in a reasonable fashion. Maybe they hated the Gators. Maybe they didnt like the hype he got. Maybe they are part of the stick to sports crowd and werent fans of the Bible verses on the eyeblack back in college. Of course, stick to sports is usually a sliding scale of hypocrisy. All of this is mostly fair. Sports are about heroes and heels and each fan gets to choose who is who. When Tebow lasted just three seasons and just 14 starts at QB in the NFL, his critics got what they wanted. There is another segment though who all but lost it when word broke that Tebow, now 33, had recently worked out for Jacksonville. The Jags, led now by Tebows old college coach Urban Meyer, are considering offering him a one-year deal (which is really nothing more than a camp invite) even though he hasnt appeared in a game since 2013 and hasnt been in camp since 2015. We can only theorize, and will later. A lot of people seem angry over Tim Tebow possibly getting an invite to Jaguars camp from his former college coach Urban Meyer. (Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images) No. Its not like Meyer gave him $150 million and said he was the Week 1 starter at quarterback. Were talking about one of the 90 camp invites for a 1-15 team led by a rookie head coach. The Jags' tight ends combined to catch two touchdown passes last year. Story continues This is a low-risk gamble. Besides, its not unusual for coaches to bring along veterans they are comfortable with and Meyer certainly is with Tebow. Its not unusual for veterans to get signed for their leadership or attitude 38-year-old running back Frank Gore is back with the New York Jets, after all. The NBA is a different sport, but the Miami Heat have kept veteran good guy Udonis Haslem around the last few years because of what he means in a locker room. The 40-year-old isnt really a player anymore he appeared in one game, the regular-season finale, this year. Miami thinks hes worth it. Besides, wilder stuff has happened in the NFL. In 2015, Seattle brought in Nate Boyer, a 34-year-old Army Green Beret and decorated war hero in a long-shot attempt to make it as an undersized long snapper. Boyer was mostly there for who he was, not whether hed actually play in the NFL. In 2004, Minnesota spent a camp invite on WWE sensation Brock Lesnar even though he hadnt played football since high school. In 2019, the New York Giants had Austin Droogsma, a massive shot putter at their rookie minicamp. In 2013, Indianapolis made a run at a giant Icelander whod never played football named Hafr Jlus Bjrnsson you might know him as Thor from the Worlds Strongest Man competitions or The Mountain from the show Game of Thrones. Whatever. Its all fun. Tebow is a big, strong athlete. Maybe he can be useful. His years of playing minor league baseball mean he hasnt taken the punishment of a normal NFL veteran his age. Tight end is partially a macro skill position, so time off isnt necessarily disqualifying. Mostly though, Tebow is being given the opportunity to humiliate himself. Hes more likely to fail than succeed. Visions of him getting blown up trying to block or dropping a pass he should have caught are very possible. He doesnt care. He wants to give it a try on the worst team in football. Good for him. While Tebows possible chance is being compared to Colin Kaepernick not getting a chance, thats a stretch. You can believe Kaepernick was unfairly treated by the NFL and see that these two situations arent really that comparable. Tebow, to me, is more like Cam Newton. Not as players, since Newton is exponentially better and never quit football to try another sport. He has earned every opportunity. Like Tebow, though, Newton often elicits outsized negative reactions despite having done relatively little that is controversial. He mostly plays really hard and really well. Yet everything from metrics to comment sections will show wild responses to him. Neither he, nor Tebow, is perfect. They are each proud and unapologetic about who they are. Maybe thats what creates groups of people who dislike them so much, or are uncomfortable with them. If you drew a Venn diagram of the Tebow/Newton haters, its possible there is no overlap. They are two sides of the same coin. Each member of the Tebow hate club has their own reason. My best guess is something that plagues a lot of American society. There is an old saying that my enemys enemy is my friend. In this case, maybe it is my enemys favorite player is my enemy. If you dislike, for whatever reason, the people who love Tebow, then perhaps you hate Tebow even if there is little to no reason to hate Tebow. Same with Newton. Maybe there isnt a single perfect answer. Something is driving this stuff, though, because the NFL is currently overwhelmed by a possible camp invitation to a backup tight end for a lousy team. Then again, being offended by something happening somewhere by someone has become our national, bipartisan pastime. Bigger than the NFL, even. More from Yahoo Sports: | Tim Tebow is being considered for a camp invite by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Tebow has been criticized for his performance in the NFL. | ctrlsum | 0 | https://sports.yahoo.com/why-is-there-so-much-vitriol-over-tim-tebows-potential-camp-invite-from-the-jaguars-193432907.html?src=rss | 0.177518 |
Why is there so much vitriol over Tim Tebow's potential Jaguars camp invite? | There are athletes who generate outlandish reactions that are disproportionate to their actual abilities. Let there be no doubt, a lot of people love them some Tim Tebow. This is easy to understand. He was a big star at the University of Florida, where he won a Heisman Trophy and was part of two national titles. He played a physical, exciting style. He wasnt a great NFL QB, but he won a playoff game. Mostly though, hes a nice guy, a charity-based guy, a do-something guy. Last week he and his foundation partnered with the state of Tennessee to fight human trafficking. Hes a motivational speaker, doing it in an uber-positive, you-can-do-it kind of way. And, of course, hes very public about his faith, which is hardly unique among pro athletes, but is appealing to those who share it. Other fans dont like him, but in a reasonable fashion. Maybe they hated the Gators. Maybe they didnt like the hype he got. Maybe they are part of the stick to sports crowd and werent fans of the Bible verses on the eyeblack back in college. Of course, stick to sports is usually a sliding scale of hypocrisy. All of this is mostly fair. Sports are about heroes and heels and each fan gets to choose who is who. When Tebow lasted just three seasons and just 14 starts at QB in the NFL, his critics got what they wanted. There is another segment though who all but lost it when word broke that Tebow, now 33, had recently worked out for Jacksonville. The Jags, led now by Tebows old college coach Urban Meyer, are considering offering him a one-year deal (which is really nothing more than a camp invite) even though he hasnt appeared in a game since 2013 and hasnt been in camp since 2015. We can only theorize, and will later. A lot of people seem angry over Tim Tebow possibly getting an invite to Jaguars camp from his former college coach Urban Meyer. (Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images) No. Its not like Meyer gave him $150 million and said he was the Week 1 starter at quarterback. Were talking about one of the 90 camp invites for a 1-15 team led by a rookie head coach. The Jags' tight ends combined to catch two touchdown passes last year. Story continues This is a low-risk gamble. Besides, its not unusual for coaches to bring along veterans they are comfortable with and Meyer certainly is with Tebow. Its not unusual for veterans to get signed for their leadership or attitude 38-year-old running back Frank Gore is back with the New York Jets, after all. The NBA is a different sport, but the Miami Heat have kept veteran good guy Udonis Haslem around the last few years because of what he means in a locker room. The 40-year-old isnt really a player anymore he appeared in one game, the regular-season finale, this year. Miami thinks hes worth it. Besides, wilder stuff has happened in the NFL. In 2015, Seattle brought in Nate Boyer, a 34-year-old Army Green Beret and decorated war hero in a long-shot attempt to make it as an undersized long snapper. Boyer was mostly there for who he was, not whether hed actually play in the NFL. In 2004, Minnesota spent a camp invite on WWE sensation Brock Lesnar even though he hadnt played football since high school. In 2019, the New York Giants had Austin Droogsma, a massive shot putter at their rookie minicamp. In 2013, Indianapolis made a run at a giant Icelander whod never played football named Hafr Jlus Bjrnsson you might know him as Thor from the Worlds Strongest Man competitions or The Mountain from the show Game of Thrones. Whatever. Its all fun. Tebow is a big, strong athlete. Maybe he can be useful. His years of playing minor league baseball mean he hasnt taken the punishment of a normal NFL veteran his age. Tight end is partially a macro skill position, so time off isnt necessarily disqualifying. Mostly though, Tebow is being given the opportunity to humiliate himself. Hes more likely to fail than succeed. Visions of him getting blown up trying to block or dropping a pass he should have caught are very possible. He doesnt care. He wants to give it a try on the worst team in football. Good for him. While Tebows possible chance is being compared to Colin Kaepernick not getting a chance, thats a stretch. You can believe Kaepernick was unfairly treated by the NFL and see that these two situations arent really that comparable. Tebow, to me, is more like Cam Newton. Not as players, since Newton is exponentially better and never quit football to try another sport. He has earned every opportunity. Like Tebow, though, Newton often elicits outsized negative reactions despite having done relatively little that is controversial. He mostly plays really hard and really well. Yet everything from metrics to comment sections will show wild responses to him. Neither he, nor Tebow, is perfect. They are each proud and unapologetic about who they are. Maybe thats what creates groups of people who dislike them so much, or are uncomfortable with them. If you drew a Venn diagram of the Tebow/Newton haters, its possible there is no overlap. They are two sides of the same coin. Each member of the Tebow hate club has their own reason. My best guess is something that plagues a lot of American society. There is an old saying that my enemys enemy is my friend. In this case, maybe it is my enemys favorite player is my enemy. If you dislike, for whatever reason, the people who love Tebow, then perhaps you hate Tebow even if there is little to no reason to hate Tebow. Same with Newton. Maybe there isnt a single perfect answer. Something is driving this stuff, though, because the NFL is currently overwhelmed by a possible camp invitation to a backup tight end for a lousy team. Then again, being offended by something happening somewhere by someone has become our national, bipartisan pastime. Bigger than the NFL, even. More from Yahoo Sports: | Tim Tebow is being considered for a camp invite by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Tebow has been criticized for his performance in the NFL, but he's also a good guy. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://sports.yahoo.com/why-is-there-so-much-vitriol-over-tim-tebows-potential-camp-invite-from-the-jaguars-193432907.html?src=rss | 0.152409 |
Why is there so much vitriol over Tim Tebow's potential Jaguars camp invite? | There are athletes who generate outlandish reactions that are disproportionate to their actual abilities. Let there be no doubt, a lot of people love them some Tim Tebow. This is easy to understand. He was a big star at the University of Florida, where he won a Heisman Trophy and was part of two national titles. He played a physical, exciting style. He wasnt a great NFL QB, but he won a playoff game. Mostly though, hes a nice guy, a charity-based guy, a do-something guy. Last week he and his foundation partnered with the state of Tennessee to fight human trafficking. Hes a motivational speaker, doing it in an uber-positive, you-can-do-it kind of way. And, of course, hes very public about his faith, which is hardly unique among pro athletes, but is appealing to those who share it. Other fans dont like him, but in a reasonable fashion. Maybe they hated the Gators. Maybe they didnt like the hype he got. Maybe they are part of the stick to sports crowd and werent fans of the Bible verses on the eyeblack back in college. Of course, stick to sports is usually a sliding scale of hypocrisy. All of this is mostly fair. Sports are about heroes and heels and each fan gets to choose who is who. When Tebow lasted just three seasons and just 14 starts at QB in the NFL, his critics got what they wanted. There is another segment though who all but lost it when word broke that Tebow, now 33, had recently worked out for Jacksonville. The Jags, led now by Tebows old college coach Urban Meyer, are considering offering him a one-year deal (which is really nothing more than a camp invite) even though he hasnt appeared in a game since 2013 and hasnt been in camp since 2015. We can only theorize, and will later. A lot of people seem angry over Tim Tebow possibly getting an invite to Jaguars camp from his former college coach Urban Meyer. (Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images) No. Its not like Meyer gave him $150 million and said he was the Week 1 starter at quarterback. Were talking about one of the 90 camp invites for a 1-15 team led by a rookie head coach. The Jags' tight ends combined to catch two touchdown passes last year. Story continues This is a low-risk gamble. Besides, its not unusual for coaches to bring along veterans they are comfortable with and Meyer certainly is with Tebow. Its not unusual for veterans to get signed for their leadership or attitude 38-year-old running back Frank Gore is back with the New York Jets, after all. The NBA is a different sport, but the Miami Heat have kept veteran good guy Udonis Haslem around the last few years because of what he means in a locker room. The 40-year-old isnt really a player anymore he appeared in one game, the regular-season finale, this year. Miami thinks hes worth it. Besides, wilder stuff has happened in the NFL. In 2015, Seattle brought in Nate Boyer, a 34-year-old Army Green Beret and decorated war hero in a long-shot attempt to make it as an undersized long snapper. Boyer was mostly there for who he was, not whether hed actually play in the NFL. In 2004, Minnesota spent a camp invite on WWE sensation Brock Lesnar even though he hadnt played football since high school. In 2019, the New York Giants had Austin Droogsma, a massive shot putter at their rookie minicamp. In 2013, Indianapolis made a run at a giant Icelander whod never played football named Hafr Jlus Bjrnsson you might know him as Thor from the Worlds Strongest Man competitions or The Mountain from the show Game of Thrones. Whatever. Its all fun. Tebow is a big, strong athlete. Maybe he can be useful. His years of playing minor league baseball mean he hasnt taken the punishment of a normal NFL veteran his age. Tight end is partially a macro skill position, so time off isnt necessarily disqualifying. Mostly though, Tebow is being given the opportunity to humiliate himself. Hes more likely to fail than succeed. Visions of him getting blown up trying to block or dropping a pass he should have caught are very possible. He doesnt care. He wants to give it a try on the worst team in football. Good for him. While Tebows possible chance is being compared to Colin Kaepernick not getting a chance, thats a stretch. You can believe Kaepernick was unfairly treated by the NFL and see that these two situations arent really that comparable. Tebow, to me, is more like Cam Newton. Not as players, since Newton is exponentially better and never quit football to try another sport. He has earned every opportunity. Like Tebow, though, Newton often elicits outsized negative reactions despite having done relatively little that is controversial. He mostly plays really hard and really well. Yet everything from metrics to comment sections will show wild responses to him. Neither he, nor Tebow, is perfect. They are each proud and unapologetic about who they are. Maybe thats what creates groups of people who dislike them so much, or are uncomfortable with them. If you drew a Venn diagram of the Tebow/Newton haters, its possible there is no overlap. They are two sides of the same coin. Each member of the Tebow hate club has their own reason. My best guess is something that plagues a lot of American society. There is an old saying that my enemys enemy is my friend. In this case, maybe it is my enemys favorite player is my enemy. If you dislike, for whatever reason, the people who love Tebow, then perhaps you hate Tebow even if there is little to no reason to hate Tebow. Same with Newton. Maybe there isnt a single perfect answer. Something is driving this stuff, though, because the NFL is currently overwhelmed by a possible camp invitation to a backup tight end for a lousy team. Then again, being offended by something happening somewhere by someone has become our national, bipartisan pastime. Bigger than the NFL, even. More from Yahoo Sports: | Tim Tebow is being considered for a camp invite by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Tebow has been criticized for his performance in the NFL, but he's also been praised for his charity work and his faith. The Jags are considering offering him a one-year deal, but it's a low-risk gamble. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://sports.yahoo.com/why-is-there-so-much-vitriol-over-tim-tebows-potential-camp-invite-from-the-jaguars-193432907.html?src=rss | 0.287927 |
Are the Jacksonville Jaguars Really Turning Former Clemson Tigers Star Travis Etienne into a Receiver? | Apparently, he becomes a wide receiver. At least that's the buzz is coming out of Jacksonville Jaguars' rookie mini-camp, where former Clemson star running back Travis Etienne is exclusively working out as a pass-catcher. "That's the reason we drafted him is the opportunity to be a dual-threat guy and our history as long as we've had a guy like that and we saw him as a guy like that in the draft this year," Jacksonville head coach Urban Meyer said last weekend. "Right now we're focusing on the fundamentals of wide receiver play, learning the offense from wide receiver." That means, for the time being, a guy who recorded 4,952 rushing yards and 70 touchdowns via the ground isn't taking handoffs or learning to play running back at the next level. "When I came out here, (Meyer) brought me into a room, asked me how I felt about (playing receiver, and I feel great about it," Etienne said. I feel like its going to help me maximize my opportunity, maximize my skillset, so I feel like coach knows what hes doing. Hes doing whats best for the team and I feel like its going to work out really well." Etienne might not be wrong. He's also as humble as they come and wouldn't make a fuss about this publically at all. However, it's hard to believe a ball carrier of his talent and prowess, one who has consistently shown an explosive running style and the ability to hit home runs, is perfectly fine playing another position. Of course, this could very well be a short-term thing, and Etienne does get reps at his natural position when training camp begins in July. It also makes sense that Meyer would want to use Etienne as a versatile weapon. After all, the Louisana native came back to Clemson in 2020, spurning the pros, to show he could be a complete back. He went from a player who went from five catches for 57 yards in his freshman season at Clemson to 48 catches for 588 yards as a senior. "Football is a game of matchups. I feel like I create a problem outside for a linebacker. Were just trying to get the best matchups for us to go out there and make plays and do whats best for the team. It's perplexing after having a 1,000-yard rookie rusher a year ago in James Robinson that they would select what Meyer called a "third-down back" in Etienne. Using the running back out of the backfield or lining him up as a slot receiver isn't exactly groundbreaking. The Carolina Panthers took Christian McCaffery eighth overall in the 2017 draft, and the multi-faceted running back had 1,000-yard rushing and 1,000-yard receiving season in 2019, but he's still a running back. Of course, but if Jacksonville needed a slot receiver, they should've drafted a slot receiver with the 25th overall pick. Etienne is still a running back, and at some point, he deserves the chance to show it. "Worst-case scenario is you have a running back that's elite with receiver skills and best-case scenario he's a legitimate dual-threat guy," Meyer said. Maybe he's also not wrong, but it feels odd to think of Etienne as a "gimmick" player, and hopefully that's not how Meyer sees him. At the same time, there's nothing super innovative here. This is the same coach who signed former QB Tim Tebow to play tight end. Maybe No. 1 overall pick and former Clemson star Trevor Lawrence will safety. Ultimately, let's just see what Meyer, in his first year in the NFL, does with this offensive weapon in 2021. Commenting: To sign up for Discus, our new commenting system, just use your Twitter, Facebook or email to register, and you are in, very easy and quick to sign up! To find the find comment section, just look below the Around the Web section below this article and get chatting! We would love to hear your thoughts and have you join our community. | Former Clemson star running back Travis Etienne is working out as a pass-catcher at his rookie mini-camp. "That's the reason we drafted him is the opportunity to be a dual-threat guy," Jacksonville head coach Urban Meyer said. | pegasus | 1 | https://www.si.com/college/clemson/football/are-the-jacksonville-jaguars-really-turning-travis-etienne-into-a-receiver | 0.177028 |
Are the Jacksonville Jaguars Really Turning Former Clemson Tigers Star Travis Etienne into a Receiver? | Apparently, he becomes a wide receiver. At least that's the buzz is coming out of Jacksonville Jaguars' rookie mini-camp, where former Clemson star running back Travis Etienne is exclusively working out as a pass-catcher. "That's the reason we drafted him is the opportunity to be a dual-threat guy and our history as long as we've had a guy like that and we saw him as a guy like that in the draft this year," Jacksonville head coach Urban Meyer said last weekend. "Right now we're focusing on the fundamentals of wide receiver play, learning the offense from wide receiver." That means, for the time being, a guy who recorded 4,952 rushing yards and 70 touchdowns via the ground isn't taking handoffs or learning to play running back at the next level. "When I came out here, (Meyer) brought me into a room, asked me how I felt about (playing receiver, and I feel great about it," Etienne said. I feel like its going to help me maximize my opportunity, maximize my skillset, so I feel like coach knows what hes doing. Hes doing whats best for the team and I feel like its going to work out really well." Etienne might not be wrong. He's also as humble as they come and wouldn't make a fuss about this publically at all. However, it's hard to believe a ball carrier of his talent and prowess, one who has consistently shown an explosive running style and the ability to hit home runs, is perfectly fine playing another position. Of course, this could very well be a short-term thing, and Etienne does get reps at his natural position when training camp begins in July. It also makes sense that Meyer would want to use Etienne as a versatile weapon. After all, the Louisana native came back to Clemson in 2020, spurning the pros, to show he could be a complete back. He went from a player who went from five catches for 57 yards in his freshman season at Clemson to 48 catches for 588 yards as a senior. "Football is a game of matchups. I feel like I create a problem outside for a linebacker. Were just trying to get the best matchups for us to go out there and make plays and do whats best for the team. It's perplexing after having a 1,000-yard rookie rusher a year ago in James Robinson that they would select what Meyer called a "third-down back" in Etienne. Using the running back out of the backfield or lining him up as a slot receiver isn't exactly groundbreaking. The Carolina Panthers took Christian McCaffery eighth overall in the 2017 draft, and the multi-faceted running back had 1,000-yard rushing and 1,000-yard receiving season in 2019, but he's still a running back. Of course, but if Jacksonville needed a slot receiver, they should've drafted a slot receiver with the 25th overall pick. Etienne is still a running back, and at some point, he deserves the chance to show it. "Worst-case scenario is you have a running back that's elite with receiver skills and best-case scenario he's a legitimate dual-threat guy," Meyer said. Maybe he's also not wrong, but it feels odd to think of Etienne as a "gimmick" player, and hopefully that's not how Meyer sees him. At the same time, there's nothing super innovative here. This is the same coach who signed former QB Tim Tebow to play tight end. Maybe No. 1 overall pick and former Clemson star Trevor Lawrence will safety. Ultimately, let's just see what Meyer, in his first year in the NFL, does with this offensive weapon in 2021. Commenting: To sign up for Discus, our new commenting system, just use your Twitter, Facebook or email to register, and you are in, very easy and quick to sign up! To find the find comment section, just look below the Around the Web section below this article and get chatting! We would love to hear your thoughts and have you join our community. | Former Clemson star Travis Etienne is exclusively working out as a pass-catcher. Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer: "That's the reason we drafted him is the opportunity to be a dual-threat guy" It's perplexing after having a 1,000-yard rookie rusher a year ago in James Robinson. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.si.com/college/clemson/football/are-the-jacksonville-jaguars-really-turning-travis-etienne-into-a-receiver | 0.323647 |
Where Do The Longhorns Stand In USA Today Preseason Top-25 Rankings? | USA Today unveiled their updated preseason college football top-25 rankings on Monday, with the Longhorns making an appearance Following their first spring football practice under new head coach Steve Sarkisian, the Texas Longhorns are one of the more intriguing programs in the country from a national perspective. Bringing in his superb ability to call plays, in combination with an all-star staff and a host of recruiting momentum, Sarkisian has most experts believing that his Longhorns will make some noise next season. READ MORE: Former OU Coach Bob Stoops: No Rebuild Needed For Longhorns On Monday, USA Today unveiled their updated preseason top-25 rankings, with the Longhorns landing in the No. 22 overall spots, just behind the No. 21 Oklahoma State Cowboys, and just ahead of the No. 23 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. The Texas A&M Aggies also made an appearance in the rankings, coming in at No. 8 overall. The Longhorns also had just four opponents make an appearance in USA Today's updated rankings, including the Lousiana Ragin Cajuns at No. 25, the aforementioned Oklahoma State Cowboys at No. 21, The Iowa State Cyclones at No. 6, and the Oklahoma Sooners at No. 2 overall. READ MORE: Longhorns Transfer Target Shadrach Banks Spurns Texas for TCU fortunately for Sarkisian, the Longhorns are set to play two of those games (Louisiana and Oklahoma State) in front of their home crowd at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, with one game (Oklahoma) at a neutral site at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. The lone road game for the Longhorns on the list will be against Iowa State in Ames, Iowa. Comment and join in on the discussion below! Sign up for your premium membership to LonghornsCountry.com today, and get access to the entire Fan Nation premium network! Follow Longhorns Country on Twitter and Facebook | USA Today unveiled their updated preseason college football top-25 rankings on Monday. The Texas Longhorns landed in the No. 22 overall spots. | ctrlsum | 0 | https://www.si.com/college/texas/news/where-do-the-longhorns-stand-in-usa-today-preseason-top-25-rankings | 0.497113 |
Where Do The Longhorns Stand In USA Today Preseason Top-25 Rankings? | USA Today unveiled their updated preseason college football top-25 rankings on Monday, with the Longhorns making an appearance Following their first spring football practice under new head coach Steve Sarkisian, the Texas Longhorns are one of the more intriguing programs in the country from a national perspective. Bringing in his superb ability to call plays, in combination with an all-star staff and a host of recruiting momentum, Sarkisian has most experts believing that his Longhorns will make some noise next season. READ MORE: Former OU Coach Bob Stoops: No Rebuild Needed For Longhorns On Monday, USA Today unveiled their updated preseason top-25 rankings, with the Longhorns landing in the No. 22 overall spots, just behind the No. 21 Oklahoma State Cowboys, and just ahead of the No. 23 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. The Texas A&M Aggies also made an appearance in the rankings, coming in at No. 8 overall. The Longhorns also had just four opponents make an appearance in USA Today's updated rankings, including the Lousiana Ragin Cajuns at No. 25, the aforementioned Oklahoma State Cowboys at No. 21, The Iowa State Cyclones at No. 6, and the Oklahoma Sooners at No. 2 overall. READ MORE: Longhorns Transfer Target Shadrach Banks Spurns Texas for TCU fortunately for Sarkisian, the Longhorns are set to play two of those games (Louisiana and Oklahoma State) in front of their home crowd at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, with one game (Oklahoma) at a neutral site at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. The lone road game for the Longhorns on the list will be against Iowa State in Ames, Iowa. Comment and join in on the discussion below! Sign up for your premium membership to LonghornsCountry.com today, and get access to the entire Fan Nation premium network! Follow Longhorns Country on Twitter and Facebook | USA Today unveiled their updated preseason college football top-25 rankings on Monday. The Texas Longhorns landed in the No. 22 overall spot, just behind the No. 21 Oklahoma State Cowboys. | pegasus | 1 | https://www.si.com/college/texas/news/where-do-the-longhorns-stand-in-usa-today-preseason-top-25-rankings | 0.554298 |
Where Do The Longhorns Stand In USA Today Preseason Top-25 Rankings? | USA Today unveiled their updated preseason college football top-25 rankings on Monday, with the Longhorns making an appearance Following their first spring football practice under new head coach Steve Sarkisian, the Texas Longhorns are one of the more intriguing programs in the country from a national perspective. Bringing in his superb ability to call plays, in combination with an all-star staff and a host of recruiting momentum, Sarkisian has most experts believing that his Longhorns will make some noise next season. READ MORE: Former OU Coach Bob Stoops: No Rebuild Needed For Longhorns On Monday, USA Today unveiled their updated preseason top-25 rankings, with the Longhorns landing in the No. 22 overall spots, just behind the No. 21 Oklahoma State Cowboys, and just ahead of the No. 23 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. The Texas A&M Aggies also made an appearance in the rankings, coming in at No. 8 overall. The Longhorns also had just four opponents make an appearance in USA Today's updated rankings, including the Lousiana Ragin Cajuns at No. 25, the aforementioned Oklahoma State Cowboys at No. 21, The Iowa State Cyclones at No. 6, and the Oklahoma Sooners at No. 2 overall. READ MORE: Longhorns Transfer Target Shadrach Banks Spurns Texas for TCU fortunately for Sarkisian, the Longhorns are set to play two of those games (Louisiana and Oklahoma State) in front of their home crowd at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, with one game (Oklahoma) at a neutral site at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. The lone road game for the Longhorns on the list will be against Iowa State in Ames, Iowa. Comment and join in on the discussion below! Sign up for your premium membership to LonghornsCountry.com today, and get access to the entire Fan Nation premium network! Follow Longhorns Country on Twitter and Facebook | USA Today unveiled their updated preseason college football top-25 rankings on Monday. The Texas Longhorns landed in the No. 22 overall spots, just behind the Oklahoma State Cowboys. The Longhorns also had just four opponents make an appearance in USA Today's updated rankings, including the Lousiana Ragin Cajuns at No. 25. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.si.com/college/texas/news/where-do-the-longhorns-stand-in-usa-today-preseason-top-25-rankings | 0.649329 |
What Would Packers Receive for Trading Aaron Rodgers? | The answer is a lot, probably, but there are some barriers in the Packers collecting a king's ransom if they were forced to trade the MVP. Sports Illustrateds Albert Breer tackled that question in a recent mailbag piece. Breer asked three NFL executives. One response: Broncos get: QB Aaron Rodgers, 2022 fourth-round pick. Packers get: QB Drew Lock, DE Bradley Chubb, G Dalton Risner, 2022 first-round pick, 22 second-round pick, 23 first-round pick, 24 first-round pick. Last week, I took the same question to two high-level talent evaluators with aspirations of becoming a general manager. As such, this is a question theyve thought through because they could be in the shoes of Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst at some point. Three first-round picks but, because of Rodgers, those picks are going to be in the 20s or 30s, one said. So, Id need a couple really good players, too. Heres what Id do: Tell Denver to pay for Bradley Chubbs contract extension. Its Aaron (Bleeping) Rodgers. Youre not going to give him away. Build a kick-ass defense, ride (Aaron) Jones and hope your new quarterback is good enough. Echoing the first and the one who spoke to Breer, the second high-level personnel man also said three first-round picks, a star player and quarterback Drew Lock. Brian liked Drew Lock back in 19. So, he liked Jordan (Love) and he liked Lock, so now youve got two guys and you hope to hit on one, he said, speaking before Green Bay signed veteran Blake Bortles. Heres what complicates things. Who needs a quarterback? To his point, five quarterbacks were selected in the first 15 picks of last months draft. It becomes a really short list of teams that, A, need a quarterback and, B, Rodgers wouldnt veto by refusing to show up. Denver, obviously, the second high-level evaluator said in mentioning the team linked most frequently to Rodgers over the past few weeks. Ive seen Las Vegas but the Raiders dont have star players to send back. Aarons not going to show up in Houston. Obviously, there was no way in hell Gutey would send him to San Francisco just so he can watch Rodgers go home and win a Super Bowl. Same with New Orleans. Theyve got a championship roster but dont have a championship quarterback. So, Gutey can ask for a kings ransom, and he should. But the other team doesnt have to pay it. Id be like, This is our offer. Its better than the nothing youll get if he sits. A third executive said he wouldnt want to set a precedent of trading a disgruntled player. But, if it really gets to that point where hes not going to show up, I probably would trade him, he said. I just wouldnt trade him now because I dont want to give that other team the opportunity to have an offseason with him. | There are some barriers in the Packers collecting a king's ransom if they were forced to trade the MVP. One response: Broncos get: QB Aaron Rodgers, 2022 fourth-round pick. Two high-level talent evaluators with aspirations of becoming a general manager also said three first-round picks, a star player and quarterback Drew Lock. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.si.com/nfl/packers/news/packers-get-picks-trade-rodgers | 0.148352 |
Which Undrafted Rookies Could Earn Roster Spots? | Two months since the start of the new NFL year, there are openings at tight end, on the defensive line and at kicker. After 259 players have their names called through seven rounds of the NFL Draft, teams shift their focus to those who were overlooked. Plenty of undrafted rookie free agents earn roster spots every year. The Tennessee Titans agreed to terms with 10 of them last week. But the odds are always stacked against those rookies when it comes to making the 53-man roster or practice squad for the regular season. Those players need to give teams unique reasons to keep them past training camp. Theres always just kind of something, Titans coach Mike Vrabel said on Saturday. Whether they go out there and excel in a leadership role maybe they picked up the offense or defense so well that they not only knew their job but help the guys around them. They have to exhibit some sort of skillset. Last year guys like offensive lineman Aaron Brewer, wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and defensive lineman Teair Tart all carved out roles for themselves. A year earlier, it was outside linebacker Derick Roberson and cornerback Kareem Orr. You kind of know. You kind of see it (when an undrafted has what it takes), Vrabel said. Its either there or its not. All Titans looks at the undrafted free agents with the best chances of making the team this summer: Miller Forristall, tight end, Alabama: The tight end room is wide open. Jonnu Smith left in free agency, and franchise officials have not replaced him in free agency or the draft. Forristall had an injury-filled career at Alabama, missing his entire sophomore year and most of the next one with knee injuries. But hes stayed fairly healthy over the last two seasons, and hes been productive. He caught a career-high four touchdowns in 2019 in nine games and set career highs in receptions (23) and yards (253) this past season in 12 games. The 6-foot-4, 244-pounder will compete with veterans Anthony Firkser and Geoff Swaim, untested players Tommy Hudson and Jared Pinkney and fellow undrafted free agent Briley Moore (Kansas State). Blake Haubeil, kicker, Ohio State: It remains to be seen whether the Titans feel they need a veteran such as Stephen Gostkowski or if they are willing the risk going with a younger, cheaper option at kicker. As of now, Haubeil figures to go head-to-head Tucker McCann, an undrafted free agent in 2020 who spent the entirety of last season on the practice squad. Huabeil was a full-time starter for the Buckeyes for three seasons. He made 80 percent of his field goal attempts (28-35) and all 146 of his point-after tries. In 50 career games at Ohio State, he scored 230 points, which is good for 16th all-time in program history and 10th among kickers. His career-long was a 55-yard field goal in a victory over Northwestern in 2019. Naquan Jones, defensive tackle, Michigan State: The Titans have crowd at defensive tackle, including free-agent addition Denico Autry, 2019 first-round pick Jeffery Simmons, Teair Tart and others. But expect Jones to be competitive for a roster spot. At 6-foot-4, 340 pounds, he has prototypical size for the position. Over four years at Michigan State, he made 78 tackles, 12.5 tackles for a loss and had three sacks. In a COVID-19 shortened 2020 season, he recorded a career-high five tackles for a loss. He never made any more than 26 tackles in a single season (2018), but Jones is more valuable than his stats may show. He could be used to take up space and give edge rushers and linebackers chances to get into the backfield in the way DaQuan Jones (no relation) another free agent departure who has not been replaced was in recent seasons. | The Tennessee Titans signed 10 undrafted rookie free agents last week. Miller Forristall, Naquan Jones and Blake Haubeil are among the players with the best chances of making the team. | bart | 1 | https://www.si.com/nfl/titans/news/tennessee-titans-nfl-udfa-chances-naquan-jones-miller-forrsitall-blake-haubeil | 0.211762 |
Which Undrafted Rookies Could Earn Roster Spots? | Two months since the start of the new NFL year, there are openings at tight end, on the defensive line and at kicker. After 259 players have their names called through seven rounds of the NFL Draft, teams shift their focus to those who were overlooked. Plenty of undrafted rookie free agents earn roster spots every year. The Tennessee Titans agreed to terms with 10 of them last week. But the odds are always stacked against those rookies when it comes to making the 53-man roster or practice squad for the regular season. Those players need to give teams unique reasons to keep them past training camp. Theres always just kind of something, Titans coach Mike Vrabel said on Saturday. Whether they go out there and excel in a leadership role maybe they picked up the offense or defense so well that they not only knew their job but help the guys around them. They have to exhibit some sort of skillset. Last year guys like offensive lineman Aaron Brewer, wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and defensive lineman Teair Tart all carved out roles for themselves. A year earlier, it was outside linebacker Derick Roberson and cornerback Kareem Orr. You kind of know. You kind of see it (when an undrafted has what it takes), Vrabel said. Its either there or its not. All Titans looks at the undrafted free agents with the best chances of making the team this summer: Miller Forristall, tight end, Alabama: The tight end room is wide open. Jonnu Smith left in free agency, and franchise officials have not replaced him in free agency or the draft. Forristall had an injury-filled career at Alabama, missing his entire sophomore year and most of the next one with knee injuries. But hes stayed fairly healthy over the last two seasons, and hes been productive. He caught a career-high four touchdowns in 2019 in nine games and set career highs in receptions (23) and yards (253) this past season in 12 games. The 6-foot-4, 244-pounder will compete with veterans Anthony Firkser and Geoff Swaim, untested players Tommy Hudson and Jared Pinkney and fellow undrafted free agent Briley Moore (Kansas State). Blake Haubeil, kicker, Ohio State: It remains to be seen whether the Titans feel they need a veteran such as Stephen Gostkowski or if they are willing the risk going with a younger, cheaper option at kicker. As of now, Haubeil figures to go head-to-head Tucker McCann, an undrafted free agent in 2020 who spent the entirety of last season on the practice squad. Huabeil was a full-time starter for the Buckeyes for three seasons. He made 80 percent of his field goal attempts (28-35) and all 146 of his point-after tries. In 50 career games at Ohio State, he scored 230 points, which is good for 16th all-time in program history and 10th among kickers. His career-long was a 55-yard field goal in a victory over Northwestern in 2019. Naquan Jones, defensive tackle, Michigan State: The Titans have crowd at defensive tackle, including free-agent addition Denico Autry, 2019 first-round pick Jeffery Simmons, Teair Tart and others. But expect Jones to be competitive for a roster spot. At 6-foot-4, 340 pounds, he has prototypical size for the position. Over four years at Michigan State, he made 78 tackles, 12.5 tackles for a loss and had three sacks. In a COVID-19 shortened 2020 season, he recorded a career-high five tackles for a loss. He never made any more than 26 tackles in a single season (2018), but Jones is more valuable than his stats may show. He could be used to take up space and give edge rushers and linebackers chances to get into the backfield in the way DaQuan Jones (no relation) another free agent departure who has not been replaced was in recent seasons. | The Tennessee Titans signed 10 undrafted rookie free agents last week. Miller Forristall, Naquan Jones and Blake Haubeil are among the players with the best chances of making the team this summer. The odds are always stacked against those rookies when it comes to making the 53-man roster. | bart | 2 | https://www.si.com/nfl/titans/news/tennessee-titans-nfl-udfa-chances-naquan-jones-miller-forrsitall-blake-haubeil | 0.253158 |
Could Deshaun Watson 'Immense NFL Value' Still Mean Houston Texans Summer Trade? | HOUSTON -- Sometimes saying little says more than any number of words. That's one way to look at the Deshaun Watson situation as Houston Texans head coach David Culley avoided questions during rookie camp of the QB's status. "We have nothing to say about that situation at this time," Culley said Saturday. "[Texans chairman Cal McNair] and ownership a few weeks back indicated about how our organization feels about the situation. I think when [general manager Nick Caserio] was on not long ago, he also mentioned that the legal process was in effect right now and we're going to respect that and go from there." Everything with Watson remains at a stalemate entering Phase Two of NFL offseason programs. Currently, there are still 22 civil lawsuits out against him for sexual misconduct and sexual assault. Those will be handled by the court system in Harris County. The NFL still could rule him ineligible and suspend him if they believe Watson broke any of the personal conduct policy as well. READ MORE: Culley 'No Comment' Reveals Plenty About Houston Texans QB Deshaun Watson Watson is now expected to be traded once his name is clear in the investigation. The investment of third-round pick Davis Mills isn't a dealbreaker for the 25-year-old quarterback, but the writing seems to be on the wall of his time ending in NRG Stadium. The question turns to now who would trade for Watson and what would the asking price be. Back in March before the allegations and the NFL Draft it seemed he was the "break the bank" player for near every QB-needy team. Now, both the market and asking price could have dried up for Houston to walk away a winner. The Chicago Bears were hopeful to make up for passing on Watson in 2017 with the No. 2 pick as were the San Francisco 49ers at pick No. 3. The New York Jets had the draft capital to select him and the New England Patriots seemed ready to move off Cam Newton. One more later, all four have their hopeful franchise guy. The 49ers traded up to select Trey Lance at No. 3. The Bears traded up to No. 11 to grab Ohio State's Justin Fields. New York remained put at took Zach Wilson at No .2 while New England added the Alabama sensation Mac Jones at No. 15. Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper wanted to make a splash in free agency. Although he's struggled through three seasons, the additions made around Sam Darnold are the best he's had since coming out of USC in 2018. The Denver Broncos seemed ideal after players stated how they'd love to play with Watson. It's too soon to say that Denver is out of the QB-trade market, but they're likely investing all the chips into in the Aaron Rodgers' basket. The Miami Dolphins have built a roster around second-year standout Tua Tagovailoa to be successful. Both sides of the ball have upgraded immensely with the additions of Will Fuller, Jaylen Waddle and Jaelan Phillips. Miami finished a game away from the postseason last season. If not, Miami has two first-round picks they could offer for Watson. The Philadelphia Eagles enter the 2022 offseason with the most draft capital. Much like Miami, they too have a pair of first-round picks that could be on the market for a high-end quarterback. Carson Wentz is out of the picture and the Jalen Hurts era is set to begin. Hurts, who was selected in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft, started the final four games to close out the season. He went 1-3 as a starter behind a limp offensive line and limited weapons to help him as a passer. Still, the Channelview native threw for 1,061 yards, six touchdowns and four interceptions. READ MORE: Houston Texans Coach Culley Praises Teacher Pep Hamilton Howie Roseman might have done enough this offseason by pairing Hurts up with his former Alabama teammate DeVonta Smith. The hope is new head coach Nick Sirianni can elevate the production of second-year target Jalen Reagor as well. Other teams like Washington and the New York Giants might consider a trade following the season. The Giants have a capable offense and are hopeful that Daniel Jones can work with the new weapons at hand. The Texans might not have many suitors until Watson is cleared, but a trade of his talent seems imminent following the cases being dismissed. He will still have immense value on the market. If cleared sooner, this should be enough for Caserio to speed up the rebuild and provide stability for a franchise walking on stilts. | Deshaun Watson is now expected to be traded once his name is clear in the investigation. Houston Texans head coach David Culley avoided questions during rookie camp. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.si.com/nfl/texans/news/could-deshaun-watson-immense-nfl-value-still-mean-houston-texans-summer-trade | 0.27029 |
Could Deshaun Watson 'Immense NFL Value' Still Mean Houston Texans Summer Trade? | HOUSTON -- Sometimes saying little says more than any number of words. That's one way to look at the Deshaun Watson situation as Houston Texans head coach David Culley avoided questions during rookie camp of the QB's status. "We have nothing to say about that situation at this time," Culley said Saturday. "[Texans chairman Cal McNair] and ownership a few weeks back indicated about how our organization feels about the situation. I think when [general manager Nick Caserio] was on not long ago, he also mentioned that the legal process was in effect right now and we're going to respect that and go from there." Everything with Watson remains at a stalemate entering Phase Two of NFL offseason programs. Currently, there are still 22 civil lawsuits out against him for sexual misconduct and sexual assault. Those will be handled by the court system in Harris County. The NFL still could rule him ineligible and suspend him if they believe Watson broke any of the personal conduct policy as well. READ MORE: Culley 'No Comment' Reveals Plenty About Houston Texans QB Deshaun Watson Watson is now expected to be traded once his name is clear in the investigation. The investment of third-round pick Davis Mills isn't a dealbreaker for the 25-year-old quarterback, but the writing seems to be on the wall of his time ending in NRG Stadium. The question turns to now who would trade for Watson and what would the asking price be. Back in March before the allegations and the NFL Draft it seemed he was the "break the bank" player for near every QB-needy team. Now, both the market and asking price could have dried up for Houston to walk away a winner. The Chicago Bears were hopeful to make up for passing on Watson in 2017 with the No. 2 pick as were the San Francisco 49ers at pick No. 3. The New York Jets had the draft capital to select him and the New England Patriots seemed ready to move off Cam Newton. One more later, all four have their hopeful franchise guy. The 49ers traded up to select Trey Lance at No. 3. The Bears traded up to No. 11 to grab Ohio State's Justin Fields. New York remained put at took Zach Wilson at No .2 while New England added the Alabama sensation Mac Jones at No. 15. Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper wanted to make a splash in free agency. Although he's struggled through three seasons, the additions made around Sam Darnold are the best he's had since coming out of USC in 2018. The Denver Broncos seemed ideal after players stated how they'd love to play with Watson. It's too soon to say that Denver is out of the QB-trade market, but they're likely investing all the chips into in the Aaron Rodgers' basket. The Miami Dolphins have built a roster around second-year standout Tua Tagovailoa to be successful. Both sides of the ball have upgraded immensely with the additions of Will Fuller, Jaylen Waddle and Jaelan Phillips. Miami finished a game away from the postseason last season. If not, Miami has two first-round picks they could offer for Watson. The Philadelphia Eagles enter the 2022 offseason with the most draft capital. Much like Miami, they too have a pair of first-round picks that could be on the market for a high-end quarterback. Carson Wentz is out of the picture and the Jalen Hurts era is set to begin. Hurts, who was selected in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft, started the final four games to close out the season. He went 1-3 as a starter behind a limp offensive line and limited weapons to help him as a passer. Still, the Channelview native threw for 1,061 yards, six touchdowns and four interceptions. READ MORE: Houston Texans Coach Culley Praises Teacher Pep Hamilton Howie Roseman might have done enough this offseason by pairing Hurts up with his former Alabama teammate DeVonta Smith. The hope is new head coach Nick Sirianni can elevate the production of second-year target Jalen Reagor as well. Other teams like Washington and the New York Giants might consider a trade following the season. The Giants have a capable offense and are hopeful that Daniel Jones can work with the new weapons at hand. The Texans might not have many suitors until Watson is cleared, but a trade of his talent seems imminent following the cases being dismissed. He will still have immense value on the market. If cleared sooner, this should be enough for Caserio to speed up the rebuild and provide stability for a franchise walking on stilts. | Deshaun Watson is now expected to be traded once his name is clear in the investigation. Houston Texans head coach David Culley avoided questions during rookie camp of the QB's status. The NFL still could rule him ineligible and suspend him if they believe Watson broke any of the personal conduct policy as well. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.si.com/nfl/texans/news/could-deshaun-watson-immense-nfl-value-still-mean-houston-texans-summer-trade | 0.378179 |
What has Anthony DeSclafani 'pitching with a lot of swagger' for Giants? | When Anthony DeSclafani toes the rubber Tuesday at Great American Ball Park, hell be a much different pitcher than he ever was when he wore the home teams uniform for five years in Cincinnati. In his first season with the Giants, the right-hander is among the leagues top 12 in walks and hits allowed per inning pitched (0.89), earned-run average (2.14) and opponents batting average (.179). The numbers speak to a newfound self-assurance thats obvious to those who see him more often than every fifth day. Hes pitching with a lot of swagger, said Giants backup catcher Curt Casali, who caught DeSclafani for the past three seasons in Cincinnatis homer-happy ballpark. It gives away some wall-scraper homeruns at some points, and that can derail a pitchers confidence. Buoyed by a more pitcher-friendly yard in San Francisco, and facing a division that doesnt know him very well, Casali said of DeSclafani: Its been a really nice fresh start for him. Hes been absolutely tremendous for us. Seeing how the Giants helped Kevin Gausman and Drew Smyly regain their value, DeSclafani said he knew where he wanted to sign as a free agent. He inked a one-year, $6 million contract in December to join a rotation that included a bunch of former Cincinnati Reds. Giants starters Gausman (2019), Alex Wood (2019) and Johnny Cueto (2008-15) were among a group that joined DeSclafani at Sotto, an esteemed Italian restaurant in Cincinnati, shortly after the team arrived Sunday night. Among the things they discussed were the oddities of walking back into Great American Ball Park and pitching against teammates they know so well. Theres no question that its going to be extremely weird, but I look forward to just competing, DeSclafani said. L.A. shopping: As if the National League West wasnt already loaded enough, the Dodgers officially signed future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols to be a pinch-hitter and occasional sub at first base. Hes a veteran, right-handed hitter, who is one of the greatest right-hander hitters in the past 50 years or so, Giants manager Gabe Kapler said. Pujols, who was released by the Angels earlier this month, is a three-time MVP and 10-time All-Star. The 41-year-old is among baseball historys top five in homers (667), runs batted in (2,112), total bases (5.955), and doubles (669). Brotherly love: The Giants claimed outfielder Braden Bishop off waivers from Seattle and optioned him to Triple-A Sacramento, where he could eventually pair with his brother, 2019 first-round pick Hunter Bishop. Hunter Bishop, the Giants fourth-best prospect and ranked No. 70 in baseball according to MLB.com, is playing for Single-A Eugene. Injury updates: Scans on the bothersome side of Brandon Belt came back clean, and the team will continue to monitor the first basemans day-to-day progress, according to Kapler. Infielder Donovan Solano, who has been out with a calf injury since April 21, is expected to play seven innings in the minors Monday and eventually advance to nine-inning games. Right-handed reliever Reyes Moronta (elbow) was transferred to the 60-day injured list. Rusty Simmons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rsimmons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Rusty_SFChron | Anthony DeSclafani is pitching with a lot of swagger in his first season with the Giants. The right-hander is among the leagues top 12 in walks and hits allowed per inning pitched. | ctrlsum | 1 | https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/article/What-has-Anthony-DeSclafani-pitching-with-a-16183873.php | 0.398963 |
What has Anthony DeSclafani 'pitching with a lot of swagger' for Giants? | When Anthony DeSclafani toes the rubber Tuesday at Great American Ball Park, hell be a much different pitcher than he ever was when he wore the home teams uniform for five years in Cincinnati. In his first season with the Giants, the right-hander is among the leagues top 12 in walks and hits allowed per inning pitched (0.89), earned-run average (2.14) and opponents batting average (.179). The numbers speak to a newfound self-assurance thats obvious to those who see him more often than every fifth day. Hes pitching with a lot of swagger, said Giants backup catcher Curt Casali, who caught DeSclafani for the past three seasons in Cincinnatis homer-happy ballpark. It gives away some wall-scraper homeruns at some points, and that can derail a pitchers confidence. Buoyed by a more pitcher-friendly yard in San Francisco, and facing a division that doesnt know him very well, Casali said of DeSclafani: Its been a really nice fresh start for him. Hes been absolutely tremendous for us. Seeing how the Giants helped Kevin Gausman and Drew Smyly regain their value, DeSclafani said he knew where he wanted to sign as a free agent. He inked a one-year, $6 million contract in December to join a rotation that included a bunch of former Cincinnati Reds. Giants starters Gausman (2019), Alex Wood (2019) and Johnny Cueto (2008-15) were among a group that joined DeSclafani at Sotto, an esteemed Italian restaurant in Cincinnati, shortly after the team arrived Sunday night. Among the things they discussed were the oddities of walking back into Great American Ball Park and pitching against teammates they know so well. Theres no question that its going to be extremely weird, but I look forward to just competing, DeSclafani said. L.A. shopping: As if the National League West wasnt already loaded enough, the Dodgers officially signed future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols to be a pinch-hitter and occasional sub at first base. Hes a veteran, right-handed hitter, who is one of the greatest right-hander hitters in the past 50 years or so, Giants manager Gabe Kapler said. Pujols, who was released by the Angels earlier this month, is a three-time MVP and 10-time All-Star. The 41-year-old is among baseball historys top five in homers (667), runs batted in (2,112), total bases (5.955), and doubles (669). Brotherly love: The Giants claimed outfielder Braden Bishop off waivers from Seattle and optioned him to Triple-A Sacramento, where he could eventually pair with his brother, 2019 first-round pick Hunter Bishop. Hunter Bishop, the Giants fourth-best prospect and ranked No. 70 in baseball according to MLB.com, is playing for Single-A Eugene. Injury updates: Scans on the bothersome side of Brandon Belt came back clean, and the team will continue to monitor the first basemans day-to-day progress, according to Kapler. Infielder Donovan Solano, who has been out with a calf injury since April 21, is expected to play seven innings in the minors Monday and eventually advance to nine-inning games. Right-handed reliever Reyes Moronta (elbow) was transferred to the 60-day injured list. Rusty Simmons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rsimmons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Rusty_SFChron | Anthony DeSclafani is pitching with a lot of swagger in his first season with the Giants. The right-hander is among the leagues top 12 in walks and hits allowed per inning pitched. The Giants return to Cincinnati to face the Reds for the first time since 2008. | ctrlsum | 2 | https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/article/What-has-Anthony-DeSclafani-pitching-with-a-16183873.php | 0.559996 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.